Διερεύνηση του βαθμού ετοιμότητας των Σχολικών Μονάδων για τον σεισμικό κίνδυνο: η περίπτωση του Δήμου Φιλοθέης-Ψυχικού

Οι φυσικές καταστροφές παρουσιάζουν αυξητική τάση τα τελευταία χρόνια με ποικίλες συνέπειες στο ανθρωπογενές περιβάλλον. Ο σεισμικός κίνδυνος αποτελεί μια από τις πιο συχνές φυσικές καταστροφές στη χώρα μας. Οι σχολικές μονάδες, κυρίως της Πρωτοβάθμιας Εκπαίδευσης, ως λειτουργικοί χώροι φιλοξενίας και δραστηριοποίησης ευάλωτης ομάδας του πληθυσμού, απαιτούν έναν αυξημένο βαθμό ετοιμότητας έναντι του κινδύνου αυτού. H παρούσα έρευνα, εντάσσεται στο πλαίσιο μιας προσπάθειας διερεύνησης και αποτύπωσης του βαθμού ετοιμότητας μαθητών, εκπαιδευτικών και σχολικών μονάδων για την αντιμετώπιση του σεισμικού κινδύνου, επιχειρώντας να καταγράψει τον βαθμό ετοιμότητας των μαθητών στη περίπτωση του σεισμικού κινδύνου, το επίπεδο ενημέρωσης των εκπαιδευτικών για τους τρόπους αντιμετώπισης και αντίδρασης στο σεισμικό κίνδυνο και, παράλληλα, να χαρτογραφήσει το πλαίσιο προετοιμασίας ή/και τον εντοπισμό παραλήψεων και δυσλειτουργιών των σχολικών μονάδων της Πρωτοβάθμιας Εκπαίδευσης ως προς τη μέριμνα εφαρμογής των οδηγιών αντισεισμικής προστασίας. Η έρευναεξετάζει την περίπτωση του Δήμου Φιλοθέης-Ψυχικού, βάσει του κριτηρίου της επαρκούς οικονομικο-κοινωνικο-μορφωτικής διαστρωμάτωσης των κατοίκων, τα παιδιά των οποίων φοιτούν στα οικία δημόσια σχολικά ιδρύματα, μέσω δύο ερευνητικών εργαλείων, ερωτηματολόγιο (εκπαιδευτικών) και κλείδα παρατήρησης (παρατηρητών-αξιολογητών). Τα αποτελέσματα της στατιστικής επεξεργασίας των ερευνητικών δεδομένων παρουσιάζονται μέσω περιγραφικών πινάκων και γραφημάτωνκαι οδηγούν στη διατύπωση σαφών συμπερασμάτων καθώς και στη σύνταξη προτάσεων, τόσο επίλυσης των αναδυόμενων προβληματικών-δυσλειτουργικών ζητημάτων όσο και σχεδιασμού και οργάνωσης μελλοντικών σχετικών ερευνητικών πρωτοβουλιών.Natural disasters tend to display an upward trend over the last years, something that has a variety of repercussions on man environment. Seismic hazard consists one of the most frequent natural disasters in our country. All school units, especially those of primary education, functioning as hosting spaces and places related to the enablement of a vulnerable group of the population, are required to present an increased amount of readiness against this type of hazard. The present research (December 2016) is under the frame of the effort to research and depict the amount of readiness of students, teachers and school units against the seismic hazard, trying to display the rate of readiness of students in the case of seismic hazard, the degree of awareness of teachers regarding the ways of dealing with and responding to seismic hazard, while charting the frame of preparation or/and the location of mistakes and malfunctions of the school units under the primary education with regard to the application of the anti-seismic protection guidelines. This research examines the case of the Municipality of Filothei-Psychiko, based on the criterium of adequate social, economic and educational stratification of its inhabitants, the children of whom attend the public school units, through two main research tools, a questionnaire for teachers and an observation clavicle (based on examiners). The results coming from the statistical process of the research data are displayed through descriptive tables and graphs, and thus lead to the formulation of clear conclusions and in the creation of proposals, not only for the resolution of new problems and malfunctions but also for the design and management of future relevant research initiatives

Remitting–relapsing multiple sclerosis patient refractory to conventional treatments and bone marrow transplantation who responded to natalizumab

Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) was introduced as a treatment option 15 years ago for severe, drug-resistant multiple sclerosis (MS). Up until now, BMT has been undertaken in relatively few patients worldwide, with moderate success, and recent studies suggest that patients with early, highly aggressive MS benefit most from this treatment. In this work, we determined peripheral blood lymphocyte populations in a patient (patient A) with remitting–relapsing multiple sclerosis (RR-MS), refractory to conventional treatments, and who underwent BMT, relapsed, and has been treated with natalizumab for the last 22 months. Eleven other RR-MS patients in the acute phase of the disease, untreated or treated with interferon-beta, and 20 healthy subjects served as controls. Natalizumab treatment in patient A resulted in lymphocytosis and increased levels of CD20+/CD20+CD5+ B cells and T regulatory cells (Tregs). The patient maintained relatively low levels of T cells, T helper cells, memory T helper cells, and naive cytotoxic T cells, and very low levels of naive T helper cells and natural killer cells throughout. The Tregs of patient A post-treatment with natalizumab responded well in culture to a peptide mapping to a myelin basic protein antigenic epitope (mean 42% increase) compared with Tregs of healthy controls (mean 15% increase) whereas Tregs of the RR-MS controls or patient A prenatalizumab treatment either did not respond or responded adversely to the peptide (mean 3% and 21% decreases, respectively). Since the beginning of natalizumab treatment, patient A has had no relapses, and his Expanded Disability Status Score has improved. From the parameters studied, Treg responsiveness to autoantigens seems to be an important differentiating factor in RR-MS progression

Headache onset after vaccination against SARS-CoV-2: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis

Background Vaccines against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are used to reduce the risk of developing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Despite the significant benefits in terms of reduced risk of hospitalization and death, different adverse events may present after vaccination: among them, headache is one of the most common, but nowadays there is no summary presentation of its incidence and no description of its main features. Methods We searched PubMed and EMBASE covering the period between January 1(st) 2020 and August 6(th), 2021, looking for record in English and with an abstract and using three main search terms (with specific variations): COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2; Vaccination; headache/adverse events. We selected manuscript including information on subjects developing headache after injection, and such information had to be derived from a structured form (i.e. no free reporting). Pooled estimates and 95% confidence intervals were calculated. Analyses were carried out by vaccine vs. placebo, by first vs. second dose, and by mRNA-based vs. "traditional" vaccines; finally, we addressed the impact of age and gender on post-vaccine headache onset. Results Out of 9338 records, 84 papers were included in the review, accounting for 1.57 million participants, 94% of whom received BNT162b2 or ChAdOx1. Headache was generally the third most common AE: it was detected in 22% (95% CI 18-27%) of subjects after the first dose of vaccine and in 29% (95% CI 23-35%) after the second, with an extreme heterogeneity. Those receiving placebo reported headache in 10-12% of cases. No differences were detected across different vaccines or by mRNA-based vs. "traditional" ones. None of the studies reported information on headache features. A lower prevalence of headache after the first injection of BNT162b2 among older participants was shown. Conclusions Our results show that vaccines are associated to a two-fold risk of developing headache within 7 days from injection, and the lack of difference between vaccine types enable to hypothesize that headache is secondary to systemic immunological reaction than to a vaccine-type specific reaction. Some descriptions report onset within the first 24 h and that in around one-third of the cases, headache has migraine-like features with pulsating quality, phono and photophobia; in 40-60% of the cases aggravation with activity is observed. The majority of patients used some medication to treat headache, the one perceived as the most effective being acetylsalicylic acid

Effect of chronic dopaminergic generation on glutamate receptor phosphorylation: study on a genetic model of parkinsonism

