Regional Policy in Greece of Tomorrow. The Perspectives of the Broader Regions

In the frame of the European Union’s enlargement and in the search for new more cohesive and functional standards for “administrative-spatial shapes†– under the pre-conditions of competitiveness, efficiency of urban and regional development and abolition of regional inequalities for sustainable development, - noteworthy is the examination of the reconstruction of the administrative system of Regions through the introduction of the proposed institution of the broader region in Greece. In the present article, we present the needs of the above administrative reconstruction, we investigate the economic form and the land-planning determination of the broader region; we set the directive lines towards the formation of its developmental pattern, while not omitting provisions with regards to the development impacts upon the natural environment. The final administrative shape which will be adaptable to the particular conditions of each broader region will contribute substantially, to the viable or sustainable development and to the worthy to be experienced development. Fundamental question among others is the formation of an administrative shape with explicit answers on the optimization of the European cooperation. Case study of the present article constitutes the proposed broader region of Epirus- Macedonia -Thrace, given the important influence that will exert one such organizational department on the Balkan country and on the European Union and vice versa. The example of the proposed broader region constitutes a characteristic case of an administrative reconstruction, with the parallel objective of rearrangement and upgrade of vital issues of spatial, environmental, socioeconomic and developmental importance.

Forest road network planning for biomass exploitation and fire preventions: a least cost path analysis

The projects related to forest opening up constitute fundamental infrastructure projects for the development of our mountainous and semi-mountainous national economy. In the beginning, timber transportation and connection between forest settlements served as the sole purpose of forest opening up. However, nowadays, the perspective of forest opening up as being an important preventive measure of forest protection, which is a basic pillar of a multipurpose forestry system of the Greek Mediterranean mountains, is gaining ground. The application of modern tools in the opening up is now imperative for choosing the most economical and efficient forestry route. The paper presents a method of opening up roads in the forest, using the least cost path analysis (LCPA) and Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) in a Geographical Information Systems (GIS) environment

Spatial multi-criteria analysis of ecological forestry constructions compatible with environmental policy

