The growing integration of artificial intelligence into biosciences and healthcare is reshaping innovation processes while simultaneously amplifying risks related to safety, accountability, and trust. As AI systems increasingly influence decisions with significant biological and health impacts, questions of responsibility can no longer be addressed solely at the technical level.
This...
The rapid integration of artificial intelligence into biosciences and clinical diagnostics has transformed contemporary healthcare, offering improved accuracy, efficiency, and predictive capacity. At the same time, the growing reliance on machine learning systems,particularly opaque “black box” models raises significant legal concerns regarding transparency, accountability, and patient...
Next‑Gen Therapies & Fair Health Innovation - equity, long‑term safety, and regulation of gene editing, mRNA, and cell‑based therapies.
Background. In psychiatry, there currently are attempts to develop predictive models identifying risk for severe mental illness before any clinical symptoms appear, thus enabling early intervention and reduction of long-term burden of mental illness. Since these processes need to be responsible and include target group perspective (people with the experience of mental health issues),...
This research investigates deep learning approaches for the automated detection and segmentation of aortic aneurysms from CT imaging. The project initially focuses on the development of a custom deep learning pipeline designed for medical image preprocessing, training, and evaluation. The baseline model used in this pipeline is the widely adopted U-Net, which has become a standard architecture...
The rapid integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into higher education is reshaping pedagogical practices, learning environments, and academic expectations. While AI-powered tools promise efficiency, personalization, and enhanced access to knowledge, their widespread adoption also raises important questions about student wellbeing, cognitive overload, and the evolving relationship between...
Aortic aneurysms pose a significant clinical risk due to the potential for rupture, a life-threatening event whose likelihood depends on the hemodynamic forces acting on the arterial wall. Quantities such as wall shear stress, intraluminal pressure, and wall displacement are critical indicators of rupture risk, yet their accurate computation requires solving coupled partial differential...
I introduce and study a class of neural network operators whose activation
mechanism is built from cardinal B-splines. The compact support and smoothness
of B-splines lead to localized approximation processes that fit naturally
into the theory of positive operators. I prove convergence results and investigate
qualitative features such as shape preservation, showing that several
geometric...
The transition towards "Green, Safe & Digital Laboratories" requires more than just technological advancements in lab infrastructures and automation; it demands a profound shift in the skills, mindset, and ethical responsibility of the professionals designing and managing these environments. As the complexity of digital transitions and risk management increases, there is an urgent need for...
The digital transformation of financial services has become a key driver of efficiency, competitiveness, and sustainability in modern banking systems. Within the broader European context marked by the objectives of the European Green Deal and the Digital Decade strategy, the Romanian banking sector is undergoing a significant transition toward the adoption of digital technologies. Despite...
I investigate discrete and integral sampling operators as positive linear maps on spaces of continuous function.
Through B-splines functions and neural network operators with sigmoidal activations, I investigate their convergence, approximation capabilities, and shape-preserving properties.
These mathematical tools provide a framework for enhancing tasks in medical image processing, such as...
The COVID-19 pandemic produced major disruptions in educational systems worldwide, with significant implications for students’ learning experiences and psychological well-being. The rapid shift toward digital forms of instruction raised important concerns regarding the extent to which students remained academically engaged during extended periods of remote learning. This study explores...
Regional Inclusive Biobased Entrepreneurship Solutions, or RIBES, is a Horizon Project that addresses the need to enhance the uptake of biobased innovations through pioneering governance and business models developed at the convergence of social entrepreneurship and rural development. It will also contribute to the shift from a linear to a circular economy in nine regions of the Eastern...
Developing a master class curriculum on the subject of circular economy is a must for the near future. However, it is not an easy task and implies a lot of effort, starting with understanding the definition of the terms used in the current economic context at the European Union level and at the global level as well, and continuing with the domain under which the term is defined. The subject is...
Abstract
This study investigates the relationship between difficulties in emotional regulation, perceived organizational support, and occupational burnout among employees. The objective of the study was to identify significant psychological, organizational, and contextual factors that can serve as protective resources against professional burnout. Research hypotheses were formulated to...
Insect mass-rearing is a rapidly growing field with applications ranging from sustainable protein production to biocontrol. While most research has focused on improving production efficiency, the health of reared insects has received comparatively less attention, despite its critical impact on industry sustainability.
Our work aims to bridge this gap by applying advanced scientific methods to...
