Continental Europe Research Articles

Hourly values of an advanced human-biometeorological index for diverse populations from 1991 to 2020 in Greece

Existing assessments of the thermal-related impact of the environment on humans are often limited by the use of data that are not representative of the population exposure and/or not consider a human centred approach. Here, we combine high resolution regional retrospective analysis (reanalysis), population data and human energy balance modelling, in order to produce a human thermal bioclimate dataset capable of addressing the above limitations. The dataset consists of hourly, population-weighted values of an advanced human-biometeorological index, namely the modified physiologically equivalent temperature (mPET), at fine-scale administrative level and for 10 different population groups. It also includes the main environmental drivers of mPET at the same spatiotemporal resolution, covering the period from 1991 to 2020. The study area is Greece, but the provided code allows for the ease replication of the dataset in countries included in the domains of the climate reanalysis and population data, which focus over Europe. Thus, the presented data and code can be exploited for human-biometeorological and environmental epidemiological studies in the European continent.

Faire gras à Molène: dairy products and ruminant fats detected by lipid and isotopic analysis of pottery dating to the Final Neolithic-Early Bronze Age from the island site of Beg ar Loued (Molène, western Brittany, France)

The subsistence strategies of early farming communities have been highlighted since the beginning of the Neolithic, thanks to numerous studies on lipid residues from ceramic vessels conducted in various parts of continental Europe. However, after the Early Neolithic, evidence of subsistence strategies along the northern Atlantic coast are still lacking, especially for island contexts. This paper presents the results of lipid residue analysis of 129 potsherds from Beg ar Loued (Molène, France), an island site dating primarily to the Early Bronze Age (c. 2700-2600 to 1800 BCE). Aiming to understand the use of vessels, vessel treatment and culinary practices on the settlement, analyses of visible charred residues, sherds and ceramic surfaces/coating layers were carried out using chromatographic (n = 174) and isotopic techniques (n = 24) after lipid extraction by solvent (n = 174) or acid methanolysis (n = 31). The results demonstrate the extensive use of terrestrial products (ruminant carcass and dairy) in pottery, including occasional plant products (with possible mixtures of different waxes), while the detection of aquatic products is limited. Thus, combined with evidence from faunal remains at the site, the results indicate that terrestrial resources like ruminant meat and dairy products were preferentially processed in vessels, and aquatic products mostly without the use of ceramics. These findings demonstrate the significance of lipid residue analysis for studying the role of pottery in food production and consumption at sites along the Atlantic coast.

Analysis of the insertion of solar Photovoltaic generation in large consumers of Rio de Janeiro: A Case Study

The last few years have shown an exponential growth in the use of photovoltaics in the world. The worldwide installed capacity of 23 GW in 2009 reached the expressive mark of 139 GW in 2013, being the European continent the holder of the largest portion of it (59% or 81GW). The most recent estimates describe a still small market in Brazil, with only 20 MW of installed capacity (EPE 2014) and mostly located in remote areas not covered by the interconnected system. Nevertheless, the growth potential of the domestic market is promising, greater even than that presented by the leaders in the use of this source. In this paper it is presented an implementation of a solar photovoltaic project in one medium voltage client of the distributing utility of Rio de Janeiro (LIGHT). The choice of this client was based in a previous work by (Carmo, 2014 & 2015) that used a fuzzy logic system to classify the potential medium and high voltage clients of LIGHT based on the matching of their weekdays load shape curves and the corresponding daily solar radiation curve in Rio de Janeiro. The results show that, depending on the values of key variables (tariff, rate of exchange and price of equipment) the project is economically viable.

