A feasibility study for the provision of electronic healthcare tools and services in areas of Greece, Cyprus and Italy

Background: Through this paper, we present the initial steps for the creation of an integrated platform for the provision of a series of eHealth tools and services to both citizens and travelers in isolated areas of thesoutheast Mediterranean, and on board ships travelling across it. The platform was created through an INTERREG IIIB ARCHIMED project called INTERMED. Methods: The support of primary healthcare, home care and the continuous education of physicians are the three major issues that the proposed platform is trying to facilitate. The proposed system is based on state-of-the-art telemedicine systems and is able to provide the following healthcare services: i) Telecollaboration and teleconsultation services between remotely located healthcare providers, ii) telemedicine services in emergencies, iii) home telecare services for "at risk" citizens such as the elderly and patients with chronic diseases, and iv) eLearning services for the continuous training through seminars of both healthcare personnel (physicians, nurses etc) and persons supporting "at risk" citizens. These systems support data transmission over simple phone lines, internet connections, integrated services digital network/digital subscriber lines, satellite links, mobile networks (GPRS/3G), and wireless local area networks. The data corresponds, among others, to voice, vital biosignals, still medical images, video, and data used by eLearning applications. The proposed platform comprises several systems, each supporting different services. These were integrated using a common data storage and exchange scheme in order to achieve system interoperability in terms of software, language and national characteristics. Results: The platform has been installed and evaluated in different rural and urban sites in Greece, Cyprus and Italy. The evaluation was mainly related to technical issues and user satisfaction. The selected sites are, among others, rural health centers, ambulances, homes of "at-risk" citizens, and a ferry. Conclusions: The results proved the functionality and utilization of the platform in various rural places in Greece, Cyprus and Italy. However, further actions are needed to enable the local healthcare systems and the different population groups to be familiarized with, and use in their everyday lives, mature technological solutions for the provision of healthcare services

Remote Sensing for Determining Evapotranspiration and Irrigation Demand for Annual Crops

Author Information Show + 1. Introduction Evapotranspiration (ETc) is the mean for exploiting irrigation water and constitutes a major component of the hydrological cycle (Telis et al., 2007; Papadavid, 2011). The ETc is a basic and crucial parameter for climate studies, weather forecasts and weather modeling, hydrological surveys, ecological monitoring and water resource management (Hoedjes et al., 2008). In the past decades, the estimation of ETc combining conventional meteorological ground measurements with remotely-sensed data, has been widely studied and several methods have been developed for this purpose (Tsouni, 2003). For hydrological resources management and irrigation scheduling, an accurate estimation of the ETc is necessary to be considered (Hoedjes et al., 2008 ; Papadavid et al., 2011). Crop evapotranspiration rate is highly important in various areas of the agricultural sector such as for identification of crop stress, water deficiency, for estimating the exact potential needs of crops for best yields. It is well accepted that water depletion methods, such as lysimeters, are the most accurate methods for estimating ETc. Methods that use meteorological parameters in order to estimate the ETc of different crops are well established and used by various studies (Telis et al., 2007; Rogers et al., 2007). A number of semi-empirical methods have been also developed in order to estimate the evapotranspiration from different climatic variables (Courault et al., 2005). Remotely sensed reflectance values can be used in combination with other detailed information for estimating ETc of different crops. Indeed, the potentiality of remote sensing techniques in ETc estimation and water resource management has been widely acknowledged (Papadavid et al., 2010). The possibility for monitoring irrigation demand from space is an important factor and tool for policy makers. It has been found that saving irrigation water through remote sensing techniques could diminish farm irrigation cost which reaches 25% of the total costs and increases the margin of net profit (Papadavid et al., 2011). Several researchers such as D’Urso et al., (1992), Bastiaanssen (2000), Ambast et al., (2006) and Papadavid et al., (2011) have highlighted the potentiality of multispectral satellite images for the appraisal of irrigation management. The integration of remotely sensed data with auxiliary ground truth data for obtaining better results is common in the literature. (Bastiaanssen et al., 2003; Ambast et al., 2006; Minaccapili et al., 2008). Ambast et al., (2006) have shown that the application of remote sensing data in irrigation is of high importance because it supports management of irrigation and is a powerful tool in the hands of policy makers. It has been found that research in ETc is directed towards energy balance algorithms that use remote sensing directly to calculate input parameters and, by combining empirical relationships to physical models, to estimate the energy budget components (Minaccapili et al., 2008; Papadavid et al., 2010; Papadavid et al., 2011). All the remote sensing models of this category are characterized by several approximations and need detailed experimental validations. Multispectral images are used to infer ETc, which is the main input for water balance methods-models. For estimations of ET, ground truth data (Leaf Area Index-LAI, crop height) and meteorological data (air temperature, wind speed, humidity) is needed to support this approach. In nearly every application of water balance model, knowledge of spatial variations in meteorological conditions is needed (Moran et al., 1997). The use of remote sensed data is very useful for the deployment of water strategies since it can offer a huge amount of information in short time, compared to conventional methods. Besides convenience and time reducing, remotely sensed data lessens the costs for data acquisition, especially when the area is extended (Thiruvengadachari et al., 1997). Although remote sensing based ETc models have been shown to have the potential to accurately estimate regional ETc, there are opportunities to further improve these models testing the equations used to estimate LAI and crop height for their accuracy under current agro-meteorological and soil conditions. This Chapter discusses the implementation of the most widely used models for estimating ETc, the ‘SEBAL’ and ‘Penman-Monteith’ which are used with satellite data. Such models are employed and modified, with semi-emprical models regarding crop canopy factors, to estimate accurately ETc for specific crops in the Cyprus area under local conditions. Crop Water Requirements have been determined based on the evapotranspiration values

