The market for biodegradable lubricants is continuously evolving and plays a crucial role in national and European objectives to reduce the risks of environmental pollution A key player in this innovative market is Van Meeuwen Lubrication an internationally operating family business that provides essential lubrication solutions across various industries including the offshore and maritime sectors competitiveness and environmental responsibility are key principles guiding its operations across a diverse range of markets: from food production to (wind) energy There is a growing trend in the use of high performance biodegradable lubricants Van Meeuwen Lubrication provides a wide range of these bio-lubricants Van Meeuwen is well-equipped to tackle any sustainable lubrication challenge BROAD SPECTRUMIt is now widely recognized that certified bio-lubricants (ECLs/EALs) deliver excellent performance as long as the appropriate oil or grease is selected for the specific application There are examples of hydraulic oils that can last up to 80,000 hours without replacement in heavily loaded machines and installations Taco Mets is Technical Director at Van Meeuwen Lubrication: “An appealing example is the London Eye the large Ferris wheel that runs continuously for hundreds of thousands of hours with our biodegradable lubricants Our EAL’s are also used on the Botlek Bridge and on railway tracks in shunting yards at ports.“ adds: “We encounter volumes of five liters and up to fifty thousand liters for a dredging or offshore vessel Because the quality of our lubricants is very high this oil can easily remain in the system for over ten years a period of just 5 years would have been sufficient We even have practical examples where the lubricant’s lifespan is extended by up to a factor of ten!” LONGER LIFESPANMets talks passionately about this market “A lot has changed in this industry and a lot of innovation has gone into developing these biodegradable high quality products Nowadays it’s not just about replacing conventional lubricants; companies can take ita step further you can benefit from a high-performance lubricant and the improved efficiency of your equipment using premium lubricants can lead to a significant reduction in CO2 emissions.” WIND ENERGYKostelijk: “Increasingly more attention is being paid to our lubricants We also notice this in international tenders; especially at large wind energy companies that ask for a work vessel with a green passport They want the energy to be generated in a clean manner while also ensuring that the risks of lubricant contamination and surface water are prevented.“ “The biodegradable component in the lubricating oil plays a crucial role and strict standards are in place to ensure that a product meets the essential requirements at least 60 percent of the lubricant must break down within 28 days and it must be non-toxic and not bioaccumulative The origin of the raw materials is also examined; consider responsibly grown palm oil or soy and cane sugar The entire production line to packaging and shipping methods is discussed 25 percent of the plastic packaging must be produced from recycled material.“ JACK-UP VESSELS“We have developed a very high-quality biodegradable grease well-suited for jack-up vessels; the Green Point Jacking Grease,” continues Patrick Kostelijk “We are also making the suppliers of wind energy including the small delivery vessels servicing them The Germans are already very strict about the environmental regulations.“ Taco Mets: “We aim to make companies aware of  the possibilities of high-quality biodegradable lubricants and we can use them to enhance the quality for our customers It’s crucial that we move away from mineral-based products We have been depleting the earth’s resources for far too long I believe it’s essential to focus on sustainability and collaborate for the benefit of the environment and climate.“ specializes in custom lubrication solutions that enhance the reliability of assets This Dutch family-owned business primarily services the Netherlands and Flanders and OEMs who aim to elevate their asset reliability through advanced lubrication and viewpoints expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Offshore-Energy.biz Daily news and in-depth stories in your inbox Ingersoll Rand Engineering Project Solutions At Ingersoll Rand’s Engineering Project Solutions we have been managing and implementing engineered to-order air packages for complex technical requirements for over 60 years We provide specialized custom compressed air and gas compressors as well as nitrogen generation packages to international EPC contractors and engineering companies across a range of […] Metrics details Selfing or mating between related individuals can lead to inbreeding depression (ID) growth and evolution of populations of tree species As selective logging involves a decrease in the density of congeneric partners it could lead to increasing biparental inbreeding or self-fertilization We assessed the influence of inbreeding on the growth of a commercial timber species which produced about 54% of self-fertilized seedlings in a natural population of the Congo basin We followed the survival and growth of 540 plants raised in a plantation along a gradient of plant density (0.07–15.9 plants per m2) Parentage analysis allowed us distinguishing selfed and outcrossed seedlings The annual growth was higher for outcrossed than selfed plants on average by 10.8% for diameter and 12.9% for height growth Based on the difference in above ground biomass between selfed and outcrossed seedlings after 41 months while a lifetime estimate of ID based on the proportions of selfed plants at seedling and adult stages led to δ = 0.7 The level of ID on growth rate did not change significantly with age but tended to vanish under high competition Pericopsis elata is a particularly interesting model because inbreeding depression is partial with about 26% of reproducing adults resulting from selfing contrary to most tropical tree species where selfed individuals usually die before reaching adulthood the risks of ID must be considered in the management and conservation of the species To assess how ID can affect the future of threatened species it is therefore of interest to measure ID under a range of environmental conditions the proportion of selfed adults dropped to about 26% probably reflecting the impact of ID on survival rate contrary to most self-compatible tropical tree species elata as a non-negligible proportion of selfed seedlings reach adulthood in the population and a good knowledge of the ecology of the species and its reproduction cycle especially since we discovered that it is prone to high inbreeding and probably to ID Seed quality is primordial for plantation operations assessing how it varies according to environmental conditions and assessing whether higher quality seeds could be obtained from seed trees less prone to selfing are important knowledge This study aims to analyze the effects of inbreeding on the growth and survival of P elata seedlings raised in a nursery (for 9 months) and transplanted in an experimental setup with a gradient of plant density implying a gradient of intra-specific competition (Nelder design; 4 years of growth) We address the following questions: (1) What is the rate of selfing and does it vary among mother trees (2) Does inbreeding affect seedling survival and/or sapling growth rate (3) How important is the impact of inbreeding depression on growth compared to the impact of plantation density or of the maternal genotype (4) What is the level of inbreeding depression using above-ground biomass accumulation of saplings as a proxy of fitness or using the decay in the proportion of selfed individuals that survive until adulthood (lifetime ID) (5) Does the impact of inbreeding depression on seedling growth vary according to (i) the age of plants (ii) the level of intra-specific competition (density) and/or (iii) the maternal origin of plants we discuss the implications of our results for the management of P though more opening might be needed to reach optimal growth and survival dynamics we collected pods from under-mature trees (N = 20) assuming these were mother trees for which we hoped to produce enough seedlings for this study The sampling of pods was conducted within a maximum radius of 10 m from each focal tree to avoid contamination of our samples by the progeny of other nearby trees and S194) were retained because they were sufficiently isolated from other seed trees to avoid confounding seed sources Sampled pods were taken to a nursery located on the campus of the Science Faculty of the University of Kisangani where each pod was peeled to extract the seeds The latter was placed in a polyethylene bag previously filled with potting soil to allow germination The soil used came from superficial horizons found at the site the experimental setup consisted of six complete randomized blocks; each block contained between 300 and 400 randomized seedlings from different seed carriers combined with four waves of planting (24–28 Sep The planted seedlings were watered regularly to maintain sufficient moisture for germination two leaflets were collected from the seedlings obtained and carefully dried in silica gel to preserve DNA This method consists of placing 18 plants on each of 12 concentric circles whose radius forms a geometric progression from 0.57 m to 15.57 m so that the density of plants is very high in the center and decreases towards the edge each containing 180 measured plants labeled with a metal plate and whose growth was monitored for 4 years (up to March 2021) plants located on the first and last circles were not considered in data analysis The seedlings transplanted onto the Nelder replicates were from 19 of the 20 maternal origins but only 12 families had at least 10 seedlings among the 540 measured plants and the most represented family had 81 seedlings we paid attention that plants from the same maternal origin were well distributed across concentric rings to avoid covariation between potential genetic and competition effects on growth The height and diameter of seedlings were measured just after their transplantation to record their initial size The selfed or outcrossed status of seedlings was unknown at the time of transplantation and is thus assumed randomly distributed Fifteen trees that died as a result of stress after transplanting were replaced Growth measurements were taken every three months using a caliper for diameter at 10 cm from the ground and a graduated ruler for total height The measurements used for the present work are those from March 2018 (5 months after transplantation Plants had become saplings at the end of the experiment the neighborhood model used the genotypes of adults and seedlings as well as their spatial coordinates to infer the father of each seedling by a maximum likelihood approach while simultaneously