Study Protocol on Cognitive Performance in Bulgaria, Croatia, and the Netherlands: The Normacog Brief Battery

The Normacog Brief Battery (NBB) provides a comprehensive overview of an individual’s cognitive functioning within a short amount of time. It was originally developed for the Spanish population in Spain. However, there is a considerable need for brief batteries in clinical neuropsychological assessment, especially in eastern European countries. Cultural background and other individual characteristics—such as age, level of education, and sex—are shown to influence both cognition and patients’ performance on neuropsychological tests. Therefore, it is important to develop understanding of how and why culture impacts on cognitive testing and determine which sociodemographic variables affect cognitive performance. The current study aims to translate, adapt, and standardize the NBB in Bulgaria, Croatia, and the Netherlands, and to analyze the effect of sex, age, and education level on cognitive performance between these three countries. This brief battery assesses eleven cognitive domains, including those most currently relevant in cognition such as premorbid intelligence, attention, executive function, processing speed, and memory. The translation and adaptation of the battery for different cultures will be done using the back-translation process. After exclusion criteria, the current study will include a total sample of three hundred participants (≥18 years old). The samples of 100 participants per country will be balanced through the consideration of their age and level of education. Effects of the sociodemographic variables (age, level of education, and sex) on cognitive performance are expected. Furthermore, this relationship is expected to differ across countries. A multivariate hierarchical linear regression will be used and exploratory analysis will be carried out to investigate further effects. The results will be particularly valuable for future research and assessment in cognitive performance. The growing demand for accurate and fast neuropsychological assessment shows the importance of creating a universal brief assessment tool for wider cross-cultural application

Towards a nanospecific approach for risk assessment.

In the current paper, a new strategy for risk assessment of nanomaterials is described, which builds upon previous project outcomes and is developed within the FP7 NANoREG project. NANoREG has the aim to develop, for the long term, new testing strategies adapted to a high number of nanomaterials where many factors can affect their environmental and health impact. In the proposed risk assessment strategy, approaches for (Quantitative) Structure Activity Relationships ((Q)SARs), grouping and read-across are integrated and expanded to guide the user how to prioritise those nanomaterial applications that may lead to high risks for human health. Furthermore, those aspects of exposure, kinetics and hazard assessment that are most likely to be influenced by the nanospecific properties of the material under assessment are identified. These aspects are summarised in six elements, which play a key role in the strategy: exposure potential, dissolution, nanomaterial transformation, accumulation, genotoxicity and immunotoxicity. With the current approach it is possible to identify those situations where the use of nanospecific grouping, read-across and (Q)SAR tools is likely to become feasible in the future, and to point towards the generation of the type of data that is needed for scientific justification, which may lead to regulatory acceptance of nanospecific applications of these tools.The research leading to these results has been partially funded by the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/ 2007e2013) under the project NANoREG (A common European approach to the regulatory testing of nanomaterials), grant agreement 310584.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

De Kust in Ontwikkeling: Inventarisatie en inspiratie

De grens tussen land en zee staat onder druk, van zowel de landkant als de zeekant. Klimaatverandering zorgt voor zeespiegelstijging en hoge stormvloeden. Hiertegen is onze kust op dit moment niet opgewassen. Aan de andere kant is de ruimte van de kustzone gewild voor wonen, recreatie, toerisme, haven- en natuurontwikkeling. De ingrepen die moeten plaatsvinden om de kust beter te beschermen tegen het wassende water kunnen goed gecombineerd worden met het scheppen van ruimte en het creëren van een aantrekkelijke kust. Veiligheid samen met ruimtelijke kwaliteit. Deze dubbele opgave zorgt ervoor dat de kust onderwerp is van veel ontwikkeling en discussie. Maar deze opgave ligt verspreid over uiteenlopende thema’s en betrokkenen, zowel maatschappelijk als bij de kennisinstellingen. Want hoewel de Hollandse kust een 120 km lange aaneengesloten kustzone is, is het een versnippering van gebieden, verantwoordelijken, beleidsmakers en betrokkenen. Dit zorgt voor diversiteit in kustlandschappen, badplaatsen en programma. En omdat de kust zoveel functies herbergt, wordt er vanuit veel verschillende invalshoeken en schaalniveaus tegelijk over de kust nagedacht. Dit levert veel losse en vaak onsamenhangende plannen op: van een parkeerdijk in Katwijk tot een Tulpeiland van het kabinet. Dit boek geeft een overzicht van de kust in ontwikkeling, opgedeeld in 5 kustthema’s: zeewering, stedelijke ontwikkeling, infrastructuur, toerisme en natuur. Per thema worden trends, ontwikkelingen, beleid en dilemma’s besproken. Ook worden bestaande ontwerpen, plannen en onderzoek rondom de kust bekeken. Dit geeft een overzicht van de huidige stand van zaken en inspiratie voor toekomstig kustontwerp. Bovendien kan er door maatschappelijke ontwikkelingen en vraagstukken naast het huidige onderzoek te leggen, een aanzet worden gegeven voor verder integraal ontwerp en onderzoek naar kustontwikkeling aan de TU Delft.UrbanismArchitectur

Seawards! new sea defense for the Randstad as a Coastal Metropolis: Consequences for Katwijk aan Zee

According to the latest predictions, the average sea level will rise with about 1.2 meters in the coming century. The 60 kilometers of sandy coast along the Dutch city agglomeration Randstad is not prepared for such a threat. The coast needs to be enforced. In the meantime, the coastal zone, with all its charming seaside resorts, is one of the strengths of the Randstad area. Therefore the goal of this graduation project is to design a new coastal defense that enhances the strength of the Randstad Coastline. Firstly, a new Structure Plan for the coastal zone is made. In this plan, the Randstad is envisioned as a Coastal Metropolis, with the coast as a major strength. The plan proposes to intensify the built area along the coast an create better east-west connections towards the coast. For the coastal defense itself, the plan opposes to the current and future policy, which is fortifying the coast by the suppletion of extra sand. Apart from this conventional method, there are numerous other techniques for coastal defense. The ‘soft’ techniques are most optimal for the Randstad Coast because they are flexible and respect the natural coastal morphology. The new proposed technique is a Breakwater Barrier. This strip of new land made of sand, protects the existing coastline. It is 8 km long and is located 800 seawards from the coast. The barrier-concept is designed in more detail for the seaside resort of Katwijk aan Zee. The traditional seaside resort of Katwijk aan Zee experiences a lot of pressure from the continuously expanding hinterland. Also, its low geographic position causes pressure from the sea. The barrier will discharge the town of Katwijk of this pressure. New connections towards the beach barrier will redirect the traffic flows in the area. The village will be protected from storm surge waves and the relation of the charming seafront with the sea will be enhanced. The new boulevard will be improved and in the meantime new ‘coast capacity’ is created on the reef. The barrier will have a marina, vacation homes and a hotel/conference center. By assigning different safety levels to the barrier, the most efficient dimension for the reef is chosen. This way the required amount of sand for the construction is comparable to the amount of sand needed for plans for coastal defense made by the authorities. Although the costs for the construction of this reef are higher than the costs of conventional methods of coastal defense, the reef offers many benefits: the reef can be exploited to gain income, the character of the current coastline won’t be affected, the intervention is flexible and subtle. And most importantly, the beach barrier will create a new exiting coastal landscape that is unique in the world.Urban LandscapesUrbanismArchitecture and The Built Environmen