Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2025-04"
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- I hear you call my name and it feels like home: Right-Wing Authoritarianism and academic major choicePublication . Gruda, Dritjon; McCleskey, Jim A.Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) is characterized by a preference for order, hierarchy, and conformity to norms, and has been associated with conservative values and structured environments. Using a sample of 5762 participants across 18 majors, we examine the association between RWA and academic college major choice, proposing that individuals with higher RWA scores are more likely to select disciplines that align with their values of structure and authority. We found that individuals with higher RWA scores were more likely to choose disciplines emphasizing authority and tradition, such as Business, Law, and Medicine. We also found a moderating effect of gender, in that men with high RWA tended to select traditionally masculine fields (e.g., Engineering and Law), while women favored caregiving-oriented majors (e.g., Psychology and Social Work), reinforcing conventional gender roles. These findings suggest that RWA influences not only political and social attitudes but also academic choices, highlighting the importance of considering personality traits in understanding educational trajectories and their broader social implications.
- An integrative approach to reviewing the literature on judicial efficiency in EuropePublication . Pereira, Miguel Alves; Bădin, Luiza; Kerstens, Kristiaan; Silva, Maria ConceiçãoThe law exists to regulate the behaviour of the members of its community. Economics exists to study the behaviour of individual or group economic agents in allocating resources for production, distribution, and consumption. Together, law and economics concern the application of economics to the practice of law, seeing the law as an economic efficiency-promoting tool for social purposes. Indeed, economic development and litigation have evolved hand in hand, which led to a growing difference between supply and demand with a direct impact on judicial efficiency. However, evaluating the functioning of judicial machinery has been addressed superficially in the literature. Furthermore, grasping the big picture of judicial efficiency in a structured way has never been attempted. Therefore, this integrative literature review investigates judicial efficiency within the European context by synthesising law and economics research. From over 6,500 articles, 50 were critically analysed, offering new perspectives for future research and policy implications on enhancing European judicial systems. This analysis concerned bibliographic data (e.g., 80% of the studies have been published over the last decade), application context (e.g., Italian courts are the most studied entities), model structure (e.g., Data Envelopment Analysis-based methods are the most used ones to measure judicial efficiency), and key findings (e.g., courts across Europe are very heterogeneous). In the end, we provide several renewed perspectives on judicial efficiency that can pave the way for the future of this topic.
- First insights into macromolecular components analyses of an insect meal using hyperspectral imagingPublication . Silva, Flávia Matias Oliveira da; Fidalgo, Liliana G.; Inácio, Rita S.; Fantatto, Rafaela; Carvalho, Maria J.; Murta, Daniel; Pereira, Nuno S. A.The non-invasive nutritional analysis of feed through images captured by hyperspectral cameras represents an innovative and promising approach in the field of biotechnology. With this technology, it is possible to capture images at multiple wavelengths and identify unique spectral patterns associated with different molecular components, such as total fat and moisture. The technique is particularly valuable in biological environments, enabling a more detailed and comprehensive analysis of the presence and distribution of nutrients. The objective of this work was to perform a nutritional pre-characterization of Hermetia illucens (Black Soldier Fly-BSF) larvae meal, using hyperspectral images in the range of 400–1000 nm, with a spectral resolution of 7 nm and a spatial sampling of 512 pixels, and correlate them to traditional chemical analysis methods. The results were also compared to wheat flour samples. The chemical results of BSF meal indicated 7.2% ± 0.05% (w/w) and 28.15% ± 0.15% (w/w) in moisture and total fat content, respectively. When compared to wheat flour, BSF meal contains less total fat and this difference was clearly identified in the spectra derived from the hyperspectral images, which underscores the efficiency and utility of multispectral cameras to conduct real-time and non-destructive analyses. Furthermore, this analysis can be extended to other components (e.g., protein content), increasing the potential of the technique for feed characterization.
