127 research outputs found
Fostering Social Interaction Between Heterogeneous Groups: Creating an ICT Solution for International Students in Delft
No full textThe city of Delft in the Netherlands has an international population of students attending TU Delft. This heterogeneous population is composed of several nationalities. In heterogeneity, participation is difficult to achieve. This case is no different with limited interaction among international students of these groups and the rest of students. This research study an online platform to stimulate information sharing and improves the sense connectedness among students. The platform is based on four main principles: 1) information, 2) activities & space, 3) multicultural approach, and 4) key actors. Moreover, the platform includes and aim for students to use narratives to promote information sharing. Furthermore, the platform includes features that allow the generation of activities and the connection with physical spaces in the city. The process starts with a survey to collect the perspective of different student groups and elaborate on the requirements of the platform. After the elucidation of the requirements, the next step is designing and developing the platform. The platform has international master students as users and collects information about its use. Furthermore, to complement the data, interviews helps to understand the motivation behind the information posted and the use of different services of the ICT artifact. The results show that narrative is not as relevant as useful information to stimulate interaction. Furthermore, the information shared using the platform must be useful, relevant and interesting with the intention of providing help to other members to increase the perception of connectedness and community. Finally, information including physical references of the city generates more interesting interactions
Time to re-think the divide between academic and support staff
No full textResearch professionals should not be split into two categories, say Marta Teperek, Maria Cruz and Danny Kingsley. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]Research Data and Softwar
Technology assessment and usability study of a steerable needle prototype as a tool in assisting percutaneous liver interventions
No full textPURPOSE. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the possibility of implementing a prototype of a steerable needle in a medical procedure. Therefore the two main research questions are: “Can the intended user perform a steering motion with the steerable needle and reach the target area following a straight and curved trajectory?” and “Does the tip of the cannula maintain its position after the instrument change with a biopsy needle for a straight and curved trajectory?”.METHODS. Two studies were conducted to answer these research questions. A user study was designed and performed to test the steering properties of the steerable needle for a straight and curved trajectory. A second controlled study with automated insertions was designed and performed to investigate the cannula tip displacement after the instrument change.RESULTS. The results of both studies show that steering towards a specific target is highly achievable with the steerable needle for insertions with a straight and curved trajectory. Results also show a high success-rate, a low time consumption for the instrument change, and a high satisfactory level on the manual handling of the steerable needle by the interventional radiologists. The results of the second study show that the cannula tip maintains its position after the instrument change for a straight trajectory, and the cannula tip only displaces 1.4 mm back over a deflection of ±25 mm after the instrument change for a curved trajectory.CONCLUSION. Reaching the target with a steering motion is achievable with the steerable needle and only a small displacement of the cannula tip is seen after the instrument change for a maximum imposed curved trajectory. These results answer the main questions concerning the effectivity of the steerable needle and are promising for future implementation of this prototype in a real medical procedure, containing real patients, and real liver tissue.KEY WORDS. liver disease – liver biopsy – radiofrequency ablation – steerable needle – polyvinyl alcohol <br/
An Incremental Tamansari: A proposal for a new kampung development system in Bandung, Indonesia
No full textThe report will review the co-relation between rapid urbanization in Bandung with the city’s health issues in the informal areas of Bandung. Rapid urbanization is becoming a worldwide phenomena that leads to the realization of informal neighborhoods. Informal urbanization is a phenomena that will only keep on growing in the upcoming years. By 2030, it is expected that almost one in seven people will be living in an informal settlement, better known as a slum.These informal settlements are characterized by overcrowding, poor-quality housing, lack of basic infrastructure and poverty. The informal ‘Kampung’- neighborhoods in Bandung are lacking basic hygiene because of overcrowding and insuf cient infrastructure. Because of the rapid growth, the pressure of the city will heavily increase in the near future, which will worsen the unhealthy environments most of the new migrants will have to live in.After understanding the informal urbanization, the