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Migration has almost always been accompanied by language-related processes and concerns. Integration dimensions interact with numerous language-related issues, such as language requirements and learning opportunities, and the purpose of our paper is situated in the broader field of linguistic integration of adult refugees and migrants in Greece and Italy. Greece and Italy share a double role both as host and transition countries, as two of the main EU entry points for refugees and migrants since the 2015 refugee crisis, and therefore they have been selected as two suitable cases to be further explored. This paper aims to give an overview of the language requirements and language-learning opportunities in the migration context in Greece and Italy. Through our comprehensive review of language requirements and language-learning opportunities in Greece and Italy, we have undertaken an examination of the two contexts employing a comparative approach to scrutinize the processes of linguistic integration. The information presented has shown that similar linguistic requirements are set in both countries although the use and implementation of the Knowledge of Society (KoS) tests seem to discriminate between the two contexts. The results agree with similar findings through indexes such as the Language Policy Index for Migrants (LAPIM) and the Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of the possibilities that it opens for a variety of fields and practices, gamification has increasingly garnered significant attention. This has put it at the forefront of many significant debates around its applicability and implications. In the case of its application to cultural heritage, although there is much trailblazing to do, the body of work has been growing and the field is gaining its maturity. As such, this paper aims to take stock of the directions the field has been moving towards—to provide orientation for future work and projects that are yet to be developed. To do this, the paper aims to map out the publications in the field of gamified cultural heritage, by conducting a broader and systematic literature review. The study has found that, with regards to who the main actors with publications in the field are, a prominence of European institutions and networks, namely from Italy, Greece and the United Kingdom, can be observed. Regarding what heritage is being gamified and for what purpose, the study found a prominence of focus on historical, architectural and archeological heritage values and a very significant focus on gamification being used for motivation/engagement and for creativity enhancement. When looking at the gamification design dimensions that are given prevalence, intrinsic motivation seems to be prioritized, and, with regards to the observed target publics, tourists and visitors and seem to prevail in gamified heritage projects, with children as a specific group coming in second. Regarding technologies and tools being used, Mobile Applications, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are particularly prevalent. Regarding mentioned future orientations, the study found that a vast majority of papers are self-contained, both in scope of work and discussion, with most of those that do mention future directions indicating continuation and/or expansion of their specific project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal managers, policymakers, and scientists use shoreline accretion/erosion trends to determine the coastline's historical evolution and generate models capable of predicting future changes. Different solutions have been developed to obtain shoreline positions from Earth observation data in recent years, the so-called Satellite-Derived Shorelines (SDS). Most of the methodologies available in the literature use multispectral optical satellite imagery. This paper proposes two new methods for shoreline mapping at the subpixel level based on PRISMA hyperspectral imagery. The first one analyses the spectral signatures along defined beach profiles. The second method uses techniques more commonly applied to multispectral image analysis, such as Spectral Unmixing algorithms and Spatial Attraction Models. The results obtained with both methodologies are validated on three Mediterranean microtidal beaches located in two different countries, Italy and Greece, using image-based ground truth shorelines manually photointerpreted and digitised. The obtained errors are around 6 and 7 m for the first and second methods, respectively. These results are comparable to the errors obtained from multispectral data. The paper also discusses the capability of the two methods to identify two different shoreline proxies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Asian chestnut gall wasp (ACGW) (Hymenoptera Dryocosmus kuriphilus Yasumatsu) is a severe pest of sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) with a strong impact on growth and nut production. A comparative field trial in Central Italy, including provenances from Spain, Italy, and Greece, was screened for ACGW infestation over consecutive years. The Greek provenance Hortiatis expressed a high proportion of immune plants and was used to perform a genome-wide association study based on DNA pool sequencing (Pool-GWAS) by comparing two DNA pools from 25 susceptible and 25 resistant plants. DNA pools were sequenced with 50X coverage depth. Sequence reads were aligned to a C. mollissima reference genome and the pools were compared to identify SNPs associated with resistance. Twenty-one significant SNPs were identified and highlighted a small genomic region on pseudochromosome 3 (Chr 3), containing 12 candidate genes of three gene families: Cytochrome P450, UDP-glycosyltransferase, and Rac-like GTP-binding protein. Functional analyses revealed a putative metabolic gene cluster related to saccharide biosynthesis in the genomic regions associated with resistance that could be involved in the production of a toxic metabolite against parasites. The comparison with previous genetic studies confirmed the involvement of Chr 3 in the control of resistance to ACGW. