Lithium motion in the anode material LiC6 as seen via time-domain 7Li NMR

Since the commercialization of rechargeable lithium-ion energy storage systems in the early 1990s, graphite intercalation compounds (GICs) have served as the number one negative electrode material in most of today's batteries. During charging the performance of a battery is closely tied with facile Li insertion into the graphite host structure. So far, only occasionally time-domain nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements have been reported to study Li self-diffusion parameters in GICs. Here, we used several NMR techniques to enlighten Li hopping motions from an atomic-scale point of view. Li self-diffusion in the stage-1 GIC LiC6 has been studied comparatively by temperature-variable spin-spin relaxation NMR as well as (rotating frame) spin-lattice relaxation NMR. The data collected yield information on both the relevant activation energies and jump rates, which can directly be transformed into Li self-diffusion coefficients. At room temperature the Li self-diffusion coefficient turns out to be 10−15m2s−1, thus, slightly lower than that for layer-structured cathode materials such as Lix≈0.7TiS2. © 2013 American Physical Society

Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362