batterydata/paper-abstracts huggingface dataset:
Background Single nucleotide polymorphisms in TCF4 gene have been consistently associated with schizophrenia in genome wide association studies, including the C allele of rs9960767. However, its exact role in modulating the schizophrenia phenotype is not known. Aims To comprehensively investigate the relationship between rs9960767 risk allele (C) of TCF4 and cognitive performance in patients with first episode psychosis (FEP). Methods 173 patients with FEP received a comprehensive neurocognitive evaluation and were genotyped for rs9960767. Carriers of the risk allele (CA/CC) were compared to non-carriers (AA) using Multivariate Analysis of Covariance MANCOVA. Ethnicity, negative symptoms and substance abuse were included as covariates. Results Carriers of the risk allele had a statistically significant lower performance in the cognitive domain of Reasoning/Problem-Solving compared to non-carriers (F1,172 =4.4, p=.038). There were no significant genotype effects on the other cognitive domains or general cognition. This effect on the Reasoning/Problem-Solving domain remained significant even when controlling for IQ (F1,172 =4.3, p=.039). Conclusions rs9960767 (C) of TCF4 appears to be associated with neurocognitive deficits in the Reasoning/Problem-Solving cognitive domain, in patients with FEP. A confirmation of this finding in a larger sample and including other TCF4 polymorphisms will be needed to gain further validity of this result.
γ-phase LiV2O5, which shows superior electrochemical performance as cathode material in Li-ion batteries, was prepared by annealing the polyoxovanadate cluster Li7 [V15O36(CO3)]. The reaction mechanism was studied using operando X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses. The X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) and XPS results reveal that γ-LiV2O5 undergoes two-electron redox reaction per V2O5 pyramid unit, resulting in a large reversible capacity of 260 Ah/kg. The extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) and PXRD analyses also suggest that the V-V distance slightly increases, due to the reduction of V5+ to V4+ during Li ion intercalation as the material structure is maintained. As a result, γ-LixV2O5 shows highly reversible electrochemical reaction with x = 0.1–1.9.
This paper attempts to formalise, solve and optimise (S/O) the Assembly Sequence Planning Problem (ASPP), a large scale, highly constrained combinatorial problem. Due to the complexity of the subject and the number of related matters to be considered/adapted/solved prior to S/O the ASPP, the paper is split in two, self-contained, parts: Part I—Automatic Generation of Feasible Assembly Sequences and Part II—optimisation of assembly sequences using Genetic Algorithms. The first part deals with formalising the ASPP—modelling and representation issues—and generating feasible assembly sequences (solving the ASPP). The second part is concerned with the optimisation of the ASPP and will present in detail the Genetic Algorithm designed to optimise it, the genetic operators that compose the algorithm and the definition of the fitness function (optimisation function). The ASPP is considered here as a full-scale, unabridged problem.
Harvesting mechanical energy from our living environment is an effective approach for self-powered electronics. One of the key issues is how to extract more electricity from one mechanical motion. Here, we report a hybrid energy cell that consists of a single-electrode based triboelectric nanogenerator (S-TENG) and an electromagnetic generator (EMG), which can be utilized to simultaneously scavenge mechanical energy from one mechanical motion. Due to the contact/separation between the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) film and the polyamide (PA) film, the S-TENG delivers an open-circuit voltage (peak to peak) of about 600V, a short-circuit current of about 3.5μA with a largest output power of about 0.25mW (power per unit mass: 0.48mW/g), which can directly light up tens of commercial light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in series. From the same mechanical motion, the EMG can produce an open-circuit voltage of about 3V, a short-circuit current of about 1mA with a largest output power of 0.58mW (power per unit mass: 5.31μW/g), which can directly light up tens of LEDs in parallel. Moreover, the hybrid energy cell exhibits a better charging performance than that of S-TENG or EMG for charging a capacitor. This work presents a hybrid energy cell technology to simultaneously scavenge mechanical energy from one mechanical motion for self-powered electronics.
