Autism Prevalence Information And Diagnosis Processes In Cyprus, Greece And Malta.

The current paper follows the thematic review '' aiming to highlight and familiarize readers with the challenges and heterogeneity related to the prevalence, and diagnostic processes of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) from a cross-cultural and diverse geopolitical framework with a focus on Cyprus, Malta, and Greece. The study's goal was twofold: (a) to document the prevalence and diagnostic processes in the aforementioned geographical areas and (b) to highlight similarities and differences in the prevalence and diagnostic process in ASD. The findings revealed similarities across all countries regarding the diagnostic tools implemented in ASD assessment tools and clinical observations.

5G NR launching in Greece: Preliminary in situ and monitoring network measurements of electromagnetic fields exposure levels at rooftops.

In Greece, 5G New Radio (NR) has started launching in the end of 2020, at the 3400-3800 MHz (FR1) frequency band. Focusing on 117 Base Stations (BSs) which were already equipped with 5G NR antennas, in situ broadband and frequency selective measurements have been conducted at minimum three points of interest, at adjacent rooftops (when accessible). The points have been selected according to the sweeping method and the electric field strength (E) value has been stored on the selected worst-case scenario point.

Exploring friendship quality and the practice of savoring in relation to the wellbeing of Greek adults.

Previous research findings demonstrate that both savoring ability and the presence of high-quality friendships play a significant role in enhancing one's overall sense of wellbeing. However, these associations have not been thoroughly investigated within a diverse range of adults across their lifespans, nor have they been explored in the specific cultural context of Greece. Thus, the primary objective of this study was to delve into the relationships between close friendship quality, the utilization of savoring techniques, and wellbeing within the Greek cultural framework.

Recent Advances of Telepractice for Autism Spectrum Disorders in Speech and Language Pathology.

Telepractice or teletherapy is defined as the means of service delivery via technology-based platforms that allow long-distance interventions across populations, age spans, and geographical locations. Specifically, telepractice capitalizes on communication technologies such as online modules, videoconferencing, and computerized software programs, in servicing populations with communication challenges. Notably, telepractice has emerged as a potentially effective, low-cost, and promising means of conducting and completing online assessment, diagnosis, and intervention sessions for individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

Colorful Semantics in Cypriot-Greek-Speaking Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Objectives: The aims of this study were: (1) to investigate the effect of colorful semantics (CS) on the morphosyntactic and semantic development of Cypriot-Greek (CG)-speaking children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to obtain a better understanding of its role in an augmentative communication (AC) intervention program; (2) to address the paucity of intervention tools geared for CG-speaking children with ASD.

Participants And Methods: The study included 24 boys and 16 girls with ASD, all preschool-aged 4-6 years. All were verbal but with limited production and minimal mean length of utterance.

Evaluation of Radiofrequency and Extremely Low-Frequency Field Levels at Children's Playground Sites in Greece From 2013 to 2018.

From 2013 to 2018, in-situ measurements of radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic fields (EMF) and extremely low-frequency (ELF) electric and magnetic fields in 317 existing and under-construction children's playground facilities, in 16 municipalities all over Greece, were carried out by the Greek Atomic Energy Commission (EEAE). These measurements were conducted following legislative framework established in 2009, which requires that compliance with the established exposure limits for EMFs should be verified in playground areas. The results are presented by the value of the electric field (E) and exposure ratio (Λ) for the RF EMF, as well as the value of the electric field (E) and magnetic flux density (B) for the ELF electric and magnetic fields.

The effect of using a dielectric matching medium in focused microwave radiometry: an anatomically detailed head model study.

Microwave radiometry is a passive technique used to measure in-depth temperature distributions inside the human body, potentially useful in clinical applications. Experimental data imply that it may provide the capability of detecting in-depth local variations of temperature and/or conductivity of excitable tissues at microwave frequencies. Specifically, microwave radiometry may allow the real-time monitoring of brain temperature and/or conductivity changes, associated with local brain activation.

In-vitro assessment of Jurkat T-cells response to 1966 MHz electromagnetic fields in a GTEM cell.

This paper presents the experimental configuration and procedure as well as the in-vitro assessment of Jurkat T-cells response to 1966 MHz exposure of modulated and unmodulated electromagnetic signals within a Gigahertz Transverse Electro-Magnetic (GTEM) cell. Different combinations of electric field intensity, exposure duration and modulation schemes were applied. Exposures at continuous wave (CW) signal at low intensity levels (3 V/m) did not induce any significant DNA damage, but a slight increase was observed for extreme stress levels (76.

In situ measurements of radiofrequency exposure levels in Greece from 2008 to 2013: a multi-parametric annual analysis.

From 2008 through 2013, more than 6,000 in situ frequency selective audits, in the proximity of base stations, were conducted throughout Greece by the Greek Atomic Energy Commission (EEAE), in order to verify exposure limit compliance. EEAE is the competent national authority for protection of the general public against artificially produced non-ionizing radiation. This paper presents the first post processing and multi-parametric year statistical analysis of in situ measurement data corresponding to 4,705 audits in the whole country, compared to general public exposure levels, according to Greek legislation.

Evaluation of occupational exposure to ELF magnetic fields at power plants in Greece in the context of European directives.

The scope of this paper is to comparatively present the extremely low-frequency (ELF) measurements performed at four power plants in Greece, focusing on: (a) the worst-case exposure conditions, (b) the existence of magnetic field harmonic components, (c) the technical similarities among the power plants and (d) comparison of the measured percentages of reference levels at typical working areas in the power plants. A detailed measurement methodology is proposed, including broadband on-site inspection of the working areas, weighted averaged root-mean-square and peak values of magnetic flux density, percentage of reference levels, according to 1998 ICNIRP guidelines and harmonic analysis of the multi-frequency magnetic fields. During the analysis of the occupational exposure in all power plants, the new Directive 2013/35/EU has been taken into account.

