A pulmonary source of infection in patients with sepsis-associated acute kidney injury leads to a worse outcome and poor recovery of kidney function

BACKGROUND:Hospital mortality rates are higher among patients with sepsis-associated acute kidney injury(SA-AKI)than among patients with sepsis.However,the pathogenesis underlying SA-AKI remains unclear.We hypothesized that the source of infection affects development of SA-AKI.We aim to explore the relationship between the anatomical source of infection and outcome in patients with SA-AKI.METHODS:Between January 2013 and January 2018,113 patients with SA-AKI admitted to our Emergency Center were identifi ed and divided into two groups:those with pulmonary infections and those with other sources of infection.For each patient,we collected data from admission until either discharge or death.We also recorded the clinical outcome after 90 days for the discharged patients.RESULTS:The most common source of infection was the lung(52/113 cases,46%),followed by gastrointestinal(GI)(25/113 cases,22.1%)and urinary(22/113,19.5%)sources.Our analysis showed that patients with SA-AKI had a significantly worse outcome(30/52 cases,P<0.001)and poorer kidney recovery(P=0.015)with pulmonary sources of infection than those infected by another source.Data also showed that patients not infected by a pulmonary source more likely experienced shock(28/61 cases,P=0.037).CONCLUSION:This study demonstrated that the source of infection infl uenced the outcome of SA-AKI patients in an independent manner.Lung injury may influence renal function in an asyet undetermined manner as the recovery of kidney function was poorer in SA-AKI patients with a pulmonary source of infection.

Anti-self-discharge ultrathin all-inorganic electrochromic asymmetric supercapacitors enabling intelligent and effective energy storage

Electrochromic asymmetric supercapacitors(EASs), incorporating electrochromic and energy storage into one platform, are extremely desirable for next-generation civilian portable and smart electronic devices. However, the crucial challenge of their fast self-discharge rate is often overlooked, although it plays an important role in practical application. Unfortunately, very limited research on EAS has focused on this critical problem. Here, an ultrathin all-inorganic EAS with excellent anti-self-discharge performance and superior electrochromic behavior is designed and manufactured by introducing a thin nanofunctional layer at the electrode/electrolyte interface. The prototype all-inorganic EAS exhibited a wide working voltage of 2.2 V, a high energy/power density(81.2mWh·cm^(-3)/0.688 W·cm^(-3)and 30.6 mWh·cm^(-3)/11.02W·cm^(-3)), along with outstanding electrochemical and electrochromic performance even at high temperatures.Remarkably, the introduced Ta2O5layer can efficiently prohibit the redistribution and diffusion of the movable ions at the fully charged state, endowing the all-inorganic EAS with a tardy self-discharge rate of 12.6 mV·g^(-1),which is an extremely low value when compared with previous reported research. Significantly, the ultrathin allinorganic EASs could also well maintain a slow self-discharge rate and their original electrochemical characteristics under various environmental temperatures. We envision that the novel strategy of electrode/electrolyte interface engineering can effectively deal with the severe self-discharge challenge of EAS, and provide more opportunities for their practical applications.

Constructing mild expanded graphite microspheres by pressurized oxidation combined microwave treatment for enhanced lithium storage

The modified graphite anode materials have some prominent advantages over other anode materials in the industrial applications.A novel simple and gentle method is proposed to synthesize the mild expanded graphite microspheres(MEGMs) from flake graphite spheres through a combined modified pressurized oxidation combined with the microwave treatment.The microstructural results demonstrate that moderately expanded MEGMs with an expansion volume between 4 and 10 ml·g^(-1)exhibit a highly microporous structure with an enlarged interlayer spacing,a decreased microcrystalline size,as well as an increased number of functional groups on the surface,resulting in the increased storage sites and spaces for lithium ions and the enhanced diffusion rate of lithium ions.When used as the anode material for lithium-ion batteries,the MEGM-T75t30 obtained by oxidation treatment at 75℃ for 30 min followed by microwave irradiation for expansion displays a high reversible capacity of 446.7 mAh·g^(-1) at 100 mA·g^(-1) after 100 cycles and excellent rate performance(330 and 116 mAh·g^(-1) at 800 and 3200 mA·g^(-1),respectively).Therefore,the MEGMs prepared by this convenient and mild method show excellent electrochemical properties and good application potential.

Rational construction of densely packed Si/MXene composite microspheres enables favorable sodium storage

The fast and reversible sodiation/desodiation of anode materials remains an indelible yet fascinating target.Herein, a class of the densely packed Si/MXene composite microspheres is constructed and prepared, taking advantages of the synergistic effects of the activated Si nanoparticles and conductive flower-like MXene microspheres with ample ion-diffusion pathways. Consequently,the intrinsic MXene nanosheets with intelligently regulated interlayer spacing can accommodate the volume change induced strain during cycling, and the strong interaction between the Si and MXene matrix greatly contributes to the robust structural stability. As expected, the Si/MXene composite architecture exhibits boosted sodium storage performance, in terms of an inspiring reversible capacity of 751 mAh·g^(-1)at 0.1 A·g^(-1), remarkable long-term cycling stability of 376 mAh·g^(-1)at 0.1 A·g^(-1) over 500 cycles, and outstanding rate capability(after one consecutive current density changing from 0.1 to 2.0 A·g^(-1), a large capacity of 275 mAh·g^(-1) is regained after suddenly returning the initial current density back to 0.1 A·g^(-1) and in the subsequent 200 cycles this composite architecture anode still delivers a capacity of 332 mAh·g^(-1)). The kinetics analysis indicates superior pseudocapacitive property, high electronic conductivity, and favorable sodium-ion adsorption and diffusion capability,confirming fast sodium storage performance. Impressively, ex-situ X-ray diffraction and selected area electron diffraction characterizations corroborate the formation of NaSi;as the main sodiation products during the reversible evolutions of cycled proceeding with sodium-ion insertion. This work sheds light on the elaborate design of silicon-based nanostructured anodes towards advanced high-performance sodium-ion batteries.