Histoires parallèles: Démétrius Cantemir et François II Rákóczi

In the wake of the work aimed at comparing Demetrius Cantemir (1673?–1723) with various outstanding political and cultural personalities, this study proposes a comparative lecture with his illustrious contemporary Transylvanian Prince Francis II Rákóczi (1676–1735). Reigning in the two neighbouring principalities of Moldavia and Transylvania, the two princes stand out at Euro pean political level in the context of confrontations for the domination of this region between the Ottoman, Russian and Austrian empires. This comparative approach to the two personalities is not based on consistent testimonies of how each of the two protagonists considered the other, but their lives give many reasons for doing it. Representing two different princely traditions, they experienced the same hardships of a childhood marked by the death of one of their parents, and shared the same ambition for an exceptional education that provided them a prestigious place among the intellectual elites of the time. Their personalities are closer in many respects to their political action, particularly through the struggle to win independence for their principalities and the adventure of exile. Nothing, however, is as revealing as their intellectual work, which allowed them to gain recognition in the Republic of Letters of the time and, subsequently, in cultural his tory, far beyond boundaries of their principalities. A comparative analysis of the two personalities may therefore be of interest in order to better understand their role in the history of the Carpa tho-Danubian principalities at an important moment in the transition to the modern era, and to better highlight the exceptional richness of Demetrius Cantemir’s intellectual work.

Perspectives of the Court of the Astana International Financial Centre: Potential to Transform the Central Asian Legal Landscape

AbstractThe rise and proliferation of International Commercial Courts has become a perceptible trend across the European and Asian continents over the past two decades. One such dispute resolution hub exists within the Astana International Financial Centre, a special jurisdiction within the Republic of Kazakhstan that operates on the basis of common law principles. The Astana International Financial Centre and its Court were modelled on the international financial centres of Dubai and Qatar; however, there are substantial differences between the legal systems of the Gulf States and that of the Republic of Kazakhstan. As a result, the creation of a new court has led to considerable criticism within the local legal community, raising serious doubts as to whether the Kazakh state should be maintaining and financing a ‘caviar-court’ instead of using resources to reform and develop the national judicial system. Nevertheless, despite the scepticism surrounding the financial centre, there is potential for the Astana International Financial Centre and its Court to become a regional dispute resolution hub for post-Soviet countries and the Central Asian region, following the example of Singapore and Dubai.

An Updated Review of The Quaternary Hippopotamus Fossil Records from the Iberian Peninsula

This work presents a comprehensive review of the Quaternary fossil records of hippopotamuses from the Iberian Peninsula, unveiling biogeographical insights of global significance. The results presented herein include the inference of a delayed arrival of Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus antiquus) populations onto the Iberian Peninsula compared to other European Mediterranean regions, with an estimated age of ca. 1.7 Ma, in contrast to 2.1–2.2 Ma elsewhere. Moreover, we hypothesize the possibility of a short-lived coexistence between H. antiquus and Hippopotamus amphibius, close to the extinction of the former taxon (ca. 0.45 Ma). The local extinction of all hippopotamus populations on the Iberian Peninsula between MIS 5 and 3 is suggested here, mirroring proposals made for the Italian peninsula. Notable aspects of this fossil record include the abundance of specimens, previously undocumented anatomical elements, and partially complete individuals with articulated body segments. The remains analyzed herein also present different ontogenetic stages and sexual dimorphism. Moreover, the presence of specimens displaying paleopathologies provides valuable insights into ethological and paleoecological studies. The exceptional record of at least three events of human exploitation of hippopotamus stands out, with this being a rarity in the broader context of the archaeological and paleontological record of the European continent.

Regulatory Implications for considering flexible resources in network expansion planning: main lessons from regional cases in the H2020 FlexPlan project.

The FlexPlan Horizon2020 project aimed at establishing a new grid planning methodology which considers the opportunity to introduce new storage and flexibility resources in electricity transmission and distribution grids as an alternative to building new grid elements, in accordance with the intentions of the European Commission regulatory package "Clean Energy for all Europeans". FlexPlan creates a new innovative grid planning tool which is intended to go beyond the state of the art of planning methodologies by including the following innovative features: assessment of best planning strategy by analysing in one shot a high number of candidate expansion options provided by a pre-processor tool, simultaneous mid- and long-term planning assessment over three grid years (2030-2040-2050), incorporation of full range of cost benefit analysis criteria into the target function, integrated transmission distribution planning, embedded environmental analysis (air quality, carbon footprint, landscape constraints), probabilistic contingency methodologies in replacement of the traditional N-1 criterion, application of numerical decomposition techniques to reduce calculation efforts and analysis of variability of yearly RES and load time series through a Monte Carlo process. Six regional cases covering nearly the whole European continent are developed in order to cast a view on grid planning in Europe till 2050. The final step in FlexPlan was formulating guidelines for regulators and planning offices of system operators, by indicating to what extent system flexibility can contribute to reduce overall system costs (operational and investment) yet maintaining current system security levels and which regulatory provisions could foster such process. This paper focuses on the regulatory issues, which were uncovered during the initiation phase and of the project and refined in throughout six regional cases. In order to substantiate this, the paper explains in brief the developed and applied FlexPlan methodology and its testing in six regional cases.

