Reduced prefrontal cortex activation in the color-word Stroop task for Chinese dyslexic children: a near-infrared spectroscopy study

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Sun Jinyan; Zhai Jiahuan; Gong Hui; Song Ranran; Zou Li

2011-01-01

Behavioral studies have investigated the performance of children with developmental dyslexia in conflict resolution, a function connected with the prefrontal cortex (PFC) closely. However, little is known about the prefrontal activation in conflict resolution for dyslexic children. In the present study, the involvement of the PFC in resolving conflict was evaluated for Chinese dyslexic children by means of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). The NIRS instrument is a portable, continuous-wave system and can measure concentration changes of hemodynamic parameters (including oxy-, deoxy-, and total hemoglobin). Considering better sensitivity, the oxy-hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) was chosen to indicate the prefrontal activation. Ten dyslexic children and 11 normal children were recruited to perform the Chinese-character color-word Stroop task, which included the neutral and color (incongruent) tasks. In behavioral performance, both groups showed significant Stroop effect, longer response time or higher error rate for the color task. In particular, the Stroop interference effect was marginally larger for dyslexic children than normal children in response time. What's more, the two groups showed distinct pattern of oxy-Hb activation during the Stroop tasks. The normal group recruited the bilateral PFC to perform the tasks, while the dyslexic group couldn't activate the bilateral PFC in the difficult color task. Moreover, significantly less color Stroop effect was found in the left PFC for the dyslexic group, showing their disability in coping with the Stroop interference. These findings suggest that the PFC is dysfunctional in conflict resolution for Chinese dyslexic children and that NIRS can be an effective tool in neurological research and clinical application.

Reduced prefrontal cortex activation in the color-word Stroop task for Chinese dyslexic children: a near-infrared spectroscopy study

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Sun Jinyan; Zhai Jiahuan; Gong Hui [Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics-Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 (China); Song Ranran; Zou Li, E-mail: huigong@mail.hust.edu.cn [Department of Child and Adolescent Health and Maternal Care, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 (China)

2011-01-01

Behavioral studies have investigated the performance of children with developmental dyslexia in conflict resolution, a function connected with the prefrontal cortex (PFC) closely. However, little is known about the prefrontal activation in conflict resolution for dyslexic children. In the present study, the involvement of the PFC in resolving conflict was evaluated for Chinese dyslexic children by means of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). The NIRS instrument is a portable, continuous-wave system and can measure concentration changes of hemodynamic parameters (including oxy-, deoxy-, and total hemoglobin). Considering better sensitivity, the oxy-hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) was chosen to indicate the prefrontal activation. Ten dyslexic children and 11 normal children were recruited to perform the Chinese-character color-word Stroop task, which included the neutral and color (incongruent) tasks. In behavioral performance, both groups showed significant Stroop effect, longer response time or higher error rate for the color task. In particular, the Stroop interference effect was marginally larger for dyslexic children than normal children in response time. What's more, the two groups showed distinct pattern of oxy-Hb activation during the Stroop tasks. The normal group recruited the bilateral PFC to perform the tasks, while the dyslexic group couldn't activate the bilateral PFC in the difficult color task. Moreover, significantly less color Stroop effect was found in the left PFC for the dyslexic group, showing their disability in coping with the Stroop interference. These findings suggest that the PFC is dysfunctional in conflict resolution for Chinese dyslexic children and that NIRS can be an effective tool in neurological research and clinical application.

Cortical networks for vision and language in dyslexic and normal children of variable socio-economic status.

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Monzalvo, Karla; Fluss, Joel; Billard, Catherine; Dehaene, Stanislas; Dehaene-Lambertz, Ghislaine

2012-05-15

In dyslexia, anomalous activations have been described in both left temporo-parietal language cortices and in left ventral visual occipito-temporal cortex. However, the reproducibility, task-dependency, and presence of these brain anomalies in childhood rather than adulthood remain debated. We probed the large-scale organization of ventral visual and spoken language areas in dyslexic children using minimal target-detection tasks that were performed equally well by all groups. In 23 normal and 23 dyslexic 10-year-old children from two different socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds, we compared fMRI activity to visually presented houses, faces, and written strings, and to spoken sentences in the native or in a foreign language. Our results confirm a disorganization of both ventral visual and spoken language areas in dyslexic children. Visually, dyslexic children showed a normal lateral-to-medial mosaic of preferences, as well as normal responses to houses and checkerboards, but a reduced activation to words in the visual word form area (VWFA) and to faces in the right fusiform face area (FFA). Auditorily, dyslexic children exhibited reduced responses to speech in posterior temporal cortex, left insula and supplementary motor area, as well as reduced responses to maternal language in subparts of the planum temporale, left basal language area and VWFA. By correlating these two findings, we identify spoken-language predictors of VWFA activation to written words, which differ for dyslexic and normal readers. Similarities in fMRI deficits in both SES groups emphasize the existence of a core set of brain activation anomalies in dyslexia, regardless of culture, language and SES, without however resolving whether these anomalies are a cause or a consequence of impaired reading. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Head Teachers and Teachers as Pioneers in Facilitating Dyslexic Children in Primary Mainstream Schools

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Fahima Salman Jaka

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This study explores the perceptions of school heads and teachers in facilitating young dyslexic children in primary mainstream schools of Pakistan. Through purposive sampling, the researcher selected eight participants: Four primary school heads and four primary teachers from elite schools of Karachi. The research instrument selected for this study was in-depth interviews to get a deeper insight of school heads and teachers perceptions regarding the facilitation of dyslexic children. The findings revealed that children with dyslexia face many emotional and academic problems and only a few elite schools provide policy to facilitate them in mainstream education. Findings showed that some schools hired remedial teaching services or special education services and the school heads and primary teachers put in immense effort in preparing intervention plans and evaluation plans to suit individual and young dyslexic children needs. It was also suggested that positivity of the learning environment depends upon the teachers. The findings further disclosed that unlike the more developed nations, apart from a few elite schools in Pakistan, there is no importance paid to professional training related to dyslexia.

A comparison of the visual status of dyslexic and non-dyslexic schoolchildren in Durban, South Africa

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S. O. Wajuihian

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Background:   Reading difficulties constitute an impediment to the learning process and in the educational achievement of a child. Consequently, several studies examined the visual status of dyslexic children in the Caucasian populations. Such studies are lacking in the African populations. Aim: To determine the prevalence of vision defects and investigate if there is an association between dyslexia and vision in a South African population of dyslexic school children.  Methods:  This comparative study assessed the visual function of 62 children (31 dyslexic and 31 normally-reading children, mean age 13 ± 1.42 years and 11.90 ± 0.93 years respectively. The participants were matched for gender, race and socio-economic status. The visual functions evaluated and the techniques used were: visual acuity (LogMAR acuity chart, refraction (static retinos-copy, ocular alignment (cover test near point of convergence (RAF rule, accommodation facility (± 2 D flipper lenses, amplitude of accommodation (push-up method relative accommodation (trial lenses accommodation posture (monocular estimation technique and vergence reserves (prism bars. Results:   In the following, results are  provided for the dyslexic versus control:  Refractive errors: (hyperopia 6.5% vs 3%, (myopia 6.5% vs 6.5%, (astigmatism 10% vs 13%, (anisometropia 6.5% vs 6.5% (amblyopia 6.5% vs 0%, (remote NPC 33% vs 48% (esophoria at near 3%  vs 0% (exophoria at near 9.5% vs 0%, (accommodative infacility at near  54% vs 33%, lag of accommodation 39.28% vs 41,93%,  (poor positive fusional amplitude at near, 25% vs 16%. Only the binocular accommodative facility at near was significantly associated with dyslexia (p=0.027. Conclusion: The prevalence of vision defects was similar between the dyslexic and non-dyslexic participants, which suggest that an association between dyslexia and vision variables investigated, cannot be inferred.  This study provides a research perspective on the

Superior Parietal Lobule Dysfunction in a Homogeneous Group of Dyslexic Children with a Visual Attention Span Disorder

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Peyrin, C.; Demonet, J. F.; N'Guyen-Morel, M. A.; Le Bas, J. F.; Valdois, S.

2011-01-01

A visual attention (VA) span disorder has been reported in dyslexic children as potentially responsible for their poor reading outcome. The purpose of the current paper was to identify the cerebral correlates of this VA span disorder. For this purpose, 12 French dyslexic children with severe reading and VA span disorders and 12 age-matched control…

The eye movements of dyslexic children during reading and visual search: impact of the visual attention span.

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Prado, Chloé; Dubois, Matthieu; Valdois, Sylviane

2007-09-01

The eye movements of 14 French dyslexic children having a VA span reduction and 14 normal readers were compared in two tasks of visual search and text reading. The dyslexic participants made a higher number of rightward fixations in reading only. They simultaneously processed the same low number of letters in both tasks whereas normal readers processed far more letters in reading. Importantly, the children's VA span abilities related to the number of letters simultaneously processed in reading. The atypical eye movements of some dyslexic readers in reading thus appear to reflect difficulties to increase their VA span according to the task request.

Do Chinese Dyslexic Children Have Difficulties Learning English as a Second Language?

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Ho, Connie Suk-Han; Fong, Kin-Man

2005-01-01

The aim of the present study was to examine whether Chinese dyslexic children had difficulties learning English as a second language given the distinctive characteristics of the two scripts. Twenty-five Chinese primary school children with developmental dyslexia and 25 normally achieving children were tested on a number of English vocabulary,…

Prevalence and associated risk factors of dyslexic children in a middle-sized city of China: a cross-sectional study.

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Sun, Zhao; Zou, Li; Zhang, Jiajia; Mo, Shengnan; Shao, Shanshan; Zhong, Rong; Ke, Juntao; Lu, Xuzai; Miao, Xiaoping; Song, Ranran

2013-01-01

There are many discussions about dyslexia based on studies conducted in western countries, and some risk factors to dyslexia, such as gender and home literacy environment, have been widely accepted based on these studies. However, to our knowledge, there are few studies focusing on the risk factors of dyslexia in China. Therefore, the aim of our study was to investigate the prevalence of dyslexia and its potential risk factors. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Qianjiang, a city in Hubei province, China. Two stages sampling strategy was applied to randomly selected 5 districts and 9 primary schools in Qianjiang. In total, 6,350 students participated in this study and there were 5,063 valid student questionnaires obtained for the final analyses. Additional questionnaires (such as Dyslexia Checklist for Chinese Children and Pupil Rating Scale) were used to identify dyslexic children. The chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression were employed to reveal the potential risk factors to dyslexia. Our study revealed that the prevalence of dyslexia was 3.9% in Qianjiang city, which is a middle-sized city in China. Among dyslexic children, the gender ratio (boys to girls) was nearly 3∶1. According to the P-value in the multivariate logistic regression, the gender (Pdyslexia. The prevalence rate of dyslexic children in middle-sized cities is 3.9%. The potential risk factors of dyslexic children revealed in this study will have a great impact on detecting and treating dyslexic children in China as early as possible, although more studies are still needed to further investigate the risk factors of dyslexic children in China.

[Development of a training program for Japanese dyslexic children and its short-term efficacy].

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Wakamiya, Eiji; Takeshita, Takashi; Nakanishi, Makoto; Mizuta, Mekumi; Kurimoto, Naoko; Okumura, Tomohito; Tamai, Hiroshi; Koeda, Tatsuya; Inagaki, Masumi

2013-07-01

The purpose of this study is to develop a computer training program of reading for the Japanese dyslexic children and to examine its short-term efficacy on their reading and writing abilities. Fifteen dyslexic children underwent two sets of training programs, one for single-hiragana and non-word reading, and the other for the reading of real words, in which each hiragana was followed by the correctly read sound. Subjects were required to use a given program for five minutes a day for three weeks, switching to the other program after a three-week interval. Four kinds of reading test and one writing test were done at the beginning and end of each program period. The averages reading speeds increased, and the single-hiragana reading error average was lower after the training. Hiragana-writing errors also decreased, even though no writing procedure was involved in the programs. The results indicate the usefulness of these training programs as an early intervention of reading and writing for the Japanese dyslexic children.

Dyslexic children lack word selectivity gradients in occipito-temporal and inferior frontal cortex

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O.A. Olulade

2015-01-01

Full Text Available fMRI studies using a region-of-interest approach have revealed that the ventral portion of the left occipito-temporal cortex, which is specialized for orthographic processing of visually presented words (and includes the so-called “visual word form area”, VWFA, is characterized by a posterior-to-anterior gradient of increasing selectivity for words in typically reading adults, adolescents, and children (e.g. Brem et al., 2006, 2009. Similarly, the left inferior frontal cortex (IFC has been shown to exhibit a medial-to-lateral gradient of print selectivity in typically reading adults (Vinckier et al., 2007. Functional brain imaging studies of dyslexia have reported relative underactivity in left hemisphere occipito-temporal and inferior frontal regions using whole-brain analyses during word processing tasks. Hence, the question arises whether gradient sensitivities in these regions are altered in dyslexia. Indeed, a region-of-interest analysis revealed the gradient-specific functional specialization in the occipito-temporal cortex to be disrupted in dyslexic children (van der Mark et al., 2009. Building on these studies, we here (1 investigate if a word-selective gradient exists in the inferior frontal cortex in addition to the occipito-temporal cortex in normally reading children, (2 compare typically reading with dyslexic children, and (3 examine functional connections between these regions in both groups. We replicated the previously reported anterior-to-posterior gradient of increasing selectivity for words in the left occipito-temporal cortex in typically reading children, and its absence in the dyslexic children. Our novel finding is the detection of a pattern of increasing selectivity for words along the medial-to-lateral axis of the left inferior frontal cortex in typically reading children and evidence of functional connectivity between the most lateral aspect of this area and the anterior aspects of the occipito-temporal cortex. We

Preliminary study towards the development of copying skill assessment on dyslexic children in Jawi handwriting

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Rahim, Kartini Abdul; Kahar, Rosmila Abdul; Khalid, Halimi Mohd.; Salleh, Rohayu Mohd; Hashim, Rathiah

2015-05-01

Recognition of Arabic handwritten and its variants such as Farsi (Persian) and Urdu had been receiving considerable attention in recent years. Being contrast to Arabic handwritten, Jawi, as a second method of Malay handwritten, has not been studied yet, but if any, there were a few references on it. The recent transformation in Malaysian education, the Special Education is one of the priorities in the Malaysia Blueprint. One of the special needs quoted in Malaysia education is dyslexia. A dyslexic student is considered as student with learning disability. Concluding a student is truly dyslexia might be incorrect for they were only assessed through Roman alphabet, without considering assessment via Jawi handwriting. A study was conducted on dyslexic students attending a special class for dyslexia in Malay Language to determine whether they are also dyslexia in Jawi handwriting. The focus of the study is to test the copying skills in relation to word reading and writing in Malay Language with and without dyslexia through both characters. A total of 10 dyslexic children and 10 normal children were recruited. In conclusion for future study, dyslexic students have less difficulty in performing Jawi handwriting in Malay Language through statistical analysis.

Word, nonword and visual paired associate learning in Dutch dyslexic children

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Messbauer, V.C.S.; de Jong, P.F.

2003-01-01

Verbal and non-verbal learning were investigated in 21 8-11-year-old dyslexic children and chronological-age controls, and in 21 7-9-year-old reading-age controls. Tasks involved the paired associate learning of words, nonwords, or symbols with pictures. Both learning and retention of associations

An investigation into kana reading development in normal and dyslexic Japanese children using length and lexicality effects.

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Sambai, Ami; Uno, Akira; Kurokawa, Suzuko; Haruhara, Noriko; Kaneko, Masato; Awaya, Noriko; Kozuka, Junko; Goto, Takashi; Tsutamori, Eishi; Nakagawa, Kazumi; Wydell, Taeko N

2012-06-01

This is the first study to report differences between Japanese children with and without dyslexia in the way string-length and lexicality effects are manifested when reading Japanese kana. These children were asked to read kana words and non-words consisting of either two or five kana characters. The results showed that the error rates of the normal Preschoolers and Primary-School children with dyslexia were higher than those of the normal Primary-School children. Further, the reading latencies of the normal Preschoolers, First-graders and dyslexics were significantly longer than those of the normal Second, Third and Fifth/Sixth graders. Moreover, reading latencies became shorter as the age of the participants increased. Both normal and dyslexic children showed significant effects of length and lexicality on reading latencies. However, the interaction between the length and lexicality was only seen in normal children from the Second-grade onwards. These results suggest that (1) normal First-graders reach a ceiling in terms of reading accuracy and that (2) as Japanese normal children become older, they become better at lexical reading processes, which leads to fluent kana reading, but that (3) the dyslexics, even at Fifth/Sixth grades, have not developed sufficient lexical reading processes. Copyright © 2011 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. All rights reserved.

Altered patterns of directed connectivity within the reading network of dyslexic children and their relation to reading dysfluency

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Gojko Žarić

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Reading is a complex cognitive skill subserved by a distributed network of visual and language-related regions. Disruptions of connectivity within this network have been associated with developmental dyslexia but their relation to individual differences in the severity of reading problems remains unclear. Here we investigate whether dysfunctional connectivity scales with the level of reading dysfluency by examining EEG recordings during visual word and false font processing in 9-year-old typically reading children (TR and two groups of dyslexic children: severely dysfluent (SDD and moderately dysfluent (MDD dyslexics. Results indicated weaker occipital to inferior-temporal connectivity for words in both dyslexic groups relative to TRs. Furthermore, SDDs exhibited stronger connectivity from left central to right inferior-temporal and occipital sites for words relative to TRs, and for false fonts relative to both MDDs and TRs. Importantly, reading fluency was positively related with forward and negatively with backward connectivity. Our results suggest disrupted visual processing of words in both dyslexic groups, together with a compensatory recruitment of right posterior brain regions especially in the SDDs during word and false font processing. Functional connectivity in the brain’s reading network may thus depend on the level of reading dysfluency beyond group differences between dyslexic and typical readers.

Word Processing in Dyslexics: An Automatic Decoding Deficit?

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Yap, Regina; Van Der Leu, Aryan

1993-01-01

Compares dyslexic children with normal readers on measures of phonological decoding and automatic word processing. Finds that dyslexics have a deficit in automatic phonological decoding skills. Discusses results within the framework of the phonological deficit and the automatization deficit hypotheses. (RS)

Reduced neural integration of letters and speech sounds in dyslexic children scales with individual differences in reading fluency.

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Gojko Žarić

Full Text Available The acquisition of letter-speech sound associations is one of the basic requirements for fluent reading acquisition and its failure may contribute to reading difficulties in developmental dyslexia. Here we investigated event-related potential (ERP measures of letter-speech sound integration in 9-year-old typical and dyslexic readers and specifically test their relation to individual differences in reading fluency. We employed an audiovisual oddball paradigm in typical readers (n = 20, dysfluent (n = 18 and severely dysfluent (n = 18 dyslexic children. In one auditory and two audiovisual conditions the Dutch spoken vowels/a/and/o/were presented as standard and deviant stimuli. In audiovisual blocks, the letter 'a' was presented either simultaneously (AV0, or 200 ms before (AV200 vowel sound onset. Across the three children groups, vowel deviancy in auditory blocks elicited comparable mismatch negativity (MMN and late negativity (LN responses. In typical readers, both audiovisual conditions (AV0 and AV200 led to enhanced MMN and LN amplitudes. In both dyslexic groups, the audiovisual LN effects were mildly reduced. Most interestingly, individual differences in reading fluency were correlated with MMN latency in the AV0 condition. A further analysis revealed that this effect was driven by a short-lived MMN effect encompassing only the N1 window in severely dysfluent dyslexics versus a longer MMN effect encompassing both the N1 and P2 windows in the other two groups. Our results confirm and extend previous findings in dyslexic children by demonstrating a deficient pattern of letter-speech sound integration depending on the level of reading dysfluency. These findings underscore the importance of considering individual differences across the entire spectrum of reading skills in addition to group differences between typical and dyslexic readers.

Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Dyslexic Young Learners: an Intervention Programme

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Panagiota Goudi

2010-02-01

Full Text Available The scope of this chapter is to study the stimulation of phonological awareness of the English language, in Greek dyslexic young learners, who present a specific reading disability in both their mother tongue as well as in the foreign language. According to scientific research, phonological awareness, i.e. the knowledge of the phonological structure of a language by its user, is intrinsically related to the reading process. At the same time, it has been confirmed that dyslexic learners experience difficulty in segmenting and blending speech sounds, due to insufficiently developed phonological awareness. For this reason, a well-founded intervention programme is designed and put into action, aiming at studying the reading development of dyslexic young learners. The findings have revealed that phonological awareness can be stimulated, resulting in the development of reading accuracy.

Construction of an Arabic reading test for assessment of dyslexic children.

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Abou El-Ella, Mahmoud Y; Sayed, Emam M; Farghaly, Wafaa M; Abdel-Haleem, Emad K; Hussein, Eman S

2004-07-01

Dyslexia is a specific language-based disorder of constitutional origin, characterized by difficulties in phonological processing. The Arabic language differs in many aspects from foreign languages and the few previously designed Arabic tests for assessment of dyslexia did not pay attention to phonological awareness problems. This necessitates the design of an Arabic test which could properly assign specific difficulties among Arabic reading dyslexic children, including phonological awareness as a major contributing factor for dyslexia. The study was carried out in Assiut City, Egypt, during the period from September 1999 to the end of January 2001. The newly designed Arabic Reading Test (ART) in this work passed through many stages. Firstly, test construction by 11 Arabic teachers (specific judges). Secondly it was applied, in a pilot study, to 50 normal students (9-10 years old) to ascertain clarity of the test. Then test standardization was proven through application on a second sample (n=252 students), and third sample (n=58 dyslexics). The reliability of the ART was proven by the test-retest method (r=0.913, pdyslexia among Arabic reading children. It has great value in predicting dyslexia even among preschool age Arabic speaking children, through assessment of their phonological awareness skills, and thus, remediation programs can be properly and early directed.

Progress in reading and spelling of dyslexic children is not affected by executive functioning.

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Walda, Sietske A E; van Weerdenburg, Marjolijn; Wijnants, Maarten L; Bosman, Anna M T

2014-12-01

Although poor reading and spelling skills have been associated with weak skills of executive functioning (EF), its role in literacy is not undisputed. Because EF has different theoretical underpinnings, methods of analysis and of assessing, it has led to varying and often contrasting results in its effects in children with dyslexia. The present study has two goals. The first goal is to establish the relationship between a large number of EF tasks and reading and spelling skills in a large number of Dutch dyslexic children (n = 229). More interesting, however, is the second aim. To what extent do EF skills predict progress in reading and spelling in dyslexic children who attended a remediation programme? The results revealed small, but significant relationships between EF and reading and spelling skills, but no relationships between EF and progress in reading and spelling. It is concluded that training EF skills is unlikely to enhance reading and spelling skills. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Desembaralhando: a mobile application for intervention in the problem of dyslexic children mirror writing

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Luciana Cidrim

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Purpose: to present a new application for mobile devices, referred to as Desembaralhando, for intervention in the problem of dyslexic children mirror writring. Methods: the development of the application is the result of a set of clinical and speech therapy information and experiences, which points out frequency of letter mirroring as a challenging problem in children with dyslexia. The application, developed in the light of the multisensory approach, was created by a multidisciplinary team of computer scientists, a game designer and a speech therapist, in order to meet users requirements, such as appropriate fonts and colors. Results: the activities stimulate phonological awareness skills from the association between images and words, audio aids, as well as an original function that is the rotational movement of letters b/d and a/e, which facilitates the perception of the visual layout of the letters. Conclusions: guidelines such as the choice of typography and interface colors appropriate to dyslexic children are used to favor intervention, in order to minimize the difficulties of these children regarding letters mirroring.

Phonological recovery in Spanish developmental dyslexics through the tip-of-the-tongue paradigm.

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Suárez-Coalla, Paz; Collazo Alonso, Aida; González-Nosti, María

2013-01-01

Developmental dyslexics have difficulties accessing and retrieving the phonological form of words, in the absence of a deficit at the semantic level. The aim of this work was to study, through the Tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) paradigm, the problems of lexical access in Spanish-speaking developmental dyslexics and the relationship with their phonological awareness. A group of developmental dyslexics (14) and other children without reading difficulties (14), aged 7 to 12, performed a picture naming task of medium and low frequency and a task of phonological awareness. The results indicated that dyslexic children generally show a greater number of TOT phenomena than the control group. Despite being able to provide semantic information of the drawing, they had difficulties retrieving partial phonological information. These results indicate that developmental dyslexic children have particular difficulty in accessing the phonological form of words, which may be interesting for the development of intervention programs for these children.

Cognitive levels of performance account for hemispheric lateralisation effects in dyslexic and normally reading children.

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Heim, Stefan; Grande, Marion; Meffert, Elisabeth; Eickhoff, Simon B; Schreiber, Helen; Kukolja, Juraj; Shah, Nadim Jon; Huber, Walter; Amunts, Katrin

2010-12-01

Recent theories of developmental dyslexia explain reading deficits in terms of deficient phonological awareness, attention, visual and auditory processing, or automaticity. Since dyslexia has a neurobiological basis, the question arises how the reader's proficiency in these cognitive variables affects the brain regions involved in visual word recognition. This question was addressed in two fMRI experiments with 19 normally reading children (Experiment 1) and 19 children with dyslexia (Experiment 2). First, reading-specific brain activation was assessed by contrasting the BOLD signal for reading aloud words vs. overtly naming pictures of real objects. Next, ANCOVAs with brain activation during reading the individuals' scores for all five cognitive variables assessed outside the scanner as covariates were performed. Whereas the normal readers' brain activation during reading showed co-variation effects predominantly in the right hemisphere, the reverse pattern was observed for the dyslexics. In particular, middle frontal gyrus, inferior parietal cortex, and precuneus showed contralateral effects for controls as compared to dyslexics. In line with earlier findings in the literature, these data hint at a global change in hemispheric asymmetry during cognitive processing in dyslexic readers, which, in turn, might affect reading proficiency. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Relationship between Leadership Skills and Academic Performance among Dyslexic Students

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Handy, Rebecca Carranza

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between leadership skills and academic performance among dyslexic students. The sample for the present study was 103 dyslexic children in grades 3 through 8th. These students attended a school in Austin, Texas that solely educates dyslexic students. The researcher administered the…

A critical reflection on how information communication technology can facilitate high quality teaching and learning for dyslexic children and their spelling

OpenAIRE

Green, Stacey

2017-01-01

This paper discusses how information communication technology (ICT) can facilitate high quality teaching and learning for dyslexic children and their spelling. Previous research has suggested that ICT can have a positive effect on dyslexic children’s spelling ability and confidence (Lange et al, 2006, Tuner and Pughe, 2003). The use of an IPad therefore was utilised in small group spelling sessions to assess the effect ICT, specifically IPads, can have on pupils who have a diagnosis of dyslex...

Developmental surface and phonological dyslexia in both Greek and English.

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Sotiropoulos, Andreas; Hanley, J Richard

2017-11-01

The hallmark of developmental surface dyslexia in English and French is inaccurate reading of words with atypical spelling-sound correspondences. According to Douklias, Masterson and Hanley (2009), surface dyslexia can also be observed in Greek (a transparent orthography for reading that does not contain words of this kind). Their findings suggested that surface dyslexia in Greek can be characterized by slow reading of familiar words, and by inaccurate spelling of words with atypical sound-spelling correspondences (Greek is less transparent for spelling than for reading). In this study, we report seven adult cases whose slow reading and impaired spelling accuracy satisfied these criteria for Greek surface dyslexia. When asked to read words with atypical grapheme-phoneme correspondences in English (their second language), their accuracy was severely impaired. A co-occurrence was also observed between impaired spelling of words with atypical phoneme-grapheme correspondences in English and Greek. These co-occurrences provide strong evidence that surface dyslexia genuinely exists in Greek and that slow reading of real words in Greek reflects the same underlying impairment as that which produces inaccurate reading of atypical words in English. Two further individuals were observed with impaired reading and spelling of nonwords in both languages, consistent with developmental phonological dyslexia. Neither of the phonological dyslexics read words slowly. In terms of computational models of reading aloud, these findings suggest that slow reading by dyslexics in transparent orthographies is the consequence of a developmental impairment of the lexical (Coltheart, Rastle, Perry, Langdon, & Zeigler, 2001; Perry, Ziegler, & Zorzi, 2010) or semantic reading route (Plaut, McClelland, Seidenberg, & Patterson, 1996). This outcome provides evidence that the neurophysiological substrate(s) that support the lexical/semantic and the phonological pathways that are involved in reading

Spherical Lenses and Prisms Lead to Postural Instability in Both Dyslexic and Non Dyslexic Adolescents

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Kapoula, Zoi; Gaertner, Chrystal; Matheron, Eric

2012-01-01

There is controversy as to whether dyslexic children present systematic postural deficiency. Clinicians use a combination of ophthalmic prisms and proprioceptive soles to improve postural performances. This study examines the effects of convergent prisms and spherical lenses on posture. Fourteen dyslexics (13–17 years-old) and 11 non dyslexics (13–16 years-old) participated in the study. Quiet stance posturography was performed with the TechnoConcept device while subjects fixated a target at eye-level from a distance of 1_m. Four conditions were run: normal viewing; viewing the target with spherical lenses of −1 diopter (ACCOM1) over each eye; viewing with −3 diopters over each eye (ACCOM3); viewing with a convergent prism of 8 diopters per eye. Relative to normal viewing, the −1 lenses increased the surface of body sway significantly whereas the −3 diopter lenses only resulted in a significant increase of antero-posterior body sway. Thus, adolescents would appear to cope more effectively with stronger conflicts rather than subtle ones. The prism condition resulted in a significant increase in both the surface and the antero-posterior body sway. Importantly, all of these effects were similar for the two groups. Wavelet analysis (time frequency domain) revealed high spectral power of antero-posterior sway for the prism condition in both groups. In the ACCOM3 condition, the spectral power of antero-posterior sway decreased for non dyslexics but increased for dyslexics suggesting that dyslexics encounter more difficulty with accommodation. The cancelling time for medium range frequency (believed to be controlled by the cerebellum), was shorter in dyslexics, suggesting fewer instances of optimal control. We conclude that dyslexics achieve similar postural performances albeit less efficiently. Prisms and lenses destabilize posture for all teenagers. Thus, contrary to adults, adolescents do not seem to use efferent, proprioceptive ocular motor signals to

Spherical lenses and prisms lead to postural instability in both dyslexic and non dyslexic adolescents.

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Zoi Kapoula

Full Text Available There is controversy as to whether dyslexic children present systematic postural deficiency. Clinicians use a combination of ophthalmic prisms and proprioceptive soles to improve postural performances. This study examines the effects of convergent prisms and spherical lenses on posture. Fourteen dyslexics (13-17 years-old and 11 non dyslexics (13-16 years-old participated in the study. Quiet stance posturography was performed with the TechnoConcept device while subjects fixated a target at eye-level from a distance of 1_m. Four conditions were run: normal viewing; viewing the target with spherical lenses of -1 diopter (ACCOM1 over each eye; viewing with -3 diopters over each eye (ACCOM3; viewing with a convergent prism of 8 diopters per eye. Relative to normal viewing, the -1 lenses increased the surface of body sway significantly whereas the -3 diopter lenses only resulted in a significant increase of antero-posterior body sway. Thus, adolescents would appear to cope more effectively with stronger conflicts rather than subtle ones. The prism condition resulted in a significant increase in both the surface and the antero-posterior body sway. Importantly, all of these effects were similar for the two groups. Wavelet analysis (time frequency domain revealed high spectral power of antero-posterior sway for the prism condition in both groups. In the ACCOM3 condition, the spectral power of antero-posterior sway decreased for non dyslexics but increased for dyslexics suggesting that dyslexics encounter more difficulty with accommodation. The cancelling time for medium range frequency (believed to be controlled by the cerebellum, was shorter in dyslexics, suggesting fewer instances of optimal control. We conclude that dyslexics achieve similar postural performances albeit less efficiently. Prisms and lenses destabilize posture for all teenagers. Thus, contrary to adults, adolescents do not seem to use efferent, proprioceptive ocular motor signals to

Spelling impairments in Italian dyslexic children: phenomenological changes in primary school.

