batterydata/paper-abstracts huggingface dataset:
The neural networks associated with processing related pairs of words forming literal, novel, and conventional metaphorical expressions and unrelated pairs of words were studied in a group of 15 normal adults using fMRI. Subjects read the four types of linguistic expressions and decided which relation exists between the two words (metaphoric, literal, or unrelated). According to the Graded Salience Hypothesis (GSH, Giora, 1997, 2002, 2003), which predicts a selective RH involvement in the processing of novel, nonsalient meanings, it is primarily the degree of meaning salience of a linguistic expression rather than literality or nonliterality, which modulates the degree of left hemisphere (LH) and right hemisphere (RH) processing of metaphors. In the present study, novel metaphorical expressions represented the nonsalient interpretations, whereas conventional metaphors and literal expressions represented the salient interpretations. A direct comparison of the novel metaphors vs. the conventional metaphors revealed significantly stronger activity in right posterior superior temporal sulcus, right inferior frontal gyrus, and left middle frontal gyrus. These results support the GSH and suggest a special role for the RH in processing novel metaphors. Furthermore, the right PSTS may be selectively involved in verbal creativity.
Though redox-based electrode materials with a high surface-area are expected to bridge the gap between supercapacitors and rechargeable batteries in energy-storage applications, full utilization of the inherent electoactivity is frequently hindered by the limited diffusion of electrolytes, paricularly during high-rate charge/discharge. Here, we demonstrate the electrochemical properties of Ni(OH)2 nanoplatelets that are vertically grown on graphene by employing poly(amidoamine) dendrimers as growth directing agents and as linkers. By virtue of the structural features, Ni(OH)2 electrodes deliver a maximum specific capacity of 1226 Cg−1 (2043Fg−1) at 5mVs−1. The electrodes also retain a substantial capacity at high charge/discharge rates (955Cg−1 at 1Ag−1 vs. 560Cg−1 at 80Ag−1). The cycability is also remarkable, exhibiting the capacity retention of 102% after 5000 cycles at 10Ag−1. These excellent electrochemical properties are contrasted with those of a composite prepared without dendrimers (496Cg−1 at 5mVs−1; 486Cg−1 at 1Ag−1 vs. 184Cg−1 at 80Ag−1; 78% retention). By virtue of Ni(OH)2 nanoplatelets, an asymmetric full-cell coupled with a graphene electrode can deliver one of the highest energy densities ever reported (52–58Whkg−1) with high power densities that range between 1.0 and 20.0kWkg−1.
This paper reports a spinel-type LiMn2O4/carbon nanotube (CNT) composite cathode material with high electrochemical performance for energy storage applications. The composite material is prepared by hydrothermal reaction between birnessite MnO2/multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) composite and LiOH solution, followed by heat treatment at 700 °C in air atmosphere, where the MnO2/MWCNT precursor is obtained by in situ redox reaction between KMnO4 solution and MWCNTs. The heat treated LiMn2O4/CNT composite material consists of well-crystallized spinel LiMn2O4 with small amount of enwrapped segmented carbon nanotubes, which is confirmed by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. Electrochemical experimental results demonstrate that the LiMn2O4/CNT composite material heat treated for 8 h exhibits high specific capacity and excellent high-rate capability in 5 M LiNO3 aqueous electrolyte. The (LiMn2O4/CNT)/5 M LiNO3/activated carbon hybrid supercapacitor with this LiMn2O4-based composite material as the cathode presents excellent high-power capability and good charge/discharge cyclability.
Spherical-like LiFePO4 was synthesized by hydrothermal synthesis method using Phenanthroline as a complexing-agent to avoid the Fe(II) ions from oxidation and control the growth of the crystal. Structural, electron valence state, morphology and particle size were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), Mössbauer spectra, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and laser particle sizer. Charge–discharge cycling performances were used to characterize its electrochemical properties. The sample possesses uniformly distributed spherical-like particles with an average size of 0.5–1μm. Test shows that the reversible capacity of spherical-like LiFePO4 is about 140mAhg−1 at 0.1C. The capacity fading is neglectable.
Waste creation in some sectors of the food industry is substantial, and while much of the used material is non-hazardous and biodegradable, it is often poorly dealt with and simply sent to landfill mixed with other types of waste. In this context, overproduction wastes were found in a number of cases to account for 20–40% of the material wastes generated by convenience food manufacturers (such as ready-meals and sandwiches), often simply just to meet the challenging demands placed on the manufacturer due to the short order reaction time provided by the supermarkets. Identifying specific classes of waste helps to minimise their creation, through consideration of what the materials constitute and why they were generated. This paper aims to provide means by which food industry wastes can be identified, and demonstrate these mechanisms through a practical example. The research reported in this paper investigated the various categories of waste and generated three analytical methods for the support of waste minimisation activities by food manufacturers. The waste classifications and analyses are intended to complement existing waste minimisation approaches and are described through consideration of a case study convenience food manufacturer that realised significant financial savings through waste measurement, analysis and reduction.
