Soft Skills: An Important Asset Acquired from Organizing Regional Student Group Activities

Contributing to a student organization, such as the International Society for Computational Biology Student Council (ISCB-SC) and its Regional Student Group (RSG) program, takes time and energy. Both are scarce commodities, especially when you are trying to find your place in the world of computational biology as a graduate student. It comes as no surprise that organizing ISCB-SC-related activities sometimes interferes with day-to-day research and shakes up your priority list. However, we unanimously agree that the rewards, both in the short as well as the long term, make the time spent on these extracurricular activities more than worth it. In this article, we will explain what makes this so worthwhile: soft skills.Intelligent SystemsElectrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc

Biogeochemical impact of cable bacteria on coastal Black Sea sediment

Cable bacteria can strongly alter sediment biogeochemistry. Here, we used laboratory incubations to determine the potential impact of their activity on the cycling of iron (Fe), phosphorus (P) and sulfur (S). Microsensor depth profiles of oxygen, sulfide and pH in combination with electric potential profiling and fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) analyses showed a rapid development (5 d) of cable bacteria, followed by a long period of activity (200 d). During most of the experiment, the current density correlated linearly with the oxygen demand. Sediment oxygen uptake was attributed to the activity of cable bacteria and the oxidation of reduced products from the anaerobic degradation of organic matter, such as ammonium. Pore water sulfide was low (5 uM) throughout the experiment. Sulfate reduction acted as the main source of sulfide for cable bacteria. Pore water Fe2C reached levels of up to 1.7mM during the incubations, due to the dissolution of FeS (30 %) and siderite, an Fe carbonate mineral (70 %). Following the upward diffusion of Fe2C, a surface enrichment of Fe oxides formed. Hence, besides FeS, siderite may act as a major source of Fe for Fe oxides in coastal surface sediments where cable bacteria are active. Using uXRF, we show that the enrichments in Fe oxides induced by cable bacteria are located in a thin subsurface layer of 0.3 mm. We show that similar subsurface layers enriched in Fe and P are also observed at field sites where cable bacteria were recently active and little bioturbation occurs. This suggests that such subsurface Fe oxide layers, which are not always visible to the naked eye, could potentially be a marker for recent activity of cable bacteria.BT/Environmental Biotechnolog

The impact of street canyon morphology and traffic volume on NO₂ values in the street canyons of Antwerp

Air pollution remains a major environmental and health concern in urban environments, especially in street canyons that show increased pollution levels due to a lack of natural ventilation. Previous studies have investigated the relationship between street canyon morphology and in-canyon pollution levels. However, these studies are typically limited to the scale of a single street canyon and city-wide assessments on this matter are scarce. In 2018, NO2 concentrations were measured in 321 street canyons in the city of Antwerp (Belgium) as part of the large-scale citizen-science project “CurieuzeNeuzen”. In our research, this data was used to study the correlation between morphological indices (e.g. aspect ratio (AR), lateral aspect ratio (LAR), presence of trees) and the traffic volumes on a city-wide scale. The maximum hourly traffic volume (TVmax) and AR correlated significantly with the measured NO2 values, making them useful indicators for air quality in street canyons. For street canyons with AR > 0.65, a TVmax of 300 vehicles/hour was found as a threshold value to guarantee acceptable air quality. No significant correlations were found for the other parameters. Finally, a number of typical street canyon types were defined, which can be of fundamental interest for further research and spatial policy making.BT/Environmental Biotechnolog

Highlights from the Third European International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) Student Council Symposium 2014

In this meeting report, we give an overview of the talks, presentations and posters presented at the third European Symposium of the International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) Student Council. The event was organized as a satellite meeting of the 13th European Conference for Computational Biology (ECCB) and took place in Strasbourg, France on September 6th, 2014.Intelligent SystemsElectrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc