Background Monoglycerides have emerged as a promising alternative to conventional practices due to their biolog-ical activities,including antimicrobial properties.However,few studies have assessed the efficacy of mono...Background Monoglycerides have emerged as a promising alternative to conventional practices due to their biolog-ical activities,including antimicrobial properties.However,few studies have assessed the efficacy of monoglyceride blend on weaned pigs and their impacts on performance,immune response,and gut health using a disease chal-lenge model.Therefore,this study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary monoglycerides of short-and medium-chain fatty acids on the immunity and gut health of weaned pigs experimentally infected with an enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli F18.Results Pigs supplemented with high-dose zinc oxide(ZNO)had greater(P<0.05)growth performance than other treatments,but no difference was observed in average daily feed intake between ZNO and monoglycerides groups during the post-challenge period.Pigs in ZNO and antibiotic groups had lower(P<0.05)severity of diarrhea than control,but the severity of diarrhea was not different between antibiotic and monoglycerides groups.Pigs fed with monoglycerides or ZNO had lower(P<0.05)serum haptoglobin on d 2 or 5 post-inoculation than control.Pigs in ZNO had greater(P<0.05)goblet cell numbers per villus,villus area and height,and villus height:crypt depth ratio(VH:CD)in duodenum on d 5 post-inoculation than pigs in other treatments.Pigs supplemented with monoglyc-erides,ZNO,or antibiotics had reduced(P<0.05)ileal crypt depth compared with control on d 5 post-inoculation,contributing to the increase(P=0.06)in VH:CD.Consistently,pigs in ZNO expressed the lowest(P<0.05)TNFa,IL6,IL10,IL12,IL1A,IL1B,and PTGS2 in ileal mucosa on d 5 post-inoculation,and no difference was observed in the expres-sion of those genes between ZNO and monoglycerides.Supplementation of ZNO and antibiotic had significant impacts on metabolic pathways in the serum compared with control,particularly on carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism,while limited impacts on serum metabolites were observed in monoglycerides group when compared with control.Conclusions The results suggest that supplementation of monoglyceride blend may enhance disease resist-ance of weaned pigs by alleviating the severity of diarrhea and mitigating intestinal and systemic inflammation,although the effectiveness may not be comparable to high-dose zinc oxide.展开更多
Background Xylanase andβ-glucanase combination(XG)hydrolyzes soluble non-starch polysaccharides that are anti-nutritional compounds.This study aimed to evaluate the effects of increasing levels of XG on intestinal he...Background Xylanase andβ-glucanase combination(XG)hydrolyzes soluble non-starch polysaccharides that are anti-nutritional compounds.This study aimed to evaluate the effects of increasing levels of XG on intestinal health and growth performance of nursery pigs.Methods Forty pigs(6.5±0.4 kg)were assigned to 5 dietary treatments and fed for 35 d in 3 phases(11,9,and 15 d,respectively).Basal diets mainly included corn,soybean meal,and corn distiller's dried grains with solubles,contained phytase(750 FTU/kg),and were supplemented with 5 levels of XG at(1)0,(2)280 TXU/kg xylanase and 125 TGU/kgβ-glucanase,(3)560 and 250,(4)840 and 375,or(5)1,120 and 500,respectively.Growth performance was measured.On d 35,all pigs were euthanized and jejunal mucosa,jejunal digesta,jejunal tissues,and ileal digesta were collected to determine the effects of increasing XG levels and XG intake on intestinal health.Results Increasing XG intake tended to quadratically decrease(P=0.059)viscosity of jejunal digesta(min:1.74 m Pa·s at 751/335(TXU/TGU)/kg).Increasing levels of XG quadratically decreased(P<0.05)Prevotellaceae(min:0.6%at 630/281(TXU/TGU)/kg)in the jejunal mucosa.Increasing XG intake quadratically increased(P<0.05)Lactobacillaceae(max:40.3%at 608/271(TXU/TGU)/kg)in the jejunal mucosa.Increasing XG intake quadratically decreased(P<0.05)Helicobacteraceae(min:1.6%at 560/250(TXU/TGU)/kg)in the jejunal mucosa.Increasing levels of XG tended to linearly decrease(P=0.073)jejunal Ig G and tended to quadratically increase(P=0.085)jejunal villus height to crypt depth ratio(max:2.62 at 560/250(TXU/TGU)/kg).Increasing XG intake tended to linearly increase the apparent ileal digestibility of dry matter(P=0.087)and ether extract(P=0.065).Increasing XG intake linearly increased(P<0.05)average daily gain.Conclusions A combinational use of xylanase andβ-glucanase would hydrolyze the non-starch polysaccharides fractions,positively modulating the jejunal mucosa-associated microbiota.Increased intake of these enzyme combination possibly reduced digesta viscosity and humoral immune response in the jejunum resulting in improved intestinal structure,and ileal digestibility of nutrients,and finally improving growth of nursery pigs.The beneficial effects were maximized at a combination of 550 to 800 TXU/kg xylanase and 250 to 360 TGU/kgβ-glucanase.展开更多
ITR zeolite could be potentially used as catalysts in methanol to propylene(MTP),where their performance is strongly related to its Al distribution.However,the control of Al distribution in ITR zeolite poses a signifi...ITR zeolite could be potentially used as catalysts in methanol to propylene(MTP),where their performance is strongly related to its Al distribution.However,the control of Al distribution in ITR zeolite poses a significant synthetic challenge.Herein,we demonstrate the possibility to control the Al distribution in ITR zeolites using zeolite A as an aluminum source(A-ITR).The A-ITR exhibited similar crystallinity,nanosheet morphology,textual parameters,and acidic concentration with those of conventional ITR made zeolites using aluminum isopropoxide as an aluminum source(C-ITR).Characterizations of the zeolite product with^(27)Al MQ.MAS NMR spectra,^(27)Al MAS NMR spectra,and 1-hexene cracking reveal that the A-ITR zeolites have more Al species distributed in T6 and T8 sites located in relatively smaller micropores of the framework than C-ITR.As a result,the A-ITR gave enhanced catalyst lifetime and propylene selectivity due to the suppression of the aromatic cycle in the MTP reaction,compared with the C-ITR.This work provides an alternative approach to prepare efficient ITR zeolites for MTP reaction.展开更多