Summary The discovery of natural resources across the African continent brings hope for millions of poor people, but there are long-standing fears that the resources will be a curse rather than a blessing. One of the most frequently claimed effects is that gender inequality in economic opportunities may increase with mining. This paper is the first multi-country quantitative analysis of the local employment impacts for men and women of large-scale mining in the African continent. Using exact mine locations, we merge survey data for 800,000 individuals with data on all mine openings and closings across the continent, which enables a highly localized analysis of spillover effects. We employ a geographic difference-in-difference estimation exploiting the spatial and temporal variation in mining. We show that industrial mine opening is a mixed blessing for women. It triggers a local structural shift, whereby women shift from agricultural self-employment (25% decrease) to the service sector (50% increase), and are 16% more likely to earn cash. However, overall female employment decreases by 8% as agriculture is a larger sector than services. Male partners shift to skilled manual labor, and some find jobs in the mining sector. The effects of mine openings diminish with distance and are close to zero at 50km from a mine. Mine closure causes the service and skilled sectors to contract. The results are robust to a wide battery of robustness checks, such as using different measures of distance and excluding migrants from the sample. This paper shows that large-scale mining can stimulate nonagricultural sectors in Africa, although it creates local boom-bust economies with transient and gender-specific employment effects.
Airborne 210Pb, daughter of 222Rn, is frequently used as a tracer in different studies concerning atmospheric transport, sedimentation, soil erosion, dating, etc. Concentration of 210Pb was measured in 40 soil samples collected in urban and industrial areas in order to get evidence of possible influence of some factors on accumulation of airborne 210Pb in soil. Different soil properties such as the content of organic matter, free CaCO3, and available phosphorus (P2O5) were measured to explore their possible correlation with the amount of 210Pb. Special attention was given to the correlation between 210Pb and stable lead accumulated in the soil. Several samples were taken near a battery manufacturer to check if extremely high concentrations of lead can affect the uptake of the airborne 210Pb in soil. Soil samples were also taken at different depths to investigate the penetration of lead through the soil.
The tremendous amount of research that has been carried out in the two closely related fields of semiconductor photoelectrochemistry and photocatalysis during the past three decades continues to provide fundamental insights and practical applications. The present review paper will attempt to describe some of the progress and resulting achievements in these two areas and to briefly discuss the future prospects. In order to provide a focal point, we will highlight work carried out in Japan over the last 5 years. However, we will try as much as possible to put this work into a global and historical context by tracing some of the key developments that have occurred outside this relatively narrow scope. We should note at the outset that we have made no attempt to cover the underlying theory or physics of photoelectrochemistry. Several excellent reviews have appeared during this same time period that cover fundamental and general aspects of photoelectrochemistry and photocatalysis.
In sensor research community, the advances in materials are main strategy for driving developments in the field, with an ultimate objective to enhance three interrelated analytical parameters that are sensor sensitivity, selectivity and response time. Herein, we demonstrate the design and fabrication of highly sensitive and selective amperometric sensor to detect ascorbic acid (AA) with rapid and reproducible response behavior. The sensor based on glassy carbon electrode (GCE) that initially modified with novel TiO2/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanocomposites synthesized by simple chemical and calcination processes. The as-synthesized nanocomposite was fully characterized by XRD, FTIR-Raman, SEM-EDS and TEM, which revealed wrinkled wave like 2-D graphene nano-sheets with crystalline anatase phase of TiO2 nanoparticles anchored on the surface. Cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy showed enhanced electrochemical activity of TiO2/rGO nanocomposite modified GCE compared to either bare GCE or TiO2 modified electrode. Sensor analytical parameters derived from amperometric measurements indicated outstanding sensing performance, giving a superior sensitivity 1.061μAμM−1 cm−2, low limit of detection (LOD) 1.19μM at (S/N=3) within a linear range of AA concentration (25 to 725μM) with a correlation coefficient R 2 =0.9888 and a rapid response time <5s. The newly proposed sensor electrode exhibits unique electrochemical stability, repeatability and high selectivity in the presence of common interfering species of glucose, dopamine, citric acid or uric acid. The kinetic study indicated the electrode reaction proceeds via a diffusion-controlled process. The current TiO2/rGO nanocomposite modified GCE gives acceptable detection result towards a commercially available vitamin C supplement.
