Comunidades rurales de la región mediterránea en 2030: proyecciones y escenarios futuros. Cambio climático y cambio social

Este artículo es el resultado del trabajo realizado en el Seminario de Orientación Ecológica que cada año celebra el Instituto de Ecología Social de Viena (IFF). Con el tema "Cambio Climático y Cambio Social" como guía, los participantes fueron animados a recrear escenarios futuros en los que el cambio climático fuese ya una realidad. En nuestro caso elegimos una comunidad rural en la zona mediterránea. Contando con las consecuencias del cambio climático, nos interesaba comparar dos escenarios contrapuestos, dependiendo de las decisiones sociales, económicas, culturales y políticas realizadas por la sociedad. Decisiones tomadas hoy y que pueden afectar seriamente nuestro futuro.This article is the result of a work carried out during the Seminar of Ecological Orientation that the Institute of Social Ecology of Viena (IFF) prepares every year. Under the topic "Climate Change and Social Change", the participants were motivated to recreate future scenarios where the climate change would be a reality. Our choice was a rural community in the Mediterranean region. Taking into account the consequences of the Climate Change, we were interested in comparing two different scenarios, depending on the social, economic, cultural and political decisions made by the society. Decisions that we make today and can seriously affect our future.peerReviewe

Tuning EU equality law to algorithmic discrimination:Three pathways to resilience

First published online: 4 January 2021Algorithmic discrimination poses an increased risk to the legal principle of equality. Scholarly accounts of this challenge are emerging in the context of EU equality law, but the question of the resilience of the legal framework has not yet been addressed in depth. Exploring three central incompatibilities between the conceptual map of EU equality law and algorithmic discrimination, this article investigates how purposively revisiting selected conceptual and doctrinal tenets of EU nondiscrimination law offers pathways towards enhancing its effectiveness and resilience. First, I argue that predictive analytics are likely to give rise to intersectional forms of discrimination, which challenge the unidimensional understanding of discrimination prevalent in EU law. Second, I show how proxy discrimination in the context of machine learning questions the grammar of EU nondiscrimination law. Finally, I address the risk that new patterns of systemic discrimination emerge in the algorithmic society. Throughout the article, I show that looking at the margins of the conceptual and doctrinal map of EU equality law offers several pathways to tackling algorithmic discrimination. This exercise is particularly important with a view to securing a technology-neutral legal framework robust enough to provide an effective remedy to algorithmic threats to fundamental rights.This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 898937

Atomic order and cluster energetics of a 17 w.t.% Si-based glass versus the liquid phase

Aerodynamic levitation of a multi component 17 w.t.% Si glass formed by rapid quenching of the melt phase was studied by high resolution X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) modeling. The main local atomic order features comprised of interactions between Si, Fe and Mg polyhedra, the stereochemistry of which was on a par with literature. Both the glass and the liquid state appeared to consist of the same fundamental Si-O, Fe-O and Mg-O clusters, with only the relative number of each varying between the two. Transition from liquid to the glass involved a 3-fold decrease in uncoordinated O (to within the first minimum of the total g(r)) and a marked increase of Fe-Si-Mg polyhedra bridging O. Octahedral Fe coordination was not suggested by the RMC data. All-electron open-shell Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations of the most prominent clusters suggested independence between the Fe oxidation state and its polyhedra O-coordination. Of secondary thermodynamic importance were indications of network-forming Fe2+ and Fe3+ distorted trigonal and tetrahedral polyhedra. In all occasions, the Fe ferrous and ferric states involved comparable binding energies within similar clusters which indicate a dynamic equilibrium between the two

Multiple discrimination in EU anti-discrimination law:Towards redressing complex inequality?

In the past years, discussions about equality law in the EU have witnessed the emergence of growing concerns about ‘intersectionality’. In cases of multiple and intersectional discrimination, victims experience differential treatment or disadvantage based on several grounds, for instance gender and race. This type of complex and multi-layered discrimination poses specific challenges to EU anti-discrimination law, which systematically tends to reduce discrimination to one single protected category. Consequently, multiple and intersectional discrimination often falls into the cracks of equality protection, raising the question of whether EU anti-discrimination law is an adequate instrument to combat intersectional discrimination. Despite rising awareness about the necessity to address this issue, neither EU legislation nor jurisprudence has provided an adequate answer so far. Rather, the warning against ‘multiple discrimination’ contained in the preambles of the Race Equality Directive 2000/43/EC (14) and the Framework Directive 2000/78/EC (3) falls short of bringing conceptual clarity. However, despite the Court’s apparent lack of understanding of the issue of intersectionality—culminating in Parris in 2016 – this chapter argues that a careful reading of the few cases of discrimination invoking multiple grounds brought to the CJEU reveals potential paths towards recognizing intersectional discrimination. This chapter reviews these pathways to recognition and demonstrates how they could contribute to a better protection of equality for victims of multiple and intersectional discrimination

