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PRINCIPAL PUBLICATION AND AUTHORS
Imaging intact human organs with local resolution of cellular structures using hierarchical phase-contrast tomography, C.L. Walsh (a,b), P. Tafforeau (c), W.L Wagner (d,e), D.J. Jafree (f,g), A. Bellier (h), C. Werlein (i), M.P. Kühnel (i,j), E. Boller (c), S. Walker-Samuel (b), J.L. Robertus (k,l), D.A. Long (f), J. Jacob (m,n), S. Marussi (a), E. Brown (b), N. Holroyd (b), D.D. Jonigk (i,j), A. Ackermann (o,p), P.D. Lee (a), Nat. Methods 18, 1532-1541 (2021); https:/doi.org/10.1038/s41592-021-01317-x (a) Department of Mechanical Engineering, University College London (UK) (b) Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging, University College London (UK) (c) ESRF (d) Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Heidelberg (Germany) (e) German Lung Research Centre, Translational Lung Research Centre Heidelberg, (Germany) (f) Developmental Biology and Cancer Programme, Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London (UK) (g) UCL MB/PhD Programme, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University College London (UK) (h) French Alps Laboratory of Anatomy (LADAF), Grenoble Alpes University, Grenoble (France) (i) Institute of Pathology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover (Germany) (j) German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Biomedical Research in Endstage and Obstructive Lung Disease Hannover (BREATH), Hannover (Germany) (k) Department of Histopathology, Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, London (UK) (l) National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London (UK) (m) Centre for Medical Image Computing, University College London (UK) (n) UCL Respiratory, University College London (UK) (o) Institute of Functional and Clinical Anatomy, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Germany) (p) Institute of Pathology and Department of Molecular Pathology, Helios University Clinic Wuppertal, University of Witten-Herdecke, Wuppertal (Germany)
REFERENCES
[1] S.M. Porcier et al., J. Archaeol. Sci. 110, 105009 (2019). [2] T.E. Gureyev et al., Med. Phys. 46, 5478- 5487 (2019). [3] S. Sanchez et al., Nat. Protoc. 8, 1708-1717 (2013). [4] D.F. Voeten et al., Nat. Commun. 9, 1-9 (2018). [5] M. Ackermann et al., Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. (2021). [6] C. Muus et al., Nat. Med. 27, 546-559 (2021).
Revealing the reaction mechanism of Fe- and Co-doped ZnO as Li-ion battery anodes
The reaction mechanism of iron- and cobalt-doped zinc oxide as lithium-ion battery anodes was studied by X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The transition metal doping results in a greatly increased re- oxidation of zinc compared to pure zinc oxide, enabling enhanced reversible capacities, while the choice of the dopant and its initial oxidation state greatly affects the lithiation kinetics.
Since their market introduction in 1991, lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have found their way into essentially all portable consumer electronics as well as stationary energy storage devices and electrical vehicles. The consequent steadily increasing demand results in the need to develop novel active materials with enhanced performance, application-tailored properties, economic efficiency and greater sustainability [1]. With regard to the anode, most alternatives to commercially used graphite reversibly host lithium via an alloying and/or conversion mechanism. Among these, simple metal oxides such as ZnO or SnO2 suffer rapid initial capacity fading. Nonetheless, doping
SARS-CoV-2-infected lung (Figure 138b) demonstrated vascular abnormalities including the presence of bronchio-pulmonary anastomosis (Figure 138c) [5]. Such anastomoses were hypothesised to cause the low blood oxygenation levels seen in COVID-19 patients. HiP-CT has provided the first 3D images of the phenomenon. Analysis of the lung microstructure for a COVID-19 and control uninfected lung showed significant differences (Figure 138d). There were also significant differences within the COVID-19 lung itself, reflecting the heterogeneous patterns of damage seen at 25 µm/voxel resolution. This heterogeneity is something HiP-CT is uniquely suited to quantifying. HiP-CT continues to provide novel insights into multiple human organs, and studies are underway to investigate the effects of COVID-19 on the
kidney, brain and heart all of which show evidence of SARS-CoV-2 trophism [6].
To broaden the impact and availability of HiP-CT, a freely accessible database called the Human Organ Atlas (human- organ-atlas.esrf.eu) has been created. It collates data from publications with patient information and imaging metadata. The Human Organ Atlas will expand to include more samples in both health and disease, becoming an important data resource for the broader imaging, medical and educational communities. Further developments of HiP-CT are planned with the commissioning of the BM18 beamline. Scan time and dose will significantly decrease on BM18 at the same time as an expected increase in contrast and resolution.