Abstract
Micro-companies play an extremely important role in the economy being the main driver of economic growth. They contribute decisively for employability, business innovation and in reducing social asymmetries. This role of micro-companies in particular and, small and medium enterprises in general, is widely recognised in the literature. Nevertheless, the number of longitudinal studies that explicitly address the contribution of micro-companies to the European economy is reduced, and most of them are essentially reports produced by European and national agencies that analyse the importance of this phenomenon in their economies. This study intends to characterise the birth, death and survival rate of micro-companies in the European Union. The study adopts a quantitative and statistical approach in data analysis between 2008 and 2016, which allows us to characterise the evolution of these indicators and to understand which countries have the best and the worst performances.

Abstract
By using the GRAVITY instrument with the near-infrared (NIR) Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI), the structure of the broad (emission-)line region (BLR) in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) can be spatially resolved, allowing the central black hole (BH) mass to be determined. This work reports new NIR VLTI/GRAVITY interferometric spectra for four type 1 AGNs (Mrk 509, PDS 456, Mrk 1239, and IC 4329A) with resolved broad-line emission. Dynamical modelling of interferometric data constrains the BLR radius and central BH mass measurements for our targets and reveals outflow-dominated BLRs for Mrk 509 and PDS 456. We present an updated radius-luminosity (R-L) relation independent of that derived with reverberation mapping (RM) measurements using all the GRAVITY-observed AGNs. We find our R-L relation to be largely consistent with that derived from RM measurements except at high luminosity, where BLR radii seem to be smaller than predicted. This is consistent with RM-based claims that high Eddington ratio AGNs show consistently smaller BLR sizes. The BH masses of our targets are also consistent with the standard MBH-sigma* relation. Model-independent photocentre fitting shows spatial offsets between the hot dust continuum and the BLR photocentres (ranging from similar to 17 mu as to 140 mu as) that are generally perpendicular to the alignment of the red- and blueshifted BLR photocentres. These offsets are found to be related to the AGN luminosity and could be caused by asymmetric K-band emission of the hot dust, shifting the dust photocentre. We discuss various possible scenarios that can explain this phenomenon.

Abstract
Incidental visualizations allow individuals to access information on-the-go, at-a-glance, and without needing to consciously search for it. Unlike ambient visualizations, incidental visualizations are not fixed in a specific location and only appear briefly within a person's field of view while they are engaged in a primary task. Despite their potential, incidental visualizations have not yet been thoroughly studied in current literature. We conducted exploratory research to establish the distinctiveness of incidental visualizations and to advocate for their study as an independent research topic. We tested both incidental and ambient visualizations in two separate studies, each involving one specific scenarios: a cognitively demanding primary task (42 participants), and a mechanical primary task (28 participants). Our findings show that in the cognitively demanding task, both types of visualizations resulted in similar performance. However, in the mechanical task, ambient visualizations led to better results compared to incidental visualizations. Based on these results, we argue that incidental visualizations should be further explored in scenarios involving physical requirements, as these situations present the greatest challenges for their integration.

Abstract

Abstract
Optical microbubble resonators (OMBRs)-understood as localized thin wall bulges induced in silica microcapillaries-are gaining an ever-growing interest in microfluidic sensing applications due to their capability to sustain whispering gallery modes (WGMs) and confine the fluidic sample within their own hollow-core microcavity. Currently, most applications use an external tapered optical fiber for coupling light to the resonator. This arrangement is known to be fragile and prone to vibrations. In this work, an alternative approach, based on coupling OMBR with a femtosecond (fs) laser-written optical waveguides, integrated at the surface of fused silica substrate, is proposed. In this configuration, a stable and robust final structure is accomplished by gluing the two ends of the microcapillary, on which the OMBR is made, to the substrate. The OMBR quality factors, measured at the excitation wavelength of 1540 nm, show values close to 10(4) in the case of a water-filled cavity, with a maximum coupling efficiency of up to 6.5%. Finally, the operation of the integrated optical devices as refractometers is demonstrated by delivering different solutions with successively increasing concentrations of NaCl inside the OMBR. An average sensitivity of 45 nm/RIU is obtained, yielding a resolution of 4.4x10(-5) RIU, creating the potential for this platform to be applied in chemical/biochemical sensing.

Abstract
This article presents a methodology to estimate the evolution of QoS indices, based on investments and maintenance costs carried out in the DN. The indices were estimated at various disaggregated levels, including the global index, 3 different QoS zones (urban, semi-urban and rural) and 278 municipalities, thereby facilitating the mitigation of QoS asymmetries by allocating investments and maintenance actions to specific regions. To achieve this objective, an optimization problem was formulated to allocate investments and maintenance costs to municipalities with higher improvement benefit-cost ratios, potentially exhibiting lower levels of QoS. This methodology was adopted by the Portuguese DSO to establish the future investments plan from 2023 to 2027. The results demonstrate estimations of good performance, considering the stochastic nature of the phenomena affecting QoS (e.g. atmospheric conditions), which are included in this study, thus developing confidence levels for the global indices.