Showing papers by "University of Cyprus published in 2005"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors study how corporate boards and audit committees are associated with voluntary financial disclosure practices, proxied here by management earnings forecasts, and find that in firms with more effective board and audit committee structures, managers are more likely to make or update an earnings forecast, and their forecast is less likely to be precise, it is more accurate, and it elicits a more favorable market response.
Abstract: We study how corporate boards and audit committees are associated with voluntary financial disclosure practices, proxied here by management earnings forecasts. We find that in firms with more effective board and audit committee structures, managers are more likely to make or update an earnings forecast, and their forecast is less likely to be precise, it is more accurate, and it elicits a more favorable market response. Together, our empirical evidence is broadly consistent with the notion that effective corporate governance is associated with higher financial disclosure quality.
1,319 citations
867 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the relationship between audit committees and boards of directors with financial reporting quality was investigated using data collected from U.S. firms between 1994 and 2000, and the results from logistic regressions suggest that measures of audit committee and board structure are related to earnings quality in a manner that is generally consistent with the predictions of agency theory.
Abstract: I use data on 252 U.S. firms between 1994 and 2000 to study the relationship between audit committees and boards of directors with financial reporting quality. I initially document several changes in committee and board profile during the sample period. Results from logistic regressions suggest that measures of audit committee and board structure are related to earnings quality in a manner that is generally consistent with the predictions of agency theory. This study contributes to extant knowledge by employing different earnings quality measures from prior studies, and by expanding the range of audit committee attributes deemed important in determining audit committee performance.
509 citations
TL;DR: Phosphate addition to surface waters of the ultraoligotrophic, phosphorus-starved eastern Mediterranean in a Lagrangian experiment caused unexpected ecosystem responses, and copepods may be coupled to lower trophic levels through interactions not usually considered.
Abstract: Phosphate addition to surface waters of the ultraoligotrophic, phosphorus-starved eastern Mediterranean in a Lagrangian experiment caused unexpected ecosystem responses. The system exhibited a decline in chlorophyll and an increase in bacterial production and copepod egg abundance. Although nitrogen and phosphorus colimitation hindered phytoplankton growth, phosphorous may have been transferred through the microbial food web to copepods via two, not mutually exclusive, pathways: (i) bypass of the phytoplankton compartment by phosphorus uptake in heterotrophic bacteria and (ii) tunnelling, whereby phosphate luxury consumption rapidly shifts the stoichiometric composition of copepod prey. Copepods may thus be coupled to lower trophic levels through interactions not usually considered.
451 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a command filtered backstepping approach is presented that uses adaptive function approximation to control UAVs using three feedback loops, including an inner loop that generates surface position commands.
Abstract: A command filtered backstepping approach is presented that uses adaptive function approximation to control unmanned air vehicles. The controller is designed using three feedback loops. The command inputs to the airspeed and flight-path angle controller are x c , γ c , V c and the bounded first derivatives of these signals. That loop generates comand inputs μ c , α c for a wind-axis angle loop. The sideslip angle command β c is always zero. The wind-axis angle loop generates rate commands P c , Q c , R c for an inner loop that generates surface position commands. The control approach includes adaptive approximation of the aerodynamic force and moment coefficient functions. The approach maintains the stability (in the sense of Lyapunov) of the adaptive function approximation process in the presence of magnitude, rate, and bandwidth limitations on the intermediate states and the surfaces.
330 citations
TL;DR: Evidence from the present study indicates that the evolved model was effective in developing some aspects of ICT-related PCK, and more systematic efforts are needed to engage preservice elementary teachers in technology-rich design activities, so that they can adequately develop all aspects ofICT- related PCK.
Abstract: This study discusses the evolution of an instructional systems design (ISD) model that is based on an expanded view of Shulman's concept of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). An initial model was evaluated in the first iteration of a design experiment, and then it was changed and assessed in two other iterations that followed. The proposed ISD model can be used in educational technology courses, elementary teacher education method courses, and teacher professional development courses to develop information and communication technology (ICT)-related PCK. ICT-related PCK comprises a body of knowledge that educators need to be able to teach with ICT. Evidence from the present study, with preservice elementary teachers, indicates that the evolved model was effective in developing some aspects of ICT-related PCK. Based on the results of the study, more systematic efforts are needed to engage preservice teachers in technology-rich design activities, so that they can adequately develop all aspects of ICT-related PCK. Finally, this study provides baseline data that can be used for comparison purposes in future studies that may be conducted to further validate or modify the suggested ISD model.
