Identification of circles from datapoints using Gaussian sums

We present a pattern recognition method which use datapoints on a plane and estimates the parameters of a circle. MC data are generated in order to test the method's efficiency over noise hits, uncertainty in the hits positions and number of datapoints. The scenario were the hits from a quadrant of the circle are missing is also considered. The method proposed is proven to be robust, accurate and very efficient.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Gender exclusion and local values versus universal cultural heritage significance: the Avaton debate on the monastic community of Mount Athos

This article explores the discrepancy between ‘universal values’ and ‘local values’ in the case of world heritage sites of sacred/religious nature. It focuses on the example of the world heritage site of Mount Athos, a self-administered peninsula in Northern Greece inhabited by an Orthodox monastic peninsula and accessible only to male visitors/pilgrims. Special emphasis will be placed on the Avaton rule (prohibition of access to women) which has constituted an issue of debate since the inclusion of Greece in the European Union and, to some extent, since the inscription of Mt Athos to the World Heritage List. The issue of Avaton generates the question: “should a religious site of local, national and international significance that excludes half of the world population be designated as a heritage place of universal value?

Effect of Postharvest Application of Carvone on Potato Tubers Grown from True Potato Seed (TPS)

AbstractDormancy duration is an important quality aspect of both ware and seed potato tubers and may be extended by the application of chemical sprout suppressants. The replacement of these synthetic compounds by essential oils with sprouting-inhibitory properties may contribute to the sustainable cultivation of potato.The aim of this study was to examine how the postharvest application of carvone affects potato tubers grown from true potato seed (hybrid CIP IP 88008). Ten days after harvest, tubers were placed in air-tight glass containers and carvone was applied repeatedly (300mL/1000kg tubers) while untreated tubers were used for the control. The containers were stored at 5, 10 and 20°C and opened every two days for 10minutes for aeration. The number of sprouts per tuber, rate of respiration, fresh weight loss and concentration of glucose, fructose and sucrose in tuber tissue from the buds (‘eyes’) and the parenchyma were recorded.Carvone application did not affect bud dormancy duration at 5°C and buds did not sprout even after 98 days’ storage. At 10 and 20°C, carvone application prolonged dormancy, but at 20°C a high percentage of rotted tubers (40%) was observed. At all storage temperatures, carvone reduced weight loss but increased the rate of tuber respiration. Carvone application did not affect sugar content at 5οC, but after 68 days of storage at 10οC the concentration of fructose increased and sucrose decreased. However, after 4 months of storage no differences in sugar concentration were recorded.It is concluded that carvone application can effectively prolong bud dormancy during storage at 10οC. Even though the concentration of reducing sugars and the tuber respiration rate increased, there were no negative effects on the quality aspects of tubers (concentration of glucose, fructose and sucrose) after long term storage

WATER RESOURCES IN THE WIDER AREA OF THE APOSELEMIS BASIN, CRETE ISLAND, GREECE

Η γνώση του υδρολογικού ισοζυγίου μιας λεκάνης αποτελεί απαραίτητη προϋπόθεση για να εκτιμηθεί η ασφαλής απόδοση των υδροφόρων συστημάτων ώστε να εξασφαλι­ σθεί η ορθολογική και βιώσιμη διαχείριση τους. Προκειμένου να αντιμετωπιστεί η διαταραχή της ισορροπίας του υδατικού ισοζυγίου στην υδρογεωλογική λεκάνη του Αποσελέμη αλλά και στον ευρύτερο χώρο του όρους Δίκτη είναι απαραίτητη η εκτίμη­ ση του υδατικού ισοζυγίου των επιμέρους λεκανών απορροής δηλαδή της λεκάνης του Αποσελέμη, των οροπεδίων Λασιθίου και Καθαρού καθώς και της υπόλοιπης επιφάνειας απορροής του όρους Δίκτη. Προς τούτο χρησιμοποιήθηκαν οι καταγραφές της απορροής του Αποσελέμη στη θέση Ποταμιές και οι μετρήσεις βροχής σε επτά βροχομετρικούς σταθμούς εντός ή πλησίον της λεκάνης απορροής του Αποσελέμη κατά την περίοδο 1967-2003. Τα όρια των περιοχών και οι μορφολογικές παράμετροι καθορί­ στηκαν με τη χρήση GIS, με βάση το ψηφιακό μοντέλο ανάγλυφου (DEM). Η πραγμα­ τική εξατμισοδιαπνοή σε όλη τη περιοχή υπολογίστηκε με τη μέθοδο ThornthwaiteMather. Διαπιστώθηκε υψηλός βαθμός συσχέτισης της απορροής του Αποσελέμη με τη βροχόπτωση στην ευρύτερη περιοχή πέρα από τα συμβατικά όρια της λεκάνης απορ­ ροής του. Σημαντικό ποσοστό της ετήσιας βροχόπτωσης και απορροής στην περιοχή τροφοδοτεί τόσο τα καρστικά υδροφόρα συστήματα κατάντη όσο και την απορροή του Αποσελέμη. Οι καρστικοί υδροφορίες εκφορτίζονται μερικώς από μεγάλες παράκτιες και υποθαλάσσιες υφάλμυρες πηγές, καθώς και από μικρότερες πηγές γλυκού νερού στην ενδοχώρα. Επιβεβαιώθηκε τέλος με ιχνηθετήσεις που εκτέλεσε το ΙΓΜΕ η υ­ δραυλική επικοινωνία του οροπεδίου Λασιθίου και των κατάντη υδροφορέων.The estimation of hydrologie balance is useful in order to assess the safe yield of the aquifer systems and therefore to establish their rational exploitation and sustainable management. Over-abstractions of groundwater in Aposelemis basin resulted in a severe disequilibrium of its water balance. In order to overcome this disequilibrium we studied the hydrological balance in the wider area ofDikti mountain which comprises the drainage basins of Aposelemis river, ofLasithi and Katharo plateaus and of the rest of the drainage area of Dikti. The data used are the monthly values of Aposelemis runoff in the gauge station at Potamies and rainfall data for the period 1967-2003 from seven stations located within or in the close vicinity of the drainage basin of Aposelemis. Using ArcView GIS, the hydrological basin of Aposelemis river and the drainage area ofDikti were delineated, based on the digital elevation model (DEM). The actual évapotranspiration was estimated by the Thornthwaite method. A high inter-relationship exists between the flow of the Aposelemis river and rainfall outside the conventional boundaries of the Aposelemis basin. A significant portion of the annual rainfall, in that wider area is not only recharging the karst systems downstream but also contributing to the flow of Aposelemis river. Karst aquifer systems are partially drained by large coastal and submarine brackish springs and by inland freshwater springs. Finally, tracer studies carried out by IGME confirmed the hydraulic connection between Lasithiplateau and downstream aquifer systems

