Crohn’s disease incidence evolution in North-western Greece is not associated with alteration of NOD2/CARD15 variants

AIM: To assess the trends in the incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) over 23 years in the same area and to identify genetic factors related to incidence evolution. METHODS: Patients with IBD arising from North- western Greece were systematically recorded through the 1983-2005 period. Trends in disease incidence and genetic patterns related to CARD15 variants were documented and correlated. RESULTS: A total of 447 patients with IBD were recorded (23.5% Crohn’s disease, 72.7% Ulcerative colitis and 3.8% indeterminate colitis). Mean annual incidence rates of CD and UC were 0.9/100 000 (95% CI 0.1-1.7) and 2.7/100 000 (95% CI 1.7-4.1) inhabitants, respectively. There was a statistically significant increase of CD incidence (P < 0.01) during the study period, in contrast to the UC incidence. There were no statistical differences in CARD15 variants over the study period. CONCLUSION: The incidence of CD in North-western Greece has risen disproportionately to that of UC in the 21st century. This is not related to alterations of genetic background though.

Dynamic Routing Combined to Forecast the Behavior of Traffic in the City of Sao Paulo Using Neuro Fuzzy Network

The challenge of keeping and getting new customers drives the development of new practices to meet the consumption needs of increasingly tends to micro-segmentation of product and consumer market. The new consumption habits of brazilians brought new prospects for market. The objective of this paper is to develop of a dynamic vehicle routing system supported by the behavior of urban traffic in the city ofSao Paulo using Neuro Fuzzy Network. The methodology of this paper consists in the capture of relevant events that interfere with the flow of traffic of the city of Sao Paulo and implementation of a Fuzzy Neural Network trained with these events in order to foresee the traffic behavior. The system offers three labels of hierarchical routing, thus is possible to consider not only the basic factors of routing, but too external factors that directly influence on the flow of traffic and the disruption which may be avoided in large cities, through alternative routes （dynamic vehicle routing）. Predicting the behavior of traffic represents the strategic level routing, dynamic vehicle routing is the tactical level, and routing algorithms to the operational level. This paper will not be discussed the operational level.

The Empirical Estimation of the Influence of Credit Risk Determinants in Baltic States＇ Banking Sector

There have been investigated empirically the influence of macroeconomic and real estate market variables on the level of non-performing loans in the Baltic States. A secondary goal was to analyze the effect of constant loan portfolio growth on the level of non-performing loans in mentioned countries and to define the type of influence of the variables （i.e., long-term or short-term）. The research indicates that all variables except the growth rate of the real estate market （RRE） have long-term influence on the level of non-performing loans. RRE has short-term influence and variables influence is associated with the development of another variables. The influence of RRE played an important role, but it was not as crucial as it has been previously assumed. If a respective credit risk management is applied, the influence of RRE is to be eliminated. The research results indicate that the most significant reason for the growth of non-performing loans for the Baltic States presented by rapid growth of aggregated loan portfolio and unemployment rate. The increasing influence of rapid loan portfolio growth proves the assumption that banks＇ credit risk management policies underestimated the changes in the macroeconomic variables during the analyzed period. The changes in the real GDP had initial influence on the economic situation deterioration for Baltic States.

Aggregation of BRICS Financial Strength

INDIA’S K.V.Kamath’s nomination last May as president-designate of the New Development Bank(NDB)signified the BRICS-led bank’s entry into its substantive operational stage.The NDB board of governors will call its first meeting and officially appoint the bank’s president and vice presidents during the BRICS summit in early July in Ufa,Russia.

When Two Sisters Jointly.Ruled an Empire

This study will examine the ascent of two women as emperors of the Eastern Roman Empire within the context of constructivism and feminist international relations theory. Constructivism emphasizes ideas, such as the content of language and social discourse, over institutions or power. Feminism critiques international relations as a male-centered and dominated discipline. This paper addresses important issues. The first issue is a better understanding of the ascent of two women as Chief Executives of a patriarchal system. The second issue is to increase understanding of how gender is constructed and functions in social, cultural, historical, and institutional contexts, particularly as they intersect with political leadership roles. The thesis of this study is that class, political ambition, and political adroitness are more important than gender and social construction in determining the rise of women to high political office. The work implies that women at the higher end of the social stratum have a significant advantage over men and women at the lower end of the social stratum.

