Labelling and Content Evaluation of Commercial Veterinary Probiotics

The aim of our study was to evaluate the contents and labelling of five commercial probiotics marketed for veterinary administration. The information on the product was obtained from the inserted leaflet or the data on the package. Quantitative bacteriological culture was performed in all products, and isolates were identified via biochemical characteristics. Comparison of actual contents versus label claims was performed. Four products correctly provided information on expiry dates, species and quantity of bacteria per gram or kilogram of product. In one product, there was no probiotic species mentioned in the Czech text on the package. Culture examinations of all the three products containing Enterococcus faecium resulted in finding the declared quantity of bacteria. They also contained Lactobacillus sp. not mentioned in the leaflet. Culturing the mixture of Bacillus subtilis and Lactobacillus paracasei, we found only Bacillus subtilis in a quantity by one order lower than declared. In an incorrectly labelled product, Lactobacillus sp. was found instead of yeast species. Most commercial veterinary probiotic preparations are not accurately represented by label claims

A Combine On-Line Acoustic Flowmeter and Fluorocarbon Coolant Mixture Analyzer for The ATLAS Silicon Tracker

An upgrade to the ATLAS silicon tracker cooling control system may require a change from C3F8 (octafluoro-propane) to a blend containing 10-30% of C2F6 (hexafluoro-ethane) to reduce the evaporation temperature and better protect the silicon from cumulative radiation damage with increasing LHC luminosity. Central to this upgrade is a new acoustic instrument for the real-time measurement of the C3F8/C2F6 mixture ratio and flow. The instrument and its Supervisory, Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) software are described in this paper. The instrument has demonstrated a resolution of 3.10-3 for C3F8/C2F6 mixtures with ~20%C2F6, and flow resolution of 2% of full scale for mass flows up to 30gs-1. In mixtures of widely-differing molecular weight (mw), higher mixture precision is possible: a sensitivity of < 5.10-4 to leaks of C3F8 into the ATLAS pixel detector nitrogen envelope (mw difference 160) has been seen. The instrument has many potential applications, including the analysis of mixtures of hydrocarbons, vapours for semi-conductor manufacture and anaesthesia

Impact of extreme weather events frequency and intensity in shaping phytoplankton communities

Lake habitats and communities can often be correlated with general morphometric and geographic characteristics such as depth, latitude, altitude, or watershed area. Further, communities are typically correlated with average environmental conditions such as seasonal temperature and nutrient levels. The frequency and intensity of extreme weather events (rain and wind) are typically not encompassed by average environmental descriptors, yet, can modify the physical habitats of lakes, significantly influencing phytoplankton growth and survival. We tested the hypothesis that lakes with a higher frequency and intensity of extreme weather events have a functionally different phytoplankton assemblage from lakes with a lower frequency of extreme weather events. We compiled long-term (mean = 20±13 years, range 0.6-44 years) phytoplankton datasets for 22 lakes across a wide gradient of altitude, latitude, depth, and trophic state. We classified the phytoplankton genera into morpho-functional groups and C-S-R strategists, and compared among lake phytoplankton assemblages’ characteristics across the gradient of wind and rain conditions experienced by the lakes. We discuss how the frequency of extreme weather events can affect phytoplankton functional groups, the dominance of differing life history strategies and ultimately community structure. The frequency and intensity of extreme events is expected to increase with climate change, with the potential to drive shifts in phytoplankton composition

Development of a custom on-line ultrasonic vapour analyzer/flowmeter for the ATLAS inner detector, with application to gaseous tracking and Cherenkov detectors

Precision sound velocity measurements can simultaneously determine binary gas composition and flow. We have developed an analyzer with custom electronics, currently in use in the ATLAS inner detector, with numerous potential applications. The instrument has demonstrated ~0.3% mixture precision for C3F8/C2F6 mixtures and < 10-4 resolution for N2/C3F8 mixtures. Moderate and high flow versions of the instrument have demonstrated flow resolutions of +/- 2% F.S. for flows up to 250 l.min-1, and +/- 1.9% F.S. for linear flow velocities up to 15 ms-1; the latter flow approaching that expected in the vapour return of the thermosiphon fluorocarbon coolant recirculator being built for the ATLAS silicon tracker.Comment: Paper submitted to TWEPP2012; Topical Workshop on Electronics for Particle Physics, Oxford, UK, September 17-21, 2012. KEYWORDS: Sonar; Saturated fluorocarbons; Flowmetry; Sound velocity, Gas mixture analysis. 8 pages, 7 figure

A global dataset on weather, lake physics, and phytoplankton dynamics

We compiled data from over 30 lakes across the globe to address how storms influence thermal structure and phytoplankton community dynamics mediated by lake conditions and functional traits. In addition to (generally) fortnightly phytoplankton samples (mean ± SD temporal coverage across all lakes = 20 ± 13 years), the dataset includes limnological variables from standard long-term monitoring programs (24 ± 15 years coverage), daily weather observations (16 ± 10 years coverage) and, when available, high-frequency lake water temperature and water chemistry profiles (12 ± 7 years coverage). All data have been standardized to similar formats and include complete metadata. We used the dataset to develop an R-package (“algaeClassify”), which assigns phytoplankton genus/species information to multiple functional trait groups, and here we provide a summary of ongoing research using the dataset to investigate: 1) the influence of storm events on seasonal phytoplankton succession, 2) the impact of storms on lake thermal structure, and 3) whether lake phytoplankton communities are shaped by long-term patterns in disturbance frequency and intensity. We give an overview on how to access these data, and we further highlight the opportunities the dataset provides for asking both basic and applied questions in limnology, ecology, climate change, and lake management

LHC Optics Measurement with Proton Tracks Detected by the Roman Pots of the TOTEM Experiment

Precise knowledge of the beam optics at the LHC is crucial to fulfil the physics goals of the TOTEM experiment, where the kinematics of the scattered protons is reconstructed with the near-beam telescopes -- so-called Roman Pots (RP). Before being detected, the protons' trajectories are influenced by the magnetic fields of the accelerator lattice. Thus precise understanding of the proton transport is of key importance for the experiment. A novel method of optics evaluation is proposed which exploits kinematical distributions of elastically scattered protons observed in the RPs. Theoretical predictions, as well as Monte Carlo studies, show that the residual uncertainty of this optics estimation method is smaller than 0.25 percent.Comment: 20 pages, 11 figures, 5 figures, to be submitted to New J. Phy