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The International Network of Health Promoting Hospitals and Health Services (HPH) was initiated by the World Health Organization as a settings approach toward reorienting health services. Over 600 members from 30 countries promote the integration of health promotion into the hospital/ health service setting. The International HPH Network developed the 2020 Standards for Health Promoting Hospitals and Health Services, representing years of experience and expertise reflected in 5 standards, 18 substandards, and 85 standard statements. Complementary self-assessment tools were developed to operationalize the standards and to identify concrete measurable elements against which each standard can be measured. The aim of the tools is to assist hospitals and health services in transforming the setting into a health promoting one. The standards are comprehensive and address topics to encourage the complete refocusing of an organization’s strategy and to stimulate a process of continuous internal improvement. Standards address management, patient-centered care, occupational health, health literate organizations, environmental sustainability, and target groups such as the elderly and children and adolescents. Excel and pdf tools may be utilized by institutions to measure and track progress in implementing each of the standards. The tools state measurable elements for each standard that were identified by an expert panel of HPH members and external subject experts to be directly observable and applicable across various regional and institutional contexts. As part of internal and external assessment processes, standards can be rated on a scale from 1 (not implemented) to 10 (fully implemented). The tools store data and generate graphs that allow organizations to assess their level of performance, identify areas for improvement, and devise data-driven action plans. Key messages • Progress towards transforming the setting must be tracked and included in an organization’s continuous internal improvement processes. • The transformation of the hospitals/health service setting into a health promoting environment results in better health outcomes for patients, families, the community, and the environment.

The phase behavior and the properties of carbon dioxide confined in an ordered mesoporous carbon (CMK-3) during freezing near the bulk triple point have been investigated by in situ total neutron scattering. The CO2 condensed in the mesopores of CMK-3 is found to be in a much densified state comparable with the bulk dry ice. So far, CO2 densification effects have been observed only in microporous carbon materials.

The molecular structure and phase behavior of carbon dioxide confined in an ordered mesoporous carbon (CMK-3) are investigated by total neutron scattering with in situ adsorption and cooling/heating cycles. The neutron signal from CO2 sorbed in the micropores of CMK-3 shows clearly liquid-like properties. Close to the bulk CO2 triple point (T3), the mesopore-confined CO2 is found in a liquid yet strongly densified state with a density similar to that of solid dry ice. Upon cooling the CO2 loaded carbon sample below T3, it was observed that depletion of the confined phase occurs and CO2 molecules escape from the pores to solidify externally. It was concluded that depletion occurs only in “secondary” pores having larger sizes (>50 A) than the well-defined uniform mesopores (47 A) of CMK-3. These pores exist due to imperfect ordering of the hexagonal network of the carbon rods. Surprisingly, this phenomenon does not happen in the main mesopores (47 A), implying thus that 50 A is a critical size for depletion below T3. This in turn suggests that in larger pores a pore triple point cannot be attained. The depletion process is reversible with a temperature hysteresis; when heating the sample CO2 molecules re-fill the pores.

Viscose fabrics were modified with alginate and doped with copper ions, to investigate the effect of copper doping on their antibacterial and UV blocking properties. The modified fabrics were characterized using FTIR, UV spectroscopy, SEM and chromatometric analysis and their copper uptake properties were investigated. The antibacterial effect of the treatments was evaluated before and after repeated washings (up to 50 cycles). The resulting composite materials showed excellent antibacterial properties with up to 100 % reduction of bacteria, even from very low copper content, while alginate/copper treatment increased the UV radiation protection index by 261 %, offering a composite fabric with improved performance.

PurposeThe aim of the research is to investigate the influence of leadership on firm financial performance and to explore the mediating role of employees' readiness to change.Design/methodology/approachThe paper hypothesizes that employees' readiness to change mediates the relationship between leadership and firm financial performance. A total of 213 employees of Greek shipping firms completed questionnaires examining their firms' leadership style and concurrently, their supervisors appraised their readiness to change. The research model was tested with the use of Structural Equation Modelling.FindingsThe research findings note the importance of leadership in fostering firm financial performance; they describe how each leadership style influences employees' readiness to change; as well as, they confirm that employee readiness mediates the relationship between leadership and firm financial performance. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are analysed.Research limitations/implicationsGiven that the research was conducted during the severe Greek economic crisis, a time when employees' behaviour is highly influenced by distinctive and complex internal and external relationships, there is scope for further work to verify that the relationships identified in this study remain valid during periods when market conditions are more favourable.Practical implicationsThe findings provide further support on the significance of employees' readiness to change and the paper suggests policies for its development.Originality/valueThe originality of this study lies in the finding that employees' readiness to change mediates the relationship between leadership and firm financial performance. Further, the study was carried out in Greek shipping industry that plays a vital role in the international shipping industry which is responsible for the carriage of around 90% of world trade.

In this study, efficient commercial photocatalyst (Degussa P25) nanoparticles were effectively dispersed and stabilized in alginate, a metal binding biopolymer. Taking advantage of alginate’s superior metal chelating properties, copper nanoparticle-decorated photocatalysts were developed after a pyrolytic or calcination-sintering procedure, yielding ceramic beads with enhanced photocatalytic and mechanical properties, excellent resistance to attrition, and optimized handling compared to powdered photocatalysts. The morphological and structural characteristics were studied using LN2 porosimetry, SEM, and XRD. The abatement of an organic pollutant (Methyl Orange, MO) was explored in the dark and under UV irradiation via batch experiments. The final properties of the photocatalytic beads were defined by both the synthesis procedure and the heat treatment conditions, allowing for their further optimization. It was found that the pyrolytic carbon residuals enabled the adhesion of the TiO2 nanoparticles, acting as binder, and increased the MO adsorption capacity, leading to increased local concentration in the photocatalyst vicinity. Well dispersed Cu nanoparticles were also found to enhance photocatalytic activity. The prepared photocatalysts exhibited increased MO adsorption capacity (up to 3.0 mg/g) and also high photocatalytic efficiency of about 50% MO removal from water solutions, reaching an overall MO rejection of about 80%, at short contact times (3 h). Finally, the prepared photocatalysts kept their efficiency for at least four successive photocatalytic cycles.

