Hydrocarbons as Recorders of Cosmic Environments

Hydrocarbons are ubiquitous in the Cosmos. Carbon stars jettison large amounts of hydrocarbons into interstellar space and these are incorporated into forming planetary systems alongside newly synthesized hydrocarbon material. The structure of a hydrocarbon reveals its origin with non-biological, biological, low temperature, high temperature, reduced, oxidised and aqueously altered hydrocarbons all having structural features that imply their provenance. These features are explored throughout this work, with a focus on the insoluble macromolecular organic carbon of meteorites and comparative terrestrial samples. Analytical pyrolysis of macromolecular material in meteorites is a well established technique. By subjecting samples to multiple heating steps, rather than the more usual single step, new insights into the structure and composition of the macromolecular material have been obtained. In addition, simple typing of chondrites and a reconstruction of the conditions experienced on their asteroid parent bodies is possible using the products of pyrolysis. It is the carbonaceous chondrites that have received the most attention for their organic content but some ordinary chondrites also contain appreciable quantities of organic materials. The organic inventory of both carbonaceous and ordinary chondrites has been explored in this study. Carbonaceous chondrites contain authentic abiotic organic material and are in great demand for scientific analysis and experimentation. Yet these objects are extremely rare and valuable and there is a need for analogue materials that are available in larger quantities and on which specific experiments can be carried out. Uses of effective meteorite organic analogues include the training of personnel, testing of analytical methods, contamination studies, and optimisation of space mission instruments. Most of the carbon in carbonaceous chondrites is a non-biological aromatic and intractable macromolecular material and previously unsatisfactory analogues have included coals and other so-called type III kerogens. Following a comparison of a number of candidate materials a new analogue has been identified in reworked fossil soils from the Jurassic of southern England. This type IV kerogen displays great similarities to the macromolecular material in meteorites and can be employed to lessen the burden on our curated collections of rare carbonaceous meteorites. The thermal and chemical stability of hydrocarbons ensures that they exhibit excellent preservation potential and can often be found when other molecular information carriers have long since perished. This feature is important when studying planetary environments for indicators of biogenicity. Yet there is a multitude of information to process and the organic signals can often be confusing owing to diagenesis, catagenesis, oxidation and weathering. In this study a wide range of terrestrial and extraterrestrial materials have been examined using statistical techniques to develop a method for the discrimination of abiotic from biotic macromolecular materials, based only upon the distributions of simple aromatic hydrocarbons and related compounds. This has important implications for life-detection missions destined for Mars, which are currently under development

