The Role and Activities of the Hellenic Red Cross During the First Five Years of the Economic Crisis in Greece (2010-2014)—A Retrospective Study

Aim. To investigate the contribution of the Hellenic Red Cross to the Greek Society during the first five and more severe years (2010-2014) of the profound financial crisis in Greece. Material And Methods. We retrospectively investigated the actions and contribution of the Hellenic Red Cross for the aforementioned five-year period. The research material was accumulated by research in the Internet, the archives, and the official webpage of the Hellenic Red Cross (Google, official web page of the ICRC and IFRC), from the Hellenic Ministry of Health and the Hellenic Ministry of Immigration and Asylum. Results. A huge amount of over 247 actions were detected for the research period. More than 17,708 people were examined and treated from the specialized medical personnel of the Hellenic Red Cross and 3,266 individuals were trained in basic first aid and hygiene. The final amount of 297,757€ were donated and 5,880 welfare packages were delivered. Conclusions. The current study has concluded that the contribution of the Hellenic Red Cross to the Greek society during the most severe phase of the recent financial crisis was outstanding and consists an example for any other Non-Governmental, Non for Profit Organizations in the future.

O IMPACTO DAS FAKE NEWS NA VACINAÇÃO E NOS SURTOS DE DOENÇAS ERRADICADAS

Introdução: As fakes News (FN) alcançaram um amplo destaque nas notícias, influenciando intensamente a vida, transformando modos de pensar. Um dos exemplos de mudança é acerca das atitudes perante a vacinação, verificado pelo aumento ou retorno das doenças, algumas já erradicadas em nosso país. Objetivo: Constatar o impacto das FN na vacinação e os surtos de doenças, destacando as erradicadas na população. Método: Foi feita uma revisão sistemática da literatura nas bibliotecas: scielo, pubMed e lilacs, de artigos publicados entre os anos de 2011 a 2020, nos idiomas português e inglês, usando os descritores: doenças, surto de doenças (SD), vacinação e mídias sociais (MS). Após combinação dos descritores, foram incluídos ou excluídos do quantitativo final a partir da leitura dos títulos. Posteriormente, à análise dos resumos que contemplavam a relação das FN com vacinação, diminuição da vacinação na população, surtos de doenças e vacinação, compuseram a amostra final. Resultados e discussão: Dos 514 resultados, foi selecionado 50 estudos, e com a análise dos resumos excluídos 25, sendo selecionados para o estudo, 25 artigos. A maior quantidade de artigos encontrados foi no Pubmed, e com a temática vacinação e doenças erradicadas (8). Evidenciou- se grande variedade das temáticas abordadas pelos descritores escolhidos, como artigos que contemplavam a vacinação, bem como suas doenças erradicadas e como as FN podem interferir para prejudicar a vacinação. Conclusão: Apesar das vacinas protegerem boa parte da sociedade, é preocupante a crescente população que está comprometendo a cobertura vacinal e a saúde coletiva ao depositar incredibilidade em FN. Palavras chave: Antivacinação, Comunicação, Doenças Contagiosas, Mídias Sociais, Vacinas. ABSTRACT: Introduction: Fakes News (FN) reached a wide prominence in the news, influencing life intensely, transforming ways of thinking. One example of change is about attitudes towards vaccination, verified by the increase or return of diseases, some of which have already been eradicated in our country. Objective: To verify the impact of NFs on vaccination and disease outbreaks, highlighting those eradicated in the population. Method: A systematic literature review was carried out in the libraries: scielo, pubMed and lilacs, of articles published between the years 2011 to 2020, in Portuguese and English, using the descriptors: diseases, disease outbreak (DS), vaccination and social media (MS). After combining the descriptors, they were included or excluded in the final amount from the reading of the titles. Subsequently, the analysis of the abstracts that contemplated the relationship between FN and vaccination, decreased vaccination in the population, disease outbreaks and vaccination, comprised the final sample. Results and discussion: Of the 514 results, 50 studies were selected, and with the analysis of the excluded abstracts 25, 25 articles were selected for the study. The largest number of articles found was in Pubmed, and with the theme of vaccination and eradicated diseases (8). A great variety of the themes addressed by the chosen descriptors was evidenced, such as articles that contemplated vaccination, as well as their eradicated diseases and how NFs can interfere to harm vaccination. Conclusion: Although vaccines protect a good part of society, it is worrying the growing population that is compromising vaccination coverage and public health by depositing incredulity in FN. Keywords: Anti-vaccination, Communication, Contagious Diseases, Social Media, Vaccines.