Fundamental characteristics of a solid oxide redox flow battery consisting of solid oxide electrochemical cell (SOEC) and redox metal were studied by a gas-diffusion based time-dependent 1-D numerical simulation taking both the electrochemical and redox reactions into account. Close attention was paid to the distributions of the participating gas species and their effects on the charge/discharge performance. The volume expansion/reduction of the porous metal associated with the redox reaction was modeled as decrease/increase in local porosity. The numerical results for charge/discharge operation qualitatively showed the time-dependent distributions of the related physical quantities such as the gas concentrations, the active reaction region in the redox metal, and its local porosity. It was found that, to ensure effective redox reaction throughout the operation, the gas diffusion in the redox metal should be carefully designed.
Abstract Encephalitis is caused by a variety of conditions, including infections of the brain by a wide range of pathogens. A substantial number of cases of encephalitis defy all attempts at identifying a specific cause. Little is known about the long-term prognosis in patients with encephalitis of unknown aetiology, which complicates their management during the acute illness. To learn more about the prognosis of patients with encephalitis of unknown aetiology, patients in whom no aetiology could be identified were examined in a large, single-centre encephalitis cohort. In addition to analysing the clinical data of the acute illness, surviving patients were assessed by telephone interview a minimum of 2 years after the acute illness by applying a standardized test battery. Of the patients with encephalitis who qualified for inclusion (n = 203), 39 patients (19.2%) had encephalitis of unknown aetiology. The case fatality in these patients was 12.8%. Among the survivors, 53% suffered from various neurological sequelae, most often attention and sensory deficits. Among the features at presentation that were associated with adverse outcome were older age, increased C-reactive protein, coma and a high percentage of polymorphonuclear cells in the cerebrospinal fluid. In conclusion, the outcome in an unselected cohort of patients with encephalitis of unknown aetiology was marked by substantial case fatality and by long-term neurological deficits in approximately one-half of the surviving patients. Certain features on admission predicted an unfavourable outcome.
With the rise in wearable technology and “health culture”, we are seeing an increasing interest and affordances in studying how to not only prolong life expectancy but also in how to improve individuals’ quality of life. On the one hand, this attempts to give meaning to the increasing life expectancy, as living above a certain threshold of pain and lack of autonomy or mobility is both degrading and unfair. On the other hand, it lowers the cost of continuous care, as individuals with high quality of life indexes tend to have lower hospital readmissions or secondary complications, not to mention higher physical and mental health. In this paper, we evaluate the current state of the art in physiological therapy (biofeedback) along with the existing medical grade and consumer grade hardware for physiological research. We provide a quick primer on the most commonly monitored physiologic metrics, as well as a brief discussion on the current state of the art in biofeedback-assisted medical applications. We then go on to present a comparative analysis between medical and consumer grade biofeedback devices and discuss the hardware specifications and potential practical applications of each consumer grade device in terms of functionality and adaptability for controlled (laboratory) and uncontrolled (field) studies. We end this article with some empirical observations based on our study so that readers might use take them into consideration when arranging a laboratory or real-world experience, thus avoiding costly time delays and material expenditures.
LiNi0.5Mn0.5O2 was heat-treated under high oxygen-pressure and Ar-reducing conditions, and then the cathode properties, thermodynamic stability and average and local structures were investigated. From X-ray diffraction and ICP measurements, it was found that the pristine LiNi0.5Mn0.5O2 had a single phase of the layered rock-salt structure although the Ni content was slightly rich compared with the nominal one. These characteristics were kept even after the heat-treatments. Charge–discharge cycle tests clarified that the cycle performance of LiNi0.5Mn0.5O2 was improved by both the reducing and oxidizing treatments. From neutron diffraction and X-ray absorption fine structure measurements, the local distortion around the transition metal, especially Ni, was supposed to be one of the important factors to determine the cathode properties. It was also found that the sample with higher thermodynamic stability exhibited better capacity retention in the discharge–charge cycle tests.
