Sanitär- und Kommunaltechnik; Umwelttechnik
Filtern
Erscheinungsjahr
Dokumenttyp
- Vortrag (503)
- Posterpräsentation (311)
- Beitrag zu einem Tagungsband (118)
- Zeitschriftenartikel (61)
- Buchkapitel (14)
- Sonstiges (12)
- Dissertation (7)
- Forschungsdatensatz (6)
- Beitrag zu einem Sammelband (3)
- Zeitschriftenheft (Herausgeberschaft für das komplette Heft) (3)
Sprache
- Englisch (1045) (entfernen)
Referierte Publikation
- nein (1045) (entfernen)
Schlagworte
- Microplastics (46)
- Biocides (39)
- Corrosion (37)
- Antimicrobial resistance (30)
- Fluorescence (28)
- Mobile Robot Olfaction (27)
- Immunoassay (25)
- Biofilm (23)
- Soil (23)
- Environment (18)
- Leaching (18)
- Bacteria (17)
- Microplastic (17)
- PFAS (16)
- Recycling (16)
- Termite (16)
- Evolution (15)
- MIC (15)
- Nano aerial robot (15)
- Phosphorus recovery (15)
- Standardization (15)
- TED-GC/MS (14)
- VOC (14)
- Wastewater (14)
- Biocide (13)
- Methanogens (13)
- Immunity (12)
- NIR (12)
- Reference material (12)
- Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy (TDLAS) (12)
- Weathering (12)
- Biofilms (11)
- Microbiology (11)
- Nanoparticle (11)
- TED-GC-MS (11)
- Tomographic reconstruction of gas plumes (11)
- Amoxicillin (10)
- Bottom ash (10)
- Diclofenac (10)
- ELISA (10)
- Ectoine (10)
- Knufia petricola (10)
- Localization of gas sources (10)
- Melanin (10)
- Nano (10)
- Phosphorus (10)
- Sewage sludge (10)
- Swarm (10)
- Antimicrobial coating (9)
- Circular economy (9)
- Dye (9)
- Ecotoxicity (9)
- Fungus (9)
- LIBS (9)
- Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) (9)
- Risk assessment (9)
- Sensor (9)
- TDLAS (9)
- CO2 (8)
- Circular Economy (8)
- Disinfection (8)
- Ecodesign (8)
- Electrochemistry (8)
- Gas sensing (8)
- Gypsum (8)
- Mikroplastik (8)
- Persistence (8)
- Pollen (8)
- Aerosol (7)
- Antibiotics (7)
- Archaea (7)
- Building materials (7)
- CCS (7)
- Calibration (7)
- Cascade impactor (7)
- Construction products (7)
- DNA (7)
- Emission test chamber (7)
- Genetics (7)
- Horizontal gene transfer HGT (7)
- Phenotypic diversity (7)
- Quantum yield (7)
- Resistance (7)
- Resistance evolution (7)
- Termites (7)
- Tolerance (7)
- UAV-REGAS (7)
- XANES spectroscopy (7)
- XRF (7)
- Aerial robot (6)
- Air quality monitoring (6)
- Analysis (6)
- Antibody (6)
- Biosensor (6)
- Black fungi (6)
- CCUS (6)
- Carbon steel (6)
- Chemometrics (6)
- Concrete (6)
- Copper (6)
- Gas tomography (6)
- Ground vibration (6)
- Hydraulic reactivity (6)
- ICP-MS (6)
- Immunosensor (6)
- Integrating sphere spectroscopy (6)
- Korrosion (6)
- Lifetime (6)
- Magnetic Beads (6)
- Metabolism (6)
- Microbiologically influenced corrosion (6)
- Monitoring (6)
- NanoSIMS (6)
- Nanomaterial (6)
- Nanomaterials (6)
- Olivine (6)
- PFOS (6)
- Photodegradation (6)
- Polymer 3R (6)
- Quantum dot (6)
- Resource recovery (6)
- Round robin test (6)
- Sensor network (6)
- Sewage sludge ash (6)
- UAV (6)
- Antimicrobial Resistance (5)
- BOFS (5)
- BPA (5)
- Bead-based assay (5)
- Biocide tolerance (5)
- CCU (5)
- Combustion ion chromatography (5)
- Critical raw materials (5)
- Dosimetry (5)
- Durability (5)
- EDC (5)
- Environmental Simulation (5)
- Environmental evaluation (5)
- Environmental monitoring (5)
- Estrogens (5)
- Fertilizer (5)
- Flame retardant (5)
- Fungi (5)
- GC-MS (5)
- Geothermal (5)
- Ground water (5)
- Heterogeneity (5)
- Imaging (5)
- Indoor air quality (5)
- Low-cost (5)
- MALDI-TOF MS (5)
- Microdosimetry (5)
- Moisture (5)
- Nanopartikel (5)
- OECD (5)
- PCA (5)
- PFOA (5)
- PLSR (5)
- Pigment (5)
- Plastic (5)
- Plume (5)
- Portland Cement (5)
- Pyrometallurgy (5)
- RASEM (5)
- Radiation damage (5)
- Reference materials (5)
- Rheology (5)
- Rock-inhabiting fungus (5)
- Sc-ICP-ToF-MS (5)
- Social (5)
- Spectroscopy (5)
- Sustainability (5)
- TXRF (5)
- Volatile organic compounds (5)
- Ageing (4)
- Air quality (4)
- Alite (4)
- Anthropogenic markers (4)
- Antimony (4)
- BFR (4)
- Bauschuttaufbereitung (4)
- Biodeterioration (4)
- Biosensoren (4)
- CDW processing (4)
- Cement (4)
- Construction and demolition waste (4)
- Cross-resistance (4)
- Density separation (4)
- Digital twin (4)
- Earthen materials (4)
- Emissions (4)
- Energy efficiency (4)
- Environmental simulation (4)
- Fluorescence standard (4)
- Gas source localization (4)
- Geant4 (4)
- Glass (4)
- Glutaraldehyde (4)
- Grain size (4)
- HR-CS-GFMAS (4)
- Horizontal gene transfer (4)
- LC-MS/MS (4)
- LFIA (4)
- Life cycle assessment (4)
- Light (4)
- Lightweight concrete (4)
- MCF (4)
- Masonry rubble (4)
- Method development (4)
- Microfluidics (4)
- Mobile robotic olfaction (4)
- Modelling (4)
- Multiplexing (4)
- Mutation rate (4)
- Mycotoxins (4)
- NDT (4)
- Pigments (4)
- Policy making (4)
- Pollutants (4)
- Polymer (4)
- Polymers (4)
- Protein (4)
- Quality assurance (4)
- Raman (4)
- Remediation (4)
- SAXS (4)
- SWIR (4)
- Steelmaking slag (4)
- Strengthening (4)
- Tantalum (4)
- Toxic metals (4)
- Transformation products (4)
- Trichodiene (4)
- Warfarin (4)
- Water Analysis (4)
- Wireless Sensor Network (4)
- X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy (4)
- 3-axis gimbal (3)
- Aerial Robot (3)
- Aerial platform (3)
- Ammonia gas sensor (3)
- Antikörper (3)
- Antimicrobial coatings (3)
- Antimicrobial surfaces (3)
- Apanteles carpatus (3)
- Architecture (3)
- BEMMA (3)
- Bacterial adhesion (3)
- Bagasse (3)
- Baryscapus tineivorus (3)
- Biofilm formation (3)
- Bioreceptivity (3)
- Bisphenols (3)
- Black fungus (3)
- Blast furnace sludge (3)
- Blended cements (3)
- Building Materials (3)
- CRM (3)
- Calcined clays (3)
- Characterization (3)
- Chemical durability (3)
- Coating (3)
- Cockroach (3)
- Comparability (3)
- Corrosion products (3)
- DDT (3)
- DHN melanin (3)
- E. coli (3)
- EPS (3)
- ESPR (3)
- EU Energy Labelling (3)
- Effect based Method (3)
- Electric arc furnace dust (3)
- Electronic nose (3)
- Embedded sensor (3)
- Emission (3)
- Energy Labelling (3)
- Environmental Monitoring (3)
- Extremotolerance (3)
- FPIA (3)
- FTIR (3)
- Fertilzer (3)
- Flow Model (3)
- Fragmentation (3)
- G5P (3)
- Gas Source Localisation (3)
- Gas Spectroscopy (3)
- Gas Tomography (3)
- Gas distribution mapping (3)
- Ground Robot (3)
- HP14 (3)
- Halomonas CRISPR Ectoine (3)
- ILC (3)
- IR (3)
- Immune gene family (3)
- Implants (3)
- Incineration bottom ash (3)
- Ionizing radiation (3)
- Knufia (3)
- LA-ICP-MS (3)
- LC-ELISA (3)
- LIPSS (3)
- Laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) (3)
- Localization (3)
- Low energy electrons (3)
- Low melting (3)
- Lysimeter (3)
- MS based method (3)
- Mapping (3)
- Mass spectrometry (3)
- Material efficiency (3)
- Materials (3)
- Metabolites (3)
- Metformin (3)
- Methanogen-induced microbiologically influenced corrosion (3)
- Method (3)
- Methyl mercury (3)
- Microbiological influenced corrosion MIC (3)
- Microcolonial fungi (3)
- Microplastic analysis (3)
- Microplastics standardisation (3)
- Modellierung (3)
- Museum (3)
- Mycotoxin Biomarker (3)
- NMR (3)
- Nanoparticles (3)
- Nitrogen (3)
- Odour (3)
- Passive sampling (3)
- Perceived Intensity (3)
- Pesticides (3)
- Protective glazing (3)
- QA/QC (3)
- REACH (3)
- Rare earth elements (3)
- Recycling materials (3)
- Red Mud (3)
- Reliability (3)
- Reliable measurements (3)
- Resource efficiency (3)
- SPE HR-CS GF MAS (3)
- Scandium (3)
- Schnelltest (3)
- Secondary raw materials (3)
- Single cell (3)
- Single cell analysis (3)
- Single cell-ICP-ToF-MS (3)
- Solar panel (3)
- Stable isotopes (3)
- Standard gas generator (3)
- Starch (3)
- Steel (3)
- Structural health monitoring (3)
- Supply risk (3)
- Thermal extraction (3)
- Thermochemical treatment (3)
- Thermogravimetry (3)
- Trail detection (3)
- Trail following (3)
- Transformation (3)
- UHPC (3)
- Utilization (3)
- Virulence (3)
- Virus (3)
- WFD (3)
- Waste treatment (3)
- Wood protection (3)
- Zinc (3)
- leaching (3)
- photocatalysis (3)
- 3D printing (2)
- Acoustic sensing (2)
- Adsorption (2)
- Aerial Robot Olfaction (2)
- Aerial systems (2)
- Air Pollution (2)
- Air Quality (2)
- Air exchange rate (2)
- Air pollution (2)
- Ambient vibration tests (2)
- Analytical method (2)
- Anhydrite (2)
- Anobium punctatum (2)
- Antibiotic resisitance (2)
- Artificial weathering (2)
- AshDec (2)
- Assay (2)
- Atmospheric Corrosion (2)
- Atmosphärische Korrosion (2)
- Automation (2)
- Ballast tracks (2)
- Bauprodukte (2)
- Bauxite Residue (2)
- Bio-SAXS (2)
- Bio-based concrete (2)
- BioSAXS (2)
- Bioavailability (2)
- Biocorrosion (2)
- Biodiesel (2)
- Biodiversity (2)
- Biological control (2)
- Biotechnology (2)
- Biotransformation (2)
- Bisphenol A (2)
- Bisphenol A degradation (2)
- Black yeast (2)
- BonaRes (2)
- Bouts (2)
- Brick clays (2)
- Brown-rot fungi (2)
- Building vibration (2)
- CDW recycling (2)
- CDW treatment (2)
- CFD (2)
- CFK (2)
- CO2 assisted impregnation (2)
- CO2 corrosion (2)
- CO2 quality (2)
- Cabonfasern (2)
- Capability (2)
- Capture (2)
- Carbamazepine (2)
- Carbide formation (2)
- Carbon (2)
- Carbon Fibers (2)
- Carbon capture storage (2)
- Carbon feeding (2)
- Carbon steel corrosion (2)
- Carbon steels (2)
- Carotenoids (2)
- Cellulose (2)
- Chamber test (2)
- Chemical admixtures (2)
- Chemical analysis (2)
- Chromatography (2)
- Chromium (2)
- Clinker substitute (2)
- Colorimetric Sensor (2)
- Combustion Ion Chromatography (2)
- Compatible solute (2)
- Compression behaviour (2)
- Condensate (2)
- Condensation (2)
- Conductive carbon tape (2)
- Confetti (2)
- Consumer (2)
- Consumer products (2)
- Contaminant transfer (2)
- Corynetes caeruleus (2)
- Cosolute (2)
- Cr(III) complex (2)
- Cultural heritage (2)
- DGT (2)
- Data fusion (2)
- Decontamination (2)
- Demolition/selective dismantling (2)
- Desinfectant (2)
- Detection (2)
- Diagonal compression test (2)
- Diatoms (2)
- Diffusive Gradients in thin films (DGT) (2)
- Diffusive gradients in thin-films (DGT) (2)
- Diffusive sampling (2)
- Direct material input (2)
- Disinfectants (2)
- Distributed fiber sensing (2)
- Distributed robotics (2)
- Drinking water (2)
- Drone (2)
- Droplet corrosion (2)
- Dust sensor (2)
- Dynamic characterisation (2)
- Dynamic scanning calorimetry (2)
- E.coli (2)
- EDXRF (2)
- EN 16516 (2)
- Earthen Materials (2)
- Eco-efficiency analysis (2)
- Ectoin (2)
- Efficacy (2)
- Electric Arc Furnace (2)
- Electron backscatter diffraction (2)
- Electronics (2)
- Elektroofenstaub (2)
- Element mass concentration (2)
- Emerging (2)
- Emerging infectious disease (2)
- Emerging pollutants (2)
- Emissionen (2)
- Emissions testing (2)
- Environment monitoring and management (2)
- Environmental condition (2)
- Environmental pollution (2)
- European standard (2)
- Eusociality (2)
- Exergy (2)
- Expansion joint (2)
- FAME (2)
- FIB/SEM (2)
- FITC (2)
- FSW (2)
- Femtosecond laser (2)
- Fenton oxidation (2)
- Field robots (2)
- Finite element method (2)
- Fish (2)
- Flame retardancy (2)
- Flammability (2)
- Flow-cytometry (2)
- GVP (2)
- Gas Distribution Mapping (2)
- Gas Source Localization (2)
- Gas chromatography (2)
- Gas detector (2)
- Gas dispersion simulation (2)
- Gaschromatography-Mass Spectrometry (2)
- Gassensor (2)
- Geant4-DNA (2)
- Genomics (2)
- Geosynthetics (2)
- Geruch (2)
- Gichtgasschlamm (2)
- Gips (2)
- Groundwater (2)
- Group defence (2)
- Gypsum recycling (2)
- Harmonisation in microplastics (2)
- Hazard properties (2)
- Heavy metal (2)
- Hi-Tension (2)
- High power welding (2)
- Hydrogen (2)
- ISO 16000-6 (2)
- InP (2)
- Indicator (2)
- Installation (2)
- Inter-robot measurements (2)
- Ionizing radiation damage (2)
- Ir DNA staining approach (2)
- Irradiation (2)
- JLH (2)
- Joint sealing (2)
- Kreislaufwirtschaft (2)
- Kunststoffdichtungsbahnen (2)
- LC-HRMS (2)
- LCA (2)
- LEE (2)
- Laser cleaning (2)
- Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (2)
- Leaching of waste materials (2)
- Lead (2)
- Life cycle thinking (2)
- Ligand (2)
- Lightweight aggregates (2)
- Lightweight aggregates (LWA) (2)
- Loading factor (2)
- MVA (2)
- Machined olfaction (2)
- Market surveillance (2)
- Masonry tower (2)
- Mass content (2)
- Mass contents (2)
- McSAS3 (2)
- Mechanochemical treatment (2)
- Medical diagnostics (2)
- Medieval stained glass (2)
- Melanins (2)
- Mesoporous silica materials (2)
- Methanogen (2)
- Metrology (2)
- Micro plastic (2)
- Microbiological investigation (2)
- Microbiome (2)
- Microorganism (2)
- Microplastic particles (2)
- Mineral weathering (2)
- Miniaturized sensor device (2)
- Mobile robot olfaction (2)
- Modelling studies (2)
- Molecularly imprinted polymers (2)
- Monte-Carlo simulations (2)
- Multicopter (2)
- Museum Pests (2)
- Nano UAV Swarm (2)
- Nano particle (2)
- Nanocatalysts (2)
- Nanocrystal (2)
- Nanoplastics (2)
- Nanosensor (2)
- Nutrient recovery (2)
- OH Radical (2)
- OH radical scavenger (2)
- Occupational Health (2)
- Occupational health (2)
- Olfaction (2)
- Organic contaminants (2)
- Osmophobic effect (2)
- Outdoor odour (2)
- Oxidative stress (2)
- Oxygen (2)
- P-recovery (2)
- PCB (2)
- PEG (2)
- PFC (2)
- PLA (2)
- POD (2)
- Particles (2)
- Particulate emission (2)
- Passive Smart Dust (2)
- Pathogen (2)
- Perception and autonomy (2)
- Performance testing (2)
- Permeable reactive barriers (2)
- Persister cells (2)
- Phopshorus recovery (2)
- Phosphorylated lignin (2)
- Photocatalysis (2)
- Phototransformation products (2)
- Pipeline (2)
- Plasmid DNA (2)
- Pollutant (2)
- Polycarboxylate ether (2)
- Polymer in fuels (2)
- Polymeric material (2)
- Polysaccharides (2)
- Preferential exclusion (2)
- Products and production systems (2)
- Protein unfolding (2)
- Quantification (2)
- Quantum dots (2)
- RCA (Recycled concrete aggregates) (2)
- RFA (2)
- RME (2)
- Radiation protection (2)
- Radical Scavenger (2)
- Radon exhalation (2)
- Radon measurement (2)
- Railway vibration (2)
- Raman spectroscopy (2)
- Rammed earth (2)
- Ratiometric (2)
- Recovery (2)
- Recycling aggregates (2)
- Recycling fertiliser (2)
- Recycling fertilisers (2)
- Red mud (2)
- Reduction process (2)
- Referenzmaterial (2)
- Reifenabrieb (2)
- Repair (2)
- Repair mortar (2)
- Resources (2)
- Ressourcenrückgewinnung (2)
- Rice husk ash (2)
- Ringversuch (2)
- Risk assesment (2)
- Robustness studies (2)
- SAB (2)
- SEM analysis (2)
- Sample pretreatment (2)
- Scattering (2)
- Secondary building materials (2)
- Sediment (2)
- Seismic assessment (2)
- Selective chlorination (2)
- Selective dismantling (2)
- Semiconductor quantum dot (2)
- Sensor materials (2)
- Sensor testing (2)
- Sensors (2)
- Service life prediction (2)
- Sewage sludge ordinance (2)
- Shear Behaviour (2)
- Shear behaviour (2)
- Shear strength (2)
- Silver nanoparticle (2)
- Simulation (2)
- Single-stranded DNA-binding proteins (2)
- Size (2)
- Size distribution (2)
- Small-angle xray scattering (2)
- Small-molecule sensors (2)
- Smartphone (2)
- Social immunity (2)
- Soil P species (2)
- Soil standard (2)
- Solubility (2)
- Sorption (2)
- Special issue (2)
- Species decline (2)
- Spin finish (2)
- Stainless steel (2)
- Standard (2)
- Standardisation (2)
- Starch nanoparticle (2)
- Steelmaking (2)
- Storage (2)
- Stress (2)
- Stress tolerance (2)
- Sub-Saharan Africa (2)
- Sulfamethoxazole (2)
- Supplementary cementitious materials (2)
- Surface modification (2)
- TDBP-TAZTO (2)
- TTBP-TAZ (2)
- Temperature (2)
- Termite phylogeny (2)
- Test Guideline (2)
- Test guideline (2)
- Thermal desorption (2)
- Thermally treated sludge (2)
- Thermochemical (2)
- Tineola bisselliella (2)
- Tire wear particles (2)
- Topas-MC (2)
- Topas-nBio (2)
- Total reflection X-ray spectroscopy (2)
- Toxicology (2)
- Transformation Products (2)
- Tricalcium-silicate (2)
- Trinkwasser (2)
- UFP (2)
- UV radiation (2)
- Ultra-high performance concrete (2)
- Ultrafine particles (2)
- Ultrasonic (2)
- Under-ballast plate (2)
- VOC emission test chamber (2)
- VOC-emission (2)
- VVOCs (2)
- Vor-Ort-Analytik (2)
- WEEE (2)
- Washing machine (2)
- Waste management (2)
- Waste water treatment (2)
- Wastewater flame retardants (2)
- Water analysis (2)
- Welding (2)
- Whole water samples (2)
- Wireless sensing node (2)
- Wooden artworks (2)
- Workability (2)
- X-ray scattering (2)
- XANES (2)
- Zink (2)
- Zink phytate (2)
- genetics (2)
- mRNA-FISH (2)
- melanin (2)
- pH (2)
- ssDNA (2)
- transformation (2)
- Ökobilanzielle Bewertung (2)
- 150th anniversary (1)
- 29Si-27Al TRAPDOR MAS (1)
- 3-D-printing (1)
- 3D Printing (1)
- AAC (1)
- ABC (1)
- ABC transporter (1)
- AFB1 (1)
- AFM (1)
- AHTN (1)
- AIS (1)
- AMR (1)
- ASE (1)
- Aaerosol particles (1)
- Abiogenesis (1)
- Absolute fluorescence quantum yield (1)
- Absolute fluorometry (1)
- Academia (1)
- Accurate mass (1)
- Acidobacteria (1)
- Activated Carbon (1)
- Additive Fertigung (1)
- Additive Manufacturing (1)
- Additive manufacturing (1)
- Adhesion (1)
- Adipokinetic hormone (1)
- Adipokinetic hormone receptor (1)
- Admixtures (1)
- Adsorber (1)
- Adsorbtion (1)
- Advanced wastewater treatment (1)
- Aerial Systems (1)
- Aerial robot olfaction (1)
- Aerosol element alanysis (1)
- Aerosol element mass concentration (1)
- Aerosol particles (1)
- Aerosol spectroscopy (1)
- Africa (1)
- AgBB (1)
- AgBB Bewertung (1)
- Aged particles (1)
- Aging (1)
- Aging test (1)
- Agricultural economy (1)
- Agronomic performance (1)
- Air fragmentation (1)
- Air-pollution monitoring (1)
- Airborne Particles (1)
- Airborne particulate pollutants (1)
- Aktivkohle (1)
- Algae (1)
- Algae growth inhibition tests (1)
- Algae growth test (1)
- Algea (1)
- Alite hydraulic reactivity (1)
- Aluminium (1)
- Ambient aerosol (1)
- Ambient aerosols (1)
- Ambient air (1)
- Ambient air pollution (1)
- Amino acids (1)
- Ammonium (1)
- Amperometry (1)
- Amplitude-distance law (1)
- Anaerob (1)
- Analytical chemistry (1)
- Analytical sciences (1)
- Analytics (1)
- Analytik (1)
- Anoxia (1)
- Antagonism (1)
- Anti-Corrosion (1)
- Anti-microbial effects (1)
- Antibiotic (1)
- Antibodies (1)
- Antimicrobial (1)
- Antimicrobials (1)
- Artificial ageing (1)
- Arzneimittel (1)
- Ascomycetes (1)
- Ash (1)
- Ashdec (1)
