Erasmus University College Brussels

This article explores the role of the Cultural and Creative Sectors (CCS) as systemic enablers of the European Union’s (EU) triple transition—green, digital and just. It does this by assessing how EU policy frameworks have supported or constrained that role during the 2019–2024 legislative term, and what policy options are needed in the 2024–2029 parliamentary term to more effectively mobilise the CCS as agents of change across EU transition agendas. Drawing on a comprehensive study conducted for the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education (CULT), the article combines critical analysis of EU institutional documents with future-oriented interviews conducted with a dozen policy experts and stakeholders. The concept of the ‘triple transition’ has gained prominence in EU strategic discourse since 2023, adding a social justice dimension to the existing twin focus on climate neutrality and digital innovation. This shift is not merely rhetorical. The discussion argues that the just transition should be understood not as a supplementary concern, but as the very substrate upon which ecological and digital transformation must grow. It calls for a deeper engagement with societal values, participation, and cohesion; areas in which the CCS are uniquely well-positioned to contribute. Yet, this potential remains only partially realised. While policy tools like the New European Bauhaus, the Digital Services Act, Creative Europe, or the European Pillar of Social Rights acknowledge the relevance of the CCS, their operational integration across EU transition strategies remains fragmented. The article identifies critical gaps in funding models, governance coherence, infrastructure, and cross-sectoral collaboration that continue to marginalise cultural actors from key policy arenas. In response, the article proposes a dual strategic approach: first, strengthening the cultural ecosystem through improved working conditions, sustainable finance, and coordinated governance; and second, embedding the CCS more structurally in the design and implementation of transition policies. Through this lens, the article reframes the CCS not as communicative tools but as crucial co-creators of sustainable and democratic futures.

Abstract This article investigates the dual role of the French-American Elise Hall (1853–1924) as both a patron and one of the first saxophone soloists in history. By commissioning mainly leading European composers, Hall helped establish the saxophone as a new classical solo instrument at the turn of the twentieth century. Drawing on 43 press reviews from French and North American media between 1900 and 1927, this article examines how the media critically evaluated Hall’s contributions and framed her dual role as a patron and performer, particularly focusing on gendered perceptions of both the saxophone and her performances. By situating Hall within broader trends in female patronage, this article challenges conventional boundaries between patron and artist, illuminating women’s contributions to early twentieth-century music and offering a new perspective on the evolution of modern musical patronage and performance.

The use of virtual reality (VR) in older adults promotes improvements in mobility, strength, and balance. Changes in neuromuscular activation have been found to be associated with these improvements; however, during VR activities, this aspect has not been thoroughly investigated. The aim of this study was to investigate neuromuscular activation among older female adults during VR activities. Sixteen older female adults, with the use of VR, performed dynamic punching movements involving elbow flexion/extension for one minute, and the muscle activation of the bicep brachii was recorded with electromyography (EMG) and normalized to the maximal voluntary isometric contraction of elbow flexion. The one-minute activity was divided into three time phases: 0-10 s, 25-35 s, and 50-60 s. The five highest EMG amplitude values (%) in each phase were selected and averaged. Differences between phases were analyzed using repeated ANOVA (αadj = 0.017). The EMG amplitude for the first phase was 39.1 ± 2.6%, that for the second phase was 44.8 ± 3.0%, and that for the third phase was 49.6 ± 3.1%. Statistically significant differences were found in all phases, with the first phase demonstrating a lower EMG amplitude (%) compared to the second (p = 0.002) and third phases (p = 0.000). The third phase demonstrated a higher EMG amplitude (%) compared to the second phase (p = 0.025). Engagement in VR activities can have significant effects on neuromuscular activation in older female adults, with our findings revealing a significant increase in the EMG amplitude within one minute of commencing a dynamic and challenging activity such as virtual boxing.

