batterydata/paper-abstracts huggingface dataset:
Integrated Biomarkers Response (IBR) index have been developed as a practical and robust tool to assess the susceptibility to pollutants using multiple biomarker responses. Neonicotinoid insecticides are nowadays one of the most sold pesticides worldwide. Nevertheless, imidacloprid (IMI) sub-lethal effects such as oxidative stress (OS) on fishes are scarcely studied. Hence, the aims of this work were: (1) to evaluate exposure- and damage biomarkers related to OS in the freshwater fish Australoheros facetus exposed to IMI and (2) to apply the IBR index to achieve a comprehensive understanding of OS in the fish. The results of the present study showed that all the biomarkers presented different responses in the three monitored tissues: liver, brain and gills. Results for an initial battery of 19 biomarkers were obtained and for the IBR index only those with significant differences have been considered. The biomarkers that had the most important weight on the IBR index were SOD activity in brain and gills, H2O2 concentration in liver, and carbonyl groups concentration in gills in fishes exposed to 100 and 1000 μg L−1 IMI. This index allowed affirming that a short term exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of IMI (≥10 μg L−1) produces OS in A. facetus. However, a more deep understanding of some biomarkers response is necessary to improve the index and for finally apply it in field studies.
A facile method was developed to synthesize B-doped carbon coated nano-sized Li4Ti5O12 by using glucose and boric acid mixture as the precursor of coating layer, and the effect of B-dopant amounts on electrochemical performance was investigated in detail. It is demonstrated that B-dopant can efficiently improve the electronic conductivity of carbon-coating layer. According to X-ray photoemission spectroscopy analysis and electrochemical investigation, it is also found that, BC3 dopant species are important for improving electronic conductivity and electrochemical performance, whereas the B-O dopant species, which increases with the enhancement of B-dopant amount, might hamper the charge transfer on Li+-insertion process. Therefore, the carbon coated nano-sized Li4Ti5O12 with a moderate B-dopant amount exhibits much higher electrochemical performance. For example, with a low carbon content of ∼3wt. %, the optimized B-doped carbon coated Li4Ti5O12 can deliver a capacity of around 90mAhg−1 at a high rate of 20C, which is much higher than that of carbon-coated Li4Ti5O12. The achieved result indicates that approach of B-doped carbon coating is an effective method for improving the performance of Li4Ti5O12.
The EU commissioner who oversees energy policy, Loyola de Palacio, is threatening to liberalize Europe's non-residential gas and electricity markets by decree, if member states fail to reach an agreement.
New ionic liquid–polymer gel electrolytes (IPGEs) are prepared from N-ethyl-N-methylmorpholinium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (Mor1,2TFSI) and poly(vinylidene fluoride)-hexafluoropropylene copolymer (PVdF(HFP)). To investigate the effect of propylene carbonate (PC) on the ionic conductivity of the IPGEs, the preparation methods are roughly divided into two groups according to the presence or absence of PC. The ionic conductivity for each IPGE is measured with increasing temperature and changing weight ratio of Mor1,2TFSI. The results show that the ionic conductivity increases as the temperature and weight ratio of the Mor1,2TFSI increase, and that the added PC improves the ionic conductivity of the IPGEs. In addition, thermogravimetric analysis and the data from infrared spectroscopy demonstrate the thermal stability of each IPGE and the presence of PC in the polymer network. Although the IPGEs that contain PC display high conductivity (∼1.1×10−2 Scm−1) at 60°C, they are thermally unstable.
