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Hydrophobic reinforced carbon foams from silicone-impregnated phenolic resins
No full textThe demand for mechanically robust, cheap and easily recoverable carbon templates with tunable surface properties for specialty sorption and catalytic conversions is ever-increasing. This study aims to fill in this need, exploring a pyrolytic conversion route of an abundant thermoset foam waste stream. More specifically, the production of monolithic, highly porous carbon foams (ABET = 1800 m2/g, Vpore = 0.747 cm3/g) from phenolic resole insulation foam waste is demonstrated. A novel hydrophobization treatment is developed, involving the impregnation of the foams with vinyldimethicone oil blended with a Karstedt Pt catalyst, followed by co-pyrolysis. This process partially retains silicones within the carbon matrix, making the resulting foams waterrepellent and mechanically resilient, though at the cost of reduced porosity. The study further reveals that initial variations in phenolic foam composition strongly influence the complex carbonization and decomposition processes, ultimately shaping the structural and functional properties of the carbon foams. This co-pyrolysis method eliminates the need for post-modification steps and offers new insights into the interactions between decomposing silicones and the developing carbon structure, providing a promising route for efficient one-step surface hydrophobization.The authors acknowledge the Eureca-Pro network for funding the exchange of researchers between Hasselt University and Universit´e de Lorraine. In addition, the financial support from Hasselt University and the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO Vlaanderen) via the Hercules project (AUHL/15/2-GOH3816N) is gratefully acknowledged. Bernard Noppen is thanked for performing and processing the TD-Py-GC-MS, whereas Greet Cuyvers, Martine Vanhamel and Elsy Thijssen contributed to the XRF and FTIR measurements. We thank Philippe Gadonneix for his support in collecting TGA and pycnometry data. www.flaticon. com is credited for the icons used in the graphical abstract. Thomas Vranken and An Hardy are acknowledged for the Raman spectroscopy data
Disrupted-in-Schizophrenia 1 controls microglial cytoskeletal remodeling via regulation of actin dynamics and adhesion
No full textMicrogliacellen zijn de primaire immuuncellen van het centrale zenuwstelsel en spelen een essentiële rol in de hersenontwikkeling door neuronale netwerken vorm te geven via synaptische snoei en fagocytose. Hun functies zijn afhankelijk van dynamische herstructurering van het cytoskelet, wat migratie mogelijk maakt, met name door het uitstrekken en intrekken van actine-gebaseerde uitsteeksels zoals filopodia en lamellipodia, evenals de vorming van focale adhesies (FA's) voor verankering aan het celmembraan. Verstoringen in deze functies kunnen bijdragen aan neuroontwikkelingsstoornissen (NDD’s).
Disrupted-in-Schizophrenia 1 (Disc1), een genetische risicofactor voor NDD’s, reguleert neuronale migratie en cytoskeletorganisatie tijdens de ontwikkeling, maar de functie ervan in microgliacellen is nog grotendeels onbekend. Eerder observeerden we dat verstoring van het Disc1-locus (LI) de embryonale saltatoire migratie van microglia in vitro en in situ verminderde. Daarom onderzochten we de rol van Disc1 in de regulatie van het cytoskelet tijdens dit proces. We hypothiseerden dat DISC1 microgliamigratie aanstuurt via controle van het actinecytoskelet.
