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In this paper, we study a class of Kirchhoff type logarithmic Schrödinger equations involving the critical or supercritical Sobolev exponent. Such problems cannot be studied by applying variational methods in a standard way, because the nonlinearities do not satisfy the Ambrosetti-Rabinowitz condition and change sign. Moreover, the appearance of the logarithmic term makes the associated energy functional lose differentiable in the sense of Gateaux. By analyzing the structure of the Nehari manifold and developing some analysis techniques, the above obstacles are overcome in subtle ways and several existence result are obtained. Furthermore, we investigate the regularity, the monotonicity, and the symmetric properties of the solutions via the iterative technique and the moving plane method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lithium–sulfur battery (LSB) possesses high theoretical energy density, but its poor cycling stability and safety issues significantly restrict progress in practical applications. Herein, a low‐cost and simple Al(OH)3‐based modification of commercial separator, which renders the battery outstanding fire‐retardant and stable cycling, is reported. The modification is carried out by a simple blade coating of an ultrathin composite layer, mainly consisting of Al(OH)3 nanoparticles and conductive carbon, on the cathode side of the separator. The Al(OH)3 shows strong chemical absorption ability toward Lewis‐based polysulfides and outstanding fire retardance through a self‐decomposition mechanism under high heat, while the conductive carbon material acts as a top current collector to prevent dead polysulfide. LSB using the Al(OH)3‐modified separator shows an extremely low average capacity decade per cycle during 1000 cycles at 2 C (0.029%, 1 C = 1600 mA g−1). The pouch cell exhibiting high energy density (426 Wh kg−1) can also steadily cycle for more than 100 cycles with high capacity retention (70.2% at 0.1 C). The effectiveness and accessibility of this Al(OH)3 modification strategy will hasten the practical application progress of LSBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Echinococcoses require the involvement of specialists from nearly all disciplines; standardization of the terminology used in the field is thus crucial. To harmonize echinococcosis terminology on sound scientific and linguistic grounds, the World Association of Echinococcosis launched a Formal Consensus process. Under the coordination of a Steering and Writing Group (SWG), a Consultation and Rating Group (CRG) had the main missions of (1) providing input on the list of terms drafted by the SWG, taking into account the available literature and the participants’ experience; and (2) providing independent rating on all debated terms submitted to vote. The mission of the Reading and Review Group (RRG) was to give an opinion about the recommendation paper in terms of readability, acceptability and applicability. The main achievements of this process were: (1) an update of the current nomenclature of Echinococcus spp.; (2) an agreement on three names of diseases due to Echinococcus spp.: Cystic Echinococcosis (CE), Alveolar Echinococcosis (AE) and Neotropical Echinococcosis (NE), and the exclusion of all other names; (3) an agreement on the restricted use of the adjective “hydatid” to refer to the cyst and fluid due to E. granulosus sensu lato; and (4) an agreement on a standardized description of the surgical operations for CE, according to the “Approach, cyst Opening, Resection, and Completeness” (AORC) framework. In addition, 95 “approved” and 60 “rejected” terms were listed. The recommendations provided in this paper will be applicable to scientific publications in English and communication with professionals. They will be used for translation into other languages spoken in endemic countries.

Background: Echinococcosis is a chronic consumptive liver disease. Little research has been carried out on the nutritional status of infected patients, though liver diseases are often associated with malnutrition. Our study investigated four different nutrition screening tools, to assess nutritional risks of hospitalized patients with echinococcosis. Methods: Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS 2002), Short Form of Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA-SF), Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST), and the Nutrition Risk Index (NRI) were used to assess 164 patients with alveolar echinococcosis (AE) and 232 with cystic echinococcosis (CE). Results were then compared with European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) criteria for malnutrition diagnosis. Results: According to ESPEN standards for malnutrition diagnosis, 29.2% of CE patients and 31.1% of AE patients were malnourished. The malnutrition risk rates for CE and AE patients were as follows: NRS 2002 – 40.3% and 30.7%; MUST – 51.5% and 50.9%; MNA-SF – 46.8% and 44.1%; and NRI – 51.1% and 67.4%. In patients with CE, MNA-SF and NRS 2002 results correlated well with ESPEN results (k = 0.515, 0.496). Area-under-the-curve (AUC) values of MNA-SF and NRS 2002 were 0.803 and 0.776, respectively. For patients with AE, NRS 2002 and MNA-SF results correlated well with ESPEN (k = 0.555, 0.493). AUC values of NRS 2002 and MNA-SF were 0.776 and 0.792, respectively. Conclusion: This study is the first to analyze hospitalized echinococcosis patients based on these nutritional screening tools. Our results suggest that NRS 2002 and MNA-SF are suitable tools for nutritional screening of inpatients with echinococcosis.