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The commercial potential of composite polymer electrolytes (CPEs) is significant due to their ability to combine the advantages of both inorganic and polymer solid electrolytes. However, the unstable interface and insufficient ionic conductivity remain important challenges in practical applications of CPEs for achieving high-performance solid-state lithium batteries (SLBs). Herein, we construct a double-layer composite polymer electrolyte (D-CPE) by incorporating nanosized TiO 2 fillers with adjustable concentrations of oxygen vacancies into poly (ethylene oxide) (PEO)-based electrolyte composites. In the D-CPE structure, one CPE layer containing TiO 2 fillers with oxygen vacancies exclusively interfaces with the LiFePO 4 cathode, while the other CPE layer consisting of pristine TiO 2 fillers (with negatively charged surfaces) solely contacts the lithium anode. This design of D-CPE achieves high ionic conductivity, a broad electrochemical window, and interfacial stability without additional resistance at the electrolyte-electrolyte interface simultaneously. The LiFePO 4 /D-CPEs/Li battery exhibits excellent cycling stability at 0.1 C, maintaining a capacity of 157.2 mAh g−1 with a capacity retention rate of 99.1% after 100 cycles. Furthermore, even at 0 °C, it delivers an impressive discharge capacity of 133.1 mAh g−1 at 0.1 C. This work presents a simple and effective approach to achieving superior polymer-based electrolytes for high-performance solid-state lithium batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Loss to follow-up after traumatic injury occurs at rates of up to 47%. However, the most recent data are over a decade old, and recent changes in traumatic injury patterns necessitate an updated assessment of risk factors for loss to follow-up after trauma. We conducted a retrospective chart review of trauma admissions from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2021. Categorical variables were compared using χ2 analyses, and continuous variables were analyzed using Mann–Whitney Wilcoxon tests. Multivariable logistic regression was used to adjust for relevant factors identified on unadjusted analysis. Among 3,034 patients, overall loss to follow-up was 36.9%. Non-White patients, patients who underwent operations or non-surgical procedures, and patients discharged to rehabilitation facilities were more likely to have follow-up appointments within 30 days. Patients with substance use disorder and, among White patients, those with public insurance had higher loss to follow-up rates. Having a follow-up appointment scheduled with a primary care provider was the single most significant factor associated with attending a follow-up appointment. Social determinants of health, such as insurance status and substance use disorder, are associated with loss of follow-up after trauma. Primary care appointments are associated with the highest attendance rates, supporting that all patients should be offered primary care appointments after traumatic injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been integrated with silicon to construct CNT-Si heterojunction solar cells; doping CNTs is one of the promising techniques to improve the solar cell performance. Here, we propose a gas-doping method by exposing as-fabricated CNT-Si solar cells to ozone for a short time. We find that a 5-min ozone treatment does not destroy the CNT structure but produces a significant impact on the cell characteristics (output voltage and fill factor), increasing the cell efficiency from 5.29% to 12.70% without degradation in 24 h. Ozone treatment donates holes to CNTs; this p-doping effect increases the work function of CNTs and subsequently enhances the built-in potential and Schottky barrier at the heterojunction for more efficient charge separation. Moreover, the ozone-treated CNT-Si cell could combine other established techniques such as colloidal antireflection and acid doping, to achieve an instantaneous high efficiency of >17% under standard illumination conditions (air mass 1.5, 100 mW/cm2). Compared to many reported doping methods relying on liquid or hazardous chemicals, our dry gas-doping strategy is very simple, highly effective, environmentally benign, and compatible to low-cost large-area solar cell manufacturing. Image 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The preparation of wheat peptide by Alcalase hydrolysis of wheat flour was investigated in this paper. The effects of reaction parameters such as solid-liquid ratio, enzyme addition, and enzymolysis time were evaluated with the purity and yield of peptides as indexes by the single-factor experiment. The optimal enzymolysis conditions from the orthogonal test were as follows: the solid-liquid