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Rosa damascena Mill. is commercially the most important rose species used to produce essential oils. The plants of this species, cultivated in the district of Western Macedonia (Greece) for rose oil production, originated from indigenous genotypes but also nurseries abroad, mainly from Bulgaria. The present study investigated the genetic relationship between nine genotypes of R. damascena from Greece, one genotype from Turkey, three genotypes from Bulgaria and three genotypes from France using the molecular markers ISSR and SCoT. Also, the rooting ability of shoot cuttings from these nine genotypes was investigated by applying 2 g/L of the rooting regulator K-IBA. In addition, petals were chemically analyzed using GC-MS and LC-MS to identify the compounds that are the main components of the rose oil. The nine rose genotypes of R. damascena, cultivated in Greece, one from Turkey and one of the three genotypes from Bulgaria were clustered in one clade in the dendrogram. The other two genotypes from Bulgaria were clustered in a separate clade that demonstrated the existence of genetic diversity among the three Bulgarian genotypes, while the French genotypes were clustered in a third clade. The shoot cuttings rooted relatively easily (55–70%) with the application of K-IBA, without any significant differences among the nine genotypes. Large variation was observed among the nine genotypes in the main volatile compounds of the flower petal extracts, which are related to rose oil components. For these compounds, the concentrations in μg/g of the fresh petal weight were 2-phenylethylalcohol (1148.35–2777.19), nerol (27.45–64.93), citronellol (88.45–206.59), geraniol (69.12–170.99) and nonadecane (209.27–533.15). Of the non-volatile compounds, gallic acid was the most abundant phenolic acid in the petal extracts of the nine genotypes (0.28–0.82 μg/g), while for the flavonoids, quercetin and kaempferol variations of 0.35–1.17 μg/g and 0.26–2.13 μg/g were recorded, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The databases of children's anthropometric parameters are often outdated, rarely representative and are not always available at an international level. Objectives: To present children's anthropometric parameters in six European countries that contributed to the Feel4Diabetes project and find country-specific differences. Design/Setting: The Feel4Diabetes study was performed between 2016 and 2018, targeting children in Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, Greece, Hungary and Spain. The current study presents data from the baseline and the yearly follow-up anthropometric measurements. Subjects: In total, 20,832 measurements of children (48.7% boys) between 6 and 10 years of age were conducted. Main outcome measure: weight, height, BMI. Results: Belgian boys had the lowest body weight and height, while Greek boys had the highest body weight, and Finnish had the highest body height. The highest proportion of overweight (percentile above 85%) and obese boys (percentile above 95%) was in Greece, followed by Hungarian, Spanish, Bulgarian and Finnish boys. In contrast, Belgian boys had the lowest ratio in both categories. Among girls, Greece had the highest; Belgium had the lowest body weight; Finland was the highest in all age categories. The ratio in the overweight range was the highest in Greece, followed by Spanish, Bulgarian and Hungarian girls, who were second in the obese category. Finnish girls had lower and Belgian girls had the lowest ratio in both BMI categories. All the detailed data are presented in tables, and the trends are figures. Conclusions: Our study presents fresh and comparable anthropometric data of children between 6 and 10 years of age in six European countries, supporting the need for appropriate obesity prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Italy, Greece, and, to a lesser degree, Bulgaria have experienced fast growth in their renewable generation capacity (RESc) over the last several years. The consequences of this fact include a decrease in spot wholesale prices in electricity markets and a significant effect on cross border trading (CBT) among neighboring interconnected countries. In this work, we empirically analyzed historical data on fundamental market variables (i.e., spot prices, load, RES generation) as well as CBT data (imports, exports, commercial schedules, net transfer capacities, etc.) on the Greek, Italian, and Bulgarian electricity markets by applying the Granger causality connectivity analysis (GCCA) approach. The aim of this analysis was to detect all possible interactions among the abovementioned variables, focusing in particular on the effects of growing shares of RES generation on the commercial electricity trading among the abovementioned countries for the period 2015–2018. The key findings of this paper are summarized as the following: The RES generation in Italy, for the period examined, drives the spot prices in Greece via commercial schedules. In addition, on average, spot price fluctuations do not affect the commercial schedules of energy trading between Greece and Bulgaria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stachys thracica Davidov is a Balkan endemic species distributed in Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey. In Bulgaria, it is classified as "rare" and is under the protection of the Bulgarian biodiversity law. The aim of our study was to develop an efficient protocol for ex situ conservation of S. thracica and to perform comparative NMR-based metabolite profiling and bioactivity assays of extracts from in situ grown, in vitro cultivated, and ex vitro acclimated plants. Micropropagation of S. thracica was achieved by in vitro cultivation of mono-nodal segments on basal MS medium. Ex vitro adaptation was accomplished in the experimental field with 83% survival while conserved genetic identity