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Background: Serum (1,3)-β-D-glucan (BDG) detection for diagnosis of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) in non-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) immunocompromised patients lacks intensive care unit (ICU)-specific data. We aimed to assess its performance and determine the optimal cutoff for PJP in ICU population. Methods: This retrospective study included critically ill non-HIV immunocompromised patients admitted to a medical ICU with suspected pneumonia, undergoing simultaneous microbiological testing for P. jirovecii on lower respiratory tract specimens and serum BDG. Confounders affecting BDG positivity were explored by multivariable logistic regression. Optimal cut-offs were derived from Youden's index for the entire cohort and subgroups stratified by confounders. Diagnostic performance of serum BDG was estimated at different cutoffs. Results: Of 400 patients included, 42% were diagnosed with PJP and 58.3% had positive serum BDG. Serum BDG's area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.90 (0.87–0.93). At manufacturer's 150 pg/ml cut-off, serum BDG had high sensitivity and negative predictive value (94%), but low specificity and positive predictive value (67%). Confounders associated with a positive serum BDG in PJP diagnosis included IVIG infusion within 3 days (odds ratio [OR] 9.24; 95% confidence interval [CI] 4.09–20.88, p < 0.001), other invasive fungal infections (OR 4.46; 95% CI 2.10–9.49, p < 0.001) and gram-negative bacteremia (OR 29.02; 95% CI 9.03–93.23, p < 0.001). The application of optimal BDG cut-off values determined by Youden's index (252 pg/ml, 390 pg/ml, and 202 pg/ml) specific for all patients and subgroups with or without confounders improved the specificity (79%, 74%, and 88%) and corresponding PPV (75%, 65%, and 85%), while maintaining reasonable sensitivity and NPV. Conclusions: Tailoring serum BDG cutoff specific to PJP and incorporating consideration of confounders could enhance serum BDG's diagnostic performance in the ICU settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of modern society is closely related to polymer materials. As a typical example, plastic is an indispensable material in modern society. However, despite their low cost and widespread use, most discarded polymers are not recyclable, and their widespread use leads to the depletion of natural resources. In addition, the accumulation of polymer materials and their evolution in the environment can also cause serious environmental problems. Although the polymers can be reused by physical recovery, the properties of the polymers produced by this process are significantly reduced. Chemical recycling to original monomers for repolymerization offers a promising closed‐loop method to transition from a linear plastic economy toward a more sustainable circular model. This review focuses on recent developments and outlines future challenges of emerging chemically recyclable polyesters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of potassium‐ion batteries (KIBs) relies on the exploration of stable layer‐structured oxide cathode materials and a comprehensive understanding of ion storage and diffusion behaviors. A multiphase riveting‐structured O3/P2/P3‐Na0.9[Ni0.3Mn0.55Cu0.1Ti0.05]O2 (Tri‐NMCT) is employed as cathode material for KIBs. It demonstrates an initial discharge specific capacity of 108 mA g−1 at current density of 15 mA g−1 in the voltage range of 1.5–4 V. Excellent cyclic stability is exhibited as well with a high 83% capacity retention after 600 cycles at a higher current density of 300 mA g−1. Based on the in‐situ XRD, it reveals that the P2 phase offers a more stable triangular prism site compared to the O3 phase. This stability inhibits the undesired phase transition from P3 to O3 during discharge, thereby ensuring the long‐term cyclic performance. Furthermore, Density of state (DOS) calculations and migration barrier analyses indicate a preferential migration of K+ ions to the P2 phase due to the lower Fermi level. This observation elucidates the structural preservation of the P3 phase during K+ embedding. Overall, this work sheds light on Tri‐NMCT as a promising cathode material for advanced KIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the suspension gap between a maglev train and its track is narrow, it has a significant impact on the aerodynamic performance of the train. This study investigated the effect of the suspension gap on the wake flow of a superconducting maglev train traveling at a speed of 600 km/h by comparing the aerodynamics and flow field structure of a tail car (TC) with suspension gaps of 8, 10, 12, and 14 cm. The results showed that with increasing suspension gap, the vortex structures in the wake region move closer to the TC, the airflow from the suspension gap inhibits the high-pressure region of the wake, and the pressure and velocity fluctuations significantly increase near the nose tip of the TC. Moreover, the suspension gap was found to have a significant impact on lift and almost no effect on drag. Increasing the suspension gap leads to a balance in the lift between the head car (HC) and the TC; as the gap continues to increase, the lift ratio of the HC and TC rapidly decreases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economical efficient anode materials play an important role in low‐temperature sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs). Tunnel‐type structured Na2Ti6O13@C nanowires were synthesized and utilized as anode material for low‐temperature SIBs. The appropriate interlayer spacing for sodium ion insertion and short diffusion pathway can accelerate the sodium ion kinetics and decrease the apparent activation energy at low temperature. The diffusion apparent activation energy and activation energy for Na2Ti6O13@C were calculated to be 42.0 kJ mol−1 and 15.3 kJ mol−1 with the sodium ion diffusion coefficients about 10−12 cm2 s−1. The Na2Ti6O13@C nanowires exhibit a high reversible capacity of 100 mAh g−1 at 0 °C with 99.6 % retention after 200 cycles at 0.5 C. Coupling with the sodium vanadium phosphate as cathode, the assembled Na2Ti6O13@C||NVP full‐cell can keep a 65 % capacity retention after 175 cycles at 0 °C. This work presents that Na2Ti6O13@C nanowires can be an ideal type of anode active materials for low‐temperature SIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Novel ZrSn1−xCoxO4−δ catalysts for the direct decomposition of nitrous oxide (N2O) were synthesized using a co‐precipitation method. Metastable ZrSnO4 with an α‐PbO2‐type structure was used as the mother solid because of its interstitial open spaces derived from its lattice distortion that may be effective for N2O adsorption. The doping of Co2+/3+ into the ZrSnO4 lattice improved the N2O decomposition activity, likely owing to the enhancement of the redox properties and the increase in the number of oxygen vacancies. Among the prepared catalysts, Zr1.17Sn0.73Co0.10O4−δ exhibited the highest activity decomposing N2O completely decomposed at 550°C. In addition, the Zr1.17Sn0.73Co0.10O4−δ catalyst showed high durability in the presence of CO2, O2, and H2O vapor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]