Hydrology and circulation in the North Aegean (eastern Mediterranean) throughout 1997 and 1998

The combination of two research projects offered us the opportunity to perform a comprehensive study of the seasonal evolution of the hydrological structure and the circulation of the North Aegean Sea, at the northern extremes of the eastern Mediterranean. The combination of brackish water inflow from the Dardanelles and the sea-bottom relief dictate the significant differences between the North and South Aegean water columns. The relatively warm and highly saline South Aegean waters enter the North Aegean through the dominant cyclonic circulation of the basin. In the North Aegean, three layers of distinct water masses of very different properties are observed: The 20-50 m thick surface layer is occupied mainly by Black Sea Water, modified on its way through the Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara and the Dardanelles. Below the surface layer there is warm and highly saline water originating in the South Aegean and the Levantine, extending down to 350-400 m depth. Below this layer, the deeper-than-400 m basins of the North Aegean contain locally formed, very dense water with different θ /S characteristics at each subbasin. The circulation is characterised by a series of permanent, semi-permanent and transient mesoscale features, overlaid on the general slow cyclonic circulation of the Aegean. The mesoscale activity, while not necessarily important in enhancing isopycnal mixing in the region, in combination with the very high stratification of the upper layers, however, increases the residence time of the water of the upper layers in the general area of the North Aegean. As a result, water having out-flowed from the Black Sea in the winter, forms a separate distinct layer in the region in spring (lying between “younger” BSW and the Levantine origin water), and is still traceable in the water column in late summer

North-eastern Aegean sea: an effort to estimate steady-state N & P budgets during September 1998

The north-eastern Aegean sea, characterised by a complex topographical structure, is the area where highly saline waters of Levantine and South-Central Aegean origin are diluted by the outflowing through the Dardanelles of less saline waters of Black Sea origin and by river runoff from the Greek and Turkish mainland. Salinity and nutrient data collected during the INTERREG-I project are used to develop budget calculations and empirical models according to the LOICZ biogeochemical modelling guidelines. The results of the study indicate that the dissolved inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus fluxes imported into the NE Aegean through the Dardanelles are less important than it was believed in the past. Overall, the system acts as a net sink of DIN and DIP, as well as being a net producer of organic matter, as primary production exceeds respiration. Moreover, the system appears to fix more nitrogen than is lost through denitrification

Ubiquinone-8 Stimulates Phagocytosis in Macrophages by Modulation of the Kinetics of the Fc Receptor

The effect of exogenous ubiquinone-8 (Q8) on IgG- and C3b-mediated phagocytosis of sensitized sheep red blood cells and of opsonized Staphylococcus aureus by macrophages was studied by morphological and quantitative methods. Q8 stimulated the initial events of phagocytosis, that is, attachment and ingestion, in which occupancy of the Fe receptor by IgG was shown to be of critical significance. The kinetics of competitive inhibition of phagocytosis of opsonized bacteria by macrophages by using Fe fragments suggested the intimate role of the kinetics of the Fe receptor in the initial events of phagocytosis and, further, the modulation of the kinetics of the Fe receptor by Q8 as the basis of enhanced phagocytosis by Q

REASSEMBLY OF ROCK SEGMENTS, THE CASE OF AREOPAGUS HILL

There are no specifications and/or standards for the restoration of collapsed masses of rocks, as in most cases the rocks bear no historical/archaeological value and their restoration would require significant budget and resources. But plenty of colossal statues, ancient temples, tombs and whole cities are carved on the surface or even expand in the interior of solid natural rocks. These so-called rock-cut monuments are located all around the globe and, in most cases, are made on a grand scale. Earthquakes, rock’s faults, erosion and karst can lead to massive rock collapses.The purpose of this paper is to establish an integrated methodology for the relocation of detached rock segments to their original positions. Specifically, the proposed methodology is based on the case of the Areopagus Hill and involves the generation of 3d models of the rock segments, their virtual reassembly and their utilization for the reconstruction of a part of the peak of the hill

Mesoscale modeling of combined aerosol and photo-oxidant processes in the Eastern Mediterranean

International audienceParticulate matter and photo-oxidant processes in the Eastern Mediterranean have been studied using the UAM-AERO mesoscale air quality model in conjunction with the NILU-CTM regional model. Meteorological data were obtained from the RAMS prognostic meteorological model. The modeling domain includes the eastern Mediterranean area between the Greek mainland and the island of Crete. The modeling system is applied to study the atmospheric processes in three periods, i.e. 13?16 July 2000, 26?30 July 2000 and 7?14 January 2001. The spatial and temporal distributions of both gaseous and particulate matter pollutants have been extensively studied together with the identification of major emission sources in the area. The modeling results were compared with field data obtained in the same period. The objective of the current modeling work was mainly to apply the UAM-AERO mesoscale model in the eastern Mediterranean in order to assess the performed field campaigns and determine that the applied mesoscale model is fit for this purpose. Comparison of the modeling results with measured data was performed for a number of gaseous and aerosol species. The UAM-AERO model underestimates the PM10 measured concentrations during summer and winter campaigns. Discrepancies between modeled and measured data are attributed to unresolved particulate matter emissions. Particulate matter in the area is mainly composed by sulphate, sea salt and crustal materials, and with significant amounts of nitrate, ammonium and organics. During winter the particulate matter and oxidant concentrations were lower than the summer values

Two-dimensional discrete wavelet analysis of multiparticle event topology in heavy ion collisions

