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► We have synthesized various polymorphs of MnO2/acetylene black composite cathode. ► Electrochemical characterization of the composite was carried out for Mg-ion. ► A large specific ...discharge capacity (475mAhg−1) was achieved. ► MnO2 showed a pseudocapacitor like behavior for Mg-ion. ► Mg-ion Intercalation/de-intercalation mechanism was explained in tunnel structure.
Composites of layered structured Birnessite–MnO2 and tunnel structured Hollandite–MnO2 in presence of acetylene black were synthesized as positive electrode materials for rechargeable Mg-ion batteries. Reversible insertion/extraction of Mg-ion in the host structures was examined in the potential range of −1.8 to 1.0V vs. Ag/Ag+. Results indicated that Mg-ion exchanged Birnessite/acetylene black composite showed the highest discharge capacity (109mAhg−1) at 1st discharge, when compared to other microstructures of Birnessite. Meanwhile, the composite comprising of 65wt% Hol–MnO2 and 35wt% acetylene black showed very high insertion of Mg-ion (0.87Mg/Mn) corresponding to discharge capacity of 475mAhg−1 when tested at 60°C in galvanostatic mode. The layered and tunneled framework of the MnO2 was retained with minor displacive adjustments even after substantial Mg-ion insertion/extraction after several cycles. However, large specific capacity loss was observed after 20 cycles in all of the microstructures probably due to Mg-ion trapping in the host lattice. Furthermore, the effect of the cation (K+) present in the tunnel of Hollandite on Mg-ion diffusion was analyzed as well and it was concluded that tunnel cation could impede the movement of Mg-ion in host structure.
Despite an increasing internationalization of R&D activities by multinational firms, a major portion of corporate R&D still tends to be concentrated in firms' home countries. We examine the extent to ...which there exists a home-country bias in the location of R&D activities of 156 major R&D-intensive firms based in Europe, the United States, and Japan during 1995-2002, and develop hypotheses concerning the firm-level determinants of such home-country bias. We define this bias as a share of global R&D activities conducted in the home country that is not proportional to the general attractiveness of the country for multinational firms' R&D activities. We find home bias to be the predominant pattern, but with substantial variation among firms. The extent of the bias increases with the degree of scale and scope economies in R&D, the coordination costs of international R&D, and the embeddedness of firms' R&D in home countries' innovation systems. Technology leadership is associated with greater home bias if the home country provides relatively strong intellectual property rights protection, and firms face potential knowledge dissipation abroad. Our findings imply that home-country bias is, to an important extent, a response to the economics of R&D and the centripetal forces favoring centralization of R&D.
Flow behavior was examined for a 1.0 wt % aqueous solution of hydrophobically modified ethoxylated urethane (HEUR; M w = 4.6 × 104). In the linear viscoelastic regime, the solution exhibited ...single-Maxwellian behavior attributable to thermal reorganization of the transient network composed of strings of HEUR flower micelles. Under shear flow at intermediate shear rates γ̇ just above the equilibrium relaxation frequency 1/τ, the solution exhibited thickening characterized by monotonic increase of the viscosity growth function η+(t;γ̇) with time t above the linear η+(t) and by the steady-state viscosity η(γ̇) larger than the zero-shear viscosity η0. However, at those γ̇, the first normal stress coefficient growth function Ψ1 +(t;γ̇) and its steady-state value Ψ1(γ̇) remained very close to the linear Ψ1 +(t) and Ψ1,0 and exhibited no nonlinearity. In addition, the relaxation times of the viscosity and normal stress coefficient decay functions η–(t;γ̇) and Ψ1 –(t;γ̇) measured after cessation of steady flow agreed with those in the linear regime. All these results suggested that the network strands were just moderately stretched to show no significant finite extensible nonlinear elasticity (FENE) effect and that the number density ν of the network strands was negligibly affected by the shear at γ̇ just above 1/τ. A simple transient Gaussian network model incorporating neither the FENE effect nor the increase of ν suggested that the thickening of η+(t;γ̇) and η(γ̇) and the lack of nonlinearity for Ψ1 +(t;γ̇) and Ψ1(γ̇) could result from reassociation of the HEUR strands being in balance with the dissociation but anisotropically enhanced in the shear gradient direction. In contrast, at γ̇ ≫ 1/τ, η+(t;γ̇) exhibited overshoot above the linear η+(t) and then approached η(γ̇) < η0, whereas Ψ1 +(t;γ̇) stayed below the linear Ψ1 +(t) and approached Ψ1(γ̇) ≪ Ψ1,0 after exhibiting a peak. The relaxation of η–(t;γ̇) and Ψ1 –(t;γ̇) after cessation of flow was considerably faster than that in the linear regime. These nonlinear thinning features at γ̇ ≫ 1/τ were attributable to the flow-induced disruption of the HEUR network (and decrease of ν).
