Sustainability assessment of goat and sheep farms: a comparison between European countries

European sheep and goat farming faces diverse challenges at global or local scales and constitutes an important sector for many countries, playing important sociocultural, economic and environmental roles. A closer examination of the overall sustainability of the sector is necessary to assess the performance of different farm types in various geographical settings. This comparative study evaluates the use of a common sustainability assessment (SA) tool for the major European countries in the sheep and goat sector. In particular, the study reports the results of a SA using the Public Goods (PG) Tool, adapted within the Innovation for Sustainable Sheep and Goat Production in Europe (iSAGE) Horizon 2020 project, which includes questions accounting for 13 dimensions of a sheep and goat farm sustainability. In total, 206 farmers from Greece, Italy, Spain, Finland, United Kingdom, France and Turkey were interviewed, all of which were typical of specific types of a pan-European sheep and goat farm typologies elaborated within iSAGE. The study resulted in composite indicators of performance in each dimension for each country. Finland, Italy and the United Kingdom performed better than other countries, while Turkey and Greece performed below average in most categories. The results highlight challenges for each country but also at the European level, the latter mainly relating to generational renewal and an unwillingness to invest in the adoption of a more sustainable approach with long-term results.</jats:p

The use of premature chromosome condensation to study in interphase cells the influence of environmental factors on human genetic material

Nowadays, there is a constantly increasing concern regarding the mutagenic and carcinogenic potential of a variety of harmful environmental factors to which humans are exposed in their natural and anthropogenic environment. These factors exert their hazardous potential in humans' personal (diet, smoking, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics) and occupational environment that constitute part of the anthropogenic environment. It is well known that genetic damage due to these factors has dramatic implications for human health. Since most of the environmental genotoxic factors induce arrest or delay in cell cycle progression, the conventional analysis of chromosomes at metaphase may underestimate their genotoxic potential. Premature Chromosome Condensation (PCC) induced either by means of cell fusion or specific chemicals, enables the microscopic visualization of interphase chromosomes whose morphology depends on the cell cycle stage, as well as the analysis of structural and numerical aberrations at the G1 and G2 phases of the cell cycle. The PCC has been successfully used in problems involving cell cycle analysis, diagnosis and prognosis of human leukaemia, assessment of interphase chromosome malformations resulting from exposure to radiation or chemicals, as well as elucidation of the mechanisms underlying the conversion of DNA damage into chromosomal damage. In this report, particular emphasis is given to the advantages of the PCC methodology used as an alternative to conventional metaphase analysis in answering questions in the fields of radiobiology, biological dosimetry, toxicogenetics, clinical cytogenetics and experimental therapeutics

Political economy of international trade: a theoretical and empirical investigation

