Scalable slot-die coated flexible supercapacitors from upcycled PET face shields

\ua9 2024 The Royal Society of Chemistry.Upcycling Covid19 plastic waste into valuable carbonaceous materials for energy storage applications is a sustainable and green approach to minimize the burden of waste plastic on the environment. Herein, we developed a facile single step activation technique for producing activated carbon consisting of spherical flower like carbon nanosheets and amorphous porous flakes from used PET [poly(ethylene terephthalate)] face shields for supercapacitor applications. The as-obtained activated carbon exhibited a high specific surface area of 1571 m2 g−1 and pore volume of 1.64 cm3 g−1. The specific capacitance of these carbon nanostructure-coated stainless steel electrodes reached 228.2 F g−1 at 1 A g−1 current density with excellent charge transport features and good rate capability in 1 M Na2SO4 aqueous electrolyte. We explored the slot-die coating technique for large-area coatings of flexible high-performance activated carbon electrodes with special emphasis on optimizing binder concentration. Significant improvement in electrochemical performance was achieved for the electrodes with 15 wt% Nafion concentration. The flexible supercapacitors fabricated using these electrodes showed high energy and power density of 21.8 W h kg−1 and 20 600 W kg−1 respectively, and retained 96.2% of the initial capacitance after 10 000 cycles at 2 A g−1 current density. The present study provides a promising sustainable approach for upcycling PET plastic waste for large area printable supercapacitors

The Dynamics of a Meandering River

We present a statistical model of a meandering river on an alluvial plane which is motivated by the physical non-linear dynamics of the river channel migration and by describing heterogeneity of the terrain by noise. We study the dynamics analytically and numerically. The motion of the river channel is unstable and we show that by inclusion of the formation of ox-bow lakes, the system may be stabilised. We then calculate the steady state and show that it is in agreement with simulations and measurements of field data.Comment: Revtex, 12 pages, 2 postscript figure

Effect on genital warts in Australian female and heterosexual male individuals after introduction of the national human papillomavirus gender-neutral vaccination programme: an analysis of national sentinel surveillance data from 2004–18

Background: In Australia, the government-funded human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme was introduced in April, 2007, for girls and young women, and in February, 2013, for boys. As of Dec 31, 2018, all Australian-born female individuals younger than 38 years and male individuals younger than 21 years have been eligible for the free quadrivalent or nonavalent HPV vaccine. We aimed to examine the trends in genital wart diagnoses among Australian-born female and heterosexual male individuals who attended sexual health clinics throughout Australia before and after the introduction of the gender-neutral HPV vaccination programme in February, 2013. Methods: We did a serial cross-sectional analysis of genital wart diagnoses among Australian-born female and heterosexual male individuals attending a national surveillance network of 35 clinics between Jan 1, 2004, and Dec 31, 2018. We calculated prevalence ratios of genital warts, using log-binomial regression models, for the female-only vaccination period (July 1, 2007, to Feb 28, 2013), gender-neutral vaccination period (March 1, 2013, to Dec 31, 2018), and the whole vaccination period (July 1, 2007, to Dec 31, 2018) compared with the pre-vaccination period (Jan 1, 2004, to June 30, 2007). Findings: We included 121 038 men and 116 341 women in the analysis. Overall, we observed a 58% reduction (prevalence ratio 0·42, 95% CI 0·40–0·44) in genital wart diagnoses in female individuals and a 45% reduction (0·55, 0·53–0·57) in genital wart diagnoses in heterosexual male individuals after the introduction of the vaccination programme in 2007. The largest reduction in genital warts was observed in younger individuals, and there was a decreasing magnitude of reduction with increasing age (80%, 72%, 61%, 41%, and 16% reductions in female individuals aged 15–20 years, 21–25 years, 26–30 years, 31–35 years, and ≥36 years, respectively; 70%, 61%, 49%, 37%, and 29% reductions in male individuals aged 15–20 years, 21–25 years, 26–30 years, 31–35 years, and ≥36 years, respectively). Significant reductions observed in female individuals (0·32, 0·28–0·36) and male individuals (0·51, 0·43–0·61) aged 15–20 years in the female-only vaccination period were followed by a more substantial reduction in female individuals (0·07, 0·06–0·09) and male individuals (0·11, 0·08–0·15) aged 15–20 years in the gender-neutral vaccination period. Interpretation: The national gender-neutral HPV vaccination programme has led to substantial and ongoing reduction in genital warts among Australian female and heterosexual male individuals, with a marked reduction in young individuals who received the vaccine at school. Funding: Seqirus Australia and the Australian Government Department of Health

Longitudinal cohort of HIV-negative transgender women of colour in New York City: protocol for the TURNNT ('Trying to Understand Relationships, Networks and Neighbourhoods among Transgender women of colour') study.

