Biological soil crusts on agricultural soils of mesic regions promote microbial cross-kingdom co-occurrences and nutrient retention.

Introduction: Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are known as biological hotspots on undisturbed, nutrient-poor bare soil surfaces and until now, are mostly observed in (semi-) arid regions but are currently poorly understood in agricultural systems. This is a crucial knowledge gap because managed sites of mesic regions can quickly cover large areas. Thus, we addressed the questions (i) if biocrusts from agricultural sites of mesic regions also increase nutrients and microbial biomass as their (semi-) arid counterparts, and (ii) how microbial community assemblage in those biocrusts is influenced by disturbances like different fertilization and tillage regimes.

Organic Amendments in a Long-term Field Trial-Consequences for the Bulk Soil Bacterial Community as Revealed by Network Analysis.

This study intended to elucidate the long-term effects of organic soil amendments on bacterial co-occurrence in bulk soil with and without addition of mineral fertiliser. Previous research mostly neglected the bacterial co-occurrence structure and focussed mainly on the parameters species diversity and abundance changes of species. Here we present a systematic comparison of two frequently used soil amendments, manure and straw, with regard to their impact on bacterial co-occurrence in a long-term field trial in Speyer, Germany.

Antibiotic plasma levels in dogs with otitis externa treated routinely with various topical preparations.

We aimed to determine whether, and at what levels, topical antibiotics applied to treat Otitis externa in dogs are absorbed systemically, leading to an increased risk of antibiotic resistance. 75 dogs brought to a veterinarian for Otitis externa were recruited for a non-interventional study. Selection criteria included diagnosis of Otitis externa and owner consent.

Effects of aeration patterns on the flow field in wastewater aeration tanks.

Due to the high energy input of aeration, the spatial distribution of air diffusers largely determines the flow field in aeration tanks. This has consequences on the efficiency of the aeration system, the performance of the aeration tank and on tank operation and control. This paper deals with these effects applying both Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) enhanced with a biokinetic model and full scale validation using velocity and reactive tracer measurements with high temporal and spatial resolution.