Bilingualism on the Internet: The Teaching/Learning of Greek as a Second Language in Higher Education.

In the last few years we have observed a rapid increase in Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL). These applications include software that aims at the teaching of first, second and foreign languages, applications on the Internet or both. The historical retrospection of CALL shows its development, beginning from its first applications in the 1960s up to this date (Warschauer and Healy, 1998). Today more possibilities exist in respect to new technologies but also theories of language learning and pedagogies that go beyond traditional orientations. This paper proposes ways in which Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) can be used to enhance the teaching/learning of the Greek language in departments of Greek studies in higher education outside Greece. It describes an Internet based application for the teaching/learning of Greek as a second language, “Λόγου χάρη” ('Logou hari') (Kourtis-Kazoullis, 2005), which is based on the creative analysis and production of literary texts, as well as collaboration between university classes

Cyber-Self-Reflection: Developing learner autonomy in online programs

This paper reports on a study of the perceptions of online graduate students regarding issues related to the relationship between learner autonomy and online learning. The study also investigates the degree to which the five categories of autonomy proposed by Finch (2001) can be effectively used to analyze this type of data. Based on participant input, key factors which may support the development of learner autonomy in online environments are also identified

An Internet-based Learning Environment for the Teaching of Greek as a Second Language through Literary Texts: Theory and Practice

This paper describes an Internet-based learning environment for the teaching/learning of Greek as a second language which is based on specific theories of language learning and pedagogical orientations. The content of the teaching/learning of Greek is based on literature. The lessons focus on language, meaning and use and emphasis is placed on the creative comprehension and production of literary texts by the students. This specific environment was created as a result of the program of the Greek Ministry of Education and Religions, “Integration of Repatriate and Immigrant children in School — for Primary Education” and designed specifically for Albanian and Russian-speaking students initially, although it can be expanded in the future to include other languages as well. It is hosted on a moodle, created especially for the needs of the specific program

Soft Drink, Software and Softening of Teeth – a Case Report of Tooth Wear in the Mixed Dentition Due to a Combination of Dental Erosion and Attrition

This case report describes a 9-year-old boy with severe tooth wear as a result of drinking a single glass of soft drink per day. This soft drink was consumed over a period of one to two hours, while he was gaming intensively on his computer. As a result, a deep bite, enamel cupping, sensitivity of primary teeth and loss of fillings occurred. Therefore, dentists should be aware that in patients who are gaming intensively, the erosive potential of soft drinks can be potentiated by mechanical forces leading to excessive tooth wear

Facebook, telecollaboration, and international access to technology in the classroom

This study uses the well-known social networking site, Facebook (FB), for a study of differences in perceptions on the use of technologies in the classroom around the world. This study is part of a larger project exploring telecollaboration and the use of online discussions between graduate students in an online masters program based in Australia and students in the graduate education program at a regional university in Greece. Postings reveal more similarities between the situations and perceptions of the participants from the different countries than differences. Most participants indicated that while they and their students had access in general to computers and the internet, they did not necessarily have this access in the classroom. Even when technologies were available in schools, participants identified a critical need for professional development to increase teachers’ use of ICT. These findings are relevant to educators and policy development in terms of implementation of ICT or social networking in the language classroom

