Biochar has been proposed as a soil amendment in agricultural applications due to its advantageous adsorptive properties, high porosity, and low cost. These properties allow biochar to retain soil nutrients, yet the effects of biochar on bacterial growth remain poorly understood. To examine how biochar influences microbial metabolism, Escherichia coli was grown in a complex, *

[1] Liquid latex was used as a method to seal visible surface-connected preferential flow pathways (PFPs) in the field in an effort to block large surface-connected preferential flow and force water to move through the soil matrix. The proposed approach allows for the quantification of the contribution of large surface-connected cracks and biological pores to infiltration at various soil moisture states. Experiments were conducted in a silty clay loam soil in a field under a no-till corn-soybean rotation planted to corn. Surface intake rates under ponding were measured using a simplified falling head technique under two scenarios: (1) natural soil conditions with unaltered PFPs and (2) similar soil conditions with latex-sealed large macropores at the surface. Results indicated that the contribution of flow from large surface-connected macropores to overall surface intake rates varied from approximately 34% to 99% depending on the initial moisture content and macroporosity present. However, evidence of preferential flow continued to appear in latex-sealed plots, suggesting significant contributions to preferential flow from smaller structural macropores, particularly in two out of four tests where no significant differences were observed between control and latex-sealed plots.

In 2004, the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) jointly revised the recommended treatment for acute paediatric diarrhoea to specify supplementing reduced osmolarity oral rehydration salts (ORS) with zinc. In many countries, however, a significant knowledge-practice gap persists in appropriate diarrhoea management among private healthcare providers. For example, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Strengthening Health Outcomes through the Private Sector (SHOPS) project recently demonstrated that over-the-counter medicine sellers (MS) in Ghana recommended inappropriate diarrhoea treatments, despite their demonstrated knowledge of appropriate treatment protocols. To explore and explain these results, we conducted 26 focus groups with MS and their customers using an indirect elicitation approach, presenting simulated drug shop transaction scenarios for each group to analyze and discuss. Through inductive and deductive data analysis, we found that the pattern of customer-MS interactions within the transactional context plays a critical role in shaping dispensing outcomes, not only in diarrhoea management but in other contexts as well. MS who engaged and negotiated with their customers were better able to introduce and promote the appropriate diarrhoea treatment protocol. Several factors hinder optimal interactions. Although MS in fact serve as frontline medical providers, they lack the perceived status of a clinician. Moreover, the need to maintain their customer base creates a power imbalance that favours accommodating customer requests and discourages educational interaction. Finally, many MS lack a complete understanding of the recommended treatment, limiting their ability to educate and negotiate. These findings have important implications for efforts to position community-level private providers to improve outcomes across a number of health areas; the study recommends three broad approaches related to training design, marketing, and professional linkages. More generally, behaviour change initiatives should recognize the potential impact of provider interaction dynamics in facilitating or impeding desired health outcomes.

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