Sustainable production of clean water is a global challenge.While we firmly believe that membrane technologies are one of the most promising solutions to tackle the global water challenges,one must reduce their energy...Sustainable production of clean water is a global challenge.While we firmly believe that membrane technologies are one of the most promising solutions to tackle the global water challenges,one must reduce their energy consumption and fouling propensity for broad sustainable applications.In addition,different membranes face various challenges in their specific applications during long-term operations.In this short review,we will summarize the recent progresses in emerging membrane technologies and system integration to advance and sustain water reuse and desalination with discussion on their challenges and perspectives.展开更多
Oxide-Zeolite(OX-ZEO) bifunctional catalyst design concept has been exemplified in several processes to direct conversion syngas to value-added chemicals and fuels such as mixed light olefins, ethylene, aromatics and ...Oxide-Zeolite(OX-ZEO) bifunctional catalyst design concept has been exemplified in several processes to direct conversion syngas to value-added chemicals and fuels such as mixed light olefins, ethylene, aromatics and gasoline.Herein we demonstrate that the product can be steered toward liquefied petroleum gas(LPG) with a selectivity up to 89% in hydrocarbons especially propane selectivity reaching 80% at CO conversion of 63% using ZnCrOx-H-SSZ-39 catalyst.Interestingly, the quantity of the acid sites of SSZ-39 does not influence obviously the hydrocarbon distribution but the strength is crucial for selective formation of propane.This finding provides an alternative route of LPG synthesis from a variety of carbon resources via syngas.展开更多
BASF presents a new high viscosity ester base stock technology.Viscosity profiles of these new candidates are comparable to market-known high viscosity PAO types such as PAO 40 and PAO 100.Due to the more polar nature...BASF presents a new high viscosity ester base stock technology.Viscosity profiles of these new candidates are comparable to market-known high viscosity PAO types such as PAO 40 and PAO 100.Due to the more polar nature of the new ester base stocks additional benefits can be achieved in terms of friction reduction,energy efficiency or facilitated additive solubilisation against high viscosity PAOs.The superior performance of the new high viscosity ester base stock technology is demonstrated in direct comparison against high viscosity PAO counterparts in industrial gear applications.The basic advantages found herein in industrial gear applications are also of relevance for other lubricant applications such as automotive driveline oil or engine oil applications.As one exemplary area industrial gear applications play a dominant role in modern wind turbines.The latest generation of lubricants used in these turbine gear boxes are required to provide a greater performance in terms of wear protection,durability,foam resistance,shear stability,and oxidation resistance.Common formulations are based on a PAO base stock thickened with high molecular weight PAO polymers to achieve a viscosity of ISO 320 combined with additives to provide wear protection,foam resistance etc.A recent plant outage coupled with high demand for high molecular weight PAO polymers has led to the market becoming aware of potential availability issues.In response to this important challenge BASF has developed a new formulation strategy-based on the new high viscosity ester technology and upon a widely available low molecular weight PAO base stock employing a new concept in a thickening system that avoids the use of high molecular weight PAO polymers.The novel ester base stock can be manufactured at multiple locations and is based on sustainable raw materials that can be sourced from a wide supplier base.展开更多
随着低碳烯烃需求量的增加,甲醇制烯烃(MTO)成为由非石油资源制取低碳烯烃的关键技术,其中沸石由于具有可调节的酸度、有序的微孔结构和较好的择型性能而被广泛用作MTO反应催化剂.ITQ-13沸石(ITH拓扑结构)由于其独特的九元环结构在MTO...随着低碳烯烃需求量的增加,甲醇制烯烃(MTO)成为由非石油资源制取低碳烯烃的关键技术,其中沸石由于具有可调节的酸度、有序的微孔结构和较好的择型性能而被广泛用作MTO反应催化剂.ITQ-13沸石(ITH拓扑结构)由于其独特的九元环结构在MTO反应中表现出较好的丙烯选择性和反应寿命,引起了广泛关注.研究表明,分子筛的酸中心分布与MTO反应性能密切相关,因此,研究ITQ-13沸石中铝分布与MTO反应性能的关系,对进一步提升其MTO催化性能具有重要意义.本文分别以与ITH具有共同基本结构单元(双四元环,D4Rs)的LTA沸石(LTA-ITH)和薄水铝石(C-ITH)为铝源,合成了两类铝硅酸盐ITH沸石.X射线衍射、扫描电子显微镜以及氮气吸脱附表征结果表明,这两类分子筛具有相似的片状形貌和微孔性质.氨气程序升温脱附结果表明,具有相近硅铝比的两类ITH沸石具有相近的酸量.进一步采用27Al魔角旋转核磁共振(MAS NMR)、密度泛函理论计算和1-己烯裂解反应对两类ITH分子筛的铝分布进行研究.结果表明,两类分子筛具有不同的铝分布,LTA-ITH中有更多的铝进入ITH的正弦孔道与直孔道,而C-ITH中有更多的铝分布在交叉孔道.当前,研究者普遍认为MTO反应过程遵循双循环烃池机理,ITH交叉孔道由于具有较大的空间,相比于正弦孔道和直孔道,更有利于芳烃循环中间体的产生,从而有利于形成芳烃循环产物(乙烯),而正弦孔道和直孔道却更有利于烯烃循环过程,导致产生更多的丙烯.对两类ITH进行了MTO催化性能测试,结果表明,LTA-ITH比C-ITH表现出更高的丙烯选择性,并且表现出更高的丙烯与乙烯的比率,表明其烯烃循环过程得到加强,这与^(27)Al MAS NMR以及1-己烯裂解反应得到的结论一致,进一步证明ITH分子筛的铝分布得到有效调控.综上,本文阐明了ITH沸石中铝分布与其反应性能的关系,为调整沸石骨架中的Al位点提供一种新策略,为未来制备高效的MTO沸石基催化剂提供参考.展开更多
