Some widely used commercial packages simulate water hammer thereby adopting very basic assumptions on fluid and surrounding structure. However, in the polymer, chemical, and oil and gas industries, hazardous fluids like LNG have such complex rheological behavior that they cannot be modeled with the traditional approaches. In addition, in many situations, entrapped gas and vapor pockets occur which must be taken into account in the analysis; for example, in the sloshing of LNG in pipes, hoses and containers. Developing a novel meshless method for the simulation of fluid hammer with moving liquid-gas interfaces is the aim of the proposed collaboration. This aim fully fits in with ongoing research in the SLING project.

Sterilization process failures may place patients at risk; therefore all sterilization procedures must be validated. For steam sterilization, chemical indicators form the first base of judgement for a successful sterilization. In a recent study, the standard chemical indicators are deemed not adequate. Additionally, current commercial indicators (Type 5 or 6) have a significant cost which means that in practice often less secure, lower-class indicators are applied. We developed chemical indicators that simultaneously track temperature and steam conditions over time. The production method relies on an ink which allows for high-throughput production of reliable type 5 or 6 steam sterilization indicators.

It is known that quantum computers will break all cryptography used on the Internet today. However, quantum computers also require us to change the way we determine if a cryptographic scheme is secure. This project will develop new ways to select secure cryptographic schemes for a world with quantum computers.

Tinnitus, or the ringing of the ears, is defined as the perception of a continuous sound, in the absence of a corresponding acoustic stimulus in the external environment. It is estimated that in Europe over 70 million people experience tinnitus and that for 7 million it creates a chronic incapacitating condition, tenaciously haunting them up to the point where it interferes with every aspect of their daily living. Residing within and confined to the individuals subjective and perceptual experience, tinnitus is not measurable or quantifiable by objective physical recordings, and is furthermore not traceable to disease, injury, or pathology in the brain or elsewhere. Empirical evidence for either the effectiveness of curative tinnitus treatments or for audiological interventions, such as hearing-aids, and sound-generating devices to mask the sound, is lacking. Moreover, the audiometric characteristics of the tinnitus sound (loudness/pitch) hardly predict severity of the condition, or treatment outcomes. Contrary to scientific evidence, the clinical practice of masking/attenuating the tinnitus-sound is still the most widespread tinnitus-treatment approach. Presently I propose the counterintuitive conjecture that it is not the sound itself which is so devastating, but rather the fear-conditioned responses and the associated threat appraisals that maintain severe tinnitus disability. Indeed, empirical evidence is growing for the effectiveness of a cognitive behavioral approach and our recent findings support the importance of addressing tinnitus-related fear and fear-responses in the management of patients with disabling tinnitus. In this project I will experimentally test the idea that initial threat-appraisal and fearful responses predict increased tinnitus suffering. In addition, I will test the idea that exposure to the tinnitus sound is an effective way of decreasing fear of tinnitus and disability in the long term, whereas masking the sound is counterproductive. My research may provide an important impetus for the development of novel tinnitus-treatment approaches. Keywords: Tinnitus, threat-appraisal, fear-conditioning, exposure, masking