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The digitalization of agriculture generates a new environment for the actors involved in agrifood production. In such a context, Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKISs) face the challenge of reconsidering their operational paradigms, redefining priorities, and designing strategies to achieve new aims. To do so, the actors participating in AKISs should develop and exploit a set of competencies known as dynamic capabilities, including the aptitude to sense the change in the external environment, the capacity to seize the opportunities that this change creates, and an ability to transform and adapt themselves to the new conditions that digitalization generates. In this study, using as examples the AKISs operating in Greece and Italy, we aimed to uncover if and how actors participating in these systems attempt and manage to deploy such capabilities. Based on a qualitative approach and drawing on data from two workshops, we discovered that seizing the opportunities sensed is a challenging task for AKIS actors. Our results also indicate that knowledge is a pivotal resource for AKISs, allowing actors to enhance their transformative capacity. However, to create a "collective" knowledge base, AKISs should ensure a functional connection between stakeholders and strengthen the roles of actors not actively engaged with the system, like public advisory organizations, universities, and technology providers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nursing education and formation is still heterogenous in spite of The Bologna Declaration in 1999. Apart from the existence of basic curriculum standards, universities have flexibility regarding its design. The objective of this study is to provide an overview of contemporary nursing education and contrast it with the legal frameworks in place in four Southern European countries: Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Greece. A scoping review was conducted in order to revise and obtain an up-to-date review of current nursing education and quality. Then, a content evaluation of the legal public framework was conducted. A total of nine articles were included in the review. Data analysis evoked three main themes from the results: nursing education heterogeneity owing to ECTS increased from 180 to 240 for the diversity of clinical practice hours; the nursing framework lacked a definition; and the evolution of nursing education, alongside quality improvement and more accurate guidelines were required. Regarding their legal framework, the main directives and legislation standards were assessed and compared with the current curriculum. To conclude, nursing heterogeneity education evokes competence inequality among students and future professionals as larger curricular programs (240 ECTS) offer more clinical practice. Nursing education uniformity could enhance international mobility and promote knowledge exchange and nursing competence framework definitions. These are facts that certainly bring nursing empowerment. This study was not registered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We characterized the presence of plastics in different organs of the gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) and European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) from some off-shore aquaculture facilities of the Mediterranean Sea. Plastics were detected in 38% of analyzed fish. Higher contamination was observed in fish from Turkey and Greece with respect to Italy, without significant differences between the geographical areas. Plastics accumulated mostly in the gastrointestinal tract and, to a lower extent, in the muscle, which represents the edible part of fish. Based on the particle detected, a maximum amount of 0.01 plastic/g wet weight (w.w.) can occur in muscles, suggesting a low input for humans through consumption. A large portion of the particles identified was represented by man-made cellulose-based fibers. The characterization of the polymeric composition suggests that plastics taken up by fish can have land-based and pelagic origins, but plastics can be introduced also from different aquaculture practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål), is a highly polyphagous invasive species in Europe. This species can puncture fruits, causing fruit deformations and abscissions. Recently, H. halys was detected on olives in Greece and Italy. Injuries are being attributed to this pest by olive growers in northern and central Italy, but studies are necessary to confirm feeding and describe the damage. Here, we evaluated the effect of the artificial infestation of olive trees with different densities of H. halys on fruit drop and characterized the phenolic composition in