The current situation and the attitudes of judicial officials in Greece regarding their training needs

The education and training of the judiciary is an issue that concerns the quality and efficiency of the judicial system. The aim of this research is to investigate the current situation and attitudes of judicial officers of the criminal-civil courts, administrative courts, and prosecutors' offices in Greece regarding their training and education. They received this training both during their first period of appointment (introductory training) and during their period of service (continuing training). There is very little research on the training and education of judicial officials in Greece, which makes this research necessary. An online structured questionnaire, consisting of seven sections, was designed for the needs of the survey, which was answered by 273 respondents. The results of the survey indicate the absence of organized training by the judicial officers' branch, as well as the increase in the performance and effectiveness of judicial officers when they are trained. Finally, possible solutions and improvements for the education-training policy of judicial officials are proposed

Disease-biased and shared characteristics of the immunoglobulin gene repertoires in marginal zone B cell lymphoproliferations.

The B cell receptor immunoglobulin (BcR IG) gene repertoires of marginal zone (MZ) lymphoproliferations were analyzed in order to obtain insight into their ontogenetic relationships. Our cohort included cases with MZ lymphomas (n=488) i.e. splenic (SMZL), nodal (NMZL) and extranodal (ENMZL) as well as provisional entities (n=76) according to the World Health Organization classification. The most striking IG gene repertoire skewing was observed in SMZL. However, restrictions were also identified in all other MZ lymphomas studied, particularly ENMZL, with significantly different IG gene distributions depending on the primary site of involvement. Cross-entity comparisons of the MZ IG sequence dataset with a large dataset of IG sequences (MZ-related or not; n=65,837) revealed four major clusters of cases sharing homologous ('public') heavy variable complementarity-determining region 3. These clusters included rearrangements from SMZL, ENMZL (gastric, salivary gland, ocular adnexa), chronic lymphocytic leukemia but also rheumatoid factors and non-malignant spleen MZ cells. In conclusion, different MZ lymphomas display biased immunogenetic signatures indicating distinct antigen exposure histories. The existence of rare public stereotypes raises the intriguing possibility that common, pathogen-triggered, immune-mediated mechanisms, may result in diverse B lymphoproliferations due to targeting versatile progenitor B cells and/or operating in particular microenvironments.This work was supported in part by H2020 “AEGLE, An analytics framework for integrated and personalized healthcare services in Europe”, by the European Union (EU); H2020 No. 692298 project “MEDGENET, Medical Genomics and Epigenomics Network” by the EU; grant AZV 15-30015A from the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic, and the project CEITEC2020 LQ1601 from the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports of the Czech Republic; Bloodwise Research Grant (15019); the Swedish Cancer Society, the Swedish Research Council, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, the Lion’s Cancer Research Foundation, Uppsala, the Marcus Borgström Foundation and Selander’s Foundation, Uppsala

Εκτίμηση των σφαλμάτων και της αβεβαιότητας του υετού στη νότια Αφρική σε περιοχικές κλιματικές προσομοιώσεις: διερεύνηση των φυσικών διεργασιών

