A comparative study of anxiety and depressive symptoms and perceived stress, between Aromanian and Romanian populations in Dobrogea

AbstractAromanians, their origin, their language or various aspects of socio-economic and spiritual life, represented over time, a constant concern for specialists in various fields. It is estimate that the attitudes, values and behaviors related to the health have also a socio-cultural component. Socioeconomic status, gender, age and residential environment are contributing factors to assess their differential health status and also contributing factors in the ethiopathogenesis of many psychosomatic diseases. In the present study, we took into account the influence of these factors in assessing anxiety, depression and perceived stress to Aromanian versus Romanian population from Dobrogea

Genetics of intellectual disability in consanguineous families

Autosomal recessive (AR) gene defects are the leading genetic cause of intellectual disability (ID) in countries with frequent parental consanguinity, which account for about 1/7th of the world population. Yet, compared to autosomal dominant de novo mutations, which are the predominant cause of ID in Western countries, the identification of AR-ID genes has lagged behind. Here, we report on whole exome and whole genome sequencing in 404 consanguineous predominantly Iranian families with two or more affected offspring. In 219 of these, we found likely causative variants, involving 77 known and 77 novel AR-ID (candidate) genes, 21 X-linked genes, as well as 9 genes previously implicated in diseases other than ID. This study, the largest of its kind published to date, illustrates that high-throughput DNA sequencing in consanguineous families is a superior strategy for elucidating the thousands of hitherto unknown gene defects underlying AR-ID, and it sheds light on their prevalence

Brixsino High-Flux Dual X-Ray and THz Radiation Source Based on Energy Recovery Linacs

We present the conceptual design of a compact light source named BriXSinO. BriXSinO was born as demonstrator of the Marix project, but it is also a dual high flux radiation source Inverse Compton Source (ICS) of X-ray and Free-Electron Laser of THz spectral range radiation conceived for medical applications and general applied research. The accelerator is a push-pull CW-SC Energy Recovery Linac (ERL) based on superconducting cavities technology and allows to sustain MW-class beam power with almost just one hundred kW active power dissipation/consumption. ICS line produces 33 keV monochromatic X-Rays via Compton scattering of the electron beam with a laser system in Fabry-Pérot cavity at a repetition rate of 100 MHz. The THz FEL oscillator is based on an undulator imbedded in optical cavity and generates THz wavelengths from 15 to 50 micron

Bayesian Genetic Programming for Edge Detection

In edge detection, designing new techniques to combine local features is expected to improve detection performance. However, how to effectively design combination techniques remains an open issue. In this study, an automatic design approach is proposed to combine local edge features using Bayesian programs (models) evolved by genetic programming (GP). Multivariate density is used to estimate prior probabilities for edge points and non-edge points. Bayesian programs evolved by GP are used to construct composite features after estimating the relevant multivariate density. The results show that GP has the ability to effectively evolve Bayesian programs. These evolved programs have higher detection accuracy than the combination of local features by directly using the multivariate density (of these local features) in a simple Bayesian model. From evolved Bayesian programs, the proposed GP system has potential to effectively select features to construct Bayesian programs for performance improvement

