batterydata/paper-abstracts huggingface dataset:
Lithium ion cells with electrode materials that undergo phase transitions, like LiFePO4, have unique charge–discharge characteristics. In this work a generalized framework of moving boundary approach is proposed to model the path dependent charge–discharge response of porous electrodes that exhibit multi-phase coexistence. Using the Landau transformation the governing equation in moving coordinate is transformed to fixed coordinate and a suitable path dependent algorithm is devised and is implemented in a multi-physics environment. Simulation results show that tangential propagation of the phase front, often seen in experiments, can be addressed by this model. Incorporation of multi-phase diffusion predicts the characteristic phase separation in LiFePO4 particles. The proposed model successfully captures the charge–discharge asymmetry of LiFePO4 based cells. Efficacy of the proposed approach to model the path dependence of cells with phase change electrodes is demonstrated by simulating the response of LiFePO4/graphite cell subjected to a charge–discharge pulse. Numerical studies are performed to study the effect of important model parameters to enhance cell design and to bring out unique features in the cell response due to multi-phase coexistence.
With hybrid and electric vehicles development, automobile battery monitoring systems (BMS) have to meet the new requirements. These systems have to give information on state of health, state of charge, available power. To get this information, BMS often implement battery models. Accuracy of the information manipulated by the BMS thus depends on the model accuracy. This paper is within this framework and addresses lithium-ion battery modeling. The proposed fractional model is based on simplifications of an electrochemical model and on resolution of some partial differential equations used in its description. Such an approach permits to get a simple model in which electrochemical variables and parameters still appear.
Food scraps could power an ultra-cheap bacteria-driven battery. ‘Microbial Fuel Cells,’ developed in the past, have proved inefficient and expensive. But Chris Melhuish and researchers at Bristol University, have come up with a simplified MFC that costs as little as $10($15.50) to make. It runs only on sugar cubes, since these produce almost no waste, but the aim is to move to carrot power. ‘It has to be able to use raw materials, rather than a refined fuel,’ says Melhuish. Inside a Walkman-size battery, a colony of E. coli bacteria produce enzymes that break down carbohydrates, releasing hydrogen atoms. The cell also contains chemicals that drive a series of reduction and oxidation reactions. To prove the MFC works, researchers are powering a small, light-sensitive robot. When a number of the cells are connected, they can running a 40W-bulb for 8hrs on about 50gms of sugar. In its current form, the team says its organic battery can produce eight times as much power as previous MFCs. But Melhuish wants to improve this, both scaling up and finding a better mix of redox chemicals. For more information contact: University of the West of England, Bristol, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol, UK BS16 1QY . Tel: (+44 or 0) 117 965 6261.
A highly porous polymer electrolyte with good wettability and excellent thermal dimensional stability is of great importance to enable the high performance of lithium ion batteries (LIBs). This study reports a facile in-situ polymerization process to approach molecular mixing level of poly (vinylidene fluoride-hexa-fluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) and the fully aromatic single-ion conducting polymer (fa-SIPE). The molecular level mixing is greatly beneficial for promoting both macro and nanophase separation between the flexible aliphatic PVDF-HFP and the aromatic fa-SIPE. These occur because of the poor physical compatibility of the two polymers and leads to a macro/nano porous single-ion polymer electrolyte (SIPE). Filling the porosity with a Li+-ion coordinating solvent enables high Li+-ion mobility, which is favorable for the development of high power and fast charge LIBs. Remarkably, the highly porous SIPE membrane displays high mechanical stability, high electrolyte wettability and strong thermal dimensional stability, all possibly contributing to excellent stability and reliability of LiBs. This study provides an efficient way of fabricating porous, single-ion polymer electrolyte for LIBs application.
Abstract Workaholism is a concept that needs conceptual and empirical clarification as it is currently defined, understood, and measured in different ways. Generally, positive workaholism features (e.g. work enjoyment) have consistently been shown to be positively related to good outcomes, whereas negative workaholism features (e.g. working compulsively) have been linked with negative outcomes. However, it should be debated whether workaholism should be considered as a multidimensional construct. This field is in great need of studies using longitudinal designs as well as studies including objective measures of behavior and health.