Randomized clinical trials demonstrated the efficacy and safety of apixaban in preventing stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). However, data on patients with low creatinine clearance ...(CCr), especially CCr 15-29 mL/min, are limited.
The J-ELD AF Registry is a large-scale, multicenter prospective observational study of Japanese nonvalvular AF patients aged ≥75 years taking on-label dose (standard dose of 5 mg bid or reduced dose of 2.5 mg bid) of apixaban. The entire cohort (3,015 patients from 110 institutions) was divided into 3 CCr subgroups: CCr ≥50 mL/min (n = 1,165, 38.6%), CCr 30-49 mL/min (n = 1,395, 46.3%), and CCr 15-29 mL/min (n = 455, 15.1%).
The event incidence rates (/100 person-years) were 1.76, 1.39, and 1.67 for stroke or systemic embolism (log rank P = .762); 1.39, 1.93, and 3.13 for bleeding requiring hospitalization (log rank P = .159); 1.75, 2.76, and 7.87 for total deaths (log rank P < .001); and 0.46, 0.84, and 2.62 for cardiovascular deaths (log rank P < .001), respectively. After adjusting for confounders by Cox regression analysis, CCr 15-29 was an independent risk for total death and cardiovascular death but not for stroke or systemic embolism, or bleeding requiring hospitalization.
The incidence of events in each CCr value group was comparable for stroke or systemic embolism and bleeding requiring hospitalization, and significantly higher for total deaths and cardiovascular deaths only in the CCr 15- to 29-mL/min group, in Japanese nonvalvular AF patients aged ≥75 years.
Opioid-induced respiratory depression is a potentially life-threatening adverse drug event. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the incidence of respiratory depression using the Japanese ...Adverse Drug Event Report (JADER) Database to obtain data to promote proper use of opioids. The JADER database from April 2004 to March 2017 was obtained from the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency. We calculated the reporting odds ratios (RORs) of suspected opioids (morphine, fentanyl, oxycodone, tapentadol, methadone, tramadol, pentazocine, buprenorphine, and codeine phosphate hydrate), analyzed the daily dose at first appearance and the time-to-onset profile, and assessed the hazard type using the Weibull shape parameter. ROR analysis detected adverse event signals for all opioids. Morphine showed a large ROR value with statistical significance in elderly (≥70 years old) patients. The median daily doses of oral morphine and oxycodone for inducing respiratory depression were comparably low (30 mg/d as oral morphine equivalent dose), while that of transdermal fentanyl was 120 mg/d (oral morphine equivalent dose). On time-to-onset analysis using the Weibull distribution, those opioids were classified as the early failure type. The median time-to-onset of oral morphine, oral oxycodone and transdermal fentanyl was 5.5, 11 and 12.5 d, respectively, and almost 50% of cases were reported within 30 d. Taken together, our results suggest that it is important to monitor patients carefully for at least the first one week to one month, even if opioids are administered at a relatively low dose, especially in elderly patients administered morphine.
Lithium metal batteries (LMBs) with inorganic solid-state electrolytes are considered promising secondary battery systems because of their higher energy content than their Li-ion counterpart. ...However, the LMB performance remains unsatisfactory for commercialization, primarily owing to the inability of the inorganic solid-state electrolytes to hinder lithium dendrite propagation. Here, using an Ag-coated Li
La
Zr
Ta
O
(LLZTO) inorganic solid electrolyte in combination with a silver-carbon interlayer, we demonstrate the production of stable interfacially engineered lab-scale LMBs. Via experimental measurements and computational modelling, we prove that the interlayers strategy effectively regulates lithium stripping/plating and prevents dendrite penetration in the solid-state electrolyte pellet. By coupling the surface-engineered LLZTO with a lithium metal negative electrode, a high-voltage positive electrode with an ionic liquid-based liquid electrolyte solution in pouch cell configuration, we report 800 cycles at 1.6 mA/cm
and 25 °C without applying external pressure. This cell enables an initial discharge capacity of about 3 mAh/cm
and a discharge capacity retention of about 85%.
