Greek Preschool Teachers' Perceptions about the Effective Strategies for Bullying Prevention in Preschool Age

The aim of the present research is to explore preschool teachers' perceptions about the effective strategies for bullying prevention in preschool context. The sample of this research study was 164 preschool teachers from Greece. Data were collected by a questionnaire that was based on previous research. The findings show that teachers regard that classroom activities for diversity acceptance, the development of empathy, the cooperation between school and family, the implementation of socio-emotional learning programs in school context and teacher training, are among the most effective strategies. They also value the cooperation between school, family, and community services for bullying prevention as well as peer support and the creation of prevention activities and material such as videos. Research findings may be utilized for designing teacher training and professional development programs aiming at preventing school bullying at an early age

The Role of Teacher in Primary School Students, Mental Health Promotion

The present study focuses on teachers role in promoting mental health of students with emotional difficulties in primary schools The role of teachers in promoting mental health is related to early detection of children at risk for mental health problems School-based counselling interventions can contribute to mental health promotion Teaching socio-emotional skills such as emotion management conflict management problem solving skills can strengthen students socio-emotional competence and enhance their psychological resilience In addition positive interpersonal relationships in school context the quality of teacher-student relationships and teacher-parent relationships are associated with teachers role in promoting mental health Constructive interpersonal relationships can contribute in preventing behaviour problems and enhancing students psychosocial development and adaptation Finally the present study asserts that the role of teachers as mental health promoters can empower the identity of students with emotional difficultie

Paraganglioma of the greater omentum: Case report and review of the literature

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Extra-adrenal, intra-abdominal paraganglioma constitutes a rare neoplasm and, moreover, its location in the greater omentum is extremely infrequent.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 46-year-old woman with an unremarkable medical history presented with an asymptomatic greater omentum mass that was discovered incidentally during ultrasonographic evaluation due to menstrual disturbances. Clinical examination revealed a mobile, non-tender, well-circumscribed mass in the right upper and lower abdominal quadrant. Blood tests were normal. Contrast-enhanced abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan confirmed a huge (15 × 15 cm), well-demarcated, solid and cystic, heterogeneously enhanced mass between the right liver lobe and right kidney. Exploratory laparotomy revealed a large mass in the greater omentum. The tumor was completely excised along with the greater omentum. Histopathology offered the diagnosis of benign greater omentum paraganglioma. After an uneventful postoperative course, the patient was discharged on the 4^thpostoperative day. She remains free of disease for 2 years as appears on repeated CT scans as well as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and scintigraphy performed with radiotracer-labeled metaiodobenzyl-guanidine (MIBG) scans.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This is the second reported case of greater omentum paraganglioma. Clinical and imaging data of patients with extra-adrenal, intra-abdominal paragangliomas are variable while many of them may be asymptomatic even when the lesion is quite large. Thorough histopathologic evaluation is imperative for diagnosis and radical excision is the treatment of choice. Since there are no definite microscopic criteria for the distinction between benign and malignant tumors, prolonged follow-up is necessary.</p

Infections in a surgical intensive care unit of a university hospital in Greece

SummaryObjectivesWe aimed to evaluate the clinical and microbiological characteristics of the patients who developed an infection in our surgical intensive care unit (SICU).MethodsThis was a prospective study of all patients who sustained an ICU-acquired infection from 2002 to 2004.ResultsAmong 683 consecutive SICU patients, 123 (18.0%) developed 241 infections (48.3 infections per 1000 patient-days). The mean age of patients was 66.7±3.8 years, the mean APACHE II score (acute physiology and chronic health evaluation) on SICU admission was 18.2±2.4, and the mean SOFA score (sepsis-related organ failure assessment) at the onset of infection was 8.8±2. Of the study patients, 51.2% were women. Infections were: bloodstream (36.1%), ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP; 25.3%, 20.3/1000 ventilator-days), surgical site (18.7%), central venous catheter (10.4%, 7.1/1000 central venous catheter-days), and urinary tract infection (9.5%, 4.6/1000 urinary catheter-days). The most frequent microorganisms found were: Acinetobacter baumannii (20.3%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (15.7%), Candida albicans (13.2%), Enterococcus faecalis (10.4%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (9.2%), Enterococcus faecium (7.9%), and Staphylococcus aureus (6.7%). High resistance to the majority of antibiotics was identified. The complication and mortality rates were 58.5% and 39.0%, respectively. Multivariate analysis identified APACHE II score on admission (odds ratio (OR) 4.63, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.69–5.26, p=0.01), peritonitis (OR 1.85, 95% CI 1.03–3.25, p=0.03), acute pancreatitis (OR 2.27, 95% CI 1.05–3.75, p=0.02), previous aminoglycoside use (OR 2.84, 95% CI 1.06–5.14, p=0.03), and mechanical ventilation (OR 3.26, 95% CI: 2.43–6.15, p=0.01) as risk factors for infection development. Age (OR 1.16, 95% CI 1.01–1.33, p=0.03), APACHE II score on admission (OR 2.53, 95% CI 1.77–3.41, p=0.02), SOFA score at the onset of infection (OR 2.88, 95% CI 1.85–4.02, p=0.02), and VAP (OR 1.32, 95% CI 1.04–1.85, p=0.03) were associated with mortality.ConclusionsInfections are an important problem in SICUs due to high incidence, multi-drug resistance, complications, and mortality rate. In our study, APACHE II score on admission, peritonitis, acute pancreatitis, previous aminoglycoside use, and mechanical ventilation were identified as risk factors for infection development, whereas age, APACHE II score on admission, SOFA score at the onset of infection, and VAP were associated with mortality

