Statistical and trend analysis of water quality and quantity data for the Strymon River in Greece

Strymon is a transboundary river of Greece, Bulgaria and Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) in southeastern Europe. Water quality parameters and the discharge have been monitored each month just 10 km downstream of the river’s entry into Greece. The data of nine water quality variables (T, ECw, DO, SO₄^2-, Na⁺+K⁺, Mg²⁺ , Ca²⁺, NO₃^&#8254;, TP) and the discharge for the period 1980-1997 were selected for this analysis. In this paper a) the time series of monthly values of water quality parameters and the discharge were analysed using statistical methods, b) the existence of trends and the evaluation of the best fitted models were performed and c) the relationships between concentration and loads of constituents both with the discharge were also examined. Boxplots for summarising the distribution of a data set were used. The &#967²-test and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test were used to select the theoretical distribution which best fitted the data. Simple regression was used to examine the concentration-discharge and the load-discharge relationships. According to the correlation coefficient (r) values the relation between concentrations and discharge is weak (r< 0.592) while the relation between loads and discharge is very strong (r > 0.902). Trends were detected using the nonparametric Spearman’s criterion upon the data for the variables: Q, ECw, DO, SO₄^2-, Na⁺+K⁺ and NO₃^&#8254; on which temporal trend analysis was performed.</p> <p style='line-height: 20px;'><b>Keywords: </b>Strymon river, water quality, discharge, concentration, load, statistics, trend

Statistical and trend analysis of water quality and quantity data for the Strymon River in Greece

International audienceStrymon is a transboundary river of Greece, Bulgaria and Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) in southeastern Europe. Water quality parameters and the discharge have been monitored each month just 10 km downstream of the river's entry into Greece. The data of nine water quality variables (T, ECw, DO, SO42-, Na++K+, Mg2+ , Ca2+, NO3?, TP) and the discharge for the period 1980-1997 were selected for this analysis. In this paper a) the time series of monthly values of water quality parameters and the discharge were analysed using statistical methods, b) the existence of trends and the evaluation of the best fitted models were performed and c) the relationships between concentration and loads of constituents both with the discharge were also examined. Boxplots for summarising the distribution of a data set were used. The &#9672-test and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test were used to select the theoretical distribution which best fitted the data. Simple regression was used to examine the concentration-discharge and the load-discharge relationships. According to the correlation coefficient (r) values the relation between concentrations and discharge is weak (r 0.902). Trends were detected using the nonparametric Spearman's criterion upon the data for the variables: Q, ECw, DO, SO42-, Na++K+ and NO3? on which temporal trend analysis was performed. Keywords: Strymon river, water quality, discharge, concentration, load, statistics, trend

Chemical Weapons and public health: assessing impact and responses.

BACKGROUND: The recent use of Chemical Weapons (CWs) in armed conflicts and terror attacks highlights the importance of understanding their full impact in order to inform an effective response. This article argues that while the consequences of CWs on individual health have dominated our understanding of the impact of these weapons, far less attention has been directed to their impact on public health. METHODS: A review of the literature on the health impact of CWs was conducted, and two case studies of their use in urban settings were explored - Halabja in northern Iraq in 1988 and throughout Syria's ongoing conflict. RESULTS: The importance of considering the long-term health consequences of CW use and their impact on healthcare and health systems was demonstrated. CONCLUSIONS: This article highlights the importance of supporting future research on the topic and proposes a framework for assessing the public health impact of CW use

Capacity-building barriers to S3 implementation: an empirical framework for catch-up regions

In this paper, we investigate the implementation challenge of Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3) in catch-up regional environments, through the lens of capacity building. We analyse capacity building at two levels: micro-level (individual organisations) and meso-level (regional inter-organisational networks). We use empirical evidence from 50 interviews conducted in the period 2015–2017 from two Greek regions dramatically hit by the economic crisis (Crete and Central Macedonia). We argue that in the Cretan and Central Macedonian context, the difficulty of implementing S3 is directly linked with firms’ lack of adsorptive capability to exploit university-generated knowledge, university knowledge that is too abstract for firm’s to easily acquire, as well as to the capability of regional actors to build inter-organisational networking that fits their strategic needs

Strain and stress relationships for optical phonon modes in monoclinic crystals with \u3ci\u3eβ\u3c/i\u3e-Ga\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eO\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3e as an example

