The impacts of carbon pricing on maritime transport costs and their implications for developing economies

We provide an in-depth review of the extant literature on the impact a maritime carbon pricing measure might have on maritime transport costs. First, we analyse the relative importance of the determinants of maritime transport costs for trade and economic development, and secondly assess the transmission channels and economic effects of a carbon price on maritime transport costs. We argue that the introduction of a carbon price has a limited impact on total maritime transport costs for the average country. However, Small Island Developing States and Least Developed Countries are more likely to be negatively impacted by such a measure in terms of maritime transport costs as we provide novel evidence that the relationship between per unit transport costs and trade flows is negative and elastic at least for the case of Pacific Small Island Developing States

Dephasing effects on stimulated Raman adiabatic passage in tripod configurations

We present an analytic description of the effects of dephasing processes on stimulated Raman adiabatic passage in a tripod quantum system. To this end, we develop an effective two-level model. Our analysis makes use of the adiabatic approximation in the weak dephasing regime. An effective master equation for a two-level system formed by two dark states is derived, where analytic solutions are obtained by utilizing the Demkov-Kunike model. From these, it is found that the fidelity for the final coherent superposition state decreases exponentially for increasing dephasing rates. Depending on the pulse ordering and for adiabatic evolution the pulse delay can have an inverse effect.Comment: 13 pages; 9 figures; Accepted for publication Physical Review

A new framework architecture for next generation e-Health services

The challenge for fast and low-cost deployment of ubiquitous personalized e-Health services has prompted us to propose a new framework architecture for such services. We have studied the operational features and the environment of e-Health services and we led to a framework structure that extends the ETSI/Parlay architecture, which is used for the deployment of standardized services over the next generation IP networks. We expanded the ETSI/Parlay architecture with new service capability features as well as sensor, profiling and security mechanisms. The proposed framework assists the seamless integration, within the e-Health service structure, of diverse facilities provided by both the underlying communication and computing infrastructure as well as the patient's bio and context sensor networks. Finally, we demonstrate the deployment of a tele-monitoring service in smart home environment based on the proposed framework architecture

Molecular heat pump for rotational states

In this work we investigate the theory for three different uni-directional population transfer schemes in trapped multilevel systems which can be utilized to cool molecular ions. The approach we use exploits the laser-induced coupling between the internal and motional degrees of freedom so that the internal state of a molecule can be mapped onto the motion of that molecule in an external trapping potential. By sympathetically cooling the translational motion back into its ground state the mapping process can be employed as part of a cooling scheme for molecular rotational levels. This step is achieved through a common mode involving a laser-cooled atom trapped alongside the molecule. For the coherent mapping we will focus on adiabatic passage techniques which may be expected to provide robust and efficient population transfers. By applying far-detuned chirped adiabatic rapid passage pulses we are able to achieve an efficiency of better than 98% for realistic parameters and including spontaneous emission. Even though our main focus is on cooling molecular states, the analysis of the different adiabatic methods has general features which can be applied to atomic systems

GEOGRAPHIC OBJECTS: THEORY OR TECHNOLOGY DRIVEN?

This article aims to compare the geo-graphic (spatial) objects in 2D (planar objects) proposed by CON.G.O.O. and ISO standards, and the ability of a number of GIS software to handle them. The results achieved so far showed that the actual technical possibilities are not always sufficient to support the complex spatial objects proposed by CON.G.O.O

Dietary and other lifestyle characteristics of Cypriot school children: results from the nationwide CYKIDS study

Dietary and lifestyle behaviors at young ages have been associated with the development of various chronic diseases. Schools are regarded as an excellent setting for lifestyle modification; there is a lack, however, of published dietary data in Cypriot school children. Thus, the objective of this work was to describe lifestyle characteristics of a representative segment of Cypriot school children and provide implications for school health education. Methods. The CYKIDS (Cyprus Kids Study) is a national, cross-sectional study conducted among 1140 school children (10.7 0.98 years). Sampling was stratified and multistage in 24 primary schools of Cyprus. Dietary assessment was based on a 154-item semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire and three supplementary questionnaires, assessing dietary patterns and behaviors. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet was evaluated by the KIDMED index (Mediterranean Diet Quality Index for children and adolescents). Physical activity was assessed by a 32-item, semi-quantitative questionnaire. Results. Analysis revealed that 6.7% of the children were classified as high adherers, whereas 37% as low adherers to the Mediterranean diet. About 20% of boys and 25% of girls reported "not having breakfast on most days of the week", while more than 80% of the children reported having meals with the family at least 5 times/week. Some food-related behaviors, such as intake of breakfast, were associated with socio-demographic factors, mostly with gender and the geomorphological characteristics of the living milieu. With respect to physical activity, boys reported higher levels compared to girls, however, one fourth of children did not report any kind of physical activity. Conclusion. A large percentage of Cypriot school children have a diet of low quality and inadequate physical activity. Public health policy makers should urgently focus their attention to primary school children and design school health education programs that target the areas that need attention in order to reduce the future burden of metabolic disorders and chronic diseases

Current trends in the cardiovascular clinical trial arena (I)

The existence of effective therapies for most cardiovascular disease states, coupled with increased requirements that potential benefits of new drugs be evaluated on clinical rather than surrogate endpoints, makes it increasingly difficult to substantiate any incremental improvements in efficacy that these new drugs might offer. Compounding the problem is the highly controversial issue of comparing new agents with placebos rather than active pharmaceuticals in drug efficacy trials. Despite the recent consensus that placebos may be used ethically in well-defined, justifiable circumstances, the problem persists, in part because of increased scrutiny by ethics committees but also because of considerable lingering disagreement regarding the propriety and scientific value of placebo-controlled trials (and trials of antihypertensive drugs in particular). The disagreement also substantially affects the most viable alternative to placebo-controlled trials: actively controlled equivalence/noninferiority trials. To a great extent, this situation was prompted by numerous previous trials of this type that were marked by fundamental methodological flaws and consequent false claims, inconsistencies, and potential harm to patients. As the development and use of generic drugs continue to escalate, along with concurrent pressure to control medical costs by substituting less-expensive therapies for established ones, any claim that a new drug, intervention, or therapy is "equivalent" to another should not be accepted without close scrutiny. Adherence to proper methods in conducting studies of equivalence will help investigators to avoid false claims and inconsistencies. These matters will be addressed in the third article of this three-part series

HUWE1 E3 ligase promotes PINK1/PARKINindependent mitophagy by regulating AMBRA1 activation via IKKa

The selective removal of undesired or damaged mitochondria by autophagy, known as mitophagy, is crucial for cellular homoeostasis, and prevents tumour diffusion, neurodegeneration and ageing. The pro-autophagic molecule AMBRA1 (autophagy/beclin-1 regulator-1) has been defined as a novel regulator of mitophagy in both PINK1/PARKIN-dependent and -independent systems. Here, we identified the E3 ubiquitin ligase HUWE1 as a key inducing factor in AMBRA1-mediated mitophagy, a process that takes place independently of the main mitophagy receptors. Furthermore, we show that mitophagy function of AMBRA1 is post-translationally controlled, upon HUWE1 activity, by a positive phosphorylation on its serine 1014. This modification is mediated by the IKKα kinase and induces structural changes in AMBRA1, thus promoting its interaction with LC3/GABARAP (mATG8) proteins and its mitophagic activity. Altogether, these results demonstrate that AMBRA1 regulates mitophagy through a novel pathway, in which HUWE1 and IKKα are key factors, shedding new lights on the regulation of mitochondrial quality control and homoeostasis in mammalian cells