A direct regeneration of cathode materials from spent LiFePO
4
batteries using a solid phase sintering method has been proposed in this article. The spent battery is firstly dismantled to separate ...the cathode and anode plate, and then the cathode plate is soaked in DMAC organic solvent to separate the cathode materials and Al foil at optimal conditions of 30 min at 30 °C and solid liquid ratio of 1 : 20 g ml
−1
. XRD and SEM results of the spent LiFePO
4
after separation show that there are some impurity phase components and irregular morphologies with many agglomerations. The spent materials are regenerated at appropriate temperatures with doping of new LiFePO
4
at different ratios. Battery capacities from regenerated LiFePO
4
can reach over 120 mA h g
−1
at 0.1C discharge conditions, especially with the highest value of 144 mA h g
−1
with a doping ratio of 3 : 7 at 700 °C. The rate capabilities and cycling performance of batteries made from regenerated LiFePO
4
with doping at 600 °C and 700 °C are generally better than those at 800 °C. All the performances of batteries made from regenerated LiFePO
4
with pure phase and uniform morphology can meet the basic requirements for reuse.
A direct regeneration of cathode materials from spent LiFePO
4
batteries using a solid phase sintering method has been proposed in this article.
•Temperature significantly influence the micro-properties of granite.•Volumetric porosity increases as temperature increases between 400 °C and 800 °C.•Heterogeneity and anisotropy of granite are ...dominated by initial cracks below 200 °C.•Granite is nearly homogeneous and isotropic when temperature is sufficiently high (e.g. 1000 °C).
The thermal effects on micro-properties of granite were experimentally studied. The volumetric porosity was observed by the X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) technique and three-dimensional (3D) image reconstruction. Two indexes (heterogeneity coefficient and anisotropy coefficient) were proposed to describe the micro-properties of granite. The thermal effects on these two indexes were discussed. The results shows that micro-porosity increases as temperature increases between 400 °C and 800 °C. It is slightly influenced by temperature beyond this range. Both of the heterogeneity and anisotropy of thermal treated granite increase to their maximums as temperature increases to 500 °C, than decrease to constants as temperature further increases. The heterogeneity and anisotropy of granite are mainly dominated by the initial cracks below 200 °C. The thermal induced cracks are mainly in the regions of lower density mineral grains below 400 °C. Boundary cracks and trans-granular cracks generate significantly above 500 °C.
Aims
To evaluate the effect of a DNA priming and protein boosting immunization scheme in ducks.
Methods and results
Pekin ducks were immunized with pTCY/VP2 DNA vaccine; on day 14 (D14) after primary ...immunization, the ducks were boosted with either the same vaccine (DNA + DNA) or the rVP2 vaccine (DNA + rVP2). CpG oligodeoxynucleotides containing three copies of GACGTT motifs were used as the adjuvant in the vaccines. Compared with unimmunized controls, both immunization schemes significantly increased the titre of antigen‐specific antibodies, lymphocyte proliferation index, percentage of CD4+ and CD8+ cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and mRNA expression of interferon (IFN)‐α, IFN‐γ, interleukin (IL)‐6 and IL‐12 in antigen‐stimulated PBMCs. Furthermore, compared with the DNA + DNA homologous scheme, the DNA + rVP2 heterologous scheme significantly increased lymphocyte proliferation, percentage of CD4+ and CD8+ cells in PBMCs and upregulation of mRNA expression of cytokines 2 weeks after the boost (D28).
Conclusions
The DNA + rVP2 immunization scheme enhanced immune responses, mainly Th1 type, against parvovirus in ducks.
Significance and Impact of the Study
The DNA priming and protein boosting heterologous immunization strategy can be applied to develop vaccines against viral infections in ducks. It can potentially be used in breeding ducks because of long‐term immunity may confer protection for ducklings.
Global ageing poses a substantial economic burden on health and social care costs. Enabling a greater proportion of older people to stay healthy for longer is key to the future sustainability of ...health, social and economic policy. Frailty and associated decrease in resilience plays a central role in poor health in later life. In this study, we present a population level assessment of the metabolic phenotype associated with frailty. Analysis of serum from 1191 older individuals (aged between 56 and 84 years old) and subsequent longitudinal validation (on 786 subjects) was carried out using liquid and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry metabolomics and stratified across a frailty index designed to quantitatively summarize vulnerability. Through multivariate regression and network modelling and mROC modeling we identified 12 significant metabolites (including three tocotrienols and six carnitines) that differentiate frail and non-frail phenotypes. Our study provides evidence that the dysregulation of carnitine shuttle and vitamin E pathways play a role in the risk of frailty.
