Strategies for Enhancing the Stability of Lithium Metal Anodes in Solid-State Electrolytes.

The current commercially used anode material, graphite, has a theoretical capacity of only 372 mAh/g, leading to a relatively low energy density. Lithium (Li) metal is a promising candidate as an anode for enhancing energy density; however, challenges related to safety and performance arise due to Li's dendritic growth, which needs to be addressed. Owing to these critical issues in Li metal batteries, all-solid-state lithium-ion batteries (ASSLIBs) have attracted considerable interest due to their superior energy density and enhanced safety features. Among the key components of ASSLIBs, solid-state electrolytes (SSEs) play a vital role in determining their overall performance. Various types of SSEs, including sulfides, oxides, and polymers, have been extensively investigated for Li metal anodes. Sulfide SSEs have demonstrated high ion conductivity; however, dendrite formation and a limited electrochemical window hinder the commercialization of ASSLIBs due to safety concerns. Conversely, oxide SSEs exhibit a wide electrochemical window, but compatibility issues with Li metal lead to interfacial resistance problems. Polymer SSEs have the advantage of flexibility; however their limited ion conductivity poses challenges for commercialization. This review aims to provide an overview of the distinctive characteristics and inherent challenges associated with each SSE type for Li metal anodes while also proposing potential pathways for future enhancements based on prior research findings.

Long-Range Uniform Deposition of Ag Nanoseed on Cu Current Collector for High-Performance Lithium Metal Batteries.

Uniform lithium deposition is essential to hinder dendritic growth. Achieving this demands even seed material distribution across the electrode, posing challenges in correlating the electrode's surface structure with the uniformity of seed material distribution. In this study, the effect of periodic surface and facet orientation on seed distribution is investigated using a model system consisting of a wrinkled copper (Cu)/graphene structure with a [100] facet orientation. A new methodology is developed for uniformly distributed silver (Ag) nanoparticles over a large area by controlling the surface features of Cu substrates. The regularly arranged Ag nanoparticles, with a diameter of 26.4 nm, are fabricated by controlling the Cu surface condition as [100]-oriented wrinkled Cu. The wrinkled Cu guides a deposition site for spherical Ag nanoparticles, the [100] facet determines the Ag morphology, and the presence of graphene leads to spacings of Ag seeds. This patterned surface and high lithiophilicity, with homogeneously distributed Ag nanoparticles, lead to uniform Li+ flux and reduced nucleation energy barrier, resulting in excellent battery performance. The electrochemical measurements exhibit improved cyclic stability over 260 cycles at 0.5 mA cm-2 and 100 cycles at 1.0 mA cm-2 and enhanced kinetics even under a high current density of 5.0 mA cm-2.

Single-incision robotic colorectal surgery with the da Vinci SP® surgical system: initial results of 50 cases.

PURPOSE: The da Vinci SP® (dVSP) surgical system (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, CA, USA), a robotic platform designed for single-incision surgery, overcame the need for multiple ports in traditional robotic surgery and issues including triangulation and retraction in single-incision laparoscopic surgery. However, previous studies only included case reports or series with small sample sizes. The aim of this study was to assess the safety and performance of the dVSP surgical system and its instruments and accessories for colorectal procedures. METHODS: The medical records of patients who had surgery with the dVSP from March 2019 to September 2021 at Ewha Womans University Seoul Hospital were investigated. The pathologic and follow-up data of patients who had malignant tumors were analyzed separately to evaluate oncological safety. RESULTS: Fifty patients (26 male and 24 female) with a median age of 59 years (interquartile range 52.5-63.0 years) were enrolled. The procedures included low anterior resection with total mesorectal excision (n = 16), sigmoid colectomy with complete mesocolic excision and central vessel ligation (CME + CVL) (n = 14), right colectomy with CME + CVL (n = 9), left colectomy with CME + CVL (n = 4), right colectomy (n = 6), and sigmoid colectomy (n = 1). Operative time significantly decreased after 25 cases (early phase vs. late phase; operative time 295.0 min vs. 250.0 min, p = 0.015; docking time 16.0 min vs. 12.0 min, p = 0.001; console time 212.0 min vs. 190.0 min, p = 0.019). Planned procedures were successfully completed in all patients. Postoperative outcomes were acceptable with only six cases of mild adverse events through a 3-month follow-up. No local recurrence and only one case of systemic recurrence occurred within 1 year postoperatively. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated the surgical and oncological safety and feasibility of dVSP, which may be a novel surgical platform for colorectal surgery.

