Aligning Business And Learning: Competency Based Learning Management In Organisations

The value of human capital strongly influences competitiveness, making the alignment of training and business objectives a key priority for organisations in today’s turbulent markets. This entails integrating learning into daily working tasks and putting in place mechanisms for the effective management of business processes, organisational roles, competencies and learning processes, to reduce the time to fill competency gaps and to build proficiency according to evolving business needs. In this paper we discuss competency-based learning management and a practical implementation of this approach in the context of the PROLIX project for business process oriented learning

Novel Ways of Discovering, Capturing and Experiencing Cultural Heritage: A Review of Current State-of-the-Art, Challenges and Future Directions

The present chapter investigates the emerging paradigm of cultural heritage experience, as shaped by the continuous advances in information technologies. Recent years have seen the growing digitisation of cultural heritage, leveraged by innovative information technologies (imaging technologies, multimedia, virtual reality etc.). Advanced digitisation, and digital preservation and accessibility have been instrumental in transforming conservation and scientific research methods in the field of cultural heritage, as well as people’s experience of cultural heritage assets, relics, and monuments. Digitisation and immersion technologies are already in use in the context of cultural tourism in museums and on location. At the same time, a manifold of new applications and services can be generated from the adoption and adaptation of relevant technologies already applied in other sectors (e.g. 2D/3D digital scanning technologies applied in the construction industry). The present chapter will provide a thorough review of relevant digital technologies and existing work in the field, highlighting important research efforts and achievements; and will discuss the current challenges and promising avenues for future work. Following a literature review methodology, our research will provide a critical appraisal of carefully selected work from recent scientific literature and contribute to the systematisation of the current knowledge in the field towards the identification of key challenges and the extraction of new insights in terms of potential for practical applications and future research directions in the area

Η επίδραση ενός υπερμαραθωνίου στα επίπεδα ορμονών θυροειδή, στρες και ανοσοποιητικού

