Universities΄ funding in the framework of the current global financial crisis: Threat or opportunity for the implementation of Triple Helix Theory?

This work attempts to examine how the global financial crisis has affected the education sector and more specifically, universities. So our paper examines the universities public funding especially in Europe, the mobility of teaching staff, students etc. Also the impact of the financial crisis on universities private sources funding and to mention the need to straighten the collaboration of universities with industries. Universities they have a major role in the economy of a country. They are the main tool for innovation which leads in business development and growth and can reinforce the endogenous regional economic growth. In this view, we present briefly the Triple Helix Theory, which focuses on the importance of the cooperation between public sector, industries and universities. Furthermore, in the theoretical part of our paper, we are examining the case of Greece. More specifically, we are presenting the current situation in Greek Higher Education, focusing on the New Educational Law and especially on the under consultation plan ?Athena? of the Ministry of Education, for the restructure / reallocation of the Greek Universities and Technological Institutions. In the empirical part of our paper, we try to identify whether the Triple Helix Theory is applied in practice or not in Greek case. Our research methodology, based on the data extracted from targeted questionnaires addressed both to Greek entrepreneurs and Greek universities ? Scientific Institutions, attempts to show on one hand how the Universities assess the business environment and their new role in the relevant new institutional framework and on the other hand how the Greek industries evaluate their cooperation with the universities sector and their new role in terms of supporting the local entrepreneurship, as well. The used method for analyzing the results is the one of SPSS (descriptive statistics, correlation ? convexity indicators). The main findings coming by the processing of the statistical data of our scientific research, reveals that in crisis period the universities can find a new source of funding by ?advertising? their main mission, which is the diffusion of Knowledge, and especially, the innovative one that enterprises need, in order to succeed and to overcome the crisis bad effects. Thus, we can observe that the results of our empirical analysis are strongly related to the relevant literature presented in the theoretical our paper. Finally, considerable general conclusions, policy proposals and questions/ challenges for further research will be presented at the end of our study

Cardiovascular Disease and Chronic Inflammation in End Stage Kidney Disease

Background: Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is one of the most severe diseases worldwide. In patients affected by CKD, a progressive destruction of the nephrons is observed not only in structuralbut also in functional level. Atherosclerosis is a progressive disease of large and medium-sized arteries. It is characterized by the deposition of lipids and fibrous elements and is a common complication of the uremic syndrome because of the coexistence of a wide range of risk factors. High blood pressure, anaemia, insulin resistance, inflammation, high oxidative stress are some of the most common factors that cause cardiovascular disease and atherogenesis in patients suffering from End Stage Kidney Disease (ESRD). At the same time, the inflammatory process constitutes a common element in the apparition and development of CKD. A wide range of possible causes can justify the development of inflammation under uremic conditions. Such causes are oxidative stress, oxidation, coexistentpathological conditions as well as factors that are due to renal clearance techniques. Patients in ESRD and coronary disease usually show increased acute phase products. Pre-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-6 and TNF-a, and acute phase reactants, such as CRP and fibrinogen, are closely related. The treatment of chronic inflammation in CKD is of high importance for the development ofthe disease as well as for the treatment of cardiovascular morbidity.Conclusions: The treatment factors focus on the use of renin-angiotensic system inhibitors, acetylsalicylic acid, statins and anti-oxidant treatment in order to prevent the action of inflammatorycytokines that have the ability to activate the mechanisms of inflammation

Προγραμματισμός μεθόδου συναρτήσεων ακτινικής βάσης (RBF) για τη μετατόπιση υπολογιστικών πλεγμάτων σε κάρτες γραφικών

Εθνικό Μετσόβιο Πολυτεχνείο--Μεταπτυχιακή Εργασία. Διεπιστημονικό-Διατμηματικό Πρόγραμμα Μεταπτυχιακών Σπουδών (Δ.Π.Μ.Σ.) “Υπολογιστική Μηχανική

Developmental dynamics of transcription and genome architecture

Abstract Regulation of gene expression is necessary for the control of complex developmental processes. The genome has to shape in specific conformations to fit inside the nucleus and to tether specific regulatory elements to their target genes. Although the linear composition of many genomes is largely known, their three dimensional (3D) organization and dynamics are largely unknown. Hence, in order to unravel gene regulation, it is necessary to understand the chromatin structure and organization. Furthermore, developmental procedures are controlled by complex combinatorial transcription factor (TF) networks. Hence, unveiling those networks will provide a better insight towards understanding those developmental procedures. The work described in this thesis aims to study the genome conformation/interactome and their effect on gene regulation and to unveil the role of transcription factor proteins (TFs) in complex developmental processes

