Environmental Burden of Disease due to Emissions of Hard Coal- and Lignite-Fired Power Plants in Germany.

The study estimated the environmental burden of disease (EBD) attributable to a long-term exposure of the population to nitrogen dioxide (NO) and fine particulate matter (PM) emissions from hard coal- and lignite-fired power plants in Germany for the year 2015. The contribution of coal-fired power plants to the total air pollutant concentration was modelled using a chemical transport model and then combined with population data to assess the corresponding population exposure. We calculated years of life lost (YLL), years of life with disability, or disability-adjusted life years for different health outcomes with a strong evidence for an association with the exposure.

The HTAP_v3 emission mosaic: merging regional and global monthly emissions (2000-2018) to support air quality modelling and policies.

This study, performed under the umbrella of the Task Force on Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution (TF-HTAP), responds to the global and regional atmospheric modelling community's need of a mosaic emission inventory of air pollutants that conforms to specific requirements: global coverage, long time series, spatially distributed emissions with high time resolution, and a high sectoral resolution. The mosaic approach of integrating official regional emission inventories based on locally reported data, with a global inventory based on a globally consistent methodology, allows modellers to perform simulations of high scientific quality while also ensuring that the results remain relevant to policymakers. HTAP_v3, an ad hoc global mosaic of anthropogenic inventories, has been developed by integrating official inventories over specific areas (North America, Europe, Asia including Japan and South Korea) with the independent Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR) inventory for the remaining world regions.

gen. nov., sp. nov., sp. nov. and sp. nov., hyperalkaliphilic and facultative autotrophic bacteria isolated from terrestrial serpentinizing springs.

Three highly alkaliphilic bacterial strains designated as A1, H1 and B1 were isolated from two highly alkaline springs at The Cedars, a terrestrial serpentinizing site. Cells from all strains were motile, Gram-negative and rod-shaped. Strains A1, H1 and B1 were mesophilic (optimum, 30 °C), highly alkaliphilic (optimum, pH 11) and facultatively autotrophic.

Sources of particulate-matter air pollution and its oxidative potential in Europe.

Particulate matter is a component of ambient air pollution that has been linked to millions of annual premature deaths globally. Assessments of the chronic and acute effects of particulate matter on human health tend to be based on mass concentration, with particle size and composition also thought to play a part. Oxidative potential has been suggested to be one of the many possible drivers of the acute health effects of particulate matter, but the link remains uncertain.

Anammox and beyond.

When looking back and wonder how we did it, I became even more aware of how my wanderings in microbiology are all linked, from the start of my PhD with Hans Veldkamp on sulphur-oxidizing bacteria in chemostats. My interests broadened from obligate chemolithoautotrophic bacteria to facultative organisms and the question about the ecological niches of these different metabolic types. The sulphide oxidizing bacteria also may be used to produce elemental sulphur, which can easily be removed from wastewater.