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Angelelli, Paola; Notarnicola, Alessandra; Judica, Anna; Zoccolotti, Pierluigi; Luzzatti, Claudio

2010-01-01

Although spelling difficulties are constantly associated with developmental dyslexia, they have been largely neglected by the majority of studies in this area. This study analyzes spelling impairments in developmental dyslexia across school grades in Italian, a language with high grapheme-to-phoneme correspondence. The performances of 33 Italian dyslexic children attending Grades 3 and 5 were compared with those of age-matched control participants. Writing abilities were investigated through a spelling test that included regular words with one-sound-to-one-letter correspondence, regular words requiring the application of context-sensitive conversion rules, words with unpredictable transcription and nonwords with one-sound-to-one-letter correspondence. Both accuracy and error analyses indicate that the spelling impairment assumes different characteristics at different grades: Grade 3 children showed an undifferentiated spelling deficit (involving regular words, regular nonwords and words with unpredictable spelling), whereas the fifth graders were prevalently impaired in writing words with unpredictable transcription. The error analysis confirms these results, with third graders producing a high rate of all types of errors (i.e., phonologically plausible, simple and context-sensitive conversion errors), whereas most errors committed by fifth graders were phonologically plausible. Results are coherent with the hypothesis that dyslexic children learning a shallow orthography suffer from delayed acquisition and some fragility of the sub-word level routine, together with a severe and long-lasting deficit of orthographic lexical acquisition. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Srl. All rights reserved.

Dyslexic Children Show Atypical Cerebellar Activation and Cerebro-Cerebellar Functional Connectivity in Orthographic and Phonological Processing.

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Feng, Xiaoxia; Li, Le; Zhang, Manli; Yang, Xiujie; Tian, Mengyu; Xie, Weiyi; Lu, Yao; Liu, Li; Bélanger, Nathalie N; Meng, Xiangzhi; Ding, Guosheng

2017-04-01

Previous neuroimaging studies have found atypical cerebellar activation in individuals with dyslexia in either motor-related tasks or language tasks. However, studies investigating atypical cerebellar activation in individuals with dyslexia have mostly used tasks tapping phonological processing. A question that is yet unanswered is whether the cerebellum in individuals with dyslexia functions properly during orthographic processing of words, as growing evidence shows that the cerebellum is also involved in visual and spatial processing. Here, we investigated cerebellar activation and cerebro-cerebellar functional connectivity during word processing in dyslexic readers and typically developing readers using tasks that tap orthographic and phonological codes. In children with dyslexia, we observed an abnormally higher engagement of the bilateral cerebellum for the orthographic task, which was negatively correlated with literacy measures. The greater the reading impairment was for young dyslexic readers, the stronger the cerebellar activation was. This suggests a compensatory role of the cerebellum in reading for children with dyslexia. In addition, a tendency for higher cerebellar activation in dyslexic readers was found in the phonological task. Moreover, the functional connectivity was stronger for dyslexic readers relative to typically developing readers between the lobule VI of the right cerebellum and the left fusiform gyrus during the orthographic task and between the lobule VI of the left cerebellum and the left supramarginal gyrus during the phonological task. This pattern of results suggests that the cerebellum compensates for reading impairment through the connections with specific brain regions responsible for the ongoing reading task. These findings enhance our understanding of the cerebellum's involvement in reading and reading impairment.

 Boosting young children's writing skills with e-learning designed for dyslexics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Levinsen, Karin

2008-01-01

Since the consent to the Salamanca Statement on special needs education from 1994, e-learning developers have focused on tools aimed to support dyslexic learners. The importance of these efforts is on display every year in the Special Aids exhibition area at the BETT-event in London.  ICT and e-l...... studies of experiments in Second grade. The paper concludes that most children in the experiments wrote longer and more complex stories than normally expected from this age-group. The children with a visual learning style in particular demonstrated a significant progress....

Smoking habits of Greek preschool children's parents

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Linardakis Manolis K

2007-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Smoking is Greece's largest public health threat. Greece has the highest adult smoking prevalence among all E.U countries, which in turn possibly predisposes Greek children and adolescents to smoke. The purpose of our study was to research into the smoking habits of preschool children's parents since children of that age could be vulnerable to parental negative role modeling and to investigate into the necessity of conducting a public health awareness programme aimed at the general population. Methods A cross-sectional study was performed on the parents of children enrolled in kindergarten in western Crete-Greece (2809 parents, and interviewed during the 2004–2005 Cretan school health promotion programme. Results 63% of households had at least one parent a current smoker and in 26% both parents were found to be current smokers. Smoking prevalence among adults with preschool children was estimated at 44% (52% of fathers and 36% of mothers. Paternal education and nationality were statistically significantly related to smoking (p Conclusion Smoking prevalence is high even among parents with preschool children. Taking into account the parents' significant primary role in the children's upbringing and the effect that parental induced passive smoking has on children's health and health attitude; one can deduce that the health of Greek children is under threat. It is of major importance that educational and policy intervention measures are implemented to reduce such a situation that could contribute to promoting the initiation of smoking among Greek adolescents.

Smoking habits of Greek preschool children's parents.

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Vardavas, Constantine I; Athanasopoulos, Dimitrios; Balomenaki, Evaggelia; Niaounaki, Dora; Linardakis, Manolis K; Kafatos, Anthony G

2007-06-14

Smoking is Greece's largest public health threat. Greece has the highest adult smoking prevalence among all E.U countries, which in turn possibly predisposes Greek children and adolescents to smoke. The purpose of our study was to research into the smoking habits of preschool children's parents since children of that age could be vulnerable to parental negative role modeling and to investigate into the necessity of conducting a public health awareness programme aimed at the general population. A cross-sectional study was performed on the parents of children enrolled in kindergarten in western Crete-Greece (2809 parents), and interviewed during the 2004-2005 Cretan school health promotion programme. 63% of households had at least one parent a current smoker and in 26% both parents were found to be current smokers. Smoking prevalence among adults with preschool children was estimated at 44% (52% of fathers and 36% of mothers). Paternal education and nationality were statistically significantly related to smoking (p parents with preschool children. Taking into account the parents' significant primary role in the children's upbringing and the effect that parental induced passive smoking has on children's health and health attitude; one can deduce that the health of Greek children is under threat. It is of major importance that educational and policy intervention measures are implemented to reduce such a situation that could contribute to promoting the initiation of smoking among Greek adolescents.

Postural Control and Automaticity in Dyslexic Children: The Relationship between Visual Information and Body Sway

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Barela, Jose A.; Dias, Josenaldo L.; Godoi, Daniela; Viana, Andre R.; de Freitas, Paulo B.

2011-01-01

Difficulty with literacy acquisition is only one of the symptoms of developmental dyslexia. Dyslexic children also show poor motor coordination and postural control. Those problems could be associated with automaticity, i.e., difficulty in performing a task without dispending a fair amount of conscious efforts. If this is the case, dyslexic…

Adapting a receptive vocabulary test for preschool-aged Greek-speaking children.

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Okalidou, Areti; Syrika, Asimina; Beckman, Mary E; Edwards, Jan R

2011-01-01

Receptive vocabulary is an important measure for language evaluations. Therefore, norm-referenced receptive vocabulary tests are widely used in several languages. However, a receptive vocabulary test has not yet been normed for Modern Greek. To adapt an American English vocabulary test, the Receptive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test-II (ROWPVT-II), for Modern Greek for use with Greek-speaking preschool children. The list of 170 English words on ROWPVT-II was adapted by (1) developing two lists (A and B) of Greek words that would match either the target English word or another concept corresponding to one of the pictured objects in the four-picture array; and (2) determining a developmental order for the chosen Greek words for preschool-aged children. For the first task, adult word frequency measures were used to select the words for the Greek wordlist. For the second task, 427 children, 225 boys and 202 girls, ranging in age from 2;0 years to 5;11 years, were recruited from urban and suburban areas of Greece. A pilot study of the two word lists was performed with the aim of comparing an equal number of list A and list B responses for each age group and deriving a new developmental list order. The relative difficulty of each Greek word item, that is, its accuracy score, was calculated by taking the average proportion of correct responses across ages for that word. Subsequently, the word accuracy scores in the two lists were compared via regression analysis, which yielded a highly significant relationship (R(2) = 0.97; p word item from the two lists was a better fit. Finally, new starting levels (basals) were established for preschool ages. The revised word list can serve as the basis for adapting a receptive vocabulary test for Greek preschool-aged children. Further steps need to be taken when testing larger numbers of 2;0 to 5;11-year-old children on the revised word list for determination of norms. This effort will facilitate early identification and remediation

Spelling impairments in Spanish dyslexic adults.

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Afonso, Olivia; Suárez-Coalla, Paz; Cuetos, Fernando

2015-01-01

Spelling deficits have repeatedly been observed in children with dyslexia. However, the few studies addressing this issue in dyslexic adults have reported contradictory results. We investigated whether Spanish dyslexics show spelling deficits in adulthood and which components of the writing production process might be impaired in developmental dyslexia. In order to evaluate the involvement of the lexical and the sublexical routes of spelling as well as the graphemic buffer, lexical frequency, phonology-to-orthography consistency and word length were manipulated in two writing tasks: a direct copy transcoding task and a spelling-to-dictation task. Results revealed that adults with dyslexia produced longer written latencies, inter-letter intervals, writing durations and more errors than their peers without dyslexia. Moreover, the dyslexics were more affected by lexical frequency and word length than the controls, but both groups showed a similar effect of P-O consistency. Written latencies also revealed that while the dyslexics initiated the response later in the direct copy transcoding task than in the spelling-to-dictation task, the controls showed the opposite pattern. However, the dyslexics were slower than the controls in both tasks. Results were consistent with the hypothesis that spelling difficulties are present in adults with dyslexia, at least in a language with a transparent orthography such as Spanish. These difficulties seem to be associated with a deficit affecting both lexical processing and the ability to maintain information about the serial order of the letters in a word. However, the dyslexic group did not differ from the control group in the application of the P-O conversion procedures. The spelling impairment would be in addition to the reading deficit, leading to poorer performance in direct copy transcoding compared to spelling-to-dictation.

Use of Syllabic Logograms to Help Dyslexic Readers of English Visualize Abstract Words as Pictures

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Saez-Rodriguez, Alberto

2009-01-01

Background: Dyslexics read concrete words better than abstract ones. As a result, one of the major problems facing dyslexics is the fact that only part of the information that they require to communicate is concrete, i.e. can easily be pictured. Method: The experiment involved dyslexic third-grade, English-speaking children (8-year-olds) divided…

Biomarkers of passive smoking among Greek preschool children.

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Vardavas, Constantine I; Tzatzarakis, Manolis N; Tsatsakis, Aristeidis M; Athanasopoulos, Dimitrios; Balomenaki, Evaggelia; Linardakis, Manolis K; Kafatos, Anthony G

2006-12-01

Greece has the highest adult smoking prevalence in the European Union, affecting not only those who smoke but also threatening the health of those who are involuntarily exposed to passive smoke, especially young Greek children. The aim of this study was to quantify passive smoking biomarkers (serum nicotine and cotinine levels) among preschool children in Crete in relation to parental smoking habits. All children enrolled in kindergarten in western Crete (1,757 preschool children and 2,809 parents) were interviewed during the 2004-2005 Cretan health promotion programme out of which a sample of 81 children was randomly selected according to parental smoking status and blood samples for cotinine and nicotine assay were taken. The geometric means of serum nicotine values in children with both parents current smokers and in those with both parents non-smokers were 0.71 ng/ml (95%CI 0.62, 0.80) and 0.59 ng/ml (95%CI 0.49, 0.69), respectively, (p=0.073). Cotinine geometric mean values were found at 1.69 ng/ml (95%CI 0.93, 3.06) and 0.15 ng/ml (95%CI 0.09, 0.28), respectively, (pparents had also greater cotinine geometric mean values than boys (3.35 versus 0.85 ng/ml, respectively, p=0.018). Our findings prove that Greek preschool children, especially young girls, are exposed to substantial levels of passive smoke which therefore stresses the need for immediate action so as to prevent the predisposition and early addiction of Greek preschool children to tobacco.

A Developmental Perspective on Dyslexic Subtypes.

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Manis, Franklin R.; And Others

1988-01-01

Forty normal readers and 50 dyslexic children (age 9-14) were matched on reading level and intelligence quotient and tested. Analysis revealed 3 major subgroups: specific deficit in phonological processing of print (52 percent), deficits in processing both the phonological and orthographic features of printed words (24 percent), and phonological…

Tracking the effects of dyslexia in reading and spelling development: A longitudinal study of Greek readers.

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Diamanti, Vassiliki; Goulandris, Nata; Stuart, Morag; Campbell, Ruth; Protopapas, Athanassios

2018-05-01

In this study, we followed Greek children with and without dyslexia for 18 months, assessing them twice on a battery of phonological, reading, and spelling tasks, aiming to document the relative progress achieved and to uncover any specific effects of dyslexia in the development of reading and spelling beyond the longitudinal associations among variables that are observed in typical readers. A wide-ranging match was achieved between the dyslexic group and the younger reading-matched comparison group, enabling longitudinal comparisons on essentially identical initial performance profiles. Group differences were found in the development of tasks relying on phonological processing skill, such as phoneme deletion in pseudowords, pseudoword reading accuracy and time, as well as in graphemic spelling accuracy. The results confirm findings from cross-sectional studies of reading difficulty in the relatively transparent Greek orthography and are consistent with a phonological processing deficit underlying and reciprocally interacting with underdevelopment of reading and spelling skills in the impaired population. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Crossmodal deficit in dyslexic children: practice affects the neural timing of letter-speech sound integration

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Gojko eŽarić

2015-06-01

Full Text Available A failure to build solid letter-speech sound associations may contribute to reading impairments in developmental dyslexia. Whether this reduced neural integration of letters and speech sounds changes over time within individual children and how this relates to behavioral gains in reading skills remains unknown. In this research, we examined changes in event-related potential (ERP measures of letter-speech sound integration over a 6-month period during which 9-year-old dyslexic readers (n=17 followed a training in letter-speech sound coupling next to their regular reading curriculum. We presented the Dutch spoken vowels /a/ and /o/ as standard and deviant stimuli in one auditory and two audiovisual oddball conditions. In one audiovisual condition (AV0, the letter ‘a’ was presented simultaneously with the vowels, while in the other (AV200 it was preceding vowel onset for 200 ms. Prior to the training (T1, dyslexic readers showed the expected pattern of typical auditory mismatch responses, together with the absence of letter-speech sound effects in a late negativity (LN window. After the training (T2, our results showed earlier (and enhanced crossmodal effects in the LN window. Most interestingly, earlier LN latency at T2 was significantly related to higher behavioral accuracy in letter-speech sound coupling. On a more general level, the timing of the earlier mismatch negativity (MMN in the simultaneous condition (AV0 measured at T1, significantly related to reading fluency at both T1 and T2 as well as with reading gains. Our findings suggest that the reduced neural integration of letters and speech sounds in dyslexic children may show moderate improvement with reading instruction and training and that behavioral improvements relate especially to individual differences in the timing of this neural integration.

Spelling Impairments in Italian Dyslexic Children with and without a History of Early Language Delay. Are There Any Differences?

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Angelelli, Paola; Marinelli, Chiara V; Iaia, Marika; Putzolu, Anna; Gasperini, Filippo; Brizzolara, Daniela; Chilosi, Anna M

2016-01-01

Language delay is considered a frequent antecedent of literacy problems and both may be linked to phonological impairment. However, while several studies have examined the relationship between language delay and reading impairment, relatively few have focused on spelling. In this study, spelling performance of 28 children with developmental dyslexia (DD), 14 children with a history of language delay (LD), and 14 children without (NoLD) and 28 control participants were examined. Spelling was investigated by a writing to dictation task that included orthographically regular stimuli (word and non-words), as well as words with unpredictable transcription. Results indicated that all dyslexic participants underperformed compared to controls on both regular and unpredictable transcription stimuli, but LD performance was generally the worst. Moreover, spelling impairment assumed different characteristics in LD and NoLD children. LD children were more sensitive to acoustic-to-phonological variables, showing relevant failure especially on stimuli containing geminate consonants but also on polysyllabic stimuli and those containing non-continuant consonants. Error analysis confirmed these results, with LD children producing a higher rate of phonological errors respect to NoLD children and controls. Results were coherent with the hypothesis that among dyslexic children, those with previous language delay have more severe spelling deficit, suffering from defective orthographic lexical acquisition together with long-lasting phonological difficulties.

Spelling impairments in Italian dyslexic children with and without a history of early language delay. Are there any differences?

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Paola eAngelelli

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Language delay is considered a frequent antecedent of literacy problems and both may be linked to phonological impairment. However, while several studies have examined the relationship between language delay and reading impairment, relatively few have focused on spelling.In this study, spelling performance of 28 children with developmental dyslexia (DD, 14 children with a history of language delay (LD and 14 children without (NoLD and 28 control participants were examined.Spelling was investigated by writing a dictation task that included orthographically regular stimuli (word and nonwords, as well as words with unpredictable transcription.Results indicated that all dyslexic participants underperformed compared to controls on both regular and unpredictable transcription stimuli, but LD performance was generally the worst. Moreover, spelling impairment assumed different characteristics in LD and NoLD children. LD children were more sensitive to acoustic-to-phonological variables, showing relevant failure especially on stimuli containing geminate consonants but also on polysyllabic stimuli and those containing non-continuant consonants. Error analysis confirmed these results, with LD children producing a higher rate of phonological errors respect to NoLD children and controls. Results were coherent with the hypothesis that among dyslexic children, those with previous language delay have more severe spelling deficit, suffering from defective orthographic lexical acquisition together with long-lasting phonological difficulties.

Discrete versus multiple word displays: A re-analysis of studies comparing dyslexic and typically developing children

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Pierluigi eZoccolotti

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The study examines whether impairments in reading a text can be explained by a deficit in word decoding or an additional deficit in the processes governing the integration of reading subcomponents (including eye movement programming and pronunciation should also be postulated. We report a re-analysis of data from eleven previous experiments conducted in our lab where the reading performance on single, discrete word displays as well multiple displays (texts, and in few cases also word lists was investigated in groups of dyslexic children and typically developing readers. The analysis focuses on measures of time and not accuracy.Across experiments, dyslexic children are slower and more variable than typically developing readers in reading texts as well as vocal RTs to singly presented words; the dis-homogeneity in variability between groups points to the inappropriateness of standard measures of size effect (such as Cohen’s d, and suggests the use of the ratio between groups’ performance. The mean ratio for text reading is 1.95 across experiments. Mean ratio for vocal RTs for singly presented words is considerably smaller (1.52. Furthermore, this latter value is probably an overestimation as considering total reading times (i.e., a measure including also the pronunciation component considerably reduces the group difference in vocal RTs (1.19 according to Martelli et al., 2014. The ratio difference between single and multiple displays does not depend upon the presence of a semantic context in the case of texts as large ratios are also observed with lists of unrelated words (though studies testing this aspect were few.We conclude that, if care is taken in using appropriate comparisons, the deficit in reading texts or lists of words is appreciably greater than that revealed with discrete word presentations. Thus, reading multiple stimuli present a specific, additional challenge to dyslexic children indicating that models of reading should

Dietary Habits of Greek Primary School Children

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Piperakis, S. M.; Papadimitriou, V.; Zafiropoulou, M.; Piperakis, A. S.; Zisis, P.

2007-06-01

The purpose of this study was to assess Greek primary (1st to 6th grade) school children's dietary habits and the factors influencing them. Our results show that children know the value of different foods. The socio-economic status of father has no effect on the attitude of children towards choosing their diet, however, mothers' educational status appears to have an effect on their children's behaviour. Place of residence (urban or semi-rural areas) and gender does not influence their knowledge about different diets. It was, finally, shown that as children grow older they tend to eat less healthy foods.

Neither action nor phonological video games make dyslexic children read better.

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Łuniewska, Magdalena; Chyl, Katarzyna; Dębska, Agnieszka; Kacprzak, Agnieszka; Plewko, Joanna; Szczerbiński, Marcin; Szewczyk, Jakub; Grabowska, Anna; Jednoróg, Katarzyna

2018-01-11

The prevalence and long-term consequences of dyslexia make it crucial to look for effective and efficient ways of its therapy. Action video games (AVG) were implied as a possible remedy for difficulties in reading in Italian and English-speaking children. However, the studies examining the effectiveness of AVG application in dyslexia suffered from significant methodological weaknesses such as small sample sizes and lack of a control group with no intervention. In our study, we tested how two forms of training: based on AVG and on phonological non-action video games (PNAVG), affect reading in a group of fifty-four Polish children with dyslexia. Both speed and accuracy of reading increased in AVG as much as in PNAVG group. Moreover, both groups improved in phonological awareness, selective attention and rapid naming. Critically, the reading progress in the two groups did not differ from a dyslexic control group which did not participate in any training. Thus, the observed improvement in reading in AVG and PNAVG can be attributed either to the normal reading development related to schooling or to test practice effect. Overall, we failed to replicate previous studies: Neither AVG nor PNAVG remedy difficulties in reading in school children.

Dyslexic children show short-term memory deficits in phonological storage and serial rehearsal: an fMRI study.

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Beneventi, Harald; Tønnessen, Finn Egil; Ersland, Lars

2009-01-01

Dyslexia is primarily associated with a phonological processing deficit. However, the clinical manifestation also includes a reduced verbal working memory (WM) span. It is unclear whether this WM impairment is caused by the phonological deficit or a distinct WM deficit. The main aim of this study was to investigate neuronal activation related to phonological storage and rehearsal of serial order in WM in a sample of 13-year-old dyslexic children compared with age-matched nondyslexic children. A sequential verbal WM task with two tasks was used. In the Letter Probe task, the probe consisted of a single letter and the judgment was for the presence or absence of that letter in the prior sequence of six letters. In the Sequence Probe (SP) task, the probe consisted of all six letters and the judgment was for a match of their serial order with the temporal order in the prior sequence. Group analyses as well as single-subject analysis were performed with the statistical parametric mapping software SPM2. In the Letter Probe task, the dyslexic readers showed reduced activation in the left precentral gyrus (BA6) compared to control group. In the Sequence Probe task, the dyslexic readers showed reduced activation in the prefrontal cortex and the superior parietal cortex (BA7) compared to the control subjects. Our findings suggest that a verbal WM impairment in dyslexia involves an extended neural network including the prefrontal cortex and the superior parietal cortex. Reduced activation in the left BA6 in both the Letter Probe and Sequence Probe tasks may be caused by a deficit in phonological processing. However, reduced bilateral activation in the BA7 in the Sequence Probe task only could indicate a distinct working memory deficit in dyslexia associated with temporal order processing.

The enigma of dyslexic musicians.

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Weiss, Atalia H; Granot, Roni Y; Ahissar, Merav

2014-02-01

Musicians are known to have exceptional sensitivity to sounds, whereas poor phonological representations (or access to these representations) are considered a main characteristic of dyslexic individuals. Though these two characteristics refer to different abilities that are related to non-verbal and verbal skills respectively, the recent literature suggests that they are tightly related. However, there are informal reports of dyslexic musicians. To better understand this enigma, two groups of musicians were recruited, with and without a history of reading difficulties. The pattern of reading difficulties found among musicians was similar to that reported for non-musician dyslexics, though its magnitude was less severe. In contrast to non-musician dyslexics, their performance in pitch and interval discrimination, synchronous tapping and speech perception tasks, did not differ from the performance of their musician peers, and was superior to that of the general population. However, the auditory working memory scores of dyslexic musicians were consistently poor, including memory for rhythm, melody and speech sounds. Moreover, these abilities were inter-correlated, and highly correlated with their reading accuracy. These results point to a discrepancy between their perceptual and working memory skills rather than between sensitivity to speech and non-speech sounds. The results further suggest that in spite of intensive musical training, auditory working memory remains a bottleneck to the reading accuracy of dyslexic musicians. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Detection of cut-off point for rapid automized naming test in good readers and dyslexics

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Zahra Soleymani

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Background and Aim: Rapid automized naming test is an appropriate tool to diagnose learning disability even before teaching reading. This study aimed to detect the cut-off point of this test for good readers and dyslexics.Methods: The test has 4 parts including: objects, colors, numbers and letters. 5 items are repeated on cards randomly for 10 times. Children were asked to name items rapidly. We studied 18 dyslexic students and 18 age-matched good readers between 7 and 8 years of age at second and third grades of elementary school; they were recruited by non-randomize sampling into 2 groups: children with developmental dyslexia from learning disabilities centers with mean age of 100 months, and normal children with mean age of 107 months from general schools in Tehran. Good readers selected from the same class of dyslexics.Results: The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.849 for letter naming, 0.892 for color naming, 0.971 for number naming, 0.887 for picture naming, and 0.965 totally. The overall sensitivity and specificity was 1 and was 0.79, respectively. The highest sensitivity and specificity were related to number naming (1 and 0.90, respectively.Conclusion: Findings showed that the rapid automized naming test could diagnose good readers from dyslexics appropriately.

Lexical processing and distributional knowledge in sound-spelling mapping in a consistent orthography: A longitudinal study of reading and spelling in dyslexic and typically developing children.

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Marinelli, Chiara Valeria; Cellini, Pamela; Zoccolotti, Pierluigi; Angelelli, Paola

This study examined the ability to master lexical processing and use knowledge of the relative frequency of sound-spelling mappings in both reading and spelling. Twenty-four dyslexic and dysgraphic children and 86 typically developing readers were followed longitudinally in 3rd and 5th grades. Effects of word regularity, word frequency, and probability of sound-spelling mappings were examined in two experimental tasks: (a) spelling to dictation; and (b) orthographic judgment. Dyslexic children showed larger regularity and frequency effects than controls in both tasks. Sensitivity to distributional information of sound-spelling mappings was already detected by third grade, indicating early acquisition even in children with dyslexia. Although with notable differences, knowledge of the relative frequencies of sound-spelling mapping influenced both reading and spelling. Results are discussed in terms of their theoretical and empirical implications.

Direct Viewing of Dyslexics' Compensatory Strategies in Speech in Noise Using Auditory Classification Images.

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Varnet, Léo; Meunier, Fanny; Trollé, Gwendoline; Hoen, Michel

2016-01-01

A vast majority of dyslexic children exhibit a phonological deficit, particularly noticeable in phonemic identification or discrimination tasks. The gap in performance between dyslexic and normotypical listeners appears to decrease into adulthood, suggesting that some individuals with dyslexia develop compensatory strategies. Some dyslexic adults however remain impaired in more challenging listening situations such as in the presence of background noise. This paper addresses the question of the compensatory strategies employed, using the recently developed Auditory Classification Image (ACI) methodology. The results of 18 dyslexics taking part in a phoneme categorization task in noise were compared with those of 18 normotypical age-matched controls. By fitting a penalized Generalized Linear Model on the data of each participant, we obtained his/her ACI, a map of the time-frequency regions he/she relied on to perform the task. Even though dyslexics performed significantly less well than controls, we were unable to detect a robust difference between the mean ACIs of the two groups. This is partly due to the considerable heterogeneity in listening strategies among a subgroup of 7 low-performing dyslexics, as confirmed by a complementary analysis. When excluding these participants to restrict our comparison to the 11 dyslexics performing as well as their average-reading peers, we found a significant difference in the F3 onset of the first syllable, and a tendency of difference on the F4 onset, suggesting that these listeners can compensate for their deficit by relying upon additional allophonic cues.

Are you dyslexic?

CERN Multimedia

2003-01-01

If so, read this article. You may be able to help children with the same disability as you. The BBC and the charity Dyslexia International Tools and Technologies (DITT) are currently producing a CD-ROM for dyslexic children aged 9 to 14. One of the aims is to offer them encouragement by showing them that people with dyslexia have made successes of their lives. The BBC is therefore looking for people from all over Europe who have succeeded despite their condition. The CD-ROM will be translated into several different languages and distributed throughout Europe. If you are a high-level physicist with dyslexia, you could take part in the making of this CD-Rom. The BBC will be coming to film 10-minute interviews about people's experience with dyslexia and the advice they can offer to young people suffering from the same condition. Please send an e-mail to James.Gillies@cern.ch as soon as possible.

Postural control during the Stroop test in dyslexic and non dyslexic teenagers.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zoï Kapoula

Full Text Available Postural control in quiet stance although simple still requires some cognitive resources; dual cognitive tasks influence further postural control. The present study examines whether or not dyslexic teenagers experience postural instability when performing a Stroop dual task for which their performances are known to be poor. Fifteen dyslexics and twelve non-dyslexics (14 to 17 years old were recruited from the same school. They were asked to perform three tasks: (1 fixate a target, (2 perform an interference Stroop test (naming the colour or the word rather than reading the word, (3 performing flexibility Stroop task: the subject performed the interference task as in (2 except when the word was in a box, in which case he had to read the word. Postural performances were measured with a force platform. The results showed a main task effect on the variance of speed of body sway only: such variance was higher in the flexibility task than for the other two tasks. No group effect was found for any of the parameters of posture (surface, mediolateral and anteroposterior sway, variance of speed. Further wavelet analysis in the time-frequency domain revealed an increase in the spectral power of the medium frequency range believed to be related to cerebellum control; an accompanying increase in the cancellation time of the high frequency band related to reflexive loops occurred for non-dyslexics only. These effects occurred for the flexibility task and could be due to its high cognitive difficulty. Dyslexics displayed shorter cancellation time for the medium frequency band for all tasks, suggesting less efficient cerebellar control, perhaps of eye fixation and attention influencing body sway. We conclude that there is no evidence for a primary posture deficit in 15 year old teenagers who come from the general population and who were recruited in schools.

Playing with Porn: Greek Children's Explorations in Pornography

Science.gov (United States)

Tsaliki, Liza

2011-01-01

This article draws on the research findings of the Greek Kids Go Online project and the EU Kids Online I network research on children and online technologies in Europe, funded by the European Commission Safer Internet Programme, 2006-2009. It explores the experiences of young people aged between 9 and 17 with pornographic texts online, and…

Visual processing of multiple elements in the dyslexic brain: evidence for a superior parietal dysfunction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muriel Anne Lobier

2014-07-01

Full Text Available The visual attention (VA span deficit hypothesis of developmental dyslexia posits that impaired multiple element processing can be responsible for poor reading outcomes. In VA span impaired dyslexic children, poor performance on letter report tasks is associated with reduced parietal activations for multiple letter processing. While this hints towards a non-specific, attention-based dysfunction, it is still unclear whether reduced parietal activity generalizes to other types of stimuli. Furthermore, putative links between reduced parietal activity and reduced ventral occipito-temporal (vOT in dyslexia have yet to be explored. Using fMRI, we measured brain activity in 12 VA span impaired dyslexic adults and 12 adult skilled readers while they carried out a categorization task on single or multiple alphanumeric or non-alphanumeric characters. While healthy readers activated parietal areas more strongly for multiple than single element processing (right-sided for alphanumeric and bilateral for non-alphanumeric, similar stronger multiple element right parietal activations were absent for dyslexic participants. Contrasts between skilled and dyslexic readers revealed significantly reduced right superior parietal lobule (SPL activity for dyslexic readers regardless of stimuli type. Using a priori anatomically defined ROI, we showed that neural activity was reduced for dyslexic participants in both SPL and vOT bilaterally. Finally, we used multiple regressions to test whether SPL activity could predict vOT activity in each group. In the left hemisphere, SPL activity modulated vOT activity for both normal and dyslexic readers. In contrast, in the right hemisphere, SPL activity modulated vOT activity only for dyslexic readers. These results bring critical support to the visual attention interpretation of the VA Span deficit. In addition, they offer a new insight on how deficits in automatic vOT based word recognition could arise in developmental dyslexia.

Learner-generated drawing for phonological and orthographic dyslexic readers.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Li-Chih; Yang, Hsien-Ming; Tasi, Hung-Ju; Chan, Shih-Yi

2013-01-01

This study presents an examination of learner-generated drawing for different reading comprehension subtypes of dyslexic students and control students. The participants were 22 phonological dyslexic students, 20 orthographic dyslexic students, 21 double-deficit dyslexic students, and 45 age-, gender-, and IQ-matched control students. The major evaluation tools included word recognition task, orthographic task, phonological awareness task, and scenery texts and questions. Comparisons of the four groups of students showed differences among phonological dyslexia, orthographic dyslexia, double-deficit dyslexia, and the chronological age control groups in pre- and posttest performance of scenery texts. Differences also existed in relevant questions and the effect of the learner-generated drawing method. The pretest performance showed problems in the dyslexic samples in reading the scenery texts and answering relevant questions. The posttest performance revealed certain differences among phonological dyslexia, orthographic dyslexia, double-deficit dyslexia, and the chronological age control group. Finally, all dyslexic groups obtained a great effect from using the learner-generated drawing, particularly orthographic dyslexia. These results suggest that the learner-generated drawing was also useful for dyslexic students, with the potential for use in the classroom for teaching text reading to dyslexic students. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Inverse but independent trends in obesity and fitness levels among Greek children: a time-series analysis from 1997 to 2007.

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Tambalis, Konstantinos D; Panagiotakos, Demosthenes B; Psarra, Glykeria; Sidossis, Labros S

2011-01-01

We examined secular trends in physical fitness and BMI status in 8- to 9-year-old Greek children during an 11-year period (1997-2007). Population data derived from a yearly health survey performed in over 85% of Greek schools. Anthropometric measurements and physical fitness tests from 651,582 children were analyzed. The gender- and age-specific BMI cut-off points by the International Obesity Task Force were used to define overweight/obesity. Aerobic performance decreased by 4.9% (p Greek children during an 11-year period (1997-2007), a fact that predisposes our children to serious health risks as they grow older. Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Dyslexic Participants Show Intact Spontaneous Categorization Processes

Science.gov (United States)

Nikolopoulos, Dimitris S.; Pothos, Emmanuel M.

