Development of Grid e-Infrastructure in South-Eastern Europe

Over the period of 6 years and three phases, the SEE-GRID programme has established a strong regional human network in the area of distributed scientific computing and has set up a powerful regional Grid infrastructure. It attracted a number of user communities and applications from diverse fields from countries throughout the South-Eastern Europe. From the infrastructure point view, the first project phase has established a pilot Grid infrastructure with more than 20 resource centers in 11 countries. During the subsequent two phases of the project, the infrastructure has grown to currently 55 resource centers with more than 6600 CPUs and 750 TBs of disk storage, distributed in 16 participating countries. Inclusion of new resource centers to the existing infrastructure, as well as a support to new user communities, has demanded setup of regionally distributed core services, development of new monitoring and operational tools, and close collaboration of all partner institution in managing such a complex infrastructure. In this paper we give an overview of the development and current status of SEE-GRID regional infrastructure and describe its transition to the NGI-based Grid model in EGI, with the strong SEE regional collaboration.Comment: 22 pages, 12 figures, 4 table

Comparing microphysical/dynamical outputs by different cloud resolving models: impact on passive microwave precipitation retrieval from satellite

International audienceMesoscale cloud resolving models (CRM's) are often utilized to generate consistent descriptions of the microphysical structure of precipitating clouds, which are then used by physically-based algorithms for retrieving precipitation from satellite-borne microwave radiometers. However, in principle, the simulated upwelling brightness temperatures (TB's) and derived precipitation retrievals generated by means of different CRM's with different microphysical assumptions, may be significantly different even when the models simulate well the storm dynamical and rainfall characteristics. In this paper, we investigate this issue for two well-known models having different treatment of the bulk microphysics, i.e. the UW-NMS and the MM5. To this end, the models are used to simulate the same 24-26 November 2002 flood-producing storm over northern Italy. The model outputs that best reproduce the structure of the storm, as it was observed by the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR) onboard the EOS-Aqua satellite, have been used in order to compute the upwelling TB's. Then, these TB's have been utilized for retrieving the precipitation fields from the AMSR observations. Finally, these results are compared in order to provide an indication of the CRM-effect on precipitation retrieval

The RISKMED project : philosophy, methods and products

This paper presents RISKMED, a project targeted to create an Early Warning System (EWS) in case of severe or extreme weather events in the central and eastern Mediterranean and specifically in southern Italy, northwestern Greece, Malta and Cyprus. As severe or extreme weather events are considered, cases when the values of some meteorological parameters (temperature, wind, precipitation) exceed certain thresholds, and/or a severe weather phenomenon (thunderstorm, snowfall) occurs. For an accurate weather forecast, selected meteorological models have been operated daily, based on a nesting strategy using two or three domains, providing detailed forecasts over the above mentioned areas. The forecast results are further exploited for the evaluation and prediction of human discomfort and fire weather indices. Finally, sea wave models have also been operating daily over the central and eastern Mediterranean Sea. In case a severe or extreme weather event is forecasted within the next 48 or 72 h for selected target areas (sub-regions defined by their morphological and population characteristics), the local authorities and the public are informed via a user-friendly graphic system, the so-called RISK MAP. On the web page of the Project (http://www.riskmed.net), additional information is provided about the real-time values of some meteorological parameters, the latest satellite picture and the time and space distribution of lightning during the last 24 h. The RISKMED project was financed by the EU and the Ministries of National Economy of Greece, Italy, Malta and Cyprus, in the frame of INTERREG IIIB/ARCHIMED programme.peer-reviewe

Volume fraction and location of voids and gaps in ultraconservative restorations by X-ray computed micro-tomography

Background: Volume fraction (Vf) and location of internal voids and gaps in relation to material type and cavity dimensions in ultraconservative restorations were investigated in this study. Materials and Methods: Forty-eight round cavities of 1.3 mm mean diameter and 2.6 mm mean depth were made on buccal and lingual surfaces of recently extracted human teeth. These were filled and thermocycled with two low viscosity composites (AeliteFlo LV [AF], PermaFlo [PF]), one high viscosity composite (Aelite aesthetic enamel [AA]) and one glass-ionomer (GCFuji IX GP). X-ray microtomography, following a specific procedure, was applied to all cavities before and after their restoration, using SkyScan-1072 microtomographer. Vf percent (Vf%) and location of voids and gaps were recorded and analysed statistically at a = 0.05. Kruskal-Wallis nonparametric analysis of variance, post-hoc analysis, Mann-Whitney test, Spearman's correlation analysis were used to analyze data. Results: Cavities filled with AF and PF showed significantly lower V f % of voids and gaps than all other restorations (P < 0.05). Only for the cavities filled with AA, cavity width and depth was significantly correlated with V f % (P < 0.05). 50-75% of the filled cavities contained internal voids regardless of the restorative material (P > 0.05). The proportion of cavities with gaps at the bottom and side walls was lower in those filled with AF and PF (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Cavities filled with low viscosity composites presented the lowest amount of internal voids and gaps. Glass-ionomer and high viscosity composite restorative materials showed the highest amount of interfacial gaps. Only in the high viscosity composite restorations the amount of voids and gaps correlated with the cavity depth, width and volume. © 2015 Dental Research Journal | Published by Wolters Kluwer - Medknow

