batterydata/paper-abstracts huggingface dataset:
Cd2+-selective sensors have been fabricated from poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) matrix membranes containing t-butyl thiacalix[4]arene (I) and thiacalix[4]arene (II) as electroactive materials. The addition of sodium tetraphenylborate and the plasticizer 2-nitrophenyl octyl ether has been found to improve the performance of the sensors substantially. The membranes of various compositions of the two thiacalixarenes have been investigated and it was found that the best performance was obtained for the membrane of composition II:PVC:NaTPB:NPOE in the ratio 5:120:3:150. The sensor shows a linear potential response for Cd2+ over a wide activity range 3.2×10−6 to 1.0×10−1 M with Nernstian compliance (29.5mV decade−1 of activity) in pH range 4.5–6.5 and a fast response time of ∼8s. The potentiometric selectivity coefficient values determined by matched potential method indicate excellent selectivity for Cd2+ ions over mono-, di- and trivalent interfering cations. The sensor exhibits adequate shelf life (∼3 months) with good reproducibility (S.D. ±0.2mV) and can also be used in partially non-aqueous media having up to 20% (v/v) methanol, ethanol or acetone content with no significant change in the value of slope or working activity range. The sensor has been used in the potentiometric titration of Cd2+ with EDTA. The sensor could be successfully used for the quantification of cadmium in river water samples.
Concerning oxymethylene dimethyl ethers (e.g. a class of potential oxygenated diesel substitutes; denoted as OME), this work utilises a hybrid process model based on methanol (MeOH) and its partially selective conversion to anhydrous formaldehyde (FA, target MeOH conversion ≥67% and target FA selectivity ≥93%), which in turn is used as the feed for OME synthesis. The model couples the merits of algorithms available in the commercial software CHEMCAD® together with self-developed reactor models as implemented through Matlab® and the coupling node implemented in Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) software. This is followed by process heat integration using PinCH 2.0 software. This modelling is complemented by experimental investigations and results concerning the synthesis of the anhydrous FA/MeOH feed through a designed and developed annular counter current reactor, with the use of Na2CO3 as an inexpensive and sustainable dehydrogenation catalyst. The process material and energy balance of the proposed process have also been used to evaluate the key performance indicators (KPIs). An overall process yield of 80.3% at 71.7% process energy efficiency and production cost of 951 US$ per ton of OME3–5 at small production capacity (35 kt per annum) demonstrates the technical and the economic potential of the described process.
Finnish laser coating specialist Picodeon has appointed Fergus Clarke as CEO. Clarke previously worked for US semi conductor specialist Applied Materials, in various leadership positions in operations, business development and general management, working in Germany, Ireland, and the USA. “We are delighted to have Fergus Clarke join our team,” said Nikolay Danilov, chairman of the board at Picodeon. “Fergus’ depth of leadership experience at Applied Materials and smaller high growth companies will be important as Picodeon grows its business to meet the demand from our customer base.” The appointment comes at a time when Picodeon is experiencing strong interest from OEMs in battery, LED, optical, and life science applications. Fergus Clarke, the new CEO of Picodeon. “I am excited to come on board with Picodeon at such an important time for the company,” said Clarke. “I look forward to scaling the company so that all our customers can benefit from Picodeon's capabilities.”
In recent studies, the employment of the aqueous solution system comprised of Cu(II)–Cu(I)–Cl system was addressed for massive energy storage in Redox Flow Batteries (RFBs) [5,6], providing important practical advantages compared to the widespread all-vanadium or Zn/Br systems [5]. The substitution of vanadium electrolytes by copper-chloride electrolytes allows the simplification of the process and notably reduces the cost, allowing for a better commercialization of RFBs. Here, a complete physico-chemical characterization of positive copper electrolytes and their electrochemical performance using different supporting electrolytes, HCl and CaCl2, is presented. Once the physical properties and the electrochemical performance of each one of the supporting electrolytes were determined, the final composition of supporting electrolyte for this Cu(II)/Cu(I) redox couple could be optimized by mixing different sources of chloride, regarding its practical application in the all-copper RFB.
