A synchronous-twisting method to realize radial scalability in fibrous energy storage devices

For wearable electronics, radial scalability is one of the key research areas for fibrous energy storage devices to be commercialized, but this field has been shelved for years due to the lack of effective methods and configuration arrangements. Here, the team presents a generalizable strategy to realize radial scalability by applying a synchronous-twisting method (STM) for synthesizing a coaxial-extensible configuration (CEC). As examples, aqueous fiber-shaped Zn-MnO2 batteries and MoS2-MnO2 supercapacitors with a diameter of ~500 μm and a length of 100 cm were made. Because of the radial scalability, uniform current distribution, and stable binding force in CEC, the devices not only have high energy densities (~316 Wh liter−1 for Zn-MnO2 batteries and ~107 Wh liter−1 for MoS2-MnO2 supercapacitors) but also maintain a stable operational state in textiles when external bending and tensile forces were applied. The fabricating method together with the radial scalability of the devices provides a reference for future fiber-shaped energy storage devices.Fil: Zhou, Zhenyu. Ku Leuven. Department Of Materials Engineering; BélgicaFil: Xie, Sijie. Ku Leuven. Department Of Materials Engineering; BélgicaFil: Cai, Heng. Ku Leuven. Department Of Materials Engineering; BélgicaFil: Colli, Alejandro Nicolás. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ingeniería Química. Programa de Electroquímica Aplicada e Ingeniería Electroquímica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Monnens, Wouter. Ku Leuven. Department Of Materials Engineering; BélgicaFil: Zhang, Qichong. Ku Leuven. Department Of Materials Engineering; BélgicaFil: Guo, Wei. Ku Leuven. Department Of Materials Engineering; BélgicaFil: Zhang, Wei. Ku Leuven. Department Of Materials Engineering; BélgicaFil: Han, Ning. Ku Leuven. Department Of Materials Engineering; BélgicaFil: Pan, Hongwei. Ku Leuven. Department Of Materials Engineering; BélgicaFil: Zhang, Xueliang. Ku Leuven. Department Of Materials Engineering; BélgicaFil: Pan, Hui. Ku Leuven. Department Of Materials Engineering; BélgicaFil: Xue, Zhenhong. Ku Leuven. Department Of Materials Engineering; BélgicaFil: Zhang, Xuan. Ku Leuven. Department Of Materials Engineering; BélgicaFil: Yao, Yagang. Ku Leuven. Department Of Materials Engineering; BélgicaFil: Zhang, Jin. Ku Leuven. Department Of Materials Engineering; BélgicaFil: Fransaer, Jan. Ku Leuven. Department Of Materials Engineering; Bélgic

Iron Overload Is Rare in Patients Homozygous for the H63D Mutation

BACKGROUND: Previous research has suggested that the H63D HFE mutation is associated with elevated iron indexes. However, the true penetrance of this mutation remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: To assess the proportion of H63D homozygotes with laboratory abnormalities consistent with iron overload. METHODS: The present study was a retrospective analysis of all individuals referred for HFE genotyping in Newfoundland and Labrador between 1999 and 2009, who were found to be homozygous for the H63D mutation. Using electronic health records, results of ferritin, transferrin saturation, aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase testing performed closest to the time of genetic testing were recorded for each patient. Iron overload was classified using previously published definitions from the HealthIron study. SPSS version 17.0 (IBM Corporation, USA) was used for descriptive statistics and to compare means using one-way ANOVA. RESULTS: Between 1999 and 2009, 170 individuals tested positive for H63D/H63D. At the time of genotyping, 28.8% had an elevated mean (± SD) ferritin level of 501±829 μg/L and 15.9% had an elevated transferrin saturation of 0.45±0.18. At genotyping, 94 individuals had sufficient data available to classify iron overload status. Only three (3.2%) had documented iron overload while the majority (85.1%) had no evidence of iron overload. Sixty individuals had follow-up data available and, of these, only four (6.7%) had documented iron overload, while 45 (75.0%) had no evidence of iron overload. Only one individual had evidence of iron overload-related disease at genotyping and at follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: H63D homozygosity was associated with an elevated mean ferritin level, but only 6.7% had documented iron overload at follow-up. The penetrance of the H63D mutation appeared to be low

Abnormality of Serum Lipids are Independently Associated with Increased Serum Calcium Level in the Adult Newfoundland Population

Some epidemiological evidence shows a link between abnormality of lipid profiles and variations in serum calcium. However, it is unknown whether this association resulted from confounding factors. The present study was designed to investigate the relationship between serum lipids and calcium. Serum calcium was corrected for albumin. Major confounding factors including age, gender, medications, menopause, parathyroid hormone (PTH) and 25-OH-vitamin D status were controlled in analyses. A total of 1907 adult subjects from the province of Newfoundland and Labrador (NL), Canada participated in the study. Significant positive correlations were detected between serum total cholesterol and high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-c) with variations of serum Ca ++ in both genders (p < 0.05-0.0001). Significant positive correlations were additionally detected between triglycerides (TG) and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-c) with Ca ++ in women only (p < 0.0001) in partial correlation analyses. Similar significant results were detected in both females and males not taking any medication. Analyses were performed based on menopausal status as well. Significant correlations were seen in both pre- and post-menopausal women but higher correlation coefficients were observed in pre-menopausal women as compared to post-menopausal women. Subjects with low calcium levels had the lowest concentration of total cholesterol, TG, HDL-c and LDL-c, while subjects with high calcium levels had the highest concentration of all four markers in women. The significant associations between cholesterol, TG and LDL-c and serum Ca ++ remained after calcium was adjusted for 25-OH-vitamin D and PTH. Our results indicate that the abnormality of serum lipid profiles are significantly correlated with altered serum Ca ++ levels independent of age, obesity status, medication, phosphorus, magnesium, 25-OH-vitamin D and PTH