ratio of 1:7, enzyme addition (E/S) of 1.2%, reaction time of 2 h. The yield and purity of peptides were 83% and 72%, respectively. The configuration of enzymatic hydrolysate from different enzymolysis conditions was observed by the scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results showed that the particle size of the enzymatic hydrolysate was much smaller than that of the original material, and the particle size of the enzymatic hydrolysate changed with the degree of hydrolysis (DH). The molecular weight (MW) of peptides under different enzymolysis conditions was analyzed by gel filtration chromatography, and the results showed that the proportion of small peptides (<1 kDa) was up to 78.8%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The purpose of the present study was to explore the clinicopathological characteristics and operative therapeutic efficacy of thoracic esophageal cancer after gastrectomy and compare with those without gastrectomy.Methods: From January 2000 to June 2007, 28 esophageal cancer patients with a history of distal gastrectomy underwent subtotal esophagectomy. Vascularized pedicle colonic conduit was most commonly used for esophageal substitution. Six hundred seventeen patients without a history of gastrectomy treated in the same period form the control group. After the operation, pathological characteristic, tumor staging, and survival statistics were analyzed.Results: Of those patients with esophageal cancer associated with gastric remnant, the majority were male. There was an average of 16.5 years for diagnosing esophageal cancer from the initial partial gastrectomy, 75% (21/28) of them were patients with Billroth I anastomosis. The proportion of lower-third tumors in patients after gastrectomy (12 of 28 patients, 43%) was significantly higher compared with that of the patients with intact stomachs (124 of 617 patients, 20%; P = 0.004). After surgical treatment, the overall 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates of gastrectomized and nongastrectomized patients were 100%, 35.00%, and 23.33% versus 98.93%, 59.42%, and 30.85% in stages I-II and 80.00%, 30.00%, and 0% versus 98.59%, 62.03%, and 21.03% in stages III-IV. The log rank test of equality of survival distribution for the gastrectomized vs nongastrectomized patients was not significant in stages I-II (P = 0.5692) but was significant in stages III-IV (P = 0.0166).Conclusions: The patients with partial gastrectomy for more than 5 years, having upper gastrointestinal symptoms, should be considered having the risk of esophageal cancer associated with gastric remnant. For patients with a history of distal gastrectomy, a vascularized pedicle colonic conduit was most commonly used for esophageal substitution. Surgical efficacy was similar with the no-gastrectomy group in early stages I-II of esophageal cancer associated with gastric remnant but was lower compared with the no-gastrectomy group in stages III-IV. So, early diagnosis and an aggressive surgical approach may be crucial to achieve better outcomes for esophageal cancer patients with gastrectomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the feasibility of using a new tracheal prosthesis made of biomaterials to replace extensive circumferential tracheal defects.Description: Three types of tracheal prostheses were developed and studied. Type I prosthesis was used in 8 mongrel dogs (group A), type II in 4 dogs (group B), and type III in 4 dogs (group C).Evaluation: In group A, one died from prosthetic dehiscence, another from anastomotic leakage, and the others had uneventful postoperative courses. The implanted prosthesis was completely incorporated with the recipient trachea, where different lengths of reepithelialization occurred on the luminal surface of the reconstructed trachea. Macroscopic examination showed scattered and different sizes of neo-ossification surrounding the implanted prosthesis. The prosthesis was radioopaque when exposed to routine x rays. In contrast, a relatively high number of complications occurred postoperatively in groups B and C.Conclusions: Type I tracheal prosthesis, with further improvements, may be the optimal tracheal graft to replace circumferential tracheal defects, and appears very promising for clinical application. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