injured vs. healthy fruits. The brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål), is an invasive species causing economic crop losses. This species was recently detected attacking olive fruits. The aim of this study was to characterize feeding damage. Olive samples were initially collected from a field where H. halys was reported to cause damage to olive fruits. Hence, we conducted a field trial on the Moraiolo variety using sleeve cages to test the effect of H. halys feeding pressure on olive fruit drop and evaluated the effect of feeding on fruit quality. We tested two densities of H. halys (two or eight adults/cage) at two different stages of olive development, pre- and post-pit hardening. High pressure of H. halys before pit hardening caused a significant fruit drop compared to the control. In addition, chemical analysis of damaged and infested fruits revealed higher levels of total phenols compared to healthy fruits. These findings indicate that feeding by H. halys induced a stress response in the plants that could translate in quality variations in the olive drupes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The Sterile Insect Release Technique (SIT) is currently considered an environmentally friendly method to control populations of Aedes albopictus, an invasive mosquito species in Europe and elsewhere. Assessing the quality of mass reared, sterilized males that are transported to release sites is of the utmost importance for the success of the SIT programs. The current paper presents a series of quality control (QC) tests that have been conducted at the mass rearing facility in Italy and at delivery points in Greece and Montenegro to assess the impact of mass rearing, sterilization, and shipping on survival during transportation, longevity, flight ability and mating performance. Overall, our results reveal the detrimental effects of a long transportation period on the sterile male Ae. albopictus and provide a series of reliable QC tests to be considered in future SIT operations. Genetic based mosquito control methods have been gaining ground in recent years for their potential to achieve effective suppression or replacement of vector populations without hampering environments or causing any public health risk. These methods require the mass rearing of the target species in large facilities sized to produce millions of sterile males, as already well established for a number of insects of agricultural importance. Assessing the performance of released males in Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) control programs is of the utmost importance for the success of the operation. Besides the negative effects of mass rearing and sterilization, the handling of sterilized insects and shipment to distant areas may also negatively impact the quality of sterilized males. The aim of the current study was to design and executive quality control (QC) tests for sterilized Aedes albopictus (Asian tiger mosquito) males delivered by air shipment from the mass production facility located in Italy to Greece and Montenegro field release sites. Mass reared mosquito strains were based on biological materials received from Italy, Greece and Montenegro. Tests conducted at the mass rearing facility before transportation revealed a rather high residual female contamination following mechanical sex separation (approximately 1.5% females, regardless of the mosquito strain). Irradiated males of all three mosquito strains induced high levels of sterility to females. Shipment lasting approximately 24 h resulted in approximately 15% mortality, while when shipment lasted nearly two days this increased to almost 40%. The flight ability of sterilized males following one day transportation time was satisfactory (over 60%). The response of sterile males to food and water starvation was comparable and slightly lower than that of wild non-transported males. Longevity of sterile males was shorter than that of wild counterparts and it seems it was not affected by mating to wild females. Both mating propensity and mating competitiveness for wild virgin females was higher for the wild, control males compared to the sterile, transported ones. Overall, the performance of sterile male Ae. albopictus delivered from the mass rearing facility of Italy to Greece in approximately 24 h was satisfactory. Transportation lasting two days or longer incurred detrimental effects on males, which called into question the outcome of the SIT release programs. In conclusion, our results demonstrate the need of quality control procedures, especially when sterile male production facilities are not near to the releasing point. Transportation could be a serious drawback for the implementation of Sterile Insect Releases and, consequently, it is important to establish an efficient and fast transportation of sterilized males in advance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the carbon footprint (CF) of two research projects. These projects were initiated prior to the onset of the pandemic and subsequently concluded afterward, serving as the Base Case (BC) for analysis. Furthermore, the study seeks to explore the potential applicability of measures implemented during the period of lockdown for future mitigation of CF. The applied methodology, which adheres to the guidelines provided by the GHG Protocol and the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) emission factors, is utilized to examine the CF of the projects under two different scenarios. The first scenario assumes that the projects were implemented without the pandemic, while the second scenario considers that the projects were conducted entirely during the pandemic. Among the two projects under review, one emphasizes innovation and entails a collaboration between academia and business. This project is supported by a limited number of employees, exclusively from domestic partners. The other project is more oriented toward policy-making and involves a larger group of partners from Greece and Italy. Its main priority is dissemination. Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions associated with project activities mainly stem from electricity use, material consumption, project-hosted events, project participation in events, employees commuting, and equipment. Results show that in the first scenario, the projects exhibit a more than 40% increase in CO2 emissions compared to the BC, while in the second scenario, the implementation of measures such as teleworking, virtual participation in events, and digitization of bureaucratic processes lead to a reduction in emissions by at least 20%. The study suggests that adopting such measures after the COVID-19 pandemic could significantly decrease greenhouse gas emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A detailed review of wave energy resource assessment and the state-of-the-art of deployed wave energy converters (WECs) in real environmental conditions in the Mediterranean Sea have been analysed in this study. The installed power of the several deployed WECs in the Mediterranean Sea varies between 3–2500 kW. Ten project cases of deployed WECs in the basin are presented, with their analysis of the essential features. Five different types of WEC have already been tested under real environmental conditions in Italy, Greece, Israel and Gibraltar, with Italy being the Mediterranean country with the most deployed WECs. The main questions of the relevant studies were the ongoing trends, the examination of WECs in combination with other renewable sources, the utilising of WECs for desalination, and the prospects of wave energy in the Mediterranean islands and ports. This paper is the first comprehensive study that overviews the recent significant developments in the wave energy sector in the Mediterranean countries. The research concludes that the advances of the wave energy sector in the Mediterranean Sea are significant. However, in order to commercialise WECs and wave energy exploitation to become profitable, more development is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Treatment with cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 inhibitor (CDK4/6i), has demonstrated significantly improved progression-free survival in patients with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative, advanced breast cancer, when used in combination with endocrine therapies. However, limited data exists on its cutaneous adverse events (AE). The aim of our retrospective study was to investigate the prevalence, types and management of cutaneous AE during CDK4/6i. 79 adult advanced breast cancer patients affected by 125 skin adverse events during treatment with CDK4/6i were recruited at eleven centers. The most frequent cutaneous reactions were pruritus (49/79 patients), alopecia (25/79), and ec-zematous lesions (24/79). We showed that skin reactions are usually mild in severity, and prompt management may limit the negative impact on patients, facilitating beneficial continuation of oncologic treatment. Background: The introduction of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors (CDK4/6i) was a great advance in therapeutics for patients with estrogen receptor+/human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER2) locally advanced and metastatic breast cancer. Despite the increasing use of these agents, their adverse drug-related events have not yet been fully characterized. We describe the spectrum of cutaneous adverse reactions occurring in advanced breast cancer patients treated with cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors, analyzing types, severity, time to onset, and possible treatment outcomes. Methods: We performed a multicentric retrospective study including patients with advanced breast cancer who developed cutaneous lesions during treatment with CDK4/6i in the period from June 2020 to June 2021. Patients > 18 years were recruited at eleven onco-dermatology units located in Albania (1), Argentina (1), France (1), Greece (3), Italy (3), and Spain (2). We evaluated patients' epidemiological and clinical characteristics, types of cutaneous adverse events, their time to onset, and treatment outcomes. The severity of the skin reactions was assessed using the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 5.0 score. Results: Seventy-nine patients (median age: 62.3 years; range 39–83 years) were included in the study, and, collectively, we recorded a total of 165 cutaneous adverse events during follow-up visits. The most frequent cutaneous reactions were pruritus (49/79 patients), alopecia (25/79), and eczematous lesions (24/79). Cutaneous toxicities were usually mild in severity (>65%) and occurred after a median of 6.5 months. Only four patients (5%) required treatment discontinuation due to the severity of the skin lesions. The majority of the skin reactions were managed with topical treatments. Conclusions: To the best of our knowledge, we present