EU-Supported Regional Development After 2007: Lessons Learnt and Future Priorities of the Greek Regions Falling Under the New "Competitiveness" Objective Programmes

Next year (2007) is expected to be a milestone for the regional policy of Greece. For the first time since the EU launched the programmes which are co-funded by the Structural Funds, Greek regions are excluded from the Objective 1 “Convergence†programmes of the 2007-2013 programming period. Two regions, Sterea Ellada and Southern Aegean have been included in the phasing - in group of NUTS II regions which are falling under the new “Regional Competitiveness and Employment†objective since they have exceeded the 75% boundary of the GDP per capita of the EU both in relation with the older 15 and the 25 current member states. Hence, apart from the reduction funding compared to the current period, they are obliged to redefine their developmental priorities and to adjust the programming context according to the new circumstances in line with the Lisbon and Gothenburg objectives. Within this context the preparation calls for the adjustment to the new circumstances and the exploration of the most efficient way to continue and empower the developmental path. In addition to these, some important matters such as the actual developmental position of these regions, the sectors where cohesion hasn’t been achieved, the new challenges and the experience that has been gained and to what extent it is being used as a learning process have to be explored The article aims to contribute to the ongoing conversation regarding the ways by which Sterea Ellada and Southern Aegean regions can utilize the Structural Funds in the new programming period, based on their experience until today, but also on the possibilities which they are being offered as “phasing – in†regions of the “Competitiveness and Employment†objective according to the new context of regional policy. To these directions, the general outlines of the future perspectives of the regional priorities of the European Union will be presented initially, both for the current and the next programming period. A comparative description of the socio-economic position of the two regions within the European Union is given next, followed by a discussion of the current programming experience and some implementation issues and lessons learnt. Finally, suggestions and some policy priorities as well as the conclusions of the analysis will be presented.

Pulmonary Embolism: Clinical Features and Diagnosis

Pulmonary embolism is a lethal yet treatable disease. Given the significant overlap of symptoms and signs between the presentation of pulmonary embolism and acute coronary syndromes, it becomes clear that emergency room physicians must be familiar with the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism. A critical issue is always to consider pulmonary embolism in the differential diagnosis of chest pain. However, the clinical diagnosis of pulmonary embolism remains problematic due to the nonspecific presenting symptoms, signs, electrocardiographic abnormalities, arterial blood gas and chest X-ray findings. D-dimers are becoming a widely available useful laboratory tool in the diagnosis of suspected pulmonary embolism. In this concise overview, the diagnostic value of clinical assessment in patients with possible pulmonary embolism will be explored

Tricyclo­[3.3.1.03,7]nonane-3,7-diyl bis­(methane­sulfonate)

The crystal structure of the title compound, C11H18O6S2, was determined to investigate the effect of the eclipsed mesyl groups on the bond length of the vicinal quaternary C atoms. The two quaternary C atoms of the noradamantane skeleton and the two O atoms to which they are connected all located essentially in the same plane [maximum deviation 0.01 Å], resulting in an eclipsing conformation of the C—O bonds. The C—C bond of the quaternary C atoms is 1.597 (3) Å is considerably longer than the other C—C bonds of the mol­ecule

Dissecting the Shared Genetic Architecture of Suicide Attempt, Psychiatric Disorders, and Known Risk Factors

Background Suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide, and nonfatal suicide attempts, which occur far more frequently, are a major source of disability and social and economic burden. Both have substantial genetic etiology, which is partially shared and partially distinct from that of related psychiatric disorders. Methods We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 29,782 suicide attempt (SA) cases and 519,961 controls in the International Suicide Genetics Consortium (ISGC). The GWAS of SA was conditioned on psychiatric disorders using GWAS summary statistics via multitrait-based conditional and joint analysis, to remove genetic effects on SA mediated by psychiatric disorders. We investigated the shared and divergent genetic architectures of SA, psychiatric disorders, and other known risk factors. Results Two loci reached genome-wide significance for SA: the major histocompatibility complex and an intergenic locus on chromosome 7, the latter of which remained associated with SA after conditioning on psychiatric disorders and replicated in an independent cohort from the Million Veteran Program. This locus has been implicated in risk-taking behavior, smoking, and insomnia. SA showed strong genetic correlation with psychiatric disorders, particularly major depression, and also with smoking, pain, risk-taking behavior, sleep disturbances, lower educational attainment, reproductive traits, lower socioeconomic status, and poorer general health. After conditioning on psychiatric disorders, the genetic correlations between SA and psychiatric disorders decreased, whereas those with nonpsychiatric traits remained largely unchanged. Conclusions Our results identify a risk locus that contributes more strongly to SA than other phenotypes and suggest a shared underlying biology between SA and known risk factors that is not mediated by psychiatric disorders.Peer reviewe

Characteristics of the urban heat island effect, in the coastal city of Patras, Greece

The ambient air urban heat island effect (at a height of 4÷4.5 m) is studied in the coastal city of Patras. For this purpose, 11 fixed temperature stations have been placed in chosen representative locations to monitor the ambient air temperature variations. Temperature stations are placed in urban places: at the center of the city (intense traffic), around the center (moderate traffic), and in a rural region outside the town (at ∼10 km). Collected data for June, July, August and September 2018 are examined statistically and results are extracted indicating that urban heat island effects are not very intense. An analysis of air temperatures in transverse and longitudinal to sea-line streets has shown some lower air temperatures across transversal streets

CrystTwiV: a webserver for automated phase extension and refinement

in X-ray crystallograph