Aspects of the effectiveness of the Greek 'Holoimero' ('all-day') primary school

The ‘holoimero’ school is a special school type in Greece that functions until late in the evening. ‘Holoimero’ constitutes one of the most important components of the latest educational reform. During its operation, at the end of the morning shift, the ‘holoimero’ or ‘all day’ school seeks for the creative occupation of the students who decide to participate in its programme, which includes activities not offered in the morning shift. The present research investigates the factors of the effectiveness of ‘holoimero’ that, according to some of its teachers, are of great importance. The main argument of the present study is that certain variables are related to the effectiveness of the ‘holoimero’ school. Some of these variables are school financing and autonomy, school climate, openness to the community, flexibility, pedagogical innovation, and active involvement of those concerned with the organisation and implementation of the curriculum.peer-reviewe

Adherence to the Mediterranean diet is an independent predictor of circulating vitamin D levels in normal weight and non-smoker adults: an observational cross-sectional study

We explored the association between circulating 25OHD and adherence to the Mediterranean Diet (MedDiet) in 402 Greek (21–65 years, 188 men and 214 women), normal weight, non-smoker, healthy volunteers in the Athens metropolitan area during summer and autumn, taking into account skin phototype, anthropometric, and lifestyle variables. Circulating 25OHD, parathormone, creatinine, calcium, and phosphate were determined. A vitamin D status of ≤25, ≤50, and ≤75 nmol/L was observed in 4.5, 37.3, and 74.1% of the subjects, respectively. The independent predictors of 25OHD deficiency were autumn, darker skin phototype, BMI, or waist circumference (WC), sunscreen use, less physical outdoor activity, and less adherence to the MedDiet. Higher intake of fish and olive oil was a positive independent predictor of elevated circulating 25OHD levels. In conclusion, higher adherence to the MedDiet, fish and olive oil consumption, were positively associated with circulating 25OHD independently from BMI or WC, skin phototype, season, and physical activity

Combined oral contraceptives and gonadotropin releasing hormone agonistic analogs in polycystic ovary syndrome: Clinical and experimental studies

Polycystic ovary syndrome is a common endocrine disorder, presenting with menstrual irregularities, hirsutism, obesity, infertility and abnormal ovarian morphology. In addition, polycystic ovary syndrome is associated with a self-perpetuating imbalance involving the endocrine system and metabolic pathways, in which carbohydrates, lipids and growth factors are involved. Because of its chronicity, it is considered to be a substantial risk factor for atherogenesis and hormone-dependent neoplasia. The etiology and pathophysiology of the syndrome remain elusive. However, during the last decade, several clues have emerged from human and animal studies that may have significant repercussions in the treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome. Therapeutic maneuvers should be directed towards the dominant abnormalities present in individual patients with polycystic ovary syndrome. Gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists can directly affect the gonadotropin generator and secondary downstream derangements, whereas combined oral contraceptives (COCs) can modify hypothalamic as well as peripheral abnormalities. In view of the fact that GnRH agonistic analogs (GnRH-a) will induce hypoestrogenemia and its sequelae, the add-back strategy of estrogenic supplementation is recommended for preventive reasons and, as it transpires from some studies, for enhancement of GnRH-a effectiveness

Toxicity effects of bisphenol A to the nauplii of the brine shrimp Artemia franciscana

Toxicity responses of Artemia franciscano to the endocrine disrupter bisphenol A (BPA) were investigated. Exposure of Artemia nauplii (instar II-III) to BPA for 24 hrs and 48 hrs demonstrated LC50 values of 44.8 mg l(-1) and 34.7 mg l(-1), respectively. The length of nauplii was measured and compared with that of untreated animals. BPA exposed nauplii were significantly shorter than untreated individuals (24 hrs: 0.97 mm, 48 hrs: 1 mm) at a concentration range between 20 and 50 mg l(-1) (24 hrs: 0.9-0.7 mm, 48 hrs: 0.92-0.71 mm). Furthermore, the length of nauplii decreased as the dose of BPA increased for both 24 hrs and 48 hrs exposure periods. The results indicate that A. franciscana does not consist a highly sensitive test animal for the acute toxicity bioassays with BPA in comparison to other aquatic organisms. However, it becomes obvious that an inhibitory effect on growth of Artemia nauplii can be estimated within a short exposure period (24 hrs), even at doses lower than the median lethal concentration. The latter finding points out that A. franciscano may be an ideal model organism for further research on the physiological processes related to the inhibitory effect of BPA on the growth of crustaceans

Hypoparathyroidism in a patient presenting with severe myopathy and skin rash. Case report and review of the literature.