the largest case series of cutaneous adverse events developing in advanced breast cancer patients treated with CDK4/6i. We showed that cutaneous toxicities are usually mild in severity, and manageable with standard supportive care; however, in selected cases, they can lead to treatment discontinuation with possible implications for patients' clinical outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Machine learning (ML) algorithms are extensively used with outstanding prediction accuracy. However, in some cases, their overfitting capabilities, along with inadvertent biases, might produce overly optimistic results. Spatial data are a special kind of data that could introduce biases to ML due to their intrinsic spatial autocorrelation. To address this issue, a special resampling method has emerged called spatial cross-validation (SCV). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of SCV compared with conventional random cross-validation (CCV) used in most ML studies. Multiple ML models were created with CCV and SCV to predict groundwater electrical conductivity (EC) with data (A) from Rhodope, Greece, in the summer of 2020; (B) from the same area but at a different time (summer 2019); and (C) from a new area (the Salento peninsula, Italy). The results showed that the SCV provides ML models with superior generalization capabilities and, hence, better prediction results in new unknown data. The SCV seems to be able to capture the spatial patterns in the data while also reducing the over-optimism bias that is often associated with CCV methods. Based on the results, SCV could be applied with ML in studies that use spatial data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study is in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs) that address pertinent global issues. This study focuses on the need for access to clean and affordable energy consumption, responsible energy consumption, sustainable economic growth, and climate change mitigation. To this end, this paper evaluates the relevance of the renewable energy sector on the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) framework in Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain for the period 1995–2015. As an econometric strategy, we adopt the use of panel data over the highlighted countries. In the first step, we apply the unit root test recommended by Levin, Lin, and Chu in conjunction with ADF-Fisher, and Phillips-Perron for robustness and consistency. We found that the variables used in this study are integrated I (1) in the first difference. In the second step, we apply the Pedroni cointegration test, and Kao Residual cointegration test, and we observe that the variables are cointegrated in the long run. The generalized least squares (GLS), the panel fully modified least squares (FMOLS), ordinary least squares robust (OLS), and panel quantile regression are considered in this research. The econometric results validate the assumption of the environmental Kuznets curve, i.e., and there is a positive correlation between income per capita and a negative effect of squared income per capita on carbon dioxide emissions. In contrast, we observe that renewable energy reduces CO2 emissions. Finally, we also find a direct connection between the urban population and the environmental degradation in the examined blocs. These results show that in Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain, more is required to achieve environmental sustainability in the respective countries growth trajectory. Further policy prescriptions are appended in the concluding section of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Substantial areas of agricultural land in south European countries are becoming increasingly marginal and being abandoned due to arid climate with prolonged summers and low rainfall. Perennial, lignocellulosic crops, such as Miscanthus, offer an outlet that couples agriculture with energy, creates employment, and increases profits from feedstock production in rural areas. This research paper follows an Input Output methodology and uses an econometric model to investigate the impact of crop yielding performance and marginal land to jobs and profit from the cultivation and supply of Miscanthus in low quality, marginal land in Italy and Greece. Two value chain cases are analysed: small scale Combined Heat and Power (CHP) and Fast Pyrolysis Bio Oil (FPBO). The cultivation of Miscanthus in both reference value chains exhibits good employment prospects, with smaller scale value chains creating more labour-intensive logistics operations. The activities can also generate substantial financial profit especially with higher crop yields. Results show a pronounced relationship between profitability and crop yield for both reference value chains - cultivation and supply operations become more profitable with increasing yield. It is, therefore, important to achieve higher yields through good cropping practices, while maintaining high levels of environmental sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Italy, Greece, and, to a lesser degree, Bulgaria have experienced fast growth in their renewable generation capacity (RESc) over the last several years. The consequences of this fact include a decrease in spot wholesale prices in electricity markets and a significant effect on cross border trading (CBT) among neighboring interconnected countries. In this work, we empirically analyzed historical data on fundamental