Development of Catalytic Strategies and Microreactor Technology for the Synthesis of Bio-based Furanics from Lignocellulosederived Carbohydrates

In this research project, efforts have been given to developing efficient catalytic strategies and microreactor technology for the synthesis of HMF or furfural from the lignocellulose-derived C6 or C5 sugars, by exploring (i) the insights into the kinetics and reaction network of the homogeneous acid-catalyzed sugar dehydration to HMF and furfural, (ii) the structure-acidity-performance relation of the heterogeneous bi-functional acid catalyst for the glucose dehydration to HMF, and (iii) utilization of microreactors as a platform for reaction and kinetic studies and as a tool for process intensification and up-scaling

Continuous Synthesis of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural from Glucose Using a Combination of AlCl3 and HCl as Catalyst in a Biphasic Slug Flow Capillary Microreactor

5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) was synthesized from glucose in a slug flow capillary microreactor, using a combination of AlCl3 and HCl as the homogeneous catalyst in the aqueous phase and methyl isobutyl ketone as the organic phase for in-situ HMF extraction. After optimization, an HMF yield of 53% was obtained at a pH of 1.5, 160 °C and a residence time of 16 min, and it could be further increased to 66.2% by adding 20 wt% NaCl in the aqueous phase. Slug flow operation in the microreactor greatly promoted mixing/reaction in the aqueous droplet and facilitated HMF extraction to the organic slug, enabling the reaction to run (largely) under kinetic control and an enhanced HMF yield by suppressing its further rehydration, degradation and/or polymerization. Confining reaction in the aqueous droplet prevented humin deposition on the microreactor wall. In line with the literature, [Al(OH)2]+ was confirmed by ESI-MS as the catalytically active species, and is responsible for the glucose isomerization to fructose under various pH values. The ratio between AlCl3 and HCl was optimized for the highest HMF yield and the best results were obtained with 40 mM AlCl3 and 40 mM HCl. Compared with batch results, a higher HMF yield was obtained in the microreactor at the same reaction time mainly due to a higher heating rate therein. The aqueous catalyst was recycled and reused three times without a noticeable performance loss. Thus, the present recyclable and stable homogenous catalyst system, combined with biphasic microreactor operation, is an attractive concept for the glucose conversion to HMF.</p

Causal Covariate Selection for the Imputation-based Regression Calibration Method for Exposure Measurement Error Bias Correction

In this paper, we identify the criteria for the selection of the minimal and most efficient covariate adjustment sets for the regression calibration method developed by Carroll, Rupert and Stefanski (CRS, 1992), used to correct bias due to continuous exposure measurement error. We utilize directed acyclic graphs to illustrate how subject matter knowledge can aid in the selection of such adjustment sets. Valid measurement error correction requires the collection of data on any (1) common causes of true exposure and outcome and (2) common causes of measurement error and outcome, in both the main study and validation study. For the CRS regression calibration method to be valid, researchers need to minimally adjust for covariate set (1) in both the measurement error model (MEM) and the outcome model and adjust for covariate set (2) at least in the MEM. In practice, we recommend including the minimal covariate adjustment set in both the MEM and the outcome model. In contrast with the regression calibration method developed by Rosner, Spiegelman and Willet, it is valid and more efficient to adjust for correlates of the true exposure or of measurement error that are not risk factors in the MEM only under CRS method. We applied the proposed covariate selection approach to the Health Professional Follow-up Study, examining the effect of fiber intake on cardiovascular incidence. In this study, we demonstrated potential issues with a data-driven approach to building the MEM that is agnostic to the structural assumptions. We extend the originally proposed estimators to settings where effect modification by a covariate is allowed. Finally, we caution against the use of the regression calibration method to calibrate the true nutrition intake using biomarkers.Comment: 11 pages, 4 tables, 3 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2212.0079