Lead isotopic compositions link copper axes from Kietrz (Poland, 3500–3350 BC) to Slovak and Balkan copper mines

AbstractChemical and lead isotope analyses aided by metallographic examination of copper axes found at the Late Neolithic settlement of Kietrz in southwestern Poland provide new evidence for the origin of copper and metal trade routes in the region. Our results indicate that metal used for the axes could be sourced from copper mines in modern Slovakia, Bulgaria and perhaps Serbia. The evidence from this study confirms that the Funnel Beaker people from Poland became parties to a metal trading network that connected much of continental Europe in the mid‐4th millennium bce and provides a better understanding of how these contacts provided the background for the technological and socio‐economic developments of the Baden era.

Shared genetic architectures of educational attainment in East Asian and European populations

Educational attainment (EduYears), a heritable trait often used as a proxy for cognitive ability, is associated with various health and social outcomes. Previous genome-wide association studies (GWASs) on EduYears have been focused on samples of European (EUR) genetic ancestries. Here we present the first large-scale GWAS of EduYears in people of East Asian (EAS) ancestry (n = 176,400) and conduct a cross-ancestry meta-analysis with EduYears GWAS in people of EUR ancestry (n = 766,345). EduYears showed a high genetic correlation and power-adjusted transferability ratio between EAS and EUR. We also found similar functional enrichment, gene expression enrichment and cross-trait genetic correlations between two populations. Cross-ancestry fine-mapping identified refined credible sets with a higher posterior inclusion probability than single population fine-mapping. Polygenic prediction analysis in four independent EAS and EUR cohorts demonstrated transferability between populations. Our study supports the need for further research on diverse ancestries to increase our understanding of the genetic basis of educational attainment.

Spatiotemporal management of solar, wind and hydropower across continental Europe

Weather climate fluctuations cause large variations in renewable electricity production, which requires substantial amounts of energy storage to overcome energy drought periods. Based on daily hydroclimatic data and information about renewable power systems covering Europe, here we quantify the complementarity in the solar-wind-hydro energy components of the continental climate system. We show that the spatiotemporal management of renewable electricity production over Europe can induce a virtual energy storage gain that is several times larger than the available energy storage capacity in hydropower reservoirs. The potential electricity production matches the consumption by spatiotemporal management of suitable shares of solar and wind power complemented with the present hydropower. While the mixed renewable energy potential varies less than anticipated at the continental scale, utilization of the complementarity requires new continental electrical transmission lines and stable international trade. We highlight that management models need to consider incentives beyond national boundaries to appropriately benefit from continental climate conditions.

Evolution of the European offshore renewable energy resource under multiple climate change scenarios and forecasting horizons via CMIP6

The design of the different offshore renewable energy (ORE) technologies depends on the characteristics of wind/wave resources. However, these characteristics are not stationary under climate change. In this study the evolution of European offshore wave/wind resources is assessed under mid- and high-emissions scenarios based on the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5) and three forecasting horizons including the near (2023–2032), mid (2041–2050) and long term (2091–2100). The novelties lie in: (i) the concurrent analysis of wind and wave resources, (ii) the use of data with a 3-hour temporal resolution, and (iii) the local-scale statistical analysis. Results show significant variations along the 21st century, with an overall decline in average wind and wave conditions. Importantly, and somewhat counter-intuitively, much of the Atlantic coast of continental Europe experiences increasing extremes in the high-emissions scenario. For the local-scale statistical analysis, the focus is on five wind farm sites, commissioned or in planning. In the high-emissions scenario, the 99th and 99.99th percentiles decrease in three of them and increase in the other two. The combination of decreasing averages and increasing extremes presents the worst-case scenario for ORE technology developers.

