Fast Phase Research Articles

Phase Transition Behavior of Biphasic Systems Affected By the Charge-Transfer Process

Lithium-ion batteries have attracted attention with the development of electric vehicles and the introduction of renewable energy. For use in these applications, lithium-ion batteries with fast charge and discharge acceptability are particularly important. The charge and discharge reactions of lithium-ion batteries are limited by several factors such as ion and electron transfer in the electrode and electrolyte, charge transfer at the electrode-electrolyte interface, and reaction rates during phase transitions. It has been reported that the rate limiting factor of the biphasic materials is the phase boundary rearrangement, and the activation energy of such phase transition has been investigated in previous studies. However, there are variations in the reported activation energy values even for the same electrode material. Since there are many unexplored factors that affect the phase transition rate, we have examined the effect of these factors on the phase transition rate using LiFePO4as model electrodes. In our previous presentation, we showed that the phase transition behavior of LiFePO4 electrode changes depending on the electrolyte, suggesting the influence of the electrode/electrolyte interface. (1) In this presentation, we report the relationship between the activation energy of the biphasic reaction and that of the solvation/desolvation of the electrolyte measured using a four-probe cell (2), and the effect on the phase transition behavior when the transferred ion species is changed from Li+ to Na+. A non-aqueous-type three-electrode cell was composed of the LiFePO4 as a working electrode, lithium foils as a counter and reference electrodes, and a 1 mol dm–3 solution of LiPF6 in ethylene carbonate and diethyl carbonate (1:1 v/v) as an electrolyte solution and was constructed in an Ar-filled glove box. An aqueous-type three-electrode cell was composed of the LiFePO4 as a working electrode, a Ni wire as a counter electrode, Ag/AgCl/sat’d KCl aq as a reference electrode, and a 0.5 mol dm–3 Li2SO4 aqueous solution as an electrolyte solution. The charging–discharging behavior was firstly measured to confirm the cell characteristics and then the potential step measurement was employed. The Avrami plots based on the potential step results (3) were used to obtain the reaction rate constant k. Further experiments at different temperatures were performed and the Arrhenius plots were drawn to calculate the activation energy of the phase transition. (3) The activation energy for solvation/desolvation of the electrolyte was calculated by making a four-probe cell with the counter electrode and reference electrode symmetrically arranged across the solid electrolyte Li2OAl2O3SiO2P2O5TiO2 (OHARA) and measuring AC impedance spectra at different temperatures. For the Na+ system, the LiFePO4 electrode was electrochemically delithiated to produce FePO4, and then Na+ was inserted into FePO4 to obtain NaFePO4 in the aqueous electrolyte. Electrochemical measurements were performed with the obtained electrode. The potential step measurements were performed with the aqueous and non-aqueous electrolyte cells. Their activation energies were obtained from the Arrhenius plots with the k values and compared. The activation energy measured in the aqueous electrolytes was smaller than that measured in the nonaqueous electrolyte. The activation energy for the solvation/desolvation processes was also smaller for the aqueous electrolytes system, suggesting that the charge transfer process between electrode and electrolyte is involved in the rate-determining process of the phase transition. Next, we performed the same experiment by changing the mobile ion species from Li+ to Na+. The activation energy for Na+extraction was nearly zero, suggesting very fast phase transition. If the volume change corresponding to the phase transition limits the rate, large Na+ extraction would lead to high activation energy than Li+ extraction. The tendency was the opposite, suggesting that the weak interaction of Na+ and water affects the whole phase transition.References(1) C. Yamamoto, A. Ikezawa and H. Arai, The 242nd Electrochemical Society Meeting, A02-0130 (2022).(2) Z. Ogumi., Electrochemistry, 78, 319 (2010).(3) J. Allen, T.R. Jow, and J. Wolfenstine, Chem. Mater., 19, 2108-2011 (2007).(4) Y. Orikasa, T. Maeda, Y. Koyama, T. Minato, H. Murayama, K. Fukuda, H. Tanida, H. Arai, E. Matsubara, Y. Uchimoto, and Z. Ogumi, J. Electrochem. Soc. 160, A3061-A3065 (2013). Figure 1

Arsenic sorption and oxidation by natural manganese-oxide-enriched soils: Reaction kinetics respond to varying environmental conditions

