PORT REORGANISATION AND THE WORLDS OF PRODUCTION THEORY

Taking into consideration the new dimensions of port production that have become evident during the resent past, this paper tackles the issue of port reorganisation. In the light of the changes in the world economy and the new competitive environment, the paper focuses on the new structures of the port industry and the characteristics of the contemporary port product within a more general analytical framework of ‘Worlds of Production’. This conceptualisation suggests that neither the industrial model of mass production, nor any other model alone, can determine a single effective pattern of organisation of port production. Within the new reality, modern ports must provide a greater variety of services to port users than in the past. The diversity and complexity of the contemporary port product demand the application of multiple organisational transformations incorporating elements from different possible action frameworks. In this vein, the introduction of intra-port competition, the development of strategic or regional networks, and the reconsideration of the role of port authority turn to critical parameters of the necessary restructuring.Port Industry, reorganisation, worlds of production theory

Desalination using renewable energy sources on the arid islands of South Aegean Sea

Water and energy supply are strongly interrelated and their efficient management is crucial for a sustainable future. Water and energy systems on several Greek islands face a number of pressing issues. Water supply is problematic as regards both to the water quality and quantity. There is significant lack of water on several islands and this is mainly dealt with tanker vessels which transport vast amounts of water from the mainland. At the same time island energy systems are congested and rely predominanty on fossil fuels, despite the abundant renewable energy potential. These issues may be addressed by combining desalination and renewable energy technologies. It is essential to analyse the feasibility of this possibility. This study focuses on developing a tool capable of designing and optimally sizing desalination and renewable energy units. Several parameters regarding an island's water demandand the desalination's energy requirements are taken into account as well as input data which concern technological performance, resource availability and economic data. The tool is applied on three islands in the South Aegean Sea, Patmos (large), Lipsoi (medium) ad Thirasia (small). Results of the modelling exercise show that the water selling price ranges from 1.45 euro/m^3 for the large island, while the corresponding value is about 2.6 euro/m^3 for the small island, figures significantly lower than the current water cost (7-9 euro/m^3)

Bio-psychosocial determinants of cardiovascular disease in a rural population on Crete, Greece: formulating a hypothesis and designing the SPILI-III study

Background: In 1988, the SPILI project was established in order to evaluate the cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk profile of the inhabitants of Spili, in rural Crete, Greece. The first reports from this project revealed that against the unfavourable risk factors’ profile observed, only a few men with a previous myocardial infarction were encountered. A follow-up study (SPILI II) was performed twelve years after the initial examination, and the unfavourable cardiovascular risk profile was re-confirmed. Presentation of the Hypothesis: This paper presents a hypothesis formulated on the basis of previous research to investigate if dynamic psycho-social determinants, including social coherence of the local community, religiosity and spirituality, are protective against the development of coronary heart disease in a well-defined population. Testing the Hypothesis: A follow-up examination of this Cretan cohort is currently being performed to assess the link between psychosocial factors and CVD. Psychosocial factors including sense of control, religiosity and spirituality are assessed in together with conventional CVD risk factors. Smoking and alcohol consumption, as well as dietary habits and activity levels are recorded. Oxidative stress and inflammatory markers, as well as ultrasound measurement of carotid intima media thickness, a preclinical marker of atherosclerosis, will also be measured. Implications of the hypothesis tested: The issue of the cardio-protective effect of psycho-social factors would be revisited based on the results of this Cretan cohort; nevertheless, further research is needed across different subpopulations in order to establish a definite relationship. A comprehensive approach based on the aspects of biosocial life may result in more accurate CVD risk management

Plasmonic-Dielectric Systems for High-Order Dispersionless Slow or Stopped Subwavelength Light

A material platform of multilayered surface-plasmon-dielectric-polariton systems is introduced, along with a new physical mechanism enabling simultaneous cancellation of group-velocity and attenuation dispersion to extremely high orders for subwavelength light of any small positive, negative, or zero group velocity. These dispersion-free systems could have significant impact on the development of nanophotonics, e.g., in the design of efficient and very compact delay lines and active devices. The same dispersion-manipulation mechanism can be employed to tailor at will exotic slow-light dispersion relations.Army Research Office, ISNNational Science Foundation MRSEC Progra

Hypothalamus proteomics from mouse models with obesity and anorexia reveals therapeutic targets of appetite regulation

Objective: This study examined the proteomic profile of the hypothalamus in mice exposed to a high-fat diet (HFD) or with the anorexia of acute illness. This comparison could provide insight on the effects of these two opposite states of energy balance on appetite regulation.Methods: Four to six-week-old male C56BL/6J mice were fed a normal (control 1 group; n=7) or a HFD (HFD group; n=10) for 8 weeks. The control 2 (n=7) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) groups (n=10) were fed a normal diet for 8 weeks before receiving an injection of saline and LPS, respectively. Hypothalamic regions were analysed using a quantitative proteomics method based on a combination of techniques including iTRAQ stable isotope labeling, orthogonal two-dimensional liquid chromatography hyphenated with nanospray ionization and high-resolution mass spectrometry. Key proteins were validated with quantitative PCR.Results: Quantitative proteomics of the hypothalamous regions profiled a total of 9249 protein groups (q<0.05). Of these, 7718 protein groups were profiled with a minimum of two unique peptides for each. Hierachical clustering of the differentiated proteome revealed distinct proteomic signatures for the hypothalamus under the HFD and LPS nutritional conditions. Literature research with in silico bioinformatics interpretation of the differentiated proteome identified key biological relevant proteins and implicated pathways. Furthermore, the study identified potential pharmacologic targets. In the LPS groups, the anorexigen pro-opiomelanocortin was downregulated. In mice with obesity, nuclear factor-?B, glycine receptor subunit alpha-4 (GlyR) and neuropeptide Y levels were elevated, whereas serotonin receptor 1B levels decreased.Conclusions: High-precision quantitative proteomics revealed that under acute systemic inflammation in the hypothalamus as a response to LPS, homeostatic mechanisms mediating loss of appetite take effect. Conversely, under chronic inflammation in the hypothalamus as a response to HFD, mechanisms mediating a sustained ‘perpetual cycle’ of appetite enhancement were observed. The GlyR protein may constitute a novel treatment target for the reduction of central orexigenic signals in obesity

