Abstract: Urban environments provide opportunities for greater resource efficiency and the fostering of urban ecosystems. Brownfield areas are a typical example of underused land resources. Brownfield redevelopment projects that include green infrastructure allow for further ecosystems to be accommodated in urban environments. Green infrastructure also deliver important urban ecosystem services (UES) to local residents, which can greatly contribute to improving quality of life in cities. In this case study, we quantify and assess the economic value of five UES for a brownfield redevelopment project in Antwerp, Belgium. The assessment is carried out using the “Nature Value Explorer” modelling tool. The case includes three types of green infrastructure (green corridor, infiltration gullies and green roofs) primarily intended to connect nature reserves on the urban periphery and to avoid surface runoff. The green infrastructure also provides air filtration, climate regulation, carbon sequestration and recreation ecosystem services. The value of recreation far exceeds other values, including the value of avoided runoff. The case study raises crucial questions as to whether existing UES valuation approaches adequately account for the range of UES provided and whether such approaches can be improved to achieve more accurate and reliable value estimates in future analyses.

Abstract: South American grasslands contain extraordinary biodiversity and play a central role in the subsistence of regional agroecosystems. In recent decades, afforestation, followed by the soybean planting boom, have led to drastic land-use changes at the expense of grasslands. Impacts on local biodiversity have remained understudied. We explored the taxonomic richness and ss-diversity of plants of ground layer (excluding trees and shrubs) at different land uses, its interplay at regional scale with environmental heterogeneity, and at local scale with novel land cover types and landscape configurations. We conducted correlation, principal component, NDMS, and SDR analysis to explore variation of taxonomic richness, richness difference, replacement, and similarity of ground flora as response to environmental filters and land use change across Uruguay. We surveyed 160 plots distributed in 10 land cover types, that is, closed and open native forests, different grasslands, crops, orchards, and timber plantations. We observed overlaying regional patterns driven by seasonality of temperature and precipitation, and land cover shaping taxonomic richness at local scale. Landscape configuration affects diversity patterns of native ground flora, which seems to be sustained mainly by the “old growth grassland” species pool. Taxonomic richness of native species decreases with an increase of distance to grassland. Crops and grasslands harbor a higher number of native species in the ground flora than native forests and timber plantations. The introduction of exotics is driven mostly by crops or highly modified pastures. Diversity patterns only partially reflect the ecoregion concept. Expanding the perspective from conservation in purely natural ecosystems to measures conserving species richness in human-modified landscapes is a powerful tool against species loss in the Anthropocene.

Abstract: Stimuli-responsive metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are highly versatile porous materials with the ability to respond to different external stimuli, including temperature, pressure, pH, and light. The MOF properties can switch reversibly under specific light irradiation, opening the doors to various applications. This review focuses on design strategies to obtain photo-responsive MOFs, namely (i) encapsulation of photo-switchable molecules as guests in MOF porous structures, (ii) fabrication of MOF composites, (iii) post-synthesis modification, and (iv) synthesis of MOFs with photo-responsive ligands. The most recent reports from the literature are herein reviewed and analyzed in terms of material chemistry and performance. Comparisons between the different strategies are performed and future challenges are discussed. The critical aspect of the fatigue of photo-responsive MOFs applied for prolonged cycling of irradiation is also discussed.

Abstract: The risk profile of Cr and Pb in urban road deposited sediment Exponential urbanisation and industrial growth occur on a global scale and result in an ecological burden, of which one important part is pollution. It is well known that the extent of air pollution has escalated over the past two decades in several parts of the world, despite mitigating measures and legislation. Current research points to the fact that air pollution in urban and industrial areas is substantially different from that found in rural areas. Road dust (RD) contributes up to 35% of airborne particulate matter due to resuspension thereof, and poses a health concern due to carcinogenic and toxic components potentially present in the micron-sized fractions. Although literature does report on the concentrations of trace, toxic metals and metalloids present in RD (Hooker and Nathanail 2006), the molecular make-up of particulates generated due to the resuspension of the RD is not well documented. In vitro and animal toxicological studies have confirmed that the chemical composition of inhaled particles plays a major role in its toxic, genotoxic and carcinogenic mechanisms, but the component-specific toxic effects are still not understood. Transition metals binding to air particle matter can result in reactive oxygen species in the human body (particularly in the lungs), and this is a significant risk, especially for vulnerable population groups like elderly people, children and terminally ill patients. The characterisation of the molecular composition of the fine fraction is evidently of importance for public health. During an earlier study, road dust from an inner-city environment in the UK was collected and partially characterised (Barrett e.a. 2010). These same-size fractions were analysed for their elemental concentrations, using X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (XRFS) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). In addition, single-particle analysis was performed on the different fractions by means of Computer Controlled Electron Probe X-ray Micro Analysis (CC-EPXMA) and their molecular structure probed by studying elemental associations. These findings were correlated with Micro Raman Spectroscopy (MRS) results. It was found that the fine fraction (<38 μm) had the highest Pb (238 ppm) and Cr (171 ppm) concentrations. The CC-EPXMA data showed >50% association of Cr-rich particles with Pb and the MRS data showed that the Cr was mostly present as lead chromate and therefore in the Cr(VI) oxidation state. Concentrations of both Pb and Cr decreased substantially (279 (<38 mm) 13 ppm (<1mm); 171 (<38 mm) 91 ppm (<1mm) respectively) in the larger fractions. Apart from rather alarmingly high concentrations of oxidative stressors (Cu, Fe, Mn), the carcinogenic and toxic potential of the inhalable fraction is evident. Preliminary bioaccessibility data indicated that both Cr and Pb are readily

