Search

Conventional water sources in the Southeast Mediterranean and the Middle East play a crucial role in driving the socio-economic progress of the region. This study aims to address the uncertainties, discrepancies, and gaps in knowledge regarding how to combat the climate crisis and extreme weather events impacting traditional water sources. These sources encompass rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and groundwater reservoirs that are vital for agriculture, industry, and daily household needs. The availability and upkeep of water resources in this area are influenced by factors like climate change, population growth, and competing demands from different sectors. The methodology involved an extensive review of research literature curetted from a wide array of international scientific studies and reports, drawing data from sources such as PubMed, EBSCO, Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science, Science Direct, Google Scholar, and UNESCO, WHO databases. The findings underscore the importance of traditional water sources in these regions, underscoring their significance for agricultural, industrial, and domestic applications. The accessibility of water resources varies among nations, with some grappling with water scarcity issues. This research delves into the condition of traditional water sources in the Southeast Mediterranean and the Middle East, shining a spotlight on concerns like water scarcity, pollution, and governance, offering valuable insights into these critical resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Perceptions of COVID-19 and vaccination depend on personal beliefs, experiences, and trust in health authorities' information. Cultural and social factors also influence perceptions. Effective government messaging can minimize barriers to vaccination. Methodology: This cross-sectional research examines socio-demographic parameters related to risk factors, conducted using questionnaires at the vaccination center of Hippokrateio General Hospital of Athens, Greece (n=167), in the last quarter of 2022. Participants were asked to answer questions regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, a measurement tool for assessing good health status developed by the World Health Organization. The data were analyzed using IBM SPSS v26. Results: The study found that women perceive vaccines to cause more harm than men, with younger individuals viewing the infection as harmless. Educational level also influences vaccine side effects and long-term harm. Perceptions of COVID-19 differ based on vaccination status. Conclusions: This research confirms the link between socio-demographic variables and pandemic severity perception, emphasizing the importance of correlated with medical public health services management in enhancing communication strategies and creating effective vaccination campaigns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the most fast-evolving and most pervasive technological advancements of the last decade. Driven by IoT's promise for an interconnected world for all people, through a shared Internet-based infrastructure, more and more businesses expand their activities to embrace, competitively, this new concept. More importantly, the ubiquitous, highly granular, and of increasing interconnection and computational capabilities nature of the IoT fabric creates a unique ecosystem for developing powerful, intelligent applications not limited to simply gathering and analyzing environmental and people data. This potential combines the IoT's physical capabilities with the achievements of the more mature discipline of Artificial Intelligence (AI). However, there is still a large number of businesses with no clear plans of investing in the IoT-plus-AI potential, citing multiple obstacles mainly related to the difficulty of understanding, adapting, and developing advanced AI techniques. Our goal is to show that advanced AI functionalities can, now, be easily implemented and operated through existing IoT platforms, by developing an intelligent, remote, surveillance application based on IBM's Cloud and Watson platforms as well as the Raspberry Zero W low-cost IoT device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]