Pascalammetry with operando microbattery probes: Sensing high stress in solid-state batteries.

Energy storage science calls for techniques to elucidate ion transport over a range of conditions and scales. We introduce a new technique, pascalammetry, in which stress is applied to a solid-state electrochemical device and induced faradaic current transients are measured and analyzed. Stress-step pascalammetry measurements are performed on operando microbattery probes (Li2O/Li/W) and Si cathodes, revealing stress-assisted Li+ diffusion. We show how non-Cottrellian lithium diffusional kinetics indicates stress, a prelude to battery degradation. An analytical solution to a diffusion/activation equation describes this stress signature, with spatiotemporal characteristics distinct from Cottrell's classic solution for unstressed systems. These findings create an unprecedented opportunity for quantitative detection of stress in solid-state batteries through the current signature. Generally, pascalammetry offers a powerful new approach to study stress-related phenomena in any solid-state electrochemical system

Impact of a brief faculty training to improve patient-centered communication while using electronic health records

Objective Despite rapid EHR adoption, few faculty receive training in how to implement patient-centered communication skills while using computers in exam rooms. We piloted a patient-centered EHR use training to address this issue. Methods Faculty received four hours of training at Cleveland Clinic and a condensed 90-minute version at the University of Chicago. Both included a lecture and a Group-Objective Structured Clinical Exam (GOSCE) experience. Direct observations of 10 faculty in their clinical practices were performed pre- and post-workshop. Results Thirty participants (94%) completed a post-workshop evaluation assessing knowledge, attitude, and skills. Faculty reported that training was important, relevant, and should be required for all providers; no differences were found between longer versus shorter training. Participants in the longer training reported higher GOSCE efficacy, however shorter workshop participants agreed more with the statement that they had gained new knowledge. Faculty improved their patient-centered EHR use skills in clinical practice on post- versus pre-workshop ratings using a validated direct-observation rating tool. Conclusion A brief lecture and GOSCE can be effective in training busy faculty on patient-centered EHR use skills. Practice Implications Faculty training on patient-centered EHR skills can enhance patient-doctor communication and promotes positive role modeling of these skills to learners

Measured and Self-reported Neighborhood Characteristics and Physical Activity Among African American Women

African American women are vulnerable to physical inactivity compared to white women. Measured and self-reported neighborhood characteristics may be associated with physical activity (PA), yet few studies have examined these factors among minority women. The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations of measured and self-reported neighborhood characteristics with individual PA. The Pedestrian Environment Data Scan was completed for 25% of randomly selected residential street segments within a 400 meter radius of each participants’ address. African American women (N=262, M age=44.4 yrs) completed interviewer administered questionnaires assessing self-reported neighborhood characteristics. PA was measured using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) long (M MET minutes/week=2519) and accelerometry (M MVPA=19.0 min/day). Most women were obese (N=176, 67.2%; M BMI= 34.0). IPAQ PA was not associated with accelerometer PA. Bivariate correlations suggested relationships between greater measured pedestrian facility density and more IPAQ transportation PA , greater reported pedestrian facility density and more IPAQ leisure time PA, greater reported bicycle facility density and more IPAQ moderate PA and IPAQ total PA (ps\u3c.05). Simultaneous ecological multiple regression models demonstrated that reported pedestrian facility density (Beta=.138, t=2.181) and body fat percentage (Beta= -.089, t= -1.398) were associated with IPAQ leisure time PA (R²=.027; p=.04), reported bicycle facility density (Beta=.138, t=2.161) was associated with IPAQ moderate PA (R²=.019; p=.03), and reported bicycle facility density (Beta=.130, t=2.041) was associated with IPAQ total PA (R²= .017; p=.04). No measured or reported neighborhood characteristics were associated with accelerometer measured PA. Measured and reported built environment attributes are significantly associated with self-reported PA but may be mediated by weight status

The concordance of directly and indirectly measured built environment attributes and physical activity adoption

<p/> <p>Background</p> <p>Physical activity (PA) adoption is essential for obesity prevention and control, yet ethnic minority women report lower levels of PA and are at higher risk for obesity and its comorbidities compared to Caucasians. Epidemiological studies and ecologic models of health behavior suggest that built environmental factors are associated with health behaviors like PA, but few studies have examined the association between built environment attribute concordance and PA, and no known studies have examined attribute concordance and PA adoption.</p> <p>Purpose</p> <p>The purpose of this study was to associate the degree of concordance between directly and indirectly measured built environment attributes with changes in PA over time among African American and Hispanic Latina women participating in a PA intervention.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>Women (<it>N </it>= 410) completed measures of PA at Time 1 (T1) and Time 2 (T2); environmental data collected at T1 were used to compute concordance between directly and indirectly measured built environment attributes. The association between changes in PA and the degree of concordance between each directly and indirectly measured environmental attribute was assessed using repeated measures analyses.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There were no significant associations between built environment attribute concordance values and change in self-reported or objectively measured PA. Self-reported PA significantly increased over time (<it>F</it>(1,184) = 7.82, <it>p </it>= .006), but this increase did not vary by ethnicity or any built environment attribute concordance variable.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Built environment attribute concordance may not be associated with PA changes over time among minority women. In an effort to promote PA, investigators should clarify specific built environment attributes that are important for PA adoption and whether accurate perceptions of these attributes are necessary, particularly among the vulnerable population of minority women.</p

