Reconsidering urban development: the role of local self-organized groups in urban open green space upgrade

In the city of Thessaloniki, the co-creation of ‘an inclusive city’, which will ‘empower citizens and community-led projects... and enable co- creation in open and public spaces’, appears as one of the four main goals of the Resilience Strategy of the city, ‘Thessaloniki 2030’, published in 2017. Within this frame, and in conjunction with the need of open green spaces that Thessaloniki has, this paper is an attempt to identify and highlight the contribution of design self-organized groups to the upgrade of the urban environment of the city of Thessaloniki. This study focuses on the design team of Ev Zin (Ευ Ζην), an initiative of a group of students from the School of Spatial Planning and Development, Faculty of Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. Aristotle’s University main campus occupies a large area within the city of Thessaloniki. This campus, particularly its various open spaces appear to be in a general degraded state, frequently used for delinquent activities. A group of students decided to act and to focus on the upgrade of the open green spaces of the campus, starting from a specific green space, situated at a focal point/crossroads within the campus. These students formed the Ev Zin group. This paper will be, hence, discussing the conditions that led to the degradation of the campus and the area around it, the formation of this team and its development, but more importantly the efforts of the Ev Zin group towards the upgrading of the campus, as well as the mobilization that these efforts have created, particularly concerning the principal formal stakeholders, mainly the Aristotle University’s authorities and the Attiko Metro authorities, the company constructing the underground stations at the university

Microplastics increase the marine production of particulate forms of organic matter

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Η κοιλιοκάκη στην παιδική ηλικία: 30 χρόνια μελέτης

We aimed to detect temporal trends in the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of paediatric celiac disease (CD) in Greece during a 30-year period. Patients and methods. We reviewed the medical files of all children diagnosed with CD between 1978 and 2007 at a single academic paediatric center. Cases were classified according to the year of diagnosis into 3 groups (1978-1987, 1988-1997, 1998-2007). We examined demographic data, presenting symptoms at diagnosis, delay to diagnosis, as well as the prevalence of associated conditions. Results: During the study period 284 new cases of CD were diagnosed (66 % females). The incidence of CD was significantly increased in recent years (P<0.05). We observed significant time trends towards older age at diagnosis (P<0.001), longer time from symptoms to diagnosis (P<0.05) and decreased frequency of the classical and/or GI predominant mode of presentation (P<0.001). In recent years, diagnosis of CD was significantly more frequent due to testing of asymptomatic children with a positive family history for CD or personal history of associated conditions (P<0.001). Conclusions: We report a changing pattern in the presentation of pediatric CD in Greece. CD is diagnosed more frequently in older children, oftentimes presents with atypical symptoms, and is detected frequently in asymptomatic children through serological screening. CD should be considered in the presence of atypical presentations.Ασθενείς και μέθοδος: Μελετήθηκαν αναδρομικά 284 παιδιά και έφηβοι μέχρι 16 χρονών με κοιλιοκάκη που διαγνώσθηκε στην Α΄ Παιδιατρική Κλινική του Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών, Νοσοκομείο παίδων Αγία Σοφία , από το 1978 έως το 2007. Η διάγνωση έγινε σύμφωνα με τα κριτήρια της Ευρωπαϊκής Εταιρείας Παιδιατρικής Γαστρεντερολογίας Ηπατολογίας και Διατροφής. Εξετάσθηκαν η ηλικία διάγνωσης, το φύλο, η ηλικία εισαγωγής της γλουτένης και των στερεών τροφών, ο μητρικός θηλασμός κατά τη βρεφική ηλικία, τα κύρια συμπτώματα κατά τη διάγνωση, καθώς και η διάρκεια των συμπτωμάτων μέχρι τη διάγνωση. Επί πλέον εξετάσθηκε το ατομικό και οικογενειακό ιστορικό και η παρουσία νοσημάτων που σχετίζονται με μεγαλύτερη επίπτωση της κοιλιοκάκης. Οι ασθενείς χωρίσθηκαν σε 3 ομάδες με βάση τη χρονολογία διάγνωσης: Η ομάδα Α περιελάμβανε ασθενείς με διάγνωση της κοιλιοκάκης από το 1978 έως το 1987, η ομάδα Β από το 1988 έως 1997 και η ομάδα Γ από το 1998 έως το 2007. Έγινε σύγκριση μεταξύ των 3 ομάδων όσον αφορά τη συχνότητα των κυρίων συμπτωμάτων, την πιθανή μεταβολή της συχνότητας των τυπικών ή ατύπων συμπτωμάτων, την υπεροχή των εντερικών ή εξωεντερικών εκδηλώσεων, την καθυστέρηση στη διάγνωση και την παρουσία συνοδών παθολογικών καταστάσεων. Αποτελέσματα: Διαπιστώθηκε σημαντική αύξηση του αριθμού των νέων περιπτώσεων κοιλιοκάκης την τελευταία δεκαετία της μελέτης συγκριτικά με τις δύο πρώτες δεκαετίες και μείωση του αριθμού των παιδιών με την κλασσική συμπτωματολογία, με παράλληλη αύξηση του αριθμού των παιδιών με άτυπα συμπτώματα κοιλιοκάκης. Καταγράφηκε υπεροχή των θηλέων (2:1) έναντι των αρρένων και στις 3 ομάδες. Ένα στα 3 παιδιά είχαν κλασσικά συμπτώματα, ενώ σε 1 από τα 4 παιδιά η διάγνωση της νόσου έγινε με ορολογικό έλεγχο χωρίς να υπάρχουν συμπτώματα. Στις περιπτώσεις αυτές ο ορολογικός έλεγχος έγινε γιατί τα παιδιά ήταν συγγενείς πασχόντων ή είχαν ατομικό ιστορικό παθήσεων που συνυπάρχουν συχνά με την κοιλιοκάκη. Συμπέρασμα: Διαπιστώθηκε ότι την τελευταία δεκαετία της μελέτης αυξήθηκε σημαντικά η μέση ηλικία διάγνωσης της κοιλιοκάκης, η νόσος προβάλλει συχνότερα με άτυπα συμπτώματα και με μεγαλύτερη καθυστέρηση στη διάγνωση