ΣΚΟΠΟΣ: Σκοπός της παρούσας ερευνητικής εργασίας είναι να μελετηθεί η επίδραση ενός υπερμαραθωνίου στα επίπεδα ορμονών του θυροειδή, του ανοσοποιητικού καθώς και του στρες. Παράλληλα να διερευνηθεί ή πιθανή συσχέτιση των παραπάνω ορμονών με τις ορμόνες του στρες. ΥΛΙΚΟ-ΜΕΘΟΔΟΛΟΓΙΑ: Πρόκειται για έναν παρατεταμένο και έντονο αγώνα δρόμου όπου αρχικά πήραν μέρος 40 εθελοντές δρομείς εκ των οποίων την απόσταση των 246 km σε λιγότερο από 36 ώρες κατάφεραν να ολοκληρώσουν και τελικά να συμπεριληφθούν στις μετρήσεις οι 30. Υπήρχαν 3 διαφορετικές χρονικές στιγμές δειγματοληψίας αίματος πριν τον αγώνα, αμέσως μετά και 48 ώρες αργότερα. Στις αναφερθείσες αιμοληψίες έγινε προσδιορισμός δεικτών στρες και φλεγμονής, όπως των CRP, SAA μέσω της τεχνικής της ανοσονεφελομετρίας, IL-6, NTproBNP, mannose binding lectin (MBL), τροπονίνης, λεπτίνης μέσω ανοσοενζυματικών μεθόδων, και ορμονών όπως της κορτιζόλης και των θυρεοειδικών ορμονών Τ3, FT3, Τ4, FT4, TSH με την τεχνική της ενισχυμένης ηλεκτρο-χημειοφωταύγειας. ΑΠΟΤΕΛΕΣΜΑΤΑ: CRP, IL-6, SAA, NTproBNP και κορτιζόλη παρουσίασαν μια δραματική αύξηση αμέσως μετά τον αγώνα, υπερπολλαπλάσια των αρχικών τιμών, η οποία όμως ήρθε σε ισορροπία μετά τις 48 ώρες σε όλους τους δείκτες πλην της SAA που αυξήθηκε περαιτέρω. Όμοια ήταν η συμπεριφορά και της mannose binding lectin με συνεχή αυξητική τάση. Παρατηρήθηκαν μικρές διακυμάνσεις στις ορμόνες του θυροειδή (Τ3, FT3,Τ4,FT4,TSH) με αρχικά αύξηση των τιμών, στην συνέχεια πτωτική τάση φτάνοντας ξανά στις αρχικές τιμές. Η μοναδική περίπτωση όπου μετά τον αγώνα η συγκέντρωση μειώθηκε είναι εκείνη της λεπτίνης ενώ οι συγκεντρώσεις της τροπονίνης δεν ήταν ανιχνεύσιμες. ΣΥΜΠΕΡΑΣΜΑΤΑ: Ένας υπερμαραθώνιος αγώνας δρόμου μπορεί να αποτελέσει ένα πολύ έντονο στρεσογόνο γεγονός για τον οργανισμό φτάνοντας σε αρκετές περιπτώσεις τις ορμόνες σε επίπεδα πέραν του φυσιολογικού. Παρατηρήθηκε σημαντική συσχέτιση στον τρόπο μεταβολής της κορτιζόλης με την CRP, την IL-6 και την ΝΤproBNP, γεγονός που φανερώνει την στενή σχέση του ενδοκρινικού-ανοσοποιητικού συστήματος σε ακραίες περιπτώσεις άσκησης όπως αυτή του Σπάρταθλου.PURPOSE: The purpose of this research is to study the effect of a ultrarmarathon on thyroid hormone levels immune as well as stress levels. At the same time to investigated a possible correlation of the above hormones with stress hormones. MATERIAL-METHODOLOGY: Spartathlon is a prolonged and intense race where initially 40 volunteer runners took part.The distance of 246 km and has be covered in less than 36 hours. Finally 30 athletes managed to finish the race within the 36 hours and were able to be included in the measurements of the research. There were 3 different blood sampling moments before the race, immediately after and 48 hours later. In the blood samples, the inflammation indicators such as CRP, SAA were measured through the technique of immunoencephalometry, IL-6 NTproBNP, mannose binding lectin (MBL), troponin, leptin via immunoenzymatic methods, and hormones such as cortisol and thyroid hormones T3, FT3, T4, FT4, TSH with its technique enhanced electro-chemiluminescence. RESULTS: CRP, IL-6, SAA, NTproBNP and cortisol showed a dramatic increase immediately after the race, many times higher than the original which, however, came into balance after 48 hours in all indicators except for the SAA which increased further. SAA's behavior was similar to mannose binding lectin with continuous increasing tendency. Small fluctuations were observed in thyroid hormones (T3, FT3, T4, FT4, TSH) with initial increase prices, then a downward trend back to the original prices. The only case where after the race the concentration decreased is that of leptin while troponin concentrations were not detectable. CONCLUSIONS: An ultramarathon race can be a very intense stressful event for the body with the hormones reaching in several cases levels above normal. A significant correlation was observed in the way cortisol is altered with CRP, IL-6 and NTproBNP, which reveals the close relationship of endocrine-immune system in extreme situations of exercise such as a Spartathlon

Original Sins of Insurance systems: The case of the Greek Occupational Risk Insurance Scheme, IKA-ETAM

This paper aims to estimate the cost of pensions, compensations and foregone contributions due to occupational accidents for the main Greek social security institution IKA-ETAM. Through this process, conclusions transferable to other occupational risk insurance systems are drawn. Both prevalence and incidence approach are applied on analytical data for active and new occupational accident pensions and compensations of IKA-ETAM for 2007. Cost is estimated as the difference of all costs and benefits with and without the accident. Prevalence approach leads to an estimate of €148,539,548.40 against an estimate of €77,707,206.98 with incidence approach. In both approaches, cost of temporary disability is estimated at €18,464,021.61 and foregone contributions (opportunity cost) account for 27% of total cost. Although wages raised, contribution and compensation rates remained stable and accidents decreased for IKA-ETAM contribution payers during last decades, the viability of the system is threatened. The reasons identified are a) the increase of the average time off-work per accident and b) the backload, due to the large number of accidents and pensions in the past

In vitro and in vivo properties of distinct populations of amniotic fluid mesenchymal progenitor cells

