batterydata/paper-abstracts huggingface dataset:
Cerebral palsy (CP) is a chronic congenital disorder as the result of abnormal brain development. Children suffering from CP often battle debilitating chronic spasticity, which has been the focus of recent academic literature. In this systematic review, the authors aim to update the current neuromodulation procedures for the treatment of spasticity associated with CP in all age groups. A systematic review following was conducted using PubMed from inception to 2020. After initial title and abstract screening, 489 articles were identified, and 48 studies met the inclusion criteria for this review. In total, a majority of the published articles of treatments for CP were reporting the use of selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) (54%), and the remainder were of intrathecal baclofen (ITB) pumps (29%) and extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) (17%). Each method was found to have improvement of spasticity at a rate that achieved statistical significance. ITB pump therapy is an all-encompassing method of treating spasticity in children from CP, as it allows for a less invasive treatment that can be titrated to individual patient needs; however, its disadvantages include its long-term maintenance requirements. SDR appears to be an effective method for permanent spasticity relief in young patients. ESWT is a more recent and innovative technique for offering relief of spasticity while being minimally invasiveness. Further studies are needed to establish optimal frequencies and sites of application for ESWT.
Background Pharmacotherapies targeting motivational aspects of feeding and palatable food reward, while sparing mood and cognitive function, represent an alluring approach to reverse obesity and maintain weight loss in an obesogenic environment. A novel glucagon-like peptide-1/dexamethasone (GLP-1/Dexa) conjugate, developed to selectively activate glucocorticoid receptors in GLP-1 receptor-expressing cells was shown to decrease food intake and lower body weight in obese mice. Here, we investigate if this novel drug candidate modulates the rewarding properties of food and if it affects behavioral indices of mood and memory. Methods C57Bl6 mice treated with the GLP-1/Dexa conjugate, GLP-1 or vehicle lever-pressed for high-fat, high sugar (HFHS) food rewards in an operant task. Alterations in food-motivated behavior were also assessed following a HFHS diet withdrawal manipulation (switch to chow). The effects of repeated GLP-1/Dexa conjugate, GLP-1 or vehicle on free-feeding intake, body weight, anxiodepressive behaviors (elevated-plus maze, open field test & forced swim test), memory (novel object recognition) and mRNA expression of reward-relevant markers in the nucleus accumbens were also evaluated in mice fed a HFHS diet for 12 weeks. Results Mice treated with a GLP-1 analogue displayed a transient (4 h) reduction in their motivation to lever press for HFHS reward, whereas treatment with equimolar doses of GLP-1/Dexa delivered a superior and sustained (20 h) suppression of food-motivated behavior. GLP-1/Dexa also inhibited food reward following withdrawal from the HFHS diet. These benefits coincided with related transcriptional changes of dopaminergic markers in the nucleus accumbens. Importantly, repeated GLP-1/Dexa treatment during a HFHS diet caused weight loss without affecting anxiodepressive behavior and memory. Conclusion Via its actions to blunt the rewarding effects of palatable food without affecting mood and recognition memory, GLP-1-directed targeting of dexamethasone may serve as a promising and safe anti-obesity strategy.
Zinc stannate (Zn2SnO4) powder was prepared by a hydrothermal process at 200 °C for 12 h. The material was characterized by X-ray-diffraction (XRD) and N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms. The synthesized sample presented a pure phase, an average nanocrystal size of about 19 nm, a surface area (BET) of about 41.8 m2 g−1 and total pore volume of about 0.19 cm3 g−1. Its photocatalytic activity was tested by the degradation of the leather azo-dye, Direct Black 38, in aqueous solution under UV irradiation. Adsorption kinetic data showed that the pseudo-second-order model was the most appropriate for the dye studied. Adsorption onto the Zn2SnO4 surface followed the Langmuir isotherm. The catalyst showed highly photocatalytic activity towards degradation of the dye, almost equal to that of the TiO2-P25 Degussa photocatalyst. The results indicate that Zn2SnO4 could be employed for the removal of dyes from wastewaters.