market variables (i.e., spot prices, load, RES generation) as well as CBT data (imports, exports, commercial schedules, net transfer capacities, etc.) on the Greek, Italian, and Bulgarian electricity markets by applying the Granger causality connectivity analysis (GCCA) approach. The aim of this analysis was to detect all possible interactions among the abovementioned variables, focusing in particular on the effects of growing shares of RES generation on the commercial electricity trading among the abovementioned countries for the period 2015–2018. The key findings of this paper are summarized as the following: The RES generation in Italy, for the period examined, drives the spot prices in Greece via commercial schedules. In addition, on average, spot price fluctuations do not affect the commercial schedules of energy trading between Greece and Bulgaria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Olive oil production in Mediterranean countries represents a crucial market, especially for Spain, Italy, and Greece. However, although this sector plays a significant role in the European economy, it also leads to dramatic environmental consequences. Waste generated from olive oil production processes can be divided into solid waste and olive mill wastewaters (OMWW). These latter are characterized by high levels of organic compounds (i.e., polyphenols) that have been efficiently removed because of their hazardous environmental effects. Over the years, in this regard, several strategies have been primarily investigated, but all of them are characterized by advantages and weaknesses, which need to be overcome. Moreover, in recent years, each country has developed national legislation to regulate this type of waste, in line with the EU legislation. In this scenario, the present review provides an insight into the different methods used for treating olive mill wastewaters paying particular attention to the recent advances related to the development of more efficient photocatalytic approaches. In this regard, the most advanced photocatalysts should also be easily recoverable and considered valid alternatives to the currently used conventional systems. In this context, the optimization of innovative systems is today's object of hard work by the research community due to the profound potential they can offer in real applications. This review provides an overview of OMWW treatment methods, highlighting advantages and disadvantages and discussing the still unresolved critical issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical-like cyclone (TLC or medicane) Ianos formed during mid-September 2020 over the Southern Mediterranean Sea, and, during its mature stage on days 17–18, it affected southern Italy and especially Greece and its Ionian islands, where it brought widespread disruption due to torrential rainfall, severe wind gusts, and landslides, causing casualties. This study performs a sensitivity analysis of the mature phase of TLC Ianos with the WRF model to different microphysics parameterization schemes and initial and boundary condition (IBC) datasets. Satellite measurements from the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission-Core Observatory (GPM-CO) dual-frequency precipitation radar (DPR) and the Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) sea-surface wind field were used to verify the WRF model forecast quality. Results show that the model is most sensitive to the nature of the IBC dataset (spatial resolution and other dynamical and physical differences), which better defines the primary mesoscale features of Ianos (low-level vortex, eyewall, and main rainband structure) when using those at higher resolution (~25 km versus ~50 km) independently of the microphysics scheme, but with the downside of producing too much convection and excessively low minimum surface pressures. On the other hand, no significant differences emerged among their respective trajectories. All experiments overestimated the vertical extension of the main rainbands and display a tendency to shift the system to the west/northwest of the actual position. Especially among the experiments with the higher-resolution IBCs, the more complex WRF microphysics schemes (Thompson and Morrison) tended to outperform the others in terms of rain rate forecast and most of the other variables examined. Furthermore, WSM6 showed a good performance while WDM6 was generally the least accurate. Lastly, the calculation of the cyclone phase space diagram confirmed that all simulations triggered a warm-core storm, and all but one also exhibited axisymmetry at some point of the studied lifecycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyse the earthquakes catalogues for Italy, South California, and Greece across the COVID-19 lockdown period for each country. The results for Italy and Greece show that, even if the reduction of the signal to noise ratio has improved the earthquake detection capability, the completeness magnitude remains substantially unchanged, making the improved detection capability ineffective from the statistical point of view. A slight reduction (0.2) of the completeness magnitude is observed for South California, likely related to the relatively higher number of seismic stations located close to urban areas. Our findings suggest that—given the present configuration of the seismic network considered here—only an important decrease in the station spacing can produce a significant decrease of