What motivates people to become Airbnb hosts – do we know enough? — an exploration of the literature

Airbnb hosts open their doors to provide hospitality for strangers in 7 million homes in more than 100 000 cities around the world. On top of that, Airbnb hosts offer 40 000 guided local experiences across more than 1 000 cities around the world. Yet, in this article, we found that only a limited number of peer-reviewed studies exist on what motivates people to host. Sharing makes a great deal of sense for the consumer, the environment and for communities if managed and balanced fairly by companies and governments. The holistic and thematic map of Airbnb host motivators offered by this article provides hands-on value to those companies and governments and numerous other stakeholders affected by the sharing economy. The findings map a large span of motivational factors that hosts experience, ranging from financial, safety, and security risks of having to submit and renegotiate one’s intimate, affective space and private sphere – to escaping loneliness, connecting with people, making new friends and earning money as a micro-entrepreneur. Finally, the article finds that the thematic categories are interrelated, as the existence of an assurance structure for financial transactions does seem to reduce uncertainty among hosts, allowing them to participate.Keywords: Airbnb host motivation, Airbnb micro-entrepreneurship, collaborative consumption, sharing econom

From Plato's Rational Diameter to Proclus' Elegant Theorem

A novel interpretation of a single sentence in Proclus' Commentary to Plato's "Republic" suggests a virtually algebraic rigorous derivation of an infinite sequence of pairs of side and diameter numbers.Comment: 21 pages, 1 figure -- minor changes added 12/30/202

Steroid profiling as an additional tool to confirm one-sided hormone overproduction in primary aldosteronism: A case report

Primary aldosteronism (PA) is the leading cause of secondary hypertension. The source of aldosterone hypersecretion is often due to a unilateral aldosterone-producing adenoma, and unilateral laparoscopic adrenalectomy is recommended in such patients. Before surgery, confirmation of unilateral hypersecretion is necessary. This is optimally performed by adrenal venous sampling (AVS). However, AVS is not always successful e.g., due to difficulties in the cannulation of the right adrenal vein. Here we present the case of a 53-year-old female patient with primary aldosteronism, a left-sided adrenal mass and an inconspicuous right adrenal. AVS was performed, but cannulation of the right adrenal vein failed. Therefore, aldosterone hypersecretion also of the right adrenal could not be excluded despite higher aldosterone concentrations in the left renal and adrenal vein. To increase the certainty that the left sided adrenal mass was the source of aldosterone hypersecretion, steroid profiling was performed in a sample from the inferior vena cava. This revealed markedly elevated levels of 18-oxocortisol, 18-hydroxycortisol, 11-deoxycorticosterone, and 11-deoxycortisol, a steroid profile that strongly suggested that the left sided adrenal mass was an aldosterone producing adenoma, most likely due to a somatic KCNJ5 mutation. Following unilateral adrenalectomy, CYP11B2 immunohistochemistry, and genetics analysis of the resected adrenal confirmed a solitary aldosterone-producing adenoma with intense aldosterone synthase expression, which harbored a previously described KCNJ5 Phe154Cys mutation. Biochemical and clinical cure was confirmed 6 months postoperatively

Social Entrepreneurship Model Counseling on Sharia Cooperatives Managers and Members

Mungsolkanas Mosque is one of the mosques that has a Sharia cooperative that operates as a community empowerment unit. However, the resulting empowerment cooperatives are not optimal. It is indicated that this mosque is still finding it difficult to optimize its empowerment effort to improve society’s quality of life. This community service activity is intended to provide solutions needed by cooperative managers and managers so that the resulting empowerment benefits are more optimal. It is also expected that through this activity, the empowerment effort can be further enhanced by actively involving the society in economic activity development. The method used in this community service activity is knowledge improvement through FGD. After conducting preliminary research, we discovered that the less optimal output of empowerment is caused by: (a) a lack of knowledge of managers about the activities of the entrepreneurial concept; and (b) the difficulty of cooperative managers in identifying the potential of the community in order to determine the type of entrepreneurial activity to be developed. After this activity, we concluded that there is a significant knowledge improvement from the participants, by increased knowledge on how to determine the most suitable business line to enhance the cooperative’s contribution on sovereignty improvement in society. Keywords: social entrepreneurship, mosque cooperatives, society empowermen

Revitalising Public Spaces and Promoting Social Cohesion through a Sustainable Urban Design: Case Study in the Xirokrini-Vardaris Area of Thessaloniki

This article presents a comprehensive site analysis of the Xirokrini-Vardaris area in Thessaloniki, identifying challenges such as isolation from an abandoned train station, car-centric dominance of parking, underutilised green spaces, and lack of vibrant social areas. To address these, the study team proposes sustainable interventions to transform the Xirokrini-Vardaris area into a vibrant and sustainable urban environment: enhancing social housing with vegetation green walls for microclimate regulation, privacy, security, and air purification. It emphasises redesigning green spaces to invite community interaction, prioritising pedestrian infrastructure, and fostering inclusivity through clear public-private delineation. These interventions aim to create a sustainable, vibrant, and inclusive urban environment, fostering social cohesion and pedestrian mobility. Thessaloniki can thus pave the way for resilient, people-centric urban development

Linear and Non-linear associations between vitamin D and grip strength: a Mendelian Randomisation study in UK Biobank

BACKGROUND: Low vitamin D status is a widespread phenomenon. Similarly, muscle weakness, often indicated by low grip strength, is another public health concern; however, the vitamin D-grip strength relationship is equivocal. It is important to understand whether variation in vitamin D status causally influences muscle strength to elucidate whether supplementation may help prevent/treat muscle weakness. METHODS: UK Biobank participants, aged 37-73 years, with valid data on Vitamin D status (circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentration) and maximum grip strength were included (N=368,890). We examined sex-specific cross-sectional associations between 25(OH)D and grip strength. Using Mendelian randomisation (MR), we estimated the strength of the 25(OH)D-grip strength associations using genetic instruments for 25(OH)D as our exposure. Crucially, because potential effects of vitamin D supplementation on strength could vary by underlying 25(OH)D status, we allowed for non-linear relationships between 25(OH)D and strength in all analyses. RESULTS: Mean(SD) of 25(OH)D was 50(21)nmol/L in males and females. In cross-sectional analyses there was evidence of non-linear associations between 25(OH)D and strength: e.g., compared to males with 50nmol/L circulating 25(OH)D, males with 75nmol/L had 0.36kg (0.31,0.40) stronger grip; males with 25nmol/L had 1.01kg (95% CI: 0.93,1.08) weaker grip. In MR analyses, linear and non-linear models fitted the data similarly well: e.g., 25nmol/L higher circulating 25(OH)D in males was associated with 0.25kg (-0.05,0.55) greater grip (regardless of initial 25(OH)D status). Results were similar, albeit weaker, for females. CONCLUSIONS: Using two different methods to triangulate evidence, our findings suggest moderate to small causal links between circulating 25(OH)D and grip strength