In this study, structured photocatalytic systems were successfully developed by a facile method based on Alginate molds and a wet-spinning/cross-linking technique, yielding commercial photocatalyst (Degussa P25) in the form of all-ceramic hollow fibers (HFs). Taking advantage of alginate’s exceptional sorption properties, copper augmented HFs were also developed. The structured photocatalysts were thoroughly characterised by a variety of techniques, including nitrogen adsorption, SEM/EDS, XRD, XPS and Raman. Synthesis and heat treatment parameters were found to affect the fibers’ properties, allowing their optimization. Treatment at 600 °C under Ar was found to produce the best performing photocatalysts in terms mechanical stability, resistance to attrition and photocatalytic performance. Ca-Alginate precursors led to structures with increased mechanical stability, while Cu-Alginate decorated the surface of the photocatalyst with highly dispersed copper nanoparticles, in the state of metallic and CuO. The developed materials were photo-catalytically active, while the copper decorated ceramic HFs exhibited the highest MO adsorption and photocatalytic degradation performance, reaching a MO removal of 73.4%. The synergestic effect of adsorption on the MO degradation performance was also noticed. Moreover, the copper addition facilitated the photocatalytic process by improving the electron-hole separation and inhibiting the recombination effects. The presence of carbon residue was also beneficial, enhancing the MO sorption on the photocatalysts. It is noteworthy that the structured photocatalysts retained their efficiency for at least four photocatalytic cycles. The prepared ceramic HFs exhibited enhanced mechanical properties and excellent resistance to attrition after subsequent cycles, rendering them excellent candidates for application in industrial wastewater processes.

Online ahead of print; International audience; Having the means to share research data openly is essential to modern science. For human research, a key aspect in this endeavor is obtaining consent from participants, not just to take part in a study, which is a basic ethical principle, but also to share their data with the scientific community. To ensure that the participants' privacy is respected, national and/or supranational regulations and laws are in place. It is, however, not always clear to researchers what the implications of those are, nor how to comply with them. The Open Brain Consent (https://open-brain-consent.readthedocs.io) is an international initiative that aims to provide researchers in the brain imaging community with information about data sharing options and tools. We present here a short history of this project and its latest developments, and share pointers to consent forms, including a template consent form that is compliant with the EU general data protection regulation. We also share pointers to an associated data user agreement that is not only useful in the EU context, but also for any researchers dealing with personal (clinical) data elsewhere.

Oxidized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (oxCNTs) were functionalized by a simple non-covalent modification procedure using quaternized hyperbranched poly(ethyleneimine) derivatives (QPEIs), with various quaternization degrees. Structural characterization of these hybrids using a variety of techniques, revealed the successful and homogenous anchoring of QPEIs on the oxCNTs&rsquo, surface. Moreover, these hybrids efficiently dispersed in aqueous media, forming dispersions with excellent aqueous stability for over 12 months. Their cytotoxicity effect was investigated on two types of gram(&minus, ) bacteria, an autotrophic (cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. PCC 7942) and a heterotrophic (bacterium Escherichia coli). An enhanced, dose-dependent antibacterial and anti-cyanobacterial activity against both tested organisms was observed, increasing with the quaternization degree. Remarkably, in the photosynthetic bacteria it was shown that the hybrid materials affect their photosynthetic apparatus by selective inhibition of the Photosystem-I electron transport activity. Cytotoxicity studies on a human prostate carcinoma DU145 cell line and 3T3 mouse fibroblasts revealed that all hybrids exhibit high cytocompatibility in the concentration range, in which they also exhibit both high antibacterial and anti-cyanobacterial activity. Thus, QPEI-functionalized oxCNTs can be very attractive candidates as antibacterial and anti-cyanobacterial agents that can be used for potential applications in the disinfection industry, as well as for the control of harmful cyanobacterial blooms.

In this work, the dye-sensitization approach was used to optimize the compact layer/perovskite interface in planar perovskite solar cells (PSCs). The chemisorption of the triphenylamine-based metal-free organic (E)-3-(5-(4-(bis(2′,4′-dibutoxy-[1,1′-biphenyl]-4yl)amino)phenyl)thiophen-2-yl)-2-cyanoacrylic acid (D35) sensitizer via a bidentate anchor group on the titania surface resulted in both enhanced electron transfer and controlled growth of the top MAPbI3 perovskite layer. This modification led to planar PSC devices presenting significantly improved performance and increased stability. Using the Spiro-OMeTAD molecular hole conductor, stabilized output power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 13% were obtained for cells with titania sensitization, clearly outperforming those of cells without D35. This investigation gives new insights into how the molecular engineering via dye sensitization of the functional interfaces affects the performance in PSCs.

