Conversion of N-acetyl-d-glucosamine to nitrogen-containing chemicals in high-temperature water

Available online 19 July 2019To demonstrate the conversion of renewable biomass to platform chemicals, we previously reported the non catalytic conversion of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (GlcNAc), which is obtained from chitin, to nitrogen-containing chemicals; however, various aspects of this process were not clarified. Herein, we reported updated and expanded results for the synthesis of nitrogen-containing chemicals from GlcNAc in high-temperature water at 180-280 degrees C and 25 MPa with a reaction time of 5-34 s. The main products were 2-acetamido-2,3-dideoxy-D-erythro-hex-2-enofuranose (Chromogen I) and 3-acetamido-5-(1',2'-dihydroxyethyl)furan (Chromogen III) with the maximum yields of 37.0% and 34.5%, respectively. Although 3-acetamido-5-acetylfuran was expected to form by the dehydration of Chromogen III, a yield of only < 1% was obtained, likely because the dehydration of Chromogen III is difficult in the absence of a catalyst. The evaluation of the effects of acid and base catalysts on the dehydration of GlcNAc revealed that the acid catalyst suppressed the transformation of GlcNAc to Chromogen I and promoted the transformation of Chromogen I to Chromogen III, whereas the base catalyst had the opposite effects on these processes. The synthesis of nitrogen-containing chemicals from GlcNAc in high temperature water is an environmentally benign method for utilizing renewable chitin biomass.ArticleFUEL PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY. 195:106154 (2019)journal articl

Design and Implementation of A CMOS Light Pulse Receiver Cell Array for Spatial Optical Communications

A CMOS light pulse receiver (LPR) cell for spatial optical communications is designed and evaluated by device simulations and a prototype chip implementation. The LPR cell consists of a pinned photodiode and four transistors. It works under sub-threshold region of a MOS transistor and the source terminal voltage which responds to the logarithm of the photo current are read out with a source follower circuit. For finding the position of the light spot on the focal plane, an image pixel array is embedded on the same plane of the LPR cell array. A prototype chip with 640 × 240 image pixels and 640 × 240 LPR cells is implemented with 0.18 μm CMOS technology. A proposed model of the transient response of the LPR cell agrees with the result of the device simulations and measurements. Both imaging at 60 fps and optical communication at the carrier frequency of 1 MHz are successfully performed. The measured signal amplitude and the calculation results of photocurrents show that the spatial optical communication up to 100 m is feasible using a 10 × 10 LED array

Column-Parallel Correlated Multiple Sampling Circuits for CMOS Image Sensors and Their Noise Reduction Effects

For low-noise complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors, the reduction of pixel source follower noises is becoming very important. Column-parallel high-gain readout circuits are useful for low-noise CMOS image sensors. This paper presents column-parallel high-gain signal readout circuits, correlated multiple sampling (CMS) circuits and their noise reduction effects. In the CMS, the gain of the noise cancelling is controlled by the number of samplings. It has a similar effect to that of an amplified CDS for the thermal noise but is a little more effective for 1/f and RTS noises. Two types of the CMS with simple integration and folding integration are proposed. In the folding integration, the output signal swing is suppressed by a negative feedback using a comparator and one-bit D-to-A converter. The CMS circuit using the folding integration technique allows to realize a very low-noise level while maintaining a wide dynamic range. The noise reduction effects of their circuits have been investigated with a noise analysis and an implementation of a 1Mpixel pinned photodiode CMOS image sensor. Using 16 samplings, dynamic range of 59.4 dB and noise level of 1.9 e− for the simple integration CMS and 75 dB and 2.2 e− for the folding integration CMS, respectively, are obtained

Advantage of Insulin Glulisine Over Regular Insulin in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes and Severe Renal Insufficiency

