ObjectiveThis study investigates the feasibility of delivering inspiratory muscle training as part of the physical therapy treatment for patients with post-COVID dyspnoea.DesignMixed-methods pilot study.Subjects/patientsPatients with complaints of dyspnoea after COVID-19 infection and their physical therapists.MethodsThe Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences and the Amsterdam University Medical Centers conducted this study. Participants performed daily inspiratory muscle training at home for 6 weeks, consisting of 30 repetitions against a pre-set resistance. The primary outcome was feasibility assessed as acceptability, safety, adherence and patient- and professional experience obtained through diaries and semi-structured interviews. The secondary outcome was maximal inspiratory pressure.ResultsSixteen patients participated. Nine patients and 2 physical therapists partook in semi-structured interviews. Two patients dropped out before initiating the training. Adherence was 73.7%, and no adverse events occurred. Protocol deviations occurred in 29.7% of the sessions. Maximal inspiratory pressure changed from 84.7% of predicted at baseline to 111.3% at follow-up. Qualitative analysis identified barriers to training: ‘Getting acquainted with the training material’ and ‘Finding the right schedule’. Facilitators were: ‘Support from physical therapists’ and ‘Experiencing improvements’.ConclusionDelivering inspiratory muscle training to patients with post-COVID dyspnoea seems feasible. Patients valued the simplicity of the intervention and reported perceived improvements. However, the intervention should be carefully supervised, and training parameters adjusted to individual needs and capacity.
Pilot fatigue has been identified as a determinative factor in various safety events, leading to the introduction of Fatigue Risk Management regulations and standards worldwide. The scope of this study was to examine whether event and pilot characteristics recorded in safety investigation reports were associated with fatigue when the latter was stated as a contributing/causal factor. The sample consisted of 296 reports published by various investigation authorities and referred to safety events occurred between 1990 and 2014. The researchers conducted frequency analyses and Chi-square / Fisher Exact tests as a means to examine possible associations. Flight crew fatigue was found as a cause in 8.8% of the reports and was more frequently present in occurrences during evening and night operations, take-off, climbing, approach and landing phases, and Control Flight into Terrain and Runway Excursion eventualities. No significant differences were found regarding the year of occurrence, aircraft age, weight and type (jet, propeller, rotary), flight type (Commercial Air Transport and other), operation type (passenger and non-passenger) and event severity. Regarding the pilot characteristics, the more the hours on duty the higher the frequency of events where fatigue was recognised as a factor. No association was detected between the frequency of fatigue related events and pilots’ age, hours of experience in the respective aircraft type and in total, and, surprisingly, regarding sleeping and resting hours before reporting for duty. The findings only partially confirmed associations of fatigue with the operational, event, aircraft and flight crew characteristics included in this study, and showed that fatigue had contributed to (serious) incidents and accidents with about the same frequency. The results suggest a consideration of quality of flight crew sleep/rest before reporting on duty.
Steeds meer leerlingen groeien op met een andere taal dan het Nederlands. Zij krijgen onderwijs in een taal die niet hun eerste taal is. Op het gebied van toetsing brengt deze situatie uitdagingen met zich mee. Meertalige leerlingen kunnen, bijvoorbeeld in het rekenonderwijs, niet hun volledige potentieel aantonen wanneer zij beoordeeld worden in een taal die zij nog aan het verwerven zijn. Functioneel Meertalig Assessment (FMA; De Backer et al., 2017) biedt een mogelijke oplossing voor dit validiteitsprobleem, omdat FMA kennis en vaardigheden van leerlingen via een pallet aan evaluatievormen (bijv. toetsen, observaties, gesprekken) en via hun meertalige repertoires zichtbaar maakt. De daadwerkelijke toepassing van FMA staat echter nog in de kinderschoenen (De Backer, 2020). In de huidige studie verkenden we daarom hoe onderwijsprofessionals vormgeven aan en leren over deze nieuwe benadering van toetsing en in hoeverre een Lesson-Study-aanpak daarbij ondersteunend is. Professionals (N=15) van vijf basisscholen die onderwijs verzorgen aan jonge nieuwkomers voerden samen met een procesbegeleider (N=4) een zogenaamde Assessment Study uit. Een analyse van de FMA-praktijken die deze Assessment-Study-teams ontwikkelen en inzichten uit reflecties van deelnemers op het Assessment-Study-proces laten zien dat een Lesson-Study-methodiek onderwijsprofessionals een effectief kader biedt bij het ontwikkelen van en leren over FMA.