P2-type Na2/3−xCaxCoO2 is synthesized via a conventional solid–state reaction. The substituted calcium ions occupy the sodium ion layer and eliminate the lattice mismatches of the two phases in Na2/3−xCaxCoO2. Several voltage steps typically observed in the voltage profiles of NaxCoO2 are mostly disappeared associated with the expansion of single-phase regions, because the substituted calcium ions hinder the ordering of sodium ions and vacancies. Furthermore the Na2/3−xCaxCoO2 shows improved cycling performance especially at high charging–discharging rate. During the cycling test, the calcium-free Na0.74CoO2 shows phase separation to form an inactive sodium poor phase, while the Na5/8Ca1/24CoO2 maintained the single phase, suggesting that the calcium substitution suppress the structural change of the P2-type NaxCoO2 to prevent the phase separation, resulting in the improved cycling performance.
There is an intensive effort to develop stationary energy storage technologies. Now, Yi Cui and colleagues develop a Mn–H battery that functions with redox couples of Mn2+/MnO2 and H2/H2O, and demonstrate its potential for grid-scale storage.
The pervasive and ubiquitous computing has motivated researches on multimedia adaptation which aims at matching the video quality to the user needs and device restrictions. This technique has a high computational cost which needs to be studied and estimated when designing architectures and applications. This paper presents an analytical model to quantify these video transcoding costs in a hardware independent way. The model was used to analyze the impact of transcoding delays in end-to-end live-video transmissions over LANs, MANs and WANs. Experiments confirm that the proposed model helps to define the best transcoding architecture for different scenarios.
Solid electrolyte with stable and fast Na+ ionic conductivity is of central importance in the development of all-solid-state sodium batteries. Here we present a novel Na+ conductor based on complex hydrides with composition of Na3NH2B12H12. It exhibits remarkable thermal stability up to 593 K and excellent electrochemical stable window up to 10 V (vs. Na+/Na). It demonstrates a high Na+ conductivity of 1.0 × 10−4 S cm-1 at a temperature of 372 K, which is much higher than those of its precursors NaNH2 and Na2B12H12. All-solid-state Na-ion batteries were constructed by employing the obtained Na3NH2B12H12 as electrolyte, TiS2 as cathode and sodium foil as anode, which can reversibly discharge/charge for over 200 cycles with more than 50% capacity retention at temperature of 353 K and a rate of 0.1 C. This work opens the gate to develop advanced solid electrolytes via combination of metal amides with closo borates.
Crystalline echinus-like SnO2@SnS2 shell-shell-structured nanospheres (SSN) are fabricated by a hydrothermal method based on nanoscale Kirkendall Effect. Single crystal SnS2 nanorods with length of approximately 50nm and width of approximately 8-15nm are arranged regularly on the surface of the nanospheres. When the echinus-like SnO2@SnS2 SSN are used as anode materials for Li-ion batteries, the initial capacity is 1558mA h g−1, and the reversible capacity after 100 cycles of the products is 548mA h g−1. The SnO2@SnS2 nanocomposites also display excellent rate capability with a reversible capacity of 443.4mA h g−1 even at the current rate of 5C. The high electrochemical performance is attributed to the synergistic effect of the hierarchical hollow nanostructure: (1) fast ion diffusion and electron transport at electrode/electrolyte interface, (2) sufficient space to minimize the damage to the electrode caused by the volume expansion of tin-based materials during charge-discharge process. The encouraging experimental results suggest that the novel echinus-like hollow shell-shell structured nanospheres have great potential for practical applications of Li-ion batteries.
