Το Οργανωμένο έγκλημα ως Γεωπολιτικός Παράγων ανακατανομής Ισχύος, στο Σύμπλοκο της Νοτιοανατολικής Ευρώπης με εστίαση στούς Πυλώνες της Oικονομίας, της Πολιτικής και της Άμυνας/Άσφάλειας.

Το οργανωμένο έγκλημα αποτελεί ένα φαινόμενο με κοινωνικές και πολιτικές ρίζες, το οποίο διακρίνεται από έναν διαχρονικό και ολοένα εξελισσόμενο χαρακτήρα, καθώς προσαρμόζεται στις εκάστοτε χρονικές και χωρικές συνθήκες. Μάλιστα, τα τελευταία χρόνια παρατηρείται μια ριζική αύξηση της δύναμης των εγκληματικών οργανώσεων και μια ενίσχυση της θέσης που το οργανωμένο έγκλημα κατέχει στο παγκόσμιο σύστημα. Η περιοχή της Νοτιοανατολικής Ευρώπης αποτελεί έναν από τους μεγαλύτερους θύλακες του οργανωμένου εγκλήματος στον ευρωπαϊκό χώρο, με τις οι βαλκανικές εγκληματικές οργανώσεις να έχουν αυξήσει ιδιαίτερα την δύναμή τους και η δράση τους έχει αποκτήσει πλέον παγκόσμια εμβέλεια. Στο παρόν πόνημα θα γίνει προσπάθεια μέσω της χρήσης της Μεθοδολογίας της Συστημικής Γεωπολιτικής Ανάλυσης(Σ.Γ.Α.), όπως αυτή έχει παρουσιασθεί από τον Καθηγητή κύριο Μάζη, να καταδειχθεί η δράση του οργανωμένου εγκλήματος στην Νοτιοανατολική Ευρώπη και να απαντηθεί το ερώτημα του κατά πόσο και με ποιο τρόπο επηρεάζει το οργανωμένο έγκλημα τον τομέα της Εσωτερικής Ασφαλείας των κρατών της Νοτιοανατολικής Ευρώπης.Organized crime is a phenomenon with social and political roots, which is distinguished by a timeless and ever-evolving character, as it adapts to the current time and space conditions. In fact, in recent years there has been a radical increase in the power of criminal organizations and an increase in the position of organized crime in the global system. The region of Southeast Europe is one of the largest pockets of organized crime in Europe, with Balkan criminal organizations having increased their power and their global reach. In this paper, an attempt will be made through the use of the Methodology of Systemic Geopolitical Analysis (SGA), as presented by Professor Mr. Mazis, to demonstrate the action of organized crime in Southeast Europe and to answer the question to what extent and in what way does organized crime affect the domestic security sector of Southeast European countries

Adiponectin and body composition in cystic fibrosis

AbstractThe aim of the study was to evaluate adiponectin (AD) serum concentrations in 43 stable CF patients and 27 healthy subjects and to correlate them with their nutritional status. Body Composition (Bioelectrical Impedance), visceral/subcutaneous adipose tissue (VAT-SAT) in CF patients (CT-scan at L4), insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and AD serum concentrations (ELISA) were studied. CF patients and controls had comparable weight, height, %BF, %FFM, fasting glucose, insulin and insulin resistance. CF patients had significantly lower BMI-SDS. CF males had higher %FFM and total FFM and lower %BF and total BF than females (p<0.001). Serum AD was higher in CF patients than controls (11.53±5.37 vs. 9.07±4.41 μg/ml) and comparable between females and males. AD was lowest among young malnourished patients (8.06±1.85 μg/ml) and highest among young patients with normal nutrition (14.56±7.69 μg/ml). Patients with biliary cirrhosis had higher levels than patients with normal liver (10.52±5.49 vs. 14.04±4.52 μg/ml, p<0.05). AD correlated with %BF, %FFM, FFM (kg) (p<0.05).VAT was significantly increased in malnourished patients. AD was not affected by VAT. Conclusions: Adiponectin is higher in CF patients than healthy individuals. It is decreased in malnourished young patients and increased in patients with normal nutrition and in patients with liver disease. This may be attributed to the reduced BF and to the energy deficit inherent to the disease

A nationwide evaluation of bevacizumab-based treatments in pediatric low-grade glioma in the UK: safety, efficacy, visual morbidity, and outcomes