A selective optode based on immobilization of 5-(p-dimethylaminobenzylidene)rhodanine on a triacetylcellulose membrane was developed for quantitative determination of Au(III). The determination procedure was performed using a simple light-emitting diode (LED)-based device as a new effort to overcome low reproducibility and repeatability problems which usually accompany optode-based determinations. The results obtained were compared with those of conventional spectrophotometric methods. The response characteristics of the sensor including dynamic range, reproducibility, response time, and lifetime are discussed in detail. This sensor was used for the determination of Au(III) in ore and electroplating liquid effluent samples with satisfactory results in comparison with flame atomic absorption spectroscopy as standard method. Under the optimum conditions, the calibration plot was linear in the concentration range of 0.3–6.0 μg cm−3. The relative standard deviations for five replicate determinations of 1.0 μg cm−3 Au(III) and the corresponding limits of detection were 1.76% and 0.12 μg cm−3, respectively.
Li- and Mn-rich layered oxides as cathode materials attract considerable academic and industrial research attention, owing to the superior specific capacity and energy density. The relatively low rate capability is one of the major problems that need to be resolved for these materials. In this work, 0.3Li2MnO3•0.7LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2/reduced graphene oxide (LMROs/rGO) is rationally constructed via in-situ thermally reduction method in air flow. This method can reduce graphene oxide availably and meanwhile prevent the reduction of transition element including Ni, Mn and Co in LMROs through typical thermal reduction in inert atmosphere and the aggregation of graphene during chemical reduction process. LMROs/rGO shows enhanced electrical conductivity at polarization potentials of 0.2 V and 4.5 V and lower charge-transfer resistance, in comparison with LMROs, benefited from the addition of conductive rGO with promoted electron transport kinetics. Consequently, LMROs/rGO exhibits high initial capacity of 295.7 mA h−1 at 20 mA g−1 and better rate capability as high as 154.3 mA h g−1 at 500 mA g−1 under 2.0–4.8 V vs. Li/Li+, superior to those of LMROs. Considering the facility and availability of this hybrid/reduction method and needless any reducing agent and additives, it is believed that this simple and scalable in-situ thermal reduction of GO in air flow is an effective approach for the introduction of rGO to either xLi2MnO3∙(1−x)LiMO2 cathode material or other electrode materials which demand a highly oxidative environment for enhanced electrochemical performances.
Practical application of LiS battery is greatly impeded by the critical challenges of large volume expansion, intrinsic insulation problem of active materials, and serious polysulfides shuttling. Thus, it is still quite essential for us to search an efficient strategy to synergistically overcome these problems. Herein, we design and in-situ deposit a functional δ-MnO2 layer onto the outside surface of porous carbon foam/sulfur composites to synergetic inhibit the polysulfides shuttling and increase sulfur utilization, finally improve the electrochemical performance of LiS batteries. As verified by UV–vis and XPS results, the strong chemical interaction between the MnO2 layer and polysulfide intermediates is characterized to be an internal disproportionation reaction by transferring the absorbed long-chain polysulfides into insoluble polythionate complex. Also, the unique structure possesses high conductivity and good volume expansion tolerance, further guaranteeing the electrode a good cycling stability, rate performance and low self-discharge behavior. The MnO2 coated carbon foam/S electrode displays a remarkable capacity of 1547 mA g−1 at 0.1 C, and achieves a reversible capacity of 629 mA g−1 after 300 cycles at 1 C. Even with sulfur loading of 2.6 and 4.3 mg cm−2, the designed electrodes still deliver an initial discharge capacity of 1106 and 963 mA g−1 at 0.2 C.
