Social exclusion is a complex process. Tackling social exclusion through Lifelong learning is often an unattainable goal. Lifting the conditions of exclusion through Lifelong learning programmes, requires an understanding of the special features and characteristics that each group holds. The current paper focuses on the people who abuse drugs and explores the possibilities of reconnecting them with education, through Lifelong learning programmes. School dropout is related with early onset of substance use and social exclusion. For those who seek drug free treatment, reconnecting with education and learning is plausible.
However, it requires experiential learning methods, a facilitating environment, and the development of a trusting relationship between trainers and trainees. In this way, it is possible to increase participation in Lifelong learning programmes, to create meaning in education and to achieve UNESCO’s goal of Lifelong learning as a new human right.
Το σύντομο άρθρο (περιορισμός 1000 λέξεων) γράφτηκε μετά από παράκληση της συντακτικής του πόρταλ HEALTH4U , λόγω της επικαιρότητας του θέματος για τη χρήση των κυτταρικών σειρών από εκτρωθέντα έμβρυα στα εμβόλια για τη νόσο COVID-19. Η άμεση τοποθέτηση και δημοσίευση στο πόρταλ προτιμήθηκε από τη δημοσίευση σε επιστημονικό περιοδικό, το οποίο θα απαιτούσε χρόνο, αλλά όμως θα είχε αναλυτικότερη δομή. Αν και υπήρχε έτοιμο υλικό για το θέμα, προτιμήθηκε η συμπερίληψη των έγκριτων απόψεων του ιατρού Δημ. Αποστολίδη στο άρθρο.
Από τη λήξη του Ψυχρού Πολέμου και μέχρι σήμερα η Ελλάδα έχει βρεθεί αντιμέτωπη με έναν αυξανόμενο αριθμό προκλήσεων και διλημμάτων εξωτερικής πολιτικής τόσο παραδοσιακών, όπως η σχέση με την Τουρκία ή το περιεχόμενο της συνεργασίας με τις ΗΠΑ, όσο και νέων, όπως θέματα ενέργειας, το μεταναστευτικό- προσφυγικό και η συνεργασία με την Κίνα. Με ποιον τρόπο και με ποιο βαθμό επιτυχίας οι ελληνικές κυβερνήσεις και η ελληνική κοινωνία έχουν αντιδράσει στο πλαίσιο ενός ραγδαία μεταβαλλόμενου διεθνούς και εσωτερικού περιβάλλοντος; Ο παρόν τόμος επιχειρεί, πρώτον, να απαντήσει στο παραπάνω ερώτημα και, δεύτερον, να εξετάσει τις βασικές επιλογές και προσδοκίες της ελληνικής εξωτερικής πολιτικής στον 21ο αιώνα. Τα επί μέρους κεφάλαια αναδεικνύουν τον χαρακτήρα και τη δυναμική της εξωτερικής πολιτικής της Ελλάδας μέσα από μια ευρύτητα προοπτικής και προσφέρουν μια κριτική θεώρηση παραδοσιακών και εναλλακτικών θεάσεων της ελληνικής εξωτερικής πολιτικής και στρατηγικής. Έτσι, ο αναγνώστης δύναται να αντιληφθεί τις εξελίξεις στις πραγματικές διαστάσεις τους και να στοχασθεί για τα σημαντικότερα ζητήματα που απασχολούν την ελληνική εξωτερική πολιτική. Ο συλλογικός αυτός τόμος καλύπτει το κενό που υπάρχει στην υπάρχουσα βιβλιογραφία της ελληνικής εξωτερικής πολιτικής από την έναρξη της νέας χιλιετίας και μέχρι σήμερα, με ενδιάμεσο σταθμό, ως χρονικό ορόσημο, το ξέσπασμα της οικονομικής κρίσης στην Ελλάδα το 2010.
Διακουμοπούλου Κατερίνα. Επίμετρο. In: Η Απόπειρα του Δημήτρη Στασινόπουλου. Αθήνα: ΚΑΠΑ Εκδοτική; 2021. pp. 120-124. Publisher's Version
Διακουμοπούλου Κατερίνα. Επίμετρο. In: Χρυσοβεργαρής και Ηλιοτάτη, του Τάσου Νυχά. Αθήνα: ΚΑΠΑ Εκδοτική; 2021. pp. 82-84. Publisher's Version
Το άρθρο παρουσιάζει απογραφική έρευνα στους θεολόγους εκπαιδευτικούς επιτυχόντες των γραπτών διαγωνισμών τους ΑΣΕΠ 1998-2008. Συγκεκριμένα επιχειρεί να διερευνήσει την αποτελεσματικότητα των Παιδαγωγικών Σπουδών των τεσσάρων τμημάτων θεολογικών σπουδών (Ε.Κ.Π.Α. και Α.Π.Θ.), που εξασφαλίζουν διορισμό στη Δευτεροβάθμια Εκπαίδευση, με βάση την επιτυχία και τις επιδόσεις τους στους γραπτούς διαγωνισμούς του Α.Σ.Ε.Π. 1998-2008. Η ιστορική μελέτη των Προγραμμάτων Σπουδών των Τμημάτων των Θεολογικών Σχολών κατέδειξε ότι στο Τμήμα Θεολογίας στη Θεσσαλονίκη αναπτύσσεται μία δυναμική Παιδαγωγικών Σπουδών, η οποία οφείλεται τόσο στους διδάσκοντες των Παιδαγωγικών Μαθημάτων,όσο και σε ένα γενικότερο πλαίσιο ενδιαφέροντος από τους Καθηγητές του Τμήματοςγια το Μάθημα των Θρησκευτικών. Τόσο η περιγραφική, όσο και η συσχετιστικήανάλυση των δεδομένων επιβεβαιώνουν τη σχέση Τμήματος αποφοίτησης καιαπόδοσης στους διαγωνισμούς του Α.Σ.Ε.Π. και αναδεικνύουν ένα σαφές προβάδισμα του Τμήματος Θεολογίας του Α.Π.Θ. στις επιδόσεις των επιτυχόντων, ιδιαίτερα για τους τρεις πρώτους διαγωνισμούς.
Επτά ερωτικές ιστορίες ή επτά ιστορίες έρωτα με άμεσες και έμμεσες, βραχυχρόνιες αλλά και μακροχρόνιες επιπτώσεις στην πορεία του Βυζαντίου. Σε καθεμία από αυτές οι πρωταγωνιστές, αυτοκράτορες ή ανώτατοι αξιωματούχοι (Θεοδόσιος Β΄, μάγιστρος Παυλίνος, Ιουστινιανός, Ηράκλειος, Κωνσταντίνος ΣΤ΄, Λέων Δ΄, Μιχαήλ Δ΄, Ρωμανός Δ Διογένης) και αυγούστες (Αθηναΐς-Ευδοκία, Θεοδώρα, Μαρτίνα, Θεοδότη, Ζωή Ζαούτζη, Ζωή Πορφυρογέννητη, Ευδοκία Μακρεμβολίτισσα) έδρασαν επηρεασμένοι από αισθήματα αγάπης και συναισθήματα που πυροδότησαν οι ερωτικοί σύντροφοί τους. Σημαντικοί τομείς του κράτους, όπως η διοίκηση και η νομοθεσία, αλλά και θεσμοί, με προεξάρχοντα τον αυτοκρατορικό, δέχθηκαν τις συνέπειες επιλογών των διοικούντων.
Σε όσα εξιστορούνται και αναλύονται με αφορμή έρωτες, γάμους και διαζύγια στο περιβάλλον του Ιερού Παλατίου είναι εναργής η συμβολή αποφάσεων για θέματα προσωπικού χαρακτήρα των ηγετικών μορφών στην εξέλιξη της αυτοκρατορίας.
Οι συντελεστές της φυσιογνωμίας και της ιστορίας του Βυζαντίου, δηλαδή οι πολιτειακές ρωμαϊκές καταβολές του, το πνεύμα της ελληνικής και ελληνιστικής αρχαιότητας, σε συνδυασμό με τη νέα θρησκεία, τον χριστιανισμό, συγκρότησαν ένα περιβάλλον μέσα στο οποίο, έως τα τέλη του ενδέκατου αιώνα, η άνοδος στον θρόνο δεν ήταν μόνον αποτέλεσμα πολιτικών σχεδιασμών και δυναστικών γαμήλιων στρατηγικών. Για τους μονάρχες και των δύο φύλων υπήρχε περιθώριο έκφρασης προτιμήσεων και ευαισθησιών αναφορικά με τους συντρόφους τους και επακόλουθα των πράξεών τους εισέφεραν ουσιωδώς στη διαμόρφωση χαρακτηριστικών της αυτοκρατορίας.
Τα ερωτικά αισθήματα και συναισθήματά τους επέδρασαν σε πολιτειακούς θεσμούς, όπως την «κληρονομική» διαδοχή και τη γυναικεία εξουσία, στις πολιτικές εξελίξεις, στις θρησκευτικές και εκκλησιαστικές κατευθύνσεις, οδήγησαν σε νομοθετικές παρεμβάσεις, και προκάλεσαν ανατροπές πολιτικών ομάδων και συσχετισμών, έως και ανασχεδιασμό της εξωτερικής πολιτικής του κράτους.
Σε παγκόσμιο επίπεδο, ένας σημαντικός αριθμός ερευνών έχει δείξει ότι οι έφηβες συμμετέχουν σε σημαντικά λιγότερη φυσική δραστηριότητα σε σχέση με τους έφηβους. Παράλληλα, έχει τεκμηριωθεί η μικρότερη συμμετοχή των έφηβων μαθητριών στο μάθημα της Φυσικής Αγωγής σε σχέση με τους έφηβους μαθητές (1) και η μείωση αυτή παρατηρείται ήδη με την έναρξη της εφηβείας. Σκοπός της παρούσας εργασίας είναι να εντοπίσει και να αναδείξει τους παράγοντες εκείνους που περιορίζουν ή ακόμη και αναστέλλουν καθώς επίσης, και τους παράγοντες που διευκολύνουν τη συμμετοχή των μαθητριών Γυμνασίου και Λυκείου στο μάθημα της Φυσικής Αγωγής και στην άσκηση/φυσική δραστηριότητα. Μέθοδος: Για την παρούσα βιβλιογραφική ανασκόπηση αναζητήθηκε αγγλόφωνη και ελληνόφωνη βιβλιογραφία (μετά το 2004) μέσα από τις μηχανές αναζήτησης Google Scholar, Pubmed, Research Gate & Science Direct, καθώς και από τις βιβλιογραφικές αναφορές δημοσιευμένων εργασιών. Επιλέχθηκαν οι 16 πιο πρόσφατες έρευνες που πληρούσαν τα κριτήρια αναζήτησης και στις οποίες υπήρχε πρόσβαση μέσω ΕΚΠΑ. Αποτελέσματα: Οι παράγοντες που περιορίζουν ή αναστέλλουν τη συμμετοχή των έφηβων κοριτσιών μπορεί να είναι ατομικοί (μεταβολή προτεραιοτήτων, έλλειψη δεξιοτήτων, ανταγωνιστικό κλίμα, εικόνα σώματος), κοινωνικοί [οικογένεια, φίλοι, συνομήλικοι/επικρατούσες αντιλήψεις περί φύλου (2)] ή περιβαλλοντικοί (είδος δραστηριοτήτων, αθλητικές εγκαταστάσεις, εκπαιδευτική πολιτική). Ως υποστηρικτικοί παράγοντες θεωρούνται (μεταξύ άλλων) η ποικιλία δραστηριοτήτων, η άσκηση με φίλους και η απουσία ανταγωνισμού.
Συζήτηση/Συμπεράσματα: Καθίσταται επιτακτική η ανάγκη προώθησης ενός θετικού και συμπεριληπτικού περιβάλλοντος για την άσκηση και τη φυσική δραστηριότητα των έφηβων κοριτσιών, εντός και εκτός σχολείου. Με αυτό τον τρόπο βελτιώνεται η υγεία και η ποιότητα ζωής των κοριτσιών και, παράλληλα, ενισχύεται η προοπτική της δια βίου άσκησης.
Βιβλιογραφία
Wallace L, Buchan D, Sculthorpe N. A comparison of activity levels of girls in single-gender and mixed-gender physical education. Eur Phy Educ Rev. 2020; 26(1):231– 40. 2.
YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mSd-jE00mLgΒλ. εισήγηση/παρουσίαση της Ειρήνης Καμπερίδου στο συνέδριο, με διαφάνειες, στο YOUTUBE , προς το τέλος.YouTube 2η Συνεδρία: "Η θέση της Ελληνίδας κατά την περίοδο της Τουρκοκρατίας"
Cite as:
Καμπερίδου, Ειρήνη (2021). Η Απομυθοποίηση του Χαρεμιού: Η Πολυεθνική Δουλεία του Οθωμανικού Χαρεμιού και το Γυναικείο Παρακράτος. Εισήγηση στο Συνέδριο: «Ο ρόλος της Ελληνίδας στην Επανάσταση του 1821», 2η Συνεδρία: “Η θέση της Ελληνίδας κατά την περίοδο της Τουρκοκρατίας”, 25/9/2021. Διοργάνωση: Σύνδεσμος Ελληνίδων Επιστημόνων (ΣΕΕ) http://www.see1924.gr/ . Υπό δημοσίευση στα Πρακτικά του συνεδρίου. Pergamos: Ψηφιακή Βιβλιοθήκη του ΕΚΠΑ "Πέργαμο": Digital Library of the University of Athens (UoA) “Pergamos” https://pergamos.lib.uoa.gr/uoa/dl/object/2961377
Οι αποφάσεις των διεθνών δικαιοδοτικών οργάνων αποτελούν στοιχεία ιδιαιτέρως κρίσιμα για τη Συστημική Γεωπολιτική Ανάλυση διότι δυνητικώς, μπορούν να προκαλέσουν μεγάλη ανακατανομή της ισχύος σε συστημικό, υποσυστημικό και υπερσυστημικό επίπεδο. Η UNCLOSΙΙΙ, παρέχει ένα επίσημο νομικό πλαίσιο για τους Ωκεανούς και οι χώρες που την έχουν υπογράψει δεσμεύονται από αυτό. Εντούτοις και τα κράτη που δεν έχουν υπογράψει, δεσμεύονται στο μέτρο που ορισμένες ρυθμίσεις της Σύμβασης έχουν εθιμικό χαρακτήρα, σύμφωνα με τη νομολογία του Διεθνούς Δικαστηρίου της Χάγης (εφεξής: ΔΔΧ).Η προβολή της αμυντικής ισχύος σε θέματα διεκδικήσεων υφαλοκρηπίδας ως υποφώσκον και άδηλο πολιτικό μέσο επηρεασμού των αποφάσεων συναντάται πολύ συχνά. Τα κράτη, κατά τις πλείστες των περιπτώσεων, επιδιώκουν την κατοχύρωση που τους προσφέρει η διεθνής νομιμότητα.Ωστόσο, υπάρχουν και περιπτώσεις, όπου μια ισχυρώς αμυντικά χώρα διαφωνεί με το αποτέλεσμα της αποφάσεως των Διεθνών Δικαιϊκών Οργάνων και ισχυρίζεται ότι δεν αναγνωρίζει την διαδικασία λήψεως της αποφάσεως, ούτε και τη ληφθείσα απόφαση. Μία τέτοια υπόθεση είναι αυτή της διαιτησίας στη Νότια Σινική Θάλασσα ανάμεσα στις Φιλιππίνες και την Κίνα, όπως παλαιότερα της απόφασης του ΔΔΧ επί της διαφοράς ανάμεσα στη Νικαράγουα και τις ΗΠΑ. Η ενδεδειγμένη από το διεθνές δίκαιο λύση μιας διαφοράς και τα όρια που τίθενται από αυτό, επιδρούν στην ανακατανομή της ισχύος στο γεωπολιτικώς αναλυόμενο Σύμπλοκο/Σύστημα. Συνεπώς, δεν θα πρέπει να παραλειφθεί το γεγονός ότι η δικανική κρίση επί συγκεκριμένης διακρατικής διαφοράς παραμένει ένα πολύ σημαντικό στοιχείο για την ενίσχυση της εγκυρότητας του γεωπολιτικού υποδείγματος τάσεων ανακατανομής της ισχύος. Στον Αρκτικό Ωκεανό τα παράκτια κράτη προβάλουν αμυντική ισχύ. Αξιοσημείωτο είναι το γεγονός ότι στα πλαίσια της «Expedition Arktika 2007», η Ρωσία πραγματοποίησε την πρώτη κάθοδο στον πυθμένα του Αρκτικού Ωκεανού. Η αποστολή τοποθέτησε σημαία από τιτάνιο στο βυθό του Αρκτικού ωκεανού, 4 χλμ. κάτω από το Βόρειο Πόλο, ακολούθησαν έντονες αντιδράσεις και έγινε πρώτη αναφορά στο ζήτημα της υφαλοκρηπίδας στην περιοχή.Συνεπώς, η παρούσα μελέτη περιλαμβάνει το νομικό μέρος, στο οποίο αναλύονται οι διατάξεις της UNCLOS σχετικά με την οριοθέτηση της υφαλοκρηπίδας και ειδικότερα, την Επιτροπή για τα Όρια της Υφαλοκρηπίδας, η σχετική νομολογία και η διαδικασία οριοθέτησης μέχρι και τις σημερινές εξελίξεις. Κατόπιν, η νομική ανάλυση θα τοποθετηθεί μέσα στο πλαίσιο της συστημικής γεωπολιτικής ανάλυσης, με προσδοκώμενο στόχο την κατασκευή γεωπολιτικού υποδείγματος τάσεων ανακατανομής της ισχύος.
Η συμβολή στον Τόμο αναφέρεται στο επίκαιρο και πολύπλοκο βιοηθικό θέμα της ευθανασίας και συγκεκριμένα στη διερεύνηση από θρησκειολογική σκοπιά της επιλογής του ασθενούς να τερματίσει τη ζωή του, επιζητώντας ιατρική βοήθεια.
Γαρδίκα Κατερίνα. Η καταπολέμηση της ελονοσίας. In: Γεωργακόπουλος Θοδωρής 10 μεταρρυθμίσεις που άλλαξαν την Ελλάδα. Αθήνα: διαΝΕΟσις; 2021. pp. 59-82.
Εξετάζεται η πολιτική και στρατηγική της Αθήνας προς την Τουρκία, μετά τα τέλη της μεταψυχροπολεμικής δεκαετίας και μέχρι το 2019, θέτοντας στο επίκεντρο του προβληματισμού την κατανόηση της σημασίας μιας εσωτερικής παραμέτρου, της συναίνεσης, η οποία είναι μάλλον αγνοημένη στο πλαίσιο της μελέτης των ελληνοτουρκικών σχέσεων. Συγκεκριμένα διαπιστώνεται ότι, ενώ επί μία εικοσαετία έχει υπάρξει σταθερή πολιτική συναίνεση όσον αφορά την πολιτική βελτίωσης των ελληνοτουρκικών σχέσεων, δεν έχει υπάρξει συναίνεση όσον αφορά την αναγκαιότητα υποστήριξης αυτής της πολιτικής από μια στρατηγική η οποία δύναται να οδηγήσει σε συνεννόηση με την Τουρκία όσον αφορά την κύρια διμερή διαφορά, δηλαδή την οριοθέτηση της υφαλοκρηπίδας αλλά και τη συνολικότερη οριοθέτηση των θαλασσίων ζωνών. Παράλληλα, επιδιώκεται να αναδειχθεί ότι η διαιώνιση μιας μονολιθικής και απλουστευτικής ‘εικόνας’ για τις ελληνοτουρκικές σχέσεις και την Τουρκία αποτελεί παράγοντα που έχει συμβάλει αποφασιστικά στην αδυναμία οικοδόμησης μιας τέτοιας συναίνεσης.
Abstract
CHRISTOS KARAKOLIS: The Preexistence of Jesus in Mark’s Gospel from an Old Testament Perspective
Despite the fact that the Gospel of Mark does not clearly refer to the pre-existence of Jesus Christ, there are significant indications that it is both implied and presupposed. Among the various theories relevant to this issue one can discern the interpretation of Mark 1:2-3 as a passage referring to a heavenly dialogue between God and His Son prior to the beginning of John the Baptist’s preaching in the world, the preaching that will prepare the course of the Son of God in the world.
Following the interpretation of Mark 1:1-3 a translational deficit is highlighted that comes from the non-clarification of the identity of these two heavenly discussants. Although, some translations highlight the fact that in v.2 the conversing subject is indeed God, there is no translation that names the other conversant. This is, indeed, a necessary aspect that should be presented in a dynamic translation so that the reader will be able to un- derstand from the onset the Christological teaching of the Gospel of Mark.
The study attempts to trace the route followed by the Byzantine Empire, on both thepolitical and the constitutional plane, from the seventh to the eleventh century, whichultimately led, at the end of the period in question, to Alexios I issuing a chrysobull thatgranted a woman, namely his mother Anna Dalassene, full rights to rule in his name,while he left the capital to face the Norman invasion.In order for the phenomenon of women exercising power in Byzantium to be understood,the study is prefaced by a relatively brief reference to women –every single oneof them an Augusta– who exercised power as part of their constitutional role, from Martina,widow of Heraclius, to Eudokia Makrembolitissa, widow of Constantine X Doukas.The main part of the paper focuses on the case of the ‘purple-born’ sisters Zoe and Theodora,since their reign and the way contemporary historians treated the sisters’ rise tothe throne and how the two of them exercised power illustrate the changes that hadtransformed the institution of co-rulership/regency, as well as ‘hereditary’ successionand how it impacted on the collective mentality of the Byzantines, even when it pavedthe way for a woman to find herself alone at the helm of the state.Through a comparison of the narratives of Michael Psellos, John Skylitzes and MichaelAttaleiates, the study proposes a new view of the ‘reign’ of Zoe Porhpyrogenita andbrings to life a personage that was far more sensible and active than the one we usuallycome across in modern historiography.
Η παρούσα μελέτη επικεντρώνεται στο θέμα της μάταιης θεραπείας (futile treatment) και προσεγγίζεται από την ιατρική και θεολογική άποψη, αποτελώντας πρωτότυπο εγχείρημα. Η δυσκολία της αντικειμενικοποίησης των κριτηρίων, τα οποία καθιστούν μια θεραπεία ως μάταιη εγείρει σημαντικά διλήμματα για την ιατρική ηθική και δεοντολογία, καθώς και για την εξέταση του θέματος από βιοηθική σκοπιά. Ταυτόχρονα στη συζήτηση εμφανίζονται και θεολογικές απόψεις, οι οποίες αφορούν την ασθένεια, τη διακοπή ή μη της θεραπείας, αλλά και τον επικείμενο θάνατο του ασθενούς. Η παρούσα δημοσίευση αποσκοπεί να συμβάλλει στο διάλογο και να αποτελέσει αφορμή για συζήτηση στον Ελλαδικό χώρο.
Based on the historical data of the centuries before the emergence of Christianity in the Mediterranean (1st-3rd century AD), we try to present the stages of the influence of a pandemic on religiocity and the spread of Christianity, as well as to examine the contemporary consequences, based on a statistical assessment (gallop), that we conducted on students of Social Theology and the Study of Religions, as soon as the measures of “social exclusion” had been removed.
