MapX: an In-Situ Mapping X-Ray Fluorescence Instrument for Detection of Biosignatures and Habitable Planetary Environments

The search for evidence of life or its processes on other worlds takes on two major themes: the detection of biosignatures indicating extinct or extant life, or the determination that an environment either has or once had the potential to harbor living organisms. In situ elemental imaging is useful in either case, since features on the mm to m scale reveal geological processes which may indicate past or present habitability. Further, biomineralization can leave traces in the morphology and element distribution of surfaces. The Mapping X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer (MapX) is an in-situ instrument designed to identify these features on planetary surfaces [1]. Progress on instrument development, data analysis methods, and element quantification are presented

Powder Handling Device for Analytical Instruments

Method and system for causing a powder sample in a sample holder to undergo at least one of three motions (vibration, rotation and translation) at a selected motion frequency in order to present several views of an individual grain of the sample. One or more measurements of diffraction, fluorescence, spectroscopic interaction, transmission, absorption and/or reflection can be made on the sample, using light in a selected wavelength region

Balanced mechanical resonator for powder handling device

A system incorporating a balanced mechanical resonator and a method for vibration of a sample composed of granular material to generate motion of a powder sample inside the sample holder for obtaining improved analysis statistics, without imparting vibration to the sample holder support

Geometry of phase separation

We study the domain geometry during spinodal decomposition of a 50:50 binary mixture in two dimensions. Extending arguments developed to treat non-conserved coarsening, we obtain approximate analytic results for the distribution of domain areas and perimeters during the dynamics. The main approximation is to regard the interfaces separating domains as moving independently. While this is true in the non-conserved case, it is not in the conserved one. Our results can therefore be considered as a first-order approximation for the distributions. In contrast to the celebrated Lifshitz-Slyozov-Wagner distribution of structures of the minority phase in the limit of very small concentration, the distribution of domain areas in the 50:50 case does not have a cut-off. Large structures (areas or perimeters) retain the morphology of a percolative or critical initial condition, for quenches from high temperatures or the critical point respectively. The corresponding distributions are described by a $c A^{-\tau}$ tail, where $c$ and $\tau$ are exactly known. With increasing time, small structures tend to have a spherical shape with a smooth surface before evaporating by diffusion. In this regime the number density of domains with area $A$ scales as $A^{1/2}$, as in the Lifshitz-Slyozov-Wagner theory. The threshold between the small and large regimes is determined by the characteristic area, ${\rm A} \sim [\lambda(T) t]^{2/3}$. Finally, we study the relation between perimeters and areas and the distribution of boundary lengths, finding results that are consistent with the ones summarized above. We test our predictions with Monte Carlo simulations of the 2d Ising Model.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figure

Deep sea spy: a collaborative annotation tool

Since 2010, remote hydrothermal ecosystems are continuously being monitored using video cameras deployed on instrumented platforms. The acquisition of high-frequency video data from deep-sea observatories like EMSOAzores or Ocean Networks Canada provide information on species behaviour, feeding habits, growth, reproduction and organisms’ response to changes in environmental conditions. Video cameras acquire hourly data representing thousands of hours and Tera Bytes of footage but their manual processing is time-consuming and highly labour-intensive, and cannot be comprehensively undertaken by individual researchers. In order to help preliminary manual assessment of this huge imagery archive, a free online annotation tool was developed to gather contributions from a wider community. The Deep Sea Spy system offers a fun and engaging web interface to members of the public to help perform initial footage annotations. The platform now hosts 623 active annotators who contributed 179,663 annotations to 19,541 images. Preliminary analyses highlight a high variability among participants but show promising results to detect trends in species abundance variation over time. Ultimately, the information gathered via this approach can help improving the algorithms necessary to produce accurate automated detection in imagery using a machine learning approach

Fano-type interpretation of red shifts and red tails in hole array transmission spectra

We present a unifying point of view which allows to understand spectral features reported in recent experiments with two-dimensional arrays of subwavelength holes in metal films. We develop a Fano analysis of the related scattering problem by distinguishing two interfering contributions to the transmission process, namely a non-resonant contribution (direct scattering) and a resonant contribution (surface plasmon excitation). The introduction of a coupling strength between these two contributions naturally induces resonance shifts and asymmetry of profiles which satisfy simple scaling relations. We also report an experiment to confirm this analysis.Comment: 5 page

