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We present different data analytic methodologies that have been applied in order to understand the evolution of the first wave of the Coronavirus disease 2019 in the Republic of Cyprus and the effect of different intervention measures that have been taken by the government. Change point detection has been used in order to estimate the number and locations of changes in the behaviour of the collected data. Count time series methods have been employed to provide short term projections and a number of various compartmental models have been fitted to the data providing with long term projections on the pandemic's evolution and allowing for the estimation of the effective reproduction number. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diversifying the role of grid-side converters (GSCs) associated with distributed generation (DG) may have a technical and economic impact. The increasing number of residential photovoltaic systems can be exploited by distribution network (DN) operators in order to support and improve the power quality of the grid without considerable further capital investment. The GSC can support the grid during abnormal conditions but may also be used to improve the DN power quality by balancing out asymmetries and alleviating the grid from undesired harmonics. The proposed advanced control technique demonstrates through simulation and experimental results that the role of GSC can be upgraded to improve the power quality of the grid. Furthermore, the proposed control scheme is validated on a realistic low-voltage DN using data from the Electricity Authority of Cyprus. Consequently, conventional practices by DN operators for improving the power quality can be reassessed as the necessary power electronics hardware for mitigating grid problems is already present within the GSCs of DG systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As renewed talks for the reunification of Cyprus encounter familiar barriers, this essay urges the reader to consider the importance of language use in the Greek Cypriot community. Drawing on Jacques Derrida's work on speech and writing, it examines the political significance of Demotic Greek and the Cypriot Greek spoken every day, arguing that the conflicts of Greek Cypriot identity since decolonization are played out by the tension between the two forms of Greek. Demotic use invokes an essential Greek identity that excludes the Oriental, particularly Turkish, Other. However, its use remains primarily written even though it summons the classical philosophy and Greek Orthodoxy that celebrate speech, not writing, as the mode of self-expression. Paradoxically, the use of written Demotic presents a Hellenized version of Cyprus at the same time that it undermines one of the foundational principles of Hellenic culture. Cypriot Greek persists in speech, resisting the textual seduction and invasion by Demotic. It can, with its explicit, supranational diversity, be understood as a celebration of Cypriot difference that demonstrates the multi-faceted construction of identity on the island. Indeed, Cypriot Greek deconstructs the hierarchical opposition between Occidental and Oriental. In its difference from Demotic, Cypriot Greek invokes the polyculturalism of Cyprus, an instance of the diversity too often ignored and repressed in diverse locations across the Mediterranean and the Middle East with tragic consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last two decades the scarcity of water resources is exponentially growing worldwide. Cyprus is one of the countries in the Mediterranean where the water shortage problem is evident and very severe. This paper describes an intelligent and flexible, hybrid decision support system for the management of water resources in the regions along the South Conveyor Project, the largest water development project in Cyprus. In particular, the paper presents the integrated system and its architecture, together with detailed descriptions of the hybrid components synthesizing it. Details on the implementation and preliminary evaluation of the system are also provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gamma radiation in samples of a variety of natural tiling rocks (granites) imported in Cyprus for use in the building industry was measured, employing high-resolution γ-ray spectroscopy. The rock samples were pulverised, sealed in 1-l plastic Marinelli beakers, and measured in the laboratory with an accumulating time between 10 and 14 h each. From the measured γ-ray spectra, activity concentrations were determined for 232Th (range from 1 to 906 Bq kg−1), 238U (from 1 to 588 Bq kg−1) and 40K (from 50 to 1606 Bq kg−1). The total absorbed dose rates in air calculated from the concentrations of the three radionuclides ranged from 7 to 1209 nGy h−1 for full utilization of the materials, from 4 to 605 nGy h−1 for half utilization and from 2 to 302 nGy h−1 for one quarter utilization. The total effective dose rates per person indoors were determined to be between 0.02 and 2.97 mSv y−1 for half utilization of the materials. Applying dose criteria recently recommended by the EU for superficial materials, 25 of the samples meet the exemption dose limit of 0.3 mSv y−1, two of them meet the upper dose limit of 1 mSv y−1 and only one clearly exceeds this limit. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Autosomal-dominant medullary cystic kidney disease type 1: Clinical and molecular findings in six large Cypriot families. Background. Autosomal-dominant medullary cystic kidney disease (ADMCKD), a hereditary chronic interstitial nephropathy, recently attracted attention because of the cloning or mapping of certain gene loci, namely NPHP1, NPHP2 and NPHP3 for familial juvenile nephronophthisis (NPH) and MCKD1 and MCKD2 for the adult form of medullary cystic kidney disease. Our aim was to present and discuss the clinical, biochemical, sonographic and histopathological findings in six large Cypriot families in whom molecular analysis has confirmed linkage to the MCKD1 locus on chromosome 1q21. Methods. The clinical, biochemical, sonographic and histopathological findings in 186 members of six large Cypriot families with ADMCKD-1 are presented. Creatinine clearance was calculated according to the Cockroft-Gault formula and was corrected to a body surface area (BSA) of 1.73 m2 . DNA linkage analysis was performed with previously identified flanking polymorphic markers. Results. This disease is characterized by the absence of urinary findings in the vast majority of patients, leading to end-stage renal failure (ESRF) at a mean age of 53.7 years. Hypertension and hyperuricemia are common, especially in males, the former encountered more frequently in advanced chronic renal failure (CRF). Gout has been noted in a small percentage of male patients. Loss of urinary concentrating ability was not a prominent early feature of the disease, while severe natriuresis was observed in a few males toward ESRF. Renal cysts are mainly corticomedullary or medullary, and they are present in about 40.3% of patients and appear more frequently near ESRF. Conclusion. ADMCKD type 1 is a common cause of ESRF among our dialysis population. The disease is difficult to diagnose clinically, particularly in the early stage when renal cysts are not usually present, making them a weak... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]