Abstract: Single cell protein (SCP), or originally named microbial protein, is the edible microbial biomass derived from e.g. microalgae, bacteria and fungi, which can be used as protein sources replacing conventional protein sources for animal feed or human food such as fishmeal and soybean (Anupama & Ravindra 2000). SCP presents great potential as protein supplement to alleviate the problem of food scarcity in the future (Nasseri et al. 2011). In general, microalgae as SCP contains above 50% protein over dry weight and specifically for the marine microalgae Dunaliella salina the amount stays around 57% (Becker 2007). Commercially the most common system for Dunaliella sp. production is the outdoor open pond, thus the microalgal cells are subjected to a natural light/dark cycle (Hosseini Tafreshi & Shariati 2009). Being photo-autotrophic microorganisms, the lack of light energy sources is a risk leading to night biomass loss (Ogbonna & Tanaka 1996). On the other hand, for some microalgae species cell division occurs primarily during the night suggesting its night protein synthesis (Cuhel et al. 1984). As a consequence, day and night metabolisms of microalgae introduced by light/dark cycles potentially will have big impacts on the biomass development, both in growth and biochemical composition. In this study, the effect of the light/dark cycle on the growth and protein synthesis of Dunaliella salina was explored in comparison with continuous light cultivation.

Abstract: By 2050, the world population will have considerably expanded and the life standard of many will increase, yielding a 50% higher demand in protein (FAO, 2011), and even increases of 82 and 102% for diary and meat products, respectively (Boland et al., 2013). To provide in this increasing demand we are highly dependent on our classical fertilizer to food chain which has a high environmental impact and lacks efficiency. Nutrient losses cause eutrophication and biodiversity loss and the input of resources is already beyond the boundaries of environmental sustainability (Steffen et al., 2015). Phosphate fertilizers are made from phosphate rock (apatite), of which the reserves are predicted to be depleted within 50 100 years if we continue business as usual (Cordell et al., 2009). Next to problems related to the unbalanced geopolitical distribution with dominance in China and Morocco, the decreasing quality of the remaining apatite will result in an increasing environmental impact of fertilizer production. Finally, our traditional food production model requires 30% of all ice-free land, 70% of all available freshwater and produces up to one third of the global greenhouse gas emission, of which 80 to 86% is linked to agricultural production (Vermeulen et al., 2012). To ensure food security, nutrient recovery from waste streams can provide an important strategy. In this context, struvite ( ) crystallisation may be applied to recover phosphorus, along with some nitrogen. Reusing these nutrients as agricultural fertilizer on the field will lead to considerable losses to the environment. In contrast, their use to cultivate micro-organisms, e.g. for single cell protein (SCP), offers to potential of a near perfect conversion efficiency (Moed et al., 2015). At this moment, microalgae represent the most developed type of SCP, and are a promising protein source due to their growth rate, high nutritional quality and extremely high nutrient usage efficiency (Becker, 2007). Reliable solubilisation data are essential to design a technological strategy for struvite dosage in bioreactors for SCP production. The effect on solubility and solubilisation rate of relevant physicochemical parameters was studied experimentally in aqueous solutions. Because pH and temperature greatly affect solubilisation kinetics they were set at a constant value of 7 and 20°C respectively. The effect of some parameters on struvite solubility was already studied (Bhuiyan et al., 2007; Ariyanto et al., 2014; Roncal-Herrero and Oelkers, 2011), but solubilisation rates were not yet considered and pH was not controlled at a constant value. The chemical parameters considered in this study include the concentration of different common ions ( and ), foreign ions ( and the chelating agent ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, EDTA) present in micro-algal cultivation media as well as ionic strength (as set by NaCl). The main physical parameter included was contact surface, through variation in initial particle size and as well as in struvite dosage concentration.

Abstract: In this paper, we consider the bulky knots and bulky links, which appear after cutting of a Generalized MöbiusListing GMLn2 body (with the radial cross section a convex plane 2-symmetric figure with two vertices) along a different Generalized MöbiusListing surfaces GMLn2 situated in it. The aim of this report is to investigate the number and geometric structure of the independent objects that appear after such a cutting process of GMLn2 bodies. In most cases we are able to count the indices of the resulting mathematical objects according to the known classification for the standard knots and links.