In this study,we introduced an innovative crop-conditional semantic segmentation architecture that seamlessly incorporates contextual metadata(crop information).This is achieved by merging the contextual information a...In this study,we introduced an innovative crop-conditional semantic segmentation architecture that seamlessly incorporates contextual metadata(crop information).This is achieved by merging the contextual information at a late layer stage,allowing the method to be integrated with any semantic segmentation architecture,including novel ones.To evaluate the effectiveness of this approach,we curated a challenging dataset of over 100,000 images captured in real-field conditions using mobile phones.This dataset includes various disease stages across 21 diseases and seven crops(wheat,barley,corn,rice,rape-seed,vinegrape,and cucumber),with the added complexity of multiple diseases coexisting in a single image.We demonstrate that incorporating contextual multi-crop information significantly enhances the performance of semantic segmentation models for plant disease detection.By leveraging crop-specific metadata,our approach achieves higher accuracy and better generalization across diverse crops(F1=0.68,r=0.75)compared to traditional methods(F1=0.24,r=0.68).Additionally,the adoption of a semi-supervised approach based on pseudo-labeling of single diseased plants,offers significant advantages for plant disease segmentation and quantification(F1=0.73,r=0.95).This method enhances the model's performance by leveraging both labeled and unlabeled data,reducing the dependency on extensive manual annotations,which are often time-consuming and costly.The deployment of this algorithm holds the potential to revolutionize the digitization of crop protection product testing,ensuring heightened repeatability while minimizing human subjectivity.By addressing the challenges of semantic segmentation and disease quantification,we contribute to more effective and precise phenotyping,ultimately supporting better crop management and protection strategies.展开更多
The use of image based and,recently,deep learning-based systems have provided good results in several applications.Greenhouse trials are key part in the process of developing and testing new herbicides and analyze the...The use of image based and,recently,deep learning-based systems have provided good results in several applications.Greenhouse trials are key part in the process of developing and testing new herbicides and analyze the response of the species to different products and doses in a controlled way.The assessment of the damage in the plant is daily done in all trials by visual evaluation by experts.This entails time consuming process and lack of repeatability.Greenhouse trials require new digital tools to reduce time consuming process and to endow the experts with more objective and repetitive methods for establishing the damage in the plants.To this end,a novel method is proposed composed by an initial segmentation of the plant species followed by a multibranch convolutional neural network to estimate the damage level.In this way,we overcome the need for costly and unaffordable pixelwise manual segmentation for damage symptoms and we make use of global damage estimation values provided by the experts.The algorithm has been deployed under real greenhouse trials conditions in a pilot study located in BASF in Germany and tested over four species(GLXMA,TRZAW,ECHCG,AMARE).The results show mean average error(MAE)values ranging from 5.20 for AMARE and 8.07 for ECHCG for the estimation of PDCU value,with correlation values(R^(2))higher than 0.85 in all situations,and up to 0.92 in AMARE.These results surpass the inter-rater variability of human experts demonstrating that the proposed automated method is appropriate for automatically assessing greenhouse damage trials.展开更多
The structural changes around a crack tip in a high density polyethylene were investigated by means of scanning synchrotron microfocus small-angle X-ray scattering technique. The scattering data confirm the process of...The structural changes around a crack tip in a high density polyethylene were investigated by means of scanning synchrotron microfocus small-angle X-ray scattering technique. The scattering data confirm the process of craze structure development near a crack tip based on the evolution of voids. In addition, it was found that the main stress in the plastic zone near a crack tip exhibited a gradient distribution with respect to its strength and direction. The whole damaged area showed a strain distribution indicating a flow behavior toward the crack tip.展开更多
Apart from long-known and applied nanostructures like carbon black for tyres or pigments for coatings nanotechnology has created highly sophisticated structures used for nano/molecular electronics,diagnostics,drug del...Apart from long-known and applied nanostructures like carbon black for tyres or pigments for coatings nanotechnology has created highly sophisticated structures used for nano/molecular electronics,diagnostics,drug delivery, UV-absorbers etc.Often the main question to be solved analytically is the local determination of tiny amounts of chemicals resulting in an ever increasing need for highly sensitive as well as locally resolved techniques.Applications of techniques like mass spectroscopy,transmission elect...展开更多
Identification of the catalyst characteristics correlating with the key performance parameters including selectivity and stability is key to the rational catalyst design. Herein we focused on the identification of pro...Identification of the catalyst characteristics correlating with the key performance parameters including selectivity and stability is key to the rational catalyst design. Herein we focused on the identification of property-performance relationships in the methanol-to-olefin(MTO) process by studying in detail the catalytic behaviour of MFI, MEL and their respective intergrowth zeolites. The detailed material characterization reveals that both the high production of propylene and butylenes and the large Me OH conversion capacity correlate with the enrichment of lattice Al sites in the channels of the pentasil structure as identified by 27 Al MAS NMR and 3-methylpentane cracking results. The lack of correlation between MTO performance and other catalyst characteristics, such as crystal size, presence of external Brønsted acid sites and Al pairing suggests their less pronounced role in defining the propylene selectivity. Our analysis reveals that catalyst deactivation is rather complex and is strongly affected by the enrichment of lattice Al in the intersections, the overall Al-content, and crystal size. The intergrowth of MFI and MEL phases accelerates the catalyst deactivation rate.展开更多
