An urban city can influence the aqueous geochemistry of the local streams and rivers. The City of Jonesboro, the largest city in northeast Arkansas, is a growing urban center surrounded by agriculture. Runoff from agriculturally dominated lands and industries can adversely impact local waterways through higher nutrient and metal inputs. We compared two local waterways, Big Creek and Lost Creek, as they were the largest creeks flowing through Craighead County and the City of Jonesboro, respectively.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), often referred to as the "deadly superbug" by the media, is currently a major epidemiological threat on a global scale. The adaptability of S. aureus to antibiotics led to the emergence of MRSA in 1961 in a hospital ward in the United Kingdom. S. aureus developed resistance to β-lactam antibiotics through the acquisition of the mecA gene, which is situated on a mobile genetic element known as staphylococcal cassette chromsome mec (SCCmec). The mecA gene encodes penicillin-binding protein 2a (PBP2a), which has a significantly reduced affinity for β-lactam antibiotics, thereby conferring β-lactam resistance. Although the first MRSA clones were hospital-associated (HA-MRSA), community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA) clones are now increasingly found throughout the world, affecting normally healthy individuals. MRSA accounts for greater than 50-80% of S. aureus isolates.