Significant Increase in Antibody Titers after the 3rd Booster Dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine in Healthcare Workers in Greece.

The aim of our study was to assess the immunogenicity of the third dose of the BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine (Comirnaty) in a cohort of 129 health-care workers in Greece whose anti-S1 RBD IgG titers were monitored over the course of nine months. Titers were measured for each participant just before the third dose (nine months after the second dose) and also one month after the third dose. Of the 129 participants, 19 had been previously infected before starting the vaccination scheme. The SARS-CoV-2 IgG II Quant assay on the Architect System was employed to longitudinally assess the titers of IgG against the receptor-binding domain of the S1 subunit of the spike protein (anti-S1 RBD). Boosters raised Geometric Mean Concentrations (GMCs) by a factor of approximately 47 relative to levels at 9 months and by a factor of approximately 23 relative to levels at 6 months. The immune response one month after the third dose was significantly higher than the response achieved one month after the second dose (p = 0.008). In conclusion, our findings verify the potent immunogenicity elicited by the third dose in all age and prior COVID-19 status groups, suggesting that the timely administration of the third (booster) dose maximizes the immunogenic potential of the vaccine

Prediction ability of Altman model for bankruptcy in Greek enterprises

This study initially decodes and analyzes the financial robustness of companies that bankrupt in 2012, aiming to determine with the use of historical data the factors that could forecast the bankruptcy of these enterprises. The year 2012 was selected because Greece was the unique country from the GIIPS states (Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain) in which paradoxically 2012 is the year with inversion of the tendency and reduction (6.74%) in the number of recorded corporate bankruptcies. For the research purpose the second- revised Altman Z-score model is used, which was applied in a ten sample of bankrupted enterprises from various branches. The rate of success of the model in the final sample of enterprises one year before the bankruptcy is 100%, which means higher predictability than the percentage of 94% exported by Altman in 1968. As long as it concerns the rate of success 2 years before bankruptcy it was presented smaller compared to the -1 year (80%), however comparing the result with the application of Altman (72%), the model in the present research presented also higher prediction ability. The reversal of the trend of the legally recorded bankruptcies in Greece seems to be due to statistical rather than economic reasons. Many small and medium size firms as well as sole traders led to closure, but their bankruptcy was not recorded as judicial bankrup

Make me an Offer: Forward and Reverse Auctioning Problems in the Tourism Industry

Most tourist destinations are facing regular and consistent seasonality with significant economic and social impacts. This phenomenon is more pronounced in the post-covid era, where demand for travel has increased but unevenly among different geographic areas. To counter these problems that both customers and hoteliers are facing, we have developed two auctioning systems that allow hoteliers of lower popularity tier areas or during low season periods to auction their rooms in what we call a forward auction model, and also allows customers to initiate a bidding process whereby hoteliers in an area may make offers to the customer for their rooms, in what constitutes a reverse auction model initiated by the customer, similar to the bidding concept of priceline.com. We develop mathematical programming models that define explicitly both types of auctions, and show that in each type, there are significant benefits to be gained both on the side of the hotelier as well as on the side of the customer. We discuss algorithmic techniques for the approximate solution of these optimization problems, and present results using exact optimization solvers to solve them to guaranteed optimality. These techniques could be beneficial to both customer and hotelier reducing seasonality during middle and low season and providing the customer with attractive offers.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figure

Comparison of Chromogenic In Situ Hybridisation with Fluorescence In Situ Hybridisation and Immunohistochemistry for the Assessment of Her-2/neu Oncogene in Archival Material of Breast Carcinoma

The successful treatment of breast cancer is dependent upon a number of complex factors. Her-2/neu gene amplification is known to be one of the most common genetic alterations associated with breast cancer and its accurate determination has become necessary for the selection of patients for trastuzumab therapy

Feasibility study of a wearable system based on a wireless body area network for gait assessment in Parkinson's disease patients

Parkinson’s disease (PD) alters the motor performance of affected individuals. The dopaminergic denervation of the striatum, due to substantia nigra neuronal loss, compromises the speed, the automatism and smoothness of movements of PD patients. The development of a reliable tool for long-term monitoring of PD symptoms would allow the accurate assessment of the clinical status during the different PD stages and the evaluation of motor complications. Furthermore, it would be very useful both for routine clinical care as well as for testing novel therapies. Within this context we have validated the feasibility of using a Body Network Area (BAN) of wireless accelerometers to perform continuous at home gait monitoring of PD patients. The analysis addresses the assessment of the system performance working in real environments

When open data closes the door:A critical examination of the past, present and the potential future for open data guidelines in journals

