The creative potential of medium-sized and small Greek cities: Reflections on contemporary cultural strategies

As the creative city discourse has come to the centre of cultural policy debates, its rhetoric often neglects smaller cities and emphasises the cases of large cities that employ culture as a driver for economic growth. However, the cultural strategies of many medium sized and small cities focus more on social objectives. This seems to be the case for Greek cities of medium and small size. In order to determine the contemporary cultural strategies employed by local authorities and the State a survey was undertaken by the authors in 20 cities. Part of it focused on an examination of municipal and public cultural and educational infrastructure as a body of evidence for identifying these strategies. The findings of the survey indicate that the cities share common strategies which are mainly introverted, community-oriented and only slightly related to economic considerations; however, these strategies offer some opportunities for promoting a positive image and fostering creativity. © 2010 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd

Associations between adiponectin gene variability, pro-inflammatory and angiogenetic markers: Implications for microvascular disease development in type 2 diabetes mellitus?

Background: Adiponectin gene (ADIPOQ) variability may affect the risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) but it remains unclear whether it is involved in microvascular complications. Objective: To explore the impact of ADIPOQ variability on markers of inflammation and angiogenesis in T2DM. Methods: Overall, 220 consecutive T2DM patients from our outpatient diabetic clinic were genotyped for G276T (rs1501299) and T45G (rs2241766) single nucleotide polymorphisms of ADIPOQ gene. Serum levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) by immunonephelometry. Results: Homozygosity for the G allele on rs2241766 was associated with significantly lower serum VEGF and ICAM-1 levels compared with other genotype groups, but had no effect on IL-6. Genetic variability on rs1501299 was not associated with either VEGF or ICAM-1 levels, but T homozygotes for rs1501299 had significantly lower IL-6 concentrations compared with G carriers. Furthermore, the presence of the G allele on rs2241766 was associated with significantly lower HbA1c, whereas no associations were observed for both body mass index and hsCRP with either rs2241766 or rs1501299. Conclusion: Genetic variability on adiponectin gene was associated with serum levels of inflammatory and angiogenetic markers. Further research is required to elucidate the role of adiponectin in the development and/or progression of microvascular disease in T2DM patients. © 2019 Bentham Science Publishers

Arterial stiffness and microvascular disease in type 2 diabetes

Background: The clustering of arterial stiffness with microvascular disease (MD) and their effects on the clinical outcome of patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) remains not fully clarified. Methods: In a prospective study of 414 patients with T2D, we investigated the prognostic value of arterial stiffness and MD for clinical outcomes. Participants were assessed for the presence of MD (ie diabetic retinopathy, nephropathy and neuropathy) and arterial stiffness by pulse wave velocity (PWV) and followed-up for a median of 30 (range 1-60) months. The primary endpoint of the study was the composite endpoint of major adverse cardiovascular events, that is, cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular mortality and non-fatal myocardial infarction/stroke. Results: A total of 146 (35.3%) patients had evidence of MD at baseline. In cox regression models, MD and PWV were independently associated with the composite clinical endpoint; for MD hazard ratio (HR), 3.24, 95%CI, 1.10-9.54, P=.032, and for PWV HR, 1.20, 95%CI, 1.06-1.36, P=.004) after adjustment for traditional risk factors, and enhanced risk discrimination and reclassification. The subgroup of patients with MD and high PWV was associated with increased incidence of the composite clinical endpoint (20.9% vs 1.8% in those with no MD & low PWV, P=.001). Importantly, absence of MD at baseline was associated with no mortality events during the follow-up period. PWV at baseline was not associated with MD progression during follow-up. Conclusions: These findings support that screening for arterial stiffness and MD in the routine clinical assessment of patients with T2D may enhance prognostication and cardiovascular risk reclassification. © 2020 Stichting European Society for Clinical Investigation Journal Foundation. Published by John Wiley & Sons Lt