Female Entrepreneurship in Agricultural Sector. The Case of Municipality of Pogoni in the Period of Economic Crisis

Purpose of this field research is the study of the multifunctional role of rural women both in development and primary sector’s businesses. The survey was conducted in 2014, in Municipality of Pogoni, Greece, by personal interviews and questionnaire with women holding a small business in primary sector. Thus, the results about female entrepreneurship are unique for this specific rural area. It is concluded that within modernization of agricultural sector, the role of rural women has greatly improved in production and organization of agricultural labor. Female entrepreneurship networking, small businesses’ succession, and necessity and opportunity entrepreneurship in primary sector’s businesses are examined and also how these affect female entrepreneurship. Women entrepreneurs’ opinions were catalogued. Factors such as education and vocational training are important in enhancing the role of rural women. Finally, main problems woman entrepreneur faces, mainly economic and managerial, were pointed out, while economic crisis seems to affect negatively the agricultural sector of this region

Corporate Social Responsibility in SMEs and MNEs. The Different Strategic Decision Making

The purpose of this paper is about how the strategic decisions are affected by CSR's factors, how different are the strategies that are being adopted by the SMEs compared to the MNEs. The SMEs represent a major share of economic value creation worldwide, and differ substantially from MNEs in terms of organizational characteristics, behavioral guiding principles, financial and human resources. The literature mainly is focusing on how large multinational corporations (MNEs) can address to environmental and social problems that arise globally. How the largest multinational enterprises (MNEs) engage Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in their (inclusive) business strategies, either as suppliers, distributors, customers, innovators or as a target of their CSR policies are searchable. We notice that SMEs possess several organizational characteristics that are favorable for promoting the implementation of CSR related practices. In the contrast, the MNEs possess several characteristics that are favorable for promoting external communication and reporting about CSR, but at the same time constrain the internal implementation. Topics, such as how different is the dedication of the personnel, the sensitivities of the enterprises upon social matters, the critical decisions of the management between SMEs and MNEs, and how the stakeholder engagement affect this strategic decision making are discussed hereafter

Malignant triton tumour of the anterior mediastinum as incidental finding

A rare case of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumour with rhabdomyoblastic differentiation (malignant triton tumour) of the anterior mediastinum in a 30-yearold male is reported. The tumour was an incidental finding during the diagnostic work-up following a motor vehicle accident. The patient underwent median sternotomy with a tumour resection performed. Local relapse was suspected one month later, as per the chest CT-scan, and post-operative chemoradiation was applied, which produced a response. Twelve months later the patient is doing well while radiological findings remain invariable. Localization of a triton tumour in the anterior mediastinum is extremely rare, adjuvant treatment is necessary, recurrence frequently occurs and the prognosis is dismal

Synchronous fluorescence spectrofluorimetric method for the simultaneous determination of metoprolol and felodipine in combined pharmaceutical preparation

A rapid, simple and sensitive synchronous specrtofluorimetric method has been developed for the simultaneous analysis of binary mixture of metoprolol (MTP) and felodipine (FDP). The method is based upon measurement of the synchronous fluorescence intensity of the two drugs at Δλ of 70 nm in aqueous solution. The different experimental parameters affecting the synchronous fluorescence intensities of the two drugs were carefully studied and optimized. The fluorescence intensity-concentration plots were rectilinear over the ranges of 0.5-10 μg/mL and 0.2-2 μg/mL for MTP and FDP, respectively. The limits of detection were 0.11 and 0.02 μg/mL and quantification limits were 0.32 and 0.06 μg/mL for MTP and FDP, respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied for the determination of the two compounds in their commercial tablets and the results obtained were favorably compared to those obtained with a comparison method

Predicting lymphoma in Sjogren's syndrome and the pathogenetic role of parotid microenvironment through precise parotid swelling recording

