Molecular Simulations of Thermal Transport across Iron Oxide-Hydrocarbon Interfaces.

The rational design of dielectric fluids for immersion cooling of batteries requires a molecular-level understanding of the heat flow across the battery casing/dielectric fluid interface. Here, we use nonequilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) simulations to quantify the interfacial thermal resistance (ITR) between hematite and poly-α-olefin (PAO), which are representative of the outer surface of the steel battery casing and a synthetic hydrocarbon dielectric fluid, respectively. After identifying the most suitable force fields to model the thermal properties of the individual components, we then compared different solid-liquid interaction potentials for the calculation of the ITR.

Lightweight Carbon-Metal-Based Fabric Anode for Lithium-Ion Batteries.

Lithium-ion battery electrodes are typically manufactured via slurry casting, which involves mixing active material particles, conductive carbon, and a polymeric binder in a solvent, followed by casting and drying the coating on current collectors (Al or Cu). These electrodes are functional but still limited in terms of pore network percolation, electronic connectivity, and mechanical stability, leading to poor electron/ion conductivities and mechanical integrity upon cycling, which result in battery degradation. To address this, we fabricate trichome-like carbon-iron fabrics via a combination of electrospinning and pyrolysis.

Association between gout and cardiovascular outcomes in adults with no history of cardiovascular disease: large data linkage study in New Zealand.

Objective: To examine the association of gout with cardiovascular outcomes using linked administrative health data in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Design: Data linkage study.

Setting: National registries of pharmaceutical dispensing, hospital admission, and deaths linked to the Auckland/Northland regional repository of laboratory results to create a regional health contact population as of 31 December 2011.

Towards interactional management for power batteries of electric vehicles.

With the ever-growing digitalization and mobility of electric transportation, lithium-ion batteries are facing performance and safety issues with the appearance of new materials and the advance of manufacturing techniques. This paper presents a systematic review of burgeoning multi-scale modelling and design for battery efficiency and safety management. The rise of cloud computing provides a tactical solution on how to efficiently achieve the interactional management and control of power batteries based on the battery system and traffic big data.

Lithium-ion battery degradation: how to model it.

Predicting lithium-ion battery degradation is worth billions to the global automotive, aviation and energy storage industries, to improve performance and safety and reduce warranty liabilities. However, very few published models of battery degradation explicitly consider the interactions between more than two degradation mechanisms, and none do so within a single electrode. In this paper, the first published attempt to directly couple more than two degradation mechanisms in the negative electrode is reported.

Predicting cardiovascular risk from national administrative databases using a combined survival analysis and deep learning approach.

Background: Machine learning-based risk prediction models may outperform traditional statistical models in large datasets with many variables, by identifying both novel predictors and the complex interactions between them. This study compared deep learning extensions of survival analysis models with Cox proportional hazards models for predicting cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in national health administrative datasets.

Methods: Using individual person linkage of administrative datasets, we constructed a cohort of all New Zealanders aged 30-74 who interacted with public health services during 2012.

Dual versus single long-acting bronchodilator use could raise acute coronary syndrome risk by over 50%: A population-based nested case-control study.

Background: Coronary heart disease occurs more frequently among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) compared to those without COPD. While some research suggests that long-acting bronchodilators might confer an additional risk of acute coronary syndrome (ACS), information from real-world clinical practice about the cardiovascular impact of using two versus one long-acting bronchodilator for COPD is limited. We undertook a population-based nested case-control study to estimate the risk of ACS in users of both a long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA) and a long-acting beta2-agonist (LABA) relative to users of a LAMA.

Cardiovascular risk prediction in type 2 diabetes before and after widespread screening: a derivation and validation study.

Background: Until recently, most patients with diabetes worldwide have been diagnosed when symptomatic and have high cardiovascular risk, meaning most should be prescribed cardiovascular preventive medications. However, in New Zealand, a world-first national programme led to approximately 90% of eligible adults being screened for diabetes by 2016, up from 50% in 2012, identifying many asymptomatic patients with recent-onset diabetes. We hypothesised that cardiovascular risk prediction equations derived before widespread screening would now significantly overestimate risk in screen-detected patients.

Lithium ion battery degradation: what you need to know.

