Agriculture is the major contributor of nitrogen to ecosystems, both by organic and inorganic fertilizers. Percolation of nitrate to groundwater and further transport to surface waters is assumed to be one of the major pathways in the fate of this nitrogen. The quantification of groundwater and associated nitrate flux to streams is still challenging. In particular because we lack understanding of the spatial distribution and temporal variability of groundwater and associated NO3- fluxes. In this preliminary study we will focus on the identification and quantification of groundwater and associated nitrate fluxes by combining high resolution distributed fiber-optic temperature sensing (DTS) with in situ UV photometry (ProPS). DTS is a new technique that is capable to measure temperature over distances of km with a spatial resolution of ca1 m and an accuracy of 0.01 K. It has been applied successfully to identify and quantify sources of groundwater discharge to streams. ProPS is a submersible UV process photometer, which uses high precision spectral analyses to provide single substance concentrations, in our case NO3-, at minute intervals and a detection limit of less than 0.05 mg l-1 (ca.0.01 mg NO3--Nl-1). We will conduct field experiments using artificial point sources of lateral inflow to test DTS and ProPS based quantification approaches and estimate their uncertainty. The selected study area is the Schwingbach catchment in Hessen, Germany, which has a good monitoring infrastructure. Preliminary research on hydrological fluxes and field observations indicate that the catchment favors the intended study.
The sorption of anions in geotechnical multibarrier systems of planned high level waste repositories (HLWR) and of non-ionic and organic pollutants in conventional waste disposals are in the center of recent research. In aquatic systems, persistent radionuclides such as 79Se, 99Tc, 129I exist in a form of anions. There is strongly increasing need to find materials with high sorption capacities for such pollutants. Specific requirements on barrier materials are long-term stability of adsorbent under various conditions such as T > 100 C, varying hydrostatic pressure, and the presence of competing ions. Organo-clays are capable to sorb high amounts of cations, anions and non-polar molecules simultaneously having selectivity for certain ions. This project is proposed to improve the understanding of sorption and desorption processes in organo-clays. Additionally, the modification of material properties under varying chemical and thermal conditions will be determined by performing diffusion and advection experiments. Changes by sorption and diffusion will be analyzed by determining surface charge and contact angles. Molecular simulations on models of organo-clays will be conducted in an accord with experiments with aim to understand and analyze experimental results. The computational part of the project will profit from the collaboration of German partner with the group in Vienna, which has a long standing experience in a modeling of clay minerals.
Shallow groundwater of the huge deltaic systems of Asia like the Red River Delta in Vietnam is often enriched in inorganic arsenic (As), threatening the health of millions of residents. The massive abstraction of groundwater in these areas locally causes an irreversible mixing of arsenic-free groundwater resources with arsenic-rich groundwater. Increased concentrations of competitive anions, especially phosphate (PO43-), decrease the immobilization capacity of the sediments. During transport, the mobility of dissolved As in local aquifers is strongly influenced by adsorption to sedimentary and ubiquitously occurring iron(oxyhydr)oxides. Additionally, arsenic-rich groundwater is often enriched in reduced iron (Fe2+) as well, which is capable to react with iron(oxyhydr)oxides, thereby inducing mineral transformations. Such transformations permanently affect the arsenic adsorption and immobilization capacity of the sediments.Within the scope of this research project, the underlying mechanisms related to As transport and the resulting threat to arsenic-free groundwater resources will be characterized in cooperation with the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag). The research concept aims at assessing the complex interactions within the arsenic-iron-phosphate-system under field conditions at a study site next to the Red River. First, filtration experiments using local groundwater enriched in As and PO43- will be used to determine the As adsorption capacity of different and previously geochemically characterized iron(oxyhydr)oxides. In a second step, sample carrier containing As loaded iron(oxyhydr)oxides will be introduced into surface near aquifer parts of the study site (via existing groundwater monitoring wells). These samples will be exposed to local groundwater characterized by increased As, Fe2+ and PO43- concentrations for the following nine months. Using the in situ exposition of predefined iron(oxyhydr)oxides, it will be possible to distinguish potential mineral transformations and their influences on the As immobilization capacity of the respective iron(oxyhydr)oxides. By combining the results and outcomes of the field experiments, new and important conclusions regarding the mobility of As can be drawn. The data can be used to create a hydrochemical transport model describing reactive As transport within the investigation area. In addition, the results of the in situ exposition experiments will allow to draw conclusions in respective to the long term As immobilization capacity of different iron(oxyhydr)oxides, which is an essential information regarding in situ decontamination techniques.