Students in Higher Music Education (HME) are not facilitated to develop both their artistic and academic musical competences. Conservatoires (professional education, or ‘HBO’) traditionally foster the development of musical craftsmanship, while university musicology departments (academic education, or ‘WO’) promote broader perspectives on music’s place in society. All the while, music professionals are increasingly required to combine musical and scholarly knowledge. Indeed, musicianship is more than performance, and musicology more than reflection—a robust musical practice requires people who are versed in both domains. It’s time our education mirrors this blended profession. This proposal entails collaborative projects between a conservatory and a university in two cities where musical performance and musicology equally thrive: Amsterdam (Conservatory and University of Amsterdam) and Utrecht (HKU Utrechts Conservatorium and Utrecht University). Each project will pilot a joint program of study, combining existing modules with newly developed ones. The feasibility of joint degrees will be explored: a combined bachelor’s degree in Amsterdam; and a combined master’s degree in Utrecht. The full innovation process will be translated to a transferable infrastructural model. For 125 students it will fuse praxis-based musical knowledge and skills, practice-led research and academic training. Beyond this, the partners will also use the Comenius funds as a springboard for collaboration between the two cities to enrich their respective BA and MA programs. In the end, the programme will diversify the educational possibilities for students of music in the Netherlands, and thereby increase their professional opportunities in today’s job market.
Due to the existing pressure for a more rational use of the water, many public managers and industries have to re-think/adapt their processes towards a more circular approach. Such pressure is even more critical in the Rio Doce region, Minas Gerais, due to the large environmental accident occurred in 2015. Cenibra (pulp mill) is an example of such industries due to the fact that it is situated in the river basin and that it has a water demanding process. The current proposal is meant as an academic and engineering study to propose possible solutions to decrease the total water consumption of the mill and, thus, decrease the total stress on the Rio Doce basin. The work will be divided in three working packages, namely: (i) evaluation (modelling) of the mill process and water balance (ii) application and operation of a pilot scale wastewater treatment plant (iii) analysis of the impacts caused by the improvement of the process. The second work package will also be conducted (in parallel) with a lab scale setup in The Netherlands to allow fast adjustments and broaden evaluation of the setup/process performance. The actions will focus on reducing the mill total water consumption in 20%.
This pre-study anticipates to a SIA call focussing on circular and bio-based economy in Brazil. It is linked to the Living Lab Brazil managed by Avans University of Applied Sciences. Although the dairy value chain will benefit from both circular and bio-based principles, this pre-study will be limited to circular systems. There is a vast potential for investment by the Dutch and Brazilian private sector in the dairy value chain in Minas Gerais (MG), Brazil. There is also ample room to improve production efficiency towards a more circular system. Notwithstanding the business opportunities in the Brazilian dairy sector, there are challenges in attracting and consolidating partnerships along the circular-based value chain. A better understanding of the demands, challenges and opportunities of the interested Dutch companies is highly relevant to develop sustainable circular-based dairy value chains. Therefore, the goal of our project proposal is the exploration of a potential Dutch business network that is interested to invest in the Brazilian circular dairy value chain, and an exploration of the potential business opportunities for the Dutch and Brazilian dairy sector. The consortium in our proposal is conformed as follows: (a) Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences (VHL). VHL is the leading knowledge institute. Vilentum University of Applied Sciences and the Federal University of Viçosa will participate through VHL. (b) Alta Genetics BV; (c) Groasis BV. To achieve our goal we focus on the following questions: What is the potential and what are the bottlenecks for the Dutch private sector (SME’s) to increase business opportunities in the dairy sector of MG? What are the business opportunities to develop and innovate circular-based dairy value chains through the Dutch and Brazilian private sector with dairy breeding and agro-silvopastoral farming as pilots? The outputs of this study will be: A list of potential Dutch private investors, both interested but hesitating and/or already successful. Basically we would like to identify “partners” and to build up a business network where we could match-make the Dutch companies with the Brazilian companies or clients; A pre-proposal including intentions for further collaboration; Three detailed reports with marketing and investment opportunities and/or research strategy in relation to circular-based economy in: general dairy chain, dairy breeding and agro-silvopastoral farming. The latter two topics must be considered as pilots for the entire dairy value chain.