Manganese-oxides are some of the strongest oxidants and sorbents in the environment, which impact many geochemical processes. However, nearly all our understanding of manganese-oxides’ reaction kinetics is based on laboratory-synthesized minerals. This study quantifies the oxidative kinetics and adsorptive capacity of five soils rich in pedogenic manganese- and iron-oxides through arsenite oxidation batch reactions over a range of pHs and temperatures to mimic diverse environmental conditions. The two A horizons were less reactive and enriched in manganese(IV), compared to the B horizons, particularly the subsoil containing the manganese-rich wad material. The reaction kinetics fit a pseudo-first-order reaction with distinct fast and slow phases. The baseline reactions were pH 7.2 at 23 °C. Adjusting pH to 4.5 or 9.0 increased the reaction rates. Decreasing the temperature to 4.0 °C reduced the reaction kinetics, while raising the temperature to 40 °C increased the arsenite oxidation rate. pH and temperature changes alter the reaction kinetics due to shifts related to the point of zero charge, the total system energy, and surface passivation from adsorbing arsenic and manganese species. Synchrotron X-ray fluorescence mapping indicates arsenic only penetrates the surficial layers of most manganese-oxide-containing nodules found in the soil. After the arsenite oxidation reaction in the pedogenically weathered subsoil, X-ray absorption spectroscopy demonstrates significant differences in the average manganese oxidation number between the nodules’ outer layers compared to the soil matrix and nodule centers. The kinetic and sorption parameters give critical insight into determining the mobility and species of arsenic and other redox-sensitive contaminants in manganese-containing environmental systems over appropriate timescales.

Weak nystagmus in the dark persists for months after acute unilateral vestibular loss.

Weak nystagmus with fixation removed can be seen both in normal individuals and in recovery from a unilateral vestibular insult, thus its clinical significance is unclear in patients with dizziness. We thus sought to compare features of nystagmus at various stages following unilateral vestibular loss (UVL). We enrolled thirty consecutive patients after acute UVL with impaired vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) gain. The patients were allocated into three groups according to time from onset of symptoms: acute (1-7 days), subacute (8-30 days), and chronic (>30 days). Patients underwent video-oculography (with and without fixation) and video head impulse testing (vHIT) to determine VOR gain. We examined the relationships amongst SPV, VOR gain, and time from symptom onset across groups. There were 11, 10, and 9 patients in the acute, subacute, and chronic stages of UVL, respectively. With visual fixation, only 8 patients (26.7%) demonstrated nystagmus, all from the acute group. With fixation removed, 26 patients (86.7%) exhibited spontaneous nystagmus, including 90.9%, 90%, and 77.8% of the patients from the acute, subacute, and chronic groups, respectively. Horizontal nystagmus was paralytic (i.e., fast phase contralesional) in 25 (96.7%) cases. Horizontal SPV was negatively correlated with logarithm of time from onset to examination (r = -0.48, p = 0.007) and weakly negatively correlated with ipsilesional VOR gain (r = -0.325, p = 0.08). In the subacute or chronic stages of UVL, paralytic nystagmus with fixation removed persisted at a low intensity. Therefore, weak nystagmus in the dark may have diagnostic value in chronic dizziness.

Cooling Effect on Nano Eutectoid Phase Formation of Hypereutectic Zn-Al Alloy

To understand the nano phase formation, cooling experiments of a hypereutectic Zn-Al alloy containing 6 wt% of Al are carried out under two different cooling rates of 0.04 and 10.00 °C/s. The applied cooling rates significantly influence the phase change behavior of the investigated alloy. The liquidus temperature (TN) for the nucleation of the primary phase decreases from 390.3 to 382.9 °C, and the undercooling increases from 0.7 to 8.1 °C, as the cooling rate rises from 0.04 to 10 °C/s. The eutectic and eutectoid temperatures decrease from 381.5, 277.7 to 375.6 and 267.6 °C, respectively, when the cooling rate increases from 0.04 to 10.00 °C/s. The SEM and EDS analyses reveal that the solidified alloy contains the primary γ-ZnAl phase, the eutectic β-Zn phase, and the eutectoid α-Al and eutectoid β-Zn phases. The fast phase change and transformation caused by rapid cooling results in the formation of nano eutectoid phases and fine microstructure.

