Lithium-compatible and air-stable vacancy-rich Li9N2Cl3 for high-areal capacity, long-cycling all-solid-state lithium metal batteries.

Attaining substantial areal capacity (>3 mAh/cm2) and extended cycle longevity in all-solid-state lithium metal batteries necessitates the implementation of solid-state electrolytes (SSEs) capable of withstanding elevated critical current densities and capacities. In this study, we report a high-performing vacancy-rich Li9N2Cl3 SSE demonstrating excellent lithium compatibility and atmospheric stability and enabling high-areal capacity, long-lasting all-solid-state lithium metal batteries. The Li9N2Cl3 facilitates efficient lithium-ion transport due to its disordered lattice structure and presence of vacancies. Notably, it resists dendrite formation at 10 mA/cm2 and 10 mAh/cm2 due to its intrinsic lithium metal stability. Furthermore, it exhibits robust dry-air stability. Incorporating this SSE in Ni-rich LiNi0.83Co0.11Mn0.06O2 cathode-based all-solid-state batteries, we achieve substantial cycling stability (90.35% capacity retention over 1500 cycles at 0.5 C) and high areal capacity (4.8 mAh/cm2 in pouch cells). These findings pave the way for lithium metal batteries to meet electric vehicle performance demands.

One-Step Calcination Synthesis of Bulk-Doped Surface-Modified Ni-Rich Cathodes with Superlattice for Long-Cycling Li-Ion Batteries.

Nickel-rich (Ni≥90 %) layered cathodes are critical materials for achieving higher-energy-density and lower-cost next-generation Li-ion batteries (LIBs). However, their bulk and interface structural instabilities significantly impair their electrochemical performance, thus hindering their widespread adoption in commercial LIBs. Exploiting Ti and Mo diffusion chemistry, we report one-step calcination to synthesize bulk-to-surface modified LiNi0.9 Co0.09 Mo0.01 O2 (NCMo90) featuring a 5 nm Li2 TiO3 coating on the surface, a Mo-rich Li+ /Ni2+ superlattice at the sub-surface, and Ti-doping in the bulk. Such a multi-functional structure effectively maintains its structural integrity upon cycling. As a result, such NCMo90 exhibits a high initial capacity of 221 mAh g-1 at 0.1 C, excellent rate performance (184 mAh g-1 at 5 C), and high capacity retention of 94.0 % after 500 cycles. This work opens a new avenue to developing industry-applicable Ni-rich cathodes for next-generation LIBs.

Manipulating Charge-Transfer Kinetics of Lithium-Rich Layered Oxide Cathodes in Halide All-Solid-State Batteries.

Employing lithium-rich layered oxide (LLO) as the cathode of all-solid-state batteries (ASSBs) is highly desired for realizing high energy density. However, the poor kinetics of LLO, caused by its low electronic conductivity and significant oxygen-redox-induced structural degradation, has impeded its application in ASSBs. Here, the charge transfer kinetics of LLO is enhanced by constructing high-efficiency electron transport networks within solid-state electrodes, which considerably minimizes electron transfer resistance. In addition, an infusion-plus-coating strategy is introduced to stabilize the lattice oxygen of LLO, successfully suppressing the interfacial oxidation of solid electrolyte (Li3 InCl6 ) and structural degradation of LLO. As a result, LLO-based ASSBs exhibit a high discharge capacity of 230.7 mAh g-1 at 0.1 C and ultra-long cycle stability over 400 cycles. This work provides an in-depth understanding of the kinetics of LLO in solid-state electrodes, and affords a practically feasible strategy to obtain high-energy-density ASSBs.

Learning from the GP-consultant exchange scheme: a qualitative evaluation.

Collaborative working across primary and secondary care is crucial to providing high quality patient care. There is still a lack of communication and understanding between primary and secondary care, which can impede collaborative working. The experience of observing colleagues in a different speciality can prompt insight, improve morale and promote collaborative working. The GP-Consultant Exchange Scheme aimed to improve professional understanding, foster deeper partnerships, and ignite opportunities for innovation and/or quality improvement (QI) with co-owned local solutions. This paper gives an overview of how the scheme works and sets out some of the outcomes reported by some 200 Consultants and GPs participants to date. Overall, the participants found the scheme an enjoyable way to reconnect clinicians and allowed them to learn about the challenges faced in different areas within the NHS. This low-cost intervention needs motivated individuals to drive the project forward and make it sustainable, but it can be replicated within any organisation or profession in the NHS.

