Biochars from various biomass types as anodes for sodium-ion batteries

Until now, the applications targeted for biochars have mostly been focused in the field of energy, as combustion fuel, or of agronomy, as soil amendment. However, high-added value materials in the field of electrochemistry are now more and more mentioned as promising applications to investigate (Deng et al. 2016). At the moment, one major topic in electrochemistry is the development of alternative to lithium-ion battery in order to solve the issue of lithium supply. One of the most mature options is sodium-ion battery (Wang et al. 2016). In such battery, anode is generally made up of hard carbon, that has surface area below 10 m2.g-1 and subnanometric pores. Please click on the file below for full content of the abstract

Activation of 1,2- and 1,3-Ketoamides with Thiourea Organocatalyst for the Enantioselective Domino Synthesis of Fuctionalized Cyclohexanes

International audienceSeveral reactive sites of 1,2- and 1,3-ketoamides were successively exploited in two complementary domino transformations for the synthesis of polysubstituted monocyclic or bridged bicyclic cyclohexanes, with the creation of up to six stereogenic centers. In both cases, a chiral bifunctional thiourea organocatalyst allowed efficient control of chirality in the final carbocycle

Prognostic Accuracy of Sepsis-3 Criteria for In-Hospital Mortality Among Patients With Suspected Infection Presenting to the Emergency Department.

An international task force recently redefined the concept of sepsis. This task force recommended the use of the quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA) score instead of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) criteria to identify patients at high risk of mortality. However, these new criteria have not been prospectively validated in some settings, and their added value in the emergency department remains unknown. To prospectively validate qSOFA as a mortality predictor and compare the performances of the new sepsis criteria to the previous ones. International prospective cohort study, conducted in France, Spain, Belgium, and Switzerland between May and June 2016. In the 30 participating emergency departments, for a 4-week period, consecutive patients who visited the emergency departments with suspected infection were included. All variables from previous and new definitions of sepsis were collected. Patients were followed up until hospital discharge or death. Measurement of qSOFA, SOFA, and SIRS. In-hospital mortality. Of 1088 patients screened, 879 were included in the analysis. Median age was 67 years (interquartile range, 47-81 years), 414 (47%) were women, and 379 (43%) had respiratory tract infection. Overall in-hospital mortality was 8%: 3% for patients with a qSOFA score lower than 2 vs 24% for those with qSOFA score of 2 or higher (absolute difference, 21%; 95% CI, 15%-26%). The qSOFA performed better than both SIRS and severe sepsis in predicting in-hospital mortality, with an area under the receiver operating curve (AUROC) of 0.80 (95% CI, 0.74-0.85) vs 0.65 (95% CI, 0.59-0.70) for both SIRS and severe sepsis (P < .001; incremental AUROC, 0.15; 95% CI, 0.09-0.22). The hazard ratio of qSOFA score for death was 6.2 (95% CI, 3.8-10.3) vs 3.5 (95% CI, 2.2-5.5) for severe sepsis. Among patients presenting to the emergency department with suspected infection, the use of qSOFA resulted in greater prognostic accuracy for in-hospital mortality than did either SIRS or severe sepsis. These findings provide support for the Third International Consensus Definitions for Sepsis and Septic Shock (Sepsis-3) criteria in the emergency department setting. clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT02738164

Guide d’utilisation des indicateurs - mettre en oeuvre une approche basée sur les indicateurs pour évaluer le développement durable sur le littoral

