Complete dorsal wall agenesis of the sacral canal in a Greek population: an osteological study.

INTRODUCTION: The failure of closure of the dorsal wall of the sacral canal (SC) has been known since the eve of modern osteology, appearing in prehistoric times. Variants include partial or complete absence of the dorsal wall of the SC. SC presents a pathway for minimally invasive therapeutic and diagnostic procedures for spinal diseases and for ensuring analgesia and anesthesia in operations, including labor and genitourinary surgery.

Intra-rater and Inter-rater Reliability of the Commander Pressure Algometer in Greek Patients With Chronic Neck Pain.

Introduction Non-specific chronic neck pain (NSCNP) is a musculoskeletal disorder that affects 45%-54% of the general population. There is a strong correlation between patient-reported pain and mechanical pain pressure threshold (PPT) measured with an algometer. Purpose This study aims to investigate the intra- and inter-rater reliability of the Commander algometer in Greek NSCNP patients, in an urban primary care setting. Methods Thirty-three patients (22 women and 11 men) suffering from NSCNP (>3 months), the majority (42.4%) between the ages of 50 years and 59 years and overweight, were measured bilaterally both at the neck (mastoid, trapezius head-insertion and mid-portion, C5-C6 facet, insertion of levator scapula) and at the control areas (mid-deltoid and tibialis anterior) using the Commander algometer. Measurements were taken twice over a span of six days, by two raters, in a primary care setting. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) statistics were used as measures of reliability (p = 0.05). Results Intra-rater reliability was "moderate to good" for both raters. ICC values for PPT at the seven bilaterally measured sites varied between 0.67 and 0.86 for the first rater (p ≤ 0.001) and 0.64 and 0.82 for the second rater (p ≤ 0.003). The inter-rater reliability was "moderate to excellent" (ICC = 0.68-0.92) in the first measurement (T1) and "moderate to good" (ICC = 0.68 to 0.89) in the second measurement (T2). Conclusion This study supports the intra- and inter-rater reliability of the Commander algometer in detecting reliably the mechanical PPT, in Greek NSCNP patients, as measured according to the procedures and methodology followed throughout this study.

[Medical practice in Ancient Greece : The orthopaedic and trauma surgery case reports of the Hippocratic Corpus]. / Medizinische Praxis im alten Griechenland : Die orthopädischen und unfallchirurgischen Fallberichte des Corpus Hippocraticum.

OBJECTIVES: Which theoretical and practical competences do the orthopaedic and trauma surgery reports of the Hippocratic Corpus reveal? MATERIALS: The 431 Hippocratic case histories have been studied for reports and communication on diagnostics, therapy and prognosis of orthopaedic diseases and traumatic lesions. RESULTS: The seven books of the Hippocratic "Epidemics" describe a total of 26 patients with orthopaedic diseases and traumatic lesions. In the field of orthopaedic diseases, arthritis, myo- and tenopathia and gangrene play a prominent role, among the consequences of injury the fracture of the skull (n = 10) is in first place. Mainly individuals, but also groups of patients are reported. The clients' information on the course of the disease was often cautious. Diagnostics were limited to inspection and palpation. In addition to the measures of conservative treatment, four trepanations are described. The majority of traumatic brain lesions resulted in death. DISCUSSION: The Hippocratic doctor was faced with a variety of orthopaedic disases and traumatic lesions. Within the case reports, the subjective complaints, the objective findings and the course of the treatment are described in detail. Among the ailments of the musculoskeletal system, spinal disorders, especially hypercyphosis and scoliosis play an important role. The variety of reduction techniques reported suggests that most of the fractures detected were dislocated. Post-traumatic tetanus can be readily identified in several followup observations due to the development of opisthotonus. No other surgical intervention is discussed by Hippocrates as often and as variously as trepanation. It can be concluded with some certainty that perforating injuries of the skull were a common challenge in the life of a surgeon of classic antiquity.

A Greek Conversational Agent for Hematologic Malignancies: Usability and User Experience Assessment.