Ο πόλεμος είναι το τελευταίο κυριολεκτικά σημείο, στο οποίο θα ανέμενε κανείς να συναντήσει τη γυναίκα σε μια ανδροκρατούμενη, γεμάτη στερεότυπα κοινωνία όπως αυτή του Βυζαντίου. Ωστόσο, η σχέση των γυναικών με το σύνθετο φαινόμενο του πολέμου ήταν στενή, και οι βυζαντινοί συγγραφείς ανέδειξαν τις ένοπλες συρράξεις ως υπόθεση τόσο ανδρική όσο και γυναικεία.
Οι Βυζαντινές δεν αποτέλεσαν ποτέ μάχιμο τμήμα των εκστρατευτικών σωμάτων, δεν γυμνάστηκαν κατάλληλα, δεν οπλίστηκαν από το συμβατικό οπλοστάσιο της εποχής τους και δεν βρέθηκαν στην πρώτη γραμμή. Συνόδευσαν όμως τους συζύγους τους στην εκστρατεία όποτε κρίθηκε απαραίτητο, συνέδραμαν δυναμικά στο έργο αξιωματούχων και στρατιωτών ή τροποποίησαν επιτελικούς σχεδιασμούς. Υπερασπίστηκαν τις πόλεις ή τα κάστρα τους επιδεικνύοντας εξαιρετικά προσόντα και δεξιότητες και ως λεία των νικητών υπέστησαν τα δεινά επακόλουθα της ήττας. Στα μετόπισθεν ανέλαβαν υπέρμετρες ευθύνες μένοντας εκτεθειμένες σε ποικίλους κινδύνους.
Τα έμφυλα χαρακτηριστικά τους προβλήθηκαν άλλοτε με θετικό και άλλοτε με αρνητικό πρόσημο εκ μέρους των συγχρόνων τους, οι οποίοι σε αρκετές ιστορίες πολέμου ανέδειξαν τον έρωτα ως ρυθμιστή των εξελίξεων.
Όταν οι Βυζαντινοί γνώρισαν τις γυναίκες των αντιπάλων τους είτε ως μάχιμες στα στρατόπεδα είτε ως επικεφαλής των κρατών τους αναμετρήθηκαν ή συμμάχησαν μαζί τους. Εκείνοι που κατέγραψαν αυτές τις «συναντήσεις» δεν μπόρεσαν να κρύψουν την έκπληξή τους και επέτρεψαν να διαφανεί η απαρέσκειά τους.
Παρόλο που ιστορικοί και χρονογράφοι της εποχής δεν τοποθέτησαν πάντοτε τις Βυζαντινές εκεί όπου έδρασαν και συχνά αποσιώπησαν την παρουσία τους, αποδεικνύεται ότι οι γυναίκες εμπλέκονταν σχεδόν σε όλες τις εκφάνσεις του πολέμου, στο μέτρο που αναλογούσε στο φύλο τους και όπως συνέβαινε σε κάθε τομέα δραστηριότητας στις μεσαιωνικές κοινωνίες.
Η συγγραφή του άρθρου για τον Τόμο έγινε την εποχή της συζήτησης για τα κριτήρια και την προτεραιότητα στον εμβολιασμό για τη νόσο COVID-19, ένα σχεδόν μήνα πριν τον πρώτο εμβολιασμό στην Ελλάδα (Δεκέμβριος 2020). Η μελέτη του άρθρου θα πρέπει να να λάβει υπόψη αυτό το χρονικό σημείο, καθώς οι εξελίξεις σχετικά με την απροθυμία μέρους του πληθυσμού στον εμβολιασμό δεν επιβεβαίωσαν την αρχική άποψη ότι αυτός θα γινόταν μαζικά και συνεπώς θα έπρεπε να μπουν κριτήρια για την προτεραιότητα της χορήγησης εμβολίου.
Kamberidou I, Stratigaki M, Psychountaki M, Dania A, Mitsiou M. ΠΑΡΕΝΟΧΛΗΣΗ, ΦΥΛΟ ΚΑΙ ΑΘΛΗΤΙΣΜΟΣ: 1ο webinar. Οργάνωση-συντονισμό Ειρήνη Καμπερίδου, Σπουδαστήριο Κοινωνιολογίας, Σχολή Επιστήμης Φυσικής Αγωγής και Αθλητισμού (ΣΕΦΑΑ), του Εθνικού κα [Internet]. 2021;(1o webinar ΣΕΦΑΑ, ΕΚΠΑ). Publisher's VersionAbstract
1o Webinar «Παρενόχληση, Φύλο και Αθλητισμός». Παρασκευή 5 Μαρτίου 18:00 - 20:00 -Αφιερωμένο στην αείμνηστη Καθηγήτρια Υβόννη Χαραχούσου**Παρακολουθείστε στο YouTube https://youtu.be/LtNeMaGAs64
Μετά τις αποκαλύψεις αθλητριών περί κατάχρησης εξουσίας, αλλά και αντίστοιχες καταγγελίες ανθρώπων από το ευρύτερο κοινωνικό πεδίο, το Σπουδαστήριο της Κοινωνιολογίας της Σχολής Επιστήμης Φυσικής Αγωγής και Αθλητισμού (ΣΕΦΑΑ) του Εθνικού και Καποδιστριακού Πανεπιστήμιου Αθηνών (ΕΚΠΑ), διοργανώνει δύο webinars με θέμα «Παρενόχληση, Φύλο και Αθλητισμός», ευελπιστώντας ότι θα εμπνεύσουν και θα συνεχιστούν ...
ΕΡΕΥΝΗΤΙΚΟ ΕΡΓΟ ΣΤΗΝ ΚΟΙΝΩΝΙΚΗ ΠΕΡΙΟΧΗ ΤΟΥ ΑΘΛΗΤΙΣΜΟΥ: ΘΕΜΑΤΑ ΦΥΛΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΙΣΟΤΗΤΑΣ(ΚΟΙΝΩΝΙΚΟΣ ΑΠΟΚΛΕΙΣΜΟΣ ΚΑΙ ΚΟΙΝΩΝΙΚΗ ΕΝΣΩΜΑΤΩΣΗ). ΠΟΛΙΤΙΣΜΟΣ: Ο ΠΟΛΙΤΙΣΜΟΣ ΤΟΥ ΣΩΜΑΤΟΣ – Ο ΠΟΛΙΤΣΜΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΔΙΑΤΡΟΦΗΣ/ΤΟΥ ΦΑΓΗΤΟΥ, κ.ά.
The quasiparticle interference (QPI) technique is a powerful tool that allows to uncover the structure and properties of electronic structure of a material combined with scattering properties of defects at surfaces. Recently, this technique has been pivotal in proving the unique properties of the surface state of topological insulators which manifests itself in the absence of backscattering. Herein, a Green function-based formalism is derived for the ab initio computation of Fourier-transformed QPI images. The efficiency of the new implementation is shown at the examples of QPI that forms around magnetic and nonmagnetic defects at the Bi2Te3 surface. This method allows a deepened understanding of the scattering properties of topologically protected electrons off defects and is a useful tool in the study of quantum materials in the future.
This paper addresses the issue of the relationship holding between abstract and morphological case by examining differential case marking in Asia Mi- nor Greek. Asia Minor Greek dialects have nominative–accusative case systems with overt case exponents; significantly, in these dialects definiteness affects the case marking of the argument either by forcing it to appear in a default case or by marking the relevant definiteness specification by means of a certain (mor- phologically overt) case. I argue that these phenomena do not derive from functional factors, such as the typicality of subject/object, distinctiveness or iconicity, and I present evidence that the relevant abstract Case is always licensed on DP-arguments in these dialects, even in differential case marking situations, and that the surface morphological case is conditioned by morphological factors. Based on this evidence, I claim that differential case marking in such systems is morphological in nature and derives from postsyntactic impoverishment rules at Morphological Structure that affect the feature constitution of the case terminal node resulting in its differentiating exponence and the non-isomorphism between abstract and morphological case.
Genital dissatisfaction in healthy young women is on the rise. Pubic hair removal reveals genital tissue previously hidden, while social trends promote the absence of any protruding genital tissue as the feminine ideal. Information with regard to the natural diversity of external genitalia anatomy, and lifestyle changes to improve physical symptoms related to labial tissue may suffice to reassure a distressed adolescent. Female genital cosmetic surgery is rarely supported, before attaining genital maturity. However, genital dissatisfaction may lead to significant embarrassment and anxiety, requiring formal psychological counselling. Sexual education needs to counterbalance perceived normal anatomy, portrayed in pornography or female genital cosmetic surgery advertisements.
PURPOSE: To ascertain the role of deranged eating behaviours (DEBs) in the development of functional hypothalamic amenorrhoea (FHA) and the reciprocal role of psychopathological traits on both disorders. METHODS: A prospective case-control study was conducted spanning the period January 2016 to April 2018. Forty-one consecutive FHA females and 86 healthy controls were recruited. We assessed the DEBs and other FHA predisposing factors via self-reported questionnaires. Possible correlations amongst the variables were examined using the Spearman's correlation coefficient (rho), whilst multivariate logistic regression was carried out to identify independent predictors of DEBs. RESULTS: Mean scores on Eating Attitudes Test-26 (EAT-26) were significantly higher in females with FHA (p {\textless} 0.0001). Women with FHA were characterised by significantly higher scores at the sub-scale items of dieting (p = 0.03) and bulimia and food preoccupation (p {\textless} 0.001) compared to healthy controls. Significant difference was also observed between the mean scores of the two groups in all other questionnaires: State-Trait-Anxiety-Inventory (STAI) (p {\textless} 0.0001), Multidimensional Body-Self-Relations Questionnaire (MBSRQ) (p {\textless} 0.0001) and International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) (p = 0.004). EAT-26 scores were positively correlated with scores on STAI ($\rho$ = 0.26, p = 0.04), MBSRQ ($\rho$ = 0.79, p {\textless} 0.0001) and IPAQ ($\rho$ = 0.35, p = 0.03). High scores on IPAQ and STAI were correlated with a 12.2-fold (p = 0.008) and 4.3-fold (p = 0.04) increased risk for high scores on EAT-26 respectively. CONCLUSIONS: DEBs may occur in FHA populations at a higher frequency compared to the general population. Anxiety and overweight preoccupation may underlie and independently contribute to development and maintenance of both DEBs and FHA. This evidence may have future implications for both screening and interventions that target DEBs and other psychological factors.
This paper reviews state-of-the-art research solutions across the spectrum of medical imaging informatics, discusses clinical translation, and provides future directions for advancing clinical practice. More specifically, it summarizes advances in medical imaging acquisition technologies for different modalities, highlighting the necessity for efficient medical data management strategies in the context of AI in big healthcare data analytics. It then provides a synopsis of contemporary and emerging algorithmic methods for disease classification and organ/ tissue segmentation, focusing on AI and deep learning architectures that have already become the de facto approach. The clinical benefits of in-silico modelling advances linked with evolving 3D reconstruction and visualization applications are further documented. Concluding, integrative analytics approaches driven by associate research branches highlighted in this study promise to revolutionize imaging informatics as known today across the healthcare continuum for both radiology and digital pathology applications. The latter, is projected to enable informed, more accurate diagnosis, timely prognosis, and effective treatment planning, underpinning precision medicine.
Background & aims: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the leading cause of death in patients with chronic hepatitis. In this international collaboration, we sought to develop a global universal HCC risk score to predict the HCC development for patients with chronic hepatitis.
Methods: A total of 17,374 patients, comprising 10,578 treated Asian patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), 2,510 treated Caucasian patients with CHB, 3,566 treated patients with hepatitis C virus (including 2,489 patients with cirrhosis achieving a sustained virological response) and 720 patients with non-viral hepatitis (NVH) from 11 international prospective observational cohorts or randomised controlled trials, were divided into a training cohort (3,688 Asian patients with CHB) and 9 validation cohorts with different aetiologies and ethnicities (n = 13,686).
Results: We developed an HCC risk score, called the aMAP score (ranging from 0 to 100), that involves only age, male, albumin-bilirubin and platelets. This metric performed excellently in assessing HCC risk not only in patients with hepatitis of different aetiologies, but also in those with different ethnicities (C-index: 0.82-0.87). Cut-off values of 50 and 60 were best for discriminating HCC risk. The 3- or 5-year cumulative incidences of HCC were 0-0.8%, 1.5-4.8%, and 8.1-19.9% in the low- (n = 7,413, 43.6%), medium- (n = 6,529, 38.4%), and high-risk (n = 3,044, 17.9%) groups, respectively. The cut-off value of 50 was associated with a sensitivity of 85.7-100% and a negative predictive value of 99.3-100%. The cut-off value of 60 resulted in a specificity of 56.6-95.8% and a positive predictive value of 6.6-15.7%.
Conclusions: This objective, simple, reliable risk score based on 5 common parameters accurately predicted HCC development, regardless of aetiology and ethnicity, which could help to establish a risk score-guided HCC surveillance strategy worldwide.
Lay summary: In this international collaboration, we developed and externally validated a simple, objective and accurate prognostic tool (called the aMAP score), that involves only age, male, albumin-bilirubin and platelets. The aMAP score (ranged from 0 to 100) satisfactorily predicted the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development among over 17,000 patients with viral and non-viral hepatitis from 11 global prospective studies. Our findings show that the aMAP score had excellent discrimination and calibration in assessing the 5-year HCC risk among all the cohorts irrespective of aetiology and ethnicity.
In March 2020 the World Health Organization announced a pandemic outbreak. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative pathogen for the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic. The authorities worldwide use clinical science to identify infected people, but this approach is not able to track all symptomatic and asymptomatic cases due to limited sampling capacity of the testing laboratories. This drawback is eliminated by the Wastewater-Based Epidemiology (WBE) approach. In this review, we summarized the peer-reviewed published literature (available as of 28(th) September 2020), in the field of WBE. The commonly used steps (sampling, storage, concentration, isolation, detection) of the analytical protocols were identified. The potential limitations of each stage of the protocols and good practices were discussed. Finally, new methods for the efficient detection of SARS-CoV-2 were proposed.
INTRODUCTION: Greece is a country with limited spread of SARS-CoV-2 and cumulative infection attack rate of 0.12% (95% CI 0.06-0.26). Health care workers (HCWs) are a well-recognized risk group for COVID-19. The study aimed to estimate the seroprevalence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in a nosocomial setting and assess potential risk factors. METHODS: HCWs from two hospitals participated in the study. Hospital-1 was a tertiary university affiliated center, involved in the care of COVID-19 patients while hospital-2 was a tertiary specialized cardiac surgery center not involved in the care of these patients. A validated, CE, rapid, IgM/IgG antibody point-of-care test was used. Comparative performance with a reference globally available assay was assessed. RESULTS: 1,495 individuals consented to participate (response rate 77%). The anti-SARS-CoV-2 weighted prevalence was 1.26% (95% CI 0.43, 3.26) overall and 0.53% (95% CI 0.06, 2.78) and 2.70% (95% CI 0.57, 9.19) in hospital-1 and hospital-2, respectively although the study was underpowered to detect statistically significant differences. The overall, hospital-1, and hospital-2 seroprevalence was 10, 4 and 22 times higher than the estimated infection attack rate in general population, respectively. Suboptimal use of personal protective equipment was noted in both hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: These data have implications for the preparedness of a second wave of COVID-19 epidemic, given the low burden of SARS-CoV-2 infection rate, in concordance with national projections.
Maintaining a healthy proteome is essential for cell and organismal homeostasis. Perturbation of the balance between protein translational control and degradation instigates a multitude of age-related diseases. Decline of proteostasis quality control mechanisms is a hallmark of ageing. Biochemical methods to detect de novo protein synthesis are still limited, have several disadvantages and cannot be performed in live cells or animals. Caenorhabditis elegans, being transparent and easily genetically modified, is an excellent model to monitor protein synthesis rates by using imaging techniques. Here, we introduce and describe a method to measure de novo protein synthesis in vivo utilizing fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP). Transgenic animals expressing fluorescent proteins in specific cells or tissues are irradiated by a powerful light source resulting in fluorescence photobleaching. In turn, assessment of fluorescence recovery signifies new protein synthesis in cells and/or tissues of interest. Hence, the combination of transgenic nematodes, genetic and/or pharmacological interventions together with live imaging of protein synthesis rates can shed light on mechanisms mediating age-dependent proteostasis collapse.
The aim of this study was to determine the cognitive and behavioral effects of extra virgin olive oil total phenolic content (TPC) and Sideritis (SID) extracts in female mice, and identify the associated neurochemical changes in the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex. All animals received intraperitoneal low or high doses of TPC, SID or vehicle treatment for 7 days and were subjected to the Open Field (OF), Novel Object Recognition (NOR) and Tail Suspension Test (TST). The prefrontal cortex and hippocampus were dissected for analysis of neurotransmitters and aminoacids with high performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection (HPLC-ED). Both TPC doses enhanced vertical activity and center entries in the OF, which could indicate an anxiolytic-like effect. In addition, TPC enhanced non-spatial working memory and, in high doses, exerted antidepressant effects. On the other hand, high SID doses remarkably decreased the animals' overall activity. Locomotor and exploratory activities were closely associated with cortical increases in serotonin turnover induced by both treatments. Cognitive performance was linked to glutamate level changes. Furthermore, TPC reduced cortical taurine levels, while SID reduced cortical aspartate levels. TPC seems to have promising cognitive, anxiolytic and antidepressant effects, whereas SID has sedative effects in high doses. Both extracts act in the brain, but their specific actions and properties merit further exploration.
Big Data and Data Analytics affect almost all aspects of modern organisations’ decision-making and business strategies. Big Data and Data Analytics create opportunities, challenges, and implications for the external auditing procedure. The purpose of this article is to reveal essential aspects of the impact of Big Data and Data Analytics on external auditing. It seems that Big Data Analytics is a critical tool for organisations, as well as auditors, that contributes to the enhancement of the auditing process. Also, legislative implications must be taken under consideration, since existing standards may need to change. Last, auditors need to develop new skills and competence, and educational organisations need to change their educational programs in order to be able to correspond to new market needs.
AIM: Micro-RNAs (miRNAs) are implicated in insulin-signaling and the development of type-2 diabetes (T2D). Their deregulated expression is mostly described in the pancreas, liver, skeletal muscle, or adipose tissue of diabetic animals. Relevant studies in humans are limited due to difficulties in accessing tissue-biopsies. Though, circulating miRNAs are indicators of organ-specific pathophysiological events and could potentially serve as disease biomarkers. We explored the profile of 84 T2D-related miRNAs in peripheral blood of subjects with or without the disease. METHODS: An RT-qPCR array screening 84 T2D-related miRNAs was applied in samples of T2D (n = 6) versus non-T2D (n = 6) subjects. The deregulated miRNAs were thereafter analyzed in peripheral blood samples of a validation cohort of 40 T2D and 37 non-T2D individuals [16 controls and 21 subjects with metabolic syndrome (Met-S) and/or T2D risk factors (T2D-RF)], using specific RT-qPCR assays. Correlations with clinicopathological parameters and risk factors were evaluated. RESULTS: Subjects with the disease displayed decreased levels of miR-214-3p, miR-24-3p and let-7f-5p, compared to those without. MiRNA levels correlated with serum insulin and HbA1c levels in individuals with T2D or Met-S/T2D-RF, and with higher BMI, dyslipidemia and family history in controls. CONCLUSIONS: Blood levels of miR-214-3p, miR-24-3p and let-7f-5p are down-regulated in T2D- and Met-S/T2D-RF subjects. Future studies are needed to evaluate their potential as disease biomarkers and elucidate the associated tissue-specific pathogenetic mechanisms.
From the onset of the so-called “Greek crisis” (a sovereign-debt default in late 2009 and the subsequent, and ongoing, attempts on behalf of successive Greek governments at securing adequate bailout aid from the EU and the IMF), a new breed of biopolitics seems to have been in place. Classical antiquity has always played a crucial part in the forging of modern Greek social and cultural identities; in the framework of the “Greek crisis”, however, classical heritage and its visual output has been used both as an emancipatory tool against the country’s debtors as well as a disciplinary device on behalf of its critics. In this paper, a number of earlier and more recent Athenian graffiti will be discussed, directly or indirectly incorporating themes from Greek art in order to express their makers’ sentiments – as well as the frustrations of their public at large. Contrasting unauthorized examples of Athenian street art with some centrally-sponsored recent examples also employing classicizing imageries, the paper will explore the ways in which classical heritage finds itself entangled with the neoliberal biopolitics at work in Greece since 2009.
Photonic crystal structuring has emerged as a promising approach to improve the utilization of solar energy by metal oxide semiconductor photocatalysts based on the combination of slow-light{,} pore interconnectivity and high surface accessibility of macroporous periodic structures with judicious compositional modifications of the materials’ properties. In this work{,} surface modification of photonic band gap engineered TiO2 inverse opals fabricated by the convective evaporation-induced co-assembly technique was performed with nanoscale Co oxides using the chemisorption–calcination-cycle method in order to explore the interplay of metal oxide heterostructuring and photonic amplification for the development of visible light-activated photonic catalysts. Fine tuning of the films’ photonic and electronic properties by controlling the inverse opal macropore size and Co oxides’ loading and composition resulted in significant enhancement of the photocatalytic activity for organics decomposition under visible light{,} exceeding that of benchmark mesoporous TiO2 films subjected to the same treatment. The underlying mechanism was related to the slow-photon-assisted light harvesting by low amounts of Co oxide nanoclusters that exert minimal effects on the inverse opal periodicity and texture{,} while enabling visible light electronic absorption and promoting charge separation via strong interfacial coupling on the nanocrystalline titania skeleton of the photonic crystals.
Cyprus has a long record of tsunami waves, as noted by archaeological and geological records. Large boulder deposits have been noted in the southeastern and western part of the Island. At Cape Greco (southeastern Cyprus) large boulders have been noted, however, no detailed geomorphological research has taken place so far and the related high energy event remains undated. Our research focuses at Cape Greco Peninsula in order to record in detail and interpret the large boulders deposits. The boulders, located at 3 m amsl, are fragments of a layer of an upper Pleistocene aeolianite, which is overlaying unconformly a lower Pleistocene calcarenite. Dimensions and spatial distribution of 272 small, medium and large boulders were documented, while their precise distance from the coastline was recorded by field mapping and remote sensing, using GNSS, drone and GIS technics. Several large boulders weighting more than ~30 metric tons were found up to 60m inland. Geomorphologic mapping and morphometric measurements, along with the presence of marine organisms suggests that some of the boulders were removed from their original intertidal zone and were transported inland by the force of large waves. In this work, we attempt to determine the extreme event that caused their transport inland. We further attempt a correlation of the event with already known tsunami events from Eastern Mediterranean, based on the estimated wave heights and the radiocarbon dating of marine gastropods (Vermetus sp.).
The actin cytoskeleton, a dynamic network of actin filaments and associated F-actin-binding proteins, is fundamentally important in eukaryotes. alpha-Actinins are major F-actin bundlers that are inhibited by Ca(2+) in nonmuscle cells. Here we report the mechanism of Ca(2+)-mediated regulation of Entamoeba histolytica alpha-actinin-2 (EhActn2) with features expected for the common ancestor of Entamoeba and higher eukaryotic alpha-actinins. Crystal structures of Ca(2+)-free and Ca(2+)-bound EhActn2 reveal a calmodulin-like domain (CaMD) uniquely inserted within the rod domain. Integrative studies reveal an exceptionally high affinity of the EhActn2 CaMD for Ca(2+), binding of which can only be regulated in the presence of physiological concentrations of Mg(2+) Ca(2+) binding triggers an increase in protein multidomain rigidity, reducing conformational flexibility of F-actin-binding domains via interdomain cross-talk and consequently inhibiting F-actin bundling. In vivo studies uncover that EhActn2 plays an important role in phagocytic cup formation and might constitute a new drug target for amoebic dysentery.
