In-Situ Li-Ion Pouch Cell Diagnostics Utilising Plasmonic Based Optical Fibre Sensors

As the drive to improve the cost, performance characteristics and safety of lithium-ion batteries increases with adoption, one area where significant value could be added is that of battery diagnostics. This paper documents an investigation into the use of plasmonic-based optical fibre sensors, inserted internally into 1.4 Ah lithium-ion pouch cells, as a real time and in-situ diagnostic technique. The successful implementation of the fibres inside pouch cells is detailed and promising correlation with battery state is reported, while having negligible impact on cell performance in terms of capacity and columbic efficiency. The testing carried out includes standard cycling and galvanostatic intermittent titration technique (GITT) tests, and the use of a reference electrode to correlate with the anode and cathode readings separately. Further observations are made around the sensor and analyte interaction mechanisms, robustness of sensors and suggested further developments. These finding show that a plasmonic-based optical fibre sensor may have potential as an opto-electrochemical diagnostic technique for lithium-ion batteries, offering an unprecedented view into internal cell phenomena

Why and how might genetic and phylogenetic diversity be reflected in the identification of key biodiversity areas?

‘Key biodiversity areas' are defined as sites contributing significantly to the global persistence of biodiversity. The identification of these sites builds from existing approaches based on measures of species and ecosystem diversity and process. Here, we therefore build from the work of Sgró et al. (2011 Evol. Appl. 4, 326–337. (doi:10.1111/j.1752-4571.2010.00157.x)) to extend a framework for how components of genetic diversity might be considered in the identification of key biodiversity areas. We make three recommendations to inform the ongoing process of consolidating a key biodiversity areas standard: (i) thresholds for the threatened species criterion currently consider a site's share of a threatened species' population; expand these to include the proportion of the species' genetic diversity unique to a site; (ii) expand criterion for ‘threatened species' to consider ‘threatened taxa’ and (iii) expand the centre of endemism criterion to identify as key biodiversity areas those sites holding a threshold proportion of the compositional or phylogenetic diversity of species (within a taxonomic group) whose restricted ranges collectively define a centre of endemism. We also recommend consideration of occurrence of EDGE species (i.e. threatened phylogenetic diversity) in key biodiversity areas to prioritize species-specific conservation actions among sites

'Asking the right question'. A comparison of two approaches to gathering data on 'herbals' use in survey based studies

BACKGROUND:Over the last decade academic interest in the prevalence and nature of herbal medicines use by pregnant women has increased significantly. Such data are usually collected by means of an administered questionnaire survey, however a key methodological limitation using this approach is the need to clearly define the scope of 'herbals' to be investigated. The majority of published studies in this area neither define 'herbals' nor provide a detailed checklist naming specific 'herbals' and CAM modalities, which limits inter-study comparison, generalisability and the potential for meta-analyses. The aim of this study was to compare the self-reported use of herbs, herbal medicines and herbal products using two different approaches implemented in succession. METHODS:Cross-sectional questionnaire surveys of women attending for their mid-trimester scan or attending the postnatal unit following live birth at the Royal Aberdeen Maternity Hospital, North-East Scotland. The questionnaire utilised two approaches to collect data on 'herbals' use, a single closed yes/no answer to the question "have you used herbs, herbal medicines and herbal products in the last three months"; and a request to tick which of a list of 40 'herbals' they had used in the same time period. RESULTS:A total of 889 responses were obtained of which 4.3% (38) answered 'yes' to herbal use via the closed question. However, using the checklist 39% (350) of respondents reported the use of one or more specific 'herbals' (p<0.0001). The 312 respondents who reported 'no' to 'herbals' use via the closed question but "yes" via the checklist consumed a total of 20 different 'herbals' (median 1, interquartile range 1-2, range 1-6). CONCLUSIONS:This study demonstrates that the use of a single closed question asking about the use of 'herbals', as frequently reported in published studies, may not yield valid data resulting in a gross underestimation of actual use

Can asthma control be improved by understanding the patient's perspective?

Clinical trials show that asthma can be controlled in the majority of patients, but poorly controlled asthma still imposes a considerable burden. The level of asthma control achieved reflects the behaviour of both healthcare professionals and patients. A key challenge for healthcare professionals is to help patients to engage in self-management behaviours with optimal adherence to appropriate treatment. These issues are particularly relevant in primary care, where most asthma is managed. An international panel of experts invited by the International Primary Care Respiratory Group considered the evidence and discussed the implications for primary care practice

Cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes mortality burden of cardiometabolic risk factors from 1980 to 2010: a comparative risk assessment

