Search Results (3,209)

Geographical Indication labels are an increasingly popular alternative among producers and governments seeking to protect the products and producers of their countries. This trend has grown due to the opening of markets and consumers’ increasing desire to know the origin of the products they purchase. A bibliographic review was conducted, including studies on the feasibility of applying quality labels, the associated challenges, and examples. This review identifies the processes involved in obtaining Designation of Origin and presents a positive perspective on their application. It was concluded that obtaining a differentiated quality label can improve production and quality of life, provided that it is the result of an evaluation of the area’s context and the main actors in production chains. Full article

Computational Thinking (CT) has been an important concept for the computer science education community in the last 20 years. In this work we performed a systematic review of the literature regarding the computational thinking of children from kindergarten to primary school. We compiled a large dataset of one hundred and twenty (120) studies from the literature. Through analysis of these studies, we tried to reveal important insights and draw interesting and valid conclusions. We analyzed various qualitative and quantitative aspects of the studies, including the sample size, the year of publication, the country of origin, the studies’ design and duration, the computational tools used, and so on. An important aspect of the work is to highlight differences between different study designs. We identified a total of 120 studies, with more than half of them (>50%) originating from Asian countries. Most studies (82.5%) conducted some form of intervention, aiming to improve their computational thinking in students. A smaller proportion (17.5%) were assessment studies in which the authors conducted assessments regarding the children’s computational thinking. On average, intervention studies had a smaller number of participants, but differences in duration could not be identified. There was also a lack of large-scale longitudinal studies. Block-based coding (i.e., Scratch) and Plugged and Unplugged activities were observed in high numbers in both categories of studies. CT assessment tools showed great variability. Efforts for standardization and reaching a consensus are needed in this regard. Finally, robotic systems have been found to play a major role in interventions over the last years. Full article

The transition to green energy in the transport sector is becoming a priority in the context of global climate challenges and the European Green Deal. This paper investigates the development of alternative fuelling stations, particularly electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure and hydrogen stations, across EU countries with a focus on Poland. It combines a policy and technology overview with a quantitative scientific analysis, offering a multidimensional perspective on green infrastructure deployment. A Pearson correlation analysis reveals significant links between charging station density and both GDP per capita and the share of renewable energy. The study introduces an original Infrastructure Accessibility Index (IAI) to compare infrastructure availability across EU member states and models Poland’s EV charging station demand up to 2030 under multiple growth scenarios. Furthermore, the article provides a comprehensive overview of biofuels, including first-, second-, and third-generation technologies, and highlights recent advances in hydrogen and renewable electricity integration. Emphasis is placed on life cycle considerations, energy source sustainability, and economic implications. The findings support policy development toward zero-emission mobility and the decarbonisation of transport systems, offering recommendations for infrastructure expansion and energy diversification strategies. Full article

The utilisation of edible insects for human nutrition is a long-standing practice in many parts of the globe, and is being gradually introduced into countries without an entomophagic tradition as well. These unconventional sources of protein of animal origin have arisen as a sustainable alternative to other animal protein sources, such as meat. This review intends to present the compilation of data in the scientific literature on the chemical composition and nutritional value of the bee brood of A. mellifera species and subspecies as edible foods. For this, a comprehensive search of the scientific literature was carried out using the databases ScienceDirect, Scopus, Pub-Med, BOn, and SciELO. Appropriate keywords were used for the search to reach the research works that addressed the topics of the review. The results showed that bee brood has considerable quantities of protein, fat and carbohydrates. The most abundant amino acids are leucine and lysine (these two being essential amino acids) and aspartic acid, glutamic acid, and proline (these three being non-essential amino acids). As for the fatty acids, bee broods contain approximately equal fractions of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, while the polyunsaturated fatty acids are negligible. The dietary minerals present in higher quantities are potassium, phosphorus, and magnesium, and the most abundant vitamins are vitamin C and niacin; choline is also present, although it is not a true vitamin. Although bee brood from A. mellifera has potential for human consumption as a nutrient-rich food, there are still many aspects that need to be further studied in the future, such as safety and hazards linked to possible regular consumption. Full article