ABSTRACT The number of older migrants with dementia in Western European cities is growing, and so is the share of their family caregivers. This study explores the influence of religion on the caregiving experiences of family caregivers responsible for older labour migrants residing in Belgian cities. In-depth interviews were conducted with 34 family caregivers of older migrants of Moroccan, Turkish, and Italian descent with dementia. Our findings underscore the significance of religion in four key dimensions: (i) as a co-definer of the meaning of dementia, (ii) as a way to deal with dementia and care burden, (iii) as an influencer of family care motives, and (iv) that more religious sensitivity is needed in professional dementia care, especially for Muslims. The discussion advocates for recognising religion as an integral aspect of the multifaceted identity of older migrants. Incorporating religious sensitivity offers a promising pathway toward more comprehensive intersectional-person-centred dementia care.

Use of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is associated with improved clinical outcomes over angiography alone. Despite this, the adoption of IVUS in clinical practice remains low. To examine the cost-effectiveness of IVUS-guided PCI compared to angiography alone in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS). A 1-year decision tree and lifetime Markov model were constructed to compare the cost-effectiveness of IVUS-guided PCI to angiography alone for two hypothetical adult populations consisting of 1000 individuals: ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and unstable angina/non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (UA/NSTEMI) patients undergoing drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation. The United Kingdom (UK) healthcare system perspective was applied using 2019/20 costs. All-cause death, myocardial infarction (MI), repeat PCI, lifetime costs, life expectancy, and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) were assessed. Over a lifetime horizon, IVUS-guided PCI was cost-effective compared to angiography alone in both populations, yielding an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of £3649 and £5706 per-patient in STEMI and UA/NSTEMI patients, respectively.In the 1-year time horizon, the model suggested that IVUS was associated with reductions in mortality, MI, and repeat PCI by 51%, 33%, and 52% in STEMI and by 50%, 29%, and 57% in UA/NSTEMI patients, respectively. Sensitivity analyses demonstrated the robustness of the model with IVUS being 100% cost-effective at a willingness to pay threshold of £20000 per QALY-gained. From a UK healthcare perspective, an IVUS-guided PCI strategy was highly cost-effective over angiography alone amongst ACS patients undergoing DES implantation due to the medium- and long-term reduction in repeat PCI, death, and MI.

Abstract Many studies characterize transcription factors and other regulatory elements to control the expression of heterologous genes in recombinant systems. However, most lack a formal approach to analyse the parameters and context-specific variations of these regulatory components. This study addresses this gap by establishing formal and convenient methods for characterising regulatory circuits. We model the bacterial cell as a collection of a small number of proteome fractions. Then, we derive the proteome fraction over time and obtain a general theorem describing its change as a function of its expression fraction, which represents a specific portion of the total biosynthesis flux of the cell. Formal deduction reveals that when the proteome fraction reaches a maximum, it becomes equivalent to its expression fraction. This equation enables the reliable measurement of the expression fraction through direct protein quantification. In addition, experimental data demonstrate a linear correlation between protein production rate and specific growth rate over a significant time period. This suggests a constant expression fraction within this window. The expression fractions estimated from the slopes of these intervals and those obtained from maximum protein amount points can both be independently fitted to a Hill function. In the case of an IPTG biosensor, in five cellular contexts, expression fractions determined by the maximum method and the slope method produced similar dose-response parameters. Additionally, by analysing two more biosensors, for mercury and cumate detection, we demonstrate that the slope method can be effectively applied to various systems, generating reliable Hill function parameters.