Ce rapport contient les conclusions, les résultats et les produits les plus significatifs du projet INTERREG IIIC Sud "DEDUCE" pendant la période 2004-2007. L'objectif général du projet était de tester la série d'indicateurs proposée en 2003 par le groupe de travail européen "Indicateurs et données" à des échelles et des niveaux de gouvernance différents, à savoir le niveau européen, les Etats membres et les autorités locales et régionales. Le processus de calcul élaboré par les partenaires de DEDUCE poursuit deux buts :• Proposer un cadre méthodologique commun ; • Illustrer la pertinence et l'utilité de l'approche basée sur des indicateurs.Il souhaite montrer que le cadre actuel des politiques côtières ne définit pas une approche cohérente et commune en matière de mesure et d'évaluation des niveaux de durabilité dans les zones côtières et marines de l'Union Européenne (Chapitre 2). Cependant, une telle approche est présente dans certaines politiques intégrées existantes ou émergentes, telles que le Livre vert sur la future politique maritime européenne et la Stratégie européenne en faveur du développement durable. Par ailleurs, seul un petit nombre de politiques existantes (par exemple, la Directive Cadre sur l'Eau) définissent de manière détaillée des indicateurs et des seuils d'acceptation. Il présente et explique la proposition de cadre méthodologique pour les indicateurs de développement durable dans les zones côtières et marines (Chapitre 3) élaborée par DEDUCE. Ce faisant, il essaie de combler le manque d'approche commune. Cette proposition s'articule autour de trois éléments principaux, qui correspondent aux trois questions suivantes :• Comment peut-on calculer des indicateurs selon une méthodologie commune ? Des méthodologies de calcul de 45 mesures avec un format standard et approprié pour toutes les régions et tous les pays de l'Union Européenne ont été définies ; • Quels sont les principaux problèmes et obstacles rencontrés au cours du processus de calcul ? 180 fiches de calcul, à des échelles différentes, décrivent les difficultés, les forces et les faiblesses de l'obtention et du traitement des données relatives à chacune des mesures ; • Comment pouvons-nous intégrer les résultats et les conclusions et quels sont les conclusions du processus de calcul ? 25 fiches de synthèse montrent les avantages d'une analyse comparative entre les différents niveaux géographiques.Tous ces éléments, ainsi que d'autres, issus du projet DEDUCE, sont disponibles sur le site www.deduce.eu. Le développement méthodologique comprend également un point de vue pragmatique sur la mise en œuvre de la directive INSPIRE pour les zones côtières et marines en utilisant une infrastructure de données spatiales commune. Les difficultés et les obstacles au développement de cette infrastructure sont analysés à partir des réponses à un questionnaire concernant les systèmes d’information géographique littoraux mis en œuvre par les partenaires de DEDUCE. Les arguments en faveur de l'utilité du cadre méthodologique pour les indicateurs de développement durable dans les zones côtières et marines sont détaillés autour des thèmes suivants (Chapitre 4) :• Utilité d'évaluer l'aménagement et la gestion dans les zones côtières et marines ; • Utilité d'intégrer et de coordonner les analyses et la recherche dans les zones côtières et marines ; • Possibilité d'améliorer la visibilité et la perception des zones côtières et marines.Le rapport donne également des exemples d'application pratique de ce cadre méthodologique à travers sept expériences qui ont été mises en œuvre du niveau européen au niveau local. Les sept fiches de synthèse sont structurées autour des sept objectifs de la Recommandation européenne relative à la Gestion Intégrée des Zones Côtières (2002). Elles comprennent les résultats des calculs, l'analyse intégrée et des informations pratiques relatives à l'utilisation du cadre méthodologique pour les indicateurs (Chapitre 5). Enfin, le dernier chapitre du rapport (Chapitre 6) présente :• L'évaluation finale du processus de calcul élaboré par les partenaires de DEDUCE ; • Des recommandations pour améliorer la série d'indicateurs proposée par le groupe de travail européen "Indicateurs et données", sur la base de 6 séminaires nationaux et d'une conférence technique organisée à Tarragone (mars 2007) ; • Les travaux ultérieurs requis pour compléter l'approche du cadre méthodologique basé sur des indicateurs en vue de construire un système d'informations maritimes cohérent.peer-reviewe

Seasonality of the particle number concentration and size distribution : a global analysis retrieved from the network of Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) near-surface observatories

Aerosol particles are a complex component of the atmospheric system which influence climate directly by interacting with solar radiation, and indirectly by contributing to cloud formation. The variety of their sources, as well as the multiple transformations they may undergo during their transport (including wet and dry deposition), result in significant spatial and temporal variability of their properties. Documenting this variability is essential to provide a proper representation of aerosols and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) in climate models. Using measurements conducted in 2016 or 2017 at 62 ground-based stations around the world, this study provides the most up-to-date picture of the spatial distribution of particle number concentration (N-tot) and number size distribution (PNSD, from 39 sites). A sensitivity study was first performed to assess the impact of data availability on N-tot's annual and seasonal statistics, as well as on the analysis of its diel cycle. Thresholds of 50% and 60% were set at the seasonal and annual scale, respectively, for the study of the corresponding statistics, and a slightly higher coverage (75 %) was required to document the diel cycle. Although some observations are common to a majority of sites, the variety of environments characterizing these stations made it possible to highlight contrasting findings, which, among other factors, seem to be significantly related to the level of anthropogenic influence. The concentrations measured at polar sites are the lowest (similar to 10(2) cm(-3)) and show a clear seasonality, which is also visible in the shape of the PNSD, while diel cycles are in general less evident, due notably to the absence of a regular day-night cycle in some seasons. In contrast, the concentrations characteristic of urban environments are the highest (similar to 10(3)-10(4) cm(-3)) and do not show pronounced seasonal variations, whereas diel cycles tend to be very regular over the year at these stations. The remaining sites, including mountain and non-urban continental and coastal stations, do not exhibit as obvious common behaviour as polar and urban sites and display, on average, intermediate N-tot (similar to 10(2)-10(3) cm(-3)). Particle concentrations measured at mountain sites, however, are generally lower compared to nearby lowland sites, and tend to exhibit somewhat more pronounced seasonal variations as a likely result of the strong impact of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) influence in connection with the topography of the sites. ABL dynamics also likely contribute to the diel cycle of N-tot observed at these stations. Based on available PNSD measurements, CCN-sized particles (considered here as either >50 nm or >100 nm) can represent from a few percent to almost all of N-tot, corresponding to seasonal medians on the order of similar to 10 to 1000 cm(-3), with seasonal patterns and a hierarchy of the site types broadly similar to those observed for N-tot. Overall, this work illustrates the importance of in situ measurements, in particular for the study of aerosol physical properties, and thus strongly supports the development of a broad global network of near surface observatories to increase and homogenize the spatial coverage of the measurements, and guarantee as well data availability and quality. The results of this study also provide a valuable, freely available and easy to use support for model comparison and validation, with the ultimate goal of contributing to improvement of the representation of aerosol-cloud interactions in models, and, therefore, of the evaluation of the impact of aerosol particles on climate.Peer reviewe