Introduction: Breakfast has emerged as a critical factor in preventing cardiovascular diseases, driven not only by its nutritional content but also by its alignment with circadian rhythms. However, gaps remain in the literature regarding its clinical impact and thematic evolution. Objective: To characterize the global scientific output on the relationship between breakfast quality and cardiovascular health through a systematic bibliometric analysis. Methodology: The PRISMA 2020 protocol was applied to select 1436 original articles indexed in Scopus and Web of Science (1957–2025). Bibliometric tools, including R (v4.4.2) and VOSviewer (v1.6.19) were used to map productivity, impact, collaboration networks, and emerging thematic areas. Results: Scientific output has grown exponentially since 2000. The most influential journals are the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Nutrients, and Diabetes Care. The United States, United Kingdom, and Japan lead in publication volume and citations, with increasing participation from Latin American countries. Thematic trends have shifted from traditional clinical markers to innovative approaches such as chrononutrition, digital health, and personalized nutrition. However, methodological gaps persist, including a predominance of observational studies and an underrepresentation of vulnerable populations. Conclusions: Breakfast is a dietary practice with profound implications for cardiometabolic health. This study provides a comprehensive overview of scientific literature, highlighting both advancements and challenges. Strengthening international collaboration networks, standardizing definitions of a healthy breakfast, and promoting evidence-based interventions in school, clinical, and community settings are recommended. Full article

An analysis of Albanian Muslims in Italy provides a compelling case study of communities perceived as marginal. Studies of Muslims in Italy tend to focus on the majority and chronologically older groups within the country’s Islamic landscape, particularly those from Asia and Africa. In addition to providing a better understanding of Islam in Italy, a study of the identity and community-building issues of the Albanian community of origin offers many insights into that community’s complexity. Albanians in Italy have a very specific historical and religious heritage; so, analyzing their roots and community-building processes helps us to better understand the development of Islam on the margins of large national organizations and majority groups. This article presents the results of the first national study of Albanian Muslims in Italy. Online interviews and field observations were conducted in 2024 within the Union of Muslim Albanians in Italy (Unione degli Albanesi Musulmani in Italia—UAMI), using the ethnographic method. The Association has fewer members compared with national level organizations. It was founded in 2009 to address specific issues related to the management of Muslim Albanian religious identity. The Association has sought to address the fragmentation of religion and Albanian nationalism, a consequence of a long period of state atheism, and to counter the literalist and radical tendencies in the interpretation of religion that have emerged in Albania since the collapse of the communist regime. In addition to these challenges, the Association has also tackled issues related to the Islamic religion in its local and global dimensions. The analysis of these challenges and the ways to deal with them offers a new framework in the Italian Islamic panorama, despite its marginality. The results of this research point to the emergence of new forms of rooting and belonging characterized by spirituality over orthopraxis. These forms adopt a religious approach open to diversity and pluralism. Full article

Problems with primary food production (food insecurity, malnutrition, and socioeconomic problems) persist throughout the world, especially in rural areas. Despite these problems, the available natural food resources are underutilized; residents are no longer interested in growing and consuming foods native to their region. In this regard, this study carries out the morphological and nutritional characterization of a native sunflower (Helianthus annuus) grown in the Sierra Gorda, Querétaro, Mexico, known as “Maíz de teja”, to implement a sustainable monoculture production system. The results were compared with some other sunflower varieties and other oilseeds grown and consumed in the country. This study determined that this native sunflower seed is a good source of linoleic acid (84.98%) and zinc (17.2 mg/100 g). It is an alternative protein source (18.6 g/100 g), comparable to foods of animal origin. It also provides a good amount of fiber (22.6 g/100 g) and bioactive compounds (total phenolic compounds (TPC) 3.434 ± 0.03 mg/g and total flavonoids (TFC) 0.67 ± 0.02 mg/g), and seed yield 341.13 kg/ha. This study demonstrated a valuable nutritional profile of this native seed and its potential for cultivation. Further research is needed to improve agricultural management to contribute to food security and improve the socioeconomic status of the community. Full article

Falkland Islands English (FIE) began its development in the first half of the 19th century. In part, as a consequence of its youth, FIE is an understudied variety. It shares some morphosyntactic features with other anglophone countries in the Southern Hemisphere, but it also shares lexical features with regional varieties of Spanish, including Rioplatense Spanish. Che is one of many South American words that have entered FIE through Spanish, with its spelling ranging from “chay” and “chey” to “ché”. The word has received some marginal attention in terms of its meaning. It is said to be used in a similar way to the British dear or love and the Australian mate, and it has been compared to chum or pal, and is taken as an equivalent of the River Plate, hey!, hi!, or I say!. In this work, we explore the hypothesis that che entered FIE through historical contact with Rioplatense Spanish, drawing on both linguistic and sociohistorical evidence, and presenting survey, corpus, and ethnographic data that illustrate its current vitality, usage, and social meanings among FIE speakers. In situ observations, fieldwork, and an online survey were used to look into the vitality of che. Concomitantly, by crawling social media and the local press, enough data was gathered to build a small corpus to further study its vitality. A thorough literature review was conducted to hypothesise about the borrowing process involving its entry into FIE. The findings confirm that the word is primarily a vocative, it is commonly used, and it is indicative of a sense of belonging to the Falklands community. Although there is no consensus on the origin of che in the River Plate region, it seems to be the case that it entered FIE during the intense Spanish–English contact that took place during the second half of the 19th century. Full article