Early interactions between Candida albicans yeasts and human cells in vitro

Candida species are ubiquitous opportunistic pathogens, causing significant morbidity and mortality in humans.\ua0 C. albicans can asymptomatically colonise the skin and mucosal surfaces in healthy and immunologically competent individuals without causing disease.\ua0 Impairment of normal host defence mechanisms can result in the conversion of C. albicans from a harmless commensal to an opportunistic pathogen that can initiate mucocutaneous forms of infections, such as oral candidiasis, vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC), and even invasive systemic infections of the bloodstream and deep organs.In vitro and in vivo studies have revealed distinct patterns of strain-dependent tissue invasion and surface colonisation. Yeast strain differences markedly influence the nature and magnitude of both innate and adaptive immune responses against C. albicans infection.\ua0 The following studies set out to delineate adherence properties and functional differences between two clinical isolates of C. albicans (one, 3630, cutaneous and one, 3683 oral). It was anticipated that the differences observed in mouse studies in vivo would be reflected in their interactions with human phagocytic cells in vitro.The oral isolate, 3683, was significantly more adherent than 3630 to human monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM), and epithelial cells, but not to mouse cells.\ua0 A survey of six other oral isolates identified one that was like 3683 in its ability to adhere to both phagocytic and non-phagocytic human cells. The addition of homologous cell-free culture supernatant (SN) (termed the secretome) to yeast cells from the same isolate significantly increased adherence of 3630 compared to 3683. In contrast, the addition of secretome to yeast cells of 3683 did not affect adherence to epithelial cells.The secretome of C. albicans consists of glycoproteins that respond to the availability of nutrients and mediate evasion of host immune responses.\ua0 Mass spectroscopy was performed on lyophilised secretome from both clinical isolates and identified several potential candidates that could be involved in inducing or modulating the host responses to these distinct clinical isolates.Isolate 3683 consistently induced significantly higher IL-1β production from THP-1 derived MDM and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), compared to 3630.\ua0 When the secretome of 3630 and 3683 was added to MDM, IL-1β production was greater from the MDM activated with 3630 SN than from 3683, demonstrating that the secretome from the two strains induced different patterns of responsiveness.\ua0 The interactions between homologous and heterologous SN co-cultured with yeast cells showed that 3630 induced significantly more IL-1β in the presence of both SNs, whereas the converse was true for 3683. Heat treatment of the yeast cells and SN abrogated the release of IL-1β for both isolates. This pattern of secretion was also seen in the production of IL-18. The secretion of mature IL-1β and IL-18 resulting from caspase-1 cleavage of the two precursor molecules, confirmed assembly of the nucleotide-binding oligomerisation domain (NOD)-like receptor (NLR) pyrin-domain containing protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome.\ua0Other pro-inflammatory cytokines were also considered. TNF-α production by MDM showed a similar pattern of cytokine expression to IL-1β. However, the isolate 3630 expressed significantly more IL-6 production than 3683, while the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 was not detected. Similar patterns of pro-inflammatory cytokine production to MDM were confirmed using human-derived PBMC.Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was used to determine gene expression kinetics for IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α. mRNA expression relative to 18s (housekeeping gene) of IL-1β showed 3630 was significantly greater than 3683. Although IL-6 and TNF-α proteins were identified upon stimulation with the two isolates, there was no upregulation of mRNA expression.Filamentation is often considered as an initiator of pro-inflammatory cytokine responses. Diclofenac sodium, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), has been shown to inhibit hyphal formation and co-culture of isolates grown in diclofenac sodium showed no significant change in IL-1β production.The most widely studied mechanism of programmed cell death, apoptosis, involves activation of the initiator caspase, caspase-8, followed by the effector caspase, caspase-3 which cleaves cellular substrates and leads to non-lytic cell death. The formation of the NLRP3 inflammasome and activation of caspase-1 in response to extracellular or intracellular stimuli results in the secretion of mature IL-1β. It condemns the host cell to death via an inflammatory, lytic pathway (pyroptosis). Small molecule inhibitors for NLRP3 (MCC950) and caspase-8 (z-IETD-FMK) were used to investigate differential death mechanisms of MDM and PBMC in the presence of 3630 and 3683. The presence of inhibitors significantly reduced or abrogated the release of IL-1β in both MDM and PBMC.The studies presented here are the first to demonstrate that Candida yeasts and their secretomes from similar oral infections can be highly individual. This does not necessarily imply that there are no commonalities between them, but that a broader range of isolates would need to be evaluated before such relationships could be accurately evaluated. Furthermore, interactions with host phagocytic and non-phagocytic cells may induce cytokine responses that could actively modulate human immune responses

Differential gene expression associated with the immune response pathways to oral Candida Albicans infection in IL-12p40 deficient mice

The oral commensal Candida albicans is found in a majority of the human population. Defects in innate and cell-mediated immunity alter the status of the yeast from a commensal to an opportunistic pathogen. One of the most common clinical manifestations of this infection is oro-pharyngeal candidiasis. Previous studies have reported on the establishment of a chronic oro-pharyngeal infection in a mouse model. In this study, investigations were carried out on local and systemic immune responses against oral C. albicans infection using an IL-12p40 cytokine deficient knockout mouse model. Draining lymph nodes (LN) and oral tissues (OT) consisting of tongue, buccal mucosa and palate were isolated from naïve (Day 0) and infected (Day 6) IL-12p40 knockout and C57BL/6J wildtype mice and analysed using Affymetrix Mouse Genechip MOE430A. Quality control of the samples was carried out using hierarchical clustering. Clustering analysis showed how comparable the duplicates for each group were clustered together. Analysis of the data including data mining tool (DMT) and MAS5.0 was performed to generate reliable and manageable gene lists for the lymph nodes and oral tissues, and of highly expressed genes that could be verified using traditional molecular methods. Identification of differentially expressed genes using statistical (t-test and ANOVA with Benjamini-Hochberg correction, p 1.5) tools highlighted substantially greater numbers of differentially expressed genes in the knockout mice with respect to strain and/or disease. Further analysis of this data, limited to the immune response pathways, showed that CD4 antigen was downregulated in the infected knockout mice compared to the infected wildtype mice. The CD8α antigen was also down-regulated in the infected knockout mice compared to the infected wildtype mice. Within the oral tissues, genes expressing proteins such as β-defensin 4 and triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 1 (Trem1) were down-regulated in the infected knockout mice compared to the infected wildtype mice. The glycoprotein osteopontin was up-regulated in the oral tissues in the naïve knockout mice and to a lesser extent in the infected knockout mice. Confirmation of the microarray data was undertaken using real time quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction qRT-PCR for the selected immune response genes in the lymph nodes and oral tissues. Real time qRT-PCR data confirmed the differential expression of nominated genes obtained from the microarray analysis