Analysis of Sequence Variability and Transcriptional Profile of Cannabinoid synthase Genes in Cannabis sativa L. Chemotypes with a Focus on Cannabichromenic acid synthase

Cannabis sativa L. has been long cultivated for its narcotic potential due to the accumulation of tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA) in female inflorescences, but nowadays its production for fiber, seeds, edible oil and bioactive compounds has spread throughout the world. However, some hemp varieties still accumulate traces of residual THCA close to the 0.20% limit set by European Union, despite the functional gene encoding for THCA synthase (THCAS) is lacking. Even if some hypotheses have been produced, studies are often in disagreement especially on the role of the cannabichromenic acid synthase (CBCAS). In this work a set of European Cannabis genotypes, representative of all chemotypes, were investigated from a chemical and molecular point of view. Highly specific primer pairs were developed to allow an accurate distinction of different cannabinoid synthases genes. In addition to their use as markers to detect the presence of CBCAS at genomic level, they allowed the analysis of transcriptional profiles in hemp or marijuana plants. While the high level of transcription of THCAS and cannabidiolic acid synthase (CBDAS) clearly reflects the chemical phenotype of the plants, the low but stable transcriptional level of CBCAS in all genotypes suggests that these genes are active and might contribute to the final amount of cannabinoids.

Day Fines

The day fine concept consists in imposing fines in such a structured way that the final amount of the fine is directly proportionate to offenders’ means and to the offense’s seriousness. This is achieved by multiplication of two quantities: the amount of one day fine and the number of day fines. The amount of one day fine is set in proportion to offenders’ means, while the number of day fines reflects the offense’s seriousness. In some—especially Anglophone—countries the day fine is called either a structured fine, as there is a clear structure of how the fine is calculated, or a unit fine, as offenders’ means serve as a basis for calculating one day fine unit. The systematic way of assessing offenders’ means is what differentiates day fines from fixed fines: by setting only the final amount, fixed fines might be proportional to offenders’ means, yet such a relationship is unclear, unverifiable, and likely inconsistent across sentencers. There are several rationales for making explicit the relationship between offenders’ means and a fine. Consequentionalists (utilitarians) support day fines because they are supposed to similarly deter offenders of different wealth. Those less concerned with utilitarian theories support day fines because they better communicate the appropriate amount of censure via hard treatment to offenders than fixed fines. Day fines further limit their unequal impact on disadvantaged groups upon default: if a fine is set in proportion to offenders’ means, the ratio of poor offenders defaulting and serving a prison sentence is likely to decrease when compared with not setting a fine in direct proportion to offenders’ means. Sentencing scholarship would prefer day fines over fixed fines as they are an expression of principled sentencing and they likely limit disparities in assessing offenders’ means. Day fines are used especially in Continental Europe and in Latin America. Even though the Anglophone world often strove to introduce day fines, and sometimes succeeded, the day fine concept was never widely accepted in the common-law systems. The large amount of scholarship published in English thus retells Continental experiences; suggests ways of implementing day fines, especially in the United States, where they are neglected compared with Continental Europe; or discusses the pilot projects in Anglophone countries. Readers should be warned, however, that there is still little research on how day fines function in practice, and even on fines in general, even though they the most popular sanction.

Presence of water on exomoons orbiting free-floating planets: a case study

A free-floating planet (FFP) is a planetary-mass object that orbits around a non-stellar massive object (e.g. a brown dwarf) or around the Galactic Centre. The presence of exomoons orbiting FFPs has been theoretically predicted by several models. Under specific conditions, these moons are able to retain an atmosphere capable of ensuring the long-term thermal stability of liquid water on their surface. We model this environment with a one-dimensional radiative-convective code coupled to a gas-phase chemical network including cosmic rays and ion-neutral reactions. We find that, under specific conditions and assuming stable orbital parameters over time, liquid water can be formed on the surface of the exomoon. The final amount of water for an Earth-mass exomoon is smaller than the amount of water in Earth oceans, but enough to host the potential development of primordial life. The chemical equilibrium time-scale is controlled by cosmic rays, the main ionization driver in our model of the exomoon atmosphere.

Ruin problems for epidemic insurance

The paper discusses the risk of ruin in insurance coverage of an epidemic in a closed population. The model studied is an extended susceptible–infective–removed (SIR) epidemic model built by Lefèvre and Simon (Methodology Comput. Appl. Prob.22, 2020) as a block-structured Markov process. A fluid component is then introduced to describe the premium amounts received and the care costs reimbursed by the insurance. Our interest is in the risk of collapse of the corresponding reserves of the company. The use of matrix-analytic methods allows us to determine the distribution of ruin time, the probability of ruin, and the final amount of reserves. The case where the reserves are subjected to a Brownian noise is also studied. Finally, some of the results obtained are illustrated for two particular standard SIR epidemic models.

