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The Coastal Data Information Program (CDIP) provides wave data to the public in near real-time, maintains an operational wave model for the California coast, and is engaged in ocean wave research on a global scale. CDIP's array of moored wave buoy stations are instrumented with Datawell Waveriders. CDIP's recent work to improve monitoring capabilities for directional surface wave spectra, surface current, and temperature is described. This includes data quality assurance and control, real-time alerts, telemetry and dissemination information technology infrastructure and methodology, data visualization tools, and mooring and instrumentation innovation. CDIP's goal is to maximize data reliability, availability, accuracy, and precision. Validation of commonly used wave models – operational, hindcast, and forecast – with CDIP data is automated to provide assessments of relative skills at a variety of coastal locations and wave conditions. Wave heights measured by the buoys typically exceed modeled heights during the most energetic events, such as hurricanes, nor'easters, and bomb cyclones. In a practical validation example, the global wave model used to drive CDIP's California coastal wave forecasts was recently changed, based on comparisons against buoy data. Forecast performance has improved for swell events, which are a challenge to model accurately in the Southern California Bight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports a study that examined which career-related values were prevalent among female student teachers, noting patterns related to their decisions to teach. Interviews indicated that five values related to their choice of teaching as a career: sociopolitical empowerment, spiritual empowerment, intellectual empowerment, cross-cultural relations, and child- centered pedagogy. (SM)

We investigate the evolution of the salt field in a bar-built estuary after the tidal inlet is closed by sediment, isolating the estuary from the ocean. We show that seawater trapped by inlet closure in the Russian River Estuary, CA, undergoes a two-stage landward intrusion process that leads to widespread salt stratification throughout the estuary. This salinity intrusion extends to distances of several kilometers from the beach-into the 'inner estuary' that is separated from the 'outer estuary' by shallow sills and typically devoid of saline waters during tidal conditions when the mouth is open. We describe landward movement of saline waters during six closure events in 2009 and 2010, based on repeat boat-based conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) surveys and bottom-mounted acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs). While sills block the initial landward motion of dense saline waters due to gravitational adjustment (first stage of intrusion), these same sills facilitate a wind-induced, one-direction valve mechanism through which saline waters are pumped into the inner estuary. Saline waters that crest the shallow sill can drain into deeper pools in the inner estuary as a pulsed gravity current (second stage of intrusion). We use empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis to identify an internal seiche in the outer estuary that results in uplift of pycnocline waters during the night at the boundary to the inner estuary. EOF analysis of inner estuary currents and a horizontal Richardson number are used to suggest that nocturnal gravity current events in the inner estuary (beyond the blocking sill) occur as pulses initiated by the internal seiche in the outer estuary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Bar-built estuaries with relatively small (cross sectional area<100m2) and shallow tidal inlets are widespread in Mediterranean climates and along wave-exposed coasts. While similarly important to coastal sediment balances and estuarine ecosystems and more numerous than larger inlet systems, they suffer from a relative lack of understanding. This is especially true regarding the process of inlet closure, when the channel is filled with sediment deposited by wave-driven processes. Mouth closure is of growing concern owing to changes in inlet behavior in many systems in response to human influences. The use of many existing conceptual and quantitative models for closure is precluded by rapid morphological change, unsteady freshwater inputs, and difficulties in scaling well-established inlet relationships in these smaller systems. In this paper, over 60years of daily closure records are analyzed for the Russian River mouth, a prototypical bar-built system in northern California. We show that the time-dependent closure pattern can be explained by an interaction of processes that act to scour the inlet (driven by tides and river) with those that act to deposit sand in the inlet (driven by waves). Tidal, weather-related, seasonal, and interannual cycles are observed. We improve an existing parametric model to evaluate these separate influences and show that it works well for predicting closure events at both the tidal and seasonal scales. Finally, we compare our data with closure records from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to show that inlet closures have become shorter and more sporadic over time at this site and to identify anthropogenic drivers of this observed change. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objective African Americans, East Asians, and Hispanics with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are more likely to develop renal disease than are SLE patients of European descent. This study was undertaken to investigate whether European genetic ancestry protects against the development of lupus nephritis, with the aim of exploring the genetic and socioeconomic factors that might explain this effect. Methods This was a cross-sectional study of SLE patients from a multiethnic case collection. Participants were genotyped for 126 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) informative for ancestry. A subset of participants was also genotyped for 80 SNPs in 14 candidate genes for renal disease in SLE. Logistic regression was used to test the association between European ancestry and renal disease. Analyses were adjusted for continental ancestries, socioeconomic status (SES), and candidate genes. Results Participants (n = 1,906) had, on average, 62.4% European, 15.8% African, 11.5% East Asian, 6.5% Amerindian, and 3.8% South Asian ancestry. Among the participants, 656 (34%) had renal disease. A 10% increase in the proportion of European ancestry estimated in each participant was associated with a 15% reduction in the odds of having renal disease, after adjustment for disease duration and sex (odds ratio 0.85, 95% confidence interval 0.82-0.87; P = 1.9 × 10−30). Adjustment for other genetic ancestries, measures of SES, or SNPs in the genes most associated with renal disease ( IRF5 [rs4728142], BLK [rs2736340], STAT4 [rs3024912], and HLA-DRB1*0301 and DRB1*1501) did not substantively alter this relationship. Conclusion European ancestry is protective against the development of renal disease in SLE, an effect that is independent of other genetic ancestries, candidate risk alleles, and socioeconomic factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Numerous observations implicate interferon-α (IFNα) in the pathophysiology of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE); however, the potential impact of endogenous anti-IFNα autoantibodies (AIAAs) on IFN-pathway and disease