75 research outputs found
Protecting St. Bernard Parish, New Orleans: Revision of the coastal defence zone
No full textThis document is the final report of a Master thesis research. The research was executed as cooperation between Delft University of Technology, ARCADIS and ComCoast as part of The Road and Hydraulic Engineering Institute of the Directorate-General of Public Works and Water management (RWS DWW). In this report, the hurricane defence system of St. Bernard Parish is analysed and ComCoast like solutions are sought in order to make the area safe for a new Katrina. This Master Thesis analyses the failure of the St. Bernard Parish coastal defence system. Subsequently, it develops spatial integrated solutions for the coastal defence zone, using the coastal defensive strategies, which follow from the ComCoast-concept. Additionally, the effects of wetlands on a storm surge are investigated by means of an analytical analysis and a numerical model. It was concluded that catastrophic failure of the coastal defence system could have been prevented if the primary dike was not partly constructed of poorly non cohesive materials. Some basic constructional calculations and a quick study on environmental impacts made clear that the ComCoast alternatives; Overtopping resistant dike and Foreshore recharge, offer the most suitable solutions for the St. Bernard Parish area. The study on the effect of wetlands on a storm surge showed that it can both lead to a decrease, as an increase of the eventual storm surge height at the dike. The analytical and numerical approach has increased the understanding of the hydraulic behaviour of the system.Civil Engineering and Geoscience
Comparing Room Acoustics Simulation Tools: Dataset for Reproducing and Expanding the Results
No full textThis is the database connected to the paper Dijkman, L., Hoekstra, N. and Hornikx, M. Comparing Open-Source Room Acoustics Simulation Tools: Performance and Usabillity Insights (2025). This database contains the following information: Simplified room geometries for Complex Room 2 (CR2) and Complex Room 4 (CR4) from the Benchmark for Room Acoustical Simulation (BRAS). Material data (absorption, scattering and approximated reflection coefficients) for all materials in both rooms. Source and receiver positions (x, y, z) according to the simplified room models. All simulation results for the simulation tools used in the research. Scripts for post processing of the results. For an overview of all research on open-source simulation tools for room acoustics conducted by the TU/e Building Acoustics group, see: https://github.com/Building-acoustics-TU-Eindhoven/OSS_RoomAcoustics References @techReport{Aspo2020, author = {Lukas Aspöck and Michael Vorländer and Fabian Brinkmann and David Ackermann and Stefan Weinzierl}, doi = {10.14279/depositonce-6726.2}, institution = {RWTH Aachen}, keywords = {Room acoustic simulation,acoustic modeling,virtual acoustic}, title = {\{B\}enchmark for \{R\}oom \{A\}coustical \{S\}imulation (\{BRAS\}) - \{D\}ocumentation of the database}, year = {2020}} @article{Mond2020, author = {Boris Mondet and Jonas Brunskog and Cheol Ho Jeong and Jens Holger Rindel}, doi = {10.1016/j.apacoust.2019.04.034}, issn = {1872910X}, journal = {Applied Acoustics}, keywords = {Absorption coefficient,Inverse problem,Room acoustics,Surface impedance}, publisher = {Elsevier Ltd}, title = {\{F\}rom absorption to impedance: \{E\}nhancing boundary conditions in room acoustic simulations}, volume = {157}, year = {2020}} @inproceedings{Berz2017, author = {Marco Berzborn and Ramona Bomhardt and Johannes Klein and Jan-Gerrit Richter and Michael Vorländer}, booktitle = {DAGA}, title = {\{T\}he \{ITA\}-\{T\}oolbox: \{A\}n \{O\}pen \{S\}ource \{MATLAB\} \{T\}oolbox for \{A\}coustic \{M\}easurements and \{S\}ignal \{P\}rocessing}, year = {2017}
Do You Want To Know A Secret? Wikileaks. Freedom. Democracy
No full text<p>This article examines Wikileaks under reference to Habermasian democratic theory, using an analysis of Jonathan Franzen’s novel “Freedom” (2010) to support its argument. The author argues that Wikileaks is significant in two ways. Firstly, it may strengthen democracy as it attempts to facilitate a global public sphere that is transparent. Secondly, it addresses feelings of frustration that arise out of an inability to hold certain agents legally accountable for their policies and acts. The article concludes with observations on the legitimacy of Wikileaks itself as a ‘global watchdog.’</p>
India's product patent protection regime: Less or more of "pills for the poor"?