paper will focus on the current health issues, as a result of rapid urbanization, in the kampung of Tamansari. By doing this the research seeks to answer the question:How can we re-interpret the old ‘Healthy City’ identity of the 1920’s, in order to improve the public health, and therefore the livability, whilst meeting the densi cation requirements of kampung Tamansari in Bandung?This report will gradually work towards a new design proposal for a improved healthy, livable, green, sustainable, affordable and feasible development model for the slum-neighborhoods of Indonesia. The design itself has been conducted on the location of kampung Tamansari.This report will inform urban planners and other practitioners on the growing challenges and threats of the Kampung-neighborhoods, and give an alternative development model for Indonesia’s slum neighborhoods
Stretch evoked potentials and M2 reflexes: The effect of time between perturbations and intention
No full textReflex mechanisms are an efficient method humans use to deal with mechanical disturbances in daily life. In the muscle we see two reflexes, the M1 reflex and the M2 reflex. The M2 reflex is cortically modulated and is affected by intentionand habituation. A lot of research has been conducted on understanding the M2 reflexes, their origin and the factors influencing these reflexes. Less research, however, has been done to understand the cortical contribution of these M2 reflexes and what affects the muscle stretch evoked potentials. This research investigates the relationship between the stretch evoked potential and the corresponding M2 reflexes. We investigate the effects of the traditional ’Resist’ and ’Let Go’ tasks with a wrist manipulator on the evoked potential and M2 reflex, as well as the effect of longer periods between perturbations. This research showed that between the ’Let Go’ and ’Resist’ tasks, no difference in evoked potentials were present. There was a difference in the late M2 reflex however. The evoked potential was affected by the time between perturbations. A higher time between perturbations elicited a higher cortical response at the motor cortex as well as a higher M2 reflex. This result suggests that besides the task goal, the habituation and time between perturbation can be a significant factor at both the muscle as well as cortical levels. These results facilitate more elaborate research where the effect of these factors is investigated during voluntary movements.Biomedical Engineerin
The creation of a biophilic environment in the rehabilitation area of AMC: Renovation of AMC into a biophilic hospital
No full textThe project act as an example of how biophilic design can be applied into the rehabilitation area of a hospital.The aim of the project is to achieve a faster recovery rate of patients, a better performance of staff and to create a unique experience for the visitors in AMC . Many researches have showed the benefits of using biophilic design in hospital building. Therefore, biophilic design principles were taken as the key strategies for the project. In the research phase the linkage between biophilic design solutions and energy efficiency was being studied. In the design phase the site constraints and operational requirements of AMC were considered. The chosen biophilic design solutions was modified to create the optimum biophilic environment in the rehabilitation area of AMC.AMC RenovationArchitecture, Urbanism and Building Science
Application of Coda Wave Interferometry with embedded Smart Aggregate in a prestressed cast-in-situ concrete continuous slab bridge
No full textIn recent years, the area of structural engineering has found new interesting prospects in the theory of waves. The acoustoelastic properties of materials are utilized in a new promising structural health monitoring (SHM) technique. The propagation of ultrasonic waves through stressed elements gives the ability to find invaluable information on the stress-state of the concerned element. This information is then analyzed with the use of Coda Wave Interferometry (CWI). This technique explores the late arrivals of the wave field, which is referred to as the coda. Due to scattering of the waves through heterogeneous elements, this part of the wave field holds additional information compared to the early arrivals, which makes it very suitable for application on concrete elements.The use of ultrasonic waves with CWI in concrete elements has been studied enthusiastically by engineers due to its promising prospects. Nevertheless, this technique is still developing both in theory and in practice. The majority of previous similar studies have been conducted in laboratory settings, and thus conditions are very controlled. In this study, the monitoring technique is applied in conjunction with Smart Aggregate (SA) to a concrete structure for practical use. The SA sensors are positioned in groups at key location in the first concrete cast of a cast-in-situ prestressed concrete bridge, which entails two bridge spans of approximately 30 meters length. Measurements are done at different phases during the construction of the bridge, when the stress-state at the positions shifts due to change in loading and boundary conditions. The resulting data is analyzed with CWI and subsequently evaluated whether it coincides with expectations. Deviations from these expectations are rationalized or an