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Weaning from invasive mechanical ventilation (MV) represents a pivotal step for myasthenic crisis (MC) patients. The aim was to evaluate the association between the weaning process and clinical outcomes, as well as to determine the independent predictors for difficult-/prolonged-weaning in MC. MC patients requiring invasive MV were recruited from Jan 2014 through Sep 2020. Among 124 consecutive MC patients, we finally included 66 patients (age 48.4 ± 18.7 years, female 45.5%). According to the WIND (Weaning according to a New Definition) classification, these patients were classified into no-weaning (n = 5, 7.6%), short-weaning (n = 13, 19.7%), difficult-weaning (n = 26, 39.4%), and prolonged-weaning group (n = 22, 33.3%). Four-week functional assessment in short-weaning group was more favorable than that in difficult-/prolonged-weaning group (p0.001). Length of hospital stay (23.0 (15.0-28.0) vs. 37.5 (27.0-54.8), p0.001), length of ICU stay (17.0 (8.5-22.5) vs. 34.0 (20.3-45.0), p0.001), duration on ventilation (6.0 (6.0-8.5) vs. 18.0 (13.3-30.0), p0.001), and time interval from MV to first weaning (6.0 (6.0-8.0) vs. 11.0 (8.0-20.8), p0.001) in short-weaning group were significantly shorter than those in difficult-/prolonged-weaning group. Short-weaning group had a lower prevalence of pneumonia (23.1% vs. 75.0%) and systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) (38.5% vs. 85.4%), and a higher value in the lowest hemoglobin level (123.0 ± 12.9 g/L vs. 108.3 ± 18.1 g/L) and the lowest serum albumin level (33.2 ± 3.4 g/L vs. 29.9 ± 4.2 g/L) than difficult-/prolonged-weaning group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified pneumonia and the presence of SIRS within one week of MC as independent predictors for difficult-/prolonged-weaning. The weaning process is associated with clinical outcomes in MC patients requiring ventilation. Pneumonia concurrence and the presence of SIRS within one week of MC were identified as independent predictors for difficult-/prolonged-weaning after invasive MV.

Funding: The authors thank the National Key Research and Development Program of China (no. 2021YFA0718900). They also thank the EPSRC for a Critical Mass project EP/R023522/1 and Electron Microscopy provision EP/R023751/1, EP/L017008/1; they also appreciate the support from National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by Korea government (MSIT) (no. 2021R1A2C2092130). Min acknowledges support from China Scholarship Council (no. 201706070126). Metal nanoparticles support materials play a crucial role in many fields, including energy conversion/storage, catalysis and photochemistry. Here, the exsolution is reported as an in situ method to fabricate metal nanoparticles supported on perovskite (La0.52Ca0.28Ni0.06Ti0.94O3) powder and fiber materials. Significantly decreased polarisation resistance can be achieved by applying electrochemical switching within 3 min on the fiber electrode fuel cell to facilitate the exsolution. The fuel cell activated by electrochemical switching under wet hydrogen shows a promising performance with a maximum output power density of about 380 mW cm−2 at 900 °C in hydrogen. The phase-field model shows that the exsolution under extreme low oxygen partial pressure induced by electrochemical switching performs faster nucleation than the chemical-reduced case. This work provides a further understanding of electrochemically driven exsolution with fiber structure platform and simulation with phase-field models. Publisher PDF

Permanent magnet generator is one of the key components of a three-stage electrically excited brushless synchronous motor, with a main function to provide excitation power for the main exciter and driving power for the controller. In order to improve the reliability and safety of the operation of the three-stage electrically excited brushless synchronous motor, the permanent magnet generator is required to provide sufficient power under all operating conditions and to have low short-circuit current when its own short-circuit fault occurs, so that the generator will not be burnt out due to overheating. Thus, power characteristic and high impedance characteristic are the key goals of designing a permanent magnet generator. In this paper, the fractional slot concentrated winding was adopted to calculate and analyze the electromagnetic properties of permanent magnet generators with different rotor structures, and the optimal design was obtained. A prototype was manufactured to conduct related experiments on the electromagnetic properties. The results demonstrated that the experimental data are basically consistent with the simulation data, and the permanent magnet generator can meet the design requirements for power and high impedance characteristics, with a high power density.

We greatly appreciate the financial support from the National Key Research & Development Project (2020YFB1506304, 2017YFE0129300), National Natural Science Foundation of China (52072135), and China Scholarship Council (201806160178). The oxygen electrode with a fast oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), oxygen evolution reaction (OER), and sufficient durability plays a pivotal role in reversible solid oxide cells (RSOCs). Here, we demonstrate a NdBa0.5Ca0.5Co1.5Fe0.5O5+δ@Gd0.1Ce0.9O2−δ (NBCCF@GDC) composite oxygen electrode via a one-pot method for exhibiting strong coherency, which result in boosting the electrochemical performance of RSOCs. The NBCCF@GDC electrode yields a very low polarization resistance (0.106 Ω-cm2 at 800 °C), high electrolysis current density (1.45 A cm–2 with 70 vol % absolute humidity at 1.3 V), and high power density (∼1.3 W cm–2 at 800 °C) and shows excellent reversibility and stability. Notably, strong coherency in these NBCCF@GDC composite materials was successfully revealed by HT-XRD, XPS, STEM, and EELS. The phase contiguity and interfacial coherence between NBCCF and GDC increase the Co oxidation state and the number of active sites, which enhanced the electrocatalytic activity for perovskites. Overall, this work demonstrates a highly desirable strategy for the production of functionalized electrodes for next-generation reversible solid oxide cells. Postprint