The potential epidemiologic, clinical, and economic impact of requiring schools to offer Physical Education (PE) classes in Mexico City.

BACKGROUND: Many schools have been cutting physical education (PE) classes due to budget constraints, which raises the question of whether policymakers should require schools to offer PE classes. Evidence suggests that PE classes can help address rising physical inactivity and obesity prevalence. However, it would be helpful to determine if requiring PE is cost-effective. METHODS: We developed an agent-based model of youth in Mexico City and the impact of all schools offering PE classes on changes in weight, weight-associated health conditions and the corresponding direct and indirect costs over their lifetime. RESULTS: If schools offer PE without meeting guidelines and instead followed currently observed class length and time active during class, overweight and obesity prevalence decreased by 1.3% (95% CI: 1.0%-1.6%) and was cost-effective from the third-party payer and societal perspectives ($5,058 per disability-adjusted life year [DALY] averted and $5,786/DALY averted, respectively, assuming PE cost $50.3 million). When all schools offered PE classes meeting international guidelines for PE classes, overweight and obesity prevalence decreased by 3.9% (95% CI: 3.7%-4.3%) in the cohort at the end of five years compared to no PE. Long-term, this averted 3,183 and 1,081 obesity-related health conditions and deaths, respectively and averted ≥$31.5 million in direct medical costs and ≥$39.7 million in societal costs, assuming PE classes cost ≤$50.3 million over the five-year period. PE classes could cost up to $185.5 million and $89.9 million over the course of five years and still remain cost-effective and cost saving respectively, from the societal perspective. CONCLUSION: Requiring PE in all schools could be cost-effective when PE class costs, on average, up to $10,340 per school annually. Further, the amount of time students are active during class is a driver of PE classes' value (e.g., it is cost saving when PE classes meet international guidelines) suggesting the need for specific recommendations.

CellProfiler Analyst: interactive data exploration, analysis and classification of large biological image sets.

CellProfiler Analyst allows the exploration and visualization of image-based data, together with the classification of complex biological phenotypes, via an interactive user interface designed for biologists and data scientists. CellProfiler Analyst 2.0, completely rewritten in Python, builds on these features and adds enhanced supervised machine learning capabilities (Classifier), as well as visualization tools to overview an experiment (Plate Viewer and Image Gallery). AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: CellProfiler Analyst 2.0 is free and open source, available at http://www.cellprofiler.org and from GitHub (https://github.com/CellProfiler/CellProfiler-Analyst) under the BSD license. It is available as a packaged application for Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows and can be compiled for Linux. We implemented an automatic build process that supports nightly updates and regular release cycles for the software. CONTACT: anne@broadinstitute.orgSupplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

ProtocolNavigator: emulation-based software for the design, documentation and reproduction biological experiments.

MOTIVATION: Experimental reproducibility is fundamental to the progress of science. Irreproducible research decreases the efficiency of basic biological research and drug discovery and impedes experimental data reuse. A major contributing factor to irreproducibility is difficulty in interpreting complex experimental methodologies and designs from written text and in assessing variations among different experiments. Current bioinformatics initiatives either are focused on computational research reproducibility (i.e. data analysis) or laboratory information management systems. Here, we present a software tool, ProtocolNavigator, which addresses the largely overlooked challenges of interpretation and assessment. It provides a biologist-friendly open-source emulation-based tool for designing, documenting and reproducing biological experiments. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: ProtocolNavigator was implemented in Python 2.7, using the wx module to build the graphical user interface. It is a platform-independent software and freely available from http://protocolnavigator.org/index.html under the GPL v2 license.

Workflow and metrics for image quality control in large-scale high-content screens.