Concentration Gradient Induced Delithiation Failure of MoO3 for Li-Ion Batteries.

Electric vehicle manufacturers worldwide are demanding superior lithium-ion batteries, with high energy and power densities, compared to gasoline engines. Although conversion-type metal oxides are promising candidates for high-capacity anodes, low initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE) and poor capacity retention have hindered research on their applications. In this study, the ICE of conversion-type MoO3 is investigated, with a particular focus on the delithiation failure. A computational modeling predicts the concentration gradient of Li+ in MoO3 particles. The highly delithiated outer region of the particle forms a layer with low electronic conductivity, which impedes further delithiation. A comparative study using various sizes of MoO3 particles demonstrated that the electrode failure during delithiation is governed by the concentration gradient and the subsequent formation of a resistive shell. The proposed failure mechanism provides critical guidance for the development of conversion-type anode materials with improved electrochemical reversibility.

Single-shot measurement of longitudinal phase space beam profile in an electron storage ring.

A novel scheme to measure the longitudinal emittance and phase space profile in an electron storage ring by using correlations between time and the vertical coordinate, and between energy and the horizontal coordinate, is proposed. This longitudinal profile measurement scheme will help to demonstrate recent results of advanced studies for manipulating the longitudinal beam profile and for investigating beam instability in an electron storage ring.

Effect of Highly Periodic Au Nanopatterns on Dendrite Suppression in Lithium Metal Batteries.

Despite the extremely high energy density of the lithium metal, dendritic lithium growth caused by nonuniform lithium deposition can result in low Coulombic efficiency and safety hazards, thereby inhibiting its practical applications. Here, we report a new strategy for adopting a nanopatterned gold (Au) seed on a copper current collector for uniform lithium deposition. We find that Au nanopatterns enhance lithium metal battery performance, which is strongly affected by the feature dimensions of Au nanopatterns (diameter and height). Ex situ scanning electron microscopy images confirm that this can be attributed to the perfectly selective lithium nucleation and uniform growth resulting from the spatial confinement effect. The spatial arrangement of Au dot seeds homogenizes the Li+ flux and electric field, and the size-controlled Au seeds prevent both seed-/substrate-induced agglomeration and interseed-induced lithium growth, leading to uniform lithium deposition. This dendrite-free lithium deposition results in the improvement of electrochemical performance, and the system showed cyclic stability over 300 cycles at 0.5 mA cm-2 and 200 cycles at 1.0 mA cm-2 (1 mA h cm-2) and a high rate capability. This study provides in-depth insights into the more complicated and diverse seed geometry control of seed materials for the development of high-performance lithium metal batteries.

Nanoscale Wrinkled Cu as a Current Collector for High-Loading Graphite Anode in Solid-State Lithium Batteries.