Measurements on 51 lithium-ion cells undergoing thermal runaway reactions within an autoclave setup are conducted in order to examine venting gas volume, composition and cell mass loss as well as to identify influencing factors on related parameters. A new method to calculate the volume of released gas during thermal runaway is proposed. Comprehensive examination of the gas analysis is done and compared to literature. Seven gas species (CO2, CO, H2, C2H4, CH4, C2H6 and C3H6) are determined to be the most common within venting gas and an independence of gas composition from venting gas volume can be shown. Furthermore, energy density and cell capacity are found to be an influencing factor of venting gas volume, thermal runaway onset temperature and mass loss, thus severity. Finally a difference for pouch and hard case cell formats in solid to gaseous mass loss proportion is discovered and explained.
For better or worse, the law is progressively playing an integral part in all aspects of medical practice. Today’s doctors are expected to expand their knowledge horizon beyond medicine and ethics, to include the legal framework, or they may find themselves on the wrong side of the law. This is especially true in relation to consent to medical treatment. This article discusses the law in England and Wales, which governs consent to physical treatment in all age groups. However, it concentrates on paediatric considerations such as the consent of minors and parental consent, and especially expands on the emotive areas of conflicts between healthcare professionals and the parents or patients. In doing so, it lists the relevant guidelines and legislations available and draws examples from the wealth of domestic case law.
The primary aim of the current study was to replicate and extend previous findings by examining the relationship between trait meta-mood and levels of subjective happiness in a 7-week follow-up study. Participants were 192 undergraduate students (155 females) who completed self-report measures of trait meta-mood and subjective happiness. After 7 weeks, 155 students completed the subjective happiness scale again. Focusing first on cross-sectional analysis, meta-mood dimensions were found to be moderately related to levels of subjective happiness. Next, along with initial levels of subjective happiness, we found that meta-mood dimensions independently predicted prospective levels of subjective happiness over a 7-week follow-up. These findings provide some preliminary evidence on the prospective value of meta-mood dimensions as relevant individual differences involved in the maintenance of emotional well-being indicators.
A core symptom of schizophrenia is thought disorder (TD). The cognitive abilities of semantic processing and executive function are argued to be etiologically linked to TD. However, there has been no comprehensive investigation of neurocognition in TD to date. The neurocognitive profile of 58 schizophrenia patients and 48 healthy controls was examined using the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery and the D-KEFS Color–Word Interference Test. TD patients performed more poorly than non-TD patients on the cognitive domains of Verbal Learning and Inhibition, reflective of semantic and executive function respectively, confirming their critical roles over and above other cognitive deficits in schizophrenia.
This study describes a left handed woman with prosopagnosia following traumatic brain injury with a focal lesion confined to the left-posterior hemisphere. Few cases of prosopagnosia following unilateral left hemisphere lesions have previously been reported in the literature. Corrected visual acuity was 20/70 (binocular), color vision was intact on screening, and shape detection was borderline. Impairments in higher order visual perception were evident to varying degrees on nonfacial tasks. Matching of unfamiliar faces was very slow but accurate. A marked impairment in the ability to recognize familiar faces and learn new face-name associations was evident on experimental tasks relative to the performance of healthy control subjects. In contrast, identification of characteristics of faces (gender, age) and identification and matching of facial expressions were relatively preserved. We discuss the cognitive processing stages that appear to be disrupted using Bruce and Young's (1986) model of facial recognition and perception as a framework.