BACKGROUND: Bevacizumab is increasingly used in children with pediatric low-grade glioma (PLGG) despite limited evidence. A nationwide UK service evaluation was conducted to provide larger cohort "real life" safety and efficacy data including functional visual outcomes. METHODS: Children receiving bevacizumab-based treatments (BBT) for PLGG (2009-2020) from 11 centers were included. Standardized neuro-radiological (RANO-LGG) and visual (logMAR visual acuity) criteria were used to assess clinical-radiological correlation, survival outcomes and multivariate prognostic analysis. RESULTS: Eighty-eight children with PLGG received BBT either as 3rd line with irinotecan (85%) or alongside 1st/2nd line chemotherapies (15%). Toxicity was limited and minimal. Partial response (PR, 40%), stable disease (SD, 49%), and progressive disease (PD, 11%) were seen during BBT. However, 65% progressed at 8 months (median) from BBT cessation, leading to a radiology-based 3 yr-progression-free survival (PFS) of 29%. Diencephalic syndrome (P = .03) was associated with adverse PFS. Pre-existing visual morbidity included unilateral (25%) or bilateral (11%) blindness. Improvement (29%) or stabilization (49%) of visual acuity was achieved, more often in patients' best eyes. Vision deteriorated during BBT in 14 (22%), with 3-year visual-PFS of 53%; more often in patients' worst eyes. A superior visual outcome (P = .023) was seen in neurofibromatosis type 1-associated optic pathway glioma (OPG). Concordance between visual and radiological responses was 36%; optimized to 48% using only best eye responses. CONCLUSIONS: BBTs provide effective short-term PLGG control and delay further progression, with a better sustained visual (best > worst eye) than radiological response. Further research could optimize the role of BBT toward a potentially sight-saving strategy in OPG

The MOBI-Kids Study Protocol: Challenges in Assessing Childhood and Adolescent Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields from Wireless Telecommunication Technologies and Possible Association with Brain Tumor Risk

The rapid increase in mobile phone use in young people has generated concern about possible health effects of exposure to radiofrequency (RF) and extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic fields (EMF). MOBI-Kids, a multinational case-control study, investigates the potential effects of childhood and adolescent exposure to EMF from mobile communications technologies on brain tumor risk in 14 countries. The study, which aims to include approximately 1,000 brain tumor cases aged 10-24 years and two individually matched controls for each case, follows a common protocol and builds upon the methodological experience of the INTERPHONE study. The design and conduct of a study on EMF exposure and brain tumor risk in young people in a large number of countries is complex and poses methodological challenges. This manuscript discusses the design of MOBI-Kids and describes the challenges and approaches chosen to address them, including: (1) the choice of controls operated for suspected appendicitis, to reduce potential selection bias related to low response rates among population controls; (2) investigating a young study population spanning a relatively wide age range; (3) conducting a large, multinational epidemiological study, while adhering to increasingly stricter ethics requirements; (4) investigating a rare and potentially fatal disease; and (5) assessing exposure to EMF from communication technologies. Our experience in thus far developing and implementing the study protocol indicates that MOBI-Kids is feasible and will generate results that will contribute to the understanding of potential brain tumor risks associated with use of mobile phones and other wireless communications technologies among young people

Serum adiponectin levels and adiponectin gene polymorpfhisms in children and adolescents with obesity and undernutrition. Association with body composition and insulin resistance

