Identification and Antimicrobial Resistance of Campylobacter Species Isolated from Animal Sources

Background: Campylobacter spp. are together with Salmonella spp. the leading causes of human bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide. The most commonly isolated species in humans are Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli. The isolation, identification, and antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter spp. from poultry and raw meat from slaughterhouses, has been investigated for the first time in Greece. During the period from August 2005 to November 2008 a total of 1080 samples were collected: (a) 830 fecal samples from five poultry farms, (b) 150 cecal samples from chicken carcasses in a slaughterhouse, and (c) 100 fecal samples from one pig farm near the region of Attica. The identification of the isolates was performed with conventional (sodium hippurate hydrolysis and commercial identification system (Api CAMPY system, bioMerieux, France), as well as with and molecular methods based on 16S rRNA species specific gene amplification by PCR and subsequent sequence analysis of the PCR products. Results: Sixteen Campylobacter strains were isolated, all collected from the poultry farms. None of the strains was identified as C. jejuni. Antimicrobial susceptibility to six antimicrobials was performed and all the strains were susceptible to ciprofloxacin, amoxicillin–clavulanic acid, and gentamicin. Thirteen out of 14 C. coli were resistant to erythromycin and all C. coli strains were resistant to ampicillin. Conclusion: Our results emphasize the need for a surveillance and monitoring system with respect to the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter in poultry, as well as for the use of antimicrobials in veterinary medicine in Greece

Social Enterprise Business Models for Migrants/Refugees. The case of Greece

Η παρούσα διατριβή επικεντρώνει το ενδιαφέρον της στον τομέα της κοινωνικής οικονομίας και της κοινωνικής επιχειρηματικότητας για τις πιο ευάλωτες κοινωνικές ομάδες ανθρώπων και ιδιαίτερα για τους πρόσφυγες στην περίπτωση της Ελλάδας. Ο σκοπός της παρούσας μελέτης αποσκοπεί στην αποκάλυψη του ρόλου που διαδραματίζει η κοινωνική οικονομία μέσω των συνεταιρισμών, των κοινωνικών επιχειρήσεων καθώς και των μη κυβερνητικών οργανώσεων στην ένταξη των προσφύγων στην κοινωνία. Λαμβάνοντας υπόψη κάθε μορφή κοινωνικού αποκλεισμού ως μέτρο αποτρεπτικής πολιτικής που οδηγεί στην περιθωριοποίηση, έχει μεγάλη σημασία να ανακαλύψουμε τους τρόπους με τους οποίους οι πρόσφυγες μπορούν να ενταχθούν με επιτυχία στην αγορά εργασίας. Με αυτόν τον τρόπο, η οικοδόμηση ενός ιδανικού κοινωνικού μοντέλου επιχείρησης μαζί με τη συμβολή της στην τοπική κοινωνία βοηθά τους νέους πρόσφυγες επιχειρηματίες να συν-δημιουργήσουν τις κοινωνικές τους επιχειρήσεις με βάση έναν κοινωνικό σκοπό. Ωστόσο, κάθε είδους προβληματικά ζητήματα κατά τη διάρκεια αυτής της διαδικασίας θα προσεγγίζονται και θα προταθούν επίσης προτάσεις για μελλοντική έρευνα. Ως εκ τούτου, ανάλυση περιεχομένου διεξάγεται για την περαιτέρω μελέτη και σύγκριση συγκεκριμένων περιπτώσεων κοινωνικών επιχειρήσεων που ωφελούν τόσο τους πρόσφυγες όσο και τους μετανάστες. Σε αυτό το πλαίσιο, η κοινωνικοοικονομική ανάπτυξη σε ορισμένες από τις βορειοευρωπαϊκές χώρες καθώς και οι αποτελεσματικές τους εφαρμογή τους πρόκειται να εξεταστούν.The present dissertation focuses its interest on the field of social economy and social entrepreneurship for the most vulnerable social groups of people and especially the refugees in the case of Greece. The purpose of this study aims to reveal the role that the social economy plays through cooperatives, social enterprises as well as nongovernmental organizations in integrating refugees into the society. Considering any form of social exclusion as a deterrent policy measure that leads to marginalization, it is of great importance to discover the ways within which the refugees can be successfully integrated into the labor market. In this way, the construction of a social enterprise along with its contribution to the local society helps young refugee entrepreneurs to co-create their social enterprises based on a social purpose. However, any kinds of problematic issues during this procedure will be approached and suggestions for future research will be recommended as well. Therefore, content analysis is conducted to study further and compare specific cases of social enterprises that benefit both refugees and migrants. In this context, the socioeconomic development in some of the north European countries as well as their effective implementation is going to be examined

Electrochemical Behavior of Nickel Aluminide Coatings Produced by CAFSY Method in Aqueous NaCl Solution

Combustion-assisted flame spraying (CAFSY) is a novel method that allows in-flight synthesis of alloys during flame spraying. The in-flight synthesis of alloys by the CAFSY method during flame spraying combines two different methods: the self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) and flame spraying (FS). The present work studies the corrosion performance (by cyclic polarization and chronoamperometry in aerated 3.5 wt.% NaCl) of NiAl coatings fabricated by the CAFSY technique in relation to main process parameters (composition of the initial feedstock, spraying distance, substrate temperature, postdeposition heat treatment) and their effect on the microstructure and porosity of the coatings. Most of the coatings exhibited limited susceptibility to localized corrosion. In all cases, the steel substrate remained intact despite corrosion. Interconnected porosity was the main parameter accelerating uniform corrosion. Localized corrosion had the form of pitting and/or crevice corrosion in the coating that propagated dissolving Al and Al-rich nickel aluminides along coating defects. Substrate preheating and postdeposition heat treatment negatively affected the corrosion resistance. A short spraying distance (1.5 inch) increased the corrosion resistance of the coatings