between in vitro and ex vitro plants as shown by the overall sequence-related amplified polymorphism marker patterns was established. Verbascoside, chlorogenic acid, and trigonelline appeared the main secondary metabolites in in situ, in vitro cultivated, and ex vitro acclimated S. thracica. High total phenolic and flavonoid content as well as antioxidant and radical scavenging activity were observed in in situ and ex vitro plants. Further, the anti-inflammatory activity of S. thracica was tested by hemolytic assay and a high inhibition of the complement system was observed. Initiated in vitro and ex vitro cultures offer an effective tool for the management and better exploitation of the Stachys secondary metabolism and the selection of lines with high content of bioactive molecules and nutraceuticals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the complexity of electric systems increases, so does the required effort for the monitoring and management of grid operations. To solve grid performance issues, smart grids require the exchange of higher volumes of data, high availability of the telecommunication infrastructure, and very low latency. The fifth generation (5G) mobile network seems to be the most promising technology to support such requirements, allowing utilities to have dedicated virtual slices of network resources to maximize the service availability in case of network congestions. Regarding this evolving scenario, this work presents the Smart5Grid project vision on how 5G can support the energy vertical industry for the fast deployment of innovative digital services. Specifically, this work introduces the concept of network applications (NetApps), a new paradigm of virtualization that are envisioned to facilitate the creation of a new market for information technology (IT), small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and startups. This concept, and the open architecture that facilitates its implementation, is showcased by four real-life 5G-enabled demonstrators: (1) automatic fault detection in a medium voltage (MV) grid in Italy, (2) real-time safety monitoring for operators in high voltage (HV) substations in Spain, (3) remote distributed energy resources (DER) monitoring in Bulgaria, and (4) wide area monitoring in a cross-border scenario between Greece and Bulgaria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comparative analysis of energy poverty transitions and persistence can provide valuable suggestions for long-term policy actions. This study examines the dynamics of energy poverty in 17 European countries based on the longitudinal household data from the EU Survey on Income and Living Conditions, waves 2015–2018. The study pursues two goals. First, we explore households' chances of transitioning in and out of energy poverty in each country following the discrete-time Markov process. On average, the probability to stay in energy poverty is 51.5%, and there is a lot of heterogeneity across countries. Households in Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, and Lithuania are quite close to the energy poverty trap. Second, we identify factors that help energy-poor households leave energy poverty. Demographic, technical, and socio-economic factors are the drivers in escaping energy poverty, which suggests common EU policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Cheatgrass is an annual grass species from Eurasia that has become invasive in much of western North America. It has been implicated in the recent increases in the frequency, size, and intensity of wildfires, contributing to severe economic, environmental, and social destruction. In order to reduce this damage, the USDA-ARS established a classical biological control program against cheatgrass. In 2018 and 2019, adult gall midges were collected emerging from cheatgrass seed heads collected at several sites in Bulgaria and Greece; this is the first gall midge ever recorded from cheatgrass. Morphological and DNA barcode comparisons with related midge species recorded from other plant hosts revealed that this midge from cheatgrass is a new species, described here as Stenodiplosis tectori n. sp. The present study is the first to report DNA barcode data in the genus Stenodiplosis. The DNA barcode results indicated relatively high year-to-year within-population diversity. Implications for this gall midge's utility as a biological control agent of cheatgrass are discussed. Cheatgrass is an annual grass species from Eurasia that has become invasive in much of western North America. It has been implicated in recent increases in the frequency, size, and intensity of wildfires, contributing to severe economic, environmental, and social destruction. In order to reduce this damage, the USDA-ARS established a classical biological control program against cheatgrass. In 2018 and 2019, adult gall midges were collected emerging from cheatgrass seed heads collected at several sites in Bulgaria and Greece; this is the first gall midge ever recorded from cheatgrass. Morphological comparisons with related midge species recorded from other plant hosts revealed that this midge from cheatgrass is a new species, described here as Stenodiplosis tectori n. sp. This status was supported by sequence comparisons of a barcode region of the gene encoding the mitochondrial cytochrome c subunit I (CO1) protein in Stenodiplosis tectori n. sp. and three congeners. The present study is the first to report MT-CO1 data in the genus Stenodiplosis. The ingroup Stenodiplosis tectori n. sp. collected in the Balkans grouped in one phylogenetic supported clade, with an average K2P-distance from its closest related congener, S. sorghicola, of 7.73% (SD = 1.10). The findings indicated relatively high year-to-year within-population diversity. Implications for this gall midge's utility as a biological control agent of cheatgrass are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]