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In the 20th century, the scientific community recognized global climate change as a preeminent challenge facing our planet. The primary driver of this predicament was identified as the substantial reliance on fossil fuels, constituting approximately 80% of the world's energy consumption. The combustion of these fossil fuels, particularly those rich in carbon, led to the emission of greenhouse gase

This paper presents findings from a qualitative study on tourist vulnerability in wildfire scenarios considering the perspectives of tourist infrastructure owners/managers, fire and rescue service, municipality managers, researchers, and other emergency managers in Spain-France border regions. Through a thematic analysis of twenty survey responses, this study presents the critical factors influenc

The intertidal snail Littorina saxatilis is well known for its remarkable variety of locally adapted populations. A unique L. saxatilis habitat is represented by the sheltered rocky environment found in the natural coastal lagoon of the Cíes Islands (NW Spain). The present-day characteristics of this habitat are relatively recent (~ 70–150 years), some of these have been human induced. In this stu

The theory of evolution is one of the greatest scientific achievements in the intellectual history of humankind, yet it is still contentious within certain social groups. Despite being as robust and evidence-based as any other notable scientific theory, some people show a strong reluctance to accept it. In this study, we used the Measure of Acceptance of the Theory of Evolution (MATE) and Knowledg

Two sympatric ecotypes ('crab' and 'wave') of Littorina saxatilis are adapted to different microhabitats. It has been claimed, based on the comparison of proteomic differentiation across ontogeny, that the wave ecotype may have evolved by paedomorphosis from an ancestor more similar to the crab ecotype. Here, we test the paedomorphosis hypothesis at a morphological level by comparing crab and wave

Colour polymorphism is a widespread phenomenon in natural populations of several species. In particular, it is especially common on marine gastropod species from the genus Littorina. Recently, it has been argued that intrapopulation shell colour polymorphism in Littorina fabalis could be caused by negative frequency-dependent sexual selection via a mechanism of mate choice (indirectly estimated th

This work focuses on the need for modeling and predicting adverse outcomes in immunotoxicology to improve nonclinical assessments of the safety of immunomodulatory therapies. The integrated approach includes, first, the adverse outcome pathway concept established in the toxicology field, and, second, the systems medicine disease map approach for describing molecular mechanisms involved in a partic

In this paper, we analyze the debate between the Modern Synthesis and the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis in light of the concept of incommensurability developed by Thomas Kuhn. In order to do so, first we briefly present both the Modern Synthesis and the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis. Then, we clarify the meaning and interpretations of incommensurability throughout Kuhn’s works, concluding that

Marine gastropods are characterized by an incredible variation in shell color. In this review, we aim to introduce researchers to previous studies of shell color polymorphism in this group of animals, trying to provide an overview of the topic and highlighting some potential avenues for future research. For this, we tackle the different aspects of shell color polymorphism in marine gastropods: its

The nexus of climate policy and “competitiveness”—how to transition to clean energy while ensuring a competitive economy—is a concern on both sides of the Atlantic. In the United States and the European Union, there has been an attempt to resolve the issue by turning towards green industrial policy and subsidies for low-carbon production, sparking a debate on the merits and risks of a ‘subsidy rac

The evolution and maintenance of color clines is a classic topic of research in evolutionary ecology. However, studies analyzing the temporal dynamics of such clines are much less frequent, due to the difficulty of obtaining reliable data about past color distributions along environmental gradients. In this article, we describe a case of decades-long temporal stability and directional change in a

How colour polymorphisms are maintained in natural populations constitutes a key subject of study for evolutionary ecologists. One of the mechanisms that has been put forward to explain this phenomenon is negative frequency-dependent selection, which can be caused by different mechanisms. Among these mechanisms is mate choice, or the selection as a potential mate of the rare or dissimilar colour m

Echinolittorina malaccana, a marine gastropod living on rocky shores along the Indo-West Pacific coasts, shows consistent mate choice in which males prefer to mate with females slightly larger than themselves. Previous studies suggest that the strength of this preference is, to a certain extent, context dependent, being influenced by both demographic and individual (potentially genetic) factors. T

To have a successful career in engineering, students need both technical engineering skills and non-technical engineering skills (NTES) in the transition to professional life. To address NTES in engineering education, the concept of six compulsory ‘engineering days’ were introduced in two engineering programs at the undergraduate level. The importance of different NTES for industry has been evalua

In recent times, the philosophy of science has been reinvigorated by insights from the biological and cognitive sciences. These disciplines have provided not only new perspectives to approach traditional philosophical problems but have also opened the way to new conceptual and methodological questions that call for new and innovative solutions.This book brings together some of the main debates tha

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) involves blood clot formation in veins, resulting in serious health issues. Fibrinogen, a crucial clotting protein, consists of three polypeptides encoded by the fibrinogen genes: alpha (FGA), beta (FGB) and gamma (FGG). We genotyped most common missense variants in the fibrinogen genes in relation to VTE, recurrence and family history in Malmö Thrombophilia Study, inc

In a questionnaire, participants judged the increase in SARS-CoV-2 virus exposure when moving closer to an infected person. Earlier studies have shown that the actual increase in virus exposure is underestimated and the present study replicated and extended these studies. The primary purpose was to investigate to what extent questionnaire judgments about hypothetical situations can predict judgmen

Evolutionary biologists today debate whether it is convenient to revise the standard theory of evolution, or if an Extended Evolutionary Synthesis is necessary. However, the conceptual relationship between the standard theory of evolution (also known as the Modern Synthesis) and a putative Extended Evolutionary Synthesis is not clear. One concept in philosophy of science that has traditionally bee

Based on field measurements in 26 Ethiopian homes, we have estimated an average indoor air exchange rate (AER). In laboratory settings, using on-line methods, we have burned common solid biofuels (charcoal, wood, cow dung, crops residue) in a traditional way, thereby generated airborne particles, and assessed various aerosol characteristics. All the fuels generated PM2.5 (particles smaller than 2.

To extend the output DC power range of energy harvester from μW to mW, the 29.5 GHz rectifier using vertical nanowire Tunnel Field-Effect Transistor (VNW-TFET) is presented in this paper. Advantaged by the low threshold voltage, very steep characteristics, and its ability to operate below 60mV/decade, VNW-TFET is a promising device in rectifier design for low power applications. By analyzing the r