- Measuring drug policy evolution: a cross-country analysisPublication . Gonçalves, Ricardo; Lourenço. Ana; Marreiros, HeliaDrug policies significantly impact public health and criminal justice outcomes, yet quantitative tools for systematically comparing approaches across jurisdictions remain limited. This paper uses a state-of-the-art comparative law method – leximetrics – to construct the Illicit Drugs Policy Indexes (IDPI), a valuable resource for assessing the evolution of drug policies over time within a specific country as well as across countries. The IDPI consists of a set of indexes corresponding to multiple dimensions of drug policy, including laws around consumption, possession and traffic. These indexes examine illicit drug laws and policies across seven countries: Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom, over a timeframe of twenty years from 1996 to 2016. Our results identify significant turning points in the evolution of laws regarding drugs, often indicating a shift towards less criminal-oriented approaches. Moreover, the paper identifies the countries which progressed more in that direction, over time. The underlying IDPI methodology provides policymakers and researchers with a standardized framework for evidence-based drug policy evaluation and reform, adaptable across jurisdictions.
- Correction to: resistance of Pinus pinea to Bursaphelenchus xylophilus explained by the dynamic response of phytohormones, antioxidant activity, and stress-related gene expression (Trees, (2025), 39, 1, (21), 10.1007/s00468-024-02594-7)Publication . Silva, Marta Nunes da; Santos, Carla S.; Solla, Alejandro; Gamir, Jordi; Flors, Victor; Sampedro, Luis; Zas, Rafael; Vasconcelos, Marta W.The corresponding author name has been incorrectly swapped in the original publication. The complete correct name should read as follows. Marta Nunes da Silva In addition, the funding information has been revised. The complete correct funding information is given below. The study was performed within the ‘Characterization of the pinewood nematode/Pinus system: a phytochemical and histopatho-logical approach’ project (PTDC/AGR-CFL/120184/2010), funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT). Additional financial support came from the Spanish National Research Agency FENOPIN (AGL2012-40151), RESILPINE (RTI2018-094691-B-C33) grants, Intramural-201640I030, OTR07700, IN607A2021/03, and from the FCT’s bilateral action Spain-Portugal PRIAIBPT-2011-1152 (NEMARES), UIDB/50016/2020 R&D Unit, and 2022.01903.CEECIND and 2023.06124.CEECIND programs. The original article has been corrected.
- Tomato responses to nitrogen, drought and combined stresses: shared and specific effects on vascular plant anatomy, nutrient partitioning and amino acids profilePublication . Machado, J.; Fernandes, A. P. G.; Bokor, B.; Vaculík, M.; Kostoláni, D.; Kokavcová, A.; Heuvelink, E.; Vasconcelos, M. W.; Carvalho, S. M. P.Crops are often subjected to various abiotic stresses and interactions between them may occur, but how plants cope with them remains poorly understood. This study explored how combined nitrogen and drought stress impact tomato vascular stem anatomy, nutrient partitioning and amino acids profile. Tomato seedlings were exposed to control (CTR; 100N + 100%W), N stress (N; 50%N), drought stress (W; 50%W), or combined stress (N + W; 50%N+50%W) for 27 days. All treatments similarly reduced the phloem and xylem areas. Plants under N + W stress exhibited increased root synthesis of asparagine and arginine (up to 230% compared to W stress and 66% compared to N stress) and showed a higher reallocation and synthesis of osmolytes such as K+ and proline, respectively. This, along with the specific increase in other amino acids related to osmoregulation (alanine, tyrosine and phenylalanine), contributed to an enhanced stomatal closure and lower transpiration rate compared to W stressed plants. Conversely, N stressed plants responded mainly through N remobilization from the photosynthetic machinery, leading to decreased chlorophyll content (up to 32%) and photosynthetic rate (up to 57%). Under single W stress, plants invested more in the root system as a strategy to increase W and nutrients' uptake, compared to those grown under N + W stress, and maintained the photosynthetic rate at the level of CTR plants. It is concluded that tomato plants employed distinct mechanisms for reallocating nitrogen and regulating osmosis to withstand either single or combined stresses and that amino acids and nutrients’ homeostasis have an important role in these processes.