The use of reduced protein diets in broiler chicken production provides potential benefits for performance and environmental footprint of production. The effectiveness of β-Mannanase supplementation in wheat and soy ...The use of reduced protein diets in broiler chicken production provides potential benefits for performance and environmental footprint of production. The effectiveness of β-Mannanase supplementation in wheat and soy based standard protein(SP) and reduced protein(RP) diets was tested for growth performance, nutrient utilisation and selected intestinal gene expression of broiler chickens. In a 2 × 2factorial arrangement of treatments, two main factors included dietary protein(standard and reduced protein) and β-Mannanase supplementation(with or without). All diets contained phytase and carbohydrases(xylanase and glucanase). A total of 480 Ross 308 male off-sex day-old chickens were assigned to the four experimental diets in a 35-d study. Each diet was replicated 12 times with 10 birds per replicate. Using an additional 160 birds, separate apparent metabolizable energy(AME) and nutrient digestibility assays were undertaken for the 4 experimental diets from d 21 to 24 of age. Selected genes involved in gut integrity, inflammation and immune response were quantified using quantitative PCR assays. There was no interaction between β-Mannanase and dietary protein for any of the studied parameters except ileal viscosity. Enzyme had no effect on feed intake but tended to increase body weight gain(BWG) from d 0 to 35 of age(P = 0.079). Birds fed RP diet consumed more feed when assessed from d 0 to 35 of age(P = 0.029). At the same time, β-Mannanase tended to reduce feed conversion ratio independent of dietary protein(P = 0.069). β-Mannanase reduced ileal viscosity of the birds fed RP diet(P < 0.001). Reducing dietary protein increased nitrogen retention, nitrogen digestibility coefficient and digestibility coefficients of 11 amino acids(P < 0.001). β-Mannanase significantly improved digestibility coefficients of nitrogen and Arg, Gly, Thr, Lys, and Ile(P < 0.05). Dietary treatments had no effect on AME or gene expression of selected tight junction proteins, interleukin-10, interleukin-1β, mucin-2 and nuclear factor-kappa B. In conclusion, supplementation of β-Mannanase tended to improve feed efficiency and increased nutrient digestibility of broilers fed wheat-based diets independent of a moderate reduction in dietary protein. Complementary mode of actions of β-Mannanase for intestinal health requires further investigation.展开更多
Estimation of damage in plants is a key issue for crop protection.Currently,experts in the field manually assess the plots.This is a time-consuming task that can be automated thanks to the latest technology in compute...Estimation of damage in plants is a key issue for crop protection.Currently,experts in the field manually assess the plots.This is a time-consuming task that can be automated thanks to the latest technology in computer vision(CV).The use of image-based systems and recently deep learning-based systems have provided good results in several agricultural applications.These image-based applications outperform expert evaluation in controlled environments,and now they are being progressively included in non-controlled field applications.A novel solution based on deep learning techniques in combination with image processingmethods is proposed to tackle the estimate of plant damage in the field.The proposed solution is a two-stage algorithm.In a first stage,the single plants in the plots are detected by an object detection YOLO based model.Then a regression model is applied to estimate the damage of each individual plant.The solution has been developed and validated in oilseed rape plants to estimate the damage caused by flea beetle.The crop detection model achieves a mean precision average of 91%with a mAP@0.50 of 0.99 and a mAP@0.95 of 0.91 for oilseed rape specifically.The regression model to estimate up to 60%of damage degree in single plants achieves a MAE of 7.11,and R2 of 0.46 in comparison with manual evaluations done plant by plant by experts.Models are deployed in a docker,and with a REST API communication protocol they can be inferred directly for images acquired in the field from a mobile device.展开更多
Computational investigations of biological and soft-matter systems governed by strongly anisotropic interactions typically require resource-demanding methods such as atomistic simulations.However,these techniques freq...Computational investigations of biological and soft-matter systems governed by strongly anisotropic interactions typically require resource-demanding methods such as atomistic simulations.However,these techniques frequently prove to be prohibitively expensive for accessing the long-time and largelength scales inherent to such systems.Conversely,coarse-grained models offer a computationally efficient alternative.Nonetheless,models of this type have seldom been developed to accurately represent anisotropic or directional interactions.In this work,we introduce a straightforward bottomup,data-driven approach for constructing single-site coarse-grained potentials