Excellent-quality graphene sheets produced via the direct liquid phase exfoliation of highly crystalline graphite (avoiding any oxidative treatment), were employed for the first time as 2D scaffolds for the in-situ synthesis of zeolitic-imidazolate-framework (ZIF-8) material. Our synthetic approach involved the efficient, urea-assisted exfoliation of natural graphite (without using any acids), and the subsequent selective, mild functionalization of the resulting high-quality graphene sheets with benzoic acid functional groups. The graphene derivatives were next decorated via the in-situ development of ultrasmall (approx. 30 nm) ZIF-8 nanocrystals. We discuss the critical role of the functionalized graphene to the selective nucleation and crystal growth of ZIF-8 nanocrystals exclusively at their surface. In-depth gas sorption studies of different gases revealed that the novel ZIF-8@Graph nano-composites exhibited improved porosity (in terms of surface area and pore volume) compared to analogous Graphene Oxide/ZIF-8 hybrids. In addition, the gate effect of the ZIF-8 nanocrystals anchored onto the high-quality graphene, was found very different compared to bulk ZIF-8, a behavior that is attributed mainly to the significantly smaller crystal size and the perfect 2D confinement of ZIF-8 along graphene. Finally, preliminary CO2 adsorption properties of the synthesized novel nano-composites are reported, at near ambient temperature.

Objectives At a European Society of Neuroradiology (ESNR) Annual Meeting 2015 workshop, commonalities in practice, current controversies and technical hurdles in glioma MRI were discussed. We aimed to formulate guidance on MRI of glioma and determine its feasibility, by seeking information on glioma imaging practices from the European Neuroradiology community. Methods Invitations to a structured survey were emailed to ESNR members (n=1,662) and associates (n=6,400), European national radiologists’ societies and distributed via social media. Results Responses were received from 220 institutions (59% academic). Conventional imaging protocols generally include T2w, T2-FLAIR, DWI, and pre- and post-contrast T1w. Perfusion MRI is used widely (85.5%), while spectroscopy seems reserved for specific indications. Reasons for omitting advanced imaging modalities include lack of facility/software, time constraints and no requests. Early postoperative MRI is routinely carried out by 74% within 24–72 h, but only 17% report a percent measure of resection. For follow-up, most sites (60%) issue qualitative reports, while 27% report an assessment according to the RANO criteria. A minority of sites use a reporting template (23%). Conclusion Clinical best practice recommendations for glioma imaging assessment are proposed and the current role of advanced MRI modalities in routine use is addressed. Key Points • We recommend the EORTC-NBTS protocol as the clinical standard glioma protocol. • Perfusion MRI is recommended for diagnosis and follow-up of glioma. • Use of advanced imaging could be promoted with increased education activities. • Most response assessment is currently performed qualitatively. • Reporting templates are not widely used, and could facilitate standardisation. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s00330-018-5314-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Oxidation of industrially prepared carbon nanodiscs using a simple, versatile, and reproducible approach based on the Staudenmaier method yields a new hydrophilic form of nanocarbon. As a result of the strong acid treatment, which also enables the separation of carbon nanodiscs from the mixed starting material, the graphene planes detach from the discs, while the surface of the carbon nanodiscs is decorated with various oxygen-containing functional polar groups. Thus, the completely insoluble carbon nanodiscs are converted to a hydrophilic derivative dispersable in many polar solvents, including water. The new carbon structure is expected to have a wide range of applications in several fields including bioapplications. To this end, the functionalized carbon nanodiscs exhibit very low cytotoxicity, while they achieve high drug loadings, enabling their application as an effective drug nanocarrier. Furthermore, the carbon disks were evaluated as supports in nanobiocatalytic applications, increasing significantly the stability of the systems, due to carbon disks' nano-sized dimensions.

Membrane technology is a very emerging industrial process offering significant advantages in terms of low energy requirements, capital investments, easy to operate and compact equipment, in comparison with the traditional processes. This is due to the selective barrier, through the thin layer structure, which is called membrane, in which the separation occurs with relative lower energy demands. To this end, many types of materials, commercially available or synthesized in the laboratory, have been tested as candidate materials in various membrane applications. Properties such as, plasticization, solubility in inorganic or organic solvents, high thermal properties, flexibility, mechanical strength are required for the selection of the optimum material for every industrial application. In any case, the major factors that define the selection of a material as well as the efficiency of a certain filtration process are the high permeation and separation coefficients. The separation mechanism in a polymeric membrane mainly depends on material's nature combined with its formation process. Due to extreme differences between the polymer candidates many studies have been reported in the literature regarding the optimum materials for the different membrane types. Polyimides are a very attractive class of polymers that can be used on membrane technology, exhibiting high selectivities combined with high permeances for a large variety of applications including gas and liquid separations. In this article the principle theory of the mass transfer phenomena through polymers and a brief outline of polyimides based gas separation membranes are presented and discussed. In specific, selected works of the preparation routine and the gas permeation/selectivity properties of polyimide based membranes are presented and discussed by giving emphasis on the carbon dioxide permeation and separation properties.

Photocatalysis is an attractive advanced treatment process that can be used for water purification from emerging contaminants, including hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) removal. Up to now, photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) has been investigated mostly using titania (TiO 2 ) photocatalysts in acidic water solutions. In this work, copper (Cu) and cuprous oxide (Cu 2 O) nanoparticles (NPs) decorated TiO 2 –alginate beads were synthesized and studied in the photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) under UV/Vis irradiation. The target was to overcome the drawback of pristine TiO 2 which requires acidified solutions to achieve enhanced photocatalytic reduction of hexavalent chromium. Moreover, the spherical and uniform size of the photocatalytic beads ensures efficient mass transfer, addresses the problems of limited irradiation into slurries and facilitates separation of the catalyst after the photocatalytic treatment. The hexavalent chromium reduction efficiency of the Cu/Cu 2 O decorated TiO 2 /alginate beads was satisfactory at pH range 2–6 and practically did not depend on the treated solution acidity. Small quantities (10 g L −1 ) of the newly synthesized photocatalytic beads succeeded to remove all toxic loads from a 5 ppm Cr 6+ solution in only 15 min under UV light irradiation. These low-cost developed and non-toxic photocatalysts seam greatly promising for Cr(VI) pollution cleanup.