The present study investigates the impact of various discharge rates on the thermal (temperature and heat generation profiles) and electrical performance of the Li-ion battery for electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles. For this, a prismatic Li-ion phosphate (LiFePO4) battery with 20Ah capacity is tested under constant current discharge rates of C/10, C/5, C/2, 1C, 2C, 3C, and 4C and surface temperatures and voltage distributions during both charging and discharging are measured. In addition, IR images were also captured during experiments with a Flir Therma CAM S60 IR camera at various discharge rates and are reported in this study. Furthermore, a thermal model is created and validated for a particular battery using a MATLAB Simulink in terms of temperature, voltage, heat generation, and internal resistance. The results of this study demonstrate that the increased C-rates from C/10 to 4C result in increased temperatures on the principal surface of the battery. Also, at the lower discharge rates (below 1C), the surface temperature remains close to the ambient temperature, but at higher discharge rates (above 1C); the surface temperature quickly increases for all C-rates. The most noteworthy surface temperature distribution is observed to be 58.1°C towards the end of 4C discharge.
A carbon-coated Ni20Si80 alloy–graphite composite has been studied as the anode for lithium-ion batteries. The composite is prepared by simple heat-treatment of a mixture of coal tar pitch and a Ni20Si80–graphite composite at 900°C and under argon. The Ni20Si80 alloy powders are synthesized by mechanical alloying. The composite demonstrates promising electrochemical properties such as high reversible capacity, excellent cycle performance, and sufficiently high initial charge–discharge coulombic efficiency. This suggests buffering and conductive actions on the main active material, viz., Ni20Si80 alloy, of the graphite. These two effects are strongly enhanced by the carbon coating treatment.
Respondent error, low resolution, and study participant burden are known limitations of diary timelines used in exposure studies such as the National Human Exposure Assessment Survey (NHEXAS). Recent advances in global positioning system (GPS) technology have produced tracking devices sufficiently portable, functional and affordable to utilize in exposure assessment science. In this study, a differentially corrected GPS (dGPS) tracking device was compared to the NHEXAS diary timeline. The study also explored how GPS can be used to evaluate and improve such diary timelines by determining which location categories and which respondents are least likely to record “correct” time–location responses. A total of 31 children ages 3–5 years old wore a dGPS device for all waking hours on a weekend day while their parents completed the NHEXAS diary timeline to document the child's time–location pattern. Parents misclassified child time–location approximately 48% of the time using the NHEXAS timeline in comparison to dGPS. Overall concordance between methods was marginal (κ=0.33–0.35). The dGPS device found that on average, children spent 76% of the 24-h study period in the home. The diary underestimated time the child spent in the home by 17%, while overestimating time spent inside other locations, outside at home, outside in other locations, and time spent in transit. Diary data for time spent outside at home and time in transit had the lowest response concordance with dGPS. The diaries of stay-at-home mothers and mothers working unskilled labor jobs had lower concordance with dGPS than did those of the other participants. The ability of dGPS tracking to collect continuous rather than categorical (ordinal) data was also demonstrated. It is concluded that automated GPS tracking measurements can improve the quality and collection efficiency of time–location data in exposure assessment studies, albeit for small cohorts.
Introduction: It was shown that subjective sleep problems in later life could be predictor of cognitive decline (Altena et al., 2010). Different modalities of cognitive functions were shown to be impaired – vigilance, working memory, motor control and motor learning. Materials and methods: Fifty patients with diagnosis of chronic insomnia disorder according ICSD-3 aged 59.0 ± 15.9 years, 45 females and 5 males, were studied with the battery of tests on cognitive functions. The following tests were used: Stroop for attention; clock drawing test for visuo-constructive abilities; Benton visual retention test for visual perception and visual memory; verbal fluency test for performance of semantic memory; trail making test (TMT) for visual attention and task switching. Disordered sleep was estimated by Insomnia severity index and clinical data. Results: Spearman rank correlation test revealed significant (p < 0.05) correlations between the results of Stroop task and sleep duration (r = −0.34), Benton test and number of awakenings (r = −0.53) and verbal fluency test and insomnia duration (r = −0.45). Mann–Whitney U test also revealed significant differences between results of Benton tests in patients with frequent (10.9 ± 2.2) and episodic (11.9 ± 2.1) night awakenings. Conclusion: We found very weak and inconsistent connection between the presence of any sleep disturbances in chronic insomnia patients and the results of cognitive function tests.