The dissertation aims at contributing both theoretically and empirically to the scientific dialogue as to whether absolute or comparative advantage is the regulatory principle of international trade. The theoretical part of the dissertation presents the labor theory of value, competition and trade theories. In the empirical part, it raises research questions that focus on the famous ‘Leontief's Paradox’ and the notion of Unequal Exchange and transfers of value. The research method is that of vertical integration and within the context of Input Output Analysis. The results lend support to the absolute cost advantage theory as the regulatory principle of international trade rather than to comparative advantage one. The empirical analysis for the Unequal Exchange approach advocate that the feature for the transfers of values, is the socially necessary labor time needed for the production of a commodity. In addition, the empirical results confirm the persistence of ‘Leontief's Paradox’ in the United States in the international trade for the period 1997-2012.By that the dissertation raise doubts about the principle of the factor abundance which governs modern trade theories.Σκοπός της παρούσας διατριβής είναι να συμβάλλει θεωρητικά και εμπειρικά στον επιστημονικό διάλογο σχετικά με το εάν ισχύει το απόλυτο ή το συγκριτικό πλεονέκτημα, ως ρυθμιστική αρχή του διεθνούς εμπορίου. Για αυτόν τον λόγο προσπαθεί συνοπτικά να εντάξει μέσα σε ένα γενικότερο πλαίσιο ανάλυσης, έννοιες που σχετίζονται με την Εργασιακή Θεωρία της Αξίας, τις Θεωρίες του Ανταγωνισμού και, τέλος, τις Θεωρίες του Εμπορίου. Τα ερευνητικά ερωτήματα που θέτει η διατριβή επικεντρώνονται στην εμπειρική διερεύνηση του ‘Παράδοξου του Leontief’ και της Άνισης Ανταλλαγής όπως αυτή παρατηρείται μέσα από τις μεταβιβάσεις αξίας. Η εμπειρική τεκμηρίωση των ερευνητικών ερωτημάτων προκύπτει μέσα από τη μέθοδο της κάθετης ολοκλήρωσης και την ανάλυση των Πινάκων Εισροών Εκροών. Τα συμπεράσματα της έρευνας συνηγορούν υπέρ του απόλυτου πλεονεκτήματος ως ρυθμιστικής αρχής του διεθνούς εμπορίου. Ειδικότερα, τα αποτελέσματα αναφορικά με την Άνιση Ανταλλαγή υποδηλώνουν ότι καθοριστικός παράγοντας για τις μεταβιβάσεις αξίας είναι ο κοινωνικά αναγκαίος χρόνος εργασίας που απαιτείται για την παραγωγή ενός εμπορεύματος. Η εμπειρική διερεύνηση αφορά το διμερές εμπόριο μεταξύ Ελλάδας -Γερμανίας στην περίοδο 1995-2011. Επίσης, τα εμπειρικά αποτελέσματα επιβεβαιώνουν τη διαχρονική ισχύ του ‘Παράδοξου του Leontief’ στις ΗΠΑ για την περίοδο 1997-2012 με αποτέλεσμα να τίθεται υπό αμφισβήτηση η αρχή που διέπει τις σύγχρονες θεωρίες εμπορίου σχετικά με την αφθονία των παραγωγικών συντελεστών

The Effects of Health Sector Fiscal Decentralisation on Availability, Accessibility, and Utilisation of Healthcare Services: A Panel Data Analysis

BACKGROUND: Fiscal decentralisation (FD) is a widely implemented decentralisation policy consisting of the allocation of pooling and spending responsibilities from the central government to lower levels of governance within a country. In 2001, The Italian National Health System (Servizio Sanitario Nazionale, SSN) has introduced a strong element of FD, making regions responsible for their own pooling of resources and for their budgets. Despite the relevance, only few studies exist on health sector-FD in Italy, mostly looking at the effects of FD on infant mortality. METHODS: This study performs a fixed-effects panel data analysis of Italian Regions and Autonomous provinces between the years 2001 and 2017, to investigate the effects of health sector-FD on availability, accessibility, and utilisation of healthcare services in Italy. RESULTS: FD decreases availability of staff and hospital beds, decreases utilisation of care, measured by hospitalisation rates, and increases interregional patients' mobility for healthcare purposes, a finding suggesting increased disparities in access to healthcare. These effects seem to be stronger for public - rather than private - services, and are more prominent in poorer areas. CONCLUSION: This evidence suggest that FD has created a fragmented and unequal healthcare system, in which levels of availability, utilisation of, and accessibility to resources - as well as the extent of public sector's retrenchment - coincide with the wealth of the area

Headache in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus vs Multiple Sclerosis: A Prospective Comparative Study

Objective.-To clarify whether headache, and particularly migraine, belongs to the spectrum of neurologic manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), the archetypal autoimmune disease. Methods.-Consecutive SLE patients were matched 1: 1 for age, gender, and level of education with healthy control subjects. A representative subgroup of SLE patients were also matched with patients suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS), a nervous system-specific autoimmune disease. All study participants were assessed for headache present in the previous year. Anxiety, depression, and quality of life were also estimated at baseline. During the following year, all participants were assessed every 3 months using specific headache diaries. Results.-Seventy-two SLE/control pairs and 48 MS patients completed 12 months of follow-up. Prevalence of migraine, with or without aura, was similar between SLE patients (21%), MS patients (23%), and controls (22%), as was the prevalence of frequent tension-type headache. Duration and severity of migraine attacks were milder in SLE patients than controls. Only chronic tension-type headache was significantly more prevalent in SLE patients (12.5%) compared to controls (1.4%). MS patients also presented increased frequency of chronic tension-type headache (8.3%). No associations of any headache type with particular clinical manifestations, autoantibody, or disease activity, either in SLE or MS patient groups, were found. Irrespective of the presence of headache, anxiety symptoms and impaired quality of life were more frequent among SLE than MS patients or controls. Conclusion.-Migraine should be no longer considered a neurologic manifestation of systemic or organ-specific autoimmunity. Increased migraine prevalence in these patients found in previous studies could be due to methodological weaknesses

