Excessive Coverage Research Articles

Spatio-temporal heterogeneity and driving mechanism of ecosystem water use efficiency in the Loess Plateau, China

Study regionThe Loess Plateau, China Study focusThe trade-off between carbon uptake and water loss, characterized by ecosystem water use efficiency (WUE), deeply influences ecosystem sustainability. In this study, WUE was estimated based on GPP from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) product and ET simulated by the Priestley Taylor Jet Propulsion Laboratory (PT-JPL) model. The emerging hot spot analysis (EHSA) was used to comprehensively examine the spatio-temporal heterogeneity of WUE. Additionally, the Geodetector model was employed to identify the main drivers of WUE and quantify the interactive effects of drivers on WUE, focusing on different vegetation types. New hydrological insights for the regionResults indicated obvious spatial heterogeneity of WUE under different vegetation and hydro-climatic conditions. Significant increases in WUE occurred in sub-humid cropland and grassland areas that have experienced large-scale ecological restoration and agricultural intensification. By contrast, slight decreases in WUE were observed in semi-arid grassland areas, some of which were accompanied by intensifying cold spots. It was noteworthy that WUE in some hot spots with excessive vegetation coverage also showed a slight downward trend. Further, the WUE pattern in cropland/forests/grassland was dominated by the interaction of vegetation coverage (characterized by the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, NDVI) and precipitation/air temperature/vapor pressure deficit, with NDVI playing a leading role and hydro-climatic drivers playing a supporting role.

Exploring the Relationship between Data Sample Size and Traffic Flow Prediction Accuracy

Efficiently extracting and analyzing large urban traffic data, accurately predicting traffic conditions, and improving urban traffic management require careful selection of an appropriate data sample size. The suitable size of data sample assumes paramount importance in fostering sustainable transportation development. This paper investigates the relationship between traffic flow prediction performance and data sample size, considering data sample missing rates, duration, and road segment coverage. Real traffic flow data from 13 road sections in Changsha, China, are analyzed using the Decision Tree, Support Vector Machine, Gaussian Process Regression and Artificial Neural Network models. Some key findings include: Lower data sample loss rates improve prediction accuracy by capturing traffic flow patterns effectively, while higher loss rates decrease accuracy; an optimal data sample duration of around 7 days balances prediction accuracy and data stability, with longer durations providing more historical data but risking complexity; Broader road segment coverage gives a more comprehensive traffic flow information, but excessive coverage introduces noise and impacts the improvement of prediction accuracy. The results highlight the significant impact of data sample size on prediction performance. Enhancing reliability can be achieved by reducing data loss, selecting suitable durations, and considering appropriate road segment coverage, supporting improved traffic management and route planning.

Enhancing nitrate removal from small wetlands via regulating bacterial-algal symbiosis with macrophyte coverage

With increasing land resource constraints, wetlands, as ecological hotspots, are expected to enhance biogeochemical processes to mitigate nitrogen (N) pollution, particularly nitrate-nitrogen (NO3−-N). However, the interactions among bacteria, algae, and macrophytes in wetlands, which are crucial for N removal, remain largely unknown. This study explored how macrophyte coverage influences bacterial-algal interactions, shifting from mutualism to inhibition, thereby affecting N removal. Moderate coverage enhanced NO3−-N and total nitrogen (TN) removal (P < 0.05), which was correlated with increased microbial abundance (P < 0.05). This may have resulted from moderate algal photosynthesis, reduced physiological stress, and the expansion of ecological niches for microbes. Insufficient coverage promoted algal growth (chlorophyll-a > 31.8 μg·L−1), leading to increased competition for substrates and elevated pH, which further inhibited bacterial activity. Excessive coverage also inhibited bacterial activity by reducing illumination and oxidation-reduction potential. Consequently, insufficient and excessive coverage decreased N removal efficiencies by 2.7–15.7 % (NO3−-N) and 3.7–11.1 % (TN) while increasing methane emission potential by 1.4–6.9 times compared with moderate coverage. These findings offer insights into solving NO3−-N contamination using near-natural methods and balancing the ecological and practical considerations for small wetlands.