Automated microscopes have enabled the unprecedented collection of images at a rate that precludes visual inspection. Automated image analysis is required to identify interesting samples and extract quantitative information for high-content screening (HCS). However, researchers are impeded by the lack of metrics and software tools to identify image-based aberrations that pollute data, limiting experiment quality. The authors have developed and validated approaches to identify those image acquisition artifacts that prevent optimal extraction of knowledge from high-content microscopy experiments. They have implemented these as a versatile, open-source toolbox of algorithms and metrics readily usable by biologists to improve data quality in a wide variety of biological experiments.

Improved structure, function and compatibility for CellProfiler: modular high-throughput image analysis software.

UNLABELLED: There is a strong and growing need in the biology research community for accurate, automated image analysis. Here, we describe CellProfiler 2.0, which has been engineered to meet the needs of its growing user base. It is more robust and user friendly, with new algorithms and features to facilitate high-throughput work. ImageJ plugins can now be run within a CellProfiler pipeline. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: CellProfiler 2.0 is free and open source, available at http://www.cellprofiler.org under the GPL v. 2 license. It is available as a packaged application for Macintosh OS X and Microsoft Windows and can be compiled for Linux. CONTACT: anne@broadinstitute.org SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Visualization of image data from cells to organisms.

Advances in imaging techniques and high-throughput technologies are providing scientists with unprecedented possibilities to visualize internal structures of cells, organs and organisms and to collect systematic image data characterizing genes and proteins on a large scale. To make the best use of these increasingly complex and large image data resources, the scientific community must be provided with methods to query, analyze and crosslink these resources to give an intuitive visual representation of the data. This review gives an overview of existing methods and tools for this purpose and highlights some of their limitations and challenges.

Standardised patient assessments on consecutive days during high-stakes GP training interviews: is there any evidence of candidates sharing information?

BACKGROUND: Selection interviews for GP training places are high-stakes interviews that demand fair and robust assessment methods. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the results of standardised patient assessments on consecutive days of the week using the same scenarios were equivalent. We were concerned that candidates later in the week may receive information from their colleagues and potentially gain an unfair advantage by discovering the content of the exercise. METHODS: Anonymised data were obtained from 221 candidates who undertook the standardised patient assessment at the West Midlands Deanery, resulting in an interactive skills score, on five consecutive days in October 2005. The relationship between interactive skills scores and screening test score, country of graduation, gender and day of assessment was analysed using a linear model with identity link and normal error. The presence of statistical outliers was assessed. RESULTS: Analysis of the relationship between interactive skills score and screening test score, country of graduation, gender and day of assessment showed a significant association between overall score with gender and country of graduation only. The results indicated that females and those candidates who graduated in the UK on average achieved higher scores. There was no significant association between interactive skills score and day of assessment and there were no statistical outliers. CONCLUSIONS: On average candidate performance in the simulated patient exercise of GP training interviews was not influenced by the day of the assessment, indicating that, overall, candidates later in the week did not gain any advantage.

Symptom-based outcome measures for dyspepsia and GERD trials: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Symptom assessment using questionnaires has been recommended as the primary outcome measure in clinical gastroesophageal reflux and dyspepsia trials. Questionnaires should have proven reliability, validity, and responsiveness, and may assess the frequency and/or severity of dyspepsia symptoms. Although a number of measures have been developed, it remains unclear which of these should be used in new trials. OBJECTIVE: To describe existing questionnaire outcome measures that assess symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux dyspepsia for use in clinical trials. METHODS: Studies were identified from Medline, Embase, the Cochrane library, and reference lists. The inclusion criterion was that the study assessed a questionnaire, which measured the frequency or severity of dyspepsia or gastroesophageal reflux symptoms, in a sample of patients. RESULTS: No direct comparison between questionnaires was possible due to methodological heterogeneity. Thirty-seven studies describing 26 questionnaires met the inclusion criteria. Twelve were unidimensional (assessed symptoms only) and 14 were multidimensional (also assessed quality of life). Eleven questionnaires assessed both frequency and severity of dyspepsia, and 10 had proven reliability, validity, and responsiveness. No studies compared different questionnaires. CONCLUSIONS: Future gastroesophageal reflux and dyspepsia clinical trials should use unidimensional or multidimensional outcome measures that assess both the frequency and severity of symptoms, and have proven reliability, validity, and responsiveness. Further research is necessary to compare existing outcome measures to determine which are the most reliable, valid, and responsive instruments.