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We describe response measures to an outbreak involving 128 (33.4%) coronavirus disease cases (46.1% asymptomatic) among 383 persons onboard a passenger ship. Multivariate analysis indicated that dining in certain rooms and bar areas, nationality, working department (for crew members), and quarantining onboard the ship were significantly associated with infection.

Early identification of COVID-19 cases has been vital for reducing transmission and enabling treatment. In Greece, in autumn 2021 when Delta was the predominant circulating variant, unvaccinated citizens had to be tested before attending activities, and self-testing was required twice a week for students (5–17 years). Here, we describe the time of diagnosis by age group and possible exposure to assess testing strategies (September to November 2021). Information on the presence of symptoms at the time of diagnosis was available for 69,298 cases; 24,855 (36%) were asymptomatic or tested the same day as onset (early diagnosis), 21,310 (31%) reported testing one day after, and 23,133 (33%) did so two or more days after the onset of symptoms. The median lag was 2 days (1–14). Early diagnosis significantly differed among age groups (p-value < 0.001) and was higher among children. For every one-year increase of age, the odds of an early diagnosis were reduced by 1%. Cases exposed during training activities or in settings such as accommodation centers and hospitals were more frequently diagnosed early. The percentage of persons having a positive self-test before a rapid test/PCR diagnosis ranged from 7% in the age group of 60 years and above to 86% in the age group of 5–17 years. The provision of self-tests in schools and increased testing in closed settings led to an earlier diagnosis and probably to a decreased transmission of the virus in the period during which Delta was the predominant variant in Greece. However, more effort is needed for early diagnosis of adults in the community, especially after the onset of symptoms.

Background: European countries have included healthcare workers (HCWs) among priority groups for COVID-19 vaccination. We established a multi-country hospital network to measure the SARS-CoV-2 incidence and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines among HCWs against laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: HCWs from 19 hospitals in 10 countries participated in a dynamic prospective cohort study, providing samples for SARS-CoV-2 testing at enrolment and during weekly/fortnightly follow-up. We measured the incidence during pre-Delta (2 May–6 September 2021), Delta (7 September–14 December 2021), and Omicron (15 December 2021–2 May 2023) waves. Using Cox regression, we measured the relative vaccine effectiveness (rVE) of the first COVID-19 booster dose versus primary course alone during Delta and Omicron waves. Results: We included a total of 3015 HCWs. Participants were mostly female (2306; 79%), with a clinical role (2047; 68%), and had a median age of 44 years. The overall incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection was 3.01/10,000 person-days during pre-Delta, 4.21/10,000 during Delta, and 23.20/10,000 during Omicron waves. rVE was 59% (95% CI: −25; 86) during Delta and 22% (1; 39) during Omicron waves. rVE was 51% (30; 65) 7–90 days after the first booster dose during the Omicron wave. Conclusions: The incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection among HCWs was higher during the Omicron circulation period. The first COVID-19 vaccine booster provided additional protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to primary course vaccination when recently vaccinated <90 days. This multi-country HCW cohort study addressing infection as the main outcome is crucial for informing public health interventions for HCWs.

Background Surgical decompression of the carpal tunnel is considered the method of choice for its treatment with satisfactory results documented. Various methods and suturing materials have been used for closure of the surgical wound. In the present study, we compared interrupted mattress closure by means of nylon suture to running subcuticular closure with vicryl rapide suture. As far as we know, there is no similar study in the literature. Methods A total of twenty patients were included in the study. Ten of them had their surgical wound closed with 3.0 nylon suture in an interrupted fashion and for the rest, a running subcuticular 3.0 vicryl rapide was used. All patients filled in a questionnaire about VAS perceived pain and a Quick DASH score sheet, preoperatively, at two and six weeks postoperatively. The cosmesis of the scar was assessed using the POSAS v2.0 system at two and six weeks after surgery and overall incidence of infections was noted as well. Results There was no statistically important difference between the two groups of patients in regards to postoperative VAS pain levels at two and six weeks. Likewise, no statistically significant difference was evident as far as Quick DASH score, POSAS score and infections were concerned. Conclusions Our results suggest that the use of running subcuticular vicryl rapide suture is an attractive alternative to interrupted nylon sutures for closure after open carpal tunnel decompression, lacking any significant drawbacks. Lay Summary Surgery for carpal tunnel decompression is considered the method of choice for its treatment with documented satisfactory results. Various methods and suturing materials have been used for closure of the surgical wound. In the present study, we compared the use of a non-absorbable suture, placed intermittently to an absorbable continuous intradermal suture. A total of twenty patients were included in the study. Half of them had their wound closed with the absorbable suture and the other half with the non-absorbable suture, as described above. All patients were evaluated as far as pain, scar characteristics, functional outcomes of the operated hand and incidence of infection, at two and six weeks after surgery. After analysis of the data, no significant differences were found between the two groups, suggesting that both of these techniques are equally safe and efficacious.