Precise soil coverage in potato planting through plastic film using real-time image recognition with YOLOv4-tiny

Planting potatoes through plastic film with incomplete or excessive soil coverage over seed holes significantly impairs yield. Existing covering methods rely solely on mechanical transmissions, leading to bulky and inconsistent soil coverage of the seed holes. This paper reports an innovative method using a precise soil covering device based on the YOLOv4-tiny real-time object detection system to accurately identify potato plastic film holes and cover them with soil. The system adopts a lightweight and high-precision detection scheme, balancing increased network depth with reduced computation. It can identify holes in the plastic film in real-time and with high accuracy. To verify the effectiveness of YOLOv4-tiny real-time object detection system, a precise soil covering device based on this detection system has been designed and applied to a double crank multi-rod hill-drop planter. Field tests revealed that the system's average accuracy rate for detecting holes is approximately 98%, with an average processing time of 15.15 ms per frame. This fast and accurate performance, combined with the device's robust real-time operation and anti-interference capabilities during soil covering, effectively reduce the problems of soil cover omission and repeated covering caused by existing mechanical transmission methods. The findings reported in this paper are valuable for the development of autonomous potato plastic film precise soil covering devices for commercial use.

Shot peening coverage effect on laser powder bed fused steel

Developing effective strategies for enhancing the damage tolerance of laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) components remains a formidable challenge in the disruptive additive manufacturing field. The typical shot-peening (SP) is a promising and efficient post-treatment procedure owing to its capability to introduce compressive residual stress, enhance the surface integrity, shrinkage the subsurface lack-of-fusion (LoF) defects of LPBF components. However, there is still a significant gap in understanding the appropriate utilization of the SP procedure to enhance fatigue performance, hindering its full potential in practical applications. This study systematically investigated the influence of surface coverage (150 %, 300 %, and 450 %) on surface characteristics, subsurface characteristics, and mechanical properties of LPBF 304L austenitic steel. Though evaluating the feasibility of severe shot peening and observing post-deformed microstructures, the process-microstructure-performance relationship of shot-peened LPBF austenitic steel was preliminarily established for the first time. The results indicated that increasing surface coverage up to a threshold (300 % in this work) could effectively enhance the strength and fatigue performance without significantly sacrificing ductility, primarily attributed to the increased gradient strain generated by the gradient deformation structures as well as the shrinkage of detrimental near-the-surface defects. The excessive surface coverage may be detrimental to ductility and fatigue performance, as it directly increases the severe plastic deformation and near-saturated micro-defects in the gradient deformation layer, substantially weakening the strain gradient's capability to accommodate dislocation flow during deformation. The findings suggested careful selection of shot peening coverage to balance enhanced mechanical properties and minimal introduction of detrimental defects.

Reprogramming Filamentous fd Viruses to Capture Copper Ions.

C-terminal truncated variants (A, VA, NVA, ANVA, FANVA and GFANVA) of our recently identified Cu(II) specific peptide "HGFANVA" were displayed on filamentous fd phages. Wild type fd-tet and engineered virus variants were treated with 100 mM Cu(II) solution at a final phage concentration of 1011 vir/ml and 1012 vir/ml. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) imaging before Cu(II) exposure showed ≈6-8 nm thick filamentous virus layer formation. Cu(II) treatment resulted in aggregated bundle-like assemblies with mineral deposition. HGFANVA phage formed aggregates with an excessive mineral coverage. As the virus concentration was 10-fold decreased, nanowire-like assemblies were observed for shorter peptide variants A, NVA and ANVA. Wild type fd phages did not show any mineral formation. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analyses revealed the presence of C and N peaks on phage organic material. Cu peak was only detected for engineered viruses. Metal ion binding of viruses was next investigated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) analyses. Engineered viruses were able to bind Cu(II) forming mineralized intertwined structures although no His (H) unit was displayed. Such genetically reprogrammed virus based biological materials can be further applied for bioremediation studies to achieve a circular economy.

