Has Covid-19 proved a crisis too far for Europe’s far-right outsiders?

Populist radical right parties made electoral gains in several countries across Europe following the financial and migration crises. Yet as Georgios Samaras writes, Covid-19 poses an altogether different challenge that Europe’s populist outsiders have so far largely failed to rise to

High-dimensional approximate nearest neighbor: k-d Generalized Randomized Forests

We propose a new data-structure, the generalized randomized kd forest, or kgeraf, for approximate nearest neighbor searching in high dimensions. In particular, we introduce new randomization techniques to specify a set of independently constructed trees where search is performed simultaneously, hence increasing accuracy. We omit backtracking, and we optimize distance computations, thus accelerating queries. We release public domain software geraf and we compare it to existing implementations of state-of-the-art methods including BBD-trees, Locality Sensitive Hashing, randomized kd forests, and product quantization. Experimental results indicate that our method would be the method of choice in dimensions around 1,000, and probably up to 10,000, and pointsets of cardinality up to a few hundred thousands or even one million; this range of inputs is encountered in many critical applications today. For instance, we handle a real dataset of $10^6$ images represented in 960 dimensions with a query time of less than $1$sec on average and 90\% responses being true nearest neighbors

Oral processing of micro-aerated chocolates: a computational mechanics, rheological and tribological study

The emerging need to reduce the calorific value of foods, while simultaneously improving the consumer perception drives the quest for food structures that satisfy both criteria. Aiming to shed light on the influence that micro-aeration has on the breakdown of chocolate during the early stages of the oral processing, this study focuses on the investigation of the effect that micro-aeration has from a computational mechanics, rheological and tribological perspective. Firstly, several constitutive models are investigated and compared in both the explicit and implicit Finite Element (FE) frameworks and are calibrated using experimental results from mechanical testing conducted in a parallel PhD study. Afterwards, a non-local damage evolution law is presented providing mesh objectivity in both microscopic and macroscopic FE calculations. The constitutive model coupled with the non-local damage model, implemented in an ABAQUS VUMAT subroutine, is then applied in a micromechanical model for the prediction of the elastic, plastic, and fracture properties of micro-aerated chocolate using as input the properties of the non-aerated solid chocolate. Different boundary conditions are employed in both monodisperse and polydisperse dispersion of pores for the estimation of a representative volume element that is used for the estimation of the macroscopic properties. Overall, micro-aeration reduces the elastic, plastic and fracture properties of the chocolate, whereas the polydisperse dispersions provide a better estimation for the equivalent fracture strain at failure. The estimated values are applied in macroscopic FE simulations of the first bite, where the force-displacement FE results match the experimental data obtained by a replicate of the first bite model with 3D printed molar teeth. The forces needed for the fragmentation of chocolate reduce with micro-aeration level as shown from the experiments and validated by the FE simulations, whereas the in-vivo and in-vitro fragmentation studies show that micro-aerated chocolate breaks into more and smaller pieces. Furthermore, the effect of the micro-aeration on the rheological properties of the molten chocolate with and without the influence of artificial saliva is investigated. Micro-aeration increases viscosity values while the storage and loss moduli decrease. From a tribological perspective, a new bench test rig to measure friction in the simulated tongue-palate contact is developed. The test was applied to molten chocolate samples with and without artificial saliva. Friction was measured over the first few rubbing cycles, simulating mechanical degradation of chocolate in the tongue-palate region. The coefficient of friction increases with cocoa solids percentage and decreases with increasing micro-aeration level. The presence of artificial saliva in the contact reduced the friction for all chocolate samples, however, the relative ranking remained the same. Finally, the link between structure, material properties and sensory perception is given through a comparison with data from sensory tests. The current study can be used as a cost efficient tool for the investigation of new food structures that reduce the calorific value while enhancing the taste perception.Open Acces

Insights into the multitrophic interactions between the biocontrol agent Bacillus subtilis MBI 600, the pathogen Botrytis cinerea and their plant host