Knowledge management in construction industry

137 σ.Αντικείμενο της παρούσας διπλωματική εργασίας είναι η διερεύνηση της διαχείρισης της γνώσης στον κατασκευαστικό τομέα στην Ελλάδα. Στο πλαίσιο της εργασίας εξετάστηκε η έννοια της γνώσης, μελετήθηκαν θεωρητικά στοιχεία της διαχείρισης της γνώσης και περιγράφηκαν οι κυριότερες εφαρμογές της στον κατασκευαστικό τομέα κατά την τελευταία δεκαετία (1999-2009). Τέλος, παρουσιάστηκαν παραδείγματα εφαρμογής της διαχείρισης της γνώσης σε Ελληνικές επιχειρήσεις. Η εργασία παρουσίασε τέσσερα μοντέλα διαχείρισης της γνώσης για κατασκευαστικές επιχειρήσεις και τεχνικά έργα, που αναπτύχθηκαν κατά την τελευταία διετία (2008- 2009). Από τη μελέτη και την συγκριτική τους αξιολόγηση προέκυψε πως οι σημαντικότεροι παράγοντες επιτυχίας ενός μοντέλου είναι ο προσεκτικός σχεδιασμός του συστήματος για να ανταποκρίνεται στις ανάγκες των χρηστών και η σαφής δέσμευση του οργανισμού που υιοθετεί το σύστημα για την περαιτέρω ανάπτυξη και βελτίωσή του. Στο πλαίσιο της διπλωματικής εργασίας αποφασίστηκε η ανάπτυξη ενός εργαλείου διαχείρισης της γνώσης προσαρμοσμένου στα Ελληνικά δεδομένα. Στοιχεία από τη θεωρία των Βάσεων Δεδομένων χρησιμοποιήθηκαν για τον σχεδιασμό και η υλοποίηση έγινε στο λογισμικό MS Access 2003. Το εργαλείο αξιολογήθηκε μέσα από μία μελέτη περίπτωσης σε μελετητική εταιρεία με τη χρήση ειδικού ερωτηματολογίου που συμπληρώθηκε από τα στελέχη της επιχείρησης. Τα αποτελέσματα της αξιολόγησης επιβεβαίωσαν την χρησιμότητα της διαχείρισης της γνώσης και προσδιόρισαν τα κυριότερα οφέλη από την εφαρμογή της, όπως τη μείωση χρόνου για την αναζήτηση πληροφοριών, τη μείωση του αποθηκευτικού χώρου και τη γρήγορη επίλυση των προβλημάτων. Όμως, πριν από την εφαρμογή ενός τέτοιου εργαλείου θα πρέπει να ληφθούν υπόψη παράγοντες που ενδεχομένως να επιδράσουν αρνητικά, όπως το κόστος για την υλοποίηση μίας τέτοιας προσπάθειας, τα προβλήματα συμβατότητας με άλλα συστήματα (π.χ. ISO 9001) και η ενσωμάτωση της γνώσης που σχετίζεται με το νομοθετικό πλαίσιο των τεχνικών έργων.The subject of the present diploma thesis is the investigation of knowledge management in the Greek construction industry. Within the framework of the thesis the concept of knowledge was examined, theoretical elements of knowledge management were scrutinized and characteristic knowledge management applications in construction for the last decade (1999-2009) were discussed. Finally, the thesis presented case studies of knowledge management applications in Greece. Four knowledge management models developed within the last two years (2008-2009) were examined. Their analysis and comparative evaluation determined the main success factors being the meticulous system's design to reflect the users' needs and the explicit commitment of the organization adopting the system for its further development and improvement. It was decided to develop a knowledge management tool adapted to the Greek construction paradigm. Elements from database theory were utilized for its design and its implementation was realized through the MS Access 2003 software. The developed tool was evaluated through a case study in a Greek construction company by the use of a questionnaire that was disseminated to the company's employees. The results confirm the usefulness of knowledge management and defined the main benefits from its implementation to be the reduction in the required time for data retrieval, the reduction of storage space and the prompt response to problems. On the other hand, prior to the tool's implementation, factors that may negatively affect its efficiency must be taken into account, such as development cost, compatibility with other systems (e.g. ISO 9001) and integrationΕλένη Σ.Πάπαρ

Techno-economic assessment of the pyrolysis of rubber waste

Slow rubber pyrolysis was performed at 300–500 ◦C in a horizontal batch mechanically fluidized reactor with 30–60 min holding time, and the products were characterized. The char (yield = 50%-wt) exhibited a high heating value (HHV) around 30 MJ/kg, comparable with bituminous coke, and 84%-wt Carbon. The gas products (yield = 24–31%) had a composition dependent on temperature: 21%-v ethylene, 46%-v propane, and 11%-v butane at 300 ◦C; over 20%-v hydrogen and methane at 400 ◦C; at 500 ◦C hydrogen ranged 46-69%-v and methane 21-36%-v. Oil products (yield = 17–22% yield) consisted o

Glass Patterns and Artistic Imaging

The theory of Glass patterns naturally combines three essential aspects of painterly artworks: perception, randomness, and geometric structure. Therefore, it seems a suitable framework for the development of mathematical models of the visual properties that distinguish paintings from photographic images. With this contribution, we introduce a simple mathematical operator which transfers the microstructure of a Glass pattern to an input image, and we show that its output is perceptually similar to a painting. An efficient implementation is presented. Unlike most of the existing techniques for unsupervised painterly rendering, the proposed approach does not introduce 'magic numbers' and has a nice and compact mathematical description, which makes it suitable for further theoretical analysis. Experimental results on a broad range of input images validate the effectiveness of the proposed method in terms of lack of undesired artifacts, which are present with other existing methods, and easy interpretability of the input parameters