Students’ Psychosocial Empowerment With The ‘Steps For Life’ Personal and Social Skills Greek Elementary Programme

Significant research has been conducted on skills’ enhancement school programs, since their importance has been well established. The pre-sented study evaluates “Steps for life”, a Greek, universal, annual, teacher-taught programme, designed to improve personal and social skills in young elementary students by the use of questions, diffusion in formal and hidden curriculum, and parental involvement. The experimental study was conducted in Greece during 2013-2014. The sample consisted of 2439 students, with 1516 forming the experimental group and 923 the control group. The study questionnaire included demographics, Personal and Social Skills Scale-Elementary, and the BASE scale. It investigated students’ self-esteem, concentration of attention, participation/cooperation, emotions’ identification and expression, emotions’ management, ability to control verbal and physical aggressiveness, ability to control victimization, empathy, friendship skills, problem-solving, ability to take responsibility, and use of spoken and written language. The experimental group exhibited significant improvement in all inves-tigated skills post-intervention, while the control group did not improve concentration of attention, emotions’ management, and their ability to control verbal and physical aggressiveness and victimization. The analysis also revealed that intervention students had significantly higher improvement than the controls in all dimensions. Appropriately designed mental health promotion programs can improve several children’s social-emotional skills and abilitie

Klebsiella pneumoniae is able to trigger epithelial-mesenchymal transition process in cultured airway epithelial cells

The ability of some bacterial pathogens to activate Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition normally is a consequence of the persistence of a local chronic inflammatory response or depends on a direct interaction of the pathogens with the host epithelial cells. In this study we monitored the abilities of the K. pneumoniae to activate the expression of genes related to EMT-like processes and the occurrence of phenotypic changes in airway epithelial cells during the early steps of cell infection. We describe changes in the production of intracellular reactive oxygen species and increased HIF-1α mRNA expression in cells exposed to K. pneumoniae infection. We also describe the upregulation of a set of transcription factors implicated in the EMT processes, such as Twist, Snail and ZEB, indicating that the morphological changes of epithelial cells already appreciable after few hours from the K. pneumoniae infection are tightly regulated by the activation of transcriptional pathways, driving epithelial cells to EMT. These effects appear to be effectively counteracted by resveratrol, an antioxidant that is able to exert a sustained scavenging of the intracellular ROS. This is the first report indicating that strains of K. pneumoniae may promote EMT-like programs through direct interaction with epithelial cells without the involvement of inflammatory cells

Small cell carcinoma arising in Barrett's esophagus: a case report and review of the literature

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Gastrointestinal tract small cell carcinoma is an infrequent and aggressive neoplasm that represents 0.1–1% of gastrointestinal malignancies. Very few cases of small cell esophageal carcinoma arising in Barrett's esophagus have been reported in the literature. An extremely rare case of primary small cell carcinoma of the distal third of the esophagus arising from dysplastic Barrett's esophagus is herein presented.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 62-year-old man with gastroesophageal reflux history presented with epigastric pain, epigastric fullness, dysphagia, anorexia, and weight loss. Esophagogastroscopy revealed an ulceroproliferative, intraluminar mass in the distal esophagus obstructing the esophageal lumen. Biopsy showed small cell esophageal carcinoma. Contrast-enhanced chest and abdominal computed tomography demonstrated a large tumor of the distal third of the esophagus without any lymphadenopathy or distant metastasis. Preoperative chemotherapy with cisplatine and etoposide for 3 months resulted in a significant reduction of the tumor. After en block esophagectomy with two field lymph node dissection, proximal gastrectomy, and cervical esophagogastric anastomosis, the patient was discharged on the 14^thpostoperative day. Histopathology revealed a primary small cell carcinoma of the distal third of the esophagus arising from dysplastic Barrett's esophagus. The patient received another 3 month course of postoperative chemotherapy with the same agents and remained free of disease at 12 month review.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Although small cell esophageal carcinoma is rare and its association with dysplastic Barrett's esophagus is extremely infrequent, the high carcinogenic risk of Barrett's epithelium should be kept in mind. Prognosis is quite unfavorable; a better prognosis might be possible with early diagnosis and treatment strategies incorporating chemotherapy along with oncological radical surgery and/or radiotherapy as part of a multimodality approach. Since treatment protocols are not well established due to the rarity of the neoplasm, multi-institutional studies are needed to obtain sufficiently large populations for investigation and optimization of therapy of the disease.</p

Adenocarcinoma of the third and fourth portion of the duodenum: a case report and review of the literature

A 65-year-old woman presented with abdominal pain, weight loss, fatigue, and microcytic anemia. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy, until the second part of duodenum, was normal. Ultrasound and computed tomography demonstrated a solid mass in the distal duodenum. A repeat endoscopy confirmed an ulcerative, intraluminar mass in the third and fourth part of the duodenum. Segmental resection of the third and fourth portion of the duodenum was performed. Histology revealed an adenocarcinoma. On the 4th postoperative day, the patient developed severe acute pancreatitis leading to multiple organ failure and died on the 30th postoperative day