Iron homeostasis in insects is less-well understood comparatively to mammals. The classic model organism Drosophila melanogaster has been recently employed to explore how iron is trafficked between and within cells. An outline for iron absorption, systemic delivery, and efflux is thus beginning to emerge. The proteins Malvolio, ZIP13, mitoferrin, ferritin, transferrin, and IRP-1A are key players in these processes. While many features are shared with those in mammals, some physiological differences may also exist. Notable remaining questions include the existence and identification of functional transferrin and ferritin receptors, and of an iron exporter like ferroportin, how systemic iron homeostasis is controlled, and the roles of different tissues in regulating iron physiology. By focusing on aspects of iron trafficking, this review updates on presently known complexities of iron homeostasis in Drosophila.

Funding: UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (Grant Number(s): EP/P022637/1, EP/K503162/1), Science and Technology Facilities Council (Grant Number(s): RB1820307), China Scholarship Council (CN). The layered perovskite LaTaO4 has been synthesized to be stable in both (polar) orthorhombic and (nonpolar) monoclinic polymorphs at ambient conditions. Although the structural transition between monoclinic and orthorhombic phases has been well established, there is some controversy regarding a further, unidentified transition around 500 K. Here this is identified as an incommensurate–commensurate first‐order transition between incommensurate Cmc21(α00)0s0 and commensurate Cmc21 orthorhombic phases. Transmission electron microscopy indicates partially ordered stacking of different structural units in a, identifying the local cause for the modulation, whereas variable temperature powder neutron diffraction has shown the overall macroscopic modulation vector, q ≈ (0.456, 0, 0)—roughly a 2.2 × expansion in a, corresponding to an approximate 11a commensurate superunit cell dimension. The modulation shows a continuous temperature dependence until transitioning to the basic (commensurate) cell at TIC‐C. Doping the interlayer La sites with smaller Nd cations stabilizes the incommensuration to higher temperature, suggesting the modulation is geometrically driven at the A site. Publisher PDF

This work was financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21975030 and 11674005), and the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (No. 2016YFB0700600 (National Materials Genome Project)). Solving the polysulfide shuttle problem is one of the core challenges for the industrialization of lithium–sulfur batteries. In this work, a triphasic composite of LDH/sulfur/rGO (LDH: layered double hydroxide, rGO: reduced graphene oxide) with a crepe cake like structure is designed and fabricated as a positive electrode material for lithium–sulfur batteries. Sulfur nanoparticles are embedded in the interlayer space of the composite and thus are well protected physically via three-dimensional wrapping and chemically via strong interaction of LDH nanoflakes with lithium polysulfides, such as ionic bonds and S···H hydrogen bonds. In addition, the flexible lamellar structure of the composite with soft graphene layers can tolerate the volume expansion of sulfur during lithiation as well as facilitate ionic permeability and electron transport, which is favorable for the redox reactions of polysulfide. The present work sheds light on the future development and industrialization of lithium–sulfur batteries. Postprint

STW thanks China Scholarship Council and University of St Andrews for a CSC-St Andrews scholarship. Naturally occurring calcite spherulitic particles were collected from East Kirkton Quarry in Bathgate, Scotland. Their microstructure has been revealed, by using XRD, EDX, SEM and HRTEM, to consist of a low crystallinity core with deposition of multilayer radially oriented calcite microrods. The sur-rounding materials of the spherulites are mainly Ca-free silicates. To understand the formation mechanism of this construction of calcite crystals, biomimetic synthesis of similar spherulites have been carried out by using alginate and stevensite as structure directing agents. It is found that algi-nate is essential for growth of the spherulites, since the spherulites are developed only when they are embedded in the alginate network, a soft matter substrate. Stevensite also plays an important role of adjusting the hardness of the alginate substrate, offering a suitable network for the self-aggregation and self-orientation of the calcite nanocrystals. Possible inter-particle interactions or driving force of the particle aggregation and self-orientation are discussed. Postprint

Reactive power compensation can not only improve the voltage quality and the stability of the whole system, but also reduce the loss and improve the economic benefits. With the rapid development of social economy, people put forward higher requirements for the safety, stability and intelligence of power grid operation. At present, there are still some problems in the application of reactive power compensation devices in China’s high voltage distribution network. In this paper, the high voltage intelligent reactive power compensation device is designed from many aspects, and the feasibility analysis is carried out, which provides certain reference for reactive power compensation of high voltage system.

The authors would like to thank EPSRC for financial support on FEG-SEM equipment (EP/F019580/1) and FEI Scios dualbeam microscope (EP/L017008/01). CaCO3 spherulites were found in the myostracum layer of common limpet shells collected from East Sands, St Andrews, Scotland. Their microstructures were revealed by using powder X- ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis. The formation mechanisms of these spherulites and their morphology evolution were postulated. It was proposed that spherical particles of an inorganic and biological composite formed first. In the centre of each spherical particle was developed a double-layer disk of vaterite crystal sandwiching a biological sheet. The disk crystal supplies a relatively strong mirror symmetric dipole filed, guiding the orientations of the nanocrystallites and the arrangement of mesorods, and therefore, determining the final morphology of the spherulite. Publisher PDF