Application of enterococci antibiotic resistance patterns for contamination source identification at Huntington Beach,California

Huntington Beach, California, one of the most popular surfing spots in the world, is plagued by sporadic, elevated levels of fecal bacteria. To assist with pollution source identification, we analyzed antibiotic resistance patterns (ARPs) of enterococci from four known sources (bird feces, urban runoff, coastal marsh sediment and sewage effluent from local sanitation district) and one unknown source (seawater) using seven antibiotics at four concentrations each. Of 2491 enterococci tested, all were resistant to at least one antibiotic at some level. Discriminant analysis indicated that the average correct classification rates for bird feces and urban runoff sources were above 80%. Sewage effluent contained mixed fecal sources. Sixty-four percent of the sewage isolates classified with the sewage category, while the other 35% of isolates were assigned evenly across the other three categories. When enterococci isolated from the seawater were classified using the known ARP database, it was evident that bird feces were the source of surf zone contamination on some days while the coastal salt marsh and sewage plume may have impacted the surf zone water quality to various degrees during other times.     

The Radio Supernebula in NGC 5253

It was recently pointed out that the distribution of times between solar flares (the flare waiting-time distribution) follows a power law for long waiting times. Based on 25 years of soft X-ray flares observed by Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite instruments, it is shown that (1) the waiting-time distribution of flares is consistent with a time-dependent Poisson process and (2) the fraction of time the Sun spends with different flaring rates approximately follows an exponential distribution. The second result is a new phenomenological law for flares. It is shown analytically how the observed power-law behavior of the waiting times originates in the exponential distribution of flaring rates. These results are argued to be consistent with a nonstationary avalanche model for flares.     

The C3H2 2(20)-2(11) transition: absorption in cold dark clouds

The first observations of the 2(20)-2(11) transition of cyclopropenylidene (C3H2) at 21.6 GHz are described. In all cases where it has been detected, the line appears in absorption, showing that this transition is "refrigerated" (i.e., Tex < 2.7 K) in cold dust clouds. These results are compared with those for the 1(10)-1(01) transition of C3H2, and the consequences for the excitation of C3H2 qualitatively discussed.     

New interstellar masers in nonmetastable ammonia

We report the astronomical detections of several ammonia inversion transitions involving nonmetastable levels with energies as high s 1090 K above the ground state. The (J, K) = (9, 6) inversion transition shows maser-like emission in the directions of W51, NGC 7538, W49, and DR 21(OH). The NH3 (6, 3) line exhibits similar characteristics in W51 but is seen in absorption in NGC 7538. These are the first definite detections of ammonia masers in space. The intensities and narrow line widths (0.5-1.5 km s-1) for the emission features are in contrast to the previously detected broad, weak, nonmetastable lines attributed to thermal emission in these sources. Temporal variability appears to be evident in the (9, 6) emission in W49 over a 4 month period. The highly excited (J, K) = (9, 6) and (6, 3) ammonia lines are found in regions containing compact H II regions and strong infrared sources with associated H2O and OH masers; i.e., in regions of active star formation.     

A study of C3HD in cold interstellar clouds

We have detected the 1(10)-1(01) transition of C3HD at 19.418 GHz at twelve positions in cold, dark clouds and resolved the D hyperfine components in two sources (L1498 and TMC-1C) well enough to derive values for the D quadrupole coupling constants. Simultaneous observations of C3H2 in each source yield relative integrated line intensities in the range 0.10-0.18, from which we derive relative [C3HD]/[C3H2] abundances in the range 0.05-0.15. These are among the highest deuteration ratios yet observed. Within the limits of the observational and modeling uncertainties it is possible to explain the derived [C3HD]/[C3H2] ratios by ion-molecule chemistry if [e-] approximately 3 x 10(-7).     

Introduction to the PICES practical workshop: objectives,overview of the study area,and projects conducted by the participants

We coordinated a collaborative research project to investigate environmental conditions in Vancouver Harbour, British Columbia, Canada, between 23 May and 7 June 1999. This special volume of Marine Environmental Research presents a collection of papers giving results of these studies. The project was part of a practical workshop sponsored by the Marine Environmental Quality (MEQ) committee of the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES). Twenty-four scientists from PICES countries (USA, Canada, Russia, Japan, Korea, and China) participated. A wide variety of data was collected, including community structure of benthic invertebrates and fish, evaluation of fish health using biological markers and exposure data, evaluation of contaminant exposure in inter-tidal invertebrates, imposex in gastropods, and information about natural toxins produced by algae. The workshop provided an opportunity for PICES participants to gain an improved appreciation of the approaches and techniques used by other member countries to assess the effects of marine pollution. The purpose of this introductory paper is to briefly describe the project, provide background information on how it was organized, and give an overview of our knowledge about the harbour's environment.