Decisions and business rules are essential Components of an organization. Combined, these components form a basis for securing the implementation of new laws, regulations and internal policies into processes, work instructions and information systems. To ensure proper implementation, business rule types must be taken into account, as the functions per type may be different. The current body of knowledge on decision and business rule management offers some insights into different types of business rules, however, these types are often presented as a secondary focus of a contribution or set in stone without proper evidence supporting these claims. This study therefore aims to explore the different business rule types utilized in the body of knowledge as well as practice. This will form a basis to determine possible overlap and inconsistencies and aid in establishing the functional differences between the defined business rule types. By applying a literature review, semi-structured interviews and secondary data analysis, we observed that the current body of knowledge shows serious diffusion with regards to business rule types, the same holds for practice. Therefore, future research should focus to research these differences in detail with the aim to harmonize the proliferation of business rule types.
A substantial amount of studies have addressed the influence of sound on human performance. In many of these, however, the large acoustic differences between experimental conditions prevent a direct translation of the results to realistic effects of room acoustic interventions. This review identifies those studies which can be, in principle, translated to (changes in) room acoustic parameters and adds to the knowledge about the influence of the indoor sound environment on people. The review procedure is based on the effect room acoustics can have on the relevant quantifiers of the sound environment in a room or space. 272 papers containing empirical findings on the influence of sound or noise on some measure of human performance were found. Of these, only 12 papers complied with this review's criteria. A conceptual framework is suggested based on the analysis of results, positioning the role of room acoustics in the influence of sound on task performance. Furthermore, valuable insights are pre- sented that can be used in future studies on this topic. Whi le the influence of the sound environment on performance is clearly an issue in many situations, evidence regarding the effectiveness of strategies to control the sound environment by room acoustic design is lacking and should be a focus area in future studies.
This paper is a report of a review conducted to provide an overview of the evidence in the literature on task-oriented training of stroke survivors and its relevance in daily nursing practice. Background: Stroke is the second leading cause of death and one of the leading causes of adult disability in the Western world. The use of neurodevelopmental treatment in the daily nursing care of stroke survivors does not improve clinical outcomes. Nurses are therefore exploring other forms of rehabilitation intervention, including task-oriented rehabilitation. Despite the growing number of studies showing evidence on task-oriented interventions, recommendations for daily nursing practice are lacking. A range of databases was searched to identify papers addressing taskoriented training in stroke rehabilitation, including Medline, CINAHL, Embase and the Cochrane Library of systematic reviews. Papers published in English between January 1996 and September 2007 were included. There were 42 papers in the final dataset, including nine systematic reviews. Review methods: The selected randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews were assessed for quality. Important characteristics and outcomes were extracted and summarized. Results: Studies of task-related training showed benefits for functional outcome compared with traditional therapies. Active use of task-oriented training with stroke survivors will lead to improvements in functional outcomes and overall healthrelated quality of life. Conclusion. Generally, task-oriented rehabilitation proved to be more effective. Many interventions are feasible for nurses and can be performed in a ward or at home. Nurses can and should play an important role in creating opportunities to practise meaningful functional tasks outside of regular therapy sessions.
Size measurement plays an essential role for micro-/nanoparticle characterization and property evaluation. Due to high costs, complex operation or resolution limit, conventional characterization techniques cannot satisfy the growing demand of routine size measurements in various industry sectors and research departments, e.g., pharmaceuticals, nanomaterials and food industry etc. Together with start-up SeeNano and other partners, we will develop a portable compact device to measure particle size based on particle-impact electrochemical sensing technology. The main task in this project is to extend the measurement range for particles with diameters ranging from 20 nm to 20 um and to validate this technology with realistic samples from various application areas. In this project a new electrode chip will be designed and fabricated. It will result in a workable prototype including new UMEs (ultra-micro electrode), showing that particle sizing can be achieved on a compact portable device with full measuring range. Following experimental testing with calibrated particles, a reliable calibration model will be built up for full range measurement. In a further step, samples from partners or potential customers will be tested on the device to evaluate the application feasibility. The results will be validated by high-resolution and mainstream sizing techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and Coulter counter.
Physical rehabilitation programs revolve around the repetitive execution of exercises since it has been proven to lead to better rehabilitation results. Although beginning the motor (re)learning process early is paramount to obtain good recovery outcomes, patients do not normally see/experience any short-term improvement, which has a toll on their motivation. Therefore, patients find it difficult to stay engaged in seemingly mundane exercises, not only in terms of adhering to the rehabilitation program, but also in terms of proper execution of the movements. One way in which this motivation problem has been tackled is to employ games in the rehabilitation process. These games are designed to reward patients for performing the exercises correctly or regularly. The rewards can take many forms, for instance providing an experience that is engaging (fun), one that is aesthetically pleasing (appealing visual and aural feedback), or one that employs gamification elements such as points, badges, or achievements. However, even though some of these serious game systems are designed together with physiotherapists and with the patients’ needs in mind, many of them end up not being used consistently during physical rehabilitation past the first few sessions (i.e. novelty effect). Thus, in this project, we aim to 1) Identify, by means of literature reviews, focus groups, and interviews with the involved stakeholders, why this is happening, 2) Develop a set of guidelines for the successful deployment of serious games for rehabilitation, and 3) Develop an initial implementation process and ideas for potential serious games. In a follow-up application, we intend to build on this knowledge and apply it in the design of a (set of) serious game for rehabilitation to be deployed at one of the partners centers and conduct a longitudinal evaluation to measure the success of the application of the deployment guidelines.
Public safety is under enormous pressure. Demonstrations regularly result in riots and VIPs are often threatened even at their homes ! Criminal graffiti-gangs are threatening security professionals and costing the Dutch railways (NS), causing a loss of 10 M€ yearly. The safety incidents often escalate quickly, therefore, they require a very quick and correct scaling up of the security professionals. To do so, it is necessary for the security professionals to get very quick and accurate overview of the evolving situation using Mobile Drone intervention unit for quick response (Mobi Dick). The successfully completed project The Beast (9/11) has delivered a universal docking station with an automatic security drone. The drone takes off from a permanently installed docking station. Nest Fly emerged as a startup from this RAAK project, and it has already developed the prototype further to a first product. Based on extensive interaction with security professionals, it has been concluded that a permanently installed docking station is not suitable for all emergency cases. Therefore, a mobile, car-roof top mounted, docking station with a ready-for-take-off drone is required for the more severe and quickly escalating incidents. These situations require a drone taking off from the car-roof top mounted docking station while the vehicles continue to drive towards the incident. In this RAAK KIEM, a feasibility study will be executed by developing a car-roof top docking station. The concept will functionally be designed within the project (task 1). The two required subsystems car roof docking station (task 2) and dynamic take-off & landing (task 3) will technically be developed and integrated (task 4). The outcome of the experiments in this task will show the feasibly of the idea. Task 5 will ensure the results are disseminated in new cooperation’s, publications, and educational products.