2009-01-01

We examine the performance of dyslexic participants on an unsupervised categorization task against that of matched non-dyslexic control participants. Unsupervised categorization is a cognitive process critical for conceptual development. Existing research in dyslexia has emphasized perceptual tasks and supervised categorization tasks (for which…

On being dyslexic: Student radiographers' perspectives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murphy, Fred

2011-01-01

The purpose of this paper was to provide an insight into life as a dyslexic student radiographer, identify barriers and risks in clinical training, and develop recommendations for the support of students with dyslexia. The paucity of research into dyslexia within the radiography profession is worrying, with attention focused only on the support provided by Higher Education Institutions (HEI) or inferences drawn from the experiences of other healthcare students. The impact and significance of dyslexia for student radiographers in clinical practice has never been investigated. Results: On a self-reporting scale of clinical tasks there was little or no difference between dyslexic students and non-dyslexics. Some minor traits commonly associated with dyslexics were also reported by students with no learning disabilities and an inclusion support plan for all students was advocated. In-depth interviews of 10 student radiographers revealed six distinct themes of visualising the disability, self-protection, strengths and talents, time, the badge of disability and adjustments and support. Like other healthcare students, some radiography students reported significant difficulties and prejudices and very little structured support in the clinical environment. Despite the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act being in place for several years, the support in clinical departments fell significantly short of that provided in the universities. The dyslexic students took extra responsibility for their own learning and some had developed complex coping strategies to overcome any difficulties. Conclusion: Several inclusive recommendations were developed as a result of this study that could be used to support all students on clinical placement.

Effect of Piracetam on Dyslexic's Reading Ability.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilsher, C.; And Others

1985-01-01

Forty-six dyslexic boys (aged eight to 13) were administered Piracetam or placebo in a double-blind, parallel experiment. Although, overall, there were no significant group effects, the within-subject design revealed improvements in reading speed and accuracy in Piracetam Ss. Dyslexics with higher reading ages improved significantly compared to…

The Cerebellar Deficit Hypothesis and Dyslexic Tendencies in a Non-Clinical Sample

Science.gov (United States)

Brookes, Rebecca L.; Stirling, John

2005-01-01

In order to assess the relationship between cerebellar deficits and dyslexic tendencies in a non-clinical sample, 27 primary school children aged 8-9 completed a cerebellar soft signs battery and were additionally assessed for reading age, sequential memory, picture arrangement and knowledge of common sequences. An average measure of the soft…

Poor Stroop performances in 15-year-old dyslexic teenagers.

Science.gov (United States)

Kapoula, Zoï; Lê, Thanh-Thuan; Bonnet, Audrey; Bourtoire, Pauline; Demule, Emilie; Fauvel, Caroline; Quilicci, Catherine; Yang, Qing

2010-06-01

The Stroop test enables interference between color naming and reading to be studied. Protopapas et al. (2007) reported more errors in an interference task and longer reaction times in 12.5-year-old dyslexics; also more Stroop interference with lower reading skills. The present study uses a version of the Stroop with four color cards and aims to test interference and flexibility in older dyslexic teenagers. The four cards are: color naming, reading, interference and flexibility. In the latter, subjects have to name the color of the word inhibiting reading except when the word is inside a box. This flexibility task enables the testing of the capacity for cognitive switching between tasks. Ten dyslexics (15.1 +/- 0.7 years old) and fourteen controls (14.3 +/- 1.6 years old) participated in the study. All performed the color naming, the reading, the interference and the flexibility tasks in the same order. Subsequently, they performed a sequence of 60 saccades left-right followed by the interference task. Generally, dyslexic teenagers behaved similarly to non-dyslexics as they showed fewer errors in reading and color than in the interference and flexibility tasks. However, they made more errors and needed more time to accomplish each task than non-dyslexics. The results suggest that the inhibitory and attention processes required by the Stroop test are dysfunctioning even in older dyslexics. In contrast, the study shows no evidence for particular difficulty in the flexibility task, which would constitute an argument against problems with mental switching. Following the execution of saccades, errors in the interference test were significantly reduced for dyslexics, while the time was reduced for both groups. The effects are attributed to visual attention training via saccades.

Evidence for a differential interference of noise in sub-lexical and lexical reading routes in healthy participants and dyslexics.

Science.gov (United States)

Pina Rodrigues, Ana; Rebola, José; Jorge, Helena; Ribeiro, Maria José; Pereira, Marcelino; Castelo-Branco, Miguel; van Asselen, Marieke

The ineffective exclusion of surrounding noise has been proposed to underlie the reading deficits in developmental dyslexia. However, previous studies supporting this hypothesis focused on low-level visual tasks, providing only an indirect link of noise interference on reading processes. In this study, we investigated the effect of noise on regular, irregular, and pseudoword reading in 23 dyslexic children and 26 age- and IQ-matched controls, by applying the white noise displays typically used to validate this theory to a lexical decision task. Reading performance and eye movements were measured. Results showed that white noise did not consistently affect dyslexic readers more than typical readers. Noise affected more dyslexic than typical readers in terms of reading accuracy, but it affected more typical than dyslexic readers in terms of response time and eye movements (number of fixations and regressions). Furthermore, in typical readers, noise affected more the speed of reading of pseudowords than real words. These results suggest a particular impact of noise on the sub-lexical reading route where attention has to be deployed to individual letters. The use of a lexical route would reduce the effect of noise. A differential impact of noise between words and pseudowords may therefore not be evident in dyslexic children if they are not yet proficient in using the lexical route. These findings indicate that the type of reading stimuli and consequent reading strategies play an important role in determining the effects of noise interference in reading processing and should be taken into account by further studies.

Prevalence of dental erosion in Greek minority school children in Istanbul.

Science.gov (United States)

Caglar, E; Sandalli, N; Panagiotou, N; Tonguc, K; Kuscu, O O

2011-10-01

To evaluate the prevalence and aetiology of dental erosion in Greek minority school children living in Istanbul (Turkey). The present study was initiated in four Greek minority elementary schools in Istanbul where a total of 83 children (46 girls, 37 boys) between ages 7-14 years old were examined. Children were categorised into 7-11 and 12-14 ages groups. Data were obtained by clinical examination, questionnaire and standard data records. All tooth surfaces were examined, dental erosion was recorded per tooth and classified according to the index of Lussi et al. [1996] In the 7-11 yrs old group, 47.4% (n:18) of the children exhibited dental erosion while in 12-14 yrs old group, 52.6% (n:20) of the children exhibited dental erosion. There were no statitistical differences between age, gender groups and findings of dental erosion (p>0.05). However prevalence of dental erosion in 12-14 yrs old was twice that of the 7-11 years old children. In general, an unusual drinking pattern of slow swallowing of beverages significantly affected the prevalence of dental erosion (p=0.03). Multiple regression analysis revealed no relationship between dental erosion and related erosive sources such as medical conditions, brushing habits, swimming, and the consumption of acidic fruit juices and beverages (p>0.05). However it should be noted that the sample size in the current study was small.

Psychophysical evidence for impaired Magno, Parvo, and Konio-cellular pathways in dyslexic children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khazar Ahmadi

2015-01-01

Conclusion: We may suggest that dyslexic subjects might suffer from both magnocellular and parvocellular deficits. Moreover, our results show partial impairment of the koniocellular pathway. Thus, dyslexia might be associated with deficits in all three visual pathways.

Bicultural Childhood. A Case Study with Greek and Greek-Norwegian Families in Norway

OpenAIRE

Liland, Irene Midtskog

2015-01-01

This study aims to explore Greek and Greek–Norwegian children’s experiences of migration and bicultural childhood. The period of fieldwork took place in different cities in Norway during the autumn of 2014. The methods employed are questionnaires, worksheets, mind-mapping activities and semi-structured interviews. The participants in the study were children born in Norway with one Greek-born and one Norwegian-born parent, immigrant children from Greece who had been living in Norway between on...

Severe ocular injuries in Greek children.

Science.gov (United States)

Mela, Ephigenia K; Georgakopoulos, Constantinos D; Georgalis, Athanasios; Koliopoulos, John X; Gartaganis, Sotirios P

2003-02-01

To determine the epidemiological characteristics of severe eye injuries in childhood, in a mixed urban and rural Greek setting. Retrospective analysis of 95 cases (103 eyes) of eye injuries in children younger than 17 years of age admitted to the Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital of Patras, Greece, during a five-year period. The data were analyzed with respect to age, sex, type, cause and mode of injury, method of management, duration of hospitalization and final visual deficit. The average age was 9.8 years and males were involved in 80% of the cases. The most common type of eye injury was mechanical closed-globe injury (71.8%). Mechanical open-globe injuries were found in 21.3% of the eyes, while burns comprised 6.7% of the injuries. Most injuries were agent-related, with blows and falls being responsible most often. Multiple operations were part of the treatment in 11.6% of the eyes; 14.5% of the eyes were blinded and 15.5% had significant final visual acuity loss. These hospital-based data suggest that there is a need for health education of both parents and children, since some injuries in children could easily have been prevented.

On being dyslexic: Student radiographers' perspectives

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Murphy, Fred, E-mail: f.j.murphy@salford.ac.u [Directorate of Radiography, School of Health Sport and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Salford, Greater Manchester, M6 6PU (United Kingdom)

2011-05-15

The purpose of this paper was to provide an insight into life as a dyslexic student radiographer, identify barriers and risks in clinical training, and develop recommendations for the support of students with dyslexia. The paucity of research into dyslexia within the radiography profession is worrying, with attention focused only on the support provided by Higher Education Institutions (HEI) or inferences drawn from the experiences of other healthcare students. The impact and significance of dyslexia for student radiographers in clinical practice has never been investigated. Results: On a self-reporting scale of clinical tasks there was little or no difference between dyslexic students and non-dyslexics. Some minor traits commonly associated with dyslexics were also reported by students with no learning disabilities and an inclusion support plan for all students was advocated. In-depth interviews of 10 student radiographers revealed six distinct themes of visualising the disability, self-protection, strengths and talents, time, the badge of disability and adjustments and support. Like other healthcare students, some radiography students reported significant difficulties and prejudices and very little structured support in the clinical environment. Despite the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act being in place for several years, the support in clinical departments fell significantly short of that provided in the universities. The dyslexic students took extra responsibility for their own learning and some had developed complex coping strategies to overcome any difficulties. Conclusion: Several inclusive recommendations were developed as a result of this study that could be used to support all students on clinical placement.

Study and Comparison of Phonological Awareness Skills and Naming Speed in Dyslexic and Normal Children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A'tiyeh Ashtari

2004-10-01

Full Text Available Objective: In recent decades, it has been accepted that , deficiencies in phonological Awareness is related to reading problems, and phonological Awareness is the most important causal factor of dyslexia. Although recent researchers on naming speed skill reveal that this skill is orther possible source of dyslexia. Materials & Methods: Present research has been fulfilled on 58 second elementary grade students on the aim of reviewing and comparing the phonological awareness and naming speed. There was 28 dyslexic subject and 30 normal people. There was analyzing of all collected information in this research by independent statistical “ T “ and U – man Whitney Test . Likewise, The correlation between phonological awarecess skills and naming speed in two subject groups by Pearson and Spearman correlated coefficint. Results: Results shiwed that, it was significant differences detween both dyslexia and normal groups in mentioned skills, and dyslexic groupe is weaker than normal group for both skills. Furthermore, in this research there was not significant corellation between phonological awareness and naming speed. Keywords dyslexia/ phonological awarness/ naming speed. Conclusion: consistent with the previous studies , the results of this study revealed that dyslexic individuals have problems in phonological awareness and naming speed . Also insignificant Correlation between the above skills may show that naming speed is independant of phonological awareness.

A System for Detecting Miscues in Dyslexic Read Speech

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Morten Højfeldt; Tan, Zheng-Hua; Lindberg, Børge

2009-01-01

While miscue detection in general is a well explored research field little attention has so far been paid to miscue detection in dyslexic read speech. This domain differs substantially from the domains that are commonly researched, as for example dyslexic read speech includes frequent regressions...... that the system detects miscues at a false alarm rate of 5.3% and a miscue detection rate of 40.1%. These results are worse than current state of the art reading tutors perhaps indicating that dyslexic read speech is a challenge to handle....

Detection and identification of monaural and binaural pitch contours in dyslexic listeners

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Santurette, Sébastien; Poelmans, Hanne; Luts, Heleen

2010-01-01

of dyslexic listeners to Huggins' pitch (HP). The present study clarified whether impaired binaural pitch perception is found in dyslexia. Results from a pitch contour identification test, performed in 31 dyslexic listeners and 31 matched controls, clearly showed that dyslexics perceived HP as well...

Physical activity and sedentary behaviours in Greek-Cypriot children and adolescents: a cross-sectional study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jago Russell

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background There are no data on physical activity and sedentary behaviours of Greek-Cypriot children and adolescents, and no study to date examined the association between these two behaviours in this population. The purpose of this study was to document the prevalence of physical activity and sedentary behaviours among Greek-Cypriot adolescents and examine the association between physical activity and a range of sedentary behaviours. Logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the association between physical activity and sedentary behaviours. Methods A cross-sectional study among 1,966 Greek-Cypriot children and adolescents was conducted in 2008/2009. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire across primary, middle, high and technical/vocational schools. Results Overall 52.3% and 52.4% of the participants met physical activity and television viewing guidelines respectively. Boys and younger children were more likely to meet guidelines. Boys who attended sports clubs for two or more times per week were more likely to be physically active (OR = 3.4, and those who listened to music for one or less than one hour per day were less likely to be physically active (OR = 0.6. Girls who attended sports clubs for two or more times per week and who watched television for two or less than two hours per day were more likely to be physically active, (OR = 3.0 and OR = 1.5 respectively. Girls who reported travelling by car/bus/motorbike for one or less than one hour per day were more likely to actively travel to school (OR = 1.8. Conclusions Findings from this study provide limited support for the displacement hypothesis whereby sedentary behaviours displace physically active time. About 50.0% of Greek children and adolescents in Cyprus meet existing physical activity and television viewing guidelines. Encouraging children to attend sports clubs for at least two times per week may markedly improve their physical activity levels.

Greek Primary School Children's Representations of the Urban Environment as Seen through Their Drawings

Science.gov (United States)

Stokas, Dimitrios; Strezou, Elena; Malandrakis, George; Papadopoulou, Penelope

2017-01-01

In the present study, we explore aspects of Greek primary school children's representations about the urban environment through the use of drawings and their relation to sustainability. For that purpose, 104 children, aged 9-12 (4th and 6th grades), were asked to make two drawings of their town: one as it is now and another as they would like it…

The clinical experiences of dyslexic healthcare students

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Murphy, Fred [Directorate of Radiography, School of Health Care Professions, University of Salford, Allerton Building, Salford, Greater Manchester M6 6PU (United Kingdom)], E-mail: f.j.murphy@salford.ac.uk

2009-11-15

This paper reflects on the experiences of healthcare students with dyslexia in order to raise awareness of the potential challenges for dyslexic student radiographers and their clinical educators. With widening participation policies it is likely that the number of student radiographers with specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia will continue to increase. A review of the literature associated with dyslexia in healthcare education was performed in order to provide an overview of the current position. Although Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have embraced the support and learning opportunities for dyslexic students at university, evidence would suggest that this is not reflected in the clinical departments. The current literature strongly suggests that since the risk of errors with clinical information is far more significant within the clinical placement, there is an immediate requirement for greater understanding, robust support and risk assessment systems. This review considers the problems experienced by dyslexic students, coping strategies they employ and the possible implications for clinical radiography education.

The clinical experiences of dyslexic healthcare students

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murphy, Fred

2009-01-01

This paper reflects on the experiences of healthcare students with dyslexia in order to raise awareness of the potential challenges for dyslexic student radiographers and their clinical educators. With widening participation policies it is likely that the number of student radiographers with specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia will continue to increase. A review of the literature associated with dyslexia in healthcare education was performed in order to provide an overview of the current position. Although Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have embraced the support and learning opportunities for dyslexic students at university, evidence would suggest that this is not reflected in the clinical departments. The current literature strongly suggests that since the risk of errors with clinical information is far more significant within the clinical placement, there is an immediate requirement for greater understanding, robust support and risk assessment systems. This review considers the problems experienced by dyslexic students, coping strategies they employ and the possible implications for clinical radiography education.

Child involvement and stress in Greek mothers of deaf children.

Science.gov (United States)

Lampropoulou, V; Konstantareas, M M

1998-10-01

Forty-two mothers of Greek deaf children reported their level of stress, availability of support, duration and frequency of involvement with their children, and affective tone of involvement, using an adaptation of Hill's ABCX model of stress and support (1949). Data on the interaction among six caregiving categories were collected over a 2-day period. Mothers of younger children and of boys, as well as mothers reporting greater stress, had longer and more frequent involvement. Mothers with greater stress were also more likely to rate the affective tone of their involvement as more neutral or as chorelike. Support availability was unrelated to involvement, with the exception of supporting neighbors. Compared to Canadian mothers of children both with and without disabilities, exposed to the same study protocol, the mothers in the present study were not more stressed. However, they were more likely to report a negative affective tone in their caregiving.

The Lack of Omission of Clitics in Greek Children with SLI: An Experimental Study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Manika, S.; Varlokosta, S.; Wexler, K.

2010-01-01

Object clitics are not uniformly acquired across languages; French-, Italian, Catalan- speaking TD children show late acquisition of clitics, omission and a preference for using full DPs in contrast to Spanish-, Romanian- and Greek-speaking ones. This variation has been explained through the

Investigating Use of a Parent Report Tool to Measure Vocabulary Development in Deaf Greek-Speaking Children with Cochlear Implants

Science.gov (United States)

Oktapoti, Maria; Okalidou, Areti; Kyriafinis, George; Petinou, Kakia; Vital, Victor; Herman, Rosalind

2016-01-01

Objective: There are very few measures of language development in spoken Greek that can be used with young deaf children. This study investigated the use of Cyprus Lexical List (CYLEX), a receptive and expressive vocabulary assessment based on parent report that has recently been adapted to Standard Greek, to measure the vocabulary development of…

Greek Parents' Perceptions and Experiences regarding Their Children's Learning and Social-Emotional Difficulties

Science.gov (United States)

Adamopoulou, Eirini

2010-01-01

A survey instrument, the Test of Psychosocial Adaptation, originally developed for use with teachers in Greece, was given to 298 Greek parents in Athens and several rural areas. One hundred and five respondents indicated that their children exhibit learning and/or social-emotional learning difficulties. Parents rated higher externalizing behaviors…

User Centred Design of a Multimodal Reading Training System for Dyslexics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Jakob Schou

This thesis presents work in the area of computer-based reading training for dyslexics using speech technology and multimodal information. The study includes an analysis of typical dyslexic reading behaviour and traditional training techniques as well as the detailed development of a prototype...... schemes, evaluation forms and graphical layout solutions are investigated. This is done through the design and evaluation of several prototypes that seek to compensate for the loss of empathy when going from traditional training to an automated system. Through evaluations of the final prototype system......, involving dyslexics, it is shown that it is possible for dyslexic users to carry out reading exercises with the sole assistance and guidance of an automated training tool, given a sufficient speech recognition accuracy. It is furthermore shown that in order to cope with the different preferences...

Impaired temporal contrast sensitivity in dyslexics is specific to retain-and-compare paradigms.

Science.gov (United States)

Ben-Yehudah, G; Sackett, E; Malchi-Ginzberg, L; Ahissar, M

2001-07-01

Developmental dyslexia is a specific reading disability that affects 5-10% of the population. Recent studies have suggested that dyslexics may experience a deficit in the visual magnocellular pathway. The most extensively studied prediction deriving from this hypothesis is impaired contrast sensitivity to transient, low-luminance stimuli at low spatial frequencies. However, the findings are inconsistent across studies and even seemingly contradictory. In the present study, we administered several different paradigms for assessing temporal contrast sensitivity, and found both impaired and normal contrast sensitivity within the same group of dyslexic participants. Under sequential presentation, in a temporal forced choice paradigm, dyslexics showed impaired sensitivity to both drifting and flickering gratings. However, under simultaneous presentation, with a spatial forced choice paradigm, dyslexics' sensitivity did not differ from that of the controls. Within each paradigm, dyslexics' sensitivity was poorer at higher temporal frequencies, consistent with the magnocellular hypothesis. These results suggest that a basic perceptual impairment in dyslexics may be their limited ability to retain-and-compare perceptual traces across brief intervals.

The 'speaking tablet' as an aid in the acquisition of reading skills by dyslexic children

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Truin, P.G.M.

1983-01-01

Bouma and Legein suggested that a delayed (internal) transformation from the written word into its corresponding sound image could provide an explanation for the poor reading ability of dyslexic readers. Recent speech technology offers the opportunity of directly available synthetic speech. This

Is phonology bypassed in normal or dyslexic development?

Science.gov (United States)

Pennington, B F; Lefly, D L; Van Orden, G C; Bookman, M O; Smith, S D

1987-01-01

A pervasive assumption in most accounts of normal reading and spelling development is that phonological coding is important early in development but is subsequently superseded by faster, orthographic coding which bypasses phonology. We call this assumption, which derives from dual process theory, the developmental bypass hypothesis. The present study tests four specific predictions of the developmental bypass hypothesis by comparing dyslexics and nondyslexics from the same families in a cross-sectional design. The four predictions are: 1) That phonological coding skill develops early in normal readers and soon reaches asymptote, whereas orthographic coding skill has a protracted course of development; 2) that the correlation of adult reading or spelling performance with phonological coding skill is considerably less than the correlation with orthographic coding skill; 3) that dyslexics who are mainly deficient in phonological coding skill should be able to bypass this deficit and eventually close the gap in reading and spelling performance; and 4) that the greatest differences between dyslexics and developmental controls on measures of phonological coding skill should be observed early rather than late in development.None of the four predictions of the developmental bypass hypothesis were upheld. Phonological coding skill continued to develop in nondyslexics until adulthood. It accounted for a substantial (32-53 percent) portion of the variance in reading and spelling performance in adult nondyslexics, whereas orthographic coding skill did not account for a statistically reliable portion of this variance. The dyslexics differed little across age in phonological coding skill, but made linear progress in orthographic coding skill, surpassing spelling-age (SA) controls by adulthood. Nonetheless, they didnot close the gap in reading and spelling performance. Finally, dyslexics were significantly worse than SA (and Reading Age [RA]) controls in phonological coding skill

Syllable division: Prerequisite to dyslexics' literacy.

Science.gov (United States)

Cox, A R; Hutcheson, L

1988-01-01

Skill in reading long words is prerequisite to dyslexics' literacy. Instant recognition of printed symbols is easy for those readers with photographic memories, but dyslexics often fail to recognize visually many long words which are actually familiar to them auditorially. Scientific, automatic, multisensory procedures for dividing longer words into easily read syllables can enable students to translate visual symbols rapidly and thereby to read, write, or spell accurately words of any length.Over one thousand dyslexics, aged seven to fifteen, guided the interdisciplinary team at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas to develop, observe results, and test specific structured, sequential steps in working out longer words. The ten-year study (1965-1975) in the Language Laboratory of the Hospital established the Alphabetic Phonics curriculum which is now used successfully, not only in remedial groups but in regular classes of any size or age, in public and private schools in 45 states and six foreign countries.The newly-established Aylett Royall Cox Institute in Dallas prepares teachers and Master Instructors to train both students and other teachers. Comparable Alphabetic Phonics Teacher Training Centers are already established in Houston and Lubbock, Texas, in Oklahoma City, and at Columbia University Teachers College in New York.

Reading and Spelling Error Analysis of Native Arabic Dyslexic Readers

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Abu-rabia, Salim; Taha, Haitham

2004-01-01

This study was an investigation of reading and spelling errors of dyslexic Arabic readers ("n"=20) compared with two groups of normal readers: a young readers group, matched with the dyslexics by reading level ("n"=20) and an age-matched group ("n"=20). They were tested on reading and spelling of texts, isolated…

American and Greek Children's Visual Images of Scientists

Science.gov (United States)

Christidou, Vasilia; Bonoti, Fotini; Kontopoulou, Argiro

2016-08-01

This study explores American and Greek primary pupils' visual images of scientists by means of two nonverbal data collection tasks to identify possible convergences and divergences. Specifically, it aims to investigate whether their images of scientists vary according to the data collection instrument used and to gender. To this end, 91 third-grade American ( N = 46) and Greek ( N = 45) pupils were examined. Data collection was conducted through a drawing task based on Chambers (1983) `Draw-A-Scientist-Test' (DAST) and a picture selection task during which the children selected between 14 pairs of illustrations those that were most probable to represent scientists. Analysis focused on stereotype indicators related with scientists' appearance and work setting. Results showed that the two groups' performance varied significantly across the tasks used to explore their stereotypic perceptions, although the overall stereotypy was not differentiated according to participants' ethnic group. Moreover, boys were found to use more stereotypic indicators than girls, while the picture selection task elicited more stereotypic responses than the drawing task. In general, data collected by the two instruments revealed convergences and divergences concerning the stereotypic indicators preferred. Similarities and differences between national groups point to the influence of a globalized popular culture on the one hand and of the different sociocultural contexts underlying science curricula and their implementation on the other. Implications for science education are discussed.

Reinventing Papert's Constructionism--Boosting Young Children's Writing Skills with e-Learning Designed for Dyslexics

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Levinsen, Karin Tweddell

2008-01-01

Since the consent to the Salamanca Statement on special needs education from 1994, e-learning developers have focused on tools aimed to support dyslexic learners. The importance of these efforts is on display every year in the Special Aids exhibition area at the BETT-event in London. ICT and e-learning is now widely used in the special needs…

Variability in word reading performance of dyslexic readers: effects of letter length, phoneme length and digraph presence

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Marinus, E.; de Jong, P.F.

2010-01-01

The marked word-length effect in dyslexic children suggests the use of a letter-by-letter reading strategy. Such a strategy should make it more difficult to infer the sound of digraphs. Our main aim was to disentangle length and digraph-presence effects in word and pseudoword reading. In addition,

Prognostic Factors for Immune Thrombocytopenia Outcome in Greek Children: A Retrospective Single-Centered Analysis

OpenAIRE

Makis, Alexandros; Gkoutsias, Athanasios; Palianopoulos, Theodoros; Pappa, Eleni; Papapetrou, Evangelia; Tsaousi, Christina; Hatzimichael, Eleftheria; Chaliasos, Nikolaos

2017-01-01

Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) in children has a varied course and according to duration is distinguished as newly diagnosed (12) types. Several studies have evaluated the prognostic factors for the progression of the disease, but similar works have yet to be performed in Greece. We aimed to identify prognostic markers for the three forms of the disease in 57 Greek children during a 13-year period. Information regarding age, gender, preceding infection, bleeding type, duration of symptoms and ...

Clinical study on binocular visual function of dyslexic children%阅读障碍儿童双眼视功能的临床研究

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

谭军伟; 乔丽萍; 杜明洋; 何玲; 王世同

2017-01-01

目的 探讨阅读障碍儿童和正常儿童双眼视功能各参数的差异,为阅读障碍儿童的临床诊治提供依据.方法 横断面研究.采用整群抽样法抽取天津市东丽区2所小学1984名3～5年级全体学生,根据阅读障碍诊断标准筛选出阅读障碍儿童102例,并选出年龄、性别、年级与之匹配的正常儿童102例作为对照组,分别对两组儿童进行双眼视功能检查,统计分析检测结果.结果 阅读障碍组儿童和对照组儿童的视力分别为(0.58±0.28,0.56±0.29;P＞0.05),差异无统计学意义;阅读障碍组及对照组的近隐斜度和AC/A分别为(-3.45±3.27,-1.08±3.59;P＜0.05)和(3.09±0.84,3.81±0.81;P ＜0.05),差异均有统计学意义;阅读障碍组和对照组近距离三棱镜基底向内(BI)聚散度分别为(12.67±2.01/18.08±5.18/11.17±2.12,17.08±5.66/24.75±4.45/14.33±4.03),差异具有统计学意义(P＜0.05);阅读障碍组和对照组近距离三棱镜基底向外(B0)聚散度分别为(13.10±2.42/20.5±3.03/7.81±1.93,19.20±4.10/29.20±5.12/12.1±3.96)差异具有统计学意义(P＜0.05).结论 阅读障碍儿童的视力、屈光状态、远距离水平隐斜视度、远距离三棱镜基底向内及向外聚散度可正常.但存在AC/A比率偏低、近距离较大外隐斜、近距离融像性聚散储备不足,这些因素可能是引起阅读障碍儿童视觉效率下降的重要原因.%Objective To explore the differences of binocular vision function between dyslexic children and normal children,and to provide the basis for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of dyslexic children.Methods By using cluster random sampling,2 primary schools from Dongli district of Tianjin were selected and 1984 students from3rdto 5thgradewere investigated,among them a sample of 102 dyslexic children and 102 normal children with the same age,gender and grade as control group were selected according to criteria of dyslexia.The different examinations for binocular

Liver transplantation in Greek children: 15 years experience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dimitrios Takoudas

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Liver transplantation (LT is the only available live-saving procedure for children with irreversible liver failure. This paper reports our experience from the follow-up of 16 Greek children with end-stage liver failure who underwent a LT. Over a period of 15 years, 16 pediatric liver recipients received follow up after being subjected to OLT (orthotopic liver transplantation due to end-stage liver failure. Nine children initially presented with extrahepatic biliary atresia, 2 with acute liver failure after toxic mushroom ingestion, 2 with intrahepatic cholestasis, 2 with metabolic diseases and one with hepatoblastoma. Ten children received a liver transplant in the Organ Transplantation Unit of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the rest in other transplant centers. Three transplants came from a living-related donor and 13 from a deceased donor. Six children underwent immunosuppressive treatment with cyclo­sporine, mycophenolate mofetil and corticosteroids, and 7 with tacrolimus, mycophenolate mofetil and corticosteroids. Three out of 16 children died within the first month after the transplantation due to post-transplant complications. Three children presented with acute rejection and one with chronic organ rejection which was successfully managed. Five children presented with cytomegalovirus infection, 5 with Epstein-Barr virus, 2 with HSV1,2, 2 with ParvoB19 virus, 2 with varicella-zoster virus and one with C. Albicans infection. One child presented with upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage and one with small biliary paucity. A satisfying outcome was achieved in most cases, with good graft function, except for the patient with small biliary paucity who required re-transplantation. The long-term clinical course of liver transplanted children is good under the condition that they are attended in specialized centers.

Subject-Verb Agreement and Verbal Short-Term Memory: A Perspective from Greek Children with Specific Language Impairment

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Lalioti, Marina; Stavrakaki, Stavroula; Manouilidou, Christina; Talli, Ioanna

2016-01-01

This study investigated the performance of school age Greek-speaking children with SLI on verbal short-term memory (VSTM) and Subject-Verb (S-V) agreement in comparison to chronological age controls and younger typically developing children. VSTM abilities were assessed by means of a non-word repetition task (NRT) and an elicited production task,…

Reading Prosody in Spanish Dyslexics

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Suárez-Coalla, Paz; Álvarez-Cañizo, Marta; Martínez, Cristina; García, Noemí; Cuetos, Fernando

2016-01-01

Reading becomes expressive when word and text reading are quick, accurate and automatic. Recent studies have reported that skilled readers use greater pitch changes and fewer irrelevant pauses than poor readers. Given that developmental dyslexics have difficulty acquiring and automating the alphabetic code and developing orthographic…

The Greek version of the Gagging Assessment Scale in children and adolescents: psychometric properties, prevalence of gagging, and the association between gagging and dental fear.

Science.gov (United States)

Katsouda, Maria; Provatenou, Efthymia; Arapostathis, Konstantinos; Coolidge, Trilby; Kotsanos, Nikolaos

2017-03-01

No studies assessing the association between gagging and dental fear are available in pediatric samples. To assess the psychometric properties of the Greek version of the Gagging Assessment Scale (GAS), to explore the prevalence of gagging, and to evaluate the relationship between gagging and dental fear in a pediatric sample. A total of 849 8- and 14-year-old children filled out a questionnaire consisting of demographic items, the Greek version of the GAS, and the Greek Children's Fear Survey Schedule Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS); the older children also completed the Greek version of the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS). The short form of dentist part of the Gagging Problem Assessment (GPA-de-c/SF) was used to objectively assess gagging. A total of 51 children (6.0%) demonstrated gagging on the GPA-de-c/SF. Children rated as gaggers on the GPA-de-c/SF had significantly higher GAS scores. There were no relationships between GPA-de-c/SF and the CFSS-DS or MDAS. The GAS ratings were significantly correlated with the CFSS-DS (rho = 0.420, P fear was correlated with the self-report gagging assessment, but not with the objective gagging assessment. © 2016 BSPD, IAPD and John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Detection and identification of monaural and binaural pitch contours in dyslexic listeners

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Santurette, Sébastien; Dau, Torsten; Poelmans, Hanne

2010-01-01

found that a majority of dyslexic subjects were unable to hear binaural pitch, the latter obtained a clear response of dyslexic listeners to Huggins’ pitch (HP) (Cramer and Huggins, 1958). The present study clarified whether impaired binaural pitch perception is found in dyslexia. Results from a pitch...