- Microbiome adaptation of aerobic granular sludge allows process resilience during the treatment of seawater-based wastewater with pharmaceuticalsPublication . Miranda, Catarina; Maia, Alexandra S.; Tiritan, Maria Elizabeth; Castro, Paula M. L.; Amorim, Catarina L.Coastal wastewater treatment plants often face multiple stressors (e.g., pharmaceuticals and oscillating seawater levels) simultaneously, and their combined effects on biological treatment systems are still largely underestimated. In this study, an aerobic granular sludge (AGS) reactor was challenged over a four-month period with wastewater that had daily fluctuations in seawater content (7.5 to 22.5 g/L) and occasionally contained two pharmaceuticals, venlafaxine (VNF) and tramadol (TRA), and their metabolites (O-desmethylvenlafaxine and O-desmethyltramadol), a combination that closely mimics real-world conditions. Over time, pharmaceuticals removal improved, especially for VNF and TRA. For VNF, monitored using an enantiomer-discriminating method, non-enantioselective removal was observed, indicating that the removal most probably occurred through adsorption. Despite the pharmaceuticals' presence in wastewater, the chemical oxygen demand removal was efficient (89 ± 3 %), and ammonium removal was complete, with nitrate as the main nitrification end-product. During the period of sporadic pharmaceuticals presence in wastewater, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) content within AGS increased up to 196 ± 5 mg/g TSS, possibly contributing to the improvement of pharmaceuticals' adsorption and AGS functional stability. The AGS core microbiome comprised several functional taxa sustaining the system performance under stress exposure. The AGS bacteriome steadily adapted to the changes in wastewater composition, presenting distinct bacterial signatures in each stage. Paracoccus, an EPS-producing genus, was enriched during pharmaceuticals load, which may have been crucial for the system's stability. The adaptable and versatile microbiome of the AGS under multiple wastewater stressors contributed to the system's resilience, expanding its applicability for wastewater treatment in vulnerable areas.
- Audit quality and the market value of cash: the role played by the Big 4 auditor in Latin AmericaPublication . Manoel, Aviner Augusto Silva; Moraes, Marcelo Botelho da Costa; Perez-de Toledo, Eloisa; Pündrich, Gabriel PereiraDespite the extensive discussion in the accounting literature regarding the importance of internal control for the proper allocation of corporate resources, little is known about the role of auditors as a governance mechanism in reducing agency costs related to cash resources. This study extends the literature that explores differences in audit quality by examining whether perceived audit quality, measured by the Big 4/non-Big 4 dichotomy, mitigates the value destruction associated with cash. To the extent that investors do not perceive Big 4 auditors, as opposed to non-Big 4 auditors, as effective in preventing the potential value destruction associated with cash holdings or enhancing the contribution of cash to firm value in Latin America, our article is the first to document that investors do not assign a statistically significant premium to the cash balances of Big 4 clients. The results hold after a series of robustness checks and additional analyses. Our article enriches the literature on audit quality, corporate governance and cash holdings by demonstrating no statistically significant influence of auditor choice on the value investors place on cash reserves in a weak legal environment, i.e., where minority shareholders are poorly protected. Our conclusions have important implications for investors and lenders looking to Latin America to diversify their investments, as our findings about audit quality can influence their investment decisions. This study also has practical implications for the debate concerning the role played by audit quality.
