This paper reviews the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on the global travel industry, drawing on a survey of businesses in the youth travel sector. It reviews the current and likely future impact of the crisis on different sectors of youth travel, and assesses the prospects for recovery
A wheelchair undergoes vibrations while traveling over obstacles and uneven surfaces, resulting in whole body vibration of the person sitting in the wheelchair. According to clinicians, people with spinal cord injury (SCI) report that vibration evokes spasticity. The relatively new Spinergy wheelchair wheels (Spinergy, Inc; San Diego, California) are claimed to absorb more road shock then conventional steel-spoked wheelchair wheels. If this claim is true, this wheel might also reduce spasticity in people with SCI. We hypothesized that Spinergy wheels would absorb vibration, reduce perceived spasticity, and improve comfort in individuals with SCI more than standard steel-spoked wheels. To test this hypothesis, 22 nondisabled subjects performed a passive ramp test so that we could more closely examine the dampening characteristics of the Spinergy versus traditional wheels. Furthermore, 13 subjects with SCI performed an obstacle test with both wheel types. Vibrations were measured with accelerometers, and spasticity and comfort were assessed with subject-reported visual analog scales. The results of the study showed that, within the current experimental setup, the Spinergy wheels neither reduced vibration or perceived spasticity nor improved comfort in people with SCI more than the conventional steel-spoked wheels.
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According to the "membrane sensor" hypothesis, the membrane's physical properties and microdomain organization play an initiating role in the heat shock response. Clinical conditions such as cancer, diabetes and neurodegenerative diseases are all coupled with specific changes in the physical state and lipid composition of cellular membranes and characterized by altered heat shock protein levels in cells suggesting that these "membrane defects" can cause suboptimal hsp-gene expression. Such observations provide a new rationale for the introduction of novel, heat shock protein modulating drug candidates. Intercalating compounds can be used to alter membrane properties and by doing so normalize dysregulated expression of heat shock proteins, resulting in a beneficial therapeutic effect for reversing the pathological impact of disease. The membrane (and lipid) interacting hydroximic acid (HA) derivatives discussed in this review physiologically restore the heat shock protein stress response, creating a new class of "membrane-lipid therapy" pharmaceuticals. The diseases that HA derivatives potentially target are diverse and include, among others, insulin resistance and diabetes, neuropathy, atrial fibrillation, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. At a molecular level HA derivatives are broad spectrum, multi-target compounds as they fluidize yet stabilize membranes and remodel their lipid rafts while otherwise acting as PARP inhibitors. The HA derivatives have the potential to ameliorate disparate conditions, whether of acute or chronic nature. Many of these diseases presently are either untreatable or inadequately treated with currently available pharmaceuticals. Ultimately, the HA derivatives promise to play a major role in future pharmacotherapy.
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Restoring rivers with an integrated approach that combines water safety, nature development and gravel mining remains a challenge. Also for the Grensmaas, the most southern trajectory of the Dutch main river Maas, that crosses the border with Belgium in the south of Limburg. The first plans (“Plan Ooievaar”) were already developed in the 1980s and were highly innovative and controversial, as they were based on the idea of using nature-based solutions combined with social-economic development. Severe floodings in 1993 and 1995 came as a shock and accelerated the process to implement the associated measures. To address the multifunctionality of the river, the Grensmaas consortium was set up by public and private parties (the largest public-private partnership ever formed in the Netherlands) to have an effective, scalable and socially accepted project. However, despite the shared long term vision and the further development of plans during the process it was hard to satisfy all the goals in the long run. While stakeholders agreed on the long-term goal, the path towards that goal remains disputed and depends on the perceived status quo and urgency of the problem. Moreover, internal and external pressures and disturbances like climate change or the economic crisis influenced perception and economic conditions of stakeholders differently. In this research we will identify relevant system-processes connected to the implementation of nature-based solutions through the lens of social-ecological resilience. This knowledge will be used to co-create management plans that effectively improve the long-term resilience of the Dutch main water systems.
The precarity in the cultural sector became exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the lockdowns, the sources of income for cultural venues and cultural workers vanished overnight, intensifying an already challenging labour market. Particularly freelance cultural workers were hit hard. While the immediate shock of the pandemic on the cultural sector has been well documented, the effects on the sector in the aftermath of the pandemic are still to be revealed and repaired. This project tackles these issues by zooming in on the case of the performing arts scene in Groningen. This scene constitutes the part of the cultural sector that was affected the most by the lockdowns. Currently, venues and event organizers in Groningen lack qualified freelance staff as many left the industry during the pandemic. At the same time, self-employed cultural workers find it difficult to generate sufficient incomes and develop sustainable careers in the city. The municipality is eager to support the industry, including freelancers, but is unsure about how best to do so. With a consortium composed of the university, the municipality, a knowledge organisation specialised in cultural entrepreneurship, and a network for creative freelancers in the North of the Netherlands the project is well-equipped to reach its two-fold aims of investigating this current situation and coming up with suggestions for solutions. The core component of the project is an interview study with three groups of self-employed cultural freelancers: experienced production staff, experienced performers, and nascent freelancers (both production staff and performers). Based on data from this study, the project provides a multifaceted picture of the cultural ecosystem in Groningen, highlighting how this system is experienced. This establishes a solid foundation for staging discussions on working conditions in the sector, enabling the project to eventually conclude with recommendations on how to improve the situation.
