The Berlin project: a marriage between professional competences and authentic language acquisition

This project aims at increasing the German communicative skills of our Flemish students (professional Bachelor Communication), resulting in a 4 days’ stay in Berlin. The project concentrates on intercultural communication, learning to work in team, providing the students with professional competences and last but not least increasing the students’ knowledge of German with respect to oral fluency and basic vocabulary and grammar. Preparing for the trip to Berlin, the students have tasks ranging from research on the internet on specific topics, reading authentic texts, writing, summarizing and structuring texts, research into the historical and cultural background of the city and oral presentation of this in class. They also explore a subject of their own interest for which they have to conduct at least two interviews with native speaking specialists in Berlin. Per class they set up a facebook group and communicate with the students of partner schools in Berlin. Last but not least they recapitulate basic grammar and vocabulary. The activities in Berlin concentrate on communication with native speakers. Our students are guided in Berlin, both by their German-speaking peers of the partner schools and by professionals. Next to all this we have synergies with other subjects of the educational programme such as contemporary history, public relations, marketing, interpersonal competences… Whilst exploring their self-chosen topic (e.g. street theatre), they “encounter” several media. This need for information will lead to authentic communication, a higher level of the students’ activity and frequently generates a higher motivation. Thus, most of the students overcome their prejudices towards German(s) and Germany, the threshold to speak, and improve their language skills considerably. Students also become aware of the necessity of communication and foreign languages. This project and the trip even result in about 10% of our students doing an internship in Berlin/Germany in the last grade

Nutrient recovery from biodigestion waste (water) streams and reuse as renewable fertilizers: a two-year field experiment

The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of using bio-digestion waste derivatives as substitute for synthetic fertilizers and/or as P-poor equivalent for animal manure on soil and crop production. In a field trial, nutrient balances were assessed and the physicochemical soil fertility and quality were evaluated. The biogas yield of the harvested energy crops was also determined. An economical and ecological evaluation was conducted. The highest biomass yields were obtained when the liquid fraction of digestate was used as P-poor fertilizer in addition to animal manure. Furthermore, the complete substitution of synthetic fertilizer N by air scrubber waste water resulted in the highest N and P use efficiencies. Finally, for all reuse scenarios the calculated economical and ecological benefits were significantly higher as compared to the common practice using animal manure and synthetic fertilizers

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) of effluents from constructed wetlands on water quality of receiving watercourses

The amount of animal manure produced in Flanders—Belgium by intensive animal farming generates a surplus that needs to be treated in order to achieve quality objectives set by the Nitrates Directive (91/676/ EEC) and the European Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EU). After the physical separation and biological nitrification/denitrification processes, the liquid fraction of manure can be cost-efficiently and effectively treated by constructed wetlands (CWs). However, current discharge criteria limits do not evaluate whether nutrient loads from specific point sources (such as CWs) affect the water quality of their receiving waterway. Thus, we investigated whether a site-specific analysis, based on local environmental conditions, would yield more relevant discharge thresholds. In the present study, a standardized framework was developed for environmental impact assessment (EIA) of effluents from CWs on the water quality of receiving watercourses. This framework was tested as a case study on a manure treatment installation located in Langemark—Belgium. The effect of different impact scenarios on water quality and flow of the effluent and the receiving waterway was studied. Standardized EIA guidelines and sensitivity analyses were applied to determine the expected impacts of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorous (P), chlorides (Cl−) and sulphates (SO42−) on the receiving watercourse. From this study, we concluded that the methodology currently applied requires adaptation when assessing the discharge from wetlands as current estimations of impact are overly conservative when compared with actual impact. In addition, results showed that expected impact might be mitigated by differentiating discharge limits between dry and wet periods

The use of digestates and recovered ammonium sulfate from NH3-scrubbing as sustainable substitutes for chemical fertilizers: a field-scale assessment

Nutrient recovery from bio-waste as renewable fertilizers with high nutrient use efficiency (NUE) has gained increased attention in order to meet both regulatory drivers (increasingly stringent fertilization and discharge levels) and market demands, while producing an internal revenue source, hence turning the waste problem into an economic opportunity. The aim of this study was to validate the agronomic effectiveness of fertilization strategies using bio-digestion waste derivatives as compared to conventional practices using animal manure and chemical fertilizers. In a two-year field trial, NUE’s and nutrient balances were assessed for N, P, K, S, Ca, Mg and Na. An economic and ecological evaluation was also conducted. Complete substitution of chemical fertilizer N by wastewater from NH3-scrubbing resulted in higher N and P use efficiencies, whereas the use of digestate mixtures resulted in significantly higher K and P use efficiencies. Small increases in crop yield were obtained when the liquid fraction of digestate was used as NK-fertilizer in addition to animal manure. As added benefits to the generation of bio-fertilizers from waste, renewable energy is produced, and the economic and ecological impact of plant production is significantly reduced. Moreover, an additional supply of organic carbon, Ca, Mg and S is delivered

Association between drug intake and incidence of malignancies in patients with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis: a nested case-control study

Background: Several medications for treatment of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) are considered to be carcinogenic. Therefore, the aim was to assess whether there is an association between therapeutic interventions and malignancies in JIA patients. Findings: A nested case-control study was carried out within a retrospective cohort study of 3698 JIA patients diagnosed between 1952 and 2010. All 48 JIA patients with a diagnosis of a malignant tumour and up to four matched controls for each received a questionnaire about their use of medication. Subsequently treatment was compared between cases and controls and analyses performed for 37 cases and 125 controls (response 88.5 %). Treatment with DMARD (84 %) was most frequently used, followed by glucocorticoids (66 %) and immunosuppressives (65 %). Twenty percent reported to have ever been taking biologics. Medication use did not differ significantly between cases and controls. Conclusions: Our results did not show an association between medications used and malignancies in JIA patients