batterydata/paper-abstracts huggingface dataset:
SPINK5 (serine protease inhibitor Kazal-type 5), encoding the protease inhibitor LEKTI (lympho-epithelial Kazal-type related inhibitor), is the defective gene in Netherton syndrome (NS), a severe inherited keratinizing disorder. We have recently demonstrated epidermal protease hyperactivity in Spink5 −/− mice resulting in desmosomal protein degradation. Herein, we investigated the molecular mechanism underlying the epidermal defect in 15 patients with NS. We demonstrated that, in a majority of patients, desmoglein 1 (Dsg1) and desmocollin 1 (Dsc1) were dramatically reduced in the upper most living layers of the epidermis. These defects were associated with premature degradation of corneodesmosomes. Stratum corneum tryptic enzyme (SCTE)-like and stratum corneum chymotryptic enzyme (SCCE)-like activities were increased, suggesting that these proteases participate in the premature degradation of corneodesmosomal cadherins. SCTE and SCCE expression was extended to the cell layers where Dsg1 and Dsc1 immunostaining was reduced. In contrast, a subset of six patients with normal epidermal protease activity or residual LEKTI expression displayed apparently normal cadherin expression and less severe disease manifestations. This suggests a degree of correlation between cadherin degradation and clinical severity. This work further supports the implication of premature corneodesmosomal cadherin degradation in the pathogenesis of NS and provides evidence for additional factors playing a role in disease expression.
Energy is an indispensable component in the development of modern society. Nanostructured transition metal phosphides (TMPs) have recently emerged as versatile and efficient catalysts in the fields of clean production of fossil fuels, renewable energies, and energy storage technologies. In this review, popular strategies to fabricate TMPs are initially summarized. Then, we present the diverse applications of TMPs as active catalysts in thermocatalysis, electrocatalysis, photocatalysis, and energy storage techniques, with special emphasis on the dependence of reaction activities on the features of TMPs. Throughout the various applications of TMPs, it can be inferred that TMPs themselves play key roles in some cases. While in other cases, it is the synergistic effect of surface oxidation and intrinsic TMPs that is responsible for the high reaction performances. At last, the future perspectives of TMPs are pointed out.
Vitamin D levels and genetic factors, vitamin D receptor (VDR) and Toll like receptor- 2 (TLR-2) gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), determine susceptibility to pulmonary tuberculosis. We aimed to evaluate vitamin D deficiency, VDR and TLR-2 gene SNPs in tuberculous meningitis (TBM).
Combined chemical looping was demonstrated as novel concept of energy storage in a laboratory scale test. The proposed technology is able to store and release energy from redox chemical looping reactions combined with calcium looping. This process uses Fe3O4 and CaO, two low cost and environmentally friendly materials, while CH4 + CO2 serve as feed. During the reduction of Fe3O4 by CH4, both formation of carbon and metallic iron occur. CO2 acts as mediation gas to facilitate the metal/metal oxide redox reaction and carbon gasification into CO. CaO, on the other hand, is used for storage of CO2. Upon temperature rise, CaCO3 releases CO2, which re-oxidizes the carbon deposits and reduced Fe, thus producing carbon monoxide. The amount of produced CO is higher than the theoretical amount for Fe3O4, because carbon deposits from CH4 equally contribute to the CO yield. After each redox cycle, the material is regenerated, so that it can be used repeatedly, providing a stable process.
