Novel Sulfide-Chloride Solid-State Electrolytes with Tunable Anion Ratio for Highly Stable Solid-State Sodium-Ion Batteries.

Solid-state Na batteries (SSNBs) are among the most promising next-generation energy storage devices due to their high energy density, enhanced safety, and cost-efficiency. Achieving high-performance SSNBs depends on the development of solid-state electrolytes (SSEs) with excellent ionic conductivity, wide electrochemical windows, and robust mechanical properties. Sulfide and halide-based Na SSEs have been widely studied in recent years with their respective strengths and limitations.

Code-free cloud computing service to facilitate rapid biomedical digital signal processing and algorithm development.

Background And Objective: Cloud computing has the ability to offload processing tasks to a remote computing resources. Presently, the majority of biomedical digital signal processing involves a ground-up approach by writing code in a variety of languages. This may reduce the time a researcher or health professional has to process data, while increasing the barrier to entry to those with little or no software development experience.

Frailty in end-stage renal disease: comparing patient, caregiver, and clinician perspectives.

Background: Frailty is associated with poor outcomes for patients on dialysis and is traditionally measured using tools that assess physical impairment. Alternate measurement tools highlight cognitive and functional domains, requiring clinician, patient, and/or caregiver input. In this study, we compared frailty measures for incident dialysis patients that incorporate patient, clinician, and caregiver perspectives with an aim to contrast the measured prevalence of frailty using tools derived from different conceptual frameworks.

Cognitive restructuring and graded behavioural exposure for delusional appraisals of auditory hallucinations and comorbid anxiety in paranoid schizophrenia.

The prevalence of diagnostic comorbidity between psychosis and anxiety disorders has been found to be considerable. Cognitive models of psychosis suggest that anxiety does not arise directly from positive symptoms of schizophrenia but rather from an individual interpretation of such experiences. In the United Kingdom, cognitive-behavioural therapy for psychosis (CBTp) has been recommended within clinical guidelines as a psychological treatment of choice for those diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Aldehyde dehydrogenase 1A3 influences breast cancer progression via differential retinoic acid signaling.

Aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) 1A enzymes produce retinoic acid (RA), a transcription induction molecule. To investigate if ALDH1A1 or ALDH1A3-mediated RA signaling has an active role in breast cancer tumorigenesis, we performed gene expression and tumor xenograft studies. Analysis of breast patient tumors revealed that high levels of ALDH1A3 correlated with expression of RA-inducible genes with retinoic acid response elements (RAREs), poorer patient survival and triple-negative breast cancers.

Detection of cardiac arrest using a simplified frequency analysis of the impedance cardiogram recorded from defibrillator pads.

An algorithm based only on the impedance cardiogram (ICG) recorded through two defibrillation pads, using the strongest frequency component and amplitude, incorporated into a defibrillator could determine circulatory arrest and reduce delays in starting cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Frequency analysis of the ICG signal is carried out by integer filters on a sample by sample basis. They are simpler, lighter and more versatile when compared to the FFT.

The inverse problem utilizing the boundary element method for a nonstandard female torso.

This paper proposes a new method of rapidly deriving the transfer matrix for the boundary element method (BEM) forward problem from a tailored female torso geometry in the clinical setting. The method allows rapid calculation of epicardial potentials (EP) from body surface potentials (BSP). The use of EPs in previous studies has been shown to improve the successful detection of the life-threatening cardiac condition--acute myocardial infarction.

Assessment of the impedance cardiogram recorded by an automated external defibrillator during clinical cardiac arrest.

Objective: To assess the impedance cardiogram recorded by an automated external defibrillator during cardiac arrest to facilitate emergency care by lay persons. Lay persons are poor at emergency pulse checks (sensitivity 84%, specificity 36%); guidelines recommend they should not be performed. The impedance cardiogram (dZ/dt) is used to indicate stroke volume.

The impedance cardiogram recorded through two electrocardiogram/defibrillator pads as a determinant of cardiac arrest during experimental studies.

Objective: Laypersons are poor at emergency pulse checks (sensitivity 84%, specificity 36%). Guidelines indicate that pulse checks should not be performed. The impedance cardiogram (dZ/dt) is used to assess stroke volume.

Synthesis and characterization of biocompatible, thermoresponsive ABC and ABA triblock copolymer gelators.

The synthesis of doubly thermoresponsive PPO-PMPC-PNIPAM triblock copolymer gelators by atom transfer radical polymerization using a PPO-based macroinitiator is described. Provided that the PPO block is sufficiently long, dynamic light scattering and differential scanning calorimetry studies confirm the presence of two separate thermal transitions corresponding to micellization and gelation, as expected. However, these ABC-type triblock copolymers proved to be rather inefficient gelators: free-standing gels at 37 degrees C required a triblock copolymer concentration of around 20 wt%.

Efficacy of distinct energy delivery protocols comparing two biphasic defibrillators for cardiac arrest.

Limited data have been published on the use of external defibrillators that deliver impedance compensated biphasic (ICB) waveforms in patients. We compared 2 ICB defibrillators, the Heartstream XL (150-150-150 J protocol) and Heartsine Samaritan (100-150-200 J protocol) in 78 consecutive patients in cardiac arrest. The performance of the 2 devices over the first 2 shocks was statistically equivalent.

The use of calculated epicardial potentials improves significantly the sensitivity of a diagnostic algorithm in the detection of acute myocardial infarction.

Inverse electrocardiography can calculate epicardial potentials (EP) from body surface potentials (BSP) taking into account a thoracic volume conductor model (TVCM). Previous studies have shown that a tailored TVCM is superior to a general TVCM in calculating EP. However, construction of a tailored TVCM for a patient in an acute clinical setting is impractical.