316 citations
TL;DR: A comparative evaluation of despeckle filtering based on texture analysis, image quality evaluation metrics, and visual evaluation by medical experts in the assessment of 440 ultrasound images of the carotid artery bifurcation suggests that the first order statistics filter lsmv, gave the best performance, followed by the geometric filter gf4d, and the homogeneous mask area filter l sminsc.
Abstract: It is well-known that speckle is a multiplicative noise that degrades the visual evaluation in ultrasound imaging. The recent advancements in ultrasound instrumentation and portable ultrasound devices necessitate the need of more robust despeckling techniques for enhanced ultrasound medical imaging for both routine clinical practice and teleconsultation. The objective of this work was to carry out a comparative evaluation of despeckle filtering based on texture analysis, image quality evaluation metrics, and visual evaluation by medical experts in the assessment of 440 (220 asymptomatic and 220 symptomatic) ultrasound images of the carotid artery bifurcation. In this paper a total of 10 despeckle filters were evaluated based on local statistics, median filtering, pixel homogeneity, geometric filtering, homomorphic filtering, anisotropic diffusion, nonlinear coherence diffusion, and wavelet filtering. The results of this study suggest that the first order statistics filter lsmv, gave the best performance, followed by the geometric filter gf4d, and the homogeneous mask area filter lsminsc. These filters improved the class separation between the asymptomatic and the symptomatic classes based on the statistics of the extracted texture features, gave only a marginal improvement in the classification success rate, and improved the visual assessment carried out by the two experts. More specifically, filters lsmv or gf4d can be used for despeckling asymptomatic images in which the expert is interested mainly in the plaque composition and texture analysis; and filters lsmv, gf4d, or lsminsc can be used for the despeckling of symptomatic images in which the expert is interested in identifying the degree of stenosis and the plaque borders. The proper selection of a despeckle filter is very important in the enhancement of ultrasonic imaging of the carotid artery. Further work is needed to evaluate at a larger scale and in clinical practice the performance of the proposed despeckle filters in the automated segmentation, texture analysis, and classification of carotid ultrasound imaging.
288 citations
TL;DR: Lack of sunshine duration measurements renders Angstrom’s approach inapplicable; hence the feasibility of applying the ANN models for the calculation of solar radiation in places where there is a lack of sunshineduration measurements is investigated.
270 citations
265 citations
13 Dec 2005
TL;DR: The MicroHash index is proposed, which is an efficient external memory structure for Wireless Sensor Devices (WSDs) that exploits the asymmetric read/write and wear characteristics of flash memory in order to offer high performance indexing and searching capabilities in the presence of a low energy budget.
Abstract: In this paper we propose the MicroHash index, which is an efficient external memory structure for Wireless Sensor Devices (WSDs). The most prevalent storage medium for WSDs is flash memory. Our index structure exploits the asymmetric read/write and wear characteristics of flash memory in order to offer high performance indexing and searching capabilities in the presence of a low energy budget which is typical for the devices under discussion. A key idea behind MicroHash is to eliminate expensive random access deletions. We have implemented MicroHash in nesC, the programming language of the TinyOS [7] operating system. Our trace-driven experimentation with several real datasets reveals that our index structure offers excellent search performance at a small cost of constructing and maintaining the index.
198 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined the relationship between listening and reading comprehension and found that reading comprehension levels were higher in Grades 2, 4, 6, and 8 than listening comprehension levels, regardless of text type.
Abstract: This study examined the hypotheses that (a) the relationship between listening and reading comprehension becomes stronger after decoding mastery; (b) the difference between listening and reading decreases with increasing grade level; and (c) similar patterns of relationship and difference are obtained with narrative and expository texts. The sample included 612 students in Grades 2, 4, 6, and 8. Students read and listened to two narratives and two expository texts and completed corresponding comprehension tests that were in the form of sentence verification tasks. The findings confirmed the first two hypotheses but not the third one. In the case of expository text, the relationship between listening and reading comprehension was weaker than the corresponding one with narrative text, and performance levels were comparable across all elementary grades. Moreover, reading comprehension levels were higher than listening comprehension levels in Grade 8, regardless of text type. The implications of these finding...
