Rational Synthesis Of Catalysts For Biomass Conversion

With climate change due to global warming, the production of hydrocarbon fuels and chemicals from renewable biomass resource has become more pressing in recent decades. The biggest challenge in biomass conversion is to develop active, selective and stable catalysts for particular applications. The objective of this research is to optimize catalytic performance for hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) and hydrogenation reactions by enhancing the stability of the support, tuning metal particle size, and controlling surface composition. The high content of water in bio-oil and the aqueous environment of the upgrading process requires a hydrothermally stable catalyst. The hydrothermal stability has been effectively improved at 220oC by various means: the introduction of Zr, carbon coating on silica, and the development of mesoporous alumina. Monometallic and bimetallic catalysts were prepared on these stable supports by strong electrostatic adsorption (SEA) and ultra-small nanoparticles (\u3c2 nm) were synthesized. Stability tests at the bio-oil HDO reaction temperature of 300oC revealed that the mesoporous alumina outperformed the other supports in terms surface area and pore structure maintenance, and metal particle stability. Mesoporous alumina-supported Pt/Ru and Cu/Ni were tested for HDO of bio-oil at USDA. Two methods were applied to control metal particle sizes. In the first, SEA-derived Ru and Pt nanoparticles (\u3c2 nm) supported on mesoporous silica were treated at elevated temperatures (800oC and 900oC) in humidified hydrogen to achieve series of catalysts with particle sizes ranging from 1 to 5 nm. This treatment, however, significantly deteriorated the support. A milder method was demonstrated via charge enhanced dry impregnation (CEDI): Pt particles were grown from about 1 to 10 nm on a variety of common supports by adding excess chloride to the impregnating solution. Particle size sensitivity to chloride was compared on various supports. The effect on furfural hydrogenation of controlling of surface composition of bimetallic nanoparticles was demonstrated with silica supported PdCu and PdCo catalysts prepared by co-SEA, SEA followed by Electroless Deposition (SEA-ED), and dry impregnation (co-DI). SEA and co-SEA preparations yielded ultra-small (about 1 nm) single metal Pd, Cu, and Co and homogeneously alloyed PdCu and PdCo nanoparticles. Cu could be added as partial monolayer shells via ED to the SEA-synthesized Pd cores. The reaction pathway and product yield were seen to be a sensitive function of the synthesis method and corresponding surface composition

Identification of novel somatic fusions of ERG-VEGFA, TMPRSS2-ERG, and VEGFA-TMPRSS2 in prostate cancer treated with anlotinib and androgen deprivation therapy: A case report

The TMPRSS2-ERG fusion gene has frequently been found in prostate cancer and is associated with malignancy. Identifying novel fusions will help to stratify patients and establish patient-tailored therapies. A 78-year-old man presented to our hospital with severe symptoms of urinary urgency and frequency for 2 years, as well as severe bone pain for 1 year. He was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer with a Gleason score of 5 + 5. Three gene fusions, ERG_VEGFA, TMPRSS2_ERG, and VEGFA_TMPRSS2, were identified in the patient\u27s prostate cancer tissue. Notably, administration of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor, anlotinib, in combination with a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) and abiraterone, reduced the patient\u27s bone pain and also stabilized his prostate cancer for more than 2 years. This is the first report of somatic fusions among the VEGFA, ERG, and TMPRSS2 genes in cancer tissues from a patient with prostate cancer who responded well to antiangiogenic treatment combined with a GnRHa and abiraterone

Petrogenesis of the Northwest Africa 4734 basaltic lunar meteorite

We report the petrography, mineralogy, trace element abundance geochemistry, and Pb–Pb geochronology of the lunar meteorite Northwest Africa (NWA) 4734 and make a comparison with the LaPaz Icefield (LAP) 02205/02224 low-Ti lunar basaltic meteorites. NWA 4734 is an unbrecciated low-Ti mare basalt composed mainly of subophitic-textured pyroxene (60 vol%) and plagioclase (30%). Pyroxene, plagioclase, and olivine exhibit large compositional variations and intra-grain chemical zoning. Pyroxene and plagioclase in NWA 4734 have rare earth element (REE) concentrations and patterns similar to those of the LAPs. The crystallization age of NWA 4734, determined in situ in baddeleyite, is 3073 ± 15 Ma (2σ), nearly identical to that of the LAPs (3039 ± 12 Ma). NWA 4734 and the LAPs have similar textures, modal abundances, mineral chemistry, and crystallization ages, and are most likely source-crater paired on the Moon. One baddeleyite grain in LAP 02224 displays distinctively older and spatially variable ages, from 3349 ± 62 to 3611 ± 62 Ma (2σ), similar to another baddeleyite grain (3109 ± 29 to 3547 ± 21 Ma) reported by Zhang et al. (2010) for the same meteorite. Raman spectra, cathodoluminescence, and stoichiometric studies of the baddeleyite suggest that the two older grains were not endogenic but were trapped by the parental magma. Equilibrium partition calculation shows that the parental melt from which the NWA 4734 plagioclase crystallized has much lower REE contents than its whole rock, indicating an open system during magma evolution. NWA 4734 could have originated from a parental melt with REE concentrations similar to that of the Apollo 12 olivine basalt. The magma likely assimilated a small amount (∼4 wt%) of KREEP-rich material during its ascent through the lunar crust