Beyond the pandemic: understanding the perceived changes in mental health of the elderly population

This study aimed to describe the mental health of the elderly before and after the COVID-19 outbreak using a qualitative approach. Ten elderly people volunteered to participate in offline semi-structured interviews. The data was analyzed using the interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) technique. The results of our study mentioned the differences in the mental health of the elderly during the COVID-19 outbreak and after the COVID-19 outbreak. The elderly felt the difference in emotional terms, such as being more relieved and happier because activities returned to normal. The elderly feel calmer when using religion as religious coping to overcome psychological problems that arise during the COVID-19 outbreak. During the COVID-19 outbreak, elderly people still working also feel the impact on the family's economy, which compounds the problem. Excessive coverage on social media also helped make the elderly more afraid of COVID-19. The study's results can help improve older people's mental health after COVID-19 by understanding their experiences and finding good ways to cope. It suggests that future research should look at specific ways to support older people's mental health, taking into account their special challenges and the role of social media in causing fear and worry about COVID-19.

Morphological features of the acetabulum with coxa profunda in women: a retrospective observational study

BackgroundThe morphology of coxa profunda remains inadequately understood. However, knowledge about the characteristics of the acetabulum in coxa profunda can help to predict pelvic morphology in three dimensions based on radiographic findings, as well as help to diagnose and predict hip pathologies. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between the morphological characteristics of the pelvis and coxa profunda.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective analysis including women who had undergone unilateral total hip arthroplasty. Only those with normal hip joint morphology on the opposite side, as evidenced by anteroposterior pelvic radiography showing a distance of ≥ 2 mm between the ilioischial line and acetabular floor, were included. Five parameters related to acetabular anteversion, thickness, and the position of the ilioischial line were measured using axial computed tomography at the central hip joint. The coxa profunda group (n = 39) and control group (n = 34) were compared.ResultsThe mean acetabular anteversion angle was 12.5° ± 4° in the control group and 22.3° ± 5.6° in the coxa profunda group. The mean thickness from the acetabular fossa to the medial wall was 7.5 ± 1.7 mm in the control group and 3.9 ± 1.2 mm in the coxa profunda group. Furthermore, the bony region representing the ilioischial line was positioned more posteriorly in the coxa profunda group than it was in the control group.ConclusionOur findings suggest that coxa profunda in women is associated with anterior acetabular dysplasia and a thin acetabulum, in contrast to previous interpretations of excessive coverage. This insight suggests a conversion of coxa profunda from a finding of pincer-type femoroacetabular impingement to a finding of acetabular dysplasia, a revelation that also draws attention to cup positioning for total hip arthroplasty.

Polycation-functionalized interface enable in situ capturing of CO2 and filtering of proton for efficient C-N coupling toward highly selective urea electrosynthesis

Electrochemical co-reduction of CO2 and nitrate provides a novel route to convert waste emissions into value-added chemicals such as urea. However, at the actual reaction interface, the insufficient supply of CO2 reactants as well as the excessive coverage of proton and nitrate on the electrocatalyst surface usually lead to complex product distributions from individual hydrogen evolution or nitrate reduction as side reactions, instead of C-N coupling. Here, we rationally optimize this interface by polycation functionalization, forcing highly selective urea electrosynthesis. The abundant polyamine nodes within the functional layer are conductive to in situ capturing of CO2 and filtering of proton, which pertinently control the reagent concentration to promote the selective C-N coupling and inhibit the undesired side reactions. When this tailored interface is coupled with efficient electrocatalyst with neighboring active sites, the proof-of-concept system delivers a maximum urea generation yield rate of 1254.2 μg h−1 mg−1 along with a Faradaic efficiency of 83.4 %, as well as outstanding Nurea-selectivity of 91.3 % and Curea-selectivity of nearly 100 %, which is one of the most selective urea generation systems reported so far. This work provides new insights in regulating the catalysis microenvironment for the improvement of overall performance in electrochemical C-N coupling.