Robust optimization of gradient RP HPLC method for simultaneous determination of ivabradine and its eleven related substances by AQbD approach

This paper is aimed at developing a gradient elution reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method for the separation of a complex mixture composed of ivabradine and its eleven impurities, in a reasonable timeframe. In order to obtain a robust and reliable HPLC method for separation of this mixture, Analytical Quality by Design (AQbD) was applied. This approach demonstrated to be useful in development of a long lasting life cycle methods. Four chromatographic variables were defined as key method parameters (KMPs) and optimized towards the analytical target profile (ATP). Designated KMPs were initial and final amount of acetonitrile in the mobile phase, pH value of the aqueous phase and gradient time, while resolutions of critical peak pairs were denoted as critical method attributes (CMAs). Relationships between KMPs and CMAs were obtained with the aid of Design of Experiments (DoEs) methodology among which Box-Behnken design (BBD) was employed to gain valid mathematical models. Obtained mathematical equations were used to construct the Design Space (DS) and select reliable optimal separation conditions. They included 11% (v/v) and 34% (v/v) of initial and final amount of acetonitrile, respectively, as well as 45 min of gradient elution time and 20 mM ammonium acetate as aqueous mobile phase with pH set to 7.35. The possibility to separate the diastereoisomers of impurity X was also evaluated. It was demonstrated that this separation could not be achieved in gradient elution mode within the defined variable domains and in a reasonable time span. The developed method was validated according to ICH Q2 (R1) guideline and met all the required criteria.

Forecast for the second Covid-19 wave based on the improved SIR model with a constant ratio of recovery to infection rate

We start out by deriving simple analytic expressions for all measurable amounts of cases and fatalities during a pandemic evolution exhibiting multiple waves, described by the semi-time SIR model. The approximant shares all relevant features with the exact solution, including time and position of the peak of daily new infections, as well as the asymptotic behaviors at small and large times. We derive exact analytic expressions for the early doubling time, late half decay time, and a half-early peak law, characterizing the dynamical evolution. We show, in particular, how the asymmetry of the first epidemic wave and its exponential tails are affected by the initial conditions; a feature that has no analogue in the all-time SIR model. We apply the approach to available data from different continents. Our analysis reveals that the immunity is very strongly increasing during the 2nd wave, while it was still at a very moderate level of a few percent in several countries at the end of the first wave. The wave-specific SIR parameters describing the infection and recovery rates we find to behave in a similar fashion, while their ratio k was decreasing only by a about 5% for most countries. Still, an apparently moderate change of k can have significant consequences for the relevant numbers like the final amount of infected or deceased population. As we show, the probability for an additional wave is however low in several countries due to the fraction of immune inhabitants at the end of the 2nd wave, irrespective the currently ongoing vaccination efforts. We compare with alternate approaches.

He misfire degree and its effects on combustion and pollutant formation of subsequent cycles: A study on a high speed gasoline engine

Misfire has attracted lots of researcher?s attention as a common engine fault, but most researchers focus on misfire diagnosis. For motorcycle engines, misfire is more worth to investigate because of the more extensive operation windows. The misfire degree is detected by experiment and its effect mechanism on subsequent cycles is investigated through simulation. Its effect is analyzed through two aspects: 1) misfire cycle leaves about 10.8% fuels that participate in next cycle working process, leading to richer fuel/air mixture. But 13.8 % lower of in-cylinder peak pressure than normal scenario is observed. Then interaction between flame propagation and flow field is discussed. The effect of misfire on flow field intensity is small, but it changes flow field structure largely. This change evolves persistently during subsequent processes, superimposing the lower temperature brought by misfire of last cycle, resulting in slower flame propagation and thus lower thermal efficiency for misfire scenario. This impact can last 3-4 subsequent cycles until gradually fades away; 2) for pollutants formations, the NO emission is lower for misfire scenario due to the lower in-cylinder temperature, but HC emission is higher. Although higher CO is produced during main combustion phase for misfire scenario, it converts to CO2 more largely during post flame stage, resulting in almost the same final amount relative to normal scenario.

A large-scale study on the effectiveness of a Bacillus subtilis Ch-13-based biofungicide against green mould disease and mushroom yield improvement

The aim of this study was to test a biofungicide based on Bacillus subtilis Ch-13 and its effectiveness in the control of green mould disease of cultivated mushroom in comparison with the fungicide prochloraz. Biofungicide effectiveness in disease control and impact on yield were evaluated on Agaricus bisporus after its natural infection with Trichoderma aggressivum in a commercial mushroom growing facility. An assay for testing the microbial efficacy of the biofungicide was conducted in two different procedures involving either three or two split doses. The highest statistically significant effectiveness in green mould control was shown by the fungicide prochloraz (71.43%), followed by the biofungicide applied in tree split doses (53.57%), and finally its two doses (45.46%). The biofungicide significantly improved yield in comparison with an untreated control and the fungicide prochloraz. Three split applications of B. subtilis strain Ch-13 enhanced mushroom yield to a larger extent than its two split doses, although the same final amount was used in both procedures. Biofungicide application in three split doses increased the total mass of harvested mushrooms 8.41% compared to the untreated control, and 10.53% compared to the fungicide prochloraz. These results implied that the biofungicide should be applied in three split applications: 30 ml (second day after casing) + 15 ml (two weeks after casing) + 15 ml (after first flush, 20-25 days after casing). The biofungicide B. subtilis Ch-13 should be further investigated regarding its joint usage with chemical fungicides in different application procedures, as it showed remarkable characteristics both in terms of promoting mushroom yield and inhibiting the spread of mycopathogenic T. aggressivum.