Inkjet‐Printed Lithium–Sulfur Microcathodes for All‐Printed,Integrated Nanomanufacturing

Improved thin‐film microbatteries are needed to provide appropriate energy‐storage options to power the multitude of devices that will bring the proposed “Internet of Things” network to fruition (e.g., active radio‐frequency identification tags and microcontrollers for wearable and implantable devices). Although impressive efforts have been made to improve the energy density of 3D microbatteries, they have all used low energy‐density lithium‐ion chemistries, which present a fundamental barrier to miniaturization. In addition, they require complicated microfabrication processes that hinder cost‐competitiveness. Here, inkjet‐printed lithium–sulfur (Li–S) cathodes for integrated nanomanufacturing are reported. Single‐wall carbon nanotubes infused with electronically conductive straight‐chain sulfur (S@SWNT) are adopted as an integrated current‐collector/active‐material composite, and inkjet printing as a top‐down approach to achieve thin‐film shape control over printed electrode dimensions is used. The novel Li–S cathodes may be directly printed on traditional microelectronic semicoductor substrates (e.g., SiO₂) or on flexible aluminum foil. Profilometry indicates that these microelectrodes are less than 10 µm thick, while cyclic voltammetry analyses show that the S@SWNT possesses pseudocapacitive characteristics and corroborates a previous study suggesting the S@SWNT discharge via a purely solid‐state mechanism. The printed electrodes produce ≈800 mAh g^?1 S initially and ≈700 mAh g^?1 after 100 charge/discharge cycles at C/2 rate.     

Early Experiences in Cross‐Disciplinary Education in Biomedical Technology Innovation at Stanford University*

This paper describes two new educational programs at Stanford that address some of the unique issues in teaching medical technology innovation and design. The first is a team‐based medical device design and prototyping course that is based on clinical immersion and “hands‐on” device prototyping. Medical device innovation at Stanford is further encouraged by means of a series of university‐wide competitions, called Invention Challenges, to invent solutions to defined clinical problems with the potential for real‐world impact.     

Lexical and sublexical translation of spelling to sound: Strategic anticipation of lexical status.

Two experiments on oral reading of single words compared naming performance in pure blocks of nonwords or exception words with performance in blocks of randomly mixed nonwords and exception words. Ss named exception words faster and made fewer regularization errors when they were not also prepared for nonwords. These data suggest Ss inhibit or ignore the computation of assembled phonology when only exception words are expected. Ss named nonwords faster, but no more accurately, when low-frequency exception words were not also anticipated. Thus, Ss' readiness to execute assembled phonology appears to be adjusted in relation to the likely time course of retrieval of learned pronunciations, when the latter must be attended to. This evidence for strategic dissociation between sublexical and lexical translation is discussed in relation to current models. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Automated laser scanning based on orthogonal cross sections

To reversely engineer a clay model or industrial part, a laser scanner is often used to acquire surface data points, which must be processed to created a CAD model. Complete surface definition requires an operator to obtain a number of scans from various viewpoints and orientations. This introduces two difficulties to the reverse-engineering process: (1) the data are difficult to visualize, as scan lines appear at various angles, and (2) the surface is irregularly sampled, with large regions sampled by several scans, and occasionally a small region is missed completely (a result of the visualization problem). We have developed an automated scanning system to overcome these problems. The system utilizes an intermediate data model that consists of three orthogonal cross sections and is built from the triangulated scan data. The resultant model is easily visualized, which facilitates further interactive operation on the data. The system has been successful in autonomously modeling several typical industrial objects.     

An experimental study of the calcification and absorption of polyglycolic acid and catgut sutures within the urinary tract

Cavernoglandular shunt is a new simple operation consisting of the formation of a window between the corpus cavernosum and glans penis to establish drainage of trapped blood from the corpora cavernosum.     

The use of specimen tilt in transmission electron microscopy of the central nervous system

Thin sections of nervous tissue were viewed at different tilt angles using a transmission electron microscope equipped with a eucentric goniometer stage. In a comparison study of various degrees of tilt, one can observe additional morphological features within synaptic profiles, define subsynaptic structures such as Taxi-bodies, and clearly see the crystalline formation of cytochemical tracers. This study demonstrates the value of tilting thin-sections in the analysis of synapses and other biological material at the ultrastructural level.     

Quality of life: perception of lung cancer patients

An investigation was carried out to examine what quality of life means to lung cancer patients. 200 patients with either lung cancer (108) or chronic respiratory disease (92) were interviewed using a short open-ended questionnaire. They were asked to define quality of life in general, identify what they considered to be a good quality of life for themselves and to rank the relative importance attached to each nominated item. A content analysis was carried out and patients' responses were categorised into eight items. These were: ability to do what one wants to do/work, enjoyment of life, family life, financial security, happiness, health, living longer and social life/leisure activities. Of these, health (42%), enjoyment of life (25%) and family life (24%) were the three most nominated items as definition of quality of life in general. Patients perceived a good quality of life for themselves differently. Family life (58%), health (51%) and social life (43%) were found to be the most nominated components of a good quality of life for the patients. Overall, patients ranked family life and health as the first or second most important factors. There were no significant differences between cases and controls. The study results are challenging and serve to remind us that the term quality of life is misused in many studies. Most existing measures do not encompass the wider aspects of quality of life identified here, but rather concentrate on the "health-related" aspects of quality of life. To achieve this, the research into the best ways of measuring and assessing quality of life must continue to seek individual values and preferences and how these can be applied in a simple way in clinical studies.     

High Flux FRC Facility for Stability and Confinement Studies

To provide a path for advancing the FRC concept into a more fusion-like regime, the existing TCSU facility will be modified to take advantage of the new FRC formation method of dynamic formation and merging of FRCs. Results from recent experiments have shown that this methodology provides appreciable increases in the key parameters of ion temperature, poloidal flux and FRC lifetime. FRC stability has been found in numerical calculations where a subpopulation of high energy particles is present in sufficient numbers. A critical goal of the high flux FRC facility will be to form FRCs with poloidal fluxes sufficiently large to fully confine high energy ion orbits introduced from neutralized ion beams injected during FRC formation. A key aspect of the experiments will be to validate theoretical models and simulation codes, such as the 3D extended-MHD code NIMROD, in a in a high beta regime with large two-fluid effects, plasma flows, and an energetic minority species.     

Overview of the Plasma Science and Innovation Center (PSI – Center)

The principal goal of the Plasma Science and Innovation Center (PSI – Center) is to achieve significantly improved computational predictive capability for smaller-scale devices. This is being accomplished through the refinement of existing computational tools through adding sufficient physics modeling, boundary conditions, and geometric capabilities while benchmarking results against experimental data. The work emphasizes the modeling needs of emerging concept (EC) experiments, but improved simulation capabilities for all innovative confinement concepts (ICC) are expected. A special emphasis is placed on physics effects that may extend beyond the standard analysis applied to the mainline programs.