In the last two decades, the prevalence of South Asian migrant workers has significantly increased in the UAE’s construction sector, and they are under huge debt. Although researchers heavily stress the role of employers in migrant workers’ debt, the role of debt before departure has not been investigated. Thus, this study bridges this gap in the literature in the context of South Asian construction migrant workers. The objective of this study is to investigate how informal recruitment fees and debt arrangements contribute to bonded labor and dependency among migrant workers. A qualitative approach was used to conduct in-depth interviews with 30 South Asian migrants employed in the construction sector. This article highlights how pre-migration debt—which is often accrued through informal loans and exploitative recruitment fees—has been underexplored in migration studies. Drawing on interviews with 30 South Asian laborers, this study identifies five interconnected themes: pre-migration debt bondage, exploitative lending practices, lack of legal recourse, emotional manipulation, and a cycle of dependency. While UAE labor policies have improved, the real vulnerabilities lie in the informal recruitment systems and weak oversight in migrant workers’ countries of origin. Consequently, five themes were generated from the analysis: pre-migration debt bondage, exploitative lending practices, no legal recourse, emotional manipulation, and cycles of dependency. This study contributes to our existing knowledge by revealing the experiences of migrant construction workers from South Asia in the UAE. While the UAE has established one of the region’s most progressive legal frameworks to protect migrant workers and set clear labor standards, many exploitative practices occur outside its jurisdiction, particularly in the workers’ countries of origin. This study underscores that the root of the problem lies in weak enforcement and informal recruitment networks in sending countries, not in UAE policy itself. Addressing these challenges requires coordinated international action to ensure that migrant protection begins well before arrival. Full article

Background/Objectives: The field of tracheal reconstruction has undergone significant developments in the last few decades. Accordingly, this bibliometric review aims to identify the most influential publications within the field and their citation characteristics. Methods: A comprehensive search for “tracheal reconstruction” was conducted with the Clarivate’s Web of Science database. The resulting search results were filtered for relevant publications and evaluated to identify the 50 publications with the highest citation counts. Further analysis of these publications was conducted based on the following parameters: authorship, institutional affiliations, country of origin, citation density, year of publication, article type, and level of evidence. VOSviewer (version 1.6.20) was utilized to create co-occurrence maps of authors and keywords. Results: The top 50 publications were cited a total of 6449 times with an average of 128.98 citations per publication. The top three most cited articles were all by Grillo (primarily focused on tracheal stent repair and post-oncologic reconstruction). The majority of the top cited publications articles featured in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery (n = 10) were basic science in nature (32%) and had a level of evidence of Level IV (62%). The publication with the greatest citation density was by Kang et al. focusing on tracheal tissue engineering (TTE). Conclusions: This bibliometric review provides a thorough overview of the key publications that have influenced the field of tracheal reconstruction. Most predominantly, our analysis highlights a shift in focus from primary tracheal reconstruction techniques to more innovative repair paradigms such as TTE. Full article

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Remote Sensing (UAV-RS) has emerged as a transformative technology in high-resolution Earth observation, with widespread applications in precision agriculture, ecological monitoring, and disaster response. However, a systematic understanding of its scientific evolution and structural bottlenecks remains lacking. This study collected 4985 peer-reviewed articles from the Web of Science Core Collection and conducted a comprehensive scientometric analysis using CiteSpace v.6.2.R4, Origin 2022, and Excel. We examined publication trends, country/institutional collaboration networks, keyword co-occurrence clusters, and emerging research fronts. Results reveal an exponential growth in UAV-RS research since 2015, dominated by application-driven studies. Hotspots include vegetation indices, structure from motion modeling, and deep learning integration. However, foundational challenges—such as platform endurance, sensor coordination, and data standardization—remain underexplored. The global collaboration network exhibits a “strong hubs, weak bridges” pattern, limiting transnational knowledge integration. This review highlights the imbalance between surface-level innovation and deep technological maturity and calls for a paradigm shift from fragmented application responses to integrated systems development. Our findings provide strategic insights for researchers, policymakers, and funding agencies to guide the next stage of UAV-RS evolution. Full article

Given that student entrepreneurship contributes to the intensification of economic activities and the improvement of the social well-being of the parties involved, evaluating and fostering students’ entrepreneurial intentions can be a step in moving from intention to action in the entrepreneurial process. From this perspective, the present study assesses students’ entrepreneurial intentions and measures the impact of the most important determinants based on online questionnaires addressed to students from two different fields of study: economics and engineering. Using the collected data (N = 392 students) and analysis methods based on correlation and stratified multiple regression as well as non-parametric tests (Mann–Whitney U), the study reveals that students’ entrepreneurial intentions are influenced by mindset and resilience. The study indicates that the influences can vary significantly when the analyses include control variables, such as gender, field of study, year of study, professional experience, age, and country of origin. It is also important to note that the statistical significance of the results regarding the impact of resilience varies depending on the specifics of the control variables. This study considered both analyses of resilience (as a synthetic indicator) and its subcomponents. The results of this study have both theoretical and practical utility. Full article