The expansion of lithium-ion batteries from consumer electronics to larger-scale transport and energy storage applications has made understanding the many mechanisms responsible for battery degradation increasingly important. The literature in this complex topic has grown considerably; this perspective aims to distil current knowledge into a succinct form, as a reference and a guide to understanding battery degradation. Unlike other reviews, this work emphasises the coupling between the different mechanisms and the different physical and chemical approaches used to trigger, identify and monitor various mechanisms, as well as the various computational models that attempt to simulate these interactions.

Nationwide dispensing of cardioprotective medications during the first year following acute coronary syndrome (ANZACS-QI 56).

Aim: A number of evidence-based medications are recommended following an acute coronary syndrome (ACS), including statins, antithrombotics (antiplatelet and/or anticoagulants), a beta-blocker and an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ACE-I/ARB). This study aimed to describe the dispensing of the cardioprotective medications in the first year following an ACS hospitalisation in New Zealand and how this varies according to age, sex and type of coronary intervention.

Method: National hospitalisation data was used to identify all New Zealand residents aged 35-79 years who were discharged from hospital in the years 2013/14 with a primary discharge diagnosis of ACS.

Both incidence and prevalence of ischaemic heart disease are declining in parallel: a national data-linkage study in New Zealand (ANZACS-QI 52).

Aims: To examine trends in ischaemic heart disease (IHD) incidence and prevalence in New Zealand from 2005 to 2016, using comprehensive linked national hospitalization and mortality data as proxy measures of all significant events.

Methods And Results: Incident and prevalent cases of IHD in people aged ≥25 years were identified using individual patient-linkage of routinely collected ICD-10-coded hospitalization and mortality data. Incidence rates and prevalence proportions were calculated by sex and age group and then age-standardized to the 2016 New Zealand population.

NiCo Metal-Organic Framework and Porous Carbon Interlayer-Based Supercapacitors Integrated with a Solar Cell for a Stand-Alone Power Supply System.

Nickel cobalt-metal-organic framework (NiCo-MOF), with a semihollow spherical morphology composed of rhombic dodecahedron nanostructures, was synthesized using a scalable and facile wet chemical route. Such a structure endowed the material with open pores, which enabled rapid ion ingress and egress, and the high effective surface area of the MOF allowed the uptake and release of a large number of electrolyte ions during charge-discharge. By combining this NiCo-MOF cathode with a highly porous carbon (PC) anode (derived from the naturally grown and abundantly available bio-waste, namely, palm kernel shells), the resulting PC//NiCo-MOF supercapacitor using an aqueous potassium hydroxide (KOH) electrolyte delivered a capacitance of 134 F g, energy and power densities of 24 Wh kg and 0.

Development and validation of a cardiovascular risk score for patients in the community after acute coronary syndrome.

Objective: Following acute coronary syndrome (ACS), patients are managed long-term in the community, yet few tools are available to guide patient-clinician communication about risk management in that setting. We developed a score for predicting cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk among patients managed in the community after ACS.

Methods: Adults aged 30-79 years with prior ACS were identified from a New Zealand primary care CVD risk management database (PREDICT) with linkage to national mortality, hospitalisation, pharmaceutical dispensing and regional laboratory data.

Personalized Prediction of Cardiovascular Benefits and Bleeding Harms From Aspirin for Primary Prevention: A Benefit-Harm Analysis.

Background: Whether the benefits of aspirin for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) outweigh its bleeding harms in some patients is unclear.

Objective: To identify persons without CVD for whom aspirin would probably result in a net benefit.

Design: Individualized benefit-harm analysis based on sex-specific risk scores and estimates of the proportional effect of aspirin on CVD and major bleeding from a 2019 meta-analysis.

Acute coronary syndrome registry enrolment status: differences in patient characteristics and outcomes and implications for registry data use (ANZACS-QI 36).

Aims: Clinical registry-derived data are widely used to represent patient populations. In New Zealand (NZ), a national registry-the All New Zealand Acute Coronary Syndrome Quality Improvement (ANZACS-QI) registry-aims to include all patients undergoing coronary angiography; other acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients are also registered but without complete capture. This study compares national hospitalization data of all first-time ACS admissions in NZ with patients in the ANZACS-QI registry, to investigate the use of clinical registry-derived data in research and in assessing clinical care.