This article investigates the capital structure dynamics of European SMEs by assessing the impact of firm-specific, institutional, and macroeconomic factors over the period 2005–2015, including the European Sovereign Debt Crisis (ESDC). In this setup, we perform a dynamic panel data analysis, along with several model specifications and robustness tests on listed SMEs of EU-28, dividing them into firm categories (micro, small, and medium) and country groups (core, periphery, high technology, and new EU member countries). We find that the effect of capital structure determinants do not differ significantly across size and country groups. The results suggest that profitability, asset structure, and size have been the driving forces of listed SME’s leverage, regardless of the size of the companies and the country group. At a macroeconomic and institutional level, taxation is the most significant variable for all the subgroups. Finally, the ESDC seems to increase the leverage of the listed SMEs in the periphery and the new member states countries, leaving the core countries practically unaffected.
The cytoskeleton has a primary role in cardiomyocyte function, including the response to mechanical stimuli and injury. The small heat shock protein 20 (Hsp20) conveys protective effects in cardiac muscle that are linked to serine-16 (Ser16) Hsp20 phosphorylation by stress-induced PKA, but the link between Hsp20 and the cytoskeleton remains poorly understood. Herein, we demonstrate a physical and functional interaction of Hsp20 with the cytoskeletal protein 14-3-3. We show that, upon phosphorylation at Ser16, Hsp20 translocates from the cytosol to the cytoskeleton where it binds to 14-3-3. This leads to dissociation of 14-3-3 from the F-actin depolymerization regulator cofilin-2 (CFL2) and enhanced F-actin depolymerization. Importantly, we demonstrate that the P20L Hsp20 mutation associated with dilated cardiomyopathy exhibits reduced physical interaction with 14-3-3 due to diminished Ser16 phosphorylation, with subsequent failure to translocate to the cytoskeleton and inability to disassemble the 14-3-3/CFL2 complex. The topological sequestration of Hsp20 P20L ultimately results in impaired regulation of F-actin dynamics, an effect implicated in loss of cytoskeletal integrity and amelioration of the cardioprotective functions of Hsp20. These findings underscore the significance of Hsp20 phosphorylation in the regulation of actin cytoskeleton dynamics, with important implications in cardiac muscle physiology and pathophysiology.
Motion extracted from the carotid artery wall provides unique information for vascular health evaluation. Carotid artery longitudinal wall motion corresponds to the multiphasic arterial wall excursion in the direction parallel to blood flow during the cardiac cycle. While this motion phenomenon has been well characterized, there is a general lack of awareness regarding its implications for vascular health assessment or even basic vascular physiology. In the last decade, novel estimation strategies and clinical investigations have greatly advanced our understanding of the bi-axial behavior of the carotid artery, necessitating an up-to-date review to summarize and classify the published literature in collaboration with technical and clinical experts in the field. Within this review, the state-of-the art methodologies for carotid wall motion estimation are described, and the observed relationships between longitudinal-motion-derived indices and vascular health are reported. The vast number of studies describing the longitudinal motion pattern in plaque-free arteries, with its putative application to cardiovascular disease prediction, point to the need for characterizing the added value and applicability of longitudinal motion beyond established biomarkers. To this aim, the main purpose of this review is to provide a strong base of theoretical knowledge, together with a curated set of practical guidelines and recommendations for longitudinal motion estimation in patients, to foster future discoveries in the field, toward the integration of longitudinal motion in basic science as well as clinical practice.
Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), a common cause of acute flaccid paralysis, is characterized by a rapidly progressive, usually symmetric weakness of the extremities. Headache and intracranial hypertension (ICHT) are very rare complications of GBS. Herein we report our current case of an obese girl with typical signs of GBS associated with autonomic dysfunction, cranial nerve deficits and increased intracranial pressure (ICP). We also perform a systematic study presenting and discussing previous case reports of GBS associated with ICHT, papilledema or hydrocephalus, highlighting the differences of the current case compared to previous studies. Although intracranial hypertension is a rare complication of pediatric GBS, clinicians should promptly detect it. Obesity may be a predisposing factor, given the strong association between idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) and weight gain. Neurological evaluation, fundus examination and low threshold for intracranial imaging should be an integral part of medical practice in case of obesity, headache or visual changes in GBS patients.
Based on a qualitative research (2012–15) this paper is concerned with the identification of concepts and constructs of knowledge in RE. It is based on participative enquiry and educational action-research methodology. Over a three-year period, the researcher, teachers and the students of a High School in one of the most difficult social, economic and pedagogic environments in Greece collaborated and the resulting data were analysed by a team of independent researchers using quantitative and qualitative techniques. Findings point to the consideration of knowledge in education as an experience in which the content (what) of education is as important as the process (how). RE teaches an additional invaluable language with different religious meanings of concepts, which facilitates students’ communication with self and others, and offers an interpretation of the world. Such religious literacy is essentially provided at school in the framework of multi-literacies and is a result of an intersubjective process of the interconnection between thinking, reflection and action on what the curriculum positions on the top of the didactic triangle (content, teacher, student). In that process, to ‘know what I know’ and to provide ‘events with meaning’ based on experiential learning and its principles, is of inestimable value.
OBJECTIVE: Epilepsy is one of the most prevalent neurologic disorders, causing serious psychological problems and reducing quality of life. Although 20 different antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 30% of patients have drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE). Considering the role of miR-146a and miR-134 in neuroinflammation and dendritic functionality, respectively, the aim of this study was the clinical evaluation of circulating miR-146a and miR-134 as novel noninvasive molecular markers for the prognosis of refractory epilepsy. METHODS: The study included 162 patients with focal impaired awareness seizures. Total RNA was extracted from serum samples spiked with synthetic cel-miR-39-3p for normalization purposes. First-strand complementary DNA (cDNA) synthesis was performed using microRNA-specific stem-loop primers, and hsa-miR-134/146a levels were quantified by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). DRE was used as clinical end point event. Internal validation was performed by bootstrap analysis, and decision curve analysis was used to evaluate the clinical benefit on disease prognosis. RESULTS: The circulating levels of both miR-134 and miR-146a were elevated in patients with drug-resistant seizures. The receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve and logistic regression analysis demonstrated that patients with increased circulating miR-134/146a levels are at significantly higher risk for developing DRE, independently of temporal lobe sclerosis, epilepsy duration, familial history, age at first seizure, age, body mass index (BMI), smoking behavior, and gender. Finally, decision curve analysis highlighted that the evaluation of circulating miR-134/146a led to superior clinical benefit for DRE prognosis and patients' risk stratification. SIGNIFICANCE: Elevated serum miR-134/146a levels are associated with a higher risk for AED-resistant epilepsy and could constitute novel noninvasive molecular markers to improve disease early prognosis and support precision medicine.
During the transitional period between the end of the Second World War and the beginning of the 1950s London and Ankara left behind the coolness that had crept into their relations as a result of Turkey’s neutrality during the war and reaffirmed their pre-war alliance. However, the strategic interests the two countries shared did not result in a closer political bilateral relationship. Moreover, before long the British government had succeeded by various ill-thought actions in causing the resentment of their Turkish ally. The respective attitudes of the British and the Turks towards each other were informed by the interplay between material interests and ideational factors against the backdrop of the perceived Soviet threat, Britain’s ebbing power and the rising power of the United States. This study narrates a brief but interesting chapter in the course of Turkish-British relations. It also offers interesting insights into the dynamics of great power/small state interaction.
Greek exhibits dialectal and diachronic variation in the cliticization pattern of weak pronouns. In Standard Modern Greek, clitics are strictly preverbal with finite non- imperative verb forms, whereas in the southeastern dialects, as well as in Byzantine and Medieval Greek, clitics seem to obey a second position requirement, since they are preverbal when a function word precedes the verb and postverbal otherwise. A comparison with the adverbal Romance cliticization system and the second position cliticization system of Slavic languages reveals that Greek clitics are neither C- nor v*-related elements and cliticization involves clitic movement to the T-layer. We further argue that the attested variation results from the ways PF (Phonetic Form) processes the syntactic output of this movement. Finally, we show that the two systems are diachronically related to each other by means of a prosodic reanalysis that resulted in the evolution of the non-second position system of Standard Modern Greek from the second position system of Medieval Greek.
Cyprus has a long history of tsunami events, as noted by archaeological and geological records. At Cape Greco (southeastern Cyprus) large boulders have been noted, however, no detailed geomorphological research has taken place so far and the related high energy event was undated until now. Our research aims to record in detail and interpret these large boulders deposits. The boulders, located between ≈3 and 4.5 m a.m.s.l., are fragments of an upper Pleistocene aeolianite, which is overlaying unconformly a lower Pleistocene calcarenite. Dimensions and spatial distribution of 272 small, medium, and large boulders were documented, while their precise distance from the coastline was recorded by field mapping and remote sensing, using Differential GPS (DGPS), drone, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technics. Field data were subsequently combined with hydrodynamic equations, in order to determine the extreme event(s) that caused their transport inland, and radiocarbon dating was accomplished on three samples of Vermetus sp. to determine the chronological context. Our findings appear to broadly correlate with the 1303 AD tsunami, which has displaced at least part of the studied boulders, and one other undocumented event at AD 1512-1824. The large number of boulders and sizes in our study area further indicate that their dislocation is most likely owed to multiple events from various sources.
The general understanding of the major tectonic structures that are traced on Crete Island is of great importance to decipher the geodynamic regime of the leading edge of the overriding Aegean microplate and consequently Eurasia’s southernmost active margin. The aim of this multi-disciplinary methodology is to provide useful information for more reliable mapping of buried structures, which in turn supplement the dynamic and kinematic model of this key area of high interest.
Several indicators for the existence of oblique fault block displacement were identified with the use of earth observation data, as strike slip faulting expressions on the surface are more efficiently identified by vertical observations. Tectonic structures which are usually created along lateral displacements require different working scales. Hence, earth observation data (satellite images, aerial photographs) with various spatial characteristics need to be included.
Therefore, the methodology presented in this paper involves high spatial resolution digital elevation models and several remote sensing multispectral datasets, in many cases merged with higher spatial resolution panchromatic aerial photographs. The co-registration and ortho-rectification of all datasets proved to be a very significant part of this work in order to produce high resolution coloured 3D scenes at selected sites in central Crete, where the observed N-S trending strike slip fault zones crosscut arc parallel low angle normal faults and higher angle fault scarps.
Additionally, deep seismic reflection datasets along the major geomorphic structure of Messara basin were combined and highlighted the strike slip mechanism, since the continuation of the sub-vertical structures in depth has become clearer after the exact positioning of the sections and further interpretation.
The general understanding of the major tectonic structures that are traced on Crete Island is of great importance to decipher the geodynamic regime of the leading edge of the overriding Aegean microplate and consequently Eurasia’s southernmost active margin. The aim of this multidisciplinary methodology is to provide useful information for more reliable mapping of buried structures, which in turn supplement the dynamic and kinematic model of this key area of high interest. Several indicators for the existence of oblique fault block displacement were identified with the use of earth observation data, as strike slip faulting expressions on the surface are more efficiently identified by vertical observations. Tectonic structures which are usually created along lateral displacements require different working scales. Hence, earth observation data (satellite images, aerial photographs) with various spatial characteristics need to be included. Therefore, the methodology presented in this paper involves high spatial resolution digital elevation models and several remote sensing multispectral datasets, in many cases merged with higher spatial resolution panchromatic aerial photographs. The co-registration and orthorectification of all datasets proved to be a very significant part of this work in order to produce high resolution coloured 3D scenes at selected sites in central Crete, where the observed N-S trending strike slip fault zones crosscut arc parallel low angle normal faults and higher angle fault scarps. Additionally, deep seismic reflection datasets along the major geomorphic structure of Messara basin were combined and highlighted the strike slip mechanism, since the continuation of the subvertical structures in depth has become clearer after the exact positioning of the sections and further interpretation.
Relevance. In this paper the feeding mechanism of springs distributed around the broader area of Delfini at NE side of Chios Island is explored, in an effort to locate possible fresh water paths inland before they are discharged to the sea. The drilling of hydro wells for more production is of vital importance to cover the drinking and irrigation needs of the broader area. Aim. Although Chios has been extensively drilled in the past years the demand for further investigations comes from an increased water consumption during summer time in one hand and the inefficiency of alternative water resources (e.g. construction of dams, desalination units, etc) on the other hand. Methods. Geophysical methods were used (VLF and resistivity) to explore in detail water potential areas, like the broader area of Delfini, where during winter time huge quantities of fresh water discharge through springs to sea level. Results and its discussion. The presence of a confined aquifer composed mainly of limestones, which are overlain by clastic impermeable deposits, together with the existence of water potential bearing fracture zones determine the hydrogeological regime of the nearby area. It is also explained the presence of brackish waters at positive elevations found during summer time at nearby springs. It seems that the lateral extent of impermeable clastic deposits plays a crucial role in allowing the inland flow of seawater during summer time and combined with the presence of the confined aquifer of fresh water produce an upward mixing flow of fresh and seawater at springs of positive elevations. During winter time the huge amount of fresh water discharges do not allow the inland flow of seawater
Du J, Alexandris C, Yu P. Comparative Research on Terminology Databases in Europe and China. In: Ahram TZ, Ta{\"ı}ar R, Gremeaux{-}Bader V, Aminian K Human Interaction, Emerging Technologies and Future Applications {II} - Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Human Interaction and Emerging Technologies: Future Applications {(IHIET} - {AI} 2020), April 23-25, 2020, Lausanne, Switzerland. Vol. 1152. Springer; 2020. pp. 252–257. Website
The purpose of this paper is to determine calibration constants of instrumental Greek earthquakes in order to calculate the basic seismic parameters of historical earthquakes (magnitude, epicenter, focal depth) via macroseismic data. Two different approaches are adopted for calibration procedure. The first implements the macroseismic estimation of earthquake parameters (MEEP procedure) and is based on macroseismic data points (MDPs). The second approach calculates macroseismic magnitude based on isoseismal areas, using both linear and multiple regression techniques. The datasets used for analysis comprise of 121 instrumental earthquakes with 7247 MDPs and 123 isoseismal maps. Validation of the results is performed using six instrumental earthquakes in order to verify the calibration parameters. Finally, calibration constants are successfully applied for parameters calculation of eight eighteenth century events. Thus, the application of the results to historical earthquakes contributes to the improvement of the seismic picture of Greece.
In volleyball, the opposite player is the most requested hitter since she/he is the player with a higher probability of successfully carrying out attacks. Thus, the main objective of this study was to analyze and compare the spatiotemporal parameters and the effectiveness of attack for opposite players in top-level teams depending on gender. Inferential analysis was applied to analyze 1523 attacks coming from the opposite player (W=910and M=613) from 79 sets (W=42 and M=37) of the top-ranked teams in Women and Men 2018 World Championships. The analysis revealed that in complexes I and II male opposite players attacked more often from zone 1, using 2nd fast attack tempo, against a single or triple block, more effectively in complex I but with more errors in complex II than women. In female volleyball, opposites attacked more often from zones 2 and 6, in 2nd slow and 3rd tempo of attack while they faced up more often than men double or open block. In complex III women opposite players attacked from zone 2, using 2nd slow and 3rd tempo against double block more frequently than men who attacked from zone 1, in 2nd fast tempo against a single or triple block.
3HSP J095507.9+355101 is an extreme blazar that has been possibly associated with a high-energy neutrino (IceCube-200107A) detected 1 day before the blazar was found to undergo a hard X-ray flare. We perform a comprehensive study of the predicted multimessenger emission from 3HSP J095507.9+355101 during its recent X-ray flare, but also in the long term. We focus on one-zone leptohadronic models, but we also explore alternative scenarios: (i) a blazar-core model, which considers neutrino production in the inner jet, close to the supermassive black hole; (ii) a hidden external-photon model, which considers neutrino production in the jet through interactions with photons from a weak broad line region; (iii) a proton-synchrotron model, where high-energy protons in the jet produce γ-rays via synchrotron; and (iv) an intergalactic cascade scenario, where neutrinos are produced in the intergalactic medium by interactions of a high-energy cosmic-ray beam escaping the jet. The Poisson probability to detect a single muon neutrino in 10 years from 3HSP J095507.9+355101 with the real-time IceCube alert analysis is ∼1% (3%) for the most optimistic one-zone leptohadronic model (the multi-zone blazar-core model). Meanwhile, detection of a single neutrino during the 44-day-long high X-ray flux-state period following the neutrino detection is 0.06%, according to our most optimistic leptohadronic model. The most promising scenarios for neutrino production also predict strong intrasource γ-ray attenuation above ∼100 GeV. If the association is real, then IceCube-Gen2 and other future detectors should be able to provide additional evidence for neutrino production in 3HSP J095507.9+355101 and other extreme blazars.
3HSP J095507.9+355101 is an extreme blazar that has been possibly associated with a high-energy neutrino (IceCube-200107A) detected 1 day before the blazar was found to undergo a hard X-ray flare. We perform a comprehensive study of the predicted multimessenger emission from 3HSP J095507.9+355101 during its recent X-ray flare, but also in the long term. We focus on one-zone leptohadronic models, but we also explore alternative scenarios: (i) a blazar-core model, which considers neutrino production in the inner jet, close to the supermassive black hole; (ii) a hidden external-photon model, which considers neutrino production in the jet through interactions with photons from a weak broad line region; (iii) a proton-synchrotron model, where high-energy protons in the jet produce γ-rays via synchrotron; and (iv) an intergalactic cascade scenario, where neutrinos are produced in the intergalactic medium by interactions of a high-energy cosmic-ray beam escaping the jet. The Poisson probability to detect a single muon neutrino in 10 years from 3HSP J095507.9+355101 with the real-time IceCube alert analysis is ∼1% (3%) for the most optimistic one-zone leptohadronic model (the multi-zone blazar-core model). Meanwhile, detection of a single neutrino during the 44-day-long high X-ray flux-state period following the neutrino detection is 0.06%, according to our most optimistic leptohadronic model. The most promising scenarios for neutrino production also predict strong intrasource γ-ray attenuation above ∼100 GeV. If the association is real, then IceCube-Gen2 and other future detectors should be able to provide additional evidence for neutrino production in 3HSP J095507.9+355101 and other extreme blazars.
We present new photometric and spectroscopic observations and analyses for the eclipsing binary systems V1241 Tau and GQ Dra. Our photometric light and radial velocity curve analyses combined with the TESS light curves show that both are conventional semi-detached binary systems. Their absolute parameters are also derived. We present the O-C analyses of the systems and we propose the most possible orbital period modulating mechanisms. Furthermore, Fourier analyses are applied to the photometric residual data of the systems to check for the pulsational behavior of the components. We conclude that the primary component of the system GQ Dra is a δ Sct type pulsator with a dominant pulsation frequency of 18.58 d-1 based on our B filter residual light curve although it can not be justified by 30-minute cadence TESS data. No satisfactory evidence of pulsational behavior for V1241 Tau was verified. Finally, the evolutionary tracks of the components of both systems are calculated. Their locations within evolutionary diagrams are compared with other Algol-type systems
This review study attempts to highlight the impact of various non-economic, mainly behavioural and institutional factors on the level of tax evasion specifying the significance of the accounting rules and the contribution of forensic accounting to the detection and the prevention of financial statements. This analysis takes into account tax auditing parameters in order to determine whether and to what extent they affect taxpayer’s behaviour to tax evade or not. Some useful conclusions are drawn regarding the determining factors of tax evasion pay attention to the role of accounting rules to the manipulation of financial statements. The contribution of forensic accounting against tax fraud emerges increasingly. The considerable increase in the cases of financial and tax fraud due to the weaknesses of the statutory audit to detect fraudulent activities impose the need for forensic accountants to deal with financial accounting and tax rules infringements. These conclusions may be essential and useful for tax policymakers to adopt restrictive measures against tax evasion.
BACKGROUND: Carbapenemase-producing K. pneumoniae (CP-Kp) has been established as important nosocomial pathogen in most tertiary care hospitals in Greece. The aim of the present study was to examine the impact of an enhanced infection control program on the containment of CP-Kp in a haematology unit where the incidence of CP-Kp infections was high. METHODS: The study was conducted from June 2011 to December 2014 in a haematology unit of a tertiary-care 500-bed hospital located in Athens, Greece. A bundled intervention (active surveillance cultures, separation of carriers from non-carriers, assignment of dedicated nursing staff, contact precautions, environmental cleaning, and promotion of hand hygiene) was tested whether would reduce colonization and infection caused by CP-Kp. RESULTS: A total of 2507 rectal swabs were obtained; 1199 upon admission from June 2011 to June 2013 and 1307 during hospitalization from June 2011 to December 2012. During intervention the admission prevalence of CP-Kp colonization (p < 0.001 for linear trend), the hospitalization prevalence (p = 0.001 for linear trend) and the incidence rate of CP-Kp colonization (p = 0.072 for linear trend) were declining. Application of segmented linear regression revealed that both the change in the level of CP-Kp BSI incidence rates (p = 0.001) as well as the difference between pre- and post-intervention slopes were statistically significant (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: A bundled intervention including active surveillance cultures on admission can attain maximum containment of CP-Kp colonization and infection in endemic acute healthcare settings.
An urban gravity survey with more than 1120 measurements was carried out in order to adumbrate the deeper subsurface of Athens city basin. The aim was to gather quantitative information of the subsurface structure derived from the acquisition of gravity measurements. At first, a gravity base network has been established for the data collection. The standard data reduction has been carried out along with an additional Building Correction that has been calculated due to the urban characteristics. Subsequently, the residual anomaly was isolated with the contribution of the Fourier filters. The Euler deconvolution has been applied, with two different techniques, providing depth solutions for the residual maps. Based on these maps, we managed to retrieve quantitative information for the depths of anomalous sources, ranging between 500 and 3760 m. Moreover, unconstrained three-dimensional density models of the area have been constructed in order to obtain a good image of the subsurface, up to depths of 4500 m. For each three-dimensional density model, we provide a couple of images; one illustrating only the structures of lower densities and one other only with the structures of higher densities, in an effort to delineate better the tectonic structures. Finally, two geophysical-geological profiles (2.75D) have been constructed, along which the geotectonic regime of the subsurface seems to be adumbrated in a better way. Major known tectonic structures of Athens basin have been identified beneath the surface.
The aim of the present study was to identify volleyball skills that best discriminate between winning and losing in a set with the minimum score difference of men’s and women’s volleyball. The data have been collected for men from 140 and for women from 98 teams’ performances in all sets finished with 2 points difference between the top four teams in the final ranking during the men’s and women’s Greek Volleyball League for five seasons (2013–2014 until 2017–2018). The primary recorded and evaluated skills from 119 sets for men and women respectively are: 3422 and 2419 serves, 2916 and 2120 passes, 2566 and 1656 attacks after serve’s pass, 1518 and 1804 counter-attacks (after defense) and 1595 and 818 blocks. For the evaluation scale of each skill, a six-level ordinal scale was employed, with the value of “one” indicating a poorly executed skill and the value of “six” an excellent executed skill. The analysis revealed significant multivariate differences in gender and in the type of result and not in their interaction. A follow-up discriminant analysis showed that attack 1 is the most important performance indicator for male teams. Meanwhile, for female teams, the most important performance indicators are winning attack after serve’s pass but also counter-attack. The discriminant function classified correctly 67% and 58%, for men and women respectively, allowing space for further improving the critical performance indicators for both genders.
