Oesophageal cooling may alleviate the severity of oesophageal lesions but does not reduce the incidence of this complication under the specific protocol evaluated here.

No abstract

To elucidate hydrogen effects on the atomic configuration of Ni–Nb–Zr–H glassy alloys exhibiting proton-tunneling-induced Coulomb oscillation, we investigated the local atomic configuration around the Ni, Nb, and Zr atoms by x-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) method. The analysis of the XAFS spectra indicates that there is the significant difference in structural response between the Zr 30 and the Zr 40 at. % alloys when hydrogen atoms are charged; charging the hydrogen atoms basically does not alter the local structures around the three atoms for the Zr 30 at. % alloy but induces the elongation of the Zr–Zr, Zr–Nb, and Nb–Ni distances for the Zr 40 at. % alloy. The distorted icosahedral Zr5Ni5Nb3 clusters assembled in randomly packed manners for the possible models in the Ni–Nb–Zr glassy alloy are proposed. The sites where hydrogen atoms occupy are also inferred.

No abstract

The Li3PO4­Li2S­SiS2 glass electrolyte exhibited instability against a Li metal electrode in the charge-discharge cycle using a LiCoO2 positive electrode. The interface products between the Li electrode and the glass electrolyte were investigated by Si and S-K edge near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure analyses. It was suggested that Li2S and Si coordinated to three sulfur atoms formed after charge-discharge cycles. This side reaction could be suppressed by modifying the surface of Li metal by N2 gas, leading to improvement of the charge-discharge property compared to unmodified Li electrode. The operating voltage attained to about 4 V in the modified normalLi/Li3PO4­Li2S­SiS2 glass electrolyte/ LiCoO2 cell, which was comparable to Li-ion battery using a liquid electrolyte. © 2004 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.