Pregestational excess weight, maternal obstetric complications and mode of delivery in the Rhea cohort in Crete.

Background: There has been a significant increase in overweight and obesity worldwide reaching global epidemic, with dramatic increase also among women of reproductive age or entering pregnancy. Aims of the study were to estimate the prevalence of maternal pregestational overweight and obesity and their association with and contribution to maternal obstetric complications and mode of delivery.

Methods: One thousand two hundred eighty-six women with singleton pregnancies were followed-up prospectively from early pregnancy to delivery in Crete.

Construction and validation of the quality of oncology nursing care scale (QONCS).

Background: There is scarcity of questionnaires specifically on the quality of the nursing care provided to patients diagnosed with cancer. The available questionnaires have been developed without attributing a holistic approach to the care provided with important patient's needs remaining without assessment. The main aim was to develop a self-administered cancer specific questionnaire exploring patients' views on quality nursing care provided in oncology settings.

Reliability of the chin tuck neck flexion test for assessing endurance of short neck flexors in healthy individuals.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to examine of the intra-rater reliability of the chin tuck neck flexion (CTNF) test for assessing the endurance of neck flexors.

Materials And Methods: The study was performed at the Cardiorespiratory laboratory of the Physiotherapy Department, School of Health and Caring Professions, TEI Lamia, Greece. Twenty healthy volunteers (males/females: 9/11, age: 22.

Chemoprevention of cancer: current evidence and future prospects.

Cancer chemoprevention refers to the use of agents for the inhibition, delay, or reversal of carcinogenesis before invasion. In the present review, agents examined in the context of cancer chemoprevention are classified in four major categories-hormonal, medications, diet-related agents, and vaccines-and the main representatives of each category are presented. Although there are serious constraints in the documentation of effectiveness of chemopreventive agents, mainly stemming from the long latency of the condition they are addressing and the frequent lack of intermediate biomarkers, there is little disagreement about the role of aspirin, whereas a diet rich in vegetables and fruits appears to convey more protection than individual micronutrients.

A comparison of attitudes toward lesbians and gay men among students of helping professions in Crete, Greece: the cases of social work, psychology, medicine, and nursing.

This study investigated the attitudes toward lesbians and gay men among social work, psychology, medical, and nursing students in Crete, Greece, using Herek's ATLG scale. No respondents held completely heterosexist attitudes; only 1.6% held completely non-heterosexist attitudes.

Cross-cultural translation and validation of the Greek version of the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) in patients with total knee replacement.

Purpose: Aim of this study is to assess the psychometric properties of the developed Greek version of the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) in total knee replacement (TKR) patients.

Methods: Psychometric properties of the Greek version of KOOS were evaluated according to the Consensus-based Standards Measurements Instruments (COSMIN) checklist. Patients' pre-operative clinical status and post-operative outcomes at two occasions (at discharge and 10-12 days post-operatively) were evaluated using the KOOS, KOS-ADL and SF-12 Health Survey.

Social capital, tolerance of diversity and adherence to Mediterranean diet: the Rhea Mother-Child Cohort in Crete, Greece.

Objective: To estimate the associations of individual maternal social capital and social capital dimensions (Participation in the Community, Feelings of Safety, Value of Life and Social Agency, Tolerance of Diversity) with adherence to the Mediterranean diet during pregnancy.

Design: This is a cross-sectional analysis of data from a prospective mother-child cohort (Rhea Study). Participants completed a social capital questionnaire and an FFQ in mid-pregnancy.

Measuring change in relating and interrelating during the early stages of psychotherapy: Comparison with a nonpatients' sample.

The study examined whether the relative short time period of two months of individual psychotherapy improved patients' psychiatric symptoms, their negative relating (i.e., destructive and undesirable interpersonal attitudes and behavior to others) and their negative interrelating (i.

Dispersion behaviour of graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide.