Women´s health during pregnancy and lactation is very important to prevent complications and support optimal foetal and baby growth. Optimal nutritional intake, as well as attention to physical and mental health are crucial steps that can reduce the risk of premature birth, low birth weight and non-communicable diseases development, which have a significant impact on the child's long-term...
Mycotoxin contamination of cereals represents a major challenge for food safety and public health. Ochratoxin A (OTA), produced by toxigenic fungi such as Aspergillus niger, is a nephrotoxic and carcinogenic compound frequently detected in stored grains. Understanding how natural bioactive compounds influence fungal metabolism and the cereal-associated microbiome is essential for developing...
Table olives are widely consumed throughout the Mediterranean basin. The main processing styles (Greek, Seville, Californian, and Castelvetrano) rely heavily on sodium-based agents (NaOH/NaCl), with public health implications, given the world health organization (WHO) recommendations to reduce sodium intake, and for the management of saline effluents. In the framework of responsible,...
Public access to environmental information, strengthened in the European Union by the Aarhus Convention, has significantly expanded the availability of environmental monitoring data. Yet increased access does not automatically produce shared understanding. This presentation examines epistemic challenges associated with interpreting open environmental data, focusing on the interaction between...
Heavy metals are persistent, bioaccumulating pollutants, and their spatial heterogeneity is central to environmental quality assessment. We evaluated fresh bat guano as a practical, non-invasive matrix for monitoring multi-element heavy-metal “fingerprints” across roost locations. Fresh guano was collected from eight sites (five replicates per site). Concentrations of Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd...
The aim of this paper is to provide a better understanding of the ecological and conservation importance of the species Crambe tataria Sebeók, family Brassicaceae, within the Dealul Zackel nature reserve, the Natura 2000 site ROSCI0093 Insulele Stepice de la Slimnic, Sibiu County, Romania, by studying environmental and anthropogenic factors, local distribution, and by offering new chorological...
Giovanna Ottaviani Aalmo is a researcher at NIBIO – the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research. Her work focuses on sustainable bioeconomy, systems thinking, and social innovation, with particular attention to how circular and nature-based transitions can be designed in ways that are responsible, democratic, and place-based. She works extensively on EU-funded projects at the intersection...
Red Wood ants (the Formica rufa group) are a complex of ant species native to the coniferous, deciduous and mixed forests of Europe. Widely recognized as ecosystem engineers, they construct large, dome-shaped mounds from spruce needles, twigs, and grass, which function as sophisticated solar collectors and climate-controlled nurseries. These ants play a critical keystone role in forest ecology...
Malolactic fermentation is a key biological deacidification process in winemaking, in which L-malic acid, naturally present in grapes, is converted into L-lactic acid and carbon dioxide, resulting in a reduction of wine acidity. Lactic acid bacteria can be introduced at various stages of production, before alcoholic fermentation, during co-inoculation, or through sequential inoculation with...
The transition toward a climate-neutral European economy requires scalable solutions for producing low-carbon hydrogen while addressing the growing challenge of waste management. This study presents the ongoing development of an experimental modular system for green hydrogen generation integrating renewable-powered electrolysis with thermochemical conversion of waste-derived syngas obtained...
The compositional changes in grapes caused by global warming are compromising the quality of wines in Mediterranean regions. Recent studies have shown that hot vintages and severe water stress lead to an increase in pH and a decrease in the acidity of grapes. These phenomena are one of the main causes of changes in the acidity and sensory profiles of wines. To date, the production sector has...
Abstract
Global rosé wine production is on the increase, but high temperatures in warm climates influence colour intensity and aromatic freshness, ultimately affecting sensory quality [1,2]. Applying non-Saccharomyces yeasts and lactic acid bacteria in combination with Saccharomyces cerevisiae in sequential inoculations offers a promising strategy to enhance colour expression and...
In the Sicilian context, blue circular economy and social innovation are developing within the same territory, but their integration is still partial and not yet fully consolidated. Within the broader framework of EU strategies on the circular economy, the European Green Deal and zero-waste objectives, marine biomass valorisation has emerged as a regional pathway toward resource efficiency....
In recent years, the modern fishing and aquaculture sectors have focused on sustainable technological innovation to improve the quality, safety and shelf life of fish products. These innovative systems include using alternative ingredients in feed, such as insect or algae proteins, to improve production efficiency and product quality. Furthermore, several studies have demonstrated that...