Systematic evaluation of dog behavior in animal shelters has been advocated as an essential component of addressing the behavioral needs of dogs in shelters and for helping make appropriate placement decisions. Yet there is little information available about the prevalence of behavioral responses observed in these evaluations. Conducting evaluations in a standardized fashion and collecting results in a centralized database would yield prevalence estimates of behaviors and common patterns, helping shelters make more informed decisions regarding in-shelter enrichment, behavior modification, and placement. The Match-Up II Behavior Evaluation, a standardized test battery, was developed based on analysis of 668 evaluations, follow-up survey results with owners of adopted dogs, and multiple rounds of applied testing and revision. In order to make the data collection as standardized as possible, we developed an online portal to allow users to enter data and automatically score results. Currently, there are 15 shelters actively using the Match-Up II Online portal amounting to 4,100 dogs. Of these, 36.7% displayed jumpy/mouthy behavior; 27.8% displayed fear of people, and 8.3% displayed food-related aggression. Using an online portal for collecting and scoring shelter dog behavior evaluations is feasible in real world shelter settings. Pooling of data from multiple shelters will allow initial estimates of prevalence of common behavioral responses to various sub-tests, thereby allowing shelters to plan appropriate resources for their canine populations. Moreover, these findings will help shelters identify and manage problematic behaviors of individual dogs before and after adoption thereby preventing unneeded euthanasia.
Gagnon C, Mathieu J, Jean S, Laberge L, Perron M, Veillette S, Richer L, Noreau L. Predictors of disrupted social participation in myotonic dystrophy type 1. Objective To identify personal and environmental predictors of the most disrupted participation domains in people with myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1). Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Outpatient neuromuscular clinic. Participants Adults (n=200; 121 women), age 18 years or older (mean age, 47y), with a confirmed diagnosis of DM1 were selected from the registry of a neuromuscular clinic (N=416). Fifty-two participants had the mild phenotype and 148 the adult phenotype. Interventions Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures Social participation in mobility, housing, employment, and recreation was assessed with the Life Habits Measure. Disrupted participation was based on whether help was needed in performing most life habits because of incapacities or environmental barriers. Environmental factors were assessed by using the Measure of the Quality of the Environment. Personal factors were assessed with standardized instruments including the Berg Balance Scale, the Krupp Fatigue Severity Scale, and manual muscle testing. Results A large proportion of participants (45%–61%) reported disrupted participation in all 4 domains. Lower-extremity strength (odd ratios [OR], 15.0–5.5; P<.050) and higher fatigue (OR, 6.0–2.6; P<.05) were present in participants with disrupted participation. With regard to environmental factors, family support (OR, 3.6–2.5; P<.05) and public services (OR, 2.8–2.2; P<.05) were perceived as barriers for participants with disrupted participation in most domains. Conclusions This study identified personal and environmental factors that may influence the trajectory toward disrupted participation in individuals with DM1. Fatigue, strength, family support, and public services were found to be independent predictors of disrupted participation.
Carbon nanotubes are expected to be very competitive materials with tensile features that surpass by far their counterparts in known high performance composite materials. In conjunction to this, remarkable electronic properties make them ideal components to design new microelectronic devices at the nanoscale. We review some recents results that confirm expectional mechanical properties, and unveil new features of electronic transport. Both new findings characterize these new class of materials.
China has modernised rapidly in recent decades with rising economic growth, which we might assume would lead to a high level of life satisfaction. However, rapid modernisation also has implications for people’s norms and values, which can change—or fail to change—in line with these developments, with implications for life satisfaction. This paper looks at factors that affected life satisfaction in 2012–2013 using the most recent round of the World Values Survey. It uses a holistic framework for analysis derived from the social quality model by focusing upon socio-economic security, social cohesion, social inclusion and social empowerment. Using this societal approach, we found that 33 % of the variance in subjective well-being in China can be explained. Three of the four fields of social quality were important, but feelings of social empowerment make the largest contribution. We conclude that the economic changes that have taken place in China might have helped to move social norms in the direction of individualisation and a sense of personal agency, which raises life satisfaction for those that have made this adjustment. It also implies that the more gradualist transition policies introduced by China (in contrast to some former Soviet countries) allow people to cope better with social change.
