Organic rechargeable batteries have received significant research interest from the viewpoints of structural diversity and sustainability of electrode materials. We designed core structures of organic cathode materials for lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries based on density functional theory (DFT) calculations, which indicated that six-membered cyclic 1,2-diketones serve as excellent core structures because of the high redox energy change resulting from favorable coordination of the oxygen atoms to Li and the aromaticity of the reduced form. Here, we show that the Li-ion battery composed of pyrene-4,5,9,10-tetraone (PYT), which has two six-membered cyclic 1,2-diketone units, bound to polymethacrylate exhibits remarkable charge-discharge properties with a high specific capacity of 231 mAh/g, excellent rechargeability (83% of the capacity retained after 500 cycles), and charge-discharge ability (90% of the capacity at 30 C as compared to 1 C) in the LiNTf(2)/tetraglyme ionic-liquid system.

with among the highest numbers of patients with COVID-19 in the country. We selected HCWs, including physicians, nurses, laboratory medical technologists, radiological technologists, and pharmacists, who worked in departments in which they had contact with patients with COVID-19, including emergency departments, general internal medicine departments, respiratory medicine departments, infectious disease departments, general wards, and intensive care units. An explanation of the sample size calculation appears in the eAppendix in the Supplement. This study was approved by the institutional review board of St Luke's International Hospital in Tokyo, Japan. A letter of informed consent was distributed to the participants via email, and completion of the questionnaire implied their consent. This study followed the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) reporting guideline.The web-based survey was generated using SurveyMonkey, a cloud-based survey development application. The survey solicited responses regarding participants' demographic characteristics (age and gender), professional history (job category and years of experience), working environment characteristics (mean weekly working hours, days off per month, and hours of sleep per day), types of anxiety perceived, changes compared with before the pandemic, and types of support needed.The primary outcome was the prevalence of burnout among frontline HCWs in departments with direct contact with patients with COVID-19, using the validated Japanese version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey, 3 which is currently considered the criterion standard for measuring burnout. This 16-item questionnaire contains 3 subscales that evaluate what are considered the 3 major domains of burnout, ie, emotional exhaustion, cynicism (ie, depersonalization), and professional efficacy (ie, personal accomplishment). High levels of exhaustion (>3.5) plus either high cynicism (>3.5) or low professional efficacy (<2.5) were selected as the primary criteria for burnout.We first compared the baseline characteristics of those who did and did not have burnout by using the χ 2 difference test for categorical variables and the Mann-Whitney U test for continuous variables. Given the limited information available on confounding by potential risk factors for burnout, we used logistic regression analyses to evaluate whether any factors, such as types of anxiety perceived, changes compared with the prepandemic period, and types of support needed, were significant by integrating data on the participants' backgrounds into the model. All analyses

The vaccine confidence index in Japan is one of the lowest worldwide. This study aimed to examine the proportion of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in the Japanese population using a larger sample and more robust statistical methods than previously, and to identify factors associated with vaccine hesitancy. We conducted a nationwide, cross-sectional Internet survey on 8–26 February 2021, and calculated the proportion and odds ratios for vaccine hesitancy. Among 23,142 responses analyzed, the proportion of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy was 11.3% (10.9–11.7%). The proportion was higher among younger respondents and female respondents, and especially among younger female respondents (15.6%) compared with the lowest proportion among older male respondents (4.8%). The most cited reason for not getting vaccinated was concerns about adverse reactions in more than 70% of the respondents. The proportion of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Japan was comparable to that in previous studies overseas, and the proportion among younger respondents was more than double that among older respondents. Factors associated with the hesitancy were female sex, living alone, low socioeconomic status, and presence of severe psychological distress, especially among older respondents. Thus, adequate measures should be taken to ensure that vaccines are delivered to people with these factors.

No abstract

A compact nanoimprint lithography (NIL) apparatus using the driving power of a servomotor has been newly developed. A bilayer resist method using hydrogen silsequioxane (HSQ) as a top layer and AZ photoresist as a bottom layer has been proposed to achieve high-aspect resist patterns on a nonflat surface for room-temperature nanoimprint lithography (RT-NIL). The etching rate ratio of HSQ to AZ photoresist was higher than 100 for O2 reactive ion etching (RIE), indicating that the HSQ top layer has sufficient etching tolerance. We have achieved the high-aspect nanostructure patterns of 100-nm-linewidth and 1-µm-height using the NIL apparatus developed here.