Burkholderia pseudomallei in a lowland rice paddy: seasonal changes and influence of soil depth and physico-chemical properties.

Melioidosis, a severe infection with the environmental bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei, is being recognised increasingly frequently. What determines its uneven distribution within endemic areas is poorly understood. We cultured soil from a rice field in Laos for B. pseudomallei at different depths on 4 occasions over a 13-month period. We also measured physical and chemical parameters in order to identify associated characteristics. Overall, 195 of 653 samples (29.7%) yielded B. pseudomallei. A higher prevalence of B. pseudomallei was found at soil depths greater than the 30 cm currently recommended for B. pseudomallei environmental sampling. B. pseudomallei was associated with a high soil water content and low total nitrogen, carbon and organic matter content. Our results suggested that a sampling grid of 25 five metre square quadrats (i.e. 25 × 25 m) should be sufficient to detect B. pseudomallei at a given location if samples are taken at a soil depth of at least 60 cm. However, culture of B. pseudomallei in environmental samples is difficult and liable to variation. Future studies should both rely on molecular approaches and address the micro-heterogeneity of soil when investigating physico-chemical associations with the presence of B. pseudomallei.

Probing alloy composition gradient and nanometer-scale carrier localization in single AlGaN nanowires by nanocathodoluminescence.

The optical properties of single AlGaN nanowires grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy have been studied by nanocathodoluminescence. Optical emission was found to be position-dependent and to occur in a wide wavelength range, a feature which has been assigned to a composition gradient along the nanowire growth axis, superimposed on local composition fluctuations at the nanometer scale. This behavior is associated with the growth mode of such AlGaN nanowires, which is governed by kinetics, leading to the successive formation of (i) a zone with strong local composition fluctuations followed by (ii) a zone with a marked composition gradient and, eventually, (iii) a zone corresponding to a steady state regime and the formation of a homogeneous alloy.

Growth, structural and optical properties of AlGaN nanowires in the whole composition range.

We report on the growth of AlxGa1-xN nanowires by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy for x in the 0.3-0.8 range. Based on a combination of macro- and micro-photoluminescence, Raman spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy experiments, it is shown that the structural and optical properties of AlGaN NWs are governed by the presence of compositional fluctuations associated with strongly localized electronic states. A growth model is proposed, which suggests that, depending on growth temperature and metal adatom density, macroscopic composition fluctuations are mostly of kinetic origin and are directly related to the nucleation of the AlGaN nanowire section on top of the GaN nanowire base which is used as a substrate.

Testing local dependence of spatial structures on images

Associations between two spatial processes can be due to a real dependence between the two processes or to the dependence on common underlying variables. We propose to test the existence of a real dependence by use of local tests, leading to a global test of real dependence and a map of local interactions. We present first how classical interaction tests based on random rotations between completely observed processes such as those developed by Berman (Berman. Appl. Statist. (1986) 35, 54-62), can be integrated in local analyses. For this purpose, tests are first performed locally, and the distribution of their p-values is then compared to the corresponding value under the null hypothesis. A similar approach is proposed to test non-stationarity of a point pattern by using distance statistics popularized by Diggle (Diggle. Statistical Analysis of Spatial Point Patterns. (1983) Academic Press, New York). The problem of testing the interaction between a random field and a censoring area pattern process is discussed and an approach similar to the preceding ones is then proposed. The methods are mainly applied to agricultural examples but they can be applied to any microscopical images for which one wishes to analyse the spatial structure.

An electrophysiological study of the mental rotation of polygons.

Reaction times and event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded during a task requiring subjects to decide whether two sequentially presented polygons had the same shape regardless of differences in orientation. Reaction times increased approximately linearly with angular departure from upright orientation, which suggests that mental rotation was involved in the comparison process. The ERPs showed, between 665 and 1055 ms, a late posterior negativity also increasing with angular disparity from upright, which we assumed to reflect mental rotation. Two other activities were exhibited, from 265 to 665 ms, which may be related either to an evaluation of the stimulus or a predetermination of its orientation, and from 1055 to 1600 ms attributed to the decision process.

Mental rotation and mirror-image discrimination.

Two experiments involving judgments of same-different were conducted to assess conditions in which mental rotation is used. These two experiments were similar except in the way "different" pairs were constructed. In the first experiment, a "different" pair involved two different polygons; in the second one, a "different" pair involved one polygon and its mirror-image. The strategy used by the 8 subjects was investigated through patterns of reaction times. The first experiment exhibited a flat function of reaction times with orientation, whereas the second one exhibited a linear increase in reaction times with angular departure from upright. These results lead to the conclusion that mental rotation is used when a figure has to be distinguished from its mirror-image.

A behavioral and electrophysiological study of the comparison of size-discrepant shapes.

An experiment was performed to find an electrophysiological correlate of the way objects of different sizes are perceived as identically shaped. The subjects were presented with pairs of geometrical figures and were instructed to decide whether the two polygons of a pair were identical in shape regardless of size. In addition to event-related potentials (ERPs), reaction times and error rates were recorded. Reaction times increased approximately linearly with increasing size ratios. The subtraction between the ERPs of 'test' and 'control' conditions showed two main activities: a positivity localized on the occipitotemporal scalp areas in the 200-450 ms range, and a negativity localized on the posterior scalp areas in the 500-750 ms range. These different results were discussed with respect to size ratio.