Solid-state lithium batteries have been intensively studied as part of research activities to develop energy storage systems with high safety and stability characteristics. Despite the advantages of solid-state lithium batteries, their application is currently limited by poor reversible capacity arising from their high resistance. In this study, we significantly improve the reversible capacity of solid-state lithium batteries by lowering the resistance through the introduction of a graphene and wrinkle structure on the surface of the copper (Cu) current collector. This is achieved through a process of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) facilitating graphene-growth synthesis. The modified graphene/wrinkled Cu current collector exhibits a periodic wrinkled pattern 420 nm in width and 22 nm in depth, and we apply it to a graphite composite electrode to obtain an improved areal loading average value of ∼2.5 mg cm-2. The surface-modified Cu current collector is associated with a significant increase in discharge capacity of 347 mAh g-1 at 0.2 C when used with a solid polymer electrolyte. Peel test results show that the observed enhancement is due to the improved strength of adhesion occurring between the graphite composite anode and the Cu current collector, which is attributed to mechanical interlocking. The surface-modified Cu current collector structure effectively reduces resistance by improving adhesion, which subsequently improves the performance of the solid-state lithium batteries. Our study can provide perspective and emphasize the importance of electrode design in achieving enhancements in battery performance.

Investigation of the damping wiggler effect and application on the PAL fourth-generation storage ring.

An investigation of the damping wiggler effect to reduce the emittance in the Pohang Accelerator Laboratory (PAL), a fourth-generation storage ring (4GSR) that uses a multi-bend achromat, is presented. A 4GSR lattice which has reduced emittance and increased dynamic aperture to amplify the synergy with two existing light sources (PLS-II and PAL-XFEL) at PAL is described.

Understanding Reaction Pathways in High Dielectric Electrolytes Using ß-Mo2C as a Catalyst for Li-CO2 Batteries.

The rechargeable Li-CO2 battery has attracted considerable attention in recent years because of its carbon dioxide (CO2) utilization and because it represents a practical Li-air battery. As with other battery systems such as the Li-ion, Li-O2, and Li-S battery systems, understanding the reaction pathway is the first step to achieving high battery performance because the performance is strongly affected by reaction intermediates. Despite intensive efforts in this area, the effect of material parameters (e.g., the electrolyte, the cathode, and the catalyst) on the reaction pathway in Li-CO2 batteries is not yet fully understood. Here, we show for the first time that the discharge reaction pathway of a Li-CO2 battery composed of graphene nanoplatelets/beta phase of molybdenum carbide (GNPs/ß-Mo2C) is strongly influenced by the dielectric constant of its electrolyte. Calculations using the continuum solvents model show that the energy of adsorption of oxalate (C2O42-) onto Mo2C under the low-dielectric electrolyte tetraethylene glycol dimethyl ether is lower than that under the high-dielectric electrolyte N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMA), indicating that the electrolyte plays a critical role in determining the reaction pathway. The experimental results show that under the high-dielectric DMA electrolyte, the formation of lithium carbonate (Li2CO3) as a discharge product is favorable because of the instability of the oxalate species, confirming that the dielectric properties of the electrolyte play an important role in the formation of the discharge product. The resulting Li-CO2 battery exhibits improved battery performance, including a reduced overpotential and a remarkable discharge capacity as high as 14,000 mA h g-1 because of its lower internal resistance. We believe that this work provides insights for the design of Li-CO2 batteries with enhanced performance for practical Li-air battery applications.

Augmented decision-making for acral lentiginous melanoma detection using deep convolutional neural networks.

BACKGROUND: Several studies have achieved high-level performance of melanoma detection using convolutional neural networks (CNNs). However, few have described the extent to which the implementation of CNNs improves the diagnostic performance of the physicians. OBJECTIVE: This study is aimed at developing a CNN for detecting acral lentiginous melanoma (ALM) and investigating whether its implementation can improve the initial decision for ALM detection made by the physicians. METHODS: A CNN was trained using 1072 dermoscopic images of acral benign nevi, ALM and intermediate tumours. To investigate whether the implementation of CNN can improve the initial decision for ALM detection, 60 physicians completed a three-stage survey. In Stage I, they were asked for their decisions solely on the basis of dermoscopic images provided to them. In Stage II, they were also provided with clinical information. In Stage III, they were provided with the additional diagnosis and probability predicted by the CNN. RESULTS: The accuracy of ALM detection in the participants was 74.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], 72.6-76.8%) in Stage I and 79.0% (95% CI, 76.7-81.2%) in Stage II. In Stage III, it was 86.9% (95% CI, 85.3-88.4%), which exceeds the accuracy delivered in Stage I by 12.2%p (95% CI, 10.1-14.3%p) and Stage II by 7.9%p (95% CI, 6.0-9.9%p). Moreover, the concordance between the participants considerably increased (Fleiss-κ of 0.436 [95% CI, 0.437-0.573] in Stage I, 0.506 [95% CI, 0.621-0.749] in Stage II and 0.684 [95% CI, 0.621-0.749] in Stage III). CONCLUSIONS: Augmented decision-making improved the performance of and concordance between the clinical decisions of a diverse group of experts. This study demonstrates the potential use of CNNs as an adjoining, decision-supporting system for physicians' decisions.