Background Auditory neuropathy (AN) is a specific hearing disorder with abnormal auditory neural responses in the presence of normal cochlear function. Affection of vestibular portion of cochleo-vestibular (VIII) nerve was only reported in few studies. Objectives To evaluate the cochleo-vestibular function in these patients and to detect any relationship between both cochlear and vestibular functions. Method The study was conducted on forty (AN) patients. All subjects were submitted to: full audiological test battery; history taking, clinical otological examination, basic audiological evaluation, Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR), Transient Evoked Otoacoustic Emissions (TEOAEs) and threshold equalizing test (TEN). Vestibular test battery; (vestibular evoked myogenic potential (VEMP) and VNG test battery). Results Audiological test battery confirmed the audiological criteria for auditory neuropathy reported in the literature. Results of this work showed that, there was preservation of TEOAE in all patients. Also, there was an increase in amplitude of CM in AN. Moreover, all AN patients showed presence of dead regions that started first in low frequencies and with increase number of dead regions the mid and high frequencies also affected. In addition to that the vestibular function tests showed that VEMP was preserved bilaterally in 15 patients, unilateral in 10 patients and absent in 15 patients. On the other side, VNG showed normal central vestibular system with unilateral weakness in 10 ears only. Conclusion Patients with auditory neuropathy could also have vestibular neuropathy. Vestibular neuropathy could be classified into three groups: superior vestibular neuropathy, inferior vestibular neuropathy and superior/inferior vestibular neuropathy.
Understanding and control of interfacial phenomena between electrode material and liquid electrolytes are of major scientific importance for boosting development of high-performance lithium ion batteries with reliable electrochemical/safety attributes. Here, as an innovative surface engineering approach to address the interfacial issues, a new concept of mixed ion/electron-conductive soft nanomatter-based conformal surface modification of the cathode material is presented. The soft nanomatter is comprised of an electron conductive carbonaceous (C) substance embedded in an ion conductive polyimide (PI) nanothin compliant film. In addition to its structural uniqueness, the newly proposed surface modification benefits from a simple fabrication process. The PI/carbon soft nanomatter is directly synthesized on LiCoO2 surface via one-pot thermal treatment of polyamic acid (=PI precursor) and sucrose (=carbon source) mixture, where the LiCoO2 powders are chosen as a model system to explore the feasibility of this surface engineering strategy. The resulting PI/carbon coating layer facilitates electronic conduction and also suppresses unwanted side reactions arising from the cathode material-liquid electrolyte interface. These synergistic coating effects of the multifunctional PI/carbon soft nanomatter significantly improve high-voltage cell performance and also mitigate interfacial exothermic reaction between cathode material and liquid electrolyte.
The development of functional materials towards mechanical energy harvesting applications is rapidly increasing during this decade. In this study, we are reporting the mechanical energy harvesting properties of free-standing carbyne-enriched carbon film (prepared via dehydrohalogenation of PVDF). Physico-chemical characterizations such as X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, 13C NMR spectroscopy, and laser Raman spectral analyses confirmed the formation of the carbyne-enriched carbon film. The Raman mapping analysis revealed the homogeneous distribution of cumulenic (β-carbyne) networks in carbonoid matrix of the prepared film. The mechanical energy harvesting properties of carbyne-enriched carbon film have been examined under various applied compressive forces. The carbyne-enriched carbon film based energy harvester generates a peak to peak voltage of 6.48 V using a periodic force of 0.2 N, and the output voltage is directly proportional to the levels of applied compressive force. The carbyne-enriched carbon film based energy harvester possesses an instantaneous power density of about 72 nW cm−2 with excellent electromechanical stability. These experimental findings ensure the use of carbyne-enriched carbon film as a mechanical energy harvester for the first time, which can create new insights towards the development of carbon-based mechanical energy harvesters.