The event-by-event analysis of multiparticle production in high energy hadron and nuclei collisions can be performed using the discrete wavelet transformation. The ring-like and jet-like structures in two-dimensional angular histograms are well extracted by wavelet analysis. For the first time the method is applied to the jet-like events with background simulated by event generators, which are developed to describe nucleus-nucleus collisions at LHC energies. The jet positions are located quite well by the discrete wavelet transformation of angular particle distribution even in presence of strong background.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure

The patient acceptable symptom state for knee pain - a systematic literature review and meta-analysis

Purpose: Knee pain is highly prevalent, most commonly attributed to osteoarthritis in older people, and in younger people often due to internal derangements. Knee pain can be measured using numerical patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). Several pain measurement questionnaires have been used for OA pain. These questionnaires each purport to measure the participant’s experience of pain, but may address different pain characteristics (recollection over different time periods, pain impact on function, constant or intermittent or other qualitative aspects of pain). Pooling pain data between studies using different PROMs requires demonstration or transformation to ensure that each PROM would give the same value for pain in a single participant. The Patient Acceptable Symptoms State (PASS) indicates a clinical benchmark that permits comparison between PROMs. Current treatments might relieve but often do not eliminate pain, and PASS is the threshold representing pain which a patient would accept for the remainder of their life. We aimed to systematically review PASS thresholds for different pain PROMs used with people with knee pain, and to identify factors that might influence PASS heterogeneity.Methods: We systematically reviewed literature for PASS scores in knee pain using searches of CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, AMED, CINAHL, and SPORTDiscus databases from their inception date up to June 2020. PROMs of interest were pain-specific questionnaires (or their related domains). Title screening, data extraction, and methodological quality assessments were performed independently by 2 reviewers. Outcome scores were standardised and included in meta-analysis models as a 0-100 scale (0: no pain, 100: highest pain severity). Based on a-priori hypotheses (PROMs, diagnoses, interventions, follow-up timepoints and methodological quality) and following review of data from included studies (PASS score derivation methods), potential effects of study and patient characteristics on PASS were explored. Post-hoc meta-regression explored the relationship between baseline pain and PASS scores. The significance of differences observed between subgroups was evaluated via a Cochran's Q-test. Study heterogeneity was evaluated with the I2 statistic. Results: Eighteen eligible studies (n=7766 participants) reported PASS from pain PROMs in people with knee pain. All studies were longitudinal and observational, undertaken within the context of a treatment for knee pain. Identified PROMS were the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Most studies were of low risk of bias (8/18), with 6/18 of moderate and 4/18 of high risk of bias. Thirteen studies (n=6339 participants) reported data that allowed their inclusion in metaanalysis models. The pooled pain PASS score was 27 (95%CI: 21 to 35; n=6339 participants) with significant heterogeneity (I2 =96%, p <0.01) (Figure). No significant differences (Q=2.07, p = 0.36) were observed between PASS scores derived for the different knee pain PROMs (KOOS: 23, 95%CI: 16 to 30; WOMAC: 28, 95% CI: 23 to 32; NRS or VAS: 35, 95%CI: 24 to 45). Lower estimates of PASS were associated with lower baseline pain (β=0.60, p=0.02), longer time to follow up at which PASS was estimated (6-months 30, 95%CI: 20 to 40; 12-months: 24, 95%CI: 17 to 30; more than 12-months: 16, 95% CI: 9 to 22), and with surgical (24, 95%CI: 17 to 30) rather than non-surgical interventions (40, 95%CI: 29 to 52). PASS scores were similar between knee osteoarthritis (31, 95%CI: 26 to 36) and meniscal tear (27, 95%CI: 20 to 35) but lower for ligament tears (12, 95%CI: 11 to 13). Observed differences in estimates of PASS due to risk of bias (low: 23, 95%CI: 11 to 35; moderate: 34, 95%CI: 24 to 45; high: 26, 95%CI: 21 to 31) were not significant (Q=1.93, p = 0.38).Conclusions: Standardised knee pain PROMs scores of approximately 30/100 are considered acceptable by people with knee pain. The level of pain that is acceptable might depend upon the baseline pain severity (higher with worse baseline pain), decrease with time from commencing an intervention and vary according to diagnostic or treatment group. However, different knee pain PROMs when transformed produce similar PASS scores, suggesting that standardised scores derived from multiple instruments might be validly combined in large multicentre studies using historically collected data

Next-generation sequencing refines the genetic architecture of Greek GnRH-deficient patients

Isolated gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) deficiency (IGD) is a rare disease with a wide spectrum of reproductive and non-reproductive clinical characteristics. Apart from the phenotypic heterogeneity, IGD is also highly genetically heterogeneous with >35 genes implicated in the disease. Despite this genetic heterogeneity, genetic enrichment in specific subpopulations has been described. We have previously described low prevalence of genetic variation in the Greek IGD cohort discovered with utilization of Sanger sequencing in 14 known IGD genes. Here, we describe the expansion of genetic screening in the largest IGD Greek cohort that has ever been studied with the usage of whole-exome sequencing, searching for rare sequencing variants (RSVs) in 37 known IGD genes. Even though Sanger sequencing detected genetic variation in 21/81 IGD patients in 7/14 IGD genes without any evidence of oligogenicity, whole exome sequencing (WES) revealed that 27/87 IGD patients carried a rare genetic change in a total of 15 genes with 4 IGD cases being oligogenic. Our findings suggest that next-generation sequencing (NGS) techniques can discover previously undetected variation, making them the standardized method for screening patients with rare and/or more common disorders