Lung Nodule Segmentation and Uncertain Region Prediction with an Uncertainty-Aware Attention Mechanism

Radiologists possess diverse training and clinical experiences, leading to variations in the segmentation annotations of lung nodules and resulting in segmentation uncertainty.Conventional methods typically select a single annotation as the learning target or attempt to learn a latent space comprising multiple annotations. However, these approaches fail to leverage the valuable information inherent in the consensus and disagreements among the multiple annotations. In this paper, we propose an Uncertainty-Aware Attention Mechanism (UAAM) that utilizes consensus and disagreements among multiple annotations to facilitate better segmentation. To this end, we introduce the Multi-Confidence Mask (MCM), which combines a Low-Confidence (LC) Mask and a High-Confidence (HC) Mask.The LC mask indicates regions with low segmentation confidence, where radiologists may have different segmentation choices. Following UAAM, we further design an Uncertainty-Guide Multi-Confidence Segmentation Network (UGMCS-Net), which contains three modules: a Feature Extracting Module that captures a general feature of a lung nodule, an Uncertainty-Aware Module that produces three features for the the annotations' union, intersection, and annotation set, and an Intersection-Union Constraining Module that uses distances between the three features to balance the predictions of final segmentation and MCM. To comprehensively demonstrate the performance of our method, we propose a Complex Nodule Validation on LIDC-IDRI, which tests UGMCS-Net's segmentation performance on lung nodules that are difficult to segment using common methods. Experimental results demonstrate that our method can significantly improve the segmentation performance on nodules that are difficult to segment using conventional methods.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures. We have reported a preliminary version of this work in MICCAI 202

The impact of the Pan-African-aged tectonothermal event on high-grade rocks at Mount Brown, East Antarctica

This study presents monazite and rutile U–Pb and hornblende and biotite 40Ar/39Ar geochronological data for high-grade rocks of the eastern Grenville-aged Rayner orogen at Mount Brown in order to analyse the extent and degree of Pan-African-aged reworking. Monazite from paragneiss yields U–Pb ages of 910 Ma for larger granular grains and 670–630 Ma for smaller globular beads around garnet porphyroblasts or hosted by symplectites. Rutile from leucogneiss yields U–Pb ages of 520–515 Ma. Hornblende and biotite from different rock types yield 40Ar/39Ar plateau ages of 744 and 520–505 Ma, respectively. Combining these results with published zircon U–Pb age data suggests that granulite facies metamorphism occurred at 910 Ma, with a local low-temperature fluid flow event at 670–630 Ma and thermal reworking at 520–505 Ma. The older age of 744 Ma may reflect cooling or partial resetting of the hornblende 40Ar/39Ar system, indicating that Pan-African-aged reworking did not exceed temperatures much higher than the hornblende Ar closure temperature. These data also suggest that the complete isotopic resetting of some minerals may occur without the growth of new mineral phases, providing an example of the style of reworking that is likely to occur in polymetamorphic terranes.This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41530209), Central Public-Interest Scientific Institution Basal Research Fund (No. JYYWF201819) and Geological Investigation Project of the Chinese Geological Survey (No. DD20190579)

Different RET Gene Mutation-Induced Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Type 2A in 3 Chinese Families

