Various biological amendments, including commercial biocontrol agents, microbial inoculants, mycorrhizae, and an aerobic compost tea (ACT), were evaluated, alone and in conjunction with different crop rotations, for their efficacy in introducing beneficial microorganisms, affecting soil microbial community characteristics (SMCC), and reducing soilborne diseases of potato in greenhouse and field...

n 2001, prisoners in Pennsylvania challenged a prison policy prohibiting them from watching films rated R, X, or NC-17. The prison policy was designed to implement the Zimmer Amendment,2 which denies funding to any prison that shows R, X, or NC-17 films.3 After the District Court denied the prisoners’ claims in a cursory opinion, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit remanded for a more fa...

1185 Th e role of biochar as a soil amendment on the adsorption– desorption and transport of tylosin, a macrolide class of veterinary antibiotic, is little known. In this study, batch and column experiments were conducted to investigate the adsorption kinetics and transport of tylosin in forest and agricultural corn fi eld soils amended with hardwood and softwood biochars. Tylosin adsorption wa...

AAAS Chief Executive Officer Alan I. Leshner, Ph.D., executive publisher of the journal Science, offered the following comment regarding a proposed amendment to the House Fiscal Year 2010 Labor, Health, and Human Services and Education Appropriations bill. The amendment, set forth by U.S. Congressman Darrell Issa (R-California), reportedly was scheduled for discussion on the floor of the U.S. H...

The CH4 emissions from soil were influenced by the changeable CH4 concentrations and diffusions in soil profiles, but that have been subjected to nitrogen (N) and biochar amendment over seasonal and annual time frames. Accordingly, a two-year field experiment was conducted in southeastern China to determine the amendment effects on CH4 concentrations and diffusive effluxes as measured by a mult...

Aiming to evaluate a possible loss of soil habitat function after amendment with organic wastes, a digested sewage sludge and derived composts produced with green residues, where biologically tested in the laboratory using soil animals (Eisenia andrei and Folsomia candida) and plants (Brassica rapa and Avena sativa). Each waste was tested mimicking a field application of 6ton/ha or 12ton/ha. Av...

Biochar amendment can alter soil properties, for instance, the ability to adsorb and degrade different chemicals. However, ageing of the biochar, due to processes occurring in the soil over time, can influence such biochar-mediated effects. This study examined how biochar affected adsorption and degradation of two herbicides, glyphosate (N-(phosphonomethyl)-glycine) and diuron (3-(3,4-dichlorop...