- Astrobiology (1)
- Atacama Desert (1)
- Atmospheric conditions (1)
- Atomic force microscopy (1)
- Auslagerungsversuche (1)
- Auswaschversuche (1)
- Autoclaved aerated concrete (1)
- Autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) (1)
- Automated assay (1)
- Automated single cell-ICP-ToF-MS (1)
- Automated welding (1)
- Automatization (1)
- Axle box measurements (1)
- BAM (1)
- BBodSChV (1)
- BLE (1)
- BODIPY (1)
- BODIPY dye (1)
- Back yest (1)
- Background values (1)
- Backscatter reflectometry (1)
- Bacteria repellent surfaces (1)
- Bacterial adhesion tests (1)
- Bacterial attachment (1)
- Bacterial infection (1)
- Bacterial milking (1)
- Bakterien (1)
- Barcoding (1)
- Base isolation (1)
- Bassanite (1)
- Batch fermentation (1)
- Bead (1)
- Bee (1)
- Bees (1)
- Behandelte Waren (1)
- Behavioural change (1)
- Bench-scale Fire Testing (1)
- Bending modulus (1)
- Beschichtung (1)
- Beständigkeit (1)
- Betaine (1)
- Beton (1)
- Betonpflasterstein (1)
- Binding thermodynamics (1)
- Bio-based (1)
- Bio-based materials (1)
- Bio-composite (1)
- Bio-flame retardant (1)
- Bio-polymer (1)
- Bio-receptive (1)
- Bio-weathering (1)
- Biocides in the environment (1)
- Biocomposite (1)
- Biodegradation (1)
- Biofilm cultivation (1)
- Biogenic weathering (1)
- Bioilm (1)
- Bioinformatics (1)
- Biokorrosion (1)
- Biological Control (1)
- Biological pest control (1)
- Biomarker (1)
- Biomarkers (1)
- Biomotox (1)
- Biophotonics (1)
- Bioprospecting fuels (1)
- Biosphere (1)
- Biosphere-technosphere interaction (1)
- Biosynthesis (1)
- Biotic weathering (1)
- Biozid (1)
- Bivalves (1)
- Blasting charge (1)
- Blattodea (1)
- Blue Angel (1)
- Blue Angel ecolabel (1)
- Bluetooth Low Energy (1)
- Boden (1)
- Bodenbelag (1)
- Boracite (1)
- Borate (1)
- Botrytis (1)
- Botrytis cinerea (1)
- Bottom ash (BA) (1)
- Bremsen (1)
- Brillouin frequency shift (1)
- Brillouin scattering (1)
- Brominated flame retardants (1)
- Building Floors (1)
- Building Material (1)
- Building industriy (1)
- Building material (1)
- Building product (1)
- Building products (1)
- Building response (1)
- Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (1)
- C-di-GMP (1)
- CCQM (1)
- CE-ICP-MS (1)
- CFRP (1)
- CIC (1)
- CO2 footprint (1)
- CO2-corrosion (1)
- COST Action (1)
- COVID (1)
- CRISPR dCas9 (1)
- CRM producer (1)
- CT (1)
- CVD-Graphene (1)
- Cable (1)
- Cadmium (1)
- Caenorhabditis elegans (1)
- Caffeine (1)
- Calcareous deposits (1)
- Calcium alkali phosphate (1)
- Calcium silicate (1)
- Calcium sulfate (1)
- Calcium sulfates (1)
- Cancer (1)
- Cancer therapy (1)
- Capsules (1)
- Carbon steels (1)
- Carbon Capture (1)
- Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) (1)
- Carbon capture (1)
- Carbon capture and storage (1)
- Carbon dioxide (1)
- Carbon fibres (1)
- Carbon nanotubes (1)
- Carbonation resistance (1)
- Cascade filtration (1)
- Cascade impector (1)
- Cast iron (1)
- Caste (1)
- Catalyst (1)
- Cathodic protection (1)
- Cell proliferation (1)
- Cell studies (1)
- Cell wall (1)
- Cellular lightweight concrete (CLC) (1)
- Cement and concrete (1)
- Centrifugal classifier (1)
- Certificaion Schemes and Labels (1)
- Certified reference material (1)
- Certified reference materials (1)
- Chamber-test (1)
- Chemical coverage (1)
- Chemical evolution (1)
- Chemical resistance (1)
- Chemistry (1)
- Chicken manure (1)
- Chirality (1)
- Chlorination (1)
- Chlorpyrifos (1)
- Chronoamperometry (1)
- Circular economy action plan (1)
- Civil Engineering (1)
- Cleavable probe (1)
- Climate Changes (1)
- Climate chamber simulation (1)
- Climate responsive materials (1)
- Clinoptilolite (1)
- Clothes moth (1)
- Co-combustion (1)
- Coatings (1)
- Coefficient of thermal expantion (1)
- Coffee (1)
- Cold atmospheric pressure plasma (1)
- Collection (1)
- Column/wall resonance (1)
- Combined sewer system (1)
- Comparative test (1)
- Comparison extraction methods (1)
- Compatible solutes (1)
- Complete enwrapping of fibres (1)
- Compliance (1)
- Composite (1)
- Composite UHPC elements (1)
- Composite in Fire (1)
- Composite materials (1)
- Composite panels (1)
- Composition (1)
- Composition and pore structure (1)
- Compost (1)
- Compound annotation (1)
- Compression Behaviour (1)
- Computed tomography (1)
- Comsumer good samples (1)
- Concrete paving stone (1)
- Conditioning layer (1)
- Coniophora puteana (1)
- Constantinomyces (1)
- Construction Products (1)
- Consumer article (1)
- Consumer articles (1)
- Contaminated sites (1)
- Contamination (1)
- Continuous culture (1)
- Controllable gene expression (1)
- Controlled release fertilisers (1)
- Coparison study CIC <=> HR-CS-GFMAS (1)
- Coptotermes (1)
- Core microbiome (1)
- Core-Shell Particles (1)
- Corona (1)
- Corrosion prevention (1)
- Corrosion product (1)
- Corrosion resistant materials (1)
- Corrosion science (1)
- Corrosion testing (1)
- Cost benefit analysis (1)
- Cracks grouting (1)
- Crevice corrosion (1)
- Crispr-Cas9 (1)
- Crispr/Cas9 (1)
- Cryo milling (1)
- Cryptoendolithic black fungus (1)
- Cultural Entomology (1)
- Cultural Heritage (1)
- Cultural Heritage protection (1)
- Culuative energy demand (1)
- Cumulative energy demand (1)
- Cyanobacteria (1)
- Cyclic tests (1)
- Cyclodextrin (1)
- Cytotoxicity (1)
- DCF (1)
- DEHT (1)
- DFA (1)
- DINCH (1)
- DNA-Binding protein (1)
- DSLT (1)
- Dangerous goods (1)
- Data Science (1)
- Data analytics (1)
- Data evaluation (1)
- Data stores (1)
- Data structuring (1)
- Databases (1)
- Decomposition (1)
- Defect detection (1)
- Degradation mechanism (1)
- Degradation of polyethylene (1)
- Dense phase (1)
- Deponie (1)
- Deponieabdichtungen (1)
- Deponiebau (1)
- Design of experiments (1)
- Destructive allogrooming (1)
- Development (1)
- Diagonal compression tests (1)
- Diatom (1)
- Dietary preference (1)
- Difenoconazole (1)
- Diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) (1)
- Digestion methods (1)
- Digital Image Correlation (1)
- Digital image corelation (1)
- Digital image correlation (1)
- Digital laboratory (1)
- Digitalization (1)
- Dipstickassay (1)
- Disease (1)
- Dispay case (1)
- Display case (1)
- Display cases (1)
- Distributed measurement (1)
- Doping (1)
- Doppler effect (1)
- Drain (1)
- Dripping (1)
- Drop height (1)
- Droplet (1)
- Dry cylindrical turning (1)
- Dry treatment (1)
- Dust Sensor (1)
- Dust analysis (1)
- Dye bioconjugates (1)
- E$volution (1)
- EAF slag (1)
- EC-LC-MS (1)
- EC-MS (1)
- EDX Analysis (1)
- ELISAS (1)
- EOF (1)
- EOF/AOF (1)
- EQS (1)
- EU Biocides Regulation (1)
- EU EMPIR (1)
- EU regulations (1)
- EU-Biozidverordnung (1)
- EU-WFD (1)
- Earth block (1)
- Earth block masonry (1)
- Earth construction (1)
- Earth mortar (1)
- Earthen construction (1)
- Eco efficiency analysis (1)
- Ecology (1)
- Ecotoxicity testing (1)
- Ecotoxicological Assessment (1)
- Ecotoxicological tests (1)
- Ecotoxicology (1)
- Ectoine excretion (1)
- Edible insects (1)
- Education (1)
- Effective uptake rate (1)
- Efficiency (1)
- Efflux (1)
- Eignungstest (1)
- Einbau (1)
- Electrochemical remediation (1)
- Electrochemical sensor (1)
- Electrochemical synthesis (1)
- Electron radiation (1)
- Electron scattering (1)
- Electrophoretic effect (1)
- Electrospray deposition (1)
- Electrospray ionization (1)
- Electrothermal Vaporization (1)
- Elektrochemisch (1)
- Element analysis (1)
- Element mass concetration (1)
- Embedded system (1)
- Emerging Contaminants (1)
- Emission Test Chamber (1)
- Emission Testing (1)
- Emission chamber (1)
- Emission chamber testing (1)
- Emission chambers (1)
- Emission reference materials (1)
- Emission testing (1)
- Emissions of hazardous gases (1)
- Emissionskammer (1)
- Emisson testing (1)
- Enamel colors (1)
- Encoding (1)
- Endocrine disrupting chemicals (1)
- Energy balance (1)
- Energy labelling (1)
- Energy policy (1)
- Energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (1)
- Engineering (1)
- Environment Monitoring and Management (1)
- Environmental analysis (1)
- Environmental and pathogenic fungi (1)
- Environmental compatibility (1)
- Environmental friendly (1)
- Environmental label (1)
- Environmental pollutants (1)
- Enzymatic digestion (1)
- Epoxy (1)
- Epoxy resin (1)
- Essential oils (1)
- Estrone (1)
- Excitation forces (1)
- Exocytosis (1)
- Expanded clay (1)
- Experimental evolution (1)
- Experimental study (1)
- Explosion (1)
- Explosives (1)
- Exposure (1)
- Exposure risk (1)
- External immunity (1)
- Extracellular polymeric substances (1)
- Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) (1)
- Extractable organically bound fluorine (EOF) (1)
- Extraction methods (1)
- Extreme environments (1)
- Extremophilic fungi (1)
- FFF-3D-Printer (1)
- FMPS (1)
- FRET (1)
- Facade composite panels (1)
- Facade panels (1)
- Fatigue life (1)
- Façade (1)
- Feeding behaviour (1)
- Feedstock recycling (1)
- Fenton (1)
- Fiber (1)
- Fiber toxicology (1)
- Fiber-optic microarray (1)
- Fibers of textile origin (1)
- Fibre (1)
- Fibre release (1)
- Field Robots (1)
- Field conditions (1)
- Field exposure studies (1)
- Field flow fractionation (1)
- Field test (1)
- Filament comparison (1)
- Filter effect of the soil (1)
- Filtration (1)
- Fine fraction (1)
- Finite Element Method (1)
- Finite element analysis (1)
- Finow Canal (1)
- Fire Stability (1)
- Fire behaviour (1)
- Flame Retardancy (1)
- Flexible magnetic field sensors (1)
- Flexural rigidity (1)
- Flood protection (1)
- Flood risks (1)
- Floor resonance (1)
- Flourescence (1)
- Flow chamber system (1)
- Flow cytometry (1)
- Flow-System (1)
- Flow-system (1)
- Flow-through columns (1)
- Fluor XANES (1)
- Fluorescence decay kinetics (1)
- Fluorescence materials (1)
- Fluorescence microscopy (1)
- Fluorescence quantum yield (1)
- Fluorescence sensors (1)
- Fluorescence spectroscopy (1)
- Fluorescent Urea Receptors (1)
- Fluorescent proteins (1)
- Fluorescent sensor (1)
- Fluoresence (1)
- Fluoride (1)
- Fluoride nanoparticles (1)
- Fluorides (1)
- Fluorine (1)
- Fluorine Detection (1)
- Fluorolytic sol−gel (1)
- Fluorometric sensing (1)
- Fluorometry (1)
- Fluorophore tracer (1)
- Fluoruos Systems (1)
- Flying platforms (1)
- Foams (1)
- Focus area (1)
- Folding chirality (1)
- Food (1)
- Force distance curve (1)
- Forest soil (1)
- Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (1)
- Foward genetics (1)
- Fractional factorial (1)
- Freibewitterungsprüfung (1)
- Frequency-specific attenuation (1)
- Freshwater matrices (1)
- Fuel economy (1)
- Functional group analysis (1)
- Fungal biofilms (1)
- Fungal cell wall (1)
- Fungal life styles (1)
- GAeF (1)
- GC-MS/MS (1)
- GMR sensor (1)
- GNP (1)
- GPC (1)
- GPR (1)
- GUI (1)
- Gamma radiation (1)
- Gas Adsorption (1)
- Gas Dispersion Simulator (1)
- Gas analysis (1)
- Gas chromatography - mass spectrometry (GC-MS) (1)
- Gas metal arc welding (1)
- Gas sensors (1)
- Gas storage (1)
- Gasturbines (1)
- Gene network (1)
- Genetic engineering (1)
- Genetic tools (1)
- Genome editing (1)
- Genome sequence (1)
- Geogitter (1)
- Geokunststoffe (1)
- Geological formation (1)
- Geomembanes (1)
- Geomembrane (1)
- Geopolymer (1)
- Geruchsmessung (1)
- Glass conservation (1)
- Glass dosimeters (1)
- Glass fiber sizing (1)
- Glass paints (1)
- Glyphosate (1)
- Gold (1)
- Gold nanoparticles (1)
- Governance indicators (1)
- Granite (1)
- Granulat (1)
- Graph neural networks (1)
- Gray mold fungus (1)
- Green Deal (1)
- Green Facade (1)
- Green and sustainable chemistry (GSC) (1)
- Green deal (1)
- Green pesticide (1)
- Greenhouse gas accounting (1)
- Greenhouse gas balance (1)
- Greenhouse gas mitigation (1)
- Greenwashing (1)
- Grey water (1)
- Ground robot (1)
- Ground water pollution (1)
- Grout mortar (1)
- Guanidine receptor (1)
- Gut microbiota (1)
- Gypsum fiberboards and synthetic gypsum (1)
- H2020 (1)
- H2Safety@BAM (1)
- HCA and PCA imaging (1)
- HDPE (1)
- HPLC (1)
- HPLC-MS/MS (1)
- HPSEC (1)
- HRMS-Identifizierung (1)
- Halomonas elongata (1)
- Halophile (1)
- Halophilic (1)
- Hapten Immunoassay (1)
- Haptenes (1)
- Haptensynthese (1)
- Harmonisation (1)
- Hazard Detection (1)
- Hazardous substances (1)
- Head capacity (1)
- Headspace GC-MS (1)
- Heavy metal removal (1)
- Herteogeneous phenotypes (1)
- Heterologous expression (1)
- High resolution-continuum source-graphite furnace molecular absorption spectrometry (HR-CS-GFMAS) (1)
- High salinity (1)
- High-resolution MS (1)
- High-resolution imaging (1)
- High-speed trains (1)
- Historical Buildings (1)
- Historical buildings (1)
- Hitzeinsel (1)
- Hochauflösende Massenspektrometrie (1)
- Hofmeister effect (1)
- Holistic science (1)
- Holzschutzmittel (1)
- Household waste (1)
- Humic matter (1)
- Humic substances (1)
- Hybrid laser arc welding (1)
- Hydraulic engineering (1)
- Hydraulic lime (1)
- Hydrazinchemie (1)
- Hydrogen permeation (1)
- Hydrogenasen (1)
- Hydrolysis (1)
- Hydrolysis products (1)
- Hydroxyectoine (1)
- Hydroxyl radicals (1)
- Hygiene (1)
- Hygienic assessment (1)
- Hygienische Bewertung (1)
- Hygrothermal behaviour (1)
- Hylotrupes bajulus (1)
- Hyper-arid (1)
- IAQ (1)
- ICT (1)
- IEQ (1)
- IPM in museums (1)
- ISO 15686 (1)
- ISO22196 (1)
- Illitic clays (1)
- Illness-induced anorexia (1)
- Image analysis (1)
- Impurities (1)
- In vitro imaging (1)
- In-plane loads (1)
- In-situ analysis (1)
- In-vivo mutagenesis (1)
- Incinerator bottom ash (IBA) (1)
- Indoor Air Quality (1)
- Indoor Products (1)
- Indoor emission (1)
- Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (1)
- Industrial byproducts (1)
- Information modelling (1)
- Infrared spectroscopy (1)
- Inhalation exposure (1)
- Initial attachment (1)
- Initial shear strength (1)
- Innovation (1)
- Inoculative releaseI (1)
- Insects (1)
- Instrument calibration (1)
- Instrument qualification (1)
- Integrated Museum Pest Management (IMPM) (1)
- Integrating sphere (1)
- Interdisciplinary (1)
- Interlaboratory (1)
- Intraguild predation (1)
- Intumescence (1)
- Intumescencent Coatings (1)
- Ionophore Antibiotics (1)
- Iron (1)
- Irradiation damage (1)
- Isolithocholic Acid (1)
- Isolithocholsäure (1)
- Isomerisierung (1)
- Isotope dilution (1)
- Isotope dilution analysis (1)
- Isotopenstandard (1)
- Jacket foundations (1)
- Jahrestag (1)
- Jig (1)
- K-feldspar (1)
- Kenaf fiber (1)
- Knufia petricola A95 (1)
- Kompost (1)
- KonSens (1)
- Korrosionsuntersuchungen (1)
- Kosmotrope (1)
- LCC (1)
- Lab-on-valve (1)
- Labelling (1)
- Laboratory (1)
- Laboratory experiments (1)
- Lake Cadagno (1)
- Landfill sealing (1)
- Langzeitversuch (1)
- Lanthanide (1)
- Lanthanide nanoparticle (1)
- Large volume samplers (1)
- Laser Printer (1)
- Laser processing (1)
- Laser technology (1)
- Laser-induced pariodic surface structures (1)
- Laser-induced periodic surface structueres (LIPPS) (1)
- Lateral Flow Assay (1)
- Lateral flow assays (1)
- Layered soil (1)
- Leaching tests (1)
- Leaching, Risk assessment, construction products (1)
- Leak detection (1)
- Leakage (1)
- Lebensmittelanalytik (1)
- Legacy pollution (1)
- Leguminosen (1)
- Leichte Gesteinskörnung (1)
- Lfe cycle assessment (1)
- Library pests (1)
- Life cycle analysis (1)
- Life cycle assessment (LCA) (1)
- Life history data (1)
- Life sciences (1)
- Life span (1)
- Light regulation (1)
- Light sensing (1)
- Light-induced stress (1)
- Lightweight aggreagtes (1)
- Lignin (1)
- Lignosulfonate (1)
- Lime based grout (1)
- Limit of detection (1)
- Linear dynamic range (1)
- Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (1)
- LoRaWAN (1)
- Local landscape evolution (1)
- Long-term monitoring (1)
- Long-term studies (1)
- Low alloy steel (1)
- Low cost aerosol PM sensor (1)
- Low-tech approach (1)
- Low-temperature (1)
- Low-temperature-conversion (1)
- Lysimeter, Antimony (1)
- MALDI (1)
- MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry (1)
- MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry; Multivariate statistics; Pollen (1)
- MBA (1)
- MCR (1)
- MDG ICP-ToF-MS (1)
- MIC Island (1)
- MIPs (1)
- MSWI Bottom Ash (1)
- MSWI bottom ash (1)
- Magnetic Particles (1)
- Magnetic field (1)
- Magnetic flux leakage (1)
- Maintenance (1)
- Marble (1)
- Martensitic steel (1)
- Masonry (1)
- Mass balance (1)
- Mass drop (1)
- Material Moisture (1)
- Material cassification (1)
- Material characterization (1)
- Material classification (1)
- Material design (1)
- Material emissions (1)
- Material flow analysis (1)
- Material recycling (1)
- Material sciences (1)
- Material surface colonisation (1)
- Materialcharakterisierung (1)
- Materials emissions test (1)
- Materials flow (1)
- Materials qualification (1)
- Mathematical modelling (1)
- Matrix (1)
- Matrix effects (1)
- Mauerwerkbruch (1)
- Mechanical treatment (1)
- Mechanische Stabilität (1)
- Medicinal plants (1)
- Medieval glass composition (1)
- Medieval glasses (1)
- Medieval-stained glass (1)
- Membrane-based linear gas sensor (1)
- Mercury Intrusion Porosimetry (1)
- Mesocrystal (1)
- Metabolic transformation (1)
- Metal magnetic memory (1)
- Metal recovery (1)
- Metalls (1)
- Metals (1)
- Metals hygienic assessment release (1)
- Method validation (1)
- Methodology (1)
- Methylmercury (1)
- Metrological Observation (1)
- Micro-chamber (1)
- Microbial (1)
- Microbial abundance (1)
- Microbial communities (1)
- Microbial community modelling (1)
- Microbial induced corrosion (1)
- Microbially Induced Corrosion (1)
- Microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) (1)
- Microdroplet generator (1)
- Microfluidic devices (1)
- Microfluids (1)
- Microplastic fibre release (1)
- Microplastic mass (1)
- Microplastic pathways (1)
- Microplastic pollution (1)
- Microplastics analytic (1)
- Microplastics in milk (1)
- Microplastics in soil (1)
- Microplastics reference material (1)
- Microplastics sampling (1)
- Microscopy (1)
- Microstructure (1)
- Migration (1)
- Mikroplastik Massegehalt (1)
- Mikroplastik-Analytik (1)
- Milling (1)
- Mineralogie (1)
- Minitaurized sensor device (1)
- Mitigation (1)
- Mmoisture (1)
- Model fungal biofilms (1)
- Model fungus (1)
- Model organism (1)