Demonstration of a ring-FEL as an EUV lithography tool.

This paper presents the required structure and function of a ring-FEL as a radiation source for extreme ultraviolet radiation lithography (EUVL). A 100 m-long straight section that conducts an extremely low emittance beam from a fourth-generation storage ring can increase the average power at 13.5 nm wavelength to up to 1 kW without degrading the beam in the rest of the ring. Here, simulation results for a ring-FEL as a EUVL source are described.

Mohs micrographic surgery for dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans: comparison of frozen and paraffin techniques.

BACKGROUND: Due to the propensity for local recurrence, Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) has been suggested for the treatment of dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) and it has shown improved clinical outcomes. Recently, some authors suggested that MMS using paraffin-embedded sections (paraffin MMS) is superior in DFSP treatment compared with the conventional frozen MMS method. However, there have been no studies comparing frozen and paraffin MMS for the treatment of DFSP. OBJECTIVES: To compare the outcomes between DFSP patients who underwent frozen MMS and paraffin MMS. METHODS: Seventy-one DFSP patients treated with frozen MMS (n = 30) or paraffin MMS (n = 41) from 2003 to 2017 at a single institution were retrospectively reviewed. Recurrence rate and recurrence-free survival between frozen and paraffin MMS were assessed. RESULTS: During the mean follow-up duration of 25.4 months, four patients (frozen MMS, n = 1; and paraffin MMS, n = 3) showed recurrence after MMS. Although the local recurrence rate of the frozen MMS group (3.3%) was lower than that of the paraffin MMS group (7.3%), the difference was not statistically significant. In addition, recurrence-free survival was not significantly different between the two groups (P = 0.168). CONCLUSIONS: Frozen MMS, which has the advantages of shorter surgery time and immediate closure, is as effective as paraffin MMS in the treatment of DFSP.

Assessment of hair surface roughness using quantitative image analysis.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Focus on the hair and hair cuticle is increasing. The hair cuticle is the first layer to be exposed to damage and the area of primary protection. For such reasons, hair product manufacturers consider cuticle protection important. However, previous studies used only visual assessment to examine the cuticle. This study aimed to obtain the changes in cuticles and measure hair roughness using a HIROX microscope. METHODS: A total of 23 female subjects used the same products daily for 4 weeks. Three hair samples per subject were collected from three different areas of the head. Measurements were taken before and after 4 weeks of daily product use. RESULTS: The hair surface changes were clearly observed on the captured images. Moreover, hair surface roughness was observed using various parameters on HIROX software. After 4 weeks of daily product use, the roughness parameter value of the hair surface was significantly decreased. CONCLUSION: Our result suggests that the hair roughness analytical method using HIROX can be a new paradigm for high-quality quantitative analysis of the hair cuticle.

Error rate of automated calculation for wound surface area using a digital photography.