A 47-year old man with idiopathic hypoparathyroidism (IHP), presented as severe myopathy and skin rash is described. The serum muscle enzymes were increased. After treatment with calcium and vitamin D, the clinical condition improved, the skin rash gradually disappeared, and the muscle enzymes decreased and remained within the normal range thereafter

Gestione e pubblicazione di dati geografici con GFOSS software: l'esempio della Provincia di Imperia nell'ambito del progetto strategico Alcotra-RiskNat.

The effective use of information and communication technologies (ICT) is an evolutionary trend which many countries of the European Union (EU) are currently experiencing, including Italy. In this contribution, we deal with the options of applying GRASS GIS and other Geographic Free OpenSource Software (GFOSS) in the process of informatisation of public administration (PA). The activities have been carried out on the behalf of the EU Alcotra - RiskNat strategic cross-border project, under the guidance of the Imperia Province (Liguria, Italy). The main focus is the design and creation of a geographical database (DB) for managing spatial and non spatial information, using PostgreSQL/ PostGIS, GRASS and Quantum GIS (QGIS). A few geowebservices have been published according to the OGC Web Services (OWS) standards using the GeoServer platform. INSPIRE guidelines and specifications have been implemented for the related metadata files. The aim is to enable interoperability and reuse of geographical data and services which are also inserted as a layer in the RiskNat geoportal. A digital DVD ATLAS has been created for further navigation and interrogation of the various thematic layers of the cross-border basin of Roia river, using OpenLayers

THE CONTRIBUTION OF GIS IN FLOOD MAPPING: TWO APPROACHES USING OPEN SOURCE GRASS GIS SOFTWARE

The first step of a risk assessment analysis is the evaluation of flood-prone areas. Its importance is considered for both managing and planning emergency activities, such as hydraulic risk reduction management, and also town planning. Nowadays, using GIS technology for risk assessment analysis is very common. However, it is not widely used for defining inundated areas. LiDAR data, such as Digital Elevation Models (DEM), makes GIS numerical models attractive methods for obtaining a flooded area automatically. Using GIS tools, is beneficial for effective processing and accuracy assessment in comparison to the traditional methods which are based on topographic maps and field surveys. A first approach (Federici and Sguerso, 2007; Marzocchi et al. 2009) is the use of a GIS module in order to create perifluvial flood maps, having as prerequisites (i) the conformation of the river floodplain by a high resolution DEM and (ii) a water surface profile along the river axis calculated for a given water discharge through a generic one-dimensional (1D) hydraulic model (HEC-RAS, Basement, MIKE 11, etc). On the other hand, a second approach is the use of a 2D model GIS embedded in order to create flooded areas due to a dam break (Cannata & Marzocchi, 2012). This module solves the conservative form of the 2D Shallow Water Equations (SWE) using a Finite Volume Method (FVM). The intercell flux is computed by a one-side upwind conservative scheme extended to a 2D problem (Ying et al., 2004). The new developed GIS module gives as an output maximum intensity maps which can be directly used during the risk assessment process. Both models implemented in GRASS GIS software (GRASS, 2013) and two new commands (r.inund.fluv and r.damflood) have been created. They are all available on the official GRASS website and they are distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). In this work we present a comparison between the two models mentioned above. We analyse the possibility of integrating these two approaches. We intend to use the 1D model, GIS embedded if possible, to calculate the water surface profile along the river axis and the 2D numerical one to analyse inundation beside the river levees

Comparison of one-dimensional and two-dimensional GRASS GIS models for flood mapping.

The first step of a risk assessment analysis is the evaluation of flood-prone areas. Nowadays, using Geographic Information System (GIS) technology for risk assessment analysis is very common. However, it is not widely used for defining inundated areas. LiDAR data, such as digital elevation models (DEM), makes GIS numerical models attractive methods for obtaining a flooded area automatically. A first approach (Federici & Sguerso, 2007; Marzocchi, 2009) uses a GIS module in order to simulate perifluvial flood maps, having as prerequisites (i) the conformation of the river floodplain by a high-resolution DEM and (ii) a water surface profile along the river axis calculated for a given water discharge through a generic one-dimensional (1D) hydraulic model (HEC-RAS, Basement, MIKE 11, etc.). On the other hand, a second approach uses a GIS-embedded two-dimensional (2D) model in order to simulate flooded areas due to a dam break (Cannata&Marzocchi, Nat Hazards 61(3):1143\u20131159, 2012). This module solves the conservative form of the 2D shallow water equations (SWE) using a finite volume method (FVM). We present a comparison between the two models mentioned above, and we analyse the possibility of integrating these two approaches