Gender Resilience in Times of Economic Crisis: Findings from Greece

The aim of this article is to examine and compare the perceptions and effects of the economic crisis on Greek women and men, as well as their resilience actions. Specifically, in this paper, we compare men's and women's perceptions of the economic crisis; secondly, in order to determine the extent of its effect on gender, we consider employment as a key variable, and investigate if and how employment differentiation leads to inequalities between men and women and among women themselves. Finally, we investigate gender resilience to adversity (actions) at both the personal (e.g., everyday behaviour), and the organisational level (e.g. membership in organisations and political participation). Based on data derived from the LIVEWHAT project, the results demonstrate that both men and women have been affected by the economic crisis and have sustained significant losses. Nevertheless, our data show that, among women, it is those in the lower occupational categories who have withstood more severe losses in employment and working conditions. Resilient to adversities, both men and women, albeit in different ways, adjust, accommodate and resist hardships through personal actions, networking and political actions. Our study finally points to the need for the inclusion of gender in any analysis of the impact of crises, as well as in the methods, ways and resources mobilised for resilience

Reuse of treated domestic wastewater on Mediterranean agricultural crops

Wastewater is considered as a new and unconventional source of water for agricultural production in many arid and semi-arid countries worldwide. As a result, careful monitoring of soil and plants for a range of parameters including salts, nutrients, micro-elements, heavy metals, toxic pollutants and pathogens is required. During this study, the application of three different qualities of treated domestic wastewater on four agricultural crops was examined in Crete, Greece: a typical Mediterranean semi-arid area. Primary treated (low quality), secondary treated (medium quality) and tertiary treated (high quality) wastewater were applied to a) olive trees, b) grapevines, c) radishes and d) carnations. Tap water and fertilized tap water (controls) were also applied in all the above agricultural crops for comparison with treated wastewaters. In general, increased concentrations of sodium, phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen in soils could be observed after wastewater irrigation. High salinity and boron concentrations in treated wastewater had no adverse effect on the examined cultivations. Low quality treated wastewater should not be used for irrigation mainly due to high levels of pathogens. In addition, they were found to a) to inhibit grapevine growth b) to degrade grape quality characteristics, and c) to accumulate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soil and radish roots. On the other hand, high quality treated wastewater had no negative effect on soil, plant growth, health safety and fruit quality of all the examined agricultural crops. Furthermore, the application of tertiary treated wastewater a) improved leaf chlorophyll concentration and yield of grapevines, b) improved yield and fruit quality characteristics of radishes and c) improved plant growth of carnations. Finally, olive trees were found to be less sensitive to irrigation water quality suggesting that even medium-quality wastewater could be safely applied

Effects of treated wastewater irrigation on the establishment of young grapevines

Irrigation with treated wastewater could produce excessive accumulations within the plant and soil, negatively affecting the yield and production quality. In addition, the presence of biological and chemical contaminants could harm the agricultural environment, as well as the health of farmers and consumers. During this work, the suitability of secondary and tertiary treated wastewater for use in young grapevines was evaluated by studying the effect of the wastewater irrigation on the soil-plant system, crop yield, fruit quality and the presence of inorganic chemical contamination (salts, elements and heavy metals), organic chemical contamination (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and microbial contamination (E. coli, total coliforms). The results show that tertiary treated wastewater had positive impact on plant growth and yield while secondary treated wastewater had negative impact on fruit safety in comparison with tap water. Sodium levels in soils irrigated with treated wastewater increased at the end of the irrigation period while decreased during the wet season. The total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations in the soils ranged from 363 μg/kg to 374 μg/kg at the end of the experiment for all irrigation treatments applied. The use of tertiary treated wastewater was recommended for the irrigation of young grapevines as an alternative water source secured protection of environment, plant health and fruit quality

Human hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction is unaltered by 8 h of preceding isocapnic hyperoxia

Exposure to sustained hypoxia of 8 h duration increases the sensitivity of the pulmonary vasculature to acute hypoxia, but it is not known whether exposure to sustained hyperoxia affects human pulmonary vascular control. We hypothesized that exposure to 8 h of hyperoxia would diminish the hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV) that occurs in response to a brief exposure to hypoxia. Eleven healthy volunteers were studied in a crossover protocol with randomization of order. Each volunteer was exposed to acute isocapnic hypoxia (end-tidal PO2 = 50 mmHg for 10 min) before and after 8 h of hyperoxia (end-tidal PO2 = 420 mmHg) or euoxia (end-tidal PO2 = 100 mmHg). After at least three days, each volunteer returned and was exposed to the other condition. Systolic pulmonary artery pressure (an index of HPV) and cardiac output were measured using Doppler echocardiography. Eight hours of hyperoxia had no effect on HPV or the response of cardiac output to acute hypoxia

Elevation of iron storage in humans attenuates the pulmonary vascular response to hypoxia

Sustained hypoxia over several hours induces a progressive rise in pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP). Administration of intravenous iron immediately prior to the hypoxia exposure abrogates this effect, suggesting that manipulation of iron stores may modify hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension. Iron (ferric carboxymaltose) administered intravenously has a plasma half-life of 7-12 hours. Thus, any therapeutic use of intravenous iron would require its effect on PASP to persist long after the iron-sugar complex has been cleared from the blood. To examine this, we studied PASP during sustained (6-h) hypoxia on four separate days (days 0, 1, 8 and 43) in 22 participants. On day 0, the rise in PASP with hypoxia was well matched between the iron and saline groups. On day 1, each participant received either 1 g of ferric carboxymaltose or saline in a double-blind manner. After administration of intravenous iron, the rise in PASP with hypoxia was attenuated by ~50%, and this response remained suppressed on both days 8 and 43 (p<0.001). Following administration of intravenous iron, values for ferritin concentration, transferrin saturation and hepcidin concentration rose significantly (p<0.001, p <0.005 and p<0.001, respectively) and values for transferrin concentration fell significantly (p<0.001). These changes remained significant at day 43. We conclude that the attenuation of the pulmonary vascular response to hypoxia by elevation of iron stores persists long after the artificial iron-sugar complex has been eliminated from the blood. The persistence of this effect suggests that intravenous iron may be of benefit in some forms of pulmonary hypertension