Hydroxyacetone: A Glycerol-Based Platform for Electrocatalytic Hydrogenation and Hydrodeoxygenation Processes.

Here, we propose the use of hydroxyacetone, a dehydration product of glycerol, as a platform for the electrocatalytic synthesis of acetone, 1,2-propanediol, and 2-propanol. 11 non-noble metals were investigated as electrode materials in combination with three different electrolyte compositions toward the selectivity, Coulombic efficiency (CE), and reaction rates of the electrocatalytic hydrogenation (formation of 1,2-propanediol) and hydrodeoxygenation (formation of acetone and propanol) of hydroxyacetone. With a selectivity of 84.

Electrochemistry for the Generation of Renewable Chemicals: One-Pot Electrochemical Deoxygenation of Xylose to δ-Valerolactone.

In this study, the electrochemical conversion of xylose to δ-valerolactone via carbonyl intermediates is demonstrated. The conversion was achieved in aqueous media and at ambient conditions. This study also demonstrates that the feedstock for production of renewable chemicals and biofuels through electrochemistry can be extended to primary carbohydrate molecules.

Metal-Polymer Hybrid Architectures as Novel Anode Platform for Microbial Electrochemical Technologies.

In this publication, we propose metal-polymer hybrid materials as a novel platform for the development of 3 D anode materials for bioelectrochemical systems, such as microbial fuel cells. Extremely low gravimetric density, high porosity, high electric conductivity, and distinct elastic properties are characteristics that are superior for bioelectrochemical applications. As a proof of concept, we investigated copper-melamine foams (Cu-MF) based on a commercially available, open cell melamine foam.

Contaminations of organic fertilizers with antibiotic residues, resistance genes, and mobile genetic elements mirroring antibiotic use in livestock?

Pig manures are frequently used as fertilizer or co-substrate in biogas plants (BGPs) and typically contain antibiotic residues (ARs), as well as bacteria carrying resistance genes (RGs) and mobile genetic elements (MGEs). A survey of manures from eight pig fattening and six pig breeding farms and digestates from eight BGPs in Lower Saxony, Germany was conducted to evaluate the link between antibiotic usage and ARs to RGs and MGEs present in organic fertilizers. In total, 11 different antibiotics belonging to six substance classes were applied in the farms investigated.

Calibrated Passive Sampling--Multi-plot Field Measurements of NH3 Emissions with a Combination of Dynamic Tube Method and Passive Samplers.

Agricultural ammonia (NH3) emissions (90% of total EU emissions) are responsible for about 45% airborne eutrophication, 31% soil acidification and 12% fine dust formation within the EU15. But NH3 emissions also mean a considerable loss of nutrients. Many studies on NH3 emission from organic and mineral fertilizer application have been performed in recent decades.

Full-scale mesophilic biogas plants using manure as C-source: bacterial community shifts along the process cause changes in the abundance of resistance genes and mobile genetic elements.

The application of manure, typically harboring bacteria carrying resistance genes (RGs) and mobile genetic elements (MGEs), as co-substrate in biogas plants (BGPs) might be critical when digestates are used as fertilizers. In the present study, the relative abundance of RGs and MGEs in total community (TC-) DNA from manure, fermenters and digestate samples taken at eight full-scale BGPs co-fermenting manure were determined by real-time PCR. In addition, the bacterial community composition of all digestates as well as manure and fermenter material from one BGP (BGP3) was characterized by 454-pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA amplicons from TC-DNA.

Examining sludge production in bioelectrochemical systems treating domestic wastewater.

Sludge production in microbial bioelectrochemical systems (BES) was assessed in conjunction with anaerobic and aerobic control reactors. Effluent after primary settling tank (EAPS) and depleted EAPS spiked with acetate were treated. The reactors were loaded with total suspended solids (TSS) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) at average loading rates of 22 mg TSS d(-1)L(-1) and 86 mg COD d(-1)L(-1), respectively.