There are multiple nonneoplastic lesions that can mimic intracranial neoplasms on neuroimaging.

BackgroundMachine learning assisted MRI radiomics, which combines MRI techniques with machine learning methodology, is rapidly gaining attention as a promising method for staging of brain gliomas. This study assesses the diagnostic value of such framework applied to dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC)-MRI in classifying treatment-naïve gliomas from a multi-center patient pool into WHO grades II-IV and across their isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutation status.Methods333 patients from 6 tertiary centres, diagnosed histologically and molecularly with primary gliomas (IDH-mutant=151 or IDH-wildtype=182) were retrospectively identified. Raw DSC-MRI data was post-processed for normalised leakage-corrected relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV) maps. Shape, intensity distribution (histogram) and rotational invariant Haralick texture features over the tumour mask were extracted. Differences in extracted features between IDH-wildtype and IDH-mutant gliomas and across three glioma grades were tested using the Wilcoxon two-sample test. A random forest algorithm was employed (2-fold cross-validation, 250 repeats) to predict grades or mutation status using the extracted features.ResultsFeatures from all types (shape, distribution, texture) showed significant differences across mutation status. WHO grade II-III differentiation was mostly driven by shape features while texture and intensity feature were more relevant for the III-IV separation. Increased number of features became significant when differentiating grades further apart from one another. Gliomas were correctly stratified by IDH mutation status in 71% of the cases and by grade in 53% of the cases. In addition, 87% of the gliomas grades predicted with an error distance up to 1.ConclusionDespite large heterogeneity in the multi-center dataset, machine learning assisted DSC-MRI radiomics hold potential to address the inherent variability and presents a promising approach for non-invasive glioma molecular subtyping and grading.Key points-On highly heterogenous, multi-centre data, machine learning on DSC-MRI features can correctly predict glioma IDH subtyping in 71% of cases and glioma grade II-IV in 53% of the cases (87% -Shape features distinguish best grade II from grade III gliomas.-Texture and distribution features distinguish best grade III from grade IV tumours.Importance of studyThis work illustrates the diagnostic value of combining machine learning and dynamic susceptibility contrast-enhanced MRI (DSC-MRI) radiomics in classifying gliomas into WHO grades II-IV as well as across their isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutation status. Despite the data heterogeneity inherent to the multi-centre design of the studied cohort (333 subjects, 6 centres) that greatly increases the theoretical challenges of machine learning frameworks, good classification performance (accuracy of 53% across grades (87% With its strong generalisability property, its ability to further incorporate participating centres and its possible use to identify borderline cases, the proposed machine learning framework has the potential to contribute to the clinical translation of machine-learning assisted diagnostic tools in neuro-oncology.

This brief work is an attempt to point to the possible common neurological breakdowns in giving rise to alexithymia, and impaired appreciation of humour. In particular, we present the case of a patient who lost the ability to enjoy humour after the surgical removal of a frontal groove meningioma, although he was still able to detect it, while at the same time was diagnosed with organic alexithymia. Our results indicate that problems in the affective appreciation of humour and in emotionalizing (alexithymic symptoms) may be the result of damage to the ventral-rostral portions of the ACG/mPFC, which prevent the patient from assessing the salience of emotion and motivational information, and generating emotional reactions; as a result he has trouble experiencing emotions, knowing how he and others feel, and enjoy humour.

Asymmetric carbon hollow fiber membranes (CHFs) were prepared and their gas permeance properties were investigated at high pressures up to ∼60 bar. The main target of this work was to study the effect of the gas feed pressure on the permeance through carbon membranes. Specifically, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, methane and ethane were chosen for studying the permeance performance of the developed membranes at conditions of industrial interest. It has been observed that CO2 obtains a maximum permeance of 412 GPU at 27.5 bar and 765 GPU at 22 bar for M1 and M3 membranes respectively while C2H6 presents maximum permeance values of 482 and 825 GPU at 22.45 and 16.13 bar for M1 and M3 membranes respectively. These maxima in permeances can be explained in terms of orientational correlations of the confined molecules, originating from inter–molecular quadrupolar interactions. Discussion on the diffusion mechanism of all the studied gases is also provided. Note that natural gas (NG) treatment, i.e. sweetening and purification processes, is energetically and economically convenient if it takes place under the conditions where the NG stream is extracted from the wells (i.e. pressure 30–60 bar). This practically means that if it is known the pressure where the used membranes provide the highest permeability factors, concerning the gas of interest, then the pressure can be fixed at this grade without pointless depressing actions. The presented testing methodology is very useful for identifying the optimum operation conditions towards an efficient gas separation process.

TiO2 photocatalysis is an advanced process, employed worldwide for the oxidation of organic compounds, that leads to significant technological applications in the fields of health and environment. The use of the photocatalytic approach in reduction reactions seems very promising and can open new horizons for green chemistry synthesis. For this purpose, titanium dioxide nanotubes (TNTs) were developed in autoclave conditions using TiO2 P25 as a precursor material. Based on these nanotubular substrates, TiO2/CoFe2O4 (TCF) nanocomposites were further obtained by wet impregnation method. The materials were thoroughly characterized and their structural, textural, vibrational, optoelectronic and magnetic properties were determined. The composite materials combine absorbance in the visible optical range and high BET surface area values (˜100 m2/g), showing extremely high yield in the photocatalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP), exceeding 94% within short illumination time (only 35 min). The developed nanocomposites were successfully reused in consecutive photocatalytic experiments and were easily removed from the reaction medium using magnets. Both remarkable recycling ability and high-performance stability in the photocatalytic reduction of nitrophenol were observed, thus justifying the significant economic potential and industrial perspectives for this advanced reduction process.