Developing lightweight, flexible and sustainable sensor networks with miniaturized integration and functionality for the Internet of Things (IoT) remains a challenge and an urgent demand for the next-generation electronic devices. Paper-based electronics, which represents one of the main green electronics in the future, have been considered as one of the most exciting technologies to meet the consumption of the frequently upgraded electronics. Here, we presented an ultrathin (about 200µm) and lightweight paper-based self-powered system that consists of a paper-based triboelectric/piezoelectric hybrid nanogenerator and a paper-based supercapacitor. Under human motions such as flipping the page and moving the book/document, the as-fabricated self-powered system built-in the smart book/document was capable of sustaining power for portable devices, such as continuously driving LEDs and the temperature/humidity sensor. With the signal-processing circuit, the paper-based system was further developed into a wireless human-machine interaction system for documents management and smart reading. The ultrathin and highly flexible characteristics of the self-powered system not only endow the device with power generation feature for portable devices, but also build up the wireless human-machine interactions in developing potential applications for the IoT.
Lithium-manganese-rich transition metal oxides have attracted substantial R&D attention due to their potential for high energy-density lithium-ion batteries. In this work, in situ high-energy X-ray diffraction was deployed to investigate the phase evolution during the solid-state synthesis of Li[Li0.2Mn0.54Ni0.13Co0.13]O2. A step-wise consumption of the starting materials was observed during the one-step heating process primarily due to the heterogeneous nature of the precursor. According to observations from in situ high-energy X-ray diffraction, a two-step process was adopted to minimize the elemental heterogeneity of the final product. The electrochemical characterization results showed a substantial improvement on the reversible specific capacity for the material synthesized through the two-step process.
Nanosized ZnO with prismatic form was prepared using homogeneous precipitation process and its electrochemical performance was investigated by the measurements of electrochemical cycle behaviors and passivation polarization curves. The discharge capacity delivered by nanosized ZnO still achieved about 600mAh/g until the 250th cycle. Nanosized ZnO exhibited higher midpoint discharge voltage, better cycle stability and passivation toleration than commercial ZnO. Furthermore, nanosized ZnO showed the morphology evolution process differed slightly from that of the commercial ZnO, including morphology maintenance, orientation growth and the formation of Zn dendrites. The epitaxial growth, texture growth and crystal growth habit were put forward to illuminate the morphology evolution process.
In this work we study different ternary polymer gel electrolytes in order to analyze the influence of the type of polymer and its concentration on the lithium ion transport. Four ternary systems are prepared, containing either poly(diallyldimethylammonium) bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)-imide (PDADMATFSI) or poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) as polymeric component, lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)-imide (LiTFSI) as conducting salt, and either ionic liquid 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide (PYR14TFSI) or propylene carbonate (PC) as solvent. We study the lithium ion dynamics in dependence on polymer concentration for all systems. The samples are studied by 7Li and 19F Pulsed Field Gradient (PFG) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) diffusion experiments of the lithium ion as well as the TFSI− anion. The diffusion coefficients of the ions decrease strongly with increasing concentration of PMMA, but they decrease less significantly for increasing concentration of PDADMATFSI. Various comparisons of diffusion coefficient ratios highlight the role of the solvent and the polymer, respectively. Spin-lattice relaxation rates give an insight about the change in short range (local) dynamics of the lithium ion. In summary, the result show that PDADMATFSI acts as an efficient ionic cluster breaker between lithium and TFSI− and is thus a far better suitable polymer in electrolytes than PMMA.
Silver-coated layered double hydroxide (Ag-coated LDH) nanosheets are successfully prepared by a facile silver mirror reaction and their electrochemical performance has been evaluated as anode materials for Ni–Zn secondary batteries. The microstructure and morphology of as-prepared Ag-coated Zn/Al-LDH are investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). As anode material for Ni–Zn secondary batteries, Ag-coated Zn/Al-LDH exhibits high specific capacity (400 mAh g−1), good charge–discharge properties and excellent cycling performance, which is attributed to the effect of the electron conductivity improvement by the Ag coating on the surface of Zn/Al-LDH nanosheet. This newly designed Ag-coated Zn/Al-LDH may offer a promising anode candidate for high-performance Ni–Zn secondary batteries.