- Model rock biofilm (1)
- Molecular (1)
- Molecular Imprinting (1)
- Molecular imprinted polymers (1)
- Molecularly imprinted polymer (1)
- Monoclonal antibodies (1)
- Monoklonale Antikörper (1)
- Monte carlo simulations (1)
- Mortel (1)
- Multi-gas sensor system (1)
- Multilocus phylogeny (1)
- Multisensor system (1)
- Multivariat (1)
- Multivariate Datenauswertung (1)
- Multivariate classification (1)
- Multivariate data analysis (1)
- Multivariate statistics (1)
- Municipal solid waste (1)
- Municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) (1)
- Museum pests (1)
- Mycotoxin (1)
- Mycotoxin-Biomarker (1)
- Myxobacteria (1)
- NDE (1)
- NIR spectroscopy (1)
- NaI (1)
- Nachweis der Wirksamkeit (1)
- Nano metal fluorides (1)
- Nano-FTIR spectroscopy (1)
- Nanopaper (1)
- Nanorods (1)
- Nanosecond laser (1)
- Nanotechnologies (1)
- Nanotoxicity (1)
- Natuarl history (1)
- Natural abundance of 15N (1)
- Natural products discovery (1)
- Natural weathering (1)
- NbC cermets (1)
- Network Communication (1)
- Neuropeptide (1)
- New ecotoxicological testing tools (1)
- Niobium (1)
- Niobium carbide (1)
- Nitrate (1)
- Nitric acid (1)
- Nitrification inhibitor (1)
- Nitrogen fixation (1)
- Nitrogen uptake (1)
- Non-destructive testing (1)
- Nontarget analysis (1)
- Nontargeted approach (1)
- Nostoc (1)
- Novel sample preparation techniques (1)
- Nuclear magnetic resonance (1)
- Nuclear waste disposal (1)
- Nucleation (1)
- Nutrient (1)
- Nutrition (1)
- Nährstoffe (1)
- OCP (1)
- OH radical (1)
- Office building (1)
- Office machines (1)
- Offshore Wind energy (1)
- Oil (1)
- Oil analysis (1)
- Oil and gas reservoir (1)
- Oilfield (1)
- Old nanocrystal (1)
- On-Site (1)
- On-line analysis (1)
- One-part formulation (1)
- Online Sensing (1)
- Optical Spectroscopy (1)
- Optical characterization (1)
- Optical fiber sensor (1)
- Optical properties (1)
- Ordinance on Contaminated Sites and Soil Protection (1)
- Organic matter (1)
- Organic pollution (1)
- Organo fluorine analysis (1)
- Organochlorine Pesticides (OCP) (1)
- Organotin compounds (1)
- Osmolyte (1)
- Osmoregulation (1)
- Osteoporosis (1)
- Outdoor odour control (1)
- Outdoor pollutants (1)
- Overhaul (1)
- Oxidation (1)
- P-fractionation (1)
- P-plant-availability (1)
- PAH (1)
- PAK (1)
- PANi/SiO2 (1)
- PBFR (1)
- PE (1)
- PE-HD (1)
- PFA (1)
- PFAS Analysis (1)
- PFAS TOP Assay soil contamination (1)
- PFAS analysis (1)
- PFAS analytics (1)
- PLS-DA (1)
- PM (1)
- POP (1)
- PP (1)
- PS (1)
- PUR foams (1)
- Paarverteilungsfunktion (1)
- Paints (1)
- Pair distribution function (1)
- Pandemic (1)
- Papierasche (1)
- Partial safety factors (1)
- Particle (1)
- Particle Filter (1)
- Particle Size (1)
- Particle Synthesis (1)
- Particle mass (1)
- Particle measurement (1)
- Particle scatterin simulations (1)
- Particle scattering simulations (1)
- Particulate emissions (1)
- Passivation shell (1)
- Passive absorption (1)
- Passivity (1)
- Pathogen infection (1)
- Pathway (1)
- Peptides (1)
- Per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs) (1)
- Perceived intensity (1)
- Perception and Autonomy (1)
- Perfluorierte Verbindungen (1)
- Perfluorocarboxylic acid (PFCA) (1)
- Performance tests (1)
- Periplasmic binding protein (1)
- Permeable reactive barrier systems (1)
- Pest control (1)
- Pflanzenverfügbarkeit (1)
- Pharmaceutical Drugs (1)
- Phasenzusammensetzung (1)
- Phomopsin-Derivate (1)
- Phosphonate (1)
- Phosphor (1)
- Phosphorus fertilizer (1)
- Phosphorus recycling (1)
- Phosphorylated Algae (1)
- Phosphorylated algae (1)
- Photo-oxidation (1)
- Photocatalytic surfaces (1)
- Photodynamische Inaktivierung (1)
- Photokatalyse (1)
- Photoperception (1)
- Photophysics (1)
- Photoreceptors (1)
- Photosensibilisator (1)
- Phototransforamtion products (1)
- Phototrophic bacteria (1)
- Photovoltaics (1)
- Phthalate (1)
- Phthalocyanin (1)
- Pigment mutant (1)
- Pipeline network (1)
- Pipeline steels (1)
- Plagioclase (1)
- Planetary surface (1)
- Plant growth test (1)
- Plant pathogen (1)
- Plasma (1)
- Plasma treatment (1)
- Plastic aging (1)
- Plastic biofilm (1)
- Plastic debris (1)
- Plastic pollution (1)
- PlasticEurope (1)
- Point-of-Care (1)
- Polyalkylene glycol (1)
- Polyamide (1)
- Polyaniline (1)
- Polyaniniline (1)
- Polybrominated diphenylether (1)
- Polybutylene glycol (1)
- Polycarbonate (1)
- Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB) (1)
- Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) (1)
- Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (1)
- Polyester fabric strips (1)
- Polyesther (1)
- Polyethylene (1)
- Polyfluorinated alcohol (PFOH) (1)
- Polyglycol (1)
- Polymer aging (1)
- Polymer foils (1)
- Polypropylene glycol (1)
- Polystyrene (1)
- Polyurethane (1)
- Polyzyklische aromatische Kohlenwasserstoffe (PAK) (1)
- Pool fire (1)
- Porphyrin (1)
- Portable Analytik (1)
- Poster presentation (1)
- Pot experiment (1)
- Powdered activated carbon (1)
- Power density dependence (1)
- Ppolyethylene (1)
- Predictability (1)
- Preferential binding (1)
- Prehydrated electrons (1)
- Pressurised liquid extraction (1)
- Principal component analysis (1)
- Principal component analysis (PCA) (1)
- Printer emission (1)
- Priority pollutants (1)
- Priority substances (1)
- Probennahme (1)
- Process analytical technology (1)
- Process control (1)
- Process spectroscopy (1)
- Process sustainability (1)
- Process-spectroscopy (1)
- Product labelling (1)
- Product life cycle (1)
- Product test (1)
- Production technology (1)
- Proficiency Test (1)
- Protein conjugates (1)
- Protein protection (1)
- Proteinkonjugate (1)
- Proteins (1)
- Proteomics (1)
- Proximate analysis (1)
- Prozessanalytik (1)
- Prüfrichtlinie (1)
- Pseudomonas (1)
- Pyrolysis (1)
- Pyrolyzed plant waste (1)
- Quality Infrastructure (1)
- Quality management (1)
- Quality system (1)
- RNA-Seq (1)
- ROS (1)
- Radiation dosimetry (1)
- Radiation therapy (1)
- Radicals (1)
- Railway induced vibration (1)
- Railway measurement campaign (1)
- Rainfall simulator (1)
- Raman-Spektroskopie (1)
- Rapid test (1)
- Rapid testing (1)
- Raw material equivalent (1)
- Reactive oxygen species (1)
- Recycling fertilizer (1)
- Recycling fertilizers (1)
- Recycling granules (1)
- Reduction (1)
- Reductive iron assimilation (1)
- Reductive smelting (1)
- Reference Material (1)
- Reference method (1)
- Referenzmaterialien (1)
- Remote gas sensing (1)
- Remote gas sensor (1)
- Renewable (1)
- Renewable adjuvants (1)
- Renewable energy technologies (1)
- Renewable source (1)
- Reparability (1)
- Replica-exchange metadynamics (1)
- Residential building (1)
- Resonance frequency (1)
- Resource Efficiency (1)
- Reststoffe (1)
- Rhizosphere (1)
- Rhodonia placenta (1)
- Risikobewertung (1)
- Risk management (1)
- Road construction waste (1)
- Road run-off (1)
- Robust certification schemes (1)
- Robustness (1)
- Rock-inhabiting black fungi (1)
- Rock-inhabiting fungi (1)
- Rock-inhabiting fungis (1)
- Rohstoffliches Recycling (1)
- Rotary kiln (1)
- Rotor speed (1)
- Runoff (1)
- Röntgenfluoreszenz (1)
- SABs (1)
- SARS (1)
- SC-ICP-ToF-MS (1)
- SCALE (1)
- SEM wood characterization (1)
- SEM-EDS (1)
- SEM/EDX (1)
- SLAMD app (1)
- SPE (1)
- SPE extraction (1)
- SPE-HPLC Automatisierung (1)
- SPR (1)
- SRB (1)
- Safe-by-Design (1)
- Safety (1)
- Sample AFM preparation (1)
- Sample preparation (1)
- Sand-lime block (1)
- Sanierung (1)
- Schadstoffe (1)
- Schnelltests (1)
- Schwebstoffe (1)
- Schweißen (1)
- Schwermetalle (1)
- Science (1)
- Sciences (1)
- Secondary Recources (1)
- Secondary metabolism (1)
- Secondary resources (1)
- Secondary transporter (1)
- Selbstkühlend (1)
- Selection (1)
- Self-compacting concrete (1)
- Self-cooling (1)
- Self-healing (1)
- Self-medication (1)
- SensRef (1)
- Sensor Network (1)
- Sensor modelling (1)
- Separate collection (1)
- Separate sewer system (1)
- Sequential extraction (1)
- Setup and Validation (1)
- Sewage extraction (1)
- Sewage sludge incineration (1)
- Sewage sludges (1)
- Sewage treatment plant (1)
- Shale (1)
- Shear bond test (1)
- Shear-compression tests (1)
- Si wafer filter (1)
- SiO2 (1)
- Siderophore (1)
- Signal transduction (1)
- Silica (1)
- Silica and Polystyrene Particles (1)
- Silicate (1)
- Silver nanoparticles (1)
- Simulation devices (1)
- Simulation of materials degradation (1)
- Single crystal (1)
- Size resolved chemical composition (1)
- Slef-cleaning properties (1)
- Sludge disposal (1)
- Smart sensors (1)
- Social insect (1)
- Social insects (1)
- Soil contamination (1)
- Soil extraction (1)
- Soil organic matter (1)
- Soil sample (1)
- Soil test field (1)
- Soil-building interaction (1)
- Soil-building resonance (1)
- Soil-like material (1)
- Soil-like materials (1)
- Sol-Gel (1)
- Solar panels (1)
- Solar parks (1)
- Solid-liquid extraction (1)
- Solid-liquid-extraction (1)
- Sorting (1)
- Spatial distribution (1)
- Spatial interpolation (1)
- Speciation analysis (1)
- Spectrocube (1)
- Speed lecture (1)
- Speichermaterial (1)
- Spielzeug (1)
- Stabilisotopenverdünnungsanalyse (1)
- Stabilization of HT-structures at room temperature (1)
- Stained glass (1)
- Stained glass windows (1)
- Stained glasses (1)
- Stakeholder (1)
- Standard test samples (1)
- Standardized test and quantification procedure (1)
- Standardproben (1)
- Static tests (1)
- Staub (1)
- Stormwater retention tank (1)
- Strength (1)
- Sub-aerial biofilms (1)
- Subaerial biofilm (1)
- Subaerial biofilms (1)
- Sugarcane bagasse (1)
- Sulfat-reduzierende Bakterien (1)
- Sulfate reducing bacteria (1)
- Sulfate-reducing bacteria (1)
- Sum parameter (1)
- Sum parameter analyis (1)
- Sum parameter analysis (1)
- Superaustenite steel (1)
- Supercritical/dense phase CO 2 (1)
- Supercritical/dense phase CO2 (1)
- Superplasticizer (1)
- Supplementary cementititous materials (1)
- Surface (1)
- Surface analytic (1)
- Surface chemistry (1)
- Surface functionalization (1)
- Surface group analysis (1)
- Surface groups (1)
- Surface pH measurement (1)
- Surface water (1)
- Suspension array (1)
- Sustainability Assessments (1)
- Sustainability Certificaiton Schemes (1)
- Sustainability assessment methodologies (1)
- Synchotron (1)
- Synthesis (1)
- TCE (1)
- TED (1)
- TFA (1)
- TRC (1)
- TXRF ambient air aerosol chemical analysis aerosol element composition (1)
- Tachometer (1)
- Tandem gas metal arc welding (1)
- Tara Mediterranee (1)
- Target stiffness (1)
- Technology (1)
- Technology-critical elements (1)
- Tempeh (1)
- Temperature-programmed desorption (1)
- Terbutryne (1)
- Termite control (1)
- Termite-associated microbes (1)
- Test chamber (1)
- Test method (1)
- Test strips (1)
- Testguideline (1)
- Textile (1)
- Textile company (1)
- Textile fibres (1)
- Thermal Degradation (1)
- Thermal Desorption (1)
- Thermal Extraction (1)
- Thermal behaviour (1)
- Thermal degradation (1)
- Thermal imaging (1)
- Thermal properties (1)
- Thermoanalysis (1)
- Thermoanalytical (1)
- Thermoanalytical methods (1)
- Thermoanalytics (1)
- Thermoanalytik (1)
- Thermodynamik (1)
- Thermoplastic filaments (1)
- Thermoplastic polyurethane (1)
- Thin film sensor fabrication (1)
- Thiol assay (1)
- Time resolved chemical composition (1)
- Time-resolved analysis (1)
- Tire wear (1)
- Titania (1)
- ToF-SIMS (1)
- Topas (1)
- TopasMC (1)
- Toxicity testing (1)
- Toxizität (1)
- Toys (1)
- Track and vehicle irregularities (1)
- Track vibration (1)
- Train passage (1)
- Train speed (1)
- Trait-based ecology (1)
- Transcriptome (1)
- Transcriptomic (1)
- Transformation Product (1)
- Transformations products (1)
- Transport modeling (1)
- Transporter TeaABC (1)
- Treated articles (1)
- Treatment train (1)
- Trial Following (1)
- Triazine herbicide (1)
- Tribologie (1)
- Tribology (1)
- Tributyltin (1)
- Triplet test (1)
- Trustworthy hydrogen (1)
- UAS (1)
- UV absorption (1)
- UV degradation (1)
- UV exposure (1)
- UV irradiation (1)
- UV protection (1)
- UV tolerance (1)
- UV-C (1)
- UV-irradiance (1)
- UV-irradiation (1)
- Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) (1)
- Ultra-thin polymer layers (1)
- Ultrafast laser processing (1)
- Ultrashort PFAS (1)
- Ultrashort laser processing (1)
- Ultrasound (1)
- Umweltanalytik (1)
- Umweltschadstoffe (1)
- Uncertainty (1)
- Uniaxial compression test (1)
- Universal stress protein (1)
- Upconversion nanoparticle (1)
- Upconverting nanoparticles (1)
- Uptake rate (1)
- Uptake studies (1)
- Uranium (1)
- Uranium mining (1)
- Urban heat island (1)
- Urban mining (1)
- Utilization, and storage (CCUS) technology (1)
- VOC Emission (1)
- VOC Emissionen (1)
- VOC-Emission (1)
- Validierung (1)
- Vanadium (1)
- Vehicle-track interaction (1)
- Velocimetry (1)
- Vibrational Spectroscopy (1)
- Vitrimer (1)
- Volatile organic compound (1)
- Volatile organic compounds (VOC) (1)
- WKI flask method (1)
- Waethering (1)
- Wasserproben (1)
- Waste (1)
- Waste incineration (1)
- Waste materials (1)
- Waste paper sludge (1)
- Waste recyling (1)
- Waste water (1)
- Waste water treatment plant (1)
- Wastewater treatment (1)
- Water polluntants (1)
- Water quality (1)
- Water repellence (1)
- Water-monitoring (1)
- Weathering parameters (1)
- Weathering resistance (1)
- Weathering tests (1)
- Weichmacher (1)
- Weld (1)
- Wet-mechanical treatment (1)
- Wind vector estimation (1)
- Wireless mobile sensor device (1)
- Wood (1)
- Wood Protection (1)
- X-Ray diffraction (1)
- X-ray adsorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy (1)
- X-ray diffraction (1)
- Zearalenon (1)
- Zement (1)
- Zeolite (1)
- ZnO nanorods (1)
- advanced oxidation processes (1)
- ageing (1)
- ambient vibration tests (1)
- artificial weathering (1)
- autoclaved aerated concrete (1)
- biocide tolerance (1)
- black fungi (1)
- black fungus (1)
- bottom ash (1)
- brake (1)
- bulked epoxy adhesives (1)
- carotenoids (1)
- cellular lightweight concrete (1)
- circular economy (1)
- degradation (1)
- direct-push (1)
- disinfection (1)
- dosimetry (1)
- dust (1)
- dynamic characterisation (1)
- earth block masonry (1)
- emission (1)
- environment (1)
- environmental pollutants (1)
- ethylene vinyl acetate (1)
- evolution (1)
- extraction (1)
- flame proof coatings (1)
- fs-laser processing (1)
- fungicides (1)
- fungus (1)
- geant4 (1)
- genomics (1)
- geomembranes (1)
- geotextiles (1)
- glass dosimeters (1)
- granulation (1)
- groundwater contamination (1)
- heterogeneity (1)
- historical earthen building (1)
- individual-based modelling (1)
- infrared spectroscopy (1)
- low energy electrons (1)
- masonry towers (1)
- material characterisation (1)
- mesoporous material (1)
- metabolism (1)
- micro-fillers (1)
- nano (1)
- nano iron (1)
- nano particles (1)
- nano-fillers (1)
- nanoparticle (1)
- natural ventilation (1)
- nerve agent (1)
- non target analysis (1)
- non-invasive investigation (1)
- non-target (1)
- outdoor pollutants (1)
- pH probe (1)
- partial safety factors (1)
- pesticides (1)
- phosphorus (1)
- phytoscreening (1)
- pigmentation (1)
- policy making (1)
- products (1)
- protective glazing (1)
- qPCR (1)
- radiation Damage (1)
- radical scavenger (1)
- radicals (1)
- rammed earth (1)
- raw material equivaltent (1)
- resource efficiency (1)
- resource recovery (1)
- risk assessment (1)
- rubber (1)
- screening (1)
- secondary raw material (1)
- seismic assessment (1)
- self-cleaning (1)
- sensor (1)
- sewage sludge ash (1)
- single cell-ICP-ToF-MS (1)
- single particle-ICP-ToF-MS (1)
- sporting track (1)
- stained glass (1)
- static monitoring (1)
- super hydrophobicity (1)
- tree core sampling (1)
- tribology (1)
- trichloroethene (1)
- trichloroethylene (1)
- ultrafine (1)
- underexplored phyla (1)
- uniaxial compression test (1)
- waste (1)
- water (1)
- weathering (1)
- µ-contact printing (1)
- β-cristobalite structure type (1)
- “leaky” mutant (1)
Organisationseinheit der BAM
- 4 Material und Umwelt (353)
- 1 Analytische Chemie; Referenzmaterialien (151)
- 4.1 Biologische Materialschädigung und Referenzorganismen (121)
- 6 Materialchemie (94)
- 8 Zerstörungsfreie Prüfung (80)
- 7 Bauwerkssicherheit (76)
- 1.8 Umweltanalytik (69)
- 8.1 Sensorik, mess- und prüftechnische Verfahren (67)
- 4.3 Schadstofftransfer und Umwelttechnologien (65)
- 4.0 Abteilungsleitung und andere (61)
Gas source localization (GSL) helps mitigate the impact of industrial accidents and natural disasters. While GSL may be dangerous and time-consuming when performed by humans, swarms of agile and inexpensive nano aerial robots may increase the safety and efficiency of gas source localizations. Since the small payloads of nano aerial robots limit the sensing and computing resources, strategies adapted from biological swarms, such as colonies of social insects, are used to coordinate robot
swarms. Most swarm GSL strategies are based on the assumption that the maxima of gas concentrations are sufficiently close to the gas sources. However, prior studies have indicated that the occurrence of “bouts”, a metric for the intermittency of gas distributions, may advantageously be used as a more accurate gas source proximity indicator. This paper presents a swarm GSL strategy employing bouts as source proximity indicators and a bio-inspired pheromone system for communication. Nano aerial robots, deployed in this study, act as agents and emit
pheromone markers in an artificial environment upon detecting bouts. Leveraging the concept of artificial potential fields, the agents switch between exploiting the knowledge of the swarm by following pheromone gradients and exploring the search space by targeting a random point. The agents are repelled by each other and by walls to avoid collisions. The swarm GSL strategy is implemented into three nano aerial robots and validated in a real-world experiment in an indoor environment with a single gas source. The results indicate that the the swarm GSL strategy
presented in this paper is capable of GSL in indoor environments and that the intermittency of gas distributions is a better source proximity indicator than the mean concentration.
