Projects
Soil ageing around offshore wind turbine foundations – from operational response to decommissioning KU Leuven
The foundations of Offshore Wind Turbines (OWT) represent a large share of their installation costs and environmental impact. In order to improve both aspects, this project investigates the evolution during multiple years of soils’ mechanical properties, called soil ageing, and the alternative use of vibratory driving for installation and decommissioning of offshore (mono)piles. Unique full-scale tests with extensive monitoring, advanced ...
Understanding how neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) contribute to vulnerability of the ageing heart KU Leuven
Ageing is a major risk factor for heart failure, which is a leading cause of mortality worldwide. Which factors and processes render the elderly heart more vulnerable to additional stressors, like hypertension, remains unclear. Growing evidence suggests that the hearts’ resident cells (cardiomyocytes and fibroblasts) are not the sole contributors to this increasing vulnerability. With ageing, the immune system undergoes a shift from adaptive ...
Neurophysiological Markers of Cognition in Healthy Ageing & Neurodegeneration. University of Antwerp
The Loss of Original Experience due to Ageing in Color Field Painting: Towards an Interdisciplinary Reconstruction of Art Method (IRECONA) KU Leuven
The extent of the visual degradation in Color Field paintings, due to the ageing of (synthetic) materials has been largely overlooked. Since the relevance and meaning of Color Field paintings strongly depend on their specific visual effects, significant visual alterations often imply a loss of the original intentions of the artists. This project wants to thematise the ageing problem in art history and develop a new extensive reconstruction ...
Investigating the role of DNA methylation in the failing and in the ageing heart KU Leuven
Ageing is the greatest risk factor for heart failure. Heart muscle cells (cardiomyocytes, CMs) experience ageing-associated alterations leading to a lower functional output, caused by (among others) maladaptive remodelling of the myocardium, including hypertrophy of individual cardiomyocytes. CMs are long-lived (decades) and have limited proliferative capacity. Transcriptional variation (heterogeneity) between CMs increase with age, with ...
Understanding moisture ageing and improving durability of bio-based composite materials KU Leuven
The study of moisture sorption in bio-based composite materials is significant to evaluate its effect on the durability of the product. The mechanism of water permeation in the composite results to changes in the internal structure of the fiber. The intrusion of water often causes damage to the material. In this study, wet-dry cycle method will be employed to determine how moisture affects the ageing process and how durability of the ...
The orbital evolution of planets orbiting ageing stars KU Leuven
Some 95% of all stars in the galaxy have an initial mass lower than 8 solar masses; it is now thought that the majority has at least one planetary companion. During the post-main-sequence evolution, these stars go through giant phases characterized by significant mass loss, large stellar radii, strong pulsations, and extreme luminosities. These changes in stellar characteristics may completely transform a planetary system: the stellar wind, ...
Boosting motor learning through sleep and targeted memory reactivation in ageing and Parkinson’s disease KU Leuven
Rehabilitation is an important therapeutic strategy for patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD), whereby motor adaptations are learned to maintain daily functioning. However, patients often present difficulty consolidating newly learned skills into long-term memory, which reduces the benefits of training. Interventions that enhance consolidation are therefore projected to diminish the impact of PD. Sleep facilitates motor memory consolidation ...
Remediation of PFAS contaminated soils using a novel soil washing approach: the role of PFAS ageing on desorption and bioavailability in the soil KU Leuven
Perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) have become the focus of attention as persistent environmental contaminants. Current solutions, e.g. isolation or high-temperature treatment, leave the pollution in place or are not applicable at a large scale. A new all-silica Beta zeolite (KU Leuven), an outstanding PFAS adsorbent, could be used to treat contaminated soils by soil washing and concentrating PFAS on the zeolite. The first objective of ...