Pleistocene Asian black bear (Ursus thibetanus Cuvier, 1823) in the Iberian Peninsula: new evidence and a complete review

The Asian black bear (Ursus thibetanus Cuvier, 1823) is a medium-sized ursid that currently mostly inhabits environments of dense foliage and forests in southern and eastern Asia. This species is currently extinct in Europe, but during the Middle Pleistocene and the beginning of the Late Pleistocene its distribution was wider and reached until Southern Siberia, the Ural Mountains, Caucasus and western Europe. The main objective of this work is to provide a detailed description of all the Ursus thibetanus remains from the Iberian Peninsula, describing for the first time the new remains, and discuss the chronological framework of the presence of this taxon in the largest of the southern European peninsulas. The Iberian Peninsula has yielded paleontological evidence of this taxon in five sites (Bolomor, Koskobilo, La Llanera, Cau d'en Borràs and Villavieja), and we present new paleontological evidence from the latter three sites, which is important due to the scarcity of U. thibetanus fossil remains. We compare the morphology of these new remains with both European Pleistocene fossils and recent U. thibetanus. Up until recently, its distribution in Iberia was thought to be restricted to the East of the Iberian Peninsula. But the recent identification of U. thibetanus remains in Koskobilo (Navarre) and in La Llanera (Oviedo) has resulted in a wider distribution of this species than what was previously thought. The dental remains from Koskobilo, La Llanera, Villavieja, Bolomor and Cau d'en Borràs fit well within the Pleistocene U. thibetanus from Europe morphologically and metrically. Some Iberian remains are morphologically similar to previously described U. thibetanus Pleistocene fossil subspecies. A M2 from Bolomor is morphologically closer to U. t. mediterraneus (MIS 7), and a M2 from Koskobilo is similar to U. t. kurteni (MIS 6–7). The postcranial fossil remains from Cau d'en Borràs and Villavieja fit well within the recent U. thibetanus range of variation. Except for the remains from Bolomor (MIS 5e and MIS 7), the rest of the Iberian U. thibetanus fossils are difficult to ascribe chronologically. Based on other biochronological proxies, Cau d'en Borràs and Koskobilo can tentatively be assigned to the MIS 7–5 range, Villavieja could be assigned to MIS 13–5, and La Llanera is probably the oldest record of U. thibetanus in Iberia (MIS 15–13). However, until new direct datings are performed on the sites, the proposed chronologies should be regarded with caution.

Global fine-resolution data on springtail abundance and community structure

Springtails (Collembola) inhabit soils from the Arctic to the Antarctic and comprise an estimated ~32% of all terrestrial arthropods on Earth. Here, we present a global, spatially-explicit database on springtail communities that includes 249,912 occurrences from 44,999 samples and 2,990 sites. These data are mainly raw sample-level records at the species level collected predominantly from private archives of the authors that were quality-controlled and taxonomically-standardised. Despite covering all continents, most of the sample-level data come from the European continent (82.5% of all samples) and represent four habitats: woodlands (57.4%), grasslands (14.0%), agrosystems (13.7%) and scrublands (9.0%). We included sampling by soil layers, and across seasons and years, representing temporal and spatial within-site variation in springtail communities. We also provided data use and sharing guidelines and R code to facilitate the use of the database by other researchers. This data paper describes a static version of the database at the publication date, but the database will be further expanded to include underrepresented regions and linked with trait data.

Genetic effects of sequence-conserved enhancer-like elements on human complex traits.

The vast majority of findings from human genome-wide association studies (GWAS) map to non-coding sequences, complicating their mechanistic interpretations and clinical translations. Non-coding sequences that are evolutionarily conserved and biochemically active could offer clues to the mechanisms underpinning GWAS discoveries. However, genetic effects of such sequences have not been systematically examined across a wide range of human tissues and traits, hampering progress to fully understand regulatory causes of human complex traits. Here we develop a simple yet effective strategy to identify functional elements exhibiting high levels of human-mouse sequence conservation and enhancer-like biochemical activity, which scales well to 313 epigenomic datasets across 106 human tissues and cell types. Combined with 468 GWAS of European (EUR) and East Asian (EAS) ancestries, these elements show tissue-specific enrichments of heritability and causal variants for many traits, which are significantly stronger than enrichments based on enhancers without sequence conservation. These elements also help prioritize candidate genes that are functionally relevant to body mass index (BMI) and schizophrenia but were not reported in previous GWAS with large sample sizes. Our findings provide a comprehensive assessment of how sequence-conserved enhancer-like elements affect complex traits in diverse tissues and demonstrate a generalizable strategy of integrating evolutionary and biochemical data to elucidate human disease genetics.