Enabling patients to actively document their health information significantly improves understanding of how therapies work, disease progression, and overall life quality affects for those living with chronic disorders such as hematologic malignancies. Advancements in artificial intelligence, particularly in areas such as natural language processing and speech recognition, have resulted in the development of interactive tools tailored for healthcare. This paper introduces an innovative conversational agent tailored to the Greek language. The design and deployment of this tool, which incorporates sentiment analysis, aims at gathering detailed family histories and symptom data from individuals diagnosed with hematologic malignancies. Furthermore, we discuss the preliminary findings from a feasibility study assessing the tool's effectiveness. Initial feedback on the user experience suggests a positive reception towards the agent's usability, highlighting its potential to enhance patient engagement in a clinical setting.

Exploring Greek Population Attitudes Towards Using Health-Related Websites for Managing Their Health.

The last few years the Internet has evolved into a prominent information source for many people worldwide. Latest research has shown that an ever increasing number of citizens and patients go online in order to access health information and seek support in managing their health, including understanding their condition, adopting life-saving lifestyle adjustments and keeping up with treatment or aftercare guidelines. Due to this rise on the demand of online health information, health-related sites have increased substantially, with each one of them striving to maintain the most comprehensive and reliable source of health and medical information on the Internet. This paper presents a survey conducted among Greek population aiming at exploring participants general attitudes towards using the Internet to access health information as well as their views regarding a specific Greek health-related website, namely Iatronet. To this end, an online Greek version of eHealth Impact Questionnaire has been used which was developed using RedCAP platform.

Assessing the Linguistic Capacity Across Alzheimer's Disease and Its Preclinical Stages: Evidence from Narrative Macrostructure in Elderly Speakers of Greek.

Background: The assessment of language deficits can be valuable in the early clinical diagnosis of neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). Objective: The present study aims to explore whether language markers at the macrostructural level could assist with the placement of an individual across the dementia continuum employing production data from structured narratives. Methods: We administered a Picture Sequence Narrative Discourse Task to 170 speakers of Greek: young healthy controls (yHC), cognitively intact healthy elders (eHC), elder participants with subjective cognitive impairment (SCI), with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and with AD dementia at the mild/moderate stages. Structural MRIs, medical history, neurological examination, and neuropsychological/cognitive screening determined the status of each speaker to appropriately groupthem. Results: The data analysis revealed that the Macrostructure Index, Irrelevant Info, and Narration Density markers can track cognitive decline and AD (p < 0.001; Macrostructural Index: eHC versus AD Sensitivity 93.8%, Specificity 74.4%, MCI versus AD Sensitivity 93.8%, Specificity 66.7%; Narration Density: eHC versus AD Sensitivity 90.6%, Specificity 71.8%, MCI versus AD Sensitivity 93.8%, Specificity 66.7%). Moreover, Narrative Complexity was significantly affected for subjects with AD, Irrelevant Info increased in the narrations of speakers with MCI and AD, while Narration Length did not appear to indubitably differentiate between the cognitively intact groups and the clinical ones. Conclusions: Narrative Macrostructure Indices provide valuable information on the language profile of speakers with(out) intact cognition revealing subtle early signs of cognitive decline and AD suggesting that the inclusion of language-based assessment tools would facilitate the clinical process.

Lexemas 'glossa' (γλῶσσα) - 'glotta' (γλῶττα) y sus Derivados en Terminologia Anatomica / Lexemes 'glossa' (γλῶσσα) - 'glotta' (γλῶττα) and its derivatives in Terminologia Anatomica

