Η διακίνηση ναρκωτικών ως γεωπολιτικός παράγοντας ανακατανομής ισχύος στο γεωπολιτικό σύμπλοκο Ελλάδας-Αλβανίας.

Η παρούσα διπλωματική εργασία με τίτλο «Η διακίνηση ναρκωτικών ως γεωπολιτικός παράγοντας ανακατανομής ισχύος στο γεωπολιτικό σύμπλοκο Ελλάδας-Αλβανίας», χρησιμοποιεί την μεθοδολογία της συστημικής γεωπολιτικής ανάλυσης και της διεπιστημονικής προσέγγισης της στο γεωπολιτικό σύμπλοκο Ελλάδας - Αλβανίας. Με τη βοήθεια στατιστικών δεδομένων και της νομικής αναλύσεως αναλύονται οι γεωπολιτικές προεκτάσεις της διακίνησης ναρκωτικών και η ανακατανομή ισχύος για το προαναφερθέν γεωπολιτικό σύμπλοκο. Οι γεωπολιτικοί πυλώνες που παρουσιάζονται είναι ο γεωπολιτικός πυλώνας της Άμυνας- Ασφάλειας και ο πυλώνας της Πολιτικής. Τέλος, τα συμπεράσματα της έρευνας καταλήγουν στο γεωπολιτικό υπόδειγμα.This dissertation, titled " Drug trafficking as a geopolitical factor for redistribution of power in the geopolitical complex of Greece and Albania ", uses the methodology of systemic geopolitical analysis and its interdisciplinary approach to the geopolitical complex of Greece - Albania. With the help of statistical data and legal analysis, are analyzed the geopolitical implications of drug trafficking and the redistribution of power for the aforementioned geopolitical complex. The geopolitical pylons, which are presented, are the geopolitical pylon of Defense - Security and the geopolitical pylon of Policy. The results of the dissertation lead to the geopolitical model

First Detection of Tetrodotoxin in Greek Shellfish by UPLC-MS/MS Potentially Linked to the Presence of the Dinoflagellate Prorocentrum minimum

During official shellfish control for the presence of marine biotoxins in Greece in year 2012, a series of unexplained positive mouse bioassays (MBA) for lipophilic toxins with nervous symptomatology prior to mice death was observed in mussels from Vistonikos Bay–Lagos, Rodopi. This atypical toxicity coincided with (a) absence or low levels of regulated and some non-regulated toxins in mussels and (b) the simultaneous presence of the potentially toxic microalgal species Prorocentrum minimum at levels up to 1.89 × 103 cells/L in the area’s seawater. Further analyses by different MBA protocols indicated that the unknown toxin was hydrophilic, whereas UPLC-MS/MS analyses revealed the presence of tetrodotoxins (TTXs) at levels up to 222.9 μg/kg. Reviewing of official control data from previous years (2006–2012) identified a number of sample cases with atypical positive to asymptomatic negative MBAs for lipophilic toxins in different Greek production areas, coinciding with periods of P. minimum blooms. UPLC-MS/MS analysis of retained sub-samples from these cases revealed that TTXs were already present in Greek shellfish since 2006, in concentrations ranging between 61.0 and 194.7 μg/kg. To our knowledge, this is the earliest reported detection of TTXs in European bivalve shellfish, while it is also the first work to indicate a possible link between presence of the toxic dinoflagellate P. minimum in seawater and that of TTXs in bivalves. Confirmed presence of TTX, a very heat-stable toxin, in filter-feeding mollusks of the Mediterranean Sea, even at lower levels to those inducing symptomatology to humans, indicates that this emerging risk should be seriously taken into account by the EU to protect the health of shellfish consumersThe research leading to USC results has received funding from the following FEDER cofunded-grants. From CDTI and Technological Funds, supported by Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, AGL2012-40185-CO2-01 and Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria, GRC2013-016, and through Axencia Galega de Innovación, Spain, ITC-20133020 SINTOX. In addition from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme managed by REA—Research Executive Agency (FP7/2007–2013) under grant agreement 315285 CIGUATOOLS and 312184 PHARMASEA. Inés Rodriguez is supported by a fellowship from Subprograma de Formación de Personal Investigador (AGL2012-40185-CO2-01), Spain. In depth investigation of the toxic episodes leading to the results and publication of the present work was undertaken by the Greek National Reference Laboratory of Marine Biotoxins (NRLMB) to fulfill the requirements of EU Regulation 178/2002/EC (Articles 6 and 7) regarding risk analysis and communication and scientific information needed for risk assessment and EU Regulation 882/2004/EC (article 7) with regard to transparency and information to the public. Collaboration of all the staff of the NRLMB is greatly appreciated. Thanks are also expressed to all the Greek regional veterinary services for their contribution to the shellfish samplings and for provision of the seawater analyses results for the presence of potentially toxic microalgae. The use of cell counts’ data within the period 2006–2009 and 2012 regarding P. minimum presence in seawater, derived from the Greek “National Programme for Monitoring of Bivalve Molluscs’ Production Areas for the presence of Marine Biotoxins” and conducted by the Laboratory Unit of Toxic Marine Microalgae (LUTMM), Department of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (scientific coordinator: G. Nikolaidis (until February 2010) and M. Arsenakis (March 2010–to date)), as well as the restrictions of LUTMM regarding the use of data produced within 2013–2015 due to contract terms and ISO 17025 requirements are acknowledgedS