The dispersion behaviour of graphene oxide (GO) and chemically reduced GO (rGO) has been investigated in a wide range of organic solvents. The effect of the reduction process on the GO solubility in eighteen different solvents was examined and analysed, taking into consideration the solvent polarity, the surface tension and the Hansen and Hildebrand solubility parameters. rGO concentrations up to ∼9 μg/mL in chlorinated solvents were achieved, demonstrating an efficient solubilization strategy, extending the scope for scalable liquid-phase processing of conductive rGO inks for the development of printed flexible electronics.

A new PET resolution measurement method through Monte-Carlo simulations.

Objective: The aim of this study was to propose a novel method for image quality assessment in PET scanners through estimation of the modulation transfer function (MTF) of a plane source. The simulation was implemented using the previously validated Monte-Carlo model. A comparison of the proposed method with the more traditional technique, based on a line source, was also performed.

Figure of image quality and information capacity in digital mammography.

Objectives: In this work, a simple technique to assess the image quality characteristics of the postprocessed image is developed and an easy to use figure of image quality (FIQ) is introduced. This FIQ characterizes images in terms of resolution and noise. In addition information capacity, defined within the context of Shannon's information theory, was used as an overall image quality index.

Improving the efficiency of organic photovoltaics by tuning the work function of graphene oxide hole transporting layers.

A facile, fast, non-destructive and roll-to-roll compatible photochemical method for simultaneous partial reduction and doping of graphene oxide (GO) films through ultraviolet laser irradiation in the presence of a Cl2 precursor gas is demonstrated. The photochemical chlorinated GO-Cl films were fully characterized by XPS and Raman measurements, in which grafting of chloride to the edges and the basal plane of GO was confirmed. By tuning the laser exposure time, it is possible to control the doping and reduction levels and therefore to tailor the work function (WF) of the GO-Cl layers from 4.

Comparative analysis and evaluation of the effectiveness of demographic policies in EU countries (2009-2010).

Purpose: This article contains a comparative analysis and evaluation of the effectiveness of population policies in European Union (EU) countries, using multivariate analysis.

Data And Methods: To study these differences, it is primarily necessary to have the relevant data. The most recent database available was developed by the OECD in 2007 and currently covers OECD countries and most EU Member States.

Bioactive fungal polysaccharides as potential functional ingredients in food and nutraceuticals.

Fungal bioactive polysaccharides deriving mainly from the Basidiomycetes family (and some from the Ascomycetes) and medicinal mushrooms have been well known and widely used in far Asia as part of traditional diet and medicine, and in the last decades have been the core of intense research for the understanding and the utilization of their medicinal properties in naturally produced pharmaceuticals. In fact, some of these biopolymers (mainly β-glucans or heteropolysaccharides) have already made their way to the market as antitumor, immunostimulating or prophylactic drugs. The fact that many of these biopolymers are produced by edible mushrooms makes them also very good candidates for the formulation of novel functional foods and nutraceuticals without any serious safety concerns, in order to make use of their immunomodulating, anticancer, antimicrobial, hypocholesterolemic, hypoglycemic and health-promoting properties.

Synergetic plasmonic effect of Al and Au nanoparticles for efficiency enhancement of air processed organic photovoltaic devices.

Enhancement in the efficiency of air processed bulk heterojunction photovoltaic devices is demonstrated via the addition of highly stable uncapped gold (Au) and aluminum (Al) nanoparticles (NPs) into the photoactive layer. An enhancement in conversion efficiency by 15% is observed, which can be attributed to Localised Surface Plasmon Resonance effects at the small diameter Au NPs and to efficient scattering by the large diameter Al NPs.

Enhanced field emission from reduced graphene oxide polymer composites.

Results on electron field emission (FE) from reduced graphene oxide (rGO):poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) composite layers are presented. Three different FE cathodes were tested and compared: rGO layers on (a) n(+)-Si, (b) composite films with different rGO:P3HT ratios, (c) rGO layers on composite films with different rGO:P3HT ratios. Experiments show that there is a critical rGO:P3HT ratio in which the field-emission performance is remarkably improved.