Obesity is one of the major public health problems and has become an epidemic in developed countries. Its complications such as Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus DM-2 are some of the main morbidity and mortality causes. Adipose tissue and adipokines produced by it play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of these complications. Among them, adiponectin is of particular importance. Its levels are decreased in obese subjects, increased in patients with negatives energy balance and are related to single nucleotide polymorphisms of the adiponectin gene. In addition, it is related to conditions such as visceral adiposity, insulin resistance, DM-2, cardiovascular disease for which it has been suggested as a prognostic biomarker. Little is known about the function of adiponectin during childhood while its levels have not been studied in the Greek population. The aims of the present study were to investigate adiponectin levels and the factors that affect them in children and adolescents of Greek ethnic background with obesity and malnutrition. More specifically, the study involved the investigation of: 1) adiponectin levels in the serum of obese children and adolescents and their association with body composition and insulin resistance, 2) adiponectin levels in patients with malnutrition 3) certain single nucleotide polymorphisms of the adiponectin gene and their association with its concentration, body composition, and insulin resistance. This was a prospective study, and was carried out at the 4th Department of Pediatrics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Papageorgiou General Hospital. Obese patients were recruited from the Pediatric Endocrinology Outpatient Clinic and patients with malnutrition were recruited from the Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Special Unit of the Department. Three groups of patients were included in the study: 1) Obese children and adolescents, 2) Children, adolescents and adults with cystic fibrosis with and without malnutrition, 3) Age and sex-matched healthy children, adolescents and adults with normal BMI as control groups. Obese patients were divided according to their age, puberty stage and gender. Cystic fibrosis patients were divided according to their age and nutritional status. The study protocol included the assessment of body composition with Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA), measurement of blood lipids, assessment of insulin resistance with oral glucose tolerance testing (OGTT). For CF patients and control groups that did not undergo OGTT, fasting insulin resistance indices (FGIR and HOMA-IR) were used. Blood samples for the measurement of adiponectin and genetic analysis were collected. Adiponectin levels were measured with ELISA. In a subset of obese patients genetic analysis was performed PCR-RFLP with for the detection of the SNP45T→G and SNP276G→T polymorphisms. The results of the study were: Obese children and adolescents had significantly higher insulin resistance and lower adiponectin levels in comparison to control groups. Obese adolescent males had the lowest adiponectin concentrations. This is in agreement with other studies that involve subjects of different ethnic and racial background. The study did not reveal a strong association with percentage of body fat. Other studies had conflicting results. Adiponectin levels have been associated mainly to the amount of visceral adipose tissue. This difference can be explained by the fact that in the present study total and not visceral fat was measured. In all 123 subjects (except CF patients), an important correlation between adiponectin and insulin resistance (HOMA-IR, FGIR) was observed. This finding is in agreement with adult studies. In obese patients, adiponectin correlated significantly with indices of hyperinsulinemia and insulin sensitivity derived from the OGTT (Insulin at 30′, Mean Insulin during OGTT, AUC insulin, WBISI). Similar studies in children are scarce and yielded similar conclusions. With regard to CF patients, young patients with malnutrition had the lowest adiponectin levels while young patients with normal nutritional status had higher adiponectin levels in comparison to malnourished patients and healthy controls. There are only two published studies that concern adiponectin levels in CF patients with conflicting results. In the present study, low adiponectin concentration in young malnourished patients can be attributed to a mechanism similar to lipodystrophy that is also associated with low adiponectin levels because of body fat reduction and redistribution. On the contrary, increased adiponectin levels in young CF patients with normal nutrition can be attributed to their increased energy needs, because of growth, and the negative energy balance related to the disease. To further explore this finding, data from other patient groups with energy intake restriction (e.g. anorexia nervosa) can be taken into consideration. Additionally, high adiponectin levels in CF patients were associated with the presence of nodular biliary cirrhosis. This is a novel finding since it has never been studied in the past. Studies in patients with cirrhosis of different etiology however, also showed increased adiponectin levels. Finally, adiponectin gene polymorphisms SNP45T→G and SNP276G→T are common in the population that was examined. They are associated with higher adiponectin levels (not significantly). Their presence does not affect the degree of obesity, body composition, and the degree of insulin resistance. SNP + 276 specifically, is associated with lower risk for insulin resistance and lower total and LDL-cholesterol. Haplotype TG/X was associated with lower adiponectin concentrations in comparison to the other two haplotypes (TG/TG and X/X).Η αντιπονεκτίνη είναι μια λιποκυτταροκίνη η οποία παράγεται αποκλειστικά από τα λιποκύτταρα και έχει ιδιότητες αντιφλεγμονώδεις, αντι-διαβητικές και αντιαθηρογενετικές. Σκοπός: η μέτρηση των επιπέδων αντιπονεκτίνης (ΑΝΤ) στον ορό παιδιών και εφήβων με παχυσαρκία και υποθρεψία και ο συσχετισμός τους με την αντίσταση στην ινσουλίνη (ΑΙ), το % λίπους σώματος (%ΛΣ), και τους πολυμορφισμούς του γονιδίου της. Υλικό-Μέθοδοι: Συμπεριλήφθησαν: 80 παχύσαρκα παιδιά και έφηβοι (44Θ) ηλικίας 11,09±2,54 ετών, 17 παιδιά, έφηβοι και ενήλικες με υποθρεψία εξαιτίας Κυστικής Ίνωσης (ΚΙ), 26 παιδιά, έφηβοι και ενήλικες με ΚΙ και φυσιολογική θρέψη και 43 μη-παχύσαρκα παιδιά και έφηβοι αντίστοιχης ηλικίας και φύλου. Μετρήθηκαν: Δείκτης Μάζας Σώματος (BMI) και σταθερή απόκλιση (ΒΜΙ-SDS), %ΛΣ, (Ανάλυση Βιοηλεκτρικής Εμπέδησης), δείκτες ΑΙ (HOMA-IR, FGIR). Οι παχύσαρκοι υποβλήθηκαν σε από του στόματος δοκιμασία ανοχής στη γλυκόζη (OGTT). Οι συγκεντρώσεις ΑΝΤ μετρήθηκαν με ELISA. Σε 48 παχύσαρκα παιδιά αναζητήθηκαν οι πολυμορφισμοί μιας βάσης (SNP) του γονιδίου της ΑΝΤ (SNP45T→G, SNP276G→T) με PCR-RFLP (Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism). Αποτελέσματα: (ΜΟ±ΣΑ): Τα επίπεδα της AD ήταν χαμηλότερα στα παχύσαρκα άτομα (8.11±3.80 έναντι 11.81±4.98 g/ml, p<0.001) και στους παχύσαρκους έφηβους σε σχέση με τα κορίτσια (5.87±3.52 έναντι 8.31±3.16g/ml, p=0.042). Βρέθηκε σημαντική συσχέτιση της ΑΝΤ με: ηλικία, ΒΜΙ, BMI-SDS, HOMA-IR και FGIR. Στους παχύσαρκους η ΑΝΤ παρουσίαζε συσχέτιση με τις παραμέτρους: AUCγλυκόζη, AUCινσουλίνη, WBISI, Γλυκόζη120, και Ινσουλίνη 30 αλλά όχι με το %ΛΣ. Όσον αφορά τους ασθενείς με ΚΙ τα χαμηλότερα επίπεδα διαπιστώθηκαν στους νέους ασθενείς και υποθρεψία ενώ τα υψηλότερα στους ασθενείς με φυσιολογική θρέψη. Από τον γονοτυπικό έλεγχο βρέθηκαν οι εξής γονότυποι: 45T/T(69%), 45T/G(27%), 45G/G(4%) και 276G/G(41%), 276G/T(51%) και 276T/T(8%), όλοι σε ισορροπία Hardy-Weinberg. Σε σύγκριση με το γονότυπο 45T/T, ένα ή δύο G-αλλήλια στη θέση 45 δε συσχετίζονταν με ΑΙ ή χαμηλότερη ΑΝΤ. Σε σύγκριση με τον γονότυπο 276G/G, ένα ή δύο Τ-αλλήλια στη θέση 276 συσχετίζονταν με μειωμένο κίνδυνο για ΑΙ. Συμπέρασμα: Η ΑΝΤ είναι χαμηλότερη στα παχύσαρκα άτομα, παρουσιάζει συσχέτιση με την ΑΙ και αξίζει να διερευνηθεί η χρήση της ως δείκτη ΑΙ. Επίσης είναι μειωμένη στα παιδιά και τους εφήβους με ΚΙ και υποθρεψία ενώ είναι αυξημένη στα παιδιά και εφήβους με ΚΙ και φυσιολογική θρέψη καθώς και σε ασθενείς με ΚΙ και ηπατική νόσο. Οι πολυμορφισμοί 45T/G και 276G/T είναι συχνοί. Ο SNP276G-T συσχετίζεται με χαμηλότερο κίνδυνο για ΑΙ και η μελέτη του σε παχύσαρκα Ελληνόπουλα μπορεί να δώσει πληροφορίες για τον κίνδυνο ΑΙ

