Université de Sherbrooke

About: Université de Sherbrooke is a education organization based out in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Receptor. The organization has 14922 authors who have published 28783 publications receiving 792511 citations. The organization is also known as: Universite de Sherbrooke & Sherbrooke University.

Variable age structure and apparent density dependence in survival of adult ungulates.

Abstract: Summary 1. Large herbivores have strongly age-structured populations. Because recruitment often decreases as population density increases, in unexploited populations the proportion of older adults may increase with density. Because survival senescence is typical of ungulates, ignoring density-dependent changes in age structure could lead to apparent density-dependence in adult survival. 2. To test for density dependence in adult survival, we used data from three populations that underwent considerable changes in density. Bighorn sheep ( Ovis canadensis ) on Ram Mountain, Alberta, ranged from 94 to 232, mountain goats ( Oreamnos americanus ) on Caw Ridge, Alberta, varied from 81 to 147, and estimates of roe deer ( Capreolus capreolus ) older than 1 year at Chize, France, ranged from 157 to 569. 3. We used recent developments of capture‐mark‐recapture modelling to assess the response of adult survival to changes in density when age structure was and was not taken into account. 4. Survival rates were 10‐15% higher during the prime-age stage than during the senescent stage for all sex-species combinations. When adults were pooled into a single age class there was an apparent negative effect of density on female survival in bighorns and roe deer, and negative trends for female mountain goats, male roe deer and male bighorn sheep. When age class was taken into account, there were no significant effects of density on adult survival. Except for male mountain goats, the strength of density dependence was lower when age was taken into account. 5. In ungulate populations, age structure is an important determinant of adult survival. Most reports of density dependence in adult survival may have been confounded by changes in age structure.

CASINO: A new monte carlo code in C language for electron beam interactions—part II: Tabulated values of the mott cross section

Abstract: This paper presents routines to compute the Mott cross section used in the CASINO program (Monte CArlo SImulation of electroN trajectory in sOlid). The routines used tabulated values of the Mott cross section computed in the work of Czyzewski et al. (1990). The cross section is available over the range 0.02 to 30 keV and for the first 94 elements of the Periodic Table. The routines are written in C language and use a binary file to interpolate the cross section. The first routine computes the total Mott cross sections; the second calculates the polar angle of collision. Backscattered coefficients computed using different cross section are compared for C, Al, Ag, and Au. The Rutherford (1911) cross section and the available empirical equations (Browning et al. 1994, Gauvin and Drouin 1993) are compared to tabulated values of Mott. Also, the energy distribution of backscattered electrons is shown for Al and Au at 10 keV. Finally, the relative computation times for the different Mott cross sections are compared. It was found that tabulated Mott cross sections are more accurate and faster than any empirical Mott cross sections. The tabulated Mott cross sections are even faster than simple Rutherford cross sections.

Automatic change detection of buildings in urban environment from very high spatial resolution images using existing geodatabase and prior knowledge

Abstract: The updating of geodatabases (GDB) in urban environments is a difficult and expensive task. It may be facilitated by an automatic change detection method. Several methods have been developed for medium and low spatial resolution images. This study proposes a new method for change detection of buildings in urban environments from very high spatial resolution images (VHSR) and using existing digital cartographic data. The proposed methodology is composed of several stages. The existing knowledge on the buildings and the other urban objects are first modelled and saved in a knowledge base. Some change detection rules are defined at this stage. Then, the image is segmented. The parameters of segmentation are computed thanks to the integration between the image and the geodatabase. Thereafter, the segmented image is analyzed using the knowledge base to localize the segments where the change of building is likely to occur. The change detection rules are then applied on these segments to identify the segments that represent the changes of buildings. These changes represent the updates of buildings to be added to the geodatabase. The data used in this research concern the city of Sherbrooke (Quebec, Canada) and the city of Rabat (Morocco). For Sherbrooke, we used an Ikonos image acquired in October 2006 and a GDB at the scale of 1:20,000. For Rabat, a QuickBird image acquired in August 2006 has been used with a GDB at the scale of 1:10,000. The rate of good detection is 90%. The proposed method presents some limitations on the detection of the exact contours of the buildings. It could be improved by including a shape post-analysis of detected buildings. The proposed method could be integrated into a cartographic update process or as a method for the quality assessment of a geodatabase. It could be also be used to identify illegal building work or to monitor urban growth.

Antibiotics in Canadian poultry productions and anticipated alternatives

Abstract: The use of antibiotics in food-producing animals has significantly increased animal health by lowering mortality and the incidence of diseases. Antibiotics also have largely contributed to increase productivity of farms. However, antibiotic usage in general and relevance of non-therapeutic antibiotics in feed (growth promoters) need to be reevaluated especially because bacterial pathogens of humans and animals have developed and shared a variety of antibiotic resistance mechanisms that can easily spread within microbial communities. In Canada, poultry production involves more than 2,600 regulated chicken producers. There are several antibiotics approved as feed additives available for poultry farmers. Feed recipes and mixtures greatly vary geographically and from one farm to another, making links between use of a specific antibiotic feed additive and production yields or selection of specific antibiotic-resistant bacteria difficult to establish. Many on-farm studies have revealed the widespread presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in broiler chickens. While sporadic reports linked the presence of antibiotic-resistant organisms to the use of feed supplemented with antibiotics, no recent studies could clearly demonstrate the benefit of antimicrobial growth promoters on performance and production yields. With modern biosecurity and hygienic practices, there is a genuine concern that intensive utilization of antibiotics or use of antimicrobial growth promoters in feed might no longer be useful. Public pressure and concerns about food and environmental safety (antibiotic residues, antibiotic-resistant pathogens) have driven researchers to actively look for alternatives to antibiotics. Some of the alternatives include pre- and probiotics, organic acids and essential oils. We will describe here the properties of some bioactive molecules, like those found in cranberry, which have shown interesting polyvalent antibacterial and immuno-stimulatory activities.

Sampling from the Thermal Quantum Gibbs State and Evaluating Partition Functions with a Quantum Computer

Abstract: We present a quantum algorithm to prepare the thermal Gibbs state of interacting quantum systems. This algorithm sets a universal upper bound D(alpha) on the thermalization time of a quantum system, where D is the system's Hilbert space dimension and alpha < or = 1/2 is proportional to the Helmholtz free energy density. We also derive an algorithm to evaluate the partition function of a quantum system in a time proportional to the system's thermalization time and inversely proportional to the targeted accuracy squared.