Human Resource Management's Role in the Public Sector and the Level of Corruption: The Case of Greek Tax Administration

AbstractThe aim of this study is to investigate the effect of the operation of human resource management in the public sector, in terms of the level of corruption. Furthermore, we focus on qualitative traits of the study, by analysing the choices, which have been carried out in the human resources management in the public sector in Greece, in order to draw results in relation of their effect on the existence and development of corruption in this specific area. Our conclusions are based on twelve interviews, which have been conducted with persons working or have close collaboration with Greek Tax Administration under the consideration that have faced or have experience on the topic and the level of corruption

Altered Resting Functional Connectivity Is Related to Cognitive Outcome in Males With Moderate-Severe Traumatic Brain Injury.

TBI results in significant cognitive impairments and in altered brain functional connectivity. However, no studies explored so far, the relationship between global functional connectivity and cognitive outcome in chronic moderate-severe TBI. This proof of principle study employed the intrinsic connectivity contrast, an objective voxel-based metric of global functional connectivity, in a small sample of chronic moderate-severe TBI participants and a group of healthy controls matched on gender (males), age, and education. Cognitive tests assessing executive functions, verbal memory, visual memory, attention/organization, and cognitive reserve were administered. Group differences in terms of global functional connectivity maps were assessed and the association between performance on the cognitive measures and global functional connectivity was examined. Next, we investigated the spatial extent of functional connectivity in the brain regions found to be associated with cognitive performance, using traditional seed-based analyses. Global functional connectivity of the TBI group was altered, compared to the controls. Moreover, the strength of global functional connectivity in affected brain areas was associated with cognitive outcome. These findings indicate that impaired global functional connectivity is a significant consequence of TBI suggesting that cognitive impairments following TBI may be partly attributed to altered functional connectivity between brain areas involved in the specific cognitive functions

Iron deposits in the knee joints of a thalassemic patient

The overall prognosis for patients with β-thalassemia has improved considerably during the past decades mainly due to regular blood transfusions, improvements in chelation therapy, and enhanced surveillance with imaging studies examining iron overload and other clinical complications. However, the prolonged survival of these patients leads to the development of other health problems including degenerative diseases such as arthropathies, which require further attention since they have a significant impact on the quality of life. In the current case report, we present a 45-year-old white man with β-thalassemia complaining of non-traumatic pain and restriction in the range of motion of both knees. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a tear in the medial meniscus of the left knee as well as iron deposits in both knees. Histological findings confirmed the presence of hemosiderin in both joints. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of macroscopically documented iron deposits in the knee joints of a patient with β-thalassemia using MRI

Signal-to-noise per unit time optimization for in vivo single-voxel proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy of the brain: Theoretical formulation and experimental verification at two field strengths

Signal-to-noise ratio optimization, regarding repetition time selection, was explored mathematically and experimentally for single-voxel proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Theoretical findings were benchmarked against phantom measurements at 1.5 Tesla and localized in vivo proton brain spectra acquired at both 1.5 Tesla/3.0 Tesla. A detailed mathematical description of signal-to-noise ratio per unit time was derived, yielding an optimal repetition time of 1.256 times the metabolite longitudinal relaxation time. While long-repetition-time acquisitions minimize longitudinal relaxation time contributions, a repetition time of ~1.5s results in maximum signal-to-noise ratio per unit time, which can in turn be invested into smaller voxel sizes. The latter is of utmost importance in brain oncology, allowing accurate spectroscopic characterization of small lesions.Comment: 26 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Spectroscopy Letter

Neural correlates of pain acceptance and the role of the cerebellum:Functional connectivity and anatomical differences in individuals with headaches versus matched controls