Many Indian cities are investing in mass transit projects, such as metro rail networks and bus rapid transit (BRT) systems. In addition to mass transit, the development of an effective public transport network also requires the integration of many thousands of local paratransit operators who provide mobility in areas poorly served by the formal public transport system. In New Delhi battery rickshaws have emerged as one such mode in a dramatic way. In 2010, there were no battery rickshaws, but by 2013, there were an estimated 100,000, operated primarily by individual owner-drivers. This proliferation came despite a complete absence of state involvement: battery-rickshaws operated outside the ambit of the regulation, and in defiance of the city’s very highly regulated paratransit market. This paper aims to identify the causal factors behind their emergence, spread and eventual formalisation based on fieldwork carried out in New Delhi in 2014–2015. In doing this it makes arguments about their role and political-economy. It uses survey data to show that battery-rickshaws provide “last mile connectivity” to metro stations, a market in which they are out-competing all other modes including low-cost cycle-rickshaws. It argues that the demographic advantages enjoyed by battery-rickshaw operators enabled their constitution as a voting bloc in the Delhi Legislative election in 2014, which effectively guaranteed formalisation on concessionary terms. Regulators must consider the role of paratransit as an employer, rather than focusing on legality, as they seek to meet the rising demand for last-mile services in urban areas of the developing world.
Rising rates of obesity have been recently associated to the novel concept of food addiction (FA). The Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) is the most widely used measure for examining FA (1) and analysis of its reliability and validity is expected to facilitate empirical research on the construct. Here, we tested the psychometric properties of a Portuguese version of the YFAS (P-YFAS), establishing its factor structure, reliability and construct validity.
In technologically important LiNi1−x−yMnxCoyO2 cathode materials, surface reconstruction from a layered to a rock-salt structure is commonly observed under a variety of operating conditions, particularly in Ni-rich compositions. This phenomenon contributes to poor high-voltage cycling performance, impeding attempts to improve the energy density by widening the potential window at which these electrodes operate. Here, using advanced nano-tomography and transmission electron microscopy techniques, we show that hierarchically structured LiNi0.4Mn0.4Co0.2O2 spherical particles, made by a simple spray pyrolysis method, exhibit local elemental segregation such that surfaces are Ni-poor and Mn-rich. The tailored surfaces result in superior resistance to surface reconstruction compared with those of conventional LiNi0.4Mn0.4Co0.2O2, as shown by soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy experiments. The improved high-voltage cycling behaviour exhibited by cells containing these cathodes demonstrates the importance of controlling LiNi1−x−yMnxCoyO2 surface chemistry for successful development of high-energy lithium ion batteries.
Bait-trapping is a useful approach for monitoring fly population dynamics, and it is an effective tool for physical control of pest species. The aim of this study was to test a newly developed semi-automatic funnel fly trap with some modifications of the former prototype fly trap to study medically important fly population density. The efficacy of the semi-automatic funnel trap was assessed by field sampling during July 2013-June 2014 using 1-day tainted beef offal as bait. The modified semi-automatic funnel traps were able to capture a total of 151,141 adult flies, belonging to the families: Calliphoridae (n=147,248; 97.4%), Muscidae (n=3,124; 2.1%) and Sarcophagidae (n=769; 0.5%), which are the medically important fly species. Among the total of 35 species collected, Chrysomya megacephala (Diptera: Calliphoridae) (n=88,273; 59.95%), Musca domestica (Diptera: Muscidae) (n=1,324; 42.38%) and Boettcherisca peregrina (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) (n=68; 33.01%) were the predominant species of each family. High number of flies was captured in forest area, representing 42.47% (n=64,197) of total specimens. Female flies were trapped more than male with total sex ratio of 0.37 male/female. Flies were trapped throughout the year with peak population in summer. Peak activity was recorded in the afternoon (12.00–18.00h). In summary, the modified semi-automatic funnel fly trap can be used for field collection of the adult fly. By setting the timer, population dynamics, diversity, and periodic activity of adult flies were determined.
Theoretical cell model is applied for evaluation of valve-regulated lead–acid batteries under discharge, recharge and overcharge conditions. The previously presented models are improved by introducing a new formula for electrode morphology, applying charging factor to state-of-charge, electrode porosity and acid concentration as well as considering the recombination of oxygen as mass-transport limited evolution process. Also, a new model is proposed for the ohmic resistance of a battery. The modified cell model is calibrated using experimental data. Results show that high prediction accuracy can be obtained for the full discharge–recharge cycle including deep discharge and overcharge. The modified cell model is applied for evaluation of the gas formation processes using externally measured current, voltage and temperature of a battery.