Bioconversions of Biodiesel-Derived Glycerol into Sugar Alcohols by Newly Isolated Wild-Type <i>Yarrowia lipolytica</i> Strains

The utilization of crude glycerol, generated as a by-product from the biodiesel production process, for the production of high value-added products represents an opportunity to overcome the negative impact of low glycerol prices in the biodiesel industry. In this study, the biochemical behavior of Yarrowia lipolytica strains FMCC Y-74 and FMCC Y-75 was investigated using glycerol as a carbon source. Initially, the effect of pH value (3.0–7.0) was examined to produce polyols, intracellular lipids, and polysaccharides. At low pH values (initial pH 3.0–5.0), significant mannitol production was recorded. The highest mannitol production (19.64 g L−1) was obtained by Y. lipolytica FMCC Y-74 at pH = 3.0. At pH values ranging between 5.0 and 6.0, intracellular polysaccharides synthesis was favored, while polyols production was suppressed. Subsequently, the effect of crude glycerol and its concentration on polyols production was studied. Y. lipolytica FMCC Y-74 showed high tolerance to impurities of crude glycerol. Initial substrate concentrations influence polyols production and distribution with a metabolic shift toward erythritol production being observed when the initial glycerol concentration (Gly0) increased. The highest total polyols production (=56.64 g L−1) was obtained at Gly0 adjusted to ≈120 g L−1. The highest polyols conversion yield (0.59 g g−1) and productivity (4.36 g L−1 d−1) were reached at Gly0 = 80 g L−1. In fed-batch intermittent fermentation with glycerol concentration remaining ≤60 g L−1, the metabolism was shifted toward mannitol biosynthesis, which was the main polyol produced in significant quantities (=36.84 g L−1) with a corresponding conversion yield of 0.51 g g−1

Studies towards the Synthesis of Novel 3-Aminopropoxy-Substituted Dioxins Suitable for the Development of Aptamers for Photonic Biosensor Applications

Hydroxy-substituted tetrachlorodibenzo[b,e][1,4]dioxin and tetrachlorodibenzo[b,d]furans have been synthesized using 3,4-dichloroanisole, 2,3,6-trichlorophenol and 4,5-dichlorocatechol as starting materials and electrophilic and/or nucleophilic aromatic substitution reactions for the assembly of the dibenzo[b,e][1,4]dioxin and dibenzo[b,d]furan systems. The thus-obtained phenolic compounds were then alkylated with N-1-(4,4-dimethyl-2,6-dioxocyclohexylidene)ethyl (Dde)-protected 3-bromopropan-1-amine to give the corresponding N-Dde protected 3-aminopropoxy-substituted tetrachlorodibenzo[b,e][1,4]dioxin and tetrachlorodibenzo[b,d]furans, respectively. Hydrazinolysis-mediated Dde removal from the former compound provided the corresponding amino-substituted dioxin, which was coupled to carboxy-substituted magnetic beads affording magnetic beads coated by the amino-substituted dioxin. The latter is an attractive intermediate for the development of selective single-standard DNA (ssDNA) aptamers, which constitute molecular recognition elements in photonic biosensors with potential application to the monitoring of the dangerous environmental pollutants, dioxins having serious implications in human health

Marine plastics alter the organic matter composition of the air-sea boundary layer, with influences on CO2 exchange: a large-scale analysis method to explore future ocean scenarios

Microplastics are substrates for microbial activity and can influence biomass production. This has potentially important implications in the sea-surface microlayer, the marine boundary layer that controls gas exchange with the atmosphere and where biologically produced organic compounds can accumulate. In the present study, we used six large scale mesocosms to simulate future ocean scenarios of high plastic concentration. Each mesocosm was filled with 3 m3 of seawater from the oligotrophic Sea of Crete, in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. A known amount of standard polystyrene microbeads of 30 μm diameter was added to three replicate mesocosms, while maintaining the remaining three as plastic-free controls. Over the course of a 12-day experiment, we explored microbial organic matter dynamics in the sea-surface microlayer in the presence and absence of microplastic contamination of the underlying water. Our study shows that microplastics increased both biomass production and enrichment of carbohydrate-like and proteinaceous marine gel compounds in the sea-surface microlayer. Importantly, this resulted in a ∼3 % reduction in the concentration of dissolved CO2 in the underlying water. This reduction was associated to both direct and indirect impacts of microplastic pollution on the uptake of CO2 within the marine carbon cycle, by modifying the biogenic composition of the sea's boundary layer with the atmosphere

Increase in marine POM related to the presence of microplastic beads in a mesocosm experiment

This dataset supports the recent publication "Microplastics increase the marine production of particulate forms of organic matter" by L. Galgani et al (2019) in ERL. It comprises all data presented in the manuscript and Supplementary Information. In the file, Control = mesocosm without plastic addition (1,2,3) and MP = mesocosm with plastic addition (1,2,3). The data proceed from the MESO-Plastic experiment in 2017 conducted at the Hellenic Center for Marine Research, a member of the European Aquacosm network of mesocosm facilities