Monodisperse CoSb nanocrystals as high-performance anode material for Li-ion batteries

Towards enhancement of the power density of Li-ion batteries (LIBs), antimony-based intermetallic compounds have recently attracted considerable attention as compelling anode materials owing to their high rate capability as compared to state-of-the-art graphite anodes. Here we report a facile colloidal synthesis of monodisperse CoSb nanocrystals (NCs) as a model intermetallic anode material for LIBs via the reaction between Co NCs and SbCl3 in oleylamine under reducing conditions. We found that ca. 20 nm CoSb NCs exhibit enhanced cycling stability as compared to larger ca. 40 nm CoSb NCs and Sb NCs with size on the order of 20 nm

Factors affecting sporulation and infection of Peronospora sparsa in New Zealand boysenberry gardens

Downy mildew, caused by Peronospora sparsa, is an economically important disease of boysenberries. Sporangia produced on infected tissue initiate berry infections; however the timing of sporangial release under New Zealand environmental conditions is unknown. The number of P. sparsa sporangia trapped on Vaseline®-coated slides placed weekly in three boysenberry gardens in the Nelson region from October to December in 2010 and September to December in 2011 was determined. Climate data were used to determine environmental factors that promoted sporangia production/release. Incidence of dryberry symptoms and sporulation on tissue samples incubated at 15 or 20°C under high relative humidity (RH) were assessed. Peronospora sparsa sporangia were observed on slides from all three sites, with peak sporangial numbers in mid-November in both years. Sites with the highest numbers of sporangia trapped in November had higher dryberry incidence in December. Data indicated that sporangial release was triggered by percentage of rainy days, RH and warm temperatures (16-23°C) in early spring, where high moisture periods promoted sporulation and a subsequent dry period allowed sporangial release. This study improves understanding of the timing of sporangial release to inform management practices

Il concetto di Health Literacy e la sua importanza per la professione infermieristica

Introduzione: La salute degli individui e della popolazione dipende da una serie di variabili tra cui decisioni sociali, ambientali, economiche e culturali che mettono in connessione l’individuo con la società. Per poter decidere, le persone devono possedere un insieme di competenze che determinano la capacità e la motivazione di accedere ed utilizzare le conoscenze necessarie ad effettuare scelte consapevoli. Scopo: Scopo del presente lavoro è di sintetizzare e valorizzare l’importanza del concetto di Health Literacy (HL) e definire la sua importanza per la professione infermieristica, attraverso una revisione narrativa della letteratura con: analisi e focalizzazione delle diverse definizioni di HL presenti in letteratura ed elaborazione di un modello multidimensionale di HL; valutazione, attraverso revisione della letteratura, della correlazione esistente tra la professione infermieristica e l’ Health Literacy. Metodo: La revisione narrativa è stata condotta attraverso le banche dati PUBMED e CINAHL, utilizzando il termine “Health Literacy” e termini relativi associato al termine Nursing e termini relativi su studi pubblicati nel periodo 2010-2015 in lingua italiano ed inglese. Risultati: Le due direttrici di questo studio ci consentono di affermare che il concetto è variamente e largamente esaminato; allo stesso tempo l’attenzione da parte degli infermieri verso l’health literacy è ridotta, sia per non piena comprensione degli esiti sulla salute dei singoli sia per la carenza di valutazione. Dallo studio delle 28 definizioni è emerso come i concetti espressi dagli Autori siano ricorrenti e orientati su poche abilità e competenze individuali applicate al contesto sanitario (lettura, scrittura, comprensione, ascolto, etc.). Conclusioni: La presenza di tante descrizioni in letteratura, legate all’aspetto multidimensionale dell’HL rende complesso racchiudere così tanti concetti in un unicum. L’HL è legata a troppe variabili sociali, individuali ed ambientali in continua evoluzione sia arduo arrivare ad una definizione statica di HL da poter essere applicata ad ogni contesto. Allo stesso tempo diventa sempre più cogente che moduli formativi relativi all’Health Literacy vengano stabilmente integrati nella formazione sanitaria ed allo stesso tempo è necessario uno sforzo da parte dei professionisti e dei decisori per fornire risorse e strumenti alla popolazione per una migliore comprensione del sistema sanitarioIntroduction: Individuals and population’s health is influenced by environmental, social economical and cultural aspects which in turn connect individuals to society. In order to decide autonomously, independently and consciously individuals should have several competences. Aim: The aim of this study is to identify, analyse and emphasise health literacy concept relevance per se,its relationship with nursing through a narrative revision focused on: Health literacy definition recognition and analysis; Evaluation of connection between nursing and health literacy. Method: A narrative review was carried out through PUBMED and CINHAL, using ‘health literacy’ and nursing related terms, in English or Italian between 2010 and 2015. Result: Results show that ‘health literacy’ is fully appraised, while attention paid by nurses on the topic is poor due both to a lack of awareness of its relevance on individuals’ health and of appraisal. Twenty-height definition emerged from the revision; concepts expressed by scholars are mainly focused on very few individuals’ abilities and competences applied to the health context (reading, writing, calculation, comprehension , listening and so on). Conclusion: According to the results it is difficult to define ‘health literacy’ due to its multidimensional nature. Notwithstanding the above an attempt to develop a unique new definition of health literacy has been carried out although its multidimensional nature and its strong connection to several variables constantly under development. Nevertheless it is imperative that educational modules would be developed and stably integrated in health care education, at the same time a strong effort is due from professional and policy makers to provide population of the necessary tools in order to improve their health