Nowadays, endpoint security solutions are an essential tool for all organizations in order to protect the network devices. The global endpoint security market is expected to rise even more the following years as the need for security becomes a big concern. Although the most important aspect is the quality of the products, traditional signature based malware detection alone is no longer sufficient in order to be protected. I will try to analyze some key components of a robust endpoint security solution and their protective effects on a system.In many instances where security is a problem we are trying to solve, consultants and Security officers may suggest the company to spend big amounts of money in order to purchase an EDR solution for the business. However if we don’t put the system on a test, we cannot be certain that the solution works as intended.The team should spend time on the configuration of the solution in order to make sure that it detects attackers' activity (network connections, changes in registry) and not only classic signature based ones. Team should check the defaults rules that are available and in general verify that the products meet the requirements that the business has and the things the company claims to be doing.The aim of this master dissertation is to create an in depth comparison of two EDR - systems for assessing cyber security needs and corporate requirements. The primary objective of this paper is to understand the advantages and disadvantages of each solution in an everyday scenario and the information they provide to a Cyber Security Analyst that is working towards ensuring the Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability of the environment they are protecting.Finally, it also provides the opportunity to review the already existing solutions that exist and give recommendations on improvement for the providers.

Our study based on current state-of-the-art molecular epidemiology methods suggests that virus screening and public health measures after the lifting of travel restrictions prevented SARS-CoV-2 onward transmission from imported cases during summer 2020 in Greece. These findings provide important data on the efficacy of targeted public health measures and have important implications regarding the safety of international travel during a pandemic. The novel coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spread rapidly during the first months of 2020 and continues to expand in multiple areas across the globe. Molecular epidemiology has provided an added value to traditional public health tools by identifying SARS-CoV-2 clusters or providing evidence that clusters based on virus sequences and contact tracing are highly concordant. Our aim was to infer the levels of virus importation and to estimate the impact of public health measures related to travel restrictions to local transmission in Greece. Our phylogenetic and phylogeographic analyses included 389 full-genome SARS-CoV-2 sequences collected during the first 7 months of the pandemic in Greece and a random collection in five replicates of 3,000 sequences sampled globally, as well as the best hits to our data set identified by BLAST. Phylogenetic trees were reconstructed by the maximum likelihood method, and the putative source of SARS-CoV-2 infections was inferred by phylogeographic analysis. Phylogenetic analyses revealed the presence of 89 genetically distinct viruses identified as independent introductions into Greece. The proportion of imported strains was 41%, 11.5%, and 8.8% during the three periods of sampling, namely, March (no travel restrictions), April to June (strict travel restrictions), and July to September (lifting of travel restrictions based on thorough risk assessment), respectively. The results of phylogeographic analysis were confirmed by a Bayesian approach. Our findings reveal low levels of onward transmission from imported cases during summer and underscore the importance of targeted public health measures that can increase the safety of international travel during a pandemic. IMPORTANCE Our study based on current state-of-the-art molecular epidemiology methods suggests that virus screening and public health measures after the lifting of travel restrictions prevented SARS-CoV-2 onward transmission from imported cases during summer 2020 in Greece. These findings provide important data on the efficacy of targeted public health measures and have important implications regarding the safety of international travel during a pandemic. Our results can provide a roadmap about prevention policy in the future regarding the reopening of borders in the presence of differences in vaccination coverage, the circulation of the virus, and the presence of newly emergent variants across the globe.