Atomic order and cluster energetics of a 17 w.t.% Si-based glass versus the liquid phase

Aerodynamic levitation of a multi component 17 w.t.% Si glass formed by rapid quenching of the melt phase was studied by high resolution X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) modeling. The main local atomic order features comprised of interactions between Si, Fe and Mg polyhedra, the stereochemistry of which was on a par with literature. Both the glass and the liquid state appeared to consist of the same fundamental Si-O, Fe-O and Mg-O clusters, with only the relative number of each varying between the two. Transition from liquid to the glass involved a 3-fold decrease in uncoordinated O (to within the first minimum of the total g(r)) and a marked increase of Fe-Si-Mg polyhedra bridging O. Octahedral Fe coordination was not suggested by the RMC data. All-electron open-shell Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations of the most prominent clusters suggested independence between the Fe oxidation state and its polyhedra O-coordination. Of secondary thermodynamic importance were indications of network-forming Fe2+ and Fe3+ distorted trigonal and tetrahedral polyhedra. In all occasions, the Fe ferrous and ferric states involved comparable binding energies within similar clusters which indicate a dynamic equilibrium between the two

cGMP-dependent protein kinase contributes to hydrogen sulfide-stimulated vasorelaxation.

A growing body of evidence suggests that hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) is a signaling molecule in mammalian cells. In the cardiovascular system, H₂S enhances vasodilation and angiogenesis. H₂S-induced vasodilation is hypothesized to occur through ATP-sensitive potassium channels (K(ATP)); however, we recently demonstrated that it also increases cGMP levels in tissues. Herein, we studied the involvement of cGMP-dependent protein kinase-I in H₂S-induced vasorelaxation. The effect of H₂S on vessel tone was studied in phenylephrine-contracted aortic rings with or without endothelium. cGMP levels were determined in cultured cells or isolated vessel by enzyme immunoassay. Pretreatment of aortic rings with sildenafil attenuated NaHS-induced relaxation, confirming previous findings that H₂S is a phosphodiesterase inhibitor. In addition, vascular tissue levels of cGMP in cystathionine gamma lyase knockouts were lower than those in wild-type control mice. Treatment of aortic rings with NaHS, a fast releasing H₂S donor, enhanced phosphorylation of vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein in a time-dependent manner, suggesting that cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG) is activated after exposure to H₂S. Incubation of aortic rings with a PKG-I inhibitor (DT-2) attenuated NaHS-stimulated relaxation. Interestingly, vasodilatory responses to a slowly releasing H₂S donor (GYY 4137) were unaffected by DT-2, suggesting that this donor dilates mouse aorta through PKG-independent pathways. Dilatory responses to NaHS and L-cysteine (a substrate for H₂S production) were reduced in vessels of PKG-I knockout mice (PKG-I⁻/⁻). Moreover, glibenclamide inhibited NaHS-induced vasorelaxation in vessels from wild-type animals, but not PKG-I⁻/⁻, suggesting that there is a cross-talk between K(ATP) and PKG. Our results confirm the role of cGMP in the vascular responses to NaHS and demonstrate that genetic deletion of PKG-I attenuates NaHS and L-cysteine-stimulated vasodilation

Wireless battery charger for ev with circular or planar coils: comparison

This paper presents the experimental results obtained in the wireless energy transfer system prototype based on circular or planar coils. With these experimental results we can choose the tuning settings to improve the power transmission efficiency in wireless energy transfer systems. In wireless energy transfer for electric vehicle batteries charging, the coil shape and the range between the coils are the most important issues of those systems

GeoTriples: Transforming geospatial data into RDF graphs using R2RML and RML mappings

A lot of geospatial data has become available at no charge in many countries recently. Geospatial data that is currently made available by government agencies usually do not follow the linked data paradigm. In the few cases where government agencies do follow the linked data paradigm (e.g., Ordnance Survey in the United Kingdom), specialized scripts have been used for transforming geospatial data into RDF. In this paper we present the open source tool GeoTriples which generates and processes extended R2RML and RML mappings that transform geospatial data from many input formats into RDF. GeoTriples allows the transformation of geospatial data stored in raw files (shapefiles, CSV, KML, XML, GML and GeoJSON) and spatially-enabled RDBMS (PostGIS and MonetDB) into RDF graphs using well-known vocabularies like GeoSPARQL and stSPARQL, but without being tightly coupled to a specific vocabulary. GeoTriples has been developed in European projects LEO and Melodies and has been used to transform many geospatial data sources into linked data. We study the performance of GeoTriples experimentally using large publicly available geospatial datasets, and show that GeoTriples is very efficient and scalable especially when its mapping processor is implemented using Apache Hadoop