The climate of southern Africa is characterized by a plethora of distinct permanent and semi permanent atmospheric features that are interconnected at various levels of complexity, both over land and over the two adjacent oceans. The current Thesis aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the modeled and observed precipitation climatology over southern Africa, in all tools that are currently available in the climate community. Additionally, it aims to investigate the impact that the lateral boundary conditions exert on Regional Climate Model (RCM) simulations performed in the context of CORDEX-Africa, and to further investigate the dynamical processes over the study region that are responsible for precipitation in the CORDEX-Africa ensemble. Lastly, a series of RCM simulations using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model is used, with the purpose to examine the impact of cumulus parameterization schemes on precipitation over southern Africa.It is concluded that RCM simulations significantly improve monthly precipitation amounts in thesouthern African region (CORDEX-0.44), relative to Global Climate Models (GCMs) from which they receive lateral boundary conditions (CMIP5). Moreover, the higher spatial resolution of the CORDEX-Africa ensemble allows the more accurate representation of topography, compared to that in the coarse resolution GCMs. This results to the low-tropospheric moisture inflow from the tropical Indian Ocean being correctly blocked by the mountains over the Tanzania region and hindering it from progressing towards the central southern African region, as is erroneously the case in the CMIP5 ensemble. In all months and for the various subregions considered, the regional models systematically reduce the precipitation bias, relative to the driving global models. Sensitivity experiments were performed using the WRF model, examining the impact of the cumulus parameterization scheme on several aspects of the southern Africa precipitation regime. The simulations showed that precipitation is significantly affected by the cumulus parameterization scheme and the results were consistent regardless of the study period. More specifically, the Betts - Miller – Janjic and New - Tiedtke schemes produced the more realistic results (compared to satellite precipitation products and the ERA5 reanalysis dataset) for the entire study period (rainy season 2012-2013), but also for the intense precipitation event examined during January 2013, over south-eastern South Africa. The Kain - Fritsch scheme displayed an overestimation of precipitation throughout the study period.Το κλίμα της νότιας Αφρικής χαρακτηρίζεται από μια πληθώρα μόνιμων και ημιμόνιμων ατμοσφαιρικών χαρακτηριστικών που συνδέονται μεταξύ τους σε διάφορα επίπεδα πολυπλοκότητας, τόσο στην ξηρά όσο και στους δύο γειτνιάζοντες ωκεανούς. Η παρούσα Διατριβή στοχεύει στο να προσφέρει μια ολοκληρωμένη επισκόπηση της μοντελοποιημένης και παρατηρούμενης κλιματολογίας βροχοπτώσεων στη νότια Αφρική, αξιοποιώντας όλα τα εργαλεία που είναι επί του παρόντος διαθέσιμα στην κλιματική κοινότητα. Επιπλέον, στοχεύει στη διερεύνηση της επίδρασης που ασκούν οι πλευρικές οριακές συνθήκες στις προσομοιώσεις Περιοχικών Κλιματικών Μοντέλων που πραγματοποιούνται στο πλαίσιο του CORDEX-Africa. Επιπρόσθετα, αποσκοπεί στη διερεύνηση των δυναμικών διεργασιών στην περιοχή μελέτης που είναι υπεύθυνες για τη δημιουργία βροχόπτωσης στο σύνολο του σμήνους προσομοιώσεων του CORDEX-Africa. Τέλος, πραγματοποιείται μια σειρά προσομοιώσεων με χρήση του Weather Research and Forecasting μοντέλου (WRF), με σκοπό να εξεταστεί ο αντίκτυπος των σχημάτων παραμετροποίησης της ανωμεταφοράς στις διαδικασίες της βροχόπτωσης στη νότια Αφρική.Συμπεραίνεται πως οι περιοχικές κλιματικές προσομοιώσεις βελτιώνουν σημαντικά τα μηνιαία ποσά βροχοπτώσεων στην περιοχή της νότιας Αφρικής (CORDEX-0.44), σε σχέση με τα Παγκόσμια Κλιματικά Μοντέλα από τα οποία λαμβάνουν πλευρικές οριακές συνθήκες (CMIP5). Επιπλέον, η υψηλότερη χωρική ανάλυση του συνόλου του σμήνους προσομοιώσεων CORDEX-Africa επιτρέπει την ακριβέστερη αναπαράσταση της τοπογραφίας, σε σύγκριση με αυτή που πραγματοποιείται από τα Παγκόσμια Κλιματικά Μοντέλα αδρής χωρικής ανάλυσης. Αυτό έχει ως αποτέλεσμα η εισροή υγρασίας στα χαμηλά ύψη της τροπόσφαιρας προερχόμενη από τον τροπικό Ινδικό Ωκεανό να εμποδίζεται ορθώς από τα βουνά στην περιοχή της Τανζανίας και να μην της επιτρέπεται να προχωρήσει προς την περιοχή της κεντρικής νότιας Αφρικής, όπως λανθασμένα συμβαίνει στο σμήνος προσομοιώσεων CMIP5. Σε όλους τους μήνες, και για τις διάφορες υποπεριοχές που εξετάζονται, τα Περιοχικά Κλιματικά Μοντέλα μειώνουν συστηματικά το σφάλμα της βροχόπτωσης, σε σχέση με τα Παγκόσμια Κλιματικά Μοντέλα που τα οδηγούν.Τα πειράματα ευαισθησίας πραγματοποιήθηκαν χρησιμοποιώντας το μοντέλο WRF, εξετάζοντας την επίδραση του σχήματος παραμετροποίησης που ελέγχει τις διαδικασίες ανωμεταφοράς σε διάφορα χαρακτηριστικά που αφορούν τη βροχόπτωση στη νότια Αφρική. Οι προσομοιώσεις έδειξαν ότι η βροχόπτωση επηρεάζεται σημαντικά από το σχήμα παραμετροποίησης της ανωμεταφοράς και τα αποτελέσματα ήταν συνεπή ανεξάρτητα από την περίοδο μελέτης. Πιο συγκεκριμένα, τα σχήματα Betts - Miller - Janjic και New - Tiedtke παρήγαγαν τα πιο ρεαλιστικά αποτελέσματα (σε σύγκριση με τα χρησιμοποιούμενα δορυφορικά προϊόντα βροχόπτωσης και τα δεδομένα επανάλυσης ERA5) για ολόκληρη την περίοδο μελέτης. Το σχήμα Kain - Fritsch εμφάνισε συστηματική υπερεκτίμηση της βροχόπτωσης καθ' όλη την περίοδο μελέτης

Precipitation over southern Africa: is there consensus among global climate models (GCMs), regional climate models (RCMs) and observational data?