El lenguaje científico, en el ámbito de la anatomía y ciencias de la salud, se sustenta en una terminología que ha estado abierta a discusiones y modificaciones. En Terminologia Anatomica, el término 'Lengua' proviene del latín Lingua. Sin embargo, también existen términos que derivan del lexema griego glossa y glotta, que también significa lengua. Lo que establece hiperonimia y sinonimia entre estructuras anatómicas relacionadas con este órgano músculo-sensorial. El objetivo fue analizar la presencia de los lexemas 'glossa' - 'glotta' en Terminologia Anatomica y revisar las definiciones de términos que incluyan estos lexemas utilizando el Diccionario Manual Griego-Español VOX y Vocabulario Básico de Griego con anotaciones morfológicas y etimológicas. Para la etimología en español se utilizaron el Diccionario panhispánico de términos médicos y Diccionario médico-biológico, histórico y etimológico. También se determinó la primera vez que se ocuparon en español, utilizando Corpus Diacrónico del Español. Los lexemas estudiados aparecen citados 15 veces en Terminologia Anatomica. Estos se definen como 'lengua, boca; habla, don de la palabra; expresión, manifestación, palabras; habla, lengua, lenguaje, idioma'. También se encuentran algunos términos derivados como Ductus thyroglossalis, epiglottis, glottis, ligamentum thyroepiglotticum y Vallecula epiglottica. Por lo que estos lexemas se consideran sinónimos. El lexema glossa se utilizó por primera vez en el ámbito médico el año 1870. Los lexemas glossa y glotta son frecuentes en Terminologia Anatomica, generando preguntas sobre el uso del doble sigma en griego jónico y doble tau en griego ático clásico. Aunque son sinónimos, su abundancia destaca la importancia del dominio del lenguaje anatómico para la comunicación efectiva y la comprensión precisa entre estudiantes, profesionales e investigadores.

SUMMARY: The scientific language in the field of anatomy and health sciences relies on a terminology that has been open to discussions and modifications. In Terminologia Anatomica, the term lengua comes from the Latin Lingua. However, there are also terms derived from the Greek lexemes glossa and glotta, both meaning 'tongue.' This establishes hyperonymy and synonymy among anatomical structures related to this sensory-muscular organ. The objective was to analyze the presence of the lexemes glossa - glotta in Terminologia Anatomica and review the definitions of terms containing these lexemes using the Diccionario Manual Griego-Español VOX and the Vocabulario Básico de Griego con anotaciones morfológicas y etimológicas. For Spanish etymology, the Diccionario panhispánico de términos médicos and the Diccio- nario Médico-Biológico, Histórico y Etimológico were used. The first use in Spanish was determined using the Corpus Diacrónico del Español. The studied lexemes were cited 15 times in Terminologia Anatomica, defined as 'tongue, mouth; speech, gift of speech; expression, manifestation, words; speech, tongue, language, idioma.' Some derived terms are also found, such as Ductus thyroglossalis, Epiglottis, Glottis, Ligamentum thyroepiglotticum, and Vallecula epiglottica. Therefore, these lexemes are considered synonymous. The lexeme glossa was first used in the medical field in 1870. The lexemes glossa and glotta are frequent in Terminologia Anatomica, raising questions about the use of double sigma in Ionic Greek and double tau in classical Attic Greek. Although synonymous, their abundance emphasizes the importance of mastering anatomical language for effective communication and precise understanding among students, professionals, and researchers.

Translation and Cross-Cultural Adaptation of the Thyroidectomy-Related Voice Questionnaire (TVSQ) in Greek Population.

OBJECTIVES: The Thyroidectomy-Related Voice Questionnaire (TVSQ) is a useful tool in the detection of voice changes and dysfunctions and the diagnosis of other symptoms related to transient or permanent laryngeal nerve damage in patients after thyroidectomy. The aim of our study is the translation and validation of (TVSQ) in the Greek language and in Greek population for the first time. METHODS: The TVSQ was translated from English to Greek and vice versa by two independent researchers, while before the application of the TVSQ in clinical practice, a control group of 20 people was used. The following methods were used for the weighting and analysis of the TVSQ: Polychoric correlation, Cronbach's alpha, confirmatory factor analysis, and item response theory (IRT). RESULTS: Polychoric correlations revealed that questions 1-10 have a strong positive correlation with each other, while the correlation of the rest of the TVSQ items is positive. Subsequently, for the first subgroup of questions ("voice change") Cronbach's alpha was equal to 0.950, while for the second ("throat and neck discomfort") Cronbach's alpha was equal to 0.846. Thus, we conclude that the internal consistency reliability is high for both subgroups of TVSQ questions. With the IRT method we showed that for the first subgroup of questions ("voice change"), the item with the least predictive value is question 5, while for the second subgroup of questions ("throat and neck discomfort"), the item with the least educational value was question 15. CONCLUSIONS: Our team translated and validated the TVSQ with the above statistical methods in the Greek language, so that it can be used as a valuable tool in clinical practice, and more specifically in patients undergoing thyroidectomy. TVSQ can play a significant role on the diagnosis of either postoperative voice disorders and other symptoms related to thyroidectomy.