Life cycle assessment of the collection, transport and recycling of various types of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in Norway shows that small amounts of critical materials (refrigerants, precious/trace metals) are vital for the overall environmental accounts of the value chains. High-quality recycling ensures that materials and energy are effectively recovered from WEEE. This recovery means that responsible waste handling confers net environmental benefits in terms of global warming potential (GWP), for all types of WEEE analysed. For refrigeration equipment, the potential reduction of GWP by high-quality recycling is so large as to be of national significance. For all waste types, the magnitude of the net benefit from recovering materials and energy exceeds the negative consequences of irresponsible disposal. One outcome of this may be widespread misunderstanding of the need for recycling. Furthermore, framing public communication on recycling in terms of avoiding negative consequences, as is essentially universal, may not convey an appropriate message. The issue is particularly important where the consumer regards products as relatively disposable and environmentally benign, and/or where the “null option” of retaining the product at end-of-life is especially prevalent. The paper highlights the implications of all these issues for policy-makers, waste collectors and recyclers, and consumers.
The tobacco heating product THP1.0, which heats but does not burn tobacco, was tested as part of a modified-risk tobacco product assessment framework for its impacts on indoor air quality and residual tobacco smoke odour. THP1.0 heats the tobacco to less than 240 °C ± 5 °C during puffs. An environmentally controlled room was used to simulate ventilation conditions corresponding to residential, office and hospitality environments. An analysis of known tobacco smoke constituents, included CO, CO2, NO, NO2, nicotine, glycerol, 3-ethenyl pyridine, sixteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, eight volatile organic compounds, four carbonyls, four tobacco-specific nitrosamines and total aerosol particulate matter. Significant emissions reductions in comparison to conventional cigarettes were measured for THP1.0. Levels of nicotine, acetaldehyde, formaldehyde and particulate matter emitted from THP1.0 exceeded ambient air measurements, but were more than 90% reduced relative to cigarette smoke emissions within the laboratory conditions defined Residual tobacco smoke odour was assessed by trained sensory panels after exposure of cloth, hair and skin to both mainstream and environmental emissions from the test products. Residual tobacco smoke odour was significantly lower from THP1.0 than from a conventional cigarette. These data show that using THP1.0 has the potential to result in considerably reduced environmental emissions that affect indoor air quality relative to conventional cigarettes.
Aqueous Li-ion batteries have long been envisioned as safe and green energy storage technology, but have never been commercially realized owing to the limited electrochemical stability window of water, which drastically hampers their energy density. Recently, Water-in-Salt electrolytes (WiSEs) in which a large amount of organic salt is dissolved into water were proposed to allow for assembling 3 V Li-ion batteries. Hereby, our attention focused on the fate of water at the electrochemical interface under negative polarization and the potential reactivity of TFSI anions with products originating from the water reduction. Hence, combining analysis of bulk electrolytes with electrochemical measurements on model electrodes and operando characterization, we were able to demonstrate that hydroxides generated during the hydrogen evolution reaction can chemically react with TFSI and catalyze the formation of a fluorinated solid–electrolyte interphase (SEI) that prevents further water reduction. Mastering this new SEI formation path with the chemical degradation of TFSI anions mediated by the electrochemical reduction of water can therefore open new avenues for the future development of not only WiSEs but also Li batteries functioning in organic electrolytes.
Pure tin (Sn) and a homogeneous nanocomposite of tin and graphite (C), denoted as Sn/C, have been studied as a suitable anode for sodium ion batteries. The Sn/C nanocomposites have been synthesized by high energy mechanical milling (HEMM) of pure Sn and graphite of nominal composition C-70 wt.% Sn. Pure microcrystalline Sn (≤44 μm) exhibits a 1st discharge capacity ∼856 mAh g−1 which is close to the expected theoretical capacity, however, it shows a large 1st cycle irreversible loss (∼67%) and the anticipated inevitable rapid fade in capacity expectedly due to structural failure of the electrode. On the other hand, the resultant Sn/C based nanocomposite, synthesized by HEMM after 1h of milling, exhibits a 1st cycle discharge capacity ∼584 mAh g−1 with a 1st cycle irreversible loss ∼30%. The Sn/C nanocomposite shows a 1st cycle charge capacity of ∼410 mAh g−1 with improved capacity retention in comparison to pure Sn displaying 0.7% fade in capacity per cycle up to 20 cycles when cycled at a rate of ∼C/8. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis indicates that the structural integrity and microstructural stability of the Sn/C nanocomposite during the alloying/dealloying processes appear to be the primary factors contributing to the good cyclability observed in the above HEMM derived nanocomposite suggesting its promise as a potential anode for Na-ion systems.
