Accelerated sea level rise and coastal vulnerability in the Hersonisos coastal region (Crete, Greece)

The IPCC predictions for climate changes in the 21st century assess sea level rise from 5 to 10mm/year due to the Greenhouse effect. We have already entered a period of accelerated temperature and sea level rise and one of the most important impacts of these changes is the severe erosion of the coastal areas. According to Bruun rule, a sea level rise of 1cm induces a coastal retreat of (approximately) 1m in low-lying coastal areas. Taking into consideration the inundation concept, the historical retreat and the Bruun erosion model, the assessment of the coastal setback comes nearer to the response of nature due to climate changes. In the coastal region of the Hersonissos in Crete, Greece and for 21km of its shoreline, the impacts of the above models are considered in order to assess the vulnerability due to the Greenhouse effect. The results are impressive and estimate a coastal retreat of more than 280m up to the end of the century, posing a threat to the coastal infrastructure. In view of the results, decisions and measures should be considered without delay

Towards a national adaptation strategy in view of climate changes

The continuously increasing emissions of CO2 and Methane result in the enhanced greenhouse effect. The IPCC assessments for the 21st century refer to a 3oC increase in temperature and 50 cm rise in sea level on average. It is therefore understood that every nation must create a National Adaptation Strategy to face the impacts of the forthcoming climate changes. For Greece, an adaptation plan should include:The vulnerability index of the coastal regions according to the national development plan.The determination of the procedures towards adaptation in view of climate changes.The determination of the national criteria to face extreme phenomena due to anthropogenic climate changes.The technical and legal action plans.The responsibility of the various public sectors to overcome gaps or overlaps in the actions to mitigate the impact andThe general national adaptation principles.The presentation analyses all the above concepts and proposes specific guidelines to formulate a Greek National Adaptation Strategy to mitigate the impacts of anthropogenic climate changes

Status, trends and management of sturgeon and paddlefish fisheries

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/75518/1/j.1467-2979.2005.00190.x.pd

Molecular analysis of Acipenser sturio L., 1758 and Acipenser oxyrinchus Mitchill, 1815: A review

Molecular phylogeny based on the analysis of partial sequences of mitochondrial (mt) cytochrome b (cyt b), 12S, and 16S genes supports a close relationship between the European Atlantic sturgeon Acipenser sturio L., 1758, and the American Atlantic sturgeon, Acipenser oxyrinchus Mitchill, 1815. These sister species form a separate clade within the genus Acipenser and appear to be the most basal clade with respect to all other species of the genus. Intraspecifically, at least two different genetic forms have been found within A. sturio (in the Northern and Baltic seas), but no defined subspecies exist. For A. oxyrinchus, fixed differences in the control region and cyt b gene distinguish the two subspecies, the Atlantic sturgeon A. oxyrinchus oxyrinchus Mitchill, 1815 and the Gulf of Mexico sturgeon A. oxyrinchus desotoi Vladykov, 1955. Within A. o. oxyrinchus, a pronounced latitudinal cline in haplotype diversity exists from north to south along the eastern coast of North America. This greater genetic diversity in southern populations is most likely a result of population continuity through the Pleistocene. Monomorphism within the two northernmost, post-Pleistocene A. o. oxyrinchus populations indicates a probable founder effect. A. o. desotoi also displays a significant geographic structuring of populations in different river systems. Because of the lack of A. sturio individuals necessary for population studies and the close relationship between this species and A. oxyrinchus, the genetic characteristics and structure of A. oxyrinchus can be regarded as a model for A. sturio. The only opportunity for future detailed molecular study of A. sturio resides in using tissue samples from sturgeon specimens kept in various European museums.La filogenia molecular basada en el análisis de secuencias parciales de los genes mitocondriales (mt) citocromo b (cyt b), 12S y 16S apoya la próxima relación entre el esturión atlántico europeo Acipenser sturio L., 1758 y el esturión atlántico americano Acipenser oxyrinchus Mitchill, 1815. Estas especies hermanas forman un clado separado dentro del género Acipenser y parecen constituir el clado más basal con relación a todas las otras especies del género. Intraespecíficamente se han encontrado, al menos, dos formas genéticas diferentes dentro de A. sturio (en los mares del Norte y Báltico) pero no existen subespecies definidas. Para A. oxyrinchus las diferencias fijadas en la región control y en el gen del cyt b distinguen las dos subespecies: el esturión atlántico A. oxyrinchus oxyrinchus Mitchill, 1815 y el esturión del golfo de México A. oxyrinchus desotoi Vladykov, 1955. Dentro de A. o. oxyrinchus existe un pronunciado cline latitudinal en la diversidad de haplotipos desde el norte hasta el sur a lo largo de la costa este de América del Norte. Esta mayor diversidad genética en las poblaciones meridionales es, más probablemente, un resultado de la continuidad poblacional durante el Pleistoceno. El monomorfismo dentro de las dos poblaciones post-pleistocénicas más septentrionales de A. o. oxyrinchus indica un probable efecto fundador. A. o. desotoi siempre muestra una significativa estructuración geográfica de poblaciones en diferentes sistemas fluviales. Debido a la falta de individuos de A. sturio necesarios para los estudios poblacionales y a la próxima relación entre esta especie y A. oxyrinchus, las características y estructura genéticas de A. oxyrinchus pueden ser consideradas como modelo para A. sturio. La única oportunidad para un futuro estudio molecular detallado de A. sturio reside en el uso de muestras de tejidos de ejemplares de esturión almacenados en varios museos europeos.Instituto Español de Oceanografí

