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Purpose: Sustainability is one of the major key terms in our modern globalized world affected by such different but nevertheless closely interrelated issues like prosperity of worldwide trade, globally-spanning supply chains, the growing social gap and the threatening effects of climate change. The paper shows how responsible citizenship and reflective critical thinking as well as a deeper understanding of these complex interdependencies can be conveyed in a systematic way to a group of international business students in form of a one-week block seminar course in the CEMS Master-in-International-Management (MIM) program.Design/methodology/approach: The paper includes a discussion of proven course design, general key skills fostered, didactic approaches and methods employed along with feedback mechanisms and evaluation results demonstrating clearly its impact on student’s mind sets afterwards.Findings: Based on the discussions with our students and post-course reflective reports it turned out, that for many of them their perception of sustainability issues and of their own behaviour has changed during this single week because of the topics dealt with in our course.Practical implications: A well thought-out didactic approach and extraordinary commitment and dedication by the instructors is inevitable to ensure the success of such a course.Original/value: This paper explains in a compact way, how sustainability issues in global supply chain management can be tackled successfully even in such time restricted one-week block seminar. Purpose: Sustainability is one of the major key terms in our modern globalized world affected by such different but nevertheless closely interrelated issues like prosperity of worldwide trade, globally-spanning supply chains, the growing social gap and the threatening effects of climate change. The paper shows how responsible citizenship and reflective critical thinking as well as a deeper understanding of these complex interdependencies can be conveyed in a systematic way to a group of international business students in form of a one-week block seminar course in the CEMS Master-in-International-Management (MIM) program.Design/methodology/approach: The paper includes a discussion of proven course design, general key skills fostered, didactic approaches and methods employed along with feedback mechanisms and evaluation results demonstrating clearly its impact on student’s mind sets afterwards.Findings:Based on the discussions with our students and post-course reflective reports it turned out, that for many of them their perception of sustainability issues and of their own behaviour has changed during this single week because of the topics dealt with in our course.Practical implications: A well thought-out didactic approach and extraordinary commitment and dedication by the instructors is inevitable to ensure the success of such a course.Original/value: This paper explains in a compact way, how sustainability issues in global supply chain management can be tackled successfully even in such time restricted one-week block seminar.

Abstract In this study we present a fast and inexpensive method for the estimation of methane-producing archaea with a culture-based method using most probable number (MPN) counting of the metabolic product methane.

Abstract An attractive path to the production of hydrogen from water is a two-step thermo chemical cycle powered by concentrated sunlight from a solar tower system. In the first process step the redox system, a ferrite coated on a monolithic honeycomb absorber, is present in its reduced form while the concentrated solar energy hits the ceramic absorber. When water vapour is fed to the honeycomb at 800 °C, oxygen is abstracted from the water molecules, bond in the redox system and hydrogen is produced. When the metal oxide system is completely oxidised it is heated up for regeneration at 1100–1200 °C in an oxygen-lean atmosphere. Under those conditions and in the second process step, oxygen is set free from the redox system, so the metal oxide is being reduced and after completion of the reaction again capable for water splitting. Since the overall process consists of two core reaction steps, which need to be carried out sequentially in a reactor unit at two different temperature steps, a special process and plant concept had to be developed enabling the continuous supply of product regardless of the alternating nature of the solar reactor operation. The challenge of the process control is to keep the two core reaction temperatures constant and to ensure regular temperature switches after completion of the individual process steps, independent of the weather conditions, like DNI fluctuation, clouds and wind speed. Also start-up, the fast switching after completion of half-cycles and the shutdown must be controlled. State of the art is the manual switching of heliostats to fulfil those control tasks. This paper describes the development and use of a system model of this process. The model consists of three main parts: the simulation of the solar flux distribution at the receiver aperture, the simulation of the temperatures in the reactor modules and the simulation of the hydrogen generation. It can be used for the analysis of the operational behaviour. The model is intended to be used in the future for the control of the whole process.

We combined profiling of the bloom-forming and potentially toxigenic cyanobacterium Planktothrix rubescens using a multiparameter probe equipped with a phycoerythrin sensor (in vivo fluorometry, IVL) in Lake Mondsee, Austria, with flow cytometric live analyses of discrete samples taken from several depths in the upper 20 m of the water column. Results obtained by IVL and acoustic flow cytometry (AFC) were compared to microscopic analyses of integrated (0-21 m) water samples using fixed material. This comparison was made because the integrated samples are used for the Austrian monitoring programme according to the EU Water Framework Directive. We demonstrate that AFC provides quantitative analyses of the filaments of P. rubescens that are significantly correlated to IVF and microscopic analyses, allowing rapid (within hours) and more precise calculation of P. rubescens biomass than estimates derived from IVL. Our analysis shows that vertically integrated water samples provide unreliable information on the concentration of P. rubescens in the upper surface waters and on the peak concentration of P. rubescens within the water column. We conclude that the protocol that we developed is superior to the current monitoring practice.

After the consumption of fruit, the concentration of methanol in the human body increases by as much as an order of magnitude. This is due to the degradation of natural pectin (which is esterified with methyl alcohol) in the human colon. In vivo tests performed by means of proton‐transfer‐reaction mass spectrometry show that consumed pectin in either a pure form (10 to 15 g) or a natural form (in 1 kg of apples) induces a significant increase of methanol in the breath (and by inference in the blood) of humans. The amount generated from pectin (0.4 to 1.4 g) is approximately equivalent to the total daily endogenous production (measured to be 0.3 to 0.6 g/day) or that obtained from 0.3 liters of 80‐proof brandy (calculated to be 0.5 g). This dietary pectin may contribute to the development of nonalcoholic cirrhosis of the liver.

Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) have a promising future in reliable energy harvesting to drive low power consumption devices for indoor applications.

Abstract The very low heating load of deep renovated buildings following standards such as EnerPHit, and the limited space in renovation create the need for compact heating systems. An innovative heating and ventilation system - consisting of an exhaust air to supply air heat pump combined with a heat recovery ventilation unit, both integrated into a prefabricated timber frame facade - was developed and installed in a flat during the renovation of a multi-family house in Ludwigsburg, Germany. The system and the flat were monitored for the complete heating season 2016/2017. This paper presents: (a) an analysis of the monitoring data, (b) the development and validation of the models of the system and the flat, and (c) the results of the dynamic simulations that were performed for further system optimisation. Inside the flat, good thermal comfort and indoor air quality conditions were achieved. The monitored SPF of the system was 2.8. Simulation results showed that with the optimised system and control, there can be an electricity savings of 25%. The developed system has the potential to be cost-effective due to prefabrication and low heating capacity. It represents a compact solution with moderate energy performance, appropriate for minimally disruptive renovations.

Anaerobic fungi (AF, phylum Neocallimastigomycota) are best known for their ability to efficiently break down lignocellulosic biomass. Their unique combination of mechanical and enzymatic attacks on recalcitrant plant structures bears great potential for enhancement of the anaerobic digestion (AD) process. Although scientists in this field have long agreed upon the potential of AF for biotechnology, research is only recently gaining traction. This delay was largely due to difficulties in culture-dependent and culture-independent analysis of those high-maintenance organisms with their still unknown complex growth requirements. In this review, we will summarize current research efforts on bioaugmentation with AF and further point out, how the lack of basic knowledge on AF nutritional needs hampers their implementation on an industrial scale. Through this, we hope to further kindle interest into basic research on AF in order to advance their stable integration into biotechnological processes.