Translation and validation of patient-oriented eczema measure in the Greek language.

Translating and validating the Greek version of the Patient Oriented Eczema Measure (POEM) was our goal. A parallel backtranslation process was used to translate POEM. A total of fifty-nine adult atopic dermatitis patients were enlisted to assess validity and reliability. Through patient interviews with physicians, a questionnaire comprising demographics, POEM, and the dermatology life quality index (DLQI) was filled out. 3-7 days after the first visit, a second POEM completion was conducted. The POEM items conducted with study participants demonstrated a good level of internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.88), and no overall floor and ceiling effects were found. There was a significant correlation between the DLQI and POEM scores (Spearman rho =0.71; p<0.001). The POEM score between interviews showed an average intraclass correlation coefficient (95% confidence interval) of 0.89 (0.80, 0.94), indicating good to excellent test-retest reliability. Patient-reported outcome measures are becoming more and more common in Greece, so it's critical to have access to Greek translations of validated instruments that are frequently used in literature.

The Accuracy of Height Prediction Equations in Greek Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study.

In clinical settings, standing height measurement is often difficult to perform due to patients' inability to stand upright. Height prediction equations derived from measurements of the length of other body segments have been published; however, they are not readily applicable to all populations since ethnic differences affect the relationship between standing height and body segment length. This cross-sectional study aimed to examine the accuracy of height prediction using the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST) height predictive equations among Greek patients and to develop new, nationally representative equations. The study population consisted of 1198 Greek adult outpatients able to stand upright without assistance and without medical conditions that affected their height. Standing height, ulna length, knee height and demi-span measurements were obtained from 599 males and 599 females. Patients were stratified into age groups of <55 and ≥55 years, <60 and ≥60 years and <65 and ≥65 years according to the categories indicated by the MUST for height prediction from alternative measurements. There were positive correlations between standing height and ulna length and knee height and demi-span length (p < 0.001) in both sexes and all age categories. A strong correlation was observed between the measured and predicted standing height using ulna length (rho = 0.870, p < 0.001), knee height (rho = 0.923, p < 0.001) and demi-span length (rho = 0.906, p < 0.001). The average difference between the MUST indicative equations' height predictions from alternative measurements and actual height was -3.04 (-3.32, -2.76), -1.21 (-1.43, -0.988) and 2.16 (1.92, 2.41), respectively. New height prediction equations for Greek patients were identified, with the predicted values closer to the measured standing heights than those predicted with the MUST indicative equations for height prediction from alternative measurements.

The Diagnostic Accuracy of Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy-Assisted Colposcopy, HPV mRNA Test, and P16/Ki67 Immunostaining as CIN2+ Predictors in Greek Population.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS)-assisted colposcopy in detecting CIN2+ Greek women towards standalone colposcopy, HPV mRNA testing, and p16/Ki67 immunostaining. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional observational study at the Cervical Pathology Clinic of the 2nd Obstetrics-Gynecology University Department of Hippokration Hospital Thessaloniki involving 316 patients from January 2022 to August 2023. All participants provided liquid-based cervical samples for cytology, HPV mRNA testing, and p16/Ki67 immunostaining. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Subsequently, participants underwent both standalone colposcopy and EIS/ZedScan-assisted colposcopy, followed by cervical punch biopsies. RESULTS: The incorporation of EIS significantly enhanced the sensitivity of colposcopy, increasing it from 54.17% to 100%, equivalent to that of HPV mRNA testing and p16/Ki67 immunostaining, while achieving a high specificity (95.45%). The specificities observed with EIS/ZedScan-assisted and standalone colposcopy were notably superior to those of HPV-related biomarkers (HPV mRNA test and p16/Ki67 immunostaining). When compared to standalone colposcopy, HPV mRNA testing, and p16/Ki67 immunostaining, EIS/ZedScan-assisted colposcopy demonstrated the most favorable combination of Positive and Negative Predictive Values, at 90.57% and 100%, respectively. The inclusion of EIS/ZedScan in colposcopy led to the detection of 44 additional cases of true CIN2+ (100% of the total CIN2+ confirmed histologically) that were missed by standalone colposcopy. This discovery suggests a 45.83% increase in the detection of CIN2+ cases. CONCLUSIONS: The integration of EIS with colposcopy has demonstrated effectiveness in detecting cervical lesions, resulting in a significant detection increase of CIN2+ cases while offering optimal levels of sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values for CIN2+ detection.