the completeness magnitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media services make it possible for an increasing number of people to express their opinion publicly. In this context, large amounts of hateful comments are published daily. The PHARM project aims at monitoring and modeling hate speech against refugees and migrants in Greece, Italy, and Spain. In this direction, a web interface for the creation and the query of a multi-source database containing hate speech-related content is implemented and evaluated. The selected sources include Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook comments and posts, as well as comments and articles from a selected list of websites. The interface allows users to search in the existing database, scrape social media using keywords, annotate records through a dedicated platform and contribute new content to the database. Furthermore, the functionality for hate speech detection and sentiment analysis of texts is provided, making use of novel methods and machine learning models. The interface can be accessed online with a graphical user interface compatible with modern internet browsers. For the evaluation of the interface, a multifactor questionnaire was formulated, targeting to record the users' opinions about the web interface and the corresponding functionality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) has been identified in the USA as an ideal biomass crop, in relation to its wide environmental suitability, mainly linked to the availability of both upland and lowland ecotypes, allowing the possibility of growing this species in most of the North American region. Switchgrass is conventionally grown for forage, but more recently, it has been considered as a model biofuel crop. Early European studies on switchgrass as a bioenergy crop started in the late 1990s, when a multi-location field trial was established in Greece (Aliartos) and Italy (Ozzano) to compare the productivity of 13 switchgrass genotypes, including upland (Carthage, Blackwell, Caddo, CIR, Forestburg, SU 94-1, Summer) and lowland (Alamo, Kanlow, Pangburn, SL 93-2, SL 93-3, SL94-1) genotypes. The scope was to identify the most suitable ecotype within each environment and, possibly, the best performing variety. The trials lasted 17 years (1998–2014) in Greece and 13 years (1998–2010) in Italy. While in Italy the trial was rainfed and unfertilized, in Greece, where the soil was marginal, drip irrigation was always applied, and the plots were fertilized regularly. The biomass yields in Greece, as averages across the 17 years, were similar for the lowland and upland varieties (11.5 vs. 11.1 Mg ha−1, respectively), while in Italy, as averages across the 13 years, the differences were relevant: 15.4 vs. 11.3 Mg ha−1 for lowland and upland, respectively. Alamo (lowland) was the most productive variety, both in Greece and Italy, with average annual yields of 12.7 and 16.6 Mg ha−1, respectively; CIR in Greece (10.1 Mg ha−1) and Forestburg in Italy (9.1 Mg ha−1) (both upland) were the least productive genotypes. The present results demonstrate the good suitability of switchgrass as biomass crop for the Mediterranean climate. Despite the very marginal soil (i.e., very shallow and with a sandy texture) in the Greek trial, the application of regular fertilization and irrigation produced biomass yields above 11 Mg ha−1 (grand mean) in the present 17-year-long study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The determinants of children's independent school mobility and the contextual discrepancies between these determinants have not been comprehensively investigated in previous studies. It is important to examine these determinants because independent school mobility is associated with children's physical activity, according to the literature. This paper examined the associations of different groups of variables such as household, mobility, perceptions, and the built environment with independent school mobility of children between 9 and 12 years using a sample of 1304 girls (50.9%) and boys (49.1%) in seven European countries. The sample was analyzed by Multinomial Logistic Regression, Chi-square test of independence, and Proportional Reduction in Error methods. According to the findings, father's and mother's commute mode choice, child's mode choice of commute to school, child's bike ownership, parent's perception of safety, parent's evaluation of bike lane and sidewalk quality, child's commute distance, number of driving licenses in the household, accessibility of public transport, and population density in the neighborhood and around the school proved to be very strong and significant determinants of children's independent school mobility in the Europe-wide sample. The comparison of the levels of independent school mobility did not show any significant differences between high-income countries such as Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands, and emerging economies and developing countries like Poland, Greece, Turkey, and Croatia. However, a direct comparison between Poland (emerging economy) (33.6%) and the Netherlands (high-income) (31.7%) revealed significant differences in the level of independent school mobility. This study found the motives for this discrepancy due to the significant difference in bike ownership, the number of household members working outside of the house, household size, commute distances of parents, and driving license possession.