Synthesis and Characteristics of Mesoporous Copper Cobalt Oxides Using the Inverse Micelle Method Fabricated for Supercapacitors.

Mesoporous materials have gained considerable attention in the fabrication of supercapacitor electrodes because of their large surface areas and controlled porosities. This study reports the synthesis of mesoporous CuCo2O4 powders using the inverse micelle method. X-ray diffraction, N2 sorption measurement, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were performed to investigate the properties of the powders. After heat treatment at 250 °C in a vacuum atmosphere, the mesoporous CuCo2O4 powders exhibited a large specific surface area of 116.32 m2 g-1 and a high crystallinity. The electrode fabricated by using the as-prepared mesoporous CuCo2O4 powder exhibited enhanced electrical properties with a maximum specific capacitance of 140 F g-1 and capacitance retention of 91.4% after 3000 continuous charge-discharge cycles. Therefore, the as-prepared mesoporous CuCo2O4 powders hold great potential in the fabrication of supercapacitor electrodes to be used for a wide range of electrochemical applications.

Factors Associated with Acute Kidney Injury Occurrence and Prognosis in Rhabdomyolysis at the Emergency Department.

Background and Objectives: This study aimed to analyze patients with rhabdomyolysis who presented to emergency departments and identify their distribution of related disease and prognostic factors. Materials and Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted on patients with rhabdomyolysis who presented to emergency departments over a 10-year period. Patient data, including patients' demographic variables (sex and age), mode of arrival, final diagnosis, statin use, rhabdomyolysis trigger factors, and levels of serum creatine phosphokinase (CPK), myoglobin, creatinine, sodium, potassium, phosphate, calcium, and lactate, were analyzed. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify the predictive factors of acute kidney injury (AKI). Results: Among the patients, 268 (65.6%) were found to have trigger factors without underlying diseases. Furthermore, 115 (28.2%) patients developed AKI. This comprehensive study sheds light on the diverse factors influencing the occurrence of AKI in rhabdomyolysis and provides insights into AKI predictive markers. Furthermore, we analyzed the cases by dividing them into six groups: occurrence of AKI, occurrence of infection, and simple or complex rhabdomyolysis. CPK time course was found to be important in clinical prognosis, such as AKI occurrence, dialysis or not, and mortality. Conclusions: Age, statin use, elevated creatinine and lactate levels, and initial serum CPK level emerged as significant predictors of AKI. CPK time course was also found to be an important factor in predicting the clinical outcomes of patients with rhabdomyolysis.

Development of High-Performance Thermoelectric Materials by Microstructure Control of P-Type BiSbTe Based Alloys Fabricated by Water Atomization.

Developing inexpensive and rapid fabrication methods for high efficiency thermoelectric alloys is a crucial challenge for the thermoelectric industry, especially for energy conversion applications. Here, we fabricated large amounts of p-type Cu0.07Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 alloys, using water atomization to control its microstructure and improve thermoelectric performance by optimizing its initial powder size. All the water atomized powders were sieved with different aperture sizes, of 32-75 µm, 75-125 µm, 125-200 µm, and <200 µm, and subsequently consolidated using hot pressing at 490 °C. The grain sizes were found to increase with increasing powder particle size, which also increased carrier mobility due to improved carrier transport. The maximum electrical conductivity of 1457.33 Ω-1 cm-1 was obtained for the 125-200 µm samples due to their large grain sizes and subsequent high mobility. The Seebeck coefficient slightly increased with decreasing particle size due to scattering of carriers at fine grain boundaries. The higher power factor values of 4.20, 4.22 × 10-3 W/mk2 were, respectively, obtained for large powder specimens, such as 125-200 µm and 75-125 µm, due to their higher electrical conductivity. In addition, thermal conductivity increased with increasing particle size due to the improvement in carriers and phonons transport. The 75-125 µm powder specimen exhibited a relatively high thermoelectric figure of merit, ZT of 1.257 due to this higher electric conductivity.

A case of the hyperkeratotic variant of porokeratosis Mibelli.

Herein, we report a case of the hyperkeratotic variant of porokeratosis Mibelli. A 58-year-old woman presented with two brownish verrucous plaques on the buttock for 20 years, and extremely hyperkeratotic verrucous nodules and brownish macules on the right foot for 1 year. Histopathological findings of the buttock were typical of porokeratosis. However, histopathological findings of the right foot were atypical for porokeratosis, including extreme hyperkeratosis and an increased number of and unusual sized cornoid lamellae.