Environmental Noise Mapping with Smartphone Applications: A Participatory Noise Map of West Hartford, CT

New England Noise-Con 2016: Revolution in Noise Control, Providence, Rhode Island, USA, 13-15 June 2016This paper reports on the second phase of an on-going study concerning the use of smartphone applications to measure environmental noise at the University of Hartford. This phase involved the development of two strategic noise maps of West Hartford town center: i) a standard noise map developed using traditional mapping techniques and ii) a participatory noise map utilizing smartphone-based measurement data (a citizen-science approach to noise mapping). The objective of the study was to assess the feasibility of developing a noise map using a citizen science based approach. Results suggest that smartphone applications can be used to collect environmental noise data and these data may be used in the development of a participatory noise map.Irish Research CouncilCollege of Engineering, Technology and Architecture Faculty Student Engagement Grant at the University of Hartford, USAFulbright Scholarshi

Microbial reduction of metal-organic frameworks enables synergistic chromium removal

Redox interactions between electroactive bacteria and inorganic materials underpin many emerging technologies, but commonly used materials (e.g., metal oxides) suffer from limited tunability and can be challenging to characterize. In contrast, metal-organic frameworks exhibit well-defined structures, large surface areas, and extensive chemical tunability, but their utility as microbial substrates has not been examined. Here, we report that metal-organic frameworks can support the growth of the metal-respiring bacterium Shewanella oneidensis, specifically through the reduction of Fe(III). In a practical application, we show that cultures containing S. oneidensis and reduced metal-organic frameworks can remediate lethal concentrations of Cr(VI) over multiple cycles, and that pollutant removal exceeds the performance of either component in isolation or bio-reduced iron oxides. Our results demonstrate that frameworks can serve as growth substrates and suggest that they may offer an alternative to metal oxides in applications seeking to combine the advantages of bacterial metabolism and synthetic materials.S.K.S. was supported through a Provost’s Graduate Excellence Fellowship (PGEF). This work was partially supported by the Welch Foundation (Grant F-1929) and the National Science Foundation through the Center for Dynamics and Control of Materials: an NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center under Cooperative Agreement DMR-1720595.Center for Dynamics and Control of Material

Replication Data for: Microbial Reduction of Metal-Organic Frameworks Enables Synergistic Chromium Removal

Raw data for computing averages (reduction rates, biomass conversion, chromium concentrations, etc.), Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) spectra

Microbial reduction of metal-organic frameworks enables synergistic chromium removal

AbstractRedox interactions between electroactive bacteria and inorganic materials underpin many emerging technologies, but commonly used materials (e.g., metal oxides) suffer from limited tunability and can be challenging to characterize. In contrast, metal-organic frameworks exhibit well-defined structures, large surface areas, and extensive chemical tunability, but their utility as microbial substrates has not been examined. Here, we report that metal-organic frameworks can support the growth of the metal-respiring bacterium Shewanella oneidensis, specifically through the reduction of Fe(III). In a practical application, we show that cultures containing S. oneidensis and reduced metal-organic frameworks can remediate lethal concentrations of Cr(VI) over multiple cycles, and that pollutant removal exceeds the performance of either component in isolation or bio-reduced iron oxides. Our results demonstrate that frameworks can serve as growth substrates and suggest that they may offer an alternative to metal oxides in applications seeking to combine the advantages of bacterial metabolism and synthetic materials.</jats:p

Microbial reduction of metal-organic frameworks enables synergistic chromium removal

Livestock manure wastewater, containing high level of ammonia, is a major source of water contamination, posing serious threats to aquatic ecosystems. Because ammonia is an important nitrogen fertilizer, efficiently recovering ammonia from manure wastewater would have multiple sustainability gains from both the pollution control and the resource recovery perspectives. Here we develop an electrochemical strategy to achieve this goal by using an ion-selective potassium nickel hexacyanoferrate (KNiHCF) electrode as a mediator. The KNiHCF electrode spontaneously oxidizes organic matter and uptakes ammonium ions (NH4+) and potassium ions (K+) in manure wastewater with a nutrient selectivity of ∼100%. Subsequently, nitrogen- and potassium-rich fertilizers are produced alongside the electrosynthesis of H2 (green fuel) or H2O2 (disinfectant) while regenerating the KNiHCF electrode. The preliminary techno-economic analysis indicates that the proposed strategy has notable economic potential and environmental benefits. This work provides a powerful strategy for efficient nutrient (NH4+ and K+) recovery and decentralized fertilizer and chemical production from manure wastewater, paving the way to sustainable agriculture.S.K.S. was supported through a Provost’s Graduate Excellence Fellowship (PGEF). This work was partially supported by the Welch Foundation (Grant F-1929) and the National Science Foundation through the Center for Dynamics and Control of Materials: an NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center under Cooperative Agreement DMR-1720595.Center for Dynamics and Control of Material

Microbial Reduction of Metal-Organic Frameworks Enables Synergistic Chromium Removal

AbstractMicrobe-material redox interactions underpin many emerging technologies, including bioelectrochemical cells and bioremediation. However, commonly utilized material substrates, such as metal oxides, suffer from a lack of tunability and can be challenging to characterize. In contrast, metal-organic frameworks, a class of porous materials, exhibit well-defined structures, high crystallinity, large surface areas, and extensive chemical tunability. Here, we report that metal-organic frameworks can support the growth of the electroactive bacterium Shewanella oneidensis. Specifically, we demonstrate that Fe(III)-containing frameworks, MIL-100 and Fe-BTC, can be reduced by the bacterium via its extracellular electron transfer pathways and that reduction rate/extent is tied to framework structure, surface area, and particle morphology. In a practical application, we show that cultures containing S. oneidensis and reduced frameworks can remediate lethal concentrations of Cr(VI), and that pollutant removal exceeds the performance of either component in isolation or bioreduced iron oxides. Repeated cycles of Cr(VI) dosing had little effect on bacterial viability or Cr(VI) adsorption capacity, demonstrating that the framework confers protection to the bacteria and that no regenerative step is needed for continued bioremediation. In sum, our results show that metal-organic frameworks can serve as microbial respiratory substrates and suggest that they may offer a promising alternative to metal oxides in applications seeking to combine the advantages of bacterial metabolism and synthetic materials.</jats:p

BioParts-A Biological Parts Search Portal and Updates to the ICE Parts Registry Software Platform.

Capturing, storing, and sharing biological DNA parts data are integral parts of synthetic biology research. Here, we detail updates to the ICE biological parts registry software platform that enable these processes, describe our implementation of the Web of Registries concept using ICE, and establish Bioparts, a search portal for biological parts available in the public domain. The Web of Registries enables standalone ICE installations to securely connect and form a distributed parts database. This distributed database allows users from one registry to query and access plasmid, strain, (DNA) part, plant seed, and protein entry types in other connected registries. Users can also transfer entries from one ICE registry to another or make them publicly accessible. Bioparts, the new search portal, combines the ease and convenience of modern web search engines with the capabilities of bioinformatics search tools such as BLAST. This portal, available at bioparts.org, allows anyone to search for publicly accessible biological part information (e.g., NCBI, iGEM, SynBioHub, Addgene), including parts publicly accessible through ICE Registries. Additionally, the portal offers a REST API that enables third-party applications and tools to access the portal's functionality programmatically