Met behulp van een Disc1 LI-muismodel laten we zien dat DISC1-dysfunctie de dynamiek van microgliale uitsteeksels verandert: de motiliteit van filopodia neemt toe, terwijl de beweging van lamellipodia afneemt, wat wijst op een verstoorde protrusieve activiteit. Bovendien was de dichtheid van FA’s verlaagd in Disc1 LI-microglia, wat suggereert dat er sprake is van verminderde adhesi
Leveraging hand-crafted radiomics on multicenter FLAIR MRI for predicting disability worsening in people with multiple sclerosis
No full textBackground Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system, leading to varying degrees of functional impairment. Conventional tools, such as the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), lack sensitivity to subtle disease worsening. Radiomics provides a quantitative imaging approach to address this limitation. This study applied machine learning (ML) and radiomics features from T2-weighted Fluid-Attenuated Inversion Recovery (FLAIR) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to predict disability worsening in MS.Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on real-world data from 247 PwMS across two centers. Disability worsening was defined as a change in EDSS over two years. FLAIR MRIs underwent preprocessing and super-resolution reconstruction to enhance low-resolution images. White matter lesions (WML) were segmented using the Lesion Segmentation Toolbox (LST), and tissue segmentation was performed using sequence Adaptive Multimodal Segmentation. Radiomics features from WML and normal-appearing white matter (NAWM) were extracted using Pyradiomics, harmonized with Longitudinal ComBat, followed by recursive feature elimination for feature selection. Elastic Net, Balanced Random Forest (BRFC), and Light Gradient-Boosting Machine (LGBM) models were trained and evaluated.Results The LGBM model with harmonized radiomics and clinical features outperformed the clinical-only model, achieving a test area under the precision-recall curve (PR AUC) of 0.20 and a receiver operating characteristic area under the curve (ROC AUC) of 0.64. Key predictive features, among others, included Gray-Level Co-Occurrence Matrix (GLCM) maximum probability (WML) and Gray-Level Dependence Matrix (GLDM) dependence non-uniformity (NAWM). However, short-term longitudinal changes showed limited predictive power (PR AUC = 0.11, ROC AUC = 0.69).Conclusion These findings highlight the potential of ML-driven radiomics in predicting disability worsening, warranting validation in larger, balanced datasets and exploration of advanced deep learning approaches.Funding
The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research and/or publication of this article. This research received funding from the Flemish Government under the “Onderzoeksprogramma Artificiële Intelligentie (AI) Vlaanderen” program, Stichting Multiple Sclerosis Research (19-1040 MS) and the Bijzonder OnderzoeksFonds (BOF19DOCMA10). Authors acknowledge financial support from the European Union’s Horizon research and innovation programme under grant agreements: ImmunoSABR n° 733008, CHAIMELEON n° 952172, EuCanImage n° 952103, IMI-OPTIMA n° 101034347, RADIOVAL (HORIZONHLTH-2021-DISEASE-04-04) n°101057699, EUCAIM (DIGITAL2022-CLOUD-AI-02) n°101100633, GLIOMATCH n° 101136670, AIDAVA (HORIZON-HLTH-2021-TOOL-06) n°101057062, and REALM (HORIZON-HLTH-2022-TOOL-11) n° 101095435.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Zohaib Salahuddin (The D-Lab, Department of Precision Medicine, GROW – Research Institute for Oncology and Reproduction, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands) for his valuable feedback and insights during the development of this study. We also acknowledge Raymond Hupperts (Academic MS Center Zuyd, Department of Neurology, Zuyderland Medical Center, SittardGeleen, Netherlands) for his guidance and support in shaping the clinical aspects of this work
Streven private familiebedrijven naar een ‘target’ schuldgraad?
No full textDeze masterproef onderzoekt de snelheid waarmee Belgische private familiebedrijven hun kapitaalstructuur aanpassen richting een beoogde (‘target’) schuldgraad, en vergelijkt dit met niet-familiebedrijven. Uitgangspunt is dat familiebedrijven vaak doelstellingen nastreven die verder gaan dan louter financiële optimalisatie, zoals het behouden van familiale controle en het verzekeren van opvolging naar de volgende generatie, wat hun financieringskeuzes kan beïnvloeden. Met behulp van paneldata afkomstig van Bureau van Dijk wordt via statistische analyse onderzocht of familiebedrijven zich trager aanpassen en of factoren zoals bedrijfsomvang en winstgevendheid dit tempo beïnvloeden. De resultaten bevestigen dat familiebedrijven streven naar een target schuldgraad, maar zich trager aanpassen dan niet-familiebedrijven. In tegenstelling tot veel eerdere studies blijken bedrijfsomvang en winstgevendheid geen versnellend effect te hebben op dit aanpassingsproces, wat erop wijst dat andere, niet-geteste factoren mogelijk bepalend zijn voor de aanpassingssnelheid. Door specifiek de Belgische context van private familiebedrijven te onderzoeken, levert deze studie nieuwe inzichten op voor de wetenschappelijke literatuur en praktische implicaties voor beleidsmakers, financiële adviseurs, kredietverstrekkers, investeerders en onderwijsinstellingen. Deze bevindingen kunnen hen helpen beleid, strategieën en producten beter af te stemmen op de unieke combinatie van financiële en niet-financiële doelstellingen die familiebedrijven kenmerken
Soup Opera
No full text“Soup Opera” is not the script for a regular theater production, but for an orchestrated improvisational exercise performed by the audience. It begins when someone in the audience starts reading the script hanging from a big arrow on the scene with the text: “start reading this to add drama”. And it unfolds itself through instructions given in the script and played by the audience. The audience takes the place of an imaginary collective and makes an important decision. There are several ways to make this decision and the outcome is always different.