The effects of exercise on the lactational performance of cattle

The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of exercise (walking a specified distance for a fixed number of days) on the lactational performance of pregnant cows and to investigate the effect of diet on the lactational response to exercise. The results of the reseach are particularly applicable to the effects of exercise on the lactational performance of cows which are used as draught animals in tropical countries.A literature review was carried out of the role of cows as draught animals in tropical farming systems, of the metabolites used for muscular activity and lactation, factors which affect the supply of these metabolites and the effect of exercise on lactational performance, body weight change and food intake.Three experiments were done to investigate the effect of exercise on milk yield, milk constituent yield (g/d), milk constituent content <g/kg milk), body weight change, blood metabolite concentrations and the voluntary intake of barley straw. The effect of five different diets on the response of the above variables to exercise was also investigated.The experiments were carried out at the Easter Howgate Farm six miles south west of Edinburgh using in each instance twelve pregnant, lactating crossbred Hereford x Friesian cows in their second or subsequent lactations. The animals were exercised in the Peritland Hills for three five day periods each separated by two non-walking days. They walked approximately 8.8 kilometres each day and climbed a vertical distance of approximately 480 metres a day. This exercise was calculated to be equivalent to an energy expenditure of approximately 12MJ per day or a quarter of the maintenance energy requirement of the animals.It was found that the exercise carried out caused a milk yield reduction of between 7 and 14 percent depending on diet. Milk yields declined on walking days and recovered to almost non-walking levels on the intervening non-walking days. Milk fat content increased as milk yield declined, with the result that the daily yield of milk fat was not affected by exercise. Milk protein content and lactose content were not markedly affected by exercise, with the result that the daily yields of these two milk constituents declined approximately in proportion to the decline in milk yield.When animals walked, their rate of weight gain was not as great as when they were not walking. Animals on some diets lost body weight when they walked. After walking animals on all diets increased weight faster than prior to the walking period and in most cases achieved the expected weights (based on extrapolations from the first non-walking period weight gains) by the end of the experiment. It appeared that exercise may have caused changes in gut-fill which influenced body weight.Measurements of the concentrations of blood metabolites showed increases in the concentrations of (3-OH butyrate and free fatty acids and decreases in the concentrations of glucose, magnesium and inorganic phosphorus. The response of blood metabolites to exercise was influenced by diet and some adaptation to exercise was observed over the three week walking period. These changes were indicative of energy deficits when the animals exercised and in some cases were similar to the changes in blood metabolites observed by other authors in fasting animalsThe intake of barley straw offered ad libitum and supplemented with one of three diets was not affected by exercise. No measurements were made of the products of digestion, but it appeared that diets which might be expected to sustain high rates of fermentation and high levels of propionate production supported lactational performance during exercise better than diets which were designed to supply larger quantities of rumen undegradable protein and starch.It was calculated that cows offered some diets were in energy deficit when they walked and concurrent weight losses were observed. In other groups however, although cows were in negative energy balance, positive weight gains were measured. Gut-fill changes, increased weight of concepta and changes in fat to lean tissue ratio might explain these observations.No adverse effects of exercise were observed in the animals and all animals subsequently calved successfully.It was concluded that the levels of energy expenditure experienced by the cows in the present experiments would have no long-term adverse effects on the lactational performance of the animals and that while milk yields would suffer in the short term, if working periods were separated by two or more non-working days, milk yields would recover to near pre-work levels. The consequences of heavier work, greater daily levels of energy expenditure, work sustained for longer periods of time without intervening nonworking days, work carried out at different stages of lactation and work carried out by animals fed tropical diets is worthy of further investigation

The moon as a recorder of organic evolution in the early solar system: a lunar regolith analog study

The organic record of Earth older than ∼3.8 Ga has been effectively erased. Some insight is provided to us by meteorites as well as remote and direct observations of asteroids and comets left over from the formation of the Solar System. These primitive objects provide a record of early chemical evolution and a sample of material that has been delivered to Earth's surface throughout the past 4.5 billion years. Yet an effective chronicle of organic evolution on all Solar System objects, including that on planetary surfaces, is more difficult to find. Fortunately, early Earth would not have been the only recipient of organic matter–containing objects in the early Solar System. For example, a recently proposed model suggests the possibility that volatiles, including organic material, remain archived in buried paleoregolith deposits intercalated with lava flows on the Moon. Where asteroids and comets allow the study of processes before planet formation, the lunar record could extend that chronicle to early biological evolution on the planets. In this study, we use selected free and polymeric organic materials to assess the hypothesis that organic matter can survive the effects of heating in the lunar regolith by overlying lava flows. Results indicate that the presence of lunar regolith simulant appears to promote polymerization and, therefore, preservation of organic matter. Once polymerized, the mineral-hosted newly formed organic network is relatively protected from further thermal degradation. Our findings reveal the thermal conditions under which preservation of organic matter on the Moon is viable

Opening options for material transfer.

UNLABELLED: The Open Material Transfer Agreement is a material-transfer agreement that enables broader sharing and use of biological materials by biotechnology practitioners working within the practical realities of technology transfer. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version of this article (doi:10.1038/nbt.4263) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Performance of the CMS High Granularity Calorimeter prototype to charged pion beams of 20−-300 GeV/c

The upgrade of the CMS experiment for the high luminosity operation of the LHC comprises the replacement of the current endcap calorimeter by a high granularity sampling calorimeter (HGCAL). The electromagnetic section of the HGCAL is based on silicon sensors interspersed between lead and copper (or copper tungsten) absorbers. The hadronic section uses layers of stainless steel as an absorbing medium and silicon sensors as an active medium in the regions of high radiation exposure, and scintillator tiles directly readout by silicon photomultipliers in the remaining regions. As part of the development of the detector and its readout electronic components, a section of a silicon-based HGCAL prototype detector along with a section of the CALICE AHCAL prototype was exposed to muons, electrons and charged pions in beam test experiments at the H2 beamline at the CERN SPS in October 2018. The AHCAL uses the same technology as foreseen for the HGCAL but with much finer longitudinal segmentation. The performance of the calorimeters in terms of energy response and resolution, longitudinal and transverse shower profiles is studied using negatively charged pions, and is compared to GEANT4 predictions. This is the first report summarizing results of hadronic showers measured by the HGCAL prototype using beam test data.Comment: To be submitted to JINS

Global patient outcomes after elective surgery: prospective cohort study in 27 low-, middle- and high-income countries.