This paper aims to explore whether and how specific corporate governance and internal audit determinants affect the profitability of businesses in the countries internationally called P.I.G.S. (Portugal, Italy, Greece, Spain, respectively). The sample consists of listed companies of the Southern European countries P.I.G.S. The survey data covers the period 2011-2016. Statistical analysis was based on a panel data regression model. In contrast to many research studies, this paper finds that internal managers are more suitable to perform the duties of the audit committee effectively, that there is a positive effect in profitability by increasing the Board Size with new members and that frequent meetings of the boards entail additional costs that outweigh any benefits. In addition, there is evidence that firms’ profitability may behave differently in countries with similar macroeconomic and cultural characteristics and for specific examined periods.
We present the results of cross-correlation analysis between the Fermi-LAT gamma-ray and SMARTS optical/infrared light curves of bright 8 blazars monitored in 2008-2017. For the temporal correlation analysis of unevenly sampled variability data, we use the Discrete Correlation Function (DCF), and created an empirical bootstrapping method to assess the significance of the DCF amplitude for each blazar. The DCFs between gamma-ray and optical/infrared light curves with one week binning time scale suggest that 6 of the 8 blazars show a significant peak at zero lag at or above 3 sigma level. That is consistent with the leptonic model in which optical/infrared photons are produced by synchrotron radiation of relativistic electrons and gamma rays are produced by inverse Compton scattering of ambient photons by the synchrotron-emitting electrons. However, the DCFs with one day binning time scale suggest that among 8 blazars, only one blazar — 3C 454.3 — still has a significant peak at zero lag. The other 7 blazars tend to show much smaller peaks than those with a weekly time bin. In addition, for a given blazar, strong changes of the DCFs from one epoch to the next are shown by the analyses of time periods of one or two years. These results complicate the simplest understanding of blazar emission mechanisms. We discuss possible physical explanations.
We present a GIS-based crowdsourcing application that was launched soon after the first COVID-19 cases had been recorded in Greece, motivated by the need for fast, location-wise data acquisition regarding COVID-19 disease spread during spring 2020, due to limited testing. A single question was posted through a web App, to which the anonymous participants subjectively answered whether or not they had experienced any COVID-19 disease symptoms. Our main goal was to locate geographical areas with increased number of people feeling the symptoms and to determine any temporal changes in the statistics of the survey entries. It was found that the application was rapidly disseminated to the entire Greek territory via social media, having, thus, a great public reception. The higher percentages of participants experiencing symptoms coincided geographically with the highly populated urban areas, having also increased numbers of confirmed cases, while temporal variations were detected that accorded with the restrictions of activities. This application demonstrates that health systems can use crowdsourcing applications that assure anonymity, as an alternative to tracing apps, to identify possible hot spots and to reach and warn the public within a short time interval, increasing at the same time their situational awareness. However, a continuous reminder for participation should be scheduled.
{The aim of this study was to investigate the current trends of the serve skill for each one of the in-game roles of the players for both genders in high-level volleyball. The serve actions of male (M) and female (F) elite players from 20 volleyball games (M = 10
Progressive myoclonus epilepsy (PME) of Unverricht-Lundborg type (EPM1) is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disorder with the highest incidence of PME worldwide. Mutations in the gene encoding cystatin B (CSTB) are the primary genetic cause of EPM1. Here, we investigate the role of CSTB during neurogenesis in vivo in the developing mouse brain and in vitro in human cerebral organoids (hCOs) derived from EPM1 patients. We find that CSTB (but not one of its pathological variants) is secreted into the mouse cerebral spinal fluid and the conditioned media from hCOs. In embryonic mouse brain, we find that functional CSTB influences progenitors' proliferation and modulates neuronal distribution by attracting interneurons to the site of secretion via cell-non-autonomous mechanisms. Similarly, in patient-derived hCOs, low levels of functional CSTB result in an alteration of progenitor's proliferation, premature differentiation, and changes in interneurons migration. Secretion and extracellular matrix organization are the biological processes particularly affected as suggested by a proteomic analysis in patients' hCOs. Overall, our study sheds new light on the cellular mechanisms underlying the development of EPM1.
We report the discovery of the relatively bright (V = 10.5 mag), doubly eclipsing 2+2 quadruple system CzeV1731. This is the third known system of its kind, in which the masses are determined for all four stars and both the inner and outer orbits are characterized. The inner eclipsing binaries are well-detached systems moving on circular orbits: pair A with period PA = 4.10843 d and pair B with PB = 4.67552 d. The inner binaries contain very similar components (q ≈ 1.0), making the whole system a so-called double twin. The stars in pair B have slightly larger luminosities and masses and pair A shows deeper eclipses. All four components are main-sequence stars of F/G spectral type. The mutual orbit of the two pairs around the system barycenter has a period of about 34 yr and an eccentricity of about 0.38. However, further observations are needed to reveal the overall architecture of the whole system, including the mutual inclinations of all orbits. This is a promising target for interferometry to detect the double at about 59 mas and ΔMbol < 1 mag. The RV and ETV data, and the light curves are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (ftp://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/642/A63
Darwin's Day has been celebrated, worldwide, a few weeks ago. This communication does not intend to address Darwin's scientific views, but aims to focus on his religious beliefs and, above all, on the reasons why Darwin was led to reject religion. Which, in the opinion of the writer, it is not related to his scientific views, i.e. the Theory of Evolution through Natural Selection but, mainly, with reasons that go back to the field of Ethics in the broad sense, and to logical considerations, as well.
Darwin's Day has been celebrated, worldwide, a few weeks ago. Indeed, Darwin was born on February 12, 1809 and died on April 19, 1882. Darwin's work and contribution to world thinking have been written and will continue to be written, since his contribution to global way of thinking and culture is incalculable. As he has changed the human perspective on the nature of creation and the driving force behind it. This article does not intend to address Darwin's scientific views, but aims to focus on his religious beliefs and, above all, on the reasons why Darwin was led to reject religion. Which, in the opinion of the writer, it is not related to his scientific views, i.e. the Theory of Evolution through Natural Selection but, mainly, with reasons that go back to the field of Ethics in the broad sense, and to logical considerations, as well.
The central engine in long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is thought to be a compact object produced by the core collapse of massive stars, but its exact nature (black hole or millisecond magnetar) is still debatable. Although the central engine of GRB collapsars is hidden to direct observation, its properties may be imprinted on the accompanying electromagnetic signals. We aim to decipher the generic properties of central engines that are consistent with prompt observations of long GRBs detected by the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) on board the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. Adopting a generic model for the central engine, in which the engine power and activity time-scale are independent of each other, we perform Monte Carlo simulations of long GRBs produced by jets that successfully breakout from the star. Our simulations consider the dependence of the jet breakout time-scale on the engine luminosity and the effects of the detector's flux threshold. The two-dimensional (2D) distribution of simulated detectable bursts in the gamma-ray luminosity versus gamma-ray duration plane is consistent with the observed one for a range of parameter values describing the central engine. The intrinsic 2D distribution of simulated collapsar GRBs peaks at lower gamma-ray luminosities and longer durations than the observed one, a prediction that can be tested in the future with more sensitive detectors. Black hole accretors, whose power and activity time are set by the large-scale magnetic flux through the progenitor star and stellar structure, respectively, are compatible with the properties of the central engine inferred by our model.
The central engine in long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is thought to be a compact object produced by the core collapse of massive stars, but its exact nature (black hole or millisecond magnetar) is still debatable. Although the central engine of GRB collapsars is hidden to direct observation, its properties may be imprinted on the accompanying electromagnetic signals. We aim to decipher the generic properties of central engines that are consistent with prompt observations of long GRBs detected by the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) on board the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. Adopting a generic model for the central engine, in which the engine power and activity time-scale are independent of each other, we perform Monte Carlo simulations of long GRBs produced by jets that successfully breakout from the star. Our simulations consider the dependence of the jet breakout time-scale on the engine luminosity and the effects of the detector's flux threshold. The two-dimensional (2D) distribution of simulated detectable bursts in the gamma-ray luminosity versus gamma-ray duration plane is consistent with the observed one for a range of parameter values describing the central engine. The intrinsic 2D distribution of simulated collapsar GRBs peaks at lower gamma-ray luminosities and longer durations than the observed one, a prediction that can be tested in the future with more sensitive detectors. Black hole accretors, whose power and activity time are set by the large-scale magnetic flux through the progenitor star and stellar structure, respectively, are compatible with the properties of the central engine inferred by our model.
Alexandridis G, Michalakis K, Aliprantis J, Polydoras P, Tsantilas P, Caridakis G. A Deep Learning Approach to Aspect-Based Sentiment Prediction. In: Maglogiannis I, Iliadis L, Pimenidis E Artificial Intelligence Applications and Innovations. Cham: Springer International Publishing; 2020. pp. 397–408.Abstract
Sentiment analysis is a vigorous research area, with many application domains. In this work, aspect-based sentiment prediction is examined as a component of a larger architecture that crawls, indexes and stores documents from a wide variety of online sources, including the most popular social networks. The textual part of the collected information is processed by a hybrid bi-directional long short-term memory architecture, coupled with convolutional layers along with an attention mechanism. The extracted textual features are then combined with other characteristics, such as the number of repetitions, the type and frequency of emoji ideograms in a fully-connected, feed-forward artificial neural network that performs the final prediction task. The obtained results, especially for the negative sentiment class, which is of particular importance in certain cases, are encouraging, underlying the robustness of the proposed approach.
{This research provides new constraints on the intermediate depth upper-mantle structure of the Hellenic lithosphere using a three-step Rayleigh-wave tomography. Broadband waveforms of about 1000 teleseismic events, recorded by ∼200 permanent broadband stations between 2010 and 2018 were acquired and processed. Through a multichannel cross-correlation technique, the fundamental mode Rayleigh-wave phase-velocity dispersion curves in the period range 30 to 90 s were derived. The phase-velocities were inverted and a 3-D shear velocity model was obtained down to the depth of 140 km. The applied method has provided 3-D constraints on large-scale characteristics of the lithosphere and the upper mantle of the Hellenic region. Highlighted resolved features include the continental and oceanic subducting slabs in the region, the result of convergence between Adria and Africa plates with the Aegean. The boundary between the oceanic and continental subduction is suggested to exist along a trench-perpendicular line that connects NW Peloponnese with N. Euboea, bridging the Hellenic Trench with the North Aegean Trough. No clear evidence for trench-perpendicular vertical slab tearing was resolved along the western part of Hellenic Subduction Zone; however, subcrustal seismicity observed along the inferred continental-oceanic subduction boundary indicates that such an implication should not be excluded. The 3-D shear velocity model supports an N-S vertical slab tear beneath SW Anatolia that justifies deepening, increase of dip and change of dip direction of the Wadati-Benioff Zone. Low velocities found at depths \< 50 km beneath the island and the back-arc, interrelated with recent/remnant volcanism in the Aegean and W. Anatolia, are explained by convection from a shallow asthenosphere.}
Aims: We use new deep XMM-Newton observations of the northern disc of M31 to trace the hot interstellar medium (ISM) in unprecedented detail and to characterise the physical properties of the X-ray emitting plasmas. Methods: We used all XMM-Newton data up to and including our new observations to produce the most detailed image yet of the hot ISM plasma in a grand design spiral galaxy such as our own. We compared the X-ray morphology to multi-wavelength studies in the literature to set it in the context of the multi-phase ISM. We performed spectral analyses on the extended emission using our new observations as they offer sufficient depth and count statistics to constrain the plasma properties. Data from the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury were used to estimate the energy injected by massive stars and their supernovae. We compared these results to the hot gas properties. Results: The brightest emission regions were found to be correlated with populations of massive stars, notably in the 10 kpc star-forming ring. The plasma temperatures in the ring regions are ~0.2 up to ~0.6 keV. We suggest this emission is hot ISM heated in massive stellar clusters and superbubbles. We derived X-ray luminosities, densities, and pressures for the gas in each region. We also found large extended emission filling low density gaps in the dust morphology of the northern disc, notably between the 5 and 10 kpc star-forming rings. We propose that the hot gas was heated and expelled into the gaps by the populations of massive stars in the rings. Conclusions: It is clear that the massive stellar populations are responsible for heating the ISM to X-ray emitting temperatures, filling their surroundings, and possibly driving the hot gas into the low density regions. Overall, the morphology and spectra of the hot gas in the northern disc of M31 is similar to other galaxy discs. FITS files for Figs. 1 and 2 are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (ftp://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/637/A12 Based on observations obtained with XMM-Newton, an ESA science mission with instruments and contributions directly funded by ESA Member States and NASA.
BACKGROUND: Although infectious diseases are globally on the decline, they remain a major global public health problem. Among them, the hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HIV infection are of primary interest. Valid prevalence data on these infections are sparse in Greece, especially for vulnerable populations. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to present the design and methods of Hprolipsis, an integrated viral hepatitis and HIV screening program administered to adults (>/=18 years) from the general, Greek Roma, and migrant populations. Its aims were to estimate the prevalence of HBV, HCV, and HIV; assess infectious disease knowledge level; design, implement, and assess population-specific awareness actions; and offer individual counseling and referral when indicated and HBV vaccination to susceptible Roma and migrants. METHODS: Multistage, stratified, random sampling based on the 2011 Census was applied to select the general population sample, and nonprobability multistage quota sampling was used for Roma and migrant sample selection. Trained personnel made home (general population) or community (Roma and migrants) visits. Collected blood samples were tested for Hepatitis B surface Antigen, Hepatitis B core Antibody, Hepatitis B surface Antibody, Hepatitis C Antibody, and HIV 1,2 Antibody. The surveys were conducted during May 2013 and June 2016. To estimate an HCV prevalence of 1.5% with 0.3 precision, the required general population sample size was estimated to be 6000. As migrants constitute 10% of the whole Greek population, the migrant sample size was set to 600. A feasible sample size of 500 Greek Roma was set. RESULTS: In total, 6006 individuals from the general population (response rate 72%), 534 Greek Roma, and 612 migrants were recruited. Blood test results are available for 4245 individuals from the general population, 523 Roma, and 537 migrants. CONCLUSIONS: Hprolipsis is the first nationwide survey on HBV, HCV, and HIV. Its results will enhance our understanding of the health needs and disease burden of these diseases in the 3 studied populations. Its implementation provided useful recommendations for future studies, particularly in vulnerable populations. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/13578.
Gripeos PJ, Nistazakis HE, Roumelas GD, Christofilakis V, Tsigopoulos AD, Tombras GS. DF Relayed OOK and PAM FSO Links with Turbulence and Time Jitter. In: CoBCom 2020 - International Conference on Broadband Communications for Next Generation Networks and Multimedia Applications - Proceedings. ; 2020. Website
Gripeos PJ, Nistazakis HE, Roumelas GD, Christofilakis V, Tsigopoulos AD, Tombras GS. DF Relayed OOK and PAM FSO Links with Turbulence and Time Jitter. In: CoBCom 2020 - International Conference on Broadband Communications for Next Generation Networks and Multimedia Applications - Proceedings. ; 2020. Website
This paper examines the latest research on the digital skills crisis, focusing on the factors that contribute to digital exclusion. Through an extensive analysis of current literature on the digital divide, the authors discuss digital skills gaps, namely the exclusion of a sizeable part of the workforce from the digital market economy—and women in particular. Studies indicate that exclusion from the digital market is augmented and reinforced when combining the gender dimension with other exclusionary factors such as disability, age, race and socioeconomic background. Research confirms that the gender imbalance in ICT and related sectors persists today, despite decades of equal opportunity policies, legislation and government initiatives. Women are still underrepresented and digitally excluded and efforts to attract, recruit and retain girls and women in ICT and STEM seem to be failing, reinforcing the gender gaps: participation gap, pay gap, and leadership gap, a result of the deep-rooted gender order reflected in the latest Global Gender Gap Report and Index. A growing body of research of the twenty-first shows that inspiring girls and women into technology—increasing the talent pool in ICT and STEM— requires engendering technology, eliminating gender stereotypes, and raising the profile of female role models and mentors. Studies repeatedly argue that engendering technology entails women’s agency and economic empowerment. Accordingly, the authors include recommendations from inspirational role models and mentors, three successful women in ICT, STEM and Information Society who have made a difference. All three, following a series of semi-structured interviews, propose engendering technology to increase the female talent pool in addition to engendering STEM education, that is to say, including the gender dimension.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Keywords: Engendering technology, Digital divide, Digital exclusion, Gender gaps, Disability, Age, Skills gap, Women entrepreneurs, Leadership gap, Digital inequality, Gender devaluation, Digital economy------------------------------------------------** The DOI will be activated after the issue is closed
SIR model is widely used for modeling the infectious diseases. This is a system of ordinary differential equations (ODEs). The numbers of susceptible, infectious, or immunized individuals are the compartments in these equations and change in time. Two parameters are the factor of differentiating these models. Here, we are not interested in solving the ODEs describing a certain SIR model. Given the observed data, we try to estimate the parameters that determine the model. For this, we propose a least squares approach using second-order centered differences for replacing the derivatives appeared in the ODEs. Then we arrive at a simple linear system that can be solved explicitly and furnish the approximations of the parameters. Numerical results over various artificial data verify the simplicity and accuracy of the new method.
How are women entrepreneurs transforming and challenging traditional understandings of professional success in the 21st century, despite the multitasking whirlpool? What type of knowledge and skills are required in today's digital world to develop professionally and succeed as an entrepreneur? What are the major barriers to successful entrepreneurship preventing women from realizing their full potential or stopping them from even beginning an entrepreneurial career? A current literature review (2011-2019) on women's entrepreneurial initiatives, skills, characteristics, attributes, motives and leadership styles, documenting strategies for success and barriers confronted, indicates that not much has changed. Women entrepreneurs continue to face the multitasking whirlpool, along with the lack of financial resources, marketing skills and support services, including poor access to business networks, technology and digital markets. Despite the mass entry of women in exclusively male domains, glass ceilings have not been shattered. Then again, developed and developing nations have come to understand that women's entrepreneurial activities contribute to socioeconomic growth and utilizing the full potential of all human resources is essential for sustainable development. Studies of the 21st century-as those of the late 20th century-continue to spotlight gender gaps in entrepreneurship as well as the so-valued career-family balance, while still arguing that further research is needed. They also agree that successful entrepreneurship requires digital skills along with the drive for innovation. The successful entrepreneur, or to use a term and concept coined by Elias G. Carayannis and McDonald R. Stewart (2013), the "distinguished entrepreneur" regardless of gender, is an innovator; a visionary; a person who predicts and shapes the future; takes initiatives; accepts change, risk and failure; learns from it; and sees what others do not see, among other things. Accordingly, this study presents snapshots of lives changed and empowered. It includes the work and narratives of "distinguished" (Carayannis & Stewart 2013) women entrepreneurs who have made a difference. Is it not time to shed some light on inspirational role models, especially those who are excelling in the startup world, the Blue Economy and the Silver Economy? KEYWORDS: Women, Entrepreneurship, Multitasking whirlpool, Gender participation gap, Gender pay gap, Gender leadership gap, Work–life balance, Digital skills, Degendering
Raising awareness for sustainable development and environmental consciousness is an alternative teaching approach of geosciences in primary education. Through our methodology this is achieved by strengthening teachers' profile to effectively coach students to work on several environmental issues. By creating a teacher’s guideline handbook, in accordance with the educational targets and regulations of EU countries, teachers acquire a fresh perspective on teaching environmental sciences. They also gain scientific knowledge in five educational topics through the implementation of five mini-projects. An e-book enriched with the pupils’ digitalised environmental stories was designed to attract students and motivate them to engage environmental issues. The final product acts as a triggering factor for the much-needed environmental awareness of pupils around Europe.
Eleftheratos K, Kapsomenakis J, Zerefos CS, Bais AF, Fountoulakis I, Dameris M, Jöckel P, Haslerud AS, Godin-Beekmann S, Steinbrecht W, et al.
OBJECTIVES: Subtypes A1 and B are the most prevalent HIV-1 clades in Greece. Subtype A1 epidemic is highly monophyletic and corresponds to transmissions that occurred locally. Our aim in this molecular epidemiology analysis was to investigate the role of early treatment in preventing new HIV-1 transmissions. METHODS: Our analysis focused on 791 subtype A1 sequences from treatment-naïve individuals in Greece. Estimation of infection dates was performed by molecular clock calculations using Bayesian methods. We estimated the time interval between (1) the infection and sampling dates (linkage to care window), (2) the sampling dates and antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation (treatment window), and (3) the infection dates and ART initiation (transmissibility window) for the study population. We also inferred the putative source of HIV infections between individuals of different groups divided according to the length of treatment, linkage to care or transmissibility window. RESULTS: A significant decline was detected for the treatment window during 2014-2015 versus the 2 previous years (p=0.0273), while the linkage to care interval remained unchanged during the study period. Inference of the putative source of HIV infections suggested that individuals with a recent diagnosis or narrow transmissibility window (time period between HIV infection and ART initiation) were not sources of HIV infections to other groups. Contrarily, a significant number of HIV infections originated from individuals with longer transmissibility window interval. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings showed that the treatment window is decreasing over time, presumably due to the updated treatment guidelines. Our study also demonstrates that people treated earlier after infection do not transmit at high rates, thus documenting the benefits of early ART initiation in preventing ongoing HIV-1 transmission.
During embryonic development, excitatory projection neurons migrate in the cerebral cortex giving rise to organised layers. Periventricular heterotopia (PH) is a group of aetiologically heterogeneous disorders in which a subpopulation of newborn projection neurons fails to initiate their radial migration to the cortex, ultimately resulting in bands or nodules of grey matter lining the lateral ventricles. Although a number of genes have been implicated in its cause, currently they only satisfactorily explain the pathogenesis of the condition for 50% of patients. Novel gene discovery is complicated by the extreme genetic heterogeneity recently described to underlie its cause. Here, we study the neurodevelopmental role of endothelin-converting enzyme-2 (ECE2) for which two biallelic variants have been identified in two separate patients with PH. Our results show that manipulation of ECE2 levels in human cerebral organoids and in the developing mouse cortex leads to ectopic localisation of neural progenitors and neurons. We uncover the role of ECE2 in neurogenesis, and mechanistically, we identify its involvement in the generation and secretion of extracellular matrix proteins in addition to cytoskeleton and adhesion.
One of the most frequently prescribed selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor medications (SSRIs) for peripartum mood and anxiety disorders is sertraline (Zoloft®). Sertraline can help alleviate mood and anxiety symptoms in many women but it is not known how sertraline, or SSRIs in general, affect the neurobiology of the brain particularly when pregnant. The aim of this study was to investigate how sertraline affects plasticity in the hippocampus, a brain area integral in depression and SSRI efficacy (particularly in males), during late pregnancy and whether these effects differ from the effects of sertraline in non-pregnant females. To do this pregnant and age-matched non-pregnant female Sprague-Dawley rats were used. For the last half of pregnancy (10 days), and at matched points in non-pregnant females, rats were given sertraline (2.5 mg/kg/day or 10 mg/kg/day) or vehicle (0 mg/kg/day). Brains were used to investigate effects on the serotonergic system in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex and measures of neuroplasticity in the hippocampus. Results show that pregnant females have significantly higher serum levels of sertraline compared to non-pregnant females but that rates of serotonin turnover in the hippocampus and PFC are similar between pregnant and non-pregnant females. Sertraline increased synaptophysin density in the dentate gyrus and CA3 and was associated with a decrease in cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus of non-pregnant, but not pregnant, females. During late pregnancy the hippocampus showed significant reductions in neurogenesis and increases in synaptophysin density. This research highlights the need to consider the unique effect of reproductive state on the neuropharmacology of SSRIs.
