Photocorrosion-Based BiOCl Photothermal Materials for Synergistic Solar-Driven Desalination and Photoelectrochemistry Energy Storage and Release.

Solar-driven interfacial evaporation is one of the most promising desalination technologies. However, few studies have effectively combined energy storage with evaporation processes. Here, a novel multifunctional interfacial evaporator, calcium alginate hydrogel/bismuth oxychloride/carbon black (HBiC), is designed, which integrates the characteristics of interfacial evaporation and direct photoelectric conversion. Under illumination, the Bi nanoparticles which were produced by photoetching of BiOCl and its reaction heat are simultaneously used for the heating of water molecules. Meanwhile, part of the solar energy is converted into chemical energy through the photocorrosion reaction and stored in HBiC. At night, Bi NPs undergo autooxidation reaction and an electric current is generated during this process (like a metal-air battery), in which the maximum current density is more than 15 µA cm-2. This scientific design cleverly combines desalination with power generation and provides a new development direction for energy collection and storage.

Clinical analysis of the serum muscle enzyme spectrum of patients with newly diagnosed Sheehan's syndrome.

We investigated the factors associated with serum muscle enzyme elevation in patients with Sheehan's syndrome. A total of 48 patients who were newly diagnosed with Sheehan's syndrome were included and divided into 3 groups: Group 1, creatine kinase (CK) ≥ 1000 U/L; Group 2, 140 < CK < 1000 U/L; and Group 3, CK ≤ 140 U/L. Differences in serum muscle enzymes, serum electrolytes, blood glucose and hormones were compared among the 3 groups. A Spearman correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis were performed on serum muscle enzymes and the other variables. Four patients in Group 1 underwent electromyography. Fourteen, 26 and 8 patients were divided into Group 1, Group 2, and Group 3, respectively. The levels of plasma osmolality, serum sodium, free triiodothyronine (FT3) and free thyroxine (FT4) in Group 1 were lower than those in Group 3 at admission (P < .05). There were significant differences in CK, CK-MB, aspartate aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase, and alpha-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase among the three groups (P < .05). CK was correlated with serum sodium (r = -0.642, P < .001), serum potassium (r = -0.29, P = .046), plasma osmolality (r = -0.65, P < .001), FT3 (r = -0.363, P = .012), and FT4 (r = -0.450, P = .002). Moreover, creatine kinase isoenzyme-MB (CK-MB) was correlated with serum sodium (r = -0.464, P = .001) and plasma osmolality (r = -0.483, P < .001). The multiple linear regression showed that serum sodium was independently and negatively correlated with CK (r = -0.352, P = .021). The electromyogram results supported the existence of myogenic injury. Sheehan's syndrome is prone to be complicated by nontraumatic rhabdomyolysis, with both a chronic course and acute exacerbation. Serum muscle enzymes should be routinely measured. For patients with CK levels > 1000 U/L, a CK-MB/CK ratio < 6% can be a simple indicator to differentiate rhabdomyolysis from acute myocardial infarction. Abnormal serum muscle enzymes observed in Sheehan's syndrome may be associated with hypothyroidism and with hyponatremia in particular.

A Dual Photoelectrode Photoassisted Fe-Air Battery: The Photo-Electrocatalysis Mechanism Accounting for the Improved Oxygen Evolution Reaction and Oxygen Reduction Reaction of Air Electrodes.

Effective utilization of solar energy in battery systems is a promising solution to achieve sustainable and green development. In this work, a photoassisted Fe-air battery (PFAB) with two photoelectrodes of ZnO-TiO2 heterostructure and polyterthiophene (pTTh)-coated CuO (pTTh-CuO) grown on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) is proposed. The band structure of semiconductors and the charge-transfer mechanism of heterostructure are studied. The electrochemical results show that the photogenerated electrons and holes play key roles in reducing the oxygen evolution reaction (OER)/oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) overpotential in the discharging and charging processes, respectively. The short-circuit current density, the open-circuit voltage, and the maximum power output of the PFAB can reach 34.28 mA cm-2 , 1.15 V, and 5.69 mW cm-2 upon illumination, respectively. The photoassisted Fe-air battery exhibits a low charge voltage of 0.64 V for ZnO-TiO2 as photoelectrode and a discharge voltage of 1.38 V for pTTh-CuO as a photoelectrode at 0.1 mA cm-2 .