The chlorophyll a fluorescence based antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) method presented in a previous work was based on the measurement of Chl a fluorescence of the gram(-) cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. PCC 7942. Synechococcus sp. PCC 7942 as a gram(-) bacterium is affected by antibacterial agents via mechanisms affecting all gram(-) bacteria, however, as an exclusively phototrophic organism it would also be affected by photosynthesis inhibitory action of an agent that otherwise has no antibacterial properties. In this report, the method is modified by replacing the exclusively phototrophic Synechococcus sp. PCC 7942 with the Synechocystis sp. PCC 6714, capable of both phototrophic and heterotrophic growth in order to add versatility and better reflect the antibacterial effects of surfaces under study towards nonphotosynthetic bacteria.

To perform a meta-analysis of advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) metrics, including relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV), normalized apparent diffusion coefficient (nADC), and spectroscopy ratios choline/creatine (Cho/Cr) and choline/N-acetyl aspartate (Cho/NAA), for the differentiation of high- and low-grade gliomas (HGG, LGG) and metastases (MTS).For systematic review, 83 articles (dated 2000-2013) were selected from the NCBI database. Twenty-four, twenty-two, and eight articles were included respectively for spectroscopy, rCBV, and nADC meta-analysis. In the meta-analysis, we calculated overall means for rCBV, nADC, Cho/Cr (short TE-from 20 to 35 ms, medium-from 135 to 144 ms), and Cho/NAA for the HGG, LGG, and MTS groups. We used random effects model to obtain weighted averages and select thresholds.Overall means (with 95% CI) for rCBV, nADC, Cho/Cr (short and medium echo time, TE), and Cho/NAA were: for HGG 5.47 (4.78-6.15), 1.38 (1.16-1.60), 2.40 (1.67-3.13), 3.27 (2.78-3.77), and 4.71 (3.24-6.19); for LGG 2.00 (1.71-2.28), 1.61 (1.36-1.87), 1.46 (1.20-1.72), 1.71 (1.49-1.93), and 2.36 (1.50-3.23); for MTS 5.06 (3.85-6.27), 1.35 (1.06-1.64), 1.89 (1.72-2.06), 3.14 (1.57-4.72), (Cho/NAA was not available). LGG had significantly lower rCBV, Cho/Cr, and Cho/NAA values than HGG or MTS. No significant differences were found for nADC.Best differentiation between HGG and LGG is obtained from rCBV, Cho/Cr, and Cho/NAA metrics. MTS could not be reliably distinguished from HGG by the methods investigated.

Background and purpose Evidence of pre-operative resting state functional magnetic resonance (RS-fMRI) validation by correlating it with clinical pre-operative status in brain tumor patients is scarce. Our aim was to validate the functional relevance of RS-fMRI by investigating the association between RS-fMRI and pre-operative motor and language function performance in patients with brain tumor. Materials and methods Sixty-nine patients with brain tumors were prospectively recruited. Patients with tumors near precentral gyrus (n = 49) underwent assessment for apparent (paresis) and subtle (finger tapping) deficits. Patients with left frontal tumors in the vicinity of the inferior frontal gyrus (n = 29) underwent assessment for gross (aphasia) and mild language (phonological verbal fluency) deficits. RS-fMRI results were extracted by spatial independent component analysis (ICA). Results Motor group: paretic patients showed significantly (P = 0.01) decreased BOLD signal in ipsilesional precentral gyrus when compared to contralesional one. Significantly (P

In this work, novel ternary catalysts Ag/TiO2/CoFe2O4 were synthesized with variable ferrite content for the photocatalytic reduction of Cr+6 pollutant, under UV and solar light illumination. Both TiO2 (T) and CoFe2O4 (CF) were synthesized using the sol-gel method followed by hydrothermal treatment to prepare the TiO2/CoFe2O4 (TCF) composite. Silver nanoparticles were successfully loaded on the surface of TCF to get different Ag/TCF composites. The analysis of their crystal structure indicated the presence of pure anatase phase TiO2, cubic CoFe2O4, and silver nanoparticles, in both XRD patterns and Raman spectra. It was found that the addition of silver nanoparticles to the titania/ferrite composite has a great contribution to the photocatalytic reduction of Cr+6 species. The photocatalytic reaction mechanism was studied by applying scavenging reaction process and spin trap experiments, revealing that photogenerated electrons were mainly responsible for the reduction of Cr+6 species. After the photocatalytic experiments, the composite catalyst can be easily separated from the reaction solution with a magnetic bar and be re-used.

We report novel supported ionic liquid (IL) phase systems, described as “inverse” SILPs, consisting of micron size IL droplets within an envelope of silica nanoparticles. These novel IL-in-air powders, produced by an easily scalable phase inversion process, are stable up to 60 °C and 30 bar and are proposed as a means to confront the major drawbacks of conventional SILPs for gas separation. SILPs are usually formed by filling the channels of nanoporous materials with the IL phase. In case the core space of the pores remains open, such conventional SILPs exhibit lack of gas absorption specificity, while complete pore filling leads to diffusivity that is very low compared to that for corresponding bulk ILs; the latter drop is largely due to the high tortuosity of the pore network of the support. The inverse SILPs prepared in this work exhibited promising CO2/N2 separation performance that had reached the value of 20 at absorption equilibrium and enhanced CO2 absorption capacity of 1.5–3 mmol g–1 at 1 bar an...