The use of premature chromosome condensation to study in interphase cells the influence of environmental factors on human genetic material

Nowadays, there is a constantly increasing concern regarding the mutagenic and carcinogenic potential of a variety of harmful environmental factors to which humans are exposed in their natural and anthropogenic environments. These factors exert their hazardous potential in humans&apos; personal (diet, smoking, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics) and occupational environments that constitute part of the anthropogenic environment. It is well known that genetic damage due to these factors has dramatic implications for human health. Since most of the environmental genotoxic factors induce arrest or delay in cell cycle progression, the conventional analysis of chromosomes at metaphase may underestimate their genotoxic potential. Premature chromosome condensation (PCC) induced either by means of cell fusion or specific chemicals, enables the microscopic visualization of interphase chromosomes whose morphology depends on the cell cycle stage, as well as the analysis of structural and numerical aberrations at the G 1 and G 2 phases of the cell cycle. The PCC method has been successfully used in problems involving cell cycle analysis, diagnosis, and prognosis of human leukemia, assessment of interphase chromosome malformations resulting from exposure to radiation or chemicals, as well as elucidation of the mechanisms underlying the conversion of DNA damage into chromosomal damage. In this report, particular emphasis is given to the advantages of the PCC methodology used as an alternative to conventional metaphase analysis in order to answer questions in the fields of radiobiology, biological dosimetry, toxicogenetics, clinical cytogenetics, and experimental therapeutics. KEYWORDS: premature chromosome condensation, cell fusion, calyculin-A, lymphocytes, DNA damage, genotoxicity, sister chromatid exchanges, chromosomal damage, chromosome aberrations, cell cycle delay, chemicals, ionizing radiation Hatzi et al.: Interphase genotoxicity assessment using PCC TheScientificWorldJOURNAL (2006TheScientificWorldJOURNAL ( ) 6, 1174TheScientificWorldJOURNAL ( -1190 INTRODUCTION Nowadays, there is a constantly increasing concern regarding the mutagenic and carcinogenic potential of a variety of harmful environmental agents to which humans are exposed in their natural and anthropogenic environments. Harmful environmental agents, exerting their effect on living organisms from the beginning of life, developed the appropriate evolutionary pressure that resulted in their defense mechanisms. Human technological development as well as human lifestyle introduced new series of harmful agents that, either alone or in combination, affect humans and all other organisms. These new agents exert their hazardous potential in humans&apos; personal (diet, smoking, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics) and occupational environments that constitute part of the anthropogenic environment. The most important consequences of human exposure to environmental hazards are DNA damage induced either by direct or indirect binding to DNA. Direct-acting chemicals like DNA alkylating agents (e.g., mitomycin-C), crosslinking agents (e.g., methyl methanesulfonate), and oxygen radicals (e.g., hydrogen peroxide), bind covalently to DNA The exposure of cells to genotoxic factors may result in changes at the chromatid level, such as sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs), as well as in structural chromosomal alterations such as chromosomal aberrations Until now, the conventional cytogenetic analysis of chromosomal damage as a result of exposure to environmental chemicals is mainly based on the microscopic analysis of chromosomes in metaphase In this report, the advantages of the PCC methodologies used as an alternative to conventional metaphase analysis or in combination with other cytogenetic techniques are reviewed. Furthermore, the use of PCC in overcoming problems that could not be solved with the conventional metaphase analysis is Hatzi et al.: Interphase genotoxicity assessment using PCC TheScientificWorldJOURNAL (2006) 6, 1174-1190 1176 presented, and particular emphasis is given to the potential use of PCC to elucidate the mechanisms underlying conversion of DNA damage into chromosomal damage. Additional applications of the PCC methodologies in the fields of radiobiology, biological dosimetry, toxicogenetics, clinical cytogenetics, and experimental therapeutics are described, and future perspectives are discussed. PCC METHODOLOGIES PCC Induction Using Cell Fusion Central for the PCC assay is the fusion of interphase &quot;test&quot; cells with mitotic &quot;inducer&quot; cells that can be mediated either by incubation with Sendai virus As an alternative to the Sendai virus, the well-known fusogen polyethylene glycol (PEG) was applied to PCC-induction procedures Using the PCC assay by means of cell fusion, interphase cells that are either cycling, noncycling, or arrested can be visualized and analyzed. In the hybrids formed by cell fusion, the mitotic factors present in the donor mitotic cell dissolve the nucleus membrane and condense chromatin of the interphase &quot;test&quot; cell. More specifically, cells that have undergone PCC assume a morphology that is characteristic of the position of the interphase cell in the cell cycle: single chromatid per chromosome in G 1 phase, double chromatids per chromosome in G 2 , and pulverized chromosome regions in S phase Chemically Induced PCC Chemically induced PCCs can be obtained by the use of the chemical compounds such as calyculin-A. Calyculin-A was initially isolated from the marine