sj-pdf-1-aum-10.1177_03128962221127804 – Supplemental material for Liquidity shocks and pension fund performance: Evidence from early access

Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-aum-10.1177_03128962221127804 for Liquidity shocks and pension fund performance: Evidence from early access by James Brugler, Minsoo Kim and Zhuo Zhong in Australian Journal of Management</p

Lifetime Prediction of Lithium Ion Batteries by Using the Heterogeneity of Graphite Anodes

Lithium ion batteries for electric vehicles demand high-level monitoring of their safety and long-term cyclability. To this end, identifying defective cells at the postmanufacturing stage would be the most effective approach. Here, we introduce the lithiation heterogeneity as a key descriptor for inspecting and grading as-manufactured cylindrical cells. Specifically, the peak intensity of the differential voltage (DV) profile during charge provides a quantitative indication of the heterogeneity of lithium ion intercalation into graphite, in relation to the staging effect of the graphite anode. The degree of heterogeneity determined by the DV profile is closely correlated with the cycle life, implying that the heterogeneity analysis can serve as a useful tool for inspecting as-manufactured cells and predicting their cycle life at an early stage. Moreover, the ability to accurately grade as-manufactured cells allows a high-performance battery module to be built by integrating cells with low heterogeneity and minor deviations in their performance

DataSheet1_Activation effects on the physical characteristics of T lymphocytes.PDF

The deformability of leukocytes is relevant to a wide array of physiological and pathophysiological behaviors. The goal of this study is to provide a detailed, quantitative characterization of the mechanical properties of T cells and how those properties change with activation. We tested T cells and CD8+ cells isolated from peripheral blood samples of healthy donors either immediately (naïve population) or after 7 days of activation in vitro. Single-cell micropipette aspiration was used to test the mechanical properties. T cells exhibit the general characteristics of a highly viscous liquid drop with a cortical “surface” tension, Tcort. The time course of each cell entry into the micropipette was measured at two different aspiration pressures to test for shear thinning behavior. The data were analyzed in the framework of an approximate mechanical model of the cell deformation to determine the cortical tension, the cell volume, the magnitude of the initial cell entry, the characteristic viscosity μo, and the shear thinning coefficient, b. Activation generally caused increases in cellular resistance to deformation and a broadening of the distribution of cell properties. The cell volume increased substantially upon cell activation from ∼200 μm3 to ∼650 μm3. Naive and activated T cells had similar mean cortical tension (∼150 pN/μm). However, compared to naïve CD8+ cells, the cortical tension of activated CD8+ cells increased significantly to ∼250 pN/μm. Dynamic resistance of naive CD8+ T cells, as reflected in their characteristic viscosity, was ∼870 Pa and significantly increased to 1,180 Pa after in vitro activation. The magnitude of the instantaneous projection length as the cell enters the pipette (Linit) was more than doubled for activated vs. naive cells. All cell types exhibited shear thinning behavior with coefficients b in the range 0.5–0.65. Increased cell size, cortical tension, and characteristic viscosity all point to increased resistance of activated T cells to passage through the microvasculature, likely contributing to cell trapping. The increased initial elastic response of cells after activation was unexpected and could point to instability in the cell that might contribute to spontaneous cell motility.</p

Table_1_Impedimetric Biosensors for Detecting Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) Based on Poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene) (PEDOT)/Gold Nanoparticle (Au NP) Composites.DOCX

In advanced forms of diabetic retinopathy, retinal vascular occlusive disease and exudative age-related macular degeneration, vision loss is associated with elevated levels or extravasation of vascular endothelial-derived growth factor (VEGF) into the retina, vitreous, and anterior chamber of the eye. We hypothesize that point-of-care biosensors, capable of rapidly and precisely measuring VEGF levels within the eye will assist clinicians in assessing disease severity, and in establishing individualized dosing intervals for intraocular anti-VEGF injection therapy. An impedance biosensor based on a poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT)/gold nanoparticle (Au NP) composite was developed for detecting VEGF. PEDOT with Au NP was electrochemically deposited on three different medical electrode sensor designs: free-standing pads, screen printed dots, and interdigitated micro-strip electrodes. Anti-VEGF antibody was covalently immobilized on the surface of the polymer films through attachment to citrate-functionalized Au NPs, and the resulting composites were used to detect VEGF-165 by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The PEDOT-Au NP composite materials were characterized using optical microscopy, SEM/EDS, FIB, TEM, and STEM techniques. Among the different micro-electrodes, the interdigitated strip shape showed the best overall film stability and reproducibility. A linear relationship was established between the charge transfer resistance (Rct) and VEGF concentration. The detection limit of VEGF was found to be 0.5 pg/mL, with a correlation coefficient of 0.99 ± 0.064%. These results indicate that the proposed PEDOT/Au NP composites can be used in designing low-cost and accurate VEGF biosensors for applications such as clinical diagnosis of VEGF-mediated eye disease.</p

