Abstract: The conventional treatment of municipal wastewater by means of activated sludge is typically energy demanding. Here, the potential benefits of: (1) the optimization of mesophilic digestion; and (2) transitioning to thermophilic sludge digestion in three wastewater treatment plants (Tilburg-Noord, Land van Cuijk and Bath) in the Netherlands is evaluated, including a full-scale trial validation in Bath. In Tilburg-Noord, thermophilic sludge digestion covered the energy requirements of the plant (102%), whereas 111% of sludge operational treatment costs could be covered in Bath. Thermophilic sludge digestion also resulted in a strong increase in nutrient release. The potential for nutrient recovery was evaluated via: (1) stripping/absorption of ammonium; (2) autotrophic removal of ammonium via partial nitritation/anammox; and (3) struvite precipitation. This research shows that optimization of sludge digestion may lead to a strong increase in energy recovery, sludge treatment costs reduction, and the potential for advanced nutrient management in full-scale sewage treatment plants. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Abstract: Both landfill taxes and Enhanced Waste Management (EWM) practices can mitigate the scarcity issue of landfill capacity by respectively reducing landfilled waste volumes and valorising future waste streams. However, high landfill taxes might erode incentives for EWM, even though EWM creates value by valorising waste. Concentrating on Flanders (Belgium), the paper applies dynamic optimisation modelling techniques to analyse how landfill taxation and EWM can reinforce each other and how taxation schemes can be adjusted in order to foster sustainable and welfare maximising ways of processing future waste streams. Based on the Flemish simulation results, insights are offered that are generally applicable in international waste and resource management policy. As shown, the optimal Flemish landfill tax that optimises welfare in the no EWM scenario is higher than the one in the EWM scenario (93 against (sic)50/ton). This difference should create incentives for applying EWM and is driven by the positive external effects that are generated by EWM practices. In Flanders, as the current landfill tax is slightly lower than these optimal levels, the choice that can be made is to further increase taxation levels or show complete commitment to EWM. A first generally applicable insight that was found points to the fact that it is not necessarily the case that the higher the landfill tax, the more effective waste management improvements can be realised. Other insights are about providing sufficient incentives for applying EMW practices and formulating appropriate pleas in support of technological development. By these insights, this paper should provide relevant information that can assist in triggering the transition towards a resource efficient, circular economy in Europe. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Abstract: Iran's energy system is extremely dependent on fossil fuels which, in turn, have led to problems such as fossil fuels depletion, social, economic and environmental damage and territorial imbalance. The country should therefore design a sustainable energy system based on clean energy as well as renewable energy. Accordingly, and given that Iran's rural areas suffer from the unsustainable energy system, it is necessary to integrate renewable energy into comprehensive development programs in general, and into rural development programs, specifically. This review paper answers the following questions: Why is renewable energy important for Iran at national and rural levels? How is renewable energy related to sustainable rural development? and What are the challenges in the promotion of renewable energy technologies in Iran? The paper concludes that although renewable energy has potential for development in Iran's rural areas due to environmental, social and economic advantages, it could face some infrastructural, managerial, socio-cultural and economic challenges. Accordingly, aggressive and innovative policy making is required to meet these challenges. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Abstract: A major objective of European agricultural policy is to have a sustainable and efficient farming sector that is applying environmentally-friendly production methods. Policy makers aim to combine a strong economic performance and a sustainable use of natural resources. Therefore, it is important to measure and to assess farm sustainability. For a large dataset of Flemish dairy farms, a valuation method that is based on the concept of opportunity costs is used to calculate and analyze differences among the sample farms with respect to the creation of sustainable value. But more important than measuring the creation of sustainable value is to analyze differences in sustainable efficiency. Therefore, sustainable efficiency measures are calculated and differences in sustainable efficiency are explained. Using panel data, an effect model captures the determinants of sustainable efficiency of the studied farms. The empirical model shows that, in general, larger farms have a higher sustainable efficiency. Also farmer's age and dependency on support payments proved to be determining characteristics for observed differences in sustainable efficiency.