sponge Discodermia calyx 1177 APPLICATIONS OF PCC METHODOLOGIES Biodosimetry and Biomonitoring of Exposure to Ionizing Radiation Exposure of cells to ionizing radiation has been shown to cause a wide variety of phenomena, the most prominent of which are the induction of mutations, the induction of transformation, cell cycle arrest, and cell death. As a result, the study of phenomena elicited by radiation are of particular importance to human health and, therefore, elucidation of the underlying biochemical mechanisms and cytogenetic effects of ionizing radiation are a high priority in radiation biology research. In the field of biological dosimetry, numerous methods capable of detecting radiation-induced changes at the molecular, cytogenetic, and cellular level have been used in order to obtain absorbed dose estimates For these reasons, the PCC methodology was proposed as an alternative biodosimetric tool by Pantelias and Maillie in 1984[50] and since then it has been extensively used to assess and evaluate the induction and repair of chromosome damage after in vivo or in vitro exposure of human cells to ionizing radiation Mechanisms Underlying Conversion of DNA Damage into Chromosomal Damage Visualizing cells with conventional analysis at metaphase can give information concerning only the residual damage after exposure to genotoxic environmental factors. The analysis of such interactions is based, therefore, only on those cells that proceed to mitosis. Therefore, it is difficult to elucidate the mechanism underlying the conversion of DNA damage into chromosomal damage. With the PCC methodologies, it is possible to gain valuable information not only to understand the biochemical mechanisms that affect the conversion of DNA damage into chromosomal damage, but also to determine possibly chromosomal radiosensitivity in G 2 phase, as well as variability in radiosensitivity at various stages of the cell cycle. The Hatzi et al.: Interphase genotoxicity assessment using PCC TheScientificWorldJOURNAL (2006) 6, 1174-1190 1181 onset and the efficiency of chromatin condensation-decondensation are important determinants of these processes. Data obtained so far demonstrate the important role of cdk1/cyclin-B complex and of the G 2 checkpoint control mechanism in affecting chromatin conformation changes and conversion of DNA damage into chromosomal damage. Using the PCC method, it was realized specifically that changes in chromatin conformation soon after irradiation, presumably as a result of histone-H1 phosphorylationdephosphorylation, strongly affected the conversion of DNA lesions into visual PCC fragments. The cdk1/cyclin-B complex was originally defined as the mitosis promoting factor (MPF), identified in mitotic frog eggs as a factor capable of inducing mitosis in G 2 -phase cells. Regulation of cdk1/cyclin-B complexes at multiple levels ensures the tight regulation of the timing of mitotic entry In early reports, G 0 human lymphocytes were irradiated and analyzed at various times after fusion with mitotic CHO cells, i.e., as chromatin condensation proceeded. The yield of fragments observed was directly related to the amount of chromosome condensation allowed to take place after irradiation and inversely related to the extent of chromosome condensation at the time of irradiation. From these experiments, it was concluded that changes in chromosome conformation interfered with repair processes of DNA damage. In contrast, resting chromosomes (as G 0 lymphocytes irradiated before fusion) showed efficient repair of chromosomal damage. These results supported the hypothesis that DNA damage is converted into cytogenetic lesions and becomes observable when chromatin conformation changes occur during the cell cycle G 2 checkpoint facilitates repair of chromosomal damage, and the hypothesis that G 2 -checkpoint defects during the G 2 -to M-phase transition can also affect G 2 -chromosomal sensitivity. This was tested using caffeine to abolish G 2 checkpoint by inhibiting ATM protein (Ataxia Telangiectasia mutated protein) Concerning the variability of radiosensitivity to ionizing radiation at various stages of the cell cycle, it is already known that middle to S phase and G 1 phase are resistant stages, while mitosis, G 1 /S, and G 2 /M transition are very sensitive to radiation Genotoxicity of Exposure to Chemical Agents It is well known that increased rates of cell proliferation can escalate the risk of malignancy following exposures to chemical agents 1183 The Uses of PCC in Clinical Cytogenetics and Experimental Therapeutics The fact that chromosomal analysis by means of the PCC method requires a small amount (0.5 ml or less) of sample (i.e., peripheral blood or bone marrow) makes it especially suitable for in vivo and in vitro studies, and also in clinical applications for diagnostic purposes. In particular, the ability to visualize the interphase chromosomes of bone marrow and blood cells using PCC by means of mitotic cell fusion with interphase cells has proved useful and accurate in the study of human acute leukemia Recently, calyculin-A-induced PCC has been combined with multicolor FISH [pq-COBRA-FISH (COmbined Binary RAtio labeling-fluorescence in situ hybridization)] for the cytogenetic analysis of cancer cell lines In the field of prenatal diagnosis, preliminary attempts have been made to combine calyculin-Ainduced PCC with GTG banding for fetus examination Furthermore, a major area of experimental therapeutic research centers on the function of anticancer drugs. In this field, the PCC methodology has been applied to study the effect of several anticancer drugs, such as BCNU, CCNU, Cis-acid, VM-26, adriamycin, and neocarzinostatin, whose mode of action depends on cell cycle arres

