A SAM-based Solution for Hierarchical Panoptic Segmentation of Crops and Weeds Competition

Panoptic segmentation in agriculture is an advanced computer vision technique that provides a comprehensive understanding of field composition. It facilitates various tasks such as crop and weed segmentation, plant panoptic segmentation, and leaf instance segmentation, all aimed at addressing challenges in agriculture. Exploring the application of panoptic segmentation in agriculture, the 8th Workshop on Computer Vision in Plant Phenotyping and Agriculture (CVPPA) hosted the challenge of hierarchical panoptic segmentation of crops and weeds using the PhenoBench dataset. To tackle the tasks presented in this competition, we propose an approach that combines the effectiveness of the Segment AnyThing Model (SAM) for instance segmentation with prompt input from object detection models. Specifically, we integrated two notable approaches in object detection, namely DINO and YOLO-v8. Our best-performing model achieved a PQ+ score of 81.33 based on the evaluation metrics of the competition.Comment: Technical report of NYCU-WEED team for the challenge of hierarchical panoptic segmentation of crops and weeds using the PhenoBench dataset at the 8th Workshop on Computer Vision in Plant Phenotyping and Agriculture (CVPPA) - International Conference on Computer Vision (ICCV) 202

Conversion of ethanol over transition metal oxide catalysts: Effect of tungsta addition on catalytic behaviour of titania and zirconia

Ethanol dehydration was investigated at atmospheric pressure with 1.43 h 121 WHSV in nitrogen, in the temperature range 423\u2013773K over titania and zirconia, as such and modified by addition of WO3. As for comparison, data on other WO3-free and WO3-containing catalysts are also discussed: a strong Lewis acid (alumina), a covalent oxide (silica) and a basic material (calcined hydrotalcite). The catalysts were characterized using FT-IR of adsorbed pyridine and of wolframate species, and by UV\u2013vis spectroscopy. The results presented here show that WO3/ZrO2 and WO3/TiO2 are excellent catalysts for ethanol dehydration. Their performances may compete with those of zeolites and alumina for conversion to diethyl ether and to ethylene. The addition of WO3 to both ZrO2 and TiO2 introduces strong Br\uf8nsted acid sites that are supposed to represent the active sites in the reaction, but also inhibits the formation of byproducts, i.e. acetaldehyde and higher hydrocarbons. This is attributed to the poisoning of basic sites and of reducible surface Ti and Zr centres, respectively

Antibiotic use and prescription and its effects on Enterobacteriaceae in the gut in children with mild respiratory infections in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. A prospective observational outpatient study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Treatment guidelines do not recommend antibiotic use for acute respiratory infections (ARI), except for streptococcal pharyngitis/tonsillitis and pneumonia. However, antibiotics are prescribed frequently for children with ARI, often in absence of evidence for bacterial infection. The objectives of this study were 1) to assess the appropriateness of antibiotic prescriptions for mild ARI in paediatric outpatients in relation to available guidelines and detected pathogens, 2) to assess antibiotic use on presentation using questionnaires and detection in urine 3) to assess the carriage rates and proportions of resistant intestinal Enterobacteriaceae before, during and after consultation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients were prospectively enrolled in Children's Hospital 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and diagnoses, prescribed therapy and outcome were recorded on first visit and on follow-up after 7 days. Respiratory bacterial and viral pathogens were detected using molecular assays. Antibiotic use before presentation was assessed using questionnaires and urine HPLC. The impact of antibiotic usage on intestinal Enterobacteriaceae was assessed with semi-quantitative culture on agar with and without antibiotics on presentation and after 7 and 28 days. RESULTS: A total of 563 patients were enrolled between February 2009 and February 2010. Antibiotics were prescribed for all except 2 of 563 patients. The majority were 2nd and 3rd generation oral cephalosporins and amoxicillin with or without clavulanic acid. Respiratory viruses were detected in respiratory specimens of 72.5% of patients. Antibiotic use was considered inappropriate in 90.1% and 67.5%, based on guidelines and detected pathogens, respectively. On presentation parents reported antibiotic use for 22% of patients, 41% of parents did not know and 37% denied antibiotic use. Among these three groups, six commonly used antibiotics were detected with HPLC in patients' urine in 49%, 40% and 14%, respectively. Temporary selection of 3rd generation cephalosporin resistant intestinal Enterobacteriaceae during antibiotic use was observed, with co-selection of resistance to aminoglycosides and fluoroquinolones. CONCLUSIONS: We report overuse and overprescription of antibiotics for uncomplicated ARI with selection of resistant intestinal Enterobacteriaceae, posing a risk for community transmission and persistence in a setting of a highly granular healthcare system and unrestricted access to antibiotics through private pharmacies. REGISTRATION: This study was registered at the International Standard Randomised Controlled Trials Number registry under number ISRCTN32862422: http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN32862422