A comparison of three different work to rest periods during intermittent sprint training on maintaining sprint effort performance

Background/objectivesTeam sports are characterised by repeated maximal intensity bursts of activity, requiring significant energy contribution from the phosphagen pathways. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of different rest periods on repeated maximal intensity efforts. MethodsThe effect of three different recovery periods (60 s, 90 s and 120 s) during a 10 × six-seconds intermittent sprint training protocol performed on a cycle ergometer was investigated. Thirteen part-time female athletes from two sports, Rugby Sevens and Netball competing for their state participated in the study. Peak Power (PPO), Mean Power (MPO), “total work” in the form of calorie expenditure, performance decrement, repetitions over 95% PPO, blood lactate, and RPE were recorded. ResultsThere was a significant effect of condition on MPO and calorie expenditure (p < 0.050). MPO was significantly lower for 60 s compared to 90 s (710.4 vs 734.4 W, ES = 0.27–0.42) and 120 s (710.4 vs 743.3 W, ES = 0.36–0.47). Calorie expenditure was significantly lower for 60 s compared to 90 s (4.41 vs 4.56 cal, ES = 0.25–0.46) and 120 s (4.41 vs 4.59 cal, ES = 0.40–0.48). There was a significant effect of time (60 s 11.7, 90 s 11.1.120 s 10.9 mmol/L, p < 0.010) but not condition (p = 0.617) for blood lactate accumulation, and a significant difference in session RPE between 60 and both 90 s and 120 s (60 s 15.5, 90 s 14.2. p = 0.034 120 s 13.9, p = 0.039). ConclusionShorter recovery durations resulted in decreased mean power and calorie expenditure, but higher RPE when compared to longer recovery periods. All three recovery periods may have fallen between the fast and slow phases of PCr resynthesis of approximately 20 and 180 s resulting in partial but not complete recovery. Total training time should be a consideration when determining what protocol to implement.

Mn Doping and P Vacancy Induced Fast Phase Reconstruction of FeP for Enhanced Electrocatalytic Oxygen Evolution Reaction in Alkaline Seawater.

Due to the shortage of pure water resources, seawater electrolysis is a promising strategy to produce green hydrogen energy. To avoid chlorine oxidation reactions (ClOR) and the production of more corrosive hypochlorite, enhancing OER electrocatalyst activity is the key to solving the above problem. Considering that transition metal phosphides (TMPs) are promising OER eletrocatalysts for seawater splitting, a method to regulate the electronic structure of FeP by introducing Mn heteroatoms and phosphorus vacancy on it (Mn-FePV) is developed. As an OER electrocatalyst in seawater solution, the synthesized Mn-FePV achieves extremely low overpotentials (η500=376, η1000=395mV). In addition, the Pt/C||Mn-FePV couple only requires the voltage of 1.81V to drive the current density of 1000mAcm-2 for overall seawater splitting. The density functional theory (DFT) calculation shows that Mn-FePV (0.21e-) has more charge transfer number compared with FeP (0.17e-). In-situ Raman analysis shows that phosphorus vacancy and Mn doping can synergistically regulate the electronic structure of FeP to induce rapid phase reconstruction, further improving the OER performance of Mn-FePV. The new phase species of FeOOH is confirmed to can enhance the adsorption kinetics of OER intermediates.

Fast Fourier ptychographic quantitative phase microscopy for in vitro label-free imaging.

Quantitative phase microscopy (QPM) is indispensable in biomedical research due to its advantages in unlabeled transparent sample thickness quantification and obtaining refractive index information. Fourier ptychographic microscopy (FPM) is among the most promising QPM methods, incorporating multi-angle illumination and iterative phase recovery for high-resolution quantitative phase imaging (QPI) of large cell populations over a wide field of-view (FOV) in a single pass. However, FPM is limited by data redundancy and sequential acquisition strategies, resulting in low imaging efficiency, which in turn limits its real-time application in in vitro label-free imaging. Here, we report a fast QPM based on Fourier ptychography (FQP-FPM), which uses an optimized annular downsampling and parallel acquisition strategy to minimize the amount of data required in the front end and reduce the iteration time of the back-end algorithm (3.3% and 4.4% of conventional FPM, respectively). Theoretical and data redundancy analyses show that FQP-FPM can realize high-throughput quantitative phase reconstruction at thrice the resolution of the coherent diffraction limit by acquiring only ten raw images, providing a precondition for in vitro label-free real-time imaging. The FQP-FPM application was validated for various in vitro label-free live-cell imaging. Cell morphology and subcellular phenomena in different periods were observed with a synthetic aperture of 0.75 NA at a 10× FOV, demonstrating its advantages and application potential for fast high-throughput QPI.