Mrežna diskriminacija u Hrvatskoj

In light of growing research on online misogyny and sexism, this study investigates the online discrimination faced by the first woman president of Croatia, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, who served from 2015 to 2020. Specifically, it examines the Facebook communication of the three leading Croatian news sites, as well as related readers’ comments, pertaining to two events that got excessive media coverage: Grabar-Kitarović’s appearance at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia and an educational video of the President reading Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi Longstocking to Croatian children in Sweden. In both cases, Grabar-Kitarović ventured beyond the safety of political discourse and entered what is often seen as a »slippery« territory for women politicians - a space of emotions and celebrity politics. An analysis of the media content established that the analyzed media outlets resorted to ridicule, sexism, and insults to report about Grabar-Kitarović on both occasions. A content analysis of related readers’ comments showed that she was the target of sexist discrimination and aggressive, even violent insults. However, discrimination was overall less present in the readers’ comments than in the media texts. Readers were generally less critical and more appreciative towards Grabar-Kitarović’s display of spontaneity and emotions than the media. This suggests that the informal setting of social media discussions may provide a less hostile environment for women to display their femininity, emotions and private persona compared to traditional media.

Rapid synthesis of high-purity molybdenum carbide with controlled crystal phases.

The synthesis of phase-pure carbide nanomaterials is crucial for understanding their structure-performance relationships, and for advancing their application in catalysis. Molybdenum carbides, in particular, have garnered increasing interest due to their Pt-like surface electronic properties and high catalytic activity. Traditional methods for synthesizing molybdenum carbide are often lengthy and energy-intensive, leading to an uncontrolled phase, low purity, and excessive carbon coverage, which hinder their catalytic performance improvement. This work introduces a novel pulsed Joule heating (PJH) technique that overcomes these limitations, enabling the controlled synthesis of high-purity molybdenum carbides (β-Mo2C, η-MoC1-x, and α-MoC1-x) within seconds by using MoOx/4-Cl-o-phenylenediamine as the hybrid precursor. The PJH method allows precise control over the diffusion of carbon species in the Mo-C system, resulting in a significantly improved phase purity of up to 96.89 wt%. Moreover, the electronic structure of platinum catalysts on molybdenum carbide was modulated through electron metal-support interaction (EMSI) between Pt and MoxC, and contributed to enhanced catalytic performance compared to carbon-supported Pt catalysts during the hydrogen evolution reaction. Overall, this work paves the way for efficient production of high-quality molybdenum carbide nanomaterials, and thus is expected to accelerate their industrial deployments in practical catalytic reactions.

A Robust Fuel Cell Operating on Lunar Water Derived Fuels

The space proven fuel cell technology will likely play a crucial role in the upcoming expansion of human presence into the solar system. In particular, polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells excel due to their high power-density, low weight and their ability to operate on in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) based fuels. Hydrogen fuel and oxygen can be derived from lunar water, which is believed to be trapped in permanently shadowed craters on the lunar poles. However, Colaprete A. et al. found that H2S and NH3 as well as smaller quantities of other sulfur compounds and hydrocarbons are detected alongside the water ice. These compounds are well known fuel impurities which cause reversible yet also irreversible damage to the platinum catalyst and other components of the membrane electrode assembly (MEA). Commercially available fuel cells on the other hand require highly purified fuels with contamination levels in the low ppb region. Thus, these impurities pose a profound problem, even if only a fraction of them is carried onwards to the hydrogen fuel and oxygen. Subsequent intensive purification processes are costly and require large amounts of energy – a process which could render the whole approach useless.As mentioned before, H2S and other sulphur compounds adsorb strongly to the platinum metal and irreversibly degrade its catalytic activity until performance drops to unusably low levels. This effect is directly related to the amount of available catalyst, since a doubling of the platinum loading leads to a two-fold reduced degradation. We hypothesize that the resilience of a fuel cell can not only be improved by increasing the amount of platinum, yet also by using the available platinum more effectively. A lot of the platinum remains inactive within a fuel cell electrode due to different effects like excessive ionomer coverage or particle agglomeration. With the so-called platinum utilization parameter the obtained fuel cell performance is related to the total platinum weight and thus can be used to rate how effective platinum is used. In our recently published review, we found that electrospun electrodes have the highest platinum utilization out of all compared fuel cell electrode manufacturing methods. Furthermore, electrospun electrodes are reportedly less prone to other degradation mechanisms like Ostwald ripening. In this ongoing work, we aim to fabricate MEAs with fully electrospun electrodes and benchmark them against a commercial alternative. The electrodes will be operated with contaminated gases in half cell as well as full cell degradation experiments. The outcome of this research aims to support the exploration community in designing robust energy systems on the moon by investigating the effect of lunar contaminants on fuel cell systems.

