141 research outputs found
A high-power and fast charging Li-ion battery with outstanding cycle-life
Electrochemical energy storage devices based on Li-ion cells currently power almost all electronic devices and power tools. The development of new Li-ion cell configurations by incorporating innovative functional components (electrode materials and electrolyte formulations) will allow to bring this technology beyond mobile electronics and to boost performance largely beyond the state-of-the-art. Here we demonstrate a new full Li-ion cell constituted by a high-potential cathode material, i.e. LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4, a safe nanostructured anode material, i.e. TiO2, and a composite electrolyte made by a mixture of an ionic liquid suitable for high potential applications, i.e. Pyr1,4PF6, a lithium salt, i.e. LiPF6, and standard organic carbonates. The final cell configuration is able to reversibly cycle lithium for thousands of cycles at 1000 mAg-1 and a capacity retention of 65% at cycle 2000. © 2017 The Author(s)
Complejidad y transdisciplinariedad: el desafĂo de los mĂ©todos centrados en la identidad
The disciplinary separation resulting from the advancement of science and knowledge has generated biases regarding contact, understanding and action in the complexity and levels of reality. Transdisciplinarity, when calling for an examination of the real problems of the world, requires a methodological elaboration of dialogue. The epistemological level of the general methodology is not enough to direct actions of transformation, it requires the elaboration of methodologies that take into account the epistemological assumptions, the specific contexts and put actors and knowledge involved to dialogue. VETASÂź Method systematizes a transdisciplinary dialogic methodology, operates as a method focused on identity, and allows applications in complex health situations, organizations and education.La separaciĂłn disciplinaria resultante del avance de las ciencias y los saberes ha generado sesgos respecto del contacto, la comprensiĂłn y la acciĂłn en la complejidad y los niveles de la realidad. La transdisciplinariedad, al convocar el examen de los problemas reales del mundo, precisa una elaboraciĂłn metodolĂłgica de diĂĄlogo. El nivel epistemolĂłgico de la metodologĂa general no basta para encauzar acciones de transformaciĂłn, se requiere la elaboraciĂłn de metodologĂas que tomen en consideraciĂłn los presupuestos epistemolĂłgicos, los contextos especĂficos y pongan a dialogar actores y saberes involucrados. El MĂ©todo VETASÂź sistematiza una metodologĂa dialĂłgica transdisciplinaria, opera como mĂ©todo centrado en la identidad, y permite aplicaciones en situaciones complejas de salud, las organizaciones y la educaciĂłn
The Third Dose of BNT162b2 COVID-19 Vaccine Does Not âBoostâ Disease Flares and Adverse Events in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis
Data on the risk of adverse events (AEs) and disease flares in autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARDs) after the third dose of COVID-19 vaccine are scarce. The aim of this multicenter, prospective study is to analyze the clinical and immunological safety of BNT162b2 vaccine in a cohort of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients followed-up from the first vaccine cycle to the third dose. The vaccine showed an overall good safety profile with no patient reporting serious AEs, and a low percentage of total AEs at both doses (40/78 (51.3%) and 13/47 (27.7%) patients after the second and third dose, respectively (p < 0.002). Flares were observed in 10.3% of patients after the end of the vaccination cycle and 12.8% after the third dose. Being vaccinated for influenza was inversely associated with the onset of AEs after the second dose, at both univariable (p = 0.013) and multivariable analysis (p = 0.027). This result could allow identification of a predictive factor of vaccine tolerance, if confirmed in larger patient populations. A higher disease activity at baseline was not associated with a higher incidence of AEs or disease flares. Effectiveness was excellent after the second dose, with only 1/78 (1.3%) mild breakthrough infection (BI) and worsened after the third dose, with 9/47 (19.2%) BI (p < 0.002), as a probable expression of the higher capacity of the Omicron variants to escape vaccine recognition
The cosmic ray primary composition in the "knee" region through the EAS electromagnetic and muon measurements at EAS-TOP
Abstract The evolution of the cosmic ray primary composition in the energy range 10 6 â10 7 GeV (i.e. the "knee" region) is studied by means of the e.m. and muon data of the Extensive Air Shower EAS-TOP array (Campo Imperatore, National Gran Sasso Laboratories). The measurement is performed through: (a) the correlated muon number ( N ÎŒ ) and shower size ( N e ) spectra, and (b) the evolution of the average muon numbers and their distributions as a function of the shower size. From analysis (a) the dominance of helium primaries at the knee, and therefore the possibility that the knee itself is due to a break in their energy spectrum (at E k He =(3.5±0.3)Ă10 6 GeV) are deduced. Concerning analysis (b), the measurement accuracies allow the classification in terms of three mass groups: light (p,He), intermediate (CNO), and heavy (Fe). At primary energies E 0 â10 6 GeV the results are consistent with the extrapolations of the data from direct experiments. In the knee region the obtained evolution of the energy spectra leads to: (i) an average steep spectrum of the light mass group ( Îł p,He >3.1), (ii) a spectrum of the intermediate mass group harder than the one of the light component ( Îł CNO â2.75, possibly bending at E k CNO â(6â7)Ă10 6 GeV), (iii) a constant slope for the spectrum of the heavy primaries ( Îł Fe â2.3â2.7) consistent with the direct measurements. In the investigated energy range, the average primary mass increases from ăln A ă=1.6â1.9 at E 0 â1.5Ă10 6 GeV to ăln A ă=2.8â3.1 at E 0 â1.5Ă10 7 GeV. The result supports the standard acceleration and propagation models of galactic cosmic rays that predict rigidity dependent cut-offs for the primary spectra of the different nuclei. The uncertainties connected to the hadronic interaction model (QGSJET in CORSIKA) used for the interpretation are discussed
Novel sensitive, specific and rapid pharmacogenomic test for the prediction of abacavir hypersensitivity reaction: HLA-B*57:01 detection by real-time PCR.