Algorithmic Discrimination in Europe:Challenges and Opportunities for Gender Equality and Non-Discrimination Law

This report investigates how algorithmic discrimination challenges the set of legal guarantees put in place in Europe to combat discrimination and ensure equal treatment. More specifically, it examines whether and how the current gender equality and non-discrimination legislative framework in place in the EU can adequately capture and redress algorithmic discrimination. It explores the gaps and weaknesses that emerge at both the EU and national levels from the interaction between, on the one hand, the specific types of discrimination that arise when algorithms are used in decision-making systems and, on the other, the particular material and personal scope of the existing legislative framework. This report also maps out the existing legal solutions, accompanying policy measures and good practice to address and redress algorithmic discrimination both at EU and national levels. Moreover, this report proposes its own integrated set of legal, knowledge-based and technological solutions to the problem of algorithmic discrimination

Game Theory-Based Minimization of the Ostracism Risk in Construction Companies

Strategic and managerial decision-making in an organization can have a crucial effect for the whole entity; however, it rarely involves the organization’s employees evenly at the different organizational levels. The result is—what is addressed in this paper as—the ostracism risk, namely the risk accruing from the lack of satisfaction of underprivileged employees’ groups during the decision-making process. The ostracism risk could jeopardize the organization’s integrity and therefore requires effective treatment. This paper aims at verifying a conceptual approach, which is proposed as a methodology for assessing the probability of organizational cooperation when deciding under risk, thus minimizing ostracism risk. The proposed approach is based on organizational and human resources management (HRM) theories and is contextualized for construction through the understanding of systems theory. The proposed methodology presents a potential modelling via game theory of a medium-sized construction company that is organized according to Mintzberg’s organizational model. The utilization of the bounded Pareto distribution is presented as an approach of the model’s probabilistic processing, and the potential for estimating the probabilities to adopt a favorable cooperational decision is verified. The paper concludes with the reference to the next steps required for the methodology’s validation and further improvement

Megaproject development in the context of sustainable urban regeneration

Megaprojects are large-scale ventures of inherent great complexity; they last long, cost much, and affect the lives of a significant number of people. A common type of megaprojects that aspire to (re)form the so-called “cities of tomorrow” is the urban megaprojects, i.e., megaprojects including all types of infrastructure involved for a holistic intervention in the city’s environment. The decision to initiate and develop such projects, though, is a very hard task that requires the inclusion of a broad agenda of issues to be taken into consideration, such as: a) scarcity of required resources, b) assessment of the project’s decisive impact on the structure of urban functions and city planning, c) alignment with the principles of urban sustainability, etc. This paper reviews the interface between urban megaprojects and urban sustainability taking into consideration the emergence of smart cities. Through synthesis and comparative analysis of these concepts, the paper explores their compatibility and the extent to which they can be integrated, in order to promote the growing needs of contemporary cities in a manner that reduces resource waste, environmental pollution and the creation of social inequalities. Some examples of case studies around the world are used to lighten the associated challenges to megaprojects in the urban environment context. Based on the above analysis, the paper provides an analytical overview of crucial aspects, such as the early stakeholder engagement, the adoption of a problem-solving oriented strategy, and useful recommendations for future policy makers

Markers for the identification of late breast cancer recurrence

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited

Critical Review of the Metallurgical Operation of the Greek Nickel Industry and Perspectives, based on the recent Industrial Experience on Smelting Reduction Process

The mining and industrial production of Greek ferronickel industry LARCO have ceased since 30.07.2022. The last LME nickel price crisis, exclusion from bank loaning, extremely high cost of electrical energy, management issues, resulted inter alia, in a prohibitive operational cost. Nevertheless, LARCO faces the challenge of restructuring and reoperation in the future, given that privatization is in progress, including the acquisition of the company’s assets to a joint venture enterprise. Within this framework, the current paper aims to contribute to the discussion for developing a new management strategy for the optimization of pyrometallurgical process, focusing on the critical step of smelting reduction. Based on industrial experience concerning open bath submerged arc electric furnaces, factors which critically affect the safety and cost-effectiveness of smelting reduction are detected and presented by means of case studies, being mainly classified as following: i) Optimal raw materials’ feed management, including laterite ores (domestic or not), solid fuels and electrode paste. Moreover, taking for granted the need for Ni-rich ‘foreign’ ores to increase the recovery and reduce the cost of the process, the extent of dependence on Fe-rich domestic ores is investigated, in order a safe and stable operation to be ensured. ii) Focus on preventive maintenance management. Substantial increase of the facilities’ operational index and cost saving is obtained, as proved by operational case studies. iii) Modern human resources management strategy. Their economical footprint is further discussed