•Economic convergence has been investigated from different perspectives.•A vision is needed of global emissions associated with fragmentation of supply chains.•Intersectoral links in the generation ...of emissions are taken into account in the inequality indicators.•Contribute new insights to the issue of global inequality in terms of environmental pressures.
The phenomenon of economic convergence has been investigated from different perspectives, aiming to analyze whether economies move towards a common growth path or tend to diverge over time, and the consequences of this for economic cohesion. However, these consequences for the evolution of CO2 emissions in the study of global convergence of CO2 emissions, and the implications in terms of pollution, inequality, and income-dependence have received less attention in the literature of convergence. The increasing globalization of economies and the rising fragmentation of supply chains imply many countries involved in the production chains and, in consequence, a vision is needed of worldwide emissions associated with these processes. In this paper, we use the multisectoral and multiregional perspective provided by a multiregional input-output model (MRIO), and the associated databases, to analyze the evolution of inequality in CO2 emissions, paying attention to the roles played by regional specificities and/or productive structures. MRIO models and indicators presented, provide the basis to assess to what extent countries and/or sectors are walking towards a common path or, on the contrary, tend to be more unequal over time. Given the role that structure, final demands and international trade play in these models, we can offer a novel structural view of the convergence issue. Moreover, MRIO models also allow analyzing this question combining the perspectives of production and consumption, and their relationship through international trade. Moreover, our paper attempts to shed light on the discussion about the global and regional process of generation of emissions, paying special attention to cluster analysis and to the existence of common trends by groups of countries. Empirically, the information provided by the most recent edition of the World Input-Output Database (WIOD) and environmental accounts compatible with this database, is used. In our view, the results contribute new dimensions and insights to the issue of international inequality in terms of environmental pressures and opens new debates on the relocation of environmental damage, comparative advantage, and the environmental footprint.
Summary
The use of water resources has traditionally been studied by accounting for the volume of water removed from sources for specific uses. This approach focuses on surface and groundwater only ...and it ignores that international trade of products with substantial amounts of embodied water can have an impact on domestic water resources. Using current economic and environmental data, we conduct a consumption‐based assessment of virtual water flows in the European Union (EU27). We find that the total water footprint (WF) of 2,280 cubic meters (m3) per capita for the EU27 mostly consists of green water use (precipitation stored as soil moisture), which is omitted in the conventional water accounting. Blue water (surface and groundwater.) and gray water use (the volume of freshwater needed to dilute pollutants to meet the applicable water quality standards), which are targeted by current EU water policies, only make up 32% of the total WF. We also find that Europeans imported 585 cubic kilometers (km3) (109 m3) of virtual water, or around 28% of global virtual water trade flows, in 2009. Within Europe, Germany is a key net importer of water through the trade of products in agriculture, the food industry, the chemical sector, and electricity generation. Countries in Southern and Eastern Europe have specialized in water‐intensive agriculture and are key exporters of virtual water despite experiencing physical scarcity of water. Our results suggest that there is a need to reconsider water policy in the EU to address water transfers occurring through trade and to grasp the interlinkages between green, blue, and gray water—which are likely to become more important in water‐scarce parts of Europe, with a changing climate.
Concerns about the effects and consequences of climate change have notably increased in recent decades. Despite large advances in the understanding of this phenomenon, further research into the ...determinants of gas emissions is necessary, to shed light on the responsibilities of producers and consumers, and their potential contribution to mitigation strategies. This paper studies the trajectories and determinants of carbon embodied in world trade during a period of 15 years. Our methodology relies on a multiregional input-output model, environmentally extended. Drawing on data from the World Input-Output Database, we estimate embodied emissions in bilateral flows. Then, we assess the determinants of CO
2
emissions embodied in trade, combining input-output modelling with trade gravity panel data analysis. This paper offers a methodological approach that explains and quantifies the underlying factors of carbon trade, integrating the production and consumption perspectives and considering the geographical, structural and institutional context of countries.
We construct a multiregional input–output model for Spain, in order to evaluate the pressures on the water resources, virtual water flows, and water footprints of the regions, and the water impact of ...trade relationships within Spain and abroad. The study is framed with those interregional input–output models constructed to study water flows and impacts of regions in China, Australia, Mexico, or the UK. To build our database, we reconcile regional IO tables, national and regional accountancy of Spain, trade and water data. Results show an important imbalance between origin of water resources and final destination, with significant water pressures in the South, Mediterranean, and some central regions. The most populated and dynamic regions of Madrid and Barcelona are important drivers of water consumption in Spain. Main virtual water exporters are the South and Central agrarian regions: Andalusia, Castile-La Mancha, Castile-Leon, Aragon, and Extremadura, while the main virtual water importers are the industrialized regions of Madrid, Basque country, and the Mediterranean coast. The paper shows the different location of direct and indirect consumers of water in Spain and how the economic trade and consumption pattern of certain areas has significant impacts on the availability of water resources in other different and often drier regions.
Despite the several mismatches of methodological understanding between teachers and students in higher education, research methodologies in education are a relatively common pedagogical practice in ...most European advanced courses in education. However, only some studies have shown what pedagogical practices are mobilised by the teachers with their specific scientific conceptions. This article presents and discusses the results of an extensive research study conducted in Portugal with all the teachers involved in teaching research methodologies on master’s and doctoral programmes in education. The results show the personal and professional characteristics of the teachers involved in this teaching and the type of senses, decisions, and challenges experienced when teaching research methodologies. The study identifies and characterises the research culture generated by the different pedagogical practices in this scientific field. Based on the results, we argue that the teachers’ scientific conceptions and pedagogical practices may be developed by a “peer authorial construction of research understanding,” aiming to provide appropriate educational experiences to students in research methodologies courses in advanced studies in education.
