Frequency Distributions Of Concentrations Research Articles

Ametoctradin resistance risk and its resistance-related point mutation in PsCytb of Phytophthora sojae confirmed using ectopic overexpression

Ametoctradin is mainly used to treat plant oomycetes diseases, but the mechanism and resistance risk of ametoctradin in Phytophthora sojae remain unknown. This study determined the ametoctradin sensitivity of 106 P. sojae isolates and found that the frequency distribution of the median effective concentration (EC50) of ametoctradin was unimodal with a mean value of 0.1743 ± 0.0901 μg/mL. Furthermore, ametoctradin-resistant mutants had a substantially lower fitness index compared with that of wild-type isolates. Although ametoctradin did not show cross-resistance to other fungicides, negative cross-resistance to amisulbrom was found. In comparison to sensitive isolates, the control efficacy of ametoctradin to resistant mutants was lower, implying a low to moderate ametoctradin resistance risk in P. sojae. All ametoctradin-resistant mutants contained a S33L point mutation in PsCytb. A system with overexpression of PsCytb in the nucleus was established. When we ectopically overexpressed S33L-harboring PsCytb, P. sojae developed ametoctradin resistance. We hypothesized that the observed negative resistance between ametoctradin and amisulbrom could be attributed to conformational changes in the binding cavity of PsCytb at residues 33 and 220.

Complex dynamics of twig elements and stoichiometric ratios with altitude changes in the typical dry valley, eastern Qinghai-Tibet plateau

The concentrations of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and stoichiometric ratios of twig (i.e. stem and leaves) are the important indicators to connect plant individual and the abiotic environment, which reflects the nutritional status for plants and ecosystem function. However, the variations of stoichiometric characteristics of twig C, N and P across altitude gradient have not yet been extensively studied. In the present study, we determined the elements (C, N and P) concentrations of current-year twigs from 1050 to 3070 m woody plants in the Bailongjiang River Basin (BRB), a typical dry valley of eastern Qinghai-Tibet plateau. And then, the relationships between altitude and the element concentrations of twigs, stems, and leaves had been explored by linear regression, allometric analysis and phylogenetic analysis. The results showed that: the frequency distribution of elemental concentrations and stoichiometric ratios was left-deviations. The C, N and P concentrations were 395.66 mg g−1, 17.59 mg g−1 and 1.53 mg g−1 for leaves, 414.83 mg g−1, 8.76 mg g−1 and 1.13 mg g−1 for stems, and 401.72 mg g−1, 8.78 mg g−1 and 1.51 mg g−1 for twigs, respectively. The stems elemental concentrations and stoichiometric ratios were positively correlated to that of the leaves. Except for the N of stem and twig, the other elemental concentrations were significantly correlated to altitude. And the leaves and stems N/P and C/P, and twig C/P were significantly negative correlated to altitude. The significant isometry relationships were observed between N vs P of leaves, stems and twigs. The elemental concentrations and stoichiometric ratios of BRB woody plant had no statistical phylogenetic signal. This study presented the evidence that the leaf, stem and twig C, N and P concentrations and stoichiometric ratios from wider altitude-gradient within BRB, it was special and varied largely in different elements, stoichiometric ratios and locations, which supported the growth rate theory in the whole.

Transfer functions in volume rendering of lake water quality using concentration frequency distribution

Transfer functions in volume rendering of lake water quality using concentration frequency distribution

Frequency distribution of pollutant concentrations over Indian megacities impacted by the COVID-19 lockdown.