Sustainability Assessment of Goat and Sheep Farms: A Comparison between European Countries

European sheep and goat farming faces diverse challenges at global or local scales and constitutes an important sector for many countries, playing important sociocultural, economic and environmental roles. A closer examination of the overall sustainability of the sector is necessary to assess the performance of different farm types in various geographical settings. This comparative study evaluates the use of a common sustainability assessment (SA) tool for the major European countries in the sheep and goat sector. In particular, the study reports the results of a SA using the Public Goods (PG) Tool, adapted within the Innovation for Sustainable Sheep and Goat Production in Europe (iSAGE) Horizon 2020 project, which includes questions accounting for 13 dimensions of a sheep and goat farm sustainability. In total, 206 farmers from Greece, Italy, Spain, Finland, United Kingdom, France and Turkey were interviewed, all of which were typical of specific types of a pan-European sheep and goat farm typologies elaborated within iSAGE. The study resulted in composite indicators of performance in each dimension for each country. Finland, Italy and the United Kingdom performed better than other countries, while Turkey and Greece performed below average in most categories. The results highlight challenges for each country but also at the European level, the latter mainly relating to generational renewal and an unwillingness to invest in the adoption of a more sustainable approach with long-term results

Vertical Distribution and Chemical Fractionation of Heavy Metals in Dated Sediment Cores from the Saronikos Gulf, Greece

The Saronikos Gulf is under a lot of anthropogenic pressure, such as the urban expansion of the metropolitan area of Athens, the port of Piraeus and marinas, industrial activities, and tourism. Heavy metal pollution has been a major environmental problem in the area for many decades. Sedimentary cores have proven to be an invaluable indicator of heavy metal pollution, as they can reveal not only the current metal inputs but also the evolution of pollution over time, and with the appropriate geochemical analyses, they can provide information on the potential toxicity of metals. In this study, the temporal evolution and the chemical speciation of eleven elements were examined in sediment cores from Elefsis Bay and the Inner Saronikos Gulf, with an emphasis on the emerging environmental hazards (V and Ag). The results showed extensive pollution of the sediments by Ni, Cr, Cu, Zn, As, Mo, Cd, and Pb from the 1910s and 1960s in Eastern and Western Elefsis Bay, respectively. A significant decrease of the sediment enrichment in V, Ni, Cr, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, Pb, and Ag since 2000 was observed in the part of the Inner Saronikos Gulf that is mainly influenced by the WWTP of Athens. However, a toxicity assessment using the metal contents of the surface sediments showed that most of the trace elements studied still pose a moderate to high risk of toxicity to benthic ecosystems. The present study highlighted the urgent need for focused research and the management of trace element inputs, particularly Ag in the Inner Saronikos Gulf, where severe sediment modification was evident