Chemo-catalytic synthesis of biobased higher alcohols

Higher alcohols have attracted considerable interest owing to their broad range of applications. They are used as a fuel (additive) in combustion engines, are in demand in the chemical industry, and are also precursors for olefins and the preparation of plasticizers and detergents. Nowadays, higher alcohols are mainly manufactured through either fermentation technology with high energy demand, or the hydration of alkenes with very low single-pass conversion and high dependence on unsustainable petroleum oil. Therefore, new catalytic technology with sustainability advantages like the use of renewable feeds (e.g. syngas from biomass, CO2 from the atmosphere and bioethanol) needs to be developed in order to meet the increasing demand for higher alcohols.This PhD thesis presents improved catalytic systems for higher alcohol synthesis from renewable feeds with remarkable performance in terms of activity, selectivity and stability in comparison with the state-of-the-art reported in the literature. Moreover, relations between catalyst structure and performance have been established based on detailed catalyst characterization studies and in depth analyses of products

FedRec+: Enhancing Privacy and Addressing Heterogeneity in Federated Recommendation Systems

Preserving privacy and reducing communication costs for edge users pose significant challenges in recommendation systems. Although federated learning has proven effective in protecting privacy by avoiding data exchange between clients and servers, it has been shown that the server can infer user ratings based on updated non-zero gradients obtained from two consecutive rounds of user-uploaded gradients. Moreover, federated recommendation systems (FRS) face the challenge of heterogeneity, leading to decreased recommendation performance. In this paper, we propose FedRec+, an ensemble framework for FRS that enhances privacy while addressing the heterogeneity challenge. FedRec+ employs optimal subset selection based on feature similarity to generate near-optimal virtual ratings for pseudo items, utilizing only the user's local information. This approach reduces noise without incurring additional communication costs. Furthermore, we utilize the Wasserstein distance to estimate the heterogeneity and contribution of each client, and derive optimal aggregation weights by solving a defined optimization problem. Experimental results demonstrate the state-of-the-art performance of FedRec+ across various reference datasets.Comment: Accepted by 59th Annual Allerton Conference on Communication, Control, and Computin

Hemorrhagic stroke—Pathomechanisms of injury and therapeutic options

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151916/1/cns13225_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151916/2/cns13225.pd

Multi-source data integration and multi-scale modeling framework for progressive prediction of complex geological interfaces in tunneling

A reliable geological model plays a fundamental role in the efficiency and safety of mountain tunnel construction. However, regional models based on limited survey data represent macroscopic geological environments but not detailed internal geological characteristics, especially at tunnel portals with complex geological conditions. This paper presents a comprehensive methodological framework for refined modeling of the tunnel surrounding rock and subsequent mechanics analysis, with a particular focus on natural space distortion of hard-soft rock interfaces at tunnel portals. The progressive prediction of geological structures is developed considering multi-source data derived from the tunnel survey and excavation stages. To improve the accuracy of the models, a novel modeling method is proposed to integrate multi-source and multi-scale data based on data extraction and potential field interpolation. Finally, a regional-scale model and an engineering-scale model are built, providing a clear insight into geological phenomena and supporting numerical calculation. In addition, the proposed framework is applied to a case study, the Long-tou mountain tunnel project in Guangzhou, China, where the dominant rock type is granite. The results show that the data integration and modeling methods effectively improve model structure refinement. The improved model's calculation deviation is reduced by about 10% to 20% in the mechanical analysis. This study contributes to revealing the complex geological environment with singular interfaces and promoting the safety and performance of mountain tunneling

Cardiac arrest and catecholamine cardiomyopathy secondary to a misdiagnosed ectopic pheochromocytoma

Not required for Clinical Vignette

Catalysts design for higher alcohols synthesis by CO2 hydrogenation: Trends and future perspectives

Global warming due to the accumulation of atmospheric CO2 has received great attention in recent years. Hence, it is urgent to reduce CO2 emissions into the atmosphere and develop sustainable technologies for a circular carbon economy. In this regard, CO2 capture coupled with the conversion into chemicals and fuels provides a promising solution to reduce CO2 emissions as well as to store and utilize renewable energy. Among the many possible CO2 conversion pathways, CO2 hydrogenation to higher alcohols is considered an important strategy for the synthesis of carbon-based fuels and feedstock and holds great promise for the chemical industry. Thus, this review provides an overview of advances in CO2 hydrogenation to higher alcohols that have been achieved recently in terms of catalyst design, catalytic performance, and insight into the reaction mechanism under different experimental conditions. First, the limitations provided by reaction thermodynamics and the indispensability of catalysts for CO2 hydrogenation to higher alcohols are discussed. Then, four main categories of catalysts will be introduced and discussed (i.e. Rh-, Cu-, Mo-, and Co-based catalysts). Moreover, important factors significantly influencing the efficiency of the catalytic transformation such as alkali/alkaline earth metal promoters, transition metal promoters, catalyst supports, catalyst precursors, and reaction conditions, as well as the reaction mechanism are explained. Finally, the review discusses emerging methodologies yet to be explored and future directions to achieve a high efficiency for the hydrogenation of CO2 to higher alcohols

