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

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

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

Huygens description of resonance phenomena in subwavelength hole arrays

We develop a point-scattering approach to the plane-wave optical transmission of subwavelength metal hole arrays. We present a real space description instead of the more conventional reciprocal space description; this naturally produces interfering resonant features in the transmission spectra and makes explicit the tensorial properties of the transmission matrix. We give transmission spectra simulations for both square and hexagonal arrays; these can be evaluated at arbitrary angles and polarizations.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Brane matter, hidden or mirror matter, their various avatars and mixings: many faces of the same physics

Numerous papers deal with the phenomenology related to photon-hidden photon kinetic mixing and with the effects of a mass mixing on particle-hidden particle oscillations. In addition, recent papers underline the existence of a geometrical mixing between branes which would allow a matter swapping between branes. These approaches and their phenomenologies are reminiscent of each other but rely on different physical concepts. In the present paper, we suggest there is no rivalry between these models, which are probably many faces of the same physics. We discuss some phenomenological consequences of a global framework.Comment: 9 pages. Typo corrected. Published in European Physical Journal

Relation between hospital orthopaedic specialisation and outcomes in patients aged 65 and older: retrospective analysis of US Medicare data

Objective To explore the relation between hospital orthopaedic specialisation and postoperative outcomes after total hip or knee replacement surgery

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