Optimasi Portofolio Resiko Menggunakan Model Markowitz MVO Dikaitkan dengan Keterbatasan Manusia dalam Memprediksi Masa Depan dalam Perspektif Al-Qur`an

Risk portfolio on modern finance has become increasingly technical, requiring the use of sophisticated mathematical tools in both research and practice. Since companies cannot insure themselves completely against risk, as human incompetence in predicting the future precisely that written in Al-Quran surah Luqman verse 34, they have to manage it to yield an optimal portfolio. The objective here is to minimize the variance among all portfolios, or alternatively, to maximize expected return among all portfolios that has at least a certain expected return. Furthermore, this study focuses on optimizing risk portfolio so called Markowitz MVO (Mean-Variance Optimization). Some theoretical frameworks for analysis are arithmetic mean, geometric mean, variance, covariance, linear programming, and quadratic programming. Moreover, finding a minimum variance portfolio produces a convex quadratic programming, that is minimizing the objective function ðð¥with constraintsð ð 𥠥 ðandð´ð¥ = ð. The outcome of this research is the solution of optimal risk portofolio in some investments that could be finished smoothly using MATLAB R2007b software together with its graphic analysis

Search for supersymmetry in events with one lepton and multiple jets in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

Peer reviewe

Measurement of the Splitting Function in &ITpp &ITand Pb-Pb Collisions at root&ITsNN&IT=5.02 TeV

Data from heavy ion collisions suggest that the evolution of a parton shower is modified by interactions with the color charges in the dense partonic medium created in these collisions, but it is not known where in the shower evolution the modifications occur. The momentum ratio of the two leading partons, resolved as subjets, provides information about the parton shower evolution. This substructure observable, known as the splitting function, reflects the process of a parton splitting into two other partons and has been measured for jets with transverse momentum between 140 and 500 GeV, in pp and PbPb collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV per nucleon pair. In central PbPb collisions, the splitting function indicates a more unbalanced momentum ratio, compared to peripheral PbPb and pp collisions.. The measurements are compared to various predictions from event generators and analytical calculations.Peer reviewe

Measurement of nuclear modification factors of gamma(1S)), gamma(2S), and gamma(3S) mesons in PbPb collisions at root s(NN)=5.02 TeV

The cross sections for ϒ(1S), ϒ(2S), and ϒ(3S) production in lead-lead (PbPb) and proton-proton (pp) collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV have been measured using the CMS detector at the LHC. The nuclear modification factors, RAA, derived from the PbPb-to-pp ratio of yields for each state, are studied as functions of meson rapidity and transverse momentum, as well as PbPb collision centrality. The yields of all three states are found to be significantly suppressed, and compatible with a sequential ordering of the suppression, RAA(ϒ(1S)) > RAA(ϒ(2S)) > RAA(ϒ(3S)). The suppression of ϒ(1S) is larger than that seen at √sNN = 2.76 TeV, although the two are compatible within uncertainties. The upper limit on the RAA of ϒ(3S) integrated over pT, rapidity and centrality is 0.096 at 95% confidence level, which is the strongest suppression observed for a quarkonium state in heavy ion collisions to date. © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Funded by SCOAP3.Peer reviewe

Electroweak production of two jets in association with a Z boson in proton-proton collisions root s =13 TeV

A measurement of the electroweak (EW) production of two jets in association with a Z boson in proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV is presented, based on data recorded in 2016 by the CMS experiment at the LHC corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1). The measurement is performed in the lljj final state with l including electrons and muons, and the jets j corresponding to the quarks produced in the hard interaction. The measured cross section in a kinematic region defined by invariant masses m(ll) > 50 GeV, m(jj) > 120 GeV, and transverse momenta P-Tj > 25 GeV is sigma(EW) (lljj) = 534 +/- 20 (stat) fb (syst) fb, in agreement with leading-order standard model predictions. The final state is also used to perform a search for anomalous trilinear gauge couplings. No evidence is found and limits on anomalous trilinear gauge couplings associated with dimension-six operators are given in the framework of an effective field theory. The corresponding 95% confidence level intervals are -2.6 <cwww/Lambda(2) <2.6 TeV-2 and -8.4 <cw/Lambda(2) <10.1 TeV-2. The additional jet activity of events in a signal-enriched region is also studied, and the measurements are in agreement with predictions.Peer reviewe