1,896 research outputs found
Light transmission assisted by Brewster-Zennek modes in chromium films carrying a subwavelength hole array
This work confirms that not only surface plasmons but many other kinds of
electromagnetic eigenmodes should be considered in explaining the values of the
transmittivity through a slab bearing a two-dimensional periodic corrugation.
Specifically, the role of Brewster-Zennek modes appearing in metallic films
exhibiting regions of weak positive dielectric constant. It is proposed that
these modes play a significant role in the light transmission in a thin
chromium film perforated with normal cylindrical holes, for appropriate lattice
parameters.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. Published versio
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
Potential dietary feed additives with antibacterial effects and their impact on performance of weaned piglets : a meta-analysis
This meta-analysis evaluated the use of potential dietary feed additives (pDFA) with antibacterial effects and their impact on the perfomance of weaned piglets. Twenty-three peer-reviewed in vivo studies, comprising 50 trials, were identified between January 2010 and January 2017. The pDFA in these studies could be grouped in 5 classes: antimicrobial peptides, chitosan, lysozyme, medium chain fatty acids/triglycerides and plant extracts. Mixed-effect meta-analyses with type of pDFA as fixed effect were performed for the growth parameters 'average daily gain' (ADG) and 'feed conversion ratio' (FCR), which are the two most important and used economic performance parameters for farmers.
For each class of pDFA, results of the meta-analysis showed significantly higher average daily gain in the group with pDFA compared to the negative control group, while no significant difference with the positive control group was observed. Furthermore, a positive effect on FCR was found, i.e. significantly less feed was needed to gain 1 kg of body weight in the group with pDFA compared to the negative control group. No significant differences with positive control groups were observed for each class of pDFA, except for plant extracts, where the FCR was also significantly reduced in the treatment group. These results suggest that pDFA could reduce the use of antimicrobials without significant negative effects on performance indicators
Graphene-coated holey metal films: tunable molecular sensing by surface plasmon resonance
We report on the enhancement of surface plasmon resonances in a holey
bidimensional grating of subwavelength size, drilled in a gold thin film coated
by a graphene sheet. The enhancement originates from the coupling between
charge carriers in graphene and gold surface plasmons. The main plasmon
resonance peak is located around 1.5 microns. A lower constraint on the
gold-induced doping concentration of graphene is specified and the interest of
this architecture for molecular sensing is also highlighted.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, Final version. Published in Applied Physics
Letter
Potential dietary feed additives with antibacterial effects and their impact on performance of weaned piglets: A meta-analysis
This meta-analysis evaluated the use of potential dietary feed additives (pDFA) with antibacterial effects and their impact on the perfomance of weaned piglets. Twenty-three peer-reviewed in vivo studies, comprising 50 trials, were identified between January 2010 and January 2017. The pDFA in these studies could be grouped in 5 classes: antimicrobial peptides, chitosan, lysozyme, medium chain fatty acids/ triglycerides and plant extracts. Mixed-effect meta-analyses with type of pDFA as fixed effect were performed for the growth parameters ‘average daily gain’ (ADG) and ‘feed conversion ratio’ (FCR), which are the two most important and used economic performance parameters for farmers.
For each class of pDFA, results of the meta-analysis showed significantly higher average daily gain in the group with pDFA compared to the negative control group, while no significant difference with the positive control group was observed. Furthermore, a positive effect on FCR was found, i.e. significantly less feed was needed to gain 1 kg of body weight in the group with pDFA compared to the negative control group. No significant differences with positive control groups were observed for each class of pDFA, except for plant extracts, where the FCR was also significantly reduced in the treatment group. These results suggest that pDFA could reduce the use of antimicrobials without significant negative effects on performance indicators
Mapping alpha-Particle X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometer (Map-X)
Many planetary surface processes (like physical and chemical weathering, water activity, diagenesis, low-temperature or impact metamorphism, and biogenic activity) leave traces of their actions as features in the size range 10s to 100s of micron. The Mapping alpha-particle X-ray Spectrometer ("Map-X") is intended to provide chemical imaging at 2 orders of magnitude higher spatial resolution than previously flown instruments, yielding elemental chemistry at or below the scale length where many relict physical, chemical, and biological features can be imaged and interpreted in ancient rocks
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 tail, where and 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 scales as , as in the Lifshitz-Slyozov-Wagner theory. The
threshold between the small and large regimes is determined by the
characteristic area, . 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
Biological and environmental rhythms in (dark) deep-sea hydrothermal ecosystems
During 2011, two deep-sea observatories focusing on hydrothermal vent ecology were up and running in the Atlantic (Eiffel Tower, Lucky Strike vent field) and the Northeast Pacific Ocean (NEP) (Grotto, Main Endeavour Field). Both ecological modules recorded imagery and environmental variables jointly for a time span of 23 days (7–30 October 2011) and environmental variables for up to 9 months (October 2011–June 2012). Community dynamics were assessed based on imagery analysis and rhythms in temporal variation for both fauna and environment were revealed. Tidal rhythms were found to be at play in the two settings and were most visible in temperature and tubeworm appearances (at NEP). A  ∼  6 h lag in tidal rhythm occurrence was observed between Pacific and Atlantic hydrothermal vents, which corresponds to the geographical distance and time delay between the two sites.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Optical structure and function of the white filamentary hair covering the edelweiss bracts
The optical properties of the inflorescence of the high-altitude
''Leontopodium nivale'' subsp. ''alpinum'' (edelweiss) is investigated, in
relation with its submicrometer structure, as determined by scanning electron
microscopy. The filaments forming the hair layer have been found to exhibit an
internal structure which may be one of the few examples of a photonic structure
found in a plant. Measurements of light transmission through a self-supported
layer of hair pads taken from the bracts supports the idea that the wooly layer
covering the plant absorbs near-ultraviolet radiation before it reaches the
cellular tissue. Calculations based on a photonic-crystal model provides
insight on the way radiation can be absorbed by the filamentary threads.Comment: 9 pages, 13 figures. Published pape
Mixing and recirculation characteristics of gas-liquid Taylor flow in microreactors
The effects of operating parameters (capillary and Reynolds numbers) and microchannel aspect ratio (α = w/h = [1; 2.5; 4]) on the recirculation characteristics of the liquid slug in gas-liquid Taylor flow in microchannels have been investigated using 3-dimensional VOF simulations. The results show a decrease in the recirculation volume in the slug and an increase in recirculation time with increasing capillary number, which is in good agreement with previous results obtained in circular and square geometries (Thulasidas et al., 1997). In addition, increasing the aspect ratio of the channel leads to a slight decrease in recirculating volumes but also a significant increase in recirculation times
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