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The addition of ground olive stones in the manufacture of mortar bricks reduces their thermal conductivity coefficient and increases heat exchange insulation. So, it can improve energy efficiency and reduce the energy demand of buildings. This research analyzes, from other points of view, the economic, social and environmental impacts of the doping of GERO mortar bricks with ground olive stone in a percentage between 5% and 15% by volume of fine aggregate for use in building construction. The study focuses mainly on the region of Andalusia, Spain, where large quantities of olive stones are collected as waste from olive oil production. The economic analysis shows how the use of ground olive stones as a partial replacement of fine aggregate in mortar can generate significant savings and economic returns in the medium term (10–20 years) by reducing conventional energy consumption in heating and air conditioning installations. Finally, the Environmental Life Cycle Analysis shows that the use of ground olive stones in GERO perforated bricks reduces environmental impacts in the medium term. In summary, the research concludes that the doping of mortar bricks with ground olive stones can have a positive impact on the economy, society and the environment, and represents a sustainable and cost-effective alternative for the construction industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The working environment of social educators working at youth centres is highly complex, with an additional challenge being the fact that the children under their care are often presented with a number of challenges. Certain variables related with affective development and emotional competencies are crucial for effective management of social work. The present research explores the relationships between attachment styles, emotional intelligence and work engagement among social educators working at youth centres catering to minors at risk of social exclusion in Andalusia. Present findings revealed significant patterns of association between attachment styles formed during childhood and emotional intelligence in educators working with such minors. It was observed that educators reporting secure attachments perceived themselves as to have a high ability to manage their emotions, whilst those reporting insecure attachments perceived themselves to have less ability. Secure attachment styles did not directly impact levels of work engagement. In contrast, professionals who perceived themselves as having a high ability to intelligently regulate their emotions showed higher engagement in terms of their job functions. Present findings suggest that the relationship of emotional intelligence with attachment and work engagement, plays a crucial role in determining levels of energy, enthusiasm and dedication exhibited by social educators in contexts of care provision for children at risk of social exclusion. This has important implications for the design of socioemotional interventions and support programs in social care provision at youth centres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aquaculture is becoming a strategic sector for many national economies to supply the increasing demand for fish from consumers. Fish culture conditions and processing operations can lead to an increase in microbial contamination of farmed fish that may shorten the shelf-life of fish products and byproducts, and ready-to-eat fishery products. The objective of this study was to evaluate the hygienic-sanitary status of water, environment, and processing of fresh-farmed rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) fillets produced in a local fish farm in Andalusia, Spain. To achieve this, a longitudinal study was carried out by collecting environmental (air and food-contact surfaces), water from fish ponds, and rainbow trout samples. Thereby, seven sampling visits were performed between February 2021 and July 2022, where foodborne pathogens and spoilage microorganisms, together with physicochemical parameters, were analysed in the collected samples. Further, microbial identification of microbiota was achieved through a culture-dependent technique using blast analysis of 16S RNA gene sequencing. The results showed that Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella were not detected in the analysed samples. Regarding the hygienic-sanitary status of the fish farm, the slaughtering bath, the eviscerating machine and the outlet water from fish ponds presented the highest counts of coliforms, Enterobacteriaceae, and Aerobic Mesophilic Bacteria. Staphylococcus aureus and sulphite-reducing Clostridium were identified in the conveyor belts, fish flesh, and viscera. The 16S RNA identification confirmed the presence of viable spoilage bacteria such as Citrobacter gillenii, Macrococcus caseolyticus, Hafnia paralvei, Lactococcus lactis, Lactococcus cremoris, Klebsiella, Escherichia coli, Morganella morganii, and Shewanella. Three of these genera (Citrobacter, Hafnia, and Pseudomonas) were present in all types of samples analysed. The results evidenced potential transmission of microbial contamination from contaminated packaging belts and boxes, evisceration and filleting machines to flesh and viscera samples, thus the establishment of control measures should be implemented in fish farm facilities