Bilateral persistent primitive hypoglossal artery presenting with hemiplegia✰

The manuscript describes an unusual vascular anomaly. Persistence of carotid-vertebrobasilar anastomosis is a rare occurrence with presence of bilateral hypoglossal arteries (HAs) rarer still. We present a case of bilateral persistent HAs with hypoplastic vertebral arteries which end into posterior inferior cerebellar arteries. The computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging appearance, course, and other associations are discussed. A review of 6 cases of bilateral HA published in the world literature is also discussed. Keywords: Persistent hypoglossal artery, Computed tomograph

Operando X-ray diffraction in transmission geometry « at home » from tape casted electrodes to all-solid-state battery

International audienceThe ever-growing field of energy storage needs the development of fast cycling rate and high energy density batteries and substantial research efforts are required to characterize them for improved performances. Operando X-ray diffraction is the most effective and convenient laboratory technique to get a deep insight into structural and electrochemical changes during operating conditions of batteries. In this work, we presented our newly developed operando LeRiChe'S Cell v2 which has been used to study NMC electrode materials not only with liquid electrolyte but also in solid-state batteries. The high brilliance of our laboratory diffractometer combined with our newly developed operando LeRiChe'S Cell v2 allowed us to investigate electrode materials at high C rates in a very short span of time

Disentangling the ligand and electronic structure in KVPO4F1-xOx positive electrode materials by Valence-to-Core X-ray emission spectroscopy

International audienceUnderstanding the intricate crystal structure of polyanionic positive electrode materials is essential for elucidating the mechanisms involved during cycling and predicting the working potential of the electrode. To achieve this goal, a clear comprehension of how the coordination environment of the transition metal ion influences the ionicity/covalency of the metal-ligand bonds is necessary. Yet, discriminating these ligands poses challenges due to the limited sensitivity to light elements of common characterization techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD) and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) analysis. To address this issue, we employed valence-to-core Kβ X-ray emission spectroscopy combined with ab initio modelling and conducted a systematic investigation using potassium vanadium oxyfluoride phosphate compounds with the general formula KVPO4F1-xOx (x = 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1). Our approach allows distinguishing the contributions of V-F, V-O, and V=O bonds at the Kβ" region, with intensities highly correlated to the F− and O2− anion composition. Additionally, the evolution of the features at the Kβ2,5 region is highly correlated to the presence of short V=O bonds, strongly influencing the electrode potential of the material. Density of state (DOS) analysis based on ab initio modelling of the end member compounds KVPO4F and KVOPO4 further supports the existence of V-F and V=O bonding through the mixing of F/O p-DOS with V d-DOS. Overall, we present a detailed and reliable approach for understanding the occupied electronic states of the bulk material, proving valuable for a thorough comprehension of the structure of positive electrode materials in batteries

Erythrocyte binding activity of PkTRAgs expressed on the surface of CHO-K1 cells.

<p><b>(A</b>) Expression of PkTRAgs on the surface of CHO-K1 cells. The CHO-K1 cells transfected with pRE4-PkTRAgs, pRE4-PvTRAg53.7, and pRE4-PvRII were stained with mouse monoclonal antibodies DL6 directed against C-terminal of the <i>Herpes simplex</i> glycoprotein D sequences and then stained with Alexa fluor 488 secondary antibodies. Upper panel shows the merged fluorescence images (Blue for DNA counterstained with DAPI, and green for surface expression of proteins). Lower panel shows the binding of human erythrocytes to the transfected CHO-K1 cells. A single transfected CHO-K1 cell attached with more than five RBCs was considered a rosette. The numbers of rosettes were counted in 20 fields at a 200x magnification. CHO-K1 cells transfected with PvTRAg53.7 and PvRII were used as negative and positive controls, respectively. <b>(B)</b> Specificity of PkTRAgs (expressed on surface of CHO-K1 cells) binding to human erythrocytes by competition assay. The human erythrocytes were pre-incubated with different concentrations of PkTRAgs (0–10 μM) before their incubation with transfected CHO-K1 cells to form the rosettes. Erythrocyte binding of CHO cell expressing PkTRAgs with RBCs incubated with PBS only (zero concentration) was taken as positive control. <b>(C)</b> Inhibition of erythrocyte binding to PkTRAgs expressed on surface of CHO-K1 cells by polyclonal antibodies. Transfected CHO-K1 cells were pre-incubated with different dilutions of rabbit sera raised against the respective PkTRAg or with pre-immune sera at 1:10 dilution. The percent binding was determined relative to no antibodies (RPMI only). Data shown are the Mean ± standard deviation of three experiments.</p