State University of New York at Fredonia

About: State University of New York at Fredonia is a education organization based out in Fredonia, New York, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Protostar & Lossless compression. The organization has 447 authors who have published 898 publications receiving 16236 citations. The organization is also known as: Fredonia State College & SUNY Fredonia.

Microplastic is an Abundant and Distinct Microbial Habitat in an Urban River

Abstract: Recent research has documented microplastic particles (< 5 mm in diameter) in ocean habitats worldwide and in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Microplastic interacts with biota, including microorganisms, in these habitats, raising concerns about its ecological effects. Rivers may transport microplastic to marine habitats and the Great Lakes, but data on microplastic in rivers is limited. In a highly urbanized river in Chicago, Illinois, USA, we measured concentrations of microplastic that met or exceeded those measured in oceans and the Great Lakes, and we demonstrated that wastewater treatment plant effluent was a point source of microplastic. Results from high-throughput sequencing showed that bacterial assemblages colonizing microplastic within the river were less diverse and were significantly different in taxonomic composition compared to those from the water column and suspended organic matter. Several taxa that include plastic decomposing organisms and pathogens were more abundant on microplastic. These...

Anthropogenic contamination of tap water, beer, and sea salt.

Abstract: Plastic pollution has been well documented in natural environments, including the open waters and sediments within lakes and rivers, the open ocean and even the air, but less attention has been paid to synthetic polymers in human consumables. Since multiple toxicity studies indicate risks to human health when plastic particles are ingested, more needs to be known about the presence and abundance of anthropogenic particles in human foods and beverages. This study investigates the presence of anthropogenic particles in 159 samples of globally sourced tap water, 12 brands of Laurentian Great Lakes beer, and 12 brands of commercial sea salt. Of the tap water samples analyzed, 81% were found to contain anthropogenic particles. The majority of these particles were fibers (98.3%) between 0.1-5 mm in length. The range was 0 to 61 particles/L, with an overall mean of 5.45 particles/L. Anthropogenic debris was found in each brand of beer and salt. Of the extracted particles, over 99% were fibers. After adjusting for particles found in lab blanks for both salt and beer, the average number of particles found in beer was 4.05 particles/L with a range of 0 to 14.3 particles/L and the average number of particles found in each brand of salt was 212 particles/kg with a range of 46.7 to 806 particles/kg. Based on consumer guidelines, our results indicate the average person ingests over 5,800 particles of synthetic debris from these three sources annually, with the largest contribution coming from tap water (88%).

Synthetic Polymer Contamination in Bottled Water

Abstract: Eleven globally sourced brands of bottled water, purchased in 19 locations in 9 different countries, were tested for microplastic contamination using Nile Red tagging Of the 259 total bottles processed, 93% showed some sign of microplastic contamination After accounting for possible background (lab) contamination, an average of 104 microplastic particles >100 um in size per liter of bottled water processed were found Fragments were the most common morphology (66%) followed by fibers Half of these particles were confirmed to be polymeric in nature using FTIR spectroscopy with polypropylene being the most common polymer type (54%), which matches a common plastic used for the manufacture of bottle caps A small fraction of particles (4%) showed the presence of industrial lubricants While spectroscopic analysis of particles smaller than 100 um was not possible, the adsorption of the Nile Red dye indicates that these particles are most probably plastic Including these smaller particles (65–100 um), an average of 325 microplastic particles per liter of bottled water was found Microplastic contamination range of 0 to over 10,000 microplastic particles per liter with 95% of particles being between 65–100 um in size Data suggests the contamination is at least partially coming from the packaging and/or the bottling process itself Given the prevalence of the consumption of bottled water across the globe, the results of this study support the need for further studies on the impacts of micro- and nano- plastics on human health

The Big Picture: A Meta-Analysis of Program Effectiveness Research on English Language Learners:

Abstract: This article presents a meta-analysis of program effectiveness research on English language learners. The study includes a corpus of 17 studies conducted since Willig’s earlier meta-analysis and uses Glass, McGaw, and Smith’s strategy of including as many studies as possible in the analysis rather than excluding some on the basis of a priori “study quality” criteria. It is shown that bilingual education is consistently superior to all-English approaches, and that developmental bilingual education programs are superior to transitional bilingual education programs. The meta-analysis of studies controlling for English-language-learner status indicates a positive effect for bilingual education of .23 standard deviations, with outcome measures in the native language showing a positive effect of .86 standard deviations. It is concluded that bilingual education programs are effective in promoting academic achievement, and that sound educational policy should permit and even encourage the development and implementation of bilingual education programs.