Biodiversity of prokaryotic communities in sediments of different sub-basins of the Venice lagoon

Microbial community structure and diversity in the wide and shallow Venice lagoon were assessed, before the construction of mobile dams, in nine stations representative of different four sub-basins previously selected on the basis of international guidelines for sediment quality. The sediments were mostly anoxic and colonised by microbial communities whose species richness was quantitatively correlated to total elemental sulphur and acid volatile sulphide. Automated Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer Analysis clustered the stations in three groups. One station for each group has been hence analysed in detail for bacterial and archaeal diversity by the screening of 16S rRNA gene clone libraries. The dominance of Gammaproteobacteria clones (84% with a high proportion of Vibrionaceae, indicator of urban pollution) determined a significant divergence of the station adjacent to industrial and metropolitan areas. Bacteroidetes were widespread especially where prairies of aquatic plants are located. The other two analysed stations were dominated by bacterial taxa implicated in the sulphur cycle: the anoxygenic photosynthetic Chromatiales, sulphate and sulphur reducing Desulfobacterales and Desulfuromonadales, and members of the Alpha- and Epsilonproteobacteria

A Study Of POE\u27s Technique In Selected Tales Of The Grotesque And Arabesque

Early in his career, F.dgar Allan Poe recognized the necessity to escape the American tradition of colonial imitation and saw the need for a fresh beginning in literature. His central contribution to this field was the structure of the short story or tale. The much-quoted passage from Poe\u27s Review of Nathaniel Hawthorne\u27s Twice-Told Tales enunciates his entire theory of writing the short story: A skillful literary artist has constructed a tale. If wise, he has not fashioned his thoughts to accommodate his incidents; but having conceived, with deliberate care, a certain unique or single \u27effect• to be wrought out, he then invents such incidents--he then combines such events as may best aid him in establishing this preconceived effect. If his very initial sentence tend not to the out bringing of this effect, then he has failed in his first step. In the whole composition there shouJ.d be no word written, of which the tendency, direct or indirect, is not to the one preestablished design. And by such means, with such care and skill, a picture is at length painted which leaves in the mind of him who contemplates it with a kindred art, a sense of the fullest satisfaction. Poe recognized the short story as a whole made up of parts harmoniously related to one another; he interpreted this whole as a certain effect that a writer definitely intended to produce in the reader\u27s mind, and to accomplish this singleness 2-f effect, the true artist, Poe believed, should utilize the means most advantageously applicable. He treated the subject common to his day, the grotesque tale, but he artistically imbued terror and horror with his own brand of mysticism and transformed his type of tale into a unique creation. Because Poe ventured into a new realm of the imagination, his critics attacked him and accused him of imitating habits or traits of Germanism. In his preface to the Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque, Poe defended this charge by stating: The epithets Grotesque and Arabesque will be found to indicate with sufficient precision the prevalent tenor of the tales ••• published. I may ••• therefore, have desired to preserve, as far as a certain point, a certain unity of design. This is, indeed, the fact; because I am led to think it is this prevalence of the Arabesque in my serious tales, which has induced one or two critics to tax me, in all friendliness, with what they have been pleased to term 11 Germanism and gloom. The charge is in bad taste, and the grounds of the accusation have not been sufficiently considered. Let us admit, for the moment, that the 1phantasy-pieces 1 now given are Germanic~ or what not. The Germanism is 1the vein\u27 for the time being •••• But the truth is that, with a single exception, there is no one of these stories in which the scholar should recognize the distinctive features of that species of pseudo-horror which we are taught to call Germanic, for no better reason than that some of the secondary names of German literature have become identified with its folly. If in many of my productions terror has been the thesis, I maintain that terror is not of Germany; out of the soul--that I have deduced the terror only from its legitimate sources, and urged it only to its legitimate results •••• therefore, that I have sinned, I have deliberately sinned

Study of apoptosis in the rat lateral geniculate nucleus during development and following lesions of efferent and afferent connections of this area

The dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) receives its major afferent inputs from the retina and has organized reciprocal connections with the primary visual cortex. In this study we investigated cell death in the rat dLGN during development and following lesions of its connections. These lesions involved monocular enucleation and unilateral ablation of the visual cortex at different developmental stages. We identified dying cells using the TUNEL method for the in situ end labelling of DNA fragmentation. Electron microscopic analysis and immunohistochemistry for activated caspase-3 were used to confirm the apoptotic nature of cell death. TUNEL used in conjunction with immunofluorescence for neuronal nuclear protein (NeuN) or Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein (GFAP) was applied to identify the phenotype of apoptotic cells. During development, dying cells in the dLGN were detected during the first postnatal week, demonstrating features typical of apoptosis. The overwhelming majority of apoptotic cells were neurons. Apoptotic neuronal death in the dLGN is temporally coordinated with major developmental events in this area, suggesting that apoptosis may play a fundamental role in the regulation of neuronal numbers in the dLGN and in the development and establishment of a functional neuronal network. Following monocular enucleation at birth and at later stages of development, cell death was significantly increased in the contralateral dLGN, which was of the apoptotic type. The overwhelming majority of apoptotic cells were neurons. The frequency of apoptotic cells was inversely related to the age of lesion, however, monocular enucleation did not induce any marked changes in the total neuronal population of the dLGN. Cortical lesions at birth and subsequent developmental stages, resulted in a massive increase of cell death in the ipsilateral dLGN, which was typical of apoptosis, and led to the almost complete elimination of the nucleus. The effects of cortical lesions were independent of the age of lesion. Neurons in the dLGN depend on the integrity of their connections for survival. Apoptotic cell death in the dLGN following lesions of its connections depends on the type and extent of the connectivity affected.