Abstract: Indicator-based monitoring tools are frequently applied for sustainability assessments, also in agriculture. However, many indicators focus on a rather restricted number of sustainability aspects such as economy or ecology. Moreover the choice of the indicator is rarely explained. The aim of our study was to develop an indicator-based monitoring tool for integrated farm sustainability – i.e. taking into account economic and ecological and social aspects – based on a supported vision of sustainable agriculture and using a set of relevant indicators. Hereby, specific attention was paid to aspects of communication and user-friendliness. Four methodological steps were considered: (i) translating the major principles of a supported vision of sustainable Flemish agriculture into concrete and relevant themes; (ii) designing indicators to monitor progress towards sustainability for each of those themes; (iii) aggregating the indicators into an integrated farm sustainability monitoring tool and (iv) applying the monitoring tool on a practical farm, as a first attempt at end-use validation. Stakeholder participation and expert consulting played an important part in each of these methodological steps. As a case study, the methodology was applied to Flemish dairy farms. As a result, we developed MOTIFS, a user-friendly and strongly communicative indicator-based monitoring tool that allows the measurement of progress towards integrated sustainable dairy farming systems and fits within a well-founded methodological framework. MOTIFS is based on the equality of the economic, ecological and social sustainability dimensions, and this equality is inherently built into the system. Through the applied methodology, we founded the selected themes and indicators and we avoided using indicators that are not relevant to the problem at hand.

Abstract: This paper uses a mechanistic frontier approach as a reference to evaluate the ability of conventional parametric (SFA) and non-parametric (DEA) frontier approaches for analyzing economicenvironmental trade-offs. Conventional frontier approaches are environmentally adjusted through incorporating the materials balance principle. The analysis is worked out for the Flemish pig finishing case, which is both representative and didactic. Results show that, on average, SFA and DEA yield adequate economicenvironmental trade-offs. Both methods are good estimators for technical efficiency. Cost allocative and environmental allocative efficiency scores are less robust, due to the well-known methodological advantages and disadvantages of SFA and DEA. For particular firms, SFA, DEA and the mechanistic approach may yield different economicenvironmental trade-offs. One has therefore to be careful when using conventional frontier approaches for firm-specific decision support. The mechanistic approach allows for optimizing performances per average present finisher, which is the production unit in pig finishing. Conventional frontier methods do not allow for this optimization since the number of average present finishers varies along the production functions. Since the mechanistic production function is based on underlying growth, feed uptake and mortality functions, additional firm-specific indicators can also be calculated at each point of the production function.

Abstract: This research uses multi-objective optimisation to determine the optimal mixture of energy and transportation technologies, while optimising economic and environmental impacts. We demonstrate the added value of using multi-objective mixed integer linear programming (MOMILP) considering economies of scale versus using continuous multi-objective linear programming assuming average cost intervals. This paper uses an improved version to solve MOMILPs exactly. To differentiate optimal solutions with and without subsidies, the impact of policy on the Pareto frontier is assessed. We distinguish between minimising economic life cycle costs (complete rationality) and required investments (bounded rationality). The approach is illustrated using a Belgian company with demands for electricity and transport. Electricity technologies are solar photovoltaics and the grid; transportation includes internal combustion engine vehicles, grid powered battery electric vehicles (BEVs), and solar-powered BEVs. The impact of grid powered BEVs to reduce GHG emissions is limited, yet they are less costly than solar panels to decrease emissions. Current policy measures are found to be properly targeting rational investors who consider life cycle costs, while private (potentially bounded rational) investors often focus on required investments only.

Abstract: The production of genetically modified (GM) crops is growing around the world, and with it possible opportunities to combat food insecurity and hunger, as well as solutions to current problems facing conventional agriculture. In this regard the use of GMOs in food and agricultural applications has increased greatly over the past decade. However, the development of GM crops has been a matter of considerable interest and worldwide public controversy. This, in addition to skepticism, has stifled the use of this practice on a large scale in many areas, including Iran. It stands to reason that a greater understanding of this practice could be formed after a review of the existing expert opinions surrounding GM crops. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze the predictors that influence agricultural experts attitudes toward the development of and policies related to GM crops. Using a descriptive correlational research method, questionnaire data was collected from 65 experts from the Agricultural Organization in the Gotvand district in Southwest Iran. Results indicated that agricultural experts were aware of the environmental benefits and possible risks associated with GM crops. The majority of participants agreed that GM crops could improve food security and accelerate rural development, and were proponents of labeling practices for GM crops. Finally, there was a positive correlation between the perception of benefits and attitudes towards GM crops.