Three-Dimensional Iterative Enhancement for Coverage Hole Recovery in Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks

The efficient coverage of underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs) has become increasingly important because of the scarcity of underwater node resources. Complex underwater environments, water flow forces, and undulating seabed reduce the coverage effect of underwater nodes, even leading to coverage holes in UWSNs. To solve the problems of uneven coverage distribution and coverage holes, a three-dimensional iterative enhancement algorithm is proposed for UWSN coverage hole recovery using intelligent search followed by virtual force. Benefiting from biological heuristic search algorithms, improved particle swarm optimization is applied for node pre-coverage. With the change in iteration times, the adaptive inertia weight, acceleration factor, and node position are constantly updated. To avoid excessive coverage holes caused by search falling into local optimum, underwater nodes are considered as particles in the potential field whose virtual forces are calculated to guide nodes towards higher coverage positions. In addition, based on the optimal node location obtained by the proposed algorithm, the monitoring area is divided based on the clustering idea. The underwater routing protocol DBR based on depth information is subsequently used to optimize node residual energy, and its average is calculated comprehensively and compared with the other three coverage algorithms using the DBR routing protocol. Based on the experimental data, after 100 iterations, the coverage rates for BES, 3D-IVFA, DABVF, and the proposed algorithm are 83.28%, 88.85%, 89.31%, and 91.36%, respectively. Moreover, the proposed algorithm is further verified from the aspects of different node numbers, coverage efficiency, node movement trajectory, coverage hole, and average residual energy of nodes, which provides conditions for resource development and scientific research in marine environments.

Giving more detailed information about health insurance encourages consumers to choose compromise options.

To investigate how the provision of additional information about the health events and procedures covered by a healthcare plan affect the level of coverage chosen by young adults taking their first full time job. University students were recruited for a study at two behavioral laboratories (one located at the University of Toronto and the other located at INSEAD-Sorbonne University in Paris) in which they imagine they are making choices about the healthcare coverage associated with the taking a new job in Chicago, Illinois. Every participant made choices in four categories: Physician Care, Clinical Care, Hospital Care, and Dental Care. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: Low Detail or High Detail coverage information and they chose between three levels of coverage: Basic, Enhanced, and Superior. The study took place in March 2017 with 120 students in Toronto and 121 students in Paris. The provision of more detailed information about the health events and procedures covered by a healthcare plan leads to a compromise effect in which participants shift their choices significantly towards Enhanced (moderate coverage) from Basic (low coverage) and Superior (high coverage). The compromise effect was observed at both locations; however, Paris participants choose significantly higher levels of coverage than Toronto participants. Providing more detail to employees about the health events and procedures covered by a healthcare plan will increase the fraction of employees who choose the intermediate level of coverage. It is beyond the scope of this study to conclude whether this is good or bad; however, in a context where employees gravitate to either insufficient or excessive coverage, providing additional detail may reduce these tendencies.

COVID-19 Infodemic and Impacts on the Mental Health of Older People: Cross-sectional Multicenter Survey Study

