Volgens meerdere marketeers zijn beacons ‘the next big thing’; en grote retailers als de Bijenkorf zetten beacons al in. Klanten kopen namelijk steeds meer via internet, en winkels zoeken daarom naar manieren om een beleving te bieden, zodat klanten naar de winkel blijven komen.
Background: A paradigm shift in health care from illness to wellbeing requires new assessment technologies and intervention strategies. Self-monitoring tools based on the Experience Sampling Method (ESM) might provide a solution. They enable patients to monitor both vulnerability and resilience in daily life. Although ESM solutions are extensively used in research, a translation from science into daily clinical practice is needed. Objective: To investigate the redesign process of an existing platform for ESM data collection for detailed functional analysis and disease management used by psychological assistants to the general practitioner (PAGPs) in family medicine. Methods: The experience-sampling platform was reconceptualized according to the design thinking framework in three phases. PAGPs were closely involved in co-creation sessions. In the ‘understand’ phase, knowledge about end-users’ characteristics and current eHealth use was collected (nominal group technique – 2 sessions with N = 15). In the ‘explore’ phase, the key needs concerning the platform content and functionalities were evaluated and prioritized (empathy mapping – 1 session with N = 5, moderated user testing – 1 session with N = 4). In the ‘materialize’ phase, the adjusted version of the platform was tested in daily clinical practice (4 months with N = 4). The whole process was extensively logged, analyzed using content analysis, and discussed with an interprofessional project group. Results: In the ‘understand’ phase, PAGPs emphasized the variability in symptoms reported by patients. Therefore, moment-to-moment assessment of mood and behavior in a daily life context could be valuable. In the ‘explore’ phase, (motivational) functionalities, technological performance and instructions turned out to be important user requirements and could be improved. In the ‘materialize’ phase, PAGPs encountered barriers to implement the experience-sampling platform. They were insufficiently facilitated by the regional primary care group and general practitioners. Conclusion: The redesign process in co-creation yielded meaningful insights into the needs, desires and daily routines in family medicine. Severe barriers were encountered related to the use and uptake of the experience-sampling platform in settings where health care professionals lack the time, knowledge and skills. Future research should focus on the applicability of this platform in family medicine and incorporate patient experiences.
This paper presents a report of some of the activities of the International Energy Agency's (IEA) Wind TCP Task 39. By identifying best practices in an international collaboration, Task 39 hopes to provide the scientific evidence to inform improved regulations and standards, increasing the effectiveness of quiet wind turbine technology. Task 39 is divided into five separate work packages, which address the broad wind turbine noise topic in successive steps; from wind turbine noise generation (WP2), to airborne noise propagation over large distances (WP3). The assessment of wind turbine noise and its impact on humans is addressed in WP4, while WP5 is dealing with other aspects of perception and acceptance, which may be related to noise. All WPs contribute to a dedicated Work Package on dissemination (WP1). This paper provides an update of activities primarily associated with the socio-psychological aspects of wind turbine noise (WP4 and WP5). Through the consideration of a wide variety of factors, including measurement technologies, auralisation and psychology, the effects on noise perception, annoyance and its impact on wellbeing and health is being further investigated. This paper presents a discussion of the activities of each member country and highlights some of the key research questions that need to be further considered.