Behaviour problems in children with dyslexia.

Science.gov (United States)

Heiervang, E; Stevenson, J; Lund, A; Hugdahl, K

2001-01-01

The association between behaviour problems and dyslexia was assessed in a population sample of 10- to 12-year-old children. Twenty-five dyslexic children and a matched control group were recruited through a screening in primary schools in the city of Bergen, Norway. For the assessment of behaviour problems the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), Teacher Self Report (TRF), and Youth Self Report (YSR) were filled out by parents, teachers, and children, respectively. Information on health and developmental factors were obtained from parents on a separate questionnaire designed for the study. The dyslexic group had significantly more behaviour problems than the control group according to both the CBCL and the TRF. On the YSR there was no significant difference between the groups. Dyslexic children had higher CBCL and TRF scores on the Total Behaviour Problem scale, the Internalizing and Externalizing subdomains, and the Attention problem subscale. The groups differed in social background, prenatal risk factors, birth weight, preschool language problems, and IQ, but these variables showed no relationship to the level of behaviour problems in the present sample. We conclude that pre-adolescent dyslexic children show a wide range of behaviour problems that cannot be attributed to social or developmental background variables.

Computerized screening for visual stress in children with dyslexia.

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Singleton, Chris; Henderson, Lisa-Marie

2007-05-01

Visual stress-a condition in which unpleasant visual symptoms are experienced when reading-has been reported to be more prevalent in dyslexic individuals but at the present time the relationship between dyslexia and visual stress remains controversial. ViSS, a computerized visual stress screener that incorporates reading-like visual search, has recently shown promise in studies with unselected samples of primary and secondary school children. This study investigated the use of ViSS with dyslexic children. Dyslexic children identified as having high visual stress showed significantly higher per cent increases in reading rate with a coloured overlay and reported significantly higher critical symptoms of visual stress, compared to dyslexic children with low visual stress. The same results were found for reading-age controls, indicating that ViSS can be equally effective with normal readers as well as with children with dyslexia. Compared to reading-age controls, dyslexic children were found to have significantly higher susceptibility to visual stress, significantly larger per cent increases in reading rate with an overlay, and significantly higher critical and non-critical symptoms of visual stress. Extrapolated to unselected population samples, the data also suggest that visual stress is more likely to be found in people with dyslexia than in people who do not have dyslexia. These results, which point to an important link between the two conditions, are discussed in relation to current theories that attribute visual stress to either a magnocellular dysfunction or cortical hyperexcitability.

Risk and Protective Factors in Gifted Children with Dyslexia

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van Viersen, Sietske; de Bree, Elise H.; Kroesbergen, Evelyn H.; Slot, Esther M.; de Jong, Peter F.

2015-01-01

This study investigated risk and protective factors associated with dyslexia and literacy development, both at the group and individual level, to gain more insight in underlying cognitive profiles and possibilities for compensation in high-IQ children. A sample of 73 Dutch primary school children included a dyslexic group, a gifted-dyslexic group,…

A Web-Based Screening System for Dyslexic Pupils: Do Teachers Need It?

Science.gov (United States)

Ubaidullah, Nor Hasbiah Bt.; Hamid, Jamilah

2012-01-01

Currently in Malaysia, schools that conduct the Dyslexia Special Program for dyslexic pupils have to rely on a manual screening instrument, which is cumbersome and slow in diagnosing dyslexic traits in pupils. Thus, this study was carried out to examine prevailing problems that helped in formulating an appropriate solution to overcome existing…

Dyslexic Students in Higher Education and Virtual Learning Environments: An Exploratory Study

Science.gov (United States)

Habib, L.; Berget, G.; Sandnes, F. E.; Sanderson, N.; Kahn, P.; Fagernes, S.; Olcay, A.

2012-01-01

This paper presents the results of an interview-based study of the use of virtual learning environments (VLEs) among dyslexic students. Interviews were carried out with 12 informants who had been formally diagnosed as dyslexic. The informants were either enrolled in a university or college programme, or had graduated less than a year before the…

Introducing Computers to Kindergarten Children Based on Vygotsky's Theory about Socio-Cultural Learning: The Greek Perspective.

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Pange, Jenny; Kontozisis, Dimitrios

2001-01-01

Greek preschoolers' level of knowledge about computers was examined as they participated in a classroom project to introduce them to new technologies. The project was based on Vygotsky's theory of socio-cultural learning. Findings suggest that this approach is a successful way to introduce new technologies to young children. (JPB)

Enhanced activation of the left inferior frontal gyrus in deaf and dyslexic adults during rhyming.

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MacSweeney, Mairéad; Brammer, Michael J; Waters, Dafydd; Goswami, Usha

2009-07-01

Hearing developmental dyslexics and profoundly deaf individuals both have difficulties processing the internal structure of words (phonological processing) and learning to read. In hearing non-impaired readers, the development of phonological representations depends on audition. In hearing dyslexics, many argue, auditory processes may be impaired. In congenitally profoundly deaf individuals, auditory speech processing is essentially absent. Two separate literatures have previously reported enhanced activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus in both deaf and dyslexic adults when contrasted with hearing non-dyslexics during reading or phonological tasks. Here, we used a rhyme judgement task to compare adults from these two special populations to a hearing non-dyslexic control group. All groups were matched on non-verbal intelligence quotient, reading age and rhyme performance. Picture stimuli were used since this requires participants to generate their own phonological representations, rather than have them partially provided via text. By testing well-matched groups of participants on the same task, we aimed to establish whether previous literatures reporting differences between individuals with and without phonological processing difficulties have identified the same regions of differential activation in these two distinct populations. The data indicate greater activation in the deaf and dyslexic groups than in the hearing non-dyslexic group across a large portion of the left inferior frontal gyrus. This includes the pars triangularis, extending superiorly into the middle frontal gyrus and posteriorly to include the pars opercularis, and the junction with the ventral precentral gyrus. Within the left inferior frontal gyrus, there was variability between the two groups with phonological processing difficulties. The superior posterior tip of the left pars opercularis, extending into the precentral gyrus, was activated to a greater extent by deaf than dyslexic

How Dyslexic Teenagers Cope: An Investigation of Self-Esteem, Coping and Depression

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Alexander-Passe, Neil

2006-01-01

Research into how dyslexics cope and the effects of their coping has received little attention in the 100 years since dyslexia has been recognized. Why is this? Well it is not an easy area to investigate, partly as most qualitative studies have looked only at coping strategies of specific dyslexics. These are individuals and are unsuitable for…

Caries prevalence of 5, 12 and 15-year-old Greek children: a national pathfinder survey.

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Oulis, C J; Tsinidou, K; Vadiakas, G; Mamai-Homata, E; Polychronopoulou, A; Athanasouli, T

2012-03-01

To study the caries prevalence and caries experience of 5, 12 and 15-year-old children in Greece and evaluate how the disease pattern is related to their sociodemographic parameters. A stratified cluster sample of 1209, 1224 and 1257 of five, twelve and fifteen-year-old Greek children were randomly selected according to WHO guidelines for national pathfinder surveys and examined for dental caries, according to the BASCD criteria and standards. d3mft, D3MFT and their components, as well as d3mfs, D3MFS, Care Index (CI) and SiC were recorded and related to the demographic data collected concerning age, gender, counties, urban/rural areas and parents' educational status. Dental caries varied considerably between the different districts, with a mean dmft/DMFT value for each age group being 1.77, 2.05 and 3.19 respectively, while 64%, 37% and 29% of them, were with no obvious dentinal caries. Children living in rural areas demonstrated significantly higher dmft/DMFT values and less dental restorative care (CI), whereas children with fathers of a higher educational level showed significantly lower dmft/DMFT values. The significant caries (SIC) index value for the three age groups was 5.01, 4.83 and 7.07 respectively. Posterior occlusal surfaces of the permanent teeth presented most of the caries in the 12 (68%) and 15-year-old group (78%). Despite the decrease in the prevalence of caries in Greek children disparities remain. Children in rural areas and children with less educated parents had more caries and more untreated caries. All the above call for immediate intervention with comprehensive preventive programs and better geographic targeting of the dental services at a national level including targeted prevention of pit and fissure sealants on posterior permanent molars.

The phonological and visual basis of developmental dyslexia in Brazilian Portuguese reading children.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giseli Donadon Germano

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Evidence from opaque languages suggests that visual attention processing abilities in addition to phonological skills may act as cognitive underpinnings of developmental dyslexia. We explored the role of these two cognitive abilities on reading fluency in Brazilian Portuguese, a more transparent orthography than French or English. Sixty-six dyslexic and normal Brazilian Portuguese children participated. They were administered three tasks of phonological skills (phoneme identification, phoneme and syllable blending and three visual tasks (a letter global report task and two non-verbal tasks of visual closure and visual constancy. Results show that Brazilian Portuguese dyslexic children are impaired not only in phonological processing but further in visual processing. The phonological and visual processing abilities significantly and independently contribute to reading fluency in the whole population. Last, different cognitively homogeneous subtypes can be identified in the Brazilian Portuguese dyslexic population. Two subsets of dyslexic children were identified as having a single cognitive disorder, phonological or visual; another group exhibited a double deficit and a few children showed no visual or phonological disorder. Thus the current findings extend previous data from more opaque orthographies as French and English, in showing the importance of investigating visual processing skills in addition to phonological skills in dyslexic children whatever their language orthography transparency.

The Effect of Illustration on Improving Text Comprehension in Dyslexic Adults

Science.gov (United States)

Wennås Brante, Eva; Nyström, Marcus

2016-01-01

This study analyses the effect of pictures in reading materials on the viewing patterns of dyslexic adults. By analysing viewing patterns using eye‐tracking, we captured differences in eye movements between young adults with dyslexia and controls based on the influence of reading skill as a continuous variable of the total sample. Both types of participants were assigned randomly to view either text‐only or a text + picture stimuli. The results show that the controls made an early global overview of the material and (when a picture was present) rapid transitions between text and picture. Having text illustrated with a picture decreased scores on questions about the learning material among participants with dyslexia. Controls spent 1.7% and dyslexic participants 1% of their time on the picture. Controls had 24% fewer total fixations; however, 29% more of the control group's fixations than the dyslexic group's fixations were on the picture. We also looked for effects of different types of pictures. Dyslexic subjects exhibited a comparable viewing pattern to controls when scenes were complex, but fewer fixations when scenes were neutral/simple. Individual scan paths are presented as examples of atypical viewing patterns for individuals with dyslexia as compared with controls. © 2016 The Authors. Dyslexia published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. PMID:27892641

Comparability of Self-Concept among Normal Achievers and Children with Learning Difficulties within a Greek Context.

Science.gov (United States)

Leonadari, Angeliki

1994-01-01

Assessed Greek third through sixth graders on the Perceived Competence Scale for Children (PCSC). Subjects were normally achieving (NA) and low achieving students and a special class (SC) of students identified as at risk for learning difficulties. The SC students scored lower than the NA students on the PCSC global self-worth, competence affect,…

Adherence rates to the Mediterranean diet are low in a representative sample of Greek children and adolescents

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kontogianni, Meropi D; Vidra, Nikoletta; Farmaki, Anastasia-Eleni; Koinaki, Stella; Belogianni, Katerina; Sofrona, Stavroula; Magkanari, Flora; Yannakoulia, Mary

2008-01-01

Data from studies in pediatric samples exploring adherence to the Mediterranean diet are scarce. The aim of the present work was to explore adherence to a Mediterranean diet pattern in a representative sample of Greek children and adolescents. The study sample (n = 1305, 3-18 y) was representative

The Critical Difference: Identifying the Dyslexic.

Science.gov (United States)

Burgett, Russell; King, James

A study compared peripheral vision applied to letter-pair and Dolch word recognition. Subjects, 6 normal readers, 12 Chapter 1 students, and 34 learning disabled (and assumed dyslexic) students from grades one through three enrolled in a parochial school, a public school, and a university summer reading clinic, completed a test designed to…

Temporal Order Processing in Adult Dyslexics.

Science.gov (United States)

Maxwell, David L.; And Others

This study investigated the premise that disordered temporal order perception in retarded readers can be seen in the serial processing of both nonverbal auditory and visual information, and examined whether such information processing deficits relate to level of reading ability. The adult subjects included 20 in the dyslexic group, 12 in the…

Modeling individual differences in text reading fluency: a different pattern of predictors for typically developing and dyslexic readers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pierluigi eZoccolotti

2014-11-01

Full Text Available This study was aimed at predicting individual differences in text reading fluency. The basic proposal included two factors, i.e., the ability to decode letter strings (measured by discrete pseudo-word reading and integration of the various sub-components involved in reading (measured by Rapid Automatized Naming, RAN. Subsequently, a third factor was added to the model, i.e., naming of discrete digits. In order to use homogeneous measures, all contributing variables considered the entire processing of the item, including pronunciation time. The model, which was based on commonality analysis, was applied to data from a group of 43 typically developing readers (11- to 13-year-olds and a group of 25 chronologically matched dyslexic children. In typically developing readers, both orthographic decoding and integration of reading sub-components contributed significantly to the overall prediction of text reading fluency. The model prediction was higher (from ca. 37% to 52% of the explained variance when we included the naming of discrete digits variable, which had a suppressive effect on pseudo-word reading. In the dyslexic readers, the variance explained by the two-factor model was high (69% and did not change when the third factor was added. The lack of a suppression effect was likely due to the prominent individual differences in poor orthographic decoding of the dyslexic children. Analyses on data from both groups of children were replicated by using patches of colours as stimuli (both in the RAN task and in the discrete naming task obtaining similar results. We conclude that it is possible to predict much of the variance in text-reading fluency using basic processes, such as orthographic decoding and integration of reading sub-components, even without taking into consideration higher-order linguistic factors such as lexical, semantic and contextual abilities. The approach validity of using proximal vs distal causes to predict reading fluency is

Do dyslexics have auditory input processing difficulties?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Poulsen, Mads

2011-01-01

Word production difficulties are well documented in dyslexia, whereas the results are mixed for receptive phonological processing. This asymmetry raises the possibility that the core phonological deficit of dyslexia is restricted to output processing stages. The present study investigated whether....... The finding suggests that input processing difficulties are associated with the phonological deficit, but that these difficulties may be stronger above the level of phoneme perception.......Word production difficulties are well documented in dyslexia, whereas the results are mixed for receptive phonological processing. This asymmetry raises the possibility that the core phonological deficit of dyslexia is restricted to output processing stages. The present study investigated whether...... a group of dyslexics had word level receptive difficulties using an auditory lexical decision task with long words and nonsense words. The dyslexics were slower and less accurate than chronological age controls in an auditory lexical decision task, with disproportionate low performance on nonsense words...

Developmental Changes in the Manifestation of a Phonological Deficit in Dyslexic Children Learning To Read a Regular Orthography.

Science.gov (United States)

de Jong, Peter F.; van der Leij, Aryan

2003-01-01

Studies the development of phonological processing abilities in dyslexic, weak, and normal readers. Among other abilities, phonological awareness and rapid automatized naming were assessed in kindergarten, in 1st grade, and in 6th grade. Concludes that various manifestations of a phonological deficit follow distinct developmental pathways.…

Spelling Errors in French-speaking Children with Dyslexia: Phonology May Not Provide the Best Evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Daigle, Daniel; Costerg, Agnès; Plisson, Anne; Ruberto, Noémia; Varin, Joëlle

2016-05-01

For children with dyslexia, learning to write constitutes a great challenge. There has been consensus that the explanation for these learners' delay is related to a phonological deficit. Results from studies designed to describe dyslexic children's spelling errors are not always as clear concerning the role of phonological processes as those found in reading studies. In irregular languages like French, spelling abilities involve other processes than phonological processes. The main goal of this study was to describe the relative contribution of these other processes in dyslexic children's spelling ability. In total, 32 francophone dyslexic children with a mean age of 11.4 years were compared with 24 reading-age matched controls (RA) and 24 chronological-age matched controls (CA). All had to write a text that was analysed at the graphemic level. All errors were classified as either phonological, morphological, visual-orthographic or lexical. Results indicated that dyslexic children's spelling ability lagged behind not only that of the CA group but also of the RA group. Because the majority of errors, in all groups, could not be explained by inefficiency of phonological processing, the importance of visual knowledge/processes will be discussed as a complementary explanation of dyslexic children's delay in writing. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Dutch Children at Family Risk of Dyslexia: Precursors, Reading Development, and Parental Effects

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van Bergen, Elsje; de Jong, Peter F.; Regtvoort, Anne; Oort, Frans; van Otterloo, Sandra; van der Leij, Aryan

2011-01-01

The study concerns reading development and its precursors in a transparent orthography. Dutch children differing in family risk for dyslexia were followed from kindergarten through fifth grade. In fifth grade, at-risk dyslexic (n = 22), at-risk non-dyslexic (n = 45), and control children (n = 12) were distinguished. In kindergarten, the at-risk…

Understanding Nutrition: A Study of Greek Primary School Children Dietary Habits, before and after Classroom Nutrition Intervention

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Piperakis, Stylianos M.; Sotiriou, Apostolos; Georgiou, Evanthia; Thanou, Ageliki; Zafiropoulou, Maria

2004-01-01

The purpose of this study was first to assess and then to improve the diet of Greek primary school children teaching them healthy dietary habits and instructing them to face critically advertisements and media projected dietary models using a program which included intervention on cognitive, emotional, and social level. The results show that our…

Severe combined immunodeficiency in Greek children over a 20-year period: rarity of γc-chain deficiency (X-linked) type.

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Michos, Athanasios; Tzanoudaki, Marianna; Villa, Anna; Giliani, Silvia; Chrousos, George; Kanariou, Maria

2011-10-01

Severe combined immunodeficiencies (SCID) are a heterogeneous group of genetic disorders characterized by a blockade or impairment of both cellular and humoral immunity. Several epidemiological studies in different geographic areas have shown that the most common type of SCID affecting almost half of these patients is the X-linked common γ-chain (γ(c)) deficiency. The objective of the study was to document the incidence and types of SCID in our area. We conducted a retrospective analysis of patients who were diagnosed with SCID in the major immunology center in Greece for a 20-year period. During the study period, 30 children from 27 unrelated families with final diagnosis of SCID were identified. The incidence of SCID in Greece is estimated at 1.7 cases per 100,000 live births. Out of 30 children, 19 were boys (63.3%) and 26 (86.7%) had Greek maternal origin. Lymphocyte immunophenotypes that were identified were T(-)B(-)NK(+) in 12 (40%) children, T(-)B(+)NK(-) in six (20%), T(-)B(+)NK(+) in three (10%), T(-)B(-)NK(-) in two (6.7%) and T(+)B(+/-)NK(+) in seven (23.4%) (among them, four [13.4%] females with Omenn's syndrome). Molecular diagnosis was available for 12 children: γ(c) (2) with non Greek maternal origin, Jak3 (2), Rag1 (2), Artemis (3), ADA deficiency (2), PNP deficiency (1). Out of the 26 children of Greek maternal origin diagnosed with SCID representing 23 distinct families, only two (8.7%) had lymphocyte immunophenotype compatible with γ(c)-chain gene mutation (no molecular testing or enough DNA was available for them at the time of diagnosis). Findings of the present study suggest that, for unknown reasons, mutations of the γ(c) chain of several cytokine receptors have a rare occurrence in our area.

Selective attention and the "Asynchrony Theory" in native Hebrew-speaking adult dyslexics: Behavioral and ERPs measures.

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Menashe, Shay

2017-01-01

The main aim of the present study was to determine whether adult dyslexic readers demonstrate the "Asynchrony Theory" (Breznitz [Reading Fluency: Synchronization of Processes, Lawrence Erlbaum and Associates, Mahwah, NJ, USA, 2006]) when selective attention is studied. Event-related potentials (ERPs) and behavioral parameters were collected from nonimpaired readers group and dyslexic readers group performing alphabetic and nonalphabetic tasks. The dyslexic readers group was found to demonstrate asynchrony between the auditory and the visual modalities when it came to processing alphabetic stimuli. These findings were found both for behavioral and ERPs parameters. Unlike the dyslexic readers, the nonimpaired readers showed synchronized speed of processing in the auditory and the visual modalities while processing alphabetic stimuli. The current study suggests that established reading is dependent on a synchronization between the auditory and the visual modalities even when it comes to selective attention.

Dyslexic learners' experiences with their peers and teachers in special and mainstream primary schools in North-West Province.

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Leseyane, Monicca; Mandende, Peter; Makgato, Mary; Cekiso, Madoda

2018-01-01

Inclusive education requires that the framework within which education is delivered should be broad enough to accommodate equally the needs and circumstances of every learner in the society. This includes learners with disabilities like dyslexia who have been excluded from the formal education system. This article reports the findings of a qualitative study that explored and described the dyslexic learners' experiences with their peers and teachers in special and public schools in North-West Province of South Africa. The study adopted a qualitative methodology and used a phenomenology research design. The sample was purposively selected and comprised nine dyslexic learners. All the learners were in public schools previously and were later moved to a special school after being diagnosed as dyslexic. The participants were aged 9-12 years. The researchers conducted one-on-one interviews with the participants and content-analysed the data. The findings revealed that in public schools the dyslexic learners were exposed to ill-treatment by other learners who despised, ridiculed, bullied and undermined them. The findings further revealed that teachers in public schools were not patient with dyslexic learners, did not give them extra attention and that some teachers used negative comments that embarrassed them. The article spells out the barriers experienced by dyslexic learners in public schools and also recommends training of teachers so that they know how to deal with dyslexic learners, thereby eliminating the barriers. The study further recommended awareness campaigns among the student body about dyslexia.

Dutch dyslexic adolescents: phonological-core variable-orthographic differences

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Bekebrede, J.; van der Leij, A.; Share, D.L.

2009-01-01

The phonological-core variable-orthographic differences (PCVOD) model [van der Leij, & Morfidi (2006). Journal of Learning Disabilities, 39, 74-90] has been proposed as an explanation for the heterogeneity among dyslexic readers in their profiles of reading-related subskills. The predictions of this

Dyslexic learners’ experiences with their peers and teachers in special and mainstream primary schools in North-West Province

Science.gov (United States)

2018-01-01

Background Inclusive education requires that the framework within which education is delivered should be broad enough to accommodate equally the needs and circumstances of every learner in the society. This includes learners with disabilities like dyslexia who have been excluded from the formal education system. This article reports the findings of a qualitative study that explored and described the dyslexic learners’ experiences with their peers and teachers in special and public schools in North-West Province of South Africa. Methods The study adopted a qualitative methodology and used a phenomenology research design. The sample was purposively selected and comprised nine dyslexic learners. All the learners were in public schools previously and were later moved to a special school after being diagnosed as dyslexic. The participants were aged 9–12 years. The researchers conducted one-on-one interviews with the participants and content-analysed the data. Findings The findings revealed that in public schools the dyslexic learners were exposed to ill-treatment by other learners who despised, ridiculed, bullied and undermined them. The findings further revealed that teachers in public schools were not patient with dyslexic learners, did not give them extra attention and that some teachers used negative comments that embarrassed them. Conclusion The article spells out the barriers experienced by dyslexic learners in public schools and also recommends training of teachers so that they know how to deal with dyslexic learners, thereby eliminating the barriers. The study further recommended awareness campaigns among the student body about dyslexia. PMID:29535918

ASR Technology for Children with Dyslexia: Enabling Immediate Intervention to Support Reading in Bahasa Melayu

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Husni, Husniza; Jamaludin, Zulikha

2009-01-01

Reading is an essential skill towards literacy development, and should be provided so that children can master the skill at their early ages. For dyslexic children, mastering the skill is a challenge. It has been widely agreed that the theory behind such difficulties in reading for dyslexic lies in the phonological-core deficits. Support has been…

The Spelling Strategies of Francophone Dyslexic Students

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Ruberto, Noémia; Daigle, Daniel; Ammar, Ahlem

2016-01-01

The development of spelling skill is a very difficult task for students with dyslexia. Spelling in French involves the consideration of various types of knowledge, procedures and strategies. This study aims to describe the spelling strategies of 32 dyslexic students (DYS) aged from 8 to 12 years and to establish links between spelling strategies…

Parents’ and School Career Counsellors’ Evaluations of the Occupational Competence of Children With Dyslexia

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Kleopatra Diakogiorgi

2016-03-01

Full Text Available This article studies the cognitions of (a parents of children with dyslexia and (b school career counsellors about possible career choices for dyslexic children, by comparing their evaluations of occupational competence (EOCs for dyslexic children, to those for children without dyslexia. For dyslexic children, 116 participants rated the suitability of 28 occupations, varying according to the required level of written-language use. For children without dyslexia, the same participants rated these same occupations according to if they estimated it might be a “good” occupational choice or not. Participants were free to take into account different criteria often used when considering a job (employability, remuneration, prestige, job security, career prospects. By the aforementioned differentiation of terms used (i.e. suitability vs “goodness”, it was indirectly solicited from the participants to also consider the impairment in their judgement. The results showed that occupations requiring high written-language skills were evaluated as “good” for children without dyslexia but less suitable for children with dyslexia. The exact opposite trend was observed for occupations having lower such requirements. Another noteworthy result is the discrepancy between the ratings obtained from counsellors and those from parents: while both groups provided similar ratings for children without dyslexia, substantial differences were recorded when rating the suitability of these same jobs for dyslexic children. This different pattern of cognitions is discussed herein, and their connection with parental expectations and aspirations is analysed, while contrasted with shifts due to counsellors’ stereotypical views.

Evaluation of a Career Counselling Program Focused on Greek Elementary School Children's Career Interests

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Polyxeni Antonellou

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Although childhood is the most significant period in one's career development process, little research attention has been paid to the evaluation of career counselling intervention programs in elementary-aged children. An intervention study was carried out in order to evaluate a career counselling program implemented in one Greek elementary school which focused on the enrichment of the children's career interests. The research methodology used was the quasi experimental research design. Children (N = 84 aged 8-11 years were distributed in experimental and control groups. Τhe impact of the intervention focused on the enrichment of their career interests, which was assessed via semi-structured interviews and use of drawings. The results showed a statistical significant difference between groups concerning children's career interests after intervention, while the analysis of drawings revealed more differences in self-confidence, self- esteem and extraversion in favour of the children that participated in the experimental group. Gender and age differences were also explored and revealed. The results are discussed in relation to various aspects of children's career development, as well as to the significance of career counselling intervention programs.

The Study of Externalizing and Internalizing Behaviours in Greek, Russian, Indian, and Chinese Children Using the Fairy Tale Test

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Savina, Elena; Coulacoglou, Carina; Sanyal, Nilanjana; Zhang, Jianxin

2012-01-01

The present study investigated externalizing and internalizing behaviours in Greek (n = 599), Russian (n = 596), Indian (n = 571), and Chinese (n = 376) 7- to 12-year-old children. The Fairy Tale Test was used to measure impulsive and motivated aggression, fear of aggression, anxiety, and depression. The results indicated culture-specific patterns…

Dutch Dyslexic Adolescents: Phonological-Core Variable-Orthographic Differences

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Bekebrede, Judith; van der Leij, Aryan; Share, David L.

2009-01-01

The phonological-core variable-orthographic differences (PCVOD) model [van der Leij, & Morfidi (2006). "Journal of Learning Disabilities," 39, 74-90] has been proposed as an explanation for the heterogeneity among dyslexic readers in their profiles of reading-related subskills. The predictions of this model were investigated in a…

Effects of Temperament, Symptom Severity and Level of Functioning on Maternal Stress in Greek Children and Youth with ASD

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Konstantareas, M. Mary; Papageorgiou, Vaya

2006-01-01

This study examined the effect of child temperament, symptom severity, verbal ability and level of functioning on maternal stress in 43 Greek mothers of children and young people with autism spectrum disorder. Symptom severity was assessed by the CARS, level of functioning by the PEP, temperament by the Dimensions of Temperament Scale (DOTS-R) and…

Analysis on associated growth and developmental factors of Chinese dyslexic children%汉语阅读障碍与儿童生长发育相关因素的关系研究

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莫胜男; 戚小兵; 孙昭; 邵珊珊; 何珍; 宋然然

2013-01-01

Objective To explore the association between relevant growth and developmental factors and dyslexia, enrich the theory about the etiology of dyslexia, and provide a scientific basis for preliminary identification and prevention of dyslexia. Methods Using multi-stage cluster random sampling, we invested 6350 students in 3 - 6 grades who were from 9 primary schools in Qianjiang. According to criteria of dyslexia, we identify the dyslexic children and non-dyslexic children. Results The percentage of boys who suffered from dyslexia was 74. 9% which was higher than that of girls. About situation of children at birth, larger proportion of dyslexic children (7. 7% ) suffered from neonatal asphyxia than that in non-dyslexia group. With regard to children' s history of disease, the percentage of children who had ever had a brain disease or brain trauma was higher in dyslexia group (2. 1% ). There were significant differences in above factors between two groups ( P ＜ 0. 05 ). By multivariate logistic regression analysis, we found that the risk of boys who suffered from dys lexia was 2. 9 times as high as girls; as for children's history of disease, children who had ever had brain disease or brain trauma, epilepsy, visual or auditory impairment suffered from dyslexia was 5. 3 , 6. 7 , 2. 7 times as high as children who had not respectively. Conclusion We should pay attention to perinatal health care and avoid contacting risk factors as far as possible. High risk group (high risk birth history, history of disease, family history) should also be observed by their parents.%目的 探索相关生长发育因素对儿童阅读能力的影响,以丰富汉语阅读障碍病因学研究,为阅读障碍的早期鉴别和防治提供理论依据.方法 采取多阶段随机整群抽样方法,对湖北省潜江市9所普通小学6350名3～6�

Differences in neurocognitive aspects of dyslexia in Dutch and immigrant 6-7- and 8-9-years old children.

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Verpalen, Johanna Mp; van de Vijver, Fons Jr

2015-01-01

Detecting dyslexia in immigrant children can be jeopardized because of assessment bias, as a consequence of a limited word lexicon or differences in language development of these children. This is in contrast with the view of the universal neurocognitive basis for dyslexia. In this research, differences in screening children at risk for dyslexia with the Dyslexia Screening Test (DST) were studied in third and fifth graders of primary school of Dutch (mainstream) and immigrant descent. Mean group differences were found on a few subtests (Naming Letters, Semantic Fluency, Backward Digit Span and Verbal Fluency), probably as a consequence of bias because of the linguistic character of these subtests. The raw scores of word lexicon increased in the Dutch and immigrant group. The association of having a dyslexia diagnosis on DST scores was comparable for Dutch and immigrant children. Differences in the DST scores between non-dyslexic and dyslexic children were found between the third and fifth grade, with a stronger effect of having a dyslexia diagnosis in the fifth grade than the third grade, for Dutch as well as immigrant children. Screening of dyslexia seems easier in the fifth grade than in the third grade, dyslexic children show a slower reading development than their non-dyslexic peers, irrespective of their cultural background.

E-portfolios and personalized learning: research in practice with two dyslexic learners in UK higher education.

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Hughes, Julie; Herrington, Margaret; McDonald, Tess; Rhodes, Amy

2011-02-01

This paper analyses the use of an e-portfolio system in contributing to the personalized learning of two dyslexic learners at the University of Wolverhampton, UK. The rationale for this research rests at the intersection of generic findings from e-portfolio (and wider e-learning) research and the still challenging project in higher education (HE) of creating inclusive curricula. A qualitative, ethnographic approach was employed in a piece of collaborative research between academic staff and dyslexic learners. Two retrospective learner narratives were constructed and then reviewed by all co-authors in terms of the 'personalized fit' which they allowed with dyslexic thinking, learning and writing experience. The findings suggest a potential refinement of the general pedagogical claims about e-portfolio-based learning when considering dyslexic learners and thence the value of an enhanced prioritization of e-portfolio learning practices within inclusive HE curricula. The review and analysis also allow a 'critical' discussion of the practical and theoretical issues arising within this work. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Designing an Assistive Learning Aid for Writing Acquisition: A Challenge for Children with Dyslexia.