suitable for particles with arbitrary shapes and highly directional interactions.Our method for constructing these coarsegrained potentials relies on particle-centered descriptors of local structure that effectively encode dependencies on rotational degrees of freedom in the interactions.By using these descriptors as regressors in a linear model and employing a simple feature selection scheme,weconstruct single-site coarse-grained potentials for particles with anisotropic interactions,including surface-patterned particles and colloidal superballs in the presence of non-adsorbing polymers.We validate the efficacy of our models by accurately capturing the intricacies of the potential-energy surfaces from the underlying fine-grained models.Additionally,we demonstrate that this simple approach can accurately represent the contact function(shape)of non-spherical particles,which may be leveraged to construct continuous potentials suitable for large-scale simulations.展开更多
文摘Background Monoglycerides have emerged as a promising alternative to conventional practices due to their biolog-ical activities,including antimicrobial properties.However,few studies have assessed the efficacy of monoglyceride blend on weaned pigs and their impacts on performance,immune response,and gut health using a disease chal-lenge model.Therefore,this study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary monoglycerides of short-and medium-chain fatty acids on the immunity and gut health of weaned pigs experimentally infected with an enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli F18.Results Pigs supplemented with high-dose zinc oxide(ZNO)had greater(P<0.05)growth performance than other treatments,but no difference was observed in average daily feed intake between ZNO and monoglycerides groups during the post-challenge period.Pigs in ZNO and antibiotic groups had lower(P<0.05)severity of diarrhea than control,but the severity of diarrhea was not different between antibiotic and monoglycerides groups.Pigs fed with monoglycerides or ZNO had lower(P<0.05)serum haptoglobin on d 2 or 5 post-inoculation than control.Pigs in ZNO had greater(P<0.05)goblet cell numbers per villus,villus area and height,and villus height:crypt depth ratio(VH:CD)in duodenum on d 5 post-inoculation than pigs in other treatments.Pigs supplemented with monoglyc-erides,ZNO,or antibiotics had reduced(P<0.05)ileal crypt depth compared with control on d 5 post-inoculation,contributing to the increase(P=0.06)in VH:CD.Consistently,pigs in ZNO expressed the lowest(P<0.05)TNFa,IL6,IL10,IL12,IL1A,IL1B,and PTGS2 in ileal mucosa on d 5 post-inoculation,and no difference was observed in the expres-sion of those genes between ZNO and monoglycerides.Supplementation of ZNO and antibiotic had significant impacts on metabolic pathways in the serum compared with control,particularly on carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism,while limited impacts on serum metabolites were observed in monoglycerides group when compared with control.Conclusions The results suggest that supplementation of monoglyceride blend may enhance disease resist-ance of weaned pigs by alleviating the severity of diarrhea and mitigating intestinal and systemic inflammation,although the effectiveness may not be comparable to high-dose zinc oxide.
基金North Carolina Agricultural Foundation(#660101,Raleigh,NC,USA)USDANIFA(Hatch#02893,Washing DC,USA)Financial support for this research from BASF SE(Ludwigshafen,Germany)。
文摘Background Xylanase andβ-glucanase combination(XG)hydrolyzes soluble non-starch polysaccharides that are anti-nutritional compounds.This study aimed to evaluate the effects of increasing levels of XG on intestinal health and growth performance of nursery pigs.Methods Forty pigs(6.5±0.4 kg)were assigned to 5 dietary treatments and fed for 35 d in 3 phases(11,9,and 15 d,respectively).Basal diets mainly included corn,soybean meal,and corn distiller's dried grains with solubles,contained phytase(750 FTU/kg),and were supplemented with 5 levels of XG at(1)0,(2)280 TXU/kg xylanase and 125 TGU/kgβ-glucanase,(3)560 and 250,(4)840 and 375,or(5)1,120 and 500,respectively.Growth performance was measured.On d 35,all pigs were euthanized and jejunal mucosa,jejunal digesta,jejunal tissues,and ileal digesta were collected to determine the effects of increasing XG levels and XG intake on intestinal health.Results Increasing XG intake tended to quadratically decrease(P=0.059)viscosity of jejunal digesta(min:1.74 m Pa·s at 751/335(TXU/TGU)/kg).Increasing levels of XG quadratically decreased(P<0.05)Prevotellaceae(min:0.6%at 630/281(TXU/TGU)/kg)in the jejunal mucosa.Increasing XG intake quadratically increased(P<0.05)Lactobacillaceae(max:40.3%at 608/271(TXU/TGU)/kg)in the jejunal mucosa.Increasing XG intake quadratically decreased(P<0.05)Helicobacteraceae(min:1.6%at 560/250(TXU/TGU)/kg)in the jejunal mucosa.Increasing levels of XG tended to linearly decrease(P=0.073)jejunal Ig G and tended to quadratically increase(P=0.085)jejunal villus height to crypt depth ratio(max:2.62 at 560/250(TXU/TGU)/kg).Increasing XG intake tended to linearly increase the apparent ileal digestibility of dry matter(P=0.087)and ether extract(P=0.065).Increasing XG intake linearly increased(P<0.05)average daily gain.Conclusions A combinational use of xylanase andβ-glucanase would hydrolyze the non-starch polysaccharides fractions,positively modulating the jejunal mucosa-associated microbiota.Increased intake of these enzyme combination possibly reduced digesta viscosity and humoral immune response in the jejunum resulting in improved intestinal structure,and ileal digestibility of nutrients,and finally improving growth of nursery pigs.The beneficial effects were maximized at a combination of 550 to 800 TXU/kg xylanase and 250 to 360 TGU/kgβ-glucanase.