Robust frame synchronization for continuous-variable quantum key distribution with coherent states.

In a practical continuous variable quantum key distribution (CVQKD) system, frame synchronization is crucial for its operation, especially in conditions of low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and phase drift. This paper introduces a robust frame synchronization scheme for CVQKD systems that only utilizes quantum signals. The proposed scheme effectively employs randomly selected segments of quantum signals to achieve frame synchronization, eliminating the need for additional modulation. The performance of this scheme applied in a local local oscillator scenario is thoroughly analyzed through numerical simulations. The results demonstrate that the proposed scheme is capable of withstanding low SNR and arbitrary slow phase drift, as well as fast phase drift originates from two independent lasers, while also slightly improving the secret key rate compared to the scheme using inserted synchronization frames. These findings validate the feasibility of implementing the proposed scheme for long-distance CVQKD in practical scenarios.

Fast phase retrieval for broadband attosecond pulse characterization.

Efficient characterization method for broadband attosecond pulses has become more and more essential, since attosecond pulses with bandwidth spanning few-hundreds electron-volts have been generated. Here we propose a fast phase retrieval algorithm for broadband attosecond pulse characterization with an omega oscillation filtering technique. We introduce a new error function to improve the accuracy of the retrieved phases. More importantly, it can be solved by the steepest descent methods with iterative algorithm, which is much faster than genetic algorithm adopted previously. An experimental spectrogram for isolated attosecond pulses with photon energy covering 52-127 eV and a pulse width of 71 as was successfully retrieved with this method as demonstrated. The proposed technique will help provide real-time feedback on atto-chirp compensation for ultrashort isolated attosecond pulse generation.

Magnetic reconnection during sawteeth crashes

Sawteeth oscillations are periodic relaxations of the core plasma density and temperature in tokamaks. The rise of the temperature due to external heating is terminated by the crash phase, which involves magnetic reconnection. This is the case of fast magnetic reconnection in collisionless plasmas (Lundquist number S≥108) with a strong guide field. (The toroidal magnetic field in a tokamak is a few orders larger compared to the reconnected helical field.) Experimental measurements show non-linear behavior before and during the crash phase. Simplified single-fluid models are not able to explain the reconnection dynamics during the crash, and two-fluid effects have to be considered. In this case, numerical simulations give good agreement with the observations for the crash duration. At the same time, the present simulations explain experimentally observed phenomena only partially, and several questions remain an area of active research: evolution during the crash, the onset of the fast phase, the existence of the post-cursors, the degree of stochasticity, and others. This overview paper summarizes the current understanding of the crash process, highlights remaining problems, and shows connections to magnetic reconnection research in other plasmas.

Theoretical simulation and mechanisms of SmNiO3-based phase change metamaterial for mid-infrared dynamic thermal control

Dynamic thermal emission control has gained increasing attention across diverse fields. Among phase change materials (PCMs), SmNiO3 has attracted many interests because of its fast phase transition and non-volatile properties. However, constructing an emissivity modulation metamaterial with angle stability performance is still rather challenging. In this work, we propose three kinds of SmNiO3-based metamaterials for mid-infrared emissivity dynamic modulation, specifically a trapezoidal metamaterial consisting of alternating SmNiO3 and Si multi-layer thin films and two modified grating metastructures, realizing an average emissivity modulation Δεaver of 0.42–0.45 in 5–16 µm. It is confirmed that the magnetic resonance stimulated inside the metamaterial is because of the slow-light effect. This work provides theoretical fundamentals for the design of dynamic thermal control metamaterials and benefits applications in the fields of infrared emission modulation.