Prior exposure to brief ‘conditioning’ episodes of ischemia protects hippocampal CA1 neurons against a subsequent more severe ischemic insult. However, protected cells exhibit abnormal function and as survival times are extended this ischemic tolerance dissipates and cells begin to die. In this study, we sought to determine whether environmental enrichment could alter the above pattern of delayed cell death and functional impairment in a gerbil model of ischemic tolerance. Gerbils received either ischemic preconditioning, 5 min of ischemia without preconditioning or sham surgery. Three days after ischemia, gerbils were placed in either an enriched environment or standard laboratory housing. Open field habituation was assessed 3, 7, 10, 30 and 60 days after ischemia. Subsequently, animals were trained in two versions (win-shift and win-stay) of a T-maze task. Following behavioral testing, extracellular CA1 field potential amplitudes and CA1 cell counts were determined. Initial open field activity was significantly higher in all experimental groups compared to sham animals (P<0.001). By 60 days, enriched ischemic preconditioned and enriched ischemic gerbils were not different than shams whereas non-enriched, ischemic preconditioned and ischemic gerbils continued to have higher activity scores (P<0.05). Preconditioned and enriched ischemic animals learned the win-shift T-maze problem as quickly as shams while non-enriched ischemic gerbils were severely impaired compared with all other groups (P<0.001). Only the sham and enriched preconditioned groups readily acquired the win-stay paradigm. CA1 field potential amplitudes were lower (P<0.05) in ischemic than sham gerbils irrespective of treatment. Surprisingly, CA1 cell counts were significantly lower (P<0.01) in enriched versus non-enriched ischemic preconditioned animals. These data demonstrate that early, intensive intervention after ischemia can improve functional outcome but that this is accompanied by increased brain damage. Careful consideration needs to be given to the timing of rehabilitation after stroke and related types of brain injury.
Starting from the work by Campbell and Shiller (Campbell, J.Y. and Shiller, R.J. (1987). Cointegration and tests of present value models. Journal of Political Economy, 95(5):1062–1088.), empirical analysis of interest rates has been conducted in the framework of cointegration. However, parts of this approach have been questioned recently, as the adjustment mechanism may not follow a simple linear rule; another line of criticism points out that stationarity of the spreads is difficult to maintain empirically. In this paper, we analyse data on US bond yields by means of an augmented VAR specification which approximates a generic nonlinear adjustment model. We argue that nonlinearity captures macro information via the shape of the yield curve and thus provides an alternative explanation for some findings that recently appeared in the literature. Moreover, we show how conditional heteroskedasticity can be taken into account via GARCH specifications for the conditional variance, either univariate or multivariate.
The polypyrrole/acetonitrile solution interface was investigated by molecular dynamics simulation for different oxidation states of the polymer in presence of 0.1N lithium perchlorate. The polypyrrole film, acetonitrile and lithium ions were modeled with atomic resolution. From simulation, it was evidenced how the polypyrrole oxi/reduction process is mainly governed by an anionic mechanism, although cations (lithium ions) also play a significant role in the process. Thus, during the polypyrrole reduction process, lithium ions penetrated into the polymeric matrix to compensate the perchlorate ions that were trapped in the polypyrrole matrix due to its low translational diffusion coefficient. In this process, stable ion-pair lithium–perchlorate structures are generated that remain stable along the whole simulations. In addition, during the oxidation process, a polypyrrole swelling was observed. In this regard, the formation of small pores of 4±1Å in the polypyrrole oxidized structure was evidenced and an electrolyte desolvation was obtained during the ion penetration into the polymer matrix associated to the doping process of the polymer. Finally, a diminution in one order of magnitude in the translational diffusion coefficient of perchlorate and lithium ions inside the polymer was estimated compared with bulk solution.
The kinetics of the electrochemical Na reaction in the γ′-V2O5 polymorph prepared by the carboreduction route is investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. This cathode material with puckered layer structure is capable of delivering a high discharge capacity of 143 mAh g−1 at a relatively high operating voltage of 3.3 V vs. Na+/Na. In spite of a good cyclability, a low efficiency of the first charge process limits yet the value of the stable capacity of this material upon cycling. The present study intends to give further insight into the sodium insertion-extraction mechanism in γ′-V2O5 by achieving a picture of the main kinetic parameters as a function of Na uptake in γ-NaxV2O5 electrodes (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.97). We show that the evolution of cathode impedance, charge transfer resistance, double layer capacity and apparent chemical Na diffusion coefficient are highly correlated to the structural changes induced upon sodiation. A faster Na diffusion is revealed in the richest 0.6 < x ≤ 0.97 solid solution region while electron transport is slowed down in that composition domain due to the highly localized electron character of the sodiated phase. A significant modification of the surface area is also underlined, undoubtedly caused by the high volume expansion experienced during sodiation. The low efficiency of the first cycle, characterized by an important polarization at the end of the charge, is explained by a huge increase in the electrode impedance.
