LOFTUSIA CF. ANATOLICA HORIZON IN UPPER MAASTRICHTIAN LIMESTONES OF THE EASTERN GREECE PLATFORM (MOUNT PTOON, BOEOTIA, GREECE): PALAEOBIOGEOGRAPHICAL REMARKS

Researches on upper Cretaceous limestones from the Eastern Greece platform in the area between Kokkinon and Akrefnion (Boeotia, Greece) revealed the presence of a horizon rich in Loftusia cf. anatolica (foraminifer). In this horizon, of late Maastrichtian age, L. cf. anatolica is associated with debris of Rudists, Orbitoides media, O. apiculata, O. gensacicus, Siderolites calcitrapoides, Omphalocyclus macroporus, Hellenocyclina beotica, Miliolidae, Dasycladaceae and echinoderms. It is found in an undisturbed sequence of limestones, where both the underlying and the overlying horizons are of the same facies and contain debris of Rudists, Hellenocyclina beotica, Orbitoides media, Siderolites calcitrapoides, Sulcoperculina sp., Rotaliidae, Mélobesiées,Nummofallotia sp., echinoderms. L. cf. anatolica is confined in the above mentioned horizon and it is found neither in the underlying nor in the overlying beds. This fades reflects an outer shelf environment in front of the rudist reefs. It is the first time that this species is reported in situ in Greece in an undisturbed stratigraphie sequence of upper Cretaceous limestones up to Paleocene flysch

SEDIMENTOLOGY AND BIOSTRATIGRAPHY OF AN UPPER TRIASSIC CARBONATE SUCCESSION OF TRIPOLITZA PLATFORM IN MARI AREA, PARNON MOUNTAIN, SE PELOPONNESUS, GREECE

Η Ανω-Τριαδική ανθρακική ακολουθία στη βάση της πλατφόρμας της Τρίπολης, στην περιοχή Μαρί στο όρος Πάρνωνα, Πελοπόννησος, αποτελείται κυρίως από δολομίτες και σε μικρό ποσοστό ασβεστιτικούς δολομίτες. Λεπτομερής ανάλυση φάσεων και βιοστρωματογραφική μελέτη ανέδειξαν ότι κατά τη διάρκεια του Νόριου-Ραίτιου αποτίθεντο μεσο-υπερπαλιρροιακές και υποπαλιρροιακές (ρηχές λιμνοθαλάσσιες) φάσεις με κυκλική ανάπτυξη στο εσωτερικό της πλατφόρμας, παρόμοιες με αυτές που σχηματίζονταν σε πολλές Αλπικές πλατφόρμες του νότιου περιθωρίου της Τηθύος κατά το ίδιο διάστημα. Διαγενετικές παρατηρήσεις υποδεικνύουν περαιτέρω ότι η ρηχή θαλάσσια ανθρακική ιζηματογένεση διακοπτόταν από διαστήματα υποαέριας έκθεσης και επακόλουθης πρώιμης λιθοποίησης των πρόσφατα αποτεθέντων ιζημάτων. Η εκτεταμένη και πρώιμη κυρίως δολομιτίωση και ανακρυστάλλωση, η παρουσία μετεωρικών συγκολλητικών υλικών κατεισδύοντος ύδατος αλλά ιδιαίτερα η επαναλαμβανόμενη εμφάνιση δολοκρητών οριζόντων στα ανώτερα τμήματα πολλών περιπαλιρροιακών κύκλων υποδεικνύουν σαφώς περιοδική υποαέρια έκθεση των ιζημάτων καθώς και την επικράτηση ημίξηρων κλιματικών συνθηκών στην περιοχή.The Upper Triassic succession in the base of Tripolitza carbonate platform, in the Mari area of the Parnon Mt. in SE Peloponnesus, mostly consists of dolomites and to a lesser extent ofcalcitic dolomites. A detailed fades analysis and biostratigraphical study revealed that during Norian — Rhaetian times inter-supratidal and subtidal (shallow lagoonal) fades presenting cyclic development were deposited in the inner platform, similar to those that were formed in most of the Alpine platforms of the southern margin of the Tethys during the same time period. Diagenetic considerations further indicate that this shallow marine carbonate sedimentation was interrupted by subaerial exposure intervals and subsequent early lithification of the recently deposited sediments. The extensive and, mainly, early dolomitization and recrystallization, the presence of meteoric-vadose cements and specifically the repeated appearance of dolocrete horizons in the upper parts of many peritidal cycles, clearly show periodic subaerial exposure of the sediments, as well as the prevalence of semi-arid conditions in the area

Mechano-chemical manipulation of Sn chains on Si(1 0 0) by NC-AFM

We investigate the atomic structure of Sn dimer chains grown on the Si(1 0 0) surface using non-contact atomic force microscopy (NC-AFM) at cryogenic temperatures. We find that similar to the native Si(1 0 0) dimer structure, the ground state of the Sn dimer structure is buckled at low temperature. At 5 K we show that the buckling state of the Sn dimers may be controllably, and reversibly, manipulated with atomic precision by close approach of the tip, without modification of the underlying substrate buckling structure. At intermediate cryogenic temperatures we observe changes in the configuration of the dimer chains in the region where the tip-sample interaction is very weak, suggesting that the energy barrier to transit between configurations is sufficiently small to be surmounted at 78 K

An epistemological framework to appreciate the limits of predatory publishing

The concept of “predatory” publishing, despite many studies of the phenomenon, continues to be unclear. This paper visualizes this topic through an epistemological perspective, claiming that these limitations emerge from an impressionism of idealization, the entrapment of cause and effect induced by a journalology-based perspective, and entrenched fantasized extraction, imagination and divination of what constitutes the truth, in essence, a path never followed by an epistēmōn. Reality, proof, verification, recorded observations and their interpretations have been pivoted to fit the theoretical flavor of the day, an entity one day being predatory, the next not. Perhaps ephemeral judgements of predatory have been built on boundless disregard for common sense. Yet, these have led to scientists’ apotheosis, almost oblivious of the intangibility of “valid”, or the infinitesimal continuum of “predatory”. Perhaps their fault-ridden authoritarian argumentative disabilities is at fault

A virtual customer assistant for the wealth management domain in the UWMP project

The Universal Wealth Management Platform (UWMP) project has the objective of creating a new service model in the financial domain. An integral part of this service model is the creation of a new Virtual Customer Assistant, that is able to assist customers via natural language dialogues. This paper is a report of the activities performed to develop this assistant. It illustrates a general architecture of the system, and describes the most important decisions made for its implementation. It also describes the main financial operations that it is able to assist customers with. Finally, it delineates some avenues for future work