Re-visualize the visual: Exploring visual arts with high-school students in art museum and beyond

This study aimed to achieve a better understanding of the engagement of high-school students with art museums and contemporary art. I worked on this project for 5 months with 7 inner-city adolescents from Cyprus, investigating their formal and informal museum visits and their understanding of contemporary art. The study employed participatory action research methodology and visual research methods to investigate three questions: how high-school students experience visual arts inside, in relation to, and outside the institutions (school and the museum); how these experiences inform the institutions on how to develop a sustained museum-student relationship; what action(s) does our research group suggest would make art museums more relevant to the visitors by taking into consideration their visit experiences. An important conclusion of the project is that the proximity between the researcher and the participants, which was achieved through the participatory methodology, created a sense of community among the participants and promoted their active contribution to the research project. By framing contemporary art through the insights of high-school students and by drawing on their experiences and interactions in the contemporary art museum, the project also proposed an art game prototype which I designed with my research partners. Further, we examined the role of the school in relation to student museum habits

Risk assessment methodologies for critical infrastructure protection. Part II: A new approach

This report describes a risk assessment process for Critical Infrastructures (CI) based on the staff working document from DG ECHO namely “Risk Assessment and Mapping Guidelines for Disaster Management” and DG HOME “on a new approach to the European Programme for Critical Infrastructure Protection Making European Critical Infrastructures more secure”. As a result of the DG ECHO staff working document, several Member States (MS) have provided overview of risks where the risk of “loss of critical infrastructure” has been identified as a man made risk. However, we consider that there is a lot of room for improvement in this process mainly because Critical Infrastructures are not yet one more risk at MS level but CIs in their turn are subject to the risks that have been identified my MS. In the present report we identify this gap and we provide a methodology that is based on a different approach with respect to the CI risks.JRC.G.5-Security technology assessmen

The Royal Free Hospital score: a calibrated prognostic model for patients with cirrhosis admitted to intensive care unit. Comparison with current models and CLIF-SOFA score

Prognosis for patients with cirrhosis admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) is poor. ICU prognostic models are more accurate than liver-specific models. We identified predictors of mortality, developed a novel prognostic score (Royal Free Hospital (RFH) score), and tested it against established prognostic models and the yet unvalidated Chronic Liver Failure-Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (CLIF-SOFA) model

Gastrointestinal Motility Disorders and Their Clinical Implications in Cirrhosis

Gastrointestinal motility is impaired in a substantial proportion of patients with cirrhosis. Cirrhosis-related autonomic neuropathy, increased nitric oxide production, and gut hormonal changes have been implicated. Oesophageal dysmotility has been associated with increased frequency of abnormal gastro-oesophageal reflux. Impaired gastric emptying and accommodation may result in early satiety and may have an impact on the nutritional status of these patients. Small intestinal dysmotility might be implicated in small intestinal bacterial overgrowth and increased bacterial translocation. The latter has been implicated in the pathophysiology of hepatic encephalopathy and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis. Enhanced colonic motility is usually associated with the use of lactulose. Pharmacological interventions aiming to alter gastrointestinal motility in cirrhosis could potentially have a beneficial effect reducing the risk of hepatic decompensation and improving prognosis

Lost in transition? Lived experiences of unaccompanied Afghan minors in Greece

This thesis is a qualitative case study that explores the experiences of unaccompanied Afghan asylum seeking minors in Greece – a largely neglected area empirically, in migration-related social science research – despite the fact that migration has been an issue of mounting concern recently. The study sets out to bridge this gap hence, to provide insights of the paths of young people as individuals in their own right, and of the dynamics and processes of their forced migrations. The research contributes to contemporary debates about migration and childhood. The thesis takes a broader approach that highlights the connections across borders and covers the multiple facets of unaccompanied minors’ experiences and feelings; pre-exile, during journeys, and on arrival in Greece. The future plans and motivations of the young respondents are also discussed. Information in relation to young respondent’s experiences, emotions and thoughts was collected in a series of in-depth interviews, focus groups and participatory activities. Data was also gathered by professionals and public figures with the aim to identify how these young people are treated and perceived inside and outside of the reception centres in Greece. The data indicates that these young respondents are deeply and negatively affected by experiences of loss, separation, discrimination, abuse, and long-lasting hardships to be found throughout their histories of movement. Their accounts are renegotiated tales where notions of belonging and identity are shaped along the way, and the boundaries drawn around childhood and adulthood are often fragile and fluid. The events of young people’s movements are reported as having been poignant, rendering them in a continuous, transitional state of existence. This stage ‘in between’, it is argued to be intricately entangled with the prolonged political insecurity which in some instances, extents to the condition of statelessness. The analysis of young respondents’ experiences revealed an overt gap between entitlements which are theoretically attributed to unaccompanied minors, regarding their social, political and legal rights – irrespective of their legal status – and pragmatic barriers to be found on the ground; on the streets, at borders, in detention, in police stations, and in reception centres, these young people are imperilled to the process of dehumanization. This process is understood to be a product of social and political violence implicated in local and transnational contexts. A combination of structural factors and practices has been found to be compounded by inhuman actions such as; the commodification process, the classification process, poverty, stigmatization, institutional racism and the ambiguity of political status. The findings further indicated that young respondents had mixed and distinct feelings of their experiences and responded to the process of dehumanization in very different ways; some developed robust resilient mechanisms along the way and formed important social networks for their survival and others felt powerless, and incapable mentally to lead their lives. The data indicated that the type of care and support varied significantly among the reception centres. There was a spectrum of attitudes towards the presence of the young respondents, showing sympathy and welcoming responses but also prejudice, stereotypes and xenophobia. These appeared at professional, government and public levels. Implications are discussed in relation to the punitive policies and practices that demoralise the rights and needs of the young people, hence potential strategies are suggested for reforming aspects of the child welfare/asylum system. The thesis concludes that these young respondents have a uniquely strong claim to social and political rights that will give them back their lost ‘ordinariness’