IntroductionIn the USA, transgender women are among the most vulnerable to HIV. In particular, transgender women of colour face high rates of infection and low uptake of important HIV prevention tools, including pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). This paper describes the design, sampling methods, data collection and analyses of the TURNNT ('Trying to Understand Relationships, Networks and Neighbourhoods among Transgender women of colour') study. In collaboration with communities of transgender women of colour, TURNNT aims to explore the complex social and environmental (ie, neighbourhood) structures that affect HIV prevention and other aspects of health in order to identify avenues for intervention.Methods and analysesTURNNT is a prospective cohort study, which will recruit 300 transgender women of colour (150 Black/African American, 100 Latina and 50 Asian/Pacific Islander participants) in New York City. There will be three waves of data collection separated by 6 months. At each wave, participants will provide information on their relationships, social and sexual networks, and neighbourhoods. Global position system technology will be used to generate individual daily path areas in order to estimate neighbourhood-level exposures. Multivariate analyses will be conducted to assess cross-sectional and longitudinal, independent and synergistic associations of personal relationships (notably individual social capital), social and sexual networks, and neighbourhood factors (notably neighbourhood-level social cohesion) with PrEP uptake and discontinuation.Ethics and disseminationThe TURNNT protocol was approved by the Columbia University Institutional Review Board (reference no. AAAS8164). This study will provide novel insights into the relationship, network and neighbourhood factors that influence HIV prevention behaviours among transgender women of colour and facilitate exploration of this population's health and well-being more broadly. Through community-based dissemination events and consultation with policy makers, this foundational work will be used to guide the development and implementation of future interventions with and for transgender women of colour

Online platforms for prescription and supply of hormonal contraception in Australia: a mapping review

First online 4/4/23 OnlinePublOnline platforms have emerged as a convenient way for individuals to access contraception. However, the extent to which such services exist in Australia and how they operate is currently unknown. We aimed to identify Australian online contraception platforms and evaluate the services they provide to determine the degree to which they may facilitate equitable access to contraception. We conducted an internet search to identify online contraception platforms operating in Australia. Data were extracted from each of the platforms relating to operating policies, services provided and associated payment processes, as well as prescribing and screening processes for assessing user suitability. As of July 2022, eight online contraception platforms operating within Australia were identified. All platforms offered oral contraception, with two also offering the vaginal ring, and one emergency oral contraception. None of the platforms provided access to long-acting reversible contraception. Significant variability existed in product and membership costs across platforms, with only one platform providing access to subsidised medicines. Five platforms restricted services to those already using oral contraception. Overall, online questionnaires were deemed to be adequately screening for important contraindications to using oral contraception. While online contraception platforms may be a valuable option for some individuals who face access barriers and are willing to pay out-of-pocket for to have their contraception sent straight to their home, they do not necessarily ensure that individuals can access their contraceptive method of choice or address recognised financial and structural barriers to contraceptive care.Tahlee B. Stevenson, Alice Rumbold, Emily Callander, Pip Buckingham, Anisa Assifi, Danielle Mazza and Luke E. Grzeskowia

Externally validated prediction models for pre‐eclampsia:systematic review and meta‐analysis

Objective: This systematic review and meta‐analysis aimed to evaluate the performance of existing externally validated prediction models for pre‐eclampsia (PE) (specifically, any‐onset, early‐onset, late‐onset and preterm PE). Methods: A systematic search was conducted in five databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, Emcare, CINAHL and Maternity & Infant Care Database) and using Google Scholar/reference search to identify studies based on the Population, Index prediction model, Comparator, Outcome, Timing and Setting (PICOTS) approach until 20 May 2023. We extracted data using the CHARMS checklist and appraised the risk of bias using the PROBAST tool. A meta‐analysis of discrimination and calibration performance was conducted when appropriate. Results: Twenty‐three studies reported 52 externally validated prediction models for PE (one preterm, 20 any‐onset, 17 early‐onset and 14 late‐onset PE models). No model had the same set of predictors. Fifteen any‐onset PE models were validated externally once, two were validated twice and three were validated three times, while the Fetal Medicine Foundation (FMF) competing‐risks model for preterm PE prediction was validated widely in 16 different settings. The most common predictors were maternal characteristics (prepregnancy body mass index, prior PE, family history of PE, chronic medical conditions and ethnicity) and biomarkers (uterine artery pulsatility index and pregnancy‐associated plasma protein‐A). The FMF model for preterm PE (triple test plus maternal factors) had the best performance, with a pooled area under the receiver‐operating‐characteristics curve (AUC) of 0.90 (95% prediction interval (PI), 0.76–0.96), and was well calibrated. The other models generally had poor‐to‐good discrimination performance (median AUC, 0.66 (range, 0.53–0.77)) and were overfitted on external validation. Apart from the FMF model, only two models that were validated multiple times for any‐onset PE prediction, which were based on maternal characteristics only, produced reasonable pooled AUCs of 0.71 (95% PI, 0.66–0.76) and 0.73 (95% PI, 0.55–0.86). Conclusions: Existing externally validated prediction models for any‐, early‐ and late‐onset PE have limited discrimination and calibration performance, and include inconsistent input variables. The triple‐test FMF model had outstanding discrimination performance in predicting preterm PE in numerous settings, but the inclusion of specialized biomarkers may limit feasibility and implementation outside of high‐resource settings. © 2023 The Authors. Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology

Population-level impact and herd effects following the introduction of human papillomavirus vaccination programmes: updated systematic review and meta-analysis

Background More than 10 years have elapsed since human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination was implemented. We did a systematic review and meta-analysis of the population-level impact of vaccinating girls and women against human papillomavirus on HPV infections, anogenital wart diagnoses, and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2+ (CIN2+)to summarise the most recent evidence about the effectiveness of HPV vaccines in real-world settings and to quantify the impact of multiple age-cohort vaccination.Methods In this updated systematic review and meta-analysis, we used the same search strategy as in our previous paper. We searched MEDLINE and Embase for studies published between Feb 1, 2014, and Oct 11, 2018. Studies were eligible if they compared the frequency (prevalence or incidence) of at least one HPV-related endpoint (genital HPV infections, anogenital wart diagnoses, or histologically confirmed CIN2+) between pre-vaccination and post-vaccination periods among the general population and if they used the same population sources and recruitment methods before and after vaccination. Our primary assessment was the relative risk (RR) comparing the frequency (prevalence or incidence) of HPV-related endpoints between the pre-vaccination and post-vaccination periods. We stratified all analyses by sex, age, and years since introduction of HPV vaccination. We used random-effects models to estimate pooled relative risks.Findings We identified 1702 potentially eligible articles for this systematic review and meta-analysis, and included 65 articles in 14 high-income countries: 23 for HPV infection, 29 for anogenital warts, and 13 for CIN2+.After 5\u20138 years of vaccination, the prevalence of HPV 16 and 18 decreased significantly by 83% (RR 0\ub717, 95% CI 0\ub711\u20130\ub725) among girls aged 13\u201319 years, and decreased significantly by 66% (RR 0\ub734, 95% CI 0\ub723\u20130\ub749) among women aged 20\u201324 years. The prevalence of HPV 31, 33, and 45 decreased significantly by 54% (RR 0\ub746, 95% CI 0\ub733\u20130\ub766) among girls aged 13\u201319 years. Anogenital wart diagnoses decreased significantly by 67% (RR 0\ub733, 95% CI 0\ub724\u20130\ub746) among girls aged 15\u201319 years, decreased significantly by 54% (RR 0\ub746, 95% CI 0.36\u20130.60) among women aged 20\u201324 years, and decreased significantly by 31% (RR 0\ub769, 95% CI 0\ub753\u20130\ub789) among women aged 25\u201329 years. Among boys aged 15\u201319 years anogenital wart diagnoses decreased significantly by 48% (RR 0\ub752, 95% CI 0\ub737\u20130\ub775) and among men aged 20\u201324 years they decreased significantly by 32% (RR 0\ub768, 95% CI 0\ub747\u20130\ub798). After 5\u20139 years of vaccination, CIN2+ decreased significantly by 51% (RR 0\ub749, 95% CI 0\ub742\u20130\ub758) among screened girls aged 15\u201319 years and decreased significantly by 31% (RR 0\ub769, 95% CI 0\ub757\u20130\ub784) among women aged 20\u201324 years.Interpretation This updated systematic review and meta-analysis includes data from 60 million individuals and up to 8 years of post-vaccination follow-up. Our results show compelling evidence of the substantial impact of HPV vaccination programmes on HPV infections and CIN2+ among girls and women, and on anogenital warts diagnoses among girls, women, boys, and men. Additionally, programmes with multi-cohort vaccination and high vaccination coverage had a greater direct impact and herd effects

Mesomorphic behaviour in copoly(ester-imide)s of poly(butylene-2,6-naphthalate) (PBN)

Copolycondensation of N,N’-bis(4-hydroxybutyl)-biphenyl-3,4,3',4'-tetracarboxylic diimide at 20 and 25 mol% with bis(4-hydroxybutyl)-2,6-naphthalate produces PBN-based copoly(ester-imide)s that not only crystallise but also form a (smectic) mesophase upon cooling from the melt. Incorporation of 25 mol% imide in PBN causes the glass transition temperature (measured by DSC) to rise from 51 to 74 °C, a significant increase relative to PBN. Furthermore, increased storage- (G'), loss- (G'') and elastic (E) moduli are observed for both copoly(ester-imide)s when compared to PBN itself. Structural analysis of the 20 mol% copolymer by X-ray powder and fibre diffraction, interfaced to computational modelling, suggests a crystal structure related to that of α-PBN, in space group P-1, with cell dimensions a = 4.74, b = 6.38, c = 14.45 Å, α = 106.1, β = 122.1, γ = 97.3°, ρ = 1.37 g cm-3