Implication operators for fuzzy rule-based controllers

Efstathiou, Janet Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems 1993 한국지능시스템학회논문지 Vol.3 No.1

Implication operators for fuzzy rule-based controllers

Janet Efstathiou 한국지능시스템학회 1993 한국지능시스템학회논문지 Vol.3 No.1

Impact of Precipitating Ice on the Simulation of a Heavy Rainfall Event with Advanced Research WRF Using Two Bulk Microphysical Schemes

G. A. Efstathiou,N. M. Zoumakis,D. Melas,P. Kassomenos 한국기상학회 2012 Asia-Pacific Journal of Atmospheric Sciences Vol.48 No.4

In this study, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model version 3.2 is used to examine the impact of precipitating ice and especially snow-graupel partitioning in the simulation of a heavy rainfall event over Chalkidiki peninsula in Northern Greece. This major precipitation event, associated with a case of cyclogenesis over the Aegean Sea, occurred on the 8th of October 2006 causing severe flooding and damage. Two widely used microphysical parameterizations, the Purdue Lin (PLIN) and WRF Single-Moment 6-class scheme (WSM6) are compared with available raingauge measurements over the complex topography of Chalkidiki. To further investigate the importance of snow and graupel relative mass content and the treatment of precipitating ice sedimentation velocity, two older versions of the WSM6 scheme were compiled and run with the current model. The verification results indicate that all simulations were found to match raingauge data more closely over the eastern mountainous Chalkidiki peninsula where maximum accumulations were observed. In other stations all schemes overestimate 24h accumulated rainfall except a station situated at the western part of the peninsula, where none of the simulations was able to reproduce observed rainfall. Graupel dominance in PLIN generates rapid precipitation fallout at the point of maximum predicted 24h accumulation. Similar behavior is shown in WSM6from WRF version 2, but with significant less rainfall. Increasing snow amounts aloft, due to the unified treatment of precipitating ice in WSM6 from WRF version 3, modifies rain dynamics which decrease rainfall rates, but increases 24h accumulations. A sensitivity experiment where PLIN is used with snow accretion by graupel turned off, indicated that this process seems to be the most important factor controlling the differences in surface precipitation between PLIN and WSM6 from WRF version 3, determining the spatial and temporal distribution of this heavy precipitation event. The results also revealed that snow overestimation can lead to high rainfall accumulations,even though rain is more evenly distributed over the 24h period, deteriorating precipitation forecast.

Hepatotoxicity in an Adolescent with Black Iced Tea Overconsumption

Hadjipanayis, Adamos,Efstathiou, Elisavet,Papaevangelou, Vasiliki The Korean Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology 2019 Pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology & nutrition Vol.22 No.4

Tea is the most widely consumed beverage after water in the world. The consumption of iced tea has increased in Western countries and spiked among teenagers for enjoyment, freshening up and alertness. A teenager presented with symptoms of hepatitis. Liver ultrasound revealed sludge in the gallbladder. Laboratory investigations excluded all known causes of hepatotoxicity. Detail nutritional history revealed that the patient had been drinking 1.5-2 liters of black iced tea per day for the last three months. He was immediately advised to stop drinking any tea. Gradually all symptoms disappeared and two months after discontinuation of the tea, all liver enzymes returned to normal and the sludge in the gallbladder disappeared. This case report underlines the importance of a meticulous assessment of a child's dietary behavior when investigating a case of hepatotoxicity and raises awareness about the potential side effects of tea overconsumption.

The Economic Crisis in Greece and Its Impact on the Seasonality of Suicides in the Athens Greater Area

Christos Christodoulou,Vasiliki Efstathiou,Ioannis Michopoulos,Maria Gkerekou,Antonios Paraschakis,Filippos Koutsaftis,Athanassios Douzenis 대한신경정신의학회 2017 PSYCHIATRY INVESTIGATION Vol.14 No.1

Objective: The economic crisis and the implementation of austerity measures in Greece lead to significant socioeconomic changes. The effects of the crisis were mainly felt by the Greek population during the years 2011 and 2012. This study aimed to investigate the impact of Greece’s economic crisis on the seasonality of suicides in the Athens Greater Area. Methods: Data were collected for all recorded cases of suicides committed over a 5-year period (from 2008 to 2012) from the Athens Department of Forensic Medicine. Two sub-periods were studied in relation to the economic crisis: 2008–2010 and 2011–2012. Seasonality was estimated with the Poison regression variant of the circular normal distribution. Results: Suicide seasonality appeared significant during 2008–2010 (relative risk, RR=1.36) and strengthened in the years 2011–2012 (RR=1.69), when the impact of the austerity measures was increasingly being felt by the Greek society. Regarding the latter sub-period, seasonality was established for males (RR=1.75), individuals aged 45 years or more (RR=1.75) and suicide by hanging (RR=1.96). Conclusion: The economic crisis in Greece, especially in the period during its effects had a significant impact on the population’s economic condition, seems to have strengthened the seasonality of suicides, while a noteworthy suicide risk of 96% was revealed for suicides by hanging (peak in early June).