The functions that are required to fulfill a forest ecosystem based on international and national literature are also the function of recreation. As forest recreation, in forestry, is meant a range of activities such as mountaineering, walking, exercise, aesthetic pleasure, study and observation of plants. The areas offered for forest recreation should be easily accessible both by road arteries and by other possible means, and the value of a recreation forest depends on its location and the characteristics of both the forest and the surrounding area. The forestry service with the forest villages made the beginning for the development of alternative tourism in the forests of Greece, offering accommodation in wooden cottages in the forests. In 20 years of operation, forest villages have acquired many competitors, as many individuals built their own wooden villages in areas close to forests or areas of ecotourism interest. The promotion of alternative tourism in the forests of Greece in order to be developed in the context of sustainable development and the promotion of Greece as an ecotourism destination in the international tourism market will offer work in the mountain areas of our country and change the perception that Greece is only sun and sea. Spatial analysis is the focus of Geographic Information Systems, as it includes all the transformations, manipulations and methods that can be applied to geographic data to turn them into useful information, and to support decision-making processes. Many methods of spatial analysis were developed long before the GIS, but today the use of GIS, which includes more and more analytical tools, greatly facilitates the application of simple analysis techniques and provides possibilities for the implementation of complex methods to solve both scientific and everyday problems. The combination of spatial analysis with multicriteria analysis and SWOT analysis, a participatory tool that is widely applied in strategic decision support, is used in the Ph.D. Theses aiming at the strategic planning of forest recreation through the development of the network of forest villages throughout the Greece. The exploitation of the 20 years of forestry experience with the hybrid SWOT-AHP or A'WOT method enables us to identify the most important indicators for the creation of new forest villages and the policy objectives for them. By choosing wood as a basic building material both in the new forest villages, the buildings will be fully natural and ecological, with high durability, excellent seismic behavior and excellent thermal insulation. The promotion of the construction of wooden houses from the forests of Greece and the reduction of imports will reduce the deficit in the trade balance of the country, the ecological footprint of the constructions and will bring employment opportunities to the mountain population that deals with the harvesting of wood. The proposals for the location of new woodland villages are aimed at upgrading the ecotourism product of Greece.Στις λειτουργίες που καλείται να εκπληρώσει ένα δασικό οικοσύστημα με βάση τη διεθνή και εθνική βιβλιογραφία είναι και η λειτουργία της αναψυχής. Ως δασική αναψυχή, στη δασοπονία, εννοείται μια σειρά δραστηριοτήτων όπως η ορειβασία, ο περίπατος, η άσκηση αθλημάτων, η αισθητική απόλαυση, η μελέτη και η παρατήρηση φυτών. Τα τμήματα που προσφέρονται για δασική αναψυχή θα πρέπει να είναι εύκολα προσβάσιμα τόσο από οδικές αρτηρίες όσο και από άλλα πιθανά μέσα και η αξία ενός δάσους αναψυχής εξαρτάται από τη θέση του αλλά και από τα χαρακτηριστικά τόσο του δάσους όσο και της γύρω περιοχής. Η Δασική υπηρεσία με τα δασικά χωριά έκανε την αρχή για την ανάπτυξη του εναλλακτικού τουρισμού στα δάση της Ελλάδας, προσφέροντας διαμονή σε ξύλινους οικίσκους μέσα στα δάση. Στα 20 χρόνια λειτουργίας, τα δασικά χωριά έχουν αποκτήσει πολλούς ανταγωνιστές, καθώς πολλοί ιδιώτες κατασκεύασαν τα δικά τους ξύλινα χωριά σε περιοχές κοντά στα δάση ή σε περιοχές οικοτουριστικού ενδιαφέροντος. Η προώθηση του εναλλακτικού τουρισμού στα δάση της Ελλάδας ώστε να αναπτυχθεί στα πλαίσια της βιώσιμης ανάπτυξης και η προώθηση της Ελλάδας ως οικοτουριστικού προορισμού στην διεθνή αγορά τουρισμού θα προσφέρει εργασία στις ορεινές περιοχές της χώρα μας και αλλαγή της αντίληψης ότι Ελλάδα είναι μόνο ήλιος και θάλασσα. Η χωρική ανάλυση αποτελεί το επίκεντρο των Γεωγραφικών Συστημάτων Πληροφοριών, καθώς περιλαμβάνει όλους τους μετασχηματισμούς, τους χειρισμούς και τις μεθόδους που μπορούν να εφαρμοστούν στα γεωγραφικά δεδομένα ώστε αυτά να μετατραπούν σε χρήσιμες πληροφορίες, και να μπορούν να υποστηρίξουν τις διαδικασίες λήψης αποφάσεων. Πολλές μέθοδοι χωρικής ανάλυσης είχαν αναπτυχθεί πολύ πριν την εμφάνιση των ΓΣΠ, ωστόσο σήμερα η χρήση των ΓΣΠ, τα οποία περιλαμβάνουν όλο και περισσότερα αναλυτικά εργαλεία, διευκολύνει σημαντικά την εφαρμογή απλών τεχνικών ανάλυσης και παρέχει δυνατότητες εφαρμογής σύνθετων μεθόδων για την επίλυση επιστημονικών αλλά και καθημερινών προβλημάτων. Ο συνδυασμός της χωρικής ανάλυσης με την πολυκριτηριακή ανάλυση και την ανάλυση SWOT, που είναι ένα συμμετοχικό εργαλείο που εφαρμόζεται ευρέως στη στρατηγική υποστήριξη αποφάσεων, χρησιμοποιούνται στην Διδακτορική Διατριβή με στόχο το στρατηγικό σχεδιασμό της δασικής αναψυχής μέσω της ανάπτυξης του δικτύου των δασικών χωριών σε όλη την Ελλάδα. Η αξιοποίηση της εμπειρίας από τα 20 χρόνια λειτουργίας των δασικών χωριών με την υβριδική μέθοδο της SWOT-AHP ή αλλιώς A’WOT μας δίνει την δυνατότητα εντοπισμού των σημαντικότερων δεικτών για την δημιουργία νέων δασικών χωριών και τους στόχους της πολιτικής για αυτά. Επιλέγοντας το ξύλο ως βασικό δομικό υλικό και στα νέα δασικά χωριά τα οικήματα θα είναι πλήρως φυσικά και οικολογικά, με μεγάλη αντοχή στο χρόνο, άριστη σεισμική συμπεριφορά και εξαιρετική θερμομόνωση. Η προώθησης της κατασκευής ξύλινων σπιτιών από τα δάση της Ελλάδας και η μείωση των εισαγωγών θα μειώσει το έλλειμμα στο εμπορικό ισοζύγιο της Χώρας, το οικολογικό αποτύπωμα των κατασκευών και θα φέρει ευκαιρίες απασχόλησης στον ορεινό πληθυσμό που ασχολείται με την συγκομιδή του ξύλου. Οι προτάσεις για την τοποθεσία ίδρυσης νέων δασικών χωριών κατασκευασμένων από ξύλο έχουν στόχο την αναβάθμιση του οικοτουριστικού προϊόντος της Ελλάδας