Assessing the effect of invasive organisms on forests under information uncertainty: The case of pine wood nematode in continental Europe

Forests worldwide are experiencing increasingly intense biotic disturbances; however, assessing impacts of these disturbances is challenging due to the diverse range of organisms involved and the complex interactions among them. This particularly applies to invasive species, which can greatly alter ecological processes in their invaded territories. Here we focus on the pine wood nematode (PWN, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus), an invasive pathogen that has caused extensive mortality of pines in East Asia and more recently has invaded southern Europe. It is expected to expand its range into continental Europe with heavy impacts possible.Given the unknown dynamics of PWN in continental Europe, we reviewed laboratory and field experiments conducted in Asia and southern Europe to parameterize the main components of PWN biology and host-pathogen interactions in the Biotic Disturbance Engine (BITE), a model designed to implement a variety of forest biotic agents, from fungi to large herbivores. To simulate dynamically changing host availability and conditions, BITE was coupled with the forest landscape model iLand. The potential impacts of introducing PWN were assessed in a Central European forest landscape (40,928 ​ha), likely within PWN’s reach in future decades.A parameter sensitivity analysis indicated a substantial influence of factors related to dispersal, colonization, and vegetation impact, whereas parameters related to population growth manifested a minor effect. Selection of different assumptions about biological processes resulted in differential timing and size of the main mortality wave, eliminating 40%–95% of pine trees within 100 years post-introduction, with a maximum annual carbon loss between 1.3% and 4.2%. PWN-induced tree mortality reduced the Gross Primary Productivity, increased heterotrophic respiration, and generated a distinct legacy sink effect in the recovery period. This assessment has corroborated the ecological plausibility of the simulated dynamics and highlighted the need for new strategies to navigate the substantial uncertainty in the agent’s biology and population dynamics.

ОСОБЛИВОСТІ CУБКУЛЬТУРИ УЛЬТРАС В УКРАЇНІ

Football is the most popular sport on the European continent, giving rise to a mass culture encompassing various elements such as live broadcasts of football matches, the production of football-themed films, the publication of books, and the sale and popularization of club symbols. Additionally, local fan traditions and supporter fan groups contribute to the rich cultural tapestry surrounding football. Few cultural activities attract as many people as football and within the realm of fan movements, ultras stand out as the most widespread and influential fan group globally. This makes them an essential group for analysis and research into their impact. On the European continent, football fan movements have long been marked by the distinction between two models: the «English-style» hooliganism and the ultras movement originating in Italy. These two trends have served as a precursor to the local development of fan movements in other European countries and the rest of the world. Today, ultras represent the dominant football fan movement in Germany, Poland, Greece, southern France, and the Balkans. In Spain, Turkey, and Eastern and Central Europe, fans have adopted some aspects of the ultras style (Doidge et al., 2020, p. 4). Based on this, one might think of European football fan movements as predominantly following the «Italian» variant, except the United Kingdom. However, in reality, such movements in each country have regional peculiarities shaped by cultural, economic, political, and historical conditions. The football fan movement in Ukraine is relatively young and needs more research in the academic world, characterized by a lack of scholarly works. This article aims to provide an overview of the critical aspects of forming the football fan movement and ultras in Ukraine, shedding light on the features of this group’s subculture.

The global incidence, mortality, and burden of uterine cancer in 2019 and correlation with SDI, tobacco, dietary risks, and metabolic risk factors: An ecological study.