A system of field protective forest belts (FPFBs) was created in the middle of the 20th century in Southern Dobrudzha (Northern Bulgaria) to reduce wind erosion, improve soil moisture storage, and increase agricultural crop yields. Since 2020, prolonged climatic drought during growing seasons and the advanced age of trees have adversely impacted the health status of planted species and resulted in the decline and dieback of the FPFBs. Physiologically stressed trees have become less able to resist pests, such as insects and diseases. In this work, an original new methodology for the integrated assessment of the condition of FPFBs and their protective capacity is presented. The presented methods include the assessment of structural and functional characteristics, as well as the health status of the dominant tree species. Five indicators were identified that, to the greatest extent, present the ability of forest belts to perform their protective functions. Each indicator was evaluated separately, and then an overlay analysis was applied to generate an integrated assessment of the condition of individual forest belts. Three groups of FPFBs were differentiated according to their condition: in good condition, in moderate condition, and in bad condition. The methodology was successfully tested in Southern Dobrudzha, but it could be applied to other regions in Bulgaria where FPFBs were planted, regardless of their location, composition, origin, and age. This methodological approach could be transferred to other countries after adapting to their geo-ecological and agroforest specifics. The methodological approach is an informative and useful tool to support decision-making about FPFB management, as well as the proactive planning of necessary forestry activities for the reconstruction of degraded belts. Full article

Background: Genetic insights from diverse populations are key to advancing cancer detection, treatment, and prevention. Unlike other Latin American countries, Colombia lacks a centralized registry for germline and somatic mutations in breast and ovarian cancer. This study describes the country’s first national variant registry, and the occurrence of recurrent mutations and potential founder effects in Colombia. Methods: To address this gap, we implemented the first capturing protocol using the REDCap system. In a group of 213 breast and/or ovarian cancer patients harboring genetic mutations, we collected genetic, clinical, and demographic data from 13 regional centers across Colombia. Statistical analyses assessed variant distribution and patient demographics. Results: Among 229 identified variants (105 germline, 124 somatic), most were classified as pathogenic or likely pathogenic (72.4% germline, 87% somatic). BRCA1 and BRCA2 accounted for the majority of recurrent mutations. Germline recurrent variants (seen >3 times) were recorded for BRCA1 (77.7%; 21/27) and BRCA2 (22.3%; 6/27). Similarly, recurrent somatic variants were identified for BRCA1 (82.6%; 38/46) and BRCA2 (17.4%; 8/46). Notably, four recurrent variants were previously reported as founder mutations: BRCA1 c.1674del (14.3% germline and 23.7% somatic), BRCA1 c.3331_3334del (33.3% germline and 52.6% somatic), BRCA1 c.5123C>A (52.4% germline and 23.7% somatic), and BRCA2 c.2808_2811del (50% germline and 50% somatic). Most cases originated from the Andean region, highlighting regional disparities. Conclusions: This registry offers the first overview of genetic variants in Colombian breast and ovarian cancer patients. Recurrent and region-specific mutations highlight the need for population-focused data to guide targeted screening and personalized care strategies. Full article

The consumption and farming of insects are gaining global attention as sustainable alternatives to conventional protein sources. Industrial processing of insects into powders or pastes complicates species identification, raising concerns about product authenticity, food safety, and potential fraud. In Western countries, particularly in Europe, the sector is expanding under a stringent regulatory framework, especially regarding rearing substrates, which hinders economic development. This study aimed to assess the species authenticity of commercial insect-based food and feed products and detect the presence of animal-derived DNA from unauthorized substrates. A total of 119 samples (pure insect meals and processed products) were collected from various origins. Species-specific real-time PCR assays targeted Tenebrio molitor, Hermetia illucens, Alphitobius diaperinus, Acheta domesticus, Bombyx mori, and Gryllodes sigillatus, alongside assays for ruminant, porcine, and poultry DNA. High-throughput sequencing (HTS) using metabarcoding confirmed and broadened species detection. Most samples contained the declared species; however, cases of mislabeling, substitution, and cross-contamination were observed. A few insect meals contained animal DNA which could suggest potential use of prohibited substrates. These findings highlight the urgent need for standardized authentication methods and improved transparency to ensure regulatory compliance, consumer trust, and sustainable development of the insect-based sector. Full article