TL;DR: In this article, an EDS analysis yielded an interdiffusivity value of 1.9μm2/s, attributed to high strain rate (∼103−s−1) plastic deformation in aluminum, which may increase the instantaneous vacancy concentration as high as ∼10−1.
TL;DR: This article found that burnout and personality were linked to the perceived severity of 24 undesirable student behaviors among experienced and trainee teachers, suggesting that the more stressed teachers are, the less tolerant they become of challenging and aversive behaviors.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to assess whether burnout and personality were linked to the perceived severity of 24 undesirable student behaviors among experienced and trainee teachers. Results indicated that teaching experience, student gender, and type of behavior were important determinants of their perceptions. Burnout had a significant effect on the severity ratings of antisocial and oppositional/defiant behaviors, suggesting that the more stressed teachers are, the less tolerant they become of such challenging and aversive behaviors. With regard to personality, severity ratings of students' undesirable behaviors were associated with high levels of conscientiousness and neuroticism. Findings indicate that burnout and personality provide a lens through which teachers appraise the severity of students' behaviors. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 42: 79–89, 2005.
TL;DR: A pilot plasma gasification/vitrification system was designed, constructed and installed in Viotia Region in Greece in order to examine the efficiency of this innovative technology in treating industrial hazardous waste.
TL;DR: The autocorrelation function of the donor-acceptor tunneling matrix element for six Ru-azurin derivatives is computed and it is shown that for azurin, the correlation function is remarkably insensitive to tunneling pathway structure.
Abstract: We compute the autocorrelation function of the donor-acceptor tunneling matrix element for six Ru-azurin derivatives. Comparison of this decay time to the decay time of the time-dependent Franck-Condon factor {computed by Rossky and coworkers [Lockwood, D. M., Cheng, Y.-K. & Rossky, P. J. (2001) Chem. Phys. Lett. 345, 159-165]} reveals the extent to which non-Condon effects influence the electron-transfer rate. is studied as a function of donor-acceptor distance, tunneling pathway structure, tunneling energy, and temperature to explore the structural and dynamical origins of non-Condon effects. For azurin, the correlation function is remarkably insensitive to tunneling pathway structure. The decay time is only slightly shorter than it is for solvent-mediated electron transfer in small organic molecules and originates, largely, from fluctuations of valence angles rather than bond lengths.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored the categorization of flexible work arrangements into bundles and their connection to organizational competitiveness in the European Union and found that non-standard work patterns were related to decreased turnover, while Work Away from the Office was related to improved performance and reduced absenteeism.
Abstract: The present study explores the categorization of flexible work arrangements (FWAs) into bundles and their connection to organizational competitiveness in the European Union. The measures of competitiveness were performance, turnover, and absenteeism. Four moderators were used in the study, organization sector, industry sector, organization size, and organizational women-supportiveness. The analyses revealed four FWA Bundles, namely Non-Standard Work Patterns, Work Away from the Office, Non-Standard Work Hours and Work Outsourced. Non-Standard Work Patterns were found to be related to decreased turnover (in the private sector), while Work Away from the Office was related to improved performance and reduced absenteeism. Non-Standard Work Hours and Work Outsourced (within the public sector) were positively related to turnover, suggesting that these types are possibly not being used as true flexibility arrangements. Finally, post-hoc analysis revealed that Non-Standard Work Hours was related to increased performance only among Swedish organizations. Implications for management and future research are discussed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe the development of an attitude toward research scale and verify the dimensions of attitudes toward research among undergraduate students enrolled in introductory research courses, based on a factor analysis.
Abstract: SUMMARY Students at the undergraduate level usually tend to view research methods courses negatively. However, an understanding of these attitudes is necessary to help instructors facilitate the learning of research for their students, by enabling them to create more positive attitudes toward such courses. The aim of this study is to describe the development of an “attitudes toward research” scale and verify the dimensions of attitudes toward research among undergraduate students enrolled in introductory research courses. The basic hypothesis of this research study is that the concept of attitudes is multidimensional in nature. The sample of the study consisted of 226 students who had completed a research methods course. Based on a factor analysis, five factors of student attitudes toward research were identified. These were the factors of usefulness of research, anxiety, affect indicating positive feelings about research, life relevancy of research to the students’ daily lives, and difficulty of research.
