Elastography Can Effectively Decrease the Number of Fine-Needle Aspiration Biopsies in Patients with Calcified Thyroid Nodules

AbstractWhen calcification, frequently found in both benign and malignant nodules, is present in thyroid nodules, non-invasive differentiation with ultrasound becomes challenging. The goal of this study was to evaluate the utility of elastography in differentiating calcified thyroid nodules. Consecutive patients (165 patients with 196 nodules) referred for fine-needle aspiration who had undergone both ultrasound elastography and B-mode examinations were analyzed retrospectively. Calcification was present in 45 benign and 20 malignant nodules. On 65 calcified nodules, elastography had 95% sensitivity, 51.1% specificity, 46.3% positive predictive value and 95.8% negative predictive value in detecting malignancy. Twenty-three of 45 benign calcified nodules were correctly diagnosed with elastography compared with 4 of 45 by B-mode ultrasound. Although it is difficult to differentiate benign and malignant calcified thyroid nodules solely with B-mode ultrasound, elastography has the potential to reduce the number of fine-needle aspiration biopsies performed on calcified nodules

A study on the debris flow-induced impact force on check dam with- and without-entrainment

The magnitude of debris-flow impact force with soil layer entrainment was analyzed using a coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian (CEL) technique in ABAQUS. To consider the entrainment of the soil layer, the shear strength of the soil layer was changed from a solid-state to a fluid state according to the deviatoric plastic strain. The applicability of the coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian (CEL) method to the analysis of debris flows with impact force on check dams was verified by comparing the analysis with laboratory tests. The result was clearly show that the analysis is in good agreement with the laboratory data. In addition, the analyses with entrainment and without entrainment were conducted to analyze the effect of the entrainment on the impact force. As a result, the impact force of the debris flows considering the entrainment process was more extensive than it was without entrainment. This rigorous Finite Element (FE) analysis method can specify the potential influence of debris flows, and it can estimate the dynamic impact force on check dams

A cerebral cortex-like structured metallized elastomer for high-performance triboelectric nanogenerator

The advancement of wearable electronics, particularly triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs), relies on the development of flexible, stretchable, and compressible electrodes that possess a large active surface area, high electrical conductivity, and excellent mechanical stability and deformability. However, existing elastomeric electrodes face challenges in meeting all of these requirements. Herein, we present a novel approach to address these limitations and create electrodes with elastomeric properties, stable metal-like electrical conductivity, and an expanded active surface area. For this goal, we perform an assembly of metal nanoparticles (NPs) in toluene and amine-functionalized organic linkers in alcohol onto the thiol-functionalized, embossed-structured elastomer. Particularly, the assembly process involves ligand exchange reaction-mediated metal NPs and subjecting them to solvent-swelling/deswelling of the embossed PDMS. This process induces the formation of cerebral cortex-like structured elastomer electrode, which is subsequently electroplated with Ni. The resulting electrodes exhibit metal-like electrical conductivity, elastomer-like flexibility, and cerebral cortex-like structure with substantially large surface area and high stress relieving properties. When combined with an intaglio-structured dielectric PDMS electrode, the device exhibits impressive TENG performance, surpassing the performance of conventional TENGs. This approach provides a basis for developing and designing a variety of high-performance flexible electronics, including TENGs. © 2023 The AuthorsTRU

Nanoparticle-Based Electrodes with High Charge Transfer Efficiency through Ligand Exchange Layer-by-Layer Assembly

Organic-ligand-based solution processes of metal and transition metal oxide (TMO) nanoparticles (NPs) have been widely studied for the preparation of electrode materials with desired electrical and electrochemical properties for various energy devices. However, the ligands adsorbed on NPs have a significant effect on the intrinsic properties of materials, thus influencing the performance of bulk electrodes assembled by NPs for energy devices. To resolve these critical drawbacks, numerous approaches have focused on developing unique surface chemistry that can exchange bulky ligands with small ligands or remove bulky ligands from NPs after NP deposition. In particular, recent studies have reported that the ligand-exchange-induced layer-by-layer (LE-LbL) assembly of NPs enables controlled assembly of NPs with the desired interparticle distance, and interfaces, dramatically improving the electrical/electrochemical performance of electrodes. This emerging approach also demonstrates that efficient surface ligand engineering can exploit the unique electrochemical properties of individual NPs and maximize the electrochemical performance of the resultant NP-assembled electrodes through improved charge transfer efficiency. This report focuses on how LE-LbL assembly can be effectively applied to NP-based energy storage/conversion electrodes. First, the basic principles of the LE-LbL approach are introduced and then recent progress on NP-based energy electrodes prepared via the LE-LbL approach is reviewed. © 2020 Wiley-VCH GmbH1