Aim: International HIV treatment guidelines recommend HLA-B*57:01 typing before abacavir administration, in order to reduce the incidence of abacavir hypersensitivity reactions, the major cause
of early therapy discontinuation. A fast, sensitive and specific test for HLA-B*57:01 detection has been
developed in the present study. Materials & methods: Two sets of sequence-specific primers were designed, and amplification rapidly detected by real-time PCR. Results: A total of 108 samples were analyzed in a single-blind fashion, and 41 samples were identified as positive. Complete agreement, with k = 1 (standard error = 0.0962, p < 0.0001), was found, with a validated methodology used in the EPI109367 clinical trial funded by GlaxoSmithKline, and consisting of low-resolution sequence-specific oligonucleotide PCR, followed by high-resolution sequence-specific oligonucleotide PCR carried out on the HLA-B*57-positive samples. Conclusion: We provided a detailed characterization of a novel HLA-B*57:01 screening test, which can be easily implemented by those laboratories already involved in the detection of viral load and virus genotyping
Measurement of the cosmic ray spectrum above eV using inclined events detected with the Pierre Auger Observatory
A measurement of the cosmic-ray spectrum for energies exceeding
eV is presented, which is based on the analysis of showers
with zenith angles greater than detected with the Pierre Auger
Observatory between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2013. The measured spectrum
confirms a flux suppression at the highest energies. Above
eV, the "ankle", the flux can be described by a power law with
index followed by
a smooth suppression region. For the energy () at which the
spectral flux has fallen to one-half of its extrapolated value in the absence
of suppression, we find
eV.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
Heavy quarkonium: progress, puzzles, and opportunities
A golden age for heavy quarkonium physics dawned a decade ago, initiated by
the confluence of exciting advances in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and an
explosion of related experimental activity. The early years of this period were
chronicled in the Quarkonium Working Group (QWG) CERN Yellow Report (YR) in
2004, which presented a comprehensive review of the status of the field at that
time and provided specific recommendations for further progress. However, the
broad spectrum of subsequent breakthroughs, surprises, and continuing puzzles
could only be partially anticipated. Since the release of the YR, the BESII
program concluded only to give birth to BESIII; the -factories and CLEO-c
flourished; quarkonium production and polarization measurements at HERA and the
Tevatron matured; and heavy-ion collisions at RHIC have opened a window on the
deconfinement regime. All these experiments leave legacies of quality,
precision, and unsolved mysteries for quarkonium physics, and therefore beg for
continuing investigations. The plethora of newly-found quarkonium-like states
unleashed a flood of theoretical investigations into new forms of matter such
as quark-gluon hybrids, mesonic molecules, and tetraquarks. Measurements of the
spectroscopy, decays, production, and in-medium behavior of c\bar{c}, b\bar{b},
and b\bar{c} bound states have been shown to validate some theoretical
approaches to QCD and highlight lack of quantitative success for others. The
intriguing details of quarkonium suppression in heavy-ion collisions that have
emerged from RHIC have elevated the importance of separating hot- and
cold-nuclear-matter effects in quark-gluon plasma studies. This review
systematically addresses all these matters and concludes by prioritizing
directions for ongoing and future efforts.Comment: 182 pages, 112 figures. Editors: N. Brambilla, S. Eidelman, B. K.
Heltsley, R. Vogt. Section Coordinators: G. T. Bodwin, E. Eichten, A. D.
Frawley, A. B. Meyer, R. E. Mitchell, V. Papadimitriou, P. Petreczky, A. A.
Petrov, P. Robbe, A. Vair
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