Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection in a dog in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands, methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are regularly isolated from humans. We present the first isolation of MRSA from animal origin in the Netherlands. A coagulase positive staphylococcus was cultured from an infected wound in a Dutch dog that recently underwent surgery abroad. The staphylococcus was resistant to methicillin, ampicillin, amoxycillin + clavulanic acid, cephalexin, erythromycin, lincomycin, tetracycline, gentamicin and enrofloxacin. It was identified as S. aureus by fermentation of mannitol and Martineau-PCR. The presence of mecA was confirmed by PCR.     

鸡传染性鼻炎流行病学调查（Ⅱ）

利用鸡传染性鼻炎PCR试剂盒和阻断ELISA试剂盒，对29份菌株、136份临床样品和1019份血清进行了检验和分析，结果PCR阳性率为36.4%，A型阳性率为10.3%，C型阳性率为6.4%。     

Regional Sediment Deficits in the Dutch Lowlands: Implications for Long-Term Land-Use Options (8 pp)

Background, Aim and Scope   Coastal and river plains are the surfaces of depositional systems, to which sediment input is a parameter of key-importance. Their habitation and economic development usually requires protection with dikes, quays, etc., which are effective in retaining floods but have the side effect of retarding sedimentation in their hinterlands. The flood-protected Dutch lowlands (so-called dike-ring areas) have been sediment-starved for up to about a millennium. In addition to this, peat decomposition and soil compaction, brought about by land drainage, have caused significant land subsidence. Sediment deficiency, defined as the combined effect of sediment-starvation and drainage-induced volume losses, has already been substantial in this area, and it is expected to become urgent in view of the forecasted effects of climate change (sea-level rise, intensified precipitation and run-off). We therefore explore this deficiency, compare it with natural (Holocene) and current human sediment inputs, and discuss it in terms of long-term land-use options. Materials and Methods: We use available 3D geological models to define natural sediment inputs to our study area. Recent progress in large-scale modelling of peat oxidation and compaction enables us to address volume loss associated with these processes. Human sediment inputs are based on published minerals statistics. All results are given as first-order approximations. Results: The current sediment deficit in the diked lowlands of the Netherlands is estimated at 136 ± 67 million m3/a. About 85% of this volume is the hypothetical amount of sediment required to keep up with sea-level rise, and 15% is the effect of land drainage (peat decomposition and compaction). The average Holocene sediment input to our study area (based on a total of 145 km3) is ~14 million m3/a, and the maximum (millennium-averaged) input ~26 million m3/a. Historical sediment deficiency has resulted in an unused sediment accommodation space of about 13.3 km3. Net human input of sediment material currently amounts to ~23 million m3/a. Discussion: As sedimentary processes in the Dutch lowlands have been retarded, the depositional system's natural resilience to sea-level rise is low, and all that is left to cope is human countermeasure. Preserving some sort of status quo with water management solutions may reach its limits in the foreseeable future. The most viable long-term solutions therefore seem a combination of allowing for more water in open country (anything from flood-buffer zones to open water) and raising lands that are to be built up (enabling their lasting protection). As to the latter, doubling or tripling the use of filling sand in a planned and sustained effort may resolve up to one half of the Dutch sediment deficiency problems in about a century. Conclusions: Conclusions, Recommendations and Perspectives. We conclude that sediment deficiency – past, present and future – challenges the sustainable habitation of the Dutch lowlands. In order to explore possible solutions, we recommend the development of long-term scenarios for the changing lowland physiography, that include the effects of Global Change, compensation measures, costs and benefits, and the implications for long-term land-use options. Recommendations and Perspectives: -     

Testing the Aluminium Toxicity Hypothesis: A Field Manipulation Experiment in Mature Spruce Forest in Norway

Aluminium (Al) has been considered to be a central element for risk evaluation of forest damage due to acidification. It has been hypothesized that Al reduces root growth, nutrient uptake and forest vitality. However, forest monitoring studies fail to show correlations between soil acidification and forest health. In general, no direct relation between Al concentration and forest health has been established. Here, Al concentrations in soil solution were manipulated by weekly additions of dilute AlCl₃ to levels that are believed to be unfavorable for plant growth. Four treatments (in triplicate), including a reference and three Al addition levels, were established. Effects of enhanced Al concentrations on fine root growth, nutrient uptake and crown condition in a mature Norway spruce forest in Norway were tested (1996–1999). After three years of manipulation, crown condition, tree growth and fine root growth were not affected by potentially toxic Al concentrations. However, the Mg content in current year's needles decreased at the highest Al addition treatment. The Mg/Al ratio of fine roots of the same treatment had declined too, which suggests that Al blocked Mg uptake at the root surface. The manipulation will be continued for two more years.     

Aluminium solubility mechanisms in moderately acid Bs horizons of podzolized soils

The processes controlling the retention and release of aluminium in acid forest soils are still subject to controversy, and therefore a universal hypothesis as to what mechanisms are operating has not been firmly established. By studying the Bs horizons of Swedish and Swiss podzolized soils, and by analysing data in the literature, we have found that aluminium hydroxide, and in some cases also poorly ordered imogolite, may control Al solubility in moderately acid (pH > 4.2–4.3) Bs horizons. The strongest evidence in support of the presence of a quickly reacting Al(OH)₃ pool came from the temperature dependence of Al solubility in a Bs horizon, which was consistent with the reaction enthalpy of an Al(OH)₃ phase such as gibbsite, and from the observation that the ion activity product for Al(OH)₃ was the same regardless of whether equilibrium was reached from over‐ or undersaturation. The pool of Al(OH)₃ is commonly small and may be completely dissolved after large additions of acid. This may be explained by the continuing redissolution of reactive Al(OH)₃ to form less soluble imogolite‐type phases. By using the same methods it was found that soil suspensions did not reach equilibrium with poorly ordered imogolite even after 17 days. Thus, imogolite probably does not control Al solubility in the short term in many soils despite the common occurrence of this mineral. This is due to the relatively slow kinetics of imogolite formation and dissolution, especially at low temperatures and at small solution H₄SiO₄ concentrations.