Objective To investigate whether placebo effects can experimentally be separated into the response to three components-assessment and observation, a therapeutic ritual (placebo treatment), and a supportive patient-practitioner relationship-and then progressively combined to produce incremental clinical improvement in patients with irritable bowel syndrome. To assess the relative magnitude of these components.

Two-dimensional (2D) transition metal oxide systems present exotic electronic properties and high specific surface areas, and also demonstrate promising applications ranging from electronics to energy storage. Yet, in contrast to other types of nanostructures, the question as to whether we could assemble 2D nanomaterials with an atomic thickness from molecules in a general way, which may give them some interesting properties such as those of graphene, still remains unresolved. Herein, we report a generalized and fundamental approach to molecular self-assembly synthesis of ultrathin 2D nanosheets of transition metal oxides by rationally employing lamellar reverse micelles. It is worth emphasizing that the synthesized crystallized ultrathin transition metal oxide nanosheets possess confined thickness, high specific surface area and chemically reactive facets, so that they could have promising applications in nanostructured electronics, photonics, sensors, and energy conversion and storage devices.

Solitary fibrous tumor represents a spectrum of mesenchymal tumors, encompassing tumors previously termed hemangiopericytoma, which are classified as having intermediate biological potential (rarely metastasizing) in the 2002 World Health Organization classification scheme. Few series have reported on clinicopathological predictors with outcome data and formal statistical analysis in a large series of primary tumors as a single unified entity. Institutional pathology records were reviewed to identify primary solitary fibrous tumor cases, and histological sections and clinical records reviewed for canonical prognostic indicators, including patient age, tumor size, mitotic index, tumor cellularity, nuclear pleomorphism, and tumor necrosis. Patients (n ¼ 103) with resected primary solitary fibrous tumor were identified (excluding meningeal tumors). The most common sites of occurrence were abdomen and pleura; these tumors were larger than those occurring in the extremities, head and neck or trunk, but did not demonstrate significant outcome differences. Overall 5-and 10-year metastasis-free rates were 74 and 55%, respectively, while 5-and 10-year disease-specific survival rates were 89 and 73%. Patient age, tumor size, and mitotic index predicted both time to metastasis and disease-specific mortality, while necrosis predicted metastasis only. A risk stratification model based on age, size, and mitotic index clearly delineated patients at high risk for poor outcomes. While small tumors with low mitotic rates are highly unlikely to metastasize, large tumors Z15 cm, which occur in patients Z55 years, with mitotic figures Z4/10 high-power fields require close follow-up and have a high risk of both metastasis and death.

The vanadium redox flow battery, which was first suggested by Skyllas -Kazacos and co-workers in 1985, is an electrochemical storage system which allows energy to be stored in two solutions containing different redox couples. Unlike commercially available batteries, all vanadium redox flow batteries have unique configurations, determined by the size of the electrolyte tanks. This technology has been proven to be an economically attractive and low-maintenance solution, with significant benefits over the other types of batteries. Moreover, the soaring demand for large-scale energy storage has, in turn, increased demands for unlimited capacity, design flexibility, and good safety systems. This work reviews and discusses the progress on electrodes their reaction mechanisms as key components of the vanadium redox flow battery over the past 30 years. In terms of future outlook, we also provide practical guidelines for the further development of self-sustaining electrodes for vanadium redox flow batteries as an attractive energy storage system.

