Many ABX3 perovskite compounds adopt at temperatures of interest a low-symmetry structure, rather than the ideal (cubic) structure. The prototypical case is the mineral perovskite (CaTiO3), which exhibits orthorhombic symmetry...

Selective morphology- and function-adapted resection is generally regarded as the surgical treatment of choice for benign goiter causing iodine deficiency. This procedure aims to reduce the need for patients to undergo reoperations for recurrence by completely removing all nodules. However, to achieve this sometimes requires a total thyroidectomy, the option of which is often rejected because of a presumed higher rate of complications. In this study, 324 patients who underwent total thyroidectomy were evaluated retrospectively. The patients were interviewed about their postoperative course and their acceptance of the procedure performed. The complications were compared with those associated with subtotal resection or hemithyroidectomies performed in our collective experience. The rate of complications associated with total thyroidectomy, namely, recurrent nerve palsy in 0.9%, hypocalcemia in 0.9%, wound infection in 0.9%, and secondary hemorrhage in 0.6%, did not differ significantly from that associated with subtotal resections/ hemithyroidectomies. Moreover, 88.3% of the patients who underwent total thyroidectomy were satisfied with the results of surgery. These findings indicate that total thyroidectomy is an acceptable surgical alternative for benign multinodular goiters.

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The electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide to ethanol is a promising way to make CO2 electrolysis economically feasible. In this work, a bimetallic catalyst of silver and copper is synthesized, and the effect of its copper content on the formation of ethanol is analyzed. By decreasing the near-surface copper content from 99 to 45% (measured by XPS) at a current density of −20 mA cm–2, the Faradaic efficiency of ethanol could be enhanced from 5 to 23%. Moreover, we show that with excess of CO, due to a lower copper and a higher silver near-surface content, the formation of ethanol is favored over ethylene.