In nature most plants are resistant to most pathogens and disease is rather the exception than the rule. A key aspect of this phenomenon is a resistance response called 'innate immunity'. It is based on the host recognition of characteristic microbial molecules, known as MAMPs (Microbe Associated Molecular Patterns), by specific receptors called pattern recognition receptors (PRRs). A paradigm of a MAMP is flagellin, the main building unit of the mobility organ of bacteria. Bacterial flagellin is perceived by the pattern recognition receptor FLS2 (FLagellin Sensing 2) at the surface of plant cells. Binding of flagellin to FLS2 on the outside of the cells induces a set of physiological responses inside the cells, which we can easily measure in our lab and which ultimately contribute to limitation of bacterial invasion and plant resistance. Our lab has focused in the last years in understanding how FLS2, a single pass transmembrane molecule, functions to transmit the signal from outside of the cell to its inside. We could demonstrate that upon stimulation with flagellin, FLS2 associates very quickly at the plasma membrane with a second receptor known as BAK1 (BRI1-Associated Kinase 1). This was initially a big surprise because BAK1 was already known as the co-receptor of the BRI1, a plant hormone receptor which regulates plant development but not plant immunity. More recently we developed an original biochemical approach to label and detect phosphorylated receptors in cell cultures in vivo. This allowed us to show that the transmission of the flagellin signal occurs via phosphorylation of FLS2 and BAK1 within seconds after flagellin perception. In addition we could show that BAK1 is capable of regulating several PRRs other than FLS2 by forming stable complexes. Thus BAK1 appears to be a crucial regulator or plant immunity in addition to its role in plant development. Our recent progress on the plants' flagellin-sensing system was mostly obtained using Arabidopsis as plant model. In view of the ability of BAK1 to form stable complexes with PRRs in a ligand-dependent manner, we are now interested to fish out and identify new PRRs, notably from crop species, using a proteomic approach. The identification of more PRRs in different plants is a very important step toward understanding plant innate immunity. In more general terms, better knowledge about innate immunity is crucial because it may reveal new strategies to fight the devastating impact of some plant diseases.
The major aim of CARCINOGENOMICS is to develop in vitro methods for assessing the carcinogenic potential of compounds, as an alternative to current rodent bioassays for genotoxicity and carcinogenicity. The major goal is to develop a battery of mechanism-based in vitro tests accounting for various modes of carcinogenic action. These tests will be designed to cover major target organs for carcinogenic action e.g. the liver, the lung, and the kidney. The novel assays will be based on the application of 'omics' technologies (i.e. genome-wide transcriptomics as well as metabonomics) to robust in vitro systems (rat/human), thereby also exploring stem cell technology, to generate 'omic' responses from a well-defined set of model compounds causing genotoxicity and carcinogenicity. Phenotypic markers for genotoxic and carcinogenic events will be assessed for the purpose of anchoring gene expression modulations, metabolic profiles and mechanism pathways. Through extensive biostatistics, literature mining, and analysis of molecular-expression datasets, differential genetic pathways will be identified capable of predicting mechanisms of chemical carcinogenesis in vivo. Furthermore, generated transcriptomic and metabonomic data will be integrated into a holistic understanding of systems biology, and applied to build an iterative in silico model of chemical carcinogenesis. Subsequently, predictive gene expression profiles, typically consisting of some 150-250 genes, will be loaded onto high throughput dedicated DNA-chips, thus accelerating the analysis of transcriptomic responses by a factor of 100. It is expected that the outcome of this project will generate a platform enabling the investigation of large numbers of compounds for their genotoxic and carcinogenic potential, as envisaged under the REACH initiative. This will contribute to speeding the identification of potential harmful substances to man, while lowering costs and reducing animal tests. Prime Contractor: Maastricht, University, Health Risk Analysis and Toxicology (Grat); Maastricht, Nederland.