Acute Toxicity and Environmental Risks of Five Veterinary Pharmaceuticals for Aquatic Macroinvertebrates.

Due to the high use of antibiotics and antiparasitics for the treatment of livestock, there is concern about the potential impacts of the release of these compounds into freshwater ecosystems. In this context, the present study quantified the acute toxicity of two antibiotics (sulfadiazine and sulfadimidine), and three antiparasitic agents (flubendazole, fenbendazole, ivermectin) for nine freshwater invertebrate species. These experiments revealed a low degree of toxicity for the sulfonamide antibiotics, with limited implications in the survival of all test species at the highest test concentrations (50 and 100 mg/L).

Effects of long-term irrigation with untreated municipal wastewater on soil properties and crop quality.

Irrigating crops with untreated wastewater leads to elevated concentrations of heavy metals both in soil and cultivated crops. The current study was designed to determine heavy metal (i.e.

Synthesis of coplanar PCT as reference substances for the residue analysis of polychlorinated terphenyls.

In the course of the development of a new and reliable analytical method for the PCT, a group of environmental contaminants, six coplanar terphenyl congeners were synthesized and characterized by means of spectroscopic methods. These congeners are 3,3″,4,4″,5-pentachloro-p-terphenyl, 3,3″,4,5,5″-pentachloro-p-terphenyl, 3,3″,4,5″-tetrachloro-m-terphenyl, 3,3″,4,4″,5-pentachloro-m-terphenyl, 3,3″,5,5',5″-pentachloro-m-terphenyl, and 3,3″,4,4″,5,5″-hexachloro-m-terphenyl. A combination of silica gel column chromatography and preparative NP-HPLC was successfully applied for the first time for the isolation of especially the asymmetrically chlorinated target compounds from product mixtures of the syntheses.

Application of simple and low-cost toxicity tests for ecotoxicological assessment of industrial wastewaters.

The objective of this study was to identify and to apply appropriate biotests having the advantages of being highly sensitive, easy to run, relatively inexpensive and able to substitute fish toxicity tests due to ethical reasons of animal welfare. To perform an ecotoxicological assessment of industrial wastewaters, different microbiotests were conducted to substitute the fish toxicity test with Lebistes reticulatus through Vibrio fischeri, Thamnocephalus platyurus, Daphnia magna, Lemna minor and Lepidium sativum representing different trophic levels in the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Also, Algaltox F(TM) with Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata and Protox F(TM) with Tetrahymena thermophila tests were carried out.

Transferable antibiotic resistance plasmids from biogas plant digestates often belong to the IncP-1ε subgroup.

Manure is known to contain residues of antibiotics administered to farm animals as well as bacteria carrying antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). These genes are often located on mobile genetic elements. In biogas plants (BGPs), organic substrates such as manure and plant material are mixed and fermented in order to provide energy, and resulting digestates are used for soil fertilization.

Electrochemistry for biofuel generation: transformation of fatty acids and triglycerides to diesel-like olefin/ether mixtures and olefins.

Electroorganic synthesis can be exploited for the production of biofuels from fatty acids and triglycerides. With Coulomb efficiencies (CE) of up to 50 %, the electrochemical decarboxylation of fatty acids in methanolic and ethanolic solutions leads to the formation of diesel-like olefin/ether mixtures. Triglycerides can be directly converted in aqueous solutions by using sonoelectrochemistry, with olefins as the main products (with a CE of more than 20 %).

Reactor concepts for bioelectrochemical syntheses and energy conversion.

In bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) at least one electrode reaction is catalyzed by microorganisms or isolated enzymes. One of the existing challenges for BESs is shifting the technology towards industrial use and engineering reactor systems at adequate scales. Due to the fact that most BESs are usually deployed in the production of large-volume but low-value products (e.

Effects of insecticide formulations used in cotton cultivation in West Africa on the development of flat-backed toad tadpoles (Amietophrynus maculatus).