In this work, we adopt first-principles calculations and ab-initio molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the potential of borophene as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries. It is found that borophene has an adsorption energy to lithium atom of −1.12eV, which is large enough to ensure a good lithium-borophene stability during the lithiation process. The fully lithiated phase of borophene is Li0.75B, corresponding to a theoretical specific capacity of 1860mAhg−1, which is about 4 times larger than that of the commercial graphite anode (372mAhg−1). More excitingly, it is found that the energy barrier along the furrow of corrugated borophene is only 2.6meV, which is much lower than those of other widely investigated anode materials such as phosphorene (80meV) and Ti3C2 (70meV). The finding suggests that lithium diffusion on borophene can be extremely fast. In the meantime, a strong directional anisotropy is observed for lithium diffusion, with a 325.1meV barrier perpendicular to the furrow of borophene. This phenomenon is further proved by ab-initio molecular dynamics simulations at 300K and the result shows the lithium atom can freely drift along the furrow, but seldom jumps to the neighboring furrows. Finally, borophene is found to exhibit metallic characteristics during the whole lithiation process, indicating that the material has an excellent electronic conductivity. The findings reported in this work suggest that borophene, as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries, has potential to drastically boost batteries' energy density and power density.
Oxidative stress and blood–brain barrier (BBB) disruption play important roles in cerebral ischemic pathogenesis and may represent targets for treatment. Earlier studies have shown that osthole, a main active constituent isolated from Cnidium monnieri (L.) Cusson, could be considered as an attractive therapeutic agent in the treatment of ischemic stroke. However, the mechanism underlying the protective effect remains vague. In this study we aimed to investigate the effect of osthole on transient cerebral ischemia as well as its mechanism(s) in C57 BL/6 J mice. Mice were subjected to transient global cerebral ischemia induced by bilateral common carotid artery occlusion for 25 min. Behavioral test was performed at 4 days after ischemia, followed by assessment of neuronal loss in hippocampal CA1 region. Osthole significantly improved the cognitive ability and enhanced the survival of pyramidal neurons in the CA1 region of mice after lesion. Further studies showed that osthole attenuated the permeation of BBB, which may contribute to antioxidative effect by increasing the superoxide dismutase activity and decreasing the malondialdehyde level in model mice. Further studies revealed that osthole obviously up-regulated the protein levels of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2/heme oxygenase 1 in HT22 cells. In conclusion, our findings indicated that osthole exerts neuroprotective effects against global cerebral ischemia injury by reducing oxidative stress injury and reserving the disruption of BBB, which may be attributed to elevating the protein levels of Nrf2 and HO-1.
Concerns over the safety and high cost of lithium ion batteries, especially those containing cobalt-based active materials, limit their use to applications where energy density requirements cannot be met by any other materials. Manganese-spinel based positive electrode materials represent a promising candidate for lithium ion batteries because of their lower cost, lower toxicity, and greater resistance to thermal runaway than cobalt-based active materials. Although LiMn2O4 has a well-known issue of capacity fading, investigations into nanostructured composites composed of surface modified spinel phases have demonstrated outstanding performance, suggesting that LiMn2O4 has potential to be a viable positive electrode for safe, inexpensive, high power, and long lifetime lithium-ion batteries. Here we report a low-temperature hydrothermal process for growth of conformal coatings of highly crystalline LiMn2O4 directly onto a carbon fiber current collector, completely eliminating the process steps and materials associated with the conventional tape casting approach (binders, solvents, and metal foils). The prepared electrodes tested at a rate of 1 C showed an initial discharge capacity of 125 mAh g−1 and an average energy efficiency of 92.4% over 100 cycles.