Endometrial cancer (EC) is the sixth most common cancer among women worldwide. Since global studies are based on awareness of the incidence trend, mortality, geographical diversity, and level of social development and income of countries, this study was conducted to investigate the trend of uterine cancer (UC) in the world in 2019. Age-standardized rates (ASR) of incidence, deaths, prevalence, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) of UC, as well as targeted risk factors, were extracted from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) online database 2019. Pearson correlation coefficient and SPSS 16 were used to calculate the correlation between risk factors and ASR of epidemiological indicators. Statistical significance was considered as p < 0.05. In 2019, the age-specific incidence and death rate of UC was peaking at 60-64 and 65-69 years, respectively. The highest age-standardized incidence rate per 100,000 people for UC has been reported in the Northern Mariana Islands, high sociodemographic index (SDI) countries, World Bank High-Income category, Europe continent and among World Health Organization (WHO) regions were found in the European Region. The highest age-standardized death rateper 100,000 people for UC has been reported in Grenada, high SDI countries, the World Bank High-Income category, Europe continent, and among WHO regions found in the European Region. In 2019, the age-standardized DALYs rate was 53.54 per 100,000 inhabitants, of which 48.49 cases were related to years of life lost (YLLs) and 5.05 cases were related to years lived with disability. According to GBD-2019, the highest incidence, mortality, and DALY of UC are in Europe. The evidence and traces of diversity can be seen in the inequalities of UC. Race, ethnicity, economic status, level of education and awareness, co-morbidities, access, grade, and histological type of tumor are the most important causes of this inequality.

Туристично-рекреаційний потенціал регіону: сутність і фактори впливу

The article examines the category of «tourism potential of the region» and the factors that influence it. It has been found that most of the authors consider the phenomenon of tourism potential primarily through the prism of resource provision of the region (destination), and the rest of the uncontrolled factors of the macro-environment remain unattended. It is substantiated that the concepts of «tourism potential of the region» and «tourism potential of destination» are identical in content. It is noted that the study of factors and the need to model their impact on the economic potential of the destination stems from the fact that the latter acts as an object of investment policy at the micro-, meso- and macro-levels. It is identified that in connection with the mass translation of foreign literature, the scientific views of the Anglo-Saxon scientific space had a predominant influence on the domestic economic theory in the field of tourism, while the theoretical conceptions of tourism economics of researchers from continental Europe were insufficiently studied by domestic scientists. The expediency of interpreting the term «tourism potential of the region» not as a set of factors of resource provision of the destination, but as a certain property of the tourism system is substantiated. Otherwise, the concepts of «tourism potential of the region» and «tourism resources of the region» are identical. The authors suggest to interpret the tourism potential as the ability of a destination to form and implement a certain amount of tourism services and material goods that will be in demand and meet the needs of tourists and vacationers. The expediency of using the term «tourism product» as a set of existing and newly created public goods suitable for meeting the needs of tourists and visitors of the destination is substantiated. At this, the destination with its resource provision generates a tourism product, acting in the market as a supplying party. The expediency of differentiating the management system at the level of destination into strategic and operational components is substantiated: in the subsystem of strategic management of the destination, the tourism potential of the region acts as a target parameter, and in the subsystem of operational management it is the volume of the tourism product. It is noted that the level of tourism potential is determined by four factors: an aggregate of elements of supply on the part of the destination; current demand for travel services of the destination; competitive environment and expected trends in the development of tourism.

Adieu Bias: Debiasing Intuitions Among French Speakers.

Recent debiasing studies have shown that a short, plain-English explanation of the correct solution strategy can improve reasoning performance. However, these studies have predominantly focused on English-speaking populations, who were tested with problem contents designed for an English-speaking test environment. Here we explore whether the key findings of previous debiasing studies can be extended to native French speakers living in continental Europe (France). We ran a training session with a battery of three reasoning tasks (i.e., base-rate neglect, conjunction fallacy, and bat-and-ball) on 147 native French speakers. We used a two-response paradigm in which participants first gave an initial intuitive response, under time pressure and cognitive load, and then gave a final response after deliberation. Results showed a clear training effect, as early as the initial (intuitive) stage. Immediately after training, most participants solved the problems correctly, without the need for a deliberation process. The findings confirm that the intuitive debiasing training effect extends to native French speakers.

One British Archive: The Treasures of Stonyhurst College Libraries

AbstractThis essay inaugurates One British Archive, a new series in the Journal of British Studies. This short essay describes the little-known archive, libraries, and museum of Stonyhurst College in England. Stonyhurst represents a continuation of the College of St Omers, a Catholic institution started in continental Europe in the sixteenth century, when Catholics were routinely prosecuted in England. This transnational quality of British expatriate communities in Europe is reflected in the collections. The modern preparatory school contains not only the records of St Omers but also the papers and books of numerous local families and school children that passed through its doors. The current archive, libraries, and museum are thus a treasure trove for anyone pursuing studies into Catholicism, book history, British education, and more.