TL;DR: The authors argue that failure to grasp the distinctions between globalisation, globalism, and cosmopolitanism derives from mistaken identifications of the Is with the Ought and leads to naive and ethnocentric glorification of the potentialities of globalisation.
Abstract: In this paper, I discuss globalisation as an empirical reality that is in a complex relation to its corresponding discourse and in a critical distance from the cosmopolitan ideal. I argue that failure to grasp the distinctions between globalisation, globalism, and cosmopolitanism derives from mistaken identifications of the Is with the Ought and leads to naive and ethnocentric glorifications of the potentialities of globalisation. Conversely, drawing the appropriate distinctions helps us articulate a more critical approach to contemporary cultural phenomena, and reconsider the current place and potential role of education within the context of global affairs. From this perspective, the antagonistic impulses cultivated by globalisation and some globalist discourse are singled out and targeted via a radicalization of educational orientations. The final suggestion of the article concerns the vision of a more cosmopolitically sensitive education.
TL;DR: The construction, description and testing of a theoretical model of problem posing, operationalize procesess that are frequently described in problem solving and problem posing literature in order to generate a model, and shows that students are more successful in first posing problems that involve comprehending processes, then translation processes and finally editing and selecting processes.
Abstract: This article focuses on the construction, description and testing of a theoretical model of problem posing. We operationalize procesess that are frequently described in problem solving and problem posing literature in order to generate a model. We name these processes editing quantitative information, their meanings or relationships, selecting quantitative information, comprehending and organizing quantitative information by giving it meaning or creating relations between provided information, and translating quantitative information from one form to another. The validity and the applicability of the model is empirically tested using five problem-posing tests with 143 6th grade students in Cyprus. The analysis shows that three different categories of students can be identified. Category 1 students are able to respond only to the comprehension tasks. Category 2 students are able to respond to both the comprehension and translation tasks, while Category 3 students are able to respond to all types of tasks. The results of the study also show that students are more successful in first posing problems that involve comprehending processes, then translation processes and finally editing and selecting processes.
TL;DR: The results indicate that the task of preparing preservice teachers to become technology competent is difficult and requires many efforts for providing them with ample of opportunities during their education to develop the competencies needed to be able to teach with technology.
Abstract: In this study, an instructional design model was employed for restructuring a teacher education course with technology. The model was applied in a science education method course, which was offered in two different but consecutive semesters with a total enrollment of 111 students in the fall semester and 116 students in the spring semester. Using tools, such as multimedia authoring tools in the fall semester and modeling software in the spring semester, teacher educators designed high quality technology-infused lessons for science and, thereafter, modeled them in classroom for preservice teachers. An assessment instrument was constructed to assess preservice teachers' technology competency, which was measured in terms of four aspects, namely, (a) selection of appropriate science topics to be taught with technology, (b) use of appropriate technology-supported representations and transformations for science content, (c) use of technology to support teaching strategies, and (d) integration of computer activities with appropriate inquiry-based pedagogy in the science classroom. The results of a MANOVA showed that preservice teachers in the Modeling group outperformed preservice teachers' overall performance in the Multimedia group, F=21.534, p=0.000. More specifically, the Modeling group outperformed the Multimedia group on only two of the four aspects of technology competency, namely, use of technology to support teaching strategies and integration of computer activities with appropriate pedagogy in the classroom, F=59.893, p=0.000, and F=10.943, p=0.001 respectively. The results indicate that the task of preparing preservice teachers to become technology competent is difficult and requires many efforts for providing them with ample of opportunities during their education to develop the competencies needed to be able to teach with technology.
02 Sep 2005
TL;DR: The Vehicular Information Transfer Protocol (VITP), an application-layer communication protocol, which is designed to support the establishment of a distributed, ad-hoc service infrastructure over VANET, is introduced.