The recent discovery of superconductivity in doped infinite-layer nickelates has stimulated intensive interest, especially for similarities and differences compared to that in cuprate ...superconductors. In contrast to cuprates, although earlier magnetization measurement reveals a Curie-Weiss-like behavior in undoped infinite-layer nickelates, there is no magnetic ordering observed by elastic neutron scattering down to liquid helium temperature. Until now, the nature of the magnetic ground state in undoped infinite-layer nickelates was still elusive. Here, we perform a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiment through 139La nuclei to study the intrinsic spin susceptibility of infinite-layer LaNiO2. First, the signature for magnetic ordering or freezing is absent in the 139La NMR spectrum down to 0.24 K, which unambiguously confirms a paramagnetic ground state in LaNiO2. Second, a pseudogaplike behavior instead of Curie-Weiss-like behavior is observed in both the temperature-dependent Knight shift and nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate (1/T1), which is widely observed in both underdoped cuprates and iron-based superconductors. Furthermore, the scaling behavior between the Knight shift and 1/T1T has also been discussed. Finally, the present results imply a considerable exchange interaction in infinite-layer nickelates, which sets a strong constraint for the proposed theoretical models.
Context.
We investigate the use of saliency-map analysis to aid in searches for transient signals, such as fast radio bursts and individual pulses from radio pulsars.
Aims.
Our aim is to demonstrate ...that saliency maps provide the means to understand predictions from machine learning algorithms and can be implemented in pipelines used to search for transient events.
Methods.
We implemented a new deep learning methodology to predict whether any segment of the data contains a transient event. The algorithm was trained using real and simulated data sets. We demonstrate that the algorithm is able to identify such events. The output results are visually analysed via the use of saliency maps.
Results.
We find that saliency maps can produce an enhanced image of any transient feature without the need for de-dispersion or removal of radio frequency interference. The maps can be used to understand which features in the image were used in making the machine learning decision and to visualise the transient event. Even though the algorithm reported here was developed to demonstrate saliency-map analysis, we have detected a single burst event, in archival data, with dispersion measure of 41 cm
−3
pc that is not associated with any currently known pulsar.
The magnetic properties of manganile bilayers composed of G-type antiferromagnetic (AFM) SrMnO sub(3) and double-exchange ferromagnetic (FM) La sub(0.7) Sr sub(0.3) MnO sub(3) are studied. A ...spin-glass state is observed as a result of competing magnetic orders and spin frustration at the La sub(0.7) Sr sub(0.3) MnO sub(3)/SrMnO sub(3) interface. The dependence of the irreversible temperature on the cooling magnetic field follows the Almeida-Thouless line. Although an ideal G-type AFM SrMnO sub(3) is featured with a compensated spin configuration, the bilayers exhibit exchange bias below the spin glass freezing temperature, which is much lower than the Neel temperature of SMO, indicating that the exchange bias is strongly correlated with the spin glass state. The results indicate that the spin frustration that originates from the competition between the AFM super-exchange and the FM double-exchange interactions can induce a strong magnetic anisotropy at the La sub(0.7) Sr sub(0.3) MnO sub(3)/SrMnO sub(3) interface.
•〈21¯1¯1〉 RE-texture component is not observed in the as-extruded Mg–1Gd sample.•〈21¯1¯1〉 texture strengthens during annealing due to the preferred grain growth.•The driving force of preferred grain ...growth is the difference in stored energy.•Abnormal growth of the 〈101¯0〉 grain takes place during long-time annealing.
RE (rare earth)-texture component has been reported to be responsible for improved formability and ductility in RE-containing Mg alloys. Grain growth and texture evolution during annealing of Mg–1Gd alloy was investigated after indirect extrusion and quenching to reveal the formation mechanisms of the RE texture component. In the as-extruded Mg–1Gd sample, both the recrystallized grains and large elongated grainsare oriented mainly with 〈101¯0〉 orientation parallel to the extrusion direction (ED). The preferred growth of the 〈21¯1¯1〉 grain with its 〈21¯1¯1〉 orientation parallel to ED has been observed during recrystallization annealing, leading to the gradual strengthening of 〈21¯1¯1〉 RE-texture component at the expense of the 〈101¯0〉 component with increasing annealing temperature. The driving force for the preferred grain growth is the difference in stored energy between the 〈21¯1¯1〉 grains and the 〈101¯0〉 grains. Abnormal growth of the 〈101¯0〉 grain takes place during long-time annealing, resulting in the strengthening of 〈101¯0〉 component texture, which can be explained by a texture effect.
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