Titanium oxide nanotube and graphite composites are prepared by adding graphite before and after a hydrothermal reaction to enhance the cyclic performance and high-rate capability of lithium-ion batteries. The composite powders, their anode electrodes, and lithium half-cells containing the anodes are characterized by means of morphological and crystalline analysis, Raman spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, impedance spectroscopy, and repeated discharge–charge cycling at low and high C-rates. Notably, the composite anode (R5G5-T) that concurrently uses natural graphite and rutile particles before the hydrothermal reaction shows superior high-rate capability and achieves a discharge capacity of ca. 70mAhg−1 after 100 cycles at 50C-rate. This may be due to the high-rate supercapacitive reactions of the TiO2 nanotube on the graphite surface caused by a diffusion-controlled or a charge-transfer process.
Research suggests paranoia among persons with schizophrenia may be the result of a number of different psychological processes including deficits in theory of mind (ToM) and social anxiety. To test this hypothesis, this study sought to determine whether a group of highly paranoid persons with and without a ToM deficit could be detected and whether the group with paranoia and better ToM might have high levels of social anxiety. To explore this, a cluster analysis was performed on a group of 102 adults with schizophrenia spectrum disorders in a non-acute phase of illness on the basis of ratings of paranoid features using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and levels of ToM deficit using a factor score which summarized four different ToM assessments. Four groups were produced: High Paranoia/Poor ToM (n =14); Low Paranoia/Good ToM (n =22); Low Paranoia/Low Middle ToM (n =29); and High Paranoia/High Middle ToM (n =23). Groups were then compared on self report of social anxiety. As predicted, the group with levels of high paranoid features and relatively better ToM performance had significantly higher levels of social anxiety than all other groups.
Spherical LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 material with a core–shell structure is synthesized by a urea-assisted hydrothermal method followed by heat treatment with LiOH at high temperature. After the process of hydrothermal treatment, the carbonate precursor with a concentration gradient is produced, in a single spherical particle, the content of Ni in the surface is higher than that in the center while Mn has a reversal trend. LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 synthesized through the hydrothermal route has a great improvement in cycling stability at elevated temperature and rate capability. The capacity retention can maintain at 95% after 30 cycles at 55 °C. Furthermore, it can deliver a discharge capacity of 118 mAh g−1 at a high rate of 10 C at room temperature. Such excellent electrochemical properties of LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 can be ascribed to its unique core–shell structure and nano-size particle.
While the market evolution of electric vehicles is uncertain, numerous studies have explored the future market diffusion of this and alternative powertrain technologies. This paper reviews studies that are based on system dynamics models and classifies this literature into ‘automotive industry-oriented’ and ‘public policy-oriented’. Our review shows that the models of most of these studies share basic properties by design, yet differ not only in purpose but also in the assumptions they adopt, particularly with regards to consumer choice of powertrains. Taken together, these diverse modelling exercises can be understood as a model library to gain insights into different key markets. In terms of the type of models examined, this paper also discusses some methodological issues and suggests future modelling developments. Further research needs include the interlinkage of models to better understand the evolution of the battery price.
Pediatric multiple sclerosis (MS) with manifestations before 16 years of age occurs in 0.4–10.5% of whole MS population. The initial course of the disease is relapsing–remitting with a relapse rate generally higher than that of adults, less than 3% have a primary progressive form. Some recent reports have shown that Interferon β (IFNβ) has a strong effect in reducing the relapse rate in children with MS and is well tolerated. We report a 12-year-old girl with MS and a high relapse rate from the onset. Frequent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) detected persisting inflammatory activity and increase of lesion burden. She continued to present acute relapses and progression of disability in spite of a treatment with IFNβ-1a at different dosages and the addition of pulse IV steroid treatment. Then, we opted for Natalizumab treatment, recently approved as a monotherapy for patients with MS who experienced inadequate response to other disease modifying therapies and never used till now in pediatric MS. Our patient showed a complete response to Natalizumab with clinical and MRI suppression of disease activity.
