The water vapour sorption characteristics and kinetics of different wool types

The water vapour sorption behaviour of a range of sheep wool types and alpaca was studied using dynamic vapour sorption. Sorption isotherms were interpreted using the polymer sorption model developed by Vrentas and Vrentas. Satisfactory fits were obtained for absorption and desorption isotherms with the adjustment of parameters outside the scope of what is allowed. This is possibly because the underlying Flory–Huggins approach does not take into account any clustering of sorbate within the polymer. Water clustering in the wool fibre, determined using the Zimm–Lundberg clustering function, starts above a fibre moisture content of approximately 20%. Sorption kinetics were analysed using the parallel exponential kinetics model, providing excellent fits and allowed for calculation of a fibre modulus at different relative humidities; the values were reasonable at the upper end of the hygroscopic range, but were overestimated at the lower end of the range.     

Toward energy harvesting using active materials and conversion improvement by nonlinear processing

This paper presents a new technique of electrical energy generation using mechanically excited piezoelectric materials and a nonlinear process. This technique, called synchronized switch harvesting (SSH), is derived from the synchronized switch damping (SSD), which is a nonlinear technique previously developed to address the problem of vibration damping on mechanical structures. This technique results in a significant increase of the electromechanical conversion capability of piezoelectric materials. Comparatively with standard technique, the electrical harvested power may be increased above 900%. The performance of the nonlinear processing is demonstrated on structures excited at their resonance frequency as well as out of resonance.     

A comparative study of four forms of psychotherapy.

Compared 4 forms of psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy involving 3 male experienced psychiatrists and 106 18–56 yr old psychiatric outpatients. Patients received either individual therapy or group therapy that lasted either 6 or 24 mo. A comprehensive set of outcome scores (e.g., a version of the 16PF and the Cornell Index) provided by patients, therapists, and an independent assessor was monitored each 6 mo, including a 6-mo follow-up assessment. Therapy outcome, therapy process as viewed by the therapists, and cost-effectiveness were examined. What emerged as important was the particular form of therapy received, not the general type of therapy or the general duration of therapy when considered as independent dimensions. Results favor long-term group therapy and short-term individual therapy over long-term individual therapy and short-term group therapy. Advantages and difficulties associated with each form of therapy are discussed. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Characterization of SARS-CoV-2 Escape Mutants to a Pair of Neutralizing Antibodies Targeting the RBD and the NTD

Mutations in the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 can lead to evasion from neutralizing antibodies and affect the efficacy of passive and active immunization strategies. Immunization of mice harboring an entire set of human immunoglobulin variable region gene segments allowed to identify nine neutralizing monoclonal antibodies, which either belong to a cluster of clonally related RBD or NTD binding antibodies. To better understand the genetic barrier to emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants resistant to these antibodies, escape mutants were selected in cell culture to one antibody from each cluster and a combination of the two antibodies. Three independently derived escape mutants to the RBD antibody harbored mutations in the RBD at the position T478 or S477. These mutations impaired the binding of the RBD antibodies to the spike protein and conferred resistance in a pseudotype neutralization assay. Although the binding of the NTD cluster antibodies were not affected by the RBD mutations, the RBD mutations also reduced the neutralization efficacy of the NTD cluster antibodies. The mutations found in the escape variants to the NTD antibody conferred resistance to the NTD, but not to the RBD cluster antibodies. A variant resistant to both antibodies was more difficult to select and only emerged after longer passages and higher inoculation volumes. VOC carrying the same mutations as the ones identified in the escape variants were also resistant to neutralization. This study further underlines the rapid emergence of escape mutants to neutralizing monoclonal antibodies in cell culture and indicates the need for thorough investigation of escape mutations to select the most potent combination of monoclonal antibodies for clinical use.     

Revealing the Effect of High Ni Content in Li-Rich Cathode Materials: Mitigating Voltage Decay or Increasing Intrinsic Reactivity

Li-rich layered oxides are considered as one of the most promising cathode materials for secondary lithium batteries due to their high specific capacities, but the issue of continuous voltage decay during cycling hinders their market entry. Increasing the Ni content in Li-rich materials is assumed to be an effective way to address this issue and attracts recent research interests. However, a high Ni content may induce increased intrinsic reactivity of materials, resulting in severe side reactions with the electrolyte. Thus, a comprehensive study to differentiate the two effects of the Ni content on the cell performance with Li-rich cathode is carried out in this work. Herein, it is demonstrated that a properly dosed amount of Ni can effectively suppress the voltage decay in Li-rich cathodes, while over-loading of Ni, on the contrary, can cause structural instability, Ni dissolution, and nonuniform Li deposition during cycling as well as severe oxygen loss. This work offers a deep understanding on the impacts of Ni content in Li-rich materials, which can be a good guidance for the future design of such cathodes for high energy density lithium batteries.     

Development of a 2D array of micromachined electromagnetic digital actuators for micro-conveyance applications

Microsystem Technologies - In this paper a 5 × 5 micromachined digital electromagnetic actuator array for microdisplacements is presented. Each elementary actuator is...     

Additive fabrication of a 3D electrostatic energy harvesting microdevice designed to power a leadless pacemaker

Microsystem Technologies - This paper presents the development of a process enabling to fabricate complex three-dimensional nickel microdevices. The possibilities offered by this new process are...