Ultra-slow Fatigue Crack Propagation in Metallic Alloys

AbstractThe influence of frequency (20kHz ultrasonic tests and conventional 20 to 35Hz tests) and environment (air and vacuum) on near-threshold fatigue crack propagation of three metallic alloys, Ti-6Al-4V, 2024-T351 and 12% Cr stainless steel is compared experimentally. The effective stress-intensity factor which is considered as the propagation driving force is determined from closure measurements or tests run at high R-ratio. Based on microfractographic observations, the results are discussed in terms of a preexisting model for intrinsic and environmentally assisted fatigue crack propagation

Antibiotic stewardship implementation and patient-level antibiotic use at hospitals with and without on-site Infectious Disease specialists.

Many US hospitals lack Infectious Disease (ID) specialists, which may hinder antibiotic stewardship efforts. We sought to compare patient-level antibiotic exposure at Veterans Health Administration (VHA) hospitals with and without an on-site ID specialist, defined as an ID physician and/or ID pharmacist. This retrospective VHA cohort included all acute-care patient-admissions during 2016. A mandatory survey was used to identify hospitals' antibiotic stewardship processes and their access to an on-site ID specialist. Antibiotic use was quantified as days of therapy (DOT) per days-present and categorized based on National Healthcare Safety Network definitions. A negative binomial regression model with risk adjustment was used to determine the association between presence of an on-site ID specialist and antibiotic use at the level of patient-admissions. Eighteen of 122 (14.8%) hospitals lacked an on-site ID specialist; there were 525,451 (95.8%) admissions at ID hospitals and 23,007 (4.2%) at non-ID sites. In the adjusted analysis, presence of an ID specialist was associated with lower total inpatient antibacterial use [OR 0.92, (95% CI, 0.85-0.99)]. Presence of an ID specialist was also associated with lower use of broad-spectrum antibacterials [OR 0.61 (95% CI, 0.54-0.70)] and higher narrow-spectrum beta-lactam use [OR 1.43 (95% CI, 1.22-1.67)]. Total antibacterial exposure (inpatient plus post-discharge) was lower among patients at ID versus non-ID sites [OR 0.92 (95% CI, 0.86-0.99)]. Patients at hospitals with an ID specialist received antibiotics in a way more consistent with stewardship principles. The presence of an ID specialist may be important to effective antibiotic stewardship

Antibiotic Stewardship Implementation and Antibiotic Use at Hospitals With and Without On-site Infectious Disease Specialists.

BackgroundMany US hospitals lack infectious disease (ID) specialists, which may hinder antibiotic stewardship efforts. We sought to compare patient-level antibiotic exposure at Veterans Health Administration (VHA) hospitals with and without an on-site ID specialist, defined as an ID physician and/or ID pharmacist.MethodsThis retrospective VHA cohort included all acute-care patient admissions during 2016. A mandatory survey was used to identify hospitals' antibiotic stewardship processes and their access to an on-site ID specialist. Antibiotic use was quantified as days of therapy per days present and categorized based on National Healthcare Safety Network definitions. A negative binomial regression model with risk adjustment was used to determine the association between presence of an on-site ID specialist and antibiotic use at the level of patient admissions.ResultsEighteen of 122 (14.8%) hospitals lacked an on-site ID specialist; there were 525 451 (95.8%) admissions at ID hospitals and 23 007 (4.2%) at non-ID sites. In the adjusted analysis, presence of an ID specialist was associated with lower total inpatient antibacterial use (odds ratio, 0.92; 95% confidence interval, .85-.99). Presence of an ID specialist was also associated with lower use of broad-spectrum antibacterials (0.61; .54-.70) and higher narrow-spectrum β-lactam use (1.43; 1.22-1.67). Total antibacterial exposure (inpatient plus postdischarge) was lower among patients at ID versus non-ID sites (0.92; .86-.99).ConclusionsPatients at hospitals with an ID specialist received antibiotics in a way more consistent with stewardship principles. The presence of an ID specialist may be important to effective antibiotic stewardship