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Latif, Seemab; Tariq, Rabbia; Tariq, Shehla; Latif, Rabia

2015-01-01

In Pakistan, the biggest challenge is to provide high quality education to the individuals with learning disabilities. Besides the well known affordance issue, there is a lack of awareness regarding the term dyslexia and remedial teaching training that causes the identification as well as remediation of the dyslexic individuals at early stages in Pakistan. The research was focused to exploit the benefits of using the modern mobile technology features in providing a learning platform for young dyslexic writers. Based on potential usability requirements of young dyslexic writers stated by remedial teachers of dyslexics, an android based application is designed and implemented using the usability engineering process model to encourage the learning process and help dyslexic children improve their fundamental handwriting skill. In addition, a handwriting learning algorithm based on concepts of machine learning is designed and implemented to decide the learning content, evaluate the learning performance, display the performance results and record the learning growth to show the strengths and weaknesses of a dyslexic child. The research was also aimed to assess the usability of the learner-centered application by the targeted population by conducting a user acceptance test to evaluate their learning experience and benefits of the developed application to dyslexic users. The results of the evaluation provided by the participants revealed that application has potential benefits to foster the learning process and help children with dyslexia by improving their foundational writing skills.

Prognostic Factors for Immune Thrombocytopenia Outcome in Greek Children: A Retrospective Single-Centered Analysis.

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Makis, Alexandros; Gkoutsias, Athanasios; Palianopoulos, Theodoros; Pappa, Eleni; Papapetrou, Evangelia; Tsaousi, Christina; Hatzimichael, Eleftheria; Chaliasos, Nikolaos

2017-01-01

Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) in children has a varied course and according to duration is distinguished as newly diagnosed (12) types. Several studies have evaluated the prognostic factors for the progression of the disease, but similar works have yet to be performed in Greece. We aimed to identify prognostic markers for the three forms of the disease in 57 Greek children during a 13-year period. Information regarding age, gender, preceding infection, bleeding type, duration of symptoms and platelets at diagnosis, treatment, disease course, and immunological markers was recorded. 39 children had newly diagnosed, 4 persistent, and 14 chronic disease. Chronic ITP children were more likely to be of age > 10 years ( p = 0.015) and have gradual initiation of the disease ( p = 0.001), platelets > 10 × 10 9 /L ( p = 0.01), and impaired immunological markers ( p < 0.003) compared to newly diagnosed/persistent groups. Recent history of infection was found mainly in the newly diagnosed/persistent group ( p = 0.013). None of the children exhibited severe spontaneous bleeding. Conclusion . Even though ITP in children usually has a self-limited course, with rare serious bleeding complications, the chronic form of the disease is characterized by different predictive parameters, which can be used in clinical practice.

Prognostic Factors for Immune Thrombocytopenia Outcome in Greek Children: A Retrospective Single-Centered Analysis

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Alexandros Makis

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP in children has a varied course and according to duration is distinguished as newly diagnosed (12 types. Several studies have evaluated the prognostic factors for the progression of the disease, but similar works have yet to be performed in Greece. We aimed to identify prognostic markers for the three forms of the disease in 57 Greek children during a 13-year period. Information regarding age, gender, preceding infection, bleeding type, duration of symptoms and platelets at diagnosis, treatment, disease course, and immunological markers was recorded. 39 children had newly diagnosed, 4 persistent, and 14 chronic disease. Chronic ITP children were more likely to be of age > 10 years (p=0.015 and have gradual initiation of the disease (p=0.001, platelets > 10 × 109/L (p=0.01, and impaired immunological markers (p<0.003 compared to newly diagnosed/persistent groups. Recent history of infection was found mainly in the newly diagnosed/persistent group (p=0.013. None of the children exhibited severe spontaneous bleeding. Conclusion. Even though ITP in children usually has a self-limited course, with rare serious bleeding complications, the chronic form of the disease is characterized by different predictive parameters, which can be used in clinical practice.

Greek-Turkish Crises since 1955. Implications for Greek-Turkish Conflict Management

Science.gov (United States)

1997-03-01

NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA THESIS GREEK-TURKISH CRISES SINCE 1955. IMPLICATIONS FOR GREEK-TURKISH CONFLICT MANAGEMENT by...EU, WEU) have only to gain from a Greek-Turkish rapprochement. 14. SUBJECT TERMS GrEek-Turkish RElATiONS, CRiSiS MANAgEMENT, CONfLICT management 15...crises, because the intended outcome of mediation attempts has been regional stability instead of Greek-Turkish conflict management . Power mediation

Early Greek Typography in Milan: A Historical Note on a New Greek Typeface.

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Wallraff, Martin

1997-01-01

Discusses the history of Greek typography, focusing on the first book to be entirely printed in Greek in 1476 and the series of new typefaces that resulted. Cites Milan as a center of Greek printing in the early history of Greek typography. Describes a revival of one of these typefaces created under the name of Milan Greek. (PA)

'I am not a dyslexic person I'm a person with dyslexia': identity constructions of dyslexia among students in nurse education.

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Evans, William

2014-02-01

To introduce how nursing students discursively construct their dyslexic identities. Identity mediates many important facets of a student's scholarly journey and the availability and use of discourses play a critical part in their ongoing construction. A discourse-based design was used to examine the language employed by students in constructing their dyslexic identities. Using narrative methods, 12 student nurses with dyslexia from two higher education institutions in the Republic of Ireland were interviewed during the period February-July 2012. Discourse analysis of interviews entailed a two-stage approach: leading identity analysis followed by thematic analysis. Discourses used by students to construct their dyslexic identity correspond with positions on an 'Embracer, Passive Engager and Resister' continuum heuristic. The majority of students rejected any reference to using medical or disabled discourses and instead drew on contemporary language in constructing their dyslexic identity. Nine of the 12 students did not disclose their dyslexic identity in practice settings and drew on not being understood to support this position. In addition, a discourse linking 'being stupid' with dyslexia was pervasive in most student narratives and evolved from historical as well as more recent interactions in nurse education. This study indicates variation in how students discursively construct their dyslexic identities, which, in turn, has an impact on disclosure behaviours. Policy leaders must continue to be mindful of wider sociocultural and individualized understandings of dyslexic identities to enhance inclusion prerogatives. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Informal Learning in Late-Nineteenth and Early-Twentieth-Century Greece: Greek Children's Literature in Historical and Political Contexts

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Zervas, Theodore G.

2013-01-01

After Greek independence from the Ottoman Empire (1827), a newly formed Greek state looked to retrieve its past through the teaching of a Greek national history. For much of the nineteenth century Greek schools forged common religious, linguistic, and historical ties among the Greek people through the teaching of a Greek historical past (Zervas…

Semantic, syntactic, and phonological processing of written words in adult developmental dyslexic readers: an event-related brain potential study

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Johannes Sönke

2007-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The present study used event-related brain potentials to investigate semantic, phonological and syntactic processes in adult German dyslexic and normal readers in a word reading task. Pairs of German words were presented one word at a time. Subjects had to perform a semantic judgment task (house – window; are they semantically related?, a rhyme judgment task (house – mouse; do they rhyme? and a gender judgment task (das – Haus [the – house]; is the gender correct? [in German, house has a neutral gender: das Haus]. Results Normal readers responded faster compared to dyslexic readers in all three tasks. Onset latencies of the N400 component were delayed in dyslexic readers in the rhyme judgment and in the gender judgment task, but not in the semantic judgment task. N400 and the anterior negativity peak amplitudes did not differ between the two groups. However, the N400 persisted longer in the dyslexic group in the rhyme judgment and in the semantic judgment tasks. Conclusion These findings indicate that dyslexics are phonologically impaired (delayed N400 in the rhyme judgment task but that they also have difficulties in other, non-phonological aspects of reading (longer response times, longer persistence of the N400. Specifically, semantic and syntactic integration seem to require more effort for dyslexic readers and take longer irrespective of the reading task that has to be performed.

Dyslexic learners’ experiences with their peers and teachers in special and mainstream primary schools in North-West Province

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Monicca Leseyane

2018-03-01

Conclusion: The article spells out the barriers experienced by dyslexic learners in public schools and also recommends training of teachers so that they know how to deal with dyslexic learners, thereby eliminating the barriers. The study further recommended awareness campaigns among the student body about dyslexia.

Dyslexics' faster decay of implicit memory for sounds and words is manifested in their shorter neural adaptation.

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Jaffe-Dax, Sagi; Frenkel, Or; Ahissar, Merav

2017-01-24

Dyslexia is a prevalent reading disability whose underlying mechanisms are still disputed. We studied the neural mechanisms underlying dyslexia using a simple frequency-discrimination task. Though participants were asked to compare the two tones in each trial, implicit memory of previous trials affected their responses. We hypothesized that implicit memory decays faster among dyslexics. We tested this by increasing the temporal intervals between consecutive trials, and by measuring the behavioral impact and ERP responses from the auditory cortex. Dyslexics showed a faster decay of implicit memory effects on both measures, with similar time constants. Finally, faster decay of implicit memory also characterized the impact of sound regularities in benefitting dyslexics' oral reading rate. Their benefit decreased faster as a function of the time interval from the previous reading of the same non-word. We propose that dyslexics' shorter neural adaptation paradoxically accounts for their longer reading times, since it reduces their temporal window of integration of past stimuli, resulting in noisier and less reliable predictions for both simple and complex stimuli. Less reliable predictions limit their acquisition of reading expertise.

Implicit Sublexical Phonological Processing in an Acquired Dyslexic Patient.

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Hildebrandt, Nancy; Sokol, Scott M.

1993-01-01

Reports a case study of an acquired dyslexic subject who showed no evidence of having any access to sublexical phonological information. Notes, however, that the subject showed normal effects of spelling regularity for low-frequency words, suggesting sublexical phonological processing. Suggests that the types of explicit tasks previously used are…

Greek astronomy

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Heath, Sir Thomas L

2011-01-01

Astronomy as a science began with the Ionian philosophers, with whom Greek philosophy and mathematics also began. While the Egyptians and Babylonians had accomplished much of astronomical worth, it remained for the unrivalled speculative genius of the Greeks, in particular, their mathematical genius, to lay the foundations of the true science of astronomy. In this classic study, a noted scholar discusses in lucid detail the specific advances made by the Greeks, many of whose ideas anticipated the discoveries of modern astronomy.Pythagoras, born at Samos about 572 B.C., was probably the first

From Ottoman colonial rule to nation statehood: Schooling and national identity in the early Greek school

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Theodore G. Zervas

2017-01-01

Full Text Available After Ottoman colonial rule, education in Greece became an important institution for the ideological construction of a Greek national identity. This paper looks at schooling in Greece just prior to the Greek Revolution and immediately after Greek Independence, and how the Greek national school system assisted in the construction of a Greek national identity. This paper is divided into several sections. The introductory section discusses how a newly independent Greek nation-state struggled to unite the Greek people under a collective national identity. While most people at the time identified with their families, communities, and Greek Orthodox Christian religion, after Greek independence people began to see themselves as members of a broader Greek nation. The section that follows provides a discussion of Greek education during Ottoman colonial rule, and how a type of Greek identity (centered around the Greek Orthodox Christian faith was maintained through the Greek Orthodox mileu. The Greek Church ran schools, and taught Greek children how to read and write, as well as the virtues of the Orthodox Christian faith. Section three of the article looks at Greek education during the early years of the Greek nation-state. In this section the general contours of the Greek educational system are delineated. The section also discusses how the organization of the Greek national school system was borrowed from extant school models found in Western Europe. Section four describes the Greek national curriculum and how the national curriculum would help to teach future generations of Greek citizens what it meant to be Greek. This is further reinforced in the Greek school textbook, which is part of the discussion in section five. Section five concludes with the role of education and its implications in uniting nations from around the world.

Improving Dorsal Stream Function in Dyslexics by Training Figure/Ground Motion Discrimination Improves Attention, Reading Fluency, and Working Memory.

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Lawton, Teri

2016-01-01

There is an ongoing debate about whether the cause of dyslexia is based on linguistic, auditory, or visual timing deficits. To investigate this issue three interventions were compared in 58 dyslexics in second grade (7 years on average), two targeting the temporal dynamics (timing) of either the auditory or visual pathways with a third reading intervention (control group) targeting linguistic word building. Visual pathway training in dyslexics to improve direction-discrimination of moving test patterns relative to a stationary background (figure/ground discrimination) significantly improved attention, reading fluency, both speed and comprehension, phonological processing, and both auditory and visual working memory relative to controls, whereas auditory training to improve phonological processing did not improve these academic skills significantly more than found for controls. This study supports the hypothesis that faulty timing in synchronizing the activity of magnocellular with parvocellular visual pathways is a fundamental cause of dyslexia, and argues against the assumption that reading deficiencies in dyslexia are caused by phonological deficits. This study demonstrates that visual movement direction-discrimination can be used to not only detect dyslexia early, but also for its successful treatment, so that reading problems do not prevent children from readily learning.

Improving Dorsal Stream Function in Dyslexics By Training Figure/Ground Motion Discrimination Improves Reading Fluency, Attention, and Working Memory

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Teri Lawton

2016-08-01

Full Text Available There is an ongoing debate about whether the cause of dyslexia is based on linguistic, auditory, or visual timing deficits. To investigate this issue three interventions were compared in 58 dyslexics in second grade (7 years on average, two targeting the temporal dynamics (timing of either the auditory or visual pathways with a third reading intervention (control group using linguistic word building. Visual pathway training in dyslexics to improve direction-discrimination of moving test patterns relative to a stationary background (figure/ground discrimination significantly improved attention, reading fluency, both speed and comprehension, phonological processing, and both auditory and visual working memory relative to controls, whereas auditory training to improve phonological processing did not improve these academic skills significantly more than found for controls. This study supports the hypothesis that faulty timing in synchronizing the activity of magnocellular with parvocellular visual pathways is a fundamental cause of dyslexia, and argues against the assumption that reading deficiencies in dyslexia are caused by phonological deficits. This study demonstrates that visual movement direction-discrimination can be used to not only detect dyslexia early, but also for its successful treatment, so that reading problems do not prevent children from readily learning.

Assessment of Quality for Inclusive Programs in Greek Preschool Classrooms

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Fyssa, Aristea; Vlachou, Anastasia

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the quality of the practices that Greek teachers use to support the inclusion of children with disabilities in general preschools. Fifty-two preschool units for children between 4 and 6 years of age participated in this study. Data were collected through systematic observation with the use of the Inclusive…

Exploring Dyslexics' Phonological Deficit III: Foreign Speech Perception and Production

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Soroli, Efstathia; Szenkovits, Gayaneh; Ramus, Franck

2010-01-01

This study investigates French dyslexic and control adult participants' ability to perceive and produce two different non-native contrasts (one segmental and one prosodic), across several conditions varying short-term memory load. For this purpose, we selected Korean plosive voicing (whose categories conflict with French ones) as the segmental…

Interpretations of Greek Mythology

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Bremmer, Jan

1987-01-01

This collection of original studies offers new interpretations of some of the best known characters and themes of Greek mythology, reflecting the complexity and fascination of the Greek imagination. Following analyses of the concept of myth and the influence of the Orient on Greek mythology, the

Greeks, British Greek Cypriots and Londoners: a comparison of morbidity.

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Mavreas, V G; Bebbington, P E

1988-05-01

This paper reports the results of a comparison of the rates of psychiatric disorder from three general population surveys in which the PSE-ID-CATEGO system was used for case-definition. These surveys were of an English sample in Camberwell, London, and of two Greek samples, the first in Athens, the second of Greek Cypriot immigrants living in Camberwell. The results show that the rates of psychiatric disorders in both Greek samples were somewhat higher than those of the Camberwell population, the differences being accounted for by higher rates of anxiety disorders, especially in women. Comparisons in terms of syndrome profiles showed that Greeks reported more symptoms of generalized anxiety than their English counterparts who, in their turn, reported higher rates of obsessive symptoms, and symptoms of social anxiety. The higher rates in the Greek samples were possibly due to an increased frequency of non-specific neurotic symptoms like worrying and tension. The results of other European community surveys with the PSE suggest that there might be a genuine and general North-South difference in the expression of psychological distress. Cultural differences in terms of personality traits and culturally sanctioned child rearing practices might account for the findings.

The STK33-linked SNP rs4929949 is associated with obesity and BMI in two independent cohorts of Swedish and Greek children.

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Mathias Rask-Andersen

Full Text Available Recent genome wide association studies (GWAS have identified a locus on chromosome 11p15.5, closely associated with serine/threonine kinase 33 (STK33, to be associated with body mass. STK33, a relatively understudied protein, has been linked to KRAS mutation-driven cancers and explored as a potential antineoplastic drug target. The strongest association with body mass observed at this loci in GWAS was rs4929949, a single nucleotide polymorphism located within intron 1 of the gene encoding STK33. The functional implications of rs4929949 or related variants have not been explored as of yet. We have genotyped rs4929949 in two cohorts, an obesity case-control cohort of 991 Swedish children, and a cross-sectional cohort of 2308 Greek school children. We found that the minor allele of rs4929949 was associated with obesity in the cohort of Swedish children and adolescents (OR = 1.199 (95%CI: 1.002-1.434, p = 0.047, and with body mass in the cross-sectional cohort of Greek children (β = 0.08147 (95% CI: 0.1345-0.1618, p = 0.021. We observe the effects of rs4929949 on body mass to be detectable already at adolescence. Subsequent analysis did not detect any association of rs4929949 to phenotypic measurements describing body adiposity or to metabolic factors such as insulin levels, triglycerides and insulin resistance (HOMA.

The STK33-linked SNP rs4929949 is associated with obesity and BMI in two independent cohorts of Swedish and Greek children.

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Rask-Andersen, Mathias; Moschonis, George; Chrousos, George P; Marcus, Claude; Dedoussis, George V; Fredriksson, Robert; Schiöth, Helgi B

2013-01-01

Recent genome wide association studies (GWAS) have identified a locus on chromosome 11p15.5, closely associated with serine/threonine kinase 33 (STK33), to be associated with body mass. STK33, a relatively understudied protein, has been linked to KRAS mutation-driven cancers and explored as a potential antineoplastic drug target. The strongest association with body mass observed at this loci in GWAS was rs4929949, a single nucleotide polymorphism located within intron 1 of the gene encoding STK33. The functional implications of rs4929949 or related variants have not been explored as of yet. We have genotyped rs4929949 in two cohorts, an obesity case-control cohort of 991 Swedish children, and a cross-sectional cohort of 2308 Greek school children. We found that the minor allele of rs4929949 was associated with obesity in the cohort of Swedish children and adolescents (OR = 1.199 (95%CI: 1.002-1.434), p = 0.047), and with body mass in the cross-sectional cohort of Greek children (β = 0.08147 (95% CI: 0.1345-0.1618), p = 0.021). We observe the effects of rs4929949 on body mass to be detectable already at adolescence. Subsequent analysis did not detect any association of rs4929949 to phenotypic measurements describing body adiposity or to metabolic factors such as insulin levels, triglycerides and insulin resistance (HOMA).

Institutionalized humanitarian actions and ethnic distance given in the example of Greeks and Serbs nowadays

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Blagojević Gordana

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This work views the relationship between humanitarian actions and ethnic distance in the example of Greeks and Serbs nowadays. There is an issue of a motive and a role of ethnic distance in the manner of conveying humanitarian help, as well as its wider social consequences. The activities of two organizations are taken as an example: the Red Cross and the Greek Caravan of Solidarity. During wars on the territory of Yugoslavia in the 1990s the Red Cross of Serbia was included in an action with the aim of enabling the continuation of education for the children from the war stricken parts. Many other organizations were also included in giving help. The work of the Greek Caravan of Solidarity as an institution which has a specific method of giving help is viewed here. Apart from extenuating the children's war traumas, the numerous gifts and hospitality over the years brought to the deepening of ethnic closeness. Among other things, the expansion of Greek language and culture came as a result of this. The hospitality and friendship have been continued after the war until today.

A Dual-Route Perspective on Eye Movements of Dyslexic Readers

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Hawelka, Stefan; Gagl, Benjamin; Wimmer, Heinz

2010-01-01

This study assessed eye movement abnormalities of adolescent dyslexic readers and interpreted the findings by linking the dual-route model of single word reading with the E-Z Reader model of eye movement control during silent sentence reading. A dysfunction of the lexical route was assumed to account for a reduced number of words which received…

Study the left prefrontal cortex activity of Chinese children with dyslexia in phonological processing by NIRS

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Zhang, Zhili; Li, Ting; Zheng, Yi; Luo, Qingming; Song, Ranran; Gong, Hui

2006-02-01

Developmental dyslexia, a kind of prevalent psychological disease, represents that dyslexic children have unexpected difficulties in phonological processing and recognition test of Chinese characters. Some functional imaging technologies, such as fMRI and PET, have been used to study the brain activities of the children with dyslexia whose first language is English. In this paper, a portable, 16-channel, continuous-wave (CW) NIRS instrument was used to monitor the concentration changes of each hemoglobin species when Chinese children did the task of phonological processing and recognition test. The NIRS recorded the hemodynamic changes in the left prefrontal cortex of the children. 20 dyslexia-reading children (10~12 years old) and 20 normal-reading children took part in the phonological processing of Chinese characters including the phonological awareness section and the phonological decoding section. During the phonological awareness section, the changed concentration of deoxy-hemoglobin in dyslexia-reading children were significantly higher (p<0.05) than normal-reading children in the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC). While in the phonological decoding section, both normal and dyslexic reading children had more activity in the left VLPFC, but only normal-reading children had activity in the left middorsal prefrontal cortex. In conclusion, both dyslexic and normal-reading children have activity in the left prefrontal cortex, but the degree and the areas of the prefrontal cortex activity are different between them when they did phonological processing.

Spelling Errors Made By Persian Children With Developmental Dyslexia

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Ahmadpanah

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Background According to recent estimates, approximately 4% - 12% of Iranians experience difficulty in learning to read and spell, possibly as a result of developmental dyslexia. Objectives The study was intended to investigate spelling error patterns among Persian children with developmental dyslexia and compare those patterns with the errors exhibited by control groups. Patients and Methods Some 90 students participated in this study. There were 30 fifth grade students who had been diagnosed as dyslexic by professionals, 30 normal fifth grade readers, and 30 younger normal readers. There were 15 boys and 15 girls in each of the groups. Qualitative and quantitative methods for the analysis of errors were used. Results This study found similar spelling error profiles among the dyslexic students and the reading-level-matched group, and these profiles were different from those of the age-matched group. However, the performances of the dyslexic group and the reading-level-matched group were different and inconsistent in some cases. Conclusions However, performances of dyslexic group and reading level matched group were different and inconsistent in some cases.

The Greek version of the Juvenile Arthritis Multidimensional Assessment Report (JAMAR).

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Pratsidou-Gertsi, Polyxeni; Trachana, Maria; Kanakoudi-Tsakalidou, Florence; Tsitsami, Elena; Tsinti, Maria; Vougiouka, Olga; Siamopoulou, Antigoni; Alfantaki, Sapfo; Stavrakidou, Maria; Consolaro, Alessandro; Bovis, Francesca; Ruperto, Nicolino

2018-04-01

The Juvenile Arthritis Multidimensional Assessment Report (JAMAR) is a new parent/patient-reported outcome measure that enables a thorough assessment of the disease status in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). We report the results of the cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the parent and patient versions of the JAMAR in the Greek language. The reading comprehension of the questionnaire was tested in 10 JIA parents and patients. Each participating centre was asked to collect demographics, clinical data, and the JAMAR from 100 consecutive JIA patients or all consecutive patients seen in a 6-month period and to administer the JAMAR to 100 healthy children and their parents. The statistical validation phase explored descriptive statistics and the psychometric issues of the JAMAR: the three Likert assumptions, floor/ceiling effects, internal consistency, Cronbach's alpha, interscale correlations, test-retest reliability, and construct validity (convergent and discriminant validity). The Greek JAMAR was fully cross-culturally adapted with two forward and three backward translations. A total of 272 JIA patients (5.9% systemic, 57.7% oligoarticular, 21.3% RF negative poly-arthritis, 15.1% other categories), and 100 healthy children were enrolled in all centres. The JAMAR components discriminated well-healthy subjects from JIA patients; notably, there was no significant difference between healthy subjects and their affected peers in psychosocial quality of life and school-related items. All JAMAR components revealed good psychometric performances. In conclusion, the Greek version of the JAMAR is a valid tool for the assessment of children with JIA and is suitable for use both in routine clinical practice and in clinical research.

Dyslexic Entrepreneurs: The Incidence; Their Coping Strategies and Their Business Skills

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Logan, Julie

2009-01-01

This comparative study explores the incidence of dyslexia in entrepreneurs, corporate managers and the general population. It examines the suggestion that dyslexic entrepreneurs develop coping strategies to manage their weaknesses, which are subsequently of benefit in the new venture creation process. Results of this study suggest that there is a…

Priming effects in Chinese character recognition for Chinese children with developmental dyslexia

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Yuliang Zou; Jing Wang; Hanrong Wu

2009-01-01

BACKGROUND:Dyslexic children exhibit reading ability unmatched to age,although they possess normal intelligence and are well educated.OBJECTIVE:To examine the performance of dyslexic children in Chinese characters visual recognition tasks and to investigate the relationship between priming effect in character recognition and dyslexia.DESIGN,TIME AND SETTING:A case-control study was performed at the Department of Children and Adolescent Health and Maternal Care,School of Public Health,Tongji Medical College,Huazhong University of Science and Technology between March and June 2007.PARTICIPANTS:A total of 75 primary school students in grades 3 and 5 were selected from two primary schools in Wuhan City,Hubei province,China,and were assigned to three groups.(1) Reading disability (RD,n=25);(2) chronological age (CA) group (n=25 normal readers that were intelligence quotient and age-matched to the RD group);(3) reading level (RL) group (n=25 normal readers that were intelligence quotient and RL-matched to the RD group).All children were right-handed and had normal or corrected-to-normal vision.METHODS:Recognition of target characters was performed in each child using a masked prime paradigm.Recognition speed and accuracy of graphic,phonological,and semantic characters were examined.Simultaneously,data,with respect to response time for each target character and error rate,were recorded to calculate facilitation values (unrelated RT-related RT).MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:Response time,facilitation,and error rate in Chinese character recognition task were calculated.RESULTS:The baseline-adjusted facilitation of graphic,phonological,and semantic priming for dyslexic children was -0.010,-0.010,and 0.001,respectively.Dyslexic children displayed inhibition in graphic and phonological prime conditions.Facilitations under the three prime conditions were 0.026,0.026,and 0.022 for the CA group.In the RL group,results were 0.062,0.058,and 0.031 respectively.The differences of baseline

Artificial Grammar Learning in Dyslexic and Nondyslexic Adults: Implications for Orthographic Learning

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Samara, Anna; Caravolas, Markéta

2017-01-01

Potential implicit orthographic learning deficits were investigated in adults with dyslexia. An artificial grammar learning paradigm served to assess dyslexic and typical readers' ability to exploit information about chunk frequency, letter-position patterns, and specific string similarity, all of which have analogous constructs in real…

Greek management and culture

OpenAIRE

Giousmpasoglou, Charalampos

2014-01-01

This paper explores the Greek management context from various perspectives such as the national culture distinctive characteristics (i.e., dominant societal values) and the findings of research conducted on the Greek management context since the early 1980s. The overall conclusion is that Greek management is influenced by both the European/global business environment and the national/local distinctive characteristics and societal values. Based on the existing literature, it was found that unt...

Dyslexic entrepreneurs: the incidence; their coping strategies and their business skills.

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Logan, Julie

2009-11-01

This comparative study explores the incidence of dyslexia in entrepreneurs, corporate managers and the general population. It examines the suggestion that dyslexic entrepreneurs develop coping strategies to manage their weaknesses, which are subsequently of benefit in the new venture creation process. Results of this study suggest that there is a significantly higher incidence of dyslexia in entrepreneurs than in the corporate management and general US and UK populations and some of the strategies they adopt to overcome dyslexia (such as delegation of tasks) may be useful in business. The study was undertaken in two parts. First, entrepreneurs and corporate managers completed an online questionnaire, which combined questions about their company, their management or leadership role and their business skills together with questions that were designed to explore the likely incidence of dyslexia. A follow-up study that made use of a semi-structured questionnaire explored business issues and educational experience in more depth with those who had been diagnosed as dyslexic and those who did not have any history of dyslexia or any other learning difficulty.

Workplace Bullying Among the Nursing Staff of Greek Public Hospitals.

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Karatza, Christine; Zyga, Sofia; Tziaferi, Styliani; Prezerakos, Panagiotis

2017-02-01

In this quantitative, cross-sectional study, the authors identified the impact of workplace bullying on nursing staff employed at select Greek public hospitals. They conducted the study using the Negative Acts Questionnaire with a convenience sample of 841 participants employed by five Greek hospitals in the 1st Regional Health Authority of Attica. One third of the respondents reported having been psychologically harassed at work in the past 6 months. According to the results, the impact workplace bullying has on nursing staff varies depending on the existence of a supportive familial or friend environment and if nurses parent children. These findings demonstrate the value of family and friend support when coping with workplace bullying.

Sensitivity to subject-verb agreement in spoken language in children with developmental dyslexia

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Rispens, J; Roeleven, S; Koster, C

The principle aim of this paper was to investigate sensitivity to subject-verb agreement morphology in children with developmental dyslexia. An auditory grammaticality judgement task was used to compare morphosyntactic abilities of primary school dyslexic children relative to normally developing

Ancient Greek with Thrasymachus: A Web Site for Learning Ancient Greek.

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Barker, Alison

2001-01-01

Discusses a project that was begun as an attempt by two teachers of Ancient Greek to provide supplementary materials to accompany "Thrasymachus," a first-year textbook for learning ancient Greek. Provides a brief history and description of the project, the format of each chapter, a chronology for completion of materials for each chapter in the…

Primary reflex persistence in children with reading difficulties (dyslexia): a cross-sectional study.

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McPhillips, Martin; Jordan-Black, Julie-Anne

2007-03-02

The primary reflex system emerges during fetal life and is inhibited during the first year after birth. Our aim was to examine the effects of persistence of this early neurological system on the attainment of core literacy skills in dyslexic and non-dyslexic poor readers. We assessed the prevalence of a persistent primary reflex in a cross-sectional, representative sample of children (n=739) aged 7-9 years old attending mainstream primary school in Northern Ireland using standardised educational tests, and a clinical diagnostic test for a primary reflex (the asymmetrical tonic neck reflex (ATNR)). Multiple regression analyses, involving all of the sample children, revealed that persistence of the ATNR was significantly predictive of attainments in reading (t=-8.34, pschooling, the attainment of core educational skills may be affected by the persistence of a brainstem mediated reflex system that should have been inhibited in the first year after birth. Furthermore, these findings suggest that dyslexia is not a distinct category of poor reading, and that it may be more valid to term all poor readers as dyslexic irrespective of IQ.

Nasalance norms in Greek adults.

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Okalidou, Areti; Karathanasi, Asimina; Grigoraki, Eleni

2011-08-01

The purposes of this study were to derive nasalance norms for monolingual Greek speakers, to examine nasalance scores as a function of gender and to draw cross-linguistic comparisons based on normative data. Participants read aloud a corpus of linguistic material, consisting of (1) a nasal text, an oral text and a balanced text; (2) a set of nasal sentences and four sets of oral sentences and (3) repetitions of each of 12 syllable types (8 oral and 4 nasal). The last two sets of material corpus were based on an adaptation of the Simplified Nasometric Assessment Procedures Test (SNAP test) test ( MacKay and Kummer, 1994 ) in Greek, called the G-SNAP test. Eighty monolingual healthy young adult speakers of Greek, 40 males (mean age = 21 years) and 40 females (mean age = 20.5 years), with normal hearing and speech characteristics and unremarkable history were included in the study. The Nasometer (model 6200-3) was used to derive nasalance scores. Mean normative nasalance for spoken Greek was 25.50%, based on the G-oronasal text (with 8.6% nasals). Nasalance scores did not differ significantly with respect to gender. Finally, spoken Greek consistently yielded lower nasalance scores than other languages examined in past work. The aforementioned normative data on nasalance of young adult speakers of Greek are valid across gender and have direct clinical utility as they provide valuable reference information for the diagnosis and management of Greek adults with resonance disorders caused by velar dysfunction.

Phonological, temporal and spectral processing in vowel length discrimination is impaired in German primary school children with developmental dyslexia.

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Steinbrink, Claudia; Klatte, Maria; Lachmann, Thomas

2014-11-01

It is still unclear whether phonological processing deficits are the underlying cause of developmental dyslexia, or rather a consequence of basic auditory processing impairments. To avoid methodological confounds, in the current study the same task and stimuli of comparable complexity were used to investigate both phonological and basic auditory (temporal and spectral) processing in dyslexia. German dyslexic children (Grades 3 and 4) were compared to age- and grade-matched controls in a vowel length discrimination task with three experimental conditions: In a phonological condition, natural vowels were used, differing both with respect to temporal and spectral information (in German, vowel length is phonemic, and vowel length differences are characterized by both temporal and spectral information). In a temporal condition, spectral information differentiating between the two vowels of a pair was eliminated, whereas in a spectral condition, temporal differences were removed. As performance measure, the sensitivity index d' was computed. At the group level, dyslexic children's performance was inferior to that of controls for phonological as well as temporal and spectral vowel length discrimination. At an individual level, nearly half of the dyslexic sample was characterized by deficits in all three conditions, but there were also some children showing no deficits at all. These results reveal on the one hand that phonological processing deficits in dyslexia may stem from impairments in processing temporal and spectral information in the speech signal. On the other hand they indicate, however, that not all dyslexic children might be characterized by phonological or auditory processing deficits. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Stimulus modality and working memory performance in Greek children with reading disabilities: additional evidence for the pictorial superiority hypothesis.