This study aims to evaluate the potential of enzymatic extract derived from artichoke to induce coagulation in a plant-based beverage formulated from chickpeas. The goal is to explore plant-based alternatives to traditional animal rennet for the development of clean-label dairy-free products.
To obtain the enzymatic extract, dried artichoke flowers were homogenized in 50 mL of 50 mM sodium...
Ecological transition requires innovation models that integrate environmental sustainability, social ethics, and economic feasibility. This study proposes a circular economy model based on the valorization of algal biomass, including invasive species, transforming organic waste into high-value resources through biorefinery processes. Aqueous and alcoholic extracts from Ulva ohnoi and...
Effective conservation planning in protected aquatic ecosystems requires analytical tools capable of identifying complex relationships among ecological indicators and management actions. This study proposes a data-driven conservation modeling approach to support sustainable management of fish species within protected areas. Using ecological and management data collected over seven years from...
Wood is an important natural resource in several Northern and Central European countries. This study aims to assess the export competitiveness of wood products in the European Union (EU), with a particular focus on Latvia.
Methodology and data. This research is based on data from the Atlas of Economic Complexity. Wood product groups are defined according to the HS92 product...
Digitalization and technology are reshaping contemporary realities at an unprecedented pace and are generating new opportunities for innovation at the intersection of multiple fields. The algorithmic logic of these innovations produces novel social phenomena and nurtures a range of anxieties, fears, and retreat of particular categories of population into conservative values for obtaining the...
Invasive plants, despite being viewed with skepticism due to their negative effects mainly on environmental biodiversity, proved to be valuable resources, from a medical or an industrial perspective. Some of these plants are characterized by relevant biological properties, relatively low cytotoxicity, coloring properties, being also used in environmental remediation, as biopesticides or in...
Cancer, as highlighted by numerous researchers (Caldiroli et al., 2025; Hsiao & Lee, 2026; Karademas et al., 2025), represents a life-threatening medical condition in which psychological factors, particularly emotion-related processes, play a substantial role in patients’ adaptation and overall functioning. For the individual, a cancer diagnosis constitutes a highly stressful and potentially...
Keywords: plant by-products, polysaccharides, biologically active substances.
Background: The annual accumulation of significant amounts of plant residues in the agricultural and pharmaceutical sectors creates a significant environmental burden, but in the context of the global transition to a closed-loop economy, these by-products should be considered as promising natural raw materials....
Structural and functional loss of biodiversity and habitat heterogeneity are among the main plagues of the age and pose an increasing threat to the future of our planet. Despite all efforts, mostly declaratory and less effective, the edge of the diversity crisis, embodied by the next, also called the sixth mass extinction, was allegedly already passed. Among the many cases of failure of...
Keywords: Microbial Protein, Single Cell Protein, Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU), GHG emission avoidance, Hybrid Living Materials (HLM), Methane Mitigation, Carbon Footprint, Alternative Animal Feed
Global food systems account for one-third of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and are simultaneously challenged by future food insecurity and significant plastic pollution. In the...
Introduction
Date palm consumption produces large amounts of seed by-products rich in polyphenols, carotenoids, tocopherols and other bioactive components.1 These compounds contribute to structural, signaling and immune functions. Natural Deep Eutectic Solvents (NADES) offer a sustainable alternative to conventional solvents, efficiently extracting these valuable biocompounds through a...
Background: Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by several fungal genera, particularly Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Fusarium (1). Beauvericin (BEA) is an emerging mycotoxin that currently has limited regulatory control (2). Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between oxidative stress and cell death mechanisms induced by BEA exposure. Methods:...
Introduction. Nowadays, humanity is facing many problems in the field of ecology, the purity of air, soil and water is deteriorating. Due to the overuse of natural resources, many plant species are becoming endangered and are eventually lost forever. The key role in solving such problems can be played by the popularization of waste recycling.
This work is devoted to the recycling of waste...
Sericin is a natural glycoprotein, produced by the silkworm (Bombyx mori). It "coats" silk filaments, and in industrial processes, it is obtained by degumming to facilitate processing. In the textile industry, it is considered a by-product; for other industries, it can be considered the main raw material.
Sericin represents 20-30% of the weight of the silk cocoon, implying a production of up...
Background:
Burnout syndrome is a major global challenge in healthcare, affecting physicians’ well-being, job performance, and patient safety. Primary healthcare physicians are particularly vulnerable due to high cognitive, emotional, and organizational demands.
Aim:
To determine the prevalence of burnout and identify associated risk factors among physicians working in Family Medicine...