In the West African savanna zone, traditional subsistence farming increasingly shifts to cash crop farming and in particular to cotton cultivation, which is accompanied by application of pesticides. Increasing use of pesticides by smallholder farmers is suspected to have negative effects on non-target organisms. In this study, possible pesticide impact on the development of tadpoles was investigated.

Cytometric fingerprints: evaluation of new tools for analyzing microbial community dynamics.

Optical characteristics of individual bacterial cells of natural communities can be measured with flow cytometry (FCM) in high throughput. The resulting data are visualized in cytometric histograms. These histograms represent individual cytometric fingerprints of microbial communities, e.

Evaluating the effects of scaling up on the performance of bioelectrochemical systems using a technical scale microbial electrolysis cell.

This study focuses on the challenges of the scaling up process of bioelectrochemical systems on the example of a technical scale microbial electrolysis cell referred to as the "prototype". Anodically treating real wastewater and operated in continuous mode at a hydraulic retention time of 1.23 d with an average chemical oxygen demand (COD)-loading rate of 0.

Insecticide residues in bats along a land use-gradient dominated by cotton cultivation in northern Benin, West Africa.

Many regions in Africa are currently being converted from subsistence to cash crop farming such as cotton. Agricultural intensification is usually accompanied by increased use of pesticides, which can have an impact on non-target organisms. Bats are particularly sensitive to insecticide loads while providing substantial ecosystem services as predators of herbivorous insects.

Use of modified wheat bran for the removal of chromium(VI) from aqueous solutions.

Novel adsorbents, wheat bran (WB) and modified wheat bran (M-WB) with tartaric acid were developed and Cr(VI) adsorption was investigated by changing various parameters. The adsorption increased with contact time and become optimum at 180 min for WB and 200 min for M-WB. When the pH of the solution phase increased, some of toxic Cr(VI) reduced into less toxic Cr(III) on the WB surface.

Widespread dissemination of class 1 integron components in soils and related ecosystems as revealed by cultivation-independent analysis.

Class 1 integrons contribute to the emerging problem of antibiotic resistance in human medicine by acquisition, exchange, and expression of resistance genes embedded within gene cassettes. Besides the clinical setting they were recently reported from environmental habitats and often located on plasmids and transposons, facilitating their transfer and spread within bacterial communities. In this study we aimed to provide insights into the occurrence of genes typically associated with the class 1 integrons in previously not studied environments with or without human impact and their association with IncP-1 plasmids.

Laboratory tests on sorption and transformation of the insecticide flubendiamide in Japanese tea field soil.

Flubendiamide belongs to the modern insecticides applied in Japanese tea cultivation to control smaller tea tortrix and tea leaf roller. Since fate and behavior in soil have been only monitored sparsely and fragmentarily until today, laboratory tests were performed on sorption, leaching, biotransformation and photo-induced biotransformation of flubendiamide in two different soils. In batch equilibrium tests, K(d) and K(OC) values were 15 and 298 L kg(-1) for the Japanese tea field soil as well as 16 and 1610 L kg(-1) for the German arable field soil classifying flubendiamide to be moderately mobile and slightly mobile, respectively.

Electron transfer and biofilm formation of Shewanella putrefaciens as function of anode potential.

Shewanellaceae are among the most widely studied electroactive microorganisms. In this report, we studied the influence of the applied electrode potential on the anodic current production of Shewanella putrefaciens NCTC 10695 under anoxic conditions. Furthermore, we used cyclic voltammetry (CV) and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) to investigate the microbial electron transfer and biofilm formation.

The diversity of techniques to study electrochemically active biofilms highlights the need for standardization.

Microbial bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) employ whole microorganisms to catalyze electrode reactions. BESs allow electricity generation from wastewater, electricity-driven (bio)production, biosensing, and bioremediation. Many of these processes are perceived as highly promising; however, to date the performance of particularly bioproduction processes is not yet at the level required for practical applications.