Bi-MOF Modulating MnO2 Deposition Enables Ultra-Stable Cathode-Free Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries.

The Mn-based materials are considered as the most promising cathodes for zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) due to their inherent advantages of safety, sustainability and high energy density, however suffer from poor cyclability caused by gradual Mn2+ dissolution and irreversible structural transformation. The mainstream solution is pre-adding Mn2+ into the electrolyte, nevertheless faces the challenge of irreversible Mn2+ consumption results from the MnO2 electrodeposition reaction (Mn2+  â†’ MnO2 ). This work proposes a "MOFs as the electrodeposition surface" strategy, rather than blocking it. The bismuth (III) pyridine-3,5-dicarboxylate (Bi-PYDC) is selected as the typical electrodeposition surface to regulate the deposition reaction from Mn2+ to MnO2 . Because of the unique less hydrophilic and manganophilic nature of Bi-PYDC for Mn2+ , a moderate MnO2 deposition rate is achieved, preventing the electrolyte from rapidly exhausting Mn2+ . Simultaneously, the intrinsic stability of deposited R-MnO2 is enhanced by the slowly released Bi3+ from Bi-PYDC reservoir. Furthermore, Bi-PYDC shows the ability to accommodate H+ insertion/extraction. Benefiting from these merits, the cathode-free ZIB using Bi-PYDC as the electrodeposition surface for MnO2 shows an outstanding cycle lifespan of more than 10 000 cycles at 1 mA cm-2 . This electrode design may stimulate a new pathway for developing cathode free long-life rechargeable ZIBs.

Biomarkers in Cardiorenal Syndromes.

There is a consensus that cardiorenal syndromes (CRS) are defined as the disorders of heart and kidney where acute or chronic dysfunction in one organ may induce acute or chronic dysfunction in another. Patients with CRS have increased hospitalization and mortality rates, and thus their identification is of great implication. Biomarkers are not only predictive in heart failure or renal diseases, but also useful in identifying cardiac dysfunction in renal diseases and renal injury in heart failure. Thus, they may be applied in order to identify patients with CRS and even assess prognosis and guide therapy in these patients. However, studies on biomarkers have just begun in CRS. Future studies are essential to observe current biomarkers and find novel biomarkers in CRS so as to improve diagnosis, therapy, and prognosis of CRS.

Poor sleep is responsible for the impaired nocturnal blood pressure dipping in elderly hypertensive: A cross-sectional study of elderly.

OBJECTIVE: This study was aimed to assess whether sleep disorder was associated with an increased risk of less nocturnal blood pressure (BP) dipping in elderly patients with hypertension. METHODS: Cases were 1006 patients, aged >60 years, who were admitted to hospital with diagnosed hypertension during 2016-2017, and were divided into three groups with the systolic nocturnal BP dipping of 10%, and 0% as the cut-off value. The patients' sleep was evaluated by Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI). RESULTS: Compared to non-dipper BP rhythm patients (n = 382) and dipper BP rhythm patients (n = 132), reverse dipper patients (n = 492) exhibited higher PSQI score and had higher scores on six components with the exception of use sleep drug (p < 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression indicated that poor sleep, which was defined as high score of PSQI or its seven components, was associated with prevalence of reverse dipper in elderly hypertensive (odds ratio (OR) = 1.17, (95% confidence interval (CI), 1.13-1.21, p < 0.05) after adjusting for risk factors of hypertension. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that there was a significant negative correlation between PSQI score (include its seven components) and nocturnal BP dipping value after adjusting for risk factors of hypertension (ß = -0.584, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In elderly patients with hypertension, poor sleep quality individuals were more prone to reverse dipper BP rhythm. Even adjusting for the effect of known risk factors of hypertension, poor sleep may contribute to attenuated BP dipping in elderly hypertensive.