batterydata/paper-abstracts huggingface dataset:
Sn-doped Li3V2− x Sn x (PO4)3/C (x =0, 0.02, 0.04, 0.08) composites are prepared using an ultrasonic-assisted sol–gel method under a static inert atmosphere. The effects of Sn-doping on the structure and electrochemical performance of Li3V2(PO4)3/C are investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and electrochemical measurements. The XRD patterns demonstrate that Sn-doping affects the preferred crystal growth direction of Li3V2(PO4)3. The SEM results show that the particles of the Sn-doped samples have a polyhedron shape. The particles are micron-size and present high crystallinity. The Li3V1.98Sn0.02(PO4)3/C sample, which has initial capacities of 122.7 and 117.2mAhg−1 at 0.2 and 5C between 3.0 and 4.3V, respectively, shows the best electrochemical performance among obtained samples. During Li+ de-intercalation and intercalation processes, Sn4+ could functions as a cushion bracket to protect the Li3V2(PO4)3 crystal lattice from shrinking, which greatly improves the rate performance and cycling performance of Li3V2(PO4)3.
The thermal management of batteries for use in electric and hybrid vehicles is vital for safe operation and performance in all climates. Lithium-ion batteries are the focus of the electric vehicle market due to their high power density and life cycle longevity. To investigate the performance of two liquid cooling designs for lithium-ion battery packs, a series of numerical models were created. The effects of channel number, hole diameter, mass flow rate and inlet locations are investigated on a mini channel-cooled cylinder (MCC) and a channel-cooled heat sink (CCHS); those being the two most efficient concepts. The results show that the maximum temperature can be controlled to under 313 K for both designs with mass flow rates over 5E-05 kg/s, and maximum temperature variation can be controlled to less than 3.15 K for both designs. Considering both maximum temperature and temperature uniformity, the MCC design provides superior performance to the CCHS. The maximum temperature of the MCC is less than that of the CCHS but the temperature is less uniform. The MCC is a more complex design and so would incur greater manufacturing costs. But, it increases the efficiency of such systems for the rechargeable battery packs of the electric vehicle industry.
Non-aqueous Li-O2 battery has attracted plenty of interest due to its super theoretical energy density. Nevertheless, it also faces formidable challenges with respect to an unaccepted overpotential during charge process and a low round trip efficiency, which leads to a poor cycle life. Herein, we present a novel binder-free composite cathode comprised of MgCo2O4@3D graphene with a three-dimensional structure, which has never been used in the lithium oxygen batteries, as a cathode applied in the non-aqueous Li-O 2 battery. The MgCo2O4 nanowires as the catalyst is grown on the graphene substrate supported by the nickel foam. The discharge-product Li2O2 formed with a flake-like morphology decompose at a low potential ascribed to excellent catalytic activity from MgCo2O4. Finally, we demonstrate a non-aqueous Li-O2 battery capable of operating over 480 cycles with limiting capacity and rate values at 400 mAhg−1 and 200 mAg−1.
The Li[Li(1/3−x/3)Cr x Mn(2/3−2x/3)]O2 (0.15≤ x ≤0.3) cathode materials were synthesized by sol–gel process using aqueous solutions of metal acetates and citric acid as the chelating agent. The precipitate of metal citrate was dried in a vacuum oven for 10h at 100°C. After drying, the gel precursor was calcined at 300°C for about 10h. The resulted powder was ground and heated at 900°C. The structural characterization was carried out by fitting the XRD data with Rietveld program. The samples exhibited a well defined layered structure and the unit cell parameters linearly increased with increasing chromium contents in Li[Li(1/3−x/3)Cr x Mn(2/3−2x/3)]O2 Surface morphology was determined by SEM and HRTEM and it is found that the cathode material consisted of highly ordered single crystalline particles with layered-hexagonal structure. Test cells were assembled and cycled in the voltage range of 2.0–4.9V with a current density of 7.947mA/g. Electrode with (x =0.2) delivered a high reversible capacity of around 280mAh/g in cycling.
Mice deficient in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) cannot replenish the cellular antioxidant glutathione, which detoxifies neurodegenerative reactive oxygen species (ROS). To determine the functional consequences of G6PD deficiency, young and aging G6PD-deficient mice were evaluated for brain G6PD activity, DNA damage (comets, γH2AX), Purkinje cell loss, brain function (electrophysiology, behaviour) and lifespan. DNA comet formation was increased and Purkinje cell counts were decreased in a G6pd gene dose-dependent fashion. γH2AX formation varied by age, sex and brain region, with increased levels in G6PD-deficient young and aging females, and in aging males. Aging male G6PD-deficient mice exhibited synaptic dysfunction in hippocampal slices. G6PD-deficient young and aging females exhibited deficits in executive function, and young deficient mice exhibited deficits in social dominance. Conversely, median lifespan in G6PD-deficient females and males was enhanced. Enhanced ROS-initiated brain damage in G6PD deficiency has functional consequences, suggesting that G6PD protects against ROS-mediated neurodegenerative disorders.
