Beach cleaning in Belgium: a social and biological study

A study on beach cleaning in Belgium was conducted from a social and biological perspective, to confront the lack of information regarding the two methods used: manual and mechanical beach cleaning. Through direct participation in the pilot project on manual beach cleaning of the municipality of Koksijde, during summer 2004, around 42 kg of man-made waste/km/month were estimated during July and September, and 87 kg during August. An average 1.5h/km was needed for two persons to manually clean the beach. In average, plastics represented more than 50% of the weight of the waste, and textiles from 16 to 21 %. Strict measures should be taken regarding the disposal of plastic; this would in turn reduce the time and costs of manual beach cleaning. The results of a public perception study on beach cleanness and the strandline material, conducted in Koksijde in 2004, showed that aesthetics do play an important role in attracting beach users. More than 80% of beach users would like metal, plastic, glass, rubber, polystyrene, paper and textiles to be removed during beach cleaning, while algae were only chosen by 4%. The natural material of the strandline was appreciated by 76% of respondents and 87% agreed that only artificial strand line material be removed during beach cleaning. The manually cleaned beach was just as visited as the mechanically cleaned one, and was not considered less clean. Belgian coastal communities should therefore consider the tourist potential of offering and promoting a more natural beach, to attract a relatively high proportion of visitors. Finally, in situ experiments were carried out in De Panne to determine the direct effects of mechanical beach cleaning on the strandline macro fauna. No significant effects of the different combinations of speed and pressure of the beach cleaning machine were detected neither on dipteran larvae and pupae (the dominant group), nor on total organism counts, compared to initial conditions. The number of organisms was not significantly reduced after one cleaning event. However, the presence of these organisms was significantly and directly related to the presence of algae. The main problems posed by mechanical beach cleaning are the immediate loss of habitat for the strandline associated fauna, and possible long-term impacts on the recovery of the populations if beach cleaning is continuous over the year. A zonal coastal management approach is recommended, which would allow areas with only manual cleaning interspersed with areas of mechanical beach cleaning. Such an approach would serve not only to attract tourists who prefer more natural beaches, but also to conserve, restore and enhance habitats and biodiversity in Belgian sandy beaches

Characterization of 3D Printed Metal-PLA Composite Scaffolds for Biomedical Applications

Three-dimensional printing is revolutionizing the development of scaffolds due to their rapid-prototyping characteristics. One of the most used techniques is fused filament fabrication (FFF), which is fast and compatible with a wide range of polymers, such as PolyLactic Acid (PLA). Mechanical properties of the 3D printed polymeric scaffolds are often weak for certain applications. A potential solution is the development of composite materials. In the present work, metal-PLA composites have been tested as a material for 3D printing scaffolds. Three different materials were tested: copper-filled PLA, bronze-filled PLA, and steel-filled PLA. Disk-shaped samples were printed with linear infill patterns and line spacing of 0.6, 0.7, and 0.8 mm, respectively. The porosity of the samples was measured from cross-sectional images. Biocompatibility was assessed by culturing Human Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stromal on the surface of the printed scaffolds. The results showed that, for identical line spacing value, the highest porosity corresponded to bronzefilled material and the lowest one to steel-filled material. Steel-filled PLA polymers showed good cytocompatibility without the need to coat the material with biomolecules. Moreover, human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells differentiated towards osteoblasts when cultured on top of the developed scaffolds. Therefore, it can be concluded that steel-filled PLA bioprinted parts are valid scaffolds for bone tissue engineeringPeer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Transboundary cooperation and mechanisms for Maritime Spatial Planning implementation SIMNORAT project

Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) is gaining importance as a new process for the governance of seas and oceans, as maritime nations exercise greater management over their territorial waters and, in many cases, over exclusive economic zones that span a larger area. The purpose of this planning is to reverse the environmental degradation of the seas and facilitate the sustainable use of marine resources, both for mature uses such as fishing and navigation, and for emergent uses, including renewable energies and mariculture. In Europe, the Directive 2014/89/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 establishing a framework for maritime spatial planning oblige coastal Member States to develop maritime spatial plans at the latest by 31st March 2021. To help in that process, countries have at their disposal a set of existing instruments, including research projects, supporting guidelines, recommendations and sets of tools and data, as the SIMNORAT project, co-funded by the EC – DG Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE). This paper presents best practices developed in this project on technical, scientific, and social aspects of MSP to overcome barriers of MSPD implementation testing effective cooperation on transboundary areas and providing a set of cross-cutting MSP related recommendations to foster collaborative efforts and to improve the overall transboundary dimension of the MSP Directive.En prensa1,86