Caring for people with dementia at home requires a significant amount of time, organization, and commitment. Therefore, informal caregivers, mainly relatives, of people with dementia often feel a high burden. Although on-site support groups are known to have positive effects on the subjective well-being (SWB) and perceived social support of informal caregivers, there are cases in which relatives have either no time or no opportunity to leave the person alone or in which there are no support groups nearby. The TALKING TIME project aims to close this supply gap by providing structured telephone-based support groups in Germany for the first time. International studies have shown benefits for informal caregivers.
The practical application of Sn, a promising anode material for lithium-ion batteries, is hindered primarily by its huge volume change (up to 260%) upon lithiation. To tackle this obstacle, here we report a facile one-pot method, i.e., pyrolysis of a mixture of GO, SnCl4, and cyanamide at elevated temperatures to create in situ a novel mesoporous structure of Sn@N-doped graphene (Sn@NG). In the constructed architecture, the ultrasmall Sn nanoparticles (2–3 nm) are uniformly embedded in the NG network while the crumpled NG provides good electronic conductivity, abundant defects, high surface area, and large mesopore volume. Due to the combination of these merits, Sn@NG exhibits extremely long-term cycling stability, even at high rates, retaining a capacity of 568 mAh g−1 at 1 A g−1 (90% retention) and 535 mAh g−1 at 2 A g−1 (91.6% retention) after 1000 and 900 cycles, respectively. This performance is superior to that of Sn@G (without N-doping) and Sn//NG prepared using a two-step process with large particle sizes (>30 nm) and uneven dispersion of Sn. The findings from this work will shed light on the design of efficient and stable Sn and other metal-based materials for energy storage and conversion.
Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are a device using microorganisms as biocatalysts for transforming chemical energy into bioelectricity. As soil is an environment with the highest number of microorganisms and diversity, we hypothesized that it should have the potential for energy generation. The soil used for the study was Mollic Gleysol collected from the surface layer (0–20 cm). Four combinations of soil MFC differing from each other in humidity (full water holding capacity [WHC] and flooding) and the carbon source (glucose and straw) were constructed. Voltage (mV) and current intensity (μA) produced by the MFCs were recorded every day or at 2-day intervals. The fastest and the most effective MFCs in voltage generation (372.2 ± 5 mV) were those constructed on the basis of glucose (MFC-G). The efficiency of straw MFCs (MFC-S) was noticeable after 2 weeks (319.3 ± 4 mV). Maximal power density (Pmax = 32 mW m−2) was achieved by the MFC-G at current density (CD) of 100 mA m−2. Much lower values of Pmax (10.6–10.8 mW m−2) were noted in the MFC-S at CD of ca. 60–80 mA m−2. Consequently, soil has potential for production of renewable energy.
Cortical excitability changes induced by tDCS and revealed by TMS, are increasingly being used as an index of neuronal plasticity in the human cortex. The aim of this paper is to summarize the partially adverse effects of 567 tDCS sessions over motor and non-motor cortical areas (occipital, temporal, parietal) from the last 2 years, on work performed in our laboratories. One-hundred and two of our subjects who participated in our tDCS studies completed a questionnaire. The questionnaire contained rating scales regarding the presence and severity of headache, difficulties in concentrating, acute mood changes, visual perceptual changes and any discomforting sensation like pain, tingling, itching or burning under the electrodes, during and after tDCS. Participants were healthy subjects (75.5%), migraine patients (8.8%), post-stroke patients (5.9%) and tinnitus patients (9.8%). During tDCS a mild tingling sensation was the most common reported adverse effect (70.6%), moderate fatigue was felt by 35.3% of the subjects, whereas a light itching sensation under the stimulation electrodes occurred in 30.4% of cases. After tDCS headache (11.8%), nausea (2.9%) and insomnia (0.98%) were reported, but fairly infrequently. In addition, the incidence of the itching sensation (p =0.02) and the intensity of tingling sensation (p =0.02) were significantly higher during tDCS in the group of the healthy subjects, in comparison to patients; whereas the occurrence of headache was significantly higher in the patient group (p =0.03) after the stimulation. Our results suggest that tDCS applied to motor and non-motor areas according to the present tDCS safety guidelines, is associated with relatively minor adverse effects in healthy humans and patients with varying neurological disorders.