A case of Hirschsprung disease with a chromosome 13 microdeletion, del(13)(q32.3q33.2): potential mapping of one disease locus

A mentally retarded boy with discrete physical findings, Hirschsprung disease (HD) and a microdeletion of 13q,del(13)(q32.3q33.2) is described. Band 13q33.1 was consistently missing in all cells. There have been, to date, 4 published cases of deletions involving the long arm of chromosome 13 associated with HD: the interstitial deletion reported here is much smaller than, and it partially overlaps with, the previously reported deletions; it could be helpful for mapping one of the genes involved in this disease

A Comprehensive Characterization of a 10 at.% Yb:YSAG Laser Ceramic Sample

We report a comprehensive characterization of a 10 at.% Yb3+-doped YSAG (Yb:Y3ScxAl(5&minus;x)O12, x = 1.5) ceramic, including microstructural, spectroscopic and laser properties. Moreover, we illustrate and discuss the fabrication technique. Yb3+ in YSAG features a broader absorption and emission band than in traditional YAG, which is advantageous for laser applications (i.e., tunable laser sources, ultrafast pulse generation). Pumping in a quasi continuous wave regime at 936 nm, the ceramic has shown good laser performance as the maximum output power was 6.3 W with a corresponding slope efficiency (&eta;s) of 67.8%. In continuous wave regime instead, the maximum output power was 5 W with &eta;s = 52.7%. The laser emission wavelengths in free running were &lambda;L = 1051 nm and &lambda;L = 1031 nm, depending on the output coupler transmission. Finally, by a tunable cavity we obtained laser emission spanning from 991.5 to 1073 nm, i.e., 81.5 nm, which is the broadest tuning range ever reported for this material, to the best of our knowledge

Clinical, Molecular, and Cytogenetic Survey of Potential Prader-Willi Syndrome Patients

The association of an interstitial deletion of chromosome 15q11–13 with the Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) has been known since 1981 (Ledbetter et al, 1981 and 1982). However, about 37% of patients are cytogenetically normal (Ledbetter et al, 1987). The discovery of maternal heterodisomy for 15q11–13 in two patients with PWS (Nicholls et al, 1989) raised the question of whether such a phenomenon could explain many or even all non-deletion patients. To answer such a question requires a very good clinical diagnosis and reliable molecular data, and was the major impetus for the work presented here

Enhanced thermal conductivity of polyurethane composites via engineering small/large sizes interconnected boron nitride nanosheets

Enhanced thermal conductivity of polyurethane composites via engineering small/large sizes interconnected boron nitride nanosheet

Low-Band-Gap Conjugated Polymers of Dithieno[2,3‑<i>b</i>:7,6‑<i>b</i>]carbazole and Diketopyrrolopyrrole: Effect of the Alkyl Side Chain on Photovoltaic Properties

Four donor–acceptor (D–A) conjugated polymers of dithieno­[2,3-<i>b</i>;7,6-<i>b</i>]­carbazole (DTC) and diketopyrrolopyrrole, which have different alkyls on the nitrogen atom in the DTC unit and are named as <b>P-C8C8</b>, <b>P-C5C5</b>, <b>P-C12</b>, and <b>P-C10</b>, respectively, have been synthesized for studying the effect of the alkyl side chains on the optoelectronic properties of the polymers. All polymers are soluble in various organic solvents and exhibit identical optical band gaps (<i>E</i>_g^opt) of ∼1.3 eV and highest occupied molecular orbital energy levels of ∼−5.1 eV. Organic thin-film transistors and bulk heterojunction polymer solar cells (BHJ PSCs) with phenyl-C₇₁-butyric acid methyl ester (PC₇₁BM) as the electron-accepting material were fabricated via solution spin-casting. Compared to the polymers substituted by branched alkyl chains, the polymers with straight alkyl chains show higher hole mobility. Of these polymers, <b>P-C10</b> exhibits the highest field effect mobility up to 0.011 cm²/V·s. The alkyl chain on the DTC unit has a strong impact on the film morphology of polymer:PC₇₁BM blends. Severe phase separation was found for polymers containing branched alkyl chains, and those with straight alkyl chains formed uniform films featuring fine phase separation. An open-circuit voltage (<i>V</i>_oc) of 0.72 V, a short-circuit current density (<i>J</i>_sc) of 13.4 mA/cm², a fill factor (FF) of 62%, and a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 5.9% were demonstrated for BHJ PSCs based on the <b>P-C10</b>:PC₇₁BM [1:3 (w/w)] blend film