Exploring the social dimension of sandy beaches through predictive modelling

Sandy beaches are unique ecosystems increasingly exposed to human-induced pressures. Consistent with emerging frameworks promoting this holistic approach towards beach management, is the need to improve the integration of social data into management practices. This paper aims to increase understanding of links between demographics and community values and preferred beach activities, as key components of the social dimension of the beach environment. A mixed method approach was adopted to elucidate users' opinions on beach preferences and community values through a survey carried out in Manly Local Government Area in Sydney Harbour, Australia. A proposed conceptual model was used to frame demographic models (using age, education, employment, household income and residence status) as predictors of these two community responses. All possible regression-model combinations were compared using Akaike's information criterion. Best models were then used to calculate quantitative likelihoods of the responses, presented as heat maps. Findings concur with international research indicating the relevance of social and restful activities as important social links between the community and the beach environment. Participant's age was a significant variable in the four predictive models. The use of predictive models informed by demographics could potentially increase our understanding of interactions between the social and ecological systems of the beach environment, as a prelude to integrated beach management approaches. The research represents a practical demonstration of how demographic predictive models could support proactive approaches to beach management

Marine Spatial Planning advancing the Ecosystem-Based Approach to coastal zone management: A review

© 2016 Elsevier LtdPlanning a sustainable future for coastal populations requires the effective implementation of ecosystem management frameworks that explicitly incorporate human activities. A coupled framework of the Ecosystem-Based Approach with Marine Spatial Planning has been discussed and promoted by coastal managers for more than a decade. The proposed framework supports a balanced approach between development needs and the natural environment. This paper presents a qualitative review of Marine Spatial Planning case studies to gain insights into methodological approaches that account for human systems as components of the coastal environment. A total of twelve Marine Spatial Planning case studies were evaluated. Their use and integration of the Ecosystem-Based framework was assessed through a linguistic scale linked to a score of fuzzy numbers. Two management issues of interest were highlighted: how social, economic and environmental values were integrated into the spatial planning analysis; and how cross-realm connectivity was addressed by planning teams. Although the majority of case studies claimed to use the Ecosystem-Based Approach as the guiding framework, mixed results were observed. Relevant features of the Ecosystem-Based Approach were rarely included; such as the standardization of pressures from human activities, the integration of frameworks to assess ecosystem services and the implementation of Precautionary and Adaptive Management approaches. Important knowledge gaps were observed with regards to the assessment of social values, including the lack of spatial representation of ‘social connections’ to the marine environment and the lack of economic estimates of non-market values. Terrestrial and catchment units were not included in the majority of case studies; however, water quality management was used as a key element for the consideration of transboundary impacts. This comparative study reveals major differences in how coastal managers understand and integrate Ecosystem-Based Approaches with Marine Spatial Planning

Intra-specific variation in pea responses to ammonium nutrition leads to different degrees of tolerance

The form of nitrogen nutrition affects many biochemical and physiological processes in plants, leading to markedly different growth responses. Many plant species have been characterized as ammonium tolerant or sensitive. The objective of this work was to assess the range of physiological adaptative responses involved in tolerance of ammonium nutrition at the intra-specific level. Pisum sativum L was selected as a model of tolerance for the study, and four varieties of agricultural importance (Snap-pea, Rondo, Tristar and Eclipse) were grown hydroponically with ammonium or nitrate (0.5, 2.5, 5.0 and 10.0 mM)as the sole nitrogen source. Physiological parameters including photosynthesis, respiration and ammonium contents were analyzed. Activities/expression of key enzymes of the nitrogen metabolism was also determined, for which novel antibodies against glutamate dehydrogenase and glutamine synthetase were obtained. Snap-pea was considered a reference plant for ammonium tolerance, since its biomass accumulation was not affected by nitrogen source. It avoided the physiological effects of ammonium through low growth potential, high respiratory rates and activity of the alternative pathway. A multivariate analysis of the results showed that each of the four varieties had distinct adaptative responses to ammonium nutrition, highlighting the flexibility of response to ammonium nutrition at the species level. A general activation of glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) was observed, regardless of the degree of tolerance to ammonium, which may be due to GDH being part of a common stress response to carbon deficit rather than an ammonium tolerance mechanism. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (grant nos. AGL2006-12792-CO2-01 and AGL2003-06571-CO2-01 [to PA-T] and AGL2007-64432/AGR [to JFM]), by the Government of Navarra (Res 57/2007 to JFM). MDD-V was supported by a doctoral Fellowship from the Basque Government, Spain.Peer Reviewe