Advantages of Producing Aromatics from Propene over Ethene Using Zeolite-Based Catalysts

Sustainable production of aromatics, especially benzene, toluene and xylenes (BTX), is essential considering their broad applications and the current global transition away from crude oil utilization. Aromatization of lower olefins, particularly ethene and propene, offers great potential if they are derived from more circular alternative carbon feedstocks such as biomass and waste plastics. This work aims to identify the preferred olefin feed, ethene or propene, for BTX production in a fixed-bed reactor. A commercial H-ZSM-5 (Si/Al = 23) catalyst was used as a reference catalyst, as well as a Ga-ZSM-5 catalyst, prepared by Ga ion-exchange of the H-ZSM-5 catalyst. At 773 K, 1 bar, 45 vol % olefin, 6.75 h(-1), propene aromatization over the Ga-ZSM-5 catalyst exhibited higher BTX selectivity of 55 % and resulted in slower catalyst deactivation compared to ethene aromatization

Curdlan Prevents the Cognitive Deficits Induced by a High-Fat Diet in Mice via the Gut-Brain Axis

A high-fat (HF) diet is a major predisposing factor of neuroinflammation and cognitive deficits. Recently, changes in the gut microbiota have been associated with neuroinflammation and cognitive impairment, through the gut-brain axis. Curdlan, a bacterial polysaccharide widely used as food additive, has the potential to alter the composition of the microbiota and improve the gut-brain axis. However, the effects of curdlan against HF diet-induced neuroinflammation and cognitive decline have not been investigated. We aimed to evaluate the neuroprotective effect and mechanism of dietary curdlan supplementation against the obesity-associated cognitive decline observed in mice fed a HF diet. C57Bl/6J male mice were fed with either a control, HF, or HF with curdlan supplementation diets for 7 days (acute) or 15 weeks (chronic). We found that acute curdlan supplementation prevented the gut microbial composition shift induced by HF diet. Chronic curdlan supplementation prevented cognitive declines induced by HF diet. In addition, curdlan protected against the HF diet-induced abnormities in colonic permeability, hyperendotoxemia, and colonic inflammation. Furthermore, in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and hippocampus, curdlan mitigated microgliosis, neuroinflammation, and synaptic impairments induced by a HF diet. Thus, curdlan-as a food additive and prebiotic-can prevent cognitive deficits induced by HF diet via the colon-brain axis

Opposing roles of TGFβ and BMP signaling in prostate cancer development

SMAD4 constrains progression of Pten-null prostate cancer and serves as a common downstream node of transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) and bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) pathways. Here, we dissected the roles of TGFβ receptor II (TGFBR2) and BMP receptor II (BMPR2) using a Pten-null prostate cancer model. These studies demonstrated that the molecular actions of TGFBR2 result in both SMAD4-dependent constraint of proliferation and SMAD4-independent activation of apoptosis. In contrast, BMPR2 deletion extended survival relative to Pten deletion alone, establishing its promoting role in BMP6-driven prostate cancer progression. These analyses reveal the complexity of TGFβ-BMP signaling and illuminate potential therapeutic targets for prostate cancer

Amplification Refractory Mutation System (ARMS)-PCR for waxy sorghum authentication with single-nucleotide resolution

Waxy sorghum has greater economic value than wild sorghum in relation to their use in food processing and the brewing industry. Thus, the authentication of the waxy sorghum species is an important issue. Herein, a rapid and sensitive Authentication Amplification Refractory Mutation System-PCR (aARMS-PCR) method was employed to identify sorghum species via its ability to resolve single-nucleotide in genes. As a proof of concept, we chose a species of waxy sorghum containing the wxc mutation which is abundantly used in liquor brewing. The aARMS-PCR can distinguish non-wxc sorghum from wxc sorghum to guarantee identification of specific waxy sorghum species. It allowed to detect as low as 1% non-wxc sorghum in sorghum mixtures, which ar one of the most sensitive tools for food authentication. Due to its ability for resolving genes with single-nucleotide resolution and high sensitivity, aARMS-PCR may have wider applicability in monitoring food adulteration, offering a rapid food authenticity verification in the control of adulteration