The adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have transformed the worldwide socio-economic environment in various and unpredicted ways. More specifically, the pandemic restrictions and the necessary ...social distancing have generated questions concerning the ‘day after’ of religious tourism, especially in association with the value attributed to proximity, sharing, and communal worship in the Orthodox Church tradition. For the time being, pilgrimages and religious tourism in the Greek Orthodox context are quite stable and resilient, and seem to be intertwined with cultural heritage, the modern search for authenticity, and the touristic experience. This analysis aims to explore the key factors that may shape the future trends and plans for pilgrimage and religious tourism in the Greek Orthodox segment. For this reason, it will focus paradigmatically on the region of Central Macedonia in Greece, which is known for its religious and cultural heritage. This is an area in Northern Greece, linked to the missionary journeys of Apostle Paul, and to iconic religious destinations, such as mount Athos and UNESCO World Heritage sites like the Byzantine monuments in Thessaloniki. The analysis will further examine the possibilities of developing new and multidimensional forms of tourism, focused on visits to religious sites.
This study examines the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the decision of people to visit the Mount Athos monastic community. It traces the immediate reaction of pilgrims and visitors to a world ...religious/ heritage place vis-à-vis the global health risk. The questionnaire-based methodology investigates the respondents' attitude towards faith, as well as their socio-cultural background to contextualize their stances and preferences on the aspects of their past and future visits. Moreover, the terms 'Risk Society' and 'Second Modernity' provide a theoretical background in relation to the COVID-19 influence on visitors and pilgrims' motivations. The results of this research point towards the resilience of religious destinations in the face of looming health risks such as the current epidemic.
Inflammasomes are multimeric protein complexes, sensors of intracellular danger signals, and crucial components of the innate immune system, with the NLRP3 inflammasome being the best characterized ...among them. The increasing scientific interest in the mechanisms interconnecting inflammation and tumorigenesis has led to the study of the NLRP3 inflammasome in the setting of various neoplasms. Despite a plethora of data regarding solid tumors, NLRP3 inflammasome's implication in the pathogenesis of hematological malignancies only recently gained attention. In this review, we investigate its role in normal lymphopoiesis and lymphomagenesis. Considering that lymphomas comprise a heterogeneous group of hematologic neoplasms, both tumor-promoting and tumor-suppressing properties were attributed to the NLRP3 inflammasome, affecting neoplastic cells and immune cells in the tumor microenvironment. NLRP3 inflammasome-related proteins were associated with disease characteristics, response to treatment, and prognosis. Few studies assess the efficacy of NLRP3 inflammasome therapeutic targeting with encouraging results, though most are still at the preclinical level. Further understanding of the mechanisms regulating NLRP3 inflammasome activation during lymphoma development and progression can contribute to the investigation of novel treatment approaches to cover unmet needs in lymphoma therapeutics.
Background
An excessively long-blind end of the alimentary limb following a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), known as a ‘candy cane’ (CC), may cause symptoms including abdominal pain, regurgitation ...and vomiting. Very few studies have examined the efficacy of surgical resection of the CC.
Objectives
The aim of this study was to assess sensitivity of preoperative diagnostic tools for CC, as well as perioperative outcomes and symptom resolution after CC revision surgery.
Setting
High volume bariatric centre of excellence, United Kingdom.
Methods
Observational study of CC revisions from 2010 to 2017.
Results
Twenty-eight CC revision cases were identified (mean age 45 ± 9 years, female preponderance 9:1). Presenting symptoms were abdominal pain (86%), regurgitation/vomiting (43%), suboptimal weight loss (36%) and acid reflux (21%). Preoperative tests provided correct diagnosis in 63% of barium contrast swallows, 50% of upper gastrointestinal endoscopies and 29% computed tomographies. Patients presenting with pain had significantly higher CC size as compared with pain-free group (4.2 vs. 2 cm,
p
= 0.001). Perioperative complications occurred in 25% of cases. Complete or partial symptom resolution was documented in 73% of patients undergoing CC revision. Highest success rates were recorded in the regurgitation/vomiting group (67%).
