Epidemiologic Study of the Sexually Dimorphic Second to Fourth Digit Ratio (2D:4D) and Other Finger Ratios in Greek Population

The 2nd to 4th digit ratio (2D:4D) is a sexually dimorphic biometric marker, related to prenatal estrogen and testosterone levels in utero, and determined genetically by the HOX genes. 2D:4D presents a population variation, which seems to be dependent on geographical position or ethnicity, and may reflect differences in prenatal steroid hormone levels among different ethnic groups. In view of its clinical importance, this study investigates the 2D:4D ratio, as well as other digit ratios, in Greek population. A sample of 60 Greek men and 60 Greek women (age range 19–25 years) was selected by random procedures. Fingers’ length was measured twice, using an electronic vernier calliper (precision 0.01 mm). Men had lower 2D:4D ratio (0.974 ± 0.035 for the right hand and 0.973 ± 0.044 for the left hand) than women (1.002 ± 0.04 for the right hand and 1.001 ± 0.045 for the left hand). This difference in 2D:4D ratio between sexes was statistically significant (p<0.0001 for the right hand and p<0.001 for the left hand). The other digit ratios were also lower in men than women for both hands; this difference was statistically significant for all digit ratios of the right hand and for the 2nd to 3rd (2D:3D) and 2nd to 5th (2D:5D) digit ratios of the left hand. The digit ratios are lateralized and sexually dimorphic in Greek population. The sexual dimorphism of all digit ratios (except 2D:3D) is stronger in right than left hand

A Legislation-Based Database for COVID-19 Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, governments around the world imposed a wide variety of Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions (NPIs) in the form of restrictions of various aspects of social life, hoping to curb the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. However, measures such as restrictions on public gatherings, the closure of schools, or the mandatory use of masks, raised several concerns in terms of both their necessity and effectiveness. The Observatory of Government Restrictive Measures for the COVID-19 pandemic (GovRM-COVID19), which began in November 2020 within the Center for Research on Democracy and Law of the University of Macedonia (Greece), has developed a database tracking all legislative measures imposing restrictions across different countries. The use of legislation as the main source of information with a daily frequency, as well as consideration of sub-federal entities in non-unitary (federal, devolved, etc.) states, provide one of the most accurate accounts of such restrictions. The end result provides researchers with accurate data on how various governments around the world have restricted individual rights and freedoms as a result of, and during, the COVID-19 pandemic, offering an opportunity for comparative research across different countries and policy strategies

Mineralogical Characterization and Firing Temperature Delineation on Minoan Pottery, Focusing on the Application of Micro-Raman Spectroscopy

Ceramic objects in whole or in fragments usually account for the majority of findings in an archaeological excavation. Thus, through examination of the values these items bear, it is possible to extract important information regarding raw materials provenance and ceramic technology. For this purpose, either traditional examination protocols could be followed, focusing on the macroscopic/morphological characteristics of the ancient object, or more sophisticated physicochemical techniques are employed. Nevertheless, there are cases where, due to the uniqueness and the significance of an object of archaeological value, sampling is impossible. Then, the available analytical tools are extremely limited, especially when molecular information and mineral phase identification is required. In this context, the results acquired from a multiphase clay ceramic dated on Early Neopalatioal period ΜΜΙΙΙΑ-LMIA (1750 B.C.E.–1490 B.C.E.), from the Minoan Bronze Age site at Philioremos (Crete, Greece) through the application of Raman confocal spectroscopy, a non-destructive/ non-invasive method are reported. The spectroscopic results are confirmed through the application of X-ray microdiffraction and scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry. Moreover, it is demonstrated how it is made possible through the application of micro-Raman spectroscopy to examine and collect crucial information from very small inclusions in the ceramic fabric. The aim of this approach is to develop an analytical protocol based on mRaman spectroscopy, for extracting firing temperature information from other ceramic finds (figurines) where due to their uniqueness sampling and analyses through other techniques is not possible. This information can lead to dating but also to firing kiln technology extrapolations that are very significant in archaeology

HGCA2.0: An RNA-Seq Based Webtool for Gene Coexpression Analysis in Homo sapiens

Genes with similar expression patterns in a set of diverse samples may be considered coexpressed. Human Gene Coexpression Analysis 2.0 (HGCA2.0) is a webtool which studies the global coexpression landscape of human genes. The website is based on the hierarchical clustering of 55,431 Homo sapiens genes based on a large-scale coexpression analysis of 3500 GTEx bulk RNA-Seq samples of healthy individuals, which were selected as the best representative samples of each tissue type. HGCA2.0 presents subclades of coexpressed genes to a gene of interest, and performs various built-in gene term enrichment analyses on the coexpressed genes, including gene ontologies, biological pathways, protein families, and diseases, while also being unique in revealing enriched transcription factors driving coexpression. HGCA2.0 has been successful in identifying not only genes with ubiquitous expression patterns, but also tissue-specific genes. Benchmarking showed that HGCA2.0 belongs to the top performing coexpression webtools, as shown by STRING analysis. HGCA2.0 creates working hypotheses for the discovery of gene partners or common biological processes that can be experimentally validated. It offers a simple and intuitive website design and user interface, as well as an API endpoint

Pediatric trauma and emergency surgery: an international cross-sectional survey among WSES members

Background: In contrast to adults, the situation for pediatric trauma care from an international point of view and the global management of severely injured children remain rather unclear. The current study investigates structural management of pediatric trauma in centers of different trauma levels as well as experiences with pediatric trauma management around the world. Methods: A web-survey had been distributed to the global mailing list of the World Society of Emergency Surgery from 10/2021-03/2022, investigating characteristics of respondents and affiliated hospitals, case-load of pediatric trauma patients, capacities and infrastructure for critical care in children, trauma team composition, clinical work-up and individual experiences with pediatric trauma management in response to patients´ age. The collaboration group was subdivided regarding sizes of affiliated hospitals to allow comparisons concerning hospital volumes. Comparable results were conducted to statistical analysis. Results: A total of 133 participants from 34 countries, i.e. 5 continents responded to the survey. They were most commonly affiliated with larger hospitals (&gt; 500 beds in 72.9%) and with level I or II trauma centers (82.0%), respectively. 74.4% of hospitals offer unrestricted pediatric medical care, but only 63.2% and 42.9% of the participants had sufficient experiences with trauma care in children ≤ 10 and ≤ 5&nbsp;years of age (p = 0.0014). This situation is aggravated in participants from smaller hospitals (p &lt; 0.01). With regard to hospital size (≤ 500 versus &gt; 500 in-hospital beds), larger hospitals were more likely affiliated with advanced trauma centers, more elaborated pediatric intensive care infrastructure (p &lt; 0.0001), treated children at all ages more frequently (p = 0.0938) and have higher case-loads of severely injured children &lt; 12&nbsp;years of age (p = 0.0009). Therefore, the majority of larger hospitals reserve either pediatric surgery departments or board-certified pediatric surgeons (p &lt; 0.0001) and in-hospital trauma management is conducted more multi-disciplinarily. However, the majority of respondents does not feel prepared for treatment of severe pediatric trauma and call for special educational and practical training courses (overall: 80.2% and 64.3%, respectively). Conclusions: Multi-professional management of pediatric trauma and individual experiences with severely injured children depend on volumes, level of trauma centers and infrastructure of the hospital. However, respondents from hospitals at all levels of trauma care complain about an alarming lack of knowledge on pediatric trauma management