An Internet-based Learning Environment for the Teaching of Greek as a Second Language through Literary Texts: Theory and Practice

This paper describes an Internet-based learning environment for the teaching/learning of Greek as a second language which is based on specific theories of language learning and pedagogical orientations. The content of the teaching/learning of Greek is based on literature. The lessons focus on language, meaning and use and emphasis is placed on the creative comprehension and production of literary texts by the students. This specific environment was created as a result of the program of the Greek Ministry of Education and Religions, “Integration of Repatriate and Immigrant children in School — for Primary Education” and designed specifically for Albanian and Russian-speaking students initially, although it can be expanded in the future to include other languages as well. It is hosted on a moodle, created especially for the needs of the specific program

A Review of Verification and Validation for Space Autonomous Systems

From Springer Nature via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: registration 2021-05-13, accepted 2021-05-13, online 2021-06-18, pub-electronic 2021-06-18, pub-print 2021-09Publication status: PublishedFunder: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council; doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000266; Grant(s): EP/R026092/1Abstract: Purpose of Review: The deployment of hardware (e.g., robots, satellites, etc.) to space is a costly and complex endeavor. It is of extreme importance that on-board systems are verified and validated through a variety of verification and validation techniques, especially in the case of autonomous systems. In this paper, we discuss a number of approaches from the literature that are relevant or directly applied to the verification and validation of systems in space, with an emphasis on autonomy. Recent Findings: Despite advances in individual verification and validation techniques, there is still a lack of approaches that aim to combine different forms of verification in order to obtain system-wide verification of modular autonomous systems. Summary: This systematic review of the literature includes the current advances in the latest approaches using formal methods for static verification (model checking and theorem proving) and runtime verification, the progress achieved so far in the verification of machine learning, an overview of the landscape in software testing, and the importance of performing compositional verification in modular systems. In particular, we focus on reporting the use of these techniques for the verification and validation of systems in space with an emphasis on autonomy, as well as more general techniques (such as in the aeronautical domain) that have been shown to have potential value in the verification and validation of autonomous systems in space

Modular Verification of Autonomous Space Robotics

Ensuring that autonomous space robot control software behaves as it should is crucial, particularly as software failure in space often equates to mission failure and could potentially endanger nearby astronauts and costly equipment. To minimise mission failure caused by software errors, we can utilise a variety of tools and techniques to verify that the software behaves as intended. In particular, distinct nodes in a robotic system often require different verification techniques to ensure that they behave as expected. This paper introduces a method for integrating the various verification techniques that are applied to robotic software, via a First-Order Logic (FOL) specification that captures each node's assumptions and guarantees. These FOL specifications are then used to guide the verification of the individual nodes, be it by testing or the use of a formal method. We also outline a way of measuring our confidence in the verification of the entire system in terms of the verification techniques used

An integrated financial ratio analysis as a navigation compass through the fraudulent reporting conundrum : a case study

Purpose: An integrated analysis of the consolidated financial statements of the Folli Follie group was performed to explore whether it is an effective apparatus ro reveal misleading reporting. Design/methodology/approach: Horizontal and vertical analysis, cash flows from operations, current accruals quality, profitability ratios, as well as the cash conversion cycle (CCC) and Piotroski models were applied. All of them worked harmoniously in a supplementary fashion to corroborate findings of distorted data reporting. Findings: Financial ratios had been derailed and remained unexplained by the prtinciples of financial management. It is attributed to fraudulent earnings management practices, that altered artificially specific financial data disproportionally. Practical implications: Αn integrated financial ratio analysis contributes to preventing or ameliorating the non-efficient allocation of resources associated with deplorable creative accounting practices, that creates welfare loses to the detriment of shareholders, stakeholders and ultimately to society as a whole. Originality/value: The analysis outcomes can be exploited as a red flags / whistle-blowing mechanism in cases of financial statement manipulation, since under these circumstances crucial financial ratios seem to derail. A holistic financial statement analysis is proven to represent a vital roadmap and an effective apparatus in forensic accounting, to secure that unfounded financial reporting based on spurious data will not easily get away unnoticed.peer-reviewe

Efficacité et innocuité de l'azathioprine chez les patients atteints d'une maladie intestinale inflammatoire idiopathique dans le nord-ouest de la Grèce