BACKGROUND: Although measuring would size using digital photography is a quick and simple method to evaluate the skin wound, the possible compatibility of it has not been fully validated. PURPOSE: To investigate the error rate of our newly developed wound surface area calculation using digital photography. METHODS: Using a smartphone and a digital single lens reflex (DSLR) camera, four photographs of various sized wounds (diameter: 0.5-3.5 cm) were taken from the facial skin model in company with color patches. The quantitative values of wound areas were automatically calculated. The relative error (RE) of this method with regard to wound sizes and types of camera was analyzed. RESULTS: RE of individual calculated area was from 0.0329% (DSLR, diameter 1.0 cm) to 23.7166% (smartphone, diameter 2.0 cm). In spite of the correction of lens curvature, smartphone has significantly higher error rate than DSLR camera (3.9431±2.9772 vs 8.1303±4.8236). However, in cases of wound diameter below than 3 cm, REs of average values of four photographs were below than 5%. In addition, there was no difference in the average value of wound area taken by smartphone and DSLR camera in those cases. CONCLUSION: For the follow-up of small skin defect (diameter: <3 cm), our newly developed automated wound area calculation method is able to be applied to the plenty of photographs, and the average values of them are a relatively useful index of wound healing with acceptable error rate.

Anakinra Protects Against Serum Deprivation-Induced Inflammation and Functional Derangement in Islets Isolated From Nonhuman Primates.

We investigated whether serum deprivation induces islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP) oligomer accumulation and/or a proinflammatory response and, if so, whether the addition of interleukin (IL)-1 receptor antagonist to the culture medium can relieve the proinflammatory response during serum-deprived culture of nonhuman primate (NHP) islets. After culture in medium with and without Ana under serum-deprived culture conditions, IAPP oligomer/amyloid accumulation, in vitro viability, islet function, cytokine secretion, and posttransplantation outcome in streptozotocin-induced diabetic nude mice were determined in islets isolated from heterozygote human IAPP transgenic (hIAPP+/- ) mice and/or NHP islets. Serum deprivation induced accumulation of IAPP oligomer, but not amyloid, in NHP islets. Anakinra (Ana) protected islets from the serum deprivation-induced impairment of in vitro viability and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and attenuated serum deprivation-induced caspase-1 activation, transcription, and secretion of IL-1ß, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α in hIAPP+/- mice and NHP islets. Supplementation of medium with Ana during serum-deprived culture also improved posttransplantation in vivo outcomes of NHP islets. In conclusion, serum deprivation induced accumulation of IAPP oligomers and proinflammatory responses in cultured isolated islets. Supplementation of the culture medium with Ana attenuated the functional impairment and proinflammatory responses induced by serum deprivation in ex vivo culture of NHP islets.

Epac2a-null mice exhibit obesity-prone nature more susceptible to leptin resistance.

BACKGROUND: The exchange protein directly activated by cAMP (Epac), which is primarily involved in cAMP signaling, has been known to be essential for controlling body energy metabolism. Epac has two isoforms: Epac1 and Epac2. The function of Epac1 on obesity was unveiled using Epac1 knockout (KO) mice. However, the role of Epac2 in obesity remains unclear. METHODS: To evaluate the role of Epac2 in obesity, we used Epac2a KO mice, which is dominantly expressed in neurons and endocrine tissues. Physiological factors related to obesity were analyzed: body weight, fat mass, food intake, plasma leptin and adiponectin levels, energy expenditure, glucose tolerance, and insulin and leptin resistance. To determine the mechanism of Epac2a, mice received exogenous leptin and then hypothalamic leptin signaling was analyzed. RESULTS: Epac2a KO mice appeared to have normal glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity until 12 weeks of age, but an early onset increase of plasma leptin levels and decrease of plasma adiponectin levels compared with wild-type mice. Acute leptin injection revealed impaired hypothalamic leptin signaling in KO mice. Consistently, KO mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD) were significantly obese, presenting greater food intake and lower energy expenditure. HFD-fed KO mice were also characterized by greater impairment of hypothalamic leptin signaling and by weaker leptin-induced decrease in food consumption compared with HFD-fed wild-type mice. In wild-type mice, acute exogenous leptin injection or chronic HFD feeding tended to induce hypothalamic Epac2a expression. CONCLUSIONS: Considering that HFD is an inducer of hypothalamic leptin resistance and that Epac2a functions in pancreatic beta cells during demands of greater work load, hypothalamic Epac2a may have a role in facilitating leptin signaling, at least in response to higher metabolic demands. Thus, our data indicate that Epac2a is critical for preventing obesity and thus Epac2a activators may be used to manage obesity and obesity-mediated metabolic disorders.