BACKGROUND: As global initiatives increase patient access to surgical treatments, there remains a need to understand the adverse effects of surgery and define appropriate levels of perioperative care. METHODS: We designed a prospective international 7-day cohort study of outcomes following elective adult inpatient surgery in 27 countries. The primary outcome was in-hospital complications. Secondary outcomes were death following a complication (failure to rescue) and death in hospital. Process measures were admission to critical care immediately after surgery or to treat a complication and duration of hospital stay. A single definition of critical care was used for all countries. RESULTS: A total of 474 hospitals in 19 high-, 7 middle- and 1 low-income country were included in the primary analysis. Data included 44 814 patients with a median hospital stay of 4 (range 2-7) days. A total of 7508 patients (16.8%) developed one or more postoperative complication and 207 died (0.5%). The overall mortality among patients who developed complications was 2.8%. Mortality following complications ranged from 2.4% for pulmonary embolism to 43.9% for cardiac arrest. A total of 4360 (9.7%) patients were admitted to a critical care unit as routine immediately after surgery, of whom 2198 (50.4%) developed a complication, with 105 (2.4%) deaths. A total of 1233 patients (16.4%) were admitted to a critical care unit to treat complications, with 119 (9.7%) deaths. Despite lower baseline risk, outcomes were similar in low- and middle-income compared with high-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: Poor patient outcomes are common after inpatient surgery. Global initiatives to increase access to surgical treatments should also address the need for safe perioperative care. STUDY REGISTRATION: ISRCTN5181700

A comprehensive high cost drugs dataset from the NHS in England - An OpenSAFELY-TPP Short Data Report

Background: At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was no routine comprehensive hospital medicines data from the UK available to researchers. These records can be important for many analyses including the effect of certain medicines on the risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes. With the approval of NHS England, we set out to obtain data on one specific group of medicines, “high-cost drugs” (HCD) which are typically specialist medicines for the management of long-term conditions, prescribed by hospitals to patients. Additionally, we aimed to make these data available to all approved researchers in OpenSAFELY-TPP. This report is intended to support all studies carried out in OpenSAFELY-TPP, and those elsewhere, working with this dataset or similar data. Methods: Working with the North East Commissioning Support Unit and NHS Digital, we arranged for collation of a single national HCD dataset to help inform responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. The dataset was developed from payment submissions from hospitals to commissioners. Results: In the financial year (FY) 2018/19 there were 2.8 million submissions for 1.1 million unique patient IDs recorded in the HCD. The average number of submissions per patient over the year was 2.6. In FY 2019/20 there were 4.0 million submissions for 1.3 million unique patient IDs. The average number of submissions per patient over the year was 3.1. Of the 21 variables in the dataset, three are now available for analysis in OpenSafely-TPP: Financial year and month of drug being dispensed; drug name; and a description of the drug dispensed. Conclusions: We have described the process for sourcing a national HCD dataset, making these data available for COVID-19-related analysis through OpenSAFELY-TPP and provided information on the variables included in the dataset, data coverage and an initial descriptive analysis.</ns4:p

La production laitière

Cet ouvrage est consacré à la production de lait de vache dans différentes parties du monde. Il ne s'intéresse pas uniquement à la production commerciale sur une grande échelle, mais aussi aux petits exploitants et à l'élevage pastoral. Il traite aussi de la production commerciale sur une grande ou sur une petite échelle. Dans ces systèmes où les éleveurs sont propriétaires de laurs terres, la viabilité économique de l'entreprise dépend du prix du lait sur le marché. Dans ces conditions, une production planifiée exige une bonne compréhension des processus biologiques de la production laitière et des contraintes socio-politiques autant que des impératifs purement économique