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Constantinidou, Fofi; Evripidou, Christiana

2012-01-01

This study investigated the effects of stimulus presentation modality on working memory performance in children with reading disabilities (RD) and in typically developing children (TDC), all native speakers of Greek. It was hypothesized that the visual presentation of common objects would result in improved learning and recall performance as compared to the auditory presentation of stimuli. Twenty children, ages 10-12, diagnosed with RD were matched to 20 TDC age peers. The experimental tasks implemented a multitrial verbal learning paradigm incorporating three modalities: auditory, visual, and auditory plus visual. Significant group differences were noted on language, verbal and nonverbal memory, and measures of executive abilities. A mixed-model MANOVA indicated that children with RD had a slower learning curve and recalled fewer words than TDC across experimental modalities. Both groups of participants benefited from the visual presentation of objects; however, children with RD showed the greatest gains during this condition. In conclusion, working memory for common verbal items is impaired in children with RD; however, performance can be facilitated, and learning efficiency maximized, when information is presented visually. The results provide further evidence for the pictorial superiority hypothesis and the theory that pictorial presentation of verbal stimuli is adequate for dual coding.

Negation and Nonveridicality in the History of Greek

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Chatzopoulou, Aikaterini

2012-01-01

This study provides a thorough investigation of the expression primarily of sentential negation in the history of Greek, through quantitative data from representative texts from three major stages of vernacular Greek (Attic Greek, Koine, Late Medieval Greek), and qualitative data from Homeric Greek until Standard Modern. The contrast between two…

A view of dyslexia in context: implications for understanding differences in essay writing experience amongst higher education students identified as dyslexic.

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Carter, Christine; Sellman, Edward

2013-08-01

This article applies socio-cultural theories to explore how differences in essay writing experience are constituted for a group of students identified as dyslexic. It reports on a qualitative study with eleven student writers, seven of whom are formally identified as dyslexic, from the schools of archaeology, history and philosophy in a 'traditional' UK university. Semi-structured interviews before, during and after writing a coursework essay revealed well-documented dyslexia-related difficulties and also strong differences in how writing was experienced. The multiple and fluid dimensions that construct these differences suggest the importance of position within the context, previous and developing writing and learning experience, and metacognitive, meta-affective and metalinguistic awareness. They also suggest tensions between specialist and inclusive policies in relation to writing pedagogy for students identified as dyslexic. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Constructing Childhood: Discourses about School Violence in the Greek Daily Press

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Avgitidou, Sofia; Stamou, Anastasia G.

2013-01-01

This study explores the construction of discourses about childhood in the Greek daily press. It employs the theoretical frameworks of the new sociology of childhood and critical discourse analysis to question which discourses of childhood are constructed in the daily press presenting cases where children were the victimisers in school violent…

Can the error detection mechanism benefit from training the working memory? A comparison between dyslexics and controls--an ERP study.

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Tzipi Horowitz-Kraus

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Based on the relationship between working memory and error detection, we investigated the capacity of adult dyslexic readers' working memory to change as a result of training, and the impact of training on the error detection mechanism. METHODOLOGY: 27 dyslexics and 34 controls, all university students, participated in the study. ERP methodology and behavioral measures were employed prior to, immediately after, and 6 months after training. The CogniFit Personal Coach Program, which consists of 24 sessions of direct training of working memory skills, was used. FINDINGS: Both groups of readers gained from the training program but the dyslexic readers gained significantly more. In the dyslexic group, digit span increased from 9.84+/-3.15 to 10.79+/-3.03. Working memory training significantly increased the number of words per minute read correctly by 14.73%. Adult brain activity changed as a result of training, evidenced by an increase in both working memory capacity and the amplitude of the Error-related Negativity (ERN component (24.71%. When ERN amplitudes increased, the percentage of errors on the Sternberg tests decreased. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that by expanding the working memory capacity, larger units of information are retained in the system, enabling more effective error detection. The crucial functioning of the central-executive as a sub-component of the working memory is also discussed.

Attitudes and intentions of Greek teachers towards teaching pupils with dyslexia: An application of the theory of planned behaviour.

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Stampoltzis, Aglaia; Tsitsou, Elisavet; Papachristopoulos, George

2018-05-01

The present study aims to examine Greek public primary school teachers' attitudes and intention towards teaching pupils with dyslexia using a model of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Toward that aim, 304 teachers aged between 22 and 59 years old, with an average overall work experience of 16.6 years completed a TPB questionnaire which assessed their attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control, their intention, as well as other exogenous factors. The validity and the reliability of the questionnaire were found to be adequate. Overall, the participating teachers report a wide range of educational interventions for pupils with dyslexia emphasizing the psychological aspects of support. They also face a number of barriers, but in general they express neutral to positive attitudes to dyslexia. Results show that attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control significantly predicted the teachers' intention towards teaching dyslexic pupils, thus confirming the applicability of the selected TPB model. Recommendations for teachers' training and limitations of the study are discussed. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Ancient Greek Calendars

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Hannah, Robert

Greek festival calendars were in origin lunar, eventually being aligned with the sun through various lunisolar intercalary cycles. Each city-state had its own calendar, whose month names have some, little, or no similarity with those of other city-states. These names often reflect gods or festivals held in their honor in a given month, so there is an explicitly sacred character to the calendar. New Year's Day could also differ from one state to another, but generally began with the sighting of the first new moon after one of the four tropical points. Even the introduction of the Roman Julian calendar brought little uniformity to the eastern Greek calendars. The calendar is one of the elements which can assist in understanding the siting of Greek sacred structures.

Do Children with Developmental Dyslexia Have Impairments in Implicit Learning?

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Pavlidou, Elpis V.; Kelly, M. Louise; Williams, Joanne M.

2010-01-01

We explored implicit learning in a group of typically developing and developmental dyslexic primary school children (9-12y) using a modified artificial grammar learning task. Performance was calculated using two measures of performance: a perfect free recall (PFR) score and a grammaticality judgment score. Both groups of children required the same…

[Ancient Greek in modern language of medicine].

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Marković, Vera

2007-01-01

In order to standardize language of medicine, it is essential to have a good command of ancient Greek and Latin. We cannot deny a huge impact of ancient Greek medicine on medical terminology. Compounds of Greek origin related to terms for organs, illnesses, inflammations, surgical procedures etc. have been listed as examples. They contain Greek prefixes and suffixes transcribed into Latin and they have been analysed. It may be concluded that the modern language of medicine basically represents the ancient Greek language transcribed into Latin.

The role of morphology and short vowelization in reading Arabic among normal and dyslexic readers in grades 3, 6, 9, and 12.

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Abu-Rabia, Salim

2007-03-01

This study was an investigation of several Arabic reading measures among dyslexics and normal Arabic readers across different ages (grades 3, 6, 9, and 12): the role of morphology, short vowelization (phonological and syntactic skills), spelling, reading isolated words, and reading comprehension. The results of the one-way ANOVAs indicated clear differences between the dyslexic readers and the normal readers on all reading measures. However, the stepwise regression analysis revealed consistent orthographic results: morphology (identification and/or production) and spelling were generally the most powerful predictors of both reading accuracy and reading comprehension among dyslexic and normal readers across these different age groups. The results are discussed in terms of the characteristics of the Arabic orthography and the heavy reliance of readers at all levels and ages on orthographic factors in reading.

Bloemfontein's Greek community: historical background, emigration ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Bloemfontein's Greek community: historical background, emigration and settlement, ca 1885 - ca 1985. ... South African Journal of Cultural History ... In this study a review is provided of the reasons why Greeks settled in Bloemfontein since about 1885, where these Greek immigrants came from, and how they travelled to ...

The Invention of Infertility in the Classical Greek World:

Science.gov (United States)

Flemming, Rebecca

2013-01-01

Summary The article examines the understandings of, and responses to, reproductive failure in the classical Greek world. It discusses explanations and treatments for non-procreation in a range of ancient Greek medical texts, focusing on the writings of the Hippocratic Corpus, which devote considerable energy to matters of fertility and generation, and places them alongside the availability of a divine approach to dealing with reproductive disruption, the possibility of asking various deities, including the specialist healing god Asclepius, for assistance in having children. Though the relations between these options are complex, they combine to produce a rich remedial array for those struggling with childlessness, the possibility that any impediment to procreation can be removed. Classical Greece, rather than the nineteenth century, or even 1978, is thus the time when “infertility,” understood as an essentially reversible somatic state, was invented. PMID:24362276

Ancient Greek in modern language of medicine

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Marković Vera

2007-01-01

Full Text Available In order to standardize language of medicine, it is essential to have a good command of ancient Greek and Latin. We cannot deny a huge impact of ancient Greek medicine on medical terminology. Compounds of Greek origin related to terms for organs, illnesses, inflammations, surgical procedures etc. have been listed as examples. They contain Greek prefixes and suffixes transcribed into Latin and they have been analyzed. It may be concluded that the modern language of medicine basically represents the ancient Greek language transcribed into Latin.

Computer-based multisensory learning in children with developmental dyslexia.

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Kast, Monika; Meyer, Martin; Vögeli, Christian; Gross, Markus; Jäncke, Lutz

2007-01-01

Several attempts have been made to remediate developmental dyslexia using various training environments. Based on the well-known retrieval structure model, the memory strength of phonemes and graphemes should be strengthened by visual and auditory associations between graphemes and phonemes. Using specifically designed training software, we examined whether establishing a multitude of visuo-auditory associations might help to mitigate writing errors in children with developmental dyslexia. Forty-three children with developmental dyslexia and 37 carefully matched normal reading children performed a computer-based writing training (15-20 minutes 4 days a week) for three months with the aim to recode a sequential textual input string into a multi-sensory representation comprising visual and auditory codes (including musical tones). The study included four matched groups: a group of children with developmental dyslexia (n=20) and a control group (n=18) practiced with the training software in the first period (3 months, 15-20 minutes 4 days a week), while a second group of children with developmental dyslexia (n=23) (waiting group) and a second control group (n=19) received no training during the first period. In the second period the children with developmental dyslexia and controls who did not receive training during the first period now took part in the training. Children with developmental dyslexia who did not perform computer-based training during the first period hardly improved their writing skills (post-pre improvement of 0-9%), the dyslexic children receiving training strongly improved their writing skills (post-pre improvement of 19-35%). The group who did the training during the second period also revealed improvement of writing skills (post-pre improvement of 27-35%). Interestingly, we noticed a strong transfer from trained to non-trained words in that the children who underwent the training were also better able to write words correctly that were not part

Greek Gods and Heroes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Peter Schoon,; Sander Paarlberg,

2001-01-01

Many famous en less famous myths and historic events from Greek antiquity painted by Dutch and Flemish artists from the 16th and 17th century. For the first time a broad selection of paintings and prints with subjects from Greek mythology and history are exposed. Famous painters like Rembrandt,

The effect of different stimulus attributes on the attentional performance of children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and dyslexia.

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Wang, Li-Chih; Tsai, Huang-Ju; Yang, Hsien-Ming

2013-11-01

While teachers have traditionally used the interesting objects to increase student attention in the classroom, evidence supporting the effectiveness of this method is lacking. The present study investigated the influence of different stimulus attributes for typical developing students and for students with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and dyslexia. Thirty children with ADHD, 30 children with dyslexia, and 30 typical developing students were tested using a measuring tool that was constructed by the authors to assess their sustained attention and selective attention on the geometric-figure assessment and the interesting-figure assessment. The geometric-figure assessment included a square, circle, trapezium, and triangle; and the interesting-figure assessment included a house, cat, hand, and tree. While the typical developing group showed better selective attention on the geometric-figure assessment, there was no difference between the dyslexic group and the ADHD group with respect to selective attention. Furthermore, the typical developing and dyslexic groups did not differ in the geometric-figure assessment in sustained attention and were both better in this area than the ADHD group. In the interesting-figure assessment, the typical developing and dyslexic groups performed similarly in sustained attention, but selective attention of the dyslexic group improved more than the ADHD group, similar to the typical developing group. Both selective attention of the dyslexic group and sustained attention of the ADHD group showed positive significant differences in the interesting-figure assessment, but sustained attention of the dyslexic group and selective attention of the ADHD group showed little difference in the interesting-figure assessment. Surprisingly, the typical developing group did not show any significant difference in the interesting-figure assessment, possibly because they had previously demonstrated a ceiling effect in the geometric

A retrospective analysis of the characteristics, treatment and follow-up of 26 odontomas in Greek children

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iatrou, I.; Vardas, E.; Theologie-Lygidakis, N.; Leventis, M.

2010-01-01

Odontomas represent the most common type of odontogenic jaw tumors among patients younger than 20 years of age. Clinically, they are often associated with eruption failure of adjacent permanent teeth, and are classified as compound and complex. The aim of the present retrospective study was to present the characteristics, treatment approach and outcome of odontomas in Greek children, over a ten-year period. Twenty six patients, 2 to 14 years of age (mean 9.3 years), with odontomas treated during the years 1999-2008 at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery of a Children's Hospital, were included in the study. Data from patients' files were retrieved and they were recalled for review. Odontomas were equally distributed in the maxilla and mandible and 42.3% of them were located in the anterior maxilla. Of the odontomas, 80.7% were related to disturbances in tooth eruption. Bone expansion was observed in 65.3% of the cases. All odontomas were surgically removed, and related impacted permanent teeth were either left to erupt spontaneously, orthodontically guided into occlusion or were removed. Orthodontic intervention appeared to be necessary in older children, while in younger children spontaneous eruption was frequent. In the present study, odontomas were associated with unerupted or impacted teeth. Radiographic examination was essential to verify the presence of the tumor and early removal prevented tooth eruption failure and disturbances in a majority of the cases. (author)

Reproducibility of proton MR spectroscopic imaging (PEPSI): comparison of dyslexic and normal-reading children and effects of treatment on brain lactate levels during language tasks.

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Richards, Todd L; Berninger, Virginia W; Aylward, Elizabeth H; Richards, Anne L; Thomson, Jennifer B; Nagy, William E; Carlisle, Joanne F; Dager, Stephen R; Abbott, Robert D

2002-01-01

We repeated a proton echo-planar spectroscopic imaging (PEPSI) study to test the hypothesis that children with dyslexia and good readers differ in brain lactate activation during a phonologic judgment task before but not after instructional treatment. We measured PEPSI brain lactate activation (TR/TE, 4000/144; 1.5 T) at two points 1-2 months apart during two language tasks (phonologic and lexical) and a control task (passive listening). Dyslexic participants (n = 10) and control participants (n = 8) (boys and girls aged 9-12 years) were matched in age, verbal intelligence quotients, and valid PEPSI voxels. In contrast to patients in past studies who received combined treatment, our patients were randomly assigned to either phonologic or morphologic (meaning-based) intervention between the scanning sessions. Before treatment, the patients showed significantly greater lactate elevation in the left frontal regions (including the inferior frontal gyrus) during the phonologic task. Both patients and control subjects differed significantly in the right parietal and occipital regions during both tasks. After treatment, the two groups did not significantly differ in any brain region during either task, but individuals given morphologic treatment were significantly more likely to have reduced left frontal lactate activation during the phonologic task. The previous finding of greater left frontal lactate elevation in children with dyslexia during a phonologic judgment task was replicated, and brain activation changed as a result of treatment. However, the treatment effect was due to the morphologic component rather than the phonologic component.

Ancient Greek Terminology in Hepatopancreatobiliary Anatomy and Surgery.

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Papoulas, Michail; Douvetzemis, Stergios

2015-08-01

Most of the terminology in medicine originates from Greek or Latin, revealing the impact of the ancient Greeks on modern medicine. However, the literature on the etymology of Greek words used routinely in medical practice is sparse. We provide a short guide to the etymology and meaning of Greek words currently used in the field of hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) anatomy and surgery. Focusing on HPB medical literature, the etymology and origin of Greek words including suffixes and prefixes are shown and analyzed. For example, anatomy (anatomia) is a Greek word derived from the prefix ana- (on, upon) and the suffix -tomy from the verb temno meaning to cut. Surgery, however, is not a Greek word. The corresponding Greek word is chirourgiki derived from cheir (hand) and ergon (action, work) meaning the action made by hands. Understanding the root of Greek terminology leads to an accurate, precise and comprehensive scientific medical language, reflecting the need for a universal medical language as a standardized means of communication within the health care sector.

Overweight and obesity decreased in Greek schoolchildren from 2009 to 2012 during the early phase of the economic crisis.

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Kleanthous, Kleanthis; Dermitzaki, Eleni; Papadimitriou, Dimitrios T; Papaevangelou, Vassiliki; Papadimitriou, Anastasios

2016-02-01

We examined the weight status of Greek schoolchildren from November 2009 to May 2012, shortly before, and during the early years, of the Greek economic crisis. This was a mixed longitudinal study that formed part of the West Attica Growth Study and followed children at the ages of 6-7, 9-10, 12-13 and 15-16 years every six months for 2.5 years. Each child's height and weight were measured and their body mass index calculated. We were able to determine the weight status of 1327 children (53% boys) based on their first and last measurements. Overweight, obesity and underweight were defined using the International Obesity Task Force criteria. During the 2.5-year study period, there was a decrease in the total prevalence of overweight and obesity, which reached a statistical significance for both sexes. It decreased from 43% to 37.3% (p = 0.02) in boys and from 33.4% to 26.9% (p = 0.0056) in girls. There was also a statistically significant increase in normal weight children and a slight but insignificant increase in underweight children of both sexes. During the initial years of the Greek economic crisis, there was a statistically significant reduction in overweight and obesity in children from six to 16 years of age. ©2015 Foundation Acta Paediatrica. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Effectiveness of a Group-Based Program for Parents of Children with Dyslexia

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Multhauf, Bettina; Buschmann, Anke; Soellner, Renate

2016-01-01

Parents of children with dyslexia experience more parenting stress and depressive symptoms than other parents. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a cognitive-behavioral group-based program for parents of dyslexic children on parenting stress levels, parent-child homework interactions and parental competencies. 39 children…

Teste de Bender com disléxicos: comparação de dois sistemas de pontuação Bender Test with dyslexics: Comparison of two systems of punctuation

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Acácia Aparecida Angeli dos Santos

2007-06-01

Full Text Available Este estudo teve como objetivo avaliar aspectos maturacionais e disfuncionais referentes à percepção visomotora de disléxicos valendo-se, para isso, do Teste de Bender analisado sob dois sistemas de correção, o sistema de pontuação gradual (B-SPG e o sistema Lacks. Participaram da pesquisa 20 disléxicos com idade entre 9 e 16 anos (M = 12, sendo 16 do sexo masculino e 4 do sexo feminino. Os dados mostraram que a média de erros dos disléxicos foi acima do que é esperado para crianças de nove e dez anos que compõem a amostra normativa do B-SPG. De acordo com o sistema Lacks de pontuação os fatores mais comprometidos na amostra de disléxicos foram referentes a mudanças na forma da gestalt e distorção da gestalt, fatores esses equivalentes à distorção da forma no B-SPG. O índice de correlação entre os dois sistemas foi significativo e alto (r = 0,76.The present study aimed to evaluate maturity and dysfunctional aspects referred to visualmotor perception of dyslexics using for this, the Bender Test analyzed under two correction systems, being the gradual scoring system (B-SPG and Lacks system. Twenty dyslexics have taken part in the research with ages from 9 to 16 years (average=12, being 16 males and 4 females. The data showed the average of mistakes committed by the dyslexics was above the expected for children from nine to ten years who compose the B-SPG normative sample. According to the Lacks scoring system the factors more affected in the sample of dyslexics were referred to changes on the gestalt form and distortions, factors which are equivalent to the form distortions on the B-SPG. The correlation index between these two systems was significant (r = 0.76.

Learning the Greek Language via Greeklish

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Alexandros Karakos

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Learning Greek as a second or foreign language has drawn the attention of many researchers throughout time. A dictionary is amongst the first things a foreign language student uses. Reading comprehension is significantly improved by the use of a dictionary, especially when this includes the way words are pronounced. We developed a assistance software for learning the Greek Language via Greeklish. Since, the basic vocabulary of a language is the basis of understanding the language itself, the dictionary proposed aims to make the basic Greek words easier to pronounce as well as to give the explanation of the word in English. The aim of this software is to provide a useful tool to learn the Greek language individually. Moreover, it aims to be involved, as an assistance tool for learning Greek as a second or foreign language.

Greek architecture now

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skousbøll, Karin Merete

2006-01-01

With the author's Scandinavian viewpoint the aim of this book has been an investigation into contemporary Greek architecture and at the same time providing an understanding for its essential characteristics based on the historic, cultural heritage of Hellas.......With the author's Scandinavian viewpoint the aim of this book has been an investigation into contemporary Greek architecture and at the same time providing an understanding for its essential characteristics based on the historic, cultural heritage of Hellas....

'In This Country My Children Are Learning Two of the Most Important Languages in Europe': Ideologies of Language as a Commodity among Greek Migrant Families in Luxembourg

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Gogonas, Nikos; Kirsch, Claudine

2018-01-01

This paper explores the language ideologies of three middle-class migrant Greek families in Luxembourg, one 'established' family and two 'new' crisis-led migrant families, all of whose children attend Luxembourgish state schools. While the families differ in terms of migration trajectory, their language ideologies converge. The findings of this…

An Epidemiological Study of Number Processing and Mental Calculation in Greek Schoolchildren

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Koumoula, Anastasia; Tsironi, Vanda; Stamouli, Victoria; Bardani, Irini; Stavroula, Siapati; Graham, Annik; Kafantaris, Ignatios; Charalambidou, Irini; Dellatolas, Georges; von Aster, Michael

2004-01-01

The aim of this study was to validate and standardize an instrument for the diagnosis of developmental dyscalculia (mathematics disorder) in a Greek population and to obtain relevant epidemiological data. We used the "Neuropsychological Test Battery for Number Processing and Calculation in Children" (NUCALC) in a community sample of 240 students…

Reconsiderations about Greek homosexualities.

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Percy, William Armstrong

2005-01-01

Focusing his analysis on (mostly Athenian) vase paintings of the sixth- and early fifth-century and on a handful of texts from the late fifth- and early fourth-century (again Athenian), Dover depicted the pederastic relationship of erastes (age 20 to 30) and eromenos (age 12-18) as defined by sexual roles, active and passive, respectively. This dichotomy he connected to other sexual and social phenomena, in which the active/ penetrating role was considered proper for a male adult Athenian citizen, while the passive/penetrated role was denigrated, ridiculed, and even punished. Constructing various social and psychological theories, Foucault and Halperin, along with a host of others, have extended his analysis, but at the core has remained the Dover dogma of sexual-role dichotomization. Penetration has become such a focal point in the scholarship that anything unable to be analyzed in terms of domination is downplayed or ignored. To reduce homosexuality or same-sex behaviors to the purely physical or sexual does an injustice to the complex phenomena of the Greek male experience. From Sparta to Athens to Thebes and beyond, the Greek world incorporated pederasty into their educational systems. Pederasty became a way to lead a boy into manhood and full participation in the polis, which meant not just participation in politics but primarily the ability to benefit the city in a wide range of potential ways. Thus the education, training, and even inspiration provided in the pederastic relationship released creative forces that led to what has been called the Greek 'miracle.' From around 630 BCE we find the institution of Greek pederasty informing the art and literature to a degree yet to be fully appreciated. Moreover, this influence not only extends to the 'higher' realms of culture, but also can be seen stimulating society at all levels, from the military to athletic games, from philosophy to historiography. An understanding of sexual practices-useful, even essential, to

Ancient Greek in modern language of medicine

OpenAIRE

Marković Vera

2007-01-01

In order to standardize language of medicine, it is essential to have a good command of ancient Greek and Latin. We cannot deny a huge impact of ancient Greek medicine on medical terminology. Compounds of Greek origin related to terms for organs, illnesses, inflammations, surgical procedures etc. have been listed as examples. They contain Greek prefixes and suffixes transcribed into Latin and they have been analyzed. It may be concluded that the modern language of medicine basically represent...

The Odiousness of Greek Debt in Light of the Findings of the Greek Debt Truth Committee

OpenAIRE

Bantekas, I; Vivien, Renaud

2016-01-01

Unlike the popular narrative, which suggests that the Greek debt crisis was the result of lavish spending, this article demonstrates that the ‘crisis’ was generated by a transformation of purely private debt into public debt. This finding is supported by the preliminary report of the Greek Parliamentary Committee on the Truth of the Greek Debt, which clearly demonstrated the exponential increase of private debt in Greece risked the collapse of the private financial institutions exposed to it,...

Food sources of free sugars in children's diet and identification of lifestyle patterns associated with free sugars intake: the GRECO (Greek Childhood Obesity) study.

Science.gov (United States)

Farajian, Paul; Risvas, Grigoris; Panagiotakos, Demosthenes B; Zampelas, Antonis

2016-09-01

Excessive free sugars consumption has a possible role in health issues, diet quality and obesity development. The present cross-sectional study aimed to identify the major food sources of free sugars in Greek children's diet and investigate possible associations of dietary patterns with free sugars intake. Anthropometric measurements and information on dietary and physical activity habits were obtained. Energy and free sugars intake coming from foods were estimated and principal components analysis was applied to identify dietary patterns. The GRECO (Greek Childhood Obesity) study. Nationwide sample of 3089 children (aged 10-12 years). Adopting WHO criteria, 44·2 % of participants were categorized as having free sugars intake above 10 % of total energy intake. Mean contribution of free sugars to energy intake was 11·2 %, and the major food sources of free sugars differed from those of other childhood populations. Free sugars intake was not associated with overweight/obesity. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that two lifestyle and dietary patterns, characterized by higher consumption of sweets, fast foods, fries, sugared drinks, frequently ordering/eating outside home and having meals in front of a screen (pattern 1) and higher consumption of whole fruits, 100 % fruit juices, vegetables, legumes and honey/jam (pattern 2), were positively associated with free sugars intake. A large proportion of children exceeded the recommended cut-off and free sugars intake was associated with lifestyle patterns rather than single foods. Public health programmes aiming to reduce free sugars consumption should be tailored on promoting the correct dietary habits of specific childhood populations.

Verbal Short-Term Memory Deficits in Chinese Children with Dyslexia may not be a Problem with the Activation of Phonological Representations.

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Zhao, Jing; Yang, Yang; Song, Yao-Wu; Bi, Hong-Yan

2015-11-01

This study explored the underlying mechanism of the verbal short-term memory deficit in Chinese children with developmental dyslexia. Twenty-four children with dyslexia and 28 age-matched normal readers participated in the study. They were required to memorize a visually presented series of six Chinese characters and identify them from a list also including code-specific distracters and non-code-specific distracters. Error rates were recorded and were higher for code-specific distracters in all three conditions, revealing phonological, visual, and semantic similarity effects respectively. Group comparisons showed a stronger phonological similarity effect in dyslexic group, suggesting intact activation of phonological representations of target characters. Children with dyslexia also exhibited a greater semantic similarity effect, revealing stronger activation of semantic representations, while visual similarity effects were equivalent to controls. These results suggest that the verbal short-term memory deficit in Chinese dyslexics might not stem from insufficient activation of phonological information. Based the semantic activation of target characters in dyslexics is greater than in controls, it is possible that the memory deficit of dyslexia is related with deficient inhibition of target semantic representations in short-term memory. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Beyond the East-West Dilemma: Rethinking Greekness Through Diffracted Gazes in Contemporary Greek Travelogues

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Peggy Karpouzou

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Travel writing has been viewed as one of the main sources of national typologies and is often held responsible for the consolidation of stereotypes about otherness and for the promotion of an imperialist agenda. This paper aims to investigate conceptions of Greekness in contemporary Greek travelogues which involve a rethinking of stereotypical national representations. The analysis proceeds by proposing the method of “questioning home” in travelogues through diffracted gazes towards the traveller’s homeland as a result of his encounter with otherness. In the second part, Greekness is explored beyond the nation-state approach and the long-held national stereotype of the “Greek particularism”, Greece’s isolation because of the country’s unresolved tension between East and West. A. Vistonitis’ and M. Kassolas’s travelogues reporting their travels to the East (China and to the West (USA respectively at the end of the 20th century are examined as case-studies. Through narrators’ dialogues with their hosts and the raising of relevant political and geopolitical issues, “transnational” conceptions of Greek identity are explored: the notions of “diaspora”, “cosmopolitan citizenship”, “openness” and “connectivity” challenge the national narration based on “purity” and “exclusion”, and facilitate the investigation of potential roles for Greece in the globalized world of the early 21st century.

Teaching for Content: Greek Mythology in French.

Science.gov (United States)

Giauque, Gerald S.

An intermediate-level university French course in Greek mythology was developed to (1) improve student skills in reading, writing, speaking, and comprehending French, (2) familiarize students with Greek mythology, and (3) prepare students to deal better with allusions to Greek mythology in French literature. The texts used are a French translation…

Action video games make dyslexic children read better.

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Franceschini, Sandro; Gori, Simone; Ruffino, Milena; Viola, Simona; Molteni, Massimo; Facoetti, Andrea

2013-03-18

Learning to read is extremely difficult for about 10% of children; they are affected by a neurodevelopmental disorder called dyslexia [1, 2]. The neurocognitive causes of dyslexia are still hotly debated [3-12]. Dyslexia remediation is far from being fully achieved [13], and the current treatments demand high levels of resources [1]. Here, we demonstrate that only 12 hr of playing action video games-not involving any direct phonological or orthographic training-drastically improve the reading abilities of children with dyslexia. We tested reading, phonological, and attentional skills in two matched groups of children with dyslexia before and after they played action or nonaction video games for nine sessions of 80 min per day. We found that only playing action video games improved children's reading speed, without any cost in accuracy, more so than 1 year of spontaneous reading development and more than or equal to highly demanding traditional reading treatments. Attentional skills also improved during action video game training. It has been demonstrated that action video games efficiently improve attention abilities [14, 15]; our results showed that this attention improvement can directly translate into better reading abilities, providing a new, fast, fun remediation of dyslexia that has theoretical relevance in unveiling the causal role of attention in reading acquisition. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Health behavior and college students: does Greek affiliation matter?

Science.gov (United States)

Scott-Sheldon, Lori A J; Carey, Kate B; Carey, Michael P

2008-02-01

The college years offer an opportunity for new experiences, personal freedom, and identity development; however, this period is also noted for the emergence of risky health behaviors that place college students at risk for health problems. Affiliation with on-campus organizations such as fraternities or sororities may increase a students' risk given the rituals and socially endorsed behaviors associated with Greek organizations. In this study, we examined alcohol and drug use, smoking, sexual behavior, eating, physical activity, and sleeping in 1,595 college students (n = 265 Greek members, n = 1,330 non-Greek members). Results show Greek members engaged in more risky health behaviors (e.g., alcohol use, cigarette smoking, sexual partners, and sex under the influence of alcohol or drugs) than non-Greek members. Greek and non-Greek members did not differ in condom use, unprotected sex, eating, and physical activity behaviors. Implications for prevention and intervention strategies among Greek members are discussed.

Facebook levels the playing field: Dyslexic students learning through digital literacies

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Owen Barden

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Dyslexia has an ambivalent relationship with learning technology. Any potential gains may be nullified if the technology is perceived to exacerbate stigma. This paper examines the use of an ‘everyday’ technology, Facebook, by a small group of sixth form students labelled as dyslexic. ‘Levelling the playing field’ is a phrase the participants used often when discussing what they wanted from learning technology. Because dyslexia usually is defined in terms of significant difficulties with literacy, we might reasonably anticipate that the participants would see Facebook as stigmatising rather than levelling the playing field, because of the very public literacy events that it demands. However, the data indicate that far from shying away from Facebook because of fear of their difficulties with literacy being exposed, the participants enthusiastically embraced it. The students saw Facebook as a desirable presence in their education, one that supported inclusion. For them, levelling the playing field with Facebook had five dimensions: keeping up to date and meeting deadlines; increased control over learning; developing metacognitive awareness; greater control over literacy process and demands; and being experts and helpers. The findings perhaps challenge some assumptions about dyslexia, literacy and learning, and may be of interest to teachers working with dyslexic students, or researchers studying learning in digitally mediated social networks.

The art of providing resuscitation in Greek mythology.