estimating the genotyping error rate at each locus the pollen immigration rate and two parameters of a power-exponential pollen dispersal kernel we retained only the seedlings for which the probability of being selfed Annual growth was calculated by the formula: with Δy the annual height in cm (or diameter in mm) increment y the height (or diameter) measured at successive times t1 and t2 in a month considering the following measurement times: 5 Δy is thus computed at three age intervals we will refer to the growth of saplings aged 2 or 4 years as the increase in their height or diameter observed where Di and Dj are the respective diameters of subject i and competitor j and Lij is the distance between i and j and the sum is taken over neighbors within a radius around subject i equal to the mean height of plants within the respective Nelder plot Above-ground biomass (AGB) 41 months after transplantation was estimated for each plant according to the cone formula: Although the accuracy of this AGB estimate has not been verified to avoid destructive sampling it will be used as a proxy of fitness component integrating both height and diameter growth Annual height and diameter increments and AGB were modeled by linear mixed models (LMM). Two main classes of models were tested. The first class (Eq. 4) aimed to compare the percentage of variance explained by the following explanatory variables considered as random factors: replicate (3 categories) family (19 categories corresponding to mother trees) inbreeding (2 categories: outcrossed or selfed age (3 categories) and plant density (10 categories It includes as fixed effects (first line): initial size (height or diameter as well as (second line) the two-way interaction terms between age and finally (third line) the random effects of sapling Parameters b1 to b10 are the regression slopes of the fixed effects and interaction terms with bold values being vectors when terms include a factor with more than two categories (age) where Sik is the initial height or diameter of individual i from family k) according to inbreeding (fixed effect) and family (random effect) to assess whether inbreeding depression already occurred in the nursery We estimated the coefficients of variation (CV) of the random factors by the ratio of the standard deviation over the mean of each explanatory variable which was based on identity disequilibrium: s’ = 0.26 When considering the 11 mother trees for which the selfed/outcrossed status of at least 12 seedlings was assessed the selfing rate per seed tree ranged from 44% (family S146) to 85% (family S124) a variation that cannot be explained by chance alone (X² test of independence between family and selfing/outcrossing: p value < 0.01) Among the 540 saplings transplanted in the Nelder plots only 15 (2.8%) died naturally within the first 41 months of planting and were replaced and 4 were undetermined (not genotyped or unassigned) Although the mortality rate seems higher for selfed plants (3.4%) than outcrossed plants (1.0%) Fisher exact test is not significant due to limited sample size (p value = 0.13) The best models integrating these factors explained 64% of the variance in height growth and 79% of the variance in diameter growth a annual height and (b) diameter increments Families consisted of the same maternal origin with selfed (green) and outcrossed (blue) saplings (at least 6 of each) The mother number is indicated on top of each plot Ns and No are the number of selfed and outcrossed individuals The dots are the means with standard deviations the survival rate until adulthood of selfed seedlings is 70% lower than that of outcrossed seedlings) one obvious reason being the difficulty to measure all fitness components in long-living organisms elata from known mothers in a natural forest and planted them following a Nelder design to compare the behavior of plants resulting from selfing with those resulting from outcrossing after monitoring growth during 41 month pollen limitation is probably not a limiting factor it offers the possibility to select mother trees producing a higher proportion of outcrossed seeds for plantations or plant breeding elata we did not observe ID on growth in the nursery we did not detect a significant effect of ID on survival rate but the mortality rate was probably too low in our experiment to be able to detect such an effect Annual diameter or height growth of P. elata seedlings varied substantially among years, across the density gradient and across replicates of Nelder devices, reflecting the impact of different environmental factors that each explained usually between 8 and 40% of the variation in growth (Table 1) a much smaller portion of the variance in annual growth was explained by family (1.9–2.3%) or inbreeding (2.3–3.6%) effects the impact of these genetic factors is certainly not negligible in the lifetime of trees because they act constantly while environmental factors can fluctuate substantially over time The family effect implies that growth ability has a heritable component indicating potential for improvement in tree breeding as consanguinity has a stronger impact than family ID is a major genetic factor to take into account or if ID also affects seed set independently of tree size individual heterozygosity was not correlated with tree diameter nor with their reproductive success assessed from the parentage analysis (unpublished results) so that all or most of the ID might be expressed during the seedling and sapling stages (lower growth and survival of selfed individuals) allowing us to estimate the lifetime ID from s and s’ the survival rate of selfed juveniles until adulthood is 70% lower than the one of outcrossed juveniles This lifetime ID estimate is considerably higher than the one based on AGB This should not be surprising as AGB at 41 months is only one of several fitness components but the δ derived from s and s’ reflects ID in natural conditions while the one derived from AGB concerns the experimental conditions of a plantation in full light so that the two estimates are not directly comparable we hypothesize that it is in such favorable conditions that ID acts most against selfed juveniles It should be noted that our results obtained in a controlled environment may not reflect what happens in natural conditions so that the impact of ID on seedling growth and survival in natural forests would deserve further studies Given that we observed a significant family effect on growth rate proper recording of the mother trees in plantations would be helpful to identify the best families (for growth rate and other traits related to disease or stress resistance or conformation) and later select the best-performing seed trees for new plantations The data used in this study are available from the Dryad Digital Repository: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.xwdbrv1nv (2020) The effects of pollen dispersal and mating pattern on inbreeding depression and hybrid vigor in Balfourodendron riedelianum (Engl.) Engl Lawson GW (1972) Growth of seedlings of Afrormosia elata harms in relation to light intensity Hardy OJ (2021) Seed and pollen dispersal and fine-scale spatial genetic structure of a threatened tree species: Pericopsis elata (Harms) Meeuwen (Fabaceae) Reed DH (2005) Inbreeding depression in benign and stressful environments Vilardi JC (2017) Implications of mating system and pollen dispersal indices for management and conservation of the semi-arid species Prosopis flexuosa (Leguminosae) Sebbenn AM (2008) Pollen movement within a continuous forest of wind-pollinated Araucaria angustifolia inferred from paternity and TwoGener analysis Doucet J-L (2012a) Ecology and management of Pericopsis elata (Harms) Meeuwen (Fabaceae) populations (2012b) Ecology of Pericopsis elata (Fabaceae) an endangered timber species in Southestern Cameroon (2015) How tightly linked are Pericopsis elata (Fabaceae) patches to anthropogenic disturbances in Southeastern Cameroon Boyemba Bosela F (2011) Ecologie de Pericopsis elata (Harms) Meeuwen (Fabaceae) arbre de forêt tropicale africaine à répartition agrégée Sharma A (eds) Plant genome: biodiversity and evolution Fuchs EA (2002) Effects of dry tropical forest fragmentation on the reproductive success and genetic structure of the tree Samanea saman Charlesworth D (1987) Inbreeding depression and its evolutionary consequences Willis JH (2009) The genetics of inbreeding depression Charlesworth D (1998) Some evolutionary consequences of deleterious mutations Coelho ASG (2011) Estimating inbreeding depression in natural plant populations using quantitative and molecular data Escarré J (2001) Inbreeding depression under intraspecific competition in a highly outcrossing population of Crepis sancta (Asteraceae): Evidence for frequency-dependent variation Burczyk J (2010) NM+: software implementing parentage-based models for estimating gene dispersal and mating patterns in plants (2007) Low inbreeding and high pollen dispersal distances in populations of two Amazonian forest tree species (2016) Stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in tree rings show physiological responses of Pericopsis elata to precipitation in the Congo Basin Roff DA (1999) Inbreeding depression in the wild Meffert LM (2003) The influence of variable rates of inbreeding on fitness Petit RJ (2008) Spatial scales of pollen and seed-mediated gene flow in tropical rain forest trees Suter J (2005) An assessment of the conservation status management and regulation of the trade in Pericopsis elata Joly HI (1997) Mating system of Carapa procera (Meliaceae) in the French Guiana tropical forest limited pollen dispersal and inbreeding depression in the emblematic African rain forest tree Baillonella toxisperma—management implications (2016b) Relationships between population density mating system and pollen dispersal in a timber tree from African rainforests Reed DH (2010) Inbreeding depression increases with maternal age in a seed-feeding beetle Briscoe D (2002) Book review: Introduction to conservation genetics Tsumura Y (2007) Effects of flowering tree density on the mating system and gene flow in Shorea leprosula (Dipterocarpaceae) in Peninsular Malaysia (2010) Understanding the effects of isolation on seed and pollen flow spatial genetic structure and effective population size of the dioecious tropical tree species Myracrodruon urundeuva Bataillon T (2003) Patterns of inbreeding depression and architecture of the load in subdivided populations (2010) Correlated evolution of mating system and floral display traits in flowering plants and its implications for the distribution of mating system variation Cotterill PP (1988) Genetic variation in growth of outcrossed selfed and open-pollinated progenies of Eucalyptus regnans and some implications for breeding strategy Bell JC (2019) Life cycle expression of inbreeding depression in Eucalyptus regnans and inter-generational stability of its mixed mating