Each year, around 15 million people worldwide seek medical attention for sports or in-house trauma (e.g. ankle sprain). Of these, 1 million people sustained cartilage damage, and demonstrate pain and disability as symptoms. This damage contributes to the onset of osteoarthritis, a disease that is associated with severe joint destruction and pain, which poses a huge socioeconomic burden. For early identification and treatment, a precise diagnosis is of utmost importance. Conventional MRI, CT or ultrasound (US) imaging are not suited for fast screening of all patients at risk due to their relatively long acquisition times and high costs, ionizing load, and inability to image all types of cartilage damage. The aim of the project is to develop a new device for non-invasive, accurate and cost-effective cartilage tissue characterization using acoustic wave technology. This novel tool, Vibrant Vision, combines acoustic wave generation, mechanical loading, and ultrasonic sensing to quantify cartilage damage, e.g. changes in cartilage morphology and stiffness. The challenge is to quantitatively detect the presence of any cartilage damage independent of its appearance, size, and location. Therefore, a complete new concept is proposed: acoustic waves are propagated through the entire joint space in unloaded and in uniformly-loaded condition and a separate receiver senses their responses. To achieve this, unique integration of a wave pulser, a new mechanical indenter to load cartilage surfaces, and an ultrasonic receiver will be realized into one tool. The responses are fed into a new patient specific 3D wave propagation computer model that uses inverse optimization with newly defined wave properties to identify cartilage damage that caused local changes in joint space morphology and stiffness. This Vibrant Vision tool for the first time enables non-invasive quantitative diagnosis of any cartilage damage.

The objective of this study is to develop a numerical model to simulate the wave-induced loads on a ship that is moored in a harbour or coastal region. The starting point of this study is an existing non-hydrostatic wave-flow model (SWASH). To study the wave-induced loads on a moored ship, we extended SWASH to include a restrained (i.e., nonmoving) ship. Preliminary results indicated that the extended model is capable of simulating the wave transformation in the vicinity of a restrained ship. Next, we wish to validate if this numerical model is capable of accurately predicting the wave-induced forces and moments on a restrained ship. For this purpose, we wish to compare model results with measurements from a laboratory experiment. The laboratory experiment was conducted in a wave basin of approximately 40m x 40m. In prototype scale, this is equivalent to a domain of 4km x 4km. At these scales, full three-dimensional simulations on a single processor range from hours to days, which clearly shows the need for parallel computing.

Energy-efficiency, resource recovery and availability of clean water are increasingly setting the agenda for technology development, including in the field of (waste)water treatment. In the proposed 3-day workshop, wastewater treatment innovations from the Netherlands and Brazil will be presented and current challenges will be discussed. Scientists, technology providers and end-users from both countries are invited to present their view on (waste)water management in the broader context of the circular economy, aiming for knowledge exchange and heading to a joint research agenda on municipal and industrial wastewater management and reuse options, embedded within the new Brazilian Water Research Centre.

In the Netherlands, approximately 1 million children (0-25 years) have a chronic disease. Above and beyond the ever-present challenges of growing up with an illness, these children have 40% chance to develop psychological problems, including depression, anxiety and loneliness. Throughout their life, this translates into decreased well-being and reduced social participation and generates additional costs for society. Early prevention of psychological problems is thus key to break this vicious cycle. Therefore, eHealth applications are promising. However, scientific knowledge is missing and validated tools are not yet available for this group and involved health care professionals. Our mission is to make scientifically validated eHealth tools that allow personalized and trans-diagnostic prevention of psychological problems widely available for this highly vulnerable group of chronically ill children and future adults, through an accessible, user-friendly, safe, and sustainable platform. To succeed in this mission, we present an iterative learning cycle approach in two four-year phases during which we gather the insights, and develop, evaluate, and implement the much needed eHealth tools: I. Development: Distil and validate the theoretical and game-design factors that make eHealth effective for chronically ill children. II. Evaluation: Evaluate trans-diagnostic and personalized eHealth tools for chronically ill children, using and developing state-of-the-art methods. III. Implementation: Study and remove the barriers that currently hinder implementation and uptake, and threaten availability of eHealth applications for chronically ill children. Our eHealth junior consortium includes (applied) researchers, pediatricians, psychiatrists, psychologists, patient organizations, knowledge centers, game designers, industrial designers, insurance companies, and business professionals. We will collaborate with the end-users (children, families, and professionals) in order to achieve both international scientific breakthroughs and optimal clinical and societal impact. Knowledge utilization is a crucial part of our project.

Technisch ontwerpen en practica zijn bèta specifieke handelingen die moeten bijdragen aan de kennisontwikkeling van leerlingen. Uit verschillende onderzoeken blijkt de inzet van Technisch ontwerpen en practica weinig begrip over concepten aan te leggen bij leerlingen. Het leereffect van practica en technisch ontwerpen kan wellicht vergroot worden door inzet van het digitale schoolbord. Gebruikmakend van zowel kwalitatief als kwantitatief onderzoek wordt er geprobeerd een groter leereffect te bewerkstelligen en een betere link te leggen tussen het uitgevoerde werk (het experiment) en de te leren concepten.