Botrytis cinerea is a plant pathogen causing the gray mold disease in a plethora of host plants. The control of the disease is based mostly on chemical pesticides, which are responsible for environmental pollution, while they also pose risks for human health. Furthermore, B. cinerea resistant isolates have been identified against many fungicide groups, making the control of this disease challenging. The application of biocontrol agents can be a possible solution, but requires deep understanding of the molecular mechanisms in order to be effective. In this study, we investigated the multitrophic interactions between the biocontrol agent Bacillus subtilis MBI 600, a new commercialized biopesticide, the pathogen B. cinerea and their plant host. Our analysis showed that this biocontrol agent reduced B. cinerea mycelial growth in vitro, and was able to suppress the disease incidence on cucumber plants. Moreover, treatment with B. subtilis led to induction of genes involved in plant immunity. RNAseq analysis of B. cinerea transcriptome upon exposure to bacterial secretome, showed that genes coding for MFS and ABC transporters were highly induced. Deletion of the Bcmfs1 MFS transporter gene, using a CRISP/Cas9 editing method, affected its virulence and the tolerance of B. cinerea to bacterial secondary metabolites. These findings suggest that specific detoxification transporters are involved in these interactions, with crucial role in different aspects of B. cinerea physiology

Multiple and multidrug resistance in Botrytis cinerea: molecular mechanisms of MLR/MDR strains in Greece and effects of co-existence of different resistance mechanisms on fungicide sensitivity

Botrytis cinerea is a high-risk pathogen for fungicide resistance development. Within the fungal populations, strains have developed multiple mutations in different target genes leading to multiple resistance (MLR) or mutations associated with overexpression of efflux transporters leading to multidrug resistance (MDR). These types of resistance are a major threat, and their successful management is a major challenge. The current study was initiated to a) determine frequencies of MLR/MDR strains in populations originating from several crops, b) identify the types of MDR that occur in Greece, and c) determine interactions between MLR and MDR at the level of sensitivity to botryticides. The frequencies of MLR/MDR phenotypes were determined in 515 isolates subjected to bioassays using discriminatory concentrations of thiophanate-methyl, iprodione, cyprodinil, fenhexamid, boscalid, fluopyram, fludioxonil, pyraclostrobin, and tolnaftate. Interestingly, 7.8% and 31.3% of isolates from strawberry and rootstock seedlings were resistant to every single fungicide class, while MDR phenotypes from strawberries, rootstocks, and tomatoes accounted for 26%, 87%, and 13.4%, respectively. The MLR and MDR isolates were further molecularly analyzed regarding genes erg27, sdhB, Bcpos5, and Mrr1, responsible for resistance to fenhexamid, boscalid and fluopyram, cyprodinil, and MDR, respectively. The different mutations’ presence was determined along with a new mutation in Mrr1 leading to MDR. MDR isolates were characterized as MDR1 or MDR1h based on the presence of a 3-bp deletion in Mrr1. MDR1h was predominant in isolates from rootstocks and MDR1 from tomatoes and strawberries, whereas the most frequent target-site mutations were F412S (erg27), H272R (sdhB), and L412F (Bcpos5). To determine whether the accumulation of target-site mutations along with MDR mutations exhibits an additive effect concerning fungicide resistance, the sensitivity of isolates possessing the predominant target-site mutations was calculated in both the presence and the absence of MDR-associated mutations. EC50 in cyprodinil and boscalid increased to about twofold in the presence of MDR mutations, while there was no difference for fenhexamid. In conclusion, MLR/MDR frequencies are notably high in heavily treated crops in Greece, and the combination of MLR and MDR mutations leads to even higher fungicide resistance levels, highlighting the importance of resistance management

Investigation study for technological application of alternative methods for the energy exploitation of biomass/agricultural residues in Northern Greece

Biomass energy potential is addressed to be the most promising among the renewable energy sources, due to its spread and availability worldwide. Apart form that, biomass has the unique advantage among the rest of renewable energy sources, to be able to provide solid, liquid, and gaseous fuels that can be stored, transported, and utilized, far a way from the point of origin. For the northern region of Macedonia in Greece, biomass utilization is considered to be a major issue, due to the considerably intensive regional agricultural activities. Wood by-products, fruit cores, rice husk and cotton gin waste provide a promising energy source for the region. The energy potential of the available agricultural biomass produced in the region is much enough to cover the 10% of the annual oil consumption utilized for thermal applications. However, the cost of energy utilization of biomass is considerably high due to the high cost of the logistics concerning the collection, transport, and storage of biomass. The available utilization technologies developed, to handle efficiently all different species of biomass, cover a wide technological range. One of the most promising technologies involving thermal treatment of biomass and the production of a gaseous fuel (biogas) for industrial heat applications and electricity production, is the thermochemical conversion. In the present work, an investigation concerning biomass potential for energy production in the region of central Macedonia in Greece, utilizing several locally produced biomass species, is conducted. Emphasis is put on the energy utilization of agricultural by-products and residues. Agricultural sector is of greal importance due to the considerably intensive agricultural activities in the region of Central Macedonia