Background The COVID-19 pandemic received widespread media coverage due to its novelty, an early lack of data, and the rapid rise in deaths and cases. This excessive coverage created a secondary “infodemic” that was considered to be a serious public and mental health problem by the World Health Organization and the international scientific community. The infodemic particularly affected older individuals, specifically those who are vulnerable to misinformation due to political positions, low interpretive and critical analysis capacity, and limited technical-scientific knowledge. Thus, it is important to understand older people’s reaction to COVID-19 information disseminated by the media and the effect on their lives and mental health. Objective We aimed to describe the profile of exposure to COVID-19 information among older Brazilian individuals and the impact on their mental health, perceived stress, and the presence of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Methods This cross-sectional, exploratory study surveyed 3307 older Brazilians via the web, social networks, and email between July 2020 and March 2021. Descriptive analysis and bivariate analysis were performed to estimate associations of interest. Results Major proportions of the 3307 participants were aged 60 to 64 years (n=1285, 38.9%), female (n=2250, 68.4%), and married (n=1835, 55.5%) and self-identified as White (n=2364, 71.5%). Only 295 (8.9%) had never started or completed a basic education. COVID-19 information was mainly accessed on television (n=2680, 81.1%) and social networks (n=1943, 58.8%). Television exposure was ≥3 hours in 1301 (39.3%) participants, social network use was 2 to 5 hours in 1084 (32.8%) participants, and radio exposure was ≥1 hour in 1223 (37%) participants. Frequency of exposure to social networks was significantly associated with perceived stress (P=.04) and GAD (P=.01). A Bonferroni post hoc test revealed significantly different perceived stress in participants who were exposed to social networks for 1 hour (P=.04) and those who had no exposure (P=.04). A crude linear regression showed that “some” social media use (P=.02) and 1 hour of exposure to social media (P&lt;.001) were associated with perceived stress. Adjusting for sociodemographic variables revealed no associations with this outcome variable. In a crude logistic regression, some social media use (P&lt;.001) and 2 to 5 hours of exposure to social media (P=.03) were associated with GAD. Adjusting for the indicated variables showed that some social network use (P&lt;.001) and 1 hour (P=.04) and 2 to 5 hours (P=.03) of exposure to social media were associated with GAD. Conclusions Older people, especially women, were often exposed to COVID-19–related information through television and social networks; this affected their mental health, specifically GAD and stress. Thus, the impact of the infodemic should be considered during anamnesis for older people, so that they can share their feelings about it and receive appropriate psychosocial care.

Engineering nanointerfaces of Cu-based catalysts for balancing activity and stability of reverse water-gas-shift reaction

The strong metal support interaction (SMSI) is an important concept in heterogeneous catalysis and has been widely used to stabilize metal nanoparticles by inducing nanointerfaces between metal and support. Although many considerable signs of progress have been achieved in the SMSI establishment, the control of the nanointerfaces is barely studied, leading to inevitably sacrificed catalytic activity due to the excessive coverage. Herein, we investigated multiple strategies to effectively regulate nanointerfaces from different aspects, such as support composition, parameters of Cu preparation, pre-treatments and reaction conditions, to balance the activity and stability of Cu/TiO2 catalysts over reverse water-gas-shift (RWGS) reaction. It reveals that only Zn doping in TiO2 support can suppress the formation of nanointerfaces during reduction treatments due to the restraint of both TiO2 reducibility and electron transfer from TiO2 to Cu. The dynamic evolution of nanointerfaces is observed with the RWGS reaction conditions and finally reaches a stable state. The coverage of Cu that supported on the Zn-modified TiO2 significantly declined, resulting in a 44% increment in catalytic activity without sacrificing their stability at 700 °C. The proposed strategies on the nanointerfaces regulation can provide guidelines for balancing the activity and stability of catalysts from the aspects of catalyst design and conditions engineering.

Factors Related to Psychological Distress in Suicide Prevention Supporters during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Psychological distress and related factors in suicide prevention supporters during the COVID-19 pandemic were clarified. A web-based survey for supporters from helplines or psychiatric institutions was conducted from May to July 2021. It included items about profession, stress and anxiety, and the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale. 818 participants were analyzed. Psychological distress was significantly higher among healthcare workers in psychiatric institutions than among helpline volunteers. The factor most related to psychological distress in both professions was insufficient rest with overwork. Distress in helpline volunteers was related to their lack of ability to support people with suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts, excessive media coverage related to COVID-19, and trouble dealing with complainers. Distress in healthcare workers was related to their lack of ability to provide sufficient support to their clients due to infection prevention measures. Psychological distress among suicide prevention supporters during the pandemic has been affected by overwork, the fact that helpline volunteers cannot be trained in suicide prevention, and the fact that healthcare workers can only provide insufficient support to their clients due to infection prevention measures. To maintain suicide prevention during pandemics, it is necessary to implement measures that are tailored to the factors of psychological distress in supporters.

Uneven phosphoric acid interfaces with enhanced electrochemical performance for high-temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cells.