Independent Fast Phase Shifting Transformer: A Flexible and High-Precision Power Flow Controller

Independent Fast Phase Shifting Transformer: A Flexible and High-Precision Power Flow Controller

Highly efficient natural deep eutectic solvent-based liquid-liquid microextraction and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for selective determination of inorganic selenium species in nut samples

A novel method involving the use of a hydrophobic natural deep eutectic solvent (NADES) in the vortex-assisted liquid-liquid microextraction technique based on the solidification of floating NADES for inorganic Se speciation analysis was developed. In this work, Se(IV) species was selectively complexed with ammonium pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate (APDC) and extracted with 50 μL of the NADES thymol:decanoic acid (THY:DA) (1:2) followed by fast phase separation upon freezing. Se(VI) species remaining in the aqueous phase was directly determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) while total inorganic Se concentration was determined by direct analysis of the acidic extract originated from the samples. Therefore, Se(IV) was calculated by subtracting the concentration of Se(VI) from the total inorganic Se concentration. Extraction conditions such as pH, sample volume, and type and volume of NADES were optimized, yielding an extraction efficiency of 99.6% for Se(IV). Limits of detection of 0.31 μg L−1 for Se(IV) and 0.24 μg L−1 for Se(VI), relative standard deviations of 3.5% for Se(IV) and 3.0% for Se(VI) and a linear range of 0.78–1000 μg L−1 were obtained. This work reports the first application of the NADES THY:DA (1:2) for the separation and determination of Se species in complex matrix samples such as almond, hazel nut, peanut, walnut, cashew nut, pecan nut and Brazil nut.

Iodine density mapping for the diagnosis of acute bowel ischemia using fast kV-switching dual-energy CT

PurposeTo evaluate the diagnostic capabilities of a supplementary color ramped iodine density map compared to virtual monoenergetic images (VMIs) at 74 keV in the diagnosis of acute bowel ischemia (ABI).MethodsData for this study were prospectively gathered and retrospectively evaluated. Patients referred to the Department of Diagnostic Radiology between October 2020 and August 2022 on the suspicion of ABI and underwent surgery < 12 h following fast kV-switching venous phase abdominal dual-energy CT (DECT) were consecutively included. Images were evaluated by two board-certified radiologists and two radiology residents. First round included only 74 keV VMIs resembling conventional 120 kVp images, and the second round included a supplementary iodine density map. Readers were asked to register presence of ABI as well as their confidence in their diagnosis based on a 5-point Likert scale. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) were calculated for each observer with the surgical findings as the gold-standard. McNemar’s and Wilcoxon signed-rank test were used to compare registrations and diagnostic confidence across assessment rounds.ResultsA total of 29 patients resulting in 31 DECT scans were included. Fourteen cases of ischemic/necrotic bowel were reported following surgery. Sensitivity and NPV were decreased with the use of supplementary iodine map images compared to 120 kVp-like images without supplementary iodine map images for three of four observers (round 1 range: 71.4–92.9% and 78.0–94.8%; round 2 range: 57.1–78.6% and 70.1–83.3%, respectively), while specificity and PPV were increased for three of four observers (round 1 range: 64.7–94.1% and 67.4–93.1%; round 2 range: 88.2–94.1% and 73.8–91.1%, respectively). However, no significant difference in ABI diagnosis or diagnostic confidence was found (p-value range: 0.07–1.00 and 0.23–0.58, respectively).ConclusionNo significant difference for the diagnosis of ABI was found using supplementary iodine mapping. Our study may suggest a trend of increased specificity and decreased sensitivity, hence, the use of supplementary iodine mapping should be carefully considered.

