University of Oviedo

This paper analyses the degree of persistence in the level of consumption of alcohol in the Group of Seven (G7) countries by using fractional integration. The series under examination are annual sales of pure alcohol in litres per person aged 15 years and older, annually from 1960 to 2021, and we look at the influence that external shocks might have had on the series in these countries. The results indicate that only France displays a significant negative trend and thus a continuous decrease in the level of alcohol consumption. For the rest of the countries, the time trend is insignificant. Dealing with persistence, Japan is the only country that shows clear evidence of reversion to the mean. Policy recommendations are reported at the end of the manuscript.

Magnetotactic bacteria have evolved the remarkable capacity to biomineralize chains of magnetite [Fe(II)Fe(III) 2 O 4 ] nanoparticles that align along the geomagnetic field and optimize their navigation in the environment. Mechanisms enabling magnetite formation require the complex action of numerous proteins for iron acquisition, sequestration in dedicated magnetosome organelles, and precipitation into magnetite. The MamP protein contains c-type cytochromes called magnetochrome domains that are found exclusively in magnetotactic bacteria. Ablation of magnetochromes in MamP prevents bacteria from aligning with external magnetic fields, showing their importance to maintain this biological function. MamP has been proposed, mostly from in vitro experimentations, to regulate iron redox state and maintain an Fe(II)/Fe(III) balance compatible with magnetite formation via the iron oxidase activity of magnetochromes. To test the proposed function for MamP in vivo in the magnetotactic strain Magnetospirillum magneticum (AMB)-1, we characterized the iron species in chemical MamP-mediated magnetite syntheses as well as in bacteria unable to produce MamP using a combination of physicochemical methodologies. We show that MamP has no apparent control on the speciation and oxidation state of intracellular iron or on the Fe(II)/Fe(III) balance in magnetite. We propose that MamP promotes magnetite growth by incorporating Fe(III) into preexisting magnetite seeds and that magnetite structure and stoichiometry is maintained by further equilibration with dissolved Fe(II) in magnetosome organelles.

Amphibian populations are undergoing a major recession worldwide, likely triggered by global change components such as the global warming and pollutants, among which agrochemicals, in general, and fertilizers, in particular, play a central role given their relevance in agriculture. Potential synergies among these stressors could maximize their individual effects. In this work, we investigated the consequences of a controlled chronic exposure to increased temperature and a sublethal dose of ammonium during the larval stage of Pelophylax perezi frogs on the growth, development, and locomotor performance of tadpoles and the metamorphs they gave rise to. To that end, tadpoles were reared either in heated or nonheated tanks, with or without ammonium added. The parents of these tadpoles came from either a pine grove or an agrosystem. Survival was reduced in agrosystem tadpoles reared with ammonium. Increased temperature potentiated tadpole growth while giving way to smaller metamorphs. Faster growth could be a consequence of increased metabolism, whereas the smaller size could follow an accelerated development and metamorphosis, which reduced the growth period. Also, swimming speed was greater in tadpoles reared in heated tanks, while jumping distance was greater in metamorphs reared in nonheated tanks. The effects of temperature were more marked in agrosystem than in pine grove individuals, which could mirror reduced adaptability. Thus, the ability to withstand the effects of these stressors was lower in agrosystem tadpoles.

This paper presents an analysis of an alternative variable inductor structure compared to the ones previously proposed in the literature. The inductor is constructed based on a toroidal core and presents some prosperous advantages, which are: a reduced induced voltage in the DC bias control windings, and a symmetrical operation, while making use of the simplicity of a toroidal magnetic core. The proposed variable inductor topology is applied to a specific case study: the design and implementation of a bidirectional boost converter for integration of Battery Energy Storage Systems into DC grids. The variation of the inductance in this application provides an extra degree of freedom in the design which offers twofold improvement to the controlled system. On the one hand, it allows the system to keep the same impedance throughout the operation range. This guarantees that the behavior of the controlled system will remain the same and avoids the need to change the controller tuning and parameters each time the State-Of-Charge of the battery varies. And on the other hand, it enables control over the voltage and current ripple through the battery without the need to install extra capacitor banks. The design, assessment, and experimental procedures of the proposed variable inductor structure for this application case are shown in this paper. The results show an improvement in the performance of the selected case study.