Fibril-Type Textile Electrodes Enabling Extremely High Areal Capacity through Pseudocapacitive Electroplating onto Chalcogenide Nanoparticle-Encapsulated Fibrils

Effective incorporation of conductive and energy storage materials into 3D porous textiles plays a pivotal role in developing and designing high-performance energy storage devices. Here, a fibril-type textile pseudocapacitor electrode with outstanding capacity, good rate capability, and excellent mechanical stability through controlled interfacial interaction-induced electroplating is reported. First, tetraoctylammonium bromide-stabilized copper sulfide nanoparticles (TOABr-CuS NPs) are uniformly assembled onto cotton textiles. This approach converts insulating textiles to conductive textiles preserving their intrinsically porous structure with an extremely large surface area. For the preparation of textile current collector with bulk metal-like electrical conductivity, Ni is additionally electroplated onto the CuS NP-assembled textiles (i.e., Ni-EPT). Furthermore, a pseudocapacitive NiCo-layered double hydroxide (LDH) layer is subsequently electroplated onto Ni-EPT for the cathode. The formed NiCo-LDH electroplated textiles (i.e., NiCo-EPT) exhibit a high areal capacitance of 12.2 F cm(-2) (at 10 mA cm(-2)), good rate performance, and excellent cycling stability. Particularly, the areal capacity of NiCo-EPT can be further increased through their subsequent stacking. The 3-stack NiCo-EPT delivers an unprecedentedly high areal capacitance of 28.8 F cm(-2) (at 30 mA cm(-2)), which outperforms those of textile-based pseudocapacitor electrodes reported to date. © 2022 The Authors. Advanced Science published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.TRU

Emerging Challenges in Textile Energy Electrodes: Interfacial Engineering for High-Performance Next-Generation Flexible Energy Storage Devices

The development of highly conductive fibril-type textile electrodes is crucial for the advancement of various smart wearable electronics including high-performance energy storage devices. To achieve this goal, it is essential to convert insulating textiles into conductive counterparts while maintaining flexibility and porosity. Additionally, the incorporation of electrochemically active components into textile conductors enables tailor-made textile energy electrodes for specific applications. Thus, textile conductors act not only as conductors but also as energy reservoirs for energy-active components, providing a facile electron transfer network. However, textile conductors fabricated by most existing methods face challenges such as low conductivity, blockage, and brittleness. One approach to overcome these problems is to utilize interfacial interactions between individual components and textiles. Conductive nanoparticle assembly and electrodeposition based on such rational design result in highly conductive, flexible, and large surface area textile conductors. The subsequent guided assembly of active components creates high-performance textile energy electrodes. This perspective describes how interfacial interaction-based assembly can enhance the performance of textile conductors and textile energy electrodes. It also explores various conductor preparation approaches and recent advances in the field for applications in supercapacitors and lithium-ion batteries. © 2023 The Authors. Small Structures published by Wiley-VCH GmbHTRU

Aluminum textile-based binder-free nanostructured battery cathodes using a layer-by-layer assembly of metal/metal oxide nanoparticles

Despite considerable interest in textile-based battery electrodes with large surface areas and mechanical flexibility, issues have restricted further advances in the energy performance of textile electrodes. These issues include the ineffective incorporation of conductive and/or active components into textile frameworks, the poor charge transfer between energy materials, and the formation of numerous unstable interfaces within textile electrodes. Herein, we introduce an aluminum textile-based lithium-ion battery cathode with remarkable areal capacity, high rate performance, and good cycling stability. Ligand exchange reaction-induced layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly of metal nanoparticles and small molecule linkers, with subsequent metal electroplating, perfectly converted polyester textiles to 3D-porous aluminum textiles that can be used as current collectors and high-energy reservoirs. The consecutive LbL assembly of high-energy LiFePO4 and conductive indium tin oxide nanoparticles onto the aluminum textiles using small organic linkers significantly increased the areal capacity and cycling stability (at least 580 cycles) of the resultant cathode, allowing facile charge transfer within the textile electrodes. Furthermore, the areal capacity of these textile electrodes increased from 1.07 to 3.28 mA h cm-2, with an increase in the folding number from 0 to 2. © 2021 Author(s).1