Ghent University

Energy-efficient wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) utilize systems like high-rate activated sludge (A-stage) system to redirect organics from wastewater are redirected into energy-rich sludge (A-sludge). Anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBRs) offer lower footprint and higher effluent quality compared to conventional digesters. In this study, the biological treatment and the filtration performances of AnMBRs for A-sludge digestion under mesophilic and thermophilic conditions were comparatively evaluated through lab-scale experiments, mass balancing and dynamic modeling. Under thermophilic conditions, a higher COD fraction of the influent sludge was converted into methane gas than under mesophilic conditions (65% versus 57%). The energy balance indicated that the surplus energy recovery under thermophilic conditions was less than the additional energy required for heating the AnMBR, resulting in a more than three-fold higher net energy recovery under mesophilic conditions. Therefore, operating an AnMBR for sludge digestion under mesophilic conditions has a higher potential to improve the energy balance in WWTPs.

We experimentally demonstrate the application of a passive 16-node photonic reservoir for analogue, hardware-based equalization of coherently modulated signals at 28 Gbaud. This integrated photonic network, termed the 4-port reservoir, replaces computationally expensive digital signal processing (DSP) procedures for both fiber impairment equalization, including chromatic dispersion, as well as for transceiver imbalance equalization. For full mitigation of transmission impairments, our photonic solution can seamlessly integrate with DSP blocks for frequency offset compensation and blind phase search, achieving bit error rates on-par with the legacy DSP blocks it replaces. The same reservoir is shown to successfully equalize both 4 and 16 QAM signals in a range of linear and nonlinear transmissions. ©2024 The Author(s)

In 2005, Enzo Traverso argued that a very problematic trend was affecting German memory culture and scholarship about Nazism. Echoing an alarm raised earlier by Timothy Mason, the scholar contended that at least since the 1980s there had been a progressive ‘disparition de la notion de “fascism” du champ historiographique’ (disappearance of the concept of ‘fascism’ from historiography) (p.94). The phenomenon observed by Traverso has found concrete materialisation in the EU's politics of memory developed throughout the twenty-first century. As Filippo Focardi argues in his work Nel cantiere della memoria (2020), the EU memory discourse has been shaped around a totalitarian paradigm centred on the memorialisation of Nazi and Communist crimes, in which the notion of a general form of fascism finds little space, and Italian Fascism only exists as a marginal epiphenomenon. This situation has begun to change in recent years as the growing success of far-right movements across the globe has brought international attention to the concept of fascism. Many Italian scholars, who have never ceased to study fascism, are now directing their efforts towards the international arena to contribute to a discussion that seems to have acquired particular significance for the understanding of our time.

Background Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) have immunomodulatory and hematopoiesis-supporting properties that could potentially benefit hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) engraftment and decrease the incidence and/or severity of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Methods Based on our previous pilot study, we established a multicenter, prospective, randomized, double-blind trial evaluating the efficacy of co-infusing third-party MSC (1.5–3 × 10⁶/kg) versus placebo on the day of HSC transplantation (HCT) to prevent GVHD in recipients of HLA-mismatched unrelated donors after reduced-intensity conditioning. Results The study planned to include 120 patients to improve 1-year overall survival (OS) from 55 to 77% but was stopped after 9 years for low recruitment (n = 38). One-year OS was 74% in the MSC group and 80% in the placebo group. In multivariate analysis, the incidence of grade II-IV acute GVHD was significantly lower in patients receiving MSC (HR 0.332, 95% CI 0.124–0.890, p = 0.0284). No difference was observed in the incidences of chronic GVHD, infection or relapse, overall or progression-free survival at 1 year or long-term, or hematopoietic and immune reconstitution. Conclusions Despite premature study closure, the suggested beneficial effect of MSC co-transplantation for the prevention of acute GVHD in HLA-mismatched HCT warrants further investigation.

G‐quadruplexes (G4 s) are secondary, tetraplexed DNA structures abundant in non‐coding regions of the genome, implicated in gene transcription processes and currently firmly recognised as important potential therapeutic targets. Given their affinity for human proteins, G4 structures are investigated as potential decoys and aptamers. However, G4 s tend to adopt different conformations depending on the exact environmental conditions, and often only one displays the specifically desired biological activity. Their less intensively studied counterparts, the elusive tetraplexed intercalated‐motifs (IMs) are typically unstable at neutral pH, hampering the investigation of their potential involvement in a biological context. We herein report on a photochemical method for “stapling” such tetraplexed‐structures, to increase their stability, lock their topology and enhance their enzymatic resistance, while maintaining biological activity. The chemical structure and topology of the stapled Thrombin Binding Aptamer (TBA) was spectroscopically characterised and rationalised in silico. The method was then extended to other biologically relevant G4‐ and IM‐prone sequences, hinting towards potential application of such stapled structures in a therapeutic context.

