The Changing Landscape for Stroke\ua0Prevention in AF: Findings From the GLORIA-AF Registry Phase 2

Background GLORIA-AF (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation) is a prospective, global registry program describing antithrombotic treatment patterns in patients with newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation at risk of stroke. Phase 2 began when dabigatran, the first non\u2013vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant (NOAC), became available. Objectives This study sought to describe phase 2 baseline data and compare these with the pre-NOAC era collected during phase 1. Methods During phase 2, 15,641 consenting patients were enrolled (November 2011 to December 2014); 15,092 were eligible. This pre-specified cross-sectional analysis describes eligible patients\u2019 baseline characteristics. Atrial fibrillation disease characteristics, medical outcomes, and concomitant diseases and medications were collected. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results Of the total patients, 45.5% were female; median age was 71 (interquartile range: 64, 78) years. Patients were from Europe (47.1%), North America (22.5%), Asia (20.3%), Latin America (6.0%), and the Middle East/Africa (4.0%). Most had high stroke risk (CHA2DS2-VASc [Congestive heart failure, Hypertension, Age  6575 years, Diabetes mellitus, previous Stroke, Vascular disease, Age 65 to 74 years, Sex category] score  652; 86.1%); 13.9% had moderate risk (CHA2DS2-VASc = 1). Overall, 79.9% received oral anticoagulants, of whom 47.6% received NOAC and 32.3% vitamin K antagonists (VKA); 12.1% received antiplatelet agents; 7.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. For comparison, the proportion of phase 1 patients (of N = 1,063 all eligible) prescribed VKA was 32.8%, acetylsalicylic acid 41.7%, and no therapy 20.2%. In Europe in phase 2, treatment with NOAC was more common than VKA (52.3% and 37.8%, respectively); 6.0% of patients received antiplatelet treatment; and 3.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. In North America, 52.1%, 26.2%, and 14.0% of patients received NOAC, VKA, and antiplatelet drugs, respectively; 7.5% received no antithrombotic treatment. NOAC use was less common in Asia (27.7%), where 27.5% of patients received VKA, 25.0% antiplatelet drugs, and 19.8% no antithrombotic treatment. Conclusions The baseline data from GLORIA-AF phase 2 demonstrate that in newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation patients, NOAC have been highly adopted into practice, becoming more frequently prescribed than VKA in Europe and North America. Worldwide, however, a large proportion of patients remain undertreated, particularly in Asia and North America. (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation [GLORIA-AF]; NCT01468701

Enhancing the Charge Separation in Nanocrystalline Cu2ZnSnS4 Photocathodes for Photoelectrochemical Application: The Role of Surface Modifications

Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) colloidal inks were employed to prepare thin-film photocathodes that served as a model system to interrogate the effect of different surface treatments, viz. CdS, CdSe, and ZnSe buffer layers along with methylviologen (MV) adsorption, on the photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance using aqueous Eu3+ redox electrolyte. PEC experiments revealed that ZnSe and CdSe overlayers outperform traditional CdS, and the additional surface modification with MV was found to further boost the charge extraction. By analyzing the photocurrent onset behavior and measuring the open circuit photopotentials, insights are gained into the nature of the observed improvements. While a more favorable conduction band offset rationalizes the improvement offered by CdSe, charge transfer through midgap states is invoked for ZnSe. Improvement offered by MV treatment is clearly caused by both the shifting of the flat-band potential and a charge-transfer mediation effect. Overall, this work suggests promising alternative surface treatments for CZTS photocathodes for PEC energy conversion

Enhancing the Performance of a Robust Sol-Gel-Processed p-Type Delafossite CuFeO2 Photocathode for Solar Water Reduction

Delafossite CuFeO2 is a promising material for solar hydrogen production, but is limited by poor photocurrent. Strategies are demonstrated herein to improve the performance of CuFeO2 electrodes prepared directly on transparent conductive substrates by using a simple sol-gel technique. Optimizing the delafossite layer thickness and increasing the majority carrier concentration (through the thermal intercalation of oxygen) give insights into the limitations of photogenerated charge extraction and enable performance improvements. In oxygen-saturated electrolyte, (sacrificial) photocurrents (1sun illumination) up to 1.51mAcm(-2) at +0.35V versus a reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) are observed. Water photoreduction with bare delafossite is limited by poor hydrogen evolution catalysis, but employing methyl viologen as an electron acceptor verifies that photogenerated electrons can be extracted from the conduction band before recombination into mid-gap trap states identified by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Through the use of suitable oxide overlayers and a platinum catalyst, sustained solar hydrogen production photocurrents of 0.4mAcm(-2) at 0V versus RHE (0.8mAcm(-2) at -0.2V) are demonstrated. Importantly, bare CuFeO2 is highly stable at potentials at which photocurrent is generated. No degradation is observed after 40h under operating conditions in oxygen-saturated electrolyte