The megacities experience poor air quality frequently due to stronger anthropogenic emissions. India had one of the longest lockdowns in 2020 to curb the spread of COVID-19, leading to reductions in the emissions from anthropogenic activities. In this article, the frequency distributions of different pollutants have been analysed over two densely populated megacities: Delhi (28.70° N; 77.10° E) and Kolkata (22.57° N; 88.36° E). In Delhi, the percentage of days with PM2.5 levels exceeding the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) between 25 March and 17 June dropped from 98% in 2019 to 61% in 2020. The lockdown phase 1 brought down the PM10 (particulate matter having an aerodynamic diameter ≤ 10 μm) levels below the daily NAAQS limit over Delhi and Kolkata. However, PM10 exceeded the limit of 100 μgm−3 during phases 2–5 of lockdown over Delhi due to lower temperature, weaker winds, increased relative humidity and commencement of limited traffic movement. The PM2.5 levels exhibit a regressive trend in the highest range from the year 2019 to 2020 in Delhi. The daily mean value for PM2.5 concentrations dropped from 85–90 μgm−3 to 40–45 μgm−3 bin, whereas the PM10 levels witnessed a reduction from 160–180 μgm−3 to 100–120 μgm−3 bin due to the lockdown. Kolkata also experienced a shift in the peak of PM10 distribution from 80–100 μgm−3 in 2019 to 20–40 μgm−3 during the lockdown. The PM2.5 levels in peak frequency distribution were recorded in the 35–40 μgm−3 bin in 2019 which dropped to 15–20 μgm−3 in 2020. In line with particulate matter, other primary gaseous pollutants (NOx, CO, SO2, NH3) also showed decline. However, changes in O3 showed mixed trends with enhancements in some of the phases and reductions in other phases. In contrast to daily mean O3, 8-h maximum O3 showed a reduction over Delhi during lockdown phases except for phase 3. Interestingly, the time of daily maximum was observed to be delayed by ~ 2 h over Delhi (from 1300 to 1500 h) and ~ 1 h over Kolkata (from 1300 to 1400 h) almost coinciding with the time of maximum temperature, highlighting the role of meteorology versus precursors. Emission reductions weakened the chemical sink of O3 leading to enhancement (120%; 11 ppbv) in night-time O3 over Delhi during phases 1–3.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11356-021-16874-z.

The Impact of Measurement Scale on the Univariate Statistics of K, Th, and U in the Earth Crust

AbstractThe univariate statistics of Potassium (K), thorium (Th), and uranium (U) concentrations, in the Earth’s oceanic and continental crust are examined by different techniques. The frequency distributions of the concentrations of these elements in the oceanic crust are derived from a global catalog of mid‐ocean ridge basalts. Their frequency distributions of concentrations in the continental crust are illustrated by the North Pilbara Craton, and the West Africa Craton. For these two cratons, the distributions of K, Th, and U derived from geochemical analyses of several thousand whole rock samples differ significantly from those derived from airborne radiometric surveys. The distributions from airborne surveys tends to be more symmetric with smaller standard deviations than the right‐skewed distributions inferred from whole rock geochemical analyses. Hypothetic causes of these differences include (a) bias in rock sampling or in airborne surveys, (b) the differences between the chemistry of superficial material and rocks, and (c) the differences in scales of measurements. The scale factor, viewed as consequence of the central limit theorem applied to K, Th, and U concentrations, appears to account for most of the observed differences in the distributions of K, Th, and U. It suggests that the three scales of auto‐correlation of K, Th, and U concentrations are of the same order of magnitude as the resolution of the airborne radiometric surveys (50–200 m). Concentrations of K, Th, and U are therefore generally heterogenous at smaller scales.

Temporal Trends in Antimicrobial Resistance of Fecal Escherichia coli from Deer

The changing epidemiologic role of wildlife as reservoirs of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria (ARB) is poorly understood. In this study, we characterize the phenotypic resistance of commensal Escherichia coli from fecal samples of 879 individual white-tailed (Odocoileus virginianus; WTD) over a ten-year period and analyze resistance patterns. Our results show commensal E. coli from WTD had significant linear increases in reduced susceptibility to 5 of 12 antimicrobials, including broad-spectrum cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones, from 2006 to 2016. In addition, the relative frequency distribution of minimal inhibitory concentrations of two additional antimicrobials shifted towards higher values from across the study period. The prevalence of multidrug-resistant commensal E. coli increased over the study period with a prevalence of 0%, 2.2%, and 3.7% in 2006, 2012, and 2016, respectively. WTD may be persistently and increasingly exposed to antibiotics or their residues, ARB, and/or antimicrobial resistance genes via contaminated environments like surface water receiving treated wastewater effluent.