On the Lewis acidity of protonic zeolites

IR spectra of hydroxyl groups, adsorbed CO, pivalonitrile and pyridine on three H-MFI zeolite samples and on two H-Y faujasites are reported and discussed. Samples richer in Al (H-MFI (Si/Al2 = 30) and H-Y (Si/Al2 = 5.1)) show the presence of extraframework species and the presence of Lewis acidity together with Br\uf8nsted acidity. H-MFI with lowest Al content (Si/Al2 = 280) does not show any extraframework species (EF) and only presents Br\uf8nsted acidity. H-MFI with intermediate Al content (Si/Al2 = 50) possess very small amount of EF species and of Lewis acidity. H-Y with low Al content (Si/Al2 = 30) does not show extraframework species but shows the presence of Lewis acidity together with Br\uf8nsted acidity. The role of extraframework material as carrier of Lewis acidity is confirmed. It is proposed that Lewis acidity of low Al-content H-Y can arise from framework tetrahedral Al ions, which can enlarge their coordination to five without any previous dehydroxylation. A support for this hypothesis is given by the reversible shift of the LF OH stretching band, whose extent depends on the strength of the basic molecules: this is certainly not due to a direct interaction of the OH groups responsible for the LF band, which are located in cavities (sodalite cavity and hexagonal prisms) where the molecular probes cannot access

Diethyl ether cracking and ethanol dehydration: Acid catalysis and reaction paths

The catalytic conversion of ethanol and diethyl ether (DEE) was studied over alumina, zeolites MFI, FER and USY, silica\u2013alumina and calcined hydrotalcite. Zeolites, alumina and silica\u2013alumina are active in the temperature range 453\u2013573 K for both ethanol dehydration to DEE and to ethylene and for DEE cracking and hydrolysis, producing back ethanol and ethylene. Protonic zeolites are more active than alumina which is slightly more active than silica\u2013alumina for these reactions. Ethanol dehydration to DEE occurs selectively at lower temperature with a \u201cbimolecular\u201d mechanism involving reaction of ethoxy groups with undissociated ethanol. Ethanol dehydration to ethylene occurs selectively at relatively high temperature with an elimination mechanism via decomposition of ethoxy groups over these catalysts, but also occurs, at lower temperature, with a consecutive path via DEE formation and cracking

Ethanol dehydration on silica-aluminas: Active sites and ethylene/diethyl ether selectivities

Commercial silica-alumina catalysts prepared by different procedures have been characterized. Both present strong Lewis acidity together with Br\uf8nsted sites able to protonate pyridine. No evidence of "zeolitic" bridging OH's but significant heterogeneity of terminal silanol groups, part of which are likely "pseudobridging", was found. Similar high activity in ethanol conversion but markedly different selectivities to ethylene and diethyl ether were found. They are less active than both zeolites and \u3b3-Al2O3. Lewis sites with alumina-like acidobasic neighbor are more selective for ethylene production while Lewis sites with silica-like covalent neighbor are more selective for diethyl ether