Techno-economic study for the evaluation of energy upgrade interventions and intelligent lighting management utilizing the LoRaWAN network in the Municipality of Peristeri

Εθνικό Μετσόβιο Πολυτεχνείο--Μεταπτυχιακή Εργασία. Διεπιστημονικό-Διατμηματικό Πρόγραμμα Μεταπτυχιακών Σπουδών (Δ.Π.Μ.Σ.) “Τεχνο-οικονομικά συστήματα

Reclassifying bioterrorism risk: Are we preparing for the proper pathogens?

Summary: Existing classifications of potential biological weapons, acknowledge only limited important parameters of biological weapon potential. Certain pathogen factors would further influence the outcome of a potential attack in context with social and political aspects of the time and space of the attack. The importance of these factors was investigated through various attack scenarios that have been developed by the authors, and an individual score for each of these factors was calculated, based on the overall effect their variation had in the scenario outcome. A new classification score for potential biological weapons was subsequently developed, one, which drastically alters the perception of risk for certain pathogens, such as filoviruses and anthrax. This frame further allows for more accurate evaluation of the bioweapon potential of agents such as avian flu. Recognition of intervening factors and proper assessment of the actual risk might augment in proper distribution of interest and funds on relevant medical research. Keywords: Bioterrorism, Risk, Classificatio