Efficacy and safety of ursodeoxycholic acid composite on fatigued patients with elevated liver function and/or fatty liver: a multi-centre, randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial.

AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the effects of ursodeoxycholic acid composite (URSA-S) on fatigue in patients with elevated liver function tests and/or fatty liver disease. METHODS: In this multi-centre randomised double-blinded placebo-controlled trial, 168 adults who were diagnosed with fatigue based on our criteria and had elevated liver function tests (but not > 5 times the normal level) and/or fatty liver on ultrasonography, were randomised to either the placebo or URSA-S administration group. The rate of improvement of checklist individual strength (CIS) using a cut-off of 76 points at the end of the study (8 weeks), the change in fatigue scale [CIS score and visual analogue scale (VAS)] were evaluated. The adverse effects of URSA-S were also recorded. RESULTS: The rate of CIS improvement at the end-point was 79.76% and 45.68% in the therapy and placebo groups, respectively (p < 0.05). The fatigue recovery rate of the CIS score and VAS were higher in the therapy (-25.44 ± 18.57, -27.84 ± 2.70) than in the placebo group (-16.59 ± 17.29, -19.46 ± 2.81) (p < 0.05). The difference in fatigue recovery rate between the therapy and placebo groups was significant after 8 weeks. When analysed separately in patients with abnormal liver function tests and fatty liver disease, the fatigue recovery rate of the CIS score and VAS at 8 weeks was higher in the therapy than in the placebo group (p < 0.05). The frequency of adverse events in the therapy group was not significantly higher than that in the placebo group. CONCLUSION: URSA-S is effective for alleviating fatigue in patients with liver dysfunction and/or fatty liver. The adverse effects of URSA-S are not significant. This study is registered at https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02415777.

Rapamycin Interferes With Postdepletion Regulatory T Cell Homeostasis and Enhances DSA Formation Corrected by CTLA4-Ig.

Previously, we demonstrated that alemtuzumab induction with rapamycin as sole maintenance therapy is associated with an increased incidence of humoral rejection in human kidney transplant patients. To investigate the role of rapamycin in posttransplant humoral responses after T cell depletion, fully MHC mismatched hearts were transplanted into hCD52Tg mice, followed by alemtuzumab treatment with or without a short course of rapamycin. While untreated hCD52Tg recipients acutely rejected B6 hearts (n = 12), hCD52Tg recipients treated with alemtuzumab alone or in conjunction with rapamycin showed a lack of acute rejection (MST > 100). However, additional rapamycin showed a reduced beating quality over time and increased incidence of vasculopathy. Furthermore, rapamycin supplementation showed an increased serum donor-specific antibodies (DSA) level compared to alemtuzumab alone at postoperation days 50 and 100. Surprisingly, additional rapamycin treatment significantly reduced CD4(+) CD25(+) FoxP3(+) T reg cell numbers during treatment. On the contrary, ICOS(+) PD-1(+) CD4 follicular helper T cells in the lymph nodes were significantly increased. Interestingly, CTLA4-Ig supplementation in conjunction with rapamycin corrected rapamycin-induced accelerated posttransplant humoral response by directly modulating Tfh cells but not Treg cells. This suggests that rapamycin after T cell depletion could affect Treg cells leading to an increase of Tfh cells and DSA production that can be reversed by CTLA4-Ig.