FADE: Fusing the Assets of Decoder and Encoder for Task-Agnostic Upsampling

We consider the problem of task-agnostic feature upsampling in dense prediction where an upsampling operator is required to facilitate both region-sensitive tasks like semantic segmentation and detail-sensitive tasks such as image matting. Existing upsampling operators often can work well in either type of the tasks, but not both. In this work, we present FADE, a novel, plug-and-play, and task-agnostic upsampling operator. FADE benefits from three design choices: i) considering encoder and decoder features jointly in upsampling kernel generation; ii) an efficient semi-shift convolutional operator that enables granular control over how each feature point contributes to upsampling kernels; iii) a decoder-dependent gating mechanism for enhanced detail delineation. We first study the upsampling properties of FADE on toy data and then evaluate it on large-scale semantic segmentation and image matting. In particular, FADE reveals its effectiveness and task-agnostic characteristic by consistently outperforming recent dynamic upsampling operators in different tasks. It also generalizes well across convolutional and transformer architectures with little computational overhead. Our work additionally provides thoughtful insights on what makes for task-agnostic upsampling. Code is available at: http://lnkiy.in/fade_inComment: Accepted to ECCV 2022. Code is available at http://lnkiy.in/fade_i

Discussion on the Protection of the Name of Works

It is a controversial issue whether the name of works should be protected by laws. This paper starts with probing the current situation of legal protection of the name of works. Then through the analysis of the basic theory of legal protection of the name of works, this paper finds out that the name of works which has originality should be protected by copyright laws and the rest should be protected by the unfair competition Laws. Key words: The Name of Works; Originality; Law; ProtectionInhaltsangabeOb die Bezichnung der Abfassung von Gesetz geschutzt werden sollte, ist immer eine Frage. Diese Abfassung faengt mit dem jetzigen Zustand des Gesetzschutzes fuer die Bezeichnung der Abfassung an, durch das Analyse vom Grundtheorie des Gestztschuzes, meint, dass die kreative Bezeichungen von Gesetz geschutzt werden sollte, dagegen, sollte von “gegen unnormale Konkurenz Gesetz” geschutz werden.Stichwoerter: Bezeichnung der Abfassung; Kreativ; Getetz; Schut

UNDERSTANDING HYPOGLYCEMIA FROM POPULATION, INDIVIDUAL, AND BEHAVIORAL PERSPECTIVES

Hypoglycemia (blood glucose <70 mg/dL) is a major barrier for achieving normoglycemia in diabetes. Three critical gaps are: i) limited data exist on describing longitudinal incidence of severe hypoglycemia both in patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and type 2 diabetes (T2D); ii) the relationship of HbA1c level with risk of severe hypoglycemia in patients with T1D or T2D remains controversial; iii) how usual dietary intake impacts on risk of hypoglycemia in patients with T1D is unclear. To address first two gaps, we used primary and secondary care data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink and Hospital Episode Statistics in England. Temporal trends of hypoglycemia requiring hospitalization in adults with T1D (N=23,251) or T2D (N=241,829) from 1998 to 2013 were estimated using joinpoint regression model. By analyzing 1:6 case-control matched dataset using conditional logistic regression models, we investigated the association between HbA1c level and risk of hypoglycemia hospitalization in adults with incident T1D (N=5,776) or T2D (N=163,237). To address the third gap, we applied logistic regression models to identify dietary predictors of non-severe hypoglycemia in 98 T1D adolescents who wore continuous glucose monitor for one week and had two days of 24-hour dietary recalls. Between 1998 and 2013 in England, the incidence of hypoglycemia hospitalizations increased both in adults with T1D and T2D. In adults with T1D, compared to HbA1c 7-7.9%, higher HbA1c level was associated with lower risk of hypoglycemia hospitalization while lower HbA1c level did not increase the risk. In adults with T2D, both lower and higher HbA1c level increased hypoglycemia hospitalization risk (i.e., U-shape). In adolescents with T1D, lower risk of daytime non-severe hypoglycemia was related to higher glycemic index of the diet or higher intake of monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fat. Higher intake of soluble fiber or protein was associated with higher risk of daytime and nocturnal non-severe hypoglycemia. Adjusting for insulin dose per kilogram eliminated all these associations. Practical approaches for hypoglycemia management are urgently needed to reduce the fast growing hypoglycemia burden in England. Applying appropriate HbA1c treatment targets and appropriately matching insulin dose and injection time to freely consumed meals may reduce hypoglycemia risk.Doctor of Philosoph