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Huntington’s disease (HD) and various spinocerebellar ataxias (SCA) are autosomal dominantly inherited neurodegenerative disorders caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the disease-related gene1. The impact of HD and SCA on families and individuals is enormous and far reaching, as patients typically display first symptoms during midlife. HD is characterized by unwanted choreatic movements, behavioral and psychiatric disturbances and dementia. SCAs are mainly characterized by ataxia but also other symptoms including cognitive deficits, similarly affecting quality of life and leading to disability. These problems worsen as the disease progresses and affected individuals are no longer able to work, drive, or care for themselves. It places an enormous burden on their family and caregivers, and patients will require intensive nursing home care when disease progresses, and lifespan is reduced. Although the clinical and pathological phenotypes are distinct for each CAG repeat expansion disorder, it is thought that similar molecular mechanisms underlie the effect of expanded CAG repeats in different genes. The predicted Age of Onset (AO) for both HD, SCA1 and SCA3 (and 5 other CAG-repeat diseases) is based on the polyQ expansion, but the CAG/polyQ determines the AO only for 50% (see figure below). A large variety on AO is observed, especially for the most common range between 40 and 50 repeats11,12. Large differences in onset, especially in the range 40-50 CAGs not only imply that current individual predictions for AO are imprecise (affecting important life decisions that patients need to make and also hampering assessment of potential onset-delaying intervention) but also do offer optimism that (patient-related) factors exist that can delay the onset of disease.To address both items, we need to generate a better model, based on patient-derived cells that generates parameters that not only mirror the CAG-repeat length dependency of these diseases, but that also better predicts inter-patient variations in disease susceptibility and effectiveness of interventions. Hereto, we will use a staggered project design as explained in 5.1, in which we first will determine which cellular and molecular determinants (referred to as landscapes) in isogenic iPSC models are associated with increased CAG repeat lengths using deep-learning algorithms (DLA) (WP1). Hereto, we will use a well characterized control cell line in which we modify the CAG repeat length in the endogenous ataxin-1, Ataxin-3 and Huntingtin gene from wildtype Q repeats to intermediate to adult onset and juvenile polyQ repeats. We will next expand the model with cells from the 3 (SCA1, SCA3, and HD) existing and new cohorts of early-onset, adult-onset and late-onset/intermediate repeat patients for which, besides accurate AO information, also clinical parameters (MRI scans, liquor markers etc) will be (made) available. This will be used for validation and to fine-tune the molecular landscapes (again using DLA) towards the best prediction of individual patient related clinical markers and AO (WP3). The same models and (most relevant) landscapes will also be used for evaluations of novel mutant protein lowering strategies as will emerge from WP4.This overall development process of landscape prediction is an iterative process that involves (a) data processing (WP5) (b) unsupervised data exploration and dimensionality reduction to find patterns in data and create “labels” for similarity and (c) development of data supervised Deep Learning (DL) models for landscape prediction based on the labels from previous step. Each iteration starts with data that is generated and deployed according to FAIR principles, and the developed deep learning system will be instrumental to connect these WPs. Insights in algorithm sensitivity from the predictive models will form the basis for discussion with field experts on the distinction and phenotypic consequences. While full development of accurate diagnostics might go beyond the timespan of the 5 year project, ideally our final landscapes can be used for new genetic counselling: when somebody is positive for the gene, can we use his/her cells, feed it into the generated cell-based model and better predict the AO and severity? While this will answer questions from clinicians and patient communities, it will also generate new ones, which is why we will study the ethical implications of such improved diagnostics in advance (WP6).
