The flammability of electrolytes is an important aspect of the thermal safety behavior of Li-ion batteries. Flash points (FPs) and self-extinguishing times (SETs) of 25 solvents (including carbonates, ethers, esters, lactones, dinitriles, a sulfone, and others), 3 solvent mixtures, and 15 electrolytes are presented. The FPs have been measured according to the Abel and Pensky-Martens closed-cup methods using 12 mL of sample and electric ignition. The SETs have been determined with the pure liquids, without any carrier substrates. A correlation of the FPs with the SETs, as well as with vapor pressures and boiling points is attempted. Furthermore, the effect of the addition of two non-flammable solvents [1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide and methyl nonafluorobutyl ether] and a flame-retardant additive (trimethyl phosphate) on both the SET and the FP of a carbonate-based electrolyte is discussed. As an alternative to their experimental determination, the FPs of the pure solvents have been calculated from other physical and chemical properties of the substance, and the FPs of the solvent mixtures and electrolytes from the FPs of their flammable constituents. Some of the models predict the FPs with an accuracy of ± 10 • C, which may be sufficient to estimate the flammability hazards for many applications. Within less than 25 years Li-ion batteries (LIBs) have become the battery system of choice for consumer electronics, automotive, and stationary applications. With the increasing circulation of LIBs and with the growth of cell size, safety -especially the thermal safety behavior -has become a focus of public interest.The inherent (thermal) safety of a cell is determined by the safety of each component as well as by the interactions between the single components. To obtain a complete picture, safety should be assessed on multiple levels. On a component level this includes tests of electrolyte flammability and thermal analysis (such as differential scanning calorimetry) of electrolytes and of electrodes without and with electrolyte. On a cell level this includes accelerated rate calorimetry, to determine how thermal effects created at the various cell components affect the overall heating of the cell, and standardized safety tests (such as hot-box, fire, nail penetration, crush tests, etc.) of cells, battery modules, and battery packs, to obtain information about the thermal behavior under abuse conditions. [1][2][3][4][5] One of the most critical cell components is the electrolyte, and only with safe electrolytes will it be possible to build safer LIBs and batteries beyond LIBs.6-9 The most commonly used electrolytes for LIBs are based on LiPF 6 and mixtures of cyclic and linear carbonate solvents. The linear carbonates, such as dimethyl carbonate (DMC), ethyl methyl carbonate (EMC), or diethyl carbonate (DEC), are required to keep the electrolyte viscosity low and the electrolyte conductivity high. Unfortunately, they are highly volatile and flammable and show flash points (FPs) around ro...

Beclomethasone dipropionate (BDP) is a potent pro-drug to beclomethasone (BOH) and is used in the treatment of chronic and acute respiratory disorders in the horse. The therapeutic dose of BDP (325 microg per horse) by inhalation results in very low plasma and urinary concentrations of BDP and its metabolites that pose a challenge to detection and confirmation by equine forensic laboratories. To solve this problem, a method involving the use of a liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) was developed for the detection, confirmation and quantification of the analytes in equine samples. Ammonium formate or acetate buffer added to LC mobile phase favored the formation of [M + H](+) ions from BDP and its metabolites, whereas formic acid led to the formation of sodium and potassium adduct ions ([M + Na](+), [M + K](+)) together with [M + H](+) ions. Acetonitrile, on the other hand, favored the formation of abundant solvent adduct ions [M + H + CH(3)CN](+) with the analytes under electrospray ionization (ESI) and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization conditions. In contrast, methanol formed much less solvent adduct ions than acetonitrile. The solvent adduct ions were thermally stable and could not be completely desolvated under the experimental conditions, but they were very fragile to collision-induced dissociation (CID). Interestingly, these solvent adduct ions were observed on a triple-quadrupole mass spectrometry but not on an ion trap instrument where helium used as a damping gas in the ion trap might cause the solvent adduct ions desolvated by collision. By CID studies on the [M + H](+) ions of BDP and its metabolites, their fragmentation paths were proposed. In equine plasma at ambient temperature over 2 h, BDP and B21P were hydrolyzed in part to B17P and BOH, respectively, but B17P was not hydrolyzed. Sodium fluoride added to equine plasma inhibited the hydrolysis of BDP and B21P. The matrix effect in ESI was evaluated in equine plasma and urine samples. The method involved the extraction of BDP and its metabolites from equine plasma and urine samples by methyl tert-butyl ether, resolution on a C(8) column with a mobile phase gradient consisting of methanol and ammonium formate (2 mmol l(-1), pH 3.4) and multiple reaction monitoring for the analytes on a triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer. The detection limit was 13 pg ml(-1) for BDP and B17P, 25 pg ml(-1) for BOH and 50 pg ml(-1) for B21P in plasma and 25 pg ml(-1) for BOH in urine. The method was successfully applied to the analysis of equine plasma and urine samples for the analytes following administration of BDP to horses by inhalation. B17P, the major and active metabolite of BDP, was detected and quantified in equine plasma up to 4 h post-administration by inhalation of a very low therapeutic dose (325 microg per horse) of BDP.

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Life-threatening disseminated tuberculosis developed in a 17-year-old girl who was treated with the TNF-α blocker adalimumab for refractory SAPHO syndrome. The patient presented to the emergency department with dyspnea and somnolence and within 2 h developed the clinical picture of a septic shock. In addition to this unusual presentation, she showed a complicated course with increasing cerebral granuloma formation in spite of adequate antimycobacterial treatment. Immune reconstitution after discontinuation of TNF blockade may contribute to this "paradoxical reaction." Possible implications for screening, diagnosis, and treatment of tuberculosis in children and adolescents receiving anti-TNF treatment are discussed.

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