Croplands are a managed type of vegetation, with a carbon storage that is highly optimized for food production. For instance, their sowing dates are chosen by the farmers, their genetic potential is bred for high grain yields, and their on-field competition with other species is reduced to the minimum. As a result of human intervention, croplands a...
ABSTRACT Production of food contributes to climate change and other forms of environmental impact. Input data used in environmental impact assessment models, such as life cycle assessment (LCA) and nutrient balance (NB) analysis, may vary due to seasonal changes, geographical conditions or socio-economic factors (i.e. natural variability). Moreover...
Determination of safe human exposure levels of chemicals in toxicological risk assessments largely relies on animal toxicity data. In these toxicity studies, the highest number of animals are used for reproductive and developmental toxicity testing. Because of economic and ethical reasons, there is large interest in the development of in vitro and/...
Ammonia (NH3) emission is still high, and agriculture is still the dominant contributor. In The Netherlands, the NH3 emission from dairy cow houses is one of the most important sources. A lot of research has been conducted to understand and model NH3 emission, to measure it, and to reduce it using identified and developed reduction measures. Howeve...
Abstract Intercropping, the cultivation of two or more crop species simultaneously in the same field, has been widely practiced by smallholder farmers in developing countries and is gaining increasing interest in developed countries. Intercropping can increase the yield per unit land compared to sole cropping. The yield advantage of intercropping i...
The overall objective of the TO2 project ‘Advanced pre-treatment of biomass’ was to design optimal energy-driven refinery chains for the susta inable valorization of non-woody biomass to biobased commodities. Therefore optimal combination s need to be found of upstream biorefining and the production of high-quality (sol id) energy carriers from a b...
In the European Union (EU) the risk of plant protection products to aquatic organisms is assessed accordingto regulation 1107/2009. For this assessment the FOCUS Surface Water Scenarios have been developed. TheTOXSWA model is included in the FOCUS Surface Water Software tools to calculate the exposureconcentration in the water systems defined in th...
Streptococcus suis is Gram-positive bacterium and its natural habitat is the upper respiratory tract of pigs, and in particular the tonsils and nasal cavity. Although it is considered to be a normal member of the adult pig microbiome, it can cause serious diseases in pigs and humans. S. suis is in fact one of the most important swine pathogens worl...
Het doel van de KRW is het in waterlichamen bereiken van de goede ecologische toestand met, vanuit oogpunt van natuurbeleid, een hoge biodiversiteit. Om deze doelen te halen worden maatregelen uitgevoerd. Bij het nemen van maatregelen worden de omstandigheden in oppervlaktewaterecosystemen zo gewijzigd dat een verbetering van de ecologische toestan...
Lipid bilayer stability in relation to oxide nanoparticles All living organisms are composed of cells that are filled with a thick molecular soup. These molecules constitute a complex machinery that brings these cells to life. To contain these molecules, and to protect them from the hostile outer environment, a phospholipid bilayer envelopes the ce...