Het ambitieuze Fascinating programma beoogt de realisatie van circulaire landbouw waarbij ook de eiwittransitie een rol heeft. Dit vereist nieuwe technologie en ketenconfiguraties, maar ook inbedding in de nieuwe generatie van werknemers in de landbouw. Hogescholen, zoals Hanzehogeschool en Hogeschool Van Hall Larenstein (HVHL), vervullen hier een belangrijke rol. Niet alleen worden hier de nieuwe werknemers van de coöperaties opgeleid tot circulair denkende experts maar ook kunnen tijdens de opleiding al diverse vraagstukken verbonden aan de doelstellingen van Fascinating worden opgepakt en uitgewerkt tot real life oplossingen. In 2021 zijn al diverse vraagstukken vanuit Fascinating vertaald naar moduleopdrachten en afstudeerprojecten. Daarnaast is er al de nodige interactie over toekomstig praktijkonderzoek waar onderzoekers en studenten mogelijk samen met het bedrijfsleven invulling aan kunnen geven. Ook wordt er reeds gesproken hoe resultaten van het programma breed worden verankerd in de samenleving. Hier kan het onderwijs een cruciale rol in vervullen door ontwikkelingen op te nemen in curricula, maar ook door studenten in te zetten bij een brede implementatie van kansrijke inzichten in de regio. Om dit een meer structurele vorm te geven wordt in dit project gezamenlijk door de Hanzehogeschool en HVHL de opzet van een Living Lab Fascinating uitgewerkt. Een Living Lab is een omgeving waarin verschillende partijen gezamenlijk werken aan innovatieve oplossingen in een levensechte setting. De activiteiten van het Living Lab spelen zich af in het Noorden van Nederland. Gezien de vestigingsplaatsen van de Hanzehogeschool en HVHL wordt in ieder geval gestart met werklocaties in zowel Groningen als Leeuwarden, maar nadrukkelijk wordt de mogelijkheid opgehouden dat er op andere plekken locaties ontstaan waar gewerkt wordt; daar waar het werk gebeurd is de Living Lab.Een Living Lab ontleent zijn bestaansrecht aan het centraal stellen van relevante vraagstukken in de praktijk. Deze vraagstukken worden opgehaald uit de praktijk en vertaald naar specifieke activiteiten binnen de aangesloten HBOs en MBOs (curriculum en/of Applied Research Centres (ARCs), Kenniscentra (KCs) of Innovatiewerkplaatsen (IWPs)). Deze activiteiten kunnen bestaan uit opdrachten binnen onderwijseenheden zoals modules en minoren maar ook gekoppeld worden aan stages en afstudeerprojecten, afhankelijk van omvang en complexiteit. Ook kunnen activiteiten plaatsvinden door docent-onderzoekers binnen de ARCs/KCs etc). De mogelijkheid bestaat dat een bepaald vraagstuk op meerdere plekken binnen de hogescholen op verschillende niveaus worden geadresseerd. Uitkomsten van de onderzoeken worden gerapporteerd naar FASCINAting waarbij resultaten van toegepast onderzoek geïmplementeerd worden in Groningen. Daarnaast kunnen de resultaten ook doorwerken in het onderwijs zelf door aanpassing van het curriculum, bijvoorbeeld in de vorm van aanpassingen in het lesmateriaal. Studenten die participeren in de Living Lab komen hiermee in aanraking met praktijkvraagstukken als startpunt voor hun carrière in het werkveld in de regio.Fascinating is een icoonproject op het gebied van agricultural transitions, van de onlangs opgerichte Universiteit van het Noorden. In icoonprojecten is de samenwerking tussen de verschillende partners van de UvhN nu al zichtbaar, tot nu toe waren UMCG en RUG aangesloten bij dit project. Door de opzet van een living lab, wordt ook het praktijkgerichte onderzoek vanuit de Hanzehogeschool en HVHL verbonden met dit icoonproject.
The consortium would like to contribute to structural reduction of post-harvest and food losses and food quality improvement in Kenyan avocado and dairy value chains via the application of technical solutions and tools as well as improved chain governance competences in those food chains. The consortium has four types of partners: 1. Universities (2 Kenyan, 4 Dutch), 2. Private sector actors in those chains, 3. Organisations supporting those chains, and 4. Associate partners which support category 1 to 3 partners through co-financing, advice and reflection. The FORQLAB project targets two areas in Kenya for both commodities, a relatively well-developed chain in the central highlands and a less-develop chain in Western-Kenya. The approach is business to business and the selected regions have great potential for uptake of successful chain innovations as outcome of research results. The results are scalable for other fresh and processed product chains via a living lab network approach. The project consists of 5 work packages (WPs): 1. Inventory , status quo and inception, 2. Applied research, 3. Dissemination of research outputs through living lab networks, 4. Translation of project output in curricula and trainings, and 5. Communication among partners and WPs. The applied research will be implemented in cooperation with all partners, whereby students of the consortium universities will conduct most of the field studies and all other partners support and interact depending on the WPs. The expected outcomes are: two knowledge exchange platforms (Living Labs) supported with hands on sustainable food waste reduction implementation plans (agenda strategy); overview and proposals for ready ICT and other tech solutions; communication and teaching materials for universities and TVETs; action perspectives; and knowledge transfer and uptake.