Risk Premiums and Financial Stability

The collective revelation of credit institutions as regards the imminence of specific risks materialising, which often follows long periods of underestimating probable losses, can trigger a broad-based financial deleveraging via an overly high upsurge in banks＇ risk premiums vis-a-vis the dynamics of fundamentals underlying loan repayment capability. In this context, this paper seeks to investigate the banking sector＇s internal mechanisms that might bring about a negative spiral of credit risk by building a model for the interaction between the increase of the risk premium and that of net interest income and provisioning rate. Statistical results confirm that a higher risk premium is one of the major determinants of credit default in Romania and its excessive widening could affect financial stability in Romania.

Developments in the Romanian Real Estate： Where to？

The financial crisis has deeply affected Eastern European countries since the end of 2008. The global economic crisis put an end to a period when the region witnessed solid economic growth, high inflows of foreign investment and a dynamic real estate sector, which was one of the main drivers of the region＇s economic growth （Abelson, Kaemar, ＆ Jackofsky, 1990）. The Eastern European real estate market was deeply impacted by the crisis. Investment in real estate dropped sharply due to the significant increase in risks and difficulties in financial borrowing （Bruce, 1991）. Rising unemployment affected retail sales, as well as office net absorption. Take-up fell significantly in all markets： Transactions were of smaller size and demand for buildings decreased. On the supply side, vacancy increased sharply due to the high level of completions entering the market （Smith, 1992）. The strong rise in vacancy rates has put pressure on rents, which dropped sharply in 2008 and in early 2009. They started to stabilize only by the end of 2009. How will the Romanian real estate market evolve？ No one knows for certain. Through this work we try to get some predictions based on statistical theory and not on the lessons learned from other crises.

Efficiency-Enhancing Strategies in the Roman Wine Trade： From Producer to Consumer

This paper argues that models developed in 20th century management literature can offer a valuable perspective on the organization of the ancient Roman wine trade. Similar to modem business, Roman entrepreneurs tried to enhance efficiency by implementing a wide range of techniques according to goals and available resources. The famous Ansoff matrix is used to analyse these techniques in function of the markets supplied by Roman merchants and the product diversification they applied. This approach explains how Roman entrepreneurs tried to cope with the limitations of a volatile pre-industrial business world： only the combination of a large family of semi-dependent agents and elite capital allowed successful large-scale engagement in the wine trade.

Role of Parallel Tempering Monte Carlo Simulation in 2D Ising Spin Glass System with Distance Dependent Interaction

Spin glass system is a complex disordered system with a number of local minima separated by entropic barriers. Therefore, parallel tempering Monte Carlo simulation was used in order to get fast thermalisation （to minimize the relaxation time）. Distance dependent interaction coupling in 2D is studied in order to show how a spin glass phase transition occurs when couplings between far away spins are permitted by considering Edwards-Anderson Ising spin glass model. The interaction coupling is a quenched random variable whose probability of being non-zero decays with distance between two spin sites rij = ｜i-j｜mod（L/2）.The interaction coupling is random and its probability distribution is decaying with the distance between the spins （p（Jij） αrij^-ρ）. The model is studied by changing p among three different regimes （p 〉 2D, 4/3 D〈 p 〈 2D, p 〈 4/3D）. A phase transition temperature for p = 2, 3, 4 is obtained.

