Future work processes are going to change in several aspects. The working population (at least in Western European countries) is decreasing, while average age of employees increases. Their productivity is key to continuity in sectors like healthcare and manufacturing. Health and safety monitoring, combined with prevention measures must contribute to longer, more healthy and more productive working careers. The ‘tech-optimist’ approach to increase productivity is by means of automation and robotization, supported by IT, AI and heavy capital investments. Unfortunately, that kind of automation has not yet fulfilled its full promise as productivity enhancer as the pace of automation is significantly slower than anticipated and what productivity is gained -for instance in smart industry and healthcare- is considered to be ‘zero-sum’ as flexibility is equally lost (Armstrong et al., 2023). Simply ‘automating’ tasks too often leads to ‘brittle technology’ that is useless in unforeseen operational conditions or a changing reality. As such, it is unlikely to unlock high added-value. In healthcare industry we see “hardly any focus on research into innovations that save time to treat more patients.” (Gupta Strategists, 2021). Timesaving, more than classic productivity, should be the leading argument in rethinking the possibilities of human-technology collaboration, as it allows us to reallocate our human resources towards ‘care’, ’craft’ and ’creativity’.
OBJECTIVE: To develop evidence-based recommendations for effective and safe diagnostic assessment and intervention strategies for the physiotherapy treatment of patients in intensive care units.METHODS: We used the EBRO method, as recommended by the 'Dutch Evidence Based Guideline Development Platform' to develop an 'evidence statement for physiotherapy in the intensive care unit'. This method consists of the identification of clinically relevant questions, followed by a systematic literature search, and summary of the evidence with final recommendations being moderated by feedback from experts.RESULTS: Three relevant clinical domains were identified by experts: criteria to initiate treatment; measures to assess patients; evidence for effectiveness of treatments. In a systematic literature search, 129 relevant studies were identified and assessed for methodological quality and classified according to the level of evidence. The final evidence statement consisted of recommendations on eight absolute and four relative contra-indications to mobilization; a core set of nine specific instruments to assess impairments and activity restrictions; and six passive and four active effective interventions, with advice on (a) physiological measures to observe during treatment (with stopping criteria) and (b) what to record after the treatment.CONCLUSIONS: These recommendations form a protocol for treating people in an intensive care unit, based on best available evidence in mid-2014.
MULTIFILE
This positioning statement is written for the Centre of Expertise Healthy Ageing (CoE HA) and allied schools within the Hanze University of Applied Sciences. As focus for the coming years, the CoE HA has identified three themes, as well as three so-called ‘enablers’, i.e. approaches, methods and tools through which the themes can be developed concretely and implemented practically.
A transition to a circular economy is needed to revolutionize the construction sector and make it more sustainable for present and future generations. While the construction industry and the production of construction materials contribute to environmental pollution, they also offer great potential for addressing many environmental problems. Sheet materials are engineered wood boards that are produced from recycled or solid wood where an adhesive is used to bind the particles together, predominantly used in: Furniture manufacturing, Flooring application, Roofing, Wall sheathing. The most common binder for boards is urea-formaldehyde. Other binders may be used depending on the grade of board and its intended end-use. For example, melamine urea-formaldehyde, phenolic resins and polymeric diphenylmethane diisocyanate (PMDI) are generally used in boards that require improved moisture resistance. Formaldehyde is classified in the in the European Union as a carcinogen and it carries the hazard statement 'suspected of causing cancer'. In this project mycelium composites are developed as a formaldehyde-free, fully natural and biodegradable material with high potential to substitute these hazardous materials. The heat-press process, the feasibility of which was evaluated in a previous Kiem HBO project, is to be further developed towards a process where mycelium sheets with different thicknesses will be obtained. This is considered as a fundamental step to increase the material approachability to the market. Different Material manufacturing techniques are also considered to enable the increase of sample thicknesses and volume. Moreover, a business study will be incorporated to allow further understanding of the material market potential. The consortium composition of V8 Architects, QbiQ, Fairm, Verbruggen Paddestoelen BV, and CoEBBE merges different expertise and guarantees the consideration of the whole material production chain. The research will contribute to bring mycelium composites a step closer to the market, giving them visibility and increasing the possibility to a commercial breakthrough.
Met de start van het Nationaal Lectoren Platform Urban Energy (NL UE), ontstond een unieke nationale onderzoeksgroep voor toegepast onderzoek op het domein Urban Energy. Onze stip op de horizon, de realisatie van Netto energie neutrale steden in 2050, past bij het belang van hogescholen in de regio, de Regionale Energie Strategie (RES) en de wijkgerichte aanpak. De afgelopen jaren werkten we aan een gezamenlijke onderzoeksagenda, organiseerden, een studentenwedstrijd (Zero Energy Award) en deelden we kennis in 16 bijeenkomsten. Een website is ontwikkeld en online gezet (www.nlurbanenergy.nl). De komende jaren zetten we ons in voor: 1. De gezamenlijke onderzoeksagenda (afstemming binnen het platform en met anderen); 2. Uitwisseling van kennis en (nationale) actuele informatie tussen de lectoraten onderling; 3. Fieldlabs Urban Energy ontwikkelen in elke stad waar het platform vertegenwoordigd is; 4. Jaarlijks een conferentie, met demonstratie van onze projecten; 5. Profilering en positionering van toegepast onderzoek in de Nederlandse kennisinfrastructuur; 6. De samenwerking met LEVE, door profilering op de conferentie met impact van het hbo. We verwachten dat we met onze activiteiten op het domein van Urban Energy het praktijkgericht onderzoek van de Universities of Applied Sciences beter toegankelijk en de impact beter zichtbaar kunnen maken. De jaarlijkse conferentie is de plek waar we resultaten presenteren en delen met onze (inter)nationale omgeving. In de fieldlabs doen we dat voor onze regio en vergroten we de toegankelijkheid voor onze directe omgeving. De website ondersteunt dit heel laagdrempelig. Met het lectorenplatform Urban Energy versterken we met onze expertise de energietransitie in Nederland, dragen we bij aan de RES en wijkgerichte aanpak en versterken we de kennispositie van de hogescholen met directe impact in het praktijkgericht onderwijs en de beroepspraktijk.