基金supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2022YFA1503602)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(22288101,U21B20101 and 22172141)+1 种基金the BASF International Network of Centers of Excellence projectthe Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China(LR24B030001)。
文摘ITR zeolite could be potentially used as catalysts in methanol to propylene(MTP),where their performance is strongly related to its Al distribution.However,the control of Al distribution in ITR zeolite poses a significant synthetic challenge.Herein,we demonstrate the possibility to control the Al distribution in ITR zeolites using zeolite A as an aluminum source(A-ITR).The A-ITR exhibited similar crystallinity,nanosheet morphology,textual parameters,and acidic concentration with those of conventional ITR made zeolites using aluminum isopropoxide as an aluminum source(C-ITR).Characterizations of the zeolite product with^(27)Al MQ.MAS NMR spectra,^(27)Al MAS NMR spectra,and 1-hexene cracking reveal that the A-ITR zeolites have more Al species distributed in T6 and T8 sites located in relatively smaller micropores of the framework than C-ITR.As a result,the A-ITR gave enhanced catalyst lifetime and propylene selectivity due to the suppression of the aromatic cycle in the MTP reaction,compared with the C-ITR.This work provides an alternative approach to prepare efficient ITR zeolites for MTP reaction.
基金supported by PUB, Singapore’s National Water Agency under the project ‘‘Development of 8 inch Novel High Efficiency Pressure-Retarded Osmosis (PRO) Membrane Modules towards Potential Pilot Testing and Field Validation” with NUS grant No. R-279-000-555-592Singapore National Research Foundation for supporting the project entitled, ‘‘Using Cold Energy from Regasification of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) for Novel Hybrid Seawater Desalination Technologies” (Grant number: R-279-000-456-279)BASF SE, Germany for partially funding this project with a grant number of R-279-000-363-597
文摘Sustainable production of clean water is a global challenge.While we firmly believe that membrane technologies are one of the most promising solutions to tackle the global water challenges,one must reduce their energy consumption and fouling propensity for broad sustainable applications.In addition,different membranes face various challenges in their specific applications during long-term operations.In this short review,we will summarize the recent progresses in emerging membrane technologies and system integration to advance and sustain water reuse and desalination with discussion on their challenges and perspectives.
基金supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (No.2017YFB0602201)the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA21020400)+2 种基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant nos.91645204, 21425312 and 21621063)the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of Chinese Academy of Sciences (2019184)the INCOE (International Network of Centers of Excellence) project coordinated by BASF SE
文摘Oxide-Zeolite(OX-ZEO) bifunctional catalyst design concept has been exemplified in several processes to direct conversion syngas to value-added chemicals and fuels such as mixed light olefins, ethylene, aromatics and gasoline.Herein we demonstrate that the product can be steered toward liquefied petroleum gas(LPG) with a selectivity up to 89% in hydrocarbons especially propane selectivity reaching 80% at CO conversion of 63% using ZnCrOx-H-SSZ-39 catalyst.Interestingly, the quantity of the acid sites of SSZ-39 does not influence obviously the hydrocarbon distribution but the strength is crucial for selective formation of propane.This finding provides an alternative route of LPG synthesis from a variety of carbon resources via syngas.
文摘BASF presents a new high viscosity ester base stock technology.Viscosity profiles of these new candidates are comparable to market-known high viscosity PAO types such as PAO 40 and PAO 100.Due to the more polar nature of the new ester base stocks additional benefits can be achieved in terms of friction reduction,energy efficiency or facilitated additive solubilisation against high viscosity PAOs.The superior performance of the new high viscosity ester base stock technology is demonstrated in direct comparison against high viscosity PAO counterparts in industrial gear applications.The basic advantages found herein in industrial gear applications are also of relevance for other lubricant applications such as automotive driveline oil or engine oil applications.As one exemplary area industrial gear applications play a dominant role in modern wind turbines.The latest generation of lubricants used in these turbine gear boxes are required to provide a greater performance in terms of wear protection,durability,foam resistance,shear stability,and oxidation resistance.Common formulations are based on a PAO base stock thickened with high molecular weight PAO polymers to achieve a viscosity of ISO 320 combined with additives to provide wear protection,foam resistance etc.A recent plant outage coupled with high demand for high molecular weight PAO polymers has led to the market becoming aware of potential availability issues.In response to this important challenge BASF has developed a new formulation strategy-based on the new high viscosity ester technology and upon a widely available low molecular weight PAO base stock employing a new concept in a thickening system that avoids the use of high molecular weight PAO polymers.The novel ester base stock can be manufactured at multiple locations and is based on sustainable raw materials that can be sourced from a wide supplier base.