Implementation of a Human Trafficking Educational Module for College Students: Pre/Post Design

This research study aimed to implement an educational module and to determine the effectiveness of that module on increasing the awareness of human trafficking and risk factors for incoming freshman students at a medium-size, Southern university from September 2021 through November 2021. Two hundred students consented and participated in the study by completing the pretest and posttest to indicate their knowledge of human trafficking before and after being presented an online educational module. The pre and posttest included 10 questions with 24 possible responses. An average of 12.34 correct responses were provided on the pretest and 19.13 were correct responses on the posttest. This data indicates a 58.6% improvement in awareness of human trafficking risk factors. A one-tailed pair-wise student’s t-test and a single factor ANOVA were used to compare pretest scores with posttest scores both resulting in a p value of \u3c 0.001. The results of the study support the original hypothesis that students will have greater knowledge and awareness of human trafficking, as evidenced by a positive change in pretest to posttest scores, after completing the educational module on human trafficking. Limitations were found in the study as some students did not complete both the pre and posttest. The researchers believe this could be addressed through a stepwise testing module where one has to complete the first step to proceed to the next

Observational Constraints on Red and Blue Helium Burning Sequences

We derive the optical luminosity, colors, and ratios of the blue and red helium burning (HeB) stellar populations from archival Hubble Space Telescope observations of nineteen starburst dwarf galaxies and compare them with theoretical isochrones from Padova stellar evolution models across metallicities from Z=0.001 to 0.009. We find that the observational data and the theoretical isochrones for both blue and red HeB populations overlap in optical luminosities and colors and the observed and predicted blue to red HeB ratios agree for stars older than 50 Myr over the time bins studied. These findings confirm the usefulness of applying isochrones to interpret observations of HeB populations. However, there are significant differences, especially for the red HeB population. Specifically we find: (1) offsets in color between the observations and theoretical isochrones of order 0.15 mag (0.5 mag) for the blue (red) HeB populations brighter than M_V ~ -4 mag, which cannot be solely due to differential extinction; (2) blue HeB stars fainter than M_V ~ -3 mag are bluer than predicted; (3) the slope of the red HeB sequence is shallower than predicted by a factor of ~3; and (4) the models overpredict the ratio of the most luminous blue to red HeB stars corresponding to ages <50 Myr. Additionally, we find that for the more metal-rich galaxies in our sample (Z> 0.5 Zsolar) the red HeB stars overlap with the red giant branch stars in the color magnitude diagrams, thus reducing their usefulness as indicators of star formation for ages >100 Myr.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figures, 3 table

A Novel Case of Resolved Postherpetic Neuralgia with Subsequent Development of Trigeminal Neuralgia: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

A 72-year-old female patient is presented, who was diagnosed with herpes zoster along the left ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve with associated cutaneous vesicles. The patient subsequently developed postherpetic neuralgia in the same dermatome, which, after remission, transformed into paroxysmal trigeminal pain. The two different symptom sets, with the former consistent with PHN and the later consistent with trigeminal neuralgia, were unique to our practice and the literature

Observational Constraints on the Molecular Gas Content in Nearby Starburst Dwarf Galaxies

Using star formation histories derived from optically resolved stellar populations in nineteen nearby starburst dwarf galaxies observed with the Hubble Space Telescope, we measure the stellar mass surface densities of stars newly formed in the bursts. By assuming a star formation efficiency (SFE), we then calculate the inferred gas surface densities present at the onset of the starbursts. Assuming a SFE of 1%, as is often assumed in normal star-forming galaxies, and assuming that the gas was purely atomic, translates to very high HI surface densities (~10^2-10^3 Msun pc^-2), which are much higher than have been observed in dwarf galaxies. This implies either higher values of SFE in these dwarf starburst galaxies or the presence of significant amounts of H_2 in dwarfs (or both). Raising the assumed SFEs to 10% or greater (in line with observations of more massive starbursts associated with merging galaxies), still results in HI surface densities higher than observed in 10 galaxies. Thus, these observations appear to require that a significant fraction of the gas in these dwarf starbursts galaxies was in the molecular form at the onset of the bursts. Our results imply molecular gas column densities in the range 10^19-10^21 cm^-2 for the sample. In those galaxies where CO observations have been made, these densities correspond to values of the CO-H_2 conversion factor (X_CO) in the range >3-80x10^20 cm^-2 (K km s^-1)^-1, or up to 40x greater than Galactic X_CO values.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, 2 table