One of the most frequently prescribed selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor medications (SSRIs) for peripartum mood and anxiety disorders is sertraline (Zoloft®). Sertraline can help alleviate mood and anxiety symptoms in many women but it is not known how sertraline, or SSRIs in general, affect the neurobiology of the brain particularly when pregnant. The aim of this study was to investigate how sertraline affects plasticity in the hippocampus, a brain area integral in depression and SSRI efficacy (particularly in males), during late pregnancy and whether these effects differ from the effects of sertraline in non-pregnant females. To do this pregnant and age-matched non-pregnant female Sprague-Dawley rats were used. For the last half of pregnancy (10 days), and at matched points in non-pregnant females, rats were given sertraline (2.5 mg/kg/day or 10 mg/kg/day) or vehicle (0 mg/kg/day). Brains were used to investigate effects on the serotonergic system in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex and measures of neuroplasticity in the hippocampus. Results show that pregnant females have significantly higher serum levels of sertraline compared to non-pregnant females but that rates of serotonin turnover in the hippocampus and PFC are similar between pregnant and non-pregnant females. Sertraline increased synaptophysin density in the dentate gyrus and CA3 and was associated with a decrease in cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus of non-pregnant, but not pregnant, females. During late pregnancy the hippocampus showed significant reductions in neurogenesis and increases in synaptophysin density. This research highlights the need to consider the unique effect of reproductive state on the neuropharmacology of SSRIs.
In the present study, we attempt to investigate the determinants of the effective corporate tax rate of companies of the European Union (EU) discriminating between northern and southern economies. We adopt in our analysis the period after the outbreak of the crisis in the Eurozone up today including some years before 2009 in the assessed period. Our empirical investigation is based on three alternative approaches to effective income tax rate based on accounting information. We investigate the determinants of ECITR assessing two sub-samples of firms from all the aforementioned industrial sectors for 16 member countries of Europe. The first sub-sample consists of firms from 12 member countries of "North" European Union and the second sub-sample consists of firms from 4 member countries of "South" European Union. The analysis covers the period 2004-2016. Estimation results point out that the effective corporate income tax rate is variously affected by firm-specific determining factors for both northern and southern economies. The relation between ECITR and determining factors is ascertained to be less significant (sensitive) during the pre-crisis period in comparison with the respective empirical findings after the outburst of the economic crisis in the European Union. Empirical findings indicate that effective corporate income tax rate is more vulnerable to financial leverage for southern economies in comparison to the northern economies signaling financing structure differences between the two EU-country groups. Finally, there is evidence that there is an indisputable and positive coexistence between business profitability and tax burden.
In the present study, we investigate the determinants of the effective corporate tax rate of some of the European Union (EU) member countries and other non-EU members. Only a few studies have analyzed the EU economies, unlike the case of the USA. In this study, we extend the analysis taking also into consideration some non-EU countries which appear strong economic cooperation with EU countries over time. The present study aims to analyze the period after the outbreak of the crisis in the Eurozone up today. More specifically, the period 2004-2016 is assessed. The empirical estimations are based on two-step generalized method of moments (GMM) transformed in first-differences in order to hand cross-section fixed effects. It seems that the effective corporate income tax rate is variously affected by firm-specific determining factors. More specifically, our empirical results indicate that the effective corporate income tax rate is negatively related to the firm size, capital intensity and return on assets. However, there is no statistically significant influence of financial leverage, inventory intensity, R&D intensity, participation of foreign investors to the equity ownership, participation of government to equity ownership, to the effective corporate income tax rate. Alternative estimation measures, as a robustness check, point out that the empirical findings are generally in agreement with the initial results.
This volume is the first systematic study of Seneca’s interaction with earlier literature of a variety of genres and traditions. It examines this interaction and engagement in his prose works, offering interpretative readings that are at once groundbreaking and stimulating to further study.
Focusing on the Dialogues, the Naturales Quaestiones, and the Moral Epistles, the volume includes multi-perspectival studies of Seneca’s interaction with all the great Latin epics (Lucretius, Vergil and Ovid), and discussions of how Seneca’s philosophical thought is informed by Hellenistic doxography, forensic rhetoric and declamation, the Homeric tradition, Euripidean tragedy and Greco-Roman mythology. The studies analyzes the philosophy behind Seneca’s incorporating exact quotations from earlier tradition (including his criteria of selectivity) and Seneca’s interaction with ideas, trends and techniques from different sources, in order to elucidate his philosophical ideas and underscore his original contribution to the discussion of established philosophical traditions. They also provide a fresh interpretation of moral issues with particular application to the Roman worldview as fashioned by the mos maiorum. The volume, finally, features detailed discussion of the ways in which Seneca, the author of philosophical prose, puts forward his stance towards poetics and figures himself as a poet.
The aim of this paper is to examine the relationship between emotional intelligence and conflict resolution among secondary education teachers in Greece. The research sample consists of 130 high schools’ teachers in Greece. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire, concerning teachers’ working environment, their behavior during workplace conflicts as well as their emotional intelligence and were analyzed using descriptive and inductive statistics. The statistical analyses have revealed that the main reason for workplace conflicts in secondary schools is the existence of informal groups. In addition, emotional intelligence seem to have a direct relationship with conflict resolution styles, while a negative relationship between emotional intelligence and the frequency of involvement in workplace conflicts is observed. Furthermore, it was found that holding a position of responsibility does not play a significant role in conflict resolution style adoption. The research results show that the solution-oriented method is the most popular amongst the other conflict resolution styles. Last, it was found that the average score of emotional intelligence among the respondents was high.
Ο Έρνστ Κασίρερ ανήκει σε εκείνους τους “παρεξηγημένους” σύγχρονους στοχαστές που το έργο τους διακόπηκε απότομα από τη λαίλαπα του φασισμού και του εθνικοσοσιαλισμού. Τις τελευταίες δεκαετίες παρατηρείται, ωστόσο, παγκοσμίως ένα ζωηρό ενδιαφέρον για το σύνολο του έργου του. Τούτο οφείλεται σε τρεις κυρίως λόγους: στις πολύ σημαντικές κοινωνικοπολιτικές του προεκτάσεις, στη διεπιστημονικότητα και στην οικουμενικότητα που το διέπει καθώς και στην εκ νέου ανακάλυψη της σημασίας και του επίκαιρου χαρακτήρα της θεωρίας του Κασίρερ περί μύθου. Στη Φιλοσοφία των συμβολικών μορφών ο Κασίρερ αποδίδει στο μύθο, όπως και στη γλώσσα, την ικανότητα να δομεί μέσω της χρήσης συμβόλων τον ανοίκειο “παθητικό κόσμο των απλών εντυπώσεων” και να τον μετατρέπει σε έναν κόσμο της “καθαρής πνευματικής έκφρασης”. Τούτη η συμβολοποιητική λειτουργία του ανθρώπινου πνεύματος δεν γίνεται αντιληπτή αλληγορικά. Αντιθέτως, ο νέος κόσμος του συμβόλου παρουσιάζεται στη συνείδηση ως “αντικειμενική” πραγματικότητα. Στην ιδιότητα αυτή του μύθου, στην πίστη στην αντικειμενική υπόσταση και στην αντικειμενική δύναμη του συμβόλου, έγκειται η ιδιαίτερη έλξη που ασκεί τούτος στον άνθρωπο ανά τους αιώνες, αλλά συνάμα και η επικινδυνότητά του.
This paper was published online on 12 December 2016 with an incorrect panel in Fig. 2. Figure 2 has been replaced as of 20 July 2020. The figure is incorrect in the printed version of the journal.
Cannabinoid administration during adolescence affects various physiological processes, such as motor and affective response, cognitive-related functions and modulates neurotransmitter activity. Literature remains scant concerning the parallel examination of the effects of adolescent escalating low-dose Δ(9) -tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ(9) -THC) on the behavioral and plasticity profile of adult rats in both sexes. Herein, we investigated the long-term behavioral, neurochemical and neurobiological effects of adolescent escalating low Δ(9) -THC doses in adult male and female rats. In adult males, adolescent low-dose Δ(9) -THC exposure led to increased spontaneous locomotor activity, impaired behavioral motor habituation and defective short-term spatial memory, paralleled with decreased BDNF protein levels in the prefrontal cortex. In this brain area, serotonergic activity was increased, as depicted by the increased serotonin turnover rate, while the opposite effect was observed in the hippocampus, a region where SERT levels were enhanced by Δ(9) -THC, compared with vehicle. In adult females, adolescent Δ(9) -THC treatment led to decreased spontaneous vertical activity and impaired short-term spatial memory, accompanied by increased BDNF protein levels in the prefrontal cortex. Present findings emphasize the key role of adolescent escalating low Δ(9) -THC exposure in the long-term regulation of motor response, spatial-related cognitive functions and neuroplasticity indices in adulthood. In this framework, these changes could, at a translational level, contribute to clinical issues suggesting the development of psychopathology in a sex-differentiated manner following Δ(9) -THC exposure during adolescence.
Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) can be used to enhance monitoring of a wide range of environmental parameters, including acquiring data on various types of hydro-geomorphic phenomena.
Their capabilities to provide on demand images and videos of high resolution, are particularly useful in the case of flash flood phenomena, which occur in spatial and temporal scales that do not favor traditional monitoring processes.
In this work, flow velocity is estimated using aerial imaging acquired by means of an Unmanned Aircraft Vehicle (UAV) as well as ground observations during the catastrophic flash flood event of November 2017 in Mandra, Greece.
In these imaging detailed tracing of various floating objects and particles such as light trash, debris etc. was carried out using multiple high-resolution video frames with specific time marks. Water velocity estimations were also cross-examined using flood mark-derived velocity hydraulic heads extracted by ground observations after the flood.
The analysis was applied at a variety of locations across the study area, leading to a map of velocities for parts of the floodplain. Velocity values varied significantly depending on location, reaching up to 10m/s.
The UAS proved to be very useful for the collection of important information for an extended area during the flood since a large portion of it was inaccessible due to road closures and safety issues. Nevertheless, the approach comes with certain limitations, including flight regulations, safety precautions and that rainfall is at a level that allows the deployment of a UAV during a flash flood.
The findings show that the integration of aerial with ground observations in post-flood analysis contributes the completeness and accuracy of datasets regarding specific flash flood parameters and in the future could become a useful source of information, especially in data-poor regions.
The improvement of the accuracy of Structure-from-Motion photogrammetric products is discussed in this paper. In most cases it depends on the number and distribution of ground control points (GCPs) for block orientation, although the placement and precise measuring of GCPs are often time-consuming in a UAS project. This paper presents the evaluation of two approaches including Post Process Kinematic (PPK) and Network Real Time Kinematic (NRTK) methods aiming to avoid GCPs establishment, taking advantage of a real time positioning service, where differential corrections are sent from a network of Reference stations directly to the UAS.
BACKGROUND: Patients with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) exhibit differential attentional mechanisms compared to healthy subjects. The exact nature of this differentiation is unclear. To this end, EEG (electrophysiological) responses to prepulse inhibition (PPI: reflecting attentional modulation) and prepulse facilitation (PPF: indicating orienting activation) were recorded and analysed. The aim of this study was to compare the respective neural oscillations associated with PPI and PPF in BDD vs healthy controls.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Event-related EEG oscillations elicited by PPI and PPF (26 and 25 trials, respectively, randomly presented) were explored in a sample of patients with BDD (N = 30) vs healthy controls (N = 25). The Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale for BDD (BDD-YBOCS), the Body Dysmorphic Disorder Examination, the Dysmorphic Concern Questionnaire (DCQ) and the Brown Assessment of Belief Scale (BABS) were also administered.
RESULTS: Analysis of the power spectrum in response to PPI and PPF revealed that the BDD patient group compared to healthy controls exhibited higher theta-1 oscillations (potentially indicative of disrupted thalamo-cortical activation) and reduced beta-1 oscillations (potentially indicative of reduced top-down-controlled processing during attentional orienting).
CONCLUSION: These findings offer novel contributions with regards to the neural mechanisms underlying attention processes in BDD patients, and demonstrate the potential of event-related EEG oscillations as a tool to better understand body dysmorphic disorder.
The evolution of eclipsing binaries leads towards angular momentum and mass loss from the systems, due to stellar wind and magnetic braking. Observational investigations of low-temperature and low-mass contact binaries (or LMCBs) in the solar neighborhood provide the means for studying a large sample of such systems. The observed orbital period cut-off limit of 0.22 days is believed to be a result of evolutionary mechanisms, and such systems act as probes in investigating the very evolved stages of systems before their final coalescence. The main goal of this study is the determination of the stellar evolution tracks of these type of LMCBs, which might be correlated to the formation of blue stragglers and rapidly rotating stars.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide. While the majority of people with COVID-19 won't require hospitalization, those who do may experience severe life-threatening complications, including acute respiratory distress syndrome. SARS-CoV-2 infects human cells by binding to the cellular surface protein angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2); in addition, the cellular transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRSS2) is needed for priming of the spike (S) protein of the virus. Virus entry may also depend on the activity of the endosomal/lysosomal cysteine proteases cathepsin B, L (CTSB, CTSL) although their activity is likely dispensable. Given that the uncertainty of how COVID-19 kills, hampers doctors' ability to choose treatments the need for a deep understanding of COVID-19 biology is urgent. Herein, we performed an expression profiling meta-analysis of ACE2, TMPRSS2 and CTSB/L genes (and proteins) in public repository databases and found that all are widely expressed in human tissues; also, the ACE2 and TMPRSS2 genes tend to be co-regulated. The ACE2 and TMPRSS genes expression is (among others) suppressed by TNF, and is induced by pro-inflammatory conditions including obesity, Barrett's esophagus, stomach infection by helicobacter pylori, diabetes, autoimmune diseases and oxidized LDL; by exercise, as well as by growth factors, viruses' infections, cigarette smoke, interferons and androgens. Regarding currently investigated therapies interferon-beta induced ACE2 gene expression in bronchial epithelial cells, while chloroquine tends to upregulate CTSB/L genes. Finally, we analyzed KEGG pathways modulated by ACE2, TMPRSS2 and CTSB/L and probed DrugBank for drugs that target modules of the affected pathways. Our data indicate possible novel high-risk groups for COVID-19; provide a rich resource for future investigations of its pathogenesis and highlight the therapeutic challenges we face.
The COVID-19 pandemic has already had a shocking impact on the lives of everybody on the planet. Here, we present a modification of the classical SI model, the Fractal Kinetics SI model which is in excellent agreement with the disease outbreak data available from the World Health Organization. The fractal kinetic approach that we propose here originates from chemical kinetics and has successfully been used in the past to describe reaction dynamics when imperfect mixing and segregation of the reactants is important and affects the dynamics of the reaction. The model introduces a novel epidemiological parameter, the ``fractal{''} exponenthwhich is introduced in order to account for the self-organization of the societies against the pandemic through social distancing, lockdowns and flight restrictions.
BACKGROUND: A novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) associated with human to human transmission and severe human infection has been recently reported from the city of Wuhan in China. Our objectives were to characterize the genetic relationships of the 2019-nCoV and to search for putative recombination within the subgenus of sarbecovirus. METHODS: Putative recombination was investigated by RDP4 and Simplot v3.5.1 and discordant phylogenetic clustering in individual genomic fragments was confirmed by phylogenetic analysis using maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods. RESULTS: Our analysis suggests that the 2019-nCoV although closely related to BatCoV RaTG13 sequence throughout the genome (sequence similarity 96.3%), shows discordant clustering with the Bat_SARS-like coronavirus sequences. Specifically, in the 5'-part spanning the first 11,498 nucleotides and the last 3'-part spanning 24,341-30,696 positions, 2019-nCoV and RaTG13 formed a single cluster with Bat_SARS-like coronavirus sequences, whereas in the middle region spanning the 3'-end of ORF1a, the ORF1b and almost half of the spike regions, 2019-nCoV and RaTG13 grouped in a separate distant lineage within the sarbecovirus branch. CONCLUSIONS: The levels of genetic similarity between the 2019-nCoV and RaTG13 suggest that the latter does not provide the exact variant that caused the outbreak in humans, but the hypothesis that 2019-nCoV has originated from bats is very likely. We show evidence that the novel coronavirus (2019-nCov) is not-mosaic consisting in almost half of its genome of a distinct lineage within the betacoronavirus. These genomic features and their potential association with virus characteristics and virulence in humans need further attention.
Context. Gaia Early Data Release 3 (Gaia EDR3) provides accurate astrometry for about 1.6 million compact (QSO-like) extragalactic sources, 1.2 million of which have the best-quality five-parameter astrometric solutions. Aims. The proper motions of QSO-like sources are used to reveal a systematic pattern due to the acceleration of the solar system barycentre with respect to the rest frame of the Universe. Apart from being an important scientific result by itself, the acceleration measured in this way is a good quality indicator of the Gaia astrometric solution. Methods. The effect of the acceleration is obtained as a part of the general expansion of the vector field of proper motions in Vector Spherical Harmonics (VSH). Various versions of the VSH fit and various subsets of the sources are tried and compared to get the most consistent result and a realistic estimate of its uncertainty. Additional tests with the Gaia astrometric solution are used to get a better idea on possible systematic errors in the estimate. Results. Our best estimate of the acceleration based on Gaia EDR3 is $(2.32 \pm 0.16) \times 10^{-10}$ m s${}^{-2}$ (or $7.33 \pm 0.51$ km s$^{-1}$ Myr${}^{-1}$) towards $\alpha = 269.1^\circ \pm 5.4^\circ$, $\delta = -31.6^\circ \pm 4.1^\circ$, corresponding to a proper motion amplitude of $5.05 \pm 0.35$ $\mu$as yr${}^{-1}$. This is in good agreement with the acceleration expected from current models of the Galactic gravitational potential. We expect that future Gaia data releases will provide estimates of the acceleration with uncertainties substantially below 0.1 $\mu$as yr${}^{-1}$.
We compare the Gaia DR2 and Gaia EDR3 performances in the study of the Magellanic Clouds and show the clear improvements in precision and accuracy in the new release. We also show that the systematics still present in the data make the determination of the 3D geometry of the LMC a difficult endeavour; this is at the very limit of the usefulness of the Gaia EDR3 astrometry, but it may become feasible with the use of additional external data. We derive radial and tangential velocity maps and global profiles for the LMC for the several subsamples we defined. To our knowledge, this is the first time that the two planar components of the ordered and random motions are derived for multiple stellar evolutionary phases in a galactic disc outside the Milky Way, showing the differences between younger and older phases. We also analyse the spatial structure and motions in the central region, the bar, and the disc, providing new insights into features and kinematics. Finally, we show that the Gaia EDR3 data allows clearly resolving the Magellanic Bridge, and we trace the density and velocity flow of the stars from the SMC towards the LMC not only globally, but also separately for young and evolved populations. This allows us to confirm an evolved population in the Bridge that is slightly shift from the younger population. Additionally, we were able to study the outskirts of both Magellanic Clouds, in which we detected some well-known features and indications of new ones.
We produce a clean and well-characterised catalogue of objects within 100\,pc of the Sun from the \G\ Early Data Release 3. We characterise the catalogue through comparisons to the full data release, external catalogues, and simulations. We carry out a first analysis of the science that is possible with this sample to demonstrate its potential and best practices for its use. The selection of objects within 100\,pc from the full catalogue used selected training sets, machine-learning procedures, astrometric quantities, and solution quality indicators to determine a probability that the astrometric solution is reliable. The training set construction exploited the astrometric data, quality flags, and external photometry. For all candidates we calculated distance posterior probability densities using Bayesian procedures and mock catalogues to define priors. Any object with reliable astrometry and a non-zero probability of being within 100\,pc is included in the catalogue. We have produced a catalogue of \NFINAL\ objects that we estimate contains at least 92\% of stars of stellar type M9 within 100\,pc of the Sun. We estimate that 9\% of the stars in this catalogue probably lie outside 100\,pc, but when the distance probability function is used, a correct treatment of this contamination is possible. We produced luminosity functions with a high signal-to-noise ratio for the main-sequence stars, giants, and white dwarfs. We examined in detail the Hyades cluster, the white dwarf population, and wide-binary systems and produced candidate lists for all three samples. We detected local manifestations of several streams, superclusters, and halo objects, in which we identified 12 members of \G\ Enceladus. We present the first direct parallaxes of five objects in multiple systems within 10\,pc of the Sun.
Kamberidou I. Gender, Social Capital and Sport: From Gender Fatigue to Gender Energy. In: Presentation (in Greek) at the 7th Conference of the Hellenic Sociological Society (HSS) “Societies in times of crisis, societies without crisis?’, September 23-25, 2020. Athens: Department of Communication and Mass Media of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens; 2020. pp. 1-40. Publisher's VersionAbstract
Women and US Politics: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives
Essays in Honor of Hans-Jürgen Grabbe
Julia Nitz (Hg.), Axel R. Schäfer (Hg.)ISBN: 978-3-8253-4648-5
Sortiment: BuchAusgabe: GebundenFachgebiet:Anglistik/AmerikanistikReihe:American Studies – A Monograph Series, Band: 303lieferbar: 23.10.2020
Schlagwörter:Amerikanistik, U.S.A., Politik, Frauenforschung, gender studies, Aktivismus, Feminismus, Gesellschaft, Suffragetten, Fernsehserien, Wharton, Edith, Kittredge, Charmian, Day, Dorothy, Arendt, Hannah, Mann, Sally, Wilson, Woodrow, Misogynie, Visual Studies, Politikgeschichte, Kulturwissenschaften, Clinton, Hillary, Medienwissenschaft, Obama, Michelle
This collection maps the field of women and U.S. politics on the basis of leading international and interdisciplinary scholarship informed by political science, cultural studies, literary studies, history, and media studies. The volume focuses in particular on women’s political activism, how politics affects women, and the role of gender in politics.Recent research has called for an integrated interdisciplinary approach in analyzing women’s roles in U.S. politics, pointing out the shortcomings of earlier investigations, which mostly confined themselves to one subject area. Using this as a starting point, the volume features research that analyzes the agency women have possessed in the political sphere in the U.S. from various disciplinary perspectives. Its essays trace the role of women in U.S. politics from the Early Republic until today. Contributions include examinations of fictional and non-fictional negotiations of gendered politics in a range of media, as well as investigations of how U.S. politics past and present are conceptualized and practiced in relation to gender.
Presentation of antigenic peptides by MHCI is central to cellular immune responses against viral pathogens. While adaptive immune responses versus SARS-CoV-2 can be of critical importance to both recovery and vaccine efficacy, how protein antigens from this pathogen are processed to generate antigenic peptides is largely unknown. Here, we analyzed the proteolytic processing of overlapping precursor peptides spanning the entire sequence of the S1 spike glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2, by three key enzymes that generate antigenic peptides, aminopeptidases ERAP1, ERAP2, and IRAP. All enzymes generated shorter peptides with sequences suitable for binding onto HLA alleles, but with distinct specificity fingerprints. ERAP1 was the most efficient in generating peptides 8-11 residues long, the optimal length for HLA binding, while IRAP was the least efficient. The combination of ERAP1 with ERAP2 greatly limited the variability of peptide sequences produced. Less than 7% of computationally predicted epitopes were found to be produced experimentally, suggesting that aminopeptidase processing may constitute a significant filter to epitope presentation. These experimentally generated putative epitopes could be prioritized for SARS-CoV-2 immunogenicity studies and vaccine design. We furthermore propose that this in vitro trimming approach could constitute a general filtering method to enhance the prediction robustness for viral antigenic epitopes.