European Reference Network for Critical Infrastructure Protection: ERNCIP Handbook 2017 edition Version 1.0

The ERNCIP network has been established to improve the protection of critical infrastructures in the EU. The European Reference Network for Critical Infrastructure Protection (ERNCIP) therefore works in close cooperation with all types of CIP stakeholders, focusing particularly on the technical protective security solutions. This handbook aims to assist the dissemination of the activities and results of ERNCIP. It is intended that the document will be updated and issued by the ERNCIP Office in spring each year. The information provided will be up to date as of the end of the previous calendar year, i.e. in this case as at 31 December 2016. The report summarises the achievements of all the ERNCIP Thematic Groups, providing a convenient way to access information on any specific theme of interest covered by ERNCIP. The report also describes current thematic group activities, to allow subject-matter experts and critical infrastructure operators to identify ongoing areas of research they might be interested in assisting. This report is publicly available via the ERNCIP web site, and is distributed to all ERNCIP Group of EU CIP Experts for onward dissemination within their Member State.JRC.E.2-Technology Innovation in Securit

Advanced services for critical infrastructures protection

In this paper an overview of the first results of FP7 CIPRNet project is presented. Particularly, we demonstrate CIPRNet services for critical infrastructure protection (CIP) stakeholders. The role of the proposed services is to support decisions in the CIP domain. Moreover, those services are expected to serve as the underpinnings for the European Infrastructures Simulation and Analysis Centre (EISAC) which, similarly to the US NISAC, should provide operational services on CIP, for the benefits of CI operators, stakeholders and the Public Authorities committed to CIP

The Early Byzantine Domed Basilicas of West Asia Minor, An essay in Graphic Reconstruction

This paper investigates the methodology employed in the recent survey and reconstruction of the major Early Byzantine domed churches of west Asia Minor. This involved both the documentation of construction details as well as their interpretation by reference to coeval monuments elsewhere. Focusing on this methodology, the author explores techniques of graphic recording and the theoretical framework within which parallels with other buildings can inform the work of reconstruction. The detailed examination of two case studies illustrates the way in which seemingly random scraps of testimony were interpreted to provide evidence for the missing superstructure of the churches. These case studies also serve to explore the adaptation of the methodology to sites with different characteristics and help to assess the credibility of the resulting graphic reconstructions

Elevated liver enzymes in inflammatory bowel disease: the role and safety of infliximab

BACKGROUND: Abnormal liver enzymes are frequently encountered in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients. Infliximab has been implicated in inducing drug-induced liver injury, autoimmune hepatitis or reactivation of hepatitis B virus. We aimed to clarify the role of infliximab in liver impairment in an IBD cohort. STUDY: A total of 305 patients with IBD, without evidence of chronic liver disease, were included in the study and retrospectively evaluated. Laboratory and clinical data were retrieved from a prospectively acquired database. In all, 176 consecutive patients treated with infliximab during the last 5 years were compared with a matched population of 129 patients who did not receive any antitumour necrosis factor treatment. RESULTS: Elevation of alanine transaminase (ALT) was frequent in the entire population (36.4%) and it was not significantly associated with the use of infliximab (P=0.284). Elevations more than 3 upper limit of normal were observed in 7.9% and these resolved spontaneously in 83%. The use of immunomodulators was the only factor that was significantly associated with liver enzyme abnormalities in multivariate analysis [odds ratio (OR) 2.666, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.576-4.511, P<0.005]. Overall, 39% of patients on infliximab had elevated liver enzymes and this was associated with increased ALT before starting infliximab (OR 3.854, 95% CI 1.800-8.251, P=0.001) and with longer duration of infliximab treatment (OR 1.030, 95% CI 1.013-1.047, P=0.001). CONCLUSION: Elevated liver enzymes are frequently found in IBD patients and they usually resolve spontaneously. The use of immunomodulators was independently associated with increased ALT. Infliximab is relatively safe in terms of liver impairment and discontinuation of treatment is rarely required in the setting of modest elevations of ALT