Understanding the drivers behind the loss of biodiversity currently observed is of major importance in the context of the global change discussion. For studies of biodiversity at broad spatial scales, satellite remote sensing is the premier source of information, as it is uniquely capable of covering large areas of the Earth at high temporal resolution. The underlying assumption is that satellite-derived geophysical surface parameters, such as vegetation greenness, are related to biodiversity. For that purpose, concepts such as the Dynamic Habitat Index (DHI) were recently developed. The DHI combines information on the overall greenness, the base level of vegetation cover, and vegetation seasonality at a certain location. By comparing the annual DHI with a long term mean, areas undergoing disturbances or recovery events can be delineated, which are indicative of changes in species composition and diversity. The concept of the DHI was developed for data obtained from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) post-2000. However, for climate change impact studies a longer time series is desirable. The only sensor system suitable for such applications is the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), which has been in orbit on various platforms since the early 1980ies. The purpose of this project was to develop a methodology to derive long term information on habitat conditions at continental scales based on historical satellite data. In particular, the goal was to adopt the principle of the DHI as developed for the MODIS sensor to an AVHRR archive at 1 km spatial resolution over Canada and to analyze long term variations in the DHI. In a first project phase, an AVHRR data set of vegetation greenness, generated in the framework of the project, was validated against the reference MODIS product. The results demonstrated a very good agreement between both data sets for a wide range of vegetation types and on various spatial and temporal scales. A historical baseline of habitat conditions post-1987 based on the DHI was subsequently generated based on the long term AVHRR data. The analysis of the DHI showed that certain areas, particularly northern parts of the Province of Quebec as well as southwestern Canada, experienced significant changes over the past two decades, which may have had significant impacts on species diversity and abundance in these areas. In the future, the methods developed in the framework of this project may be used to obtain information on long term variations in habitat conditions in areas covered by other historical satellite archives, e.g., for Europe based on an AVHRR archive hosted at the University of Bern.
The objectives are to: (i) improve our understanding of human activities impacts (cumulative, synergistic, antagonistic) and variations due to climate change on marine biodiversity, using long-term series (pelagic and benthic). This objective will identify the barriers and bottlenecks (socio-economic and legislative) that prevent the GES being achieved (ii) test the indicators proposed by the EC, and develop new ones for assessment at species, habitats and ecosystems level, for the status classification of marine waters, integrating the indicators into a unified assessment of the biodiversity and the cost-effective implementation of the indicators (i.e. by defining monitoring and assessment strategies). This objective will allow for the adaptive management including (a) strategies & measures, (b) the role of industry and relevant stakeholders (including non-EU countries), and (c) provide an economic assessment of the consequences of the management practices proposed. It will build on the extensive work carried out by the Regional Seas Conventions (RSC) and Water Framework Directive, in which most of the partners have been involved (iii) develop/test/validate innovative integrative modelling tools to further strengthen our understanding of ecosystem and biodiversity changes (space & time); such tools can be used by statutory bodies, SMEs and marine research institutes to monitor biodiversity, applying both empirical and automatic data acquisition. This objective will demonstrate the utility of innovative monitoring systems capable of efficiently providing data on a range of parameters (including those from non-EU countries), used as indicators of GES, and for the integration of the information into a unique assessment The consortium has 23 partners, including 4 SMEs (close to 17Prozent of the requested budget) and 2 non-EU partners (Ukraine & Saudi Arabia). Moreover, an Advisory Board (RSC & scientific international scientists) has been designed,to ensure a good relationship with stakeholders.