to extend the shelf-life of farmed fishery products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a mathematical/Artificial Intelligence (AI) model for the prediction of price outcomes in markets with the presence of lobbying, whose outputs are pricing trends that aggregate the opinions of lobbies on future prices. Our proposal succeeds in unraveling this complex real-world problem by reducing the solution to straightforward probability computations. We tested our method on real olive oil prices (Andalusia, Spain) with encouraging results in a challenging sector, where opacity in the entry of oil shipments which are stored while waiting for the price to rise, makes it very difficult to forecast the prices. Specifically, understanding by minimum price that the price level is at least reached, specific formulas for computing the likelihood of both the aggregate and the minimum market price are provided. These formulas are based on the price levels that lobbies expect which in turn, can be calculated using the probability that each lobby gives to market prices. An innovative quantitative study of the lobbies is also carried out by explicitly computing the weight of each lobby in the process thus solving a problem for which there were only qualitative references up until now. The structural model is based on Time Dynamic Markov random fields (TD-MRFs). This model requires significantly less information to produce an output and enjoys transparency during the process when compared with other approaches, such as neural networks (known as black boxes). Transparency also ensures that the internal structures can be fine tuned to fit to each context as well as possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After various attempts by some autonomous communities to regulate same-sex marriage, Law 13/2005 provided for the recognition of this type of union. This placed Spain as one of the pioneer countries in recognizing this type of marriage. This study addresses the evolution of same-sex marriage divorces, and several characteristics of these divorces, in one of the territories where most same-sex unions take place: Andalusia. The method used is quantitative, applying a descriptive analysis using statistics available for nullities, separations and divorces for 2012-2018. The main conclusion drawn is that divorces from this type of marriage were increasing gradually throughout the period analyzed. Furthermore, most of these divorces were characterized as being consensual. It was also found that most marriages had a duration of 5 years or more and were generally composed of spouses of Spanish nationality. Finally, more than a third of divorces occurred without the presence of minor children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research focuses on the analysis of the variables of a social nature that affect the assignment of custody after divorce from heterosexual marriages in Andalusia. For this, a quantitative methodology is used, using the Statistics of Nullities, Separations and Divorces (INE, 2017) and data from economic indicators such as Gross Domestic Product (2017). Its exploitation allows taking into account a whole set of variables necessary to understand the phenomenon under study. Descriptive and multivariate analyzes are carried out (factorial and correspondence analysis). The main result obtained confirm that variables such as the number of dependent minor children or dependent children of legal age, the judgment failure and the GDP of each province are significantly related to the custody modality finally assigned. Other variables such as the age of the spouses or their nationality do not seem to have an association in the modality that is granted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability is one of the main challenges of society. Progress in operational tools that help with environmental management and decision-making is slower and more complex than expected. The objective of the research is to show the usefulness of calculating composite indicators of environmental sustainability as a management tool. The proposed scientific model applies a multicriteria analysis, in an aggregate approach, with a double reference point (reservation and aspiration levels), incorporating the opinions of experts, and making the concepts of strong and weak sustainability operational. The method is applied to the eight provinces of Andalusia (Spain), using the official data published by the Regional Ministry of Environment. The results show that the indicators obtained are especially useful for the management of the territory, because they serve as an absolute measure of environmental sustainability. Besides, they enable global and specific analyzes of each indicator, they easily identify the strengths and weaknesses of each territory, and they provide an alert system to prevent problems and help to make strategic decisions. The methodology is innovative, fast and without excessive economic cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water is a precious resource in arid rural areas with irrigated agriculture. Nonetheless, water and agricultural policies in Europe show different management scopes and objectives, usually translated in divergent drivers of rural change. This paper has a double aim: to propose a specific method for quantitative biophysical analysis of water use in