Netherlands Enterprise Agency

Intracortical brain-computer interfaces (iBCIs) can restore movement and communication abilities to individuals with paralysis by decoding their intended behavior from neural activity recorded with an implanted device. While this activity yields high-performance decoding over short timescales, neural data are often nonstationary, which can lead to decoder failure if not accounted for. To maintain performance, users must frequently recalibrate decoders, which requires the arduous collection of new neural and behavioral data. Aiming to reduce this burden, several approaches have been developed that either limit recalibration data requirements (few-shot approaches) or eliminate explicit recalibration entirely (zero-shot approaches). However, progress is limited by a lack of standardized datasets and comparison metrics, causing methods to be compared in an ad hoc manner. Here we introduce the FALCON benchmark suite (Few-shot Algorithms for COnsistent Neural decoding) to standardize evaluation of iBCI robustness. FALCON curates five datasets of neural and behavioral data that span movement and communication tasks to focus on behaviors of interest to modern-day iBCIs. Each dataset includes calibration data, optional few-shot recalibration data, and private evaluation data. We implement a flexible evaluation platform which only requires user-submitted code to return behavioral predictions on unseen data. We also seed the benchmark by applying baseline methods spanning several classes of possible approaches. FALCON aims to provide rigorous selection criteria for robust iBCI decoders, easing their translation to real-world devices.

Summary In 2023, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) acquired 5000 km of 2D ultra-high resolution seismic (UHRS) data over the 283 km2 area Nederwiek Wind Farm Site I (Nederwiek I), located approximately 100 km off the west coast of the Netherlands. The acquisition was part of a multi-disciplinary geoscientific campaign to enable the development of an Integrated Ground Model (IGM) and Geotechnical Interpretation Report (GIR) to inform of subsurface soil properties and ultimately derisk the offshore windfarm (OWF) site ahead of a competitive leasing round. To model the site-wide soil properties in an efficient and non-intrusive manner, the 2D UHRS data was carefully prepared through an amplitude-variation-with-offset (AVO) compliant pre-stack seismic processing sequence to enable UHRS pre-stack inversion to quantify the geotechnical properties of the subsurface.

Summary: As a shift from 'smart' to 'caring' technologies is needed, which puts the end-user's care needs at the forefront, we developed the Caring Technology guideline which is an added value for caring technology implementation in healthcare organisations. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the needs and expectations associated with the implementation of caring technologies in elderly care and use this information to inform the development of a Caring Technology guideline. The Caring Technology guideline (developed in the context of the Interreg 2Seas project ‘EMPOWERCARE’) provides an eight-step procedure, supported tools and best practices to support a care organisation in the implementation of technology, and takes the 8 ‘Caring Technology Principles’ (developed by the King Baudouin Foundation) as an ethical reference. Design: Questionnaires and online in-depth interviews were conducted with EMPOWERCARE partner organisations to investigate the current use and relevance of the Caring Technology Principles, important aspects to be considered for the Caring Technology guideline, the contribution of technology trials to the guideline and the influence of the region of technology implementation on the interpretation of the principles or technology implementation. To include perspectives on these topics from outside the EMPOWERCARE project, we organised an online EMPOWERCARE Annual Event workshop with both EMPOWERCARE partners and external organisations, and an online workshop with care organisations in Zeeland. Lastly, a focus group with EMPOWERCARE partner organisations was conducted to discuss the most relevant target group for the Caring Technology guideline and to collect feedback on the proposed process guidance. Results: The region of technology implementation did not influence the use of principles or the implementation of technology. Participants currently focus on centralising end-users in healthcare technologies and on increasing digital literacy and technology acceptance for both end-users and the workforce. Principles such as quality assurance, democratic and participatory governance, and responsible innovation were less represented by the participants. Participants struggle with the theoretical aspect of the Caring Technology Principles. The reported challenges can be translated into the following tools in the Caring Technology guideline: a process guide, good practices and workshop formats. To this end, the Caring Technology guideline is an added value compared to existing initiatives. Conclusion: The present study elucidates the needs and expectations associated with technology implementation in elderly care. This input was used to inform the development of a Caring Technology guideline, based on the Caring Technology Principles. As there is, to our knowledge, no current initiative that is both based on guiding principles and provides a process guide for the practical implementation, the Caring Technology guideline that we propose is an added value for caring technology implementation in healthcare. Next steps include further testing and dissemination of the Caring Technology guideline.

Bioenergy aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and contribute to meeting global climate change mitigation targets. Nevertheless, several sustainability concerns are associated with bioenergy, especially related to the impacts of using land for dedicated energy crop production. Cultivating energy crops can result in synergies or trade-offs between GHG emission reductions and other sustainability effects depending on context-specific conditions. Using the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework, the main synergies and trade-offs associated with land use for dedicated energy crop production were identified. Furthermore, the context-specific conditions (i.e., biomass feedstock, previous land use, climate, soil type and agricultural management) which affect those synergies and trade-offs were also identified. The most recent literature was reviewed and a pairwise comparison between GHG emission reduction (SDG 13) and other SDGs was carried out. A total of 427 observations were classified as either synergy (170), trade-off (176), or no effect (81). Most synergies with environmentally-related SDGs, such as water quality and biodiversity conservation, were observed when perennial crops were produced on arable land, pasture or marginal land in the ‘cool temperate moist’ climate zone and ‘high activity clay’ soils. Most trade-offs were related to food security and water availability. Previous land use and feedstock type are more impactful in determining synergies and trade-offs than climatic zone and soil type. This study highlights the importance of considering context-specific conditions in evaluating synergies and trade-offs and their relevance for developing appropriate policies and practices to meet worldwide demand for bioenergy in a sustainable manner.

This paper proposes a new approach to aspect-based sentiment analysis to provide a more accurate insight about sentiment towards certain aspects relevant for the military environment. The goal of this paper is to obtain an assessment of different approaches to aspect detection applicable to NATO specific corpora.

Sustainability transitions are commonly considered impossible without regime change. Theoretical work on regime change has mainly focused on niches and landscapes and less on change ‘from within’. Empirical analysis helps theorising endogenous regime change. Conceptualising regimes as semi-coherent entities composed of multiple ‘institutional logics’, we analyse the endogenous regime change in Dutch dairy farming. Practices in this sector have become more and more market-driven. This dominant logic however was increasingly challenged by institutional logics centring round cultural identity and sustainability. Tensions particularly centred round the increased indoor housing of cows. The contestation of this practice eventually led to a first ‘crack’ in the regime, as it weakened the dominance of the market logic and enabled opportunities for more sustainability. Our case study shows that the presence of alternative institutional logics is necessary to crack the regime, but opportunities to patch it back together are similarly crucial to enable sustainability transitions.