Purpose– The aim of the research is to investigate how managers' personal traits, emotions and attitudes shape their tolerance of ambiguity (TOA); and consequently, the influence of managers' ambiguity tolerance in organizations' financial performance.Design/methodology/approach– Survey data were collected from 54 Greek banks. A total of 412 senor-level managers completed questionnaires examining TOA, personal traits, emotions and attitudes in the workplace. Principal components analysis and ordinary least-squares regressions were used to explore the hypotheses of the paper.Findings– Three factors characterize managers' emotions in the workplace, namely pleasure, arousal and dominance; and, respectively, two factors their involvement, namely importance and interest. Further,locusof control, importance, job satisfaction, pleasure and organizational commitment critically affect managers' TOA, which, in turn, seems to influence positively organizations' profitability.Research limitations/implications– Further research is required in Greek banking industry regarding the influence of managers' emotional and cognitive attributes in organizations' financial performance. Likewise, this research should be expanded to other industries.Practical implications– The findings provide further support on the significance of emotional and cognitive attitudes in the workplace; the paper suggests policies to enhance managers' TOA, and thus, organizations' profitability.Originality/value– The originality of this study lies in the finding that emotional and cognitive characteristics affect managers' TOA, which, in turn, influences significantly organizations' profitability. Another significant contributing factor is that the study is carried out in Greece, where few studies have been conducted in this area.

We report for the first time the intercalation of low-molecular-weight hyperbranched polyethyleneimine (PEI) into graphite oxide (GO) for the facile, bulk synthesis of novel graphene-based hybrid (GO-PEI) materials exhibiting tailored interlayer galleries. The size of the intercalant as well as the loading in GO were systematically investigated to determine their contribution to the basal spacing of the resulting materials. Powder X-ray diffraction measurements demonstrated the generation of constrained hybrid systems along the c axis that exhibit considerably increased interlayer distances compared with the starting, pristine GO. The results of X-ray photoelectron and FTIR studies are consistent with a "grafting-to" process of the intercalated PEI with the oxygen functional groups present along the GO framework. Furthermore, it was found that a great number of the nitrogen-containing groups in PEI still remain available within the newly formed, confined micro-environment of intercalated GO galleries. The increased surface area of the GO-PEI hybrids in conjunction with the remaining available active groups of intercalated PEI render the synthesised hybrids very attractive candidates as nanostructured adsorbents.

Visible light active ultrafiltration (UF) membranes coated with modified nanostructured titania (m-TiO2) were for the first time developed using a sol–gel preparation technique combined with a dip-coating deposition procedure. It has been confirmed that the structural, morphological and physicochemical properties of the modified titania membranes strongly depend on the dip-coating and calcination rates. The modified membranes were incorporated in a water purification photocatalytic reactor in continuous flow filtration conditions and tested for the photocatalytic degradation of azo-dye model compounds (namely methyl orange – MO and methylene blue – MB) with very promising results. The photocatalytic experiments took place under ambient operating temperature and low pressure without any compromise on the efficiency of the membrane's permeate flux. Without irradiation, the permeability drops with increasing flow rates of the solution that is forced to penetrate through their pore structure. The photocatalytic efficiency depends on the effluent flow rate however, under both UV and visible light, the permeability was continuously increasing due to the photoinduced hydrophilicity effect. Compared to MO, the MB pollutant was degraded at much higher rate due to its better adsorption, independently of the type of the membrane. The permeability of the membranes increases with the volume treated due to the wettability of the m-TiO2 treated membrane, rendering the need for regeneration or anti-fouling procedures unnecessary and making the process more energy efficient. Due to the low temperature function and the photoinduced hydrophilic effect of the modified TiO2 photocatalytic UF membranes, the photocatalytic reactor can efficiently work without any extra device, fact that leads to low installation and operating costs and provides an energy efficient procedure of cleaning polluted aqueous solutions.

Alginate and copper ions were used for the preparation of modified wool fabrics with antimicrobial properties. The modified fabrics were characterized using FTIR spectroscopy, SEM and thermogravimetric analysis. The antimicrobial activity of wool fabrics was assessed before and after repeated washings (up to 50 cycles), against the test organism Escherichia coli. The resulting materials showed excellent antibacterial effect up to 100% reduction of bacteria after 24 h contact time, even after 50 wash cycles. Also, they have very good washing and rubbing fastness properties. Alginate treatment improves textile abrasion resistance and slightly enhances the fabrics mechanical strength, prevents copper loss during washing, but mainly helps increase sorption, doubling the amount of copper in the final product, resulting in increased antibacterial protection even at zero contact time (97.7% reduction of bacteria compared to 91.3% for the non-alginate containing sample).

Nanostructured modified TiO 2 (m-TiO 2 ) was synthesized using the gel combustion method based on the calcination of an acidified alkoxide solution mixed with urea. The materials were characterized by Raman, FT-IR and UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopies, transmission (TEM) and scanning electron microscopies (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), in comparison with reference material untreated with urea (ref-TiO 2 ). The effect of both the urea content and calcination temperature were optimized, providing the optimal absorption threshold of 2.19 eV for solar light harvesting. The photocatalytic performance of the m-TiO 2 powder was tested for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) azo dye under UVA (350–365 nm), visible (440–460 nm), and daylight (350–750 nm) illumination. The hybrid inorganic/organic material shows exceptional physicochemical properties and significant photocatalytic activity, especially in the visible, attributed to sensitization of the TiO 2 by a thin porous layer of carbonacious species in controlled core–shell morphology.