Aligned Ionogel Electrolytes for High-Temperature Supercapacitors.

Ionogels are a new class of promising materials for use in all-solid-state energy storage devices in which they can function as an integrated separator and electrolyte. However, their performance is limited by the presence of a crosslinking polymer, which is needed to improve the mechanical properties, but compromises their ionic conductivity. Here, directional freezing is used followed by a solvent replacement method to prepare aligned nanocomposite ionogels which exhibit enhanced ionic conductivity, good mechanical strength, and thermal stability simultaneously.

Multi-metal 4D printing with a desktop electrochemical 3D printer.

4D printing has the potential to create complex 3D geometries which are able to react to environmental stimuli opening new design possibilities. However, the vast majority of 4D printing approaches use polymer based materials, which limits the operational temperature. Here, we present a novel multi-metal electrochemical 3D printer which is able to fabricate bimetallic geometries and through the selective deposition of different metals, temperature responsive behaviour can thus be programmed into the printed structure.

Predicting Bleeding Risk to Guide Aspirin Use for the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease: A Cohort Study.

Background: Many prognostic models for cardiovascular risk can be used to estimate aspirin's absolute benefits, but few bleeding risk models are available to estimate its likely harms.

Objective: To develop prognostic bleeding risk models among persons in whom aspirin might be considered for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Nickel cobaltite@poly(3,4-ethylenedioxypyrrole) and carbon nanofiber interlayer based flexible supercapacitors.

Binder free flexible symmetric supercapacitors are developed with nickel cobaltite micro-flower coated poly(3,4-ethylenedioxypyrrole) (NiCo2O4@PEDOP) hybrid electrodes. The free standing films of carbon nano-fibers (CNFs), synthesized by electrospinning, were sandwiched between the NiCo2O4@PEDOP hybrid and the electrolyte coated separators on both sides of the cells. The CNF film conducts both ions and electrons, and confines the charge at the respective electrodes, to result in an improved specific capacitance (SC) and energy density compared to the analogous cell without the CNF interlayers.

Trends in ischaemic heart disease: patterns of hospitalisation and mortality rates differ by ethnicity (ANZACS-QI 21).

Aim: To examine trends in ischaemic heart disease (IHD) events by ethnicity.

Methods: All IHD deaths and hospitalisations from 2006-2015 were identified using individual-linkage of national hospitalisation and mortality data. Age-standardised IHD rates and average annual age-adjusted percent changes were estimated by ethnic group.

Annual Risk of Major Bleeding Among Persons Without Cardiovascular Disease Not Receiving Antiplatelet Therapy.

Importance: A decision to initiate aspirin therapy for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) requires consideration of both treatment benefits and harms. The most significant harm associated with aspirin is major bleeding, yet there is a paucity of data on bleeding risk in suitable community populations.

Objective: To determine the risk of major bleeding among people without CVD who are not receiving antiplatelet therapy.

Is general practice identification of prior cardiovascular disease at the time of CVD risk assessment accurate and does it matter?

Aims: To determine the accuracy of general practice recording of prior cardiovascular disease (CVD) at the time of CVD risk assessment and whether recording impacts on CVD management.

Methods: Prior CVD status entered at the time of a first CVD risk assessment from 2002-2015 was compared to prior ischaemic CVD hospitalisations from national datasets using anonymous linkage with an encrypted National Health Index identifier. Clinical factors associated with inaccurate recording of prior events were identified using multivariable logistic regression.

Cardiovascular disease risk prediction equations in 400 000 primary care patients in New Zealand: a derivation and validation study.

Background: Most cardiovascular disease risk prediction equations in use today were derived from cohorts established last century and with participants at higher risk but less socioeconomically and ethnically diverse than patients they are now applied to. We recruited a nationally representative cohort in New Zealand to develop equations relevant to patients in contemporary primary care and compared the performance of these new equations to equations that are recommended in the USA.

Methods: The PREDICT study automatically recruits participants in routine primary care when general practitioners in New Zealand use PREDICT software to assess their patients' risk profiles for cardiovascular disease, which are prospectively linked to national ICD-coded hospitalisation and mortality databases.