The Nest Architecture of Three Species of North Florida Aphaenogaster Ants

The architecture of the subterranean nests of Aphaenogaster floridana Smith (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), A. treatae Forel and A. ashmeadi (Emery), was studied from plaster, wax, or metal casts. After structural features were quantified from digital images, the entombed ants were retrieved from the plaster by dissolution or wax casts by melting and counted. Nests of all three species were rather simple, small and vertical, with horizontal chambers connected by vertical shafts. Shafts descending to lower chambers tended to arise from chamber edges, whereas those connecting to a chamber above tended to arise from chamber centers. A. floridana had the largest nests and colonies, and multiple shafts commonly connected upper chambers, a feature lacking in the other two species. In A. floridana nests a higher proportion of chamber area and greater spacing between chambers occurred in the deeper parts of the nest, regardless of nest size. The other two species showed no vertical differentiation of any size-free measure at any nest size. In all three species, nest size increased more slowly than the worker population, so crowding was greater in large colonies than in small, in contrast to the situation in three other ant species for which data were available. An appendix with stereo images of all casts is provided

Activation in a Frontoparietal Cortical Network Underlies Individual Differences in the Performance of an Embedded Figures Task

The Embedded Figures Test (EFT) requires observers to search for a simple geometric shape hidden inside a more complex figure. Surprisingly, performance in the EFT is negatively correlated with susceptibility to illusions of spatial orientation, such as the Roelofs effect. Using fMRI, we previously demonstrated that regions in parietal cortex are involved in the contextual processing associated with the Roelofs task. In the present study, we found that similar parietal regions (superior parietal cortex and precuneus) were more active during the EFT than during a simple matching task. Importantly, these parietal activations overlapped with regions found to be involved during contextual processing in the Roelofs illusion. Additional parietal and frontal areas, in the right hemisphere, showed strong correlations between brain activity and behavioral performance during the search task. We propose that the posterior parietal regions are necessary for processing contextual information across many different, but related visuospatial tasks, with additional parietal and frontal regions serving to coordinate this processing in participants proficient in the task

The Seasonal Natural History of the Ant, Dolichoderus mariae, in Northern Florida

Dolichoderus mariae Forel, (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) is an uncommon, monomorphic but locally abundant, reddish-brown ant of peculiar nesting habits, whose range includes most of the eastern USA. In north Florida the ant excavates soil under wiregrass clumps or other plants with fibrous roots to form a single, large, shallow, conical or ovoid chamber broadly open to the surface around the plant base. Colonies are highly polygyne and, during the warm season, inhabit multiple nests connected only by above ground trails, over which nests exchange workers. Although monomorphic, worker size may differ significantly between colonies. The colony cycle is dominated by strong seasonal polydomy. From one or two over-wintering nests, the colonies expanded to occupy up to 60 nests by late summer, then retract once more to one or two nests by mid-winter. The worker-to-queen ratio changed greatly during this cycle, with over two thousand workers per queen during fall and winter, dropping to a low of about 300 during midsummer. Most of these summer queens probably die during the fall. Colonies reoccupy roughly the same area year to year even though they contract down to one or two nests in winter. Observation of fights in the contact zone between colonies suggested that the colonies are territorial. The ants subsist by tending aphids and scale insects for honeydew and scavenging for dead insects within their territories

Radio-induced low-grade glioma: report of two cases and review of the literature

With the increasing number of cancer survivors, we can observe a population that will present a higher risk of developing secondary long-term toxicities related to adjuvant chemo and radiotherapy regimens. Among these, children surviving from acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) that were treated with prophylactic cranial irradiation represent a group of patients at a high risk of developing secondary brain tumors. Radiation-induced intracranial tumors have been documented since 1950, and today, more than one-hundred cases have been described. We report our experience with two young patients who were hospitalized for low grade gliomas and had a positive anamnesis for ALL and consequent radiotherapy

Spin Caloritronics

This is a brief overview of the state of the art of spin caloritronics, the science and technology of controlling heat currents by the electron spin degree of freedom (and vice versa).Comment: To be published in "Spin Current", edited by S. Maekawa, E. Saitoh, S. Valenzuela and Y. Kimura, Oxford University Pres

Binary and Millisecond Pulsars at the New Millennium

We review the properties and applications of binary and millisecond pulsars. Our knowledge of these exciting objects has greatly increased in recent years, mainly due to successful surveys which have brought the known pulsar population to over 1300. There are now 56 binary and millisecond pulsars in the Galactic disk and a further 47 in globular clusters. This review is concerned primarily with the results and spin-offs from these surveys which are of particular interest to the relativity community.Comment: 59 pages, 26 figures, 5 tables. Accepted for publication in Living Reviews in Relativity (http://www.livingreviews.org

Impact Factor: outdated artefact or stepping-stone to journal certification?

A review of Garfield's journal impact factor and its specific implementation as the Thomson Reuters Impact Factor reveals several weaknesses in this commonly-used indicator of journal standing. Key limitations include the mismatch between citing and cited documents, the deceptive display of three decimals that belies the real precision, and the absence of confidence intervals. These are minor issues that are easily amended and should be corrected, but more substantive improvements are needed. There are indications that the scientific community seeks and needs better certification of journal procedures to improve the quality of published science. Comprehensive certification of editorial and review procedures could help ensure adequate procedures to detect duplicate and fraudulent submissions.Comment: 25 pages, 12 figures, 6 table