Χημικές, Βιολογικές, Ραδιολογικές & Πυρηνικές (Χ.Β.Ρ.Π.) απειλές, για τον άνθρωπο και το περιβάλλον.

Η απληστία της ανθρώπινης φύσης με την έννοια της υγιούς φιλοδοξίας, είναι απαραίτητη για την εξέλιξη της ανθρωπότητας. Αντιθέτως ο υπέρμετρος εγωισμός, η αχαλίνωτη φιλοδοξία και οι ανικανοποίητες επιθυμίες απόκτησης υλικών αγαθών και η επιβολή έναντι των άλλων έχουν οδηγήσει διαχρονικά σε εμπόλεμες περιόδους και σε πολεμικές επιχειρήσεις ευρείας ή περιορισμένης κλίμακας. Δυστυχώς, στην πλειοψηφία των περιπτώσεων, η επίτευξη των επεκτατικών βλέψεων και των πολεμικών επιδιώξεων, διατρέχεται από υπερβάλλοντα ζήλο, ο οποίος είναι ικανός να υπερνικήσει τις ηθικές αναστολές μπροστά στις μαζικές απώλειες και καταστροφές και να θέσει σε εφαρμογή όπλα και μέσα με συντριπτικά αποτελέσματα. Το αγαθό της υγείας και η διαφύλαξη του περιβάλλοντος, έχουν δεχθεί και συνεχίζουν να δέχονται τα πλήγματα των πολέμων και των τακτικών επιβολής, σε στοχοποιημένες ομάδες ατόμων ή ακόμα και χώρες. Ανέκαθεν η επιστήμη συνεπικουρούσε στην ευημερία και την πρόοδο του ανθρώπου. Ωστόσο, όταν η εφαρμογή των επιστημονικών επιτευγμάτων δεν περιχαρακώνεται από την ηθική, η γνώση μπορεί να γίνει επικίνδυνη σε ένα οπλοστάσιο κυριαρχίας οργανωμένων κρατών σε άλλα κράτη ή ακόμα και μικρότερων ομάδων στους κόλπους της τρομοκρατίας και των εξτρεμιστικών οργανώσεων. Διαχρονικά ο ανθρώπινος νους, όταν ξεπερνούσε τους ηθικούς φραγμούς, οδηγούσε κάθε αποκύημα της επιστήμης και της γνώσης σε ολέθρια αποτελέσματα. Η χρήση συμβατικών όπλων έχει γνωστά πλέον αποτελέσματα σε επίπεδο απωλειών ανθρώπινου δυναμικού ή επιδράσεων στην υγεία του πληττόμενου πληθυσμού. Εν αντιθέσει, η εφαρμογή χημικών, βιολογικών, ραδιολογικών και πυρηνικών παραγόντων, ως μέσα εξόντωσης μιας πληθυσμιακής ομάδας, δεν έχει ένα περιορισμένο και αναμενόμενο αριθμό συνεπακόλουθων και συνεπώς λειτουργεί ως ασύμμετρη απειλή. Τα ερωτήματα που συνοδεύουν πάντα μια αντίστοιχη πολεμική τακτική, αφορούν στην πρόσβαση και την προμήθεια των υλικών και την τεχνογνωσία που χρειάζεται για τη δημιουργία ενός τέτοιου υπερόπλου. Επιπλέον η επόμενη μέρα ενός πλήγματος γεννά πάντα την αγωνία και τον προβληματισμό για τα άμεσα και έμμεσα αποτελέσματα στον άνθρωπο και εν γένει στα οικοσυστήματα. Οι ανυπολόγιστες καταστροφές των σύγχρονων όπλων ή πολεμικών μέσων φέρουν τη διεθνή κοινότητα ενώπιον ευθυνών για το ρόλο της στην προάσπιση της ανθρώπινης υγείας, των ανθρώπινων δικαιωμάτων και της οικολογικής κρίσης στην περίπτωση που ένα πλήγμα αποτελεί ηθελημένη και προσχεδιασμένη πράξη ή ακόμα και ατύχημα.Human greed, in the frame of a healthy ambition, is necessary for the evolution of mankind. On the contrary, exceeding egoism, uncontrollable ambitions and unfulfilled desires for gaining material possessions, combined with imposing opinions on other people, have lead throughout the ages into embattled periods and limited or more extended war operations. Unfortunately, in the majority of such cases, the accomplishment of imperialistic and war goals are run by intense eagerness which is able to overcome the ethics and cause massive destructions and losses and set in use weapons and means with disastrous outcomes. The good of health and the environmental safety have suffered and still suffer, damages from war and imposing tactics on targeted groups or even nations. Science has always contributed and aimed at human prosperity and progress. Although, when scientific achievements are not ruled by morality, knowledge can be dangerous in an arsenal of domination of organized countries onto other countries, or even terroristic and extremist organizations. Human mind, has always transformed scientific achievements into catastrophic outcomes, when moral barriers were exceeded. The use of conventional weapons has very familiar results on human losses and public health. On the other hand, the application of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear agents, as means of extermination, have unrestricted and unknown number of effects, which describes an asymetrical threat. The questions which arise in such war tactics concern the access and the supply of the material as long as with the source of knowledge which is needed in order to construct such a weapon. The next day of the disaster always brings up the worry and the concern of both direct and indirect effects on human and ecosystems. The inestimable disasters of modern weapons or war agents and means have brought the international community facing its role on defending human health, human rights and ecological crisis in cases of war strikes or accidents