Traditional raw-milk cheeses face a competitive market. To survive, they need to adapt to modern market demands without compromising their unique character. Adding autochthonous lactic acid bacteria ...(LAB) as starter cultures to pasteurised milk has been contemplated to address this challenge. In this work, autochthonous Lactococcus lactis L1C21M1, Lacticaseibacillus paracasei L1B1E6, and Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides L1B1E6 from Pico cheese – a traditional product of the Azores Islands (Portugal), manufactured from raw cows’ milk – were used with the goal of controlling the growth of coagulase-positive staphylococci and enhancing proteolysis. Addition of autochthonous LAB to pasteurised milk afforded control over coagulase-positive staphylococci. When pasteurised milk was inoculated with an autochthonous lactococcal or leuconostoc culture, more extensive, deeper proteolysis resulted than in artisanal cheese. However, the values obtained were still too low compared with those of the corresponding PDO criteria. As such, there may be a need to revise these specifications.
The promotion of rural development can benefit from the advancement of renewable energies as potential sources of growth and income in an integrated economy. Rural areas have attracted a significant ...proportion of renewable energy installations, mainly wind energy. Moreover, the development of renewables has been explicitly claimed as a key instrument to support rural economies through job creation, new sources of income for landowners and local authorities, and more sustainable industries with the revitalization of their productive systems. However, the installation of renewable energies can have, in the short and long term, different impacts on the territory. This study explores Campo de Belchite citizens’ perception of the effects wind energy installations has on the economy, demography, and employment opportunities. The Campo de Belchite county (Aragon) was used as a case study due to its wind-farm development. Citizens perceptions on the socio-economic effects and expectations of renewable energies have been explored on the basis of their responses to an online survey. Findings show a great heterogeneity between agents and territories, both in the evaluation of impacts and in their hopes. The management model plays a critical role for achieving its social acceptance. This work contributes with industrial and energy policy insights that call for a more decentralized, participatory and transparent management models.
•The perception of the socio-economic impacts of wind energy in rural areas is assessed.•A survey-based approach was conducted.•Heterogeneity of results is found between hopes and reality.•Social acceptance is key to the development of renewable energies.
Summary
Making the link between the different economic scales—local, regional, and global—and the impacts associated with more global behavior is a natural extension of traditional environmentally ...extended input‐output (I‐O) modeling. In this article, we highlight the capabilities of combining the meso level (i.e., regional) I‐O models with geographical information systems (GIS) and micro data to lower the spatial scale. This methodology lets us provide information to municipalities (what we call the micro scale) on their water footprints (WFs) at a lower spatial level than that of Spanish regions (what we call meso scale), at which economic I‐O data are available. Based on a multiregional I‐O model for the Spanish regions, we analyze the local water impacts of tourism activity in Spain. We focus on the explicit spatial identification of areas of strong final demand (normally the most populated) tracking back the associated footprints to the original hotspots or vulnerable areas (micro scale), where most water withdrawal had taken place. The spatial divergence between the production and the consumption responsibilities arise because consumers and producers usually have very different characteristics, particularly with respect to tourism. We find highest geographic dispersion of WFs of consumption arising from domestic tourism, followed by domestic household consumption, and finally foreign tourism WF. Foreign tourism WF is more concentrated in time and space. Foreign tourism in Andalusia requires directly and indirectly (WF) 617 cubic hectometers (hm3) and in Madrid 440 hm3, indicating that such tourism in both regions accounts for some of the highest water intensities per euro (€) spent by a foreign tourist, around 0.1 cubic meters/€.
The classical roles of B cells include the production of antibodies and cytokines and the generation of immunological memory, these being key factors in the adaptive immune response. However, their ...role in innate immunity is currently being recognised. Traditionally, B cells have been considered non-phagocytic cells; therefore, the uptake of bacteria by B cells is not extensively documented. In this study, we analysed some of the features of non-specific bacterial uptake by B lymphocytes from the Raji cell line. In our model, B cells were infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), Mycobacterium smegmatis (MSM), and Salmonella typhimurium (ST).
Our observations revealed that the Raji B cells were readily infected by the three bacteria that were studied. All of the infections induced changes in the cellular membrane during bacterial internalisation. M. smegmatis and S. typhimurium were able to induce important membrane changes that were characterised by abundant filopodia and lamellipodia formation. These membrane changes were driven by actin cytoskeletal rearrangements. The intracellular growth of these bacteria was also controlled by B cells. M. tuberculosis infection also induced actin rearrangement-driven membrane changes; however, the B cells were not able to control this infection. The phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) treatment of B cells induced filopodia and lamellipodia formation, the production of spacious vacuoles (macropinosomes), and the fluid-phase uptake that is characteristic of macropinocytosis. S. typhimurium infection induced the highest fluid-phase uptake, although both mycobacteria also induced fluid uptake. A macropinocytosis inhibitor such as amiloride was used and abolished the bacterial uptake and the fluid-phase uptake that is triggered during the bacterial infection.
Raji B cells can internalise S. typhimurium and mycobacteria through an active process, such as macropinocytosis, although the resolution of the infection depends on factors that are inherent in the virulence of each pathogen.
PDF