Tracing and Explaining Execution of CLP(FD) Programs

Previous work in the area of tracing CLP(FD) programs mainly focuses on providing information about control of execution and domain modification. In this paper, we present a trace structure that provides information about additional important aspects. We incorporate explanations in the trace structure, i.e. reasons for why certain solver actions occur. Furthermore, we come up with a format for describing the execution of the filtering algorithms of global constraints. Some new ideas about the design of the trace are also presented. For example, we have modeled our trace as a nested block structure in order to achieve a hierarchical view. Also, new ways about how to represent and identify different entities such as constraints and domain variables are presented.Comment: 16 pages; Alexandre Tessier, editor; WLPE 2002, http://xxx.lanl.gov/abs/cs.SE/020705

Knowledge and Attitudes of Cypriots on Melanoma Prevention: Is there a Public Health Concern?

BACKGROUND: Melanoma is the deadliest type of skin cancer. It is the eighth most common cancer in males and the tenth in females in Cyprus, an island in the Mediterranean with a high ultraviolet (UV) index. Cyprus is expected to be strongly affected by climate change and consequently, melanoma will likely become an increasing public health problem. Melanoma prevention is possible; however, it is unknown if people living in Cyprus are aware of melanoma and prevention methods. To this end, we used a validated survey to evaluate the level of melanoma knowledge and factors associated with it in the Cypriot population. METHODS: We conducted a 47-item survey with sections on demographics, knowledge of melanoma and risk factors, attitudes toward relevant health practices, and protective behaviors among six hundred Cypriot residents from October 2015 to April 2016. RESULTS: Our results revealed that only 59% of participants check their skin for moles, 87% protect their skin from the sun during summer holidays, and 57% do not take measures to protect their skin from the sun during non-holiday periods. Protective behavior was positively associated with educational level (P=0.016) and district of residence (P CONCLUSIONS: There are gaps in melanoma knowledge and prevention practices in the study population. Further education on melanoma and its prevention should be specifically targeted to individuals of lower education levels as well as teenagers, such that protective behaviors for melanoma are adopted early in life

Integrated approach of remote sensing and micro-sensor technology for estimating evapotranspiration in Cyprus

 Papadavid George1,2, Hadjimitsis Diofantos1(1. Cyprus University of Technology, Cyprus;  2. Agricultural Research Institute, Cyprus) Abstract: The objective of this research project is to describe and apply a procedure for monitoring and improving the performance of on-demand irrigation networks, based on the integration of remote sensing techniques and simulation modeling of irrigation water in Cyprus, which is facing a severe drought in the last five years.  Multi-spectral satellite images are used to infer crop potential evapotranspiration, which is the main input for water balance simulations.  The need for estimating ET in Cyprus is imposed in order to determine the exact quantity of irrigated water needed for each specific crop.  The overuse of water for irrigation has resulted in eliminating the water resources in the whole island.  The determination of ET for irrigation purposes will be used as a vital tool for supporting the decision-making process in the management of water resources, on a technocratic level, and on the other hand will have a positive effect on the rest of water resources of Cyprus.  The integrated method applied, consisting of Remote Sensing techniques and micro-sensor technology, has shown that it can be a useful tool in the hands of agri-policy makers for sustainable irrigation.Keywords: remote sensing, wireless sensors, irrigation management, sustainability Citation: Papadavid George, Hadjimitsis Diofantos.  Integrated approach of remote sensing and micro-sensor technology for estimating evapotranspiration in Cyprus.  Agric Eng Int: CIGR Journal, 2010, 12(3): 1-11.   &nbsp

Durability of concrete in Cyprus

The aim of this research is to define the problem affecting the durability of concrete in Cyprus and produce recommendations for repairing existing structures and for future new constructions. In order to meet the requirements of the above aims, the following objectives will be considered: (1) review state of the concrete structures throughout Cyprus and determine the extent of deterioration; (2) review current concrete practice in Cyprus, and the factors affecting it (climate, geology, earthquake, etc.); (3) review deterioration mechanisms in concrete; (4) determine possible deterioration causes applied in Cyprus; (5) develop sampling strategy and define potential ways in which the concrete could be deteriorated; (6) determine the tests needed to verify the cause of the problem, and see whether they are appropriate; (7) answer specific examples (case studies); (8) assess the results; (9) define the likely causes of lack of concrete durability; (10) propose a suitable strategy for future. [Continues.

A View to a Kill: A Multi-Species Ethnographic Enquiry of Dogs Used for Hunting in Cyprus

A critical enquiry into the lives of hunting dogs and their relationships with humans in Cyprus provides insights into many aspects of canine experiences; lives which are governed by hunting practices on the island. A combination of critical animal studies and feminist care ethic theoretical frameworks were used to engage in an ethical reflection on the relationships between humans and non-human animals and deepen the emic understanding of dogs impacted by the human practice of hunting. This work examines canine agency, experience, needs and acts of resistance, using a dog-centric perspective, and as such contributes to a growing body of scholarship that is concerned with bringing in other animals to social science research

iKlax: a New Musical Audio Format for Active Listening

In this paper, we are presenting a new model for interactive music. Unlike most interactive systems, our model is based on file organization, but does not require digital audio treatments. This model includes a definition of a constraints system and its solver. The products of this project are intended for the general public, inexperienced users, as well as professional musicians, and will be distributed commercially. We are here presenting three products of this project. The difficulty of this project is to design a technology and software products for interactive music which must be easy to use by the general public and by professional composers