Determination of Oil Spill Chemical Concentrations in Nearshore Matrices

ABSTRACT Marine oil spill incidents create concerns about human health risks, particularly in nearshore locations such as beaches used for recreation. To improve the timeliness of risk estimates during an oil spill, we need to expand modelling capacity for oil spill chemicals (OSCs) from predictions for chemical bulk measurements such as Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH) to predictions of individual concentrations of the more toxic Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH)s. The objective of this study is to establish a relationship for TPH and PAH nearshore sampling concentration values with the oil mass landing and TPH hindcast from a 3D Hydrodynamic Fate and Transport Model (3D-FTM) for a past oil spill. The overall goal is to use this information to expand current modeling capacities to predict concentration distributions for individual PAHs as a starting point for health risk assessment. During Phase I of this study, historic sampling data for various matrices (weathered oil, seawater and sediments) were used to evaluate PAH concentration distributions within time-space specific categories. The categories corresponded to samples collected prior to nearshore oiling, post nearshore oiling and at no time impacted by oil as predicted by historic oil spill trajectories. For matrices within each category, concentration frequency distributions and concentration patterns were generated for a subset of PAHs. Results show differences in PAH concentration patterns within each matrix and for each category. Concentration frequency distributions for most PAHs in each category were log-normally distributed. Phase II is ongoing. Here we analyze PAH and TPH concentrations measured from surface weathered oil slick samples collected at the time of the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill. Preliminary results show that concentrations for a subset of PAHs in weathered oil slicks correlate well with TPH concentrations (R2=0.76). We are collocating the historic environmental sampling data with the output from the Oil-Connectivity Modelling System (Oil-CMS). The relationship between measured and model predicted TPH is explored by comparing values for samples that coincide in time and space with the model's particles. A subsequent step is to use output of the oil-CMS in combination with the physical and chemical properties for each PAH to predict concentration distributions for individual PAHs. The overarching goal is to improve risk estimates and, therefore, better guide public health decision-making.

Characteristics of Sludge and Associated Risk Assessment of Urban Sewage Treatment Plants

In urban solid waste management, the scientific and reasonable disposal and utilization of sewage sludge is becoming more and more important. It can be said that the pollution status and chemical properties of sewage sludge in urban sewage treatment plants can provide a basis for the scientific disposal and utilization of sludge. In this study, the characteristics of pH, moisture content, Cd, Cr, Cu, Zn, Pb, As, Hg, Ni, mineral oil, volatile phenol, PAHs, organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium were evaluated in sewage sludge collected from 49 sewage treatment plants in a certain city. The pollution status of heavy metals and organic pollutants, the frequency distribution of pollutant concentrations, and changes in the nutrient content were analyzed. The Nemero index and Hakanson potential ecological hazard index were used to assess the potential ecological risks of heavy metals in the agricultural utilization process of sludge. The results showed that under the condition of neutral pH values and high moisture content, the order of heavy metal content was Zn > Cu > Cr > Pb > Ni > As > Hg > Cd. The principal component analysis (PCA) results indicated that Cd, Pb, Hg, Ni, and As constituted the main load factors of the first main component of heavy metal sources. The most concentrated contents of 8 heavy metal frequency distributions among the 49 samples were 38.9-1380.0, 62.6-182.7, 63.6-181.3, 0.0-97.8, 19.3-68.4, 0.8-29.2, 0.3-8.7, and 0.01-0.96 mg·kg-1. In addition, the most concentrated frequency distribution of mineral oil, volatile phenol, and PAH concentration were 87.0%, 87.9%, and 77.6%, respectively. Moreover, the nutrient content of sludge was higher than the average level in China, and the organic matter content was 67.4%, 75.9%, and 92.5% of that of pig manure, cow dung, and chicken manure, while the content of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium was not very different. The Nemero index and Hakanson ecological hazard index results showed that the sludge of urban sewage treatment plant in the city has certain ecological risks. However, four sewage treatment plants were heavily polluted or highly ecologically hazardous among the 44 plants in this study, which were in line with the Standards for pollutant control of agricultural sludge. In summary, there are certain potential ecological risks for the agricultural utilization of sludge in the city, and it is necessary to reduce the heavy metal content before resourcing. More importantly, on the premise that the sludge meets the agricultural standards, a comprehensive ecological risk assessment is required to select a reasonable sludge recycling method.