Color changes in staining solutions of four light-cured indirect resin composites

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of different staining solutions on the color coordinates of indirect light-cured resin composites. 112 discs were made using four indirect composites, Signum+/Haraeus-Kulzer, Sinfony/3M-Espe, GC Gradia/GC, Ena HRi/Micerium, and divided into four groups which immersed in tea, coffee, chocolate and distilled water, at 37 °C, for 4 weeks. The color, before and after immersion for 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks, was measured according to CIELAB system and ΔL*, Δa*, Δb* and ΔE* values were calculated for all immersion periods. The effect of time, solution and material on primary and secondary color coordinates was estimated using two-way repeated ANOVAs and pairwise comparisons, at a = 0.05. The results showed that coffee strongly affected all the materials (p < 0.05), followed by tea and chocolate. Sinfony presented the highest color change (p < 0.05), due to changes in b* and L* coordinates. Color coordinates were affected differently by material type and solution. In conclusion, this study showed that the color of indirect resin composites was affected by all three examined factors (immersion time, staining solution and material type), in a clinically appreciable level (ΔΕ* > 2.7 U) even from the first week, and in an unacceptable level (ΔΕ* > 5.5 U) in the second, third and fourth week, depending on the staining solution and the material. © 2013 The Society of The Nippon Dental University

Effect of adaptation time on the occlusal force at denture dislodgement with or without denture adhesive

Statement of problem The effect of denture adhesives on the occlusal forces at the dislodgement (OFD) of new complete dentures during the adaptation period has not been previously studied. Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the OFD of dentures after their insertion and 3 months later, with or without denture adhesives. Material and methods Thirteen volunteers with edentulism were enrolled in the study. Each participant had new complete maxillary and mandibular dentures. The occlusal forces (N) at denture dislodgement were assessed with or without 2 adhesives by using an electronic gnathodynamometer in the incisal and premolar regions on the existing denture, the new denture immediately after fitting, 45 days later, and 90 days later. The statistical analysis included the Wilcoxon and Kruskal-Wallis tests, repeated measures ANOVA, and the Pearson coefficient at α=.05. Results Repeated measures ANOVA for new dentures showed that the OFD in the incisal or premolar region were significantly different between adaptation periods (P<.05) but not between adhesives. OFDs of dentures with and without adhesives correlated highly at all adaptation periods (0.912 to 0.995). Conclusions The adaptation period does affect the OFD of new dentures, but the 2 adhesives were found to have the same effect on the OFD. © 2014 by the Editorial Council forThe Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry

Tooth, skin, hair and eye colour interrelationships in Greek young adults

The purpose of this study was to investigate the possible interrelationships of teeth, skin, eye and hair colour. A portable colorimeter (Shade Eye NCC/Shofu) was used to record the colour in the CIELAB system of the upper right incisors in 150 dental school students, along with their skin colour at three different areas. Natural hair and eye colour was classified into several categories by a trained examiner (ICC 0.93-0.99). One-way ANOVA and correlation tests were used to statistically analyse the data. Skin was found to have significantly higher L*, b* but lower a* values than teeth (p < 0.05). A significant correlation (p <0. 05) of teeth to skin L* and a*colour coordinate was found, but not to b* coordinate (p > 0.05). Hair tones were not correlated to teeth L* or b*, but only to a*coordinate. Teeth and eye colour coordinates were not correlated (p > 0.05). Eye and hair tones were found to have the highest significant correlation (ρ = 0.369). In conclusion, teeth of this cohort were found to be lighter, less red and yellow than the skin. Teeth colour was not related to eye colour, but lighter teeth were found to be associated with lighter skins, and redder lateral incisors to lighter hair. Darker facial skins or yellower forehead areas were also associated with darker hair and vice versa. The clinical relevance of the study is that the investigated facial characteristics are inter-correlated weakly to moderately, and for this reason predicting the colour parameters of one facial characteristic by another would not be accurate, but helpful for a rough colour selection as associations show. © 2012 The Society of The Nippon Dental University