Metal-Free Polymer-Based Current Collector for High Energy Density Lithium-Metal Batteries.

The energy density of lithium-metal batteries (LMBs) relies substantially on the thickness of the lithium-metal anode. However, a bare, thin lithium foil electrode is vulnerable to fragmentation due to the inhomogeneity of the lithium stripping/plating process, disrupting the electron conduction pathway along the electrode. Accordingly, the current collector is an integral part to prevent the resulting loss of electronic conductivity.

Dendritic Copper Current Collectors as a Capacity Boosting Material for Polymer-Templated Si/Ge/C Anodes in Li-Ion Batteries.

Dendritic copper offers a highly effective method for synthesizing porous copper anodes due to its intricate branching structure. This morphology results in an elevated surface area-to-volume ratio, facilitating shortened electron pathways during aqueous and electrolyte permeation. Here, we demonstrate a procedure for a time- and cost-efficient synthesis routine of fern-like copper microstructures as a host for polymer-templated Si/Ge/C thin films.

Distribution of normalized pulmonary transit time per pathology in a population of routine CMR examinations.

Pulmonary transit time (PTT), defined as the time taken for a contrast agent bolus to pass from the right ventricle to the left ventricle, is a surrogate for non-invasive assessment of preload. It is used in several imaging modalities: pulmonary angiography, echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR). Many recent studies have highlighted the prognostic value of PTT.

Dynamic Structure Evolution of Extensively Delithiated High Voltage Spinel LiNiMnO < 1.5.

High voltage spinel is one of the most promising next-generation cobalt-free cathode materials for lithium ion battery applications. Besides the typically utilized compositional range of LiNiMnO4 0 < < 1 in the voltage window of 4.90-3.

Feasibility of delivering survivorship care via lay health educators: A pilot randomized controlled trial among rural cancer survivors.

Purpose: We tested the feasibility of survivorship care plan (SCP) delivery with/without a lay health educator (LHE) telephone-delivered information session among rural cancer survivors, and their effects on health-related self-efficacy and knowledge of cancer history.

Methods: Randomized trial of cancer survivors from 3 rural oncology clinics featuring either SCP alone (control) or SCP plus LHE-delivered information session (intervention). Participants completed a questionnaire on health-related self-efficacy and knowledge of cancer-specific medical history.

Comparison of Continuous Glucose Monitoring in Cystic Fibrosis Patients With or Without Pancreatic Exocrine Insufficiency.

This study aimed to compare continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) in cystic fibrosis (CF) according to pancreatic exocrine status.CGM and oral glucose tolerance testing (OGTT) were realized annually over five years in people with CF (pwCF) aged≥10 years without cystic fibrosis-related diabetes (CFRD). CGM parameters in patients with normal glucose tolerance (NGT), impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), and newly diagnosed CFRD were compared according to presence of pancreatic sufficiency (PS) or insufficiency (PI).

Complementary and Integrative Health Knowledge and Practice in Primary Care Settings: A Survey of Primary Care Providers in the Northwestern United States.

Background: The demand for complementary and integrative health (CIH) is increasing by patients who want to receive more CIH referrals, in-clinic services, and overall care delivery. To promote CIH within the context of primary care, it is critical that providers have sufficient knowledge of CIH, access to CIH-trained providers for referral purposes, and are comfortable either providing services or co-managing patients who favor a CIH approach to their healthcare.

Objective: The main objective was to gather primary care providers' perspectives across the northwestern region of the United States on their CIH familiarity and knowledge, clinic barriers and opportunities, and education and training needs.

Li-ion half-cells studied during cycling by small-angle neutron scattering.

Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) was recently applied to the and study of the charge/discharge process in Li-ion battery full-cells based on a pouch cell design. Here, this work is continued in a half-cell with a graphite electrode cycled a metallic lithium counter electrode, in a study conducted on the SANS-1 instrument of the neutron source FRM II at the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum in Garching, Germany. It is confirmed that the SANS integrated intensity signal varies as a function of graphite lithiation, and this variation can be explained by changes in the squared difference in scattering length density between graphite and the electrolyte.