Abstract: Recent advances in wireless inter-vehicle communication systems enable the development of Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks (VANET) and create significant opportunities for the deployment of a wide variety of vehicular applications and services. In this paper, we introduce the Vehicular Information Transfer Protocol (VITP), an application-layer communication protocol, which is designed to support the establishment of a distributed, ad-hoc service infrastructure over VANET. The VITP infrastructure can be used to provide location-based, traffic-oriented services to drivers, using information retrieved from vehicular sensors and taking advantage of on-board GPS navigation systems. In this paper, we present the key design concepts of the protocol and the infrastructure, the protocol specification, simple examples of protocol interactions that support driver inquiries, and a simulation study of VITP performance properties.
TL;DR: A brief review of searches for physics beyond the Standard Model using single and multi-photon events with missing energy at LEP is given in this paper, including searches for supersymmetry, large extra dimensions, and anomalous neutrino production.
TL;DR: The experimental results show that the performance loss due to activity migration on a multi-core with private L1s and a shared L2 can be minimized if: (a) a migrating thread continues its execution on a core that was previously visited by the thread, and (b) cores remember their predictor state since their previous activation.
Abstract: High performance multi-core processors are becoming an industry reality. Although multi-cores are suited for multithreaded and multi-programmed workloads, many applications are still mono-thread and multi-core performance with a single thread workload is an important issue. Furthermore, recent studies suggest that performance, power and temperature considerations of future multi-cores may necessitate activity-migration between cores.Motivated by the above, this paper investigates the performance implications of single thread migration on a multi-core. Specifically, the study considers the influence on the performance of a single thread of the following migration and multi-core parameters: frequency of migration, core warm-up modes, subset of resources that are warmed-up, number of cores, and cache hierarchy organization. The results of this study can provide insight to architects on how to design performance-efficient power and thermal strategies for a multi-core chip.The experimental results, for the benchmarks and microarchitectures used in this study, show that the performance loss due to activity migration on a multi-core with private L1s and a shared L2 can be minimized if: (a) a migrating thread continues its execution on a core that was previously visited by the thread, and (b) cores remember their predictor state since their previous activation (all other core resources can be cold). The analogous conclusions for a multi-core with private L1s and L2s and a shared L3 are: remembering the predictor state, maintaining the tags of the various L2 caches coherent and allowing L2-L2 data transfers from inactive cores to the active core.The data also show that when migration period is at least every 160K cycles, the transfer of register state between two cores and the flushing of dirty private L1 data have a negligible performance overhead.
TL;DR: In this paper, a powder-actuated fastener-applied (PAF) FRP was used to install mechanical fasteners through predrilled holes in the fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) into the concrete substrate, "nailing" the FRP in place.
Abstract: The majority of experimental work involving the flexural retrofit of concrete bridge girders has been conducted on beam specimens with adhesive-applied, soffit-mounted, fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite systems, referred to in this study as conventional adhesive application (CAA). It has been observed that the performance of such girders is often controlled by the quality of the bond between the FRP and the concrete substrate and the substrate’s ability to transfer stress from the steel to the FRP. With the goal of improving the performance of bonded FRP in mind, two additional soffit-mounted retrofit schemes are investigated: near-surface mounted (NSM), where the FRP strips are embedded in adhesive within slots cut into the substrate concrete, and, powder-actuated fastener-applied (PAF) FRP, which uses a powder-actuated nail gun to install mechanical fasteners through predrilled holes in the FRP into the concrete substrate, “nailing” the FRP in place. The PAF application is a recent development, a...
TL;DR: A modular problem structuring approach is proposed that allows simplifying of complex real option problems by decomposing them into a few basic building-block option types connected by some basic decision operators.
Abstract: This article focuses on how the use of real options can be made simple, providing an overview of the power of flexible and modular decision making and its use in various applications across industries. After common real options are discussed through a comprehensive example, the article reviews the key lessons and implications of real options thinking for flexible decision making. It then proceeds to propose a modular problem structuring approach that allows simplifying of complex real option problems by decomposing them into a few basic building-block option types (reviewed) connected by some basic decision operators. The resulting problem-structuring option map is depicted in a range of illustrative applications in various industries. Past areas of application of real options as well as research challenges ahead are also discussed.
12 Dec 2005
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present experimental results from the testing of mechanical networks involving inerter devices using a hydraulic ram actuator whose displacement is controlled in a closed-loop system.