system (2019) Seed and pollen dispersal distances in two African legume timber trees and their reproductive potential under selective logging Hawthorne W (1995) Ecological profiles of Ghanaian forest trees Tropical Forestry Paper 29 Hegyi F (1974) A simulation model for managing jack-pine stands In: Growth models for tree and stand simulation Holsinger KE (2002) Reproductive systems and evolution in vascular plants Hamrick JL (2003) Viability selection at three early life stages of the tropical tree Schemske DW (1996) Evolution of the magnitude and timing of inbreeding (2021) Influence of spacing and seed trees on the growth of Pericopsis elata saplings during the first twenty months of a planting trial Ligot G (2024) Performances of native tree species in plantations: a synthesis for the Guineo-Congolian region Degen B (2013) Molecular and quantitative signatures of biparental inbreeding depression in the self-incompatible tree species Prunus avium Waller DM (2002) Inbreeding effects in wild populations Loeschcke V (2003) Effects of inbreeding and environmental stress on fitness—using Drosophila buzzatii as a model organism Christensen RHB (2017) lmerTest package: tests in linear mixed effects models Thompson J (1999) Effect of light on the germination of forest trees in Ghana Schultz ST (1994) High inbreeding depression and the threshold selfing rate for purging recessive lethal mutations Lomba BL (2011) Systèmes d’agrégation et structures diamétriques en fonction des tempéraments de quelques essences dans les dispositifs permanents de Yoko et Biaro (Ubundu Chevallier MH (2007) Reduced density due to logging and its consequences on mating system and pollen flow in the African mahogany Entandrophragma cylindricum Hardy OJ (2011) Development and characterization of microsatellite loci in Pericopsis elata (Fabaceae) using a cost-efficient Approach (2008) Density-dependent selfing and its effects on seed performance in a tropical canopy tree species Nelder JA (1962) New kinds of systematic designs for 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Inbreeding depression changes with stress response over time in flooded Mimulus guttatus (2020) Global recognition of the importance of nature-based solutions to the impacts of climate change Lande R (1985) The evolution of self-fertilization and inbreeding depression in plants Frankham R (2004) Most species are not driven to extinction before genetic factors impact them Diway B (2021) Long pollen dispersal prevents biparental inbreeding depression in seeds in a natural population of the tropical tree Shorea laxa Sebbenn AM (2017) Inbreeding depression from selfing and mating between relatives in the Neotropical tree Cariniana legalis Mart (2009) Paternity analysis-based inference of pollen dispersal patterns and influence of flowering tree density and general flowering magnitude in two dipterocarp species Boutique R (1953) Flore du Congo Belge et du Ruanda-Urundi: Papilionaceae (Sophoreae (2015) Analysing the effect of stand density and site conditions on structure and growth of oak species using Nelder trials along an environmental gradient: experimental design fire and weed control on establishment of Pericopsis elata Harms regeneration Waller DM (1993) Ecological and genetic factors directing the evolution of self-fertilization Owusu-Afriyie K (1996) Responses of West African forest tree seedlings to irradiance and soil fertility Wang J (2000) Effects of population structures and selection strategies on the purging of inbreeding depression due to deleterious mutations or not to self… a review of outcrossing and pollen-mediated gene flow in neotropical trees Create elegant data visualisations using the grammar of graphics (2011a) Mixed-mating plants provides evidence for selective interference and stable mixed mating Gunther E (2011b) Impacts from climate change on organizations: a conceptual foundation Agrawal AF (2014) Variation in the strength of inbreeding depression across environments: effects of stress and density dependence Zanne A, Lopez-Gonzalez G, Coomes D, Ilic J, Jansen S, Lewis S et al (2009) Global wood density database. Dryad Identifier. http://hdl.handle.net/10255/dryad 235 Download references We thank the Forests and Climate Change project in Congo “FCCC” as well as the Training Research and Environment project in Tshopo “FORETS”) funded by the European Union and implemented at the University of Kisangani by CIFOR in collaboration with Resources and Synergies Development “R&SD” through the award of a doctoral scholarship to Dieu Merci Assumani Angbonda which allowed him to work successfully in the Laboratory of Evolutionary Biology and Ecology “EBE” Our feelings of gratitude also go to the entire team of the “LECAFOR” Ecology and Forest Management Laboratory for collecting seeds Crispin Ilunga-Mulala is supported by the XI European Development Fund (CRIS: 2020/419-588) Laboratory genotyping work was funded through F.R.S-FNRS grants WISD X.3040.17 and PDR T.0119.20 the authors thank three anonymous referees for their helpful comments These authors contributed equally: Dieu - Merci Assumani Angbonda Faculté de Gestion des Ressources Naturelles Renouvelables Evolutionary Biology and Ecology Unit CP 160/12 Laboratoire d’Ecologie et Aménagement Forestier (LECAFOR) Dieu - Merci Assumani Angbonda & Faustin Boyemba Institut National Pour l’Etude et la Recherche Agronomiques de Yangambi (INERA – Yangambi) Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) Department of Natural and Renewable Resources Management NB and HB conceived and implemented the Nelder designs DMA collected the seeds in the Biaro forest set up and monitored the saplings in the nursery under NB and OH’s supervision DMA and OH genotyped the seedlings in the laboratory CI-M and OH performed the statistical analyses DMA and OH wrote the manuscript with the support of NB The final version of the manuscript was read and corrected by all the authors The authors declare no competing interests Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41437-024-00709-x Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Update your browser to view this website correctly. Update my browser now Robin Van Meeuwen was ranked at No.8 in our round up of the most influential figures in the AV and installation industry… Installation revealed its first ever Pro AV Power 20 list rounding up the most inspiring and influential figures from across the AV and installation market we sat down with each of our Pro AV Power 20 inductees for an in-depth chat My father always was involved in the AV industry I met some great people along the way as my parents often entertained customers in our home and I was always invited to join the dinners This is an industry I wanted to be part of • The way in which AV has become an essential part of any business Professional: we started the business with three people in 1997 and 20 years later built a company spanning the entire EMEA region Benefitted businesses I’ve worked in/with: never going back on your word creates amazing bonds with people and they know they can always count on you Benefitted the wider industry: with a large team we have I constantly make this our key philosophy and try to ensure that we all live and die by these lines of thinking thus ultimately benefitting our customers and their customers it will make businesses realise that they need to adapt the way they work This will be a driving force of change and ultimately show how important AV is to any business We are the glue that makes everything work We also invested in experience centres and a beautiful residential showroom in London where we could show the technology in situ I acquired the European entity from the family and became CEO In January 2019 Crestron EMEA became Technological Innovations Group (TIG) the exclusive sales agency for Crestron and added a handful of other complimenting vendors to the portfolio shortly thereafter The experience I gained during my 25 years in the business has helped me to re-think the current AV needs and has inspired me to offer an ecosystem of smart space solutions to better answer the specific requirements end users have This will result in TIG experience centres in Frankfurt Paris and Dubai with an innovative virtual experience on TIG’s website (launched on 3rd June) We continue to prepare for the future once the COVID-19 crisis has passed I am absolutely driven and passionate to bring IT/AV solutions to the business which change the way in which our integrators deliver technology and the way the end users work in this forever changing world Over the past 25 years I have been extremely fortunate to have developed close deep-rooted relationships with our customers and the people I work with This is the key motivating factor in my professional career; to see everyone successful and have fun on the way Who’s had the greatest influence on your career Myself: I am determined and self motivated Of course I will call on help from some very important people in my life in order to be successful running a business of this size you must bring this influence from within yourself Who did/do you look up to as a role model professionally I feel I have done my best in every given situation acted correct and respectful to customers and work colleagues Daniel Gumble Tags ⋅ ⋅ © 2025 Future Publishing Limited Quay House England and Wales company registration number 2008885 By Zoe Mutter in People April 2, 2014 0 Robin van Meeuwen succeeds his father Frank van Meeuwen who is to become honorary chairman following 25 years leading Crestron International The foundation for Crestron International’s success has been laid by Frank van Meeuwen’s vision and commitment during this time and his leadership has provided the perfect platform for continued growth “I am proud to be handing over the reins of Crestron International to Robin – with his passion and drive he is the perfect candidate to take the company forward,” said Frank van Meeuwen “I have really enjoyed my time at the helm of Crestron International and look forward to continuing my involvement in a more ambassadorial role as honorary chairman.” Robin van Meeuwen has worked within the Crestron organisation for 17 years and in his roles firstly as managing director of Crestron UK and more recently as vice president of sales and marketing for Crestron International he has developed a true international perspective that will serve him well in his new role “I’m really looking forward to assuming the role of ceo of Crestron International,” said Robin van Meeuwen “The challenge for me will be to build on the considerable legacy left by my father  If I can bring the same vision and commitment to the role that he has shown I’m sure that we can look forward to Crestron maintaining its pre-eminent position as the world’s leading lifestyle electronics Crestron solutions are shaped by more than four decades of innovation As Robin van Meeuwen