The Azores Triple Junction offers a unique opportunity to investigate the interplay between volcanism and tectonic activity. After 60 years of quiescence in São Jorge Island, in March 2022, the island experienced a volcano-tectonic unrest, accompanied by widely felt earthquakes and surface deformation. We conducted an extensive study of this anomalous activity throughout 2022, through a purely automated analysis based on a deep-learning approach for seismic activity, combined with the processing and analysis of data from GNSS stations in the archipelago. The joint interpretation of ground deformation and seismicity suggests a failed magmatic eruption, which we have summarized in a four-stage conceptual model. The unrest began on 16 March 2022 with a period of vertical uplift that lasted for 2 days. On 19 March, the deformation reversed with a burst of seismicity that marked a rapid dike intrusion in the crust which abruptly stopped a few kilometers under the surface. Over the following weeks, the relocated seismicity suggests an intense overpressure near the Moho discontinuity and reveals, in great detail, a lateral magmatic expansion in a sill-like pattern. Finally, from the second week of April until the end of the year a decrease in seismic activity and a lack of deformation registered, indicates a decline and stabilization of the volcano-tectonic process.

The development of the circular economy (CE) has become a strategic priority for the EU to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. While the number of CE-based start-ups is burgeoning, established companies seem to be slower to adopt CE. Incorporating CE principles requires established firms to transform their business processes and activities from a linear to a circular approach, which often requires the introduction of significant and complementary technological and non-technological innovations, as well as significant investments that may hamper the firm’s overall performance. Thus, the disruptive nature of CE adoption may make established firms reluctant to embrace this process and underlines the need to identify its drivers and to clarify its potential benefits. Accordingly, we analyze the role of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) in promoting circular human resource management (CHRM), circular product innovation and circular manufacturing. This study is the first to define and measure CHRM and one of the few to apply the concept of EO in the context of CE. Using seemingly unrelated regressions (SUR), we find that EO promotes circular innovation directly and indirectly through CHRM. This factor represents a non-technological innovation which directly impacts on circular product innovation and circular manufacturing, whilst reinforcing the complementarity between non- technological and technological innovation. This research also addresses concerns about potential conflicts in achieving different types of CE performance simultaneously. By analyzing firm performance from a holistic perspective, our study confirms that CE implementation leads to environmental, market and social performance improvements together with the moderating role of technological turbulence.

We have followed the recovery of gaps produced either by harvesters or by scientists in stands of stalked barnacle (Pollicipes pollicipes) during two years in four regions of Europe (SW Portugal, Galicia and Asturias in Spain and Brittany in France; n = 423 gaps), which was extended to four years in Asturias (n = 252 gaps). The presence of adult conspecifics in the margins of the gaps increased by at least four times the probability of initiation of their recovery. After two years of follow-up in the four regions, 90% of the gaps with adjacent conspecifics had initiated recolonization as opposed to only 60% in gaps with no adjacent adults. These figures remained stable after three years of follow up in Asturias, pointing to a large fraction of gaps which are recalcitrant to recolonization. Once initiated, the median rate of recovery after latency was 0.47 cm²/month in the four regions and 0.61 cm²/month in Asturias, increasing from 0.5 to 2.5 cm²/month for a 0 to 25 cm increase of perimeter in contact with adults, which is consistent with heavy recruitment on the stalks of conspecifics. The median estimated time to full recovery of gaps which initiated recovery was 2.65 years, thus recolonization is a slow process. Our results point to the main recommendations that a barnacle clump should never be removed entirely, so that the remaining adults serve as recruitment nuclei for the population, and that a maximum scraper width of 3.5 cm should be set to limit accessory capture of non-target individuals.

One of the most pressing socio-economic issues across EU countries has been the depopulation of a significant part of its territory. Less urbanized areas are perceived as non-attractive places to live and have been losing population steadily in the latest decades. For the case of Spain, this European-wise phenomenon has been exacerbated for several territories characterized by a large presence of primary and extractive industries in the past. We quantify empirically the contribution that the closure of the heavily subsidized coal mining had on the depopulation trends experienced in mining-intensive areas in Spain. This poses an interesting research question, since both non-mining and mining territories in Spain suffered a remarkable negative down trend in demographic terms since early nineties, which was the period on which the coal mining industry started to cease steadily its activity. Our empirical strategy relies on matching estimators that compare the demographic trend across mining-intensive and non-mining intensive municipalities in four provinces, controlling for observable characteristics and isolating the net effect of the “shock” originated by the termination of this mining activities. Our analysis finds a statistically significant and sizable negative effect on the fall of population for mining-intensive municipalities between 1991 and 2011.

This study investigates the risk-benefit assessments of economic agents towards metaverse innovations. Employing event-study methodology and analyzing a dataset comprising 72 news articles and press releases from companies listed in the STOXX All Europe 100 index, our research focuses on how European firms’ metaverse entry strategies affect investor reactions. We distinguish between strategic investments in metaverse technologies and vague announcements or minor ventures primarily for promotional purposes. Initially, we observe slightly and significantly negative extraordinary returns in aggregate. However, our analysis reveals a significant contrast in market responses; strategic investments generate positive market responses, whereas vague announcements lead to negative reactions. This study contributes new insights to the sparse literature on metaverse innovations, emphasising the importance of a company's strategic approach to entering the metaverse.