This study aimed to investigate how the cutaneous reflexes in the peroneus longus (PL) muscle are affected by changing the ankle joint position in patients with chronic ankle instability (CAI). We ...also investigated the correlation between the degree of reflex modulation and angle position sense of the ankle joint. The participants were 19 patients with CAI and 20 age-matched controls. Cutaneous reflexes were elicited by applying non-noxious electrical stimulation to the sural nerve at the ankle joint in the neutral standing and eversion/inversion standing positions. The suppressive middle latency cutaneous reflex (MLR; ~ 70–120 ms) and angle position sense of the ankle joint were assessed. During neutral standing, the gain of the suppressive MLR was more prominent in the CAI patients than in controls, although no significant difference was seen during 30° inversion standing. In addition, the ratios of the suppressive MLR and background electromyography in a neutral position were significantly larger than those at the 15°, 25°, and 30° inversion positions in CAI patients. No such difference was seen in control individuals. Furthermore, the correlations between reflex modulation degree and position sense error were quite different in CAI patients compared to controls. These findings suggest that the sensory-motor system was deteriorated in CAI patients due to changes in the PL cutaneous reflex pathway excitability and position sense of the ankle joint.
Background:The incidence rate of ischemic stroke in Japanese non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) patients without anticoagulation therapy remains unclear.Methods and Results:We performed a pooled ...analysis of 3,588 patients from the Shinken Database (n=1,099), J-RHYTHM Registry (n=1,002), and Fushimi AF Registry (n=1,487) to determine the incidence rate of ischemic stroke in Japanese NVAF patients without anticoagulation therapy. Average patient age was 68.1 years. During the follow-up period (total, 5,188 person-years; average, 1.4 years), 69 patients suffered from ischemic stroke (13.3 per 1,000 person-years; 95% confidence intervals CI: 10.5–16.8). The incidence rates of ischemic stroke were 5.4, 9.3, and 24.7 per 1,000 person-years and 5.3, 5.5, and 18.4 per 1,000 person-years in patients with low (0), intermediate (1), and high (≥2) CHADS2 and CHA2DS2-VASc scores, respectively. History of ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack (hazard ratio HR, 3.25; 95% CI: 1.86–5.67), age ≥75 years (HR, 2.31; 95% CI: 1.18–4.52), and hypertension (HR, 1.69; 95% CI: 1.01–2.86) were independent risk factors for ischemic stroke.Conclusions:A low incidence rate of ischemic stroke was observed in Japanese NVAF patients except for those with CHADS2 score ≥2. In this pooled analysis, history of ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack, advanced age, and hypertension were identified as independent risk factors for ischemic stroke. (Circ J 2015; 79: 432–438)
Background
A global, randomized clinical trial indicated the efficacy and safety of apixaban in stroke prevention in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). However, data in the elderly ...NVAF patients ≥75 years, especially those on reduced dose, are limited.
Hypothesis
To confirm the current dose reduction criteria of apixaban in elderly NVAF patients.
Method
With a large‐scale, multicenter prospective observational study, one‐year outcomes after administration of on‐label doses of apixaban were analyzed in Japanese NVAF patients aged ≥75 years. Endpoints were stroke or systemic embolism, bleeding requiring hospitalization, total death, and cardiovascular death.
Results
A total of 3031 patients (average age, 81.7 years; female, 48.2%) taking standard (5 mg bid) or reduced dose (2.5 mg bid) of apixaban were enrolled from 110 facilities. Standard and reduced apixaban doses were administered in 1284 (42.4%) and 1747 (57.6%) patients, respectively. Event rates (/100 person‐years) in standard and reduced dose groups were 1.67 and 1.56, respectively, for stroke or systemic embolism, 1.42 and 2.25 for bleeding requiring hospitalization, 1.41 and 4.46 for total death, and 0.41 and 1.36 for cardiovascular death. Reduced apixaban dose was not significantly associated with stroke or systemic embolism and bleeding requiring hospitalization, but was independently associated with total and cardiovascular death.
Conclusions
Incidences of stroke or systemic embolism and bleeding requiring hospitalization were similar between standard and reduced apixaban doses in the elderly NVAF patients. The incidences of total and cardiovascular death were significantly higher in the reduced dose group due to the coexisting higher risks in this group.
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