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Energy transition will reshape the power sector, and hydrogen is a key energy carrier that could contribute to energy security. The inclusion of sustainability criteria is crucial for the adequate design/deployment of resilient hydrogen networks. While cost and environmental metrics are commonly included in hydrogen models, social aspects are rarely considered. This paper aims to identify the social criteria related to the hydrogen economy by using a systematic hybrid literature review. The main contribution is the identification of twelve social aspects which are described, ranked, and discussed. "Accessibility", "Information", "H 2 markets", and "Acceptability" are now emerging as the main themes of hydrogen-related social research. Identified gaps are e.g., lack of the definition of the value of H 2 for society, insufficient research for "socio-political" aspects (e.g., geopolitics, wellbeing), scarce application of social lifecycle assessment, and the low amount of works with a focus on social practices and cultural issues. [Display omitted] • Twelve social aspects related to the hydrogen economy have been identified. • A systematic hybrid literature review (bibliometric and structured) was used. • Useful for sustainability modellers, researchers, policymakers, stakeholders, etc. • Accessibility, Information, H 2 markets, and Acceptability are popular topics. • Gaps, challenges, and perspectives are identified by a multidisciplinary team. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Network analysis is not a novelty in spatial statistics, however, in terms of data availability and data analysis techniques, there have been many developments in the recent years. Circuity is a quantitative indicator characterizing the transport network and the physical structure of the space in general, comparing the shortest distance in a straight line between any two points belonging to the network with the distance required to actually get there. Our research goal is twofold: (1) the development of a circuity calculation methodology based on numerous amount of road segment calculations, which exploits the potential inherent in the development of information technology in recent years and could reliably characterize the structure of each territorial unit; and with the developed methodology (2) the examination of (i) car, (ii) public transport and (iii) pedestrian networks in the internal areas of the Budapest districts where public transport is available. According to the analysis, driving circuity in Budapest's inner-city districts, and the public transportation circuity in its outer districts indicates a tendency for a higher additional travel demand compared to the distance in a straight line (sinuosity). In the case of the walking circuity, the coefficient values are more homogeneous, there are no particularly large differences compared to the average. The method could help spatial planning and the exploration of the relationships between the spatial structure and other socioeconomic indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant portion of the increase in atmospheric CO2 enters the environment through a decrease in the level of organic matter (SOM) in soils. One of the reasons for this is the cutting of forests and the conversion of growing areas into arable land, thus changing land use. As a result, SOM today only has approx. 70–80% of the period before the spread of intensive farming. For the long-term study of the effect of varying amounts of SOM, we set up experimental plots for litter manipulation in 2000. In the course of our investigations, we studied how changing the amount of organic matter input the soil affects the CO2 emissions of the soil and its closely related biological activity after five or ten years, in addition to the continuous maintenance of the treatments. According to our assumption, after 10 years, the biological activity of the soil will decrease as a result of the removal treatment of organic matter, and the biological activity will increase as a result of the doubling. The pH value of the soil shifted in the acidic direction over 10 years as a result of the removal of organic matter, while it did not change as a result of the increase. In the first year, we could not detect any significant differences in the enzyme activity values. From our later results, we found that a drastic reduction in the amount of leaf litter has a greater effect on soil enzyme activity and soil respiration to a greater extent than an increase in litter production above natural levels. The pH of the soil was as expected, with litter withdrawal shifting the pH towards acidic over the years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Is the Netherlands sustainable or not? The answer inherently involves addressing the issues of system boundaries, statistical units and a vision of sustainability. As an analytical answer we offer the Intenscope (IS), a two-dimensional graphical tool based on dimensionless percentages of triple rate ratios which overcomes several limitations of sustainability analyses. First, it is not sensitive to the size of statistical units so an area with twice the amount of resources of another, with double the population (and double the total consumption) would have the same triple ratio of population:biocapacity:consumption. Second, the IS is sensitive to anomalies which may originate either from the use of arbitrary statistical units (e.g. the boundaries of a city) or those which may indicate truly unsustainable practices. To judge spatial sustainability we use ecological footprint data from which we construct a plausible country plot based on the IS. Despite the relative nature of IS-analyses, the employed consumption:biocapacity ratio inherently refers to the absolute limit of sustainability: we cannot continually use more resources on a global scale than nature provides us with. The analysis introduces some associations of human preferences and attributions of settlement types which may help to elaborate sustainability policies based on voluntary action. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper introduces the concept of plotting four-dimensional data in two dimensions without loss of information; namely, the dataquadrate concept. Here objects are represented as quadrates instead of points in a practical 4-axis Cartesian coordinate system. This procedure helps us imagine and analyze complex relations where four different, non-negative variables influence processes. This tool is of high utility for analyzing specific human–environment issues. Here we analyze a monetary measure (gross domestic product; GDP), a hedonic measure (subjective wellbeing), a limiting measure (ecological footprint) and a demographic measure (human population). Our system adds new insights to the de-growth debate discussed in a Journal of Cleaner Production special issue (vol. 18, 2010) and systematically illuminates lots of confusing paradoxes such as the downward sloping part of the Environmental Kuznets Curve, the Jevons'' paradox, and the Easterlin paradox. In this paper all these phenomena are analyzed for the USA and for China in 1990 and in 2007. By utilizing such methodology, when mitigating environmental problems we are not limited to negative, restrictive messages but are enabled to create new strategic ways of problem solving about how to optimize the human ‘celestial footprint’ (the ratio of human wellbeing to human environmental load). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Morphological changes of thin, discontinuous gold films on SrTiO3 substrates, resulting from evaporation in the temperature range of 1143–1278K, have been investigated by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). If the gold covered fraction of the surface is small, the evaporation kinetics can be related to the desorption of adatoms. Measuring the density of the gold beads and the time dependence of the effective thickness of the film as calculated from the diameter of the beads, the following parameters have been determined: the surface diffusion length of the gold adatoms, , the mass transfer surface diffusion coefficient, and the evaporation flux, . [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Simple Summary: Global climate change has a significant impact on soil decomposition processes through the alteration of temperature and precipitation and, in connection with them, through changes in the quantity and quality of biomass production in ecosystems. The role of soil organic matter (SOM) is particularly important, as the consequences might rapidly affect soil carbon stocks. These processes have a global impact on the CO2 content of the atmosphere and a local impact on the fertility of soils. In our research, which is based on a transcontinental litter manipulation, detritus input, and removal treatment (DIRT) project, we investigated how quantitative and qualitative changes in litter inputs can affect decomposition processes and carbon storage capacity of soils in relation to SOM content. The main question of the study is how various litter treatment sites respond to additional and/or removed organic matters through assessed soil-biological parameters. The changes were monitored with some potential soil-biological indicators, such as through examining enzyme activity, CO2 emissions, and labile carbon stocks (POXC) used by organisms in performing decomposition processes. The model experiment provided a great background highlighting organic matter's importance in soil-biological processes and soil ecosystem functioning. Soil organic matter is a biological system that functions as an integrated whole. These assemblies have different properties, functions, and decomposition times. SOM is one of the main determinants of soil productivity. Our studies were carried out in a temperate deciduous oak forest on Luvisols soil. In the DIRT Project (Detritus Input and Removal Treatments), the following treatments were applied: Double Litter, Double Wood, Control, No Litter, No Root and No Input. Our objective was to compare the effect of withdrawal or doubling of organic matter on the protein pattern of the soil and the biological activity and changes in labile C (permanganate-oxidizable carbon) content in a long-term organic matter manipulation experiment. Patterns of thermostable proteins, soil dehydrogenase enzyme activity, CO2 emission, and POXC content were measured at the most biologically active soil depth of 0–5 cm after 23 years of treatment. Our results show that the enzyme activities of the litter removal treatments were significantly reduced compared to the doubling treatments, as were the values of soil respiration. The same significant difference was also detected in the C content of the soils of the treatments. Based on cluster analysis of the protein profile of the soil samples, the No Litter and No Input treatments were significantly different from the other treatments. This shows that specific organic matter is needed to enhance soil biological activity and the associated POXC content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The available literary data suggest the general applicability and benefits of the Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) in the field of microbiological identification. Due to its high reliability, MALDI-TOF might generally be the alternative to the the16s-rRNA sequence-based and serological-based methods. The essence of the technique is to map the unique protein pattern of microbes that contributes to characterizing a wide variety of microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, and viruses. With its application, the well-known bacterial and fungal species can be quickly identified, thus saving time in clinical diagnostics. In recent years, new protocols have appeared for directly identifying pathogenic strains from patient samples (blood, urine, feces), a major milestone in healthcare applications. On the other hand, these applications only have reliable results under certain conditions (homogeneous infection, adequate cell count, appropriate separation technique). This review aims to introduce and summarize those developments that have been enabled for routine application in the field of clinical diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The structural and bonding characteristics of the ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) complexes of 12 metal ions (Mg2+, Ca2+, Sr2+, Ba2+, Al3+, Ga3+, Sn2+, Pb2+, Cu2+, Zn2+, Cd2+, Hg2+) were investigated by means of density functional theory computations. The computed molecular geometries were compared to those in the crystal. The ionic vs. covalent contribution in the bonding was assessed by energy partitioning analysis, while the details of the donor–acceptor interactions were determined by natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Environmental education is assumed to have a significant influence on the environmental awareness, everyday lifestyles and consumer behavior of students. Several higher education institutions have recently recognized the importance of integrating sustainability issues into education to make this impact focused and explicit. This paper explores the relationship strength between environmental education and environmental knowledge, attitudes and reported actual behavior of university and high school students, providing a comparative questionnaire survey analysis which is unique in the literature. The results show a strong correlation between the intensity of environmental education and the environmental knowledge of students. This is partly due to the environmental education itself and partly due to the higher intrinsic motivation of committed students who voluntarily participate in environmental education, primarily at university level. The focus of the environmental education appears to be important in shaping attitudes about sustainable consumption. Addressing the issue of consumerism in environmental education clearly increases awareness of the need for consumption-related lifestyle changes. Based on Multidimensional Scaling methodology, the interdependence of several influencing variables is explored and illustrated graphically. Respondents are classified into five clusters – hedonist, techno-optimist, active environmentalist, familiar and careless – according to their environmental knowledge, attitudes, consumer behavior and everyday environmental awareness. Consistencies and inconsistencies in behavior are then identified in order to promote the creation of more effective educational instruments for supporting sustainable consumption and lifestyles. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]