Strategic view on the current role of AI in advancing environmental sustainability: a SWOT analysis

Sustainability has become a critical global concern, focusing on key environmental goals such as achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, reducing waste, and increasing the use of recycled materials in products. These efforts often involve companies striving to minimize their carbon footprints and enhance resource efficiency. Artificial intelligence (AI) has demonstrated significant potential in tackling these sustainability challenges. This study aims to evaluate the various aspects that must be considered when deploying AI for sustainability solutions. Employing a SWOT analysis methodology, we assessed the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of 70 research articles associated with AI in this context. The study offers two main contributions. Firstly, it presents a detailed SWOT analysis highlighting recent advancements in AI and its role in promoting sustainability. Key findings include the importance of data availability and quality as critical enablers for AI’s effectiveness in sustainable applications, and the necessity of AI explainability to mitigate risks, particularly for smaller companies facing financial constraints in adopting AI. Secondly, the study identifies future research areas, emphasizing the need for appropriate regulations and the evaluation of general-purpose models, such as the latest large language models, in sustainability initiatives. This research contributes to the growing body of knowledge on AI’s role in sustainability by providing insights and recommendations for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers, thus paving the way for further exploration at the intersection of AI and sustainable development

Virtual Engineering: Hands‐on Integration of Product Lifecycle Management, Computer‐Aided Design, eXtended Reality, and Artificial Intelligence in Engineering Education

Engineering education at the Institute for Information Management in Engineering integrates product lifecycle manage- ment (PLM), computer-aided design (CAD), eXtended reality (XR), and artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance learning and prepare students for modern challenges. Our interdisciplinary approach, emphasizing digital twins and virtual twins, fosters immersive, hands-on experiences. This paper reviews our strategies, comparing them with global initiatives, highlighting the transformative impact of our curriculum on preparing future engineers for complex industrial environments

Filogeografía de mitogenomas indígenas de Uruguay

Recently, several studies on the Uruguayan population have shown that it is formed by unequal contributions from Europeans, Africans, Native Americans, and others. The native component is larger when maternal contribution is analyzed, but its ethnic/geographic origin remains unclear, as it is also unclear how and when these groups arrived. To contribute to the knowledge about prehistoric and historic peopling of the territory and its relations with other populations, 32 complete mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) were obtained by next generation sequencing. They belong to present inhabitants of the country, whose hypervariable regions were previously analyzed and whose identified haplogroups belonged to one of the four main haplogroups of Native American origin. Seven new subhaplogroups (A2be, A2bf, B2an, C1d1h, C1b30, C1b31and D1x) were determined, another was redenominated (C1d1d - present C1d1g), and the criteria to assign B2b6 and D1g5 were reviewed. The age of the new subhaplogroups was estimated between 4.554 and 11.985 years, while the age of C1d1g was estimated in 20.736 years. Some sequences could be related to different ethnic groups, or to several geographic regions such as Amazonia, Chaco, Pampa or Andes. The new subhaplogroup assignations, together with their geographic distribution and chronology, are discussed in relation to the general panorama of South America.Recientemente, diversos estudios sobre la población uruguaya han demostrado que está conformada por desiguales aportes de europeos, africanos y pueblos originarios, entre otros. El aporte indígena es mayor cuando se analiza la contribución por línea materna, aunque su origen étnico/geográfico no es claro, ni tampoco cuándo ni cómo llegaron los distintos grupos. Para aportar al conocimiento del poblamiento prehistórico e histórico del territorio y sus relaciones con otras poblaciones se analizan, por secuenciación masiva, 32 genomas mitocondriales completos (mitogenomas) de habitantes actuales del país, identificados previamente por sus regiones hipervariables como correspondientes a los cuatro haplogrupos principales de origen americano. Se determinaron siete nuevos subhaplogrupos (A2be, A2bf, B2an, C1d1h, C1b30, C1b31 y D1x), otro se redenominó (C1d1d - actual C1d1g) y se plantea la revisión de los criterios de asignación de B2b6 y D1g5. Se estimó la antigüedad de los subhaplogrupos nuevos, que varía entre 4554 y 11985 años, con la excepción de C1d1g, cuya edad fue estimada en 20736 años. Algunas secuencias pudieron ser vinculadas a distintos grupos étnicos o a diversas regiones geográficas, como Amazonia, Chaco, Pampa, o Andes. Se discuten las nuevas asignaciones desubhaplogrupos y las de algunos previamente definidos, así como su distribución geográfica y antigüedad, con relación al panorama general de América del Sur