Based on conversations with artistic hub De Koer (BE) and the theater alliance K.A.K. (Koekelbergse Alliantie van Knutselaars, BE), artists Renée Goethijn and Katinka de Jonge developed this exercise. Every time it was executed it was followed by an aftertalk, in which the group was asked to reflect on their experiences while performing and watching, and on questions around power, decision-making and forms of (micro)democracy. ‘Soup Opera’ is an exercise for anyone who wants to experience what it’s like to be part of a collective, or for collectives who want to experience what it’s like to be in another collective than their ow
Repeat procedures after pulsed field ablation for atrial fibrillation: MANIFEST-REDO study
No full textAims Initial clinical studies of pulsed field ablation (PFA) to treat atrial fibrillation (AF) indicated a >90% durability rate of pulmonary vein isolation (PVI). However, these studies were largely conducted in single centres and involved a limited number of operators. We aimed to describe the electrophysiological findings and outcomes in patients undergoing repeat ablation after an initial PF ablation for AF. Methods and results In the MANIFEST-REDO study, we investigated patients who underwent repeat ablation due to clinical recurrence-AF or atrial tachycardia (AT)-following first-ever PVI with a pentaspline PFA catheter (Farawave, Boston Scientific Inc.). At 22 centres, 427 patients (age 64 +/- 11 years; 37% female) were included. Of note, the recurrent arrhythmia leading to the repeat ablation was paroxysmal AF (51%), persistent AF (30%), or AT (19%). At the repeat procedure, the PV reconnection rates were 30% (left superior pulmonary vein), 28% (left inferior pulmonary vein), 33% (right superior pulmonary vein), and 32% (right inferior pulmonary vein). In 45% of patients, all PVs were durably isolated at the beginning of the repeat procedure, with the previous use of any imaging or mapping modality being univariately associated with durable PVI. After a post-redo follow-up period of 284 (90-366) days, the primary effectiveness endpoint (freedom from documented AF/AT lasting >= 30 s after 3-month blanking without class I/III antiarrhythmic drugs or symptoms) was achieved in 65% of patients, with significant differences between groups (PAF 65% vs. PersAF 56% vs. AT 76%; P = 0.04). Persistent AF as recurrent arrhythmia after the initial PFA ablation predicted AT/AF recurrence after repeat ablation [hazard ratio 1.241 (95% confidence interval 1.534-1.005); P = 0.045]. The procedural complication rate was 2.8%. Conclusion In repeat procedures for AF/AT performed after an index procedure with PFA for AF, PV reconnections are not uncommon. Repeat procedures can be performed safely and with an acceptable subsequent success rate.Boston Scientific Corporation provided a grant to help fund data collection but was not otherwise involved with study design or analysis or had access to this manuscript prior to submission
Comparative Analysis of QUIC and Other Network Protocols for Real-Time Robotic Control
No full textRemote robotica voor chirurgie, nucleair onderhoud en rampenbestrijding vereist snelle en betrouwbare communicatie om veilig te kunnen opereren. Traditionele protocollen brengen lastige compromissen met zich mee: TCP zorgt voor te veel vertraging voor real-time besturing, terwijl UDP kampt met veel pakketverlies. Dit onderzoek evalueert drie opkomende protocollen—QUIC, DCCP en SCTP—om betere oplossingen te vinden voor veeleisende robottoepassingen.
Een testsysteem werd gebouwd met een haptische interface die tactiele feedback biedt, waarbij alle drie protocollen met een gelijke architectuur in ROS2 zijn geïmplementeerd. Prestatie-indicatoren zoals latentie, jitter, doorvoersnelheid, pakketverlies en verbindingsstabiliteit werden gemeten onder gecontroleerde netwerkomstandigheden die aansluiten bij real-time eisen.