Co-creativity Assessment Methodology: C2Learn project deliverable no. D2.3.2

Deliverable 2.3.2 is the final installment of a document detailing the C2Learn Co-creativity Assessment Methodology, its rationale, method, tools and accompanying operationalisation. Led by the UEDIN team in close collaboration with the OU team, and other appropriate consortium members, it sets out the over-arching theoretical frame of the project further developed from Deliverable 2.2.2 which closely integrates Creative Emotional Reasoning (Deliverable 2.1.2) and Wise Humanising Creativity, and argues in turn for an integrated approach to the assessment methodology which combines documenting change and lived experience. Deliverable 2.3.2 firstly deals with theoretical and then methodological integration, and from this details the evaluation categorisation scheme. It goes on to detail the methodology, and its accompanying aims, indicators and data collection tools. The final part considers the methodology's operationalisation including the evaluation plan, inclusion of teachers, issues of analysis and synthesis, training needs and ethics

Gender differences in Greek centenarians. A cross-sectional nation-wide study, examining multiple socio-demographic and personality factors and health locus of control

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Centenarians are exceptional ageing paradigms, offering valuable information on achieving longevity. Although, there are several studies examining different biomedical factors as determinants of longevity in centenarians, little is known about gender differences with respect to personality traits and health locus of control.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Nation -wide study carried out in Greece, between 2007 and 2010. Our final sample of analysis consisted of 400 centenarians who reported on sociodemographic, disease-related and personality factors and health locus of control (HLC). Gender differences were investigated by simple nonparametric comparisons. Bivariate correlations between personality factors and internal and external HLC were obtained.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Women centenarians outnumbered men by a ratio of 1.68 to 1. Significant gender sociodemographic differences were noted, with men reporting less often widowhood, more often centenarian 1st degree relatives and smoking. Higher BMI score was measured in males than females. Concerning personality variables, females were more reward-dependent and adaptable than men, while men were more optimistic than women. No differences were found on health locus of control profile between the genders. Positive correlations between self-directness and spirituality with internal locus of control in men and negative correlations between optimism and external locus of control in women emerged as the main gender disparities in the correlation analyses. Self-directness in men and optimism in women were consistently correlated with the two HLC subscales.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Gender differences should be incorporated in future basic research and epidemiological studies of longevity. Informed policies on ageing and wellbeing programs should also take into account gender issues to increase efficacy by targeting health locus of control.</p

Comparing Signaling Networks between Normal and Transformed Hepatocytes Using Discrete Logical Models

Substantial effort in recent years has been devoted to constructing and analyzing large-scale gene and protein networks on the basis of “omic” data and literature mining. These interaction graphs provide valuable insight into the topologies of complex biological networks but are rarely context specific and cannot be used to predict the responses of cell signaling proteins to specific ligands or drugs. Conversely, traditional approaches to analyzing cell signaling are narrow in scope and cannot easily make use of network-level data. Here, we combine network analysis and functional experimentation by using a hybrid approach in which graphs are converted into simple mathematical models that can be trained against biochemical data. Specifically, we created Boolean logic models of immediate-early signaling in liver cells by training a literature-based prior knowledge network against biochemical data obtained from primary human hepatocytes and 4 hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines exposed to combinations of cytokines and small-molecule kinase inhibitors. Distinct families of models were recovered for each cell type, and these families clustered topologically into normal and diseased sets.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant GM68762)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant CA112967

Scaling of hadronic transverse momenta in a hydrodynamic treatment of relativistic heavy ion collisions

The transverse momenta of hadrons in central nucleus-nucleus collisions are evaluated in a boost invariant hydrodynamics with transverse expansion. Quark gluon plasma is assumed to be formed in the initial state which expands and cools via a first order phase transition to a rich hadronic matter and ultimately undergoes a freeze-out. The average transverse momentum of pions, kaons, and protons is estimated for a wide range of multiplicity densities and transverse sizes of the system. For a given system it is found to scale with the square-root of the particle rapidity density per unit transverse area, and consistent with the corresponding values seen in $p\overline{p}$ experiments at 1800 GeV, suggesting a universal behaviour. The average transverse momentum shows only an approximate scaling with multiplicity density per nucleon which is at variance with the $p\overline{p}$ data.Comment: 6 pages including 9 figure