No full textThe year 2005 marks the end of transition period for many developing countries with competent pharmaceutical sectors that competed in supplying generic versions of patented drugs to LDCs before, thereby inducing price competition and enhancing access to medicines. In a post-2005 scenario, the critical issue is whether LDCs without adequate manufacturing capabilities can make use of compulsory licensing expeditiously to induce price competition and secure lower prices. This paper uses empirical evidence collected during a firm-level survey of the Indian pharmaceutical sector to generate evidence on emerging strategies of firms. It shows that the vigour of compulsory licensing as a price-leveraging instrument post-2005 is incumbent mainly on its economic feasibility. It shows that Indian firms view the market potential (in terms of market size and profits involved in such supply, especially if they have to make specific technological investments to produce the drug) of the mechanism much more severely than before, and may be less inclined to engage in such production if their commercial expectations are grossly unmet. The analysis assesses implications of emerging strategies of firms in the Indian pharmaceutical sector for access to medicines both domestically and internationally, and highlights the challenges involved.product patents, Indian pharmaceuticals, generics, access
Indian Pharma Within Global Reach?
No full textThe Indian pharmaceutical industry is presently going through a phase of transition and potential consolidation, owing to India's new TRIPS-compliant intellectual property regime and other rules aimed at enhancing the industry's credibility nationally and internationally. Appropriate policy interventions can play a large role in cushioning the transition (and gradual consolidation) of the industry post-2005. Using firm level data collected in 2004-2005, this paper seeks to make two major contributions in this regard. The research findings show that the Indian pharmaceutical sector is a heterogeneous mix of firms with vast differences in innovative capabilities. Based on these differences, the groups can be categorized into specific "innovation modes" (the innovator, the niche operator and the manufacturer), each mode being a step closer towards the innovative pharmaceutical firm. Second, the paper highlights how the emerging strategies of firms in all three groups, although different, underpin the importance of systemic coordination in the pharmaceutical sector. The analysis links both these findings to policies pursued in the pharmaceutical sector over the past four decades and highlights the role of differential innovation policy in ensuring optimal sectoral performance.Pharmaceutical industry, Innovation policy, TRIPS, Intellectual Propery, IPR, Property rights, India
Safety against flooding: Activity Report 2008-2009
No full textThis document reports the progress of Delft Cluster project CT04.30 "Safety against flooding" till June 2009. Fundamental knowledge from the project has resulted in a large number of scientific publications, PhD theses and MSc theses. Work package A 1 in particular has resulted in high-profile scientific publications, immediately awarded with high scores on the citation index. Furthermore, the project has provided education and training as scientists and practising engineers to a large group of PhD and MSc students. Research knowledge from the project has been implemented in models, such as Delft3D, and has enhanced the expertise of staff of Delft Cluster institutes. For instance, Jos Dijkman has been appointed, as the only foreigner, in an American review commission under the National Academy of Engineering and the National Research Council, charged with the review of all post-Katrina studies by the Interagency Performance Evaluation Taskforce. Applied knowledge from the project has been used and disseminated in various ways. Optical glass fibre cables from work package A 1 provided the spinoff of a method to monitor groundwater upwelling at the toe of inner dike slopes. Consultancies (DHV, HKV) now routinely apply morphological models of work package A2 to P KB Room for the River measures. Work package A3 has established the probability of occurrence of super storm surges with greater accuracy by reconstructing storm-surge levels from the last 10,000 years using novel deposit dating methods. Findings from work package B are to be incorporated in guidelines for flood defence design and evaluation, thus affecting the evaluations for the "Hydraulische Randvoorwaarden". The system behaviour identified and analyzed in work package C turns out to be so important for the overall safety of dike rings, that it will inevitably lead to the need of adopting a new safety philosophy on a short term. Knowledge from work package A 1 has been implemented in the hydrology curriculum of Delft University of Technology. Knowledge from work package A2 has been included in the PAO course on Room for the River
Prognostic Value of Subclinical Coronary Artery Disease in Atrial Fibrillation Patients Identified by Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography
No full textIdentifying coronary artery disease (CAD) in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients improves risk stratification and defines clinical management. However, the value of screening for subclinical CAD with cardiac CT in AF patients is unknown. Between 2011 and 2015, 94 consecutive patients without known or suspected CAD (66 (57–73) years, 68% male), who were referred for AF evaluation, underwent a noncontrast-enhanced coronary calcium scan and a coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) at our center. We retrospectively evaluated the coronary calcium score, the prevalence of obstructive CAD (≥50% stenosis) determined by CCTA, compared clinical management and 5-year outcome in patients with and without obstructive CAD on CCTA, and examined the potential impact of a coronary calcium score and obstructive CAD on CCTA as a manifestation of vascular disease on the CHA2Ds2VASc score and for the cardiovascular risk stratification of AF patients. The median coronary calcium score was 57 (0–275) and 24 patients (26%) had obstructive CAD on CCTA. At baseline, patients with obstructive CAD more often used statins than those without obstructive CAD (54% vs 26%, p = 0.011). After a median clinical follow-up of 2.4 (0.5–4.5) years, patients with obstructive CAD more frequently used oral anticoagulant and/or antiplatelet drugs, statins, angiotensin-II-receptor blockers and/or angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors, and less often used class I antiarrhythmic drugs than patients without obstructive CAD (all p <0.050). After a median follow-up of 5.7 (4.8–6.8) years, mortality was higher in patients with obstructive CAD than in those without obstructive CAD (29% vs 11%, log-rank test: p = 0.034). Implementation of a coronary calcium score and/or obstructive CAD on CCTA elevated the CHA2Ds2VASc score and cardiovascular risk stratification in 42 patients (p <0.001) and 47 patients (p = 0.006), respectively. In conclusion, we observed a high prevalence of obstructive CAD on CCTA in AF patients without known or suspected CAD. AF patients with obstructive CAD were managed differently and had a worse prognosis than those without obstructive CAD. Cardiac CT could enhance cardiovascular risk stratification of AF patients
Safety against flooding: Progress report Autumn 2007
No full textThis document reports the progress of Delft Cluster project CT04.30 "Safety against flooding" till June 2009. Fundamental knowledge from the project has resulted in a large number of scientific publications, PhD theses and MSc theses. Work package A 1 in particular has resulted in high-profile scientific publications, immediately awarded with high scores on the citation index. Furthermore, the project has provided education and training as scientists and practising engineers to a large group of PhD and MSc students. Research knowledge from the project has been implemented in models, such as Delft3D, and has enhanced the expertise of staff of Delft Cluster institutes. For instance, Jos Dijkman has been appointed, as the only foreigner, in an American review commission under the National Academy of Engineering and the National Research Council, charged with the review of all post-Katrina studies by the Interagency Performance Evaluation Taskforce. Applied knowledge from the project has been used and disseminated in various ways. Optical glass fibre cables from work package A 1 provided the spinoff of a method to monitor groundwater upwelling at the toe of inner dike slopes. Consultancies (DHV, HKV) now routinely apply morphological models of work package A2 to P KB Room for the River measures. Work package A3 has established the probability of occurrence of super storm surges with greater accuracy by reconstructing storm-surge levels from the last 10,000 years using novel deposit dating methods. Findings from work package B are to be incorporated in guidelines for flood defence design and evaluation, thus affecting the evaluations for the "Hydraulische Randvoorwaarden". The system behaviour identified and analyzed in work package C turns out to be so important for the overall safety of dike rings, that it will inevitably lead to the need of adopting a new safety philosophy on a short term. Knowledge from work package A 1 has been implemented in the hydrology curriculum of Delft University of Technology. Knowledge from work package A2 has been included in the PAO course on Room for the River
Introduction of hypothermia for neonates with perinatal asphyxia in the Netherlands and Flanders
No full textAbstract: Background: Therapeutic hypothermia was introduced in the Netherlands and Flanders, Belgium, in 2008. Since then, an increasing number of patients has been treated - up to 166 in 2010. Complications and outcome were registered in an online database. Objectives: The aim of this study was to analyse complications and outcome after implementation. Methods: Data were retrieved from an online database to which all centres had contributed. Results: In 3 years, 332 patients were treated. Excluding 24 patients with congenital abnormalities or metabolic disorders, mortality was 31.8%. Of the 210 survivors without congenital malformations, 21 had cerebral palsy, another 19 a developmental delay of more than 3 months at the age of at least 24 months, and 2 had severe hearing loss. The total adverse outcome, combining death and adverse neurodevelopment, in 308 patients without congenital malformations is 45.5%, which is similar to that of the large trials. Conclusions: The introduction of therapeutic hypothermia for neonates with perinatal asphyxia in the Netherlands and Flanders has been rapid and successful, with results similar to findings in the randomised controlled trials. Copyright (c) 2013 S. Karger AG, Base
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