Exploring the Darkverse: A Multi-Perspective Analysis of the Negative Societal Impacts of the Metaverse.

The Metaverse has the potential to form the next pervasive computing archetype that can transform many aspects of work and life at a societal level. Despite the many forecasted benefits from the metaverse, its negative outcomes have remained relatively unexplored with the majority of views grounded on logical thoughts derived from prior data points linked with similar technologies, somewhat lacking academic and expert perspective. This study responds to the dark side perspectives through informed and multifaceted narratives provided by invited leading academics and experts from diverse disciplinary backgrounds.

Sustainable, technological, and innovative challenges post Covid-19 in health, economy, and education sectors.

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has caused an evolution in the business use of Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and New Technologies in general. The general objective of the article is to assess how this process developed during the pandemic in the use and standardization of Big Data, digitalization, the use of data in the private sector and in the public administration and to assess whether it has been used to modernize and digitalize the post-pandemic society. The specific objectives of the article are: 1) the impact of new technologies on society during confinement; 2) to understand the use of Big Data for the creation of new products and businesses and 3) to assess which businesses and companies and from which economic sectors have emerged, which have been transformed and which have disappeared.

Phenotype alteration causes long-term changes to the social strategies of victimised birds.

Phenotype alterations can occur naturally during the life span of the domestic fowl. These alterations increase the risk to become a target of aggression and may cause a severe impact on the welfare of affected birds. We analysed the behavioural consequences of sequential phenotype alterations and their long-term effects within stable social groups of adult birds differing in group size.

Sports entrepreneurship during COVID-19: Technology as an ally to maintain the competitiveness of small businesses.

The sports sector, specifically the field of personal trainer entrepreneurship, has been severely affected by the COVID-19 crisis. However, there are still few empirical studies that analyze how the actions taken before and during this crisis can affect sports entrepreneurs' performance. This research aims to analyze which combinations of sports entrepreneurs' personal characteristics and actions performed have been most and least effective in minimizing the negative impact of COVID-19 on their businesses.

Does Gender Impact Technology Adoption in Dual-Purpose Cattle in Mexico?

This paper examines the role of women in the dual-purpose livestock system (DP) in Mexico through their technological adoption patterns and aims to evaluate whether there are significant differences between the technology adoption networks of men and women farmers. The sample was composed of 383 DP small farms with 20 or fewer cows and a high level of vulnerability. Social Network Analysis (SNA) was applied, and the centrality measures were calculated for the technological areas of management, feeding, genetics, reproduction, and animal health.

Investors' confidence in the crowdlending platform and the impact of Covid-19.

Crowdlending platforms have gained importance in recent years due to digitalization. The Covid-19 pandemic has severely impacted the entire economy, including repercussions on digital transactions. Investors considering transactions on these platforms require confidence in both the platform and the project in order to make the right decision.

The guilty, the unlucky, or the unaware? Assessing self-reported behavioral contributors and attributions on pedestrian crashes through structural equation modeling and mixed methods.

Introduction: Recent literature suggests that the causation of pedestrians' crashes and the contribution of safety-related behaviors within them may substantially differ compared to other road users. This study aimed to test the effect of individual factors and safety-related road behaviors on the self-reported walking crashes suffered by pedestrians and, complementarily, to analyze the causes that pedestrians attributed to the crashes they suffered as pedestrians during the previous five years.

Method: For this cross-sectional research performed in Spain, data from a nationwide sample of 2,499 pedestrians from the 17 regions of the country were collected.

Measuring the Candidates' Emotions in Political Debates Based on Facial Expression Recognition Techniques.

This article presents the analysis of the main Spanish political candidates for the elections to be held on April 2019. The analysis focuses on the Facial Expression Analysis (FEA), a technique widely used in neuromarketing research. It allows to identify the micro-expressions that are very brief, involuntary.

Survey data on joint cropland management among agri-food cooperatives in Mediterranean Spanish Regions.

This dataset presents data collected from joint cropland management practices survey in agri-food cooperatives of Mediterranean Spanish Regions. The objective was to examine to what extent cooperatives offer joint services, including joint management or integral exploitation of smallholdings, for the incorporation of new professionals. Data collection was conducted to five agri-food organizations: three agri-food cooperatives federations -Castilla-La Mancha, Comunitat Valenciana, and Murcia-, two second-degree agri-food cooperatives -Anecoop and Unió Nuts-, all of them located in Mediterranean Spanish Regions.

Changes in food behavior during the first lockdown of COVID-19 pandemic: A multi-country study about changes in eating habits, motivations, and food-related behaviors.

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in severe, unprecedented changes affecting the world population. Restrictions in mobility, social distancing measures, and the persistent social alarm, during the first period of pandemic, resulted in dramatic lifestyle changes and affected physical and psychological wellbeing on a global scale. An international research team was constituted to develop a study involving different countries about eating motivations, dietary habits and behaviors related with food intake, acquisition, and preparation.

Integrated rearing system proposal for in experimental orchards: Growth models.

An integrated rearing system for under environmental conditions in an experimental orchard is proposed. In this study, the natural behaviour, circadian rhythms and suitable rearing conditions of the edible snail were optimised to produce homogeneous growth and low variability. The growth was standardised, and growth pattern fit was assessed with various models.