sums up: “Our focus on meeting the needs of our clients to help them succeed is evident in our enduring presence in these markets and I am keen to continue this journey as President of Crestron International.” Sign up for regular updates and get the latest news delivered straight to your inbox You can manage your subscriptions just select the ones you want to receive Sign in or Register a new account to join the discussion CE Pro Europe has been travelling a lot recently. Just two months ago in New York, a chance encounter led to the briefest of run-ins with John Luff of UK-based Oxberry Pleasantries were swiftly exchanged before CE Pro was whisked off again leaving John with the promise of catching up soon to talk about any interesting projects that the integration company might be keen to share Fast-forward to an unseasonably warm morning at the tail end of October and CE Pro finds itself looking up at a house nestled away in Cobham president and CEO at Crestron EMEA and his wife Petra director of customer media relations – to be exact “I told you we’d find you a good one,” John grins as large iron gates swing open to let us in “Welcome,” smiles Petra as she meets us at the front door CE Pro steps into a bright and spacious hallway adorned with a large abstract painting and a most unusual lampshade “so I had it integrated into the Crestron lighting system.” It’s half term and the girls are at home (a Radio 1-friendly track drifts down from upstairs) Far from the showroom-esque home one might expect from a Crestron CEO when showing a journalist around CE Pro can report that the van Meeuwen household is not too dissimilar to any other five-bedroom family home That’s not to say that it is messy by any stretch of the imagination; tidy – yes but lived in: a pair of trainers kicked off by the back door some (rather impressive) Lego constructions in the lounge One thing that most family homes don’t share with the van Meeuwens are the Crestron panels found on the walls of many of the home’s rooms security integration and full control of the family’s outdoor swimming pool temperature Not to mention each room has distributed audio and video.Of the many Crestron panels located throughout the home the first one a visitor will notice is by the front door The family use the 7-in TSW-750 touchscreens throughout the home for any number of tasks “It’s a very easy way of quickly making sure that the house is as you want it to be,” says Petra the intercom and gates screen came up on the display and I could immediately see that it was you I then opened the electronic gate without having to open my front door.” Although that’s not Petra’s favourite feature I can see each of the camera feeds either on my TV screen or directly from the TSR-302 handheld touchscreen remote I can instantly check to see what has caused it just to double check that it’s a false alarm that’s a very important feature all made possible because of this beautiful Crestron system – although I’m slightly biased,” she adds These remotes can be found in each room of the house (complete with docking stations) acting as wand-style wireless touch screen controllers for the family’s needs video display and voice control capabilities with control of the home’s audio The predecessor didn’t have the high-contrast 2.8in touchscreen; it was just a remote “The TSR-302 is a mini version of what you see on the wall touchpanels which allows me to access anything I like from the remote,” Petra says demonstrating by making the blinds in the study come down Petra selects ‘media’ from the remote’s onscreen options giving control access to all media sources It’s the same you get on an iPhone or iPad on the Crestron App and you can control the home from anywhere One night – he thought he was being funny – he was abroad and all of a sudden the lights start going on and off in the kitchen I was thinking ‘what on earth is going on?’ The he calls me to ask if I was scared,” she laughs It turns out that Robin was doing a demo to display the functionality “It is a perfect example of how you can control anything here That’s particularly nice if you have a house somewhere else and you know you’re going to be arriving tomorrow: you can set the temperature and the lighting; you can make sure that the water in your swimming pool is at the right temperature – you can prepare for your arrival Another of Petra’s favourite automation features is one every mother can relate to: “My eldest has a bad habit of always leaving her bathroom lights on,” she says in a low voice “Hers happens to be the only bathroom that doesn’t have a window we are all about energy saving – we claim that our systems save energy and this is the perfect example When we leave the house we can make sure that all of our lights are off with one touch of a button which saves me from having to go to every single room We’ll close the drapes so nobody knows we’re out of the house and if the dog is here we leave the lights dimmed in the kitchen “The system saves me so much time in the morning,” she enthuses I go to the panel in the hallway and open all the curtains on the ground floor and know that Louise won’t be woken On a normal day when they are both up for school I can open the curtains in one go.” I am probably here about 75% of my entire day.” Here the family has opted for in-wall keypads “I can use this or the touchpanel,” says Petra Plus the keypads mean no wall clutter: it’s one touchscreen that brings all of these elements together and I can use my wall for my beautiful girls,” she says gesturing to framed photos of her children which can also be controlled using the touchpanels inside “In the summer we put the pool to 30 degrees; in one button the pool cover will be off – I don’t have to go outside to do it,” says Petra demonstrating the system by having the cover retract only to quickly reverse it once it starts to fill with leaves “We also have a keypad in the pool house at the end of the garden which is a great area for when my eldest wants to throw a party She can play around with the music in there as loud as she wants and the noise doesn’t bother me at all She’s 16 and has a boyfriend – that’s the one thing you can’t control with Crestron,” she laughs Tucked behind a hidden panel in the study is where the equipment rack and all of the (extremely tidy) cabling can be found which contains the video distribution system: 16 video inputs and up to 16 video outputs Apple TVs (although the girls don’t have TVs in their rooms the family watches together in ‘the snug’ – “When I was a girl watching TV was a family event,” says Petra) ­– all going out on Cat-5 cable to video receivers that have been positioned behind the TVs A separate audio distribution system allows everything from the speakers throughout the whole house to the soundbars to be controlled remotely “There’s also a Kaleidescape system and Belgium TV satellite receiver.” John points out “There’s a lot of thought that’s been put into this,” says John of the rack you’re going to shorten the life of the system I have found from experience that no matter how many times you try to talk to architects or designers it’s an irrelevance as far as they’re concerned and that’s where things are overheating – then we’ve got problems But this has been done correctly – and it looks neat.” Eagle-eyed readers will notice that the imagery on the panels and remotes are no ordinary stock images “This is a customised family crest,” Petra nods after seeing CE Pro give the panels a closer look each panel has a different background that is something to do with our family Each panel has a bespoke background which are personal to us.” These are the kind of customised touches that have ensured such a long lasting relationship between Oxberry and Crestron the company prides itself on its bespoke custom panels “They aren’t specific templates that we take an then overlay – the clock graphic on the panels in this home is bespoke by us.” The individual clock hands’ movements have been painstakingly created by Oxberry for each position on the dial Aside from the pride the company has in its bespoke work it is clear that it is not out solely to make a profit: if a client requests something that Oxberry thinks they will soon regret (one client asked for the camera display to come on every time the alarm trips but did not take into account that the cat would be setting it off) we always programme in a certain amount of driving lessons,” says John every member of the family will sit down to learn how it works Each house is individually programmed; there’s no such thing as a programme that we drop in It’s tailored to suit the individual customer’s requirements and we always follow up which is not something that a lot of companies do.” “That’s a very important point as far as I’m concerned,” says Petra “It’s so important when there’s a handover when people buy a place with automation already installed Crestron is only as good as the installation when in fact it is more likely because the install hasn’t been done properly or they haven’t had it explained to them.” Having recently announced compatibility with Sonos and Amazon Echo’s Alexa “This was never a requirement before,” says John “ as Crestron has its own streaming device we know that Crestron will integrate very well I don’t doubt this will be the next move for Robin and Petra.” “In our first house in the 90s we had a basic Crestron system,” reflects Petra “Becoming an end user changes your view on what technology can do – before it was some abstract thing When we moved here it was just myself and Robin but now we have the girls and they know how to use the technology better than most adults That’s the funny thing – they’ve been raised with Crestron from the very first simple panel – they knew how to use it The Company Pages refer to individual microsites created for companies where all press releases and stories featured on the Essential Install are collated These microsites serve as a comprehensive record of a company’s promotional activities over time More than 130 artists in 60 locations will exhibit their work during Art Walk Kingston this weekend making it the largest open studio tour in the Hudson Valley The third annual Art Walk Kingston open studio weekend runs noon until 5 p.m. The weekend opens Friday night with a special preview of select artworks at ARTBAR where visitors can see samplings of the work meet artists on the tour and pick up printed maps The public reception is an opportunity to see the wide variety of artists participating in this year’s event and plan their visit “This is an incredible event that features the diverse artists arts-based businesses and organizations who are contributing to and sustaining Kingston’s growth and creative renaissance,” said City of Kingston Mayor Steve Noble. “I encourage everyone to join me for a weekend full of beauty The tour meanders through the City of Kingston including studios and art galleries in the Rondout Each of the three neighborhoods of Kingston are walkable and parking lots are indicated on the maps Online and print maps will guide visitors to the studios and merchants that are open with Art Walk Kingston special offerings.      