VEAD: Variance profile Exploitation for Anomaly Detection in real-time IoT data streaming

The explosion of online streaming services in the Internet-of-Things (IoT) ecosystem poses new difficulties in detecting anomalies in real-time and continuous data. The IoT data anomalies are classified into long-term and short-term, with unique characteristics that make it difficult to develop a common detection mechanism for both. The existing techniques require excessive training data and suffer from high variability. This paper overcomes these challenges by proposing a Variance profile Exploitation for Anomaly Detection (VEAD) scheme using discrete wavelet transform and k-means clustering. VEAD is initialized by a fast training phase with a single data segment, from which a sensor variance profile is created. This variance profile reflects the degree of deviation in the collected data from different sensors at a specific time period and is continuously updated by integrating new data segments for effective anomaly detection. Overlapping data collection in the detection phase shows correlations among consecutive data segments, leading to improved detection accuracy (ACC). The Intel Berkeley Research Lab dataset with injected synthetic anomalies is used to perform numerical experiments. A comparative performance evaluation with state-of-the-art methods confirms the effectiveness of VEAD in achieving a higher ACC and a lower false-positive rate (FPR). Notably, 95% and 97% ACCs are achieved in detecting long-term and short-term anomalies, respectively. The high specificity of VEAD is also revealed by the low FPR of at most 2% in all cases. The low computational complexity and fast anomaly detection make VEAD suitable for deployment in live systems with massive data streams.

Gut microbes modulate (p)ppGpp during a time-restricted feeding regimen.

Mammals do not eat continuously, instead concentrating their feeding to a restricted portion of the day. This behavior presents the mammalian gut microbiota with a fluctuating environment with consequences for host-microbiome interaction, infection risk, immune response, drug metabolism, and other aspects of health. We demonstrate that in mice, gut microbes elevate levels of an intracellular signaling molecule, (p)ppGpp, during the fasting phase of a time-restricted feeding regimen. Disabling this response in a representative human gut commensal species significantly reduces colonization during this host-fasting phase. This response appears to be general across species and conserved across mammalian gut communities, highlighting a pathway that allows healthy gut microbiomes to maintain stability in an unstable environment.

Thermal Conductivity and Temperature Dependency of Magnetorheological Fluids and Application Systems-A Chronological Review.

Many studies on magnetorheological fluid (MRF) have been carried out over the last three decades, highlighting several salient advantages, such as a fast phase change, easy control of the yield stress, and so forth. In particular, several review articles of MRF technology have been reported over the last two decades, summarizing the development of MRFs and their applications. As specific examples, review articles have been published that include the optimization of the particles and carrier liquid to achieve minimum off-state viscosity and maximum yield stress at on-state, the formulation of many constitutive models including the Casson model and the Herschel-Bulkley (H-B) model, sedimentation enhancement using additives and nanosized particles, many types of dampers for automotive suspension and civil structures, medical and rehabilitation devices, MRF polishing technology, the methods of magnetic circuit design, and the synthesis of various controllers. More recently, the effect of the temperature and thermal conductivity on the properties of MRFs and application systems are actively being investigated by several works. However, there is no review article on this issue so far, despite the fact that the thermal problem is one of the most crucial factors to be seriously considered for the development of advanced MRFs and commercial products of application systems. In this work, studies on the thermal conductivity and temperature in MRFs themselves and their temperature-dependent application systems are reviewed, respectively, and principal results are summarized, emphasizing the following: how to reduce the temperature effect on the field-dependent properties of MRFs and how to design an application system that minimizes the thermal effect. It is noted here that the review summary is organized in a chronological format using tables.

Estimating the true half-life of cardiac troponins, a novel methodological approach