This article defends a selective eliminativist position with respect to the concept of “biological lineage” as used in certain areas of contemporary evolutionary biology. We argue that its primary epistemic roles in these contexts—explaining social evolution and cumulative selection—clash with empirical evidence, and that enforcing the concept of “lineage” even obstructs fruitful research avenues in several biological research fields, including phylogenetic research. Drawing on this, we suggest that, in many instances, it would be best to get rid of the concept of “lineage” and think in terms that are more closely aligned with the empirical complexity of the biological world. Specifically, this entails that, instead of looking for the lineage that may have given rise to the entities possessing certain biological characteristics, biologists should generally look for any potential process allowing such possession, with the formation of a lineage just one possibility among many.

van der Waals (vdW) materials supporting phonon polaritons (PhPs) – light coupled to lattice vibrations – have gathered significant interest because of their intrinsic anisotropy and low losses. In particular, α-MoO3 supports PhPs with in-plane anisotropic propagation, which has been exploited to tune the optical response of twisted bilayers and trilayers. Additionally, various studies have explored the realization of polaritonic crystals (PCs) – lattices with periods comparable to the polariton wavelength. PCs consisting of hole arrays etched in α-MoO3 slabs exhibit Bragg resonances dependent on the angle between the crystallographic axes and the lattice vectors. However, such PC concept, with a fixed orientation and size of its geometrical parameters, constrains practical applications and introduces additional scattering losses due to invasive fabrication processes. Here, we demonstrate a novel PC concept that overcomes these limitations, enabling low-loss optical tuning. It comprises a rotatable pristine α-MoO3 layer located on a periodic hole array fabricated in a metallic layer. Our design prevents degradation of the α-MoO3 optical properties caused by fabrication, preserving its intrinsic low-loss and in-plane anisotropic propagation of PhPs. The resulting PC exhibits rotation of the Bloch modes, which is experimentally visualized by scanning near-field microscopy. In addition, we experimentally determine the polaritons momentum and reconstruct their band structure. These results pave the way for mechanically tunable nano-optical components based on polaritons for potential lasing, sensing, or energy harvesting applications.

Planning is one of the most critical areas within Project Management, with adequate task scheduling and resource management being of vital importance, especially at the project's outset. This paper introduces an Artificial Intelligence designed for the automatic planning of photovoltaic plant (PV) construction projects, encompassing various tasks such as engineering, procurement, logistics, construction and commissioning, and including the substation and transmission line, scheduling a total of 100 tasks, which constitute a basic Engineering, Procurement and Construction project planning. The model is trained using a total of 50 real‐case project plans for PVs. The results demonstrate that the model successfully and effectively carries out photovoltaic project planning, marking a significant step towards digital transformation.

Emotional intelligence and drama-based intervention open up an innovative field in education. The current study describes the effectiveness of an innovative project based on the development of emotional intelligence through dramatization in Early Childhood Education. A total of 82 children range from 4 to 5 years old were divided into two groups: group A ( N = 40) and group B ( N = 42). The study was designed as a pre-post-follow-up experimental study and all children participated at different times. The evaluation of behavior and expression of emotions is carried out using three instruments, i.e., Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales-Second Edition (PKBS-2), and two multimedia tests, i.e., Facially Expressed Emotion Labeling (FEEL test) and e-Motion 1.0. The results showed that the program met its objective and the children improved their inter- and intra-subject relationship problems, especially when it comes to reducing negative behaviors related to social skills. The program’s design and effectiveness make it suitable for improving emotional education in children aged 3 to 6.

One of the enclaves that exhibits the best features to understand the old and most recent geological history of the north-northwest portion of the Iberian Peninsula is the Ballota Beach, located in Asturias, Spain. In the cliff above sea level that borders this beach to the south, a succession of Carboniferous “griotte” limestones crops out, deformed by spectacular ramp and detachment folds, as well as thrusts, backthrusts and duplexes. These structures are testimonies of the shortening produced in the cordillera originated during the Variscan orogeny of Devonian-Permian age, which extended throughout central Europe, northern Africa and eastern North America. Additionally, from a viewpoint located on the cliff, one can recognize a flat surface over the carbonate coastal cliffs and higher flat surfaces developed on quartzites. These flat surfaces, known as “rasas”, are marine abrasion surfaces elevated above current sea level resulting from Cenozoic-Quaternary land uplift and/or sea level fall. This region, already mentioned in the XIX century, has an extraordinary scientific and educational value, from the Structural Geology, Geomorphology, Historical Geology and Stratigraphy points of view, and is a great geotourism attraction due to its beauty. To make this region known, we propose to declare this area a geological interest site in the Global Geosites Spain project, make this article open access, upload a virtual outcrop model we have built in open-access online repositories, make information available to public entities that promote outreach and tourism, propose the realization of a “Geolodía” (Geology day), and make a video to celebrate the Geodiversity International Day.