The St.George's Respiratory Questionnaire in Lymphangioleiomyomatosis

Objective To examine the correlation between the health-related quality of life measured by the St.George's Respiratory Questionnaire(SGRQ) and the commonly used physiological measures in lymphangioleiomyomatosis(LAM).Methods This study retrospectively analyzed the SGRQ scores and other measures(the Borg scale of breathlessness at rest,6-minute walking distance,blood oxygen levels,and pulmonary function) of patients diagnosed and confirmed with LAM.Altogether 38 patients between June 2007 and November 2009 were included.Results The mean values of the SGRQ three components(symptoms,activity,and impacts) and total scores in the LAM patients were 46.95±28.90,58.47±25.41,47.89±29.66,and 51.11±26.35,respectively.The SGRQ total or component scores were correlated well with the Borg scale of breathlessness,6-minute walking distance,partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood,spirometry and diffusion capacity of lung.There were poor correlations between SGRQ score and residual volume or total lung capacity.In our preliminary observation,sirolimus improved the SGRQ total and three component scores and the Borg scale of breathlessness significantly after 101-200 days of treatment(n=6).Conclusions The SGRQ score in LAM is correlated well with physiological measures(Borg scale of breathlessness,6-minute walking distance,blood oxygen levels,and pulmonary function tests).The SGRQ could therefore be recommended in baseline and follow-up evaluation of patients with LAM.Treatment with sirolimus,an inhibitor of mammalian target of rapamycin,may improve the quality of life and patient's perception of breathlessness in LAM.

I Celebrate Myself ＆ I Sing Myself： Romulus Bucur on Romulus Bucur＇s Ditties

The present paper, in spite of its quite scandalous title, is just a serious reflection, from the inside, on a certain part of the poetry of a contemporary Romanian poet （the author of the paper himself）, in the line of a tradition starting with Poe＇s Philosophy of Composition （1846）, passing through the avant-garde and ending, for the moment, in Andy Warhol＇s self-promotion. The analysis from the inside and the honest reflection of the interplay between poetry, music, and contemporary popular culture might lead to a better understanding of the poetry made at the end of the 20th century--beginning of the 21 st century. The corpus analyzed is a series of poems written between 1994 and the present day, under the generic title of ditty, published in several books （between which a bilingual pamphlet, Ditties/Cfntecelce）, 1998）, and the paper speaks about their genesis, their poetics, and hopes to help the process of their interpretation, as well as to bring a new interpretation of the poetry/music relationship

The Mechanism of Eliminating Drafting Waves in Spinning

The mechanism of the staple yarn's drafting waves during roller drafting is analyzed in this paper.It's concluded that the dynamic friction coefficient is greater than the static friction coefficient on the friction behavior of fibers,and the difference is largely responsible for the "stick-slip" motion of fibers which causes the drafting waves during drafting.In this paper,it's expected that when a high frequency undulating wave is imposed on the fiber strand in the drafting zone of roller system,the friction among fibers is dominated by the dynamic friction rather than the static friction,and thus the "stick-slip" motion will be eliminated.As a result,the fiber binding effect causing drafting waves can be significantly reduced.This hypothesis is verified by an experiment,and it can be applied in developing new spinning drafting device.

BRICS Bank Could Change the World

THE New Development Bank（NDB）,popularly known as the＂BRICS bank,＂established by Brazil,Russia,India,China and South Africa,should open for business before the end of the year.The bank will be based in Shanghai,but its first chairman is India＇s Kundapur Vaman Kamath.The importance India attaches to this post is shown by Kamath being,prior to his appointment,chairman of ICICI Bank,India＇s largest private lender.

Numerical Modeling of Shallow Water Table Behavior with Lisse Effect

Air entrapment is an important consideration in environments with shallow water tables and sandy soil, like the condition of highly conductive sandy soils and flat topography in Florida, USA. It causes water table rises in soils, which are significantly faster and higher than those in soils without air entrapment. Two numerical models, Integrated Hydrologic Model (IHM) and HYDRUS-1D (a single-phase, one-dimensional Richards′ equation model) were tested at an area of west central Florida to help further understanding the shallow water table behavior during a long term air entrapment. This investigation employed field data with two modeling approaches to quantify the variation of air pressurization values. It was found that the air pressurization effect was responsible at time up to 40 cm of water table rise being recorded by the observation well for these two models. The values of air pressurization calculated from IHM and HYDRUS-1D match the previously published values. Results also indicated that the two numerical models did not consider air entrapment effect (as the predictive parameters remain uncertain) and thus results of depth to water table from these models did not compare to the observations for these selected periods. Incorporating air entrapment in prediction models is critical to reproduce shallow water table observations.