Abstract: Controllable chemical doping of graphene has already proven very useful for electronic applications, but when turning to optical and photonic applications, the additional requirement of having both a high transparency and a low surface roughness has, to our knowledge, not yet been fulfilled by any chemical dopant system reported so far. In this work, a new method that meets for the first time this opticalquality requirement while also providing efficient, controllable doping is presented. The method relies on F4-TCNQ dissolved in methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) yielding a uniform deposition after spin coating because of an extraordinary charge transfer interaction between the F4-TCNQ and MEK molecules. The formed F4-TCNQ/MEK layer exhibits a very high surface quality and optical transparency over the visible-infrared wavelength range between 550 and 1900 nm. By varying the dopant concentration of F4-TCNQ from 2.5 to 40 mg ml1 MEK, the doping effect can be controlled between Dn ¼ +5.73 1012 cm2 and +1.09 1013 cm2 for initially strongly p-type hydrogen-intercalated graphene grown on 6Hsilicon- carbide substrates, and between Dn ¼ +5.56 1012 cm2 and +1.04 1013 cm2 for initially weakly p-type graphene transferred on silicon samples. This is the first time that truly optical-quality chemical doping of graphene is demonstrated, and the obtained doping values exceed those reported before for F4-TCNQ-based graphene doping by as much as 50%.

Abstract: The surface of the aerial parts of the plant, also termed the phyllosphere, is a selective habitat for microbes. The bacterial composition of the phyllosphere depends on host plant species, leaf characteristics, season, climate, and geographic location of the host plant. In this study, we investigated the effect of an urban environment on the bacterial composition of phyllosphere communities. We performed a passive biomonitoring experiment in which leaves were sampled from ivy (Hedera sp.), a common evergreen climber species, in urban and non-urban locations. Exposure to traffic-generated particulate matter was estimated using leaf biomagnetic analyses. The bacterial community composition was determined using 16S rRNA gene sequencing on the Illumina MiSeq. The phyllosphere microbial communities of ivy differed greatly between urban and non-urban locations, as we observed a shift in several of the dominant taxa: Beijerinckia and Methylocystaceae were most abundant in the non-urban phyllosphere, whereas Hymenobacter and Sphingomonadaceae were dominating the urban ivy phyllosphere. The richness, diversity and composition of the communities showed greater variability in the urban than in the non-urban locations, where traffic-generated PM was lower. Interestingly, the relative abundances of eight of the ten most dominant taxa correlated well with leaf magnetism, be it positive or negative. The results of this study indicate that an urban environment can greatly affect the local phyllosphere community composition. Although other urban-related factors cannot be ruled out, the relative abundance of most of the dominant taxa was significantly correlated with exposure to traffic-generated PM.

Abstract: Orpiment and realgar, both arsenic sulfide pigments respectively used for their vivid yellow and red-orange hues, are two of many artists' pigments that appear not to be stable upon light exposure, quickly degrading to arsenic trioxide and arsenate. This often results in whitening or transparency in the painted surfaces. While conventional techniques such as microscopic Raman (mu-RS) and microscopic Fourier transform infrared (mu-FTIR) spectroscopies can allow a quick and relatively easy identification of the orpiment, realgar, artificial arsenic sulfide glass and, to some extent, arsenic oxide, the identification and visualization of distributions of the degradation products – and especially arsenate compounds – in the paint micro-samples is generally more challenging. This challenge is due to the rather unfavorable limit of detection and low spectral resolution of such conventional spectroscopic techniques. This restricts the conclusions that can be drawn regarding the conservation state of valuable works of art. In this paper, we present how synchrotron radiation (SR) based techniques can overcome this challenge while working on painting cross-sections taken from a 17th-century painting by the Flemish artist Daniel Seghers (oil on canvas, Statens Museum for Kunst, Denmark) and an 18th-century French Chinoiserie (private collection, France). SR micro-X-ray fluorescence (m-XRF) mapping analysis performed on a visually degraded orpiment-containing paint stratigraphy reveals that arsenic is distributed throughout the entire cross-section, while X-ray absorption near edge structure (mu-XANES) demonstrated that the arsenic is present in both arsenite (As-III) and arsenate (As-V) forms. The latter compound(s), despite being barely identifiable by means of FTIR, were not only located at the surface of large and partially altered grains of arsenic sulfide but also spread throughout the entire paint stratigraphy. Their presence and distribution are attributed either to the complete degradation of smaller arsenic sulfide grains or to migration of the arsenates within the paint layer away from their original location of formation. The combination of mu-XRF and mu-XANES was very useful for the characterization of the advanced degradation state of the arsenic-containing pigments in paint systems; this type of information could not be obtained by means of conventional spectroscopic methods of microanalysis.