Neural Assets: Volumetric Object Capture and Rendering for Interactive Environments

Creating realistic virtual assets is a time-consuming process: it usually involves an artist designing the object, then spending a lot of effort on tweaking its appearance. Intricate details and certain effects, such as subsurface scattering, elude representation using real-time BRDFs, making it impossible to fully capture the appearance of certain objects. Inspired by the recent progress of neural rendering, we propose an approach for capturing real-world objects in everyday environments faithfully and fast. We use a novel neural representation to reconstruct volumetric effects, such as translucent object parts, and preserve photorealistic object appearance. To support real-time rendering without compromising rendering quality, our model uses a grid of features and a small MLP decoder that is transpiled into efficient shader code with interactive framerates. This leads to a seamless integration of the proposed neural assets with existing mesh environments and objects. Thanks to the use of standard shader code rendering is portable across many existing hardware and software systems

Η αντιοξειδωτική προετοιμασία πριν από μείζονες ηπατεκτομές

Σκοπός: Σκοπός του πειράματος είναι να εκτιμηθεί κατά πόσον η αντιοξειδωτική προετοιμασία με δεφεροξαμίνη μπορεί να ελαττώσει τον τραυματισμό της ισχαιμίας/επαναιμάτωσης του ήπατος που σχετίζεται με εκτεταμένη ηπατεκτομή σε χοίρους. Μέθοδοι: Δεκαοκτώ χοίροι χωρίστηκαν τυχαία σε ομάδες: Δεφεροξαμίνης (DFO) και Χειρουργείου μόνο (SO). Οι χοίροι υποβλήθηκαν σε λαπαροτομία, προσωρινό αποκλεισμό των δεξιών και μέσων ηπατικών αγγείων και ηπατικού πόρου και ακολούθως σε αριστερή ηπατεκτομή. Η ομάδα DFO έλαβε IV δεφεροξαμίνη πριν από την πρόκληση ισχαιμίας του ήπατος. Η παρακολούθηση πραγματοποιήθηκε για 6 ώρες και τα δείγματα (Protein carbonyls (PC), Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), Ιστολογία, ALT, AST, Lactic acid και WBC) συλλέχθηκαν στα 0, 60 και 360 λεπτά. Αποτελέσματα: Οι αντιοξειδωτικοί δείκτες PC και TBARS είχαν σημαντικά χαμηλότερη συγκέντρωση και υψηλότερα ποσοστά μείωσης στον ορό και τον ηπατικό ιστό της ομάδας DFO. Η ιστολογική εξέταση του ήπατος έδειξε λιγότερη φλεγμονή και νέκρωση στην ομάδα DFO. Τα ηπατικά ένζυμα και οι μετρήσεις γαλακτικού οξέος έδειξαν υψηλότερο ρυθμό μείωσης στην ομάδα DFO στο τέλος του πειράματος. Συμπεράσματα: Αυτή η πειραματική μελέτη τεκμηριώνει ένα πρώιμο προστατευτικό αποτέλεσμα της χορήγησης δεφεροξαμίνης σε μείζονες ηπατεκτομές έναντι της βλάβης ισχαιμίας/επαναιμάτωσης στο ήπαρ.Purpose: The purpose of the experiment is to evaluate whether antioxidant preconditioning with Deferoxamine can attenuate liver ischemia reperfusion injury associated with extended hepatectomy in swine. Methods: Eighteen swine were randomly assigned to two groups: Deferoxamine (DFO) and Surgery Only (SO). The porcine in both groups were subjected to laparotomy, prolonged temporary occlusion of right and middle hepatic pedicles and subsequent left hepatectomy. DFO group received IV deferoxamine prior to induction of liver ischemia. Monitoring was performed for 6 hours and samples (Protein carbonyls, Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, Histology, ALT, AST, Lactic acid and WBC) were drawn at 0, 60 and 360 mins. Results: Protein carbonyls and Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances had significantly lower concentration and higher reduction rates in serum and liver tissue of DFO group. The histological examination of liver tissue showed less inflammation and necrosis in DFO group. Hepatic enzymes and lactic acid measurements showed higher reduction rate in DFO group by the end of the experiment. Conclusions: This experimental study documents an early protective effect of deferoxamine administration in major hepatectomies against liver ischemia/reperfusion injury