Weaver mutant mouse is a valuable tool to further our understanding of Parkinson’s disease (PD) pathogenesis since dopaminergic neurons of the nigro-striatal pathway undergo spontaneous and progressive cell death. Abnormalities in striatal glutamate transmission as a response to dopaminergic degenaration have been associated with the pathophysiology of Parkinson disease. The physiological properties of glutamate receptors depend on their subunit composition and phosphorylation along with the composition of the protein complex formed downstream of receptor activation, where α-subunit of calcium–calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (αCaMKII), a molecule important to synaptic plasticity, participates. In the present study, using immuoblotting in total striatal homogenate, we investigated the changes in protein expression and phosphorylation of glutamate receptor subunits and αCaMKII at the end of the third and sixth postnatal month. We found increased expression levels of GluN2A and GluN2B subunits of NMDA receptors and GluA1 subunit of AMPA receptors by 74%, 92% and 108% in the 3-month-old weaver striatum compared to control. In the 6-month-old weaver striatum, no changes were detected in GluN2A and GluA1 expression levels, whereas GluN2B showed a 21% statistically significant increase. Our results also indicated increased phosphorylations of GluN2B at serine 1303 by 40% and GluA1 at serines 831 and 845 by 40% and 38% in the 3-month-old and increased GluN2B phosphorylation by 22% in the 6-month-old weaver striatum compared to control. Furthermore, our results showed increased pCaMKIIThr286 phosphorylation by 176% in the 6 month-old weaver striatum, while total CaMKII protein levels were not altered at either 3- or 6-month-old weaver. Our results indicate that distinct degrees of DA neuron degeneration differentially affect expression and phosphorylation of striatal glutamate receptors and αCaMKII. Findings on this genetic parkinsonian model suggest that striatal glutamatergic signaling may play an important role in synaptic plasticity and motor behavior that follow progressive and chronic dopamine depletion in PD with biochemical consequences beyond those seen in acute toxic models.Ο μυς weaver αποτελεί ένα γενετικό ζωϊκό μοντέλο της νόσου Parkinson που χαρακτηρίζεται από προοδευτική εκφύλιση των κυττάρων της μελαινοραβδωτής ντοπαμινεργικής οδού. Η μεταβολή της γλουταμινεργικής διαβίβασης στο κύκλωμα των βασικών γαγγλίων ως απόκριση στη ντοπαμινεργική εκφύλιση έχει προταθεί ότι εμπλέκεται στην παθοφυσιολογία της νόσου Parkinson. Οι ιδιότητες των υποδοχέων του γλουταμινικού εξαρτώνται από τη σύνθεση των υπομονάδων τους και τη φωσφορυλίωσή αυτών, καθώς και από τη σύνθεση του πρωτεϊνικού συμπλόκου που σχηματίζεται ενδοκυττάρια μετά την ενεργοποίηση των υποδοχέων, μέρος του οποίου είναι η ασβεστιοεξαρτώμενη κινάση της καλμοδουλίνης ΙΙ (CaMKII), ένα μόριο σημαντικό στη συναπτική πλαστικότητα.Στην παρούσα διατριβή μελετήσαμε, με την μέθοδο της ανοσοαποτύπωσης, σε ολικό ομογενοποίημα ραβδωτού μυών weaver και φυσιολογικών, τις αλλαγές που παρατηρούνται στην πρωτεϊνική έκφραση και φωσφορυλίωση των υπομονάδων των υποδοχέων του γλουταμινικού και της αCaMKII στις ηλικίες των 3 και 6 μηνών. Στην ηλικία των 3 μηνών αναδείχθηκε στατιστικά σημαντική αύξηση στους μύες weaver σε σχέση με τους φυσιολογικούς των πρωτεϊνικών επιπέδων των υπομονάδων GluN2A και GluN2B του υποδοχέα NMDA κατά 74% και 92% και της υπομονάδας GluA1 του υποδοχέα AMPA κατά 108%. Στην ηλικία των 6 μηνών, δεν ανευρέθησαν αλλαγές στο ραβδωτό των μυών weaver στα επίπεδα έκφρασης των GluN2A και GluA1, ενώ παρατηρήθηκε στατιστικά σημαντική αύξηση της GluN2B κατά 21%. Επιπλέον, στην ηλικία των 3 μηνών αναδείχθηκε στατιστικά σημαντική αύξηση των επιπέδων φωσφορυλίωσης της GluN2B στη σερίνη 1303 κατά 40% και της GluA1 στις σερίνες 831 και 845 κατά 40% και 38%, αντίστοιχα, στους μύες weaver σε σχέση με τους φυσιολογικούς, ενώ στην ηλικία των 6 μηνών αύξηση της φωσφορυλιωμένης GluN2B κατά 22%. Επιπρόσθετα, τα αποτελέσματά μας ανέδειξαν στο ραβδωτό των μυών weaver στατιστικά σημαντική αύξηση της φωσφoρυλίωσης της αCaMKII στη θρεονίνη 286 κατά 176%, ενώ τα επίπεδα της ολικής CaMKII δεν παρουσίασαν στατιστικά σημαντική διαφορά είτε στους 3 είτε στους 6 μήνες. Τα αποτελέσματα μας υποδεικνύουν ότι διακριτοί βαθμοί εκφύλισης των ντοπαμινεργικών νευρώνων επηρεάζουν με διαφορετικό τρόπο την έκφραση και φωσφορυλίωση των υποδοχέων γλουταμινικού και της αCaMKII στο ραβδωτό. Τα ευρήματα σε αυτό το γενετικό παρκινσονικό μοντέλο προτείνουν ότι η γλουταμινεργική διαβίβαση στο ραβδωτό παίζει πιθανά σημαντικό ρόλο στη συναπτική πλαστικότητα και στην κινητική συμπεριφορά, που έπονται της σταδιακής και χρόνιας έλλειψης ντοπαμίνης στη νόσο Parkinson, με βιοχημικά επακόλουθα πέρα από αυτά που παρατηρούνται στα οξέα τοξικά μοντέλα