Activation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF- κ B) as a mechanism of host defense against infection and stress is the central mediator of inflammatory responses. A normal (acute) inflammatory response is activated on urgent basis and is auto-regulated. Chronic inflammation that results due to failure in the regulatory mechanism, however, is largely considered as a critical determinant in the initiation and progression of various forms of cancer. Mechanistically, NF- κ B favors this process by inducing various genes responsible for cell survival, proliferation, migration, invasion while at the same time antagonizing growth regulators including tumor suppressor p53. It has been shown by various independent investigations that a down regulation of NF- κ B activity directly, or indirectly through the activation of the p53 pathway reduces tumor growth substantially. Therefore, there is a huge effort driven by many laboratories to understand the NF- κ B signaling pathways to intervene the function of this crucial player in inflammation and tumorigenesis in order to find an effective inhibitor directly, or through the p53 tumor suppressor. We discuss here on the role of NF- κ B in chronic inflammation and cancer, highlighting mutual antagonism between NF- κ B and p53 pathways in the process. We also discuss prospective pharmacological modulators of these two pathways, including those that were already tested to affect this mutual antagonism.
Climate change concerns due to the rising amounts of the carbon gas in the atmosphere have in the last decade or so initiated a fast pace of technological advances in the renewable energy industry. Such developments in technology and the move towards cleaner sources of energy have made distributed generation (DG) from renewable resources more desirable. However, it is a known fact that rising penetrations of DG can have adverse impacts on the grid structure and its operation. The microgrid concept is a solution proposed to control the impact of DG and make conventional grids more suitable for large scale deployments of DG. Covering many aspects of the power systems and power electronics fields, microgrids have become a very popular research field. This paper reviews the background and the concept of a microgrid, the current status of the literature, on-going research projects, and the relevant standards. It also presents a review of the microgrid pilot projects around the world in further detail and discusses the potential avenues for further research.
Little is known about the effect of vitamin E on brain function. Therefore, in this study we evaluated the effect of tocotrienol rich fraction (TRF) on behavioral impairment and oxidative stress in aged rats. Thirty-six male Wistar rats (young: 3-months-old; aged: 21-months-old) were treated with either the control (olive oil) or TRF (200 mg/kg) for 3 months. Behavioral studies were performed using the open field test and Morris water maze (MWM) task. Blood was taken for assessment of DNA damage, plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) and vitamin E, and erythrocyte antioxidant enzyme activity. Brains were also collected to measure vitamin E levels. Results showed that aged rats exhibited reduced exploratory activity, enhanced anxiety and decreased spatial learning and memory compared with young rats. DNA damage and plasma MDA were increased, and vitamin E levels in plasma and brain were reduced in aged rats. Aged rats supplemented with TRF showed a markedly reduced level of anxiety, improved spatial learning and memory, reduced amount and severity of DNA damage, a reduced level of MDA, and increased levels of antioxidant enzyme activity and plasma/brain vitamin E compared with age-matched controls. In conclusion, TRF supplementation reverses spatial learning and memory decline and decreases oxidative stress in aged rats.
Herein, we report Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) coating on to lead negative plates as a hybrid electrode material for lead-acid batteries and supercapacitors. Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) coating on to negative plate addresses the issue of sulfation at negative plate in a lead-acid cell. Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) coating on to the conventional negative plates is wind up by electropolymerization technique. 2 V/2.1 A h lead-acid cells assemble with Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) coating negative electrodes show ∼25% increase in initial discharge capacity, excellent cycle performance at 5 h rate, lower impedance, reduce hydrogen evolution and boost charge acceptance in relation to the conventional lead-acid cell. The Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) coating lead-acid cells show 20% improvement in C/5 rate and 107% in high rate partial state of charge cycling. The specific capacitance of Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) in 4.5 M H2SO4 medium is about 105 F g−1 with an excellent cycle life of over 20, 000 cycles at 2 A g−1. The superior performance is due to fast kinetics of Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) in sulfuric acid electrolyte.
Summary This investigation aims to test the effect of acupuncture on word generation activation (WGA) in post-stroke aphasia patients. Seven vascular aphasia patients and 14 control subjects were studied using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Each performed: (1) a word generation (WG) task alone, followed by (2) repeating WG after insertion of acupuncture needles (WGN) into SJ 8 (a language-implicated acupoint), followed by (3) repeating WGN reinforced by electrical stimulation (WGA) of SJ 8, and finally (4) electrical stimulation (ES) of SJ 8 alone. Significant activation was found in the opercular, triangular, or insula during the ES stimulation in patients when comparing each patient to 14 normal controls. For the WG task, significant activation was found in the inferior frontal gyrus when comparing each patient to 14 normal controls. The signal induced by acupuncture was larger than that of the WG task in the left middle frontal gyrus with the comparison of WGA vs. WGN in seven patients. Further, main significant effects in the right insula in patients were observed when comparing seven patients to 14 normal controls. The activation induced by ES stimulation was only found on the left side in controls. This activation was observed on the lesion side of superior and middle frontal gyrus (SMFG) in patients. This study demonstrates for the first time that language-deficit-implicated acupoint stimulation can selectively activate the brain on the lesion side in post-stroke aphasia patients. These results suggest that acupuncture may have therapeutic benefits in post-stroke aphasia patients.