attempt thereof is made.The results show significant differences between field measurement results and expectations based on laboratory tests. These differences are explained by the presence of a greater amount of parameters, which influence the data gathered from field measurements. With the appropriate measures, the various factors acting on the structure are isolated and subsequently validated with laboratory data. The most prominent factors affecting the acoustoelastic properties of the structure are established to be time related. These factors involve concrete shrinkage, creep deformation and the concrete hydration process. With laboratory testing the effect of these factors on the wave propagation velocity are determined. By taking into account the additional factors, a strong correlation between changes in the stress-state and changes in the wave propagation velocity is observed when the data is read in an adjusted manner.With a proper protocol, the use of smart aggregates in combination with CWI could be very valuable in accessing concrete structures on-site in both its construction stage and service stage. As it stands, prerequisite knowledge of the monitored structure is necessary to make use of the full potential of the SHM involving CWI and SA. The demand for prerequisite knowledge of the structure increases as the monitored structure becomes more complex, because it increases the amount of additional endeavors required to properly asses the acquired data. As such, the discussed monitoring technique in its current stage of development generally has low accessibility for practical use. But with further research and more understanding of monitoring method, the discussed SHM technique might be applicable for general use in the near future.Civil Engineering | Structural Engineering | Concrete Structure
Complexe neurologische aandoeningen in de langdurige zorg: Een verkenning van aantallen, patiëntkenmerken en indicaties
No full textVeel patiënten met een complexe neurologische aandoening, zoals de ziekte van Parkinson, multiple sclerose of restverschijnselen van niet-aangeboren hersenletsel, doen vroeg of laat in hun ziekteproces een beroep op de langdurige zorg. Dat deze mensen een andere zorgbehoefte hebben dan de algemene verpleeghuispopulatie is bekend, maar van hun aantallen bestaan slechts schattingen. Dit onderzoek, mogelijk gemaakt door de Verenso Beurs voor wetenschappelijk onderzoek, heeft als doel te achterhalen hoeveel mensen in Nederland een indicatie voor langdurige zorg hebben én een diagnose die wijst op een ernstige aandoening van het zenuwstelsel, anders dan dementie. We combineerden grote datasets van het Centraal Bureau voor Statistiek om zo de prevalentie van een aantal complexe neurologische aandoeningen onder mensen met een indicatie voor langdurige zorg in een verpleeghuis te bepalen. Op 31-12-2015 hadden 121.749 mensen in Nederland een indicatie die toegang geeft tot langdurige zorg in een verpleeghuis. Van hen hebben 9.398 mensen een complexe neurologische aandoening. De ziekte van Parkinson en aanverwante aandoeningen komen bij 4% van de totale langdurige-zorgpopulatie voor. Patiënten met een zeldzamere aandoening zijn 10 tot 20 jaar jonger dan de gemiddelde verpleeghuispatiënt. Er zijn in de langdurige zorg meer mensen met een complexe neurologische aandoening, anders dan dementie, dan tot nu toe werd aangenomen. Door verdere academisering van de langdurige zorg en de ontwikkeling van doelgroepexpertisecentra moet het mogelijk zijn ook deze patiënten en hun naasten passende zorg te bieden.Pattern Recognition and Bioinformatic
A Blueprint for Cyber Security of Brownfield Substations in Power Systems using IEC 62443
No full textPaper ID – 0348Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Intelligent Electrical Power Grid
Regression testing Ajax applications: Coping with dynamism
No full textNote: This paper is a pre-print of: Danny Roest, Ali Mesbah and Arie van Deursen. Regression Testing AJAX Applications: Coping with Dynamism. In Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Software Testing, Verification and Validation (ICST’10), Paris, France. IEEE Computer Society, 2010. There is a growing trend to move desktop applications towards the web using advances made in web technologies such as AJAX. One common way to provide assurance about the correctness of such complex and evolving systems is through regression testing. Regression testing classical web applications has already been a notoriously daunting task because of the dynamism in web interfaces. AJAX applications pose an even greater challenge since the test case fragility degree is higher due to extensive run-time manipulation of the DOM tree and asynchronous client/server interactions. In this paper, we propose a technique, in which we automatically generate test cases and apply pipelined oracle comparators along with generated DOM templates, to deal with dynamic non-deterministic behavior in AJAX user interfaces. Our approach, implemented in CRAWLJAX, is open source and provides a set of generic oracle comparators, template generators, and visualizations of test failure output. We describe two case studies evaluating the effectiveness, scalability, and required manual effort of the approach.Software Computer TechnologyElectrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc
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