β-conglycinin is one of the main protein components in soybean that cause human allergy and it is difficult to eliminate the antigenicity of β-conglycinin using common enzymolysis, the reason of which is not clear. We analyzed the molecular composition, antigenic activity, and sequential epitopes of the hydrolysates of this protein after digestion with flavorzyme using SDS-PAGE, ELISA, MALDI-TOF-MS, and protein and antigen database retrieval. Results showed that α′-and α-subunits of β-conglycinin were nearly completely degraded 10 min after enzymolysis and that the protein retained 92.7% antigenic activity. Newly produced peptides, including those of 35, 23, 17, and 11 ku, were formed. These peptides and the 49 ku β-subunit were not degraded completely even after 150 min of enzymolysis, thus indicating evident resistance to enzymatic hydrolysis. Moreover, the antigenic activity of the protein maintained at 43.5%. Epitope analysis revealed that the newly formed 49, 35, 23, 17, and 11 ku peptides contain twenty seven antigen epitopes, including two from the α-subunit, ten from the α′-subunit, and fifteen from the β-subunit of β-conglycinin. These findings suggest the relationship between existence of anti-enzymolysis fragments and their epitopes and incomplete elimination of antigenicity of β-conglycinin. [Display omitted] • Molecular and antigenicity changes of β-conglycinin were investigated. • Amino acid sequences of newly produced peptides were determined. • Twenty-seven integral sequential epitopes were identified in newly produced peptides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regenerable all-round Li–O 2 cathode featuring ultralong cycle life (up to 1423 cycles, 2846 h) and large areal capacity (over 20 mAh cm−2) at high rates (no less than 0.5 mA cm−2) is developed by integrating a series of complementary and comprehensive cathode material design and system engineering strategies. [Display omitted] Lithium–oxygen batteries promise ultrahigh energy density, yet one of the key barriers toward applications is the rapid performance decay during cycling especially at high rates, owing to the sluggish redox kinetics and severe parasitic reactions under elevated overpotentials within the cathode. In face of the above challenge, here we present a carbon nanotube sponge-based high-performance lithium–oxygen cathode by a series of approaches such as tailoring discharge product morphology to lower the overpotential, controlled sponge-compression for high mass loading to facilitate high-rate cycling, gradient electrolyte-immersion to rationally utilize its interior for efficient multiphase transport, and water treating for regenerated use. These 4 methods target different aspects of the electrochemical behavior in a Li–O 2 cathode, thus constituting a complementary and integrated strategy to overcome the challenges in this field. As a result, we achieve simultaneously an ultralong cycle life (1423 cycles, 2846 h) at high rate (0.5 mA cm−2) under low overpotential (charging below 4.0 V throughout 1100 cycles), also with an areal capacity over 20 mAh cm−2 and extended 500 cycles after regeneration. Such an overall performance is much superior to recently developed 3D metal foam or carbon-based cathodes. Our designed sponge cathode represents a promising candidate for developing durable, high-energy and high-power metal–air battery systems, pushing forward their practical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a three-dimensional model of gas foil bearings with consideration of axial variation of the structural deflection. The top and bump foils are modeled with shell elements; hence, membrane, bending and shear effects are involved. The penalty method and node-to-segment contact scheme are used for contact modeling. To avoid numerical difficulties caused by discontinuity, the Coulomb law is modified by a regularization technique. Due to the nonlinear behavior of friction, the incremental iterative method is adopted for solution. The effect of misalignment on the static performance of the first and second generation foil bearings is studied. The results show that misalignment decreases the bearing load capacity and the second generation foil bearings exhibit better performance when misalignment occurs. • A three-dimensional model of gas foil bearings is proposed with consideration of axial variation of structural deflection. • A nonlinear frictional contact model and the incremental form of the system equation are given in detail. • The effect of misalignment on the performance of the first generation foil bearing is studied. • The second generation foil bearings whose stiffness varies in the axial direction are studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel FDSOI FinFETs with SiGe channel/Si cap layer (35 nm/5 nm) formed on SOI wafers with 20 nm Si body. Electrical characterization result shows that JL FDSOI FinFETs with SiGe channel exhibited low subthreshold slope (SS) of 86 mV/decade and record high ON-OFF current ratio (I ON /I OFF = 2 × 106) at V D = -0.5V, respectively. Device performance improvement was mainly attributed to high-epitaxial quality compressive strained SiGe channel and novel device structure. The strain in