AN ALGORITHM FOR COMPUTING THE UNIVERSAL GRÖBNER BASIS OF GRAPH IDEALS

Let G be a simple, undirected finite graph and I G be its corresponding toric ideal. The universal Gröbner basis of an ideal is a Gröbner basis with respect to all term orders simultaneously. In this paper we give an algorithm that outputs the universal Gröbner basis of I G , based on the theoretically knowledge of this set and on a recent, efficiently computable algorithmic characterization of the Graver basis of I G

Secure elliptic curve generation and key establishment on a 802.11 WLAN embedded device

Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) is one of the most promising alternatives to conventional public key cryptography, such as RSA and ElGamal, since it employs keys of smaller sizes for the same level of cryptographic strength. Smaller key sizes imply smaller hardware units for performing the arithmetic operations required by cryptographic protocols and, thus, ECC is an ideal candidate for implementation in embedded systems where the major computational resources (speed and storage) are limited. In this paper we present a port, written in ANSI C for maximum portability, of an open source ECCbased cryptographic library (ECC-LIB) to ATMEL’s AT76C520 802.11 WLAN Access Point. One of the major features of this port, not found in similar ports, is that it supports Complex Multiplication (CM) for the construction of Elliptic Curves with good security properties. We present some experimental results that demonstrate that the port is efficient and can lead to generic embedded systems with robust ECC-based cryptographic protocols using cryptographically strong ECCs generated with CM. As an application of the ported library, an EC Diffie-Hellman key exchange protocol is developed as an alternative of the 4-way key handshake protocol of the 802.11 protocol. 1

A Crown Width-Diameter Model for Natural Even-Aged Black Pine Forest Management

Crown size estimations are of vital importance in forest management practice. This paper presents nonlinear models that were developed for crown width prediction of Black pine (Pinus nigra Arn.) natural, pure, even-aged stands in Olympus Mountain, central Greece. Using a number of measured characteristics at tree and plot level from 66 sample plots as independent variables, an attempt was made to predict crown width accurately, initially based on Least Square Analysis. At the second stage, nonlinear mixed effect modeling was performed in order to increase the fitting ability of the proposed models and to deal with the lack of between observations independence error assumption. Based on the same form, a generalized crown width model was developed by including six main regressors, such as the diameter at breast height, the total height, the canopy base height, the basal area, the relative spacing index and the diameter to quadratic mean diameter ratio, while at the final stage, the same model was expanded to mixed-effect. The proposed models were evaluated against independent crown width sample observations that were also obtained from the study area. The results showed that the two types of mixed-effect models performed equally well and, therefore, we propose those for use in forestry practice. Furthermore, the exact contribution of each inherent variable in crown width allometry was evaluated, thus providing a framework to facilitate field measurements for forest management predictions