activity is unclear. The aim of this study was to characterize IFN-pathway activity and the serologic and clinical profiles of AIAA-positive patients with SLE. Methods Sera obtained from patients with SLE (n = 49), patients with rheumatoid arthritis (n = 25), and healthy control subjects (n = 25) were examined for the presence of AIAAs, using a biosensor immunoassay. Serum type I IFN bioactivity and the ability of AIAA-positive sera to neutralize IFNα activity were determined using U937 cells. Levels of IFN-regulated gene expression in peripheral blood were determined by microarray, and serum levels of BAFF, IFN-inducible chemokines, and other autoantibodies were measured using immunoassays. Results AIAAs were detected in 27% of the serum samples from patients with SLE, using a biosensor immunoassay. Unsupervised hierarchical clustering analysis identified 2 subgroups of patients, IFNlow and IFNhigh, that differed in the levels of serum type I IFN bioactivity, IFN-regulated gene expression, BAFF, anti-ribosomal P, and anti-chromatin autoantibodies, and in AIAA status. The majority of AIAA-positive patients had significantly lower levels of serum type I IFN bioactivity, reduced downstream IFN-pathway activity, and lower disease activity compared with the IFNhigh patients. AIAA-positive sera were able to effectively neutralize type I IFN activity in vitro. Conclusion Patients with SLE commonly harbor AIAAs. AIAA-positive patients have lower levels of serum type I IFN bioactivity and evidence for reduced downstream IFN-pathway and disease activity. AIAAs may influence the clinical course in SLE by blunting the effects produced by IFNα. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Behrens Yamada, S., and Gillespie, G. E. 2008. Will the European green crab (Carcinus maenas) persist in the Pacific Northwest? – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 65: 725–729.A strong cohort of young European green crabs (Carcinus maenas) appeared in North American embayments from Oregon to the west coast of Vancouver Island following the strong El Niño of 1997/1998. Unusually, strong north-moving coastal currents transported crab larvae from established source populations in California to the Pacific Northwest. Since then, both coastal transport and recruitment of young green crabs have been weaker. Although it was predicted that green crabs would become extinct in the Pacific Northwest once the original colonists died of senescence at about age 6, this has not happened. Age-class analysis and the appearance of young crabs evidence the existence of local recruitment in the Pacific Northwest, especially after warm winters. An extensive survey by Fisheries and Oceans Canada found populations of green crabs on the west coast of Vancouver Island, with densities of >2 per trap in some inlets. However, no green crabs were found in the inland sea between Vancouver Island and the mainland. Therefore, outreach efforts should continue to prevent the establishment of this invader in those waters via ballast water or shellfish transport. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Surveys with a submersible at offshore islands and banks in southern California found that white abalone were most abundant at depths between 43 and 60 m. This is deeper than estimates taken when white abalone were more abundant. Densities were highest at sites far from fishing ports. Controlling for depth and site found that white abalone were significantly more abundant in areas with Laminaria farlowii (an alga) but abalone were not associated with areas high in the cover of other algae (Pelagophycus porra or Eisenia arborea) or the amount of sand in the habitat (except that abalone always occurred on rock). Within an area with abalone, the particular rock they occurred on was significantly larger than unoccupied neighboring rocks. Occupied rocks were not significantly different in algal cover or in sea urchin density than unoccupied neighboring rocks. The position of abalone on a rock was nearer to the rock–sand interface than would be expected based on a random distribution. More white abalone were feeding when in association with red urchins, perhaps because both grazers capture drift algae to eat. These data may aid future efforts to locate white abalone brood stock and identify locations for outplanting. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We describe a simple, innovative classroom exercise designed to heighten students' understanding of stereotyping and prejudice. Students enjoyed the exercise and indicated it helped increase their awareness and understanding of their own and others' stereotypes and prejudice and the negative effects of prejudice. Students of color reported more benefits from the exercise. We provide suggestions and recommendations for carrying out the exercise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the move of environmental groups to encourage voters to back up largest parks and water bond in California. There are eleven groups which drafted ballot measure to come up with $5.4 billion for the levees in San Francisco Bay, construct new drinking water treatment plants and restore salmon runs.

A robust reservoir surveillance program is key to successful management of a steamflood operation and accurate measurement and proper interpretation of temperature surveys is essential for such a surveillance program. The objective of this study was to look at factors that can impact a temperature log by performing an extensive analysis of field data, primarily gathered from a single company's steamflood operations in California, from over 1000 temperature observation wells. Additionally, a simple analytical assessment was performed to understand the role of key dominating mechanisms and to gain directional insight. Field data and analytical assessment suggest that higher logging speeds introduce greater error in measured temperature data and these errors are greater at elevated steamchest temperatures. Temperature tools with longer sensor response times need to be run at lower logging speeds to get accurate measurements. Ensuring an adequate level of thermally equilibrated liquid (typically water) in the observation well is essential both, for gathering accurate data and to mitigate possible safety concerns for the logging operator. Several field examples are presented to illustrate the effects of logging speed, steamchest temperature, sensor type, and wellbore fluid on recorded temperature data. Guidance on evaluating and interpreting different temperature signatures such as interpretation of liquid level in an observation well, understanding temperature signatures in air, wellbore reflux phenomenon, and examples of logs from malfunctioning logging tools, are also provided. The main purpose of this work is to aid both the operators and the service companies to gather accurate temperature data for improved steamflood management and for all investigators using thermal operation temperature data to understand how and where that data might be compromised. • Logging speed, steamchest temperature, sensor type and wellbore fluid affect measured temperature accuracy. • Study based on analysis of field data from over 1000 observation wells and analytical model. • Higher logging speeds introduce greater error in measured temperature. • These errors increase with the difference between steamchest and original sensor temperatures. • Temperature surveys in a water-filled wellbore minimize measurement error. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]