Capsule endoscopy (CE) has gradually seen its wide application in hospitals in the last few years because it can view the entire small bowel without invasiveness. However, CE produces too many images each time, thus causing a huge burden to physicians, so it is meaningful to help clinicians if we can employ computerized methods to diagnose. This paper presents a new texture extraction scheme for ulcer region discrimination in CE images. A new idea of curvelet based local binary pattern is proposed as textural features to distinguish ulcer regions from normal regions, which makes full use of curvelet transformation and local binary pattern. The proposed new textural features can capture multi-directional features and show robustness to illumination changes. Extensive classification experiments using multilayer perceptron neural network and support vector machines on our image data validate that it is promising to employ the proposed texture features to recognize ulcer regions in CE images.
Low-grade heat from geothermal sources and industrial plants is a significant source of sustainable power that has great potential to be converted to electricity. The two main approaches that have been extensively investigated for converting low-grade heat to electrical energy, organic Rankine cycles and solid-state thermoelectrics, have not produced high power densities or been cost-effective for such applications. Newer, alternative liquid-based technologies are being developed that can be categorized by how the heat is used. Thermoelectrochemical cells (TECs), thermo-osmotic energy conversion (TOEC) systems, and thermally regenerative electrochemical cycles (TRECs) all use low-grade heat directly in a device that generates electricity. Other systems use heat sources to prepare solutions that are used in separate devices to produce electrical power. For example, low-temperature distillation methods can be used to produce solutions with large salinity differences to generate power using membrane-based systems, such as pressure-retarded osmosis (PRO) or reverse electrodialysis (RED); or highly concentrated ammonia solutions can be prepared for use in thermally regenerative batteries (TRBs). Among all these technologies, TRECs, TOEC, and TRBs show the most promise for effectively converting low-grade heat into electrical power mainly due to their high power productions and energy conversion efficiencies.
Mesoporous LiFePO4/C composites containing 80 wt% of highly dispersed LiFePO4 nanoparticles (4–6 nm) were fabricated using bimodal mesoporous carbon (BMC) as continuous conductive networks. The unique pore structure of BMC not only promises good particle connectivity for LiFePO4, but also acts as a rigid nano-confinement support that controls the particle size. Furthermore, the capacities were investigated respectively based on the weight of LiFePO4 and the whole composite. When calculated based on the weight of the whole composite, it is 120 mAh·g−1 at 0.1 C of the high loading electrode and 42 mAh·g−1 at 10 C of the low loading electrode. The electrochemical performance shows that high LiFePO4 loading benefits large tap density and contributes to the energy storage at low rates, while the electrode with low content of LiFePO4 displays superior high rate performance, which can mainly be due to the small particle size, good dispersion and high utilization of the active material, thus leading to a fast ion and electron diffusion.
Nanosized Li4Ti5O12/graphene materials have been successfully synthesized by a solid state-assembly method. As the anode materials for lithium ion batteries, nanosized Li4Ti5O12/graphene exhibits higher specific capacity, much improved rate capability, and better cycle stability than the pure Li4Ti5O12. In the potential range of 1.0-2.0V at room temperature, Li4Ti5O12/graphene with weight ratio of LTO:GO to 1000:5 shows discharge capacities of more than 144 and 96.2mAhg−1 after 100 cycles at 1C and 3C charge-discharge rates, while the correspond discharge capacities of pure Li4Ti5O12 are only 108 and 75.4mAhg−1, respectively. The resulting Li4Ti5O15/graphene (1000:5) sample demonstrates remarkable rate capability in that it delivers a reversible capacity of 53.4mAhg−1 in the 1000th cycle at 10C charge-discharge rate, about 240% that of pristine Li4Ti5O12 particles (22.2mAhg−1). The low charge-transfer resistance and large lithium ion diffusion coefficients confirmed that Li4Ti5O12/graphene materials possessed better electronic conductivity and lithium ion mobility. The present work demonstrates that Li4Ti5O12/graphene composite is a promising anode material for high-rate and long life lithium ion batteries and this simple preparation method makes its production on a large scale.