In construction and demolition waste (CDW) recycling, the preference to date has been to apply simple but proven techniques to sort and process large quantities of construction rubble in a short time. This contrasts with the increasingly complex composite materials and structures in the mineral building materials industry. An automated, sensor-based sorting of these building materials could complement or replace the practice of manual sorting to improve processing speed, recycling rates, sorting quality, and prevailing health conditions for the executing staff.
A joint project of partners from industry and research institutions approaches this task by investigating and testing the combination of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) with near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy and visual imaging. Joint processing of information (data fusion) is expected to significantly improve the sorting quality of CDW, and may enable the detection and separation of impurities such as SO3-cotaining building materials (gypsum, aerated concrete, etc.)
We present current advances and results about the methodological development combining LIBS with NIR spectroscopy and visual imaging. Here, applying data fusion proves itself beneficial to improve recognition rates. In the future, a laboratory prototype will serve as a fully automated measurement setup to allow real-time classification of CDW on a conveyor belt.
The increasing use of carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP), as lightweight materials essential for the transformation, demands for a safe treatment option of carbon fiber (CF) containing waste streams. Because of their low reactivity towards oxidation processes, CF can neither be treated in a conventional nor hazardous waste incineration plant. Even the extremely high temperature in a cement rotary kiln does not lead to full conversion. To increase the sustainability of CF, other processes need to be investigated. Opening other reaction pathways, using CF waste streams as secondary resource in pyrometallurgy to replace fossil carbon, can be a solution for a safe and sustainable treatment. To support the industrial application, experiments on different scales were conducted. Here, results of thermochemical investigations, reactivity studies, crucible experiments and pilot plat trials are reported.
The increasing use of carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP), as lightweight materials essential for the transformation, demands for a safe treatment option of carbon fiber (CF) containing waste streams. Because of their low reactivity towards oxidation processes, CF can neither be treated in a conventional nor hazardous waste incineration plant. Even the extremely high temperature in a cement rotary kiln does not lead to full conversion. To increase the sustainability of CF, other processes need to be investigated. Opening other reaction pathways, using CF waste streams as secondary resource in pyrometallurgy to replace fossil carbon, can be a solution for a safe and sustainable treatment. After first small scale experiments, CF containing waste streams were used as reductant in a semi-industrial scale electric arc furnace (EAF). First results and impressions are presented.
Woodworms, carpet beetles, clothes moths and termites are well known pests on artifacts of cultural importance. Lately also silverfish have gained importance. Protection of our cultural heritage for future generations is not a new task but the methods have changed. Conventional use of pesticides in the past has preserved precious objects up to the presence, which otherwise probably would have been lost over time due to the destruction by insects and microbes. However, several of the objects were contaminated with poisons in such a manner that they became unsafe to be handled and thus are useless for exhibitions or scientific studies.
Today, the concept of Integrated Museum Pest Management (IMPM) provides guidance for non-residue treatments of infested objects, followed by save storage or display under pest free (or maximum pest reduced) environments. Inert fumigants, physical and biological control measure, precise monitoring, threshold evaluations and detailed knowledge of the pest`s biology are key elements within IMPM.
Woodworms, clothes moths and termites, however, are not always considered as only pests. Some professionals have also used them to produce new pieces of art or for the installation of ephemeral displays. Under more or less controlled conditions, the insects´ destructive nature on wood or textiles has been turned around to a process of creation with aesthetic or philosophical messages.
Destructive or creative - it just depends on the point of view!
Heterogeneous construction and demolition waste can be used as raw material to produce lightweight aggregates (LWA) similar to expanded clays. In the joint research project “REALight”, LWA were produced from masonry rubble in a thermal expanding process using a pilot production plant with a rotary kiln. Our research focuses on the characterisation of the novel LWA and their use in different hydraulically bound applications.
Infra-lightweight concrete (ILC) was produced with the novel LWA, which accounts for two thirds of total aggregate volume, and Celitement, which is a hydraulic binder with a low carbon footprint. Its dry bulk density is ≤ 800 kg/m³. Strength and durability properties are comparable to ILC data from the literature.
Lime-based repair mortars (LRM) containing LWA are beneficial for sandstone conservation due to their similar properties regarding porosity, water absorption and strength. A two-layer repair mortar system, which consists of a filling mortar to fill large voids and a covering mortar to modulate the surface texture to the historic sandstone, was developed.
In our contribution, we present results of the LWA characterisation according to the European standard EN 13055:2016. Requirements and challenges of the use of the novel LWA in ILC and LRM are discussed.
Melanins are organic pigments produced by most fungi. These organisms either fix these pigments in their cell wall or secrete them into their extracellular environment to protect themselves against an array of physicochemical stresses (e.g., UV irradiation, desiccation, ...). Melanin can adsorb metals like Fe. How this affects fungal uptake of Fe and deterioration of Fe-containing minerals and metals is however less known. To study this, we use the model fungi Knufia petricola A95, a rock-inhabiting fungus known to deteriorate minerals and have melanised cell walls, and Amorphotheca resinae, able to contaminate fuel tanks, secrete melanin and corrode metals. In K. petricola, we have deleted genes involved in melanin production and Fe uptake using CRISPR/Cas. Through comparison of the geochemical signatures of these gene deletion mutants with those of the wild type (WT), we explore the specific mineral/metal deterioration mechanisms of melanised fungi.
Fe isotope signatures of the biomass of melanin- and Fe uptake-deficient mutants of K. petricola revealed that Fe adsorbed either directly onto melanin or after being reduced by Fe reductases. Importantly, once adsorbed to melanin, Fe could not be mobilised and taken up into the cell: both the WT and its melanin-deficient mutant, previously grown at Fe replete conditions, showed similar growth at Fe deficient conditions.
Olivine dissolution experiments revealed that Fe oxidation inhibits dissolution. K. petricola was able to enhance dissolution when this inhibition is strongest (at pH 6) and prevented dissolution when this inhibition is weakest (at pH 4). The fungus therefore dissolves olivine by interacting with the oxidised Fe at the olivine surface. However, Fe uptake did not seem to be involved: mutants deficient in various Fe uptake mechanism dissolved olivine at the same rate as the WT. This indicates that Fe adsorption onto melanin might play a key role. This is also shown by K. petricola’s ability to enhance olivine dissolution even further if secreting a melanin precursor and A. resinae’s corrosion of carbon steel whilst secreting melanin. Combined, our results imply that the Fe adsorbed to melanin cannot be taken up but enables fungi to deteriorate Fe-containing substrates at a higher rate.
Steelmaking slag is a by-product of steel production of which 4.5 Mt were produced in 2020 in Germany alone. It is mainly used in road construction, earthwork and hydraulic engineering. A smaller part is returned to the metallurgical circle, used as fertilizer or landfilled.
With this use, iron oxides still contained in steelmaking slag are lost. In addition, the possibility of producing higher-grade products from steelmaking slag is foregone. In recent decades, many researchers have investigated the production of Portland cement clinker and crude iron from basic oxygen furnace slags (BOFS) via a reductive treatment. Carbothermal treatment of liquid BOFS causes a reduction of iron oxides to metallic iron, which separates from the mineral phase due to its higher density. Simultaneously, the chemical composition of the reduced slag is adapted to that of the Portland cement clinker.
In this study, German BOFS was reduced in a small-scale electric arc furnace using petrol coke as a reducing agent. The resulting low-iron mineral product had a similar chemical composition to Portland cement clinker and was rich in the tricalcium silicate solid solution alite (Ca3SiO5). Based on its chemical and mineralogical composition, similar to that of Portland cement clinker, the reduced BOFS has the potential to react comparably. In our study, the reduced BOFS produced less heat of hydration compared to OPC and its hydraulic reaction was delayed. However, adding gypsum has been shown to accelerate the hydration rate of the reduced BOFS compared to that known from the calcium silicates of Portland cement clinker.
Further research to improve the hydraulic properties of the reduced slag is essential. If successful, producing a hydraulic binder and crude iron from BOFS could have economic and ecological benefits for both the cement and steel industry.
Biocides are used for a wide range of purposes, including disinfectants or preservatives. They play a major role in the prevention of microbial infections in healthcare and animal husbandry. The use of biocides often leads to the discharge of active biocidal substances into wastewater streams, causing the exposure of wastewater microbial communities to subinhibitory concentrations. In turn, it is known that wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) are hotspots for antibiotic resistant bacteria. Since similar mechanisms confer resistance to biocides and antibiotics, exposure to biocides can result in co-selection of antibiotic resistant bacteria in WWTP Here, we want to investigate co-selection processes of antibiotic resistance in natural WWTP microbial communities upon biocide exposure. Microbial communities were sampled at the WWTP Ruhleben in Berlin and characterized regarding their susceptibility against different clinically relevant antibiotics. To investigate the link between biocide exposure and antibiotic resistance, changes in the susceptibility level after exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of the commonly used biocide didecyldimethylammonium chloride (DDAC) will be determined by enumerating resistant and non-resistant E. coli on selective plates with and without antibiotics and DDAC. In case of antibiotics, clinical breakpoint concentrations according to EUCAST will be used to discriminate between susceptible and resistant strains. In case of DDAC (and biocides in general), clinical breakpoints do not exist. Therefore, we determined a cut-off concentration at which the majority of naturally-occurring E. coli strains cannot grow anymore based on (I) the MIC (minimal inhibitory concentration) distribution, and (II) by plating wastewater communities onto selective indicator agar plates loaded with increasing DDAC concentration. Additionally, antibiotic cross-resistance will be determined by spotting single colonies, isolated from DDAC-selective plates onto antibiotic plates. The results of our experiments will help to determine selective concentrations and to estimate the risk of antibiotic co-selection and cross-resistance in microbial WWTP communities upon biocide exposure.
Background. Disinfection is an important mitigation strategy to control and prevent the spread of infections. Incomplete or incorrect usage of disinfection may promote evolution of resistance against disinfectants and antibiotics. Ideally, disinfection reduces the number of surviving bacteria and the chance for resistance evolution. Resistance describes the ability to grow in previously inhibitory concentrations of an antimicrobial, whereas tolerance is associated with enhanced survival of lethal doses. Individual bacteria from the same population can display considerable heterogeneity in their ability to survive treatment (i.e. tolerance) with antimicrobials, which can result in unexpected treatment failure.
Objective. In this study, we investigated six active substances of disinfectants, preservatives, and antiseptics against a population of E. coli to identify the presence of a tolerant subpopulation.
Methods. We performed time-kill experiments and analyzed the data with a mathematical model to statistically infer whether the data is best explained by the presence of a tolerant subpopulation.
Results. The analysis identified bimodal kill kinetics for benzalkonium chloride, didecyldimethylammonium chloride, and isopropanol. In contrast, kill kinetics by chlorhexidine, glutaraldehyde, and hydrogen peroxide were best explained by unimodal kill kinetics. These findings have implications for the risk of disinfection failure. In addition, we are currently performing adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE) experiments with the different disinfectants to investigate the potential consequences of tolerant sub-populations for the evolution of antimicrobial resistance and tolerance.
Background. Disinfection is an important mitigation strategy to control and prevent the spread of infections. Incomplete or incorrect usage of disinfection may promote evolution of resistance against disinfectants and antibiotics. Ideally, disinfection reduces the number of surviving bacteria and the chance for resistance evolution. Resistance describes the ability to grow in previously inhibitory concentrations of an antimicrobial, whereas tolerance is associated with enhanced survival of lethal doses. Individual bacteria from the same population can display considerable heterogeneity in their ability to survive treatment (i.e. tolerance) with antimicrobials, which can result in unexpected treatment failure.
Objective. In this study, we investigated six active substances of disinfectants, preservatives, and antiseptics against a population of E. coli to identify the presence of a tolerant subpopulation.
Methods. We performed time-kill experiments and analyzed the data with a mathematical model to statistically infer whether the data is best explained by the presence of a tolerant subpopulation.
Results. The analysis identified bimodal kill kinetics for benzalkonium chloride, didecyldimethylammonium chloride, and isopropanol. In contrast, kill kinetics by chlorhexidine, glutaraldehyde, and hydrogen peroxide were best explained by unimodal kill kinetics. These findings have implications for the risk of disinfection failure. In addition, we are currently performing adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE) experiments with the different disinfectants to investigate the potential consequences of tolerant sub-populations for the evolution of antimicrobial resistance and tolerance.
Surfaces of metallic copper and copper alloys effectively inactivate microorganisms and viruses. However, the exact inactivation mode is still under debate. Main factors are assumed to include direct contact with the metallic surface, influx of Cu(I)/Cu(II) ions and the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) are frequently reported to act antibacterial, mainly by prevention of bacterial adhesion due to a limited number of possible adhesion points or by increasing the overall surface of intrinsically antibacterial materials. In time-kill experiments with E. coli and S. aureus we analyzed the impact of LIPSS on the toxicity of metallic copper and brass. We also conducted ROS accumulation assays and conclude that the application of LIPSS is not generally straight forward to obtain or improve antibacterial surfaces. Thus, the antibacterial effects of LIPPS.
Generation of Cryomyces antarcticus mutants to explore the importance of DHN melanin for survival
(2023)
Cryomyces antarcticus, a cryptoendolithic melanized fungus endemic to Antarctica (phylum Ascomycota, class Dothideomycetes incertae sedis), has demonstrated high capability to survive extreme environmental conditions like those found in space (e.g., ionizing radiation, vacuum, microgravity), thus fueling fundamental astrobiological questions like “the search for life beyond Earth”. Its extraordinary resilience has been attributed to the presence of thick, highly melanized cell walls, which may contain both DHN and DOPA melanins. To better understand the contribution of DHN melanin to the overall resilience of C. antarcticus, we decided to generate melanin-deficient mutants by genetic engineering. For this, the melanin-PKS (polyketide synthase)- encoding ortholog was identified in the C. antarcticus CBS 116301 genome and used to design primers for re-sequencing of the capks1 locus in the strain CCFEE 515. Based on the genetic toolkit developed for the black fungus Knufia petricola, we designed a strategy for mutating capks1. Protoplasts of C. antarcticus CCFEE 515 were generated and co-transformed with a circular AMA-containing plasmid for expression and in-vivo assembly of Cas9 and two capks1-specific sgRNAs and a PCR-generated donor DNA i.e., a hygromycin resistance cassette flanked by ~75-bp-long sequences homologous to the capks1 locus. Transformation of C. antarcticus is challenging because of its very slow growth and uncertain gene copy number. It took six months from obtaining enough biomass for cell wall lysis to transferring the putatively resistant transformants for genotyping, but we eventually managed to generate three independent non-melanized (whitish) Δcapks1 mutants! We are now awaiting first complemented strains as ultimate genetic transformation control. They are considered to have a wild-type-like pigmentation due to the reintroduction of the wild-type capks1 into the Δcapks1 mutant.
Bacteria are ubiquitous and colonize all types of surfaces, including those in close proximity to humans, such as skin, food, and everyday objects. This raises the question of whether their presence represents a problem to be mitigated or a potential source of benefit to be harnessed, thereby stimulating scientific inquiry into the role of surface-associated bacteria in diverse domains ranging fromhuman health to industrial biotechnology. Aim: The objective of this project is to explore the impact of modifying surface topography on bacterial adhesion behavior. By manipulating the physical characteristics of the substrate, the attachment and detachment dynamics of bacteria can potentially be modified, leading to novel strategies for controlling bacterial colonization in various applications, such as medical devices. Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) were tested on LIPSS-covered Fused Silica samples.
Human-made systems, also called “build environment” or “technosphere”, sustain human comfort as well as our industrial activities. These systems have become particularly widespread since the Industrial Revolution, i.e., since the 17th century. At the same time, these technical systems – buildings, monuments, energy production, transformation and transmission, water purification and supply systems - serve as new habitats for living organisms.
Life is ubiquitously present on our planet since a very long time: the Earth is 4.54 billion years old and microbial communities have played a key role on our planet for 3.7 billion years. Once human-made system appeared, microorganisms became an integral part of all types of technosphere infrastructure as well.
Here we will illustrate biosphere-technosphere interactions using a specific example of the black fungi and their impact on the efficiency of solar (photovoltaic) panels. This expanding renewable infrastructure for electricity generation is growing on all continents - and create a specific, arid habitat for stress-tolerant black fungi.
Black fungi were once discovered in hot and cold natural deserts – and now belong to the persistent colonisers of human-made deserts of solar parks. This new niche is evolving an impressive biodiversity. So far more than 60 isolates of black fungi belonging to Arthoniomycetes, Eurotiomycetes and Dothideomycetes were obtained from solar panels in Europe and Americas. Here we will present the analysis of this emerging anthropogenic biodiversity.
Opportunities for future research in the field include quantification of the microbial load on technosphere surfaces – along with characterisation of the corresponding microbial diversity. The strategy of precise measurement and characterisation will enable us to reliably determine the beneficial and harmful functions that living microorganisms play in the functioning of energy-generating systems – and technosphere in general.
This presentation was held in an OECD Webinar introducing the newly developed and published OECD TG 125 on particle size and size distribution. The presentation is explaining the structure if the TG 125 and addresses all included methods and methodologies in a short and understandable way for the broader public. The presentation includes sections about nano-particles and nano-fibres.
Each year, an immense amount of plastic debris enters marine ecosystems, much of which ends up in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP). The plastic fragments are home to a diverse community of microorganisms, and while researchers have gained a better understanding of these marine plastic biofilms, we lack insights into the physiology and genomic potential of the bacteria that colonize them. Examining the lifestyle of plastic colonizers from the GPGP is particularly intriguing, as the high concentration of plastics in this accumulation zone might allow for a microbial adaptation to this unique man-made habitat. A range of pigmentation was observed in 67 isolated strains obtained directly from plastic pieces sampled from the GPGP surface water. Sequence comparison between the cultivated bacterial strains and the 16S rRNA gene amplicon dataset confirmed that most of the cultivates could also be captured through DNA-only methods. Whole genome analysis of four taxonomically diverse representatives revealed multiple carotenoid pathways, including those to produce less common glycosylated carotenoids, like sarcinaxanthin glucoside. Further, we identified a potentially new Rhodobacteraceae species containing a photosynthetic gene cluster (PGC). Absorption analysis confirmed the actual production of the carotenoids and bacteriochlorophyll a. Floating plastics represent a habitat with strong UV-light exposure, making the protection with antioxidant carotenoids as well as the ability to use light as an energy source highly beneficial traits for plastic colonizers. Our findings indicate, that the production of pigments is a common adaption mechanism for plastic-associated bacteria, and that plastic biofilms present a so far overlooked source of rare carotenoids and light-harvesting mechanisms.
