Prevalence of HPV infection among Greek women attending a gynecological outpatient clinic

Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is a causative factor for cervical cancer. Early detection of high risk HPV types might help to identify women at high risk of cervical cancer. The aim of the present study was to examine the HPV prevalence and distribution in cervical smears in a sample of Greek women attending a gynecological outpatient clinic and to explore the determinants of the infection.Methods: A total of 225 women were studied. All women underwent a regular gynecological control. 35 HPV types were studied; 6, 11, 16, 18, 26, 31, 33, 35, 39, 40, 42, 43, 44, 45, 51, 52, 53, 54, 56, 58, 59, 61, 62, 66, 68, 70, 71, 72, 73, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85 and 89. Also, basic demographic information, sociodemographic characteristics and sexual behavior were recorded.Results: HPV was detected in 22.7% of the study population. The percentage of the newly diagnosed women with HPV infection was 17.3%. HPV-16 was the most common type detected (5.3%) followed by HPV-53 (4.9%). 66.2% of the study participants had a Pap test during the last year without any abnormalities. HPV infection was related positively with alcohol consumption (OR: 2.19, 95% CI: 1.04-4.63, P = 0.04) and number of sexual partners (OR: 2.16, 95% CI: 1.44-3.25, P < 0.001), and negatively with age (OR: 0.93, 95% CI: 0.87-0.99, P = 0.03), and monthly income (OR: 0.63, 95% CI: 0.44-0.89, P = 0.01).Conclusion: The prevalence of HPV in women attending an outpatient clinic is high. Number of sexual partners and alcohol consumption were the most significant risk factors for HPV infection, followed by young age and lower income

Modern numerical methods for thw solution of linear systems arising in fluid dynamics

Η επίλυση πολύ μεγάλων και αραιών γραμμικών συστημάτων αλγεβρικων εξισώσεων αποτελεί βασικό συστατικό στοιχείο των επιστημονικών υπολογισμών. Κατά την αριθμητική προσέγγιση των λύσεων μερικών διαφορικών και ολοκληρωτικών εξισώσεων συχνά εμφανίζεται η ανάγκη να επιλύσουμε τέτοια συστήματα. Στη ρευστοδυναμική, η διακριτοποίηση των εξισώσεων Stokes, με μεθόδους πεπερασμένων διαφορών ή πεπερασμένων στοιχείων, έχει ως αποτέλεσμα, σε κάθε βήμα του αλγορίθμου την επίλυση ενός μεγάλου και αραιού συμμετρικού γραμμικού συστήματος αλγεβρικών εξισώσεων. Στην παρούσα μεταπτυχιακή εργασία, μελετάω, υλοποιώ και συγκρίνω ένα σύνολο από μεθόδους για την αριθμητική επίλυση των παραπάνω γραμμικών συστημάτων.The solution of very large and sparse linear systems of algebraic equations, constitutes basic constitutive element of scientific calculations. Towards the numerical approximation of solutions of partial differential and integral equations, often is encountered the need for solving such kind of systems. In fluid dynamics, the discretization of Stokes equations, with finite difference or finite element methods, has as a resulting, at every step of the algorithm, the solution of a large and sparse symmetric linear system of algebraic equations. In the present Master Thesis, I study, implement and compare a set of methods for the efficient numerical solution of the above linear systems

Influence of CAP on social sustainability in Greek and Bulgarian rural areas

This chapter aims to make a comparison between Greek and Bulgarian rural areas, in terms of social sustainability indicators. Social sustainability is related to social capital, social inclusion, social exclusion and social cohesion in rural economies, terms that can be measured by relevant social indicators. The paper focuses on the effects of farm household behaviour on social sustainability in regard to changes in employment, gender, migration and social capital. To this end two case study areas were selected; Macedonia and Thrace in Greece and South east Planning Region in Bulgaria. The data were collected by a survey carried out in the context of the European FP7 project entitled CAP-IRE (Assessing the multiple Impacts of the Common Agricultural Policy on Rural Economies). The survey included eleven case study areas in nine case study areas of the European Union. The paper also compares the results from the Greek and Bulgarian case study areas with the average results of the eleven European case study areas

Influence of CAP on social sustainability in Greek and Bulgarian rural areas

This chapter aims to make a comparison between Greek and Bulgarian rural areas, in terms of social sustainability indicators. Social sustainability is related to social capital, social inclusion, social exclusion and social cohesion in rural economies, terms that can be measured by relevant social indicators. The paper focuses on the effects of farm household behaviour on social sustainability in regard to changes in employment, gender, migration and social capital. To this end two case study areas were selected; Macedonia and Thrace in Greece and South east Planning Region in Bulgaria. The data were collected by a survey carried out in the context of the European FP7 project entitled CAP-IRE (Assessing the multiple Impacts of the Common Agricultural Policy on Rural Economies). The survey included eleven case study areas in nine case study areas of the European Union. The paper also compares the results from the Greek and Bulgarian case study areas with the average results of the eleven European case study areas

A knowledge brokerage approach for assessing the impacts of the setting up young farmers policy measure in Greece

This study explores Knowledge Brokerage (KB) aspects of an ex-post Impact Assessment (IA) for the Rural Development Programme (RDP) measure of setting up young farmers, under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), at the regional level in Northern Greece. The measure supports the entry of young farmers in agriculture by moving land from older to younger farmers. The aim of the study was to test a set of KB tools for improving the interaction between researchers and policy makers. Our analysis mainly focused on a suite of IA Support Modules to guide practitioners, and on a technical tool kit, a web-based contextualisation platform, to support the IA of the specific test case. Offering a structured approach towards IA, both the Support Modules and LIAISE-KIT allow framing the context, organisation, scheduling and method selection in the light of KB objectives. The evaluation of how IA Support Modules influence the Science Policy Interface (SPI), in the case of the ex-post assessment, demonstrated the high relevance of KB activities for facilitating the interaction between researchers and regional policy makers. The assessment bridges the gap between knowledge producers developing scientific output to be applied in a specific context, and knowledge users, who want clear messages regarding the policy challenges they face. Other conclusions include the need for specific guidelines and training for knowledge users, especially with regard to the use of tools. According to our findings, a consequent application of KB activities is a crucial pre-condition for successfully implementing IAs in future RDP measures.</p