Introduction: Azathioprine is a chemical analogue of normal purines and is mainly used for its immunosuppressive effect. Despite the development of new agents for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, azathioprine (AZA) is widely used as monotherapy or combination therapy to induce and maintaining remission in both Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. The aim of this study was to investigate both the prevalence of malignancy development in IBD patients receiving AZA and the long-term safety of AZA and the management of adverse events.Methodology: Data were retrospectively extracted from the patient records of the Gastroenterology Department of the University Hospital of Ioannina from 1987 to 2020Results: The study included 222 patients with IBD treated with AZA, under regular follow-up intervals. 65.6% of IBD patients (146/222) had Crohn's disease and 34.4% had Ulcerative Colitis (76/222). The median duration of AZA administration was 51 months (range: 0-135 months). The most common AZA dose was 100 mg/day (range: 50–200 mg). The most common adverse events were gastrointestinal symptoms (8.6%, 18/222), leukopenia (2.7%, 6/222), hepatotoxicity (5.4%, 12/222) and pancreatitis (1.8%, 4/222). Two patients were diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma, while no hematologic malignancy was detected. Infections were recorded in 19 patients (8.6%) of which 6 required hospitalization.Conclusions: According to this retrospective observational study, approximately one-third of IBD patients treated with AZA experienced clinically significant adverse events during follow-up. Withdrawal or dose reduction of azathioprine was required in 47 (21%) patients.Εισαγωγή:Η αζαθειοπρίνη είναι χημικό ανάλογο των φυσιολογικών πουρινών και χρησιμοποιείται κυρίως για την ανοσοκατασταλτική του δράση.Παρά την ανάπτυξη νέων παραγόντων για τη θεραπεία της φλεγμονώδους νόσου του εντέρου, η αζαθειοπρίνη (AZA) χρησιμοποιείται ευρέως ως μονοθεραπεία ή θεραπεία συνδυασμού για την πρόκληση και τη διατήρηση της ύφεσης τόσο στη νόσο του Crohn, όσο και στην ελκώδη κολίτιδα. Ο στόχος αυτής της μελέτης ήταν να διερευνήσει τόσο τον επιπολασμό της ανάπτυξης κακοήθειας σε ασθενείς με ΙΦΝΕ που λαμβάνουν AZA όσο και τη μακροπρόθεσμη ασφάλεια του AZA και τη διαχείριση ανεπιθύμητων ενεργειών.Μεθοδολογία:Τα δεδομένα εξήχθησαν αναδρομικά από τα αρχεία ασθενών του Γαστρεντερολογικού Τμήματος του Πανεπιστημιακού Νοσοκομείου Ιωαννίνων από το 1987 έως το 2020.Αποτελέσματα:Στη μελέτη συμπεριλήφθηκαν 222 ασθενείς με ΙΦΝΕ που έλαβαν θεραπεία με ΑΖΑ, υπό τακτικά διαστήματα παρακολούθησης. Το 65,6% των ασθενών με ΙΦΝΕ (146/222) είχαν νόσο του Crohn και το 34,4% είχαν Ελκώδη Κολίτιδα (76/222). Η μέση διάρκεια χορήγησης του AZA ήταν 51 μήνες (εύρος: 0-135 μήνες). Η πιο κοινή δόση AZA ήταν 100 mg/ημέρα (εύρος: 50-200 mg). Οι πιο συχνές ανεπιθύμητες ενέργειες ήταν γαστρεντερικά συμπτώματα (8,6%, 18/222), λευκοπενία (2,7%, 6/222), ηπατοτοξικότητα (5,4%, 12/222) και παγκρεατίτιδα (1,8%, 4/222). Δύο ασθενείς διαγνώστηκαν με βασεοοκυτταρικό καρκίνο, ενώ δεν ανιχνεύθηκε αιματολογική κακοήθεια. Λοιμώξεις καταγράφηκαν σε 19 ασθενείς (8,6%) εκ των οποίων οι 6 χρειάστηκαν νοσηλεία.Συμπεράσματα: Σύμφωνα με αυτήν την αναδρομική μελέτη παρατήρησης, περίπου το ένα τρίτο των ασθενών με ΙΦΝΕ που έλαβαν AZA παρουσίασαν κλινικά σημαντικές ανεπιθύμητες ενέργειες κατά τη διάρκεια της παρακολούθησης. Απαιτήθηκε απόσυρση ή μείωση της δόσης της αζαθειοπρίνης σε 47 (21%) ασθενείς

Adding Path-Functional Dependencies to the Guarded Two-Variable Fragment with Counting

The satisfiability and finite satisfiability problems for the two-variable guarded fragment of first-order logic with counting quantifiers, a database, and path-functional dependencies are both ExpTime-complete

Improving the Performance of Multithreaded Sparse Matrix-Vector Multiplication using Index and Value Compression

Abstract—The Sparse Matrix-Vector Multiplication kernel exhibits limited potential for taking advantage of modern shared memory architectures due to its large memory bandwidth requirements. To decrease memory contention and improve the performance of the kernel we propose two compression schemes. The first, called CSR-DU, targets the reduction of the matrix structural data by applying coarse grain delta encoding for the column indices. The second scheme, called CSR-VI, targets the reduction of the numerical values using indirect indexing and can only be applied to matrices which contain a small number of unique values. Evaluation of both methods on a rich matrix set showed that they can significantly improve the performance of the multithreaded version of the kernel and achieve good scalability for large matrices. I