Visitors can see participating artist studios in the historic Kingston warehouses such as Angela Rose Voulgarelis at Ferrovia Studios The Lace Mill’s Mad Gallery features 19 artists and the live-work studios of painters Freya and Ron DeNitto The Shirt Factory features the newly expanded Kingston Ceramics Studio Robert Kessler and Hudson Valley Silverworks, featuring jewelry and silver works by Raychel Wengenroth visitors can locate the art studios built into artists’ homes such as sculptors Dennis O’Connor and Millicent Young mixed media artist Patti Gibbons and ceramicist Susan Whelan Other studios include public art sculptor Hans van Meeuwen’s Midtown work studio on Broadway painter Jane Bloodgood-Abrams’ storefront studio Art Walk Kingston includes experiential events throughout the weekend Zelda’s Interactive Art Happening at the Lace Mill features live percussion black-light body painting and dancing Participants are encouraged to bring something to share — a poem O+ mural tours explore the midtown murals on Saturday night The Department of Regional Art Workers (The DRAW) at the YMCA features exhibits from their youth artists stations for journal making and live music by local musicians a preview exhibition at Rezny Studio Gallery for the CPW Award and Benefit Auction in collaboration with the Center for Photography at Woodstock will feature the works of well-known photographers such as Kenro Izu and photographer Tom DeLooza who will operate his popular tintype photo booth Other locations include making photo tiles and a curated art book offering The column appears every other week in Enjoy Contact her at 845-454-3222 or lmr@artsmidhudson.org Sept. 22-23; preview exhibit at ARTBAR Where: Locations throughout the City of Kingston Information: Visit artwalkkingston.com for online map with details on events and locations Print maps available at Catskill Arts ITALIAN ART: Garrison couple turns private art collection into Magazzino KINGSTON: From the waterfront to uptown, Kingston has it going on with fun nightspots ARTS FESTIVAL: Janeane Garofalo to perform at O+ Kingston own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment University of Western Australia provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation AU View all partners The growth of augmented reality (AR) will almost certainly change the way we visually experience the everyday world. And, as discussed previously on The Conversation it’s likely to be Google’s Project Glass leading the way on this new frontier But other technologies on the horizon will profoundly alter our interactions with computational technologies. More important than the eye-candy value of AR will be the applications for those who are physically or economically disadvantaged Virtual reality has been a staple of science fiction since the 1950s. In the 1956 film Forbidden Planet a race of aliens – the Krell – build a computer the size of a city in order to leave their physical beings behind and transmute to a virtual world that virtual world turned out to be doomed to catastrophe More recently, in the Wachowskis’ Matrix series humans are enslaved in a virtual world created by machines The ensuing battle does not occur in a physical reality but primarily in the artificial reality of the Matrix – a digitally manufactured reality experienced by oblivious humans as a dream the enemy is software – programs known as “agents” who were designed to stabilise the virtual world What these and many other science fiction films have in common is the ability for the human mind and computation technology to have a technically-advanced connection The connection fuses the functions of the brain with software In a TED talk from 2010, Vietnamese/Australian entrepreneur Tan Le demonstrated the basic functionality of this fusion through headset technology developed by Emotiv Lifesciences – the company she founded (see video below) The technology is neither expensive (less than US$300) nor complicated It comprises a headset and software that runs on standard Mac or PC laptops Each individual has unique brainwave cues for certain thought patterns and actions The software can be trained to identify brainwave patterns that become triggers for actions on the computer Imagine writing essays or emails merely by thinking them out or imagining a painting which could be then imaged and printed using appropriate software This is a revolutionary shift in the interaction between humans it will no longer be necessary to use a keyboard and mouse to enter data into a computer Voice-activated technology has already given us a taste of the potential of direct human interfaces with computers The brainwave-reading headsets however will take it to a new level give us the ability to have a real two-way connection with computers And combine this brainwave-reading technology and the visual potential of AR – seen in developments such as Google’s Project Glass – and we could soon realise the potential envisaged by designer Michaël Harboun in his video Headsets developed by Emotiv Lifesciences can also be used to monitor mental functions and cognitive skills, all by tracking the status of your brainwaves during daily activities Not unlike an electrocardiogram (ECG) machine tracks the electrical activity of the heart to predict future health issues Emotiv will achieve similar results for your brain While tracking of one’s heart seems safe and practical there are profound ethical issues in the potential impact of recording brainwave activity In the science fiction film Minority Report, based on a short story by Philip K. Dick predictive behavioural modelling based on recorded brainwave activity allows police to predict murders before they have occurred could the brainwave data collected via a device such as Emotiv be used to forecast our own potential thoughts and actions The integration of AR and immersive technologies with our lives will provide endless opportunities In February we saw researchers creating a direct interface between brainwaves and a prosthetic arm allowing people to reinstate the activity of a missing limb using only their mind AR and other immersive technologies are also being used as an educational tool for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) Research has shown computer interaction can benefit children with ASD but computer interfaces can be challenging for some children to master easy to understand and gives immediate feedback to the user This feedback loop between biology and technology (biotechnology) will also allow two-way interaction with videogame environments Players will be able to interact with both their surrounding physical environment and the virtual gaming platform Currently gamers use the internet to connect to a virtual space where they interact with each other using an avatar (the player’s character) The avatar’s motion and voices are controlled by use of game controllers and microphones With the combined technology of a brainwave-reading headset and AR games could take place in a suburban park Participants could either physically join the park (just walk there) or inhabit the park virtually The Unreal gaming engine, developed by Epic Games, is an example of a system well-placed to integrate multiplayer games into the technologies mentioned above The game engine creates a 3D virtual environment that allows access for many players The visualisation could be augmented utilising AR glasses while the interaction with game controllers and actions could be achieved using the headset It will be a while before we’re all wandering around with AR glasses or interacting with biotechnology on a daily basis but one thing’s clear: these technologies will spawn a new era of interactivity that will further extend the capacity of our bodies and minds into the virtual space By 2023-06-20T15:30:00+01:00 Dutch importer Olympic Fruit has put the juice from its rejected mandarins to good use after it teamed up with Rotterdam brewery Vet & Lazy to launch a “deliciously refreshing” radler was “the first of hopefully many collaborations” between four companies based in Barendrecht’s famouse fruit-packing district was involved in bringing the project to fruition She explains: “We are convinced that by working together we can have a positive impact on reducing waste streams and encouraging a circular economy.” The mandarins used were rejected because of defects in their appearance which meant they could no longer be sold to clients including supermarkets because they still taste fantastic,” says Lennart van den Heuvel “This project is proof that sustainability is easily achievable We are therefore committed to establishing more of these kinds of circular projects that contribute to our sustainability strategy.” Okke van Beuge of Vet & Lazy was on hand at this week’s launch event to explain what exactly a radler was and the carbonation of the beer gives it a little bite And the bright orange colour just instantly makes you happy,” he noted “‘Linkebal’ is a Dutch term used in bicycle racing,” he adds “It’s when you take advantage of another person’s qualities.” The decision to put some of Olympic’s unwanted fruit into another industry’s slipstream certainly seems a popular choice with two-thirds of a first batch of 3,000 litres apparently distributed already a company which develops and builds energy-efficient composting machines for SMEs and the non-profit sector “We often hear stories that you can’t compost citrus fruit,” says Compostandig founder Siemen Cox “But that couldn’t be further from the truth The composting process can turn anything that has been alive for a short time into compost The radler will be available at Café Clementine while the compost itself will be used in the café’s vegetable garden Site powered by Webvision Cloud The Fifth Annual Art Walk Kingston returns again this year showcasing the work of Kingston’s artists visitors and local residents are invited to explore Kingston and immerse themselves in a range of art and events drawings and sculptures are just some of the mediums that will be on display at galleries and special pop-up spaces across the city With this year’s coronavirus concerns the organizers and artists have pivoted to private exhibition spaces and an online virtual gallery for those who want to explore the art from the comfort of their homes Art Walk Kingston has been a critical force in connecting artists with collectors and this year the volunteers who manage the event wanted to ensure that continues This year many of Art Walk Kingston’s artists’ works are featured in the Fuller Building an historic former shirt factory recently renovated by architect Scott Dutton Over 20 artists featured in the