Resistance to Potassium Phosphite in Phytophthora Species Causing Citrus Brown Rot and Integrated Practices for Management of Resistant Isolates.

Phytophthora citrophthora, P. syringae, P. nicotianae, and less commonly P. hibernalis are causal agents of brown rot of citrus fruit in California. The chronic disease occurs during the winter season, requires annual management, and has limited California citrus exports because of quarantines in some markets. Potassium phosphite (KPO3) is registered as a pre- and postharvest fungicide in the United States to manage Phytophthora brown rot. We evaluated the in vitro toxicity of KPO3 to 65, 60, and 38 isolates of P. citrophthora, P. syringae, and P. nicotianae, respectively, that were obtained from major growing regions of California. Frequency distributions of effective concentrations to inhibit mycelial growth by 50% (EC50 values) were not normally distributed, with skewness values of 1.84, 1.60, and -0.51 for each species, respectively. Isolates considered sensitive (EC50 values <25 µg/ml), moderately resistant (EC50 values from 25 to 75 µg/ml), or resistant (EC50 values >75 µg/ml) were identified for each species. The majority of P. citrophthora (83.1%) and P. syringae (78.3%) isolates were sensitive, whereas most P. nicotianae isolates (86.8%) were moderately resistant or resistant. Resistance factors were calculated as 65, 19, and 10 for the three species, respectively. In preharvest field trials, KPO3 (2,280 g/ha) applications were not effective in reducing citrus brown rot incidence when orange fruit were inoculated with a resistant (EC50 = 161.9 µg/ml) isolate of P. citrophthora, demonstrating the potential for field resistance. Oxathiapiprolin (32.6 g/ha), however, was highly effective, indicating the absence of multidrug resistance. Postharvest treatments with KPO3 were only effective in reducing brown rot caused by the resistant isolate of P. citrophthora to a low incidence when high rates (8,000 µg/ml) were used in heated (54°C) applications. The sensitive and moderately resistant isolates were managed using rates of 4,000 µg/ml, but heated treatments at this rate were needed to reduce brown rot to commercially acceptable levels when decay was caused by a moderately resistant isolate.

Long-term deposition and condensation ice-nucleating particle measurements from four stations across the globe

Abstract. Ice particle activation and evolution have important atmospheric implications for cloud formation, initiation of precipitation and radiative interactions. The initial formation of atmospheric ice by heterogeneous ice nucleation requires the presence of a nucleating seed, an ice-nucleating particle (INP), to facilitate its first emergence. Unfortunately, only a few long-term measurements of INPs exist, and as a result, knowledge about geographic and seasonal variations of INP concentrations is sparse. Here we present data from nearly 2 years of INP measurements from four stations in different regions of the world: the Amazon (Brazil), the Caribbean (Martinique), central Europe (Germany) and the Arctic (Svalbard). The sites feature diverse geographical climates and ecosystems that are associated with dissimilar transport patterns, aerosol characteristics and levels of anthropogenic impact (ranging from near pristine to mostly rural). Interestingly, observed INP concentrations, which represent measurements in the deposition and condensation freezing modes, do not differ greatly from site to site but usually fall well within the same order of magnitude. Moreover, short-term variability overwhelms all long-term trends and/or seasonality in the INP concentration at all locations. An analysis of the frequency distributions of INP concentrations suggests that INPs tend to be well mixed and reflective of large-scale air mass movements. No universal physical or chemical parameter could be identified to be a causal link driving INP climatology, highlighting the complex nature of the ice nucleation process. Amazonian INP concentrations were mostly unaffected by the biomass burning season, even though aerosol concentrations increase by a factor of 10 from the wet to dry season. Caribbean INPs were positively correlated to parameters related to transported mineral dust, which is known to increase during the Northern Hemisphere summer. A wind sector analysis revealed the absence of an anthropogenic impact on average INP concentrations at the site in central Europe. Likewise, no Arctic haze influence was observed on INPs at the Arctic site, where low concentrations were generally measured. We consider the collected data to be a unique resource for the community that illustrates some of the challenges and knowledge gaps of the field in general, while specifically highlighting the need for more long-term observations of INPs worldwide.