On the use of infrared spectrometer as detector for Temperature Programmed (TP) techniques in catalysts characterization

IR spectrometer has been successfully applied as detector for temperature-programmed techniques, i.e. NH3-TPD and H2-TPR, demonstrating an excellent flexibility, robustness and effectiveness in the proposed study. IR allowed also to detect unexpected or coproduced compounds and to avoid in many cases the expensive coupling of different techniques. For NH3-TPD, a successful qualitative and quantitative determination has been achieved with an excellent signal/noise ratio and on materials characterized by different: Br\uf8nsted/Lewis acidity, thermal pretreatment, doping elements and oxidation activity. For H2-TPR, the reducibility of different supported Ni-based catalytic systems has been successfully investigated following vapor formation and identifying different Ni species

Dehydration of ethanol over zeolites, silica alumina and alumina: Lewis acidity, Brønsted acidity and confinement effects

partially_open4siEthanol dehydration was investigated over commercial H-FER, H-MFI, H-MOR, H-BEA, H-Y and H-USY zeolite samples, and alumina and silica alumina for comparison. The catalysts were characterized using FT-IR spectroscopy of the surface OH groups and of adsorbed CO and pyridine. UV–vis, Raman and TG-DTA were applied to characterize coke, formed more on H-MOR and H-BEA. H-zeolites are definitely more active than silica alumina and alumina on catalyst weight base. The H-MOR sample is the most active but the H-MFI samples with Si/Al2 ratios 280 and 50 show higher reaction rates per Al ion, H-FER and faujasites show highest ethylene yield (99.9% at 573 K). At lower temperature and higher space velocities, diethyl ether is formed with high yield (>70% at 453–473 K on H-BEA and H-MFI (50)). Overconversion of ethylene mainly to aromatics is observed on H-MFI (50). The different behaviour of protonic zeolites can predominantly be explained by confinement effects on the different zeolite cavities.openPhung, Thanh Khoa; Proietti Hernández, Loriana; Lagazzo, Alberto; Busca, GuidoPhung, THANH KHOA; Proietti Hernández, Loriana; Lagazzo, Alberto; Busca, Guid

Preparation of supported catalysts: A study of the effect of small amounts of silica on Ni/Al2O3 catalysts

Nickel catalysts supported on pure alumina (Puralox) and 5% silica-containing alumina (Siralox) have been prepared, characterized (XRD, UV-vis-NIR, IR, H2-TPR and FE-SEM) and tested. It is confirmed that small amounts of silica hinder the surface area loss of alumina upon calcination, allowing the retention of higher surface areas also when NiO is deposited on the support. Depending on the Ni loading, calcination temperature and on the presence/absence of silica, several species of Ni2+ form on the catalyst: highly dispersed ions, Ni-aluminate defective spinel species and NiO particles. The presence of 5% silica hinders the dispersion of Ni2+ ions and the formation of Ni aluminate phase, and favors the formation of the NiO phase. This is attributed to the competition of silica and nickel oxide for interaction on the most reactive surface sites of alumina. Silica shifts Ni species to less reactive sites where the Ni-alumina interaction is weaker. As result of this, the addition of silica to alumina supports gives rise to more easily reducible Ni catalysts, that become active in ethanol steam reforming at lower temperature

Tuning of product selectivity in the conversion of ethanol to hydrocarbons over H-ZSM-5 based zeolite catalysts

Conversion of ethanol to hydrocarbons was investigated over H-ZSM-5 zeolite and its modification by addition of phosphorus, iron and nickel. Reaction is realized in a tubular flow reactor at atmospheric pressure. Catalyst characterization was performed by UV-vis, TG-DTA, XRD, NH3-TPD, and IR spectroscopy of the surface OH groups and of adsorbed pyridine. High P content enhances the selectivity to lower olefins, in particular ethylene, as also occurs in the case of Fe addition. Over Ni-modified zeolites, C4 and aromatic production is promoted. The role of acidity on the conversion path is briefly discussed