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This paper presents a comparative analysis of various capacity mechanisms that are either in force or under approval in key countries/regions in Europe and the US. A detailed analysis on the necessities that led to the establishment of the capacity mechanisms, along with various fundamental technical and operational features associated with the design and operation of different capacity mechanisms, mainly in Europe (Italy, France, Germany, Belgium, Poland, Great Britain, Ireland, Cyprus) and complementarily in the US (PJM, New England), are presented. This analysis is complemented by a real-life application regarding the long-term capacity remuneration mechanism that is expected to be established in Greece in the near future. A detailed simulation of the envisaged capacity mechanism auctions under differentiated scenarios has been performed, regarding the future Greek power system operating conditions during the forthcoming decade (2022–2031). Test results illustrate that the outcome of the auctions is heavily dependent on the future energy generation mix and the market participants' bidding strategy. Whereas, the total cost that will have to be undertaken by the electricity supply companies and, ultimately, by the end-consumers for the financing of the proposed capacity mechanism lies in the range of 5.5–8.7 €/MWh for the entire study period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nursing education and formation is still heterogenous in spite of The Bologna Declaration in 1999. Apart from the existence of basic curriculum standards, universities have flexibility regarding its design. The objective of this study is to provide an overview of contemporary nursing education and contrast it with the legal frameworks in place in four Southern European countries: Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Greece. A scoping review was conducted in order to revise and obtain an up-to-date review of current nursing education and quality. Then, a content evaluation of the legal public framework was conducted. A total of nine articles were included in the review. Data analysis evoked three main themes from the results: nursing education heterogeneity owing to ECTS increased from 180 to 240 for the diversity of clinical practice hours; the nursing framework lacked a definition; and the evolution of nursing education, alongside quality improvement and more accurate guidelines were required. Regarding their legal framework, the main directives and legislation standards were assessed and compared with the current curriculum. To conclude, nursing heterogeneity education evokes competence inequality among students and future professionals as larger curricular programs (240 ECTS) offer more clinical practice. Nursing education uniformity could enhance international mobility and promote knowledge exchange and nursing competence framework definitions. These are facts that certainly bring nursing empowerment. This study was not registered. [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]

Metropolitan decline in southern Europe was documented in few cases, being less intensively investigated than in other regions of the continent. Likely for the first time in recent history, the aftermath of the 2007 recession was a time period associated with economic and demographic decline in Mediterranean Europe. However, the impacts and consequences of the great crisis were occasionally verified and quantified, both in strictly urban contexts and in the surrounding rural areas. By exploiting official statistics, our study delineates sequential stages of demographic growth and decline in a large metropolitan region (Athens, Greece) as a response to economic expansion and stagnation. Having important implications for the extent and spatial direction of metropolitan cycles, the Athens' case—taken as an example of urban cycles in Mediterranean Europe—indicates a possibly new dimension of urban shrinkage, with spatially varying population growth and decline along a geographical gradient of income and wealth. Heterogeneous dynamics led to a leapfrog urban expansion decoupled from agglomeration and scale, the factors most likely shaping long-term metropolitan expansion in advanced economies. Demographic decline in urban contexts was associated with multidimensional socioeconomic processes resulting in spatially complex demographic outcomes that require appropriate, and possibly more specific, regulation policies. By shedding further light on recession-driven metropolitan decline in advanced economies, the present study contributes to re-thinking short-term development mechanisms and medium-term demographic scenarios in Mediterranean Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on the assessment of landslide hazard and risk along or across the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) natural gas pipeline project in Albania. TAP is a natural gas pipeline that will transport gas from the Caspian Sea to Europe, crossing Northern Greece and Southern Albania. It has long been recognised that landsliding is a major factor for TAP's pipeline route selection in mountainous regions, especially the challenging area of central Albania. Experience from similar major pipelines has shown that hazard avoidance is generally the most cost- and time-efficient strategy to minimise the landslide risk since geohazard-related decision-making is usually risk-based. For landslides, the risk profile is expected to be dominated by the upslope expansion of existing landslides, resulting in a loss of ridge crest (where the Right of Way (RoW) is usually located), possibly leading to pipeline rupture. However, it is still possible that new landslides could develop under static and/or seismic conditions, especially on steep ridge flanks along the route. An expert determination approach was adopted to define a consensus for the estimate of the risk (i.e., chance of rupture) for the pipeline at eighty-two (82) identified landslide sites in Albania, to identify "hot spots" along the route, where risk-reduction measures could be prioritised. Ten landslides were characterised as "High Risk", fifteen as "Medium Risk" and nineteen as "Low Risk". Following this risk assessment, two large re-routings, as well as several local re-routings, were considered. Further investigation was required to identify the site-specific geotechnical conditions and probable remedial measures in cases where landslides could not be avoided by rerouting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), is an invasive species in North America and Europe that damages many different host plants. Substantial work has been conducted on the genetic diversity and invasion pathways of H. halys in some of the countries where it has been found, based on mitochondrial sequences. The main objective of the present study was to further explore the genetic diversity of invasive populations of H. halys exploiting both mitochondrial and nuclear markers. We used two molecular markers: the mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase I (COI) gene, an ideal standardized molecular marker for distinguishing closely related species, and the ribosomal Internal Transcribed Spacer 1 (ITS1), because only a few sequences of H. halys exist to this point in global databases. We used specimens from eight populations from Greece, Italy, Canada, and the US. Among the 14 haplotypes retrieved based on the mtCOI gene, two of them (H162–H163) were detected for the first time. These two haplotypes were found in specimens from Canada, Italy, and the US. Concerning the ITS1 region, 24 haplotypes were identified, with 15 being unique for a sampled population. In Greece and the US, 14 and 12 haplotypes were found, respectively, with 7 and 6 of them being unique for Greece and the US, respectively. Our analysis of the nuclear genes of H. halys indicates high genetic diversity of the invading populations in North America and Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2015, a large number of migrants (refugees and asylum seekers) from the Middle East, Asia, and Africa have arrived in Greece and continued their onward journey to western European countries where they settled. As various European Union (EU) countries have later blocked the flow of migrants from Greece to their final destination, thousands of them have been trapped in Greece, confined in overcrowded, temporary camps (known as "hot spots") and awaiting the processing of their asylum application. The current article examines the response of the Greek educational institutes (primary, secondary and tertiary levels) to the recent migrant influx, with ultimate goals to integrate, educate, and assist them. The number of refugees and asylum seekers living in Greece is estimated to be 58,000 (2018 data) with 22,500 children among them. Their schooling inclusion follows the plan 111, "Refugee Education Host Structures (REHSs)", as initiated by the Greek Ministry of Education in 2017. Students' leakage range is still high (10–40% at elementary school and 45–56% at high School). The disruption in their life results in the lack of regular attendance. Greek universities responded to the challenge of the refugee influx, especially the University of the Aegean (UAeg), which is located on the eastern Mediterranean migration route. The UAeg's response plan focuses on four areas: (a) to provide education to refugees; (b) to conduct research on the refugee phenomenon and migration processes; (c) to increase local citizens' awareness and improve social inclusion toward the migrants; and (d) to develop technologies to improve daily life in the refugee camps. These actions are significant toward the social inclusion and cohesion of refugees and the further improvement of their daily life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From 7 November 2020, Greece adopted a second nationwide lockdown policy to mitigate the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 (the first took place from 23 March to 4 May 2020), just as the second wave of COVID-19 was advancing, as did other European countries. To secure the full benefits of mass vaccination, which started in early January 2021, it is of utmost importance to complement it with mid-term non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). The objective was to minimize human losses and to limit social and economic costs. In this paper a two-phase stochastic dynamic network compartmental model (a pre-vaccination SEIR until 15 February 2021 and a post-vaccination SVEIR from 15 February 2021 to 30 June 2021) is developed. Three scenarios are assessed for the first phase: (a) A baseline scenario, which lifts the national lockdown and all NPIs in January 2021; (b) a "semi-lockdown" scenario with school opening, partial retail sector operation, universal mask wearing, and social distancing/teleworking in January 2021; and (c) a "rolling lockdown" scenario combining a partial lifting of measures in January 2021 followed by a third nationwide lockdown in February 2021. In the second phase three scenarios with different vaccination rates are assessed. Publicly available data along with some first results of the SHARE COVID-19 survey conducted in Greece are used as input. The results regarding the first phase indicate that the "semi-lockdown" scenario clearly outperforms the third lockdown scenario (5.7% less expected fatalities); the second phase is extremely sensitive on the availability of sufficient vaccine supplies and high vaccination rates.