Development of a nomogram for predicting the risk of left ventricular diastolic function in subjects with type-2 diabetes mellitus.

Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) can be affected by many factors, including epicardial adipose tissue (EAT), obesity and type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The aim of this study was to establish and validate an easy-to-use nomogram that predicts the severity of LVDD in patients with T2DM. This is a retrospective study of 84 consecutive subjects with T2DM admitted to the Endocrinology Department, the First People's Hospital of Zunyi City between January 2015 and October 2020. Several echocardiographic characteristics were used to diagnose diastolic dysfunction according to the 2016 diastolic dysfunction ASE guidelines. Anthropometric, demographic, and biochemical parameters were collected. Through a least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression model, we reduced the dimensionality of the data and determined factors for the nomogram. The mean follow-up was 25.97 months. Cases were divided into two groups, those with LVDD (31) and those without (53). LASSO regression identified total cholesterol (Tol.chol), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), right ventricular anterior wall (RVAW) and epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) were identified as predictive factors in the nomogram. The ROC curve analysis demonstrated that the AUC value for most clinical paramerters was higher than 0.6. The nomogram can be used to promote the individualized prediction of LVDD risk in T2DM patients, and help to prioritize patients diagnosed with echocardiography.

Smart Solar-Metal-Air Batteries Based on BiOCl Photocorrosion for Monolithic Solar Energy Conversion and Storage.

Herein, a BiOCl hydrogel film electrode featuring excellent photocorrosion and regeneration properties acts as the anode to construct a novel type of smart solar-metal-air batteries (SMABs), which combines the characteristics of solar cells (direct photovoltaic conversion) and metal-air batteries (electric energy storage and release interacting with atmosphere). The cyclic photocorrosion processes between BiOCl (Bi3+ ) and Bi can simply be achieved by solar light illumination and standing in the dark. Upon illumination, the device takes open-circuit configuration to charge itself from the sunlight. Notably, in this system, the converted solar energy can be stored in the SMABs without the need of external assistance. In the discharging process in the dark, Bi0 spontaneously turns back to Bi3+ producing electrons to induce the oxygen reduction reaction. With an illumination of 15 min, the battery with an electrode area of 1 cm2 can be continuously discharged for ≈3000 s. Taking elemental Bi as the calculation object, the theoretical capacity of the SMABs is 384.75 mAh g-1 , showing its potential application in energy storage. This novel type of SMABs is developed based on the unique photocorrosive and self-oxidation reaction of BiOCl to achieve photochemical energy generation and storage.

Pickering emulsion-embedded hierarchical solid-liquid hydrogel spheres for static and flow photocatalysis.

Pickering emulsion-based photocatalysis is considered to be a promising system due to its large active surface area and water/oil spatial separation capability for enrichment of substrates and products. In this work, a novel hierarchical structure composed of calcium alginate gel sphere wrapped ionic liquid-in-water Pickering emulsion with TiO2 in the water phase, which are stabilized by graphene oxide, is prepared via a facile one-step emulsion gelation method. Such subtle combination of Pickering emulsion, hydrogel and TiO2 with a multi-stage solid-liquid assemblage structure shows enhanced degradation activity of 2-naphthol into small molecular alkanes under simulated solar irradiation. The photodegradation activity is attributed to the ionic liquid as adsorption medium for 2-naphthol, and the high-efficient charge separation at graphene oxide/TiO2 interface superior to that of pure TiO2. More importantly, the as-prepared millimeter-sized assembled gel spheres can be directly used as the column filler to construct continuous flow photocatalytic system, maintaining the promising performance in removing pollutants from water with ~100% remove ability of 2-naphthol on stream. A charge transfer mechanism of the photocatalyst is proposed, i.e. photogenerated charges are separated in TiO2/graphene oxide p-n heterostructure at the interface of Pickering emulsion droplets.