Air-stable ambipolar organic transistors

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An iPSC Patient Specific Model of CFH (Y402H) Polymorphism Displays Characteristic Features of AMD and Indicates a Beneficial Role for UV Light Exposure

Age related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common cause of blindness, accounting for 8.7% of all blindness globally. Vision loss is caused ultimately by apoptosis of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and overlying photoreceptors. Treatments are evolving for the wet form of the disease, however these do not exist for the dry form. Complement factor H (CFH) polymorphism in exon 9 (Y402H) has shown a strong association with susceptibility to AMD resulting in complement activation, recruitment of phagocytes, retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) damage and visual decline. We have derived and characterised induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSCs) lines from two patients without AMD and low risk genotype and two patients with advanced AMD and high risk genotype and generated RPE cells that show local secretion of several proteins involved in the complement pathway including factor H (FH), factor I (FI) and factor H like 1 (FHL-1). The iPSC RPE cells derived from high risk patients mimic several key features of AMD including increased inflammation and cellular stress, accumulation of lipid droplets, impaired autophagy and deposition of “drüsen” like deposits. The low and high risk RPE cells respond differently to intermittent exposure to UV light which leads to an improvement in cellular and functional phenotype only in the high risk AMD-RPE cells. Taken together our data indicate that the patient specific iPSC model provides a robust platform for understanding the role of complement activation in AMD, evaluating new therapies based on complement modulation and drug testing

Investigation of phase transformations and corrosion resistance in Co/CoCo2O4 nanowires and their potential use as a basis for lithium-ion batteries

The paper is devoted to the study of the effect of thermal annealing on the change in the structural properties and phase composition of metal Co nanostructures, as well as the prospects of their use as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries. During the study, a four-stage phase transition in the structure of nanowires consisting of successive transformations of the structure (Со-FCC/Co-HCP) → (Со-FCС) → (Со-FCC/СоСо2О4) → (СоСо2О4), accompanied by uniform oxidation of the structure of nanowires with an increase in temperature above 400 °C. In this case, an increase in temperature to 700 °C leads to a partial destruction of the oxide layer and surface degradation of nanostructures. During life tests, it was found that the lifetime for oxide nanostructures exceeds 500 charge/discharge cycles, for the initial nanostructures and annealed at a temperature of 300 °С, the lifetimes are 297 and 411 cycles, respectively. The prospects of using Co/CoCo2O4 nanowires as the basis for lithium-ion batteries is shown. © 2019, The Author(s)

Burnout among labour inspectors in Greece: A nationwide cross-sectional study

The principal role of labour inspectorates is labour law enforcement and compliance, to secure effective implementation of legal provisions relating to the protection of workers. These aspects can turn the job context of a labour inspector into a really demanding occupation, that may have significant physiological and psychological effects. The aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence of burnout between labour inspectors in Greece and associated factors. A semi-structured survey was conducted covering job characteristics, perceived job limitations, some associated with economic crisis, and a burnout assessment tool. There were 102 responses collected out of the 245 labour inspectors specialised in occupational safety and health. Two out of three inspectors (67.65%) reported that reduction of their salary resulted by austerity measures, affected their work quality and performance, 92% reported that job demands had significantly increased during the previous year and 55% that their work does not provide the flexibility, while NLI's framework does not provide support in performing their job related tasks. Our study identified high rates of burnout and a plethora of work-related contributing risk factors such as increased job demands, lack of staff and resources. The establishment of an effective work framework, that would be supportive and protective for inspectors, in a top-down approach, promoting interpersonal relations and providing the necessary degrees of freedom to labour inspectors’ tasks, could significantly reduce the levels of experienced burnout. © 202

Assessment of Vaccination Status in Professional Football Players in Low Categories in Greece

Background: There are limited data on the vaccination practices of footballers in low professional categories in Greece and Europe. The aim of this study was to investigate the vaccination practices followed by the medical staff of the low professional football categories in Central Greece. Methods: A questionnaire was developed and included questions on the vaccination practices of football players. The participants were chief medical officers of the fifteen low-category football teams in Central Greece. Overall, 10 out of 15 chief medical officers participated (response rate: 67%). Results: All participants recommended only the tetanus monovalent vaccine in cases with deep trauma of athletes. Influenza, pneumococcal vaccine, and Hepatitis A and B vaccines were not recommended by the medical officers. This was also the case for measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine and meningococcal vaccine with strains A, C, Y, W. Participants reported the lack of specific guidelines for vaccination in professional footballers. Conclusions: The recent study showed poor vaccination practices in low categories of professional football teams in Central Greece. The qualitative view of the respondents revealed the importance of the absence of guidelines on vaccination of football players. © 2022 by the authors

Employers' perceived importance and the use (or non-use) of workplace risk assessment in micro-sized and small enterprises in Europe with focus on Cyprus

Occupational Safety and Health is often poorly managed in micro-sized enterprises (MiSEs) and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Previous studies have shown that employers in such enterprises do not conduct and/or regularly review workplace risk assessments, even though this is required by legislation. In other cases, they may conduct a superficial workplace risk assessment just to comply with legislation and satisfy the authorities. This study attempts to shed some light into the actual use or non-use of workplace risk assessment by MiSEs and SMEs, the level of its utilization, and investigate if it is used as a tool of occupational safety and health promotion and the reduction of workplace accidents and occupational diseases. It also introduces the concept of employers' perception of the actual value of the risk assessment process. Data from ESENER-2 survey were analysed as well as data gathered by a survey conducted in Cyprus that included 201 MiSEs employing less than five employees, an area not covered by previous ESENER surveys. Analysis revealed that a significant percentage of employers in MiSEs do not perceive risk assessment as a valuable tool for improving occupational safety and health, indicating a problematic perception of and attitude towards health and safety issues. Moreover, considerable differences were identified not only in occupational safety and health management, but also in the perceived value of workplace risk assessment between northern and southern European countries, as well as for enterprises employing less than five employees