Phonological assessment for Greek (PAel) test: Reliability and validity in 4-to 6-year-old preschool children.

Single-word phonological tests are widely used for detecting children at risk for Speech Sound Disorders (SSDs). However, specific conceptual and operational criteria should be evaluated to ensure that these assessments are valid and reliable and can serve as diagnostic tools. The current study aimed to investigate the validity and reliability of the screener of a phonological Greek instrument, named the Phonological Assessment for Greek (PAel) comparing the phonological performance of typically developing (TD) children and children with SSDs, aged 4 to 6 years. The participants were 20 TD children and 40 children with SSDs. All participants completed the screener of PAel, the 70-word list of the standardised Test of Phonetic and Phonological Development (TPPD), and a language test, namely the Action Picture Test. Participants who scored below the 25th percentile on the language test were excluded. Phonological analysis revealed that PAel has high content validity. The participants who had received a diagnosis of SSDs presented restricted consonant and cluster inventories and significantly lower whole-word match levels in comparison to their TD peers. The overall Spearman's correlation coefficients between PAel and TPPD were 0.611 for TD children (p < 0.001) and 0.875 for children with SSDs (p < 0.001), indicating good criterion validity. The tool demonstrated strong test-retest reliability and inter-rater reliability with Spearman values exceeding 0.85, and Intra-class correlation coefficients over 0.90. Overall, the results suggest that PAel has satisfactory reliability and validity and can be used as an assessment tool to detect children at risk for SSDs.

The Existence-Relatedness-Growth Theory for Job Satisfaction and Motivation of Greek National Healthcare Service Employees in the Context of Severe Financial Constraints.

The hospital environment is often quite complicated due to interdisciplinary workflow procedures and multitasking staff, which are exacerbated during periods of economic crisis. This study aimed to examine the motivation and job satisfaction factors of Greek National Healthcare Service (NHS) employees in relation to the Existence-Relatedness-Growth (ERG) theory of motivation during a period of severe financial constraints. A cross-sectional study was conducted in three public hospitals in Greece from 2018 to 2019, utilizing a survey tool to measure the factors of motivation and job satisfaction among Greek NHS employees. The study also aimed to identify the most relevant motivational theory applicable to the complex Greek hospital environment. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was employed to extract the structural factors of the survey tool, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to identify statistical differences between the means of three or more independent groups. A sample of 363 Greek NHS employees participated in this study. Statistically significant differences were detected between hospital units and job satisfaction factors, as well as between the functions of hospital clusters and job positions. Specifically, managerial staff presented higher levels of job satisfaction, while nursing staff had the lowest scores in terms of psychological contracts when compared to medical and administrative staff. This study demonstrated that job satisfaction in Greek public hospitals, in a context of severe financial constraints, was mainly driven by strong interpersonal connections and employee trust in management, despite significant cuts in salaries, staff numbers, and hospital budgets.

A Comparative Sentiment Analysis of Greek Clinical Conversations Using BERT, RoBERTa, GPT-2, and XLNet.

In addressing the critical role of emotional context in patient-clinician conversations, this study conducted a comprehensive sentiment analysis using BERT, RoBERTa, GPT-2, and XLNet. Our dataset includes 185 h of Greek conversations focused on hematologic malignancies. The methodology involved data collection, data annotation, model training, and performance evaluation using metrics such as accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score, and specificity. BERT outperformed the other methods across all sentiment categories, demonstrating its effectiveness in capturing the emotional context in clinical interactions. RoBERTa showed a strong performance, particularly in identifying neutral sentiments. GPT-2 showed promising results in neutral sentiments but exhibited a lower precision and recall for negatives. XLNet showed a moderate performance, with variations across categories. Overall, our findings highlight the complexities of sentiment analysis in clinical contexts, especially in underrepresented languages like Greek. These insights highlight the potential of advanced deep-learning models in enhancing communication and patient care in healthcare settings. The integration of sentiment analysis in healthcare could provide insights into the emotional states of patients, resulting in more effective and empathetic patient support. Our study aims to address the gap and limitations of sentiment analysis in a Greek clinical context, an area where resources are scarce and its application remains underexplored.