Ο ραχιαίος έξω γονατώδης πυρήνας (dLGN) του θαλάμου στον επίμυ δέχεται προσαγωγές ίνες από τον αμφιβληστροειδή χιτώνα του ετεροπλάγιου, κυρίως, οφθαλμού και έχει οργανωμένες, αμοιβαίες συνδέσεις με τον ομοπλάγιο οπτικό φλοιό. Στην εργασία αυτή μελετήθηκε το φαινόμενο της απόπτωσης στον dLGN του επίμυος κατά την ανάπτυξη και μετά από βλάβες προσαγωγών και απαγωγών συστημάτων ινών της περιοχής αυτής. Ειδικότερα, οι βλάβες αυτές αφορούσαν στη χειρουργική αφαίρεση του βολβού του οφθαλμού ή του οπτικού φλοιού σε διάφορα στάδια της ανάπτυξης. Για την ταυτοποίηση και την καταμέτρηση των αποπτωτικών κυττάρων χρησιμοποιήθηκε η μέθοδος TUNEL, ενώ για την πιστοποίηση των μορφολογικών χαρακτηριστικών της απόπτωσης έγινε παρατήρηση υλικού με το ηλεκτρονικό μικροσκόπιο. Επιπλέον, χρησιμοποιήθηκε η μέθοδος της ανοσοϊστοχημείας για την ανίχνευση της ενεργοποιημένης κασπάσης-3, η οποία αποτελεί αξιόπιστο αποπτωτικό δείκτη. Για τον προσδιορισμό του φαινοτύπου των κυττάρων που αποπίπτουν εφαρμόστηκε η μέθοδος της διπλής σήμανσης που περιελάμβανε την ταυτόχρονη σήμανση τομών με τη μέθοδο TUNEL με φθορισμό για τη ανίχνευση των αποπτωτικών κυττάρων, σε συνδυασμό με τη μέθοδο του ανοσοφθορισμού για τη σήμανση νευρώνων ή αστροκυττάρων, με αντισώματα εναντίον της νευρωνο-ειδικής πρωτεΐνης NeuN ή της όξινης πρωτεΐνης των ινιδίων των αστροκυττάρων (GFAP). Τα αποτελέσματα έδειξαν ότι κατά την ανάπτυξη o κυτταρικός θάνατος στον dLGN του επίμυος είναι αποπτωτικού τύπου, παρατηρείται κατά τη διάρκεια της πρώτης μεταγεννητικής εβδομάδας, εκδηλώνεται κυρίως στους νευρώνες του πυρήνα και ότι πιθανώς να διαδραματίζει καθοριστικό ρόλο στη ρύθμιση του τελικού αριθμού των νευρώνων του dLGN και την εδραίωση των λειτουργικών του συνδέσεων. Η καταστροφή των προσαγωγών συνδέσεων του dLGN από τον αμφιβληστροειδή χιτώνα του οφθαλμού στον νεογέννητο και αναπτυσσόμενο επίμυ οδηγεί σε αύξηση της απόπτωσης των κυττάρων του ετεροπλάγιου dLGN, εκδηλώνεται κυρίως στους νευρώνες του πυρήνα, δεν οδηγεί σε μείωση του τελικού κυτταρικού πληθυσμού του dLGN και η μέγιστη τιμή της εξαρτάται από τον βαθμό ωρίμασης των κυττάρων του πυρήνα. Η καταστροφή των αμοιβαίων συνδέσεων του dLGN με τον οπτικό φλοιό στον νεογέννητο και στον αναπτυσσόμενο επίμυ προκαλεί τον αποπτωτικό θάνατο της πλειονότητας των κυττάρων του ομοπλάγιου dLGN, η οποία οδηγεί στην τελική υποπλασία του πυρήνα και είναι ανεξάρτητη από τον βαθμό ωρίμασης των κυττάρων του. Τα συμπεράσματα αυτά οδηγούν στην τελική διαπίστωση ότι μετά από βλάβες των συνδέσεων του dLGN στον νεογέννητο και στον αναπτυσσόμενο επίμυ, η επιβίωση ή η απόπτωση των κυττάρων του καθορίζεται από το είδος και την έκταση των συνδέσεων που καταστρέφονται

