A variety of microfauna inhabit the biological soil crusts (biocrusts) of arid soils from all parts of the globe, including the southwestern USA (Bamforth 2004, 2008; Darby et al. 2006, 2007a, b; Neher et al. 2009), the Negev Desert of Israel (Jones and Shachak 1990; Pen-Mouratov et al. 2011), the Tengger Desert of northern China (Liu et al. 2011; Li et al. 2011), Australia (Robinson et al. 200...

introduction: amiodarone is an effective drug for life-threatening arrhythmias like recurrent ventricular fibrillation and atrial fibrillation. amiodarone creates rarely genitourinary side effects are seen. these are epididymitis, testicular dysfunction and impotance. amiodarone aggregates and triggers inflammation in the head of the epididym. case report: we present the case of a patient who d...

Invasion by the exotic annual grass Bromus tectorum has increased the cover and connectivity of fine litter in the sagebrush steppes of western North America. This litter tends to cover biological soil crusts, which could affect their metabolism and growth. To investigate this possible phenomenon, biological soil crusts dominated by either the moss Bryum argenteum or the lichen Diploschistes mu...

Decay of trachyte used as building stone in urban environment was investigated through the analysis of crusts and patinas found on trachyte of the Euganean Hills in the Renaissance city walls of Padua, northeastern Italy. Mineralogical and microstructural characteristics of the alteration products, as well as majorand trace-element chemical composition, were determined by optical microscopy, SE...