Electrochemically Induced Crystallite Alignment of Lithium Manganese Oxide to Improve Lithium Insertion Kinetics for Dye-Sensitized Photorechargeable Batteries

The insertion of lithium into lithium manganese oxide spinel (LiMn2O4 (LMO) to Li2Mn2O4 (L2MO)) was used to store light energy as a form of chemical energy in a dye-sensitized photorechargeable battery (DSPB). Herein, we investigate the effect of crystallite size of LMO on DSPB performance. The crystallite size of graphene-wrapped sub-micrometer-sized LMO (LMO@Gn) was tuned electrochemically from 26 to 34 nm via repeated LMO-to-L2MO transitions. The different crystallite orientations in LMO@Gn particles were ordered in an identical direction by an electric stimulus. The LMO@Gn having a 34 nm crystallite size (L-34 and L-34*) improved DSPB performances in dim light, compared with the smaller-crystallite LMO@Gn (L-26). The overall energy efficiency (eta(overall)) of 13.2%, higher than ever reported, was achieved by adopting the fully crystallized and structure-stabilized LMO@Gn (L-34*) for DSPB. The phase transition between the cubic and tetragonal forms during the LMO-to-L2MO reaction was suspected to be responsible for the structural ordering

Characteristics and clinical outcomes of patients with nonsmoking small cell lung cancer in Korea

Abstract Background The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics and clinical outcomes of patients with nonsmoking small cell lung cancer (SCLC) using a nationwide registry in Korea. Methods The Korean Association for Lung Cancer developed a registry in cooperation with the Korean Central Cancer Registry (KCCR) and surveyed approximately 10% of recorded lung cancer cases. Results From 2014 to 2016, the KCCR registered 1,043 patients newly diagnosed with SCLC among a total of 8,110 lung cancer patients. In subgroup analysis, Kaplan meier survival analysis showed that the overall survival (OS) was significantly shorter in the nonsmoking subgroup than the ever-smoking subgroup of SCLC patients with extensive disease (6.99 vs. 9.68 months; P = 0.016). Among SCLC patients with limited disease, OS was also shorter in the nonsmoking subgroup, without statistical significance (19.4 vs. 23.5 months; P = 0.247). In a multivariate analysis using a Cox regression model, never smoking was not associated with shorter OS, but older age, extensive stage, poor performance status (Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group grade ≥ 2), male sex, no prophylactic cranial irradiation, and no active treatment (chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy) were associated with poor prognosis. Conclusion This evaluation of an unbiased nationwide survey dataset revealed that a significant proportion of Korean SCLC patients were never-smokers. No history of smoking appeared to be a significant prognostic factor according to the univariate analysis but was confirmed to be statistically insignificant through a multivariate analysis of the total population. Reasons for a poor prognosis may include the possibility that a high rate of the elderly population is composed of nonsmokers who did not receive active treatment. </jats:sec