1. Gözükara İ, Çolakoğlu N. The Mediating Effect of Work Family Conflict on the Relationship between Job Autonomy and Job Satisfaction. Procedia Soc Behav Sci. 2016;229:253-266. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.07.136 CrossRef Google Scholar

BackgroundA clear need for the development of new comprehensive, reliable, sensitive and valid measurement tools to adequately asses the cultural competence and cultural sensitivity of nursing students exists. This study aimed to develop a new measurement tool to assess the nursing students’ cultural competence and sensitivity.MethodsThis cross-sectional, instrument development study’s first phase included postgraduate nursing students (n = 60) for the piloting study, and the second one included undergraduate nursing students (n = 459) for the main survey. This study used two data collection forms: The Student Descriptive Information Form and the Better and Effective Nursing Education for Improving Transcultural Nursing Skills Cultural Competence and Cultural Sensitivity Assessment Tool (BENEFITS-CCCSAT) draft. The content validity index was calculated using the Davis method. Cronbach’s α coefficient and the item total correlation were calculated during the reliability analysis. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) coefficient test, Bartlett significance test, and explanatory factor analysis (EFA) were used to evaluate the validity of the assessment tool.ResultsScale validity and reliability analyses showed that the BENEFITS-CCCSAT included 26 items and five sub-dimensions: respect for cultural diversity; culturally sensitive communication; achieving cultural competence; challenges and barriers in providing culturally competent care; and perceived meaning of cultural care.ConclusionThe BENEFITS-CCCSAT appears to be a valid and reliable instrument for measuring the cultural sensitivity and cultural competence of nursing students. This can be of great use, especially before attending clinical areas, and can offer both students and faculty reliable information to promote reflective and critical thinking, especially in areas where improvement is needed.

MotivationThe primary regulatory step for protein synthesis is translation initiation, which makes it one of the fundamental steps in the central dogma of molecular biology. In recent years, a number of approaches relying on deep neural networks (DNNs) have demonstrated superb results for predicting translation initiation sites. These state-of-the art results indicate that DNNs are indeed capable of learning complex features that are relevant to the process of translation. Unfortunately, most of those research efforts that employ DNNs only provide shallow insights into the decision-making processes of the trained models and lack highly sought-after novel biologically relevant observations.ResultsBy improving upon the state-of-the-art DNNs and large-scale human genomic datasets in the area of translation initiation, we propose an innovative computational methodology to get neural networks to explain what was learned from data. Our methodology, which relies on in silico point mutations, reveals that DNNs trained for translation initiation site detection correctly identify well-established biological signals relevant to translation, including (i) the importance of the Kozak sequence, (ii) the damaging consequences of ATG mutations in the 5′-untranslated region, (iii) the detrimental effect of premature stop codons in the coding region, and (iv) the relative insignificance of cytosine mutations for translation. Furthermore, we delve deeper into the Beta-globin gene and investigate various mutations that lead to the Beta thalassemia disorder. Finally, we conclude our work by laying out a number of novel observations regarding mutations and translation initiation.Availability and implementationFor data, models, and code, visit github.com/utkuozbulak/mutate-and-observe.

Considering the adverse impact that traumatic childbirth experiences can have on parental mental well-being, studies that have investigated the potential of providing postnatal psychological support for this group of parents require evaluation. This systematic review aimed to examine the effectiveness of psychological interventions at improving the mental well-being of parents who have experienced traumatic childbirth in terms of anxiety, depression, fear of childbirth, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Seven electronic databases were searched from their respective inception dates up to January 2021. Only quantitative studies that reported the effects of psychological interventions on anxiety, depression, fear of childbirth, and/or PTSD symptoms in selective (at risk of traumatic childbirth experience) or indicated (self-defined childbirth experience as traumatic for any reason) populations of parents (mothers and/or fathers) were included. Eight studies were included and meta-analyses were conducted using a random-effect model. All studies were conducted on mothers only, and one study had minimal father involvement. Results showed that psychological interventions were more effective in reducing fear of childbirth and improving PTSD symptoms compared to anxiety and depression. Greater improvement in depression was reported at 3–8 weeks’ follow-up than at immediate post-intervention. Subgroup analyses showed that technology-based interventions were feasible, and indicated interventions were more effective than selective interventions. Conducting future interventions in more geographical regions, engaging and including fathers more actively, incorporating both personalized professional therapy and informal peer support, striving for flexibility and convenience, as well as addressing topics on self-doubt and coping skills can improve current interventions.