Projects
Out of Clay, laid in Bond. Building with the Brick in the County of Flanders, 1200-1400 KU Leuven
This doctoral thesis examines the introduction and spread of brick architecture in the county of Flanders in the 13th and 14th centuries. By use of building archaeology of existing buildings, supplemented with archaeological and iconographical information about no longer extant monuments, the thesis lifts medieval brick architecture from the determinist view of brick as a cheap substitute for stone, the common explanation for the rise of ...
TiO2 Gas Phase Photocatalysis from Morphological Design to Plasmonic Enhancement KU Leuven
The past decades, photocatalysis has emerged as a powerful technology for pollution abatement and energy applications, but its use in gaseous environment is less obvious than in water borne applications. Therefore this thesis specifically aims at understanding and improving TiO2-based photocatalysis in all its facets towards gas phase processes.
In first instance a suitable photoreactor is developed and validated. A simple ...
Nitrogen fertilization in ornamental plant production based on in-season demands through proximal sensing and soil modelling KU Leuven
The ornamental plant production sector produces high quality products, but faces challenges in times of increasing environmental constraints.
Growth patterns and nitrogen uptake dynamics of five ornamental crops were determined during three growing seasons (2016-2018). This resulted in nitrogen uptake quantities sufficient for optimum plant quality.
Open field production of herbaceous and woody ornamentals is characterized by a ...
The effect of pelvic floor muscle training on bowel symptoms after low anterior resection for colorectal cancer KU Leuven
Colorectal cancer is a serious heath problem in industrialized countries. Worldwide it is the second most common cancer in women and the third in men. Approximately 35% of these tumors originated in the rectum. There are several treatment strategies for rectal cancer, depending on the location and the stage of the tumor. Since amny years, low anterior resection (LAR) of the rectum with total mesorectal excision (TME) is the gold standard for ...
Study of electron transfer processes in plasmonic photocatalysis KU Leuven
Over the past few years, the use of plasmonics to improve the photocatalytic efficiency of titanium dioxide (TiO2) has gained a lot of interest in the scientific community. By modifying the TiO2 photocatalyst with noble metal nanoparticles displaying surface plasmon resonance, its activity under both UV and a broad range of visible light can be substantially enhanced. Surface plasmon resonance is an optical phenomenon that gives the noble ...
Bioreactors and process monitoring for scale-up of stem cell production KU Leuven
For almost two decades it is claimed that cell-based therapies will revolutionize the field of medicine. Albeit major scientific breakthroughs that present cells as the active ingredient of a clinical therapy are succeeding each other at increasing speed, today only few of these research successes are able to materialise their full clinical potential and develop into a widely available commercial cell-based treatment. Besides the remaining ...
A Study on Philosopy of YangZhu KU Leuven
The aim of this investigation is to understand philosophical perspective of YangZhu. In this inquiry, I focus primarily on the concept of “good” itself and the condition for the “good life”—with particular attention given to a “good community” as espoused in the philosophy of Yang Zhu. Whereas the concept of good regarding individual life is basically related with natural preference for pleasure and happiness, the concept of good regarding ...
Successfulintroduction of the cultivation of sweet potatoes in Flanders PCG-Vegetable Research Centre
Behaviour and Design of Built-up Structural Elements Composed of Thin-walled Cold-formed Steel Profiles KU Leuven
This doctoral thesis addresses an increasing demand from the cold-formed steel production industry for more stable load-bearing elements. As buildings constructed entirely from cold-formed steel profiles and sheeting increase their spans, heights and bays, light steel frames not only become more impressive, but the applications of light-steel framing widen.
The limited stability of standard cold-formed steel elements is resolved in the ...