Background: Despite functional connectivity network dysfunction among indi-viduals with headaches, no studies have examined functional connectivity neuralcorrelates and anatomical differences in coping with headaches.Methods: This study investigated inter-individual variability in whole-brainfunctional connectivity and anatomical differences among 37 individuals withprimary headaches and 24 age- and gender-matched controls, and neural cor-relates of psychological flexibility (PF) that was previously found to contributeto headache adjustment. Participants (84% women; M headache severity = 4/10;M age = 43 years) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging scans andcompleted questionnaires to examine global and subnetwork brain areas, andtheir relations with PF components, controlling for age, gender, education, andhead- motion.Results: Seed and voxel-based contrast analyses between groups showed atypicalfunctional connectivity of regions involved in pain matrix and core resting-statenetworks. Pain acceptance was the sole PF component that correlated with thecerebellum (x, y, z: 28, −72, −34, p-false discovery rate <0.001), where individualswith headaches showed higher grey matter density compared to controls.Conclusions: The cerebellum, recently implicated in modulating emotional andcognitive processes, was indicated to process information resembling what indi-viduals do when practicing pain acceptance. Our findings establish for the firsttime this connection of the cerebellum and its role in pain acceptance. We pro-pose that pain acceptance might be a behavioural biomarker target that couldmodulate problematic headache perceptions and brain networks abnormalities

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Associated with Brucellosis in Livestock Owners in Jordan

We evaluated livestock owners' knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding brucellosis in Jordan. A questionnaire was administered and biological samples were examined to verify the serological status of animals. Seroprevalence estimates indicated that 18.1% (95% CI: 11–25.3) of cattle herds and 34.3% (95% CI: 28.4–40.4) of small ruminant flocks were seropositive. The results showed that 100% of the interviewed livestock keepers were aware of brucellosis: 87% indicated a high risk of infection if unpasteurized milk is consumed and 75% indicated a high risk if unpasteurized dairy products are consumed. Awareness of the risk of infection through direct contact with fetal membranes or via physical contact with infected livestock is considerably lower, 19% and 13%, respectively. These knowledge gaps manifest in a high frequency of high-risk practices such as assisting in animal parturition (62%), disposing aborted fetuses without protective gloves (71.2%) or masks (65%), and not boiling milk before preparation of dairy products (60%). When brucellosis is suspected, basic hygiene practices are often disregarded and suspect animals are freely traded. Public health education should be enhanced as the disease is likely to remain endemic in the ruminant reservoir as long as a suitable compensation program is not established and trust on available vaccines is regained

On the use of polymer gels for assessing the total geometrical accuracy in clinical Gamma Knife radiosurgery applications

The nearly tissue equivalent MRI properties and the unique ability of registering 3D dose distributions of polymer gels were exploited to assess the total geometrical accuracy in clinical Gamma Knife applications, taking into account the combined effect of the unit’s mechanical accuracy, dose delivery precision and the geometrical distortions inherent in MR images used for irradiation planning. Comparison between planned and experimental data suggests that the MR-related distortions due to susceptibility effects dominate the total clinical geometrical accuracy which was found within 1 mm. The dosimetric effect of the observed sub-millimetre uncertainties on single shot GK irradiation plans was assessed using the target percentage coverage criterion, and a considerable target dose underestimation was found

Analysis of the financial implications of solar panels and battery storage integration in the port infrastructure of Heraklion

The European Union (EU) aims to significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050, necessitating an extensive energy transition across numerous industries and economic sectors. Urban ports are a key sector affected by this transition. As ports increasingly adopt electric-powered infrastructure (such as cold ironing, reefers, stackers, and cranes), their reliance on the electrical grid grows, potentially leading to higher operational costs. This creates a challenge of achieving the required transition in a cost-effective manner. This paper addresses this issue by proposing a photovoltaic (PV) and battery installation to meet electricity demands, focusing on determining the optimal system size, cost, and expected earnings. The study utilizes electricity consumption data from the port of Heraklion for 2021 and solar data from a nearby photovoltaic park in Heraklion, Crete. The methodology's results include determining the appropriate PV capacity and battery storage, with an estimated annual profit of €165,818.44