This thesis targets the problem of critical path identification in sub-micron devices. Delays are described using Probability density functions (Pdfs) in order to model the probabilistic nature of the problem. Thus, a deterministic critical path response is not possible. The probability that each path is critical is reported instead. Extensive literature review has being done and presented in detail. Heuristics for accurate critical path calculations are described and results are compared to those from Monte Carlo simulations.

Μεταφορικό Ισοδύναμο είναι το μέτρο, με τη θέσπιση του οποίου επιδιώκεται η εξίσωση του κόστους μεταφοράς με μέσα μαζικής μεταφοράς από την ηπειρωτική Ελλάδα σε νησί ή από νησί σε νησί με το κόστος που θα ίσχυε στην ηπειρωτική Ελλάδα για την ίδια απόσταση. Οι νησιωτικές κοινωνίες αντιμετωπίζουν επείγοντα ζητήματα ερημοποίησης και μακροχρόνια ζητήματα απομόνωσης από τις κεντρικές αγορές προϊόντων στις οποίες αναπτύσσονται οι οικονομίες κλίμακας. Ως αποτέλεσμα αυτών είναι αναγκασμένες να επιβαρύνονται με το επιπλέον κόστος θαλάσσιας μεταφοράς ανθρώπων και προϊόντων στα νησιά σε σχέση με τη χερσαία μεταφορά στην ενδοχώρα. Το επιπλέον αυτό κόστος είναι από τις κύριες αιτίες ενδοπεριφερειακών ανισοτήτων, μείωσης του νησιωτικού πληθυσμού και αποτροπής ίδρυσης και παραμονής των επιχειρήσεων στα νησιά. Η εφαρμογή του μεταφορικού ισοδύναμου εναρμονίζει το κόστος μεταφοράς εμπορευμάτων, από και προς τα νησιά, σε σχέση με το κόστος των χερσαίων μεταφορών. Το κόστος μετακίνησης προϊόντων επιδοτείται από πόρους του Προγράμματος Δημοσίων Επενδύσεων με κανόνες συμβατούς για τις κρατικές ενισχύσεις στην Ε.Ε., σε βαθμό που εναρμονίζει τη μετακίνηση τους στη θάλασσα με το κόστος στη στεριά. Σκοπός είναι η εξασφάλιση της ίσης μεταχείρισης προς τις νησιωτικές κοινότητες αναφορικά με το μεταφορικό κόστος που καλούνται να πληρώνουν για τις μεταφορές τους, το οποίο θα πρέπει να είναι ανάλογο με το τίμημα που καταβάλουν αντίστοιχου μεγέθους κοινότητες της ηπειρωτικής χώρας. Συνεπώς στοχεύει στην ελαχιστοποίηση του οικονομικού μειονεκτήματος που επιβαρύνει τις απομακρυσμένες νησιωτικές κοινότητες έτσι ώστε με τη σειρά τους να συμβάλλουν περισσότερο στην οικονομική ανάπτυξη της χώρας.

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have expanded global access to education but continue to struggle with high attrition rates. This study presents a comparative analysis of self-labeled Semi-Supervised Learning (SSL) algorithms for predicting learner dropout. Unlike traditional supervised models that rely solely on labeled data, self-labeled methods iteratively exploit both labeled and unlabeled instances, alleviating the scarcity of annotations in large-scale educational datasets. Using real-world MOOC data, ten self-labeled algorithms, including self-training, co-training, and tri-training variants, were evaluated across multiple labeled ratios. The experimental results show that ensemble-based methods, such as Co-training Random Forest, Co-Training by Committee, and Relevant Random subspace co-training, achieve predictive accuracy comparable to that fully supervised baselines even with as little as 4% labeled data. Beyond predictive performance, the findings highlight the scalability and cost-effectiveness of self-labeled SSL as a data-driven approach for enhancing learner retention in massive online learning.