A Scoping Review of Bystander-Based Sexual Violence Prevention Training for College Students in Fraternities and Sororities.

Bystander-based sexual violence (SV) prevention trainings are offered on college campuses across the United States to meet federal Title IX requirements, as they have proven to be an effective strategy for violence prevention. Greek-affiliated students (fraternity and sorority members) are at a higher risk of sexual assault than their peers; however, few trainings consider the specific needs of this population, and program adaptations for this high-risk group may be needed. This scoping review identifies and describes the bystander trainings delivered to Greek-affiliated students in the US and Canada. An eight-database search was conducted following PRISMA-ScR guidelines. The review identified 81 unique sources, with 18 meeting the inclusion criteria. Eleven specific training programs were identified, encompassing qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method studies. The thematic analysis revealed best practices, including the importance of peer leaders, interactive sessions, and tailored content to Greek culture, as well as barriers such as a lack of engagement and an inadequate session length. The review underscores the need for tailored interventions to effectively address the unique cultural characteristics and high-risk nature of Greek-affiliated students. These findings provide valuable insights for improving the design and implementation of bystander interventions to enhance their efficacy in preventing sexual violence within this population.

Evaluation of Polygenic Risk Scores for Prediction of Coronary Artery Disease in a Greek Case-Control Study.

Coronary artery disease (CAD) stands as the most predominant type of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Polygenic risk scores (PRSs) have become essential tools for quantifying genetic susceptibility, and researchers endeavor to improve their predictive precision. The aim of the present work is to assess the performance and the relative contribution of PRSs developed for CVD or CAD within a Greek population. The sample under study comprised 924 Greek individuals (390 cases with CAD and 534 controls) from the THISEAS study. Nine PRSs drawn from the PGS catalog were replicated and tested for CAD risk prediction. PRSs computations were performed in the R language, and snpStats was used to process genotypic data. Descriptive characteristics of the study were analyzed using the statistical software IBM SPSS Statistics v21.0. The effectiveness of each PRS was assessed using the PRS R2 metric provided by PRSice2. Among nine PRSs, PGS000747 greatly increased the predictive value of primary CAD risk factors by 21.6% (p-value = 2.63 × 10-25). PGS000012 was associated with a modest increase in CAD risk by 2.2% (p-value = 9.58 × 10-4). The remarkable risk discrimination capability of PGS000747 stands out as the most noteworthy outcome of our study.

The management of deep carious lesions and the exposed pulp in fully developed and immature teeth with irreversible pulpitis: a questionnaire-based study among Greek dentists.

OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to identify the preferred management techniques used by dentists in Greece for treating deep carious lesions or pulp exposure during the removal of carious tissue in teeth with irreversible pulpitis. Additionally, the study sought to explore how patient-related factors (such as age and symptoms) and operator-related factors (like material choice and the use of antibiotics) influence these management decisions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The questionnaire, developed by five investigators, was divided into two parts: the first gathered respondent demographics, and the second presented clinical scenarios of deep carious lesions, requesting treatment strategies, materials used, and antibiotic prescription practices. The scenarios described patients with intense spontaneous pain and very deep carious lesions, differentiated by age and tooth development status.Data collection was via Google Drive, with analysis performed using SPSS 28, Chi-square, and Fisher's exact tests, with significance set at p < 0.05. RESULTS: The study polled 453 Greek dentists about their treatment choices, for deep carious lesions in mature and immature teeth with irreversible pulpitis The majority favored root canal treatment for mature teeth, however quite a few opted for partial or cervical pulpotomy. MTA emerged as the preferred capping material, emphasizing its biocompatibility. Hemostasis management varied, with saline and sodium hypochlorite as popular choices. In cases of immature teeth, a shift towards vital pulp therapy was evident, reflecting a preference for preserving healthy pulp to avoid complex procedures. CONCLUSIONS: Challenges identified include varying treatment preferences, the significance of bleeding control in vital pulp therapy, and the limited use of antibiotics for irreversible pulpitis. While the study has limitations, including sample size and potential biases, its findings offer valuable insights into the decision-making processes of Greek dentists. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Future research and ongoing education within the dental community could contribute to standardizing treatment approaches and optimizing outcomes for patients with deep carious lesions and irreversible pulpitis.