Introduction The prognostic value of the dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI perfusion and its histogram analysis-derived metrics is not well established for high-grade glioma (HGG) patients. The aim of this prospective study was to investigate DCE perfusion transfer coefficient (Ktrans), vascular plasma volume fraction (vp), extracellular volume fraction (ve), reverse transfer constant (kep), and initial area under gadolinium concentration time curve (IAUGC) as predictors of progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in HGG patients. Methods Sixty-nine patients with suspected anaplastic astrocytoma or glioblastoma underwent preoperative DCE-MRI scans. DCE perfusion whole tumor region histogram parameters, clinical details, and PFS and OS data were obtained. Univariate, multivariate, and Kaplan–Meier survival analyses were conducted. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was employed to identify perfusion parameters with the best differentiation performance. Results On univariate analysis, ve and skewness of vp had significant negative impacts, while kep had significant positive impact on OS (P

Purpose – The aim of this research is to investigate the influence of hybrid knowledge management in workers' productivity and tolerance of ambiguity.Design/methodology/approach – The research was conducted before and after the implementation of the Communication and Knowledge Motivator (CKM) model in Hellenic Railways Organization (2004 and 2008). Survey data were collected from 352 workers. In the first phase (2004), workers' productivity, ambiguity tolerance and demographical characteristics were examined. In the second phase (2008), the same measurements were performed. Ordinary regressions (enter and stepwise) were used to explore the research hypotheses.Findings – The paper finds that workers' productivity and tolerance of ambiguity is positively affected by the CKM model. Further, it confirms the significant influence of workers' ambiguity tolerance in their productivity, before and after the implementation of the CKM model.Research limitations/implications – Workers' productivity might be influenc...

Composite TiO2 photocatalytic ultrafiltration (UF) membranes were developed through chemical vapour layer-by-layer deposition (LBL/CVD) of TiO2. The technique comprised chemisorption or physisorption of the titanium isopropoxide (TTIP) vapour and a subsequent oxidative treatment in order to promote the precursor condensation and generate new adsorption sites for the accomplishment of the successive adsorption/surface reaction steps. Both membrane sides were covered with TiO2 photocatalyst without affecting the high water recovery efficiency. For reasons of comparison, one of the membranes was prepared through TiO2 nanoparticle growth (NPG/CVD), a procedure extensively studied in a previous work of our group. The membrane efficiency in photo degradation of methyl orange was evaluated in an innovative continuous flow reactor, applying UV irradiation on the annular and bore surfaces. The membranes developed through the physisorption path were highly efficient in the decomposition of azo-dye pollutant, exhibiting low adsorption-fouling tendency and high water permeability.

This article examines the influence of personal traits, emotions, and attitudes in managers' tolerance of ambiguity. The research sample consists of 412 Greek banks' middle-level managers. Results of principal components analysis indicate that three factors characterize managers' emotions: pleasure, arousal, and dominance; and two factors characterize their involvement: importance and interest. Regression results reveal the influence of locus of control, pleasure, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and importance in managers' tolerance of ambiguity. Last, the article discusses the research findings and proposes certain policies for enhancing managers' ambiguity tolerance and, thus, their performance during change.

This study describes an effective way for the preparation of well-dispersed, high-loaded PVA/bentonite nanocomposites with improved properties, based on nanoscale interactions. To this end, a series of Poly(vinyl alcohol)—bentonite clay nanocomposites have been prepared via solvent casting technique and their properties were thoroughly investigated by atomic force microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-Ray diffraction, oxygen and water permeability, water sorption along with mechanical and thermal studies. Microscopic and XRD techniques revealed highly organized regions. Clay content up to 10% led to nanocomposites with high degree of exfoliation. In addition samples with increased filler content (20%) demonstrated also, apart from the delaminated, well-organized intercalated regions. The nanocomposites exhibited increased mechanical, thermal and gas barrier properties, though they retained their optical clarity. Thus, the Young's modulus of the sample containing 20% clay was increased by 193 times, while the oxygen permeability was decreased about seven times, in regard to the corresponding values of the neat polymer. The obtained results were explored on the basis of nanoscale phenomena and it was concluded that the organized structures and intercalated regions observed on highly loaded samples are attributed to the competitive effect between weaker polymer–polymer interactions in relation to stronger polymer–clay ones. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012

A copper-nanoparticle-doped carbon was prepared from an alginate based precursor in a one step carbonisation-reduction procedure based on the modified polyol process. The ion exchange capacity of the precursor as well as the porosity, metal content, thermal properties, of the final product, were investigated. The preparation route leads to a porous carbon/copper composite with predefined metal loading reaching up to over 30% (w/w) of finely dispersed Cu nanoparticles of fairly uniform size. NO catalytic abatement evaluation showed high efficiency even at low temperatures compared to other recently reported carbon supported catalysts.

PurposeThe aim of the research is to investigate the influence of emotional attitudes towards change on managers' tolerance of ambiguity.Design/methodology/approachA total of 70 CEOs of Greek IT firms completed questionnaires examining tolerance of ambiguity, emotional attitudes towards change ambiguity and job satisfaction. Principal components analysis and ordinary regression analyses were used to explore the hypotheses.FindingsThe paper finds that three factors characterize managers' emotional attitudes towards change, namely dominance, arousal, and pleasure. Furthermore, it indicates that job satisfaction can be taken as a critical intervention variable that “energizes” managers' arousal (i.e. stimulation, excitement and frenzy) which, in turn, influences their tolerance of ambiguity.Research limitations/implicationsDeeper and broader level of research is necessary in Greek IT industry regarding the influence of emotional attitudes on tolerance of ambiguity. Likewise, this research should be expanded to other industries.Practical implicationsThe findings provide further support on the significance of emotional attitudes during change and the paper suggests policies to enhance managers' tolerance of ambiguity.Originality/valueThe originality of this study lies in the finding that job satisfaction energizes the arousal factor, which, in turn, influences significantly managers' tolerance of ambiguity. Another important contributing factor is that the study is carried out in Greece, where few studies have been conducted in this area.

