549 research outputs found
Non-destructive characterization techniques for battery performance and lifecycle assessment
As global energy demands escalate, and the use of non-renewable resources
become untenable, renewable resources and electric vehicles require far better
batteries to stabilize the new energy landscape. To maximize battery
performance and lifetime, understanding and monitoring the fundamental
mechanisms that govern their operation throughout their life cycle is crucial.
Unfortunately, from the moment batteries are sealed until their end-of-life,
they remain a black box, and our current knowledge of a commercial battery s
health status is limited to current (I), voltage (V), temperature (T), and
impedance (R) measurements, at the cell or even module level during use.
Electrochemical models work best when the battery is new, and as state
reckoning drifts leading to an over-reliance on insufficient data to establish
conservative safety margins resulting in the systematic under-utilization of
cells and batteries. While the field of operando characterization is not new,
the emergence of techniques capable of tracking commercial battery properties
under realistic conditions has unlocked a trove of chemical, thermal, and
mechanical data that has the potential to revolutionize the development and
utilization strategies of both new and used lithium-ion devices. In this
review, we examine the latest advances in non-destructive operando
characterization techniques, including electrical sensors, optical fibers,
acoustic transducers, X-ray-based imaging and thermal imaging (IR camera or
calorimetry), and their potential to improve our comprehension of degradation
mechanisms, reduce time and cost, and enhance battery performance throughout
its life cycle
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Flexible and stretchable power sources for wearable electronics.
Flexible and stretchable power sources represent a key technology for the realization of wearable electronics. Developing flexible and stretchable batteries with mechanical endurance that is on par with commercial standards and offer compliance while retaining safety remains a significant challenge. We present a unique approach that demonstrates mechanically robust, intrinsically safe silver-zinc batteries. This approach uses current collectors with enhanced mechanical design, such as helical springs and serpentines, as a structural support and backbone for all battery components. We show wire-shaped batteries based on helical band springs that are resilient to fatigue and retain electrochemical performance over 17,000 flexure cycles at a 0.5-cm bending radius. Serpentine-shaped batteries can be stretched with tunable degree and directionality while maintaining their specific capacity. Finally, the batteries are integrated, as a wearable device, with a photovoltaic module that enables recharging of the batteries
Comparison of History Effects in Magnetization in Weakly pinned Crystals of high- and low-T Superconductors
A comparison of the history effects in weakly pinned single crystals of a
high YBaCuO (for H c) and a low
CaRhSn, which show anomalous variations in critical current
density are presented via tracings of the minor magnetization
hysteresis loops using a vibrating sample magnetometer. The sample histories
focussed are, (i) the field cooled (FC), (ii) the zero field cooled (ZFC) and
(iii) an isothermal reversal of field from the normal state. An understanding
of the results in terms of the modulation in the plastic deformation of the
elastic vortex solid and supercooling across order-disorder transition is
sought.Comment: Presented in IWCC-200
Interventions to Improve Delivery of Isoniazid Preventive Therapy: an Overview of Systematic Reviews
Background:
Uptake of isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT) to prevent tuberculosis has been poor, particularly in the highest risk populations. Interventions to improve IPT delivery could promote implementation. The large number of existing systematic reviews on treatment adherence has made drawing conclusions a challenge. To provide decision makers with the evidence they need, we performed an overview of systematic reviews to compare different organizational interventions to improve IPT delivery as measured by treatment completion among those at highest risk for the development of TB disease, namely child contacts or HIV-infected individuals. Methods:
We searched the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE), and MEDLINE up to August 15, 2012. Two authors used a standardized data extraction form and the AMSTAR instrument to independently assess each review. Results:
Six reviews met inclusion criteria. Interventions included changes in the setting/site of IPT delivery, use of quality monitoring mechanisms (e.g., directly observed therapy), IPT delivery integration into other healthcare services, and use of lay health workers. Most reviews reported a combination of outcomes related to IPT adherence and treatment completion rate but without a baseline or comparison rate. Generally, we found limited evidence to demonstrate that the studied interventions improved treatment completion. Conclusions:
While most of the interventions were not shown to improve IPT completion, integration of tuberculosis and HIV services yielded high treatment completion rates in some settings. The lack of data from high burden TB settings limits applicability. Further research to assess different IPT delivery interventions, including those that address barriers to care in at-risk populations, is urgently needed to identify the most effective practices for IPT delivery and TB control in high TB burden settings
Serological Testing Versus Other Strategies for Diagnosis of Active Tuberculosis in India: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis
This cost-effectiveness study shows that sputum smear microscopy is the most cost-effective test for active tuberculosis (TB) in India, and liquid culture plus microscopy is more cost-effective for TB diagnosis than serological tests
Green fluorescent diamidines as diagnostic probes for trypanosomes
LED fluorescence microscopy offers potential benefits to the diagnosis of human African trypanosomiasis, as well as to other aspects of diseases management, such as detection of drug resistant strains. To advance such approaches reliable and specific fluorescent markers to stain parasites in human fluids are needed. Here we report a series of novel green fluorescent diamidines and their suitability as probes to stain trypanosomes
Direct microscopy versus sputum cytology analysis and bleach sedimentation for diagnosis of tuberculosis: a prospective diagnostic study.
ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Diagnostic options for pulmonary tuberculosis in resource-poor settings are commonly limited to smear microscopy. We investigated whether bleach concentration by sedimentation and sputum cytology analysis (SCA) increased the positivity rate of smear microscopy for smear-positive tuberculosis. METHODS: We did a prospective diagnostic study in a Medecins Sans Frontieres-supported hospital in Mindouli, Republic of Congo. Three sputum samples were obtained from 280 consecutive pulmonary tuberculosis suspects, and were processed according to WHO guidelines for direct smear microscopy. The remainder of each sputum sample was homogenised with 2.6% bleach, sedimented overnight, smeared, and examined blinded to the direct smear result for acid-fast bacilli (AFB). All direct smears were assessed for quality by SCA. If a patient produced fewer than three good-quality sputum samples, further samples were requested. Sediment smear examination was performed independently of SCA result on the corresponding direct smear. Positivity rates were compared using McNemar's test. RESULTS: Excluding SCA, 43.2% of all patients were diagnosed as positive on direct microscopy of up to three samples. 47.9% were diagnosed on sediment microscopy, with 48.2% being diagnosed on direct microscopy, sediment microscopy, or both. The positivity rate increased from 43.2% to 47.9% with a case definition of one positive smear ([greater than or equal to]1 AFB/100 high power fields) of three, and from 42.1% to 43.9% with two positive smears. SCA resulted in 87.9% of patients producing at least two good-quality sputum samples, with 75.7% producing three or more. Using a case definition of one positive smear, the incremental yield of bleach sedimentation was 14/121, or 11.6% (95% CI 6.5-18.6, p=0.001) and in combination with SCA was 15/121, or 12.4% (95% CI 7.1-19.6, p=0.002). Incremental yields with two positive smears were 5/118, or 4.2% (95% CI 1.4-9.6, p=0.062) and 7/118, or 5.9% (95% CI 2.4-11.8, p=0.016), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of bleach sedimentation and SCA resulted in significantly increased microscopy positivity rates with a case definition of either one or two positive smears. Implementation of bleach sedimentation led to a significant increase in the diagnosis of smear-positive patients. Implementation of SCA did not result in significantly increased diagnosis of tuberculosis, but did result in improved sample quality. Requesting extra sputum samples based on SCA results, combined with bleach sedimentation, could significantly increase the detection of smear-positive patients if routinely implemented in resource-limited settings where gold standard techniques are not available. We recommend that a pilot phase is undertaken before routine implementation to determine the impact in a particular context
Challenges of tuberculosis management in high and low prevalence countries in a mobile world
This article is made available via the PMC Open Access Subset for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.In this issue of the PCRJ, Bishara et al.
1 present a case report about
the treatment of a pregnant woman with tuberculosis (TB). She had
emigrated from a country with a high prevalence of TB to one with
a lower prevalence. This presented a challenge to her physicians who
were faced with identifying and treating close contacts who were
also infected. This Perspective article explores in more depth some of
the questions raised by this case report. It discusses the role of
primary care physicians in low prevalence countries who can
implement evidence-based screening programmes, it discusses
effective strategies for the diagnosis and treatment of TB in countries
with high TB prevalence, and it presents insights from medical
anthropology that can help practitioners overcome the barriers to TB
diagnosis, treatment and screening described in the case report
Performance of LED-Based Fluorescence Microscopy to Diagnose Tuberculosis in a Peripheral Health Centre in Nairobi.
Sputum microscopy is the only tuberculosis (TB) diagnostic available at peripheral levels of care in resource limited countries. Its sensitivity is low, particularly in high HIV prevalence settings. Fluorescence microscopy (FM) can improve performance of microscopy and with the new light emitting diode (LED) technologies could be appropriate for peripheral settings. The study aimed to compare the performance of LED-FM versus Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) microscopy and to assess feasibility of LED-FM at a low level of care in a high HIV prevalence country
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