Publisher Summary A large number of people, representing a variety of diagnostic categories exhibit self injurious behavior, including autism, childhood schizophrenia, intellectual disability, visual impairment, emotional disturbance, and learning disabilities. This chapter describes the analyses of different intervention methods for preventing self-injurious behavior and its devastating effects, such as primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention. Both prevalence studies and stimulus control studies of self-injurious behavior suggest that there are risk factors, which, if averted, would decrease the probability of onset of self-injurious behavior. The preventive techniques for averting self-injurious behavior or preventing its development would avoid much human suffering, and be much more cost-effective than current methods; however, the area of early identification and intervention with self-injurious behavior is in its infancy. With the help of the new genetics and advances in the neurobiology of self-injurious behavior, drugs can be prescribed much more effectively, with more specificity and fewer serious side effects than ever before. But, much work remains to be done to have better diagnostic instruments to guide the selection of psychotropic drugs for the appropriate complex disorder related to self-injurious behavior. The chapter also presents a variety of empirically supported, rational treatment procedures for self injurious behavior and also includes noncontingent restraint, sensory integration therapy, and multisensory environments. However, whether changing the context, in which behavior interventions occur, will be sufficient to decrease all self-injurious behavior remains to be seen.
The irreversible formation of zinc oxide (ZnO) in Zn–air batteries is not avoidable. Because of the formation of ZnO, the battery capacity, potential, and coulombic efficiency decrease. The low electrochemical reactivity of ZnO is the main obstacle that interferes with building an electrochemically rechargeable Zn–air battery. In this work, electrolytic additives that suppress the formation of ZnO are studied. The zincate ion (Zn(OH)4 2−) is an intermediate ion, which transforms into ZnO in basic solutions during the discharge process. Some hydroxide ions in zincate can be replaced with alkoxide and acetate ions; this resulted in a clear improvement of the reversibility of Zn–air batteries. The modification of zincate with alkoxide/acetate suppresses its transformation into ZnO, which results in improved retention of capacity in cycle tests.
A thermodynamic model was developed to predict transient behavior of a thermal storage system, using phase change materials (PCMs), for a novel electric vehicle climate conditioning application. The main objectives of the paper are to consider the system’s dynamic behavior, such as a dynamic air flow rate into the vehicle’s cabin, and to characterize the transient heat transfer process between the thermal storage unit and the vehicle’s cabin, while still maintaining accurate solution to the complex phase change heat transfer. The system studied consists of a heat transfer fluid circulating between either of the on-board hot and cold thermal storage units, which we refer to as thermal batteries, and a liquid–air heat exchanger that provides heat exchange with the incoming air to the vehicle cabin. Each thermal battery is a shell-and-tube configuration where a heat transfer fluid flows through parallel tubes, which are surrounded by PCM within a larger shell. The system model incorporates computationally inexpensive semi-analytic solution to the conjugated laminar forced convection and phase change problem within the battery and accounts for airside heat exchange using the Number of Transfer Units (NTUs) method for the liquid–air heat exchanger. Using this approach, we are able to obtain an accurate solution to the complex heat transfer problem within the battery while also incorporating the impact of the airside heat transfer on the overall system performance. The implemented model was benchmarked against a numerical study for a melting process and against full system experimental data for solidification using paraffin wax as the PCM. Through modeling, we demonstrate the importance of capturing the airside heat exchange impact on system performance, and we investigate system response to dynamic operating conditions, e.g., air recirculation.
Epidural spinal cord electrical stimulation (ESCS) has been used as a means to facilitate locomotor recovery in spinal cord injured humans. Electrode arrays, instead of conventional pairs of electrodes, are necessary to investigate the effect of ESCS at different sites. These usually require a large number of implanted wires, which could lead to infections. This paper presents the design, fabrication and evaluation of a novel flexible active array for ESCS in rats. Three small (1.7 mm2) and thin (100 μm) application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) are embedded in the polydimethylsiloxane-based implant. This arrangement limits the number of communication tracks to three, while ensuring maximum testing versatility by providing independent access to all 12 electrodes in any configuration. Laser-patterned platinum-iridium foil forms the implant’s conductive tracks and electrodes. Double rivet bonds were employed for the dice microassembly. The active electrode array can deliver current pulses (up to 1 mA, 100 pulses per second) and supports interleaved stimulation with independent control of the stimulus parameters for each pulse. The stimulation timing and pulse duration are very versatile. The array was electrically characterized through impedance spectroscopy and voltage transient recordings. A prototype was tested for long term mechanical reliability when subjected to continuous bending. The results revealed no track or bond failure. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time that flexible active electrode arrays with embedded electronics suitable for implantation inside the rat’s spinal canal have been proposed, developed and tested in vitro.