Challenges towards Economic Fuel Generation from Renewable Ellectricity: The Heed for Efficient Electro-Catalysis

Utilizing renewable sources of energy is very attractive to provide the growing population on earth in the future but demands the development of efficient storage to mitigate their intermittent nature. Chemical storage, with energy stored in the bonds of chemical compounds such as hydrogen or carbon-containing molecules, is promising as these energy vectors can be reserved and transported easily. In this review, we aim to present the advantages and drawbacks of the main water electrolysis technologies available today: alkaline and PEM electrolysis. The choice of electrode materials for utilization in very basic and very acid conditions is discussed, with specific focus on anodes for the oxygen evolution reaction, considered as the most demanding and energy consuming reaction in an electrolyzer. State-of-the-art performance of materials academically developed for two alternative technologies: electrolysis in neutral or seawater, and the direct electrochemical conversion from solar to hydrogen are also introduced

Templating Sol-Gel Hematite Films with Sacrificial Copper Oxide: Enhancing Photoanode Performance with Nanostructure and Oxygen Vacancies

Nanostructuring hematite films is a critical step for enhancing photoelectrochemical performance by circumventing the intrinsic limitations on minority carrier transport. Herein, we present a novel sol-gel approach that affords nanostructured hematite films by including CuO as sacrificial templating agent. First, by annealing in air at 450 degrees C a film comprising an intimate mixture of CuO and Fe2O3 nanopartides is obtained. The subsequent treatment with NaCl and annealing at 700 degrees C under Argon reveals a nanostructured highly crystalline hematite film devoid of copper. Photoelectrochemical investigations reveal that the incorporation of CuO as templating agent and the inert conditions employed during the annealing play a crucial role in the performance of the hematite electrodes. Mott-Schottky analysis shows a higher donor concentration when annealing in inert conditions, and even higher when combined with the NaCl treatment. These findings agree well with the presence of an oxygen-deficient shell on the material's surface evidenced by FT-IR and XPS measurements. Likewise, the incorporation of the CuO enhances the photocurrent obtained at 1.23 V from 0.55 to 0.8 mA.cm(-2) because of an improved nanostructure. Optimized films demonstrate an incident photon-to-current efficiency (IPCE) of 52% at 380 nm when applying 1.23 V versus RHE, and a faradaic efficiency for water splitting close to unity

CuInGaS2 photocathodes treated with SbX3 (X = Cl, I): the effect of the halide on solar water splitting performance

The realization of photoelectrochemical tandem cells for efficient solar-to-hydrogen energy conversion is currently impeded by the lack of inexpensive, stable, and efficient photocathodes. The family of sulfide chalcopyrites (CuInxGa1-xS2) has recently demonstrated a remarkable stability and performance even when prepared by solution-based routes that potentially lower the cost of fabrication. However, the photovoltage delivered by the photocathodes is still well-below the attainable values, a classical limitation linked to a large density of surface states in these materials. In the present work, we show that the identity of halide present during the growth of the solution-processed CuIn0.3Ga0.7S2 (CIGS) thin-films governs the overall performance by directing the crystal growth and the passivation of surface states. Replacing chlorine by iodine leads to CIGS photocathodes that deliver photocurrents of 5 mA cm(-2) (at 0 V versus RHE) and a turn-on voltage of 0.5 V versus RHE without charge extracting overlayer nor any sign of deterioration during stability test

Casting Nanoporous Platinum in Metal-Organic Frameworks.

Nanocasting based on porous templates is a powerful strategy in accessing materials and structures that are difficult to form by bottom-up syntheses in a controlled fashion. A facile synthetic strategy for casting ordered, nanoporous platinum (NP-Pt) networks with a high degree of control by using metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as templates is reported here. The Pt precursor is first infiltrated into zirconium-based MOFs and subsequently transformed to 3D metallic networks via a chemical reduction process. It is demonstrated that the dimensions and topologies of the cast NP-Pt networks can be accurately controlled by using different MOFs as templates. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface areas of the NP-Pt networks are estimated to be >100 m2 g-1 and they exhibit excellent catalytic activities in the methanol electrooxidation reaction (MEOR). This new methodology presents an attractive route to prepare well-defined nanoporous materials for diverse applications ranging from energy to sensing and biotechnology

Radiation Risk Assessment In Preclinical Imaging: Protective Techniques And Handling Procedures Developed To Minimize Occupational Exposures

International audienc