rural systems with the multi-scale integrated analysis of societal and ecosystem metabolism approach and to show the usefulness of this method for the assessment of the integration of water and agricultural policies. The river basin scale is chosen, since it is the socioecological unit for water management established in the water framework directive 2000/60/CE. A multi-scale water use accounting is provided for a Mediterranean river basin in Andalusia, integrating water cycle, ecosystems and social levels. Particularly focusing on agricultural production, a relevant set of indicators is proposed in order to analyze and compare different metabolic patterns. Finally, the integration of water and agricultural planning is assessed in terms of external (biophysical) and internal (economic, institutional) constraints of the new water-use patterns generated by the scenarios posed in these policies. While on a European level water policy is ambitious in terms of ecological conservation, the lack of integration within the common agricultural policy and the entanglement of multiple scales of political and economic organization of local ruralities blur its priority in a rather slow transition to a new water culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Nested archetype analysis to address social-ecological complexity of landscape change. • Inductive detection of typical social-ecological systems and changes therein. • Interpretation with deductive types of human-nature connectedness. • Detection and mapping of key sustainability challenges due to changes in SES. Archetype analysis is a key tool in landscape and sustainability research to organize social-ecological complexity and to identify social-ecological systems (SESs). While inductive archetype analysis can characterize the diversity of SESs within a region, deductively derived archetypes have greater interpretative power to compare across regions. Here, we developed a novel archetype approach that combines the strengths of both perspectives. We applied inductive clustering to an integrative dataset to map 15 typical SESs for 2016 and 12 social-ecological changes (1999–2016) in Andalusia region (Spain). We linked these types to deductive types of human-nature connectedness, resulting in a nested archetype classification. Our analyses revealed combinations of typical SESs and social-ecological changes that shape them, such as agricultural intensification and peri -urbanization in agricultural SESs, declining agriculture in natural SESs or population de-concentration (counter-urbanization) in urban SESs. Likewise, we identified a gradient of human-nature connectedness across SESs and typical social-ecological changes fostering this gradient. This allowed us to map areas that face specific sustainability challenges linked to ongoing regime shifts (e.g., from rural to urbanized systems) and trajectories towards social-ecological traps (e.g., cropland intensification in drylands) associated with decreasing human-nature connectedness. This provides spatial templates for targeting policy responses related to the sustainable intensification of agricultural systems, the disappearance of traditional cropping systems and abandonment of rural lands, or the reconnection of urban population with the local environment, among others. Generally, our approach allows for different levels of abstraction, keeping regional context-specificity while linking to globally recognisable archetypes, and thus to generalization and theory-building efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Introduction: Prolonged cold ischemic time (CIT) in cadaveric renal transplants has been associated with a high rate of delayed graft function, acute rejection, and even reduced graft survival. We analyzed the influence of CIT on both initial graft function (IGF) and survival rate. Methods: We studied 2525 noncombined cadaveric cases in recipients over 17 years of age between 2000 and 2008, using data from the renal transplant records of Andalusia. We defined IGF as the need to resume dialysis within the first week or a nonfunctional kidney. The multivariate analyses were corrected by center and year of transplantation. Results: The mean and median cold ischemic time was 17 hours. The duration of CIT was significantly associated (P < .001) with older donor and recipient age. The frequency of IGF increased progressively with longer CIT and older donors. However, the influence of CIT persisted among all donor age strata. Logistic regression analysis using both donor and recipient age as covariables showed a relative risk per hour of 1.05 (95% confidence interval = 1.04–1.07; P < .0001). In a univariable study, longer CIT led to a significant reduction in both recipient and graft survival rates. The multivariate study (Cox) using preprocedure covariables, showed CIT to produce significantly worse survival rates for both recipients (relative risk: 1.03, 1.005–1.05, P = .02) and for grafts (relative risk: 1.03, 1.01–1.04, P = .002). However, the survival rates showed no clear progression in terms of CIT within each individual donor age stratum. Conclusions: A longer CIT was associated with an increase in IGF independent of the age of both the donor and the recipient. Our data also suggested that CIT influenced patient and graft survival rates. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]