The determinants of children's independent school mobility and the contextual discrepancies between these determinants have not been comprehensively investigated in previous studies. It is important to examine these determinants because independent school mobility is associated with children's physical activity, according to the literature. This paper examined the associations of different groups of variables such as household, mobility, perceptions, and the built environment with independent school mobility of children between 9 and 12 years using a sample of 1304 girls (50.9%) and boys (49.1%) in seven European countries. The sample was analyzed by Multinomial Logistic Regression, Chi-square test of independence, and Proportional Reduction in Error methods. According to the findings, father's and mother's commute mode choice, child's mode choice of commute to school, child's bike ownership, parent's perception of safety, parent's evaluation of bike lane and sidewalk quality, child's commute distance, number of driving licenses in the household, accessibility of public transport, and population density in the neighborhood and around the school proved to be very strong and significant determinants of children's independent school mobility in the Europe-wide sample. The comparison of the levels of independent school mobility did not show any significant differences between high-income countries such as Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands, and emerging economies and developing countries like Poland, Greece, Turkey, and Croatia. However, a direct comparison between Poland (emerging economy) (33.6%) and the Netherlands (high-income) (31.7%) revealed significant differences in the level of independent school mobility. This study found the motives for this discrepancy due to the significant difference in bike ownership, the number of household members working outside of the house, household size, commute distances of parents, and driving license possession.

(1) Background: Cardiometabolic diseases are the most common cause of death worldwide. As part of a collaborative European study, this paper aims to explore the implementation of primary care selective-prevention services in five European countries. We assessed the implementation process of the selective-prevention services, participants' cardiometabolic profile and risk and participants' evaluation of the services, in terms of feasibility and impact in promoting a healthy lifestyle. (2) Methods: Eligible participants were primary care patients, 40-65 years of age, without any diagnosis of cardiometabolic disease. Two hundred patients were invited to participate per country. The extent to which participants adopted and completed the implementation of selective-prevention services was recorded. Patient demographics, lifestyle-related cardiometabolic risk factors and opinions on the implementation's feasibility were also collected. (3) Results: Acceptance rates varied from 19.5% (n = 39/200) in Sweden to 100% (n = 200/200) in the Czech Republic. Risk assessment completion rates ranged from 65.4% (n = 70/107) in Greece to 100% (n = 39/39) in Sweden. On a ten-point scale, the median (25-75% quartile) of participant-reported implementation feasibility ranged from 7.4 (6.9-7.8) in Greece to 9.2 (8.2-9.9) in Sweden. Willingness to change lifestyle exceeded 80% in all countries. (4) Conclusions: A substantial variation in the implementation of selective-prevention receptiveness and patient risk profile was observed among countries. Our findings suggest that the design and implementation of behavior change cardiometabolic programmes in each country should be informed by the local context and provide some background evidence towards this direction, which can be even more relevant during the current pandemic period.