Degradation of the soil productivity due to salt accumulation (salinization) is a major concern in arid, semi-arid and coastal regions. Soil salinization is an old issue but encouraged irrigation practices have been rapidly increasing its intensity and magnitude in the past few decades. Studies have shown that excess of the irrigated water contributes significantly to evaporation from the bare soil surface and therefore to the salinization. In some parts of the world soil salinity has grown so acute that the agricultural lands have been abandoned. Evaporation salinization is mainly influenced by interaction between the flow and transport processes in the atmosphere and the porous-medium. On the atmosphere side, wind velocity, air temperature and radiation have a strong impact on evaporation. Furthermore, turbulence causes air mixing, influences the vapor transport and creates a boundary layer at the soil-atmosphere interface which indeed influences evaporation. On the porous-medium side, dissolved salt is transported under the influence of viscous forces, capillary forces, gravitational forces and advective and diffusive fluxes. The water either directly evaporates from the water-filled pores or it is transported to air due to diffusive processes. Continuous evaporation promotes salt accumulation and precipitation resulting in soil salinization. In the scope of this work we attempt to develop a model concept capable of handling flow, transport and precipitation processes related to evaporative salinization of an unsaturated porous-medium.
Hydrogen is the ideal synthetic fuel to convert chemical energy into electrical energy or into motive power because it is light weight, highly abundant and its oxidation product is vapor of water. Thus its usage helps to reduce the greenhouse gases and it conserves fossile resources. There is even a clean way to produce hydrogen by electrolysis of water by means of photo voltaics (SvW06, VSM05, PMM05). There are various possibilities to store the hydrogen for later use: Liquid and gaseous hydrogen can be stored in a pressure vessel, hydrogen can be adsorped on large surface areas of solids, and finally crystal lattices of metals or other compounds can be used as the storage system, where hydrogen is dissolved either on interstitial or on regular lattice sites by substitution (SvW06, San99). The latter process and its reversal is called hydriding respectively dehydriding. The subject of this proposal is the modeling and simulation of that process. The main problem of a rechargeable lithium-ion battery is likewise a storage problem, because in a rechargeable battery, both the anode and cathode do not directly take part in the electrochemical process that converts chemical energy into electrical energy, rather they act as host systems for the electron spending element, which is here lithium (Li). During the last month the applicant developed and exploited a mathematical model that is capable to capture the storage problem of an iron phosphate (FePO4) cathode, where the Li atoms are stored on interstitial lattice sites (DGJ07).
Monitoring the quality of drinking water is of paramount importance for public health. 'Water is not a commercial product but a heritage that must be protected, defended and treated as such' (Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC). The threat of waterborne diseases in Europe will predictably increase in the future as the human population increases and as a result of globalization and migration from non-EU countries and of climate change. Development of efficient, sensitive, robust, rapid and inexpensive tests to monitor various aspects of water quality represents an essential milestone within the strategy for control and prevention of diseases caused by waterborne pathogens and by algal toxins. Traditional methods for the detection of waterborne pathogens, based on cultivation, biochemical characterisation and microscopic detection are laborious and time-consuming; molecular biological tools have now greatly enhanced our ability to investigate biodiversity by identifying species and to estimate gene flow and distribution of species in time and space. My AQUA aims to design and develop a universal microarray chip for the high-throughput detection in water of known and emerging pathogens (bacteria, viruses, protozoa and cyanobacteria) and to assess the water quality monitoring the presence of select bioindicators (i.e. diatoms). A chip able to detect cyanobacterial toxins will also be developed. These innovative molecular tools should be amenable to automation so that they could be deployed on moorings for routine semi-continuous monitoring of water quality. My AQUA also aims to identify cyanophages potentially capable of controlling and mitigating the periodical blooming of toxic cyanobacteria in drinking water reservoirs. Overall, these innovative and cost efficient technologies will reduce energy requirements and improve performance of water treatment, and allow rapid management response to new situations brought about by environmental (including climatic) changes.
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