Selective BRDFs for High Fidelity Rendering

High fidelity rendering systems rely on accurate material representations to produce a realistic visual appearance. However, these accurate models can be slow to evaluate. This work presents an approach for approximating these high accuracy reflectance models with faster, less complicated functions in regions of an image which possess low visual importance. A subjective rating experiment was conducted in which thirty participants were asked to assess the similarity of scenes rendered with low quality reflectance models, a high quality data-driven model and saliency based hybrids of those images. In two out of the three scenes that were evaluated significant differences were not found between the hybrid and reference images. This implies that in less visually salient regions of an image computational gains can be achieved by approximating computationally expensive materials with simpler analytic models

A Calibrated Olfactory Display for High Fidelity Virtual Environments

Olfactory displays provide a means to reproduce olfactory stimuli for use in virtual environments. Many of the designs produced by researchers, strive to provide stimuli quickly to users and focus on improving usability and portability, yet concentrate less on providing high levels of accuracy to improve the fidelity of odour delivery. This paper provides the guidance to build a reproducible and low cost olfactory display which is able to provide odours to users in a virtual environment at accurate concentration levels that are typical in everyday interactions; this includes ranges of concentration below parts per million and into parts per billion. This paper investigates build concerns of the olfactometer and its proper calibration in order to ensure concentration accuracy of the device. An analysis is provided on the recovery rates of a specific compound after excitation. This analysis provides insight into how this result can be generalisable to the recovery rates of any volatile organic compound, given knowledge of the specific vapour pressure of the compound

Audio-visual-olfactory resource allocation for tri-modal virtual environments

© 2019 IEEE. Virtual Environments (VEs) provide the opportunity to simulate a wide range of applications, from training to entertainment, in a safe and controlled manner. For applications which require realistic representations of real world environments, the VEs need to provide multiple, physically accurate sensory stimuli. However, simulating all the senses that comprise the human sensory system (HSS) is a task that requires significant computational resources. Since it is intractable to deliver all senses at the highest quality, we propose a resource distribution scheme in order to achieve an optimal perceptual experience within the given computational budgets. This paper investigates resource balancing for multi-modal scenarios composed of aural, visual and olfactory stimuli. Three experimental studies were conducted. The first experiment identified perceptual boundaries for olfactory computation. In the second experiment, participants (N=25) were asked, across a fixed number of budgets (M=5), to identify what they perceived to be the best visual, acoustic and olfactory stimulus quality for a given computational budget. Results demonstrate that participants tend to prioritize visual quality compared to other sensory stimuli. However, as the budget size is increased, users prefer a balanced distribution of resources with an increased preference for having smell impulses in the VE. Based on the collected data, a quality prediction model is proposed and its accuracy is validated against previously unused budgets and an untested scenario in a third and final experiment