Aqueous ammonia has been examined as a cost-effective and green carbon-free weak base for the synthesis of [Au(NHC)Cl] complexes, as well as for the activation of C-H, S-H, and N-H...

Observational data of the Earth’s weather and climate at the level of ground-based weather stations are prone to gaps due to a variety of causes. These gaps can inhibit scientific research as they impede the use of numerical models for agricultural, meteorological and climatological applications as well as introducing analytic biases. In this research, different machine learning techniques are evaluated together with traditional approaches to gap filling automated weather station data. When filling gaps for a specific data stream, data from neighbouring weather stations are used in addition to reanalysis data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts atmospheric reanalyses of the global climate, ERA-5 Land. A novel gap creation method is introduced that provides 100% coverage in sampling the dataset while ensuring that the sampled data are randomly distributed. Gap filling across a range of different gap lengths and target variables are compared using a range of error functions. The variables selected for modelling are mean air temperature, dew point, mean relative humidity and leaf wetness. Our results show that models perform best on gap-filling temperature and dew point with worst performance on leaf wetness. As expected, model performance decreases with increasing gap length. Comparison between machine learning and reanalysis approaches show very promising results from a number of the machine learning models.

Societies are experiencing deep and intertwined structural changes that may unsettle perceptions European citizens have of their economic and employment security. In turn, such perceptions likely alter people’s political positions. For instance, those worried by labour market competition may prefer greater social protection to compensate for the accrued risk, or prefer more closed economies where external borders provide protection (or perceived protection). We develop expectations about how such distinct reactions can emerge from distinct labour-market risks of globalization, or automation, or migration. We test these expectations using a conjoint experiment in 13 European countries on European-level social policy. Results broadly corroborate our expectations on how different concerns about sources of labour market competition yield support for different features of European-level social policy.

In vitro models serve as indispensable tools for advancing our understanding of biological processes, elucidating disease mechanisms, and establishing screening platforms for drug discovery. Kidneys play an instrumental role in the transport and elimination of drugs and toxins. Nevertheless, despite the well-documented inter-individual variability in kidney function and the multifaceted nature of renal diseases—spanning from their origin, trigger and which segment of the kidney is affected—to presentation, progression and prognosis, few studies take into consideration the variable of sex. Notably, the inherent disparities between female and male biology warrants a more comprehensive representation within in vitro models of the kidney. The omission of sex as a fundamental biological variable carries the substantial risk of overlooking sex-specific mechanisms implicated in health and disease, along with potential differences in drug responsiveness and toxicity profiles between sexes. This review emphasizes the importance of incorporating cellular, biological and functional sex-specific features of renal activity in health and disease in in vitro models. For that, we thoroughly document renal sex-specific features and propose a strategic experimental framework to integrate sex-based differences into human kidney in vitro models by outlining critical design criteria to elucidate sex-based features at cellular and tissue levels. The goal is to enhance the accuracy of models to unravel renal mechanisms, and improve our understanding of their impact on drug efficacy and safety profiles, paving the way for a more comprehensive understanding of patient-specific treatment modalities.

Theoretical accounts emphasize the importance of context sensitivity in emotion regulation, yet research often neglects this. This study explored how adolescents’ use of three emotion regulation strategies—cognitive reappraisal, distraction, and rumination—interacted with stressor intensity and perceived controllability to influence daily emotions. A total of 249 adolescents participated in a daily diary study (Mage = 12.73, SDage = 0.78; 63.1% males). Adolescents reported their daily use of emotion regulation strategies, emotional states, and contextual factors. In high-intensity stress situations, reappraisal and distraction each showed associations with reductions in negative affect, whereas rumination was related to increases in negative affect. In low-intensity stress contexts, reappraisal was associated with decreases in positive affect, and no significant effects emerged for distraction or rumination. For perceived controllability, no impact on negative affect was found; however, positive affect increased in uncontrollable situations when levels of reappraisal and rumination were low. Overall, the findings underscore the importance of stressor intensity and perceived controllability, suggesting that distraction’s effectiveness is less context-dependent than reappraisal and rumination. The current study hypotheses and data analytic plan were preregistered on The Open Science Framework at https://osf.io/dfhqx/.

