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An ontology for the structured storage, retrieval, and analysis of data on lithium‐ion battery materials and electrode‐to‐cell production is presented. It provides a logical structure that is mapped onto a digital architecture and used to visualize, correlate, and make predictions in battery production, research, and development. Materials and processes are specified using a predetermined terminology; a chain of unit processes (steps) connects raw materials and products (items) of battery cell production. The ontology enables the attachment of analytical methods (characterization methods) to items. Workshops and interviews with experts in battery materials and production processes are conducted to ensure that the structure is conformable both for industrial‐scale and laboratory‐scale data generation and implementation. Raw materials and intermediate products are identified and defined for all steps to the final battery cell. Steps and items are defined based on current standard materials and process chains using terms that are in common use. Alternative structures and the connection of the ontology to other existing ontologies are discussed. The contribution provides a pragmatic, accessible way to unify the storage of materials‐oriented lithium‐ion battery production data. It aids the linkage of such data with domain knowledge and the automation of data analysis in production and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrode manufacturing requires multiple process steps, e.g., dispersing and coating. In‐between these steps, intermediate products have to be transferred, stored, and handled. Especially for the development of new active materials or electrode formulations, the variety of parameters that need to be screened is enormous. In addition, these materials are initially tested in small batches, and it is not always possible to upscale the used processes. To evaluate the performance of different materials or differently processed materials, test cells are assembled. This usually requires manual work procedures, which are inherently sensitive to variations and untraceable errors. If the stochastic flaws are large enough, the effects of process variations are covered by these. It is therefore important to increase reproducibility in all process steps. Herein, new concepts for electrode production and automated sample preparation for highly reproducible production and more effective electrode development and screening of parameters are presented. A combined grinding and dispersion process for the production of silicon‐based anodes and an automated assembly system for efficient testing is presented. The processes are supported by methods of data mining to collect process data, ensure high reproducibility, and support research on new active materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interaction between xylem phenology and climate assesses forest growth and productivity and carbon storage across biomes under changing environmental conditions. We tested the hypothesis that patterns of wood formation are maintained unaltered despite the temperature changes across cold ecosystems. Wood microcores were collected weekly or biweekly throughout the growing season for periods varying between 1 and 13 years during 1998-2014 and cut in transverse sections for assessing the onset and ending of the phases of xylem differentiation. The data set represented 1321 trees belonging to 10 conifer species from 39 sites in the Northern Hemisphere and covering an interval of mean annual temperature exceeding 14 K. The phenological events and mean annual temperature of the sites were related linearly, with spring and autumnal events being separated by constant intervals across the range of temperature analysed. At increasing temperature, first enlarging, wall-thickening and mature tracheids appeared earlier, and last enlarging and wall-thickening tracheids occurred later. Overall, the period of wood formation lengthened linearly with the mean annual temperature, from 83.7 days at −2 °C to 178.1 days at 12 °C, at a rate of 6.5 days °C−1. April-May temperatures produced the best models predicting the dates of wood formation. Our findings demonstrated the uniformity of the process of wood formation and the importance of the environmental conditions occurring at the time of growth resumption. Under warming scenarios, the period of wood formation might lengthen synchronously in the cold biomes of the Northern Hemisphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Delays in the start of the growing season reduce the period available for growth and the amount of xylem production. However, a higher number of developing tracheids could prolong cell differentiation and, consequently, lengthen the growing season. The relationship between the amount and duration of cell production in the xylem remains an unresolved issue. The aim of this study was to resolve the chicken-or-egg causality dilemma about duration of growth and cell production through simple- and double-cause models. This was achieved by (1) analysing the intra-annual growth dynamics of the xylem in Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP during 2006–2009 in two contrasting sites of the boreal forest of Quebec, Canada, and (2) extracting the dates of onset and ending of xylem formation and the number of radial cells along the tree ring. A higher number of cells was linked to an earlier onset ( r = 0.74) and later ending ( r = 0.61) of cell differentiation. The absence of a relationship between the residuals of the onset and ending of xylogenesis ( rp = −0.06) indicated that cell production influenced the