Opening data promises to improve research rigour and democratize knowledge production. But it also presents practical, theoretical, and ethical considerations for qualitative researchers in particular. Discussion about open data in qualitative social psychology predates the replication crisis. However, the nuances of this ongoing discussion have not been translated into current journal guidelines on open data. In this article, we summarize ongoing debates about open data from qualitative perspectives, and through a content analysis of 261 journals we establish the state of current journal policies for open data in the domain of social psychology. We critically discuss how current common expectations for open data may not be adequate for establishing qualitative rigour, can introduce ethical challenges, and may place those who wish to use qualitative approaches at a disadvantage in peer review and publication processes. We advise that future open data guidelines should aim to reflect the nuance of arguments surrounding data sharing in qualitative research, and move away from a universal “one-size-fits-all” approach to data sharing. This article outlines the past, present, and the potential future of open data guidelines in social-psychological journals. We conclude by offering recommendations for how journals might more inclusively consider the use of open data in qualitative methods, whilst recognizing and allowing space for the diverse perspectives, needs, and contexts of all forms of social-psychological research

Synthesis of inositol phosphate-based competitive antagonists of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptors.

Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptors (IP3Rs) are intracellular Ca(2+) channels that are widely expressed in animal cells, where they mediate the release of Ca(2+) from intracellular stores evoked by extracellular stimuli. A diverse array of synthetic agonists of IP3Rs has defined structure-activity relationships, but existing antagonists have severe limitations. We combined analyses of Ca(2+) release with equilibrium competition binding to IP3R to show that (1,3,4,6)IP4 is a full agonist of IP3R1 with lower affinity than (1,4,5)IP3. Systematic manipulation of this meso-compound via a versatile synthetic scheme provided a family of dimeric analogs of 2-O-butyryl-(1,3,4,6)IP4 and (1,3,4,5,6)IP5 that compete with (1,4,5)IP3 for binding to IP3R without evoking Ca(2+) release. These novel analogs are the first inositol phosphate-based competitive antagonists of IP3Rs with affinities comparable to that of the only commonly used competitive antagonist, heparin, the utility of which is limited by off-target effects.Supported by a Senior Investigator Award from the Wellcome Trust 101844 (to C.W.T.), Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council UK and the German Academic Exchange Service (to V.K.). A.E.K. thanks the Research Committee of AUTh for financial support. C.W.T. and V.K. thank Dr S. B. Shears (N.I.E.H.S, U.S.A.) for his helpful advice.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from the Royal Chemistry Society via http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C5OB02623

BMP action in skeletogenesis involves attenuation of retinoid signaling

The bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) and growth and differentiation factor (GDF) signaling pathways have well-established and essential roles within the developing skeleton in coordinating the formation of cartilaginous anlagen. However, the identification of bona fide targets that underlie the action of these signaling molecules in chondrogenesis has remained elusive. We have identified the gene for the retinoic acid (RA) synthesis enzyme Aldh1a2 as a principal target of BMP signaling; prochondrogenic BMPs or GDFs lead to attenuation of Aldh1a2 expression and, consequently, to reduced activation of the retinoid signaling pathway. Consistent with this, antagonism of retinoid signaling phenocopies BMP4 action, whereas RA inhibits the chondrogenic stimulatory activity of BMP4. BMP4 also down-regulates Aldh1a2 expression in organ culture and, consistent with this, Aldh1a2 is actively excluded from the developing cartilage anlagens. Collectively, these findings provide novel insights into BMP action and demonstrate that BMP signaling governs the fate of prechondrogenic mesenchyme, at least in part, through regulation of retinoid signaling

Algal symbionts of the freshwater sponge Ephydatia muelleri

The freshwater sponge, Ephydatia muelleri, is an emerging model system for studying animal:microbe symbioses. Intracellular green microalgae are one of the more common symbionts that live in a facultative mutualism with E. muelleri. While these symbioses have long been known, the identity of the algal symbionts in E. muelleri cells has not been studied in detail. Here, we isolate and characterize endosymbiotic algae from E. muelleri collected from different geographic locations. We find that the algae can be transmitted through asexually produced gemmules and importantly that they can form symbioses with different, differentiated sponge cell types in the adult sponge. Our findings indicate that at least two algal lineages form endosymbioses with E. muelleri. One of the lineages includes species commonly found in samples from two locations in Canada and one in the United States (clade 1: closely related to Auxenochlorella pyrenoidosa). The other clade includes algae found in sponges from one site in Maine, USA, and Lewiniosphaera symbiontica, which is a strain isolated in 1956 from the freshwater sponge Spongilla. We compared microbiomes found in cultures of microalgae as well as the original sponge hosts, and found that very similar bacterial microbiomes associate with both clades (91 orders of Bacteria are shared among the samples we compared). The microbiomes found in the cultures resemble, with a high degree of overlap, the microbiome associated with the sponge host