Science.gov (United States)

Siempos, Ilias I; Ntaidou, Theodora K; Samonis, George

2014-12-01

We reviewed Greek mythology to accumulate tales of resuscitation and we explored whether these tales could be viewed as indirect evidence that ancient Greeks considered resuscitation strategies similar to those currently used. Three compendia of Greek mythology: The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology, The Greek Myths by Robert Graves, and Greek Mythology by Ioannis Kakridis were used to find potentially relevant narratives. Thirteen myths that may suggest resuscitation (including 1 case of autoresuscitation) were identified. Methods to attempt mythological resuscitation included use of hands (which may correlate with basic life support procedures), a kiss on the mouth (similar to mouth-to-mouth resuscitation), application of burning torches (which might recall contemporary use of external defibrillators), and administration of drugs (a possible analogy to advanced life support procedures). A careful assessment of relevant myths demonstrated that interpretations other than medical might be more credible. Although several narratives of Greek mythology might suggest modern resuscitation techniques, they do not clearly indicate that ancient Greeks presaged scientific methods of resuscitation. Nevertheless, these elegant tales reflect humankind's optimism that a dying human might be restored to life if the appropriate procedures were implemented. Without this optimism, scientific improvement in the field of resuscitation might not have been achieved.

WISC-III cognitive profiles in children with developmental dyslexia: specific cognitive disability and diagnostic utility.

Science.gov (United States)

Moura, Octávio; Simões, Mário R; Pereira, Marcelino

2014-02-01

This study analysed the usefulness of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition in identifying specific cognitive impairments that are linked to developmental dyslexia (DD) and the diagnostic utility of the most common profiles in a sample of 100 Portuguese children (50 dyslexic and 50 normal readers) between the ages of 8 and 12 years. Children with DD exhibited significantly lower scores in the Verbal Comprehension Index (except the Vocabulary subtest), Freedom from Distractibility Index (FDI) and Processing Speed Index subtests, with larger effect sizes than normal readers in Information, Arithmetic and Digit Span. The Verbal-Performance IQs discrepancies, Bannatyne pattern and the presence of FDI; Arithmetic, Coding, Information and Digit Span subtests (ACID) and Symbol Search, Coding, Arithmetic and Digit Span subtests (SCAD) profiles (full or partial) in the lowest subtests revealed a low diagnostic utility. However, the receiver operating characteristic curve and the optimal cut-off score analyses of the composite ACID; FDI and SCAD profiles scores showed moderate accuracy in correctly discriminating dyslexic readers from normal ones. These results suggested that in the context of a comprehensive assessment, the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition provides some useful information about the presence of specific cognitive disabilities in DD. Practitioner Points. Children with developmental dyslexia revealed significant deficits in the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition subtests that rely on verbal abilities, processing speed and working memory. The composite Arithmetic, Coding, Information and Digit Span subtests (ACID); Freedom from Distractibility Index and Symbol Search, Coding, Arithmetic and Digit Span subtests (SCAD) profile scores showed moderate accuracy in correctly discriminating dyslexics from normal readers. Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition may provide some useful

Death in the Modern Greek Culture

OpenAIRE

Pentaris, Panagiotis

2012-01-01

Each culture recognizes and identifies death, dying and bereavement in unique ways. Commonly, a culture may be seen through the lens of death rituals; how those are shaped, interpreted and used by the society. This paper aims to look at the Modern Greek culture and depict its ‘visualization’ of death, as well as capture the rituals that mostly identify this specific culture. The Greek culture in overall is strongly influenced by the Greek Orthodox Church. Hence, the experiences of death, dyin...

Age, dyslexia subtype and comorbidity modulate rapid auditory processing in developmental dyslexia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Luisa eLorusso

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The nature of Rapid Auditory Processing (RAP deficits in dyslexia remains debated, together with the specificity of the problem to certain types of stimuli and/or restricted subgroups of individuals. Following the hypothesis that the heterogeneity of the dyslexic population may have led to contrasting results, the aim of the study was to define the effect of age, dyslexia subtype and comorbidity on the discrimination and reproduction of nonverbal tone sequences.Participants were 46 children aged 8 - 14 (26 with dyslexia, subdivided according to age, presence of a previous language delay, and type of dyslexia. Experimental tasks were a Temporal Order Judgment (TOJ (manipulating tone length, ISI and sequence length, and a Pattern Discrimination Task. Dyslexic children showed general RAP deficits. Tone length and ISI influenced dyslexic and control children’s performance in a similar way, but dyslexic children were more affected by an increase from 2 to 5 sounds. As to age, older dyslexic children’s difficulty in reproducing sequences of 4 and 5 tones was similar to that of normally reading younger (but not older children. In the analysis of subgroup profiles, the crucial variable appears to be the advantage, or lack thereof, in processing long vs short sounds. Dyslexic children with a previous language delay obtained the lowest scores in RAP measures, but they performed worse with shorter stimuli, similar to control children, while dyslexic-only children showed no advantage for longer stimuli. As to dyslexia subtype, only surface dyslexics improved their performance with longer stimuli, while phonological dyslexics did not. Differential scores for short vs long tones and for long vs short ISIs predict nonword and word reading, respectively, and the former correlate with phonemic awareness.In conclusion, the relationship between nonverbal RAP, phonemic skills and reading abilities appears to be characterized by complex interactions with

78 FR 18455 - Greek Independence Day: A National Day of Celebration of Greek and American Democracy, 2013

Science.gov (United States)

2013-03-27

... celebrates Greek Independence Day to strengthen the bonds between the birthplace of democracy and the world's... National Day of Celebration of Greek and American Democracy. I call upon the people of the United States to...

Urban Environmental Planning in Greek Cities - The response of medium sized Greek cities, the case of Volos

OpenAIRE

Antoniou, Eftychia

2005-01-01

The city is a vital sum of functions, of human actions, of resources and of a built and physical environment. The sustainability of cities is relatively a new area of interest, especially for the Greek cities. Only in the last decade was sustainability introduced to the Greek planning process. Unfortunately, the Greek cities do not follow the Local Agenda 21, an instrument that is trying to promote sustainability issues for the built environment. The city of Volos in Greece seems to be more s...

Implicit learning of non-linguistic and linguistic regularities in children with dyslexia.

Science.gov (United States)

Nigro, Luciana; Jiménez-Fernández, Gracia; Simpson, Ian C; Defior, Sylvia

2016-07-01

One of the hallmarks of dyslexia is the failure to automatise written patterns despite repeated exposure to print. Although many explanations have been proposed to explain this problem, researchers have recently begun to explore the possibility that an underlying implicit learning deficit may play a role in dyslexia. This hypothesis has been investigated through non-linguistic tasks exploring implicit learning in a general domain. In this study, we examined the abilities of children with dyslexia to implicitly acquire positional regularities embedded in both non-linguistic and linguistic stimuli. In experiment 1, 42 children (21 with dyslexia and 21 typically developing) were exposed to rule-governed shape sequences; whereas in experiment 2, a new group of 42 children were exposed to rule-governed letter strings. Implicit learning was assessed in both experiments via a forced-choice task. Experiments 1 and 2 showed a similar pattern of results. ANOVA analyses revealed no significant differences between the dyslexic and the typically developing group, indicating that children with dyslexia are not impaired in the acquisition of simple positional regularities, regardless of the nature of the stimuli. However, within group t-tests suggested that children from the dyslexic group could not transfer the underlying positional rules to novel instances as efficiently as typically developing children.

Origins of the historiography of modern Greek science.

Science.gov (United States)

Patiniotis, Manolis

2008-01-01

The purpose of the paper is to examine how Greek historians account for the presence of modern scientific ideas in the intellectual environment of eighteenth-century Greek-speaking society. It will also discuss the function of the history of modern Greek science in the context of Greek national historiography. As will be shown, the history of modem Greek science spent most of its life under the shadow of the history of ideas. Despite its seemingly secondary role, however, it occupied a distinctive place within national historiography because it formed the ground upon which different perceptions of the country's European identity converged. In this respect, one of the main goals of this paper is to outline the particular ideological presumptions, which shaped the historiography of modern Greek science under different historical circumstances. At the end an attempt will be made to articulate a viewpoint more in tandem with the recent methodological developments in the history of science.

Dreams in ancient Greek Medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Laios, K; Moschos, M M; Koukaki, E; Vasilopoulos, E; Karamanou, M; Kontaxaki, M-I; Androutsos, G

2016-01-01

Dreams preoccupied the Greek and Roman world in antiquity, therefore they had a prominent role in social, philosophical, religious, historical and political life of those times. They were considered as omens and prophetic signs of future events in private and public life, and that was particularly accentuated when elements of actions which took place in the plot of dreams were associated directly or indirectly with real events. This is why it was important to use them in divination, and helped the growth of superstition and folklore believes. Medicine as a science and an anthropocentric art, could not ignore the importance of dreams, having in mind their popularity in antiquity. In ancient Greek medicine dreams can be divided into two basic categories. In the first one -which is related to religious medicine-dreams experienced by religionists are classified, when resorted to great religious sanctuaries such as those of Asclepius (Asclepieia) and Amphiaraos (Amfiaraeia). These dreams were the essential element for healing in this form of religious medicine, because after pilgrims underwent purifications they went to sleep in a special dwelling of the sanctuaries called "enkoimeterion" (Greek: the place to sleep) so that the healing god would come to their dreams either to cure them or to suggest treatment. In ancient Greek literature there are many reports of these experiences, but if there may be phenomena of self-suggestion, or they could be characterized as propaganda messages from the priesthood of each sanctuary for advertising purposes. The other category concerns the references about dreams found in ancient Greek medical literature, where one can find the attempts of ancient Greek physicians to interpret these dreams in a rational way as sings either of a corporal disease or of psychological distress. This second category will be the object of our study. Despite the different ways followed by each ancient Greek physician in order to explain dreams, their

Increased deficit of visual attention span with development in Chinese children with developmental dyslexia.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Jing; Liu, Menglian; Liu, Hanlong; Huang, Chen

2018-02-16

It has been suggested that orthographic transparency and age changes may affect the relationship between visual attention span (VAS) deficit and reading difficulty. The present study explored the developmental trend of VAS in children with developmental dyslexia (DD) in Chinese, a logographic language with a deep orthography. Fifty-seven Chinese children with DD and fifty-four age-matched normal readers participated. The visual 1-back task was adopted to examine VAS. Phonological and morphological awareness tests, and reading tests in single-character and sentence levels were used for reading skill measurements. Results showed that only high graders with dyslexia exhibited lower accuracy than the controls in the VAS task, revealing an increased VAS deficit with development in the dyslexics. Moreover, the developmental trajectory analyses demonstrated that the dyslexics seemed to exhibit an atypical but not delayed pattern in their VAS development as compared to the controls. A correlation analysis indicated that VAS was only associated with morphological awareness for dyslexic readers in high grades. Further regression analysis showed that VAS skills and morphological awareness made separate and significant contributions to single-character reading for high grader with dyslexia. These findings suggested a developmental increasing trend in the relationship between VAS skills and reading (dis)ability in Chinese.

The extent of food advertising to children on Greek television: focus on foods potentially detrimental to oral health.

Science.gov (United States)

Gatou, T; Mamai-Homata, E; Polychronopoulou, A; Koletsi-Kounari, H

2014-06-01

To investigate the extent and nature of food advertising to children on Greek television, focusing on the adverts for foods with potential harmful effects on oral health, and to examine the persuasive marketing techniques used to promote food products. Advertisements broadcast on six TV-channels during children's peak viewing times on two weekdays and two weekend days in the period May-June 2010 were recorded (166.7 hours). Each advertisement was coded according to: date, day, length, type of program in which the ad appeared, type of product advertised and promotional technique used. Food advertisements were subdivided according to their sugar and/or acid content as potentially harmful or non-harmful to teeth. Food advertisements had an average frequency of 8.0 per hour during children's peak viewing times with highest frequency (11.4 per hour) on weekends during child-focused programs. Of all advertisements, 1330 (26.7%) were for foods, and 595 (44.7%) of these deemed to be potentially harmful to teeth. The most commonly advertised food product during children's programs was confectionery, 80 (27.7%). Of food advertisements, 199 (15.0%) used at least one of the promotional techniques likely to appeal to children. Advertisements for foods potentially harmful for teeth were more likely to be shown during child-focused programs (OR 2.92, 95% CI 2.04-4.16) and to promise a free gift with purchase (OR 35.43, 95% CI 10.83-115.88). Children in Greece are exposed to a large volume of advertisements for unhealthy foods and drinks, which intensively use persuasive techniques proved to affect children's food preferences and consumption. Our study provides evidence that could support advocacy and interventions for the regulation of food advertising.

Greek theories on eugenics.

OpenAIRE

Galton, D J

1998-01-01

With the recent developments in the Human Genome Mapping Project and the new technologies that are developing from it there is a renewal of concern about eugenic applications. Francis Galton (b1822, d1911), who developed the subject of eugenics, suggested that the ancient Greeks had contributed very little to social theories of eugenics. In fact the Greeks had a profound interest in methods of supplying their city states with the finest possible progeny. This paper therefore reviews the works...

Jews and Greeks in Alexandria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Klemen Klun

2003-12-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the history of contacts and cultural exchange between the Jews and the Greeks in early and late antiquity, especially relevant not only for historians and philologists, but also for those interested in Hellenistic philosophy and the origins of Christianity, having its roots into a very complex fusion of Jewish and Greek tradition. Metropolitan city of Alexandria in Ptolemaic Egypt provided a very fruitfull milieu for this kind of cultural contact just from the time the group of seventy-two translators arrived to the city to translate the Hebrew Scripture for the famous library in the time of Ptolemy II (285-247 BCE and his librarian Demetrius of Phalerum. For the genealogy of contacts between two nations that both contributed so much to the Western thought, we may, of course, go back to the history and relevant sources. The City of Jerusalem, for instance, is mentioned for the first time in the old Egyptian Tell el-Amarna correspondence (XIV. century BCE, while the Jews (though often named as the Syrians of Palestine are referred to by many Greek authors (poet Alcaius from Lesbos, Herodotus, Theophrastus, Hecataeus of Abdera, an Egyptian priest in Heliopolis Manetho, Polybius, Menander, and many others. The Hebrew Bible (Tanakh on the other hand, provides an interesting source of records of contacts between the old Israelites and the Greek speaking tribes (from the Ionian isles, Crete, Cyprus etc, back to the reign of king David and king Solomon (X. century BCE, which both allegedly enrolled Greek soldiers and officials in their armies (cf. 2 Samuel 20, 23; 1 Kings 1, 38. The Bible also reports about trade contacts between Palestine and Greek lsles (cf. Ezekiel 27, 7; Joel 4.6, and also about Greek settlers in the 'Holly land' (cf. Deuteronomy 2, 23; Jeremiah 47, 4; Zephaniah 2, 5. The period after Alexander the Great is also very important for relations between Greeks and Jews. When his diadochoi came to Palestine, they

The profile of the Greek 'XXL' family.

Science.gov (United States)

Christoforidis, Athanasios; Batzios, Spyros; Sidiropoulos, Haralampos; Provatidou, Maria; Cassimos, Dimitris

2011-10-01

To identify Greek families in which all members were overweight or obese (XXL families) and to describe their profile with regard to their socio-economic status and their eating behaviours and practices. A prospective cohort study. The metropolitan area of Kavala. We recruited children aged 11 and 12 years from twelve primary schools, and their parents, from volunteers. Auxologic measurements of the children included height and weight. A structured questionnaire pertaining to information on the socio-economic status of the family, anthropometric values and educational status of parents, dietary habits and the availability of various food products and beverages at home, as well as dietary intake, physical activity, time spent sleeping and time spent watching television, was filled in by one of the parents of each child. A total of 331 families finally participated. In sixty-one families (18·43 %) both parents and child were either overweight or obese (XXL family), and in seven of these families all members were obese. Only twenty-eight families (8·46 %) had all members with a normal BMI. The XXL family was associated with lower educational status of both parents, whereas a higher percentage of XXL families resided in rural areas and had lower income. Skipping breakfast and spending more than 3 h in front of a screen every day were more frequently observed in XXL families. With regard to the availability of various food products and beverages at home, no significant differences were observed between XXL families and the rest of the studied families. Greek XXL families have lower educational status and lower annual income.

Differences in learning volitional (manual and non-volitional (posture aspects of a complex motor skill in young adult dyslexic and skilled readers.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Itamar Sela

Full Text Available The 'Cerebellar Deficit Theory' of developmental dyslexia proposes that a subtle developmental cerebellar dysfunction leads to deficits in attaining 'automatic' procedures and therefore manifests as subtle motor impairments (e.g., balance control, motor skill learning in addition to the reading and phonological difficulties. A more recent version of the theory suggests a core deficit in motor skill acquisition. This study was undertaken to compare the time-course and the nature of practice-related changes in volitional (manual and non-volitional (posture motor performance in dyslexic and typical readers while learning a new movement sequence. Seventeen dyslexic and 26 skilled young adult readers underwent a three-session training program in which they practiced a novel sequence of manual movements while standing in a quiet stance position. Both groups exhibited robust and well-retained gains in speed, with no loss of accuracy, on the volitional, manual, aspects of the task, with a time-course characteristic of procedural learning. However, the dyslexic readers exhibited a pervasive slowness in the initiation of volitional performance. In addition, while typical readers showed clear and well-retained task-related adaptation of the balance and posture control system, the dyslexic readers had significantly larger sway and variance of sway throughout the three sessions and were less efficient in adapting the posture control system to support the acquisition of the novel movement sequence. These results support the notion of a non-language-related deficit in developmental dyslexia, one related to the recruitment of motor systems for effective task performance rather than to a general motor learning disability.

Greek Teachers Programme 2015

CERN Multimedia

Hoch, Michael

2015-01-01

The 3rd edition of this year's Greek Teachers Programme was co-organized by CERN Education Group and the Hellenic Physical Society and took place from 8 to 12 November 2015. The programme targets physics high-school teachers from all over Greece. It aims to help teachers inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers by motivating their students to understand and appreciate how science works at the world's largest physics laboratory, whereby increasing their interest in pursuing studies in STEM fields in secondary and post-secondary education. 33 teachers took part in this programme which comprised lectures by Greek members of the CERN scientific community, with visits to experimental facilities, hands-on activities and dedicated sessions on effective and creative ways through which participants may bring physics, particle physics and CERN closer to their school classroom. In 2015, more than 100 teachers took part in the three editions of the Greek Teachers Programme.

Long Memory in the Greek Stock Market

OpenAIRE

John T. Barkoulas; Christopher F. Baum; Nickolaos Travlos

1996-01-01

We test for stochastic long memory in the Greek stock market, an emerging capital market. The fractional differencing parameter is estimated using the spectral regression method. Contrary to findings for major capital markets, significant and robust evidence of positive long-term persistence is found in the Greek stock market. As compared to benchmark linear models, the estimated fractional models provide improved out-of-sample forecasting accuracy for the Greek stock returns series over long...

Effects of Two Linguistically Proximal Varieties on the Spectral and Coarticulatory Properties of Fricatives: Evidence from Athenian Greek and Cypriot Greek

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Charalambos Themistocleous

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Several studies have explored the acoustic structure of fricatives, yet there has been very little acoustic research on the effects of dialects on the production of fricatives. This article investigates the effects of two linguistically proximal Modern Greek dialects, Athenian Greek and Cypriot Greek on the temporal, spectral, and coarticulatory properties of fricatives and aims to determine the acoustic properties that convey information about these two dialects. Productions of voiced and voiceless labiodental, dental, alveolar, palatal, and velar fricatives were extracted from a speaking task from typically speaking female adult speakers (25 Cypriot Greek and 20 Athenian Greek speakers. Measures were made of spectral properties, using a spectral moments analysis. The formants of the following vowel were measured and second degree polynomials of the formant contours were calculated. The findings showed that Athenian Greek and Cypriot Greek fricatives differ in all spectral properties across all places of articulation. Also, the co-articulatory effects of fricatives on following vowel were different depending on the dialect. Duration, spectral moments, and the starting frequencies of F1, F2, F3, and F4 contributed the most to the classification of dialect. These findings provide a solid evidence base for the manifestation of dialectal information in the acoustic structure of fricatives.

Resistance to change in Greek higher education

OpenAIRE

Kremmyda, Stamatia

2015-01-01

This thesis is a study of resistance to the changes in Greek higher education that were implemented within the framework of the 1999 Bologna Agreement of the European Union in the period 2007-2008. The changes that occurred were of great significance for Greece’s education system as they introduced important changes in the structure and function of Greek higher education. This thesis argues that the organisational culture that had been created throughout the history of Greek higher education ...

From ancient Greek Logos to European rationality

OpenAIRE

APOSTOLOPOULOU GEORGIA

2016-01-01

Because of history, culture, and politics, European identity has its archetypical elements in ancient Greek culture. Ancient Greek philosophy brought Logos to fore and defined it as the crucial problem and the postulate of the human. We translate the Greek term Logos in English as reason or rationality. These terms, however, do not cover the semantic field of Logos since this includes, among other things, order of being, ground, language, argument etc. The juxtaposition of Logos (reason) to m...

The role of age of onset and input in early child bilingualism in Greek and Dutch

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Unsworth, S.; Argyri, F.; Cornips, L.; Hulk, A.; Sorace, A.; Tsimpli, I.

2014-01-01

The focus of this study is the acquisition of grammatical gender in Greek and Dutch by bilingual children whose other language is English. Although grammatical gender languages share the property of noun classification in terms of grammatical gender, there are important differences between the

The influence of Greek drama on Matthew's Gospel

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2014-05-20

May 20, 2014 ... This article presents the Greek influence on the genre of Matthew's text. Greek and Roman .... Matthew's Gospel, it is necessary to examine the basic make- up of Greek .... purpose of the chorus was to depict the reaction of the people in the audience. ..... in Knowing Jesus and his friends better, viewed 18 ...

Maternal attitudes of Greek migrant women.

Science.gov (United States)

Dikaiou, M; Sakka, D; Haritos-fatouros, M

1987-03-01

This study examines groups of Greek migrant mothers and their attitudes towards their children in different stages of the migratory process. There were 2 lots of samples of Greek migrants mothers who had at least 2 children 8-10 years old, 1 from the home country (5 villages of the District Drama in East Macedonia) and 1 from the receiving country (the area of Baden-Wurtenberg, where most of the migrants from East Macedonia are living). The 4 groups are: 1) 20 mothers who have always lived with their child in the host country; 2) 20 mothers who live in the host country where their child has joined them in the last 2-4 years; 3) 27 mothers who have lived in the host country with their child and have returned home in the last 2-4 years; and 4) 24 non-migrant mothers who have always lived with their families in the home country (control group). Women were interviewed using 2 questionnaires: a survey and an attitude questionnaire. The range of mothers' ages was 20-50 years. The youngest mothers were in the control group whereas group 1 mothers were the oldest. Groups 1 and 2 were mostly unskilled workers; groups 3 and 4 were mostly housewives. The returnees stayed in the host country a mean of 10 years, whereas the other 2 migrant groups were there 14.6 years. There were significantly fewer children in the families of groups 1 and 2 than 3 and 4. The attitude questionnaire covered the following child rearing practices: 1) training the child to participate in home duties; 2) keeping clean and tidy; 3) self-reliance and social behavior towards visitors; 4) ways of dealing with a child's obedience/disobedience; 5) dealing with favor-seeking behavior, food, and sleeping problems; and 6) mother's degree of permissiveness, supervision, and intervention on child's personal and interpersonal sphere of life. Findings show that moving from home to host country and coming back home creates the most controlling mothers, probably because mothers and children face anxiety

Parental characteristics of Jews and Greeks in Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Parker, G; Lipscombe, P

1979-09-01

A controlled study was conducted in Sydney to assess the reported characteristics of Jewish and Greek parents. Using a measure of fundamental parental characteristics the 81 Jewish subjects differed from controls only in scoring their mothers as less caring. The 125 Greek subjects scored both parents as more overprotective; further investigation revealed that the Greek parents were overprotective of their daughters only. Findings in the latter study suggest that overprotection by Greek parents may be influenced slightly by the age of the child when migrating, and that such a cultural pattern is resistant to acculturation effects.

Reading comprehension assessment through retelling: differences between dyslexic and language-based learning disable students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adriana Souza Batista Kida

2016-06-01

Full Text Available AbstractPurpose: To study reading comprehension performance profiles of children with dyslexia as well as language-based learning disability by means of retelling tasks. Method: 105 children from second to fifth grades of elementary school were gathered into six groups: Dyslexia group (D; n=19, Language-based learning disability group (LBLD; n=16; their respective control groups paired according to different variables - age, gender, grade and school system (public or private (D-control and LBLD-control; and other control groups paired according to different reading accuracy (D-accuracy; LBLD-accuracy. All of the children read an expository text and orally retold the story as they understood it. The analysis quantified propositions (main ideas and details and retold links. A retelling reference standard (3-0 was also established from the best to the worst performance. We compared both clinical groups (D and LBLD with their respective control groups by means of Mann-Whitney tests.Results: D showed the same total of propositions, links and reference standards as D-control, but performed better than D-accuracy in macro structural (total of links and super structural (retelling reference standard measures. Results suggest that dyslexic children are able to use their linguistic competence and their own background knowledge to minimize the effects of their decoding deficit, especially at the highest text processing levels. LBLD performed worse than LBLD-control in all of the retelling measures and LBLD showed worse performance than LBLD-accuracy in the total retold links and retelling reference standard. Those results suggest that both decoding and linguistic difficulties affect reading comprehension. Moreover, the linguistic deficits presented by LBLD students do not allow these pupils to perform as competently in terms of text comprehension as the children with dyslexia do. Thus, failure in the macro and super-structural information processing of the

The Greek Qur’an : Scholarship and evaluations

OpenAIRE

Høgel, Christian

2012-01-01

The early Greek translation of the Qur’an has received little notice, not least due to the many claims that it was a faulty and inadequate attempt of rendering the Qur’an into Greek. This article argues that the faults are very few and minor, and that the early translation (from before 870 CE) should instead be read as a serious example of early Qur’anic interpretation as well as a documentation of early Greek readership of the Qur’an.

Ottoman Greek Education System and Greek Girls' Schools in Istanbul (19th and 20th Centuries)

Science.gov (United States)

Daglar Macar, Oya

2010-01-01

Modernization efforts in education, which were initiated in the 19th century, can be seen as forerunners of the modernization attempts in the Republic period. In this article, Greek education system in the Ottoman Empire will be discussed and the effects and importance of the changes observed in Greek girls' education in 19th and 20th centuries on…

Dyslexia Profiles across Orthographies Differing in Transparency: An Evaluation of Theoretical Predictions Contrasting English and Greek

Science.gov (United States)

Diamanti, Vassiliki; Goulandris, Nata; Campbell, Ruth; Protopapas, Athanassios

2018-01-01

We examined the manifestation of dyslexia in a cross-linguistic study contrasting English and Greek children with dyslexia compared to chronological age and reading-level control groups on reading accuracy and fluency, phonological awareness, short-term memory, rapid naming, orthographic choice, and spelling. Materials were carefully matched…

Connecting the Greeks : Festival networks in the Hellenistic world

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Williamson, Christina; van Nijf, Onno; Mann, Christian; Remijssen, Sophie; Scharff, Sebastian

2016-01-01

Panhellenic festivals were central to the ancient Greek world since archaic times, with places such as Delphi and Olympia defining the essence of a Greek ‘imagined community’. In the Hellenistic period, several Greek cities began to organize large-scale festivals of their own at their main

Greek-English Word Processing on the Macintosh.

Science.gov (United States)

Rusten, Jeffrey

1986-01-01

Discusses the complete Greek-English word processing system of the Apple Macintosh computer. Describes the features of its operating system, shows how the Greek fonts look and work, and enumerates both the advantages and drawbacks of the Macintosh. (SED)

Habilidades de leitura e escrita de crianças disléxicas e boas leitoras

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katerina Lukasov

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The work aims to assess the abilities of reading and writing in dyslexic and normal children through the following tests: Sentence Reading Comprehension Test (SRCT, of Sentence Hearing Comprehension Test (SHCT, of Picture-Print Writing Test (PPWT 1.1-Writing, of Picture-Print Matching Test (PPMT 1.1-Choice and Word Reading Competence Test (WRCT. 10 dyslexic children and 10 controls composed the sample. Significant differences was founded in performance of dyslexics in TTWT 1.1-Writing, TTWT 1.1-Choice and WRCT, with inferior performance in relation to the controls. Pearson’s correlations show that children with good performance in WRCT also had good performance in TTWT 1.1-Writing. The execution time of SRCT was raised in the group of dyslexics, but the number of rightness if kept in the average of the control group. These results allows to assess the effectiveness of the methods of evaluation, education and intervention of the pertaining to school tasks in dyslexics, therefore some dyslexics can have equal or superior performance to the one of the reading good children in case that she has the time necessary and enough to carry through its tasks

The role of feedback in implicit and explicit artificial grammar learning: a comparison between dyslexic and non-dyslexic adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Schiff, Rachel; Sasson, Ayelet; Star, Galit; Kahta, Shani

2017-10-01

The importance of feedback for learning has been firmly established over the past few decades. The question of whether feedback plays a significant role in the statistical learning abilities of adults with dyslexia, however, is currently unresolved. Here, we examined the role of feedback in grammaticality judgment, type of structural knowledge, and confidence rating in both typically developed and dyslexic adults. We implemented two artificial grammar learning experiments: implicit and explicit. The second experiment was directly analogous to the first experiment in all respects except training format: the standard memorization instruction was replaced with an explicit rule-search instruction. Each experiment was conducted with and without performance feedback. While both groups showed significantly improved learning in the feedback-based explicit artificial grammar learning task, only the typically developed adults demonstrated higher levels of conscious structural knowledge. The present study demonstrates that the basis for the grammaticality judgment of adults with dyslexia differs from that of typically developed adults, regardless of increase in the level of explicitness.

The Greek public debt problem

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michalis Nikiforos

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The present paper examines the issue of the Greek public debt. After providing a historical discussion, we show that the austerity of the last six years has been unsuccessful in stabilizing the debt while, at the same time, it has taken a heavy toll on the economy and society. The recent experience shows that the public debt is unsustainable and therefore a restructuring is needed. An insistence on the current policies is not justifiable either on pragmatic or on moral or any other grounds. The experience of Germany in the early post-WWII period provides some useful hints for the way forward. A solution to the public debt problem is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the solution of the Greek and European crisis. A wider agenda that deals with the malaises of the Greek economy and the structural imbalances of the Eurozone is of vital importance.

Traditional perception of Greeks in Serbian oral tradition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Konjik Ivana

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Based on material on Greeks from Vuk’s corpus of epic poems, we discuss the construction of ethnic stereotype of Greeks in Serbian language. However, the limitation of the paper’s possible conclusion lies in the nature of the corpus: Vuk had deliberately chosen one material over another, therefore, the corpus relating to Greeks cannot be considered as representative of the whole Serbian folk poems. Therefore, the discussion is limited to certain elements of the stereotype. Nevertheless, these Serbian epic folk poems contain many layers: historical, geographical, sociological, mythological and so on, with a strong foundation in traditional culture; thus, they provide an insight into geo-political situation of the time period, viewpoints, perspectives and experiences of other ethnic groups that Serbs have been into contact with. In particular, the relationship toward Greeks was marked with pronounced patriarchal attitude concerning others: we-others, ours-foreign, good-bad. In this sense, Greeks are portrayed as foreign, and as such, as a potential source of danger. On the other hand, Greeks are Christian Orthodox, which associates them with the category ours. In socio-economic sense, they were traders and wealthy, respected gentlemen. In epical-heroic profile, they were not considered as great heroes, but as "lousy army", and frequently, as unfaithful.

The invention of infertility in the classical Greek world: medicine, divinity, and gender.

Science.gov (United States)

Flemming, Rebecca

2013-01-01

The article examines the understandings of, and responses to, reproductive failure in the classical Greek world. It discusses explanations and treatments for non-procreation in a range of ancient Greek medical texts, focusing on the writings of the Hippocratic Corpus, which devote considerable energy to matters of fertility and generation, and places them alongside the availability of a divine approach to dealing with reproductive disruption, the possibility of asking various deities, including the specialist healing god Asclepius, for assistance in having children. Though the relations between these options are complex, they combine to produce a rich remedial array for those struggling with childlessness, the possibility that any impediment to procreation can be removed. Classical Greece, rather than the nineteenth century, or even 1978, is thus the time when "infertility," understood as an essentially reversible somatic state, was invented.

Assessment of the Greek worry-related metacognitions: the Greek version of the Metacognitions Questionnaire (MCQ-30).