Objective Parotid swelling (PSW) is a major predictor of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) in primary SS (pSS). However, since detailed information on the time of onset and duration of PSW is scarce, this was investigated to verify whether it may lead to further improved prediction. NHL localization was concomitantly studied to evaluate the role of the parotid gland microenvironment in pSS-related lymphomagenesis. Methods A multicentre study was conducted among patients with pSS who developed B cell NHL during follow-up and matched controls that did not develop NHL. The study focused on the history of salivary gland and lachrymal gland swelling, evaluated in detail at different times and for different durations, and on the localization of NHL at onset. Results PSW was significantly more frequent among the cases: at the time of first referred pSS symptoms before diagnosis, at diagnosis and from pSS diagnosis to NHL. The duration of PSW was evaluated starting from pSS diagnosis, and the NHL risk increased from PSW of 2-12 months to >12 months. NHL was prevalently localized in the parotid glands of the cases. Conclusion A more precise clinical recording of PSW can improve lymphoma prediction in pSS. PSW as a very early symptom is a predictor, and a longer duration of PSW is associated with a higher risk of NHL. Since lymphoma usually localizes in the parotid glands, and not in the other salivary or lachrymal glands, the parotid microenvironment appears to be involved in the whole history of pSS and related lymphomagenesis

Prognostic significance of HER3 and HER4 protein expression in colorectal adenocarcinomas

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer remains a major cause of cancer mortality in the Western world. A limited number of studies has been conducted in respect of Her-3 and Her-4 expression and their correlation with clinical parameters and prognosis in colorectal carcinomas . In this study we sought to determine the pattern and the prognostic significance of HER-3 and HER-4 in colorectal adenocarcinoma. METHODS: We studied HER-3 and HER-4 protein expression in106 paraffin embedded specimens of primary colorectal tumors using immunohistochemistry. The pattern and protein expression levels of HER-3 and HER-4 were correlated with several clinical and pathological parameters. RESULTS: HER-3 staining displayed membranous and cytoplasmic expression pattern in 18 (17%) and 30 samples (28,3%), respectively. HER-4 membranous and cytoplasmic expression was found in 20 (18,9%) and 32 samples (30,2%), respectively. Specimens regarded as positive for HER-3 cytoplasmic expression were associated with moderate tumor grade (p = 0,032) and older median age (p = 0,010). Specimens regarded as positive for HER-4 membranous protein expression were associated with involved lymphnodes (p = 0,0003). Similar results were obtained when considering Her-3 and Her-4 protein expression irrespective of their cellular localization. There was no correlation between the expression of HER-3 and HER-4 and patients outcome. CONCLUSION: HER-4 membranous protein expression was found to predict for lymph nodes positivity in this cohort of patients with colorectal cancer.HER-4 expression status may identify tumors with aggressive biological behavior and increased metastatic potential

Primary biliary cirrhosis PBC, antigen-presenting cells differ in their distribution in early and late stage PBC and involve the ductal...

We have studied the distribution patterns of antigen-presenting cells (APCs) in different stages of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). 58% of cases with early PBC (stages I and 11) exhibited dendritic APCs (S-loo+, HLA-DR+, KiMlp+) in bile duct epithelia. In contrast, APCs, were not detected in ductular proliferations occurring in late PBC (stages I11 and IV), but occurred in portal tracts and piecemeal necroses. There was a correlation between the presence of APCs and HLA-DR expression in bile ducts but, in contrast to former studies. we noted a heterogeneous ductal HLA expression. These observations support the hypothesis that: 1) APC distribution in PBC may change as a function of stage, involving hepatic parenchyma in late PBC; 2) ductular epithelia may not represent a target for immune attack, because APCs do not accumulate in these structures; and 3) HLA expression in bile ducts may be heterogeneous, suggesting one mechanism why bile duct destruction in PBC does not take place in a synchronous way

Ocular manifestations of IgG4-related disease in children. More common than anticipated? Review of the literature and case report

IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is an entity with various clinical manifestations. Histopathologically, it is characterized by lymphoplasmacytic infiltrates enriched in IgG4 (+) plasmacytes and usually fibrosis of the affected tissue. Most of the patients have also increased IgG4 serum levels and they respond to glucocorticosteroids. In children, due to its rare occurrence, IgG4-RD is ill defined. From the published studies, so far, it appears that ocular manifestations are very common in the paediatric population with IgG4-RD. Herein, we describe a new case of a child with IgG4-RD with ocular involvement manifested with orbit and eyelid swelling, successfully treated with steroids. In addition, we review the clinical, laboratory, histopathologic and radiologic characteristics of the published paediatric cases with IgG4-RD and ocular involvement, critically comparing them with the characteristics of the adult population. It seems that ocular manifestations are more frequently observed in children than in adults. Also, the pattern of involvement is different, with extraocular muscles and soft tissues being more commonly affected than the lacrimal glands. © 2017, International League of Associations for Rheumatology (ILAR)