Entwicklung eines Manganknollenkollektors fuer die Tiefsee Schlussbericht

In the course of a french-german cooperation, a mining system for deep sea nodules has been developed, with special regard to its environmental impact. The results of this cooperation between IFREMER, THETIS and four german research institutes were integrated to the present paper under the task of avoidance their bare enumberation. The scientific reports of the involved german partners have been adapted into a new, simultaneous developed computer aided documentation system. With respect to the developments in former projects, the mining system is described in its main components. A crawler, remotely operated via a deep sea umbilical, incorporates the nodule collector. Auxilliary systems, energy supply and components for control and data aquisation are specified. (orig.)Im Rahmen eines deutsch-franzoesischen Forschungsprojektes wurde ein Abbausystem fuer Manganknollen aus der Tiefsee unter besonderer Beruecksichtigung seiner Umwelteinfluesse entwickelt. Die Arbeitsergebnisse diese Verbundforschung von IFREMER, THETIS und vier Hochschulinstituten werden im vorliegenden Bericht integriert in einer Form zusammengefasst, die ueber eine blosse Aneinanderreihung der gewonnenen Erkenntnisse hinausgeht. Begleitend wurden die Berichte der beteiligten deutschen Projektpartner in eine neu entwickelte, rechnergestuetzte Dokumentation eingespeist. Unter Beruecksichtigung der Entwicklungen vorangegangener Projekte wird das Abbaugeraet in seinen Komponenten berschrieben. Ein ueber Kabel versorgtes und gesteuertes Raupenfahrwerk dient als Geraetetraeger fuer den Knollenloese- und -sammelmechanismus. Weitere Hilfssysteme, die Energieversorgung sowie Komponenten zur Steuerung und Messdatenerfassung werden vorgestellt. Durch umfangreiche, begleitende Computersimulationen werden die Einsatzgrenzen des Fahrzeugs in Betrachtung des Gesamtsystems und der Umgebung bestimmt, somit konnte Testreife erreicht werden. (orig.)SIGLEAvailable from TIB Hannover: F94B0627+a / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekBundesministerium fuer Forschung und Technologie (BMFT), Bonn (Germany)DEGerman

Chemikaliennachweis im Meer. Teilvorhaben 1: In-situ-Analyse mittels Laserspektroskopie (Phase 1) Schlussbericht

Ocean research and monitoring require the actual, real time and in-situ measurement of (harmful) chemicals in seawater. This task, so far, must be fulfilled by sampling and sample evaluation in the lab. Methods of in-situ analysis are lacking despite longstanding efforts of industry and science. Laserspectroscopy, and, in particular, SERS (surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy) offer new solutions. BMBF has supported our work to investigate the technical feasibility of SERS in ocean water. The investigations produced as one result the need to obtain a sensitive and seawater resistant surface to obtain the necessary gain of the RAMAN effect. Properly adapted gold was found to constitute such a viable surface. Coating of surfaces was investigated as well. Conclusions for the conceptual engineering design of an optode using SERS were obtained. Signal processing and telemetry consitute important technical-industrial tasks to design an industrial sensor. Solutions were worked out and are presented. Fiber optic sensing and telemetry were also investigated to adapt SERS for ocean applications. (orig.)SIGLEAvailable from TIB Hannover: F97B1010+a / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekBundesministerium fuer Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie, Bonn (Germany)DEGerman

Manganknollenkollektor. Detailplanung fuer die Tiefsee Schlussbericht 1

In the course of a French-German cooperation with IFREMER and four german research institutes, main components of a mining system for deep sea nodules have been developed by PREUSSAG/THETIS since 1985. Taking previous developments into consideration, the present report describes the integration of research results and subsystems into a complete test system, by the help of which new components as well as the interaction between a mining system and the environment are being investigated. A crawler, remotely operated via a deep sea umbilical, incorporates two different collectors and auxiliary systems. Components for control, data acquisition, telemetrie and for the energy supply are being described. Steps for a quality control system are proposed as well as technical requirements for the conceptual planning and the performance of deep sea tests. To examine all test sequences, numerous computer simulation programs have been developed and are presentedSIGLEAvailable from TIB Hannover: F93B1252 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekBundesministerium fuer Forschung und Technologie (BMFT), Bonn (Germany)DEGerman