Phylogeography of native mitogenomes from Uruguay

Recientemente, diversos estudios sobre la población uruguaya han demostrado que está conformada por desiguales aportes de europeos, africanos y pueblos originarios, entre otros. El aporte indígena es mayor cuando se analiza la contribución por línea materna, aunque su origen étnico/geográfico no es claro, ni tampoco cuándo ni cómo llegaron los distintos grupos. Para aportar al conocimiento del poblamiento prehistórico e histórico del territorio y sus relaciones con otras poblaciones se analizan, por secuenciación masiva, 32 genomas mitocondriales completos (mitogenomas) de habitantes actuales del país, identificados previamente por sus regiones hipervariables como correspondientes a los cuatro haplogrupos principales de origen americano. Se determinaron siete nuevos subhaplogrupos (A2be, A2bf, B2an, C1d1h, C1b30, C1b31 y D1x), otro se redenominó (C1d1d - actual C1d1g) y se plantea la revisión de los criterios de asignación de B2b6 y D1g5. Se estimó la antigüedad de los subhaplogrupos nuevos, que varía entre 4554 y 11985 años, con la excepción de C1d1g, cuya edad fue estimada en 20736 años. Algunas secuencias pudieron ser vinculadas a distintos grupos étnicos o a diversas regiones geo-gráficas, como Amazonia, Chaco, Pampa, o Andes. Se discuten las nuevas asignaciones de subhaplogrupos y las de algunos previamente definidos, así como su distribución geo-gráfica y antigüedad, con relación al panorama general de América del Sur.Recently, several studies on the Uruguayan population have shown that it is formed by unequal contributions from Europeans, Africans, Native Americans, and others. The native component is larger when maternal contribution is analyzed, but its ethnic/geographic origin remains unclear, as it is also unclear how and when these groups arrived. To contribute to the knowledge about prehistoric and historic peopling of the territory and its relations with other populations, 32 complete mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) were obtained by next generation sequencing. They belong to present inhabitants of the country, whose hypervariable regions were previously analyzed and whose identified haplogroups belonged to one of the four main haplogroups of Native American origin. Seven new subhaplogroups (A2be, A2bf, B2an, C1d1h, C1b30, C1b31 and D1x) were determined, another was redenominated (C1d1d - present C1d1g), and the criteria to assign B2b6 and D1g5 were reviewed. The age of the new subhaplo-groups was estimated between 4.554 and 11.985 years, while the age of C1d1g was estimated in 20.736 years. Some sequences could be related to different ethnic groups, or to several geographic regions such as Amazonia, Chaco, Pampa or Andes. The new subhaplogroup assignations, together with their geographic distribution and chronology, are discussed in relation to the general panorama of South America.Asociación de Antropología Biológica Argentin

2008 Lawrence R. Klein Lecture - Comparative Economic Development: Insights from Unified Growth Theory

This paper explores the implications of Unified Growth Theory for the origins of existing differences in income per capita across countries. The theory sheds light on three fundamental layers of comparative development. It identifies the factors that have governed the pace of the transition from stagnation to growth and have thus contributed to contemporary variation in economic development. It uncovers the forces that have sparked the emergence of multiple growth regimes and convergence clubs, and it underlines the persistent effects that variations in pre-historical biogeographical conditions have generated on the composition of human capital and economic development across the globe

Creative Class and Regional Growth − Empirical Evidence from Eight European Countries

We analyze the regional distribution and the effect of people in creative occupations based on data for more than 450 regions in eight European countries. The geographic distribution of the creative class is highly uneven. The creative class is not attracted to highly urbanized regions per se, but rather a climate of tolerance and openness seem to be rather important factors. We find that the creative class has a positive and significant effect on employment growth and new business formation at the regional level. Human capital as measured by creative occupation outperforms indicators that are based on formal education

Modelling the Folk Theorem of Spatial Economics: A Heterogeneous Regional Growth Model

During the last year, the research field of spatial economic has rapidly increased. There is consensus thatthe economic performance of a region depends not only on its own potential, but also on the development of their neighbouring regions. Knowledge spillovers, which are non constant over space, should influence the evolution of the region specific productivity. The so called 'folk theorem of spatial economics' states, that increasing returns to scale are essential for explaining the uneven economic distribution of specific economic activity, which implies that knowledge spillover, agglomeration and distribution of per capita productivity are closely linked. Thus, the aim of this paper is, to introduce a spatial regional growth model, which links first time knowledge spillover, agglomeration, distribution of per capita productivity and the grasp of spillovers. Further, it is shown in a simulation study, how different regimes of returns to scale and grasps of knowledge affect agglomeration and distribution of per capita productivity. One of key findings is, that grasp of knowledge affects dynamic distribution of per capita productivity. Moreover, the simulation study particularly finds support for the 'folk theorem of spatial economics'