Société de Conseil et de Prospective Scientifique

Nickel/zinc (Ni/Zn) batteries are a promising post‐lithium technology for stationary energy storage applications offering advantages in safety, environmental compatibility, and resource availability. Although this battery chemistry has been known for decades, the theoretical knowledge about its electrochemical processes remains limited. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the general cycling behavior and the underlying processes, but also specific phenomena intrinsic to zinc‐based cells such as zinc shape change, simulations based on a thermodynamically consistent, volume‐averaged continuum model are performed. A Ni/Zn prototype cell is used as a reference framework to provide a basis for modeling, parameter estimation, and systematic comparison between simulated and experimental cell behavior to enhance cyclability and performance.

In my opinion, this book would not be complete without mentioning the topic of bias in machine learning.

In the previous chapters, we looked into how to use machine learning with images and text data to do object detection and classification, as well as sentiment analysis, toxicity classification and question answering.

RationaleCustom-made mandibular advancement devices (MADs) are reported as providing higher efficacy rates compared with thermoplastic heat-moulded MADs but at the price of higher costs and treatment delays.ObjectiveTo determine whether a thermoplastic heat-moulded titratable MAD (ONIRIS; ONIRIS SAS, Rueil Malmaison, France) is non-inferior to a custom-made acrylic titratable MAD (TALI; ONIRIS SAS, Rueil Malmaison, France) for obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA).MethodsWe conducted a multicentre, open, randomised controlled trial of patients with OSA refusing or not tolerating continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). Participants were randomly assigned to a thermoplastic heat-moulded titratable device or a custom-made acrylic device for 2 months with stratification by centre and OSA severity. The non-inferiority primary outcome was a ≥50% reduction in apnoea–hypopnoea index (AHI) or achieving AHI <10 events/hour at 2 months. The non-inferiority margin was preset as a difference between groups of 20% for the primary outcome in the per-protocol analysis.Main resultsOf 198 patients (mean age 51 [SD, 12] years; 138 [72.6%] men; mean body mass index 26 [SD, 2.7] kg/m2; mean AHI 26.6/hour [SD, 10.4]), 100 received TALI and 98 ONIRIS. In per-protocol analysis, the response rate was 51.7% in the TALI group versus 53.6% in the ONIRIS group (absolute difference 1.9%; 90% CI: 11% to 15%, within the non-inferiority margin). Effectiveness was the same for severity, symptoms, quality of life and blood pressure reduction. Patients in ONIRIS group reported more side effects and adherence was slightly better with TALI.ConclusionIn patients with OSA refusing or not tolerating CPAP, the thermoplastic heat-moulded titratable MAD was non-inferior in the short-term to the custom-made acrylic MAD.Trial registration numberNCT02348970.