Glutaraldehyde (GTA) is commonly used to disinfect medical equipment, in animal husbandry and in hydraulic fracturing. Its wide use bears the risk that microorganisms in different environments are exposed to potentially non-lethal doses of glutaraldehyde. To date, little is known about the effects of glutaraldehyde on the susceptibility of bacteria to antibiotics and its role in the selection of tolerant phenotypes.
Objectives
• To determine the effect of glutaraldehyde exposure on the survival of E. coli, S. aureus and P. aeruginosa to antibiotics
• To find the mechanistic basis for antibiotic tolerance upon glutaraldehyde exposure
Materials & Methods
Four bacterial isolates were exposed to sub-inhibitory glutaraldehyde. Antibiotic tolerance was determined by time-kill assays. Regrowth dynamics (lag times) were determined with ScanLag. E. coli was further investigated, using RNAseq to identify genes and processes involved in antibiotic tolerance. Mutants of candidate genes were screened for their antibiotic tolerance and heterogeneous target gene expression under stressed and unstressed conditions.
Results
Short-term exposure to sub-inhibitory levels of glutaraldehyde induced tolerance to high doses of bactericidal antibiotics. Tolerance to antibiotics was associated with highly heterogeneous regrowth dynamics and global transcriptome remodeling. Differentially expressed genes represented diverse biological functions and cellular components, including antibiotic efflux, metabolic processes, and the cell envelope. The heterogeneous regrowth dynamics and the diversity of the differentially expressed genes are likely related to the unspecific mode-of-action of glutaraldehyde. Among the many differentially expressed genes, several genes were identified that were not previously associated with antibiotic tolerance or persistence, which, when overexpressed alone, increased antibiotic tolerance.
Conclusion
Our results highlight how the big advantage of a disinfectant, its unspecific mode-of-action, can induce transient tolerance to antibiotics in bacteria. These findings have implications for 1.) settings where disinfectants and antibiotics are used in proximity, such as hospitals and animal husbandry, and 2.) for the selection dynamics of tolerant bacteria in fluctuating environments because of the trade-off that arises from overcoming the lag phase as fast as possible and maintaining antibiotic tolerance.
Fungal biofilms on materials: describing and modelling growth of the black fungus Knufia petricola
(2023)
Fungi that grow as biofilms are associated with clinical settings as well as various cases of material fouling and material damage. Black fungi as biofilm formers have been rarely studied so far. Their conspicuous dark pigmentation, EPS production, adhesion capabilities and adaptations to stresses allow black fungi to develop biofilms on materials under harsh conditions. For example, rock-inhabiting black fungi withstand sun irradiation and dehydration and are therefore ubiquitous on arid surfaces like solar panels and marble monuments.
To understand and control their ability to colonise and deteriorate materials, one should assess and model black fungi’s growth patterns. But so far, no mathematical model has been developed to describe their growth. Knufia petricola A95, representing rock-inhabiting fungi from Chaetothyriales, is genetically amenable and can serve as a model for biofilm studies in black fungi. The primary objective of this project is to develop a growth model for K. petricola A95 which will enable to define and predict material colonisation of black fungi.
Dedicated experimental work with K. petricola will allow the quantitative assessment of the impact of environmental conditions (e.g. pH, nutrients, etc.) on the growth behaviour at the biofilm and single cells level. Data which will be used to validate and develop an individual-based model (based on the iDynoMICS modelling platform) that explains how fungal biofilms form, colonise materials, and cause deterioration.
Thus far, research has been conducted on the impact of different concentrations and sources of major elements (e.g. C, N, …), as well as trace elements (e.g. Cu, Mg, …), on the colony shape and biomass of Knufia petricola A95 biofilms. To study the behaviour of single cells, the length of the cell cycle in different growth media has been determined via the combined use of microfluidic devices and confocal microscopy.
The exponential rise in the number of fungal genomes sequenced by next-generation sequencing techniques makes it necessary to increase efforts to correctly annotate and assign gene functions. There are two possibilities to explore a genome and its gene functions. The hypothesis-based method proves the function of already existing gene/allele candidates by targeted mutagenesis - so called reverse genetics. The basis of forward genetics approaches is the random mutagenesis of the genome, followed by screening of obtained mutants for the phenotype of interest, and identification of the mutated genes in the respective mutants. This strategy is hypothesis-generating, means it is necessary to verify the relationship between the detected mutations and the observed phenotype by targeted mutagenesis of the identified gene. We developed a toolbox for editing the genome of the rock inhabitant Knufia petricola [Eurotiomycetes, Chaetothyriales] that allows the study of the phenotypic characteristics of black fungi such as the regulation of pigment synthesis, general stress responses, oligotrophy, and the unusual modes of cell division by advanced reverse and forward genetics approaches. The toolbox includes the annotated genome sequence of strain A95, efficient strategies for CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing and live-cell imaging using genetically encoded fluorescent proteins, as well as protocols for -omics approaches and for simulation of mineral weathering. A forward genetics approach using transposon mutagenesis is currently developed for identifying essential genes. The established protocols and knowledge gained from K. petricola form a starting point for making other fungi from extreme environments accessible to genetic manipulation.
Dihydroxynaphthalene (DHN) melanin is produced by diverse Ascomycetes via slightly differing biosynthetic routes. The polyketide synthases (PKS) release the heptaketide YWA1, the hexaketide AT4HN or the pentaketide T4HN. The first two products are deacetylated by ‘yellowish-green’ hydrolases to T4HN, and T4HN is further converted by a core set of enzymes to DHN. Final polymerization steps are accomplished by multicopper oxidases. DHN melanogenesis is often regulated in a spatial and temporal fashion resulting e.g., in melanized reproduction and survival structures of the foliar plant pathogen Botrytis cinerea (Schumacher 2016, Mol Microbiol). In contrast, a polyphyletic group of Ascomycetes (microcolonial fungi/ black yeasts) dwelling in hostile habitats such as bare rock surfaces in hot and cold deserts, exhibits constitutive melanogenesis. Here, DHN melanin builds a protective layer around all vegetative cells thus contributing to the survival of diverse environmental stresses even without specialized reproduction structures. For studying the relevance of constitutive DHN melanogenesis for tolerance of abiotic and biotic stresses, adhesion to substrates and subsequent damage of colonized surfaces, the rock-inhabiting fungus Knufia petricola was chosen as gene functions in this fungus can be studied by CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing. The putative melanogenic genes were identified in the genome of K. petricola, deleted to confirm their involvement in DHN melanogenesis and co-expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae for reconstruction of the synthesis pathway. Phenotypes of DHN-deficient mutants are studied. Here, we will discuss the role of the DHN melanin layer on the outer cell wall in tolerating UV irradiation.
Dihydroxynaphthalene (DHN) melanin is produced by diverse Ascomycetes via slightly differing biosynthetic routes. The polyketide synthases (PKS) release the heptaketide YWA1, the hexaketide AT4HN or the pentaketide T4HN. The first two products are deacetylated by ‘yellowish-green’ hydrolases to T4HN, and T4HN is further converted by a core set of enzymes to DHN. Final polymerization steps are accomplished by multicopper oxidases. DHN melanogenesis is often regulated in a spatial and temporal fashion resulting e.g., in melanized reproduction and survival structures of the foliar plant pathogen Botrytis cinerea (Schumacher 2016, Mol Microbiol). In contrast, microcolonial black fungi exhibit constitutive melanogenesis. Here, DHN melanin builds a protective layer around all vegetative cells thus contributing to the survival of diverse environmental stresses even without specialized reproduction structures. For studying the regulation and relevance of DHN melanogenesis for tolerance of abiotic and biotic stresses, adhesion to substrates and subsequent damage of colonized surfaces, the rock-inhabiting fungus Knufia petricola was chosen as gene functions in this fungus can be studied by CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing. The putative melanogenic genes were identified in the genome of K. petricola, deleted to confirm their involvement in DHN melanogenesis and co-expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae for reconstruction of the synthesis pathway. Phenotypes of deletion mutants are studied for specifying the functions of DHN melanin in K. petricola.
Sustainable product policy is one pillar of the European Green Deal and the Circular Economy Action Plan. The European Commission is to begin to address recycling, recycled content and repair under the Ecodesign Directive and very likely in the announced European Sustainable Products Regulation. In addition, initiatives on recyclability and other aspects of sustainable products can be observed in France under the Ecomodulation Approach for some electrical and electronic products. Neither the Commission's ambitions nor the Ecomodulation Approach have so far led to a crucially better ecodesign of products.
Therefore, at the EU level, indices for reparability (already developed for smartphones and tablets), recyclability and recycled content of products are being discussed within the Ecodesign legislative framework in an attempt to achieve better ecodesign through advanced consumer purchasing decisions. The product standards requested by the European Commission to assess the recyclability (EN4555) and recycled content (EN4557) of energy-related products have already been published, but are purely based on a mass-based approach. Material-specific aspects such as the environmental impact or the financial, technical and redesign efforts required by manufacturers to facilitate the recycling and use of recycled materials are not addressed. Materials that are easy to recycle and use and have a high recycled content, such as copper, are treated in the same way as plastics that are difficult to recycle and use in products as post-consumer recycled plastics. Including such aspects would be essential to trigger environmentally relevant and significant improvements in product design.
Over the past century, a range of synthetic compounds have been produced to improve humanity’s quality of life. These include pharmaceuticals, plastics, and other chemical compounds that possess properties making them potentially harmful when released to the environment (e.g., ecological and health impacts to humans and animals). Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a large group of chemicals used in the formulations of thousands of consumer goods, including aqueous film-forming foams used to suppress aviation fires in training scenarios, non-stick cookware, fast-food wrappers, water-repellent fabrics, medical equipment, and plastic and leather products. Because of the recent regulations and restrictions on the use of long chain (≥C8) PFAS a significant shift in the industry towards short (C4-C7) and ultrashort (C1-C3) chain alternatives has been recognized the last years. Due to the high polarity and water solubility of ultrashort PFAS, the potential for bioaccumulation is low. However, the high persistence of ultrashort-chain PFAS will result in environmental accumulation, especially in aquatic environments, leading to potential risks for aquatic organisms and increased human external exposure through drinking water. Ultrashort PFAS like trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) are low to moderately toxic to a range of organisms. In addition, ultrashort PFAS can penetrate natural and anthropogenic barriers and eventually reach drinking water sources. Because common drinking water treatment techniques do not sufficiently remove them, they may reach human consumption. In the project we are focusing on detecting and removing PFAS, especially ultrashort-chain PFAS from contaminated groundwater. We are designing passive sampling devices, which can collect and monitor the temporal profile of PFAS species in groundwater. This will allow us to analyze PFAS contaminations in German and Israeli groundwater using state-of-the-art and novel analytical techniques and understand the extent of contamination. In addition to quantification, PFAS contaminated groundwater will be treated via a two-stage process to produce PFAS-free drinking water. As ultrashort-chain PFAS are difficult to analyze with the current target (LC-MS/MS) and sum parameter (AOF, EOF) analysis methods, we additionally using gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Therefore, an analytical method based on GC-MS is in development to analyze the volatile ultrashort-chain PFAS (TFA, PFPrA, TFMS, PFEtS, PFPrS, trifluoroethanol, pentafluoropropanol and hexafluoro isopropanol) directly in contaminated groundwater samples with the headspace technique and in eluates of organic solvents from the developed passive sampler after direct injection. Moreover, a two-stages process is designed to increase the low concentrations found in groundwater using novel membranes processes such as closed-circuit reverse osmosis (CCRO) and mixed matrix composite nanofiltration membranes (MMCM). Next, the rejected streams containing higher concentrations of PFAS will be treated by coagulation, and the remaining PFAS adsorbed onto carbonaceous nanomaterials (CNMs). The DEFEAT-PFAS project will result in the development of novel tools to detect, quantify, and remove PFAS, especially ultrashort-chain PFAS from contaminated groundwater, and will acquire a new understanding of the extent of these contaminations.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are chemicals which were developed to improve humanity’s quality of life. Due to their high chemical stability and resistance to degradation by heat or acids, PFAS were used in a variety of consumer products. The continuous use of PFAS in household products and the discharge of PFAS from industrial plants into the sewer system resulted in the contamination of effluents and sewage sludge from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) (Roesch et al. 2022). Since sewage sludge is often used as fertilizer, its application on agricultural soils has been observed as a significant entry path for PFAS into the environment, specifically in our food chain. In Germany the sewage sludge/biosolid application on agricultural land was banned with the amendment of the German Sewage Sludge Ordinance and by 2029 sewage sludge application will be totally prohibited. However, phosphorus (P) from sewage sludge should still be recycled in WWTPs of cities with a population larger than 50,000 residents. To produce high-quality P-fertilizers for a circular economy, PFAS and other pollutants (e.g. pesticides and pharmaceuticals) must be separated from sewage sludge. Due to the strong diversity of industrial PFAS usage it is not clear if a safe application of novel recycled P-fertilizers from WWTPs can be guaranteed. Therefore, we analyzed various sewage sludges and wastewater-based fertilizers. Sewage sludge (SL) samples from various WWTPs in Germany and Switzerland, six sewage sludge ashes (SSA) from Germany, six thermally treated SL and SSA samples with different additives (temperatures: 700-1050 °C), two pyrolyzed SL samples (temperature: 400 °C) and two struvite samples from Germany and Canada were analyzed. The goal was to quantify PFAS in sewage sludges and wastewater-based P-fertilizers with the sum parameter extractable organic fluorine (EOF) by combustion ion chromatography (CIC). The results were compared with data from classical LC-MS/MS target analysis as well as selected samples by HR-MS suspect screening. The EOF values of the SLs mainly range between 154 and 538 µg/kg except for one SL which showed an elevated EOF value of 7209 µg/kg due to high organofluorine contamination. For the SSA samples the EOF values were lower and values between LOQ (approx. 60 µg/kg) and 121 µg/kg could be detected. For the pyrolyzed SLs no EOF values above the LOQ were detected. Moreover, the two wastewater-based struvite fertilizers contain 96 and 112 µg/kg EOF, respectively. In contrast to the EOF values, the sum of PFAS target values were relatively low for all SLs. Additional applied PFAS HR-MS suspect screening aimed to tentatively identify PFAS that could contribute to the hitherto unknown part of the EOF value. The majority of the detected fluorinated compounds are legacy PFAS such as short- and long-chain perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCA), perfluorosulfonic acids (PFSA), polyfluoroalkyl phosphate esters (PAPs) and perfluorophosphonic acids (PFPA). Moreover, fluorinated pesticides, pharmaceutical as well as aromatic compounds were also identified, which are all included in the EOF parameter. Our research revealed that the current PFAS limit of 100 µg/kg for the sum of PFOS + PFOA in the German Fertilizer Ordinance is no longer up to date. Since the number of known PFAS already exceeds 10,000, the ordinance limit should be updated accordingly. Recent regulations and restrictions on using long-chain PFAS (≥C8) have resulted in a significant shift in the industry towards (ultra-)short-chain alternatives, and other, partly unknown, emerging PFAS. Ultimately, also fluorinated pesticides and pharmaceuticals, which end up as ultrashort PFAS in the WWTPs, have to be considered as possible pollutants in fertilizers from wastewater, too.
The phylogeny of the Blattodea boasts a wide degree of sociality spanning from solitary cockroaches to advanced ecosystem-dominating higher termite societies. The emergence of sociality in the termites was associated with the acquisition of a diverse range of social structures and differential expression of specific gene network. Previous work has found evidence for a caste-specific social defence system in termites leading to an immune system that may favour group over individual defence. While preliminary work suggests a correlation between social transitions and a reduction of immune gene family diversity, the lack of available high-quality termite genomes hampers complete knowledge of the true diversity of immune gene evolution across termite phylogeny. Here, we report on the sequencing and assembly of 50 high-quality long-read-based genomes and 180 caste- and sex-specific brain transcriptomes across major termite and cockroach sister-branch lineage. We investigate the diversity and evolutionary history of immune genes across genomes, and the potential gene networks that have evolved with the emergence of termite sociality and some aspect of immune related behaviours.
Adipokinetic hormone (AKH) is a neuropeptide produced in the insect corpora cardiaca that plays an essential role in mobilizing carbohydrates and lipids from the fat body to the hemolymph. AKH acts by binding to a rhodopsin-like G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR), the adipokinetic hormone receptor (AKHR). In this study, we tackle AKH ligand and receptor gene evolution as well as the evolutionary origins of AKH gene paralogues from the order Blattodea (termites and cockroaches). Phylogenetic analyses of AKH precursor sequences point to an ancient AKH gene duplication event in the common ancestor of Blaberoidea, yielding a new group of putative decapeptides. In total, 16 different AKH peptides from 90 species were obtained. Two octapeptides and seven putatively novel decapeptides are predicted for the first time. AKH receptor (AKHRs) sequences from 18 species, spanning solitary cockroaches and subsocial woodroaches as well as lower and higher termites, were subsequently acquired using classical molecular methods and in silico approaches employing transcriptomic data. Aligned AKHR open reading frames revealed 7 highly conserved transmembrane regions, a typical arrangement for GPCRs. Phylogenetic analyses based on AKHR sequences support accepted relationships among termite and cockroach lineages to a large extent, while putative post-translational modification sites do not greatly differ between solitary and subsocial roaches and social termites. This study provides important information not only for AKH and AKHR functional research but also for further analyses interested in their development as potential candidates for biorational pest control agents against invasive termites and cockroaches.
Insecta is one of the most diverse phyla in the animal kingdom, with species living in all types of habitats encountering an even greater diversity of pathogens and parasites. Defence strategies against such harmful threats led to a variety of molecular mechanisms, ecological shifts, and genetic innovations. Gene families underlying the molecular basis of the immune responses have evolved within the boundaries given by the species ecology. Here, we explore the evolution of some emblematic immune gene families throughout the Insecta phylum shedding light on remarkable genetic events such as gene duplication or gene loss. We followed a workflow based on the Hidden Markov model to search for immune genes in 55 high-quality genomes of insects. We highlight the emergence of group defence in social species as an ecological shift that released selection pressure on immune gene families notably in Blattodea. Further, we draw attention to certain gene families and the link between their diversity and the specificities of the species’ microbiota. Overall, we report data on immune gene diversity in insects.
Harnessing near-chromosome level quality genomes to explore the evolution of termite immunity
(2023)
The phylogeny of the Blattodea boasts a wide degree of sociality spanning from solitary cockroaches to advanced ecosystem-dominating higher termite societies. The emergence of sociality in termites was associated with the acquisition of a diverse range of social structures. Previous work has found evidence for a caste-specific social defence system in termites leading to an immune system that may favour group over individual defence. While preliminary work suggests a correlation between social transitions and a reduction of immune gene family diversity, the lack of available high-quality termite genomes hampers complete knowledge of the true diversity of immune gene evolution across termite phylogeny. Here, we report on the sequencing and near-chromosome level assembly of 48 high-quality long-read-based genomes across major termite and cockroach sister-branch lineages. We investigate the diversity and evolutionary history of immune genes across genomes, focusing particular attention on correlations between immune gene evolution and transitions in sociality over termite phylogeny.
The accelerating climate crisis results in a rising demand for ecologically driven concepts. Regarding construction, this does not only include environmentally friendly materials but also the establishment of greenery in urban regions.
This contribution presents the progress of two projects in which textured concrete slabs were designed to grow a stable biofilm of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. The greened panels represent an alternative to classic fa9ade greening with plants. Current literature suggests that the development of bioreceptive surface materials in the construction sector is difficult because there are no standardized methodological approaches for measuring said bioreceptivity. Therefore, the long-term. ahn is proposing a suitable measurement concept combining material Science and biology. Among other things, the intrinsic Substrate property pH value is expected to have a significant influence on biological colonization. In the current contribution the focus lies on the theoretical approach and design of experiment regarding this parameter.
Available experimental data will be presented.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a large, ever-growing and widely used class of chemicals. Due to the strength of the C-F bond, they do not decompose but accumulate in the environment posing a risk for nature and humans alike. While the use of some PFAS, like perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is already regulated in the EU, new ‘precursor’ substances are used to replace them. However, these precursors may be equally harmful to the environment.
In recent years, many ‘hot spot’ sites with high PFAS contaminations in soil have been distinguished, but no German-wide background values have been determined yet. Knowing these background values is crucial to understand the degree of PFAS contamination, underpinning future regulatory decisions.
Due to the complexity and variety of different PFAS compounds, one needs to apply a broad spectrum of different techniques to capture most of the PFAS content in one sample.
