110 research outputs found

    Sub-millennial climate variability from high-resolution water isotopes in the EPICA Dome C ice core

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    The EPICA Dome C (EDC) ice core provides the longest continuous climatic record, covering the last 800 000 years (800 kyr). A unique opportunity to investigate decadal to millennial variability during past glacial and interglacial periods is provided by the high-resolution water isotopic record (δ18O and δD) available for the EDC ice core. We present here a continuous compilation of the EDC water isotopic record at a sample resolution of 11 cm, which consists of 27 000 δ18O measurements and 7920 δD measurements (covering, respectively, 94 % and 27 % of the whole EDC record), including published and new measurements (2900 for both δ18O and δD) for the last 800 kyr. Here, we demonstrate that repeated water isotope measurements of the same EDC samples from different depth intervals obtained using different analytical methods are comparable within analytical uncertainty. We thus combine all available EDC water isotope measurements to generate a high-resolution (11 cm) dataset for the past 800 kyr. A frequency decomposition of the most complete δ18O record and a simple assessment of the possible influence of diffusion on the measured profile shows that the variability at the multi-decadal to multi-centennial timescale is higher during glacial than during interglacial periods and higher during early interglacial isotopic maxima than during the Holocene. This analysis shows as well that during interglacial periods characterized by a temperature optimum at the beginning, the multi-centennial variability is strongest over this temperature optimum.publishedVersio

    Bacteria Detection and Differentiation Using Impedance Flow Cytometry

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    Monitoring of bacteria concentrations is of great importance in drinking water management. Continuous real-time monitoring enables better microbiological control of the water and helps prevent contaminated water from reaching the households. We have developed a microfluidic sensor with the potential to accurately assess bacteria levels in drinking water in real-time. Multi frequency electrical impedance spectroscopy is used to monitor a liquid sample, while it is continuously passed through the sensor. We investigate three aspects of this sensor: First we show that the sensor is able to differentiate Escherichia coli (Gram-negative) bacteria from solid particles (polystyrene beads) based on an electrical response in the high frequency phase and individually enumerate the two samples. Next, we demonstrate the sensor’s ability to measure the bacteria concentration by comparing the results to those obtained by the traditional CFU counting method. Last, we show the sensor’s potential to distinguish between different bacteria types by detecting different signatures for S. aureus and E. coli mixed in the same sample. Our investigations show that the sensor has the potential to be extremely effective at detecting sudden bacterial contaminations found in drinking water, and eventually also identify them
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