Conclusion
Surgical revision of CC is associated with good symptom resolution in the majority of patients, especially those presenting with regurgitation/vomiting. However, it carries certain risk of complications. CC diagnosis may frequently be missed; hence more than one diagnostic tool should be considered when investigating symptomatic patients after RYGB.
The recent debt crisis in Greece severely affected the Welfare State, as well as the overall social policy of the country. Families facing severe material deprivation and depending on the local soup ...kitchens have grown rapidly in number over the past decade. In drawing upon the given risks, this paper explores the church community workers’ and volunteers’ conceptions of poor children’s living conditions. It is worth noting that the volunteers reflect on the situation of the poor beneficiaries as they often are at risk of poverty themselves. The analysis is based on a mixed methods study (Quan–Qual) that was conducted in 2016–2017, and which covered the area of Thessaloniki (northern Greece) with a special focus on the neighborhoods suffering the most from the impacts of recession. The results show how the children living in “new poor” households experience the degradation of their well-being, as perceived by the volunteers, and what the main social services are they are receiving through the church family support. According to our findings, the pressure of the economic crisis broke the traditional welfare networks and left children vulnerable to risks in terms of their cultural, social, biological and psychological development. Furthermore, the results reveal how traditional family support is reaching its limits as the economic crisis gets more complex and prolonged.
Gallstone disease accounts for the vast majority of acute surgical admissions in the UK, with a major treatment being cholecystectomy. Practice varies significantly as to whether surgery is performed ...during the acute symptomatic phase, or after a period of recovery. Differences in practice relate to operative factors, patient factors, surgeon factors and hospital and trust wide policies. In this review we summarize recent evidence on management of gallstone disease, particularly with respect to whether cholecystectomy should occur during index presentation or following recovery. We highlight morbidity and mortality studies, cost, and patient reported outcomes. We speculate on barriers to change in service delivery. Finally, we propose potential solutions to optimize care.
IntroductionBariatric surgery is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes such as reduced birth weight and premature birth. One possible mechanism for this is increased glycemic variability (GV) ...which occurs after bariatric surgery. The objective of this study was to compare the effect of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) versus vertical sleeve gastrectomy (SG) on GV during pregnancy and to investigate the relationships of GV, type of bariatric surgery and maternal and neonatal outcomes.Research design and methodsFourteen pregnant women after RYGB and 14 after SG were investigated with continuous glucose monitoring in their second or third trimester in this observational study carried out as part of routine clinical care.ResultsPregnant women with RYGB had similar mean interstitial glucose values but significantly increased indices of GV and a lower %time in range 3.9–7.8 mmol/L (70–140 mg/dL), compared with SG.ConclusionsPregnant women who have undergone RYGB have greater GV during pregnancy compared with those who have undergone SG. Further research is needed to establish the relationship between GV and pregnancy outcomes to determine the preferred bariatric operation in women of reproductive age, and whether interventions to reduce GV might improve outcomes.
Numerical codes for electromagnetic wave propagation in magnetized plasmas are mainly based on frequency-domain asymptotic methods, which provide a fast solution and are thus valuable for experiment ...design and control applications. However, in several cases of practical interest (e.g. mode conversion), these tools run close to their limits of validity and should be compared to full-wave solutions. The code RFFW solves Maxwell's equations with the finite-difference time-domain method in 3D geometry, for scenarios involving high-frequency waves with arbitrary electric field spectrum in plasmas with axisymmetric equilibrium. In fusion-related problems, the code may conduct investigations of wave propagation and absorption relevant to auxiliary plasma heating and current drive, reflectometry and instability control. The code has been parallelized with a hybrid OpenMP-MPI scheme, which has allowed exploiting the much larger processing power and memory of current-day supercomputers. In this work, we present the main aspects of the physics implemented in the code, and also refer shortly to the parallelization scheme. Furthermore, we show results that exhibit the strong scaling performance of the code, and examine cases of electron-cyclotron heating application in medium-sized tokamaks.
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