The impacts of mining activities on the environment and the necessity for an environmental assessment strategy for such activity in South Africa

Mining activities disturb the earth’s geology and destabilise the geo-environment, with a consequent negative impact on sustainability. There is a close link between the mining sector, geology and urban development. A geo-environmental assessment (assessment of the spatial influence of geology on the environment), focusing on the regional geological character and setting, must therefore also lay the foundation for a long-term sustainable assessment of mining-related urban development. This must be done as a specialist study and be part of required environmental assessment on strategic level prior to development. Examples and historical cases of such developments indicate that this assessment must be based on the following three main aspects:•Characterisation of the underlying geology and mining-related structures: Specific geological environments and mining-related structures result in destabilisation and sinkhole development, as well as earth movement enhanced by mining activity, with a negative impact on the sustainability of mining-related urban development.•Characterisation of related natural resources: The physical character, long-term capacity, delineation and setting of all natural resources involved with mining activities affect the sustainability of related urban development. This includes water supply from groundwater resources, as well as the ore-body and natural resources needed to sustain the mining operation and urban development.•Characterisation of geological waste and pollutants: The disturbances of the geology during mining activities give rise to an unnatural interaction with the atmosphere. This results in acid mine drainage, contaminating water resources and pollution of the atmosphere with negative impact on sustainability.This article reviews the impacts of mining activities on the geo-environment and argues that the assessment thereof must be based on an integration of the legal required strategically environmental assessments, eco-efficient evaluations by the mining sector, and within the context of the global debate on sustainability

An uphill struggle? Towards coordinated EU engagement with China’s Belt and Road Initiative. EPC Policy Brief No. 48 November 2017

China’s 19th Party Congress unexpectedly amended the party’s constitution with a pledge to “pursue the Belt and Road Initiative”. This further elevates the status of president Xi’s heavily promoted foreign policy, which aims at creating trade and investment opportunities through the development of Eurasia’s continental and maritime infrastructure. As the implications of this policy are increasingly felt across Europe, following years of growing Chinese investments, so are the challenges it presents to Europe’s unity, prosperity and security. In light of these challenges a constructive engagement with China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) constitutes an immense task for the European Union, whose position has been weakened by growing dissent among member states over the Union’s policy towards China

Requirements for an Open Digital Platform for Interdisciplinary Energy Research and Practice

Energy systems are changing rapidly and energy research is fundamental to enable and optimize this change involving academics, practitioners, and the public. Therefore, an open digital platform to share knowledge and experiences is crucial for the energy sector. We identify and discuss requirements from 36 semi-structured interviews with various stakeholders for a platform based on five essential elements. The competence element enables researchers and developers to find suitable partners for their research and practice projects, and the best practices element delivers ideas to structure cooperative energy research. The repository element helps to find available data and frameworks for energy systems’ simulation and optimizations. Frameworks and models are coupled by using the simulation element. Last, results and contents from the energy community can be published within the transparency element to reach various interested stakeholders. We discuss implications and recommendations as well as further research directions

Draft Genome Sequences of Chlamydiales Bacterium STE3 and Neochlamydia sp. Strain AcF84, Endosymbionts of Acanthamoeba spp.

Chlamydiales bacterium STE3 and Neochlamydia sp. strain AcF84 are obligate intracellular symbionts of Acanthamoeba spp. isolated from the biofilm of a littoral cave wall and gills from striped tiger leaf fish, respectively. We report the draft genome sequences of these two environmental chlamydiae affiliated with the family Parachlamydiaceae

Choosing the right model for unified flexibility modeling

Using aggregated flexibility from distributed small-scale power devices is an extensively discussed approach to meet the challenges in modern and increasingly stochastic energy systems. It is crucial to be able to model and map the flexibility of the respective power devices in a unified form to increase the value of the cumulative flexibility from different small-scale power devices by aggregation. In order to identify the most suitable approach for unified flexibility modeling we present a framework to evaluate and compare the advantages and disadvantages of already existing modeling approaches in different levels of detail. As an introduction to flexibility modeling and as a basis for the evaluation process we initially provide a comprehensive overview of the broad range of flexibility models described in scientific literature. Subsequently, five selected modeling approaches allowing the generation of a unified flexibility representation for different power devices are presented in detail. By using an evaluation metric we assess the suitability of the selected approaches for unified flexibility modeling and their applicability. To allow a more detailed performance analysis, the best evaluated models are implemented and simulations with different small-scale devices are performed. The results shown in this paper highlight the heterogeneity of modeling concepts deriving from the various interpretations of flexibility in scientific literature. Due to the varying complexity of the modeling approaches, different flexibility potentials are identified, necessitating a combination of approaches to capture the entire spectrum of the flexibility of different small-scale power devices. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that a complex model does not necessarily lead to the discovery of higher flexibility potentials, and recommendations are given on how to choose an appropriate model. © 2022, The Author(s)

Conductive Tracks in Carbon Implanted Titania Nanotubes: Atomic-Scale Insights from Experimentally Based Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics Modeling