Innovation and multidimensional entrepreneurship: Economic, social and academic aspects

This paper is divided into two parts, a theoretical and an empirical one and attempts to present Quality Management and the importance that it has in facing the international economic/ entrepreneurial competition. More particularly, in the first part of our paper are presented: -the significance of quality and main highlights of Total Quality Management -the history of Quality Management and the relevant literature (the theories of "guru" in the field of Total Quality Management, i.e. Edwards Deming, Joshep Juran, Philip Crosby, Kaoru Ishikawa and Armand Feingenbaum. Moreover, a special report is included in the work of Edwards Deming, as he is considered the father of Total Quality Management -the relations between customers / suppliers and the enterprises, the factors that add value in a product, and the importance of customer service is analyzed. The second part focuses on: -The significance of quality in the banking sector, and more specifically on the Model EFQM and its adoption by Hellenic Bank Public Company Ltd. -The highlighting of the structure of the aforementioned model, the levels of business excellence, the fundamental concepts for Quality Management and the RADAR method. -The case study of a greek bank and the achievement of the bank to be the first in the banking network in Greece that was honored with the "Committed to excellence" award on, -The research that was performed: in the above mentioned Bank with the use of questionnaires. This survey was supported by the nine criteria of EFQM Excellence Model. In the same chapter are presentated the conclusions on the changes in the philosophy of the bank by the adoption of model are indicated. in three banks with the use of questionnaires as well, and referred to customer services

Comparative analysis of the implementation of Triple Helix Theory in Greece and Hungary and lessons learned from both cases'

In the theoretical part of our paper focused on a) The role of the Knowledge / Universities as a leader of Technological change ? Knowledge transfer dynamics and its influence on Regional Development, b) the Entrepreneurship education: The role of the Entrepreneurial University, c) Knowledge Spillovers and regional Innovation System (RIS): empirical evidence of some European Regions, d) the current situation in Greek Higher Education, focusing on the New Educational Law and especially on the plan "Athena" of the Ministry of Education, for the restructure / reallocation of the Greek Universities and Technological Institutions e) The new Law for Research Technology and Innovation in Greece (Horizon 2020 program) c) The Hungarian case study. In the empirical part of our paper, we are studding the restructure / reallocation of the Greek Universities and Technological Institutions. Our research methodology, based on the data extracted from targeted questionnaires addressed both to Greek entrepreneurs and Greek universities ? Scientific Institutions, attempts to show on one hand how the Universities assess the business environment and their new role in the relevant new institutional framework and on the other hand how the Greek industries evaluate their cooperation with the universities sector and their new role in terms of supporting the local entrepreneurship, as well. The used method for analyzing the results is the one of SPSS (descriptive statistics, correlation ? convexity indicators). The main findings coming by the processing of the statistical data of our scientific research, reveal that in crisis period the universities can find a new source of funding by "advertising" their main mission, which is the diffusion of Knowledge, and especially, the innovative one that enterprises need, in order to succeed and to overcome the crisis bad effects. Thus, we can observe that the results of our empirical analysis are strongly related to the relevant literature presented in the theoretical part of our paper. Finally, considerable general conclusions, policy proposals and questions/ challenges for further research will be presented at the end of our study. Finally, we would like to draw your attention on the fact that during this period is taking palace an ongoing relevant research in Hungary and we are expecting the results in order to be able to make a comparative analysis and consequently the appropriate SWOT ANALYSIS

Inter-modelling: From Theory to Practice

Proocedings of: ACM/IEEE 13 th International Conference on Model Driven Engineering Languages and Systems. Oslo, Norway, October 3-8, 2010.We define inter-modelling as the activity of building models that describe how modelling languages should be related. This includes many common activities in Model Driven Engineering, like the specification of model-to-model transformations, the definition of model matching and model traceability constraints, the development of inter-model consistency maintainers and exogenous model management operators. Recently, we proposed a formal approach to specify the allowed and forbidden relations between two modelling languages by means of bidirectional declarative patterns. Such specifications were used to generate graph rewriting rules able to enforce the relations in (forward and backward) model-to-model transformation scenarios. In this paper we extend the usage of patterns for two further inter-modelling scenarios &- model matching and model traceability &- and report on an EMF-based tool implementing them. The tool allows a high-level analysis of specifications based on the theory developed so far, as well as manipulation of traces by compilation of patterns into the Epsilon Object Language.Work funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science (project TIN2008-02081 and grants JC2009-00015, PR2009-0019), the R&D programme of the Madrid Region (project S2009/TIC-1650), the European Commission’s 7th Framework programme (grant #248864 (MADES)), and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) (grant EP/E034853/1).Publicad