文摘随着低碳烯烃需求量的增加,甲醇制烯烃(MTO)成为由非石油资源制取低碳烯烃的关键技术,其中沸石由于具有可调节的酸度、有序的微孔结构和较好的择型性能而被广泛用作MTO反应催化剂.ITQ-13沸石(ITH拓扑结构)由于其独特的九元环结构在MTO反应中表现出较好的丙烯选择性和反应寿命,引起了广泛关注.研究表明,分子筛的酸中心分布与MTO反应性能密切相关,因此,研究ITQ-13沸石中铝分布与MTO反应性能的关系,对进一步提升其MTO催化性能具有重要意义.本文分别以与ITH具有共同基本结构单元(双四元环,D4Rs)的LTA沸石(LTA-ITH)和薄水铝石(C-ITH)为铝源,合成了两类铝硅酸盐ITH沸石.X射线衍射、扫描电子显微镜以及氮气吸脱附表征结果表明,这两类分子筛具有相似的片状形貌和微孔性质.氨气程序升温脱附结果表明,具有相近硅铝比的两类ITH沸石具有相近的酸量.进一步采用27Al魔角旋转核磁共振(MAS NMR)、密度泛函理论计算和1-己烯裂解反应对两类ITH分子筛的铝分布进行研究.结果表明,两类分子筛具有不同的铝分布,LTA-ITH中有更多的铝进入ITH的正弦孔道与直孔道,而C-ITH中有更多的铝分布在交叉孔道.当前,研究者普遍认为MTO反应过程遵循双循环烃池机理,ITH交叉孔道由于具有较大的空间,相比于正弦孔道和直孔道,更有利于芳烃循环中间体的产生,从而有利于形成芳烃循环产物(乙烯),而正弦孔道和直孔道却更有利于烯烃循环过程,导致产生更多的丙烯.对两类ITH进行了MTO催化性能测试,结果表明,LTA-ITH比C-ITH表现出更高的丙烯选择性,并且表现出更高的丙烯与乙烯的比率,表明其烯烃循环过程得到加强,这与^(27)Al MAS NMR以及1-己烯裂解反应得到的结论一致,进一步证明ITH分子筛的铝分布得到有效调控.综上,本文阐明了ITH沸石中铝分布与其反应性能的关系,为调整沸石骨架中的Al位点提供一种新策略,为未来制备高效的MTO沸石基催化剂提供参考.
基金Some authors have received support by the Elkartek Programme,Basque Government(Spain)(SMART-EYE(KK-2023/00021).
文摘In this study,we introduced an innovative crop-conditional semantic segmentation architecture that seamlessly incorporates contextual metadata(crop information).This is achieved by merging the contextual information at a late layer stage,allowing the method to be integrated with any semantic segmentation architecture,including novel ones.To evaluate the effectiveness of this approach,we curated a challenging dataset of over 100,000 images captured in real-field conditions using mobile phones.This dataset includes various disease stages across 21 diseases and seven crops(wheat,barley,corn,rice,rape-seed,vinegrape,and cucumber),with the added complexity of multiple diseases coexisting in a single image.We demonstrate that incorporating contextual multi-crop information significantly enhances the performance of semantic segmentation models for plant disease detection.By leveraging crop-specific metadata,our approach achieves higher accuracy and better generalization across diverse crops(F1=0.68,r=0.75)compared to traditional methods(F1=0.24,r=0.68).Additionally,the adoption of a semi-supervised approach based on pseudo-labeling of single diseased plants,offers significant advantages for plant disease segmentation and quantification(F1=0.73,r=0.95).This method enhances the model's performance by leveraging both labeled and unlabeled data,reducing the dependency on extensive manual annotations,which are often time-consuming and costly.The deployment of this algorithm holds the potential to revolutionize the digitization of crop protection product testing,ensuring heightened repeatability while minimizing human subjectivity.By addressing the challenges of semantic segmentation and disease quantification,we contribute to more effective and precise phenotyping,ultimately supporting better crop management and protection strategies.
文摘The use of image based and,recently,deep learning-based systems have provided good results in several applications.Greenhouse trials are key part in the process of developing and testing new herbicides and analyze the response of the species to different products and doses in a controlled way.The assessment of the damage in the plant is daily done in all trials by visual evaluation by experts.This entails time consuming process and lack of repeatability.Greenhouse trials require new digital tools to reduce time consuming process and to endow the experts with more objective and repetitive methods for establishing the damage in the plants.To this end,a novel method is proposed composed by an initial segmentation of the plant species followed by a multibranch convolutional neural network to estimate the damage level.In this way,we overcome the need for costly and unaffordable pixelwise manual segmentation for damage symptoms and we make use of global damage estimation values provided by the experts.The algorithm has been deployed under real greenhouse trials conditions in a pilot study located in BASF in Germany and tested over four species(GLXMA,TRZAW,ECHCG,AMARE).The results show mean average error(MAE)values ranging from 5.20 for AMARE and 8.07 for ECHCG for the estimation of PDCU value,with correlation values(R^(2))higher than 0.85 in all situations,and up to 0.92 in AMARE.These results surpass the inter-rater variability of human experts demonstrating that the proposed automated method is appropriate for automatically assessing greenhouse damage trials.
基金supported by the"Hundred Talents Project"of the Chinese Academy of Sciences,the National Basic Research Program of China(No.2005CB623800)National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.50603024, 50621302) and HASYLAB projectⅡ-20052011
文摘The structural changes around a crack tip in a high density polyethylene were investigated by means of scanning synchrotron microfocus small-angle X-ray scattering technique. The scattering data confirm the process of craze structure development near a crack tip based on the evolution of voids. In addition, it was found that the main stress in the plastic zone near a crack tip exhibited a gradient distribution with respect to its strength and direction. The whole damaged area showed a strain distribution indicating a flow behavior toward the crack tip.
文摘Apart from long-known and applied nanostructures like carbon black for tyres or pigments for coatings nanotechnology has created highly sophisticated structures used for nano/molecular electronics,diagnostics,drug delivery, UV-absorbers etc.Often the main question to be solved analytically is the local determination of tiny amounts of chemicals resulting in an ever increasing need for highly sensitive as well as locally resolved techniques.Applications of techniques like mass spectroscopy,transmission elect...