Abstract: In this article, it is shown that the efficiency of an electrochemical aptasensing device is influenced by the use of different nanoparticles (NPs) such as gold nanoparticles (Au), silver nanoparticles (Ag), hollow gold nanospheres (HGN), hollow silver nanospheres (HSN), silvergold core shell (Ag@Au), goldsilver core shell (Au@Ag), and silvergold alloy nanoparticles (Ag/Au). Among these nanomaterials, Ag@Au core shell NPs are advantageous for aptasensing applications because the core improves the physical properties and the shell provides chemical stability and biocompatibility for the immobilization of aptamers. Self-assembly of the NPs on a cysteamine film at the surface of a carbon paste electrode is followed by the immobilization of thiolated aptamers at these nanoframes. The nanostructured (Ag@Au) aptadevice for Escherichia coli as a target shows four times better performance in comparison to the response obtained at an aptamer modified planar gold electrode. A comparison with other (core shell) NPs is performed by cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry. Also, the selectivity of the aptasensor is investigated using other kinds of bacteria. The synthesized NPs and the morphology of the modified electrode are characterized by UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.

Abstract: While deammonification of high-strength wastewater in the sludge line of sewage treatment plants has become well established, the potential cost savings spur the development of this technology for mainstream applications. This study aimed at identifying the effect of aeration and organic carbon on the deammonification process. Two 10 L sequencing bath reactors with different aeration frequencies were operated at 25 degrees C. Real wastewater effluents from chemically enhanced primary treatment and high-rate activated sludge process were fed into the reactors with biodegradable chemical oxygen demand/nitrogen (bCOD/N) of 2.0 and 0.6, respectively. It was found that shorter aerobic solids retention time (SRT) and higher aeration frequency gave more advantages for aerobic ammonium-oxidizing bacteria (AerAOB) than nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB) in the system. From the kinetics study, it is shown that the affinity for oxygen is higher for NOB than for AerAOB, and higher dissolved oxygen set-point could decrease the affinity of both AerAOB and NOB communities. After 514 days of operation, it was concluded that lower organic carbon levels enhanced the activity of anoxic ammonium-oxidizing bacteria (AnAOB) over denitrifiers. As a result, the contribution of AnAOB to nitrogen removal increased from 40 to 70%. Overall, a reasonably good total removal efficiency of 66% was reached under a low bCOD/N ratio of 2.0 after adaptation.

Abstract: In this work an aptamer-based biosensor is combined with a multisine electrochemical impedance spectroscopy sensing methodology into a novel and promising biosensing strategy. Employing a multisine instead of a traditional single sine measuring method allows the detection and quantification of parameters that provide information about the accuracy and reliability of the results, such as noise and distortions. This does not only lead to a shorter measurement time, but it also enables an easy and fast evaluation of the quality of the data and fitting, leading to more accurate results.

Abstract: The true function of neuroglobin (Ngb) and, particularly, human Ngb (NGB) has been under debate since its discovery 15 years ago. It has been expected to play a role in oxygen binding/supply, but a variety of other functions have been put forward, including NO dioxygenase activity. However, in vitro studies that could unravel these potential roles have been hampered by the lack of an Ngb-specific reductase. In this work, we used electrochemical measurements to investigate the role of an intermittent internal disulfide bridge in determining NO oxidation kinetics at physiological NO concentrations. The use of a polarized electrode to efficiently interconvert the ferric (Fe3+) and ferrous (Fe2+) forms of an immobilized NGB showed that the disulfide bridge both defines the kinetics of NO dioxygenase activity and regulates appearance of the free ferrous deoxy-NGB, which is the redox active form of the protein in contrast to oxy-NGB. Our studies further identified a role for the distal histidine, interacting with the hexacoordinated iron atom of the heme, in oxidation kinetics. These findings may be relevant in vivo, for example in blocking apoptosis by reduction of ferric cytochrome c, and gentle tuning of NO concentration in the tissues.