We report frequency- and time-domain luminescent lifetime measurements for materials that exhibit a broad spectrum of lifetimes, specifically, those for which the observed decay dynamics can be described by a stretched exponential function. The spectrum of lifetimes of such materials can be characterized by an average lifetime, and in principle this average can be extracted from either time- or frequency-domain measurements. In practice, this requires some care, because the extent to which the various states are excited depends on how long their lifetime is relative to the excitation pulse width or period. For the complex luminescent materials ZnS:Cu,Al and CdS quantum dots we compare the average lifetime obtained from frequency-domain data and from time-domain data under both pulsed laser excitation and steady-state, dc excitation. The agreement between the average measured lifetimes is good, but not perfect, showing that quoted average lifetimes for complex materials can be dependent on the measurement technique. Finally, a spectrum of lifetimes is given that gives rise to stretched exponential relaxation and this spectrum is used to compute frequency-domain data for a stretched exponential material.
Codoping carbon with phosphorus and nitrogen can lead to bifunctional oxygen evolution and oxygen reduction catalyst with improved electrocatalytic activity. In this work, we demonstrate the non-pollution fabrication of porous carbon self-doped with N and P heteroatoms from spirulina, a kind of industrially cultivated microalgae which is rich in proteins and phosphates. The N, P self-doped biocarbon (NPBC) was obtained simply by pyrolyzing spirulina at 950°C. This single-step process eliminates additional chemicals including nitrogen source, phosphorus source, and pore-forming agents, thus allowing NPBC to become a true sense of potentially low-cost and sustainable oxygen electrocatalysts. NPBC exhibits large specific surface area (786.1m2/g), improved pore volume (0.73cm3/g), and doping levels of 2.15% for N and 0.97% for P (atom ratio). And it can deliver bifunctional activity in catalyzing both oxygen reduction and oxygen evolution reactions, with a small OER and ORR metrics (ΔE=0.82V). Using NPBC for the air electrodes, we develop primary and rechargeable zinc-air battery with a high discharge power density of 90.7mWcm−2 and a large energy density of 850Whkg−1 in ambient air conditions. Moreover, the rechargeable zinc-air battery shows good rechargeability.
Lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries with a high theoretical energy density based on multi-electron redox reactions were strongly considered. The lithium disulfide/sulfide (Li2S2/Li2S, denoted as Li2S1/2) precipitation is critical to achieve high sulfur utilization. However, the kinetic effect on Li2S1/2 precipitation in a working battery has been rarely investigated. Herein, the current-density-dependent Li2S1/2 nucleation/growth was explored and such a dependence served as the guiding principle for the construction of high-sulfur-loading/content Li–S batteries. Generally, the Li2S1/2 nucleation density is proportional to two-third the power of the current density and the shift from a high to low current density alters the Li2S1/2 precipitation pathway from surface deposition to solution-mediated growth. The in-solution growth rate was found to be restricted by the mobilities of polysulfide intermediates and Li2S1/2 in conventional ether electrolytes. The rationalized guideline directed the design of a lightweight, high-surface-area, and open-pore conductive framework for sulfur cathodes, which enabled an extremely high sulfur content of 93.4 wt% in the whole electrode and a high capacity (1269 mA h g−1). The present work affords a kinetic understanding of the liquid–solid conversion in working Li–S batteries and optimization schemes for practical operation parameters.
Graphite-anchored lithium vanadium oxide (Li1.1V0.9O2) has been synthesized via a “one-pot” in situ method. The effects of the synthesis conditions, such as the ratio of reaction components and calcination temperature, on the electrochemical performance are systematically investigated by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), galvanostatic discharge/charge tests and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Compared with the simple mixture of graphite and lithium vanadium oxide, the graphite-anchored lithium vanadium oxide delivers an enhanced reversible capacity, rate capability and cyclic stability. It also shows better thermal stability.