Background The study aims to analyze the effect of three types of treatment on functional status, and cardiovascular risk outcomes in hypertensive older adults with comorbidities. Methods Participants (n =418) underwent one of the following 3 conditions: i) multicomponent exercise training 3 times/week (MEX; n =116); ii) angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors used mono-dose daily (ACEi; n =70); iii) combined exercise and ACEi drugs (ACEiMEX; n =232). The trial was completed by 82% of the participants (n =342): MEX (n =90); ACEi (n =66); ACEiMEX (n =186). Baseline and 2-year follow-up evaluations included the Senior Fitness Test battery, Short Form Health Survey 36 (SF-36), the health history questionnaires, anthropometric and hemodynamic profile. Results MEX and ACEiMEX groups improved all physical functional status outcomes, decreased systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (p <0.001) and augmented the physical functioning, role physical and physical component score (PCS) (p <0.05), but also bodily pain (p <0.05). The ACEi group reduced the upper body strength, upper and lower body flexibility and aerobic endurance (p <0.05); worsened the anthropometric profile, and SBP (p <0.001); and decreased general health and PCS (p <0.05). Conclusions The improvement of the physical functioning and HRQoL in older hypertensive adults using ACEi medications only occur if they adopt an exercise training regimen, increasing also the management of the blood pressure and other cardiovascular risk factors.
A novel aptamer biosensor with easy operation and good sensitivity, specificity, stability and reproducibility was developed by immobilizing the aptamer on water soluble CdSe quantum dots (QDs) modified on the top of the glassy carbon electrode (GCE). Methylene blue (MB) was intercalated into the aptamer sequence and used as an electrochemical marker. CdSe QDs improved the electrochemical signal because of their larger surface area and ion centers of CdSe QDs may also had a major role on amplifying the signal. The higher ion concentration caused more combination of aptamer which caused larger signal. The thrombin was detected by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) quantitatively. Under optimal conditions, the two linear ranges were obtained from 3 to 13μgmL−1 and from 14 to 31μgmL−1, respectively. The detection limit was 0.08μgmL−1 at 3σ. The constructed biosensor had better responses compared with that in the absence of the CdSe QDs immobilizing. The control experiment was also carried out by using BSA, casein and IgG in the absence of thrombin. The results showed that the aptasensor had good specificity, stability and reproducibility to the thrombin. Moreover, the aptasensor could be used for detection of real sample with consistent results in comparison with those obtained by fluorescence method which could provide a promising platform for fabrication of aptamer based biosensors.
In most areas of our lives, legal protections are in place to ensure that we have autonomous control over what happens in and to our bodies. However, there are fewer protections in place for autonomous choice when it comes to the food we purchase and consume. In fact, the current trend in US legislation is pushing us away from autonomous food choice. In this paper, I discuss two examples of this trend: corporate resistance to GM labeling laws and farm protection laws (often called “ag-gag” laws). These examples are quite different from a legislative point of view. In one case, laws that would promote autonomous choice are actively resisted, whereas in the other case, laws that undermine autonomy are enacted. The common core of the two examples is the effect: in both cases, we are unable to determine whether the food we purchase and consume is consistent with our values. In both cases, then, autonomous choice about the food we purchase and put into our bodies is undermined.
As one of the largest social networking sites in the world, Facebook holds a great potential for promoting health. In this exploratory study, we analyzed 1352 messages posted to an active Facebook diabetes group to identify the characteristics of the group. The results revealed that the group was international in nature. Users overcame language barriers to communicate with people with similar conditions. Users’ interactions were structured around information, emotion, and community building. They exchanged medical and lifestyle information, and highly valued their peers’ personal experiences, opinions, and advice. They also demonstrated a positive attitude toward the reality of living with diabetes and generously provided encouragements and affirmations to one another. Great efforts were made to maintain the proper operation of the community by the administrator and a group of core members. As a result, the group was shaped as a social network where peer users share social support, cultivate companionship, and exert social influence. Based on the results, we discussed future directions for research of health communities in a highly connected world.
Although lithium ion batteries (LIBs) hold great promise as a next generation power supply, the poor rate capability of the graphite that is mainly used as the battery anode limits high-performance LIBs. Compared to other reported carbon-based materials, however, its relatively low average working voltage still makes it attractive. Herein, we were able to introduce carbon disulfide (CS2) at the edges of graphene nanoplatelets (GnPs) with rich –C=S/-C-S bonds via ball-milling graphite in the presence of CS2. The resultant edge-thionic acid-functionalized GnPs (TAGnPs) exhibited a larger accessible surface area and smaller particle size than pristine graphite. Importantly, the TAGnPs retained a long-range-ordered layered structure similar to pristine graphite. When the TAGnPs were used as anode materials for LIBs, they displayed superior rate capability (e.g., high average reversible capacities of 228.3, 208.1, 141.0 and 80.6 mAh g−1 at 0.5, 1, 2 and 5 A g−1, respectively) compared to pristine graphite and the reference edge-hydrogenated GnPs (HGnPs), which mainly have -C-H bonds at their edges. Theoretical calculations also indicated that the presence of –C=S/-C-S bonds at the edges of TAGnPs enabled stronger Li+ adsorption capability.
Electrochemically active LiMnPO4 nanoplates at lithiated/delithiated state were subjected to thermal stability and phase transformation evaluations for safety as a cathode material for Li-ion batteries. The phase transformation and oxygen evolution temperature of delithiated MnPO4 were characterized using in situ hot-stage X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermogravimetric-differential scanning calorimetry-mass spectroscopy (TGA-DSC-MS), transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM)-energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX).