Assessment of particulate matter concentration and gaseous pollutants in urban and rural regions over the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, UAE

In order to understand the air quality and plausible sources of atmospheric pollutants over the Emirate of Abu Dhabi (EAD), a detailed analysis is performed by utilizing three years of simultaneous measurements of various gaseous pollutants such as SO2, NO2, CO, and O3 along with PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations during the period 2011–2013. The diurnal variation of O3 and SO2 shows noontime maximum in urban and rural regions during all seasons, while NO2 and CO show higher levels in the morning and evening. During winter, maximum (minimum) O3 (NO2) is observed in the rural region and in contrast, the urban region depicts maximum in spring and summer both during day and night. Large variability is observed during the day and night for all pollutants. The PM2.5 concentration shows similar diurnal variation as in the case of CO and NO2, peaking during daytime in winter and spring in the urban region, while the nighttime peak values are prominent irrespective of the season. It is also to be noted that the minimum (maximum) PM10 values are observed in the urban (rural) regions during daytime in all seasons except in winter. The frequency distribution of the hourly mean concentrations of the primary pollutants in the urban and rural regions elucidates that the observed discrepancies in the background concentration levels of different pollutants may be due to different atmospheric conditions. The observations also reveal that the linear relationship between maximum ozone concentration and maximum temperature might not be valid above 313 K. The present observations are discussed in the light of current understanding of the distribution of trace species and plausible sources over EAD region.

Five-year Record of Black Carbon Concentrations in Urban Wanzhou, Sichuan Basin, China

ABSTRACT The atmospheric fine particle black carbon (BC) was measured from June 2013 till February 2018 in Wanzhou District, the second largest metropolitan area in Chongqing Municipality, China, which is located in the eastern Sichuan Basin. The average daily concentration ranged from 0.5 to 10.4 µg m–3, with a mean of 4.4 ± 2.2 µg m–3, and the annual mean displayed a significantly decreasing trend, from 5.3 µg m–3 in 2013 to 3.7 µg m–3 in 2017. The frequency distribution of the average daily concentrations during the years 2014–2017 skewed toward lower values (compared to the rest of the study period), with over 60% falling between 1 and 5 µg m–3. The BC exhibited a seasonal pattern, with the highest concentrations being reported during winter, followed by spring and fall, and the lowest ones during summer, as well as a double-peaked diel variability all year round, with a morning peak occurring between 07:00 and 09:00 and an evening peak between 19:00 and 21:00. Furthermore, the concentration was negatively correlated with the planetary boundary layer (PBL) height and influenced by the strong scavenging effect of precipitation. An inverse relationship between the concentration and the wind speed was observed when the latter was below 2.0 m s–1. The wind direction also affected the concentration, with easterly and southeasterly winds accompanying higher levels of BC regardless of the season.

Quantitative analysis of vapor concentration in unsteady evaporating gasoline spray with LIEF method (2nd Report：Analysis of mixture-liquid two-phase characteristics)

This paper reports the quantitative analysis of vapor concentration in the mixture-liquid two-phase region with Laser Induced Exciplex Fluorescence（LIEF）for the unsteady evaporating gasoline type spray. These methods were used to analyze the mixture-liquid two-phase characteristics in the process of mixture formation. The exciplex fluorescence method, developed by Melton, is a method to optically separate the fluorescence of the liquid and vapor phases, but quantitative analysis of vapor concentration in the mixture-liquid two-phase e region is difficult due to fluorescence cross talk. In this study, the quantitative analysis of vapor concentrations using the average temperature of mixing was used to quantify the vapor concentrations in the mixture-liquid two-phase region by image processing that considers the fluorescence cross talk between the liquid and vapor phases. As a result, the vapor concentration, the temperature of the mixture, and the concentration distribution of the liquid phase in the mixture-liquid two-phase region of the spray cross section were obtained. Based on these results, the correlation diagram between vapor concentration and fluorescence intensity of the liquid phase and the relative frequency distribution of vapor concentration were calculated. A comparison was made between the characteristic values of the fuel and the temperature under the experimental conditions. It was found that the spray consisted mainly of a region where the liquid phase was almost absent and dilute vapors were formed, and a region where the liquid phase was present and formed dense vapors. The same analysis was performed to evaluate the process of vaporization of the spray mixture at different times from the start of injection.