Background High blood pressure, blood glucose, serum cholesterol, and BMI are risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and some of these factors also increase the risk of chronic kidney disease and diabetes. We estimated mortality from cardiovascular diseases, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes that was attributable to these four cardiometabolic risk factors for all countries and regions from 1980 to 2010. Methods We used data for exposure to risk factors by country, age group, and sex from pooled analyses of populationbased health surveys. We obtained relative risks for the eff ects of risk factors on cause-specifi c mortality from metaanalyses of large prospective studies. We calculated the population attributable fractions for- each risk factor alone, and for the combination of all risk factors, accounting for multicausality and for mediation of the eff ects of BMI by the other three risks. We calculated attributable deaths by multiplying the cause-specifi c population attributable fractions by the number of disease-specifi c deaths. We obtained cause-specifi c mortality from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors 2010 Study. We propagated the uncertainties of all the inputs to the fi nal estimates. Findings In 2010, high blood pressure was the leading risk factor for deaths due to cardiovascular diseases, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes in every region, causing more than 40% of worldwide deaths from these diseases; high BMI and glucose were each responsible for about 15% of deaths, and high cholesterol for more than 10%. After accounting for multicausality, 63% (10\ub78 million deaths, 95% CI 10\ub71\u201311\ub75) of deaths from these diseases in 2010 were attributable to the combined eff ect of these four metabolic risk factors, compared with 67% (7\ub71 million deaths, 6\ub76\u20137\ub76) in 1980. The mortality burden of high BMI and glucose nearly doubled from 1980 to 2010. At the country level, age-standardised death rates from these diseases attributable to the combined eff ects of these four risk factors surpassed 925 deaths per 100 000 for men in Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia, but were less than 130 deaths per 100 000 for women and less than 200 for men in some high-income countries including Australia, Canada, France, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Korea, and Spain. Interpretation The salient features of the cardiometabolic disease and risk factor epidemic at the beginning of the 21st century are high blood pressure and an increasing eff ect of obesity and diabetes. The mortality burden of cardiometabolic risk factors has shifted from high-income to low-income and middle-income countries. Lowering cardiometabolic risks through dietary, behavioural, and pharmacological interventions should be a part of the globalresponse to non-communicable diseases

Insights into the geometries, electronic and magnetic properties of neutral and charged palladium clusters

We performed an unbiased structure search for low-lying energetic minima of neutral and charged palladium Pd(n)(Q) (n = 2–20, Q = 0, + 1 and –1) clusters using CALYPSO method in combination with density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The main candidates for the lowest energy neutral, cationic and anionic clusters are identified, and several new candidate structures for the cationic and anionic ground states are obtained. It is found that the ground state structures of small palladium clusters are more sensitive to the charge states. For the medium size Pd(n)(0/+/–) (n = 16–20) clusters, a fcc-like growth behavior is found. The structural transition from bilayer-like structures to cage-like structures is likely to occur at n = 14 for the neutral and cationic clusters. In contrast, for the anionic counterparts, the structural transition occurs at Pd(13)(–). The photoelectron spectra (PES) of palladium clusters are simulated based on the time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) method and compared with the experimental data. The good agreement between the experimental PES and simulated spectra provides us unequivocal structural information to fully solve the global minimum structures, allowing for new molecular insights into the chemical interactions in the Pd cages

Lifestyle and Socioeconomic Determinants of Multimorbidity Patterns among Mid-Aged Women:A Longitudinal Study

Background: Little is known about patterns of associative multimorbidity and their aetiology. We aimed to identify patterns of associative multimorbidity among mid-aged women and the lifestyle and socioeconomic factors associated with their development. Methods: Participants were from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. We included 4896 women born 1946-51, without multimorbidity in 1998. We identified multimorbidity patterns at survey 6 (2010) using factor analysis, and related these patterns to baseline lifestyle and socioeconomic factors using logistic regression. We dichotomised factor scores and determined odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for associations between characteristics and odds of a high versus low factor score. Results: We identified five multimorbidity patterns: psychosomatic; musculoskeletal; cardiometabolic; cancer; and respiratory. Overweight and obesity were respectively associated with increased odds of having a high score for the musculoskeletal (adjusted ORs 1.45 [95% CI 1.23, 1.70] and 2.14 [95% CI 1.75, 2.60]) and cardiometabolic (adjusted ORs 1.53 [95% CI 1.31, 1.79] and 2.46 [95% CI 2.02, 2.98]) patterns. Physical inactivity was associated with increased odds of a high score for the psychosomatic, musculoskeletal and cancer patterns (adjusted ORs 1.41 [95% CI 1.13, 1.76]; 1.39 [95% CI 1.11, 1.74]; and 1.35 [95% CI 1.08, 1.69]). Smoking was associated with increased odds of a high score for the respiratory pattern. Education and ability to manage on income were associated with increased odds of a high score for the psychosomatic pattern (adjusted ORs 1.34 [95% CI 1.03, 1.75] and 1.73 [95% CI 1.37, 1.28], respectively) and musculoskeletal pattern (adjusted ORs 1.43 [95% CI 1.10, 1.87] and 1.38 [1.09, 1.75], respectively). Conclusions: Distinct multimorbidity patterns can be identified among mid-aged women. Social inequality, physical activity and BMI are risk factors common to multiple patterns and are appropriate targets for reducing the risk of specific multimorbidity groups in mid-life women