Impact of increased paternal age on neonatal outcomes in very-low-birth-weight infants

Despite the trend of increasing paternal age, its impact on neonatal outcomes, particularly in preterm infants, has not been thoroughly investigated. We aimed to evaluate the perinatal characteristics and neonatal outcomes associated with paternal age. Electronic medical records of very low-birthweight infants admitted to our unit from July 2013 to March 2022 were reviewed. Infants grouped according to paternal age ( A total of 637 infants were included (194, 294, and 149 in the p p  Although increased paternal age ≥40 years may be associated with relatively smaller head circumferences, the impact on fetal head growth does not imply a definite risk for microcephaly. Nonetheless, based on the possible negative impact on chromosomal/genetic anomaly, increased paternal age warrants attention, even though neonatal outcomes concerning prematurity were not significantly affected. A large-scale longitudinal study is needed to further elucidate the impact of advanced paternal age in preterm infants and provide guidelines for appropriate antenatal counseling and surveillance.</p

Fabrication of Carbon-Coated Silicon Nanowires and Their Application in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

We report the fabrication of silicon/carbon core/shell nanowire arrays using a two-step process, involving electroless metal deposition and chemical vapor deposition. In general, foreign shell materials that sheath core materials change the inherent characteristics of the core materials. The carbon coating functionalized the silicon nanowire arrays, which subsequently showed electrocatalytic activities for the reduction of iodide/triiodide. This was verified by cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. We employed the carbon-coated silicon nanowire arrays in dye-sensitized solar cells as counter electrodes. We optimized the carbon shells to maximize the photovoltaic performance of the resulting devices, and subsequently, a peak power conversion efficiency of 9.22% was achieved

A High Voltage Aqueous Zinc–Vanadium Redox Flow Battery with Bimodal Tin and Copper Clusters by a Continuous-Flow Electrometallic Synthesis

Aqueous zinc-based redox flow batteries are promising large-scale energy storage applications due to their low cost, high safety, and environmental friendliness. However, the zinc dendritic growth has depressed the cycle performance, stability, and efficiency, hindering the commercialization of the zinc-based redox flow batteries. We fabricate the carbon felt modified with bimodal sized tin and copper clusters (SCCF) with the electrometallic synthesis in a continuous-flow cell. The SCCF electrode provides a larger zinc nucleation area and lower overpotential than pristine carbon felt, which is ascribed to the well-controlled interfacial interaction of bimodal tin and copper particle clusters by suppressing unwanted alloy formation. The zinc symmetric flow battery and the zinc-based hybrid redox flow battery show the improved zinc plating and stripping efficiency. The SCCF electrode exhibits 75% improved cycling stability compared to the pristine carbon felt electrode in the zinc symmetric flow battery. Notably, the high-voltage aqueous zinc–vanadium redox flow battery demonstrates a high average cell voltage of 2.31 V at 40 mA cm–2, showing a Coulombic efficiency of 99.9% and an energy efficiency of 87.6% for 100 cycles. We introduce a facile strategy to suppress the zinc dendritic growth, enhancing the performance of the zinc-based redox flow batteries

Gremlin-1 interacts with human cancer cell lines.

<p>Cells were incubated with gremlin-1, in the presence or absence of the neutralizing antibody GRE1 as described. The four cancer cell lines interacted directly with gremlin-1 and this interaction was inhibited upon the addition of the neutralizing antibody GRE1.</p

Representative images for the lateral spread response (LSR).

The typical delayed electrical activity (A, LSR presence) in the mentalis muscle following stimulation of the temporal branch of the facial nerve disappeared (B, LSR absence) when the culprit vessel was detached from the facial nerve during the surgical procedure.</p

Heatmaps of the representative lateral spread response (LSR) images.

Increased intensity was observed around the lowermost wave, representing the response of the mentalis muscle in the images with LSR presence (A, B) and absence (C, D). (A, B) In those with LSR presence, the presence of the peak of the lowermost wave is the main criterion for judgment, as can be seen in the hot spots, especially in (B). (C, D) In the case of LSR absence, the deep neural network concentrates the entire lowermost wave because there is no peak in the corresponding region. This finding is very similar to how humans interpret graphs. Red indicates the focus of the neural network.</p