Advancing deep learning-based detection of floating litter using a novel open dataset

Supervised Deep Learning (DL) methods have shown promise in monitoring the floating litter in rivers and urban canals but further advancements are hard to obtain due to the limited availability of relevant labeled data. To address this challenge, researchers often utilize techniques such as transfer learning (TL) and data augmentation (DA)....

Estimation of Cardiac Fibre Direction Based on Activation Maps

Estimating tissue conductivity parameters from electrograms (EGMs) could be an important tool for diagnosing and treating heart rhythm disorders such as atrial fibrillation (AF). One of these parameters is the fibre direction, often assumed to be known in conductivity estimation methods. In this paper, a novel method to estimate the fibre...

Talking Trucks: Decentralized Collaborative Multi-Agent Order Scheduling for Self-Organizing Logistics

Logistics planning is a complex optimization problem involving multiple decision makers. Automated scheduling systems offer support to human planners; however state-of-the-art approaches often employ a centralized control paradigm. While these approaches have shown great value, their application is hindered in dynamic settings with no central...

Improving Geothermal and Thermal Reservoir Property Prediction of Dutch Geothermal Plays

The ambition is to significantly enhance the knowledge, mapping, and prediction of the geological character of Dutch geothermal plays, focussing on thermal and geomechanical properties. The aim is to improve fundamental understanding of the geological causes behind rock properties, the understanding and quantification of the conversion of...

Reliability assessment of existing reinforced concrete bridges and viaducts through proof load testing

In the assessment of existing infrastructure performing only a desk study is often not sufficient to determine the structural reliability of a bridge or viaduct. For concrete structures gathering field data by performing a proof load test offers detailed information about the structural performance. However, the relation between the magnitude...

Towards constructive design feedback dialogues: guiding peer and client feedback to stimulate children’s creative thinking

Design feedback is an essential pedagogical tool that can help young novice designers navigate divergent and convergent paths while designing. However, design feedback is often met with resistance, which counteracts its potential to help novice designers evaluate their design and generate new solution directions. In this paper, we report on...

The Virtual Reality Scenario Method: Moving from Imagination to Immersion in Criminal Decision-making Research

Objectives: This study proposes an alternative hypothetical scenario method capitalizing on the potential of virtual reality (VR). Rather than asking participants to imagine themselves in a specific situation, VR perceptually immerses them in it. We hypothesized that experiencing a scenario in VR would increase feelings of being “present” in...

Student and teacher perceptions of the functions of research in the context of a design-oriented STEM module

Technological design is a core activity in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education. During the design process, students often employ research activities to enhance the quality of their design decisions and to rise above a mere trial-and-error approach to designing. There are many functions of research within the...

Exploring marine and aeolian controls on coastal foredune growth using a coupled numerical model

Coastal landscape change represents aggregated sediment transport gradients from spatially and temporally variable marine and aeolian forces. Numerous tools exist that independently simulate subaqueous and subaerial coastal profile change in response to these physical forces on a range of time scales. In this capacity, coastal foredunes have...

Riverine plastic litter monitoring using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)

Plastic debris has become an abundant pollutant in marine, coastal and riverine environments, posing a large threat to aquatic life. Effective measures to mitigate and prevent marine plastic pollution require a thorough understanding of its origin and eventual fate. Several models have estimated that land-based sources are the main source of...

Aeolian sediment supply at a mega nourishment

Mega nourishments are intended to enhance growth and resilience of coastal dunes on medium to long time scales by stimulation of natural sediment transport processes. The growth and resilience of coastal dunes largely depends on the presence of a continuous supply of aeolian sediment. A recent example of a mega nourishment is the 21 Mm<sup>3<...

Cytochrome bd Displays Significant Quinol Peroxidase Activity

Cytochrome bd is a prokaryotic terminal oxidase that catalyses the electrogenic reduction of oxygen to water using ubiquinol as electron donor. Cytochrome bd is a tri-haem integral membrane enzyme carrying a low-spin haem b₅₅₈, and two high-spin haems: b₅₉₅ and d. Here we show that besides its oxidase activity,...

Waardeontwikkeling op de woningmarkt

Residual strength of some GLARE grades as function of specimen geometry