Assessing red blood cell distribution width in Vietnamese heart failure patients: A cross-sectional study.

Background: Heart failure (HF) is becoming a growing public health concern. Diagnostic tests for determining the severity of HF often come with high costs and require specialized expertise, which makes it difficult to assess HF severity, especially in low-income countries or at primary healthcare facilities. Recently, red blood cell distribution width (RDW) has emerged as a promising, easily accessible marker associated with HF severity.

Hierarchically porous and single Zn atom-embedded carbon molecular sieves for H separations.

Hierarchically porous materials containing sub-nm ultramicropores with molecular sieving abilities and microcavities with high gas diffusivity may realize energy-efficient membranes for gas separations. However, rationally designing and constructing such pores into large-area membranes enabling efficient H separations remains challenging. Here, we report the synthesis and utilization of hybrid carbon molecular sieve membranes with well-controlled nano- and micro-pores and single zinc atoms and clusters well-dispersed inside the nanopores via the carbonization of supramolecular mixed matrix materials containing amorphous and crystalline zeolitic imidazolate frameworks.

Palladium-Percolated Networks Enabled by Low Loadings of Branched Nanorods for Enhanced H Separations.

Nanoparticles (NPs) at high loadings are often used in mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) to improve gas separation properties, but they can lead to defects and poor processability that impede membrane fabrication. Herein, it is demonstrated that branched nanorods (NRs) with controlled aspect ratios can significantly reduce the required loading to achieve superior gas separation properties while maintaining excellent processability, as demonstrated by the dispersion of palladium (Pd) NRs in polybenzimidazole for H /CO separation. Increasing the aspect ratio from 1 for NPs to 40 for NRs decreases the percolation threshold volume fraction by a factor of 30, from 0.

In Situ Growth of Crystalline and Polymer-Incorporated Amorphous ZIFs in Polybenzimidazole Achieving Hierarchical Nanostructures for Carbon Capture.

Mixed matrix materials (MMMs) hold great potential for membrane gas separations by merging nanofillers with unique nanostructures and polymers with excellent processability. In situ growth of the nanofillers is adapted to mitigate interfacial incompatibility to avoid the selectivity loss. Surprisingly, functional polymers have not been exploited to co-grow the nanofillers for membrane applications.

Tailoring sub-3.3 Å ultramicropores in advanced carbon molecular sieve membranes for blue hydrogen production.

Carbon molecular sieve (CMS) membranes prepared by carbonization of polymers containing strongly size-sieving ultramicropores are attractive for high-temperature gas separations. However, polymers need to be carbonized at extremely high temperatures (900° to 1200°C) to achieve sub-3.3 Å ultramicroporous channels for H/CO separation, which makes them brittle and impractical for industrial applications.

Facilely Cross-Linking Polybenzimidazole with Polycarboxylic Acids to Improve H/CO Separation Performance.

Polybenzimidazole (PBI) with a strong size-sieving ability exhibits attractive H/CO separation properties for blue H production and CO capture. Herein, we report that PBI can be facilely cross-linked with polycarboxylic acids, oxalic acid (OA), and -aconitic acid (TaA) to improve its separation performance. The acids react with the amines on the PBI chains, decreasing free volume and increasing size-sieving ability.