Categorization of nearshore sampling data using oil slick trajectory predictions.

Oil Spill Chemicals (OSCs) represent a risk to the environment and human health, especially in nearshore environments used for recreational purposes. Importantly, the starting point for human health risk assessment is to define the concentration of OSCs at nearshore locations. The objective of this study was to evaluate nearshore sampling data of OSC concentrations in different environmental matrices within time-space specific categories. The categories correspond to OSC concentration values for samples collected prior to nearshore oiling, post nearshore oiling and at no time impacted by oil as predicted by historic oil spill trajectories generated by an Oil Spill Trajectory Model. In general, concentration values for the post category were higher than prior which were higher than unimpacted. Results show differences in PAH concentration patterns within each matrix and for each category. Concentration frequency distributions for most chemicals in each category were log-normally distributed.

Resistance risk assessment for fludioxonil in Sclerotinia homoeocarpa in China

Sclerotinia homoeocarpa causes dollar spot disease on turfgrass and is a serious problem on many species worldwide. Fludioxonil, a phenylpyrrole fungicide, is not currently registered for dollar spot control in China. In this study, the baseline sensitivity to fludioxonil was established using an in vitro assay for 105 isolates of S. homoeocarpa collected from 10 locations in different regions of China. Results indicate that the frequency distribution of effective concentration for 50% inhibition of mycelial growth (EC50) values of the S. homoeocarpa isolates was unimodal (W = 0.9847, P = .2730). The mean EC50 value was 0.0020 ± 0.0006 μg/ml with a range from 0.0003 to 0.0035 μg/ml. A total of 7 fludioxonil-resistant mutants were obtained in laboratory, the mutants were stable in fludioxonil sensitivity after the 10th transfer, with resistance factor (RF) ranging from 4.320 to >13,901.4. The mutants showed a positive cross-resistance between fludioxonil and the dicarboximide fungicide iprodione, but not propiconazole, fluazinam, and thiophanate-methyl. When mycelial growth rate, pathogenicity and osmotic sensitivity were assessed, the mutants decreased in the fitness compared with their parental isolates. Sequence alignment of the histidine kinase gene Shos1 revealed a 13-bp fragment deletion only in one mutant, no mutations were observed on Shos1 in the rest resistant mutants.

The effects of El Niño–Southern Oscillation on the winter haze pollution of China

Abstract. It has been reported in previous studies that El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) influenced not only the summer monsoon, but also the winter monsoon over East Asia. This contains some clues that ENSO may affect the winter haze pollution of China, which has become a serious problem in recent decades, through influencing the winter climate of East Asia. In this work, we explored the effects of ENSO on the winter (from December to February) haze pollution of China statistically and numerically. Statistical results revealed that the haze days of southern China tended to be fewer (more) than normal in El Niño (La Niña) winter, whereas the relationships between the winter haze days of northern and eastern China and ENSO were not significant. Results from numerical simulations also showed that ENSO influenced the winter atmospheric anthropogenic aerosol content over southern China more obviously than it did over northern and eastern China. Under the emission level of aerosols for the year 2010, winter atmospheric anthropogenic aerosol content over southern China was generally greater (less) than normal in El Niño (La Niña) winter. This was because the transport of aerosols from South and Southeast Asia to southern China was enhanced (weakened), which masked the better (worse) scavenging conditions for aerosols in El Niño (La Niña) winter. The frequency distribution of the simulated daily surface concentrations of aerosols over southern China indicated that the region tended to have fewer clean and moderate (heavy) haze days, but more heavy (moderate) haze days in El Niño (La Niña) winter.

Potential Information Loss Due to Categorization of Minimum Inhibitory Concentration Frequency Distributions.

