Data Flow Construction and Quality Evaluation of Electronic Source Data in Clinical Trials: Pilot Study Based on Hospital Electronic Medical Records in China.

Background: The traditional clinical trial data collection process requires a clinical research coordinator who is authorized by the investigators to read from the hospital's electronic medical record. Using electronic source data opens a new path to extract patients' data from electronic health records (EHRs) and transfer them directly to an electronic data capture (EDC) system; this method is often referred to as eSource. eSource technology in a clinical trial data flow can improve data quality without compromising timeliness. At the same time, improved data collection efficiency reduces clinical trial costs. Objective: This study aims to explore how to extract clinical trial-related data from hospital EHR systems, transform the data into a format required by the EDC system, and transfer it into sponsors' environments, and to evaluate the transferred data sets to validate the availability, completeness, and accuracy of building an eSource dataflow. Methods: A prospective clinical trial study registered on the Drug Clinical Trial Registration and Information Disclosure Platform was selected, and the following data modules were extracted from the structured data of 4 case report forms: demographics, vital signs, local laboratory data, and concomitant medications. The extracted data was mapped and transformed, deidentified, and transferred to the sponsor's environment. Data validation was performed based on availability, completeness, and accuracy. Results: In a secure and controlled data environment, clinical trial data was successfully transferred from a hospital EHR to the sponsor's environment with 100% transcriptional accuracy, but the availability and completeness of the data could be improved. Conclusions: Data availability was low due to some required fields in the EDC system not being available directly in the EHR. Some data is also still in an unstructured or paper-based format. The top-level design of the eSource technology and the construction of hospital electronic data standards should help lay a foundation for a full electronic data flow from EHRs to EDC systems in the future.

Construction of ultrathin MnO2 decorated graphene/carbon nanotube nanocomposites as efficient sulfur hosts for high-performance lithium-sulfur batteries.

Lithium-sulfur batteries are attracting significant attention due to their high theoretical specific capacity and low cost. However, their applications are hindered by the poor conductivity of sulfur and capacity fading caused by the shuttle effect. Here, ultrathin manganese dioxide decorated graphene/carbon nanotube nanocomposites are designed as sulfur hosts to suppress the shuttle effect and improve the adsorption efficiency of polysulfides. The graphene/carbon nanotube hybrids, with extraordinary conductivity and large surface area, function as excellent channels for electron transfer and lithium ion diffusion. The ultrathin manganese dioxide nanosheets enable efficient chemical interaction with polysulfides and promote the redox kinetics of polysulfides. As a result, an ultrathin manganese dioxide decorated graphene/carbon nanotube sulfur composite with high sulfur content (81.8 wt%) delivers a high initial specific capacity of 1015.1 mA h g-1 at a current density of 0.1C, high coulombic efficiency approaching 100% and high capacity retention of 84.1% after 100 cycles. The nanocomposites developed in this work have promising applications in high-performance lithium-sulfur batteries.

Fluorinated graphene/sulfur hybrid cathode for high energy and high power density lithium primary batteries.

It is a great challenge to obtain high performance carbon fluoride (CF x ) cathodes with high specific capacity and good rate performance due to the electronic conductivity of CF x being known to decrease with an increase in the specific capacity. Herein, we propose a novel fluorinated graphene (FG)/sulfur hybrid cathode to enhance both the energy density and power density of lithium/carbon fluoride (Li/CF x ) batteries. Impressive enhancements of the specific capacity, discharge voltage, and rate capability are demonstrated with the novel FG/sulfur hybrid cathode. In comparison with the pristine FG cathode, the hybrid cathode exhibits higher electrochemical activity, lower overpotential, and faster ion transfer over the main discharge range. Furthermore, when the melt-diffusion method is used to prepare the hybrid cathode, the uncommon monoclinic sulfur is presented under ambient temperature. A significant synergistic effect which reduces the reaction resistance effectively is demonstrated with the presence of monoclinic sulfur, leading to the highest energy density of 2341 W h kg-1 and a power density up to 13 621 W kg-1 at 8.0 A g-1. Our results are expected to introduce a new generation of high energy and high power density lithium primary cells, based on a simple and effective strategy employing FG/S hybrid cathodes.

Electromagnetic Wave Absorption Property of Graphene with FeO4 Nanoparticles.

Nanomaterials consisting of various ratios of Fe3O4 and graphene (defined C-Fe3O4/GR) were pre- pared by an in situ coordination complex hydro-thermal synthesis method. The structure and morphology of the nanomaterials C-Fe3O4/GR obtained were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It was found that the Fe3O4 nanoparticles distributed on the surfaces of graphene, and had a spinel structure and a uniform chemical phase when the weight ratios of Fe3O4 to graphene oxide (GO) were 9:1 or 9:2. It was suggested that GO had been successfully reduced to graphene and the Fe3O4 nanoparticles were chemically bonded to graphene. The SQUID vibrating sample magnetometer (SQUID-VSM) indicated that the maximum of the saturation magnetization was 83.6 emmicro g(-1) when the mass ratio of Fe3O4 to GO was 9:2. Electromagnetic wave absorption showed that the chemical compound of Fe3O4 and graphene had a better electromagnetic property than the mechanical blend of Fe3O4 and graphene (M-Fe3O4/GR). The C-Fe3O4/GR had a reflection loss larger than -10 dB in the frequency range 12.9-17.0 GHz for an absorber thickness of 3 mm, and a maximum reflection loss of -12.3 dB at 14.8 GHz and a maximum reflection loss of -31.2 dB at 10.5 GHz for an absorber thickness of 10 mm. Theoretical analysis showed that the electromagnetic wave absorption behavior obeyed the quarter-wave principles. These results showed that the C-Fe3O4/GR nanomaterials can meet the requirements for some engineering applications, showing great application potential in electromagnetic wave absorption.