Establishing grassland mixtures on mine wastes - a two-year mesocosm study.

Plant growth on mine wastes is restricted by the lack of water, nutrients, phytotoxic responses and the absence of a seedbank. In a mesocosm study, we addressed the establishment of vegetation on metalliferous mine wastes from two seed mixtures. Besides the composition of the vegetation and the increase in plant cover and biomass over time, we studied concentrations of heavy metals in the shoot and analyzed the quantity of throughflow, its pH and EC to follow pollutant discharge.

Prevalence and characterization of middle ear effusion in 55 brachycephalic dogs.

Objective:  Multiple, breeding-related malformations of the skull of brachycephalic dogs are well-known. Whereas the eye-catching deformities of the nose that lead to dramatic respiratory problems are obvious, changes of the middle ear are often an incidental finding on CT examinations and usually clinically inapparent. The objectives of this work were to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of middle ear effusion in brachycephalic dog breeds presented for multilevel surgery of upper airway obstructions.

Helicobacter pylori infection in wild-type and cytokine-deficient C57BL/6 and BALB/c mouse mutants.

Helicobacter pylori causes gastroduodenal ulcer disease in humans. T lymphocytes and their cytokines are thought to play a substantial role in the control of H. pylori infection.