BACKROUND & PURPOSE: The presence of mutation in the encoding gene of isocitrate-dehydrogenase (IDH) enzyme has been defined as a molecular biomarker by World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2016 in the diagnosis and differentiation of gliomas. MRI techniques have been widely used in the radiological evaluation of gliomas. Among advanced MRI techniques, Dynamic Susceptibility Contrast Perfusion- Weighted Imaging (DSC - PWI) appears as a recently established technique for histopathological WHO grading of gliomas. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether DSC - PWI, enhanced by texture analysis and machine learning, can stratify gliomas according to their IDH mutation status. MATERIAL & METHODS: 208 patients (F/ M: 84 /119, median age: 47 [range: 21–81 year]) from a multicenter setting, who have been immunohistopathologically diagnosed with gliomas (IDH positive / negative: 98 /105) were prospectively included in our study. The raw data from DSC - PWI was processed on a dedicated workstation to create leakage-corrected relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV) maps. Tumours were manually segmented and registered to rCBV maps. rCBV maps were used to generate distribution and rotational invariant Haralick texture features over the tumour mask. The predictive power of the extracted features in differentiating between IDH status was assessed in a 2-fold cross-validation setting of 1000 iterations using support vector machine and multinomial ordinal regression, respectively. RESULTS: In the differentiation of IDH-mutant tumours from wild-type ones, overall sensitivity and specificity rates for the rCBV values were 68% and 81%, respectively. Nine of the ten classical histogram statistics and twelve texture features appeared significantly different across mutation status (p< 0.05) when using a non parametric Wilcoxon test. CONCLUSION: Preliminary results are promising in the differentiation of gliomas with DSC- PWI on the basis of IDH mutation status, especially regarding the high specificity rates obtained using features from rCBV data.

12063Background: The presence of mutation in the encoding gene of isocitrate-dehydrogenase (IDH) has been defined as a molecular biomarker in the diagnosis and differentiation of gliomas. Dynamic S...

Multi-layer silica, zirconia and alumina tubular nanofiltration membranes were modified using alginic acid, a natural organic polymer. Polymers of two different molecular weights (MW) were used. The hybrid membranes exhibited a drop of the permeability value of about three and one orders of magnitude for the membranes modified by high ‘MW’ and low ‘MW’, respectively, whereas the improvement of Cd 2+ retention efficiency was about one order of magnitude in both cases. The modified silica membranes exhibited higher retention factors R %, which was more than 99% for 200 ml yield of clean water from a feeding solution of 100 ppm in Cd 2+ . The metal binding capacity of both deposited alginic acid co-polymers was proportional to the binding capacity of the alginate beads produced by the same batch of alginic acid. Mercury intrusion measurements revealed that the high MW alginates had deposited mainly into larger pores of the α-alumina support (2.5–3 μm), while the low MW alginate could penetrate into all the succeeding intermediate layers. EDAX analysis revealed the existence of significant carbon content in both succeeding γ-alumina layers, probably because of the wide MW distribution of the high MW alginate. The retention efficiency of the membrane decreased only by 8% after the first regeneration run and remained constant for 100 ml of cleaned water effluent.

We present a very rare case of spontaneous intracranial synovial sarcoma. A 15-year-old female was admitted to our institution for a cervical spine MRI, reporting a gradual pain of the dorsal neck after an injury three months previously. After obtaining the first sequence we discovered a large skull base mass. We immediately performed a skull base MRI. MR arteriography, MR venography, CT and DSA were also performed. A large space-occupying lesion was demonstrated, extending from the right petrous bone to the occipital bone at the level of the foramen magnum and the right atlantooccipital junction. CT revealed calcifications. The MR venography demonstrated diminished flow in the right transverse and sigmoid sinus, as well in the right internal jugular vein. Otorhinolaryngological evaluation revealed a slight ipsilateral conductive hearing loss. The whole mass was macroscopically removed via a retrosigmoid, transmastoid, infratemporal approach. Postoperative course was uneventful, except for complete palsy of the ipsilateral hypoglossal nerve. The final pathological examination including immunohistochemical picture, showed findings consistent with synovial sarcoma (monophasic spindle-cell type).

Sodium alginate extracted from the brown algae Laminaria digitata was used to prepare metal sorbing beads. Their metal binding properties were investigated with respect to copper and cadmium ions in single and binary metal solutions. Their behaviour in batch kinetic experiments and in a flow through column for the remediation of dilute aqueous metal solutions was studied. Alginate was found to be a promising material for heavy metal sequestration while sorption was found to be following a competitive mechanism in multi-metal solutions. The obtained maximum adsorption capacities for Cu+2 and Cd+2 were 1.5 mmol/g and 2.09 mmol/g respectively. The calculated diffusion coefficients — 2.8–3.0 × 10−5 cm2/s for copper and 4.4–4.5 × 10−5 cm2/s for cadmium ions — were independent of the initial concentration. Finally, the obtained diffusion coefficients were used for the simulation of the breakthrough curves on column filtration experiments. Linear adsorption driving force model was used to provide a rough estimation of the operational and design parameters in flow column adsorption processes.