The increasing use of the integrase strand transfer inhibitor (INSTI) class for the treatment of HIV-infection has pointed to the importance of analyzing the features of HIV-1 subtypes for an improved understanding of viral genetic variability in the occurrence of drug resistance (DR). In this study, we have described the prevalence of INSTI DR in a Russian cohort and the genetic features of HIV-1 integrase sub-subtype A6. We included 408 HIV infected patients who were not exposed to INSTI. Drug resistance mutations (DRMs) were detected among 1.3% of ART-naïve patients and among 2.7% of INSTI-naïve patients. The prevalence of 12 polymorphic mutations was significantly different between sub-subtypes A6 and A1. Analysis of the genetic barriers determined two positions in which subtype A (A1 and A6) showed a higher genetic barrier (G140C and V151I) compared with subtype B, and one position in which subtypes A1 and B displayed a higher genetic barrier (L74M and L74I) than sub-subtype A6. Additionally, we confirmed that the L74I mutation was selected at the early stage of the epidemic and subsequently spread as a founder effect in Russia. Our data have added to the overall understanding of the genetic features of sub-subtype A6 in the context of drug resistance.
The clinical course of prion diseases is accurately predictable despite long latency periods, suggesting that prion pathogenesis is driven by precisely timed molecular events. We constructed a searchable genome-wide atlas of mRNA abundance and splicing alterations during the course of disease in prion-inoculated mice. Prion infection induced PrP-dependent transient changes in mRNA abundance and processing already at eight weeks post inoculation, well ahead of any neuropathological and clinical signs. In contrast, microglia-enriched genes displayed an increase simultaneous with the appearance of clinical signs, whereas neuronal-enriched transcripts remained unchanged until the very terminal stage of disease. This suggests that glial pathophysiology, rather than neuronal demise, could be the final driver of disease. The administration of young plasma attenuated the occurrence of early mRNA abundance alterations and delayed signs in the terminal phase of the disease. The early onset of prion-induced molecular changes might thus point to novel biomarkers and potential interventional targets.
Achieving adequate micronutrient status, while avoiding deficiencies, represents a challenge for people globally. Consequently, many individuals resort to oral nutrient supplementation (ONS) in order to correct suboptimal dietary intakes. Advances in the fields of nutrigenetics and nutritional genomics have identified differences in response to micronutrient supplementation according to genetic makeup, adding dietary supplement use to the clinician's toolkit in the precision nutrition era. This review focuses on published evidence linking genetic variants to the responses associated with some of the most popular dietary supplements. With an increasing number of health professionals becoming involved in the prescription of ONS, identifying and matching individuals to the appropriate dietary supplement according to their genotype is important for achieving optimal health benefits and micronutrient equilibrium, while reducing the adverse events and financial costs often associated with excessive ONS.
Short-term property rentals are perhaps one of the most common traits of present day shared economy. Moreover, they are acknowledged as a major driving force behind changes in urban landscapes, ranging from established metropolises to developing townships, as well as a facilitator of geographical mobility. A geolocation ontology is a high level inference tool, typically represented as a labeled graph, for discovering latent patterns from a plethora of unstructured and multimodal data. In this work, a two-step methodological framework is proposed, where the results of various geolocation analyses, important in their own respect, such as ghost hotel discovery, form intermediate building blocks towards an enriched knowledge graph. The outlined methodology is validated upon data crawled from the Airbnb website and more specifically, on keywords extracted from comments made by users of the said platform. A rather solid case-study, based on the aforementioned type of data regarding Athens, Greece, is addressed in detail, studying the different degrees of expansion & prevalence of the phenomenon among the city’s various neighborhoods.
This paper examines the significance of 'geological argument' (age of earth, geological changes, stromatography, fossils) in the process of accepting the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection (TENS), by Greek teachers that teach biology. It is a part of a wider research process, examining the conceptual ecology of evolution. That would be the most relevant terminology relating to the TENS (acceptance, understanding, opinions on the nature of science, way of thinking, religiosity) and their interconnectedness. The research was mainly quantitative, and it has been performed by the use of a closed-ended questionnaire. In addition, we used a qualitative methodology through semi-structured interviews, in order to deepen and interpret the findings of the quantitative method. The results show that there appears to occur an especially high acceptance of the TENS amongst geologists that teach biology in secondary education, compare to similar teachers of science. A finding that may lead to the conclusion that the "geological arguments" are especially strong in the process of accepting the TENS and suggest that they might, therefore, be used more often in the teaching of evolution.
This paper reviews the glacial history of the mountains of Greece at the southernmost tip of the Balkans, providing a new synthesis of our current understanding of glaciations. The ice cover during the largest Middle Pleistocene glaciations (MIS 12/MIS 6) was more extensive than previously thought. Latest evidence from Mt Chelmos suggests that valley glaciers radiated from a central plateau ice field, whereas the findings of other glacial studies in western Balkans further indicate that extensive ice field/ice caps formed on mountains throughout this region during the Middle Pleistocene glaciations. Ice extent was considerably smaller during the Tymphian Stage (MIS 5d–MIS 2) and this has been confirmed by cosmogenic exposure ages in recent studies on Mt Olympus and Mt Chelmos. During the Holocene, only very small glaciers formed in some deep cirques where they survived because of strong local topoclimatic controls. A comparative analysis with the findings of other glacial and palaeoclimatic studies in the Balkans is also presented to highlight correlations between them. Moisture supply seems to have been the most critical factor for the formation of glaciers in the mountains of Greece. The comparison of Late Pleistocene Equilibrium Line Altitudes (ELAs) across the Balkans indicates a wetter climate in southern Greece that can be attributed to different palaeoatmospheric circulation mechanisms and precipitation regime in central Mediterranean. Conclusively, whilst important information has been added in the last 2 decades, this paper highlights the need for further research in Greece and the wider Balkans to establish the timing and extent of glaciations.
Description of the spatial characteristics of viral dispersal is important in understanding the history of infections. Nine hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes (A-I), and a putative 10th genotype (J), with distinct geographical distribution, are recognized. In sub-Saharan Africa (sub)-genotypes A1, D3 and E circulate, with E predominating in western Africa (WA), where HBV is hyperendemic. The low genetic diversity of genotype E (HBV/E) suggests its recent emergence. Our aim was to study the dispersal of HBV/E using full-length, non-redundant and non-recombinant sequences available in public databases. HBV/E was confirmed, and the phylogeny reconstruction performed using maximum likelihood (ML) with bootstrapping. Phylogeographic analysis was conducted by reconstruction of ancestral states using the criterion of parsimony on the estimated ML phylogeny. 46.5% of HBV/E sequences were found within monophyletic clusters. Country-wise analysis revealed the existence of 50 regional clusters. Sequences from WA were located close to the root of the tree, indicating this region as the most probable origin of the HBV/E epidemic and expanded to other geographical regions, within and outside of Africa. A localized dispersal was observed with sequences from Nigeria and Guinea as compared to other WA countries. Based on the sequences available in the databases, the phylogenetic results suggest that European strains originated primarily from WA whereas a majority of American strains originated in Western Central Africa. The differences in regional dispersal patterns of HBV/E suggest limited cross-border transmissions because of restricted population movements.
Backround and Objective: We sought to assess in adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) patients the prognostic value of plasma galectin-3 (Gal-3) levels and systemic ventricular global longitudinal strain (SV GLS) as well as their association with NTproBNP and arrhythmogenesis. Materials and Methods: We studied 58 patients (26 men, mean age 37 +/- 16.8 years) with various congenital heart diseases. Patients underwent echocardiogram, 24 h ambulatory ECG monitoring, while NTproBNP and Gal-3 were measured. They were followed up (median of 790.5 days -IQR 350.3 days) and major cardiovascular events (MACE) were recorded. Results. Mean Gal-3 levels were 17.07 +/- 6.38 ng/m. Plasma Gal-3 was correlated with LogNTproBNP (r = 0.456, p = 0.001).Gal-3 levels associated with supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) (p < 0.001) and ventricular tachycardia (VT) (p < 0.001), but was not associated with MACE (HR 1.018, 95% CI 0.944-1.098, p = 0.641).Mean SVGLS in patients with systemic left ventricle was -15.91% +/- 4.09%, which was significantly lower compared to patients with systemic right ventricle and patients with single ventricle (-11.42% +/- 3.37% and -11.9% +/- 5.06%, respectively, p = 0.021).SV GLS correlated with plasma Gal-3 (r = 0.313, p = 0.027) and logNTproBNP (r = 0.479, p < 0.001). SVGLS correlated with VT arrhythmias (p = 0.004). NTproBNP predicted MACE (AUC 0.750, p = 0.03). SVGLS also predicted MACE (AUC 0.745, p = 0.03. In multivariate analysis, SVGLS and logNTproBNP maintained their predictive value (p = 0.004 and p = 0.009, respectively) Conclusion: In ACHD patients, SV GLS was found to predict MACE independently from NTproBNP and correlated with VT. Gal-3 correlated with NTproBNP and SVGLS as well as SVT and VT, but has not been shown to bear significant prognostic potential
In this study, (E)-2-cyano-3-(6-(dimethylamino)naphthalen-2-yl)-N-(β-d-glucopyranosyl)acrylamide, a β-d-glucopyranosyl analogue of the widely used molecular rotor julolidine, was synthesized and studied photochemically. The new compound is a fluorescent inhibitor of rabbit muscle glycogen phosphorylase with properties of a molecular rotor. Fluorescence measurements in solutions of increasing viscosity determined that the fluorescence intensity increases with the viscosity of the medium, indicating that the new compound exhibits molecular rotor characteristics. Although the compound fluoresces negligibly in an aqueous buffer solution, in the presence of increasing amounts of rabbit muscle glycogen phosphorylase, we observed an increase in fluorescence intensity, which was attributed to the formation of an inhibitor–enzyme complex. In-vitro cellular studies were also undertaken, yielding promising preliminary results for the use of the new compound as a fluorescent probe.
Cortical development is a very complex process in which any temporal or spatial alterations can give rise to a wide range of cortical malformations. Among those malformations, periventricular heterotopia (PH) is characterized by clusters of neurons that do not migrate to the correct place. Cerebral organoids derived from patients with mutations in DCHS1 and FAT4, which have been associated with PH, exhibit higher levels of GNG5 expression in a patient-specific cluster of neurons. Here we investigate the role of GNG5 during the development of the cerebral cortex in mice and human cerebral organoids. GNG5, highly expressed in progenitors and downregulated in neurons, is critical for controlling the number of apical and basal progenitors and neuronal migration. Moreover, forced expression of GNG5 recapitulates some of the alterations observed upon downregulation of Dchs1 and Fat4 in mice and human cerebral organoids derived from DCHS1 and FAT4 patients, suggesting a critical role of GNG5 in cortical development.
In the current study, the challenges, the priorities and the systemic opportunitiesregarding Greece’s strategic behavior and its overall policy initiatives in the Aegean in the post-Cold War era are described and analyzed. In accordance with the Dardanelles Strait, the Aegean Sea represents an integral part of a trade passage of great significance for the regional balance of power, as well as for the planet-level effects on the balance of power among the Great Powers.Hence, the strategic behavior of the littoral states - Greece and Turkey - owns distinctive value for the geopolitics of the Greater Middle East, especially in the aftermath of the end of the bipolar order of the international system. This is examined in the light of the questions above: What are the static geopolitical aspects determining the balance of power in the Aegean Sea and what are the new challenges of the post-Cold War system?What are the political-strategic initiatives taken by Greece and what is the level of effectiveness within the framework of national interest implementation?The crux of the matter relates to the great geopolitical significance of the trade sea passage of Dardanelles-Aegean and the position of the intervening actors on the climax of power not permitting them to act as the sole geopolitical factors. This is implemented by the super-systemic actors and of course, the dominating naval powers, as it was the case of the U.S. in the post-war era. Nevertheless, the strategy of small and middle powers may give answers to such challenges when leadership capacity and strategic plans will exist in an active way vis-à-vis the inter-state dilemmas, especially when referring to Greece owning - according to the International Law of Seas - the dominant role in the Aegean Sea.For instance, the plan and implementation of patron-client relations could contribute productively towards this aim via the interconnection of interests and the cultivation of a situation of mutual commitment between the dominating naval power and Athens. On the contrary, the failure of Greece to move towards this choice deals with the overall failure of Greece’s strategy in the Aegean Sea in the post-Cold era, referring to deterrence credibility, managing security dilemmas and last but not least, balancing the Turkish threat.
. CLIL. Journal of Innovation and Research in Plurilingual and Pluricultural Education [Internet]. 2020;3(2):15-36. Publisher's VersionAbstract
This paper is a qualitative study in the framework of a broader project (LETEGR2) that aims to shed light on the way classroom-based observation might contribute to bridging the gap between teaching theory and practice and assisting teacher education. It draws on data derived from pre-service (n=15) and in-service teachers (n=6) who applied the LETEGR2 Classroom Observation protocol in second language classrooms in Greece. Both groups of data are presented according to the observation stages (pre- and post-) in which they have been collected. They are discussed as pre- and in-service teachers’ “voices” in terms of the main issues they bring to the fore in relation to L2 learners’ profiles, the teaching process and teachers’ practices. An attempt is made to link both group of participants’ observed behaviours and events to underlying theoretical concepts for second language learning and teaching.
During the last few years, olive oil quality and adulteration control has increased since it is of great importance to consumers, suppliers and retailers. Different analytical methods and parameters combined with statistical methods are used to detect the authenticity and adulteration of extra virgin oil in a global Foodomics approach. In the present chapter, the application of different analytical techniques and chemometrics for the determination of extra virgin olive oil authenticity including adulteration are discussed. Finally, the latest trends on analytical approaches to assess the olive oil geographical and varietal origin traceability are also examined.
The detection of a high-energy neutrino from the flaring blazar TXS 0506+056 and the subsequent discovery of a neutrino excess from the same direction have strengthened the hypothesis that blazars are cosmic neutrino sources. The lack, however, of $\gamma$-ray flaring activity during the latter period challenges the standard scenario of correlated $\gamma$-ray and high-energy neutrino emission in blazars. We propose instead that TeV-PeV neutrinos are produced in coincidence with X-ray flares that are powered by proton synchrotron radiation. In this case, neutrinos are produced by photomeson interactions of protons with their own synchrotron radiation, while MeV to GeV $\gamma$-rays are the result of synchrotron-dominated electromagnetic cascades developed in the source. Using a time-dependent approach, we find that this "pure hadronic flaring" hypothesis has several interesting consequences. The X-ray flux is a good proxy for the all-flavor neutrino flux, while certain neutrino-rich X-ray flares may be dark in GeV-TeV $\gamma$-rays. Lastly, hadronic X-ray flares are accompanied by an equally bright MeV component that is detectable by proposed missions like e-ASTROGAM and AMEGO. We then applied this scenario to the extreme blazar 3HSP J095507.9+355101 that has been associated with IceCube-200107A while undergoing an X-ray flare. We showed that the number of muon and antimuon neutrinos above 100 TeV during hadronic flares can be up to $\sim3-10$ times higher than the expected number in standard leptohadronic models. Still, frequent hadronic flaring activity is necessary for explaining the detected neutrino event IceCube-200107A.
Small heat shock proteins (sHSPs) participate in numerous cellular functions including cell signaling, differentiation, and apoptosis. Deregulation of the physiological expression level of sHSPs has been associated with several malignancies. Heat shock protein beta 3 (HSPB3) is the third member of the sHSP family in human and is mainly expressed in skeletal and smooth muscles. In this study, we investigated the potential prognostic significance of HSPB3 expression in colorectal adenocarcinoma, the most frequent type of colorectal cancer. For this purpose, we isolated total RNA from 188 colorectal adenocarcinoma specimens and 68 paired noncancerous ones. After reverse transcription of 2 $μ$g total RNA, we quantified HSPB3 levels by using an in-house–developed real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction method, based on the SYBR Green chemistry. Comparison of HSPB3 levels among 68 pairs of colorectal tumors and their adjacent noncancerous mucosae uncovered the downregulation of HSPB3 expression in the majority of malignant colorectal tumors. More importantly, high HSPB3 expression is associated with poor relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) of patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma. Multivariable Cox regression analysis revealed that HSPB3 overexpression could serve as an adverse prognostic biomarker in colorectal adenocarcinoma, independent of tumor location, histological grade, and TNM stage. Patients' stratification according to tumor location, histological grade, and TNM stage revealed that high HSPB3 messenger RNA expression retains its unfavorable prognostic potential regarding OS, in particular groups of patients with substantially different prognosis. In conclusion, high HSPB3 expression is associated with poor RFS and OS of patients with colorectal adenocarcioma, independently of clinicopathological prognosticators.
Dual-modality contrast agents (DMCA), such as radiolabeled magnetic nanoparticles, have attracted significant attention in diagnostic applications due to their potency for the timely and accurate diagnosis of diseases. The hemocompatibility of a candidate DMCA with human blood is essential for the investigation of its application in vivo. In this respect, here we focused on the evaluation of the hemocompatibility of a new DMCA, that is based on iron oxide nanoparticles (i.e. Fe3O4 magnetite), with human red blood cells (RBCs). The specific iron oxide nanoparticles are surface functionalized with 2,3-dicarboxypropane-1,1-diphosphonic acid (-DPD) and radiolabeled with gallium-68 (Ga-68), resulting in Ga-68-DPD-Fe3O4. RBCs of five healthy individuals are incubated at room temperature for 120 min without and with Ga-68-DPD-Fe3O4 at concentrations 0.1 and 1.0 mg/ml. Optical microscopy (OM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) are employed to assess detailed information on the overall morphological and geometrical characteristics of the entire cell at the microscopic (10(-6) m) level and on the membrane morphology at the nanoscopic (10(-9) m) level. In addition, a standard hematology analyzer (HA) is used to obtain complete blood count information. At the microscopic level, the combined OM, AFM and HA data revealed that the overall shape/size characteristics of RBCs were preserved upon incubation with Ga-68-DPD-Fe3O4 . However, at the nanoscopic level, the AFM results revealed two different kinds of local deconstructions of the RBCs membrane, termed holes and ulcerlike abnormalities, that were observed in both the DMCA-free and DMCA-incubated samples. Holes did not exhibit any statistically significant difference upon incubation with the Ga-68-DPD-Fe3O4 DMCA. On the contrary, ulcer-like abnormalities exhibited two statistically significant differences upon incubation with the Ga-68-DPD-Fe3O4 DMCA. First, increased percentage of RBCs having at least one ulcer-like abnormality; in DMCA-incubated samples 78.6 +/- 11.6% for C-DMCA = 0.1 mg/ml and 80.4 +/- 11.1% for C-DMCA = 1.0 mg/ml, while in DMCA-free samples 61.2 +/- 8.4% prior to and 63.6 +/- 13.5% after incubation. Second, increased number of ulcer-like abnormalities per RBC; in DMCA-incubated samples 4.26 +/- 0.62 for C-DMCA = 0.1 mg/ml and 3.99 +/- 0.97 for C-DMCA = 1.0 mg/ml, while in DMCA-free samples 2.84 +/- 0.54 prior to and 2.98 +/- 0.50 after incubation. The combined OM, AFM and HA results prove fair hemocompatibility of the Ga-68-DPD-Fe3O4 DMCA with human RBCs, thus documenting its potential use in imaging applications.
BACKGROUND & AIMS: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) may develop in chronic hepatitis (CHB) patients even after 5 years of oral therapy and cannot be easily predicted. We assessed predictors and need for HCC surveillance in this setting. METHODS: Of 1951 adult Caucasians with CHB included in the PAGE-B cohort, 1427 (73%) have completed follow-up >5 years under therapy without HCC until year 5. Median follow-up has been 8.4 years from treatment onset. Points-based risk scores were developed to predict HCC risk after year 5. RESULTS: In years 5-12, HCC has been diagnosed in 33/1427 (2.3%) patients with cumulative incidence 2.4%, 3.2% and 3.8% at 8, 10 and 12 years, respectively. Older age or age >50 years, baseline cirrhosis and liver stiffness (LSM) >/=12 kPa at year 5 were independently associated with increased HCC risk. The HCC incidence was lower in non-cirrhotics than those with baseline cirrhosis and year-5 LSM <12 kPa than those with baseline cirrhosis and year-5 LSM >/=12 kPa. CAGE-B score was based on age at year 5 and baseline cirrhosis in relation to LSM at year 5 and SAGE-B score was based only on age and LSM at year 5 (c-index=0.809-0.814, 0.805-0.806 after bootstrap validation). Both scores offered 100% negative predictive values for HCC development in their low risk groups. CONCLUSIONS: In Caucasians with CHB, the HCC risk after the first 5 years of antiviral therapy depends on age, baseline cirrhosis status and LSM at year 5. CAGE-B and particularly SAGE-B represent simple and reliable risk scores for HCC prediction and surveillance beyond year 5 of therapy.
Objectives: Clusterin (CLU) is a multifunctional intra-/extra-cellular molecular chaperone with indications of serving as a promising prognostic biomarker for colorectal cancer (CRC). Several studies have examined the potential prognostic value of the CLU protein in CRC; however, our research follows an alternative approach, focusing on the CLU mRNA expression. Design and methods: Total RNA from 172 cancerous tissue specimens and 39 paired non-cancerous ones was isolated and 2 $μ$g of this were subjected to reverse transcription with an oligo-dT primer. The single stranded DNA, which was synthesized, was amplified with an in-house developed highly sensitive and precise qPCR method, using specific pair of primers for the CLU molecule. Finally, an extensive biostatistical analysis took place for the assessment of the results. Results: Patients with tumors expressing high CLU mRNA levels had a higher probability for poor outcome (relapse and death), comparing to those with CLU mRNA-negative tumors. This association between CLU mRNA expression status and both disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) is evident in Cox regression analysis and is also depicted in the Kaplan-Meier survival curves. Consistently, the aforementioned associations and the CLU mRNA expression levels are significantly enhanced as CRC tumors progress from TNM stage I to IV, further supporting the functional implication of CLU in tumorigenesis. Conclusions: High CLU mRNA levels in CRC tumors can act as a new adverse prognostic biomarker of DFS and OS for CRC, independent of clinicopathological and biological features of the patient.
Remote sensing techniques and laser scanning technology have given us the opportunity to study indoor environments, such as caves, with their complex and unique morphology. In the presented case study, we used a handheld laser scanner for acquiring points with projected coordinate information (X, Y, Z) covering the entire show cave of Koutouki; including its hidden passages and dark corners. The point cloud covers the floor, the walls, and the roof of the cave, as well as the stalactites, stalagmites and the connected columns that constitute the decoration of the cave. The absolute and exact placement of the point cloud within a geographic reference frame gives us the opportunity for three-dimensional measurements and detailed visualization of the subsurface structures. Using open - source software, we managed to make a quantification analysis of the terrain and generated morphological and geometric features of the speleothems. We identified 55 columns by using digital terrain analysis and processed them statistically in order to correlate them to the frame of the cave development. The parameters that derived are the contours, each column height, the speleothem geometry and volume, as well as the volume of the open space cavity. We argue that by the demonstrated methodology, it is possible to identify with high accuracy and detail: the geomorphological features of a cave, an estimate of the speleogenesis, and the ability to monitor the evolution of a karstic system.