BACKGROUD: Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2A (MEN2A) is a condition with inherited autosomal dominant mutations in RET (rearranged during transfection) gene that predisposes the carrier to extremely high risk of medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) and other MEN2A-associated tumors such as parathyroid cancer and/or pheochromocytoma. Little is reported about MEN2A syndrome in the Chinese population. METHODS: All members of the 3 families along with specific probands of MEN2A were analyzed for their clinical, laboratory, and genetic characteristics. Exome sequencing was performed on the 3 probands, and specific mutation in RET was further screened on each of the family members. RESULTS: Different mutations in the RET gene were identified: C634S in Family 1, C611Y in Family 2, and C634Y in Family 3. Proband 1 mainly showed pheochromocytoma with MTC, both medullary thyroid carcinoma and pheochromocytoma were seen in proband 2, and proband 3 showed medullary thyroid carcinoma. CONCLUSION: The genetic evaluation is strongly recommended for patients with a positive family history, early onset of age, or multiple sites of masses. If the results verified the mutations of RET gene, thyroidectomy should be undertaken as the guide for better prognosis

Carbonization Resistance of Reinforced Concrete under Bending Load

Fly ash has been used more and more often to take the place of cement as the admixture of concrete in the construction of concrete buildings. However, with the increase of the carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration in the atmosphere, carbonization damage has become an essential factor affecting the durability of fly ash concrete. Here a long-term bending load device was developed to explore how the pouring surface and the bending load affect the carbonization resistance of reinforced concrete under rapid carbonization. In addition, the relationship between the bending-tension and bending-compression loads with respect to the carbonization damage of test blocks was also investigated. Due to the differences in the concrete compactness, the carbonization depth of the pouring surface was found to be greater than that of the bottom at the same position. To a certain extent, with the increasing bending-load stress, different carbonization resistances were observed in the bending-tension zone and the bending-compression zone of the concrete test blocks. Meanwhile, to study the relationship between the carbonization damages in the bending-tension zone and the bending-compression zone of concrete test blocks, a carbonization influence coefficient of bending tension-compression load was proposed, which provides a convenient and scientific guidance for the detection and evaluation of concrete carbonization damages in practical engineering. &nbsp

The VHL/HIF Axis in the Development and Treatment of Pheochromocytoma/Paraganglioma

Pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas (PPGLs) are rare neuroendocrine tumors originating from chromaffin cells in the adrenal medulla (PCCs) or extra-adrenal sympathetic or parasympathetic paraganglia (PGLs). About 40% of PPGLs result from germline mutations and therefore they are highly inheritable. Although dysfunction of any one of a panel of more than 20 genes can lead to PPGLs, mutations in genes involved in the VHL/HIF axis includin

Correlation between the Hemoglobin, Albumin, Lymphocyte, and Platelet (HALP) Score and Left Ventricular Hypertrophy in Older Patients with Hypertension

Introduction: Hypertension and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) have emerged as significant risk factors for cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality. Inflammation and nutrition play critical roles in the development of hypertension and damage to target organs. The HALP Score, which assesses levels of hemoglobin, albumin, lymphocytes, and platelets, is an index closely associated with inflammation and nutrition, and has been demonstrated to be particularly effective in the older population. Hence, the objective of this study was to examine the correlation between the HALP Score and LVH in older patients with hypertension. Methods: We collected and retrospectively analyzed data from 234 older patients, including clinical data, and routine blood, liver function, kidney function, and cardiac ultrasound parameters. All patients were categorized into a non-left ventricular hypertrophy (NLVH) group (n = 131) or an LVH group (n = 103). The association between the HALP Score and LVH was investigated, and potential influencing factors were considered. Results: The LVH group had a significantly lower HALP Score than the NLVH group. Logistic regression analysis revealed that a lower HALP Score and female sex were independent factors associated with LVH in older patients with hypertension (OR = 0.944, 9.962, 95% CI: 0.910–0.979, 3.866–24.300, P = 0.002, <0.001). The area under the curve for the HALP Score in diagnosing LVH in older patients with hypertension was 0.708 (95% CI: 0.641–0.776, P = 0.002). Conclusion: The HALP Score is significantly associated with LVH in older patients with hypertension: lower scores indicate a greater likelihood of LVH. The HALP Score has moderate diagnostic value for LVH in this population

Germline Mutations in Patients With Early-Onset Prostate Cancer.

Objective: To investigate the inherited mutations and their association with clinical features and treatment response in young-onset prostate cancer patients. Method: Targeted gene sequencing on 139 tumor susceptibility genes was conducted with a total of 24 patients diagnosed with PCa under the age of 63 years old. Meanwhile, the related clinical information of those patients is collected and analyzed. Results: Sixty-two germline mutations in 45 genes were verified in 22 patients. Conclusion: Mutations in DRGs are more prevalent in early-onset PCa with advanced clinical stages, and these patients had shorter progression-free survival. ADT Combined with either radiotherapy or chemotherapy may be effective in treating PCa caused by HRR-related gene mutations