ObjectivesTo compare the efficacy and safety of insulin glulisine over regular insulin in patients with type 2 diabetes and severe renal insufficiency.SubjectsOur study included 18 patients with type 2 diabetes and a mean (range) estimated glomerular filtration rate of 13.2 mL/minute/1.73 m2 (5.8-27.6), which corresponds to stage 4-5 chronic kidney disease.DesignAfter titration of doses, regular insulin was administered thrice daily on Day 1, along with continuous glucose monitoring for 24 h starting at 7 am. Exactly equal doses of insulin glulisine were administered on Day 2. Area under the curve (AUC) for blood glucose level variation after breakfast (AUC-B 0-4), lunch (AUC-L 0-6), and dinner (AUC-D 0-6) were evaluated.ResultsAUC-B 0-4 and AUC-D 0-6 were significantly lower with insulin glulisine than with regular insulin (AUC-B 0-4: 3.3 ± 4.7 vs. 6.2 ± 5.4 × 102 mmol/L·minute, respectively, P = .028; AUC-D 0-6: 1.8 ± 7.3 vs. 6.5 ± 6.2 × 102 mmol/L·minute, respectively, P = .023). In contrast, AUC-L 0-6 was higher with insulin glulisine than with regular insulin (AUC-L 0-6: 7.6 ± 6.4 vs. 4.2 ± 8.7 × 102 mmol/L·minute, respectively, P = .099), suggesting a prolonged hypoglycemic action of regular insulin after lunch.ConclusionsInsulin glulisine effectively suppressed postprandial hyperglycemia, whereas regular insulin caused a prolonged hypoglycemic action. These findings support the effectiveness and safety of insulin glulisine in patients with type 2 diabetes and severe renal insufficiency

Development and Performance of Kyoto's X-ray Astronomical SOI pixel (SOIPIX) sensor

We have been developing monolithic active pixel sensors, known as Kyoto's X-ray SOIPIXs, based on the CMOS SOI (silicon-on-insulator) technology for next-generation X-ray astronomy satellites. The event trigger output function implemented in each pixel offers microsecond time resolution and enables reduction of the non-X-ray background that dominates the high X-ray energy band above 5--10 keV. A fully depleted SOI with a thick depletion layer and back illumination offers wide band coverage of 0.3--40 keV. Here, we report recent progress in the X-ray SOIPIX development. In this study, we achieved an energy resolution of 300~eV (FWHM) at 6~keV and a read-out noise of 33~e- (rms) in the frame readout mode, which allows us to clearly resolve Mn-K$\alpha$ and K$\beta$. Moreover, we produced a fully depleted layer with a thickness of $500~{\rm \mu m}$. The event-driven readout mode has already been successfully demonstrated.Comment: 7pages, 12figures, SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation 2014, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. appears as Proc. SPIE 9147, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2014: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ra

Clinical Guides for aHUS

Atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) is a rare disease characterized by the triad of microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, and acute kidney injury. In 2013, we developed diagnostic criteria to enable early diagnosis and timely initiation of appropriate treatment for aHUS. Recent clinical and molecular findings have resulted in several proposed classifications and definitions of thrombotic microangiopathy and aHUS. Based on recent advances in this field and the emerging international consensus to exclude secondary TMAs from the definition of aHUS, we have redefined aHUS and proposed diagnostic algorithms, differential diagnosis, and therapeutic strategies for aHUS

Dynamic 13C Flux Analysis Captures the Reorganization of Adipocyte Glucose Metabolism in Response to Insulin.

Cellular metabolism is dynamic, but quantifying non-steady metabolic fluxes by stable isotope tracers presents unique computational challenges. Here, we developed an efficient 13C-tracer dynamic metabolic flux analysis (13C-DMFA) framework for modeling central carbon fluxes that vary over time. We used B-splines to generalize the flux parameterization system and to improve the stability of the optimization algorithm. As proof of concept, we investigated how 3T3-L1 cultured adipocytes acutely metabolize glucose in response to insulin. Insulin rapidly stimulates glucose uptake, but intracellular pathways responded with differing speeds and magnitudes. Fluxes in lower glycolysis increased faster than those in upper glycolysis. Glycolysis fluxes rose disproportionally larger and faster than the tricarboxylic acid cycle, with lactate a primary glucose end product. The uncovered array of flux dynamics suggests that glucose catabolism is additionally regulated beyond uptake to help shunt glucose into appropriate pathways. This work demonstrates the value of using dynamic intracellular fluxes to understand metabolic function and pathway regulation