Tidal disruption events (TDE) have been considered as cosmic-ray and neutrino sources for a decade. We suggest two classes of new scenarios for high-energy multi-messenger emission from TDEs that do not have to harbor powerful jets. First, we investigate high-energy neutrino and gamma-ray production in the core region of a supermassive black hole. In particular, we show that ∼1-100 TeV neutrinos and MeV gamma rays can efficiently be produced in hot coronae around an accretion disk. We also study the consequences of particle acceleration in radiatively inefficient accretion flows (RIAFs). Second, we consider possible cosmic-ray acceleration by sub-relativistic disk-driven winds or interactions between tidal streams, and show that subsequent hadronuclear and photohadronic interactions inside the TDE debris lead to GeV-PeV neutrinos and sub-GeV cascade gamma rays. We demonstrate that these models should be accompanied by soft gamma rays or hard X-rays as well as optical/UV emission, which can be used for future observational tests. Although this work aims to present models of non-jetted high-energy emission, we discuss the implications of the TDE AT2019dsg that might coincide with the high-energy neutrino IceCube-191001A, by considering the corona, RIAF, hidden sub-relativistic wind, and hidden jet models. It is not yet possible to be conclusive about their physical association and the expected number of neutrinos is typically much less than unity. We find that the most optimistic cases of the corona and hidden wind models could be consistent with the observation of IceCube-191001A, whereas jet models are unlikely to explain the multi-messenger observations.
The goal of this study is to create a high-resolution grid of precipitation indices for the wider Greek region using real data from meteorological stations for the 1980-2010 period. Under the risk of increased extreme events caused by climate change, it is important to be able to have a high-resolution gridded extreme precipitation indices in order to overcome the lack of density of observations in both time and space. The development of such a grid can be used to validate model outputs and inform decision makers to better mitigate the damage from extreme precipitation.
The first step of the analysis is to calculate the extreme precipitation indices based on daily observations derived from more than 100 meteorological stations covering a wide range of altitudes and spatial climate patterns existing in Greece. Thereafter, the extreme indices will be multilinearly downscaled to a 12-meter resolution grid. The geophysical parameters used in the downscaling procedure consists of altitude, latitude, longitude, slope, aspect, solar irradiance and Euclidian distance from the water bodies. The altitude information came from the highly accurate 12-meter resolution TanDEM-X Elevation Model, which is a product generated from the TerraSAR-X satellite mission data. The resulting high-resolution patterns will give insight of the spatial and temporal variability of extreme precipitation, over the complex terrain of the wider Greek region.
BACKGROUND: Aristotle was a seek-test-treat intervention during an outbreak of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection among people who inject drugs (PWID) in Athens, Greece that started in 2011. The aims of this analysis were: (1) to study changes of drug injection-related and sexual behaviors over the course of Aristotle; and (2) to compare the likelihood of risky behaviors among PWID who were aware and unaware of their HIV status. METHODS: Aristotle (2012-2013) involved five successive respondent-driven sampling rounds of approximately 1400 PWID each; eligible PWID could participate in multiple rounds. Participants were interviewed using a questionnaire, were tested for HIV, and were classified as HIV-positive aware of their status (AHS), HIV-positive unaware of their status (UHS), and HIV-negative. Piecewise linear generalized estimating equation models were used to regress repeatedly measured binary outcomes (high-risk behaviors) against covariates. RESULTS: Aristotle recruited 3320 PWID (84.5% males, median age 34.2 years). Overall, 7110 interviews and blood samples were collected. The proportion of HIV-positive first-time participants who were aware of their HIV infection increased from 21.8% in round A to 36.4% in the last round. The odds of dividing drugs at least half of the time in the past 12 months with a syringe someone else had already used fell from round A to B by 90% [Odds Ratio (OR) (95% Confidence Interval-CI): 0.10 (0.04, 0.23)] among AHS and by 63% among UHS [OR (95% CI): 0.37 (0.19, 0.72)]. This drop was significantly larger (p = 0.02) among AHS. There were also decreases in frequency of injection and in receptive syringe sharing in the past 12 months but they were not significantly different between AHS (66 and 47%, respectively) and UHS (63 and 33%, respectively). Condom use increased only among male AHS from round B to the last round [OR (95% CI): 1.24 (1.01, 1.52)]. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of risky behaviors related to drug injection decreased in the context of Aristotle. Knowledge of HIV infection was associated with safer drug injection-related behaviors among PWID. This highlights the need for comprehensive interventions that scale-up HIV testing and help PWID become aware of their HIV status.
Summary During 2011–16, HIV outbreaks occurred among people who inject drugs (PWID) in Canada (southeastern Saskatchewan), Greece (Athens), Ireland (Dublin), Israel (Tel Aviv), Luxembourg, Romania (Bucharest), Scotland (Glasgow), and USA (Scott County, Indiana). Factors common to many of these outbreaks included community economic problems, homelessness, and changes in drug injection patterns. The outbreaks differed in size (from under 100 to over 1000 newly reported HIV cases among PWID) and in the extent to which combined prevention had been implemented before, during, and after the outbreaks. Countries need to ensure high coverage of HIV prevention services and coverage higher than the current UNAIDS recommendation might be needed in areas in which short acting drugs are injected. In addition, monitoring of PWID with special attention for changing drug use patterns, risk behaviours, and susceptible subgroups (eg, PWID experiencing homelessness) needs to be in place to prevent or rapidly detect and contain new HIV outbreaks.
We study hole transfer in open cumulenic and polyynic nanowires made of N carbon atoms, using real-time time-dependent density functional theory (RT-TDDFT) and tight-binding (TB) wire models. For RT-TDDFT, we mainly use functional B3LYP and basis sets cc-pVDZ, cc-pVTZ, and cc-pVQZ, obtaining clear convergence; cc-pVTZ is the smallest basis set of sufficient quality; cc-pVQZ is better with a higher computational cost. For TB, we use a simplistic wire model where all sites are equivalent (TBI) and models with modified initial and final sites, mimicking the existence of one or two or three hydrogens at edge sites (TBImod, TBImodt4times). We compare the ground state energy, EGS, obtained by density functional theory (DFT) for cumulenic molecules with coplanar (co) or perpendicular (pe) methylene end groups as well as polyynic molecules starting with short (sl) or with long (ls) C–C bonds. For odd N, cumulenic pe molecules have lower EGS than cumulenic co molecules, that are probably transition states. We examine energy spectra, density of states, energy gap, charge oscillations, mean over time probabilities to find the hole at each site, coherent transfer rates, electric dipole moment, and frequency content. DFT shows that due to the impact of end groups, there exists a cumulenic energy gap, smaller than the polyynic one. TBI and TBImod reproduce approximately the magnitude of the energy gap in the polyynic case at the limit of large N. TBImod is capable of predicting the same site occupations with the nicely converged RT-TDDFT ones for the cumulenic case. However, charge and dipole moment oscillations as well as transfer rates by RT-TDDFT are approximately four times faster than those by TBImod. The site occupations of polyynic sl and of polyynic ls molecules are modified relative to cumulenic molecules; the trends can be explained qualitatively.
We investigate hole transfer in open carbynes, i.e., carbon atomic nanowires, using Real-Time Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory (RT-TDDFT). The nanowire is made of N carbon atoms. We use the functional B3LYP and the basis sets 3-21G, 6-31G*, cc-pVDZ, cc-pVTZ, cc-pVQZ. We also utilize a few Tight-Binding (TB) wire models, a very simple model with all sites equivalent and transfer integrals given by the Harrison ppπ">ppπ expression (TBI) as well as a model with modified initial and final sites (TBImod) to take into account the presence of one or two or three hydrogen atoms at the edge sites. To achieve similar site occupations in cumulenes with those obtained by converged RT-TDDFT, TBImod is sufficient. However, to achieve similar frequency content of charge and dipole moment oscillations and similar coherent transfer rates, the TBImod transfer integrals have to be multiplied by a factor of four (TBImodt4times). An explanation for this is given. Full geometry optimization at the B3LYP/6-31G* level of theory shows that in cumulenes bond length alternation (BLA) is not strictly zero and is not constant, although it is symmetrical relative to the molecule center. BLA in cumulenic cases is much smaller than in polyynic cases, so, although not strictly, the separation to cumulenes and polyynes, approximately, holds. Vibrational analysis confirms that for N even all cumulenes with coplanar methylene end groups are stable, for N odd all cumulenes with perpendicular methylene end groups are stable, and the number of hydrogen atoms at the end groups is clearly seen in all cumulenic and polyynic cases. We calculate and discuss the Density Functional Theory (DFT) ground state energy of neutral molecules, the CDFT (Constrained DFT) “ground state energy” of molecules with a hole at one end group, energy spectra, density of states, energy gap, charge and dipole moment oscillations, mean over time probabilities to find the hole at each site, coherent transfer rates, and frequency content, in general. We also compare RT-TDDFT with TB results.
Across time and place, right hand preference has been the norm, but what is the precise prevalence of left- and right-handedness? Frequency of left-handedness has shaped and underpinned different fields of research, from cognitive neuroscience to human evolution, but reliable distributional estimates are still lacking. While hundreds of empirical studies have assessed handedness, a large-scale, comprehensive review of the prevalence of handedness and the factors which moderate it, is currently missing. Here, we report five meta-analyses on hand preference for different manual tasks and show that left-handedness prevalence lies between 9.34% (using the most stringent criterion of left-handedness) to 18.1% (using the most lenient criterion of non-right-handedness), with the best overall estimate being 10.6% (10.4% when excluding studies assessing elite athletes’ handedness). Handedness variability depends on (a) study characteristics, namely year of publication and ways to measure and classify handedness, and (b) participant characteristics, namely sex and ancestry. Our analysis identifies the role of moderators which require taking into account in future studies on handedness and hemispheric asymmetries. We argue that the same evolutionary mechanisms should apply across geographical regions to maintain the roughly 1:10 ratio, while cultural factors, such as pressure against left-hand use, moderate the magnitude of the prevalence of left-handedness. Although handedness appears as a straightforward trait, there is no universal agreement on how to assess it. Therefore, we urge researchers to fully report study and participant characteristics as well as the detailed procedure by which handedness was assessed and make raw data publicly available.
Valavani C, Alexandris C, Mikros G. Improving Machine Translation Output of German Compound and Multiword Financial Terms. In: Ahram TZ, Karwowski W, Vergnano A, Leali F, Ta{\"ı}ar R Intelligent Human Systems Integration 2020 - Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Intelligent Human Systems Integration {(IHSI} 2020): Integrating People and Intelligent Systems, February 19-21, 2020, Modena, Italy. Vol. 1131. Springer; 2020. pp. 276–281. Website
In autosomal dominant optic atrophy (ADOA), caused by mutations in the mitochondrial cristae biogenesis and fusion protein optic atrophy 1 (Opa1), retinal ganglion cell (RGC) dysfunction and visual loss occur by unknown mechanisms. Here, we show a role for autophagy in ADOA pathogenesis. In RGCs expressing mutated Opa1, active 5' AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and its autophagy effector ULK1 accumulate at axonal hillocks. This AMPK activation triggers localized hillock autophagosome accumulation and mitophagy, ultimately resulting in reduced axonal mitochondrial content that is restored by genetic inhibition of AMPK and autophagy. In C. elegans, deletion of AMPK or of key autophagy and mitophagy genes normalizes the axonal mitochondrial content that is reduced upon mitochondrial dysfunction. In conditional, RGC specific Opa1-deficient mice, depletion of the essential autophagy gene Atg7 normalizes the excess autophagy and corrects the visual defects caused by Opa1 ablation. Thus, our data identify AMPK and autophagy as targetable components of ADOA pathogenesis.
Considering the global climate change and the ensuing sea level rise, the subsequent acceleration of coastal erosion is evident. Phenomena of coastal erosion, coastal flooding and shoreline retreat are expected to show a significant increase in frequency and intensity, in global level. The effects of coastal erosion are worsened by storms, and the reduction of sediment supply associated with global warming and anthropogenic modification of rivers and coastlines. As a countermeasure to coastal erosion, this work focuses on the development of coastal artificial in-situ rocks. We developed a new method that encompasses microbes and the related mechanism is called “Microbial Induced Carbonate Precipitation” (MICP). We successfully isolated three microorganisms, Micrococcus sp., Pseudoalteromonas sp., and Virgibacillus sp., from the selected area, and investigated their effectiveness in order to make a solidified sand sample. The precipitated bounding material has also been confirmed as calcite by XRD and XRF analysis. We successfully demonstrated that all of these bacterial species are very sensitive with certain environmental parameters, such as temperature, pH, culture type, culture duration, etc. In laboratory scale, we successfully obtained solidified sand by syringe (d = 2.3 cm, h = 7.1 cm) solidification method bearing UCS (Unconfined Compressive Strength) up to 1.8 MPa using 0.5 M CaCl2 and urea as cementation solution at 30°C. In addition, we propose a new sustainable approach for field implementation of this method through a combination of geotube and MICP mechanism, which will contribute to coastal erosion protection. The proposed approach is more economic, energy-saving, eco-friendly, and sustainable for bio-mediated soil improvement.
Mediterranean mid-altitude sites are critical for the survival of plant species allowing for elevational vegetation shifts in response to high-amplitude climate variability. Pollen records from the southern Balkans have underlined the importance of the region in preserving plant diversity over at least the last half a million years. So far, there are no records of vegetation and climate dynamics from Balkan refugia with an Early Pleistocene age. Here we present a unique palynological archive from such a refugium, the Lake Ohrid basin, recording continuously floristic diversity and vegetation succession under obliquity-paced climate oscillations. Palynological data are complemented by biomarker, diatom, carbonate isotope and sedimentological data to identify the mechanisms controlling shifts in the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems within the lake and its catchment. The study interval encompasses four complete glacial-interglacial cycles (1365–1165 ka; MIS 43–35). Within the first 100 kyr of lake ontogeny, lake size and depth increase before the lake system enters a new equilibrium state as observed in a distinct shift in biotic communities and sediment composition. Several relict tree genera such as Cedrus, Tsuga, Carya, and Pterocarya played an important role in ecological succession cycles, while total relict abundance accounts for up to half of the total arboreal vegetation. The most prominent biome during interglacials is cool mixed evergreen needleleaf and deciduous broadleaf forests, while cool evergreen needleleaf forests dominate within glacials. A rather forested landscape with a remarkable plant diversity provide unique insights into Early Pleistocene ecosystem resilience and vegetation dynamics.
This study examines request perspective, the least researched form of mitigation in requesting, while focusing on a type of request characterised by a strong preference for the speaker perspective in English and the hearer perspective in most other languages researched to date. It examines requests produced by 900 speakers from 9 different (inter)language groups: five groups of native speakers (English, German, Greek, Polish and Russian) and four groups of advanced learners of English as a foreign language (German, Greek, Polish and Russian L1s). While the learners used more conventionally indirect forms than the native speakers of the respective L1s, thus showing awareness of this English pragmatic norm, they retained a preference for the hearer perspective. These results suggest a reliance on pragmatic universals as an alternative explanation to pragmatic transfer, also illustrating the need to address less salient pragmatic features in English language teaching.
Context. EE Cep is one of few eclipsing binary systems with a dark, dusty disc around an invisible object similar to ɛ Aur. The system is characterised by grey and asymmetric eclipses every 5.6 yr that have significant variations in their photometric depth, ranging from ∼0.m5 to ∼2.m0. Aims: The main aim of the observational campaign of the EE Cep eclipse in 2014 was to test the model of disc precession. We expected that this eclipse would be one of the deepest with a depth of ∼2.m0. Methods: We collected multicoloured observations from almost 30 instruments located in Europe and North America. These photometric data cover 243 nights during and around the eclipse. We also analyzed low- and high-resolution spectra from several instruments. Results: The eclipse was shallow with a depth of 0.m71 in the V band. The multicoloured photometry illustrates small colour changes during the eclipse with a total amplitude of order ∼+0.m15 in the B - I colour index. We updated the linear ephemeris for this system by including new times of minima, measured from the three most recent eclipses at epochs E = 9, 10, and 11. We acquired new spectroscopic observations, covering orbital phases around the eclipse, which were not observed in the past and increased the data sample, filling some gaps and giving better insight into the evolution of the Hα and Na I spectral line profiles during the primary eclipse. Conclusions: The eclipse of EE Cep in 2014 was shallower than expected, measuring 0.m71 instead of ∼2.m0. This means that our model of disc precession needs revision. Tables A1-A29 are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (ftp://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/639/A23
Blazar emission models based on magnetic reconnection succeed in reproducing many observed spectral and temporal features, including the short-duration luminous flaring events. Plasmoids, a self-consistent by-product of the tearing instability in the reconnection layer, can be the main source of blazar emission. Kinetic simulations of relativistic reconnection have demonstrated that plasmoids are characterized by rough energy equipartition between their radiating particles and magnetic fields. This is the main reason behind the apparent shortcoming of plasmoid-dominated emission models to explain the observed Compton ratios of BL Lac objects. Here, we demonstrate that the radiative interactions among plasmoids, which have been neglected so far, can assist in alleviating this contradiction. We show that photons emitted by large, slow-moving plasmoids can be a potentially important source of soft photons to be then upscattered, via inverse Compton, by small fast-moving, neighbouring plasmoids. This interplasmoid Compton scattering process can naturally occur throughout the reconnection layer, imprinting itself as an increase in the observed Compton ratios from those short and luminous plasmoid-powered flares within BL Lac sources, while maintaining energy equipartition between radiating particles and magnetic fields.
The afterglow emission from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is believed to originate from a relativistic blast wave driven into the circumburst medium. Although the afterglow emission from radio up to X-ray frequencies is thought to originate from synchrotron radiation emitted by relativistic, non-thermal electrons accelerated by the blast wave, the origin of the emission at high energies (HE; ≳GeV) remains uncertain. The recent detection of sub-TeV emission from GRB 190114C by the Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov Telescopes (MAGIC) raises further debate on what powers the very high energy (VHE; ≳300 GeV) emission. Here, we explore the inverse Compton scenario as a candidate for the HE and VHE emissions, considering two sources of seed photons for scattering: synchrotron photons from the blast wave (synchrotron self-Compton or SSC) and isotropic photon fields external to the blast wave (external Compton). For each case, we compute the multiwavelength afterglow spectra and light curves. We find that SSC will dominate particle cooling and the GeV emission, unless a dense ambient infrared photon field, typical of star-forming regions, is present. Additionally, considering the extragalactic background light attenuation, we discuss the detectability of VHE afterglows by existing and future gamma-ray instruments for a wide range of model parameters. Studying GRB 190114C, we find that its afterglow emission in the Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT) band is synchrotron dominated. The late-time Fermi-LAT measurement (I.e. t ∼ 104 s), and the MAGIC observation also set an upper limit on the energy density of a putative external infrared photon field (I.e. ${\lesssim} 3\times 10^{-9}\, {\rm erg\, cm^{-3}}$ ), making the inverse Compton dominant in the sub-TeV energies.
The afterglow emission from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is believed to originate from a relativistic blast wave driven into the circumburst medium. Although the afterglow emission from radio up to X-ray frequencies is thought to originate from synchrotron radiation emitted by relativistic, non-thermal electrons accelerated by the blast wave, the origin of the emission at high energies (HE; ≳GeV) remains uncertain. The recent detection of sub-TeV emission from GRB 190114C by the Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov Telescopes (MAGIC) raises further debate on what powers the very high energy (VHE; ≳300 GeV) emission. Here, we explore the inverse Compton scenario as a candidate for the HE and VHE emissions, considering two sources of seed photons for scattering: synchrotron photons from the blast wave (synchrotron self-Compton or SSC) and isotropic photon fields external to the blast wave (external Compton). For each case, we compute the multiwavelength afterglow spectra and light curves. We find that SSC will dominate particle cooling and the GeV emission, unless a dense ambient infrared photon field, typical of star-forming regions, is present. Additionally, considering the extragalactic background light attenuation, we discuss the detectability of VHE afterglows by existing and future gamma-ray instruments for a wide range of model parameters. Studying GRB 190114C, we find that its afterglow emission in the Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT) band is synchrotron dominated. The late-time Fermi-LAT measurement (I.e. t ∼ 104 s), and the MAGIC observation also set an upper limit on the energy density of a putative external infrared photon field (I.e. ${\lesssim} 3\times 10^{-9}\, {\rm erg\, cm^{-3}}$ ), making the inverse Compton dominant in the sub-TeV energies.
Israeli deterrence strategy, as an integral part of its strategic behavior tout azimut,can briefly be outlined in terms of threats (including existential ones), challenges,operational initiatives, doctrine, and the regional balance of power. All of thesecan be examined in light of Turkey’s ongoing adventurism. Israel’s strategic behaviorwill be analyzed in comparison to Greece’s security challenges and policieswith regard to Turkey, which engages in aggressive tactics in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East at the expense of Greek and Israeli vital interests.
BACKGROUND: Juvenile cystic adenomyomas (JCAs) are rare uterine lesions. Differential diagnosis might be difficult. We present the case of an adolescent who was diagnosed with JCA and was managed with laparoscopic excision. CASE: A 14-year-old patient with complaint of menarche with excruciating dysmenorrhea, was diagnosed using magnetic resonance imaging with a uterine anomaly consisting of a normal right hemiuterus, and a left cystic lesion with surrounding hypotense myometrium. She was managed with laparoscopic excision of the left side, and uterine reconstruction. Histology was suggestive of JCA, associated with diffuse adenomyosis. Dysmenorrhea improved considerably after surgery. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION: Differential diagnosis between cystic uterine lesions relies on clinical, imaging, and perioperative clues that might assist in their formal classification. Doubt might still remain in some cases.
Three main aquifer systems developed on Kythira Island (Greece) include (Pagounis, 1981; Pagounis & Gertsos, 1984, Danamos, 1991; Koumantakis et al., 2006; Filis et al., 2019):
The porous aquifer system in Neogene and Quaternary formations.
The karst aquifer system in the carbonate formations of the Pindos and Tripolis Units.
The aquifer system (both shallow and deep) in the fractured hard rocks mainly of the Phyllites – Quartzites Unit.
The main discharge of the aquifer systems takes place in coastal and submarine brackish springs around the island, except for its northern part where the Phyllites – Quartzites Unit outcrops and its central part where springs of small capacity discharge the carbonate formations of the Pindos Unit.
Precipitation is the direct recharge of the three aforementioned aquifer systems while indirectly lateral discharge occurs in places between adjacent and tangential aquifer systems and from the streams runoff as well.
In the area of Mylopotamos village four springs discharge the karst aquifer of the Pindos Unit within the channel of Kako Laghadi stream forming downstream the known “Neraida or Fonissa waterfall”. Moreover, along the dell of Kako Laghadi stream 22 watermills were built, among the plane trees and the ivy.
The most significant of the aforementioned springs is the Kamari spring (+282.28 meters a.s.l.) which emerge at the thrust fault between the overlying permeable carbonates and the underlying impermeable flysch formation of the Pindos Unit. The discharge of the Kamari spring presents annual fluctuation which varies from app. 45-50 m3/h (during winter) to total recession (during summer), due to restriction of the precipitation and the prolonged drought and overpumping of its recharge area mainly with boreholes.