Remitting–relapsing multiple sclerosis patient refractory to conventional treatments and bone marrow transplantation who responded to natalizumab

Athanasia Mouzaki1, Maria Koutsokera2, Zoe Dervilli1, Maria Rodi1, Dimitra Kalavrizioti1,3, Nikolaos Dimisianos2, Ioannis Matsoukas3, Panagiotis Papathanasopoulos21Division of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, 2Neurology Clinic, Medical School and University Hospital, 3Department of Chemistry, University of Patras, Patras, GreeceAbstract: Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) was introduced as a treatment option 15 years ago for severe, drug-resistant multiple sclerosis (MS). Up until now, BMT has been undertaken in relatively few patients worldwide, with moderate success, and recent studies suggest that patients with early, highly aggressive MS benefit most from this treatment. In this work, we determined peripheral blood lymphocyte populations in a patient (patient A) with remitting–relapsing multiple sclerosis (RR-MS), refractory to conventional treatments, and who underwent BMT, relapsed, and has been treated with natalizumab for the last 22 months. Eleven other RR-MS patients in the acute phase of the disease, untreated or treated with interferon-beta, and 20 healthy subjects served as controls. Natalizumab treatment in patient A resulted in lymphocytosis and increased levels of CD20+/CD20+CD5+ B cells and T regulatory cells (Tregs). The patient maintained relatively low levels of T cells, T helper cells, memory T helper cells, and naive cytotoxic T cells, and very low levels of naive T helper cells and natural killer cells throughout. The Tregs of patient A post-treatment with natalizumab responded well in culture to a peptide mapping to a myelin basic protein antigenic epitope (mean 42% increase) compared with Tregs of healthy controls (mean 15% increase) whereas Tregs of the RR-MS controls or patient A prenatalizumab treatment either did not respond or responded adversely to the peptide (mean 3% and 21% decreases, respectively). Since the beginning of natalizumab treatment, patient A has had no relapses, and his Expanded Disability Status Score has improved. From the parameters studied, Treg responsiveness to autoantigens seems to be an important differentiating factor in RR-MS progression.Keywords: bone marrow transplantation, lymphocytes, multiple sclerosis, myelin basic protein antigen, peptide, phenotype, remitting–relapsing, T regulatory cell

Nutrition Habits, Physical Activity, and Lung Cancer: An Authoritative Review

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Because of high incidence rates and low survival rates, it is important to study the risk factors that may help prevent the disease from developing. It has been well established that cigarette smoking is the most important risk factor for lung cancer. Nonetheless it is likely that there are other modifiable risk factors that would assist in the prevention of lung cancer. Research on factors such as nutrition and physical activity and their influence on lung cancer has been carried out for nearly 3 decades. A systematic review in the MEDLINE database of published studies was conducted, focusing on systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and large prospective studies. The association between physical activity and lung cancer has been conflicting. Among the researched studies, 10 showed an inverse association, whereas 11 reported no association. A meta-analysis that was conducted from 1996 to October 2003 showed that leisure physical activity (LPA) prevents lung cancer. Data from 11 cohort and case-control studies showed an inverse relationship between fruit and vegetable consumption and lung cancer. Evidence from case-control studies suggests a positive association between meat intake and risk of lung cancer, although several more recent studies have presented doubts about these findings. The possible association of physical activity, nutrition, and the risk of lung cancer development remains controversial. Further prospective studies should be conducted to determine the potential influence of these 2 risk factors