space include Jane Bloodgood-Abrams Across the parking lot of The Fuller Building is the YMCA Farm Project where Art Walk Visitors can see the Say Their Names Memorial The Kingston YMCA Farm Project’s Summer Youth Crew installed the memorial on the greenhouse fence as part of their antiracist study and work where visitors can see the exhibit by MariaElena Ferrer-Harrington “Masking Identities: Rebuilding Deterritorialized Cultural Memories” and MAD’s Celebration of the Arts’ CommUNITY Clay Project stop by the new multi-purpose space at the Cornell Creative Arts Center where MariaElena Ferrer-Harrington curated an exhibit “We’re All Human,” featuring 16 artists Artport is a recent cultural space to Kingston located in the historic Cornell Steamboat Building along the Rondout Creek The street-level floor will include artists participating in Art Walk Kingston including Susan Berger The exhibit continues upstairs and live performance will be featured by Sal Cataldi’s Spaghetti Eastern Music and Guitars A Go Go during the weekend The Arts Society of Kingston collaborated with the Midtown Arts District during Art Walk Kingston to mount the Kingston Annual Art exhibit curated by Julie Hedrick The exhibit features artworks of 25 artists see the Reher Center mural on Spring Street created by youth from the Rondout community under the leadership of artist Julia Vogl and check out the mural symbol guide on the sidewalk Arts Mid-Hudson is the presenting partner for Art Walk Kingston working in our communities to provide vision and leadership to support thriving and diverse arts in the Mid-Hudson Valley a diverse offering of arts and cultural programs and are produced across a broad geographic area writer and executive director of Arts Mid-Hudson Art From Here appears every other week in Sunday Life Contact her at 845-454-3222 or LMR@ArtsMidHudson.org.  When: September 26 and 27; noon to 5:00 p.m Virtual Gallery: artsmidhudson.org/artwalkkingston Visit artwalkkingston.com for a complete lists of artists CDC health protocols will be followed at all locations and visitors must adhere to wearing masks with social distancing requirements Exhibiting Art Walk Kingston artists: Susan Berger Location: Reher Center for Immigrant Culture & History Kingston (mural on Spring Street) featuring artist Julia Vogl and students of the Rondout Neighborhood’s Read and Write Program Location: Art Society of Kingston (ASK) 97 Broadway Check artwalkkingston.com for up to date information Kingston (adjacent to Fuller Building parking lot) Location: Say Their Names Memorial project, Cornell Creative Arts Center Exhibiting Artists: MariaElena Ferrer-Harrington MAD Celebration of the Arts’CommUNITY Clay Project Earlier this month, Google released a video (see below) announcing Project Glass: the development of a pair of glasses with a real difference Google’s augmented reality eyewear (or “eyeware”) will provide hands-free access to maps all displayed as a virtual layer on top of the user’s regular vision Science fiction has been predicting virtual or augmented reality for 50 years - just think of the Terminator films But perhaps the predicted future has arrived in the shape of a ubiquitous fashion item our visual relationship with the world around us will come with additional layers of information Imagine the cityscape becoming the backdrop for 3D wearing your augmented reality (AR) glasses and see someone wearing a pair of shoes you like Using image recognition the glasses would pick up the brand and style of the shoe then send you to the online store To purchase you would only need focus your eyes on the “add to cart” button the shoe retailer might send a virtual salesperson into the space in front of you to try to close the deal Advertising content could still be delivered through traditional television-style advertising but your eyewear could create 3D models of products you could (virtually) rotate in your hand (in the case of a new watch) or even walk around (in the case of a new car) This will be the commercial reality of augmented technology and will allow companies such as Google or Facebook to expand the reach and depth of their advertising campaigns Here at the University of Western Australia our architecture students have been developing other novel uses for this technology The study of past and present buildings is obviously a vital part of an architect’s education Students currently study images of buildings and plans from history books or the internet As part of their course, our students constructed an array of virtual buildings in Perth and the surrounding area. The most outstanding project was a real-scale model of a 30-metre-tall cathedral This building was “placed” (in a virtual sense) on the UWA lawn using GPS positioning in Google Earth’s 3D Buildings feature After downloading an app to their iPhone or iPad students could walk through and around the building and get a real feel for the space rather than just seeing a drawing or computer model This works by projecting the real environment using the devices camera and the relative GPS co-ordinates The latest devices can also track the motion of the device This creates a simulated space in the real space The development of AR glasses would make this experience even more immersive (Sadly, Google Earth soon got wind of our new cathedral and “switched it off”, given it’s not a true building.) The opportunity for using AR to teach architects is profound we are already planning an exhibition of architecture in a series of parks around Australia If you had the compatible eyeware you would merely turn up in your own time and the ghostly buildings would inhabit the park just as any other building inhabits a city No physical gallery space would be required for this exhibition The rise of augmented reality and eyeware will also change the way tourists experience the history of our cities and other locations of historical and cultural significance Virtual stories could be played out within historical ruins with AR layered on top of the existing structure Imagine arriving at the ancient Greek theatre at Taormina, Sicily (see above) to see the ruins in their present-day state You could then put on your AR eyeware and watch an ancient Greek play be enacted in front of you with the smoking volcano of Mount Etna in the background And the language barrier wouldn’t be a problem Your eyeware could display subtitles in your language of choice at the bottom of your field of vision This cultural theorists’ dream would play out on the inside surface of your eyeware adding virtual content to your vision of the real-world historical structure There’s also a considerable overlap between 3D gaming technology and the capabilities of augmented reality If you could use your eyeware to play a game the game space would no longer be confined to your living room or wherever your mobile gaming device might be Instead the game space becomes an overlay of your immediate environment and real-world objects become part of the game world. Indeed, with the Playstation Vita handheld console such gaming is already possible (see video below) While Google’s Project Glass is still undergoing testing it’s clear that AR devices will be with us sooner or later The advent of eyeware will change the way we communicate just as smartphones such as the iPhone have Where smartphones have merged the internet and daily life in an accessible and often-addictive way This technology will deliver the ability to inhabit a realistic 3D internet-driven virtual reality while still experiencing reality a the same time Many amputees experience pain in their missing limbs, but allowing them to “see” their missing limbs in action through augmented reality technology may help alleviate this phantom limb pain (PLP), a case study published today has found Amputees feel PLP in the location of their missing limbs. A 1984 survey of American veterans with amputations found 78% of respondents reported phantom pain only 1% reported lasting benefits from any treatment Today’s paper, published in Frontiers in Neuroscience found a chronic PLP sufferer had significantly reduced pain after using a virtual arm in augmented reality James McAuley from Neuroscience Research Australia said: “This publication reports a very interesting case of long standing PLP with what appears to be a very impressive outcome which is not common in the pain sciences.” In the past, treatment of PLP has involved drugs most treatment approaches do not result in consistent symptom improvement Lead researcher Max Ortiz Catalan has developed a new treatment for PLP using augmented reality Augmented reality is where a computer-generated image is superimposed on a user’s view of the real world electrodes on the patient’s stump detect electrical signals in the muscles which are then translated into arm movements The patient sees himself on a screen with a superimposed virtual arm Virtual reality treatments in the past have used mirror therapy to reflect the opposite limb – limiting treatment to patients with only one-sided amputations the control comes directly from the amputated limb through myoelectric pattern recognition so the patient really needs to execute their motor intention to make things happen,” Mr Ortiz Catalan said There’s also a gaming component to the treatment where patients control a racing game with the movements of their phantom limb “The idea is to promote motor execution in the missing limb,” Mr Ortiz Catalan said “We have also designed a home training system so the patients can take it home in the future I say in the future because this treatment needs to prove its benefits first.” Mr Ortiz Catalan suggests the pain relief may be due to a combination of factors These include reactivating the motor areas of the patient’s brain (which would ordinarily move the missing limb) and the patient’s visual feedback which tricks the brain into believing the limb is executing the motor commands The patient in the case study for the treatment lost his arm just below the elbow in 1965 He had been suffering moderate to unbearable pain since that time the patient now experiences periods where he is completely pain-free The perceived posture of the patient’s phantom limb was also affected He had initially reported his phantom arm posture as a “strongly closed fist” but following treatment it gradually relaxed to the neutral posture displayed by the virtual limb He also learnt to control the moment of his phantom hand when not connected to the treatment system Dr McAuley said these preliminary findings are very impressive: “The authors appear to have conducted and reported on a scientifically rigorous case study and their conclusions seem appropriate in that they haven’t gone ‘beyond the data’ and have in common some sort of sensorimotor re-learning/re-training Applying these principles across other pain conditions particularly common conditions such as low back pain Rene Van Meeuwen, from