Comparison of Influenza Outbreaks in the Republic of Kazakhstan and Russia Induced by 2009 Yearly New Variant of А(H1N1) Influenza Virus

The aim of the work is the comparison of the epidemiology of influenza and acute respiratory virus infections (ARVI) in the Republic of Kazakhstan with the corresponding influenza epidemic in Russia induced by influenza pandemic virus A/California/07/2009 in 2009.Data on influenza and ARVI from the Republic of Kazakhstan and Federal Center of influenza was collected and investigated over the course of several weeks from hospitalized patients with the same diagnosis among all population and in age groups on 16 territories of Kazakhstan and in 49 major cities of Russia.The epidemic in Kazakhstan resembled the Russian epidemic in terms of its abnormally early beginning,expression of monoaetiology,the spread of the epidemic into all territories and start of the epidemics among adult population.High percentage of hospitalized people and lethal outcome were registered in this epidemic.Similarity of epidemic process character in corresponding border-line territories of both countries was found out.

The possibilities of entering new markets for Romanian companies from wood manufacturing industries

Romania has the potential of resources, labor and real capacity to adapt to the gait of a global economic competition. But it required a long term policy and environment which could support this potential value. If not, we will risk turning into a consumer economy, consumption will not be funded on internal production and become supplier of labor services for peripheral. In the context of economic crisis, Romanian furniture retains its significant competitive advantages, including the price in export markets. The most important markets for exporters of furniture from Romania are Ukraine and Russia, markets with great potential, but affected by problems such as devaluing local currencies, and recently, imposing new duties.

Cairo＇s Slums： A Ticking Time Bomb

Despite being one of the symbols of civilization throughout human history, Greater Cairo has many slum areas, hosting a population of three million people living in deteriorating conditions and lacking the basic human necessities. These slums represent a fertile environment for diseases caused by pollution in all its forms and are subject to crimes, rape and theft. There is a huge difference in the state of conditions when comparing the formally planned areas to the informally planned ones. People living in the formally planned settlements, like Nasr City, and in informal ones, like Ezbet El-Haggana, are similar to the kings and queens and slaves of legends. This paper tries to find solutions to the problem of slums and random areas.

Wind Resource Potential in the Caribbean Archipelago

Climate change threatens the sustainable development and survival of the small Caribbean island nations. The continual rise in the demand and cost of the earth＇s finite hydrocarbon energy reservoir drives these countries to examine the integration of renewable energy to reduce green house gas emissions whilst meeting their electrical energy demands. One possible renewable energy source is wind. Trinidad and Tobago, through its renewable energy policy, is seeking to reliably and economically integrate wind power with its conventional power generation sources. This paper assesses the adequacy of wind power generation at potential sites through the use of auto-regressive modeling and the use of Monte Carlo Simulation to evaluate the well-being indices for the combination of wind and conventional power generation. Two sites in the twin island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago were identified as case studies for the proposed methodology. Analysis of the results indicated that the methodology should be applied to sites with conditions encouraging economic feasibility of wind power generation.

Recycling Polyethylene Terephthalate （PET） Packaging as the Basis of Economic Projects and Solution of Social and Environmental Problems in Russia

In this article, based on the analysis of the current environmental situation in Russia and other countries, as well as of the problem of recycling plastic waste in the Russian Federation （RF）, the authors clearly show the effectiveness of investments in the processing of polymer debris on the example of polyethylene terephthalate （PET） waste （granulates, flakes）. In the frame of case study of social and environmental investment project on creating enterprise that will engage in collection, recycling, and sale of the consumer PET packaging in Russia, the authors demonstrate the economic feasibility of the creation of such kind of enterprises taking into account market conditions and the features of the existing system of taxation in Russia. The realization of the project will also help in solving environmental and social problems of large cities, in particular, will create more jobs （in terms of 6% of unemployment rate in the country）. The study also identifies the main obstacles in the way of waste recycling in Russia, and the recommendations for improvement of normative base of the industry are given.