Abstract.A statistical study of the properties of molecular outflows is performed based on an up-to-date sample. 391 outflows were identified in published articles or preprints before February 28, 2003. The parameters of position, morphology, mass, energy, outflow dynamics and central source luminosity are presented for each outflow source. Outflow lobe polarity is known for all the sources, and 84% are found to be bipolar. The sources are divided into low mass and high mass groups according to either the available bolometric luminosity of the central source or the outflow mass. The pace of discovery of outflows over the past seven years has increased much more rapidly than in previous periods. Surveys for outflows are still continuing. The number of high-mass outflows detected (139) has considerably increased, showing that they are commonly associated with massive as well as low mass stars. Energetic mass ejection may be a common aspect of the formation of high mass as well as low mass stars. Outflow masses are correlated strongly with bolometric luminosity of the center sources, which was obtained for the first time. There are also correlations between the central source luminosity and the parameters of mechanical luminosity and the thrust or force necessary to drive the outflow. The results show that flow mass, momentum and energy depend on the nature of the central source. Despite their similarity, there are differences between the high mass and low mass outflows. Low mass outflows are more collimated than high mass outflows. On average, the mass of high mass sources can be more than two orders of magnitude larger than those of low mass outflows. The relation between flow mass and dynamical time appears to differ for the two types of outflows. Low mass sources make up 90% of outflows associated with HH objects while high mass outflows make up 61% of the sources associated with H 2 O masers. Sources with characteristics of collapse or infall comprise 12% of the entire outflow sample. The spatial distribution of the outflow sources in the Galaxy is presented and the local occurrence rate is compared with the stellar birth rate.

The capacity of conventional breeding to simultaneously improve the yield and quality of cotton fiber is limited. The accumulation of the plant hormone indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) in cotton fiber initials prompted us to investigate the effects of genetically engineering increased IAA levels in the ovule epidermis. Targeted expression of the IAA biosynthetic gene iaaM, driven by the promoter of the petunia MADS box gene Floral Binding protein 7 (FBP7), increased IAA levels in the epidermis of cotton ovules at the fiber initiation stage. This substantially increased the number of lint fibers, an effect that was confirmed in a 4-year field trial. The lint percentage of the transgenic cotton, an important component of fiber yield, was consistently higher in our transgenic plants than in nontransgenic controls, resulting in a >15% increase in lint yield. Fiber fineness was also notably improved.

We report the discovery of a massive SCUBA core with evidence of inflow and outflow motions. This core is detected by SCUBA at both 450 and 850 µm. Barely resolved by the telescope beam at 450 µm, it has a size of 10 ′′ , corresponding to 0.28 pc at a distance of 5.7 kpc. The dust temperature is estimated to be ≤ 29 K, the total mass is 820 M ⊙ and the average density is 1.1×10 6 cm −3 in a region with a radius of 5 ′′ . Follow-up spectral line observations, including HCN (3−2), HCO + (3−2), H 13 CO + (3−2) and C 17 O (2−1) reveal a typical blue profile which indicates that this core is collapsing. The CO (3−2) line profile is as broad as 38 km/s, indicating outflow motions in this region. This core is approximately 1.5 pc away from the known HII region G25.4NW, but there are no obvious radio, IRAS, MSX or Spitzer sources associated with it. We suggest that this core is at a very early stage of massive star or cluster formation.

Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in urban rivers are a serious public health concern in regions with poorly planned, rapid development. To gain insights into the predominant factors affecting the fate of ARGs in a highly polluted urban river in eastern China, a total of 285 ARGs, microbial communities, and 20 physicochemical parameters were analyzed for 17 sites. A total of 258 unique ARGs were detected using high-throughput qPCR, and the absolute abundance of total ARGs was positively correlated with total organic carbon and total dissolved nitrogen concentrations (P < 0.01). ARG abundance and diversity were greatly altered by microbial community structure. Variation partitioning analysis showed that the combined effects of multiple factors contributed to the profile and dissemination of ARGs, and variation of microbial communities was the major factor affecting the distribution of ARGs. The disparate distribution of some bacteria, including Bacteroides from mammalian gastrointestinal flora, Burkholderia from zoonotic infectious diseases, and Zoogloea from wastewater treatment, indicates that the urban river was strongly influenced by point-source pollution. Results imply that microbial community shifts caused by changes in water quality may lead to the spread of ARGs, and point-source pollution in urban rivers requires greater attention to control the transfer of ARGs between environmental bacteria and pathogens.

We report on a study of the molecular cloud S64 with observations at millimeter wavelengths of multiple molecular lines of CO isotopes. A weak outflow is found, and its physical parameters are estimated. The departure of the core of S64 from the S64 HII region indicates that there are still other star formation activities in that region.