the University of Western Australia, said this treatment could be extended in the future with the development of Google Glass: “It will be the ultimate device for any amputee whereby the patient and anyone else with a pair of Google Glass will find the amputation itself will disappear.” Mr Van Meeuwen also suggested future links with devices such as Tan Le’s head set making it possible to control virtual objects Mr Ortiz Catalan said the next step is to test this treatment on a wider population of patients suffering from PLP “We’re willing to provide this system to any researcher or physiotherapist interested in evaluating its use for PLP,” he said “If it turns out to be useful for all patients then hopefully it will spread as a standard treatment.” By Clive Couldwell in Interviews February 11, 2019 0 Clive Couldwell talks to Crestron EMEA/Technological Innovations Group president and ceo Robin van Meeuwen about his family’s legacy and future plans for the company’s development Already a registered user? Log in Now Sign up for our daily Newsletter and stay up to date with all the latest news You are receiving this pop-up because this is the first time you are visiting our site You are using software which is blocking our advertisements (adblocker) we are relying on revenues from our banners So please disable your adblocker and reload the page to continue using this site.Thanks "This is how a lazy afternoon can lead to great things." This statement by Olympic Fruit's Lennart van den Heuvel says a lot about the creation of Linkebal II a mandarin shandy from the Vet & Lazy brewery This Dutch brewery uses rejected mandarins from Olympic Fruit for this beverage launched the circular beer shandy in the presence of the Dutch town Dineke van Meeuwen (Fruitpacking District) and Thijs van den Heuvel (Olympic Fruit) and other interested parties gathered at a local café "We specialize in fruit," begins Olympic Fruit's Lennart "We always have products that aren't good enough to sell not-pretty-enough mandarins are often thrown away so we wanted to do something with those residual streams," Initiative partners Siemen Cox (Compostandig) and Dineke van Meeuwen of Fruitpacking District that enabled this partnership "There's much being said about sustainability So when Siemen Cox (Compostandig) contacted me He brought Okke van Beuge (Vet & Lazy) along and we got talking about what was possible a shame that these mandarins are rejected on their appearance because they still taste fantastic This project shows that sustainability can be made truly tangible committed to more such circular projects that contribute to our sustainability strategy," says Lennart a driving force behind Fruitpacking District that made this collaboration possible agrees: "We're convinced that by working together we can positively impact reducing waste streams and promote a circular economy Fresh and smooth with a nice tang from the beer," he says The brewery had worked with rejected fruit before but a collaboration of this size was a nice challenge for them but 2,000 liters of the first 3,000-liter batch is already gone so it definitely tastes like more." How did the name come about "Linkebal is a [Dutch] cycling term that refers to taking advantage of other people's qualities I think this partnership represents that well," says Okke something had to be done with the pulp and peels The company builds and develops energy-efficient composting machines for SMEs and nonprofits "We often hear that citrus isn't compostable anything that's briefly part of a composting process can be turned into compost local alderman Van der Linden toasted the initiative "We refer to Barendrecht as a town with a global streak We're already the Netherlands' fruit and vegetable capital; maybe now we'll become the country's circular beer capital too," he says "No," Olympic Fruit's Lennart answers firmly We must consider whether we can tackle it on a large long-term scale with perhaps a residual stream hub We'd also like to see if it's possible to do more types of fruit But we've already received several requests asking if we have more There's a world of possibilities that we're happily going to explore with these partners," Lennart concludes For more information:Olympic Fruit40a Handelscentrum ZHZ2991 LD, Barendrecht, NLTel: +31 (0) 180 646 200Email: [email protected]Website: www.olympicfruit.com FreshPublishers © 2005-2025 FreshPlaza.com Rene Van Meeuwen is an Assistant Professor at the University of Western Australia and the founding Director of Felix Laboratories Pty Ltd And so, we devised the Augmented Australia app using technology to overcome the hurdles of no pavilion and showcase historical and contemporary Australian projects from the last 100 years which All the while increasing the capacity for the creative team to extend our creative boundaries If you download the app now and scan the “trigger images” accompanying this article they will come alive and take you on a virtual journey through these unrealised projects incorporating three-dimensional (3D) augmented models The Venice Architecture Biennale is considered to be the “Olympics of Architecture,” at which countries compete for the coveted Golden Lion trophy. Held every two years in the Giardini the gardens on the Island of Venice constructed by Napoleon Bonaparte this historic site has been turned into a series of pavilions housing 30 of the 80 countries who participate in the Biennale The curator of the exhibition, Rem Koolhaas possibly one of the most influential architects in modern times has themed the 2014 exhibition “Fundamentals 1914 – 2014” asking countries to examine their architecture and its relationship to national identity over the last 100 years Provocatively, Koolhaas has claimed that globalisation is affecting regional and national design creating a global architectural homogeneity Augmented reality (AR) the technology we use in the app devised for Venice is essentially an extra layer of information overlayed on the built environment The technology has freed the Venice exhibition from the constraints of the physical world to expose the designs of 22 – 11 historical and 11 contemporary – architectural dreams plus a completed version of the new Australian pavilion The temporary structure “Cloud Space” (pictured above) is the new spiritual home for the 2014 Australian exhibition where participants can go to get help from the exhibition staff and partake in the animations and scale models on trigger images under the cloud before venturing off to explore the 1:1 scale models The 1:1 scale models are placed throughout the city of Venice unbuilt but “habitable” through handheld devices using your phone’s GPS co-ordinate system and its camera to position itself within the built environment This experience lets the participants experience each project’s scale In the article you are reading there are three examples of trigger images – a re-imagined Sydney Opera House by Minifie van Schaik (Caught Unawares) – main article image – and a 1952 competition entry by Harry Seidler for the Melbourne Olympic Stadium There is also the real-world scale digital model of a 1958-designed Pier Nervi cathedral which has been GPS-located in the CBDs of Brisbane The built environment is facing some critical issues in the near future In the sustainability and climate-change space architecture can be considered a “waste management” issue given building life-cycles can be as little as 30 years Redundancy in building stock is a natural force in our urban condition being largely driven by economic factors and property value or energy and resource harvesting products to help reduce a building’s life-cycle impact on the environment One of the implications of augmented reality technology is allowing the creation of a hybrid building – half physical Google Glass, which I wrote about on The Conversation in 2012 is a dedicated AR device allowing for a more immersive experience through a set of glasses Although still unreleased to the general market this currently offers the best delivery model to utilise unbuilt architecture through AR The 14th International Architecture Exhibition will take place in Venice from June 7 to November 14 2014 2008 — Crestron International attracted huge crowds today at its Headquarters Grand Opening The new state-of-the-art facility provides training technical support and product distribution for Europe Crestron International was established in Brussels in 1992 with Frank Van Meeuwen the commercial and residential markets throughout Europe and Middle East have consistently and rapidly grown necessitating the expanded offices that opened today this past year Crestron International earned more than $100 million in sales "This demonstration of leadership and commitment to the global marketplace is unmatched in our industry," says Randy Klein Executive Vice President of Crestron Electronics "It takes a huge investment and a lot of resources to support an effort like this we need to expand and grow to create new opportunities for our dealers." The new headquarters cost $6 million to build This world-class facility is more than a half mile wide features more than 20 miles of installed cable is supported by 178 of the most talented and dedicated AV professionals on the continent the new headquarters includes modern training facilities and a fully-automated "This new building and outstanding staff are a testament to our dedication and success," says Van Meeuwen "We look forward to continuing to provide the best support to our dealers Those using Google Street View site or app to take a look at the Bergstraat in Oudsbergen (Limburg Province) get more than they might have bargained for Anyone wishing to check out house number 1 on the street in the village of Meeuwen not only gets to see the house and some of the street around it but also the bare posterior of local man and prankster Jens Vrolijks Last summer when the Google Street View car was in the area Mr Vrolijks seized the chance to carry out what he describes as “my best prank yet” and he dropped his pants and showed his bottom to the camera A year later the mooning Mr Vrolijks is on Google Street View for all to see Many people visit the Google Street View site to look at their own house or to pay a virtual visit to places far away sometimes the photographs featured on the sites show amusing things or things that the home-owner or those that manage the site might prefer that we didn’t see Those that take the trouble to type in Bergstraat 1 Meeuwen (Oudsbergen) into the Street View search function and zoom in a little can’t fail to spot the mooning man of Meeuwen Jens Vrolijks He told VRT Radio 2 Limburg that “I saw the car coming from in the distance and I thought I must do something that will be recorded for posterity” The photograph has only recently appeared online and according to Mr Vrolijks it can’t be censored "It’s the best thing that I have done all year