A bacterial isolate's susceptibility to antimicrobial is expressed as the lowest drug concentration inhibiting its visible growth, termed minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). The susceptibilities of isolates from a host population at a particular time vary, with isolates with specific MICs present at different frequencies. Currently, for either clinical or monitoring purposes, an isolate is most often categorized as Susceptible, Intermediate, or Resistant to the antimicrobial by comparing its MIC to a breakpoint value. Such data categorizations are known in statistics to cause information loss compared to analyzing the underlying frequency distributions. The U.S. National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) includes foodborne bacteria at the food animal processing and retail product points. The breakpoints used to interpret the MIC values for foodborne bacteria are those relevant to clinical treatments by the antimicrobials in humans in whom the isolates were to cause infection. However, conceptually different objectives arise when inference is sought concerning changes in susceptibility/resistance across isolates of a bacterial species in host populations among different sampling points or times. For the NARMS 1996-2013 data for animal processing and retail, we determined the fraction of comparisons of susceptibility/resistance to 44 antimicrobial drugs of twelve classes of a bacterial species in a given animal host or product population where there was a significant change in the MIC frequency distributions between consecutive years or the two sampling points, while the categorization-based analyses concluded no change. The categorization-based analyses missed significant changes in 54% of the year-to-year comparisons and in 71% of the slaughter-to-retail within-year comparisons. Hence, analyses using the breakpoint-based categorizations of the MIC data may miss significant developments in the resistance distributions between the sampling points or times. Methods considering the MIC frequency distributions in their entirety may be superior for epidemiological analyses of resistance dynamics in populations.

Nutrient Fluctuations in Marine Systems: Press Versus Pulse Nutrient Subsidies Affect Producer Competition and Diversity in Estuaries and Coral Reefs

Resource subsidy regimes, which range from presses to pulses, are common structuring forces in communities, yet research contrasting their effects is lacking. Many coastal marine ecosystems, including estuaries and coral reefs, have experienced increased nutrient subsidies while concurrently shifting to macroalgal dominance; however, the role of subsidy regime in transitions remains unknown. We created concentration–frequency distributions of nutrients in Cook’s Bay, Moorea, French Polynesia, and Carpinteria Salt Marsh Reserve, CA, USA. Both showed relatively high pulses interspersed by press concentrations. We grew dominant macroalgae alone and together in microcosms approximating these subsidy regimes to quantify individual performance and competitive outcomes. Subsidy regime changed growth and competitive abilities of macroalgae from both ecosystems but with divergent effects. In nutrient-limited reefs, different species were favoured under each enrichment regime, suggesting a fluctuating nutrient environment enhances diversity. In contrast, in eutrophic estuaries, enrichment of both regimes facilitated a single competitive dominant, suppressing diversity. Functional form groups did not predict responses to subsidy regime, likely because classifications ignore temporal variability in resource supplies. Because climate change will alter rainfall patterns globally, further accelerating nutrient subsidies from land to sea, understanding species’ responses to nutrient subsidy regimes is key to predicting the fate of coastal communities.

Concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K in industrial kaolinized granite

Activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K in 120 kaolinized granite samples imported in Serbia from the Motajica mine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, were measured. The 226Ra concentration ranged from 61 to 319 Bq kg−1, the 232Th from 44 to 272 Bq kg−1, and the 40K from 590 to 1470 Bq kg−1. The frequency distribution of 40K concentrations was near-Gaussian, where those of 226Ra and 232Th were right-skewed. In 6 samples, the gamma index, I, was higher than 2, which exceeds the exemption dose criterion (0.3 mSv y−1). The absorbed dose rate and annual effective doses for workers in the ceramic industries in Serbia who worked with kaolinized granite were below levels of concern.

Atom probe tomography evidence for uniform incorporation of Bi across the growth front in GaAs1−xBix/GaAs superlattice

The three-dimensional distribution of Bi atoms in a GaAs1−xBix/GaAs superlattice grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) was studied using atom probe tomography (APT). The Bi distribution in the growth direction deduced from APT agreed quantitatively with the complex Bi concentration profile that was discovered using high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy in a previous study. More importantly, APT revealed the Bi atom distribution in the growth planes at near atomic resolution. Bi nearest neighbor distribution and concentration frequency distribution analysis of the APT data indicated a statistically random distribution of Bi atoms in 1–2nm thick layers oriented perpendicular to the growth direction. These results provide evidence that Bi is incorporated homogeneously across the growth front even when the concentration profile in the growth direction is complex. They also suggest that MOVPE growth conditions can promote uniform Bi distribution within GaAs1−xBix layers, opening a path for application of these materials in the optoelectronic devices for which they show much promise.