Ion implantation of titania nanotubes is a highly versatile approach for tailoring structural and electrical properties. While recently self-organized nanoscale compositional patterning has been reported, the atomistic foundations and impact on electronic structure are not established at this point. To study these aspects, ab initio molecular dynamic simulations based on atomic compositions in C implanted titania nanotubes according to elastic recoil detection analysis are employed. Consistent with experimental data, carbon accumulates in chainlike precipitates, which are favorable for enhancing conductivity, as revealed by density-functional theory electronic ground states calculations are demonstrated

Compositional Patterning in Carbon Implanted Titania Nanotubes

Ranging from novel solar cells to smart biosensors, titania nanotube arrays constitute a highly functional material for various applications. A promising route to modify material characteristics while preserving the amorphous nanotube structure is present when applying low-energy ion implantation. In this study, the interplay of phenomenological effects observed upon implantation of low fluences in the unique 3D structure is reported: sputtering versus readsorption and plastic flow, amorphization versus crystallization and compositional patterning. Patterning within the oxygen and carbon subsystem is revealed using transmission electron microscopy. By applying a Cahn–Hilliard approach within the framework of driven alloys, characteristic length scales are derived and it is demonstrated that compositional patterning is expected on free enthalpy grounds, as predicted by density functional theory based ab initio calculations. Hence, an attractive material with increased conductivity for advanced devices is provided. © 2021 The Authors. Advanced Functional Materials published by Wiley-VCH Gmb

Ameliorative effect of IDS30, a stinging nettle leaf extract, on chronic colitis

Background and aims: Anti-TNF-α antibodies are very effective in the treatment of acute Crohn's disease, but are limited by the decline of their effectiveness after repeated applications. The stinging nettle leaf extract, IDS30, is an adjuvant remedy in rheumatic diseases dependent on a cytokine suppressive effect. We investigated the effect of IDS30 on disease activity of murine colitis in different models. Methods: C3H.IL-10−/− and BALB/c mice with colitis induced by dextran sodium sulphate (DSS) were treated with either IDS30 or water. Mice were monitored for clinical signs of colitis. Inflammation was scored histologically, and faecal IL-1β and mucosal cytokines were measured by ELISA. Mononuclear cell proliferation of spleen and Peyer's patches were quantified by 3H-thymidine. Results: Mice with chronic DSS colitis or IL-10−/− mice treated with IDS30 clinically and histologically revealed significantly (p<0.05) fewer signs of colitis than untreated animals. Furthermore, faecal IL-1β and mucosal TNF-α concentrations were significantly lower (p<0.05) in treated mice. Mononuclear cell proliferation after stimulation with lipopolysaccharide was significantly (p<0.001) reduced in mice treated with IDS30. Conclusions: The long-term use of IDS30 is effective in the prevention of chronic murine colitis. This effect seems to be due to a decrease in the Th1 response and may be a new therapeutic option for prolonging remission in inflammatory bowel diseas

Photospheric magnetic structure of coronal holes

In this study, we investigate in detail the photospheric magnetic structure of 98 coronal holes using line-of-sight magnetograms of SDO/HMI, and for a subset of 42 coronal holes using HINODE/SOT G-band filtergrams. We divided the magnetic field maps into magnetic elements and quiet coronal hole regions by applying a threshold at $\pm 25$ G. We find that the number of magnetic bright points in magnetic elements is well correlated with the area of the magnetic elements (cc=$0.83\pm 0.01$). Further, the magnetic flux of the individual magnetic elements inside coronal holes is related to their area by a power law with an exponent of $1.261\pm 0.004$ (cc=$0.984\pm 0.001$). Relating the magnetic elements to the overall structure of coronal holes, we find that on average ($69\pm 8$) % of the overall unbalanced magnetic flux of the coronal holes arises from long-lived magnetic elements with lifetimes > 40 hours. About ($22\pm 4$) % of the unbalanced magnetic flux arises from a very weak background magnetic field in the quiet coronal hole regions with a mean magnetic field density of about 0.2 to 1.2 G. This background magnetic field is correlated to the flux of the magnetic elements with lifetimes of > 40 h (cc=$0.88\pm 0.02$). The remaining flux arises from magnetic elements with lifetimes < 40 hours. By relating the properties of the magnetic elements to the overall properties of the coronal holes, we find that the unbalanced magnetic flux of the coronal holes is completely determined by the total area that the long-lived magnetic elements cover (cc=$0.994\pm 0.001$)

Collective self-build for senior friendly communities. Studying the effects on social cohesion, social satisfaction and loneliness

Neighbourhood social cohesion is important for the health and well-being of the ageing population. It is therefore crucial to study how we can create neighbourhoods with high levels of neighbourhood social cohesion where senior citizens can age in place. We test the hypotheses that collective self-build is positively related to social cohesion and (directly and indirectly) to social satisfaction and lower levels of loneliness. The study is based on survey data from 326 respondents of 50 years and over living in 25 collective self-build development projects and 19 conventionally developed housing projects in the Netherlands. The results of a structural equation model (SEM) reveal that collective self-build is directly related to neighbourhood social cohesion and lower feelings of social loneliness. We find an indirect effect on social satisfaction. These positive relationships hold while controlling for personal and household characteristics. This quantitative study adds scientific knowledge on the collective self-build development method and its relation to social cohesion, loneliness and satisfaction