Residency Scholarship Within Practice-based Research Networks.

Background And Objectives: Finding scholarship opportunities is a common struggle for family medicine residency programs, especially community-based programs. Participation in practice-based research networks (PBRNs) has been suggested as one option, but little is known about resident engagement in PBRNs. This study explores how PBRNs are currently involving family medicine residency programs and whether there are additional opportunities for engagement.

Low-Temperature Charging and Aging Mechanisms of Si/C Composite Anodes in Li-Ion Batteries: An Operando Neutron Scattering Study.

The addition of Si compounds to graphite anodes has become an attractive way of increasing the practical specific energies in Li-ion cells. Previous studies involving Si/C anodes lacked direct insight into the processes occurring in full cells during low-temperature operation. In this study, a powerful combination of operando neutron diffraction, electrochemical tests, and post-mortem analysis is used for the investigation of Li-ion cells.

Room for Improvement: Rates of Birth Cohort Hepatitis C Screening in Primary Care Practices-A WWAMI Region Practice and Research Network Study.

An estimated 2.4 million people in the United States live with hepatitis C. Though there are effective treatments for chronic hepatitis C, many infected individuals remain untreated because 40% to 50% of individuals with chronic hepatitis C are unaware of their hepatitis C status.

Combined Small-Angle X-ray and Neutron Scattering Restraints in Molecular Dynamics Simulations.

Small-angle X-ray and small-angle neutron scattering (SAXS/SANS) provide unique structural information on biomolecules and their complexes in solution. SANS may provide multiple independent data sets by means of contrast variation experiments, that is, by measuring at different DO concentrations and different perdeuteration conditions of the biomolecular complex. However, even the combined data from multiple SAXS/SANS sets is by far insufficient to define all degrees of freedom of a complex, leading to a significant risk of overfitting when refining biomolecular structures against SAXS/SANS data.

Developing a toolkit to implement the Statin Choice Conversation Aid at scale: application of a work reduction model.

Background: Guidelines recommend shared decision making (SDM) for determining whether to use statins to prevent cardiovascular events in at-risk patients. We sought to develop a toolkit to facilitate the cross-organizational spread and scale of a SDM intervention called the Statin Choice Conversation Aid (SCCA) by (i) assessing the work stakeholders must do to implement the tool; and (ii) orienting the resulting toolkit's components to communicate and mitigate this work.

Methods: We conducted multi-level and mixed methods (survey, interview, observation, focus group) characterizations of the contexts of 3 health systems (n = 86, 84, and 26 primary care clinicians) as they pertained to the impending implementation of the SCCA.

Tumor-associated B cells and humoral immune response in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

B lymphocytes are important players in immune responses to cancer. However, their composition and function in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) has not been well described. Here, we analyzed B cell subsets in HNSCC (n = 38), non-cancerous mucosa (n = 14) and peripheral blood from HNSCC patients (n = 38) and healthy controls (n = 20) by flow cytometry.

Comprehensive evaluation of structural and functional myocardial impairments in Becker muscular dystrophy using quantitative cardiac magnetic resonance imaging.

Aims: Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) is a genetic neuromuscular disease characterized by an alteration of the dystrophin protein. Myocardial involvement is frequent, eventually progressing to a dilated cardiomyopathy, and represents the most common cause of death for this pathology. We performed a comprehensive evaluation of myocardial functional and structural alterations encountered in a large cohort of BMD patients using quantitative cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging.

B cells in esophago-gastric adenocarcinoma are highly differentiated, organize in tertiary lymphoid structures and produce tumor-specific antibodies.

Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) are correlated to prognosis of several kinds of cancer. Most studies focused on T cells, while the role of tumor-associated B cells (TABs) has only recently gained more attention. TABs contain subpopulations with distinct functions, potentially promoting or inhibiting immune responses.

Calibrating SANS data for instrument geometry and pixel sensitivity effects: access to an extended range.

An improved data-reduction procedure is proposed and demonstrated for small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) measurements. Its main feature is the correction of geometry- and wavelength-dependent intensity variations on the detector in a separate step from the different pixel sensitivities: the geometric and wavelength effects can be corrected analytically, while pixel sensitivities have to be calibrated to a reference measurement. The geometric effects are treated for position-sensitive He proportional counter tubes, where they are anisotropic owing to the cylindrical geometry of the gas tubes.

Dynamics of Torque Teno virus viremia could predict risk of complications after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is an established treatment option for several hematological diseases. However, the first year post-transplantation is often complicated by infections and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Improvements in immunological monitoring could reduce such post-transplant complications.

Changes within the stabilizing layer of ZnO nanoparticles upon washing.

ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) are highly relevant for various industrial applications, however, after synthesis of the NPs residual chemicals need to be removed from the colloidal raw product by washing, as they may influence the performance of the final device. In the present study we focus on the effect of washing by antisolvent flocculation with subsequent redispersion of the NPs on the stabilizing acetate shell. Purification of the ZnO nanoparticles is reported to be optimal with respect to zeta potential that has a maximum after one washing cycle.

Characterization of Benign Myocarditis Using Quantitative Delayed-Enhancement Imaging Based on Molli T1 Mapping.

Delayed contrast enhancement after injection of a gadolinium-chelate (Gd-chelate) is a reference imaging method to detect myocardial tissue changes. Its localization within the thickness of the myocardial wall allows differentiating various pathological processes such as myocardial infarction (MI), inflammatory myocarditis, and cardiomyopathies. The aim of the study was first to characterize benign myocarditis using quantitative delayed-enhancement imaging and then to investigate whether the measure of the extracellular volume fraction (ECV) can be used to discriminate between MI and myocarditis.

A Combined SAXS/SANS Study for the in Situ Characterization of Ligand Shells on Small Nanoparticles: The Case of ZnO.

ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) have great potential for their use in, e.g., thin film solar cells due to their electro-optical properties adjustable on the nanoscale.

Distribution-free estimation of zero-inflated models with unobserved heterogeneity.

This paper presents a quasi-conditional likelihood method for the consistent estimation of both continuous and count data models with excess zeros and unobserved individual heterogeneity when the true data generating process is unknown. Monte Carlo simulation studies show that our zero-inflated quasi-conditional maximum likelihood (ZI-QCML) estimator outperforms other methods and is robust to distributional misspecifications. We apply the ZI-QCML estimator to analyze the frequency of doctor visits.

Poliovirus immunity in newly resettled adult refugees in Idaho, United States of America.

Background: In the United States, vaccines have eliminated wild poliovirus (WPV) infection, though resettling refugees may lack immunity and importation of WPV remains a concern.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was performed to determine the prevalence of poliovirus immunity in adult refugees resettling in Boise, Idaho, U.S.

Three-dimensional computed tomographic evaluation of bilateral sagittal split osteotomy lingual fracture line and le fort I pterygomaxillary separation in orthognathic surgery using cadaver heads: ultrasonic osteotome versus conventional saw.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to observe the quality of the fracture line on the lingual side of the mandible after sagittal split osteotomy and the quality of pterygomaxillary separation after Le Fort I osteotomy using the BoneScalpel ultrasonic osteotome.

Materials And Methods: Bimaxillary procedures, according to the standard protocol, were performed using 10 fresh cadaver heads. The ultrasonic osteotome was used in the study group, and a reciprocating saw was used in the control group.

Mesoscopic structures of triglyceride nanosuspensions studied by small-angle X-ray and neutron scattering and computer simulations.

Aqueous suspensions of platelet-like shaped tripalmitin nanocrystals are studied here at high tripalmitin concentrations (10 wt % tripalmitin) for the first time by a combination of small-angle X-ray and neutron scattering (SAXS and SANS). The suspensions are stabilized by different lecithins, namely, DLPC, DOPC, and the lecithin blend S100. At such high concentrations the platelets start to self-assemble in stacks, which causes interference maxima at low Q-values in the SAXS and SANS patterns, respectively.