the channel of the transistors was estimated locally in TEM using Nano beam diffraction (NBD) technique. The FDSOI FinFET with SiGe channel, lays the foundation for the further development of high speed, high density, low cost, and 3D monolithic integration circuits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Journal bump foil bearing (JBFB) is the key component in high-speed turbomachinery. In this paper, load carrying performance of the 2nd and 3rd generation JBFBs with axial and circumferential stiffness variations are investigated applying a curve shell model. A nonlinear algorithm is employed to impose contact/separate and stick/slide constraints to foil structures. An effective inverse method is proposed to design the circumferential variations of bump radii, obtaining evidently wider area (over 110°) where higher film pressure distributes. Reduced stiffness of edge bump strips increases bearing load capacity and frictional energy dissipation particularly for the misaligned rotor. Results indicate the 3rd generation JBFB can achieve over 60% load capacity improvement compared to the 1st generation bearing with uniform bump structure. • The 2nd an 3rd generation journal bump foil bearings are modeled and studied. • Circumferential and axial stiffness variations of bump structures are included. • An effective inverse method is proposed to obtain evidently wider area where higher film pressure distributes in circumferential direction. • The 3rd generation bump foil bearing can achieve over 60% load capacity improvement compared to the 1st generation bearing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • PGS addition led to enhanced viscosity and gel network for glutinous rice flour. • PGS addition induced structural disorganization for glutinous dumplings. • PGS addition improves storage and textural properties of glutinous dumplings. • PGS addition increases the SDS and bound water content of glutinous dumplings. • Statistical correlation found between flour properties and qualities of dumplings. Abstract In this study, the impacts of pregelatinized starch (PGS) with different conditions (2–8%, w/w) on the characteristics, microstructures and quality parameters of glutinous rice flour and dumplings were determined. The results indicated PGS favored the formation of elastic gel-like network structure on starch granules. PGS addition, especially at high PGS content, significantly influenced the granular, crystalline and molecular structure of glutinous dumplings, probably due to the structural amorphization of PGS. Accordingly, the dumplings complexation with suitable PGS exhibited a better storage, an increased content of slowly digestible starch (SDS), and integrated quality attributes including transmittance, cracking rate, and textural properties via weakening the water mobility. Pearson's correlation matrix exhibited that the quality of glutinous dumplings could be well predicted by physicochemical properties of rice flour. Thus, it is feasible to improve the textural and nutritional attribute of glutinous rice dumplings via simply complexation with PGS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Extensive chest wall defect reconstruction remains a challenging problem for surgeons. In the past several years, little progress has been made in this area. In this study, a biodegradable polydioxanone (PDO) mesh and demineralized bone matrix (DBM) seeded with osteogenically induced bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) were used to reconstruct a 6cm×5.5cm chest wall defect. Four experimental groups were evaluated (n =6 per group): polydioxanone (PDO) mesh/DBMs/BMSCs group, polydioxanone (PDO) mesh/DBMs group, polydioxanone (PDO) mesh group, and a blank group (no materials) in a canine model. All the animals survived except those in the blank group. In all groups receiving biomaterial implants, the polydioxanone (PDO) mesh completely degraded at 24 weeks and was replaced by fibrous tissue with thickness close to that of the normal intercostal tissue (P >0.05). In the polydioxanone (PDO) mesh/DBMs/BMSCs group, new bone formation and bone-union were observed by radiographic and histological examination. More importantly, the reconstructed rib could maintain its original radian and achieve satisfactory biomechanics close to normal ribs in terms of bending stress (P >0.05). However, in the other two groups, fibrous tissue was observed in the defect and junctions, and the reconstructed ribs were easily distorted under an outer force. Based on these results, a surgical approach utilizing biodegradable polydioxanone (PDO) mesh in combination with DBMs and BMSCs could repair the chest wall defect not only in function but also in structure. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]