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Large amounts of energy storage will be needed to manage renewable-intensive grids and to decarbonize buildings and transportation. Thermal Energy Storage (TES) has the potential to lower first cost while improving round-trip efficiency, safety, and durability compared to lithium batteries. Heating and cooling of buildings consumes 20% of global energy and drives peak electric loads, especially during extreme hot or cold weather. TES can shift heating and cooling loads to off-peak or renewable-intensive periods, thereby reducing grid stress and energy costs during peak periods and supporting renewable integration (by reducing electric consumption during periods when renewable supply is low, and increasing electric consumption when renewable supply is surplus to real-time needs). Integrating TES with heat pumps or chillers can improve efficiency by 20-30% by shifting operation into the heat pump or chiller's optimal efficiency range, and to the optimal time of day based on outdoor temperature (e.g. running the heat pump at night when it is cooler outside and storing cooling for use the next afternoon). In addition to this efficiency benefit, off-peak electricity is often half the price of peak electricity, and load flexibility is a significant benefit to electric utilities in meeting targets for very high reliability and resiliency. This paper reports on early testing of a novel, tunable TES system which uses proprietary materials to store heat and/or cooling at a range of adjustable temperatures optimal for space conditioning in buildings. For example, one can: (a) store heat in winter retuned to store cooling in summer, for 4-seasons markets, as a direct retrofit for chiller/boiler hydronic systems changing to heat pumps, and (b) store cooling in humid weather, at the low temperature required for dehumidification, retuned to store cooling in dry weather, at a more efficient, higher temperature. Tunability significantly reduces the required footprint compared to systems that use non-tunable materials, and provides flexibility to pursue peak load shifting, efficiency improvement, waste heat recovery or enhanced renewable integration as HVAC loads and electricity prices vary. Tunable TES can be applied to large building, campus and district energy applications, and can be used with air-source, ground-source or hybrid heat pump architectures. This paper will report on a recent collaboration between a pre-commercial start-up company and a research organization, where capacity (energy) and rate (power) were measured for stored cooling at 43[degrees]F (6[degrees]C) and stored heat at 150[degrees]F (65.5[degrees]C) at a meaningful lab scale. The research organization provided third-party measurement and verification to validate performance.

The efficient cooling and heat recovery processes in embedded data centers are examined. Data centers house the information technology (IT) equipment that powers the modern world. These facilities range in size from small networking closets to warehouse-scale buildings operated by large Internet companies. Industry experts estimate that small and midsize data centers house 40% of all servers in the US, which are embedded in office buildings, schools, banks, hospitals, and a variety of commercial facilities. These small data centers are estimated to account for 49% of the energy consumed by the data center industry. With an estimated 2.5 million small data centers across the country, these buildings represent an enormous opportunity for energy savings that often goes overlooked. The integraton of a variable refrigerant flow (VRF) technology in a building with a small, embedded data center was also evaluated.

Electrochemical exfoliation is a promising bulk method for producing graphene from graphite; in this method, an applied voltage drives ionic species to intercalate into graphite where they form gaseous species that expand and exfoliate individual graphene sheets. However, a number of obstacles have prevented this approach from becoming a feasible production route; the disintegration of the graphite electrode as the method progresses is the chief difficulty. Here we show that if graphite powders are contained and compressed within a permeable and expandable containment system, the graphite powders can be continuously intercalated, expanded, and exfoliated to produce graphene. Our data indicate both high yield (65%) and extraordinarily large lateral size (>30 μm) in the as-produced graphene. We also show that this process is scalable and that graphene yield efficiency depends solely on reactor geometry, graphite compression, and electrolyte transport.

Abstract Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant pediatric brain tumor. Amplification of c-MYC is a hallmark of a subset of poor-prognosis medulloblastoma. MYC upregulates glutamine metabolism across many types of cancer. We modified the naturally occurring glutamine antagonist 6-diazo-5-oxo-l-norleucine (DON) by adding 2 promoeities to increase its lipophilicity and brain penetration creating the prodrug isopropyl 6-diazo-5-oxo-2-(((phenyl (pivaloyloxy) methoxy) - carbonyl) amino) hexanoate, termed JHU395. This prodrug was shown to have a 10-fold improved CSF-to-plasma ratio and brain-to-plasma ratio relative to DON. We hypothesized that JHU395 would have superior cell penetration compared with DON and would effectively and more potently kill MYC-expressing medulloblastoma. JHU395 treatment caused decreased growth and increased apoptosis in multiple human high-MYC medulloblastoma cell lines at lower concentrations than DON. Parenteral administration of JHU395 in Nu/Nu mice led to the accumulation of micromolar concentrations of DON in brain. Treatment of mice bearing orthotopic xenografts of human MYC-amplified medulloblastoma with JHU395 increased median survival from 26 to 45 days compared with vehicle control mice (p < 0.001 by log-rank test). These data provide preclinical justification for the ongoing development and testing of brain-targeted DON prodrugs for use in medulloblastoma.