Objective This study aims to improve understanding of antipsychotic non/response and assess the potential for personalized schizophrenia treatment. Methods We used data from the Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE). Efficacy measures included the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and neurocognitive functioning. Side effect measures included weight, lipids, glucose, heart rate and QT prolongation. Latent class analysis was conducted for each of the five drugs on the individual treatment effects to study whether there were subgroups of drug responders. The posterior probabilities of belonging to a particular response group were correlated across drugs to examine if patients not responding to one drug are likely to respond to a different drug and whether response to one drug may help to predict response to another drug. Results We identified four qualitatively distinct response groups: Optimal Responders, Average Responders, Global Responders and Non-Responders. Different patterns of correlations with demographics and clinical variables across classes provided further support for the validity of these groups. The low correlations between posterior probabilities of the same response groups across drugs implied that patients generally belonged to different response groups for different drugs. Conclusions Our results demonstrate the existence of subgroups of patients characterized by distinct patterns of drug response. Further, findings suggest that patients who experience a poor response to one drug may be an optimal responder to another antipsychotic. Taken together these findings demonstrate the potential to personalize schizophrenia treatment and highlight the importance of identifying better predictors of drug response.
Background Corticosteroid contact dermatitis and its patch testing are subject to certain peculiarities that we should be aware of. Materials and methods We performed a retrospective study of all patients who underwent patch tests with a corticosteroid battery in the Skin Allergy Unit of the Dermatology Department of Hospital General Universitario, Alicante, Spain, between October 2004 and June 2007. Results During the study period, patch tests were performed on 1065 patients in our allergy unit. A corticosteroid battery was used in 34 patients (3.1%). Fourteen patients were positive for budesonide or tixocortol in the standard battery; 20 were negative for these allergens but there was a clinical suspicion of steroid allergy. At least one positive reaction in the corticosteroid battery was observed in 15 patients (44.1%).The substance most commonly implicated was budesonide (13 patients sensitized). The corticosteroid battery revealed sensitization to other groups of corticosteroids in 4 of the 15 patients with corticosteroid sensitization. Seventeen patients brought drugs that were also tested, obtaining positive results for 10 substances. Conclusions Allergens for contact dermatitis due to corticosteroids included in the standard battery (budesonide and tixocortol) detected 93% of patients who are sensitized to steroids; there would appear to be little benefit in performing a corticosteroid battery if those markers are negative. The battery of corticosteroids and the drugs provided by patients were useful to define more exactly the corticosteroid classes that the patient should avoid.
Ionic liquids (ILs) belong to new branch of salts with unique properties which their applications have been increasing in electrochemical systems especially lithium-ion batteries. In the present work, for the first time, the effects of four ionic liquids as an electrolyte additive in battery's electrolyte were studied on the hydrogen and oxygen evolution overpotential and anodic layer formation on lead–antimony–tin grid alloy of lead acid battery. Cyclic and linear sweep voltammetric methods were used for this study in aqueous sulfuric acid solution. The morphology of grid surface after cyclic redox reaction was studied using scanning electron microscopy. The results show that most of added ionic liquids increase hydrogen overpotential and whereas they have no significant effect on oxygen overpotential. Furthermore ionic liquids increase antimony dissolution that might be related to interaction between Sb3+ and ionic liquids. Crystalline structure of PbSO4 layer changed with presence of ionic liquids and larger PbSO4 crystals were formed with some of them. These additives decrease the porosity of PbSO4 perm selective membrane layer at the surface of electrode. Also cyclic voltammogram on carbon–PbO paste electrode shows that with the presence of ionic liquids, oxidation and reduction peak current intensively increased.