This paper is to present the implementation for maintenance of the 5kW a-Si GPV systems that were installed on the building-top of the Electrical Engineering Department at RMUTSB Nonthaburi, Thailand. The author had studied the way to maintain this system after operating for three years (2004–2006). The maintenance methods are classified into three parts. They are electrical, mechanical and component maintenance. Then the author used the maintenance check list for building-top GPV that author had developed. The period for planned maintenance was on July 2004, July 2005 and July 2006. The results are as follows: 1. The time for GPV shutdown system is 232h or 0.88% of system operating time. 2. The maintenance quantities are 17 times. They are 13 times for electrical maintenance and four times for component maintenance. 3. The time required for maintenance is 50h. Thirty-six hours for electrical maintenance and 14h for component maintenance. 4. The maintenance time (percent) used for the first year was 8%, second year was 20% and the last year was 72%.
The ionic conduction in a novel solid sodium-ion conductor of Na2Zn2TeO6 (NZTO) is investigated from the point of view of defect chemistry. NZTO shows an ionic conductivity of 0.57 mS cm−1 at room temperature, and the grain bulk conductivity and the grain-boundary conductivity are individually measured using the AC impedance spectroscopy at temperatures down to −30 °C. The grain-boundary conductivities are about two orders of magnitude lower than those of the grain bulk; such a phenomenon can be ascribed to the Schottky barrier at the grain boundaries of the NZTO electrolyte. The concentration and mobility of the charge carriers in the grain bulk are calculated from the grain bulk conductivity. The concentration and mobility of the charge carriers and the Schottky barrier height can be tuned by doping; the ionic conductivity of NZTO is enhanced to 0.83 mS cm−1 by the doping of 2.5 mol% Ga at the Zn sites, because the Ga-doping increases the concentration and mobility of the charge carriers, and lowers the Schottky barrier height.
Multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT) thin films have been fabricated by electrophoretic deposition technique in this study. The supercapacitors built from such thin film electrodes have exhibited near-ideal rectangular cyclic voltammograms even at a scan rate as high as 1000mVs−1 and a high specific power density over 20kWkg−1. More importantly, the supercapacitors showed superior frequency response, with a frequency ‘knee’ at about 7560Hz, which is more than 70 times higher than the highest ‘knee’ frequency (100Hz) so far reported for such supercapacitors. Our study also demonstrated that these carbon nanotube thin films can serve as a coating layer over ordinary current collectors to drastically enhance the electrode performance, indicating the huge potential in supercapacitor and battery manufacturing. Finally, it is clear that electrophoretic deposition is a promising technique for massive fabrication of carbon nanotube electrodes for various electronic devices.
This study aims at analyzing the response of Li-ion cells and at identifying the hazards and governing phenomena from hard to soft external short circuit conditions. 10 Ah pouch cells and 4.5 mAh coin cells were short circuited while synchronized current, potential and temperature signals, audio, IR and visual video recordings were registered. The anode, cathode and separator harvested from the cells were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy, micro X-ray Computed Tomography and 3D-profilometry. The complex short circuit behavior obtained can be described by 3 regions: In the first region 274C-rate is observed which is mainly governed by the cell's double and diffusion layer discharge. In the second region, the current drops significantly to 50–60C-rate where mass transport becomes the current limiting factor. The maximum temperature (77–121 °C) is reached and cell rupture, venting and electrolyte leakage may occur. In the final, third region the current decline continues due to the decaying electromotive force. The normalized external/internal resistance ratio is found to be the main influential factor on current and hazards rather than the external resistance or the capacity of the cell. The implications on the relevance and fitness-for-purpose of external short circuit test in standards are outlined.
Background Neurocognitive impairments are the strongest predictor of functional deficits in schizophrenia, but adaptive (i.e., functional) capacity, typically measured with performance-based assessments, yields an objective index of current abilities, whereas real-world functional performance relies on observations of community activity. However, limited experiences in the community may limit the acquisition, retention, or expression of these skills. Methods We examined the frequency of engagement in behaviors that are assessed in the current “gold standard” in person functional capacity assessment. The UCSD Performance-Based Skills Assessment (i.e., UPSA) examines skills associated with recreational engagement, handling money, scheduling appointments, and navigating public transportation. We used neurocognition, experience, and UPSA performance as predictors of the relationships among cognition and real-world functioning variables. Results Neurocognition was a significant correlate of UPSA scores regardless of whether it was forced into the model before or after prior experience, whereas experience was only a significant predictor of UPSA scores when entered before neurocognition. Further, functional capacity, neurocognition, and experience were significant predictors of real-world outcomes and experience remained a significant predictor regardless of the order it was entered into the model. Conclusions The amount of current experience with functional tasks is not a rate-limiter of the relationships between neurocognition and functional capacity but does account for some previously unexplained variance in the functional capacity–everyday functioning relationship. These findings underscore the importance of neurocognitive deficits as they relate to functional capacity in schizophrenia, and suggest an incremental functional cost of limited experience with independent living.
