First Imaging Experiment of a Lithium Ion Battery by a Pulsed Neutron Beam at J-PARC/MLF/BL09

AbstractWe obtain the transmission image of a commercial lithium ion (Li-ion) battery using a pulsed neutron beam at the beamline 09 of the Materials and Life Science Experimental Facility at the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex. The purpose of this study is to improve the performance of the Li-ion battery by nondestructive observation of its charging and discharging. The transmission images for three charge states (3.2V, 3.7V, and 4.2V) reveal differences between these three states, which we attribute to electrolyte migration. The transmission spectra show Bragg edges originating from the electrodes, current collectors, and battery vessel. Although the battery as a whole has the expected relation between the charge accumulation and the quantity of lithium amounts in the positive and negative electrodes, a portion of the battery deviates from this relation, which may imply a position dependent charging in the battery

High-Pressure Polymorphs of LaHO with Anion Coordination Reversal.

Two novel high-pressure polymorphs of lanthanum oxyhydride have been successfully predicted and stabilized under pressure. When reacted at 3 GPa, the fluorite structure of LaHO with anion-centered tetrahedral (HLa4/OLa4) geometry is transformed to the PbCl2-type structure involving coordination number increase of H- to five (HLa5 square pyramids). Upon further application of pressure to 5 GPa, LaHO changed into the anti Fe2P-type structure. Interestingly, the 5 GPa phase contains tetrahedral HLa4 and square-pyramidal OLa5 geometry, meaning coordination switching, as confirmed by ab initio calculations. The structural analysis shows that this unprecedented phenomenon is enabled by higher compressibility of hydride anion and emphasizes its potential in the search for new high-pressure forms of hydride-based mixed anion materials

A Case Report of Surgical Resections with Local and Systemic Chemotherapy for Three Recurrences of Colon Cancer Occurring Ten Years after Colectomy

A 56-year-old Japanese woman who underwent a curative resection of ascending colon cancer at 43 years of age was found to have a tumor in her lower left abdominal cavity by computed tomography at 53 years of age. The tumor in the omentum was resected and identified as an adenocarcinoma compatible with metastasis from the primary ascending colon cancer. Although the patient received adjuvant chemotherapy with tegafur uracil and calcium folinate, liver metastasis was detected 9 months after the first recurrence. A segmentectomy and hepatectomy was performed, and histopathological findings indicated metastasis from the primary colon cancer. A third recurrence was detected in the right abdominal cavity 7 months after the second surgery. The patient received 5 cycles of combination chemotherapy consisting of folinic acid, fluorouracil and irinotecan before the third operation. The metastatic tumor resection together with intraperitoneal chemotherapy was performed, and histopathological findings indicated metastasis from the primary colon cancer. After the third surgery, the patient received adjuvant chemotherapy consisting of 5 cycles of folinic acid, fluorouracil and oxaliplatin. The patient is well with no evidence of recurrence 12 months after the third recurrence. This case suggests that colon cancer can be dormant for over 10 years and that long-term follow-up is required after curative resection. Aggressive local as well as systemic chemotherapy may be required for the management of colon cancer recurrence

Synthesis, structures and phase transitions in the double perovskites Sr 2- x Ca x CrNbO 6

The synthesis and crystal structures of nine members of the rock-salt ordered double perovskites Sr2-xCaxCrNbO6 is presented. The crystal structures of the end members of the series Sr2CrNbO6 and Ca2CrNbO6 were refined using powder neutron diffraction data and are cubic in Fm over(3, -) m and monoclinic in P21/n, respectively, in both cases there being considerable anti-site Cr-Nb mixing. Variable temperature and/or composition studies suggest a direct first-order P21/n to Fm over(3, -) m transition, a suggestion supported by selected area electron diffraction studies. Crow