基金supported by the BASF and the Advanced Research Center Chemical Building Blocks Consortium (ARC CBBC) for Funding under Project (2016.007.TUD)
文摘Identification of the catalyst characteristics correlating with the key performance parameters including selectivity and stability is key to the rational catalyst design. Herein we focused on the identification of property-performance relationships in the methanol-to-olefin(MTO) process by studying in detail the catalytic behaviour of MFI, MEL and their respective intergrowth zeolites. The detailed material characterization reveals that both the high production of propylene and butylenes and the large Me OH conversion capacity correlate with the enrichment of lattice Al sites in the channels of the pentasil structure as identified by 27 Al MAS NMR and 3-methylpentane cracking results. The lack of correlation between MTO performance and other catalyst characteristics, such as crystal size, presence of external Brønsted acid sites and Al pairing suggests their less pronounced role in defining the propylene selectivity. Our analysis reveals that catalyst deactivation is rather complex and is strongly affected by the enrichment of lattice Al in the intersections, the overall Al-content, and crystal size. The intergrowth of MFI and MEL phases accelerates the catalyst deactivation rate.
文摘The use of reduced protein diets in broiler chicken production provides potential benefits for performance and environmental footprint of production. The effectiveness of β-Mannanase supplementation in wheat and soy based standard protein(SP) and reduced protein(RP) diets was tested for growth performance, nutrient utilisation and selected intestinal gene expression of broiler chickens. In a 2 × 2factorial arrangement of treatments, two main factors included dietary protein(standard and reduced protein) and β-Mannanase supplementation(with or without). All diets contained phytase and carbohydrases(xylanase and glucanase). A total of 480 Ross 308 male off-sex day-old chickens were assigned to the four experimental diets in a 35-d study. Each diet was replicated 12 times with 10 birds per replicate. Using an additional 160 birds, separate apparent metabolizable energy(AME) and nutrient digestibility assays were undertaken for the 4 experimental diets from d 21 to 24 of age. Selected genes involved in gut integrity, inflammation and immune response were quantified using quantitative PCR assays. There was no interaction between β-Mannanase and dietary protein for any of the studied parameters except ileal viscosity. Enzyme had no effect on feed intake but tended to increase body weight gain(BWG) from d 0 to 35 of age(P = 0.079). Birds fed RP diet consumed more feed when assessed from d 0 to 35 of age(P = 0.029). At the same time, β-Mannanase tended to reduce feed conversion ratio independent of dietary protein(P = 0.069). β-Mannanase reduced ileal viscosity of the birds fed RP diet(P < 0.001). Reducing dietary protein increased nitrogen retention, nitrogen digestibility coefficient and digestibility coefficients of 11 amino acids(P < 0.001). β-Mannanase significantly improved digestibility coefficients of nitrogen and Arg, Gly, Thr, Lys, and Ile(P < 0.05). Dietary treatments had no effect on AME or gene expression of selected tight junction proteins, interleukin-10, interleukin-1β, mucin-2 and nuclear factor-kappa B. In conclusion, supplementation of β-Mannanase tended to improve feed efficiency and increased nutrient digestibility of broilers fed wheat-based diets independent of a moderate reduction in dietary protein. Complementary mode of actions of β-Mannanase for intestinal health requires further investigation.
文摘Estimation of damage in plants is a key issue for crop protection.Currently,experts in the field manually assess the plots.This is a time-consuming task that can be automated thanks to the latest technology in computer vision(CV).The use of image-based systems and recently deep learning-based systems have provided good results in several agricultural applications.These image-based applications outperform expert evaluation in controlled environments,and now they are being progressively included in non-controlled field applications.A novel solution based on deep learning techniques in combination with image processingmethods is proposed to tackle the estimate of plant damage in the field.The proposed solution is a two-stage algorithm.In a first stage,the single plants in the plots are detected by an object detection YOLO based model.Then a regression model is applied to estimate the damage of each individual plant.The solution has been developed and validated in oilseed rape plants to estimate the damage caused by flea beetle.The crop detection model achieves a mean precision average of 91%with a mAP@0.50 of 0.99 and a mAP@0.95 of 0.91 for oilseed rape specifically.The regression model to estimate up to 60%of damage degree in single plants achieves a MAE of 7.11,and R2 of 0.46 in comparison with manual evaluations done plant by plant by experts.Models are deployed in a docker,and with a REST API communication protocol they can be inferred directly for images acquired in the field from a mobile device.
基金funding from The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research(NWO)for the ENW PPS Fund 2018-Technology Area Soft Advanced Materials ENPPS.TA.018.002 and for the OCENW.KLEIN.432,respectivelyM.D.acknowledges funding from the European Research Council(ERC)under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme(Grant agreement No.ERC-2019-ADG 884902=SoftML).
文摘Computational investigations of biological and soft-matter systems governed by strongly anisotropic interactions typically require resource-demanding methods such as atomistic simulations.However,these techniques frequently prove to be prohibitively expensive for accessing the long-time and largelength scales inherent to such systems.Conversely,coarse-grained models offer a computationally efficient alternative.Nonetheless,models of this type have seldom been developed to accurately represent anisotropic or directional interactions.In this work,we introduce a straightforward bottomup,data-driven approach for constructing single-site coarse-grained potentials suitable for particles with arbitrary shapes and highly directional interactions.Our method for constructing these coarsegrained potentials relies on particle-centered descriptors of local structure that effectively encode dependencies on rotational degrees of freedom in the interactions.By using these descriptors as regressors in a linear model and employing a simple feature selection scheme,weconstruct single-site coarse-grained potentials for particles with anisotropic interactions,including surface-patterned particles and colloidal superballs in the presence of non-adsorbing polymers.We validate the efficacy of our models by accurately capturing the intricacies of the potential-energy surfaces from the underlying fine-grained models.Additionally,we demonstrate that this simple approach can accurately represent the contact function(shape)of non-spherical particles,which may be leveraged to construct continuous potentials suitable for large-scale simulations.