This paper presents a development history of a wearable, scalable vibrotactile stimulus delivery system. This history has followed a path from desktop-based, fully wired systems, through hybrid approaches consisting of a wireless connection from the host computer to a body-worn control box and wires to each tactor, to a completely wireless system employing Bluetooth technology to connect directly from the host to each individual tactor unit. Applications for such a system include delivering vibrotactile contact cues to users of virtual environments, providing directional cues in order to increase situational awareness in both real and virtual environments, and for general information display in wearable contexts. Through empirical study, we show that even a simple configuration, such as eight tactors arrayed around the torso, can be effective in increasing situational awareness in a building-clearing task, compared to users who perform the same task without the added cues.
Copper lead iodide, CuPbI3, nano powder has been synthesized by co-precipitation of PbI2 on aqueous suspension of CuI followed by solid-state chemical reaction; its film was fabricated on FTO substrates by electrophoretic deposition technique and tested for photoelectrochemical water splitting using solar light. The synthesized CuPbI3 nano powder has been characterized by thermogravimetric, differential thermal analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, and X-ray diffraction. The surface morphology and the elemental composition of the electrophoretically deposited film have been characterized by XRD, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscope, and energy dispersive X-ray mapping. The direct band gap energy of CuPbI3 film of average thickness 96 μm has been estimated at 1.82 eV and the film shows a current density of 216 µA/cm2 at 0.62 V measured in 0.1 M Na2SO4 solution vs. Ag/AgCl/3 M KCl. This study explores the viability of synthesis of a variety of inorganic halide photocatalysts for enhanced stability and improved solar capturing.
Several high-altitude slope instability phenomena, involving rock blocks of different volumes, have been observed in recent years. The increase in these phenomena could be correlated to climatic variations and to a general increase in temperature that has induced both ice melting with consequent water seepage and glacial lowering, with a consequent loss of support of the rock face. The degradation of the high-altitude thermal layer, which is known as “permafrost”, can determine the formation of highly fractured rock slopes where instabilities can concentrate. The present research has developed a methodology to improve the understanding and assessment of rock slope stability conditions in high mountain environments where access is difficult. The observed instabilities are controlled by the presence of discontinuities that can determine block detachments. Consequently, a detailed survey of the rock faces is necessary, both in terms of topography and geological structure, and in order to locate the discontinuities on the slope to obtain a better geometric reconstruction and subsequent stability analysis of the blocky rock mass. Photogrammetric surveys performed at different times allow the geostructure of the rock mass to be determined and the rock block volumes and detachment mechanisms to be estimated, in order to assess the stability conditions and potential triggering mechanisms. Photogrammetric surveys facilitate both the characterisation of the rock mass and the monitoring of slope instabilities over time. The methodology has been applied in a case study pertaining to the North Face of Aiguilles Marbrées in the Mont Blanc massif, which suffers from frequent instability phenomena. A slope failure that occurred in 2007 has been back-analysed using both the limit equilibrium method (LEM) and 3D distinct element modelling (DEM). The method has been supported and validated with traditional in situ surveys and measurements of the discontinuity orientation and other rock mass features.
Neurobiological theories of knowledge processing are biased toward the language-dominant (usually the left) hemisphere. Does the right hemisphere critically contribute to knowledge processing? J.A. is a left-hemisphere language-dominant individual who suffered a lesion confined to the right mid- and anterior fusiform gyrus. Although her language abilities are intact, she showed a partial loss of knowledge of the visual attributes of biological and nonbiological entities. This was observed regardless of the task performed: object discrimination, oral feature generation, forced-choice naming-to-definition or free-hand drawing. Functional-associative and nonvisual sensory attributes were spared. The same region that was lesioned in J.A. was activated in a functional magnetic resonance imaging study in 27 volunteers who retrieved semantic associations between concepts, but only if the concepts were represented as pictures and not as words. Therefore, right fusiform gyrus critically contributes to the conscious recollection of visual attributes of familiar entities.
This study aims to analyze the gait characteristics of the elderly patients with lumbar spinal stenosis by an intelligent device for energy expenditure and activity (IDEEA) to assist clinical work.