The rise of antibiotic resistance has necessitated a search for new antimicrobials with potent activity against multidrug-resistant gram-negative pathogens, such as carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB). In this study, a library of botanical extracts generated from plants used to treat infections in traditional medicine was screened for growth inhibition of CRAB. A crude extract of Schinus terebinthifolia leaves exhibited 80% inhibition at 256 µg/mL and underwent bioassay-guided fractionation, leading to the isolation of pentagalloyl glucose (PGG), a bioactive gallotannin. PGG inhibited growth of both CRAB and susceptible A. baumannii (MIC 64–256 µg/mL), and also exhibited activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MIC 16 µg/mL) and Staphylococcus aureus (MIC 64 µg/mL). A mammalian cytotoxicity assay with human keratinocytes (HaCaTs) yielded an IC 50 for PGG of 256 µg/mL. Mechanistic experiments revealed iron chelation as a possible mode of action for PGG’s activity against CRAB. Passaging assays for resistance did not produce any resistant mutants over a period of 21 days. In conclusion, PGG exhibits antimicrobial activity against CRAB, but due to known pharmacological restrictions in delivery, translation as a therapeutic may be limited to topical applications such as wound rinses and dressings.

Background Indwelling urinary catheters (IDCs) are used by approximately 8% of Australian aged care residents. IDC use is often warranted but entails numerous risks, particularly if used longterm. Risks include catheter-associated urinary tract infections, catheter blockage, catheter leakage, bladder spasm, pain, urethral trauma and haematuria, and increased risk of hospitalisation. The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety identified poor quality, unsafe practices related to IDCs in aged care homes. Enhancing the knowledge, confidence, and skills of aged care staff to deliver catheter care for residents with IDCs is fundamentally important. The IDC-IMPROVE project is supporting aged care providers to meet the care needs of people with IDCs in Australian aged care homes, by designing and validating a suite of resources titled the IDC-IMPROVE Catheter Care Bundle. Aims This study aims to establish the feasibility of conducting a definitive randomised control trial to evaluate the effects of the IDC-IMPROVE Catheter Care Bundle in aged care homes in Australia. Method A multi-centre, facility-level clustered randomised control (cRCT) feasibility trial in 24 aged care homes across Victoria, Queensland, and South Australia. Twelve homes will receive the intervention and 12 will continue usual care. The IDC-IMPROVE Catheter Care Bundle intervention comprises principles for person-centred catheter care, online training for nurses and personal care workers, a practical skills workshop for nurses, a toolkit for managers, and an evidence-to-practice support model. The feasibility of the intervention will be assessed through a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods, including surveys, interviews, and audits. Feasibility outcomes are: (i) The acceptability of the Bundle, (ii) The fidelity of the implementation, (iii) The compatibility of the Bundle with standard aged care home IDC care. Discussion By enhancing the knowledge, confidence and skills of the aged care workforce, IDCIMPROVE aims to reduce IDC-related complications. This study will provide insights into the acceptability and implementation of the intervention, informing future large-scale trials and potential policy changes. Ethics The study has been approved by Austin Health Human Research Ethics Committee (reg: HREC/107165/Austin-2024) and is registered on the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (reg: ACTRN12624001178538p).

Reprograming of cellular metabolism is a hallmark of cancer. Altering metabolism allows cancer cells to overcome unfavorable microenvironment conditions and to proliferate and invade. Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumor of children. Genomic amplification of MYC defines a subset of poor-prognosis medulloblastoma. We performed comprehensive metabolic studies of human MYC-amplified medulloblastoma by comparing the metabolic profiles of tumor cells in three different conditions—in vitro, in flank xenografts and in orthotopic xenografts in the cerebellum. Principal component analysis showed that the metabolic profiles of brain and flank high-MYC medulloblastoma tumors clustered closely together and separated away from normal brain and in vitro MYC-amplified cells. Compared to normal brain, MYC-amplified medulloblastoma orthotopic xenograft tumors showed upregulation of the TCA cycle as well as the synthesis of nucleotides, hexosamines, amino acids and glutathione. There was significantly higher glucose uptake and usage in orthotopic xenograft tumors compared to flank xenograft tumors and cells in culture. In orthotopic tumors, glucose was the main carbon source for the de novo synthesis of glutamate, glutamine and glutathione through the TCA cycle. In vivo, the glutaminase II pathway was the main pathway utilizing glutamine. Glutathione was the most abundant upregulated metabolite in orthotopic tumors compared to normal brain. Glutamine-derived glutathione was synthesized through the glutamine transaminase K (GTK) enzyme in vivo. In conclusion, high MYC medulloblastoma cells have different metabolic profiles in vitro compared to in vivo, and key vulnerabilities may be missed by not performing in vivo metabolic analyses.

Background Predicting which patients will develop severe COVID-19 complications could improve clinical care. Peripheral blood cytokine profiles may predict the severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection, but none have been identified in US Veterans. Methods We analyzed peripheral blood cytokine profiles from 202 participants in the EPIC 3 study, a prospective observational cohort of US Veterans tested for SARS-CoV-2 across 15 VA medical centers. Illness severity was assessed based on the highest level documented during the first 60 days after recruitment. We correlated cytokine levels with illness severity using LASSO logistic regression, random forest, and XGBoost models on a 70% training set and calculated the AUC on a 30% test set. Results LASSO regression identified 6 cytokines as predictors of SARS-CoV-2 severity with 77.3% AUC in the test set. Random forest and XGBoost models achieved an AUC of 80.4% and 80.7% in the test set, respectively. All models assigned a feature importance to each cytokine, with IP-10, MCP-1, and HGF consistently identified as key markers. Conclusions Cytokine profiles are predictive of SARS-CoV-2 severity in US Veterans and may guide tailored interventions for improved patient management.