and everyone can see it” In a talk to an exclusive private school assembly on Wednesday on the issue of mental health fashion designer and Auckland personality Denise L'Estrange-Corbet dropped the F-bomb and prompted a letter to parents from the principal in a quick mea culpa Diocesan School in Epsom said it was merely front-footing any perceived concern about profanity But the designer is unrepentant and says swearing is the least of students' problems these days Is this political correctness gone too far L'Estrange-Corbet was contacted some months ago by a student at the school suffering from depression and invited to make a speech to the assembly of 13 to 18-year-old girls "She wrote me the most touching email," L'Estrange-Corbet told The Diary "She wanted to highlight that depression is a very real thing and needed to be talked about." L'Estrange-Corbet points out 1 in 4 will suffer from depression in their lives that's nearly 500 girls that were sitting in the hall on Wednesday morning in an effort to emphasise a point she did swear and the reason I did was that it was used in a sentence and it needed to be used to get the veracity of what I was feeling at the time." "The email was merely as a way to explain," deputy principal Margaret van Meeuwen told The Diary We don't use profanity in school assemblies but this was in the context of a speech that was well-received by the students." Asked if there had been any complaints by parents or pupils She was disappointed that a parent at the school had informed The Diary of the email "It wouldn't be the first time the girls have heard the word," she said It is a shame that a parent chose one word out of the 15-minute talk which just shows how very hard it is to get the message about depression across - f***ing hard!" Point made The Fashion Week rumour mill was rife with gossip about lap-band surgery in Thailand and civil union catwalk copycats but the rag show itself was decidedly more downcast and low-key this year TV3's sanguine attempt to describe it as "stronger than ever" (perhaps they're still sporting their optimistic recessionary glasses) only added to the hype and hoopla But the A-list designers and celebrities largely skipped it like David Shearer with the advancing three-ring circus make his mark on our fashion throng on Sunday American stunt performer and self proclaimed "professional shitter" will hit the runway in Huffer's public show "He's going around town telling people he's an international model," Huffer owner Steve Dunstan chortled whose claim to fame is defecating on television is the face of Huffer's new Spring/Summer campaign Dunstan told The Diary the pair have been friends for 20 years and share a love of snowboarding and irreverent humour "Huffer is a lifestyle brand and we take a relaxed We're not high-end fashion and we don't take ourselves too seriously." While the political grapevine is awash this week with salacious gossip on a Mr Ordinary MP's philandering Shane Jones turned 54 this week and celebrated with a triumphant appearance on TV3's 3rd Degree revealing more about his new partner and their affair on the 2011 campaign trail Pity fellow red runners David Cunliffe and Grant Robertson didn't follow suit They're reticent to reveal their other halves We know this because the TV cameras exposed their caginess phoned Jones strongly suggesting they stay schtum and not involve their families on camera as the cameras rolled and caught the conversation made his sexual persuasion an issue this week when he was busted in an interview with TV One's Seven Sharp fibbing about the whereabouts of his partner Alf Kaiwai Viewers took to Twitter to wonder if he could tell a porky like that Labour's Got Talent is heating up and all three contestants are using the platform to showcase their policies and peacock personalities He always looked like a fish out of water on Seven Sharp now Greg Boyed (left) is boomeranging back to the Tonight desk It's the fish bowl he's most comfortable with Well-informed sources say he was pressured into the role by former news boss Ross Dagan who knew the show needed senior journalistic credibility and clout on the presenting panel They say a clause in his contract meant he could opt out and his recent hospitalisation from the show's set meant the network had to play it cautiously Insiders say a stress-related incident would be a suitable bargaining tool Tim Wilson has always made his ambitions plain But following the good feedback the show's received when radio DJ Stacey Morrison has filled in maybe TVNZ will turn to non-traditional outposts Is a journalist required on a show that delves into stories at puddle depth A wolf has been run over and killed on a road in the Limburg municipality of Oudsbergen The roadkill incident happened at around 6am on Monday on the road between the villages of Meeuwen and Gruitrode The body of the dead wolf has been taken away by staff from the Nature Assistance Centre at Oudsbergen (Limburg Province) The young wolf is from the same pack as a wolf that was killed on a road in Hechtel-Eksel earlier this month The Nature Assistance Centre’s Sil Janssen told VRT News that “It is one of four cubs of which two are still alive We have not carried out a thorough investigation but we believed that the animal was died straight away The police were at the scene quarter of an hour after the collision No other animals or people were injured in the incident and the van that hit the wolf only sustained minor damage and was able to continue its journey Mr Janssen added that at this time of the year many wild animals are being run over on the roads He calls for more bridges/tunnels to allow wild animals to cross the road safely Cattle guards and fences would also help reduce the level of roadkill Staff voices were front and centre at Doltone House on Wednesday for the first annual Western Sydney Local Health District (WSLHD) Safety Symposium Blacktown Hospital nurse Rossana van Meeuwen Westmead Hospital nurse Kazuyo Okuyama and WSLHD specialist dentist Dr Avanti Karve shared their personal experiences of patient aggression and violence and the afternoon was dedicated to generating and prioritising ideas and actions To get involved in the WSLHD Culture Strategy, please email WSLHD-PeopleAndCulture@health.nsw.gov.au Western Sydney Local Health District is committed to delivering world class healthcare to support the health and wellbeing of our community We aim to work together to make our community the healthiest in NSW Photos must be high resolution and include correctly spelled captions with names from left to right Read the Disclaimers, Privacy and Copyright notice It is the start of a new Porirua parkrun year and those that volunteered this week are in the lead with 100 points each Each year we look back and celebrate those parkrunners that made a consistent effort Those that turned up almost every week and gave it their all during the run So congratulations to all those that received trophies and certificates Porirua Shoe Clinic and Whittakers for providing items in the goody bags for the winners of each category It was a lovely day to enjoy the barbeque put on by Chris Carl from New Zealand Home Loans Mana and we hope you enjoyed it In addition to the end of the year festivities we could also celebrate the 100th runs of Andrew and Brenda Gray and the 50th run of Kiri Ford and Bella (her dog) Also thank you to all the people that dressed up as Where is Wally or other related themes 🙂 it was a great turnout of costumes 🙂 Without volunteers there would be no parkrun parkrun cannot operate without the assistance provided by volunteers All regular parkrunners are encouraged to volunteer five times a year so if you are injured or have a conflicting race and therefore don’t want to run parkrun one week Go onto the parkrun Porirua Volunteers webpage check out the roster and email PoriruaHelpers@parkrun.com to register your availability Thank you to this week’s amazing voluncheers: Ian CLOTHIER They turn up to Porirua parkrun with their own bicycle at 7:45am to receive the key to the turn-around cone and the emergency phone and get trained on how to work them The cone has been released and place on the track by the run director who drives the length of the track to check for hazards During the pre-run briefing the cyclist positions themselves up the track by about 50m On the first lap the cyclist tries to stay ahead of the runners – showing them the way to go to the half-way mark Don’t worry if the runners pass you – just keep up as best you can and make sure new parkrunners stick to the correct track lead the runners back to the turn-off to Aotea (just up the hill from the waterfall with the large tree-stump) and set them free to run back to the finish Ideally the cyclist stays at the top of the course (between the Aotea turn-off and the turn-around cone) to ensure runners don’t get lost and to reassure the tail-enders that there is somebody looking after them you can lead the front runners back to the finish the cyclist is our main safety volunteer and we’d prefer if they look after the tail-enders who are often new to Porirua parkrun ask runners to alert the run-director for assistance (for instance we can drive a vehicle up the track for a sprained ankle) or cycle beside somebody that is struggling slightly the cyclist locks the cone up again and accompanies the last person to about the 4 km mark Then they cycle ahead to let the run director know how many people are still to come and hand back the phone and key Nine parkrunners proved that they were fast Wallies and set new personal best times (PBs) including Megan Freya STALLARD Blenheim parkrun starts 9th July 2016 - registrations are open The relay is run on a scenic rural and coastal course on both sealed and unsealed roads with a few undulations to keep it interesting with lap distances varying from 4.6km to 8.2km The relay will be followed by prize giving and time to socialise over lunch at the Greta Valley Tavern You could choose to have the weekend staying in nearby Hanmer Springs approx one hour drive away and relax after the run in the famous Hanmer Springs hot pools For more information and to enter: www.sportsground.co.nz/gretavalleyrelay or email Mike Riley at foxriley@xtra.co.nz of whom 16 were first timers and 9 recorded new Personal Bests Representatives of 9 different athletics clubs took part including participants from 89 athletics clubs have completed 13,631 runs covering a total distance of 68,155 km and there have been 2,800 new Personal Bests Today's full results and a complete event history can be found on the Porirua parkrun Results Page. You can also follow us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/Poriruaparkrun or via twitter @poriruaparkrun © parkrun Global Limited (Company number: 09411750) No part of this site may be reproduced in whole or in part in any manner without the permission of the copyright owner