Hepatotoxicity in an Adolescent with Black Iced Tea Overconsumption

Adamos Hadjipanayis,Elisavet Efstathiou,Vasiliki Papaevangelou 대한소아소화기영양학회 2019 Pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology & nutrition Vol.22 No.4

Tea is the most widely consumed beverage after water in the world. The consumption of iced tea has increased in Western countries and spiked among teenagers for enjoyment, freshening up and alertness. A teenager presented with symptoms of hepatitis. Liver ultrasound revealed sludge in the gallbladder. Laboratory investigations excluded all known causes of hepatotoxicity. Detail nutritional history revealed that the patient had been drinking 1.5–2 liters of black iced tea per day for the last three months. He was immediately advised to stop drinking any tea. Gradually all symptoms disappeared and two months after discontinuation of the tea, all liver enzymes returned to normal and the sludge in the gallbladder disappeared. This case report underlines the importance of a meticulous assessment of a child's dietary behavior when investigating a case of hepatotoxicity and raises awareness about the potential side effects of tea overconsumption.

Computer-aided approach of parameters influencing concrete service life and field validation

V. G. Papadakis,M. P. Efstathiou,C. A. Apostolopoulos 한국계산역학회 2007 Computers and Concrete, An International Journal Vol.4 No.1

Over the past decades, an enormous amount of effort has been expended in laboratory and field studies on concrete durability estimation. The results of this research are still either widely scattered in the journal literature or mentioned briefly in the standard textbooks. Moreover, the theoretical approaches of deterioration mechanisms with a predictive character are limited to some complicated mathematical models not widespread in practice. A significant step forward could be the development of appropriate software for computer-based estimation of concrete service life, including reliable mathematical models and adequate experimental data. In the present work, the basis for the development of a computer estimation of the concrete service life is presented. After the definition of concrete mix design and structure characteristics, as well as the consideration regarding the environmental conditions where the structure will be found, the concrete service life can be reliably predicted using fundamental mathematical models that simulate the deterioration mechanisms. The prediction is focused on the basic deterioration phenomena of reinforced concrete, such as carbonation and chloride penetration, that initiate the reinforcing bars corrosion. Aspects on concrete strength and the production cost are also considered. Field observations and data collection from existing structures are compared with predictions of service life using the above model. A first attempt to develop a database of service lives of different types of reinforced concrete structure exposed to varying environments is finally included.

Fermented Soy Permeate Reduces Cytokine Level and Oxidative Stress in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats

Ludivine Malarde,Carole Groussard,Luz Lefeuvre-Orfila,Sophie Vincent,The´o Efstathiou,Arlette Gratas-Delamarche 한국식품영양과학회 2015 Journal of medicinal food Vol.18 No.1

Oxidative stress and inflammation are involved in the development of type 1 diabetes and its complications. Because two compounds found in soy, that is, isoflavones and alpha-galactooligosaccharides, have been shown to exert antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, this study aimed to assess the effects of a dietary supplement containing these two active compounds, the fermented soy permeate (FSP). We hypothesized that FSP would be able to reduce in vivo oxidative stress and inflammation in streptozotocin (STZ)–induced type 1 diabetic rats. Thirty male Wistar rats were divided into the control placebo, diabetic placebo, and diabetic FSP-supplemented groups. They received daily, by oral gavage, water (placebo groups) or diluted FSP (0.1 g/day; FSP-supplemented group). After 3 weeks, glycemic regulation (glycemia and fructosamine level); the plasma level of carboxymethyllysine (CML), a marker of systemic oxidative stress in diabetes; and the plasma levels of inflammatory markers (CRP, IL-1β, IL-6, and uric acid) were evaluated. Markers of oxidative damage (isoprostanes and GSH/GSSG), antioxidant enzymatic activity (SOD and GPX), and Mn-SOD content were determined in skeletal muscle (gastrocnemius). Diabetic placebo rats exhibited higher CML levels, lower SOD and GPX activities, and decreased Mn-SOD contents. FSP supplementation in diabetic animals normalized the CML and antioxidant enzymatic activity levels and tended to increase Mn-SOD expression. The markers of inflammation whose levels were increased in the diabetic placebo group were markedly decreased by FSP (IL-1β: - 75%, IL-6: - 46%, and uric acid: - 17%), except for CRP. Our results demonstrate that FSP exhibited antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties in vivo in STZ-induced diabetic rats.

