Designing Efficient Non-Precious Metal Electrocatalysts for High-Performance Hydrogen Production: A Comprehensive Evaluation Strategy.

Developing abundant Earth-element and high-efficient electrocatalysts for hydrogen production is crucial in effectively reducing the cost of green hydrogen production. Herein, a strategy by comprehensively considering the computational chemical indicators for H* adsorption/desorption and dehydrogenation kinetics to evaluate the hydrogen evolution performance of electrocatalysts is proposed. Guided by the proposed strategy, a series of catalysts are constructed through a dual transition metal doping strategy. Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations and experimental chemistry demonstrate that cobalt-vanadium co-doped Ni3N is an exceptionally ideal catalyst for hydrogen production from electrolyzed alkaline water. Specifically, Co,V-Ni3N requires only 10 and 41 mV in alkaline electrolytes and alkaline seawater, respectively, to achieve a hydrogen evolution current density of 10 mA cm-2. Moreover, it can operate steadily at a large industrial current density of 500 mA cm-2 for extended periods. Importantly, this evaluation strategy is extended to single-metal-doped Ni3N and found that it still exhibits significant universality. This study not only presents an efficient non-precious metal-based electrocatalyst for water/seawater electrolysis but also provides a significant strategy for the design of high-performance catalysts of electrolyzed water.

Assessment of Carbon Substrate Catabolism Pattern and Functional Metabolic Pathway for Microbiota of Limestone Caves.

Carbon utilization of bacterial communities is a key factor of the biomineralization process in limestone-rich curst areas. An efficient carbon catabolism of the microbial community is associated with the availability of carbon sources in such an ecological niche. As cave environments promote oligotrophic (carbon source stress) situations, the present study investigated the variations of different carbon substrate utilization patterns of soil and rock microbial communities between outside and inside cave environments in limestone-rich crust topography by Biolog EcoPlate™ assay and categorized their taxonomical structure and predicted functional metabolic pathways based on 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. Community level physiological profiling (CLPP) analysis by Biolog EcoPlate™ assay revealed that microbes from outside of the cave were metabolically active and had higher carbon source utilization rate than the microbial community inside the cave. 16S rRNA amplicon sequence analysis demonstrated, among eight predominant bacterial phylum Planctomycetes, Proteobacteria, Cyanobacteria, and Nitrospirae were predominantly associated with outside-cave samples, whereas Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Gemmatimonadetes were associated with inside-cave samples. Functional prediction showed bacterial communities both inside and outside of the cave were functionally involved in the metabolism of carbohydrates, amino acids, lipids, xenobiotic compounds, energy metabolism, and environmental information processing. However, the amino acid and carbohydrate metabolic pathways were predominantly linked to the outside-cave samples, while xenobiotic compounds, lipids, other amino acids, and energy metabolism were associated with inside-cave samples. Overall, a positive correlation was observed between Biolog EcoPlate™ assay carbon utilization and the abundance of functional metabolic pathways in this study.

Association between heart rate recovery after exercise and renal function in patients referred for treadmill exercise test.

INTRODUCTION: Heart rate recovery (HRR) is a marker of parasympathetic activity recovery after exercise, and it is associated with cardiovascular mortality and total mortality. Impaired renal function is also associated with cardiac mortality. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between HRR after exercise and renal function in patients referred for a treadmill exercise test. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted at a regional hospital in southern Taiwan. Patients who completed a symptom-limited treadmill exercise test from January 2015 to February 2018 were recruited. Before the treadmill exercise test, patients were asked to complete a questionnaire on the past disease history and lifestyle factors. Serum creatinine measurement within two years prior to or after the date of the treadmill exercise test of the patients was also obtained from the medical records for these patients. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was calculated. Simple and multiple linear regression analyses were performed to investigate the association between one-minute HRR and eGFR. RESULTS: A total of 2,825 patients completed the treadmill exercise test, and serum creatinine measurement was identified from medical records for 2,153 patients (76.2%). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that a lower eGFR was significantly associated with lower one-minute HRR (P< 0.001), adjusting for other significant independent factors, including age, waist circumference, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and smoking. CONCLUSIONS: In this cross-sectional observational study, a lower eGFR was significantly and independently associated with decreased one-minute HRR, suggesting that parasympathetic activity recovery after exercise could be impaired by a decrease in renal function.

Comparison of the risk of left ventricular free wall rupture in Taiwanese patients with ST-elevation acute myocardial infarction undergoing different reperfusion strategies: A medical record review study.

Ventricular free wall rupture (VFWR) is the second most common cause of death in patients with acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Nevertheless, few reports have investigated the factors, including different treatment strategies, associated with VFWR in Taiwanese patients. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the risk of VFWR in Taiwanese patients with acute STEMI who had received primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), rescue PCI, scheduled PCI, thrombolytic therapy, and pharmacologic treatment. In this medical records review study, records of patients with acute STEMI admitted to a regional hospital in south Taiwan between March 1999 and October 2013 were screened. Multivariate stepwise logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the association between the risk of VFWR and its independent factors. The overall incidence of VFWR among the 1545 patients with acute STEMI in this study was 1.6%. Compared with primary PCI, the risk of VFWR was significantly higher in patients who had received thrombolysis (adjusted odds ratio = 6.83, P = 0.003) or pharmacologic treatment alone (adjusted odds ratio = 3.68, P = 0.014). The risk of VFWR in patients receiving rescue PCI or scheduled PCI was not significantly different from that in patients receiving primary PCI. In addition, older age and Killip class >I were associated with an increased risk of VFWR in patients with acute STEMI, whereas the use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors was associated with a lower risk of VFWR. In conclusion, findings from this medical record review study provide support for the use of primary PCI, rescue PCI, and scheduled PCI over thrombolytic therapy and pharmacologic treatment in reducing the risk of VFWR in Taiwanese patients with acute STEMI.