The energy consumed in Ireland is primarily achieved by the combustion of fossil fuels. Ireland's only indigenous fossil fuel is peat; all other fossil fuels are imported. As fossil fuels continually become more expensive, their use as an energy source also has a negative impact on the environment. Ireland's energy consumption can be separated into three divisions: transportation, electricity generation and heat energy. Ireland however has a vast range of high quality renewable energy resources. Ireland has set a target that 33% of its electricity will be generated from renewable sources by 2020 [I. Government. Delivering a Sustainable Energy Future for Ireland; 2007.]. The use of biomass, wind and ocean energy technologies is expected to play a major part in meeting this target. The use of renewable energy technologies will assist sustainable development as well as being a solution to several energy related environmental problems. This paper presents the current state of renewable energy technologies and potential resources available in Ireland. Considering Ireland's present energy state, a future energy mix is proposed.
Understanding the mechanical aging of lithium ion batteries influencing the binder stability is of particular interest for enhanced battery life. In this study we present an indentation method to investigate the changes in the elasticity of PVdF in NCM electrodes with high reproducibility. To determine changes in elasticity by calculating the indentation work (η it ), a 50 μm flat punch indenter was used. In addition, a drying procedure for DMC washed samples was evaluated to reduce the effect of the washing procedure on the elasticity due to swelling of the binder. NCM electrodes soaked with electrolyte and electrodes after formation were investigated, showing a significant decrease in elasticity due to the contact with the LiPF6 containing organic carbonate solvent based electrolyte and due to the electrochemical formation procedure. Further electrochemical aging reduced the elasticity to nearly ≈50% compared to the pristine electrode. Method development and the obtained results are discussed in detail. The developed method provides a low standard deviation and high reproducibility. Hence, it is a valid methodology for the quantification of related aging mechanisms taking place in lithium ion batteries.
Carbon materials have attracted great attention for their diversified applications in supercapacitors, and different structures of carbon have been reported to exhibit dissimilar electrochemical properties. In the past, activated carbons, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), carbon nanofibers and graphene have been shown to have excellent electrochemical performances, but it still remains a problem on how to improve the capacitance of carbon-based materials effectively from the viewpoint of their giant commercial potential. Noticing that connecting chemical groups to carbon can provide large pseudo-capacitance, we hereby demonstrated that the position of the chemical groups also plays an important role in the pseudo-capacitance. In our work, we synthesized graphene nanoribbon (GNR), graphene oxide (GO) and functional MWCNTs and showed that GNR has larger capacitance (calculated to be 202F/g at a scan rate of 5mV/s) and energy density compared to CNTs and GO when using as electrode materials. Furthermore, the supercapacitor device based on as-synthesized GNR exhibits excellent cycle stability and rate capability which evident is potential in high performance supercapacitor. Revealing the source of the capacitance, we found that though GNR has less oxygen-containing groups, it has larger pseudo-capacitance than GO and CNTs due to the remarkable edge-riched structure with high activity in electrochemical reactions. This finding highlights the importance of edge structure in carbon-based pseudo supercapacitor and suggests a new insight for the development of pseudo-capacitance electrode materials.
Introduction: It is believed that poor alignment of the lower extremity (e.g. pes planus [flat feet] or genii valgum [knock knees]) can lead to injury. Data reporting different methods of alignment measurements involving the hips, knees and ankles in runners, football players and the military, have being investigated for decades and consisted of photographs, X-rays, measuring alignment using tractographs or goniometers and visualisation. Method: To develop a battery of tests for a prospective study, a pilot study to investigate the reliability of lower extremity measurements of 10 participants was undertaken. The measurements consisted of photographs taken in the frontal plane and medial and lateral sides of the lower extremity in the standing position with markers placed on bony prominences from the hip to the malleoli. Actual measurements (lengths or angles) were obtained from calculations using the x and y coordinates of each variable such as the Q-angle, leg length, knee varus/valgum and hyperextension. Other measurements were the foot posture index (6-point scale) and ankle dorsiflexion (lunge test). Data collection of each participant was performed twice and averaged to be used in the analyses. All measurements were re-collected a week later by the same researcher to test for reliability. Results and discussion: It was found that the measures used had strong intrarater reliability across all variables. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) had a range of 0.95–0.99. The results are an indication that standardised methods using 2D analyses is more beneficial and reliable and will aid in future studies.