One-dimensional (1D) nanostructured materials have received considerable attention for advanced functional systems as well as extensive applications owing to their attractive electronic, optical, and thermal properties. [1][2] In lithium-ion-battery science, recent research has focused on nanoscale electrode materials to improve electrochemical performance. The high surface-to-volume ratio and excellent surface activities of 1D nanostructured materials have stimulated great interest in their development for the next generation of power sources. [3][4] Materials based on tin oxide have been proposed as alternative anode materials with high-energy densities and stable capacity retention in lithium-ion batteries. [5][6][7] Various SnO 2 -based materials have displayed extraordinary electrochemical behavior such that the initial irreversible capacity induced by Li 2 O formation and the abrupt capacity fading caused by volume variation could be effectively reduced when in nanoscale form. [8][9][10] From this point of view, SnO 2 nanowires can also be suggested as a promising anode material because the nanowire structure is of special interest with predictions of unique electronic and structural properties. Furthermore, the nanowires can be easily synthesized by a thermal evaporation method. However, in its current form, this method of manufacture of SnO 2 nanowires has several limitations: it is inappropriate for mass production as high synthesis temperatures are required and there are difficulties in the elimination of metal catalysts that could act as impurities or defects. This results in reversible capacity loss or poor cyclic performance during electrochemical reactions. [11,12] The critical issues relating to SnO 2 nanowires as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries are how to avoid the deteriorative effects of catalysts and how to increase production.Herein, we report on the preparation and electrochemical performance of self-catalysis-grown SnO 2 nanowires to determine their potential use as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries. SnO 2 nanowires have been synthesized by thermal evaporation combined with a self-catalyzed growth procedure by using a ball-milled evaporation material to increase production at lower temperature and prevent the undesirable effects of conventional catalysts on electrochemical performance. The self-catalysis-grown SnO 2 nanowires show higher initial coulombic efficiency and an improved cyclic retention compared with those of SnO 2 powder and SnO 2 nanowires produced by Au-assisted growth.[11]The self-catalysis growth method, which uses a ball-milled mixture of SnO and Sn powder as an evaporation source, is appropriate for obtaining SnO 2 nanowires with high purity. The deposited products on the Si substrates contain almost 100 % of the SnO 2 nanowires formed. Observation with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) clearly shows a general view of randomly aligned SnO 2 nanowires with diameters of 200-500 nm and lengths extending to several tens of micrometers (Figure 1 a). Sn drop...

The insertion of guest species in graphite is the key feature utilized in applications ranging from energy storage and liquid purification to the synthesis of graphene. Recently, it was discovered that solvated-Naion intercalation can occur in graphite even though the insertion of Na ions alone is thermodynamically impossible; this phenomenon enables graphite to function as a promising anode for Na-ion batteries. In an effort to understand this unusual behavior, we investigate the solvated-Na-ion intercalation mechanism using in operando X-ray diffraction analysis, electrochemical titration, real-time optical observation, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The ultrafast intercalation is demonstrated in real time using millimeter-sized highly ordered pyrolytic graphite, in which instantaneous insertion of solvated-Na-ions occurs (in less than 2 s). The formation of various stagings with solvated-Na-ions in graphite is observed and precisely quantified for the first time. The atomistic configuration of the solvated-Na-ions in graphite is proposed based on the experimental results and DFT calculations. The correlation between the properties of various solvents and the Na ion co-intercalation further suggests a strategy to tune the electrochemical performance of graphite electrodes in Na rechargeable batteries. Broader contextThis study represents the most comprehensive work on the mechanism of guest ion-solvent co-intercalation in graphite forming ternary GICs, which has been poorly understood because of its complexity and difficulty in quantifying the intercalation of ion-solvent complexes compared with simple intercalation forming binary GICs, such as LiC 6 or KC 8 . Our results reveal unexplored co-intercalation mechanisms and the formation of ternary GICs in terms of the stoichiometry, staging structure, and solvated ion configuration. This work also advances our understanding of the correlation between the electrochemical properties and the players in the co-intercalation process; we demonstrate that the intercalation potential of solvated Na-ether complex ions into graphite is tunable by tailoring the length of the solvent species, which determines the thermodynamic stability of the intercalation products by screening the repulsion among charge-carrier ions. Our results will lead to the further advancement of graphite as a practically important potential anode for Na ion batteries and enrich the pool of electrode materials, which has been limited to the binary systems of guest ion-host materials to versatile ternary systems of guest ion-solvent-host materials for energy storage. † Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Experimental and computational details, graphite staging models, ex situ XRD analysis results, and supplementary discussions. See

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State‐of‐the‐art LiFePO4 technology has now opened the door for lithium ion batteries to take their place in large‐scale applications such as plug‐in hybrid vehicles. A high level of safety, significant cost reduction, and huge power generation are on the verge of being guaranteed for the most advanced energy storage system. The room‐temperature phase diagram is essential to understand the facile electrode reaction of LixFePO4 (0 < x < 1), but it has not been fully understood. Here, intermediate solid solution phases close to x = 0 and x = 1 have been isolated at room temperature. Size‐dependent modification of the phase diagram, as well as the systematic variation of lattice parameters inside the solid‐solution compositional domain closely related to the electrochemical redox potential, are demonstrated. These experimental results reveal that the excess capacity that has been observed above and below the two‐phase equilibrium potential is largely due to the bulk solid solution, and thus support the size‐dependent miscibility gap model.