In this work, we study the possibility of obtaining the pure Fe3Sn phase by means of two solid-state reactions (2-SSR) method in which two thermal treatments are made. Samples of Fe3Sn1-xInx were prepared with x = 0.00, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15 and 0.20 by means of two solid state reactions. These samples were studied by X-ray diffraction (DRX) and Mössbauer spectrometry (MS). Rietveld analysis showed that the DRX patterns of the samples were refined with the hexagonal crystalline phases: Fe3Sn, Fe2Sn, FeSn2, FeSn, In0.2Sn0.8 and the cubic phase Fe1.84Sn0.16. With this structural analysis, it was shown that the Fe3Sn phase appears in the Fe3Sn1-xInx sample with x = 0.00 in an approximately 90% wt. In addition, it was found that the weight percentage (wt%) of the Fe3Sn phase present in each of the 5 samples decreases as the doping or insertion of In increases in the Fe3Sn1-xInx samples, while the weight percentage of the In0.2Sn0.8 phase increases as indium doping increases. The other crystalline phases present in the samples do not change monotonously or follow some pattern. The Mössbauer spectra for the samples were adjusted with sextets associated with the ferromagnetic phases such as: Fe3Sn, Fe3Sn2, FeSn and Fe1.84Sn0.16. The Mössbauer adjustments showed that the percentage of spectral area of the Fe3Sn magnetic phase decreases as indium doping increases and the percentage of spectral area of the Fe3Sn2, FeSn and Fe1.84Sn0.16 phases increase.
The decreasing cost of electricity produced using solar and wind and the need to avoid CO2 emissions from fossil fuels has heightened interest in hydrogen gas production by water electrolysis. Offshore and coastal hydrogen gas production using seawater and renewable electricity is of particular interest, but it is currently economically infeasible due to the high costs of ion exchange membranes and the need to desalinate seawater in existing electrolyzer designs. A new approach is described here that uses relatively inexpensive commercially available membranes developed for reverse osmosis (RO) to selectively transport favorable ions. In an applied electric field, RO membranes have a substantial capacity for proton and hydroxide transport through the active layer while excluding salt anions and cations. A perchlorate salt was used to provide an inert and contained anolyte, with charge balanced by proton and hydroxide ion flow across the RO membrane. Synthetic seawater (NaCl) was used as the catholyte, where it provided continuous hydrogen gas evolution. The RO membrane resistance was 21.7 ± 3.5 Ω cm2 in 1 M NaCl and the voltages needed to split water in a model electrolysis cell at current densities of 10–40 mA cm−2 were comparable to those found when using two commonly used, more expensive ion exchange membranes.
Driver fatigue remains a significant cause of motor-vehicle accidents worldwide. New technologies are increasingly utilised to improve road safety, but there are no effective on-road measures for fatigue. While simulated driving tasks are sensitive, and simple performance tasks have been used in industrial fatigue management systems (FMS) to quantify risk, little is known about the relationship between such measures. Establishing a simple, on-road measure of fatigue, as a fitness-to-drive tool, is an important issue for road safety and accident prevention, particularly as many fatigue related accidents are preventable. This study aimed to measure fatigue-related performance decrements using a simple task (reaction time – RT) and a complex task (driving simulation), and to determine the potential for a link between such measures, thus improving FMS success. Fifteen volunteer participants (7m, 8f) aged 22–56 years (mean 33.6 years), underwent 26h of supervised wakefulness before an 8h recovery sleep opportunity. Participants were tested using a 30-min interactive driving simulation test, bracketed by a 10-min psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) at 4, 8, 18 and 24h of wakefulness, and following recovery sleep. Extended wakefulness caused significant decrements in PVT and driving performance. Although these measures are clearly linked, our analyses suggest that driving simulation cannot be replaced by a simple PVT. Further research is needed to closely examine links between performance measures, and to facilitate accurate management of fitness to drive, which requires more complex assessments of performance than RT alone.
Polyphosphazenes form one of the most important and interesting classes of inorganic polymers having a backbone of alternating phosphorus and nitrogen atoms with phosphorus atom bearing two organic side groups. The most important feature of these polymers is the synthesis route which allows the side groups to be changed over a wide range to obtain a broad variety of products with different properties from elastomers to glasses, water soluble to hydrophobic polymers, bioinert to bioactive materials, and electrical insulators to conductors. In this paper, some novel applications of these polymers in biomedical materials and advanced devices are reviewed.
Triethyl orthoformate (TEOF) as a new solvent used in propylene carbonate (PC)-based electrolytes together with graphitic anodes in lithium-ion batteries has been investigated. It can be observed that TEOF was capable of suppressing the co-intercalation of PC solvated lithium-ions into the graphite layer during the first lithiation process and the irreversible discharge capacity of the first cycle is the smallest when using 1.0M LiPF6 in PC and TEOF at solvent ratio of 1:1 as the electrolytes. The CV, FTIR, EIS, SEM results show that the PC-based electrolytes containing the solvent TEOF can generate an effective solid electrolytes interphase (SEI) film during the first cycling process, and the film is probably mainly composed of ROCO2Li, ROLi, Li2CO3, etc. The formation of a stable passivating film on the graphite surface is believed to be the reason for the improved cell performance. All these results show that TEOF possesses a promising performance for use as an effective film-forming electrolytes solvent in lithium-ion batteries with graphitic anodes.