Photometric redshift accuracy in <i>AKARI</i> deep surveys

Negrello, M.,Serjeant, S.,Pearson, C.,Takagi, T.,Efstathiou, A.,Goto, T.,Burgarella, D.,Jeong, W.-S.,Im, M.,Lee, H. M.,Matsuhara, H.,Oyabu, S.,Wada, T.,White, G. Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2009 MONTHLY NOTICES- ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY Vol.394 No.1

<P>ABSTRACT</P><P>We investigate the photometric redshift accuracy achievable with the <I>AKARI</I> infrared data in deep multiband surveys, such as in the North Ecliptic Pole field. We demonstrate that the passage of redshifted polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and silicate features into the mid-infrared wavelength window covered by <I>AKARI</I> is a valuable means to recover the redshifts of starburst galaxies. To this end, we have collected a sample of ∼60 galaxies drawn from the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey-North Field with spectroscopic redshift 0.5 ≲<I>z</I><SUB>spec</SUB>≲ 1.5 and photometry from 3.6 to 24 μm, provided by the <I>Spitzer</I>, <I>Infrared Space Observatory</I> and <I>AKARI</I> satellites. The infrared spectra are fitted using synthetic galaxy spectral energy distributions which account for starburst and active nuclei emission. For ∼90 per cent of the sources in our sample, the redshift is recovered with an accuracy |<I>z</I><SUB>phot</SUB>−<I>z</I><SUB>spec</SUB>|/(1 +<I>z</I><SUB>spec</SUB>) ≲ 10 per cent. A similar analysis performed on a set of simulated spectra shows that the <I>AKARI</I> infrared data alone can provide photometric redshifts accurate to |<I>z</I><SUB>phot</SUB>−<I>z</I><SUB>spec</SUB>|/(1 +<I>z</I><SUB>spec</SUB>) ∼ 10 per cent (1σ) at <I>z</I>≲ 2. At higher redshifts, the PAH features are shifted outside the wavelength range covered by <I>AKARI</I> and the photo-<I>z</I> estimates rely on the less prominent 1.6 μm stellar bump; the accuracy achievable in this case on (1 +<I>z</I>) is ∼10–15 per cent, provided that the active galactic nuclei contribution to the infrared emission is subdominant. Our technique is no more prone to redshift aliasing than optical-ultraviolet photo-<I>z</I>, and it may be possible to reduce this aliasing further with the addition of submillimetre and/or radio data.</P>

A Fermented Soy Permeate Improves the Skeletal Muscle Glucose Level Without Restoring the Glycogen Content in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats

Ludivine Malarde,Sophie Vincent,Luz Lefeuvre-Orfila,The´o Efstathiou,Carole Groussard,Arlette Gratas-Delamarche 한국식품영양과학회 2013 Journal of medicinal food Vol.16 No.2

Exercise is essential into the therapeutic management of diabetic patients, but their level of exercise tolerance is lowered due to alterations of glucose metabolism. As soy isoflavones have been shown to improve glucose metabolism, this study aimed to assess the effects of a dietary supplement containing soy isoflavones and alpha-galactooligosaccharides on muscular glucose, glycogen synthase (GSase), and glycogen content in a type 1 diabetic animal model. The dietary supplement tested was a patented compound, Fermented Soy Permeate (FSP), developed by the French Company Sojasun Technologies. Forty male Wistar rats were randomly assigned to control or diabetic groups (streptozotocin, 45 mg/kg). Each group was then divided into placebo or FSP-supplemented groups. Both groups received by oral gavage, respectively, water or diluted FSP (0.1 g/day), daily for a period of 3 weeks. At the end of the protocol, glycemia was noticed after a 24-h fasting period. Glucose, total GSase, and the glycogen content were determined in the skeletal muscle (gastrocnemius). Diabetic animals showed a higher blood glucose concentration, but a lower glucose and glycogen muscle content than controls. Three weeks of FSP consumption allowed to restore the muscle glucose concentration, but failed to reduce glycemia and to normalize the glycogen content in diabetic rats. Furthermore, the glycogen content was increased in FSP-supplemented controls compared to placebo controls. Our results demonstrated that diabetic rats exhibited a depleted muscle glycogen content (−25%). FSP-supplementation normalized the muscle glucose level without restoring the glycogen content in diabetic rats. However, it succeeded to increase it in the control group (+20%).