Liposcelis tricolor (Psocoptera: Liposcelididae) is a significant pest affecting stored products globally. However, due to the lack of a detailed genomic reference, the mechanisms of sex determination, stress resistance, and potential control methods for this booklouse remain poorly understood. In this study, the chromosome-level genome of L. tricolor was assembled by employing Illumina, Nanopore, and Hi-C sequencing technologies. The final genome size was determined to be 229.33 Mb, anchored to 9 pseudo-chromosomes. BUSCO analysis showed that 99.2% of complete BUSCOs were identified, suggesting the high completeness of the genome. A total of 91.49 Mb of repetitive sequences, accounting for 38.84% of the total genome, were annotated, and 15,647 protein-coding genes were predicted, with 88.17% functionally annotated. Additionally, we identified 25 typical sex-determining genes based on the genomic data. This high-quality genome assembly provides a crucial foundation for advancing our comprehension of the molecular biology, genetics, and potential control strategies for psocid L. tricolor.

A multi-three-phase machine can be seen as a multi-agent system. An agent consists of a three-phase winding set of the multi-three-phase machine, fed by a dedicated three-phase power electronic converter, and steered by means of a dedicated three-phase controller. The series connection of all the three-phase power electronic converters to a single dc power source creates a so-called stacked polyphase bridges converter, and allows for the use of power electronic components with low voltage rating. A major advantage of a multi-three-phase drive is its power sharing capability: not all the agents must contribute equally to the torque demand. A major disadvantage of a stacked polyphase bridges converter, on the other hand, is its inherent instability in motoring mode. The goal of this paper is therefore to propose a multi-agent control strategy that exploits the power sharing capability of the multi-three-phase drive, and simultaneously ensures a stable distribution of the total dc-bus voltage over the agents, even if the agents are not identical. The multi-agent control strategy is in complete accordance with the modularity of the hardware: only local measurements, local computations, and neighbor-to-neighbor communication are required, without the interference of a central or master controller. The control strategy is validated on a 4 kW multi-three-phase axial-flux PMSM working in motoring mode, by means of both simulations and experiments.

This paper presents a 160 Gb/s four-level pulse-amplitude modulation (PAM-4) optical receiver based on a 130nm SiGe BiCMOS ( $\mathbf {f_{T}/f_{MAX} = 350/450}$ $\mathbf {GHz}$ ) fully differential transimpedance amplifier (TIA) and two silicon photonic Ge photodiodes (PDs). The high-speed path of the TIA consists of a TIA input stage (TIS) followed by two variable gain amplifiers (VGAs) and an output buffer. A novel fully differential input DC current cancellation (IDCC) circuit is proposed to absorb the input DC currents and eliminate the DC offset of the TIS. 80 GBd PAM-4 operation is demonstrated with an off-line 5-tap feed-forward equalizer (FFE), achieving -7 dBm in-waveguide optical modulation amplitude (OMA) sensitivity at KP4-FEC ( $\mathbf {2.4\times 10^{-4}}$ ) and 0.99 pJ/b power consumption. 56, 64, and 72 GBd PAM-4 operations are demonstrated without any equalization, achieving -9.2, -8.4, and -5.9 dBm OMA sensitivity at KP4-FEC, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this integrated optical receiver achieves the best sensitivity at KP4-FEC and the lowest power consumption for 64, 72 and 80 GBd PAM-4 operations.

Industrial wireless sensor networks offer a viable alternative to wired solutions where there is a lack of suitable communication infrastructure. Among these networks, TSCH emerges as a noteworthy choice due to their capacity for deterministic latency, heightened reliability, and low power consumption. Nonetheless, challenges arise from the energy-intensive joining procedure and inherent idle listening associated with TSCH, impeding the integration of battery-powered end devices. Therefore, this paper introduces a novel 6LPN that supports ultra-low-power operations. The proposed solution optimizes the energy-intensive joining procedure through reduced advertisement channels, optimal scanning time, and a delayed join, achieving a 90% reduction in energy consumption. Furthermore, idle listening is eliminated by queueing downlink traffic in a 6FN, ensuring an 87-94% reduction in power consumption during operational mode while maintaining an average latency of queued frames of 7.62 seconds. By comparing the impact of the optimizations on three IoT hardware platforms, we demonstrate that optimal results are obtained for devices with low RX and idle transceiver current. Finally, our solution maintains full backward compatibility with 6TiSCH and does not introduce additional control traffic.