Pituitary protein 7B2 plasma levels in patients with liver disease: Comparisons with other hormones and neuropeptides.

7B2, a protein initially isolated from the porcine pituitary gland, has been identified in numerous animal and human tissues, with the highest concentrations in the pituitary and hypothalamus. The 7B2 molecule is highly evolutionarily conserved and is considered to be indispensable in the function and regulation of proprotein convertase 2 (PC2). In the present study, the plasma 7B2 immunoreactivity (7B2-IR) of 18 patients with liver disease was studied.

The resistive index as a function of vessel diameter in the human carotid arterial tree.

The average resistive index (RI) as a function of the average vessel diameter (D) was studied in the human carotid arterial tree. Data were used from previously published research measurements taken from 505 different vessels of 371 healthy humans. When the RI from the carotid arteries was included in the data set the standard trend lines did not give efficient fits.

Plasmonic organic photovoltaic devices with graphene based buffer layers for stability and efficiency enhancement.

Enhancement of photoconversion efficiency (PCE) and stability in bulk heterojunction (BHJ) plasmonic organic photovoltaic devices (OPVs) incorporating graphene oxide (GO) thin films as the hole transport layer (HTL) and surfactant free Au nanoparticles (NPs) between the GO HTL and the photoactive layers is demonstrated. In particular the plasmonic GO-based devices exhibited a performance enhancement by 30% compared to the devices using the traditional PEDOT:PSS layer. Likewise, they preserved 50% of their initial PCE after 45 h of continuous illumination, contrary to the PEDOT:PSS-based ones that die after 20 h.

Sub-grouping patients with non-specific low back pain based on cluster analysis of discriminatory clinical items.

Objective: To identify potential subgroups amongst patients with non-specific low back pain based on a consensus list of potentially discriminatory examination items.

Design: Exploratory study.

Participants: A convenience sample of 106 patients with non-specific low back pain (43 males, 63 females, mean age 36 years, standard deviation 15.

Organic bulk heterojunction photovoltaic devices based on polythiophene-graphene composites.

A solution-processed graphene content was synthesized by treatment of graphite oxide (GO) with phenyl isothiocyanate (PITC) by taking advantage of the functional carboxyl groups of graphene oxide. The GO was prepared by the oxidation of natural graphite powder and was expanded by ultrasonication in order to exfoliate single or/and few-layered graphene oxide sheets. The functionalized graphene oxide, GO-PITC, can be dispersed within poly-(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and can be utilized as the electron acceptor in bulk heterojunction polymer photovoltaic cells.

Smoking and physical activity interrelations in health science students. Is smoking associated with physical inactivity in young adults?

Background: Smoking and physical inactivity constitute a major public health concern for Greece. The purpose of this study was to examine smoking behaviour and physical activity (PA) in Greek health science students.

Methods: A standardised questionnaire and the Greek version of IPAQ-short were given to 2000 health science students, randomly selected from five higher education institutions, in order to record smoking behaviour and PA status.

Maternal social capital and birth outcomes in the mother-child cohort in Crete, Greece (Rhea study).

This cohort study aimed to estimate the effect of individual maternal social capital during pregnancy on birth outcomes in the context of the Mother-child cohort (Rhea study), in Crete-Greece. Women were recruited from four prenatal clinics in Heraklion-Crete for one year beginning in February 2007. 610 women completed the self-administered Social Capital Questionnaire at about the 24th week of gestation.

Problematic Internet Use among Greek university students: an ordinal logistic regression with risk factors of negative psychological beliefs, pornographic sites, and online games.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationships between Problematic Internet Use (PIU) among university students in Greece and factors such as gender, age, family condition, academic performance in the last semester of their studies, enrollment in unemployment programs, amount of Internet use per week (in general and per application), additional personal habits or dependencies (number of coffees, alcoholic drinks drunk per day, taking substances, cigarettes smoked per day), and negative psychological beliefs. Data were gathered from 2,358 university students from across Greece. The prevalence of PIU was 34.