In this study, the thermal management system of a hybrid electric vehicle is optimized using single and multi-objective evolutionary algorithms in order to maximize the exergy efficiency and minimize the cost and environmental impact of the system. The objective functions are defined and decision variables, along with their respective system constraints, are selected for the analysis. In the multi-objective optimization, a Pareto frontier is obtained and a single desirable optimal solution is selected based on LINMAP decision-making process. The corresponding solutions are compared against the exergetic, exergoeconomic and exergoenvironmental single objective optimization results. The results show that the exergy efficiency, total cost rate and environmental impact rate for the baseline system are determined to be 0.29, ¢28 h−1 and 77.3 mPts h−1 respectively. Moreover, based on the exergoeconomic optimization, 14% higher exergy efficiency and 5% lower cost can be achieved, compared to baseline parameters at an expense of a 14% increase in the environmental impact. Based on the exergoenvironmental optimization, a 13% higher exergy efficiency and 5% lower environmental impact can be achieved at the expense of a 27% increase in the total cost.
Due to the stochastic nature of renewable energy sources (RES) and electric vehicles (EV) load demand, large scale penetration of these resources in the power systems can stress the reliable network performance, such as reducing power quality, increasing power losses, and voltage deviations. These challenges must be minimized by optimal planning based on the variable output from RES to meet the additional demand caused by EV charging. In this paper, a novel method for optimal allocation and sizing of RES and EV charging stations simultaneously and managing vehicle charging process is provided. A multi-objective optimization problem is formulated to obtain objective variables in order to reduce power losses, voltage fluctuations, charging and demand supplying costs, and EV battery cost. In this optimization problem, the location and capacity of RES and EV charging stations are the optimization variables. Coefficients which are dependent on wind speed, solar radiation, and hourly peak demand ratio for the management of the EV charging pattern in off-peak load hours are introduced. Genetic Algorithm-Particle Swarm Optimization (GA-PSO) hybrid improved optimization algorithm is used to solve the optimization problem in five different scenarios. The performance of the proposed method on IEEE 33-bus system has been investigated to validate the effectiveness of the novel GA-PSO method to optimal sitting and sizing of RES and EV charging stations simultaneously.
A new family of polymeric ionic liquids having pyrrolidinium cation pendant units was synthesized from commercially available poly(diallyldimethylammonium) chloride. A simple anion exchange procedure was applied to the poly(diallyldimethylammonium) chloride using different salts such as LiTFSI, KPF6, LiBF4 and NaDBSA. The anion exchange reaction was quantitative as confirmed by NMR, FT-IR and titration experiments. Among these polymers, poly(diallyldimethylammonium) bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (TFSI) showed excellent performance as polymer matrix for polymer electrolyte compositions together with pyrrolidinium ionic liquid and lithium salt having a similar TFSI counter-anion. In this sense, free standing mechanically stable transparent polymer films showing an ionic conductivity higher than 10−4 Scm−1 at room temperature were prepared and characterized. Furthermore, the polymer electrolytes presented a wide electrochemical stability window (7.0V) which makes them interesting candidates for solid-state lithium batteries.
A multitask battery tapping nonverbal memory and language skills was used to assess 60 children at 18, 24, and 30months of age. Analyses focused on the degree to which language, working memory, and deliberate memory skills were linked concurrently to children’s Elicited Imitation task performance and whether the patterns of association varied across the different ages. Language ability emerged as a predictor of immediate Elicited Imitation performance by 24months of age and predicted delayed performance at each age. In addition to the contributions of language, children’s abilities to search for and retrieve toys in the deliberate memory task were associated with their immediate Elicited Imitation performance at each age. In addition to language, working memory was positively associated with aspects of both immediate and delayed performance at all ages. The extent to which it was possible to replicate and extend previous cross-sectional work in this longitudinal study is discussed.
In this work we estimate the state of charge (SOC) of Ni–MH rechargeable batteries using the Kalman filter based on a simplified electrochemical model. First, we derive the complete electrochemical model of the battery which includes diffusional processes and kinetic reactions in both Ni and MH electrodes. The full model is further reduced in a cascade of two parts, a linear time invariant dynamical sub-model followed by a static nonlinearity. Both parts are identified using the current and potential measured at the terminals of the battery with a simple 1-D minimization procedure. The inverse of the static nonlinearity together with a Kalman filter provide the SOC estimation as a linear estimation problem. Experimental results with commercial batteries are provided to illustrate the estimation procedure and to show the performance.