De resultaten tonen duidelijke prestatieverschillen. QUIC behaalde de beste algehele resultaten met een gemiddelde latentie van 1,198 ms en 98,5% berichtbetrouwbaarheid. DCCP presteerde matig met 2,45 ms latentie en 86,6% betrouwbaarheid, wat het geschikt maakt wanneer enig verlies aanvaardbaar is. SCTP leverde sterke betrouwbaarheid (97,6%) maar met een hogere latentie van 5,231 ms. De combinatie van snelheid en betrouwbaarheid maakt QUIC bijzonder geschikt voor kritieke robottoepassingen.
Dit onderzoek biedt praktische richtlijnen en een besliskader voor protocolkeuze, ter ondersteuning van robuuste netwerkrobotica in medische, industriële en noodtoepassingen
TLR9-Driven S-Palmitoylation in Dendritic Cells Reveals Immune and Metabolic Protein Targets
No full textDendritic cells (DCs) rely on Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) to detect unmethylated CpG motifs in microbial DNA, triggering essential immune responses. While the downstream signaling pathways of TLR9 activation are well characterized, their impact on S-palmitoylation is unknown. S-palmitoylation, involving the reversible attachment of palmitic acid to cysteine residues, plays a crucial role in regulating protein function and is catalyzed by the ZDHHC family of palmitoyl-acyltransferases (PATs). In this study, we investigated the S-palmitoylated proteome of bone marrow-derived GM-CSF DCs (GM-DCs) at resting and following TLR9 activation with CpGB. Using the click-chemistry-compatible analog 17-octadecynoic acid (17-ODYA) and mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics, we characterized dynamic remodeling of S-palmitoylation in response to TLR9 activation. This included enrichment of targets involved in immune and metabolic pathways. Transcriptomic analysis of mice and human DCs revealed TLR9-driven modulation of PAT-encoding genes. Subsequently, we explored the contribution of Zdhhc9 expression to the regulation of S-palmitoylation in DCs. Using gene knockout approaches, we identified candidate protein targets potentially linked to ZDHHC9 activity. Interestingly, modulation of Zdhhc9 expression alone did not influence DC maturation, suggesting that other PATs might compensate for its activity. Together, our findings reveal a novel layer of regulation in TLR9 signaling mediated by S-palmitoylation.We thank all members of the AG Sparwasser and the AG Berod for theirsupport. We also acknowledge the assistance of the Cell Sorting CoreFacility at the FZI—University Medical Center of Mainz. Additionally,we thank Luke Chamberlain from the Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacyand Biomedical Sciences (University of Strathclyde, UK) for sharingthe Zdhhc9KO mice and for critically reading the manuscript. Thiswork was supported by institutional funding to TS and the DeutscheForschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) Project-ID 490846870 - TRR355 TPB08and IRTG to LB and TPA04 to TS, CRC156, Project-ID 318346496 – SFB1292 TP18 to TS, and Q01 to ST. Juan N. Quiroz was supported with a TravelGrant from the Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation.Open access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL
Contemporary Participatory Design: Research Agendas for Societal Crisis
No full textThis article addresses urgent calls for action and advocates for equitable, responsible and participatory research and practices that, while engaging with contemporary societal landscapes, and global polycrises, directly contribute to the collaborative shaping of alternative futures and real-world impact. Over the past decade, Participatory Design (PD) research, theory, and practice – along with its core values of participation, empowerment, and democracy – have diversified and evolved in novel directions. Drawing on surveys of contemporary engagements with global and societal challenges, this article discusses how PD engages with three interrelated crises: technological, onto-epistemological, and socio-ecological. Based on this work, we foreground four emerging research agendas in contemporary PD – politicising, diversifying, relationality, and transforming, and show how they extend PD’s theory, method and practice towards societal impact and change. Drawing together such research agendas across diverse disciplines, continents and practices, we demonstrate how contemporary PD can be leveraged to address today’s acute crises.The authors thank all the contributors to the Routledge International Handbook of Participatory Design (2025). The authors thank Leen Vansteenkiste, Civic and Policy Design, UHasselt, for the illustrations