Ultrahigh mass transport resistance and excessive coverage of the active sites introduced by phosphoric acid (PA) are among the major obstacles that limit the performance of high-temperature polymer fuel cells, especially compared to their low-temperature counterparts. Here, an alternative strategy of electrode design with fibrous networks is developed to optimize the redistribution of acid within the electrode. Via structural tailoring with varied electrospinning parameters, uneven migration of PA with dispersed droplets is observed, subverting the immersion model of conventional porous electrode. Combining with experimental and calculation results, the microscaled uneven PA interfaces could not only provide extra diffusion pathways for oxygen but also minimize the thickness of PA layers. This electrode architecture demonstrates enhanced electrochemical performance of oxygen reduction within the PA phase, resulting in a 28% enhancement of the maximum power density for the optimally designed electrode as cathode compared to that of a conventional one.

Prevalence, Predictors and Mechanisms of Steam Pops in Ablation Index-Guided High-Power Pulmonary Vein Isolation.

Despite the good cooling effect of the contact-force porous catheter, the risk of steam pops (SP) remains one of the major concerns in high-power circumferential pulmonary vein isolation (CPVI). This study aimed to investigate the prevalence, predictors and possible mechanisms of SPs in CPVI. Patients experiencing SPs in de novo high-power CPVI were 1:3 matched by non-SP patients with gender, age (±5 years) and left atrial diameter (LAD) (±5 mm) to compare the ablation parameters of SP and non-SP lesions. Catheter tip displacement (Tipdisp) was compared between "edge-of-ridge" and "PV-side-of-ridge" placement at anterior and roof segments of the left pulmonary vein (PV). SPs occurred in 11 (1.57%) of 701 patients, including 6 at the antero-superior left PV, 2 at the roof, 1 at the postero-superior left PV, 1 at the bottom left PV and 1 at the antero-superior aspect of the right PV. There was significantly shorter RF delivery duration (13.9 ± 6.3 vs. 23.3 ± 6.0 s), greater Δimpedance (17.6 ± 6.7 vs. 6.7 ± 4.1 Ω) and lower ablation index (357.7 ± 68.8 vs. 430.2 ± 30.7) in SP patients than those in non-SP patients. Δimpedance &gt;12 Ω during ablation could predict SP occurrence. Tipdisp was greater in "PV-side-of-ridge" than that in "edge-of -ridge" placement (3.2 ± 1.6 mm vs. 2.0 ± 0.8 mm) at antero-superior and roof segments of the left PV. The prevalence of SP was 1.57% in high-power CPVI procedures, with the most common site at the antero-superior segment of the left PV. Δimpedance was a significant predictor of SP occurrence. "PV-side-of-ridge" ablation at antero-superior and roof segments of left PV might predispose to SP occurrence due to excessive tissue coverage.

Physician Burnout in Pediatric Gastroenterology.

Physicians are prone to burnout which can negatively affect the quality of patient care and lead to medical errors. Burnout can also affect physicians by impacting their personal relationships, their sense of career fulfillment, and job satisfaction. The North American Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) formed a taskforce to investigate burnout among pediatric gastroenterologists. A 35-item electronic survey was developed to collect demographic and practice information and characterize the well-being of pediatric gastroenterologists. Burnout was assessed employing 2 single-item measures adapted from the Maslach Burnout Inventory. The survey was distributed to NASPGHAN members 3 times from February 2020 to March 2020. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square, and Fisher exact tests were used. One thousand seven hundred ninety-one e-mails were successfully sent and 408 participants (22.7%) returned surveys. A total of 28.8% reported high risk for emotional exhaustion, 17.5% reported high risk for depersonalization, and 33% reported overall burnout. Participants 44 years of age or younger reported significantly more burnout than those 45 years and older ( P = 0.018). Contributors to high burnout identified included increased patient load/demands, insufficient nursing support, electronic health record (EHR) use, insufficient administrative staff, excessive on-call coverage, and more complex patients. Forty-four percent reported not having enough time for their personal life including family. A total of 16.2% of participants reported that they would not choose to be a pediatric gastroenterologist again. Pediatric gastroenterologists are at risk for emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and overall burnout. Strategies to prevent physician burnout should be implemented as soon as feasibly possible to improve individual mental health and patient care.