Abstract: This paper presents experimental results from the testing of mechanical networks involving inerter devices. The tests are carried out using a hydraulic ram actuator whose displacement is controlled in a closed-loop system. A methodology is proposed for the testing of inerter devices which amounts to the design of a buffer network to be connected in series with the inerter device during testing. This avoids instability and nonlinear phenomena which are otherwise observed with the testing of inertial loads using this type of hydraulic actuator. It is shown that the admittance of the inerter devices approaches the ideal inerter admittance over a useful frequency range.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the human resource management challenges in Southern EU and their effect on organizational performance and explore the relationships between organizational effectiveness and the selected human-resource management practices representing the challenges.
Abstract: Purpose – The study aims to examine the human resource management challenges in Southern EU and their effect on organizational performance.Design/methodology/approach – First, key challenges were identified in the existing literature. Then, these challenges were matched with those reported most often in the CRANET questionnaire. These challenges were operationalized into current organizational practices, also reported in the questionnaire. Last, t‐tests were used to explore the relationships between organizational effectiveness and the selected human resource management practices representing the challenges.Findings – Key challenges involved training and development, efficiency and flexibility, and employee relations in all nations explored. Furthermore, practices of the training and development challenge, the employee relations challenge and the efficiency and flexibility challenge are significantly related to organizational productivity in most of Southern EU.Research limitations/implications – The stud...
11 Nov 2005
TL;DR: This work focuses on porting to the GPU the most time-consuming loop, which accounts for nearly 50% of the total execution time, and shows preliminary results show that the loop code achieves a speedup of 3x while the whole application with a single loop optimization, achieves aspeedup of 1.2x.
Abstract: Bioinformatics applications are one of the most relevant and compute-demanding applications today. While normally these applications are executed on clusters or dedicated parallel systems, in this work we explore the use of an alternative architecture. We focus on exploiting the compute-intensive characteristics offered by the graphics processors (GPU) in order to accelerate a bioinformatics application. The GPU is a good match for these applications as it is an inexpensive, high-performance SIMD architecture.
In our initial experiments we evaluate the use of a regular graphics card to improve the performance of RAxML, a bioinformatics program for phylogenetic tree inference. In this paper we focus on porting to the GPU the most time-consuming loop, which accounts for nearly 50% of the total execution time. The preliminary results show that the loop code achieves a speedup of 3x while the whole application with a single loop optimization, achieves a speedup of 1.2x.
TL;DR: This work uses Web-server access logs from five academic sites in three different countries to analyze the activity of different crawlers that belong to five search engines: Google, AltaVista, Inktomi, FastSearch and CiteSeer, and proposes a set of simple metrics that describe qualitative characteristics of crawler behavior.
01 Mar 2005
TL;DR: In this paper, the use of the genetically evolved certainty neuron fuzzy cognitive map (GECNFCM) as an extension of certainty neurons fuzzy cognitive maps (CNFCMs) aiming at overcoming the main weaknesses of the latter, namely the recalculation of the weights corresponding to each concept every time a new strategy is adopted.
Abstract: This paper examines the use of fuzzy cognitive maps (FCMs) as a technique for modeling political and strategic issues situations and supporting the decision-making process in view of an imminent crisis. Its object domain is soft computing using as its basic elements different methods from the areas of fuzzy logic, cognitive maps, neural networks and genetic algorithms. FCMs, more specifically, use notions borrowed from artificial intelligence and combine characteristics of both fuzzy logic and neural networks, in the form of dynamic models that describe a given political setting. The present work proposes the use of the genetically evolved certainty neuron fuzzy cognitive map (GECNFCM) as an extension of certainty neuron fuzzy cognitive maps (CNFCMs) aiming at overcoming the main weaknesses of the latter, namely the recalculation of the weights corresponding to each concept every time a new strategy is adopted. This novel technique combines CNFCMs with genetic algorithms (GAs), the advantage of which lies with their ability to offer the optimal solution without a problem-solving strategy, once the requirements are defined. Using a multiple scenario analysis we demonstrate the value of such a hybrid technique in the context of a model that reflects the political and strategic complexity of the Cyprus issue, as well as the uncertainties involved in it. The issue has been treated on a purely technical level, with distances carefully kept concerning all sides involved in it.