Topical ciprofloxin versus topical framycetin-gramicidin-dexamethasone in Australian aboriginal children with recently treated chronic suppurative otitis media: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) affects many children in disadvantaged populations. The most appropriate topical antibiotic treatment in children with persistent disease is unclear.

Methods: Children with CSOM despite standard topical treatment were randomized to 6-8 weeks of topical ciprofloxacin (CIP) versus topical framycetin-gramicidin-dexamethasone (FGD).

Organic carbon stratification and size distribution of three typical paddy soils from Taihu Lake Region, China.

Developing realistic soil carbon (C) sequestration strategies for China's sustainable agriculture relies on accurate estimates of the amount, retention and turnover rates of C stored in paddy soils. Available C estimates to date are predominantly for the tilled and flood-irrigated surface topsoil (ca. 30 cm).

Smog nitrogen and the rapid acidification of forest soil, San Bernardino Mountains, southern California.

We report the rapid acidification of forest soils in the San Bernardino Mountains of southern California. After 30 years, soil to a depth of 25 cm has decreased from a pH (measured in 0.01 M CaCl2) of 4.

Altered ecohydrologic response drives native shrub loss under conditions of elevated nitrogen deposition.

Many regions of southern California's coastal sage scrub (CSS) are rapidly declining as exotic annual plants replace native shrubs. During this conversion, the subsurface hydrology of the semiarid hillslopes that support CSS may be altered. This could chronically suppress the ability of native shrubland to revegetate the landscape since ecosystem processes of nutrient availability and of seedling establishment rely on spatial patterns of available soil water.