Abstract Introduction Cardiac troponins (cTn) are key when diagnosing myocardial injury (MI) and are used worldwide. Still, the half-life (T½) of cTn in the bloodstream is largely unknown. Previously, T½ has been estimated to 7-20 hours following MI. However, in the clinical setting the true T½, i.e. the decay of cTn, cannot be estimated due to ongoing leakage of cTn from cardiomyocytes. Identification of the true T½ is essential to improve estimation of how long cTn leak from cardiomyocytes due to MI and to understand the pathophysiology of all diseases in the myocardium associated with raised cTn levels. Purpose To determine T½ of cTnI and cTnT in the human blood stream. Methods Patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) were included within 24 hours after acute reperfusion therapy and underwent plasmapheresis to "harvest" plasma with a high cTn concentration. Three to 17 weeks later patients received a re-transfusion of autologous plasma. Blood samples were drawn at 22 fixed time points over eight hours from re-transfusion. A two phased model was used to estimate T½ of cTnI and cTnT for all patients. An alpha level of &amp;lt;0.05 was considered statistically significant and differences were tested by Wilcoxon matched pairs signed rank test. Results A total of 20 participants received a re-transfusion of their own plasma. Median age was 63 years (IQR 58-70), and four participants were women (20%). Prior to re-transfusion the participants’ median concentration of cTnI was 16 ng/l (interquartile range (IQR) 12-24) and of cTnT 12 ng/l (IQR 11-18). Following re-transfusion of 180-679 ml autologous plasma, participants’ concentration of cTn was measured again. Median concentration of cTnI was 3,355 ng/l (IQR 2,135-4,690) and of cTnT 237 ng/l (IQR 160-303 ng/l). Decay of cTnI and cTnT from injection to eight hours after followed a two-phased exponential decline with a primary fast and secondary slow phase as presented in figures 1-2. Each colored curve represents a participant. Median T½ during the first phase was 11 min for cTnI (IQR 6-13 min) and 15 min for cTnT (IQR 7-18 min). The fast decline in the first phase was thought to be due to re-distribution in the extracellular space. The second phase had a median T½ of 65 min for cTnI (IQR 56-80 min) and 67 min for cTnT (IQR 51-92 min). The second phase represents the human, biological T½ of cTn. No significant difference was found between T½ of cTnI and cTnT. Conclusions This novel study design showed seven to 20-fold shorter T½ of cTnI and cTnT compared to previous estimates in the acute, clinical setting, indicating that the duration of cTn leakage from the myocardium during MI has previously been grossly underestimated. This finding challenges our understanding and interpretation of the clinical course of MI and may translate into changes in the perceived window of opportunity for myocardial salvage by interventions.Figure 1:Cardiac troponin IFigure 2:Cardiac troponin T

A low-jitter and low-phase noise switched-loop filter PLL using fast phase-error correction and dual-edge phase comparison technique

This paper presents a low-jitter and low-phase noise type-II charge pump and switched-loop filter-based (SLF) phase-locked loop (PLL) with a fast phase error correction technique (FPEC) and a newly proposed dual-edge phase comparator (DEPC). To improve the phase noise, the bandwidth of the proposed PLL is extended to fREF/5 using the proposed DEPC. It consists of four D flip-flops in true single-phase clock (TSPC) logic, four current-mode logic-based inverters, and two logic OR gates. Unlike conventional DEPCs, the proposed DEPC has a small reset pulse width duration and negligible blind zone, and due to this, it can perform at higher frequencies along with an increased phase detection range. The proposed architecture is implemented for a 2.4 GHz output frequency that embodies DEPC and SLF using the FPEC technique in an 180-nm Semi-Conductor Laboratory (SCL) CMOS process. The proposed DEPC can work up to a maximum of 3.45 GHz frequency with 145 ps of reset delay. The proposed PLL accomplishes the 40 MHz bandwidth with a 200 MHz reference clock. The simulated rms jitter integrated from 10 kHz to 100 MHz and the phase noise of the output signal at an offset of 1 MHz are 860 fs and −122 dBc/Hz respectively. The proposed architecture occupies an area of 0.032 mm2 and consumes 8.2 mW from 1.8 V power supply.

An air-assisted dispersive liquid phase microextraction method based on a hydrophobic magnetic deep eutectic solvent for the extraction and preconcentration of melamine from milk and milk-based products.

In the current research, a fast and sustainable air-assisted hydrophobic magnetic deep eutectic solvent-based dispersive liquid phase microextraction followed by UV-Vis spectrophotometry measurements was optimized for the extraction and determination of melamine in milk and milk-based products. The central composite design was applied for the optimization of factors affecting the recovery of melamine. Quantitative extraction of melamine was achieved using hydrophobic magnetic deep eutectic solvents prepared from a mixture of octanoic acid, aliquat-336, and cobalt(II) chloride. The optimum conditions for extraction were found as follows: 6 extraction cycles, pH 8.2, extraction solvent volume 260µL, and acetone volume 125µL.Interestingly, a centrifugation step was not required to achieve phase separation. Under the optimum conditions, melamine was determined in the linear range of 3-600ngmL-1, the limit of detection (3Sblank/m) of 0.9ngmL-1, and the enrichment factor of 144. The validation of the method was investigated by the analysis of reference materials. Consequently, the method was successfully applied for the analysis of melamine residues in milk and milk-based products.