Γεωπολιτική ανάλυση των Πληροφοριακών Επιχειρήσεων στο γεωπολιτικό σύμπλοκο Ρωσίας-Ουκρανίας

Στον απόηχο της προσάρτησης της Κριμαίας στην Ρωσική Ομοσπονδία το 2014, εύκολα διαπιστώνει κανείς ότι τόσο η Κριμαία όσο και η Ανατολική Ουκρανία αποτέλεσαν κατάλληλο περιβάλλον για την εφαρμογή των τακτικών ενός Πληροφοριακού Πολέμου/Πληροφοριακών Επιχειρήσεων. Το ΝΑΤΟ και η Δύση είχαν αιφνιδιαστεί αρχικά, αλλά η αργή αντίδρασή τους τους οδήγησε στη διαπίστωση ότι μπορούν να κατανοήσουν καλύτερα το Πληροφοριακό Περιβάλλον μέσω της δυναμικής που τους παρέχει η Στρατηγική Επικοινωνία στην διαμόρφωσή του. Οι ελληνικές αρχές θα πρέπει, χωρίς καθυστέρηση, να υιοθετήσουν το πετυχημένο πρότυπο και τις πρακτικές που μπορεί να προσφέρει η Στρατηγική Επικοινωνία στον μακροπρόθεσμο προγραμματισμό των εθνικών τους στρατηγικών, εφαρμόζοντας μια νέα οργανωτική δομή για την αντιμετώπιση των απειλών εθνικής ασφάλειας και την διαμόρφωση του Πληροφοριακού Περιβάλλοντος ενδιαφέροντός τουςIn the aftermath of Crimea annexation in 2014 to the Russian Federation, one can easily ascertain that both Crimea and Eastern Ukraine were a perfect laboratory for the implementation of the Information Warfare/Information Operations tactics. NATO and the West caught initially by surprise, but their sluggish reaction led them to a better un-derstanding of the Information Environment that pointed them to the huge impetus of Strategic Communications in shaping it. Greek authorities should quickly adopt these successful paradigm and practices in their long-term national strategic policy planning by implementing a new structural organisation to counter security threats and shape the in-formation environment in their peripher

Characterization of laboratory and real driving emissions of individual Euro 6 light-duty vehicles – Fresh particles and secondary aerosol formation

Emissions from passenger cars are one of major sources that deteriorate urban air quality. This study presents characterization of real-drive emissions from three Euro 6 emission level passenger cars (two gasoline and one diesel) in terms of fresh particles and secondary aerosol formation. The gasoline vehicles were also characterized by chassis dynamometer studies. In the real-drive study, the particle number emissions during regular driving were 1.1–12.7 times greater than observed in the laboratory tests (4.8 times greater on average), which may be caused by more effective nucleation process when diluted by real polluted and humid ambient air. However, the emission factors measured in laboratory were still much higher than the regulatory value of 6 × 10^(11) particles km^(−1). The higher emission factors measured here result probably from the fact that the regulatory limit considers only non-volatile particles larger than 23 nm, whereas here, all particles (also volatile) larger than 3 nm were measured. Secondary aerosol formation potential was the highest after a vehicle cold start when most of the secondary mass was organics. After the cold start, the relative contributions of ammonium, sulfate and nitrate increased. Using a novel approach to study secondary aerosol formation under real-drive conditions with the chase method resulted mostly in emission factors below detection limit, which was not in disagreement with the laboratory findings

A New Framework for the Citation Indexing Paradigm

A new citation indexing paradigm is proposed: the cascading citation indexing framework (c2IF, for short). It improves the way research publications are assessed for their impact in promoting science and technology. Given a collection of articles and their citation graph, citations are considered at the (article, author) level. Each one article is uniquely identified by means of the Digital Object Identifier (DOI, http://www.doi.org). To identify each one author uniquely, a Universal Author Identifier (UAI) scheme is established. In addition to the citations directly made to a given (article, author) pair, citation paths that target each one citing article are also considered. The granularity of the paradigm is further increased by introducing the concept of the chord, whereby a citation path of length one co-exists with paths of length two or higher, involving the same source- and target- articles. The c2IF output emerges in the form of a medal standings table, analogous to the one that ranks teams at athletic events: when two (article, author) pairs receive the same number of (direct) citations, the one that is cited by more popular articles (i.e. articles that comprise targets to a larger number of paths in the citation graph), is assigned a higher rank value