In the framework of this project, 600 soil samples are taken at different sites all over Germany. The concentration of 30 PFAS - 13 carboxylic acids (C4-C18), 5 sulfonic acids (C4-C10) and 12 precursor substances) - is determined in these soil samples using three different sample preparation approaches: 1) ultrasonic extraction of the soil samples with Methanol; 2) preparation of eluates to test the leaching behaviour of the PFAS and 3) TOP assays following the method published by Houtz & Sedlak.
Targeted LC-MS/MS is used to determine PFAS concentration after all three preparation steps.
For the TOP-assay, the concentration of all 30 PFAS is compared prior to and after the oxidation reaction.
Besides the ‘classic’ TOP-Assay, two other TOP-Assay approaches, the dTOP Assay and the photoTOP-Assay, are tested and the results of all three approaches are compared. First, all three TOP-Assay approaches will be tested on a reference soil spiked with a solution including all 30 PFAS measured in the project. Later, soil samples taken in the frame of the priorly described project will be tested.
This poster will focus on the results of the experiments comparing the three different TOP Assay approaches in spiked reference soil. Additionally, some of the results of the other sample preparation methods, extraction and eluate preparation will be presented.
Fused filament fabrication (FFF) on desktop 3D printers is a material extrusion-based technique often used by educational institutions, small enterprises and private households. Polymeric filaments are melted and extruded through a heated nozzle to form a 3D object in layers. The extrusion temperature is therefore a key parameter for a successful print job, but also one of the main driving factors for the emission of harmful air pollutants, namely ultrafine particles and volatile organic gases, which are formed by thermal stress on the polymeric feedstock. The awareness of potential health risks has increased the number of emission studies in the past years. However, the multiplicity of study designs makes an objective comparison of emission data challenging because printer hardware factors such as the actual extruder temperature (TE) and also feedstockspecific emissions are not considered. We assume that across the market of commercial low- and mid-price FFF printers substantial deviations between actual and set extruder temperatures exist, which have a strong effect on the emissions and hence may bias the findings of exposure studies. In our last publication, we presented a standardized feedstock-specific emission test method and showed that for each investigated feedstock an increase in actual extruder temperature was accompanied by an increase in particle emissions (Tang and Seeger, 2022). Therefore, any systematic discrepancy between set and actual extruder temperature matters. In this study, we used a thermocouple and an infrared camera to measure the actual extruder temperatures at different heights. We found significant under- and overestimation of the actual extruder temperatures by the respective set temperatures in three commercial printers. This caused a broad variation of the measured total numbers of emitted particles (TP), even when the same feedstock was operated. For the determination of TP, we followed the DE-UZ 219 test guideline. In a second round we repeated the tests with all printers adjusted to exactly the same extruder temperatures, i.e., to TE=230°C for ABS and TE=210°C for PLA. All measurements were conducted in a 1 m³ emission test chamber. Particle emissions in the size range between 4 nm and 20 μm were detected. Printing on three different printer models without temperature adjustment resulted for each of the investigated feedstocks in a variation in TP of around two orders of magnitude. After temperature adjustment, this was substantially reduced to approx. one order of magnitude and hence minimizes the bias of printer hardware on the emissions. Our findings suggest that adjustment of the extruder temperature should be mandatory in emission testing standards. It also poses a more accurate benchmark and provides more reliable emission data for evaluation of indoor air quality or for health risk assessments. In addition, a proper temperature setting is in the interest of the user. Some commercial FFF printers may have a higher actual extruder temperature than displayed and unintended overheating may not only impair the print quality but may cause unnecessarily increased exposure to particle emissions.
Basic oxygen furnace slag (BOFS) is a by-product of steelmaking of which about 10.4 Mt are produced annually in the EU. BOFS is mostly used in road construction, earthwork and hydraulic engineering. However, in this use, the iron bound in BOFS is lost and the opportunity to produce higher value products from BOFS is forgone.
In recent decades, many researchers have investigated the production of both Portland cement clinker and crude iron from BOFS via a thermochemical reductive treatment. The reductive treatment of liquid BOFS causes a reduction of iron oxides to metallic iron, which separates from the mineral phase due to its higher density and can be recovered. An advantage of this process is that simultaneously the chemical composition of the reduced BOFS is adapted to that of Portland cement clinker and the hydraulic reactive mineral alite (Ca3SiO5) is formed.
In this study, German BOFS was reduced in a small-scale electric arc furnace and a low-iron mineral product rich in alite was produced. Despite a chemical and mineralogical composition similar to that of Portland cement clinker, the reduced BOFS produced less heat of hydration, and its reaction was delayed compared to Portland cement. However, adding gypsum accelerated the hydration rate of the reduced BOFS.
Further research to improve the hydraulic properties of the reduced BOFS is essential. If successful, the production of a hydraulic material and crude iron from BOFS could have economic and ecological benefits for both the cement and steel industry.
The European Commission adopted an EU Energy Label for smartphones and tablets in June 2023. For the first time, the EU Energy Label will depict, among energy efficiency, also a reparability score, battery endurance, battery lifetime, drop resistance and dust and water ingress protection.
However, does the multitude of parameters bear the risk to confuse consumers instead of triggering environmentally sustainable purchase decisions? In a survey in Germany, consumers were asked to make a choice when the label does not clearly identify the environmentally better product. Instead, energy efficiency has to be valued against reparability, reliability against energy efficiency, and reparability against reliability. The sustainability lever of the different aspects is not the same, as e.g. lifetime extension has a much more positive environmental impact than energy efficiency in case of mobile devices. Therefore, the question remains, whether consumers intuitively make the right choice. Results of the survey indicate that consumers interpret the complex label in the desired manner and value those aspects higher, which indeed have a more positive effect on the environment.
Design and construction of a rainfall simulator to test metal runoff at atmospheric conditions
(2023)
A rainfall simulator was presented as an environmental assessment tool to quantify wash-off concentrations from metallic materials. It is part of the RUNOFF-project, which studies and re-assesses the durability of roofing and facade materials under current atmospheric conditions in Germany.
Studying building materials is important as they have a significant impact on achieving a variety of goals and targets within the sustainable developments goals (SDGs). The durability of materials is essential to reach sustainability. However, the durability of metallic materials is strongly depended on climate conditions, which have changed as a result of technical measures in industry, climate change and increasing urbanisation. In Germany at least, the data base is not up-to-date leading to prediction models regarding corrosion resistance and durability of metallic materials which can no longer be trusted and therefore need to be re-assessed and updated. Also, not only the demand for sustainable but also environmentally friendly building materials has increased dramatically. A number of construction materials produce chemical hazards, and therefore have negative impacts on water quality, soils health and ecosystems. To limit these impacts, environmental assessment methods and tools are needed to measure and quantify the inputs and outputs of building materials throughout their lifetime.
Occupational health is an important topic, especially in industry, where workers are exposed to airborne by-products (e.g., dust particles and gases). Therefore, continuous monitoring of the air quality in industrial environments is crucial to meet safety standards. For practical and economic reasons, high-quality, costly measurements are currently only carried out sparsely, both in time and space, i.e., measurement data are collected in single day campaigns at selected locations only.
The project “Robot-assisted Environmental Monitoring for Air Quality Assessment in Industrial Scenarios” (RASEM) addresses this issue by bringing together the benefits of both – low- and high-cost – measuring technologies enabling cost-efficient long-term air quality monitoring in realtime: A stationary network of low-cost sensors that is augmented by mobile units carrying high-quality sensors. By mapping the distribution of gases and particles in industrial environments with the proposed RASEM system, measures can be identified to improve on-site working conditions much faster than using traditional methods.
In this presentation, we detail the technical aspects of RASEM and introduce the mobile platforms used.
Current decontamination strategies of PFAS-burdened soils mainly consist of adsorption methods using adsorbents for fixation of PFAS in the ground. A second option is the utilization of a “pump and treat” process, cycling polluted soils through a washing plant leading to the concentration of the pollutants in the fine fraction. Only a subsequent, high-energy consuming pyrolysis process guarantees the total destruction of all fluorinated organic contaminants. These approaches are cost-intensive and not intended for the direct decomposition of all PFAS contaminants. Hence, there is a great demand for innovative developments and chemical treatment technologies, dealing with new strategies of tackling the PFAS problem. Thus, we investigated mechanochemical treatment of PFAS contaminated soils with various additives in a ball mill and analyzed the PFAS defluorination with gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), respectively, as well as the fluoride mineralization by ion chromatography (IC) and fluorine K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy.
The presentation gives general information about the European Standard EN 16516 “Construction products – Assessment of release of dangerous substances – Determination of emissions into indoor air”. This test standard was developed based on the mandate M/366 of the European commission and is a horizontal reference method for the determination of volatile organic compounds (VOC) from different classes of construction (building) products. Specific test conditions are to be selected by the product TCs (technical committees) in a way that a product is tested under its intended condition of use.
The test is based on the use of emission test chambers which are operated at constant air change rate and climate (23°C, 50 % r.h.) over 28 days. The standard defines the conditions and requirements for the measurement including loading factor, air change rate, sampling, analysis and calculation of emission rates of the substances. A 30 m³ reference room is described which is used to calculate air concentrations from the determined emission rates.
The standard EN 16516 enables the evaluation of construction products regarding their emissions into indoor air under defined and comparable conditions. The evaluation includes the determination of identified target compounds, non-identified target compounds, volatile carcinogenic compounds and the sum values TVOC, TSVOC and R.
Volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from consumer products contribute to human inhalation exposure and may cause adverse health effects. Existing methods to determine long-term VOC emissions from e.g. building products need to be verified for their suitability to reliably detect initial VOC emissions from consumer products within the first hours and days of use, which would facilitate realistic inhalation exposure assessments. To investigate this issue, VOCs emitted from a test sample were determined in a large-scale emission test chamber and in two micro-chambers of different volumes, and the results were compared.
Glutaraldehyde is widely used as a disinfectant and preservative, but little is known about its effects on bacterial susceptibility to antibiotics and the selection of tolerant phenotypes. We found that short-term exposure to sub-inhibitory levels of glutaraldehyde makes E. coli resistant to high doses of bactericidal antibiotics from different classes. This tolerance is associated with delayed, heterogeneous regrowth dynamics and global transcriptome remodeling. We identified over 1200 differentially expressed genes, including those related to antibiotic efflux, metabolic processes, and the cell envelope. The cells entered a disrupted state likely due to the unspecific mode-of-action of glutaraldehyde. Despite this unregulated response, we identified several differentially expressed genes not previously associated with antibiotic tolerance or persistence that induce antibiotic tolerance when overexpressed alone. These findings highlight how the unspecific mode-of-action of disinfectants can make bacteria temporarily resistant to antibiotics. They have implications for settings where disinfectants and antibiotics are used in close proximity, such as hospitals and animal husbandry, and for the selection dynamics of tolerant pheno- and genotypes in fluctuating environments where microorganisms are exposed to these substances, such as sewage systems. A trade-off arises from overcoming the disrupted state as quickly as possible and maintaining antibiotic tolerance.
Glutaraldehyde is widely used as a disinfectant and preservative, but little is known about its effects on bacterial susceptibility to antibiotics and the selection of tolerant phenotypes. We found that short-term exposure to sub-inhibitory levels of glutaraldehyde makes E. coli resistant to high doses of bactericidal antibiotics from different classes. This tolerance is associated with delayed, heterogeneous regrowth dynamics and global transcriptome remodeling. We identified over 1200 differentially expressed genes, including those related to antibiotic efflux, metabolic processes, and the cell envelope. The cells entered a disrupted state likely due to the unspecific mode-of-action of glutaraldehyde. Despite this unregulated response, we identified several differentially expressed genes not previously associated with antibiotic tolerance or persistence that induce antibiotic tolerance when overexpressed alone. These findings highlight how the unspecific mode-of-action of disinfectants can make bacteria temporarily resistant to antibiotics. They have implications for settings where disinfectants and antibiotics are used in close proximity, such as hospitals and animal husbandry, and for the selection dynamics of tolerant pheno- and genotypes in fluctuating environments where microorganisms are exposed to these substances, such as sewage systems. A trade-off arises from overcoming the disrupted state as quickly as possible and maintaining antibiotic tolerance.
Glutaraldehyde is widely used as a disinfectant and preservative, but little is known about its effects on bacterial susceptibility to antibiotics and the selection of tolerant phenotypes. We found that short-term exposure to sub-inhibitory levels of glutaraldehyde makes E. coli resistant to high doses of bactericidal antibiotics from different classes. This tolerance is associated with delayed, heterogeneous regrowth dynamics and global transcriptome remodeling. We identified over 1200 differentially expressed genes, including those related to antibiotic efflux, metabolic processes, and the cell envelope. The cells entered a disrupted state likely due to the unspecific mode-of-action of glutaraldehyde. Despite this unregulated response, we identified several differentially expressed genes not previously associated with antibiotic tolerance or persistence that induce antibiotic tolerance when overexpressed alone. These findings highlight how the unspecific mode-of-action of disinfectants can make bacteria temporarily resistant to antibiotics. They have implications for settings where disinfectants and antibiotics are used in close proximity, such as hospitals and animal husbandry, and for the selection dynamics of tolerant pheno- and genotypes in fluctuating environments where microorganisms are exposed to these substances, such as sewage systems. A trade-off arises from overcoming the disrupted state as quickly as possible and maintaining antibiotic tolerance.
Sustainability has become the conscientious and future-oriented principle of modern resource management and environmental protection because caring for the future is tantamount to providing manageable and healthy surroundings for ourselves. For the foreseeable future, geotechnical and environmental engineers must therefore be concerned with ensuring a healthy balance between extraction, processing, manufacturing, utilization, recycling, and disposal of materials and products.
VOC-emissions and their odours from building products and furnishings present indoors should not have an impact on personal well-being or health. Odours can be measured by applying the standard ISO 16000-28. Indoor air determination of odour emissions from building products using test chambers. One of the described procedures is the assessment of perceived intensity using a comparative scale by a group of panellists. In this paper, the perceived intensity sampling procedure and its evaluation method are investigated and shown to need improvement. New technical developments in the methodology used to increase the reproducibility of measurement results are discussed. Since odour tests are used for labelling, they have a major influence on the assessment of construction products, similar to the procedure of the German Committee for Health Evaluation of Building Products (AgBB). In the original ISO standard, the evaluation is typically performed using a sampling container separated from the emission chamber. For a better sample presentation, an adapter was developed to connect the emission test chamber to the evaluation funnel and thus enable an odour assessment which is comparable to a direct measurement. The investigations show that losses of odourous substances can be greatly reduced, which is very desirable when seeking to obtain reliable results in odour measurement. Another experimental series was carried out to reduce the measurement effort in the evaluation of perceived intensity. Application of the developed greater than or less than/equal to. query could be helpful here. The results show that the query mostly leads to the same result as the evaluation of the perceived intensity using the method according to the standard but is much easier to perform. Overall, the results can contribute to improving the acceptance of the evaluation of perceived intensity using ISO 16000-28 and to determining odours from building materials increasingly more precisely.
By tracing sustainability impacts along the supply chain, certification schemes and labels are crucial to unlock the potential of bio-based systems in achieving several SDGs. However, the rapid proliferation of certification schemes and labels led to questioning their effectiveness and robustness and to what extent they deliver important outcomes, in line with sustainability policy priorities. The STAR4BBS project develops indicators and a monitoring system for assessing the effectiveness and robustness of existing certification schemes and labels, applicable to biological feedstock and bio-based materials and products.
Understanding the fundamentals of bioreceptivity enables the developement of functionalized materials. Concrete as the most used building material worldwide is of special interest as microbially greened panels may represent an alternative to classic façade greening with plants. This project includes extensive outdoor experiments, in which eight differently structured concrete panels are weathered under different conditions, aiming to grow a stable biofilm of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. Documentation and data analysis of this experiment will be demonstrated using an example of one of the surfaces.
Disinfectants are important to prevent the transmission of pathogens, especially in the face of the current antibiotic resistance crisis. The crisis is further exacerbated by phenotypically tolerant persister subpopulations that can survive transient antibiotic treatment and facilitate resistance evolution. Despite the transient nature of disinfectant application, persistence to disinfectants and its role for the evolution of tolerance and cross-resistance to antibiotics has not been studied. Our work shows that E. coli displays persistence against several widely used disinfectants, including benzalkonium chloride (BAC), didecyldimethylammoniumchlorid (DDAC) and isopropanol. The molecular mechanism of BAC persistence is triggered in stationary phase and affected by several antibiotic persister genes (hipA, tisB, tolC, relA, spoT). Experimental evolution and population dynamic modeling show that repeated failure of disinfection due to persisters rapidly selects for BAC tolerance underpinned by reduced cell surface charge due to mutations in genes related to lipid A acylation (lpxML). Furthermore, evolved BAC tolerance affects the susceptibility to antibiotics, leading to positive selection of disinfectant tolerant strains at environmentally relevant antibiotic concentrations and variations in evolvability of antibiotic resistance due to epistatic effects. These results highlight the need for faithful application of disinfectants to steward their efficacy and the efficacy of antibiotics. A better understanding of the bacterial response to disinfectants is crucial to understand and avert the ongoing antimicrobial resistance crisis.
Bisphenol A (BPA) is used in Polycarbonate (PC), polyacrylic resins (PAR), polysulfones (PSU), epoxy resins (ER), and polyetherimides (PEI). It is also applied in recycled polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Many outdoor applications are made from these BPA-based materials which are exposed to a variety of environmental impacts, like temperature, global radiation, rain, and others. This could lead to damaging and aging of the material which might cause leaching or migration of pollutants into the environment.
Understanding the fate and behavior of the released pollutants is very important. Therefore, different transformation products (TP) will be generated and analyzed:
1. To investigate the behavior of various bisphenols in wastewater treatment plants, possible technical TP are generated by UV irradiation. Simulation of Industrial wastewater treatment is realized by using the Fenton reaction, an advanced oxidation process.
2. To study the transformation of bisphenols in surface waters, global radiation will be simulated by using UVA lamps.
3. To simulate phase 1 metabolism, an electrochemical cell coupled to a mass selective detector is applied.
The analysis of metabolites and TP are achieved by a variety of gas and liquid chromatographic techniques coupled with mass spectrometry. The elucidation of the exact structure of the obtained TP and metabolites are done by 1H- and/or 13C-NMR experiments.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a large and ever-growing class of chemicals that are widely used. Due to the strength of the C-F bond, they do not decompose but accumulate in the environment posing a risk for nature and humans alike. While the use of some PFAS, like perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanoic sulfonic acid (PFOS) is already regulated in the EU, new ‘precursor’ substances are used to replace them. However, these precursors may be equally harmful to the environment.
In recent years, many ‘hot spot’ sites with high PFAS contaminations in the soils have been distinguished,but no German-wide background values have been determined yet. Knowing these background values is crucial to understand the degree of PFAS contamination, underpinning future regulatory decisions.
600 soil samples are freshly taken at different sites all over Germany. PFAS are extracted from all samples. The extracts are analysed using LC-MS/MS with 30 PFAS as target compounds. Eluates are produced and analysed using targeted LC-MS/MS. To determine the amount of precursor substances not included in the targeted list, total oxidisable precursor (TOP) assays are performed with different approaches. Additionally, 50 samples taken at the same locations in 2012 are analysed to determine temporal trends of PFAS contamination. The determination of total extractable organically bound fluorine (EOF) is planned for comparison.
The aim of the project is to obtain a broad overview of the status and development of the PFAS contamination in soil in Germany. By the preparation and analysis of eluates, the leaching behaviour of the analytes and thereby their mobility in the environment is investigated, helping to understand the transport of PFAS from contaminated soil to water. The use of different TOP assay methods allows to compare their results and usability in routine analysis, thereby giving insights into the amount of PFAS contamination hidden to targeted analysis and helping inspire future analysis strategies. The future comparison of these results to EOF analysis may further underline this point. The large number of samples and the geographic distribution of the sampling is unprecedented in Germany and allows to determine high-risk sites and ‘hot spots’. In the future, the insights from the project may be used as a guide for the political regulation of uses of PFAS.
Hydrogen plasma treatment of iron ores or iron oxide containing wastes can be an efficient option to produce green iron e.g. for steel production. This way iron oxide is reduced to metallic iron in the liquid form by the highly reactive species that are formed in a hydrogen plasma. Hydrogen plasma can be used at the same time to remove undesired gangue elements. The presentation shows the experimental setup, shows first results of iron ore reduction by hydrogen plasma and gives an outlook for industrial application of the technology.
As consequence of the European Green Deal and the European Commission's Circular Economy Action Plan, the product landscape in the EU will undergo fundamental changes. The legal requirements for products are being expanded, not least through the Proposal for an Ecodesign Regulation for Sustainable Products published by the European Commission in 2022. Following the current developments, requirements for the circularity of products will be increased next to the already existing minimum requirements for products’ energy efficiency. Following this development, the lead question has to be: Is the market, in particular small- and medium-sized enterprises, well prepared for this planned green transformation of our economy? The answer is: No, not yet.