A number of pharmacological agents for treating negative symptoms in schizophrenia are currently in development. Unresolved questions regarding the design of clinical trials in this area were discussed at an international meeting in Florence, Italy in April 2012. Participants included representatives from academia, the pharmaceutical industry, and the European Medicines Agency (EMA). Prior to the meeting, participants submitted key questions for debate and discussion. Responses to the questions guided the discussion during the meeting. The group reached agreement on a number of issues: (1) study subjects should be under the age of 65; (2) subjects should be excluded for symptoms of depression that do not overlap with negative symptoms; (3) functional measures should not be required as a co-primary in negative symptom trials; (4) information from informants should be included for ratings when available; (5) Phase 2 negative symptom trials should be 12weeks and 26weeks is preferred for Phase 3 trials; (6) prior to entry into a negative symptom study, subjects should demonstrate clinical stability for a period of 4 to 6months by collection of retrospective information; and (7) prior to entry, the stability of negative and positive symptoms should be confirmed prospectively for four weeks or longer. The participants could not reach agreement on whether predominant or prominent negative symptoms should be required for study subjects.
Different LiCoO2 thin films are prepared with radio-frequency (RF) sputtering technique. The physical and electrochemical properties of the films are characterized with X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman scattering spectroscopy (RS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and charge–discharge experiments. The films obtained at high sputtering power such as 150W or 200W which are composed of bigger particles or larger pieces of the target material exhibit better electrochemical performance than the films obtained at low sputtering powers. It should avoid further annealing process of the thin film electrodes. The experimental results have explained why the as-deposited films become better crystallized and therefore their charge–discharge performance is further improved with the increase of the sputtering power.
While it has been hypothesized that brown adipocytes responsible for mammalian thermogenesis are absent in birds, the existence of beige fat has yet to be studied directly. The present study tests the hypothesis that beige fat emerges in birds as a mechanism of physiological adaptation to cold environments. Subcutaneous neck adipose tissue from cold-acclimated or triiodothyronine (T3)-treated chickens exhibited increases in the expression of avian uncoupling protein (avUCP, an ortholog of mammalian UCP2 and UCP3) gene and some known mammalian beige adipocyte-specific markers. Morphological characteristics of white adipose tissues of treated chickens showed increased numbers of both small and larger clusters of multilocular fat cells within the tissues. Increases in protein levels of avUCP and mitochondrial marker protein, voltage-dependent anion channel, and immunohistochemical analysis for subcutaneous neck fat revealed the presence of potentially thermogenic mitochondria-rich cells. This is the first evidence that the capacity for thermogenesis may be acquired by differentiating adipose tissue into beige-like fat for maintaining temperature homeostasis in the subcutaneous fat ‘neck warmer’ in chickens exposed to a cold environment.
Although Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and other mixed CB1/CB2 receptor agonists are well established to elicit antinociceptive effects, their psychomimetic actions and potential for abuse have dampened enthusiasm for their therapeutic development. Conversely, CB2 receptor-selective agonists have been shown to reduce pain and inflammation, without eliciting apparent cannabinoid behavioral effects. In the present study, we developed a novel ethyl sulfonamide THC analog, O-3223, and compared its pharmacological effects to those of the potent, mixed CB1/CB2 receptor agonist, CP55,940, in a battery of preclinical pain models. Competitive cannabinoid receptor binding experiments revealed that O-3223 was approximately 80-fold more selective for CB2 than CB1 receptors. Additionally, O-3223 behaved as a full CB2 receptor agonist in [35S]GTPγS binding. O-3223 reduced nociceptive behavior in both phases of the formalin test, reduced thermal hyperalgesia in the chronic constriction injury of the sciatic nerve (CCI) model, and reduced edema and thermal hyperalgesia elicited by intraplantar injection of LPS. These effects were blocked by pretreatment with the CB2 receptor-selective antagonist SR144528, but not by the CB1 receptor antagonist, rimonabant. Unlike CP55,940, O-3223 did not elicit acute antinociceptive effects in the hot-plate test, hypothermia, or motor disturbances, as assessed in the rotarod test. These data indicate that the CB2 receptor-selective agonist, O-3223, reduces inflammatory and neuropathic nociception, without affecting basal nociception or eliciting overt behavioral effects. Moreover, this compound can serve as a template to develop new CB2 receptor agonists with increased receptor selectivity and increased potency in treating inflammatory and neuropathic pain.