- Bioactive profile, bioaccessibility and antioxidant activity of diatoms: a comparative studyPublication . Rocha, Helena R.; Coelho, Marta; Coelho, Natacha; Morais, Rui M. S. C.; Pintado, Manuela E.; Gomes, Ana M.Diatoms are microalgae with significant biotechnological potential due to their richness in bioactive compounds, including carotenoids and phenolics, contributing to their antioxidant properties. This study aims to compare the bioactive profile and antioxidant activity of three diatom species: Chaetoceros calcitrans, Nannofrustulum shiloi, and Cylindrotheca fusiformis cultivated in closed Flat Panel photobioreactors by Necton S.A. The biomass was harvested via centrifugation, freeze-dried, milled, and vacuum-packed for subsequent analysis.Carotenoids were extracted using ethanolic extraction assisted by ultrasound and analyzed through HPLC-DAD. The Total phenolic content (TPC) was determined using the Folin-Ciocalteu method, considering both free and bound phenolics to provide a comprehensive understanding of their distribution. Antioxidant activity was evaluated using ABTS, ORAC, and DPPH assays, offering complementary insights into the radical-scavenging potential of the diatom species. Additionally, a bioaccessibility assessment was performed using the standardized INFOGEST in vitro model to evaluate the stability of these bioactive compounds.Carotenoid analysis revealed distinct profiles among the species. N. shiloi exhibited the highest levels of β-carotene and zeaxanthin, highlighting its strong potential as a source of antioxidant pigments, whereas C. fusiformis showed a balanced composition of β-carotene, zeaxanthin, and other carotenoids, suggesting a varied antioxidant capacity. In contrast, C. calcitrans contained comparatively lower levels of these carotenoids. In addition to carotenoids, phenolic compounds play a significant role in the antioxidant potential of these diatoms. The TPC varied significantly, with C. fusiformis presenting the highest levels, followed by N. shiloi and C. calcitrans. Besides the differences in the results of the antioxidant activity among species, all exhibited considerable antioxidant capacity, suggesting the presence of multiple bioactive compounds contributing to distinct yet effective mechanisms of action.These findings highlight the potential of diatoms as sources of natural bioactives, particularly for nutraceutical and pharmaceutical applications. The study underscores the importance of species selection in maximizing bioactive compound yield and antioxidant properties, paving the way for further exploration in functional food and cosmetic industries.
- A bibliometric analysis of the main databases of the way of St. James (1997–2023)Publication . Costa, Leida; Remoaldo, Paula; Duque, Eduardo; Lopes, Hélder Silva; Ribeiro, VitorThe Camino de Santiago is one of the most important pilgrimage routes and representative of the world of Christianity, and the first European Cultural Route that leads to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela (Cazaux in Tour Int Interdiscip J 3(1):353–367, 2011; Mróz et al. in Int J Relig Tour Pilgr 7(5):56–71, 2019; Roszak in J Relig Health, 62:2734–2745, 2023; Zhang et al. in J Relig Health, 63(1):89–108, 2024; Roszak and Mróz in J Relig Health 63(6):4861–4875, 2024).This study conducts a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of publications related to the Camino de Santiago from 1934 to 2023, using the Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed databases. The data collected in the Scopus database was analyzed using the VOSviewer tool. This tool enabled the generation of thematic network maps, which were derived from the analysis of keyword occurrences, documents, and countries with the highest number of publications. Additionally, it was used to identify journals with the highest number of publications and the most productive authors. 685 studies were identified, of which 317 met the inclusion criteria, after filtering for duplicates, accessibility, and relevance. The main findings reveal that 27.1% of the research has been conducted in arts and humanities, 24.4% in social sciences, 15.2% in tourism, and 13.8% in business, management and accounting. A limited number of comprehensive research projects into the Camino were found. Several studies were inaccessible or didn’t have detailed abstracts. To date, only two bibliometric analyses of the Camino de Santiago have been identified. This research is distinguished by its extended time frame, diverse methodological approaches and use of multiple databases, providing a more nuanced understanding of the scholarly landscape surrounding the Camino de Santiago. The findings underscore the need for more accessible and detailed research to fully capture the multifaceted nature of this historic pilgrimage route.