What is needed are suitable standards for the implementation of these requirements to reduce additional burdens to an appropriate level and to support fair competition between all market actors concerned. The German Institute for Standardization, the German Commission for Electro-technical, Electronic & Information Technologies and the Association of German Engineers have conducted a review study with the aim of identifying fundamental needs for revising existing standards and for creating new standards - both of which are intended to support and accelerate the transformation of the current economy towards a Circular Economy. More than 700.000 normative documents were analyzed, and the results were discussed and consolidated with more than 1000 experts from manufacturers (organizations), consumer- and environmental organizations as well as from the public sector. As a result, more than 200 gaps in the standardization landscape were identified. In this study, we highlight and analyze the most important needs for standardization activities in the field of electrotechnical-, electronic- and ICT-products. In the discussion with the experts for electrotechnical-, electronic- and ICT products, it has been confirmed that a timely implementation of ambitious political decisions of a circular economy requires a normative basis to ensure its consistency. Furthermore, consensus between experts was that legislation in product regulation would be key and should not be extended to the area of waste legislation. As most important standardization activities accompanying product legislation, the following were identified: (i) creation of a set of indicators enabling a holistic assessment of product circularity, (ii) quality assurance of secondary raw materials and consumers awareness of the product circularity both enabled by appropriate analytics and (iii) clear regulation concerning product liability of repaired, refurbished or remanufactured products. One issue of relevance to all experts concerns the product safety, which must not, under any circumstances, decrease when changing product design to reach a higher degree of circularity. The mentioned and further standardization activities would be essential to kick the can down the circular economy road and are analyzed and summarized in this study.
The individual willingness to pay for sustainable products is significantly influenced by the climate crisis, but is also affected due to additional international crises as the still ongoing pandemic and the war in Ukraine. The better a product labelling is designed, the more likely consumers are to make a well-considered purchase decision at the point-of-sale, which in turn increases the product lifetime of the devices.
The results of this study are based on two consumer surveys with a total of 590 participants. Consumers were asked to make a simulated purchase decision based on the upcoming EU Energy Label for smartphones. Each consumer was presented comparison labels showing different aspects concerning durability (meaning charging cycles, robustness and IP class), repairability, energy efficiency and product price. In addition, there was a question on energy consumption, which was displayed either in Wh/h or in battery endurance per charge in hours.
The analysis of the survey shows a clear ranking of the preferred properties: 1. Durability as best option, Energy efficiency and Repairability as second and third choice. In all categories, a higher price was accepted in favor of a more environmentally friendly product design. When presenting the energy consumption in Wh/h, no reliable distinguishing between higher or lower values was observed. In contrast, higher values were clearly preferred when choosing between different battery runtimes.
Recommendations will be developed for adjustments to the upcoming EU Energy Label for smartphones and other product labels in the future showing circular economy aspects, such as the durability, repairability, recycled content used during production, recyclability or the total footprint of the product.
Wavelength scanning coherent optical time domain reflectometer (WS-COTDR) is a good candidate to spatially resolve the environmental information at comparatively low frequency. This paper reveals it can also work as a traditional optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR) to identify Fresnel reflection by averaging the obtained signal over the wavelength scanning range. Simultaneous distributed vibration sensing and a traditional OTDR measurement are experimentally demonstrated using the WS-COTDR system.
Wavelength scanning coherent optical time domain reflectometer (WS-COTDR) is a good candidate to spatially resolve the environmental information at comparatively low frequency. This paper reveals it can also work as a traditional optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR) to identify Fresnel reflection by averaging the obtained signal over the wavelength scanning range. Simultaneous distributed vibration sensing and a traditional OTDR measurement are experimentally demonstrated using the WS-COTDR system.
A new concept for the ecotoxicological assessment of plastics under consideration of aging processes
(2023)
Microplastics are widely distributed in aquatic and terrestrial environments, but up to now less is known about (eco)toxicological impacts under realistic conditions. Research so far has focused mainly on impacts on organisms by fresh, single‐origin plastic fragments or beads. However, plastics found in the environment are complex in composition, this means different polymer types and sources, with and without additives and in all stages of age, and therefore, in a more or less advanced stage of degradation. For oxidized degradation products that might be released from plastic materials during aging, there is a lack of information on potentially adverse effects on aquatic biota. The latter is of particular interest as oxidized degradation products might become more water soluble due to higher polarity and are more bioavailable, therefore. The present study focused on plastic leachates of polystyrene (PS) and polylactic acid (PLA), which were derived from alternating stress by hydrolysis and ultraviolet (UV) radiation—representing a realistic scenario in the environment. Test specimens of PS, PLA, or a PLA/PS layer (each 50%) were alternately exposed to UV radiation for 5 days followed by hydrolysis for 2 days, for several weeks alternating. Ecotoxicological effects of the storage water (artificial freshwater) of the test specimens and additionally, in a second experimental setup, the effects of five potential polymer degradation products were detected by 72 h algae growth inhibition tests with Desmodesmus subspicatus. Results clearly indicate inhibitory effects on algae growth by contaminants in the storage water of stressed plastics with increasing growth inhibition of proceeding hydrolysis and UV stress times. Different polymers caused variable inhibitions of algae growth with stronger inhibitions by PS and less effects by PLA and the mixed layer of both. Moreover, not microplastic particles but the resulting dissolved degradation products after aging caused the ecotoxicological effects—with strong effects by the oxidized degradation products. The existing data highlight the relevance of plastic aging as a framework for microplastic ecotoxicity evaluation and allow a proof of concept.
Microplastics are widely distributed in aquatic and terrestrial environments, up to now less is known on toxicological impacts under realistic conditions. Research so far has focused mainly on the impacts on organisms by fresh plastic fragments or beats. However, plastic materials found in the environment are mainly a mixture of different polymers and particularly degraded during aging processes. Although especially oxidized degradation products might escape from plastic materials during aging, there is a lack of information on potentially adverse effects on aquatic biota. The latter is of particular interest as oxidized chemicals become more water soluble due to higher polarity and are more bio-available, therefore.
The present study focussed on plastic leachates of polystyrene (PS) and polylactic acid (PLA), which were derived from alternating stress by hydrolysis and UV radiation. Test specimen of PS, PLA or PS/PLA blends (each 50 %) were alternatingly maintained in water at 45 °C for five days and UV radiated at 45 °C for two days, for in total six weeks. Ecotoxicological effects of potentially generated degradation products of plastic materials in the storage water (mineral water, pH: 7.2) were detected by algae growth inhibition tests with Desmodesmus suspicatus and photosystem II inhibition tests with Raphidocelis subcapitata.
Results clearly indicate inhibitory effects on algae growth by contaminants in the storage water of stressed plastic materials with increasing growth inhibition of proceeding hydrolysis and UV stress times. Here, different plastics cause variable responses of algal growth. First chemical analyses indicate dissolved monomers and their oxidation products of plastic materials as possible driver of detected ecotoxicological effects, since detected microplastic particles do not seem to harm algae.
The existing data highlight the relevance of plastic aging as a framework for microplastic ecotoxicity evaluation and allow a proof of concept.
The formation of microplastic (MP) particles (1-1000 µm) is mostly related to physicochemical degradation processes of macroplastics. Photooxidative damage is often set as the initial degradation process, which leads to embrittlement of the plastics. Mechanical processes then lead to further fragmentation and the formation of MP particles. In the environment, this can be associated with UV exposure through direct radiation from the sun, which leads to radical formation in the polymer systems on the one hand and radical formation of oxygen on the other. The result is material embrittlement usually caused by chain shortening in the polymeric system. Due to specific ecosystem conditions, the damaged polymer is fragmented by erosive, abrasive processes or wave action.
According to reference material topic for MP analysis, pristine and artificially weathered polymers are needed. Starting from granulate or macroplastics, these can be pulverised with different techniques, bottled and stored until usage. The bottled powders need to be homogen and stable over a defined time interval regarding to a specific property.
This work deals with different polymer types, aged and non-aged. It tries to answer the question under which storage conditions polymers will be stable in particle size. The powders are characterized for chemical composition and shape with FTIR, DSC and SEM. Particle size distribution was measured by laser diffraction with wet and dry dispersion. Artificially pre-aged materials seem to be more vulnerable for further aging and less stable in particle size distribution measurements.
The interaction of microcroplastics (MP) with dissolved organic matter, especially humic substances, is of great importance in understanding the behavior of microplastics in aquatic ecosystems. Surface modification by humic substances plays an essential role in transport and interaction of MP with abiotic and biotic components. Previous studies on the interaction between MP and humic substances were largely based on a model compound, humic acid (Sigma-Aldrich). In our work, we therefore investigated the interaction of natural organic matter (NOM) sampled from a German surface water with low-density polyethylene particles (LDPE). Highpressure size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC) and UV/vis absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy were used to characterize the incubation solutions after modifications due to the presence of LDPE, and Raman spectroscopy was used to characterize the incubated microplastics. While the studies of the solutions generally showed only very small effects, Raman spectroscopic studies allowed clear evidence of the binding of humic fractions to MP. The comparison of the incubation of NOM and a lignite fulvic acid which also was tested further showed that specific signatures of the humic substances used could be detected by Raman spectroscopy. This provides an elegant opportunity to conduct broader studies on this issue in the future.
Besides classical per- and polyfluorinated alkylated substances (PFAS), side-chain fluorinated polymers (SFPs) are widely applied as efficient anti-wetting and anti-greasing coatings in various daily applicated consumer products such as outdoor apparel, carpetry or paper-based food contact materials. Although the fluorinated sidechains are chemically bound to a base polymer, their release can be triggered by environmental influences or wear-off, thus contribute as significant sources of PFAS in the environment. Since only little knowledge of PFAS and SFP composition in consumer products is available, a comprehensive analytical approach might be beneficial.
A fast method for microplastic detection is thermal extraction desorption‐gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (TED‐GC/MS), which uses polymer‐specific thermal decomposition products as marker compounds to determine polymer mass contents in environmental samples. So far, matrix impacts of different environmental matrices on TED‐GC/MS performance had not yet been assessed systematically. Therefore, three solid freshwater matrices representing different aquatic bodies with varying organic matter contents were spiked with a total of eight polymers. Additionally, for the first time, the two biodegradable polymers polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT) and polylactide (PLA) were analysed using TED‐GC/MS. The methodological focus of this work was on detectability, quality of signal formation as well as realisation of quantification procedures and determination of the limit of detection (LOD) values. Overall, TED‐GC/MS allowed the unambiguous detection of the environmentally most relevant polymers analysed, even at low mass contents: 0.02 wt% for polystyrene (PS), 0.04 wt% for the tyre component styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) and 0.2 wt% for polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE) and PBAT. Further, all obtained LOD values were increased in all matrices compared to the neat polymer without matrix. The LOD of the standard polymers were increased similarly (PS: 0.21–0.34 μg, SBR: 0.27–0.38 μg, PP: 0.32–0.36 μg, PMMA: 0.64–1.30 μg, PET: 0.90–1.37 μg, PE: 3.80–6.99 μg) and their decompositions by radical scission processes were not significantly influenced by the matrices. In contrast, matrixspecific LOD increases of both biodegradable polymers PBAT (LOD: 1.41–7.18 μg) and PLA (0.84–20.46 μg) were observed, probably due to their hetero‐functional character and interactions with the matrices. In conclusion, the TED‐GC/MS performance is not solely determined by the type of the polymers but also by the composition of the matrix.
Bisphenol A (BPA) is used in Polycarbonate, Polyacrylic resins, Polysulfones, Epoxy resins, and Polyetherimides. It is also used in recycled Polyvinyl chloride [1–3]. BPA has been classified as a substance of very high concern (SVHC) under REACH [4] due to its endocrine disrupting properties. The German competent authorities want to reduce the content of BPA in the environment. Possible substitutes for BPA are Bisphenol B (BPB), Bisphenol E (BPE),
Bisphenol F (BPF), or Bisphenol S (BPS), as they are similar in structure.
BPA-based materials have a wide area of application especially outside. These outdoor applications are exposed to different external influences, including physical, biological, mechanical and chemical influences. This results in damage and aging of the material with leaching or migration into the environment. There, the substance is transformed by various transformation processes. The emerging metabolites and transformation products (TPs) can have different properties than the parent substance. Understanding the fate and behavior of the emerging pollutants is very important.
Therefore, different transformation products of selected bisphenols will be generated and analyzed:
To investigate the fate of different bisphenols in water treatment plants technical transformation products [5] will be generated by chlorination, ozonization, the Fenton reaction, and UV-radiation.
For the investigation of the fate of Bisphenols in surface water global radiation will be simulated with UVA-lamps
Simulation of phase-I-metabolism with an electrochemical cell coupled to mass spectrometry (EC-MS).
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of anionic, cationic and zwitterionic synthetic products, in which the hydrogen atoms on the carbon skeleton of at least one carbon atom have been completely replaced by fluorine atoms and which include more than 4730 compounds, depending on the definition. As a result of continuous and prolific use, mainly in aviation firefighting foams, thousands of industrial and military installations have been found to contain contaminated soil, groundwater and surface water. Furthermore, current decontamination strategies of PFAS-burdened soils mainly consist of adsorption methods using adsorbents for fixation of PFAS in the ground. Hence, there is a great demand for innovative developments and chemical treatment technologies, dealing with new strategies of tackling the PFAS problem. Thus, we investigated mechanochemical treatment of PFAS contaminated soils with various additives in a ball mill and analyzed the PFAS defluorination. In this presentation the advantages of fluorine K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy for various environment samples are shown.
Significant Cu-deposition and precipitation only occurred in combination with carbon steel. High-alloyed materials prevent the disturbing Cu-agglomeration. Pb-deposition and precipitation only occurred in combination with carbon steel. No negative Pb-effect could be observed in combination with high-alloyed steels. High alloyed corrosion resistant alloys are suitable and shall be chosen for future design of the piping system, either in massive or in cladded form, to prevent unwanted interactions with brine components.
Microplastic particles with sizes between 1 to 1000 μm are widely distributed worldwide. Origin, transport pathways and fate are poorly known, as sampling, sample preparation and detection methods are major challenges. In addition, reference materials that mimic environmental particles are lacking. Most challenging is the yield of MP particle production and the need for resource-intensive grinding with liquid nitrogen. In this paper, a machine is designed to produce aged microplastic particles as reference material candidates with high yield. The machine is based on ultraviolet aging of a thin foil and mechanical fragmentation using clean air. An example of aging and fragmentation of high density polyethylene with additional physical and chemical characterization of shape, size, aging state by carbonyl index and density is presented.
The roles of DHN melanin and the stress-activated MAP kinase in the rock inhabitant Knufia petricola
(2023)
Black fungi/yeasts exhibit high stress tolerance, yeast‑like or meristematic growth, and constitutive 1,8-dihydroxynaphthalene (DHN) melanin formation. Due to their slow growth, robust cell walls and the lack of sexual cycles and genetic tools, the underlying mechanisms of their phenotypic traits have remained largely unexplored. Using recently developed genetic tools, it is now possible to manipulate the genome of the rock-inhabiting model fungus Knufia petricola. Thus, gene functions and the cell biology of black fungi can be studied using CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing and live-cell imaging with genetically encoded fluorescent proteins. Here, we are addressing the question to which extent constitutive pigment formation (melanin and carotenoids) and responses mediated by the stress-activated mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase contribute to the observed extremotolerance of K. petricola. The mutations of pks1, phs1 and both genes result in melanin-free (pink), carotenoid-free (black) and pigment-free (white) strains, respectively. The other putative melanogenic genes were identified in the genome, deleted to confirm their involvement in DHN melanogenesis and co-expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae for reconstruction of the synthesis pathway. Sak1 encoding the stress-activated MAP kinase was deleted in the wild-type and different pigment-deficient backgrounds. Growth of the obtained single, double and triple deletion mutants was tested by droplet tests on media supplemented with different stress-inducing agents. The Δsak1 mutants show slightly reduced growth rates even without environmental pressure and are hypersensitive to different stresses: e.g. osmotic, oxidative, membrane, pH and heat stress. Melanin-free Δsak1 mutants are more sensitive than black Δsak1 mutants to some but not all stress conditions, suggesting that melanin and the SAK1 pathway have complementary roles in protecting K. petricola from stress.
Iron is arguably the most essential metal in living organisms. For rock-inhabiting fungi its acquisition might be unconventional as they (1) tend to inhabit iron-deficient, oxygen-rich surfaces like marble monuments and solar panels and (2) produce the black, iron-adsorbing pigment melanin. We used a range of analytical methods, ongoing mineral dissolution experiments and gene deletion mutants of the model rock-inhabiting fungus Knufia petricola to figure out the mechanisms and substrate deteriorating effects of iron uptake by these organisms. To study both siderophore-mediated and reductive iron assimilation (RIA), genes like sidC, encoding a putative siderophore synthetase and ftr1 and fet3 encoding the subunits of an iron permease-oxidase were deleted.
At iron deficient conditions, growth of the wild type (WT) and ΔsidC mutant was similar, whereas growth of the Δftr1-fet3 mutant and the double mutant ΔsidC/Δftr1-fet3 was diminished and absent, respectively. We were not able to detect the siderophore of K. petricola and the WT and mutants were not able to grow at low concentrations of strong iron chelators. However, in a cross-feeding experiment, an overexpression strain of sidC allowed more growth of ΔsidC/Δftr1-fet3 on iron deficient medium than the WT, whereas the ΔsidC mutant could not do so at all. Compared to the WT, the sidC overexpression strain also withstood oxidative stress better and had a shorter lag time and higher growth rate. Combined, these results indicate that K. petricola relies more on RIA than siderophore-mediated uptake as it likely excretes low quantities of a primarily intracellular siderophore. Interestingly, Δftr1-fet3 had a higher iron content than the WT at iron deficient conditions. This difference disappeared upon deletion of melanin synthesis (Δpks1 vs. Δpks1/Δftr1-fet3): melanin-bound iron can likely not be used without RIA. K. petricola’s chelation incapacity implies a habitat free of competition for iron while offering us a mitigation strategy.
Cryomyces antarcticus – a cryptoendolithic black fungus endemic to Antarctica – is taxonomically classified in phylum Ascomycota, class Dothideomycetes incertae sedis. C. antarcticus has shown high capability to survive extreme environmental conditions like those found in space (ionizing radiation, vacuum, microgravity), thus fueling fundamental astrobiological questions like “searching for life beyond Earth” (Onofri et al. 2020, Extremophiles Astrobiol Model). Its extraordinary resilience has been attributed to the presence of thick, highly melanized cell walls, which may contain both DHN and DOPA melanins (Pacelli et al. 2020, Appl Microbiol Biotechnol). To better understand the contribution of DHN melanin to the overall resilience of C. antarcticus, we initially adopted chemicals e.g., tricyclazole to inhibit the DHN melanin synthetic pathway; however, these studies gave inconclusive results. Eventually, we decided to generate melanin-deficient mutants by genetic engineering. Using the genetic toolkit developed for the black fungus Knufia petricola (Voigt et al. 2020, Sci Rep; Erdmann et al. 2022, Front Fungal Biol), we designed a strategy for mutating the key enzyme (polyketide synthase)-encoding gene capks1 by transient delivery of Cas9 and capks1-specific sgRNA from AMA-containing plasmids and PCR-generated donor DNA i.e., resistance cassettes flanked by ~75-bp-long sequences homologous to capks1. For this, the melanin-PKS encoding ortholog was identified in the C. antarcticus CBS 116301 genome (mycocosm.jgi.doe.gov) and used to design primers for re-sequencing of the capks1 locus in the strain CCFEE 515. Transformation of C. antarcticus is challenging because of its very slow growth; we expect that 4-6 months are needed from obtaining enough biomass for cell wall lysis until transferring putatively resistant transformants for genotyping. Important parameters were evaluated: protoplasts can be generated, and they survive the transformation procedure, and suitable concentrations of selective agents have been identified. Nowadays, we are waiting for the first C. antarcticus mutants considered to be deficient in DHN melanogenesis.
Microcolonial black fungi ubiquitously inhabit sun-exposed natural and man-made surfaces of our planet. To promote genetic studies, which are hindered by slow growth, lack of sexual cycles and transformation difficulties, CRISPR/Cas9-based genetic tools were implemented (Erdmann et al. 2022, Front Fungal Biol). Now efficient targeted mutagenesis of the rock inhabitant Knufia petricola (Eurotiomycetes/Chaetothyriales) - as a representative of the polyphyletic group of black fungi - enables the elucidation of extremotolerance, oligotrophism, unusual types of cell division, mineral weathering and symbiotic interactions. Still more progress on assigning functions to yet unknown genes can be expected if a forward genetics approach is available. We chose the two-component Activator/ Dissociation (Ac/Ds) transposon system from maize for generating a collection of insertional mutants by in-vivo mutagenesis of K. petricola. For the optimal use of this genetic tool, an inducible promoter for the expression of the Ac transposase (AcTPase) and by this the regulatable transposition of the resistance cassette-containing Ds transposon is desired. However, endogenous promoters for nitrate assimilation and galactose catabolism - often used in fungi for regulatable gene expression - are not inducible by their substrates in K. petricola suggesting that the regulatory networks for nutrient acquisition differ significantly in oligotrophic fungi. Therefore, the metabolism-independent Tet-on system was combined with the AcTPase coding sequence and subsequently transformed into Ds-carrying K. petricola strains. In total, four auxotrophic Ac|Ds starter strains containing the Ds transposon at different position of ade2 or ura3 were generated. The cultivation of these strains with doxycycline for induction of TET::Ac and subsequent selection of cells on ADE/URA-lacking media resulted in prototrophic colonies (revertants) for some but not all Ac|Ds strains. Currently, the transposition events in the obtained revertants are studied to validate the procedure. First amplicon sequencing of excision sites revealed footprint patterns, proving the transposon jumped.