The instability of the electrolyte and the sluggish kinetics of the reactions hinder the application of Li-O2 batteries. In this study, we aim to better understand the behavior of oxygen reduction (ORR) and evolution (OER) reactions in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), Tetraglyme (G4) and their blend DMSO-G4, with emphasis on the role of solvent nature in the mechanism and reaction route, using rotating ring-disc electrode (RRDE) and differential electrochemical mass spectrometry (DEMS). Interestingly, RRDE results showed that the stability and the ratio of the formed O2 − · : Li2O2 increase with addition of DMSO to G4. A proposed mechanism for ORR is discussed. Depending on the solvation ability of the solvent, which primarily determines the lifetime and solubility of the superoxide intermediate in solution, a solution or a surface-based pathway is followed: in highly solvating solvents (e.g. those with high donor or acceptor number) such as DMSO, superoxide is stabilized in solution; while in low solvating solvent, it is further reduced to Li2O2, blocking the surface. The results of the scan rate variation under defined mass transport in DMSO suggest a sequential formation of monolayers of Li2O2 during reduction. In G4-solutions, despite of the reversible formation of Li2O2, deactivation of the electrode takes place, as evidenced by DEMS. This could arise from a reduction products-induced decomposition of the electrolyte, forming a deactivating film on the surface during ORR, which is only partially removed at higher potentials evolving CO2. Also, we found that DMSO is more active towards OER than G4. The electrode material as well influences the kinetics, in particular of OER. These findings could have implications for the development of Li-air battery.
The capacity fading mechanism of lithium-ion cell was studied by disassembling the charge–discharged cells and analyzing their electrodes using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), etc. Cu ion dissolved from current collector of anode and Mn ion dissolved from LiMn2O4 spinel (cathode) were all existing in solid electrolyte interface (SEI) layer on carbon anode as Cu2O and MnO or MnO2, respectively. These depositions of Cu and Mn oxides did not uniformly deposited on the anode side, and most of them were detected on the carbon surface nearby to the separator side. The SEI layer is hard and about 0.3μm in thickness. Furthermore, the cycling performance of the cells can be improved by adding 1,2,3-benzotrazole (a corrosion inhibitor of Cu) before assembling the cell, it then coordinates strongly with Cu ions into the electrolyte. From the results, it is obvious that the existing of Cu oxide as well as Mn oxide in the SEI layer, which blocks the normal intercalation of the lithium ions, is one of the factors for the capacity fading of the cells.
The common practice for insertion of distal locking screws of intramedullary nails is a freehand technique under fluoroscopic control. The process is technically demanding, time-consuming and afflicted to considerable radiation exposure of the patient and the surgical personnel. A new concept is introduced utilizing information from within conventional radiographic images to help accurately guide the surgeon to place the interlocking bolt into the interlocking hole. The newly developed technique was compared to conventional freehand in an operating room (OR) like setting on human cadaveric lower legs in terms of operating time and radiation exposure.
Li–S batteries generally suffer from severe self-discharge when resting due to an internal polysulfide shuttle effect. Soluble long-chain polysulfide species (Li2Sx, 4 ≤ x ≤ 8) would continue to dissolve and migrate to the negative side to react with metallic Li. Here, we demonstrate pronounced suppression of polysulfide shuttle using an ionic liquid of the N-methyl-N-propylpiperidinium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (PP13TFSI)-based electrolyte. When working in combination with LiNO3, zero self-discharge can be achieved to rest a full-charged Li–S cell for two days. The fascinating study clearly demonstrates that a promising practical Li–S battery with low self-discharge depends on both improvements on polysulfide diffusion control and Li-metal stabilization.