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The sodium–nickel chloride (Na/NiCl2 ) battery has many advantages over the Na–S battery, such as a higher operating voltage, ease of assembly in the discharge state, less corrosive cathode materials, a safer cell failure mode, and better tolerance against overcharging. In this study, to solve the problem of low electrical conductivity, a planar-type Na/NiCl2 cell was designed by optimizing the cathode through the use of both Ni mesh and excess Ni powder. A β″-Al2O3 membrane, which plays a role in the conducting path for Na+ ions, was glass-sealed and attached to a thicker external α″-Al2O3 ring. For carbon coating, the anode side of the membrane was covered with carbon paste. The prototype cell was operated successfully and showed excellent electrochemical characteristics in terms of high Na utilization and stable charge/discharge cycleability.

Sodium–nickel chloride batteries have been used as energy storage devices because of their high operating voltage, ease of assembly in a discharged state, the less corrosive nature of the cathode materials, safer cell failure mode, and better tolerance against overcharging. In this study, we fabricated a planar-type cell equipped with an elastic spring rod in the anode to maintain effective sodium utilization. In addition, we investigated the influence of carbon coating on the β″-Al2O3 membrane. The carbon coating layer on the β″-Al2O3 membrane showed improved wettability for sodium metal. The carbon-coated alumina membrane delivered a higher initial charge/discharge capacity than the pristine membrane cells.

Background Diabetes and Alzheimer disease and related dementias (ADRD) are the seventh and sixth leading causes of death in the United States, respectively, and they coexist in many older adults. Caring for a loved one with both ADRD and diabetes is challenging and burdensome. Objective This study aims to explore diabetes-related topics in the Alzheimer’s Association ALZConnected caregiver forum by family caregivers of persons living with ADRD. Methods User posts on the Alzheimer’s Association ALZConnected caregiver forum were extracted. A total of 528 posts related to diabetes were included in the analysis. Of the users who generated the 528 posts, approximately 96.1% (275/286) were relatives of the care recipient with ADRD (eg, child, grandchild, spouse, sibling, or unspecified relative). Two researchers analyzed the data independently using thematic analysis. Any divergence was discussed among the research team, and an agreement was reached with a senior researcher’s input as deemed necessary. Results Thematic analysis revealed 7 key themes. The results showed that comorbidities of ADRD were common topics of discussions among family caregivers. Diabetes management in ADRD challenged family caregivers. Family caregivers might neglect their own health care because of the caring burden, and they reported poor health outcomes and reduced quality of life. The online forum provided a platform for family caregivers to seek support in their attempts to learn more about how to manage the ADRD of their care recipients and seek support for managing their own lives as caregivers. Conclusions The ALZConnected forum provided a platform for caregivers to seek informational and emotional support for caring for persons living with ADRD and diabetes. The overwhelming burdens with these two health conditions were apparent for both caregivers and care recipients based on discussions from the online forum. Studies are urgently needed to provide practical guidelines and interventions for diabetes management in individuals with diabetes and ADRD. Future studies to explore delivering diabetes management interventions through online communities in caregivers and their care recipients with ADRD and diabetes are warranted.

Motor imagery (Ml)-based brain-computer interface (BCI) allows users to control external devices using the brain signal patterns induced by the imagination of movements. Since these patterns have high variability between subjects and sessions, the BCI system necessarily requires 20–30 minutes for the calibration process each time the system is used. This time-consuming process requires a high level of the user's concentration; most users experience uncomfortable feelings such as tiredness, exhaustion, and loss of attention, which are symptoms of mental fatigue. In this paper, we introduce a self-paced training that terminates the calibration process within a few minutes. In this training paradigm, users perform MI tasks continuously without an inter-stimulus-interval (ISI). Also, we propose a data selection method to extract the most prominent features from the short calibration data by assuming the data distribution probabilistically and using the prior knowledge of event-related desynchronization (ERD) patterns. The results from 19 subjects indicate that the proposed method gained a comparable classification performance to the conventional method but with a much shorter calibration period (12 min/73.8%, 30 min/76.1%, respectively). In this regard, the proposed method could be of great benefit for real-world BCI applications by providing a quicker calibration process.

본 연구의 목적은 우울감소와 사회적 기술 향상에 효과적으로 알려진 인지 행동치료 프로그램을 활용하여, 저소득층 아동ㆍ청소년의 우울감과 자동적 사고를 감소시키고 또래관계의 질을 향상시켜, 심리사회적 적응을 증진시키는데 있다. 이를 위해 참여 집단 28명, 대기자 집단 30명으로 구성된 저소득층 가정의 고학년 초등학생 집단을 대상으로 주 1회, 80분씩 총 10회기의 인지행동치료 프로그램을 실시하였다. 프로그램 효과를 알아보기 위해 프로그램 사전, 사후에 아동용 역학연구센터 우울증척도, 아동기 자동적사고 척도, 또래관계의질 척도를 실시하였으며, 공변량 분석을 통해 효과를 검증하였다. 분석 결과, 첫째, 인지행동치료 프로그램은 저소득층 아동의 우울을 감소시켰으며, 긍정정서의 증가, 대인관계 문제 및 신체적 증상과 행동저하의 감소에 효과적이었다. 둘째, 인지행동치료 프로그램은 저소득층 아동의 부정적 자동적 사고를 감소시켰다. 셋째, 인지행동치료 프로그램은 저소득층 아동의 또래관계의 질 향상에는 유의한 효과가 없었다. 이러한 결과에 대한 논의와 더불어 본 연구의 임상적 의의와 후속 연구의 방향, 제한점에 대해 제시하였다.