Reimagining laboratory‐based immunology education in the time of COVID‐19

The pandemic has brought challenges to teaching lab and research skills. Here Nigel Francis and colleagues explore the diverse approaches taken to replace lab-based immunology teaching, explain how networks of educators have driven this innovation and discuss the importance of retaining best practice into the future

Establishment of a Greek food database for palaeodiet reconstruction:Case study of human and fauna remains from Neolithic to Late Bronze Age from Greece

We review the stable isotopic data of recovered Greek bones from the Early Neolithic to the Late Bronze period in order to examine dietary changes over time. As an isotopic baseline we use the published fauna data of the periods. The analysis revealed a diet that included a significant proportion of foods based on C3 plants, and the bulk of the animal protein must have been provided by terrestrial mammals with a small but detectable proportion of marine protein for coastal and island populations. A more significant contribution of marine protein is observed for Bronze Age populations while the enrichment in both C and N isotopes is connected, for some areas, to the introduction of millet during the Bronze Age, and to freshwater consumption. An extensive database of Greek food sources is presented and compared to the fauna from the prehistoric periods (Early Neolithic to Late Bronze Age) of the literature. We propose that this database can be used in palaeodiet reconstruction studies

Mixing Educational Robotics, Tangibles and Mixed Reality Environments for the Interdisciplinary Learning of Geography and History

In the present study we present a mixed reality learning environment that aims to become a creative, joyful and efficient interdisciplinary canvas for learning about history and geography and for concurrently fostering computational thinking. The environment makes use of embodied affordances and educational robotics and consists of two parts: an augmented 3D-tangible model of southern Europe with finger-based interaction and a second floor-based augmented robotics track de-picting European landmarks, where students are asked to perform tasks with Mindstorms EV3 robots. The game scenario describes a treasure hunt around Eu-rope and students swap between finger-based and robotics-based interactive sur-faces in two pairs. For the evaluation of our intervention, six groups of four stu-dents played with the environment for approximately 45 minutes each. Data col-lection was performed through pre- and post-knowledge test, attitude question-naire and a semi-formal group interview. Students’ answers showed that the mixed reality environment improved their engagement and motivation and en-hanced their orientation around Europe’s geophysical features. The robotics as-pect consolidated further their computational thinking skills while being highly exciting. The proposed approach was closer to the student’s expectations and in-teractive experiences, successfully exploited embodied learning opportunities and gamified the learning process

Promoting Historical Thinking in Schools through Low Fidelity, Low-Cost, Easily Reproduceable, Tangible and Embodied Interactions

Many ubiquitous technologies, such as augmented and virtual reality, virtual field trips, tangible environments and interactive installations are continuously being examined for learning about history. All these approaches strive to offer an inter-active, explorative, authentic, and exact regeneration of the past and, they are demanding both in regards to their cost and to their development requirements; hence, they are far from accessible in school contexts. In this study, we will ex-amine, whether interactive low-fidelity low-cost approximations of the real objects, and conditions of the past, together with whole-body interactions may enable historical understanding in a playful manner. To evaluate this claim, sixty-six (66) students of 6th grade played with an interactive environment with the characteristics mentioned, in twenty (20) groups. Afterwards, students were asked to complete a questionnaire assessing their historical understanding and their experience. Additionally, all groups participated in brief group interviews. Students were very positive towards the environment and considered it as enjoyable, intriguing and effective. They claimed that it is preferable to both traditional ways of classroom learning and learning devices like tablets and mobiles. According to our results, the requirements for seamless authenticity may not apply for primary school students and this conclusion opens up a lot of opportunities for moving away from traditional means of learning about history

Promoting Historical Thinking in Schools through Low Fidelity, Low-Cost, Easily Reproduceable, Tangible and Embodied Interactions

Many ubiquitous technologies, such as augmented and virtual reality, virtual field trips, tangible environments and interactive installations are continuously being examined for learning about history. All these approaches strive to offer an inter-active, explorative, authentic, and exact regeneration of the past and, they are demanding both in regards to their cost and to their development requirements; hence, they are far from accessible in school contexts. In this study, we will ex-amine, whether interactive low-fidelity low-cost approximations of the real objects, and conditions of the past, together with whole-body interactions may enable historical understanding in a playful manner. To evaluate this claim, sixty-six (66) students of 6th grade played with an interactive environment with the characteristics mentioned, in twenty (20) groups. Afterwards, students were asked to complete a questionnaire assessing their historical understanding and their experience. Additionally, all groups participated in brief group interviews. Students were very positive towards the environment and considered it as enjoyable, intriguing and effective. They claimed that it is preferable to both traditional ways of classroom learning and learning devices like tablets and mobiles. According to our results, the requirements for seamless authenticity may not apply for primary school students and this conclusion opens up a lot of opportunities for moving away from traditional means of learning about history

Designing E-learning applications with students: The case of the we!design methodology

In years past, many methodological approaches, methods and techniques have been implemented based on the belief that users can and should be involved in the design process of technology products that affect them. Inspired by the findings of research involving users and particularly students at diverse levels and phases of the design process of technology products, we have developed the We!Design methodology, a student-centered participatory design methodology that assigns students a primary role in the design process. We present the various phases of the We!Design methodology, examine the results of its application in four different design projects (a web-based e-assessment application for tertiary education, a course website, an e-Portfolio application, and a Tablet-PC-based e-assessment application for secondary education) and elaborate upon our overall experiences with the methodology during the past 3 years. Participant evaluations indicated that the We!Design methodology was an adequate means for successful elicitation of students' needs and their application in educational software design. © 2010, IGI Global