The inactive municipal borehole of Mylopotamos village (+299.15 meters a.s.l.) is located app. 310 meters SSE of the Kamari spring within its recharge area (karst aquifer of the Pindos Unit). This borehole of a total depth of 40 meters penetrates carbonates of the Pindos Unit which thickness exceeds 100 meters in that area. Monthly measurements of the Kamari spring discharge and the water table head in the inactive borehole demonstrate clear and direct hydraulic correlation between them. The Kamari spring presents outflow only in the case when the water level head of the borehole exceeds +282.28 meters. This means that the water level head in the borehole should not exceed 16.87 meters from the earth surface. Taking into account all the aforementioned, the Kamari spring is designated as an overflow spring.
Finally, microbiological analysis from the Kamari spring showed qualitative degradation, due to human activities in the wider area (Pagounis, 1981; Filis et al., 2019).
The state-of-the-art in surveying of open surface the last few decades is based on Point Cloud processing and interpretation. Lately, similar technology tends to be used for indoor surveying as well. One of the extreme applications is the use of the exact same technology in underground karstic cavities, evolving the methodology used in cave mapping. Geometric and morphometric analysis of the caves or any containing components (speleothems) include various techniques aiming at quantifying their dimensions in order to determine the characteristics and consequently the relationship between the cavity morphology and the surrounding structural, lithological and hydrogeological properties. The purpose of this research is to combine high resolution topographic data acquired with different instruments for both the underground morphology of a karstic cave (Koutouki, Peania, Greece) and the open-air surface above it. The described methodology is based on photogrammetric processing of Unmanned Aerial System image data and the extraction of a point cloud recorded with the use of a handheld laser scanning system. The latter resulted a 3D model of the cave and led to the production of a digital relief for the roof of the cave, which in turn was combined with the digital terrain model of the open-air surface above the cave. The final product is a high-resolution information layer with measurements of the rock thickness between the roof of the underground karstic structure and the open-surface topography with high accuracy.
Greece and the Aegean area are among the first areas in Europe to have been occupied by humans. The record of human interventions in natural environments is thus particularly rich. Some of the interventions of the people inhabiting various localities of the country have been recorded in local mythology. Through the interdisciplinary field of geomythology it is possible to attempt to uncover the relationships between the geological history of early civilizations and ancient myths.In the present work, we focused on the history of Lake Lerni in the Eastern Peloponnese, an area that is better known through the myth of Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra. The area of the lake – now dried and cultivated – was part of a karstic system and constituted a marshland that was a source of diseases and needed to be dried.A new core is studied from the area of modern-day Lerni using palaeontological methods in order to reconstruct environmental changes that occurred during the last 6.000 years approximately. The area is known to have gone from marsh-lacustrine environments to dryer environments after human intervention or the intervention of Hercules according to mythology. Levels of peat considered to represent humid intervals were dated using the radiocarbon method so as to have an age model of the core. Samples of sediment were taken every 10 cm; the grain size was analysed for each sample as well as the fossil content for the environmental reconstruction.The presence of numerous freshwater gastropods reflects the intervals of lacustrine environment accompanied with extremely fine dark sediment. Sedimentology is stable throughout the core with few levels of coarse sand/fine gravel, only changes in colour hint to multiple levels richer in organic material.
In this article we use pollen data from six sites in southern Greece to study long-term vegetation change in this region from 1000 BCE to 600 CE. Based on insights from environmental history, we interpret our estimated trends in the regional presence of cereal, olive and vine pollen as proxies for structural changes in agricultural production. We present evidence that there was a market economy in ancient Greece and a major trade expansion several centuries before the Roman conquest. Our results are consistent with auxiliary data on settlement dynamics, shipwrecks and ancient oil and wine presses.
Geological failures from massive rockfall failures to small landslides of few cubic meters are a major geological hazard in many parts of the world. Based on the latest developments, close-range photogrammetry and individually UAV photogrammetry and Light Detection and Ranging systems have become indispensable tools for geo-experts in order to provide ultra high-resolution 3D models of the failure site. TLS suffers from the fact that is sometimes tricky to capture the holistic area of interest from the ground, while some areas may often be obscured by vegetation or negative inclinations. The science of photogrammetry has long been used to accurately detect and characterize landslide and rockfall failures. Due to the continuously increasing spatial resolution capability of new generation sensors, traditional pixel-based approaches are not capable to cope with the level of detail resulted from those sensors. Mostly, landslides present complex and dynamic geomorphological features with great heterogeneity in their spatial, spectral and contextual properties dependent on the specific failure mechanism. In the current study, an object-based 3D approach for the automated detection of landslide and rockfall hazard is presented based on detailed topographic photogrammetric point clouds and 3D analysis. Recent trends show that close photogrammetry will play a vital role on the geological and engineering geological assessments concerning geo-failures. The results show that object-based approach is closer to human interception due to integration of contextual and semantic, spectral and spatial information rather than translating pixel’s spectral information solely. The current procedure provides a detailed objective quantification of landslide characteristics and automated semantic landslide modelling of the case site.
Context. Deriving physical properties of trans-Neptunian objects is important for the understanding of our Solar System. This requires observational efforts and the development of techniques suitable for these studies. Aims: Our aim is to characterize the large trans-Neptunian object (TNO) 2002 TC302. Methods: Stellar occultations offer unique opportunities to determine key physical properties of TNOs. On 28 January 2018, 2002 TC302 occulted a mv ~ 15.3 star with designation 593-005847 in the UCAC4 stellar catalog, corresponding to Gaia source 130957813463146112. Twelve positive occultation chords were obtained from Italy, France, Slovenia, and Switzerland. Also, four negative detections were obtained near the north and south limbs. This represents the best observed stellar occultation by a TNO other than Pluto in terms of the number of chords published thus far. From the 12 chords, an accurate elliptical fit to the instantaneous projection of the body can be obtained that is compatible with the near misses. Results: The resulting ellipse has major and minor axes of 543 ± 18 km and 460 ± 11 km, respectively, with a position angle of 3 ± 1 degrees for the minor axis. This information, combined with rotational light curves obtained with the 1.5 m telescope at Sierra Nevada Observatory and the 1.23 m telescope at Calar Alto observatory, allows us to derive possible three-dimensional shapes and density estimations for the body based on hydrostatic equilibrium assumptions. The effective diameter in equivalent area is around 84 km smaller than the radiometrically derived diameter using thermal data from Herschel and Spitzer Space Telescopes. This might indicate the existence of an unresolved satellite of up to ~300 km in diameter, which is required to account for all the thermal flux, although the occultation and thermal diameters are compatible within their error bars given the considerable uncertainty of the thermal results. The existence of a potential satellite also appears to be consistent with other ground-based data presented here. From the effective occultation diameter combined with absolute magnitude measurements we derive a geometric albedo of 0.147 ± 0.005, which would be somewhat smaller if 2002 TC302 has a satellite. The best occultation light curves do not show any signs of ring features or any signatures of a global atmosphere. Tables A.1-A.3 are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (ftp://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/639/A134
Sensory processing deficits and altered long-range connectivity putatively underlie Multisensory Integration (MSI) deficits in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The present study set out to investigate non-social MSI stimuli and their electrophysiological correlates in young neurotypical adolescents and adolescents with ASD. We report robust MSI effects at behavioural and electrophysiological levels. Both groups demonstrated normal behavioural MSI. However, at the neurophysiological level, the ASD group showed less MSI-related reduction of the visual P100 latency, greater MSI-related slowing of the auditory P200 and an overall temporally delayed and spatially constrained onset of MSI. Given the task design and patient sample, and the age of our participants, we argue that electro-cortical indices of MSI deficits in ASD: (a) can be detected in early-adolescent ASD, (b) occur at early stages of perceptual processing, (c) can possibly be compensated by later attentional processes, (d) thus leading to normal MSI at the behavioural level.
The present study focuses on the palynological investigation of a sediment core (S2P) recovered from Elefsis Bay, in the western part of Attica Peninsula (southern Greece). Until now, there is quite scarce knowledge about the vegetation history of southern Greece during Late Glacial and Holocene due to a deficiency of long high-resolution pollen records. The analyzed gravity core is a unique continuous and well-dated pollen archive, providing the opportunity for the reconstruction of the plant landscape succession in southern Greece since Late Glacial. In order evidence for the vegetation response to climate oscillations and human impact to be derived, detailed analyses were conducted throughout the sedimentary sequence, spanning the last 13,500 years. The pollen data suggest that temperate deciduous, open oak woodlands of Late Glacial were fully expanded during the onset of Holocene, without any pronounced setback due to climate oscillations as it has been previously indicated by pollen archives from northern Greece. Following this period, Middle Holocene is characterized by the establishment of complex vegetation patterns, partly as the result of human activities, which seem to be the dominant vegetation shaping factor during Late Holocene. Overall, our pollen record highlights the vegetation transition during Late Glacial and Holocene in southern Greece, while offering valuable insight into the plant landscape prior to the first signs of human impact on the environment.
The bedrock of Hymittos, Attic peninsula, Greece, exposes a pair of low-angle crustal-scale ductile-then-brittle detachment faults. The uppermost detachment fault separates sub-greenschist facies phyllite and marble of a Pelagonian Zone hanging wall, from greenschist facies metasedimentary schist, calc-schist, and marble correlated to the Cycladic Blueschist Unit. A second, structurally lower detachment fault subdivides the metamorphic rocks of the Cycladic blueschist unit footwall into middle and lower units. There is a marked step in metamorphic grade between the sub-greenschist facies uppermost package, and the middle-to-upper greenschist facies middle and lower packages. A suite of new white mica 40Ar/39Ar and zircon (U-Th)/He dates indicates accommodation of deformation along these faults occurred from the late Oligocene to the late Miocene with both faults active during the middle Miocene. The structures have clear top-S/SSW kinematics determined from flanking folds, sigmoids, shear bands, stair-stepping of strain shadows on porphyroclasts, and SCC' fabrics. The ductile-to-brittle deformation of the structures, morphology of the massif, and the increase in metamorphic grade suggest these low-angle structures are part of a major, crustal-scale extensional complex, located at the northwest end of the West Cycladic Detachment System, that accommodated Miocene bivergent exhumation of Attic-Cycladic metamorphic core complexes in the central Aegean. Taken together, the above data suggest that multiple coeval detachment branches may form in areas with high strain gradients to accommodate the mechanically necessary termination of Cycladic-style detachment systems.
En 1880 fut votée en France la loi relative à la création par l’État de l’enseignement secondaire de jeunes filles. Se posa dès lors la question du sexe du personnel qui allait se charger de l’enseignement dans les nouveaux établissements féminins. Dans son rapport de 1880 à la Chambre, Camille Sée, promoteur de l’œuvre, suggérait : « À mesure qu’il se présentera des femmes capables de donner l’enseignement, on devra les préférer et cela pour deux raisons : toutes les carrières sont fermées à la femme […] ; […] nous trouvons chez elle des qualités que nous chercherons en vain chez l’homme ». Par cette proposition le député républicain demandait, en substance, l’ouverture d’une nouvelle carrière intellectuelle pour les femmes. Son intervention impliquait, en même temps, néanmoins, la suppression d’un monopole masculin : le métier de professeur, étroitement associé au savoir et, subséquemment, à la raison et à l’abstraction, était, jusque-là, réservé « par nature » aux hommes. L’invention du « professeur femme » par la Troisième République se fit dans le cadre d’une entreprise de large envergure visant à la laïcisation de l’enseignement. Concrètement, ce nouveau corps féminin devait être investi de la mission d’arracher les jeunes bourgeoises, futures épouses et mères, à l’influence de l’Église. Sous ce rapport, des républicains, soucieux de ne point nuire au succès d’une œuvre si importante à leurs yeux pour la stabilité du régime même, s’employèrent, d’une part, à faire intégrer cette nouvelle figure de professionnelle à la norme féminine en la dotant des qualités de chasteté, de dévouement et d’abnégation caractérisant la religieuse qu’elle était appelée à remplacer dans le domaine de l’éducation des filles ; à lui procurer, d’autre part, une formation spécifique, adéquate à ses fonctions dans les nouveaux lycées féminins. Le but était, tout d’abord, de préparer les futures professeures à leurs responsabilités morales ; de leur donner, ensuite, accès à un savoir supérieur, certes, mais ayant tout de même un genre. Pour répondre à ces impératifs, les républicains fondèrent en 1881 à Sèvres une École normale supérieure, pendant féminin de celle qui fonctionnait pour les jeunes hommes, depuis le début du XIXe siècle, rue d’Ulm. Le présent traavail se propose de reconstituer – à travers l’étude de textes administratifs, de la presse spécialisée et associative de l’époque et de témoignages autobiographiques – la première grande étape de l’histoire fascinante de ce temple du savoir féminin sous la Troisième République. L’accent est mis en particulier sur l’évolution des finalités d’une formation destinée à des femmes, sur les mutations du genre dans les programmes d’études et sur l’organisation des concours. Enfin, sont examinées les avancées vers l’assimilation avec la formation des professeurs hommes.
The present work proposes to reconstruct the first major stage in the fascinating history of the École Normale Supérieure for young girls which took place in Sèvres itself. Particular emphasis is placed on the evolution of the aims of training for women, gender changes in curricula and in the organization of national competitions for professors. Finally, the progress towards assimilation with the training of male professors is examined.
The article examines the critique of the French congregational schools of Smyrna in the late 19th century, carried out by Demetrius Georgiades, a Smyrniot trade manager and, at the same time, a French-speaking journalist and author. Through the study of his journals and books, published in Paris at the dawn of the new century, we have been able to trace the origins of the skepticism that preoccupies the public opinion inside and outside of France, in connection with the confessional character of schools. Under the pretext of defending the French interests in these remote regions, Georgiades examines the role of congregational schools in the penetration of French commerce and the expansion of French language and civilization in Asia Minor. The questions of functioning and financing of these schools do not escape Georgiadès’s caustic pen either. To strengthen his arguments, Georgiades compares the education provided by French schools to that of Smyrna’s other foreign communities.
Papapanagiotou IK, Charamanta M, Roidi S, Al-Achmar NS, Soldatou A, Michala L. {Letter to the Editor and Response.}. Journal of pediatric and adolescent gynecology. 2020;33:316–317.
Aspect-based sentiment prediction is a specific area of sentiment analysis that models the sentiment of a text excerpt as a multi-dimensional quantity pertaining to various interpretations, rather than a scalar one, that admits a single explanation. Extending earlier work, the said task is examined as a part of a unified architecture that collects, analyzes and stores documents from various online sources, including blogs & social network posts. The obtained data are processed at various levels; initially, a hybrid, attention-based bi-directional long short-term memory network, coupled with convolutional layers, is used to extract the textual features of the document. Following, an additional number of document metadata are also examined, such as the number of repetitions, the existence, type and frequency of emoji ideograms and, especially, the presence of keywords, assigned either manually (e.g. in the form of hashtags) or automatically. All of the aforementioned features are subsequently provided as input to a fully-connected, multi-layered, feed-forward artificial neural network that performs the final prediction task. The overall approach is tested on a large corpus of documents, with encouraging results.
AIMS: Levosimendan (LEVO) a clinically-used inodilator, exerts multifaceted cardioprotective effects. Case-studies indicate protection against doxorubicin (DXR)-induced cardiotoxicity, but this effect remains obscure. We investigated the effect and mechanism of different regimens of levosimendan on sub-chronic and chronic doxorubicin cardiotoxicity. METHODS AND RESULTS: Based on preliminary in vivo experiments, rats serving as a sub-chronic model of doxorubicin-cardiotoxicity and were divided into: Control (N/S-0.9%), DXR (18 mg/kg-cumulative), DXR+LEVO (LEVO, 24 mug/kg-cumulative), and DXR+LEVO (acute) (LEVO, 24 mug/kg-bolus) for 14 days. Protein kinase-B (Akt), endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), and protein kinase-A and G (PKA/PKG) pathways emerged as contributors to the cardioprotection, converging onto phospholamban (PLN). To verify the contribution of PLN, phospholamban knockout (PLN-/-) mice were assigned to PLN-/-/Control (N/S-0.9%), PLN-/-/DXR (18 mg/kg), and PLN-/-/DXR+LEVO (ac) for 14 days. Furthermore, female breast cancer-bearing (BC) mice were divided into: Control (normal saline 0.9%, N/S 0.9%), DXR (18 mg/kg), LEVO, and DXR+LEVO (LEVO, 24 mug/kg-bolus) for 28 days. Echocardiography was performed in all protocols. To elucidate levosimendan's cardioprotective mechanism, primary cardiomyocytes were treated with doxorubicin or/and levosimendan and with N omega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), DT-2, and H-89 (eNOS, PKG, and PKA inhibitors, respectively); cardiomyocyte-toxicity was assessed. Single bolus administration of levosimendan abrogated DXR-induced cardiotoxicity and activated Akt/eNOS and cAMP-PKA/cGMP-PKG/PLN pathways but failed to exert cardioprotection in PLN-/- mice. Levosimendan's cardioprotection was also evident in the BC model. Finally, in vitro PKA inhibition abrogated levosimendan-mediated cardioprotection, indicating that its cardioprotection is cAMP-PKA dependent, while levosimendan preponderated over milrinone and dobutamine, by ameliorating calcium overload. CONCLUSION: Single dose levosimendan prevented doxorubicin cardiotoxicity through a cAMP-PKA-PLN pathway, highlighting the role of inotropy in doxorubicin cardiotoxicity.
OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to translate the Menopause-specific Quality of Life (MENQOL) questionnaire in Greek and validate it for usage in the Greek population both in written and electronic form. METHODS: The original English questionnaire MENQOL with 1-month recall period was translated by our team. According to instructions by Mapi Research Trust, the questionnaire was forward and back-translated, followed by patient testing and proofreading. Then it was transcripted electronically. Validation was performed with the following tests: internal consistency (reliability), stability (test-retest reliability) with Cronbach's alpha correlations, independent and paired t tests, and Pearson's correlation coefficients. RESULTS: A total of 105 women, the majority recently menopausal, participated in the study. Internal consistency using the Cronbach's alpha showed high reliability ranging between 0.833 (physical domain) and 0.896 (vasomotor domain) for the written, and 0.720 (physical domain) and 0.868 (vasomotor domain) for the online form. Test-retest reliability was also high for both forms. The sexual domain of MENQOL had the higher mean, indicating the highest impact on quality of life (3.80 ± 2.35). CONCLUSIONS: The Greek version of MENQOL is a reliable instrument for evaluating menopausal women. Availability of an online form will allow wider dissemination of the questionnaire. Further use of the questionnaire in Greece may lead to better understanding of the bothersome symptoms of menopause; a prerequisite to develop intervention studies for amelioration of quality of life.
This article presents results from a needs analysis survey conducted in the first year of a European-funded project entitled ‘Teachers’ Assessment Literacy Enhancement (TALE)’. The survey questionnaire used asked 1788 learners of English in Cyprus, Germany, Greece and Hungary about their experiences of assessment; which of these they considered conducive to learning and the role feedback played as an instrument of formative assessment. Further questionnaire data from their 658 teachers were included in the data analysis. The results showed that practices differed across contexts. Overall, both learners and teachers reported a wide range of skills and areas to be assessed in the EFL classroom with writing, followed by speaking, being assessed the most. Based on the perceptions reported by the learners, the assessment types used revealed rather traditional approaches with frequent use of e.g. discrete-point tests with closed answers, extended writing and translation. The learners appeared to regard these types of assessment to be supportive of their learning. Feedback given was mostly restricted to marks and brief comments. The perceptions on feedback practices varied among teachers and their learners. Results of the needs analysis were taken as the basis of the online course design for enhancing teachers’ language assessment literacy.
Liver fibrosis is characterized by the excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins and enzymes, especially fibrillary collagens, and represents a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Lysyl oxidases (LOXs) drive covalent crosslinking of collagen fibers, thereby promoting stabilization and accumulation of liver fibrosis while limiting its resolution. Here we show in a carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced liver fibrosis murine model that treatment with a novel anti-lysyl oxidase like 2 (LOXL2) neutralizing antibody, which targets extracellular LOXL2, significantly improves fibrosis resolution. LOXL2 inhibition following the onset of fibrosis accelerated and augmented collagen degradation. This was accompanied by increased localization of reparative monocyte-derived macrophages (MoMFs) in the proximity of fibrotic fibers and their representation in the liver. These cells secreted collagenolytic matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and, in particular, the membrane-bound MT1-MMP (MMP-14) collagenase. Inducible and selective ablation of infiltrating MoMFs negated the increased "on-fiber" accumulation of MMP-14-expressing MoMFs and the accelerated collagenolytic activity observed in the anti-LOXL2-treated mice. Many studies of liver fibrosis focus on preventing the progression of the fibrotic process. In contrast, the therapeutic mechanism of LOXL2 inhibition presented herein aims at reversing existing fibrosis and facilitating endogenous liver regeneration by paving the way for collagenolytic macrophages.
This paper studies on “Early Warning Systems” (EWS) by investigating possible contagion risks, based on structured financial networks. Early warning indicators improve standard crisis prediction models performance. Using network analysis and machine learning algorithms we find evidence of contagion risk on the dates where we observe significant increase in correlations and centralities. The effectiveness of machine learning reached 98.8%, making the predictions extremely accurate. The model provides significant information to policymakers and investors about employing the financial network as a useful tool to improve portfolio selection by targeting assets based on centrality.
This white paper summarizes major scientific challenges and opportunities in understanding magnetic reconnection and related explosive phenomena as a fundamental plasma process.
Magnetic reconnection underlies many explosive phenomena in the heliosphere and in laboratory plasmas. The new research capabilities in theory/simulations, observations, and laboratory experiments provide the opportunity to solve the grand scientific challenges summarized in this whitepaper. Success will require enhanced and sustained investments from relevant funding agencies, increased interagency/international partnerships, and close collaborations of the solar, heliospheric, and laboratory plasma communities. These investments will deliver transformative progress in understanding magnetic reconnection and related explosive phenomena including space weather events.
Lekkas E, Mavroulis S, Carydis P, Skourtsos E, Kaviris G, Paschos P, Ganas A, Kazantzidou-Firtinidou D, Par-charidis I, Gatsios T. The March 21, 2020, Mw 5.7 Epirus (Greece) Earthquake. Newsletter of the Postgraduate Studies Program “Environmental Disasters & Crises Management Strategies” of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Issue. 2020;(17).
The sarcomere is the basic unit of the myofibrils, which mediate skeletal and cardiac Muscle contraction. Two transverse structures, the Z-disc and the M-band, anchor the thin (actin and associated proteins) and thick (myosin and associated proteins) filaments to the elastic filament system composed of titin. A plethora of proteins are known to be integral or associated proteins of the Z-disc and its structural and signalling role in muscle is better understood, while the molecular constituents of the M-band and its function are less well defined. Evidence discussed here suggests that the M-band is important for managing force imbalances during active muscle contraction. Its molecular composition is fine-tuned, especially as far as the structural linkers encoded by members of the myomesin family are concerned and depends on the specific mechanical characteristics of each particular muscle fibre type. Muscle activity signals from the M-band to the nucleus and affects transcription of sarcomeric genes, especially via serum response factor (SRF). Due to its important role as shock absorber in contracting muscle, the M-band is also more and more recognised as a contributor to muscle disease.