Human mesenchymal progenitor cells (MPCs) are considered to be of great promise for use in tissue repair and regenerative medicine. MPCs represent multipotent adherent cells, able to give rise to multiple mesenchymal lineages such as osteoblasts, adipocytes or chondrocytes. Recently, we identified and characterized human second trimester amniotic fluid (AF) as a novel source of MPCs. Herein, we found that early colonies of AF-MPCs consisted of two morphologically distinct adherent cell types, termed as spindle-shaped (SS) and round-shaped (RS). A detailed analysis of these two populations showed that SS-AF-MPCs expressed CD90 antigen in a higher level and exhibited a greater proliferation and differentiation potential. To characterize better the molecular identity of these two populations, we have generated a comparative proteomic map of SS-AF-MPCs and RS-AF-MPCs, identifying 25 differentially expressed proteins and 10 proteins uniquely expressed in RS-AF-MPCs. Furthermore, SS-AF-MPCs exhibited significantly higher migration ability on extracellular matrices, such as fibronectin and laminin in vitro, compared to RS-AF-MPCs and thus we further evaluated SS-AF-MPCs for potential use as therapeutic tools in vivo. Therefore, we tested whether GFP-lentiviral transduced SS-AF-MPCs retained their stem cell identity, proliferation and differentiation potential. GFP-SS-AF-MPCs were then successfully delivered into immunosuppressed mice, distributed in different tissues and survived longterm in vivo. In summary, these results demonstrated that AF-MPCs consisted of at least two different MPC populations. In addition, SS-AF-MPCs, isolated based on their colony morphology and CD90 expression, represented the only MPC population that can be expanded easily in culture and used as an efficient tool for future in vivo therapeutic applications

A novel approach towards skill-based search and services of Open Educational Resources

Ha, K.-H., Niemann, K., Schwertel, U., Holtkamp, P., Pirkkalainen, H., Börner, D. et al (2011). A novel approach towards skill-based search and services of Open Educational Resources. In E. Garcia-Barriocanal, A. Öztürk, & M. C. Okur (Eds.), Metadata and Semantics Research: 5th International Conference MTSR 2011 (pp. 312-323), Izmir, Turkey, October 12-14, 2011. Springer.Open educational resources (OER) have a high potential to address the growing need for training materials in management education and training. Today, a high number of OER in management are already available in a large number of repositories. However, users face barriers as they have to search repository by repository with different interfaces to retrieve the appropriate learning content. In addition, the use of search criteria related to skills, such as learning objectives and skill-levels is not generally supported. The European co-funded project OpenScout addresses these barriers by intelligently connecting leading European OER repositories and providing federated, skillbased search and retrieval web services. On top of this content federation the project supports users with easy-to-apply tools that will accelerate the (re-) use of open content

A bottom-up view of food surplus: using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis to investigate agricultural strategies and diet at Bronze Age Archontiko and Thessaloniki Toumba, northern Greece

We use stable isotope analysis of crop, faunal and human remains to investigate agricultural strategies and diet at EBA-LBA Archontiko and MBA-LBA Thessaloniki Toumba. Crop production strategies varied between settlements, phases and species; flexibility is also apparent within the crop stores of individual houses. Escalating manuring intensity at LBA Thessaloniki Toumba coincides with large co-residential ‘blocks’ geared towards hoarding of agricultural surpluses, spectacularly preserved by fire at nearby LBA Assiros Toumba. Faunal isotope values reflect a range of feeding strategies, including probable herding of cattle on C4-rich coastal salt marshes, evident at Archontiko through to the LBA alongside bulk cockle harvesting. Palaeodietary analysis of LBA humans at Thessaloniki Toumba indicates that C3 crops represent the only plausible staples. Millet was a minor food but may have played a particular role in the sub-adult diet. Meat probably featured in supra-household food sharing and hospitality, associated with Mycenaean-style tableware in the LBA

The knowledge discovery cube framework : a reference framework for collaborative, information-driven pharmacovigilance.

Pharmacovigilance has attracted enormous attention over recent decades. At present, the increasing datafication combined with the growing knowledge elicitation capabilities of key technology innovations, present pharmacovigilance with enormous opportunities to improve its effectiveness and widen its scope. With change being a continuous process, for pharmacovigilance this represents an era of “Digital Darwinism”, during which new directions are opening fast and new challenges emerge, as to how the sector adapts in order to draw benefit. Current efforts and initiatives, aimed at addressing existing barriers and at enhancing the practical applications of new science and technology, are fragmented and disjoint, and thus are not adequate to provide an effective response to challenges. This research proposes a new paradigm for collaborative, information-driven innovation in pharmacovigilance and develops a Reference Framework, in order to (a) deepen the collective understanding of how a principled, collaborative and balanced medicines safety data ecosystem can be organised, (b) guide stakeholders towards the optimisation of pharmacovigilance and (c) provide useful reference points for the ongoing research and development process in the field. The Knowledge Discovery Cube (KDC) Framework provides the means for continual analysis, and for managing technology adoption in an informed and intentional manner. A variety of sources informed the research work. The resulting deliberations draw on the findings and conclusions of scholarly research, guidelines, policy documents and reports, and other resources from within and outside the field of health and life sciences, as well as on relevant theories. The developed framework was operationalised and validated in the context of vaccine safety monitoring