Progress for research of grape and wine culture in Georgia, the South Caucasus

This communication will provide the latest information about the progress of the “Research Project for the Study of Georgian Grapes and Wine Culture”, managed by the National Wine Agency of Georgia since 2014. Local and foreign institutions continue to work together with the aim of stimulating multidisciplinary scientific research activity on Georgian viticulture and viniculture and to reconstruct their development from Neolithic civilizations to the present. The project is multidisciplinary in nature, merging contributions from archaeology, history, ethnography, molecular genetics, biomolecular archaeology, palaeobotany, ampelography, enology, climatology and other scientific fields

Design and characterization of magnetic scaffolds for bone tumor hyperthermia

Magnetic tissue scaffolds are a promising powerful tool for performing interstitial tumor hyperthermia against the residual bone cancer cells, after surgical intervention. The design of the implant architecture is crucial for several biomedical requirements. However, to date, the influence of implant topology on the hyperthermia treatment outcome has never been assessed. Furthermore, the heating ability is a function of sample mass and geometry. In this work, a simple methodology for designing biomimetic scaffolds using triply periodic minimal surfaces is presented. A set of geometries is 3D printed by fused deposition modeling, using a commercial poly-lactic acid filament filled with magnetite particles, never tested for biomedical applications. Magnetic scaffolds were thoroughly characterized by performing static magnetic measurements, differential scanning calorimetric and thermogravimetric analysis, but, mostly, by carrying out calorimetric measurements to determine their hyperthermic potential under different experimental conditions. Numerical multiphysics simulations with a commercial finite element software were performed, resulting in good agreement with the measurements. The scaffolds were exposed to a magnetic field with 15 mT strength, working at 400 kHz, in air, and the surface temperature was recorder using infrared camera. The manufactured magnetic scaffolds can increase the temperature above 41°C (about 54-57°C), in 40-60 s. In distilled water, for a 30 mT magnetic field and 400 kHz, the temperature was recorded using an optic fiber and we observed that all the sample could be used as thermo-seed for cancer therapy. Finally, the scaffolds were tested in agarose phantoms and their hyperthermic potential was quantified

Progress for research of grape and wine culture in Georgia, the South Caucasus

This communication will provide the latest information about the progress of the “Research Project for the Study of Georgian Grapes and Wine Culture”, managed by the National Wine Agency of Georgia since 2014. Local and foreign institutions continue to work together with the aim of stimulating multidisciplinary scientific research activity on Georgian viticulture and viniculture and to reconstruct their development from Neolithic civilizations to the present. The project is multidisciplinary in nature, merging contributions from archaeology, history, ethnography, molecular genetics, biomolecular archaeology, palaeobotany, ampelography, enology, climatology and other scientific fields

A modeling system for the evaluation of water resources management strategies in thessaly, greece

A modeling system was developed to evaluate the sustainability of water resources management strategies in the two major basins of Thessaly Region in Greece, namely the Pinios River and the Lake Karla basins. The intense and extensive agriculture of water demanding crops, such as cotton, and the absence of reasonable water resources management have lead to a remarkable water demand increase, which is usually fulfilled by the over-exploitation of groundwater resources. This unsustainable practice has deteriorated the already disturbed water balance and accelerated water resources degradation. The modeling system consists of a hydrological model, a reservoir operation model and methods for the estimation of water demands. The study area was sub-divided into sub-basins and water balance analyses were performed for each sub-basin and each control node of the system for a number of water resources management strategies. Four strategies of hydro-technical project development were coupled with two strategies of groundwater withdrawal and three water demand strategies. In total, more than 24 water management strategies were evaluated. The results showed that, under the existing water resources management, the water deficit of the Pinios River and Lake Karla basins is very large. However, the development of proposed hydro-technical projects in the Pinios River basin coupled with water demand management measures, like improvement of existing water distribution systems, change of irrigation methods, and changes of crop cultivation could alleviate the problem and lead to sustainable and ecological use of water resources in the study area