Lianas (woody climbers) are crucial components of tropical forests and they have been increasingly recognized to have profound effects on tropical forest carbon dynamics. Despite their importance, lianas' representation in vegetation models remains limited, partly due to the complexity of liana-tree dynamics and the diversity in liana life history strategies. This paper provides a comprehensive review of advances and challenges for mechanistically representing lianas in forest ecosystem models and a proposed path towards effectively representing lianas in these models. Defining a liana plant functional type is a significant challenge because of the high morphological and physiological diversity amongst liana species, and because of their structural association with trees. Here, we identify critical liana traits that likely should contribute to establishing a liana plant functional type, along with key processes to properly represent lianas in ecosystem models. Subsequently, we discuss a variety of possible liana implementation strategies with their associated strengths, limitations, computational costs and data requirements. A fundamental redesign of the tree-centric demographic vegetation models seems appropriate to accommodate the unique growth and competition strategies of lianas. We illustrate the potential of such models with a single-site case study where we disentangle putative mechanisms of liana increasing abundance. Furthermore, we underscore the critical need for comprehensive liana demographic and functional data (including long-term, physiological, and pantropical observations) for the qualitative implementation and evaluation in the proposed modeling efforts. Currently, there is a scarcity of liana data and the data that do exist have a neotropical bias. We finally introduce a new liana functional trait database that can centralize existing liana trait data, incentivize improved data gathering and thus facilitate model development and scientific analyses.

This chapter explains how kafāla-cases are handled in Belgium, including the respective migration case law and migration legal framework. This article emphasises that a kafāla should be characterised as a child protection measure under the 1996 Child Protection Convention but that the Convention does not solve all issues relating to kafāla. The Belgian general recognition rules offer a solution for kafālas outside the scope of the 1996 Child Protection Convention. It is suggested that the private international law framework should be considered when determining whether a makfūl (ward) can be regarded as an unaccompanied minor.

Aims Approximately 10% to 20% of knee arthroplasty patients are not satisfied with the result, while a clear indication for revision surgery might not be present. Therapeutic options for these patients, who often lack adequate quadriceps strength, are limited. Therefore, the primary aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical effect of a novel rehabilitation protocol that combines low-load resistance training (LL-RT) with blood flow restriction (BFR). Methods Between May 2022 and March 2024, we enrolled 45 dissatisfied knee arthroplasty patients who lacked any clear indication for revision to this prospective cohort study. All patients were at least six months post-surgery and had undergone conventional physiotherapy previously. The patients participated in a supervised LL-RT combined with BFR in 18 sessions. Primary assessments included the following patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs): Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS); Knee Society Score: satisfaction (KSSs); the EuroQol five-dimension five-level questionnaire (EQ-5D-5L); and the pain catastrophizing scale (PCS). Functionality was assessed using the six-minute walk Test (6MWT) and the 30-second chair stand test (30CST). Follow-up timepoints were at baseline, six weeks, three months, and six months after the start. Results Six weeks of BFR with LL-RT improved all the PROMs except the sports subscale of the KOOS compared to baseline. Highest improvements after six weeks were found for quality of life (QoL) (mean 28.2 (SD 17.2) vs 19 (SD 14.7); p = 0.002), activities of daily living (mean 54.7 (SD 18.7) vs 42.9 (SD 17.3); p < 0.001), and KSSs (mean 17.1 (SD 8.8) vs 12.8 (SD 6.7); p < 0.001). PROMs improvements continued to be present at three-month and six-month follow-up compared to baseline. However, no significant differences were observed in the paired comparisons of the six-week, three-month, and six-month follow-up. The same trends are observed for the 6MWT and 30CST. Conclusion The reported regime demonstrates improved QoL and function of dissatisfied knee arthroplasty patients. In light of this, the pathway described may provide a valuable and safe treatment option for dissatisfied knee arthroplasty patients for whom therapeutic options are limited. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2024;106-B(12):1416–1425.