The region of southern Africa (SAF) is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and is projected to experience severe precipitation shortages in the coming decades. Ensuring that our modeling tools are fit for the purpose of assessing these changes is critical. In this work we compare a range of satellite products along with gauge-based datasets. Additionally, we investigate the behavior of regional climate simulations from the Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) – Africa domain, along with simulations from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) and Phase 6 (CMIP6). We identify considerable variability in the standard deviation of precipitation between satellite products that merge with rain gauges and satellite products that do not, during the rainy season (October–March), indicating high observational uncertainty for specific regions over SAF. Good agreement both in spatial pattern and the strength of the calculated trends is found between satellite and gauge-based products, however. Both CORDEX-Africa and CMIP ensembles underestimate the observed trends during the analysis period. The CMIP6 ensemble displayed persistent drying trends, in direct contrast to the observations. The regional ensembles exhibited improved performance compared to their forcing (CMIP5), when the annual cycle and the extreme precipitation indices were examined, confirming the added value of the higher-resolution regional climate simulations. The CMIP6 ensemble displayed a similar behavior to CMIP5, but reducing slightly the ensemble spread. However, we show that reproduction of some key SAF phenomena, like the Angola Low (which exerts a strong influence on regional precipitation), still poses a challenge for the global and regional models. This is likely a result of the complex climatic processes that take place. Improvements in observational networks (both in situ and satellite) as well as continued advancements in high-resolution modeling will be critical, in order to develop a robust assessment of climate change for southern Africa.publishedVersio

‘Fly to a Safer North’: Distributional Shifts of the Orchid Ophrys insectifera L. Due to Climate Change

Numerous orchid species around the world have already been affected by the ongoing climate change, displaying phenological alterations and considerable changes to their distributions. The fly orchid (Ophrys insectifera L.) is a well-known and distinctive Ophrys species in Europe, with a broad distribution across the continent. This study explores the effects of climate change on the range of O. insectifera, using a species distribution models (SDMs) framework that encompasses different climatic models and scenarios for the near- and long-term future. The species’ environmentally suitable area is projected to shift northwards (as expected) but downhill (contrary to usual expectations) in the future. In addition, an overall range contraction is predicted under all investigated combinations of climatic models and scenarios. While this is moderate overall, it includes some regions of severe loss and other areas with major gains. Specifically, O. insectifera is projected to experience major area loss in its southern reaches (the Balkans, Italy and Spain), while it will expand its northern limits to North Europe, with the UK, Scandinavia, and the Baltic countries exhibiting the largest gains

The impact of lateral boundary forcing in the CORDEX-Africa ensemble oversouthern Africa

The region of southern Africa (SAF) is among the most exposed climate change hotspots and is projected to experience severe impacts across multiple economical and societal sectors. For this reason, producing reliable projections of the expected impacts of climate change is key for local communities. In this work we use an ensemble of 19 regional climate model (RCM) simulations performed in the context of the Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) – Africa and a set of 10 global climate models (GCMs) participating in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) that were used as the driving GCMs in the RCM simulations. We are concerned about the degree to which RCM simulations are influenced by their driving GCMs, with regards to monthly precipitation climatologies, precipitation biases and precipitation change signal, according to the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5 for the end of the 21st century. We investigate the degree to which RCMs and GCMs are able to reproduce specific climatic features over SAF and over three sub-regions, namely the greater Angola region, the greater Mozambique region, and the greater South Africa region. We identify that during the beginning of the rainy season, when regional processes are largely dependent on the coupling between the surface and the atmosphere, the impact of the driving GCMs on the RCMs is smaller compared to the core of the rainy season, when precipitation is mainly controlled by the large-scale circulation. In addition, we show that RCMs are able to counteract the bias received by their driving GCMs; hence, we claim that the cascade of uncertainty over SAF is not additive, but indeed the RCMs do provide improved precipitation climatologies. The fact that certain bias patterns during the historical period (1985–2005) identified in GCMs are resolved in RCMs provides evidence that RCMs are reliable tools for climate change impact studies over SAF.publishedVersio

Media Studies, Audiovisual Media Communications, and Generations: The Case of Budding Journalists in Radio Courses in Greece

In this article, the quality of media studies education through effective teaching utilizing audiovisual media technologies and audiovisual content (audiovisual media communications) to budding journalists as adult learners (18 years and older) is researched, with results primarily intended for application in radio lessons at all educational levels and disciplines (including adult education). Nowadays, audiovisual media communications play an important role in the modern and visual-centric way of our life, while they require all of us to possess multiple-multimodal skills to have a successful professional practice and career, and especially those who study media studies, such as tomorrow’s new journalists. Data were collected after three interactive teachings with emphasis on educational effectiveness in technology-enhanced learning, through a specially designed written questionnaire with a qualitative and quantitative form (evaluation form), as case study experiments that applied qualitative action research with quasi-experiments. The results (a) confirmed (i) the theory of audiovisual media in education, as well as (ii) the genealogical characteristics and habits of budding journalists as highlighted in basic generational theory, something which appears to be in agreement with findings of previous studies and research; and (b) showed that (i) teaching methodology and educational techniques aimed primarily at adult learners in adult education kept the interest and attention of the budding journalists through the use of such specific educational communication tools as audiovisual media technologies, as well as (ii) sound/audio media, as audiovisual content may hold a significant part in a lecture