Abstract. The study involved 300 elderly patients with chronic periapical periodontitis. The patients were randomly assigned into three groups. The treatment for group A used a Mtwo Ni-Ti rotary instrument combined with ultrasonic irrigation of a 2.5% NaOCl solution. The group B used the same instrument combined with ultrasonic irrigation of an active silver ion antibacterial solution. The group C used the same instrument combined with syringe irrigation of a 2.5% NaOCl solution. The root canal fillings were performed immediately after canal preparation. Twenty-four hours after the procedure, patients self-assessed pain levels according to the VAS table. The three groups returned after seven days so their postoperative acute reactions could be evaluated clinically. After six and twelve months, efficacy was evaluated. The self-assessed pain levels for group A and B were significantly lower than group C. The incidence of postoperative acute reactions after seven days for group A and B were significantly lower than those of group C. The effective rates after six and twelve months did not differ among these groups. The single-visit root canal treatment with a nickel-titanium rotary instrument combined with ultrasonic irrigation for elderly patients with chronic periapical periodontitis achieved short and long term efficacy and stability.

Because of their high ionic conductivity, utilizing gel polymer electrolytes (GPEs) is thought to be an effective way to accomplish high-energy-density batteries. Nevertheless, most GPEs have poor adaptability to Ni-rich cathodes to alleviate the problem of inevitable rapid capacity decay during cycling. Therefore, to match LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 (NCM811), we applied pentaerythritol tetraacrylate (PETEA) monomers to polymerize in situ in a polyacrylonitrile (PAN) membrane to obtain GPEs (PETEA-TCGG-PAN). The impedance variations and key groups during the in situ polymerization of PETEA-TCGG-PAN are investigated in detail. PETEA-TCGG-PAN with a high lithium-ion transference number (0.77) exhibits an electrochemical decomposition voltage of 5.15 V. Noticeably, the NCM811|PETEA-TCGG-PAN|Li battery can cycle at 2C for 120 cycles with a capacity retention rate of 89%. Even at 6C, the discharge specific capacity is able to reach 101.47 mAh g–1. The combination of LiF and Li2CO3 at the CEI interface is the reason for the improved rate performance. Moreover, when commercialized LFP is used as the cathode, the battery can also cycle stably for 150 cycles at 0.5C. PETEA and PAN can together foster the transportation of Li+ with the construction of a fast ion transport channel, making a contribution to stable charge–discharge of the above batteries. This study provides an innovative design philosophy for designing in situ GPEs in high-energy-density lithium metal batteries.

Columns of frame structures are the key load-bearing components and the exterior columns are susceptible to attack in terrorist blasts. When subjected to blast loads, the columns would suffer a loss of bearing capacity to a certain extent due to the damage imparted, which may induce the collapse of them and even cause the progressive collapse of the whole structure. In this paper, the high-fidelity physics-based finite element program LS-DYNA was utilized to investigate the dynamic behavior and damage characteristics of the widely used concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) columns subjected to blast loads. The established numerical model was calibrated with test data in open literatures. Possible damage modes of CFST columns under blast loading were analyzed, and the damage criterion based on the residual axial load capacity of the columns was adopted to assess the damage degree. A parametric study was conducted to investigate the effects of critical parameters such as blast conditions and column details on the damage degree of CFST columns. Based on the numerical simulation data, an empirical equation was proposed to estimate the variation of columns damage degree with the various parameters.

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