DHN (1,8-dihydroxynaphthalene) melanin is produced by Ascomycetes via slightly differing synthetic routes. Polyketide synthases release YWA1, AT4HN or T4HN. YWA1 and AT4HN are deacetylated by ‘yellowish-green’ hydrolases, and T4HN is converted by a core set of enzymes to DHN. Final polymerization steps are accomplished by multicopper oxidases. The melanogenic genes are tightly, partially or not clustered in the genomes, and are often regulated in a spatial and/or temporal fashion. By contrast, microcolonial fungi/black yeasts – a polyphyletic group of Ascomycetes dwelling in hostile habitats such as bare rock surfaces – feature constitutive DHN melanogenesis. Here, we report on the DHN melanogenic genes of Knufia petricola (Eurotiomycetes/Chaetothyriales).
Natural and synthetic estrogens are key endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Despite occurring at ultra-trace levels (below ng L-1), it is believed that they are contributing to an increase in feminized fish and other endocrine disruptive effects, and hence, their inclusion in the Watch list was not unexpected. One of the main sources ofestrogens to surface waters is wastewater effluent. Once in surface waters, they can partition into different compartments, i.e., water and suspended particulate matter. For this reason, there is an urgent need for a methodology to monitor estrogen levels below the environmental quality standards (EQS) set by the Water Framework Directive requirements.
In this study, a precise and accurate gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method (GC-MS/MS) for the analysis of estrone (E1), 17β-estradiol (17β-E2), 17α-estradiol (17α- E2), 17-alpha-ethinylestradiol (EE2), and estriol (E3) in whole water samples with ng L-1 limit of quantification (LOQ) was developed and validated in accordance with CEN/TS 16800:2020 guidelines.
Monitoring programs should generate high-quality data on the concentrations of substances and other pollutants in the aquatic environment to enable reliable risk assessment. Furthermore, the need for comparability over space and time is critical for analysis of trends and evaluation of restoration of natural environment. Additionally, research work and exercises at the European level have highlighted that reliable measurements of estrogenic substances at the PNEC level are still challenging to achieve.
The project EDC-WFD Metrology for monitoring endocrine disrupting compounds under the EU Water Framework Directive aims to develop traceable analytical methods for determining endocrine disrupting compounds and their effects, with a specific focus on three estrogens of the first watch list (17-beta-estradiol (17βE2), 17-alpha-ethinylestradiol (EE2), and estrone (E1)). Estrogens 17-alpha-estradiol (17E2) and estriol (E3) will be included to demonstrate the reliability of the developed methods and to support the requirements of Directive 2013/39/EC, Directive 2009/90/EC and Commission Implementation Decision (EU) 2018/840, hence improving the comparability and compatibility of measurement results within Europe. During the EDC-WFD project four selected effect-based methods (EBM) will be deeply investigated in order to improve their rationale use and their support in water quality assessment. In particular, the EBM sensitivity, specificity and accuracy on reference materials with single or mixture solutions of the five substances at a concentration of EQS values will be explored.
This contribution will present the objectives and methods applied within the EDC-WFD project.
Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) can be used for structural determination of biological macromolecules and polymers in their native states (e.g. liquid phase). This means that the structural changes of (bio-)polymers, such as proteins and DNA, can be monitored in situ to understand their sensitivity to changes in chemical environments. In an attempt to improve the reliability of such experiments, the reduction of radiation damage occurring from exposure to X-rays is required. One such method, is to use scavenger molecules to protect macromolecules against radicals produced during radiation exposure, such as reactive oxygen species (ROS). In this study we investigate the feasibility of applying the compatible solute, osmolyte and radiation protector Ectoine (THP(B)), as a scavenger molecule during SAXS measurements of the single-stranded DNA-binding protein Gene-V Protein (G5P/GVP). In this case, we monitor the radiation induced changes of G5P during bio-SAXS measurments and the resulting microscopic energy-damage relation was determined from microdosimetric calculations by Monte-Carlo based particle scattering simulations with TOPAS/Geant4 and a custom target-model. This resulted in a median-lethal energy deposit of pure G5P at 4 mg mL−1 of E1/2 = 7 ± 5 eV, whereas a threefold increase of energy-deposit was needed under the presence of Ectoine to reach the same level of damage. This indicates that Ectoine increases the possible exposure time before radiation-damage to G5P is observed. Furthermore, the dominant type of damage shifted from aggregation in pure solutions towards a fragmentation for solutions containing Ectoine as a cosolute. These results are interpreted in terms of indirect radiation damage by reactive secondary species, as well as post-irradiation effects, related to preferential-exclusion of the cosolute from the protein surface. Hence, Ectoine is shown to provide a non-disturbing way to improve structure-determination of proteins via bio-SAXS in future studies.
Energy efficient products often have a higher purchase price than less efficient alternatives. However, the life cycle costs are often lower due to the lower operating costs. From a purely economic point of view, efficient appliances are not only more ecological but often also more economical and, accordingly, should be purchased more frequently than less efficient appliances. However, this is not always the case. Information deficits are one of the major reasons of this discrepancy: the purchase price is visible during the purchasing process, but the follow-up costs are not, at least not in their exact amount. The EU Energy Label can be considered as a solution to close this gap. During the past decades, there has been a discussion on whether it would be better to communicate the monetary costs associated with energy consumption, since their calculation by the consumer is difficult or needs a high level of cognitive effort.
In this study, experiments and field studies on a total of 19 product groups were evaluated with regard to the question of whether the indication of costs instead of physical units affects the decision-making process of the consumer. It has been assessed under which circumstances it might positively influence the purchase decision of the customer, i.e. helping him or her to arrive at a more “energy efficient” decision. Overall, the results indicate that monetary claims possibly exceed the effect of claims on a physical basis when the costs or the differences between the alternatives available seem “relevant” to the consumer.
Antibiotic resistance is a growing global problem which poses a massive threat to human health. Although human activity contributes to the acceleration of the process, bacteria have a self-driven stabilisation mechanism to protect themselves from such and other external threats: biofilm formation. Nonetheless, it is the adhesion of a single bacterial cell to a surface that triggers the formation of such network of biomolecules and microorganisms, as well as its hazardous consequences. The main objective of this work was to quantify the adhesion force of a single E. coli cell on a Ti substrate via the AFM-related single-cell force spectroscopy, with both the cell and the substrate material being of high clinical relevance. A set of 25 x 25 force displacement curves was acquired with a maximum force of 3.2 nN without dwell time, yielding a topography map and an adhesion force map that showed to be correlated. A mean adhesion force of 0.85 ± 0.175 nN was measured and the presence of cell appendages on the bacterial cell wall was verified through individual force-displacement curves. Bacterial viability was assessed after the measurements via live/dead staining.
Showcasing research from the Federal Institute for Material Research and Testing Berlin and Fraunhofer Institute for Celltherapy and Immunology Branch Bioanalytics and Bioprocesses Potsdam.
Bio-SAXS of single-stranded DNA-binding proteins: Radiation protection by the compatible solute ectoine.
We aimed to increase the possible undisturbed exposure time during bio-SAXS measurements of single-stranded DNA-binding proteins. Therefore small angle X-ray scattering was performed on Gene-V Protein (G5P/GVP), which is involved in DNA repair processes. To achieve this, irradiations were performed in presence and absence of the hydroxyl-radical scavenger and osmolyte Ectoine, which showed efficient radiation protection and prevented protein aggregation, thus allows for a non-disturbing way to improve structure-determination of biomolecules.
This study reflects typical consumer textile washing behaviour while taking into account existing standards in the household appliance and garment industries. Two garments were washed repeatedly with artificial dirt and detergent 30 times. The collected washing water was separated using fractional filtration. Textile physical tests were used to follow property changes of the garments, the microplastic release is determined using thermoextraction/desorbtion–gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and the total organic carbon was measured as a sum parameter for the organic bonded carbon. This article shows the importance of a reality‐based approach when investigating microplastics of textile origin in the laundry care process. Deposits of detergent and dirt on the textiles were detected. The total mass of sieve residues was much higher than the release of synthetic polymers. The cotton content of the garments causes a much higher fibre release than synthetic fibres. Both will lead to false results by purely gravimetric analysis because nonpolymer fibres will be included microplastic mass. The results cannot be generalised only by the main polymer type, knowledge of the textile construction must be included for final evaluation.
The chemical state of antimony and vanadium species in municipal solid waste incineration bottom ash
(2023)
Due to the large quantity as residual mineral waste, municipal solid waste incineration - bottom ash (MSWI-BA) is an interesting secondary raw material that can be utilized for road construction. However, leaching of chloride, sulfate and potentially hazardous heavy metals from MSWSI-BA into the environment may cause problems in utilization of it in civil engineering. In a previous study, we performed a long-term leaching test of MSWI-BA in a lysimeter for almost six years to investigate the efficiency of the treatment process on the release of hazardous substances. While concentrations of chloride, sulfate and the majority of the heavy metals started to decrease rapidly with progressive liquid-to-solid ratio (L/S), the ecotoxic hazardous elements antimony (Sb) and vanadium (V) behaved differently. To unravel these unusual release behaviors and the oxyanion-formation of Sb and V we will apply HERFD-XANES spectroscopy to analyze their chemical state.
Remote gas sensors mounted on mobile robots enable the mapping of gas distributions in large or poorly accessible areas. A challenging task however, is the generation of three-dimensional distribution maps from these spatially sparse gas measurements. To obtain high-quality reconstructions, the choice of optimal measuring poses is of great importance. Remote gas sensors, that are commonly used in Robot Assisted Gas Tomography (RAGT), require reflecting surfaces within the sensor’s range, limiting the possible sensing geometries, regardless of whether the robots are ground-based or airborne. By combining ground and aerial robots into a heterogeneous swarm whose agents are equipped with reflectors and remote gas sensors, remote inter-robot gas measurements become available, taking RAGT to the next dimension – releasing those constraints. In this paper, we demonstrate the feasibility of drone-to-drone measurements under realistic conditions and highlight the resulting opportunities.
In recent years, thermoextraction/desorption-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (TED-GC/MS) has been developed as a rapid detection method for the determination of microplastics (MP) mass contents in numerous environmentally relevant matrices and, in particular, for the measurement of polymers in water samples without time-consuming sample preparation. The TED-GC/MS method was applied to investigate a typical European municipal wastewater system for possible MP masses. Such investigations are important in view of the recent revision of the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive. Four different representative sampling sites were selected: greywater (domestic wastewater without toilet), combined sewer, and influent and effluent of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). All samples were collected by fractional filtration. Filtration was carried out over mesh sizes of 500, 100, 50, and in some cases, 5 µm. Polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and polystyrene (PS) were detected in all samples, with the PE fraction dominating in all cases. Styrene-butadiene rubber which serves as an indication of tire abrasion, was only found in the influent of the WWTP. The highest MP mass contents were found in the combined sewer, so MP can become a source of pollution during heavy rain events when the capacity limits of the effluent are reached, and the polluted effluent is released uncontrolled into the environment. Based on the studies, MP retention from the WWTP could be estimated to be approximately 96%. Few trends in polymer type or mass contents were detected within the different fractions of the samples or when comparing samples to each other.
Tracking waterborne microplastic (MP) in urban areas is a challenging task because of the various sources and transport pathways involved. Since MP occurs in low concentrations in most wastewater and stormwater streams, large sample volumes need to be captured, prepared, and carefully analyzed. The recent research in urban areas focused mainly on MP emissions at wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), as obvious entry points into receiving waters. However, important transport pathways under wet-weather conditions are yet not been investigated thoroughly. In addition, the lack of comprehensive and comparable sampling strategies complicated the attempts for a deeper understanding of occurrence and sources. The goal of this paper is to (i) introduce and describe sampling strategies for MP at different locations in a municipal catchment area under dry and wet-weather conditions, (ii) quantify MP emissions from the entire catchment and two other smaller ones within the bigger catchment, and (iii) compare the emissions under dry and wet-weather conditions. WWTP has a high removal rate of MP (>96%), with an estimated emission rate of 189 kg/a or 0.94 g/[population equivalents (PEQ · a)], and polyethylene (PE) as the most abundant MP. The specific dry-weather emissions at a subcatchment were ≈30 g/(PEQ · a) higher than in the influent of WWTP with 23 g/(PEQ · a). Specific wet-weather emissions from large sub-catchment with higher traffic and population densities were 1952 g/(ha · a) higher than the emissions from smaller catchment (796 g/[ha · a]) with less population and traffic. The results suggest that wet-weather transport pathways are likely responsible for 2–4 times more MP emissions into receiving waters compared to dry-weather ones due to tire abrasion entered from streets through gullies. However, more investigations of wet-weather MP need to be carried out considering additional catchment attributes and storm event characteristics.
This dataset contains the processed and analysed small-angle X-ray scattering data associated with all samples from the publications "Bio-SAXS of Single-Stranded DNA-Binding Proteins: Radiation Protection by the Compatible Solute Ectoine" (https://doi.org/10.1039/D2CP05053F).
Files associated with McSAS3 analyses are included, alongside the relevant SAXS data, with datasets labelled in accordance to the protein (G5P), its concentration (1, 2 or 4 mg/mL), and if Ectoine is present (Ect) or absent (Pure). PEPSIsaxs simulations of the GVP monomer (PDB structure: 1GV5 ) and dimer are also included.
TOPAS-bioSAXS-dosimetry extension for TOPAS-nBio based particle scattering simulations can be obtained from https://github.com/MarcBHahn/TOPAS-bioSAXS-dosimetry which is further described in https://doi.org/10.26272/opus4-55751.
This work was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under grant number 442240902 (HA 8528/2-1 and SE 2999/2-1). We acknowledge Diamond Light Source for time on Beamline B21 under Proposal SM29806. This work has been supported by iNEXT-Discovery, grant number 871037, funded by the Horizon 2020 program of the European Commission.
We investigated the selection dynamics between a benzalkonium chloride (BAC)-tolerant Escherichia coli strain (S4) and a sensitive wild type under four conditions: in the absence of antibiotics and in the presence of three different sub-inhibitory concentrations of the antibiotic ciprofloxacin in liquid cultures. The wild type was selected over the BAC-tolerant strain in the absence of antibiotics, while the opposite was observed at all ciprofloxacin concentrations investigated.Furthermore, we assessed the evolvability of resistance of the two strains to inhibitory concentrations of ciprofloxacin by performing a serial dilution evolution experiment with gradually increasing ciprofloxacin concentrations. The wild type had a higher probability to develop resistance to ciprofloxacin than the tolerant strain. By the end of the evolution experiment both strains evolved to grow at the highest ciprofloxacin concentration investigated, which was 2048 ×MIC of the wild type.
Assessing co-selection of biocide and antibiotic resistance in wastewater microbial communities
(2022)
Biocides are used for a wide range of purposes, including disinfectants or preservatives. Biocides play a major role in the prevention of microbial infections in healthcare and animal husbandry. The use of biocides often leads to the discharge of active biocidal substances into wastewater streams, causing the exposure of wastewater microbial communities to subinhibitory concentrations. In turn, it is known that wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) are hotspots for antibiotic resistant bacteria. Since similar mechanisms confer resistance to biocides and antibiotics, exposure to biocides can result in co-selection of antibiotic resistant bacteria in WWTP due to biocides. Here, we investigate the magnitude and the drivers of co-selection of antibiotic resistance in natural wastewater microbial communities upon biocide exposure. Microbial communities will be sampled at the WWTP Ruhleben in Berlin and characterized regarding their biocide and antibiotic resistance. Changes in the resistance level after exposure to different biocides will be determined by enumerating resistant and non-resistant E. coli and heterotrophic bacteria on selective plates with and without several biocides and antibiotics. Moreover, we are establishing a synthetic community comprising about 100 environmental E. coli isolates each with different antimicrobial resistance traits. Each isolate will be tagged with a unique DNA-barcode. All isolates will be pooled and exposed to different biocides at various concentrations. The barcode labeling enables us to determine the abundance of each isolate at the beginning and end of the experiment by transposon-tag sequencing. The project results will inform risk assessment of the effects of biocidal residues on antimicrobial resistance selection in WWTP.
The project is part of the BIOCIDE consortium funded within the call on Aquatic pollutants by JPI-AMR, JPI-OCEANS and JPI-WATER.
Analytical methods based on the selectivity of antibodies, often called immunoassays, are a back-bone of clinical laboratory diagnostics. To bring them to the field, i.e., to make immunoanalytical methods portable, hopefully even faster, more sensitive, and robust, advanced materials are re-quired. Materials can be novel labels, e.g., chemical or particle labels, such as fluorophores or na-noparticles. Carrier particles, such as magnetic or polymer beads, make it possible to adopt the as-says to meso- or microfluidic set-ups and encoding them opens the path to multiplex analysis. Spe-cialty electrodes can enable for higher sensitivity in electrochemical detection. Without research into better materials, efforts to bring analysis to the point-of-need will not bear fruit.
Throughout their life cycles—from production, usage, through to disposal—materials and products interact with the environment (water, soil, and air). At the same time, they are exposed to environmental influences and, through their emissions, have an impact on the environment, people, and health. Accelerated experimental testing processes can be used to predict the long-term environmental consequences of innovative products before these actually enter the environment.
We are living in a material world. Building materials, geosynthetics, wooden toys, soil, nanomaterials, composites, wastes and more are research subjects examined by the authors of this book. The interactions of materials with the environment are manifold. Therefore, it is important to assess the environmental impact of these interactions. Some answers to how this task can be achieved are given in this Special Issue.
In urban waters, a multitude of organic micropollutants, often termed emerging pollutants, has been found over the last decades. Analytical methods suitable for trace analysis are needed that are desirably also fast, inexpensive and, if possible, robust and portable. Immunoanalytical, i.e., antibody-based, methods which are available in a broad range of formats, can be profitably used here to screen for the distribution and to monitor the trends of concentration levels of contaminants of emerging concern in the environment. Some of these formats are single-analyte but high-throughput methods. To use them wisely, indicator substances, sometimes called anthropogenic markers, should be selected and used in screening approaches, i.e., as indicators for contamination and the pre-selection of samples at which to have a closer look by multiplex methods like LC-MS/MS. Other methods are suitable to be performed on portable instrumentation in the field (on-site) or in facilities such as wastewater treatment plants for on-line monitoring of the treatment and elimination process. Furthermore, array technologies have been established that allow for parallel (multiplex) analysis of several analytes of interest.
The microtiter-plate based ELISA (Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay) is the method of choice for the analysis of a large number of samples [1]. ELISAs are available to monitor for anthropogenic markers such as the antiepileptic carbamazepine, the analgesic diclofenac, the antihistaminic cetirizine, the steroid hormone estrone, the antimicrobial sulfamethoxazole, psychoactive caffeine and cocaine, the priority pollutant bisphenol A, and the bile acid isolithocholic acid. For on-site screening and monitoring, simpler formats, like mix-and-read assays, e.g., the Fluorescence Polarization Immunoassay (FPIA) [2] or Lateral-flow Immunoassays (LFIA) [3] are more suitable tools, the latter based on dipsticks or little cassettes, with which users have become very familiar during the COVID-19 pandemic via rapid antigen tests. The suitability of multi-analyte formats such as immunomicroarrays depends on the choice of a signal-producing system that provides small uncertainties and good reproducibility of the measurements. Bead-based (“suspension”) arrays, read out in flow cytometers, are a powerful platform for multiplex assays [4]. Electrochemical formats, run on portable devices, provide additional advantages as no light source is required. They are most promising for stand-alone analysers and biosensors [5].
The speed, low cost and on-site capabilities of these methods allow to gather a lot more data on anthropogenic compounds which enables to quantify inputs, differences in degradation power of elimination processes, dilution phenomena and a more precise image of individual water cycles which is demonstrated by several examples.
Immunoanalytical Techniques, i.e., antibody-based analytical methods, have been used for decades in clinical diagnostics. What makes them attractive for other fields of application is their short time-to-result and high sensitivity. Microplate-based assays such as ELISA have been adopted early in environmental and food analysis. Yet, to make immunoassays even faster, more sensitive, robust, and, most desirable, portable, advanced materials, sometimes developed for other purposes, can be profitably used to achieve these goals. Materials can be novel labels, e.g., chemical or particle labels, such as fluorophores or nanoparticles. Carrier particles, such as magnetic or polymer beads, make it possible to adopt the assays to meso- or microfluidic set-ups and encoding them opens the path to multiplex analysis. Specialty electrodes can enable for higher sensitivity in electrochemical detection. All this broadens the scope of application and lowers effort and cost for analysis at the point-of-need.
A vast number of emerging pollutants is being detected in the environment. Another lingering problem are health-threatening contaminants, such as mycotoxins, that deteriorate food and feed, and the pathogens themselves. Analytical methods, suitable for trace analysis, are needed that are desirably also fast, inexpensive and, if possible, robust and portable. It is set out, how immunoana-lytical, i.e., antibody-based methods, which are elaborated in a broad range of formats, can be profitably used to gain insights on the distribution and concentration trends of the target analytes at the point-of-need.