Sponsorship: Canadian International Development Agency through Micronutrient Initiative, UNICEF Malawi, World Vision Malawi. SmithKline Beecham donated albendazole.
High density, three-dimensional (3D) cultures present physical similarities to in vivo tissue and are invaluable tools for pre-clinical therapeutic discoveries and development of tissue engineered constructs. Unfortunately, the use of dense cultures is hindered by intra-culture transport limits allowing just a few layer thick cultures for reproducible studies. In order to overcome diffusion limits in intra-culture nutrient and gas availability, a simple scalable microfluidic perfusion platform was developed and validated. A novel perfusion approach maintained laminar flow of nutrients through the culture to meet metabolic need, while removing depleted medium and catabolites. Velocity distributions and 3D flow patterns were measured using microscopic particle image velocimetry. The effectiveness of forced convection laminar perfusion was confirmed by culturing 700 µm thick neural-astrocytic (1:1) constructs at cell density approaching that of the brain (50,000 cells/mm3). At the optimized flow rate of the nutrient medium, the culture viability reached 90% through the full construct thickness at 2 days of perfusion while unperfused controls exhibited widespread cell death. The membrane aerated perfusion platform was integrated within a miniature, imaging accessible enclosure enabling temperature and gas control of the culture environment. Temperature measurements demonstrated fast feedback response to environmental changes resulting in the maintenance of the physiological temperature within 37 ± 0.2°C. Reproducible culturing of tissue equivalents within dynamically controlled environments will provide higher fidelity to in vivo function in an in vitro accessible format for cell-based assays and regenerative medicine.
Phonological recoding, orthographic knowledge, and rapid automatized naming (RAN) are three major contributors to word identification. However, the interrelations between these components remain somewhat unclear. The current analyses focus on how phonological recoding and alphanumeric versus non-alphanumeric RAN contribute to different components of orthographic knowledge (word specific vs. general). Results indicate that alphanumeric and non-alphanumeric RAN contribute to orthographic knowledge components differently. Alphanumeric RAN relates more to word-specific orthographic knowledge, whereas non-alphanumeric RAN relates more to general orthographic knowledge. Furthermore, phonological recoding is more closely related to word-specific orthographic knowledge than to general orthographic knowledge.
As the largest developing country, China has abundant wind, biomass and solar energy resources. Under the large demand for electricity and the shortage of fossil energy, it is essential to develop renewable energy generation in China. This paper analyzes the resources, scale, market operation, profitability and policies of China’s wind, biomass and solar power generation and gives a discussion of the investment risks in the current situation. It is expected that the analysis in this paper could be helpful for the potential investors to make decision.
Several factors must be considered before adopting a full-phase power generation system based on renewable energy sources. Long-term necessary data (for one year if possible) should be collected before making any decisions concerning implementation of such a systems. To accurately assess the potential of available resources, we measured solar irradiation, wind speed, and ambient temperature at two high-altitude locations in Nepal: the Lama Hotel in Rasuwa District and Thingan in Makawanpur District. Here, we propose two practical, economical hybridization methods for small off-grid systems consisting entirely of renewable energy sources—specifically solar photovoltaic (PV), wind, and micro-hydro sources. One of the methods was tested experimentally, and the results can be applied to help achieve Millennium Development Goal 7: Ensuring environmental sustainability. Hydro, wind, and solar photovoltaic energy are the top renewable energy sources in terms of globally installed capacity. However, no reports have been published about off-grid hybrid systems comprised of all three sources, making this implementation the first of its kind anywhere. This research may be applied as a practical guide for implementing similar systems in various locations. Of the four off-grid PV systems installed by the authors for village electrification in Nepal, one was further hybridized with wind and hydro power sources. This paper presents a novel approach for connecting renewable energy sources to a utility mini-grid.