correlation between the two phenophases of the xylem. These results demonstrated that a higher number of cells produced delay the ending of xylem maturation, so extending the duration of wood formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leaf growth in grasses is determined by the cell division and elongation rates, with the duration of cell elongation being one of the processes that is the most sensitive to salinity. Our objective was to investigate the distribution profiles of cell production, cell length and the duration of cell elongation in the growing zone of the wheat leaf during the steady growth phase. Plants were grown in loamy soil with or without 120 mmol/L NaCl in a growth chamber, and harvested at day 3 after leaf 4 emerged. Results show that the elongation rate of leaf 4 was reduced by 120 mmol/L NaCl during the steady growth phase. The distribution profile of the lengths of abaxial epidermal cells of leaf 4 during the steady growth stage shows a sigmoidal pattern along the leaf axis for both treatments. Although salinity did not affect or even increased the length of the epidermal cells in some locations in the growth zone compared to the control treatment, the final length of the epidermal cells was reduced by 14% at 120 mmol/L NaCl. Thus, we concluded that the observed reduction in the leaf elongation rate derived in part from the reduced cell division rate and either the shortened cell elongation zone or shortened duration of cell elongation. This suggests that more attention should be paid to the effects of salinity on those properties of cell production and the period of cell maturation that are related to the properties of cell wall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary • To assess the influence of mechanical impedance on cell fluxes in the root cap, maize (Zea mays ) seedlings were grown in either loose or compacted sand with penetration resistances of 0.2 MPa and 3.8 MPa, respectively. Numbers of cap cells were estimated using image analysis, and cell doubling times using the colchicine technique. • There were 5930 cells in the caps in the compact and 6900 cells in the loose control after 24 h growth in sand. Cell production rates were 2010 cells d[sup -1] in compact and 1570 cells d[sup -1] in loose sand. • These numbers represent accumulations of 4960 and 3540 detached cells d[sup -1] around the cap periphery following the two types of treatment. The total number of detached cells was estimated as sufficient to completely cover the whole root cap in the compact sand, but only 11% of the root cap in the loose sand. • In conclusion, mechanical impedance slightly enhanced meristematic activities in the lateral region of the root cap. The release of extra border cells would aid root penetration into the compact sand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACTThe effect of defoliation on leaf elongation rate (LER) and on the spatial distribution of epidermal cell lengths in the leaf growth zone was studied in vegetative main tillers of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L. cv Modus) grown in a controlled environment. A new material approach was used to analyse the responses of epidermal cell expansion and production during the initial, non-steady growth phase following defoliation. The analysis involved assigning an identity to individual expanding cells, assessing the displacement and estimating the expansion of cells with assigned identity during day 1 and day 2 after defoliation. LER decreased by 34% during the first 2 d after defoliation and did not recover to the pre-defoliation rate within the 14 day regrowth period. Decreased LER on day 1 and day 2 after defoliation was associated with (i) a decrease in the length of the leaf growth zone; (ii) a decrease in the length at which epidermal cells stopped expanding; (iii) a reduced expansion of cells at intermediate growth stages; and (iv) a reduction in cell production (i.e. division) and an associated decrease in the number of expanding cells in the growth zone. However, defoliation had no effect on the expansion of cells located in the proximal part of the growth zone. Reduced LER at 14 d after defoliation was associated with a reduced cell production rate (27% lower than the pre-defoliation rate) and decreased final cell size (- 28%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rates of mitosis in each of the four tiers of the cap meristem of primary roots of Zea mays L. were measured at uniform root length by a stathmokinetic method and compared with rates for other regions of the apices in seedlings growing at between 15 and 35°C. The highest elemental rate of cap cell production in the proximal tier and in the cap meristem as a whole occurs at 26°C and the proportion of cells supplied by the proximal tier rises from 48% at 15°C to 90% at 35°C. The number of cells in the whole cap and in its meristem decreases with increasing temperature. This is due to the general reduction in the width of root apices with age and growth in length being faster at the higher temperatures. The slimming of the apex is effected by a decline in the proportion of divisions that are longitudinal to the files of cells at the quiescent centre. This is enhanced by a slight but continuous increase in the rate of mitosis in the quiescent centre the higher the temperature (in contrast with the rest of the root whose maximal rate is at 28°C). The decline results in an increase in the elemental rate for longitudinal divisions in the cap initials from 0.02 to 0.17 cells per cell per day between 15 and 35°C and a consequent chant4e in the cell pattern in the cap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]