The Self-Regulated Learning intervention was more effective compared to the Activity-Based intervention with particular benefits for on-going learning and improvements.The surface tension isotherms of soluble salts of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in electrolyte solutions are typically reported as functions of the PFAS concentration. However, for univalent salts and electrolytes, the Langmuir-Szyszkowski equation is a function of the mean ionic activity a*. Using previously reported data, we show that for salts of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) or hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (GenX™), use of a* rather than concentration provides a unified surface tension isotherm, independent of the electrolyte concentration. This suggests that the electrolyte dependence of the isotherm arises purely from its effect on PFAS activity, rather than an intrinsic surface property. This finding has important implications for the understanding of PFAS retention in saline unsaturated soils, and for PFAS extraction from saline waters by foam fractionation.Pyrolysis is a promising method for the recovery of waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs), but few researches have noticed the influence of in-situ metals. This study conducted a series of comparisons between metal-free leftover pieces (LP) and intact boards (IB), including pyrolysis characteristics, volatile emission, kinetics, and thermodynamic parameters. The thermo-gravimetry (TG) analyses indicated that both the samples presented predominant mass loss in narrow temperature intervals, and characteristic pyrolysis temperatures of IB were approximately 15 °C lower than those of LP. Dominant constituents in evolved gases were detected by Fourier-transform infrared spectrometry as CO2, phenol, bromophenol, ethers, ketones, and aldehydes, and metals accelerated the generation of light hydrocarbons and aromatic compounds. The activation energy and thermodynamic parameters were calculated and compared, and the results verified the presence of in-situ metals led to a lower energy barrier and higher reaction extent. Moreover, conversion behaviors of Cu, Fe, Sn, and Pb manifested the formation of metal bromides and implied the reduction of brominated volatiles. The obtained results confirmed the catalytic effect of in-situ metals on PCBs pyrolysis and their bromine fixation abilities. This study contributes to fundamental knowledge that can be used to guide the pyrolysis of WPCBs.Pesticides are broadly utilized in crop cultivation and could end up in wastewater of vegetable- and potato companies during water-consuming processing steps. To gain insight into the presence of pesticide residues in (waste)water of these industries, water was analysed and monitored from three vegetable- and two potato processing companies in Belgium. During one year samples were collected of water before and after primary/secondary treatment (i.e. learn more influent and effluent) and after tertiary treatment. Next to water, also (processed) carrot and potato products were analysed. Results show that boscalid (maximum 18.32 μg/L) and terbuthylazine (maximum 87.99 μg/L) are predominantly present in the vegetable industry and chlorpropham (maximum 8.80×106 μg/L) and terbuthylazine (maximum 3.37×105 μg/L) in the potato industry. The conventional treatment techniques seem to be insufficient for the removal of pesticides. Concentrations were even higher in the effluent than in the influent. Also, tertiary treatment techniques as ultra-filtration and reverse osmosis fail to reduce all pesticides below the European potable water limit of 0.1 μg/L. To meet this standard, the development and validation of new removal techniques are essential. Regarding product samples, almost no pesticide residues exceeded the MRL. Chlorpropham concentrations were statistically confirmed to be higher in potatoes and wastewater sampled when stored potatoes are processed.Partial nitritation-anammox was carried out successfully in a continuous fed Sequencing Batch Reactor (cf-SBR), composed of 3 compartments operated in continuous mode. The reactor was operated with floccular biomass (flocs) and biofilm to remove nitrogen from the anaerobic effluent from the potato industry at different nitrogen loading rates (0.16 g TN L-1 d-1 - 0.8 g TN L-1 d-1). At the maximum nitrogen loading rate (NLR) evaluated the nitrogen removal and ammonia oxidation achieved were 62% and 74% respectively. During the evaluation of the NLR, it was observed an improvement of the characteristics of the sludge, improving the Sludge Volumetric Index (SVI) from 228 to 63 mL g-1 MLSS. Moreover, molecular analysis (qPCR) confirmed the presence of anammox bacteria on the flocs and in the biofilm from the cf-SBR. The results showed the capability of the reactor to carry out the partial nitritation-anammox in the same reactor at pilot scale. The cf-SBR was presented as a suitable and feasible technology for advanced nitrogen removal under partial nitritation and anammox conditions.In this study, seven different cyanobacteria (LS01-LS07) were isolated from paddy field water and among them, the isolate LS04 was able to grow well on municipal wastewater. The LS04 isolate was identified as Nostoc sp. (designated as Nostoc sp. LS04) based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. Strain LS04 grew well in 75% wastewater and had the greatest nutrients removal efficiency (81.02-95.17%). Strain LS04 obtained the higher biomass (1.31 ± 0.08 g L-1) and productivity of 131.33 ± 8.08 mg L-1 d-1. The lipid content and productivity of LS04 were 14.85 ± 0.86% (dry cell weight) and 19.46 ± 0.05 mg L-1 d-1, respectively. The high proportion of C16-C18 fatty acids found in the lipids of LS04 indicated the high suitability for biodiesel production. In addition, Nostoc sp. LS04 cellular extracts were potentially used as a biostimulant for Lactuca sativa cultivation. The foliar application of 60% LS04 cellular extracts showed the maximum shoot length, root length, fresh biomass, dry biomass, Chl a, Chl b and carotenoids in lettuce plants compared to control plants. Similarly, 60% of LS04 cellular extracts treatment improved the concentrations of macro and micronutrients, and biochemical compounds in the leaves. Therefore, these results reveal that the Nostoc sp. LS04 is a promising candidate for the nutrients removal from wastewater and their biomass is a potential resource for biodiesel production and biostimulant for sustainable crop production.