Perception of second language phonetic contrasts by monolinguals and bidialectals: A comparison of competencies.

This study aims to examine the perception of English vowels by Greek monolingual and bidialectal speakers of English as a second language (L2) and assess the predictions of the Universal Perceptual Model (UPM). Adult Cypriot Greek (CG) bidialectal speakers and Standard Modern Greek (SMG) monolingual speakers participated in classification and discrimination tests. The two groups were matched for various linguistic, sociolinguistic, and cognitive factors. Another group of adult English speakers served as controls. Data analysis has been conducted with the use of Bayesian regression models. The results of the discrimination test were predicted by acoustic similarity only to some extent, whereas perceptual similarity predicted most contrasts, confirming the hypotheses of UPM. A crucial finding was that bidialectals outperformed monolinguals in the discrimination of L2 contrasts. The advantage observed in bidialectals could be attributed to the greater flexibility of their speech categories, stemming from exposure to more diverse linguistic input.

Do Oral and Silent Word-Reading Fluency Rely on the Same Cognitive-Linguistic Skills? Evidence from a Cross-Sectional Study in Greek.

Researchers tend to use oral- and silent-reading fluency measures interchangeably and to generalize research findings across reading modes, especially from oral to silent reading. In this study, we sought to examine if oral and silent word-reading fluency rely on the same cognitive-linguistic skills. Three hundred and forty-five Greek children (80 from Grade 2, 85 from Grade 4, 91 from Grade 6, and 89 from Grade 10) were assessed on measures of general cognitive ability, speed of processing, phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, orthographic knowledge, articulation rate, and word-reading fluency (oral and silent). Results of hierarchical regression analyses revealed that phonological awareness was a unique predictor of both reading outcomes in Grade 2 and orthographic knowledge was a unique predictor of both reading outcomes in Grades 4, 6, and 10. However, rapid automatized naming predicted only oral word-reading fluency. These findings suggest that silent and oral word-reading fluency do not necessarily rely on the same cognitive-linguistic skills at the same grade level and we need to exercise some caution when we generalize the findings across reading modes.

[Medical practice in classical Greece : The neurological and psychiatric case reports of the Hippocratic Corpus]. / Medizinische Praxis im klassischen Griechenland : Die neurologischen und psychiatrischen Fallberichte des Corpus Hippocraticum.

OBJECTIVE: Which theoretical and practical competences do the neurological and psychiatric case histories of the Hippocratic Corpus convey? MATERIAL AND METHODS: The 431 Hippocratic case histories have been studied for reports and communication on the diagnostics, treatment and prognosis of single persons and groups of patients suffering from neurological and psychiatric diseases. RESULTS: In the 7 books of the Hippocratic Epidemics, a total of 128 patients with neurological and psychiatric symptoms are described. Epidemic fever and its variants were the leading predisposing conditions and the main symptoms were delirium, coma, insomnia, headache, speech disorders and convulsions. A number of patients with phrenitis and opisthotonos are also reported. The majority of the sick persons were male, were teenagers or adults and 47 of them are mentioned by name. The patient's information about the course is often just as informative as the doctor's observations. Treatment was limited to physical and dietary measures. DISCUSSION: The Hippocratic physician diagnosed and attempted to treat a large number of neurological and psychiatric diseases. The often almost continuous observations of the patients led to astonishingly precise predictions of the course and the prospects of recovery. Numerous symptoms described in the case studies, including carphologia and opisthotonus, have entered the neurological vocabulary. The retrospective etiological analysis of the reports leads to the almost explicit identification of neurosyphilis and encephalitis lethargica. The therapeutic measures described by the author were, as the changeable course of the diseases shows, only of limited effectiveness despite a very differentiated application over time, both against the underlying diseases and the neurological and psychiatric complications.