Neural potentials disorder during differential psychoacoustic experiment evaluated by discrete wavelet analysis.

The aim of the paper is the assessment of neural potentials disorder during a differential sensitivity psychoacoustic procedure. Ten volunteers were asked to compare the duration of two acoustic pulses: one reference with stable duration of 500 ms and one trial which varied from 420 ms to 620 ms. During the discrimination task, Electroencephalogram (EEG) and Event Related Potential (ERP) signals were recorded.

Continuous wavelet application for the assessment of neural potential interaction during time discrimination task.

The aim of the paper is to assess the interaction of the neural potentials during a time discrimination psychoacoustic task. Ten subjects participated in the experiment and were asked about the equality of two acoustic pulses: one reference of 500ms and one trial that varied from 420ms to 620ms. During the experimental procedure, Electroencephalogram (EEG) and Event Related Potential (ERP) signals were recorded.

Dual patch antenna sensor for pneumothorax diagnosis: sensitivity and performance study.

Pneumothorax may cause serious health problems and often death if medical and surgical treatment is delayed. The absence of reliable, safe, portable and easy-to-use equipment in the ambulance is the primary clinical motivation of this work. We investigate pneumothorax diagnostic performance and sensitivity of a dual patch antenna system (sensor).

Modeling of EEG electrode artifacts and thermal ripples in human radiofrequency exposure studies.

The effects of radiofrequency (RF) exposure on wake and sleep electroencephalogram (EEG) have been in focus since mobile phone usage became pervasive. It has been hypothesized that effects may be explained by (1) enhanced induced fields due to RF coupling with the electrode assembly, (2) the subsequent temperature increase around the electrodes, or (3) RF induced thermal pulsing caused by localized exposure in the head. We evaluated these three hypotheses by means of both numerical and experimental assessments made with appropriate phantoms and anatomical human models.

Exposure system to study hypotheses of ELF and RF electromagnetic field interactions of mobile phones with the central nervous system.

A novel exposure system for double-blind human electromagnetic provocation studies has been developed that satisfies the precision, control of fields and potential artifacts, and provides the flexibility to investigate the response of hypotheses-driven electromagnetic field exposure schemes on brain function, ranging from extremely low frequency (ELF) to radio frequency (RF) fields. The system can provide the same exposure of the lateral cerebral cortex at two different RF frequencies (900 and 2140 MHz) but with different exposure levels at subcortical structures, and also allows uniform ELF magnetic field exposure of the brain. The RF modulation and ELF signal are obtained by a freely programmable arbitrary signal generator allowing a wide range of worst-case exposure scenarios to be simulated, including those caused by wireless devices.

Novel methodology to characterize electromagnetic exposure of the brain.

Due to the greatly non-uniform field distribution induced in brain tissues by radio frequency electromagnetic sources, the exposure of anatomical and functional regions of the brain may be a key issue in interpreting laboratory findings and epidemiological studies concerning endpoints related to the central nervous system. This paper introduces the Talairach atlas in characterization of the electromagnetic exposure of the brain. A hierarchical labeling scheme is mapped onto high-resolution human models.

Brain natriuretic peptide precursor (NT-pro-BNP) levels predict for clinical benefit to sunitinib treatment in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

Background: Sunitinib is an oral, multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor that has been approved for the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Although the majority of sunitinib-treated patients receive a clinical benefit, almost a third of the patients will not respond. Currently there is no available marker that can predict for response in these patients.

Age-dependent tissue-specific exposure of cell phone users.

The peak spatial specific absorption rate (SAR) assessed with the standardized specific anthropometric mannequin head phantom has been shown to yield a conservative exposure estimate for both adults and children using mobile phones. There are, however, questions remaining concerning the impact of age-dependent dielectric tissue properties and age-dependent proportions of the skull, face and ear on the global and local absorption, in particular in the brain tissues. In this study, we compare the absorption in various parts of the cortex for different magnetic resonance imaging-based head phantoms of adults and children exposed to different models of mobile phones.

Pro-brain natriuretic peptide is a sensitive marker for detecting cardiac metastases in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and N-terminal-pro-BNP (NT-pro-BNP) are important diagnostic tools for patients with suspected cardiac disorders. The aim of this study was to evaluate the predictive value of plasma NT-pro-BNP in identifying cardiac metastases in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and dyspnoea.

Patients And Methods: A total of 120 patients, median age 62 years (range 46-83), with NSCLC and dyspnoea were studied.

Meningococcal purpura fulminans in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus: a mimic for catastrophic antiphospholipid antibody syndrome?

Purpura fulminans (PF) is a life-threatening disorder characterized by acute onset of progressive cutaneous hemorrhage, necrosis, and disseminated intravascular coagulation. Acute infectious PF occurs most commonly in the setting of meningococcal sepsis. When PF occurs in the setting of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), the catastrophic antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (CAPS) must be ruled out because urgent therapy is required.

Autologous blood transfusion in oral and maxillofacial surgery patients with the use of erythropoietin.

Background: Autologous blood transfusion presents few infectious or immunologic side effects. The aim of the present study was to determine the impact of autologous blood transfusion with or without recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) in patients who underwent elective maxillofacial operations. Material: Seventy eight consecutive patients (29 men and 49 women) underwent elective maxillofacial operations during the years 1990-95.