Strain-stress relationships for physical properties are of interest for heteroepitaxial material systems, where strain and stress are inherent due to thermal expansion and lattice mismatch. We report linear perturbation theory strain and stress relationships for optical phonon modes in monoclinic crystals for strain and stress situations which maintain the monoclinic symmetry of the crystal. By using symmetry group analysis and phonon frequencies obtained under various deformation scenarios from density-functional perturbation theory calculations on β-Ga2O3, we obtain four strain and four stress potential parameters for each phonon mode. We demonstrate that these parameters are sufficient to describe the frequency shift of the modes regardless of the stress or strain pattern which maintain the monoclinic symmetry of the crystal. The deformation potentials can be used together with experimentally determined phonon frequency parameters from Raman or infrared spectroscopy to evaluate the state of strain or stress of β-Ga2O3, for example, in epitaxial heterostructures

Strain and stress relationships for optical phonon modes in monoclinic crystals with \u3ci\u3eβ\u3c/i\u3e-Ga\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eO\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3e as an example

Strain-stress relationships for physical properties are of interest for heteroepitaxial material systems, where strain and stress are inherent due to thermal expansion and lattice mismatch. We report linear perturbation theory strain and stress relationships for optical phonon modes in monoclinic crystals for strain and stress situations which maintain the monoclinic symmetry of the crystal. By using symmetry group analysis and phonon frequencies obtained under various deformation scenarios from density-functional perturbation theory calculations on β-Ga2O3, we obtain four strain and four stress potential parameters for each phonon mode. We demonstrate that these parameters are sufficient to describe the frequency shift of the modes regardless of the stress or strain pattern which maintain the monoclinic symmetry of the crystal. The deformation potentials can be used together with experimentally determined phonon frequency parameters from Raman or infrared spectroscopy to evaluate the state of strain or stress of β-Ga2O3, for example, in epitaxial heterostructures

Effect of Training Load on Post-Exercise Cardiac Biomarkers in Healthy Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review of the Existing Literature.

BACKGROUND: Postexercise release of cardiac biomarkers (cardiac troponins, cTn, and N-terminal pro b-type natriuretic peptide, NT-proBNP) is a well-known phenomenon in adults, although it remains unclear how it manifests in children. The aim of this review is to compare the pre-exercise with the post-exercise measurement of serum cardiac biomarkers, as well as to analyze their post-exercise release based on age, sex, and exercise intensity and duration. METHODS: The terms troponin, football, swimmers, marathon, run, and exercise were used in a literature search at National Library of Medicine. The search was further refined by adding the keywords athletes, children, adolescents, and sport. RESULTS: Fifteen pediatric studies and four studies with a mixed population of adults and children totaled 19 studies for the final analysis. In addition to them, some adult studies have been included for comparison. The kinetics of the cTn and NT-proBNP response after exercise have been the subject of our interest. While the impact of sport type, age, and sex has not yet been fully characterized, the existing data points to considerable impacts of sport intensity and duration on post-exercise biomarkers elevation. Most of the findings came from endurance sports, but the evidence is sparse. Furthermore, there is only limited data on women and less on young adults, African Caribbeans, and professional athletes. CONCLUSIONS: Both amateur and competitive athletes can exhibit post-exercise release of both cTn and NT-proBNP. This is transient and lacks pathological significance, in contrast with adult population, in which exercise-induced increases in in these biomarker levels may not always be benign. While NT-proBNP release is still primarily driven by activity duration, cTnT release is additionally affected by exercise intensity. To define individual ranges of normality for postexercise cTn and NT-proBNP elevation, the role of several confounders (age, sex, sport type/intensity etc.) remains to be further elucidated

Strain and stress relationships for optical phonon modes in monoclinic crystals with \u3ci\u3eβ\u3c/i\u3e-Ga\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eO\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3e as an example

Strain-stress relationships for physical properties are of interest for heteroepitaxial material systems, where strain and stress are inherent due to thermal expansion and lattice mismatch. We report linear perturbation theory strain and stress relationships for optical phonon modes in monoclinic crystals for strain and stress situations which maintain the monoclinic symmetry of the crystal. By using symmetry group analysis and phonon frequencies obtained under various deformation scenarios from density-functional perturbation theory calculations on β-Ga2O3, we obtain four strain and four stress potential parameters for each phonon mode. We demonstrate that these parameters are sufficient to describe the frequency shift of the modes regardless of the stress or strain pattern which maintain the monoclinic symmetry of the crystal. The deformation potentials can be used together with experimentally determined phonon frequency parameters from Raman or infrared spectroscopy to evaluate the state of strain or stress of β-Ga2O3, for example, in epitaxial heterostructures