Science.gov (United States)

Typaldou, G M; Konstantakopoulos, G; Roxanis, I; Nidos, A; Vaidakis, N; Papadimitriou, G N; Wells, A

2014-01-01

The Metacognitions Questionnaire-30 (MCQ-30), developed by Wells and Cartwright-Hatton (2004), represents a multidimensional measure of metacognitive factors considered to be important in the metacognitive model of psychological disorders. The primary aim of the present study was to examine internal consistency, test-retest reliability, convergent validity and the factor structure of the Greek version of the MCQ-30. Moreover, we investigated the associations of the extracted factors with trait anxiety in a Greek sample. The study sample consisted of 547 non-clinical participants (213 males and 334 females). All participants completed the Greek version of the MCQ-30. A subsample of 157 participants also completed the Trait Anxiety subscale of the State -Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Meta-worry subscale of the Anxious Thought Inventory. Thirty participants were retested with the MCQ-30 over a retest interval ranging from three to five weeks. The results confirmed the dimensionality of the MCQ-30 and five factors were extracted consistent with the original English version: (1) positive beliefs about worry, (2) negative beliefs about worry concerning uncontrollability and danger, (3) cognitive confidence, (4) beliefs about the need to control thoughts and the negative consequences of not controlling them, and (5) cognitive selfconsciousness. The MCQ-30 showed high levels of internal consistency and test-retest reliability. The correlation between MCQ-30 total score and AnTI-MW was strong, indicating high level of convergent validity. Moreover, all correlations between MCQ-30 total and subscale scores and STAI-T were significant apart from the correlation between 'cognitive confidence' and trait anxiety. The Greek sample scored higher in the MCQ-30 and its subscales than the English sample in the original study. Women scored significantly higher than men in the overall MCQ-30 and the "uncontrollability and danger" and "need to control thoughts" subscales, whereas no

Goneis.gr: Training Greek Parents on ICT and Safer Internet

Science.gov (United States)

Manouselis, Nikos; Riviou, Katerina; Palavitsinis, Nikos; Giannikopoulou, Vasiliki; Tsanakas, Panayotis

Children's use of the Internet has significantly risen in the last decade. Nevertheless, children spend a lot of time online which makes them susceptible to various threats (such as inappropriate material, offensive language, etc). Parents are the last frontier to this menace but they also need to be educated and trained in order to protect their children. Goneis.gr is an initiative launched by the Greek government that aims to educate parents on safer Internet and the use of parental control software. Parents are also entitled to distance learning courses covering basic computer skills. This paper presents the results of two separate surveys that took place in the last few months (December 2008-January 2009). The first survey targeted the parents that have completed the programme and the second one the educational providers that participate in the programme and offer the training to the beneficiaries.

Whither prometheus' liver? Greek myth and the science of regeneration.

Science.gov (United States)

Power, Carl; Rasko, John E J

2008-09-16

Stem-cell biologists and those involved in regenerative medicine are fascinated by the story of Prometheus, the Greek god whose immortal liver was feasted on day after day by Zeus' eagle. This myth invariably provokes the question: Did the ancient Greeks know about the liver's amazing capacity for self-repair? The authors address this question by exploring the origins of Greek myth and medicine, adopting a 2-fold strategy. First, the authors consider what opportunities the ancient Greeks had to learn about the liver's structure and function. This involves a discussion of early battlefield surgery, the beginnings of anatomical research, and the ancient art of liver augury. In addition, the authors consider how the Greeks understood Prometheus' immortal liver. Not only do the authors examine the general theme of regeneration in Greek mythology, they survey several scholarly interpretations of Prometheus' torture.

E-Portfolios and Personalized Learning: Research in Practice with Two Dyslexic Learners in UK Higher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Hughes, Julie; Herrington, Margaret; McDonald, Tess; Rhodes, Amy

2011-01-01

This paper analyses the use of an e-portfolio system in contributing to the personalized learning of two dyslexic learners at the University of Wolverhampton, UK. The rationale for this research rests at the intersection of generic findings from e-portfolio (and wider e-learning) research and the still challenging project in higher education (HE)…

Evaluating the Predictive Impact of an Emergent Literacy Model on Dyslexia in Italian Children: A Four-Year Prospective Cohort Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Bigozzi, Lucia; Tarchi, Christian; Pezzica, Sara; Pinto, Giuliana

2016-01-01

The strong differences in manifestation, prevalence, and incidence in dyslexia across languages invite studies in specific writing systems. In particular, the question of the role played by emergent literacy in opaque and transparent writing systems remains a fraught one. This research project tested, through a 4-year prospective cohort study, an emergent literacy model for the analysis of the characteristics of future dyslexic children and normally reading peers in Italian, a transparent writing system. A cohort of 450 children was followed from the last year of kindergarten to the third grade in their reading acquisition process. Dyslexic children were individuated (Grade 3), and their performances in kindergarten in textual competence, phonological awareness, and conceptual knowledge of the writing system were compared with a matched group of normally reading peers. Results showed the predictive relevance of the conceptual knowledge of the writing system. The study's implications are discussed. © Hammill Institute on Disabilities 2014.

Showroom10: Greek designers showroom

Science.gov (United States)

Evgeneiadou, E.

2017-10-01

Showroom10 is the first exclusive Greek designer’s showroom. It represents established and upcoming Greek designers in Greece and Cyprus. The mission and main task is to successfully place the designer’s collections in the Greek, European and worldwide market. The purpose of the showroom is to put a collection in front of the appropriate buyer accelerate its revenue growth and create brand awareness. The search for new collections is one of the most important tasks and challenge of a showroom’s business. Market research, travels and fashion trade shows are some ways to stand before an interested brand. Each collection must first be selected in terms of authenticity, clear brand DNA as we call it in fashion. Secondly, must be competitive in terms of materials, designs and prices. But, are all the above enough for the global fashion market? This paper describes a case study (Showroom 10), showing a general overview about the most important phases of “designer’s road” in Greece.

The effect of magnocellular-based visual-motor intervention on Chinese children with developmental dyslexia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yi eQian

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Magnocellular(M deficit theory points out that the core deficit of developmental dyslexia (DD is the impairment in M pathway, which has been evidenced in many previous studies. Based on the M deficit, some researchers found that visual intervention focusing on M deficit improved dyslexics’ M function as well as reading abilities. However, the number and reliability of these training studies were limited. Therefore, the present study conducted an M-based visual-motor intervention on Chinese children with DD to investigate the relationship between M deficit and Chinese DD. Intervention programs included coherent motion detection, visual search, visual tracking and juggling, which were related to M function. The results showed that M function and phonological awareness of training dyslexic group were improved to a normal level as age-matched normal children after intervention, while non-training dyslexics did not. It supported M deficit theory, and suggested M deficit might be the core deficit of Chinese DD.

Small Stories of the Greek Crisis on Facebook

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Mariza Georgalou

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Since it erupted in 2009, the Greek debt crisis has disrupted Greek people’s quotidian life both at a socio-political and at a personal level. In the contemporary social media ecosystem, with the massive bulk of user-produced and user-consumed content, narratives that concern this critical turning point in Greek modern history have found fertile soil to thrive. In this article, having enmeshed discourse-centered online ethnography (Androutsopoulos, 2008 with small stories research (Georgakopoulou, 2007, the dimensional approach to narratives (Ochs & Capps, 2001, and stance-taking (Du Bois, 2007, I look at how a Greek Facebook user has recounted her emotions, thoughts, opinions, and assessments toward the Greek crisis. In doing so, I point to the intertextual, multimodal, and synergetic nature of these narratives. The article argues that Facebook can function as a powerful grassroots channel for expressive storytelling within a period of major socio-political upheaval. It also shows how Facebook has stretched our conception of what (digital storytelling is as different Facebook affordances propel into different ways of narrating within the medium.

Working memory: its role in dyslexia and other specific learning difficulties.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeffries, Sharman; Everatt, John

2004-08-01

This paper reports a study contrasting dyslexic children against a control group of children without special educational needs (SEN) and a group with varied SENs. Children's abilities were compared on tasks assessing phonological processing, visuo-spatial/motor coordination and executive/inhibitory functioning; being targeted for assessment based on theoretical proposals related to the working memory model. Primary and secondary school level children were tested: 21 assessed as dyslexic with no comorbid difficulties, 26 children assessed with difficulties including dyspraxia, emotional/behavioural problems and attention deficits, 40 children with no known education-related deficits were controls. Results indicated both SEN groups performed worse than controls on working memory phonological loop measures. However, SEN groups could only be differentiated on phonological awareness measures: the dyslexics showing lower scores. Dyslexics performed as well as controls on working memory visuo-spatial scratch pad measures and one of two additional visual-motor coordination tasks, whereas the performance of the other SEN children was lowest on the majority of these measures. Central executive and interference measures engendered mixed performances, both SEN groups showing evidence of deficits in one or more of these areas of functioning, although, of the two SEN groups, the dyslexics seem to have performed the worse when digit name processing was required.

Evaluation of visual stress symptoms in age-matched dyslexic, Meares-Irlen syndrome and normal adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Alanazi, Mana A; Alanazi, Saud A; Osuagwu, Uchechukwu L

2016-01-01

To examine the prevalence of dyslexia and Meares-Irlen syndrome (MIS) among female students and determine their level of visual stress in comparison with normal subjects. A random sample of 450 female medical students of King Saud University Riyadh (age range, 18-30y) responded to a wide range of questions designed to accomplish the aims of this study. The detailed questionnaire consisted of 54 questions with 12 questions enquiring on ocular history and demography of participants while 42 questions were on visual symptoms. Items were categorized into critical and non-critical questions (CQ and NCQ) and were rated on four point Likert scale. Based on the responses obtained, the subjects were grouped into normal (control), dyslexic with or without MIS (Group 1) and subjects with MIS only (Group 2). Responses were analysed as averages and mean scores were calculated and compared between groups using one way analysis of variance to evaluate total visual stress score (TVSS=NCQ+CQ), critical and non-critical visual stress scores. The relationship between categorical variables such as age, handedness and condition were assessed with Chi-square test. The completion rate was 97.6% and majority of the respondents (92%) were normal readers, 2% dyslexic and 6% had MIS. They were age-matched. More than half of the participants had visited an eye care practitioner in the last 2y. About 13% were recommended eye exercises and one participant experienced pattern glare. Hand preference was not associated with any condition but Group 1 subjects (3/9, 33%) were significantly more likely to be diagnosed of lazy eye than Group 2 (2/27, 7%) and control (27/414, 7%) subjects. The mean±SD of TVSS responses were 63±14 and it was 44±9 for CQ and 19±5 for NCQ. Responses from all three variables were normally distributed but the CQ responses were on the average more positive (82%) in Group 2 and less positive (46%) in Group 1 than control. With NCQ, the responses were equally less positive

Greek Talented Students' Motivation: A Qualitative Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Zbainos, Dimitrios; Kyritsi, Anastasia

2011-01-01

This article presents one of the few recent attempts to investigate aspects of motivation of Greek gifted students. This effort is particularly challenging since gifted education in Greece is a nonexistent concept, and any study of Greek gifted students has to overcome obstacles related to definition, location and identification of gifted…

Multi- and Unisensory Decoding of Words and Nonwords Result in Differential Brain Responses in Dyslexic and Nondyslexic Adults

Science.gov (United States)

Kast, Monika; Bezzola, Ladina; Jancke, Lutz; Meyer, Martin

2011-01-01

The present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study was designed, in order to investigate the neural substrates involved in the audiovisual processing of disyllabic German words and pseudowords. Twelve dyslexic and 13 nondyslexic adults performed a lexical decision task while stimuli were presented unimodally (either aurally or…

Contagion during the Greek sovereign debt crisis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mink, M.; de Haan, J.

We examine the impact of news about Greece and news about a Greek bailout on bank stock prices in 2010 using data for 48 European banks. We identify the twenty days with extreme returns on Greek sovereign bonds and categorise the news events during those days into news about Greece and news about

Greek theories on eugenics.

Science.gov (United States)

Galton, D J

1998-08-01

With the recent developments in the Human Genome Mapping Project and the new technologies that are developing from it there is a renewal of concern about eugenic applications. Francis Galton (b1822, d1911), who developed the subject of eugenics, suggested that the ancient Greeks had contributed very little to social theories of eugenics. In fact the Greeks had a profound interest in methods of supplying their city states with the finest possible progeny. This paper therefore reviews the works of Plato (The Republic and Politics) and Aristotle (The Politics and The Athenian Constitution) which have a direct bearing on eugenic techniques and relates them to methods used in the present century.

Independent Validation and Clinical Utility Study of the Hellenic WISC-III Using a Greek-Cypriot Sample

Science.gov (United States)

Souroulla, Andry Vrachimi; Panayiotou, Georgia

2017-01-01

The Hellenic WISC-III (Wechsler, 1997) is currently the only standardized and officially published tool for the assessment of the intelligence of children and adolescents in Greece. The test is also used with caution in Cyprus, among Greek speakers, but no specific norms exist for use in this country. The purpose of this study was to provide…

The Greeks and the Utopia: an overview through ancient Greek Literature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rosanna Lauriola

2009-06-01

term has an ancient Greek root but it does not exist in the vocabulary of ancient Greek language. Although ancient Greeks did not have a conscious concept of utopia, they, however, dreamt, wrote, proposed – with different aims - what we would call now ( paradoxically using a ‘modern’ term ‘utopic’ worlds. From the archaic to the post-classic period, we find literary expressions of utopic thought in ancient Greek culture. Such expressions constitute the basis of the modern Utopia and Utopianism with their positive and negative implications. This essay takes a more detailed look at the work of Aristophanes, considered one of the greatest Greek playwrights, and inquires whether his comedies can be considered utopias.

The influence of Greek drama on Matthew's Gospel | Warner | HTS ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This article presents the Greek influence on the genre of Matthew's text. Greek and Roman tragedy is examined, from which the five basic elements of tragedy are identified. A brief examination of the characters in the Matthean text is done to identify Greek cultural influences on the structuring of the Gospel. This study offers ...

Greek or Indigenous? From Potsherd to Identity in Early Colonial Encounters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Handberg, Søren; Jacobsen, Jan K

2011-01-01

Indigenous pottery plays a vital role in interpretations of the relationship between the indigenous population and the Greek settlers in south Italy. Indigenous pottery habitually turns up in otherwise Greek habitation, ritual and mortuary contexts. Whereas imported Greek or ‘colonial’ pottery from...... indigenous contexts has been dealt with in considerable detail, the finds of indigenous pottery in Greek colonial contexts have not been thoroughly investigated in the western Mediterranean. Much more scholarly attention focused on the Black Sea region has, however, concentrated on the presence of indigenous...... Scythian and Taurian pottery in the Greek apoikiai, especially in the north-western Black Sea region. Similarities in the archaeological record of the two areas are numerous. In this paper we compare the occurrence of indigenous pottery in Greek contexts in the two regions and discuss some of the different...

An annotated checklist of the Greek Stonefly Fauna (Insecta: Plecoptera).

Science.gov (United States)

Karaouzas, Ioannis; Andriopoulou, Argyro; Kouvarda, Theodora; Murányi, Dávid

2016-05-17

An overview of the Greek stonefly (Plecoptera) fauna is presented as an annotated index of all available published records. These records have resulted in an updated species list reflecting current taxonomy and species distributions of the Greek peninsula and islands. Currently, a total of 71 species and seven subspecies belonging to seven families and 19 genera are reported from Greece. There is high species endemicity of the Leuctridae and Nemouridae, particularly on the Greek islands. The endemics known from Greece comprise thirty species representing 42% of the Greek stonefly fauna. The remaining taxa are typical Balkan and Mediterranean species.

The Greek library of Giannozzo Manetti (1396-1459)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Haan, Annet den

2018-01-01

Greek studies were central to the movement of fifteenth-century Italian humanism, as the humanists claimed themselves. But before 1450, Greek manuscripts were scarce, and many humanists were more enthusiastic about learning the language in theory than in practice. The case of Giannozzo Manetti...

Apolipoprotein E polymorphism in the Greek population.

Science.gov (United States)

Sklavounou, E; Economou-Petersen, E; Karadima, G; Panas, M; Avramopoulos, D; Varsou, A; Vassilopoulos, D; Petersen, M B

1997-10-01

The APOE gene is located on chromosome 19, and the three common alleles are designated epsilon2, epsilon3, and epsilon4. The epsilon4 allele is associated with increased plasma cholesterol, atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's disease, and decreased longevity. The objective of the present study was to estimate the distribution of APOE alleles in the Greek population by DNA analysis. The material consisted of 216 voluntary, healthy Greek blood donors (146 males/70 females). The APOE allele frequencies were epsilon2: 5.3%, epsilon3: 88.2%, epsilon4: 6.5%. The epsilon4 allele frequency of 6.5% in the Greek population is, together with the frequency in the Chinese population, among the lowest in the world.

Molar-incisor-hypomineralisation (MIH). Retrospective clinical study in Greek children. I. Prevalence and defect characteristics.

Science.gov (United States)

Lygidakis, N A; Dimou, G; Briseniou, E

2008-12-01

This was to evaluate the prevalence and the clinical characteristics of MIH in a group of Greek children. During the years 2003--2005, all MIH cases diagnosed according to the recently set criteria were selected from the new patients clinic of a Community Dental Centre for Children (Athens). Age, gender and teeth involved were recorded. The severity of MIH was determined collectively by dividing the affected teeth in two groups; a) mild defect (demarcated opacities) and b) moderate/severe defect (enamel breakdown and atypical restorations). Evaluation of the distribution of the affected teeth within MIH cases was performed in a separate group of 225 affected children aged 8-12 years with their entire 12 'index' teeth erupted. From the 3,518, 5.5 to 12 year old children that were examined, there were 360 (10.2%) children with MIH, 211 (58.6%) females and 149 (41.4%) males, with 1,926 affected teeth, 1,231 molars and 695 incisors. In the molars group, maxillary molars were more frequently affected (87.8/90.3%) than mandibular (81.7/82.2%). In the central incisor group, maxillary teeth were also more frequently affected (50/55%) than mandibular (24.4/25%), while laterals were the least affected. In all there were 37.9% molars with moderate/severe defects as compared with 4.9% incisors, the remaining 62.1% and 95.1% respectively being mild. The various associations between the affected teeth were evaluated in the sub-group of 225 MIH children with all 'index' teeth erupted (1,286 affected teeth, 776 molars and 510 incisors), with mean number of affected teeth per child being 5.7; separately for molars 3.4 and for incisors 2.2. In these cases 28.4% of the children had only molars affected and 71.6% had both molars and incisors. In descending order the associations of affected teeth more frequently found were: 4 molars/2 incisors (23.5%), 4 molars/4 incisors (16.8%), 4 molars alone (15.1%) and 2 molars alone (9.7%), the remaining being much less. As age increased the

The Greek outside workers radiation passbook

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kamenopoulou, V.

1997-01-01

Following the European Council Directive 90/641/EURATOM of the 4 December 1990, on the operational protection of outside workers exposed to the risk of ionising radiation during their activities in controlled areas, the Greek Government has adopted the Ministerial Order, published in the Official Gazette (No 9087(FOR) 1004 of 1996). The Greek Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) is the competent governmental authority for radiation protection matters. Therefore it is the GAEC's responsibility of monitoring the implementation of this Order. The Order consists of 6 parts, where among others are described the obligations of outside undertakings and operators and the obligations of outside workers. One of the major elements of this Ministerial Order is the radiation passbook.The Greek Radiation Passbook is written in two languages, Greek and English. It contains worker's personal data (identity, medical examinations, training in radiation protection, etc), information concerning his employee (name, address, etc) and worker's dosimetry information such as operational and the official dosimetry (external and internal) data. The radiation passbook is provided only to category A outside workers, working in Greece or abroad. The GAEC distributed the Ministerial Order with application forms to the possible outside undertakings for their information. Until August 1997, 41 radiation passbooks have been attributed to outride workers. All of them are technicians dealing with medical equipment using ionizing radiation. (author)

Truth Obviousness in Ancient Greek Philosophy

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Halyna I. Budz

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The article examines the features of the axiomatic approach to the truth understanding in ancient Greek philosophy. Truth in the works by ancient philosophers has axiomatic essence, basing on divine origin of truth. As the truth has a divine origin, it is in reality. The reality, created by Gods is the solemn reality. Therefore, understanding of reality by man is the display of divine reality, which is true and clever. In of the context of ancient Greek philosophy, to know truth is to know something, existing in reality, in other words, something, truly existing, eternal reality. Consequently, to know truth is it to know the substantial reality base. That’s why the justification of the reality origin is the axiomatic doctrine of truth at the same time, because only fundamental principle “truly” exists and is the truth itself. The idea of fundamental principle in ancient Greek philosophy is the axiom, universal principle, which is the base of reality as a substance from ontological perspective and is realized as the truth from gnosiological perspective. Fundamental principle, as Greeks understand it, coincides with the truth, in other words, reality and thinking are identical. The idea of reality source is the universal criterion of world perception at the same time, in other words, it is the truth, which is perceived axiomatically.

Attitudes to Ancient Greek in Three Schools: A Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Foster, Frances

2018-01-01

This study comes in response to recent changes in UK policy, whereby Ancient Greek and Latin have been included alongside modern languages as part of the curriculum at Key Stage 2. It aims to understand how Ancient Greek is surviving and thriving in three different types of schools. After a short overview of the history of Greek teaching in the…

Revisiting Strephosymbolie: The Connection between Interhemispheric Transfer and Developmental Dyslexia

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Roberta Daini

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The hypothesis that an atypical hemispheric specialization is associated to developmental dyslexia (DD is receiving renewed interest, lending some support to Orton’s theory. In this article, we investigated whether interhemispheric transfer processes (IHT are likely to be involved in developmental dyslexia. In this study, we tested 13 children with developmental dyslexia and 13 matched controls (aged 8 to 13 years in four different tasks. In a tactile transfer task, the dyslexic children’s performance was less accurate. In a standard Poffenberger paradigm, dyslexic children performed slower than the controls in all conditions and did not show any difference between crossed and uncrossed conditions. Furthermore, they showed an increased asymmetry of performance according to the responding hand, while controls gave more coherent responses. In a visual task of object orientation discrimination, dyslexic children had slower Response Times (RTs than controls, especially for mirror-reversed objects in the right visual field. Finally, a higher number of dyslexic children showed mirror-drawing or mirror-writing with respect to controls. Our results as a whole show that children with DD are impaired in interhemispheric transfer, although the differences in performance among dyslexic individuals suggest the impairment of different psychophysiological mechanisms. As such, a common origin in terms of connectivity problems is proposed.

Preprocessing Greek Papyri for Linguistic Annotation

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Vierros, Marja

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Greek documentary papyri form an important direct source for Ancient Greek. It has been exploited surprisingly little in Greek linguistics due to a lack of good tools for searching linguistic structures. This article presents a new tool and digital platform, “Sematia”, which enables transforming the digital texts available in TEI EpiDoc XML format to a format which can be morphologically and syntactically annotated (treebanked, and where the user can add new metadata concerning the text type, writer and handwriting of each act of writing. An important aspect in this process is to take into account the original surviving writing vs. the standardization of language and supplements made by the editors. This is performed by creating two different layers of the same text. The platform is in its early development phase. Ongoing and future developments, such as tagging linguistic variation phenomena as well as queries performed within Sematia, are discussed at the end of the article.

Impact of orthographic transparency on typical and atypical reading development: evidence in French-Spanish bilingual children.

Science.gov (United States)

Lallier, Marie; Valdois, Sylviane; Lassus-Sangosse, Delphine; Prado, Chloé; Kandel, Sonia

2014-05-01

The present study aimed to quantify cross-linguistic modulations of the contribution of phonemic awareness skills and visual attention span (VA Span) skills (number of visual elements that can be processed simultaneously) to reading speed and accuracy in 18 Spanish-French balanced bilingual children with and without developmental dyslexia. The children were administered two similar reading batteries in French and Spanish. The deficits of the dyslexic children in reading accuracy were mainly visible in their opaque orthography (French) whereas difficulties indexed by reading speed were observed in both their opaque and transparent orthographies. Dyslexic children did not exhibit any phonemic awareness problems in French or in Spanish, but showed poor VA Span skills compared to their control peers. VA span skills correlated with reading accuracy and speed measures in both Spanish and French, whereas phonemic awareness correlated with reading accuracy only. Overall, the present results show that the VA Span is tightly related to reading speed regardless of orthographic transparency, and that it accounts for differences in reading performance between good and poor readers across languages. The present findings further suggest that VA Span skills may play a particularly important role in building-up specific word knowledge which is critical for lexical reading strategies. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Greek media and the Kosovo crisis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Margarita Kondopoulou

2002-10-01

Full Text Available The NATO air attacks (24/3/99-10/6/99 as an instrument of force against Serbia to terminate the abuse of the Albanian population in Kosovo, albeit supported by a significant part of the international community, were received much differently in Greece. Key to the climate of strong disagreement with the campaign was the role of the Greek media. The true reason behind the offensive was, according to them, the change in the geopolitical map to the advantage of the West, and in particular the USA. The underlying argument of this paper is that in the Kosovo crisis the media, Greek (and international, projected their own environment. It is particularly apt to examine the Greek case because of its very unique perspective that differentiated the coverage in Greece - a NATO member country - from the overall world media view. Also, the discussion is pertinent because Greek media coverage disagreed with the official government position, which although advocating a diplomatic resolution of the crisis, had to support the Alliance's decision to bomb Serbia. Furthermore, study of this case is significant because the clash of the Greek media view with the mainstream pro-NATO coverage found in many other countries generated negative views on Greece and its media on the international level. An examination of media content reveals that despite any differences concerning political or other factors, and regardless of the variations in the phrasing of the anti-NATO arguments, the overall media perspective exhibited a unanimous opposition to the bombing campaign. By placing the emphasis more or less on the same thematic areas as the world media, but by crucially reversing the line of reasoning (e.g. the refugee problem was blamed on the NATO bombing raids and not on Serbian atrocities, the Greek media invariably remained anti-war, anti-NATO and anti-Albanian in many particular cases, and in principle pro-Serb throughout. A study of the general media and the specific

Implicit Phonological and Semantic Processing in Children with Developmental Dyslexia: Evidence from Event-Related Potentials

Science.gov (United States)

Jednorog, K.; Marchewka, A.; Tacikowski, P.; Grabowska, A.

2010-01-01

Dyslexia is characterized by a core phonological deficit, although recent studies indicate that semantic impairment also contributes to this condition. In this study, event-related potentials (ERP) were used to examine whether the N400 wave in dyslexic children is modulated by phonological or semantic priming, similarly to age-matched controls.…

The influence of Greek drama on Matthew’s Gospel

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul R. McCuistion

2014-05-01

Full Text Available This article presents the Greek influence on the genre of Matthew’s text. Greek and Roman tragedy is examined, from which the five basic elements of tragedy are identified. A brief examination of the characters in the Matthean text is done to identify Greek cultural influences on the structuring of the Gospel. This study offers evidence that Matthew may have intentionally orchestrated a drama with the intent of having an understandable, attractive way to present Jesus to Jew and gentile alike.

The Greek Public Debt Path: From Zero to Infinity

OpenAIRE

Sardelis, Dimitris

2012-01-01

The aim of the present article is to treat the Greek public debt issue strictly as a curve fitting problem. Thus, based on Eurostat data and using the Mathematica technical computing software, an exponential function that best fits the data is determined modelling how the Greek public debt expands with time. Exploring the main features of this best fit model, it is concluded that the Greek public debt cannot possibly be serviced in the long run unless a radical growth is implemented and/or pa...

Albanians in the Greek informal economy.

Science.gov (United States)

Droukas, E

1998-04-01

"This article addresses the issue of Albanian immigration to Greece, underlines its special character and discusses the problems arising from the Greek immigration policy which, so far, has focused on short-term, inefficient and sometimes conflicting solutions. This article also delineates the current situation of Albanian immigrants, who constitute the largest group amongst all immigrants in Greece and who are largely undocumented. It examines the controversial issue of Albanian criminality, and the social construction of negative stereotypes through prejudicial representations of Albanians by the Greek media." excerpt

Greek Loans in English and the Teaching of Modern Greek to English Speaking Students (within a Communicative Language Teaching Framework).

Science.gov (United States)

Hatzipanayiotidou, A.; And Others

In constructing a syllabus for the teaching of Modern Greek as a foreign language to English-speaking students, it is suggested that some lexical items be taught from the corpus of Greek loan words in English. These words fall into the following categories: direct loans; words that, in joining English, have acquired a different meaning, which was…

Mapping symbols to sounds: electrophysiological correlates of the impaired reading process in dyslexia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreas eWidmann

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Dyslexic and control first grade school children were compared in a Symbol-to-Sound matching test based on a nonlinguistic audiovisual training which is known to have a remediating effect on dyslexia. Visual symbol patterns had to be matched with predicted sound patterns. Sounds incongruent with the corresponding visual symbol (thus not matching the prediction elicited the N2b and P3a event-related potential (ERP components relative to congruent sounds in control children. Their ERPs resembled the ERP effects previously reported for healthy adults with this paradigm. In dyslexic children, N2b onset latency was delayed and its amplitude significantly reduced over left hemisphere whereas P3a was absent. Moreover, N2b amplitudes significantly correlated with the reading skills. ERPs to sound changes in a control condition were unaffected. In addition, correctly predicted sounds, that is, sounds that are congruent with the visual symbol, elicited an early induced auditory gamma band response (GBR reflecting synchronization of brain activity in normal-reading children as previously observed in healthy adults. However, dyslexic children showed no GBR. This indicates that visual symbolic and auditory sensory information are not integrated into a unitary audiovisual object representation in them. Finally, incongruent sounds were followed by a later desynchronization of brain activity in the gamma band in both groups. This desynchronization was significantly larger in dyslexic children. Although both groups accomplished the task successfully remarkable group differences in brain responses suggest that normal-reading children and dyslexic children recruit (partly different brain mechanisms when solving the task. We propose that abnormal ERPs and GBRs in dyslexic readers indicate a deficit resulting in a widespread impairment in processing and integrating auditory and visual information and contributing to the reading impairment in dyslexia.

Developmental Dyslexia: Exploring How Much Phonological and Visual Attention Span Disorders Are Linked to Simultaneous Auditory Processing Deficits

Science.gov (United States)

Lallier, Marie; Donnadieu, Sophie; Valdois, Sylviane

2013-01-01

The simultaneous auditory processing skills of 17 dyslexic children and 17 skilled readers were measured using a dichotic listening task. Results showed that the dyslexic children exhibited difficulties reporting syllabic material when presented simultaneously. As a measure of simultaneous visual processing, visual attention span skills were…

Greek & Roman Mythology.

Science.gov (United States)

Bigelow, Alma

Activities and background information on Greek and Roman mythology are presented. The unit is designed for eighth graders, but many of the activities can be modified for other grade levels. The unit includes: (1) a content outline; (2) a list of instructional materials including suggested textbooks, teacher-prepared materials, and resource…

New Measurements of the Azimuthal Alignments of Greek Temples

Science.gov (United States)

Mickelson, M. E.; Higbie, C.; Boyd, T. W.

1998-12-01

The canonical opinion about the placement of Greek temples is that they are oriented east-west (Dinsmoor 1975). Major exceptions, such as the temple of Apollo at Bassae which faces north-south, are always noted in the handbooks, but many other temples are scattered across the Greek landscape in a variety of orientations. Although no surviving ancient author ever discusses the criteria for placing or orienting temples, we may assume from scattered remarks that Greeks had reasons for choosing the sites and orientations. In the last century, archaeologists and architects such as Nissen (1896), Penrose (1893) and Dinsmoor (1939), have measured the alignments of Greek temples on the Greek mainland, the west coast of Turkey, and the Aegean islands. Their data have varying degrees of precision and accuracy, as a recent paper by Papathanassiou (1994) makes clear. Parallel work done in Italy on Etruscan temples by Aveni and Romano (1994) provides further stimulus to re-investigate Greek temples. We have undertaken two field seasons in Greece to make preliminary measurements for a number of temples associated with Athena, Apollo, and Zeus. These temples were chosen for a number of reasons. The structures have to be well enough preserved to allow determination of the orientation of foundations, location of doorways and other openings, placement of cult statues etc. By focusing on these three gods, we may be able to discover patterns in the orientation and placement for specific divinities. For some of these questions, we are dependent on literary and inscriptional evidence, such as the work of the Greek travel writer, Pausanias. This paper describes the preliminary measurements made over our two field seasons in Greece. Field methods and analysis of the data will be presented along with proposed applications. Research supported by the Denison University Research Foundation.

Do Dyslexic Individuals Present a Reduced Visual Attention Span? Evidence from Visual Recognition Tasks of Non-Verbal Multi-Character Arrays

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Yeari, Menahem; Isser, Michal; Schiff, Rachel

2017-01-01

A controversy has recently developed regarding the hypothesis that developmental dyslexia may be caused, in some cases, by a reduced visual attention span (VAS). To examine this hypothesis, independent of phonological abilities, researchers tested the ability of dyslexic participants to recognize arrays of unfamiliar visual characters. Employing…

Development of a remediation program for Egyptian dyslexic children

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Objectives: The present study was designed to formulate a remediation program for Arabic speaking children suffering from dyslexia based on improving phonological awareness using materials appropriate for Arabic culture. Methods: The study was carried out at the unit of Phoniatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria main ...

Electricity market models and RES integration: The Greek case

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simoglou, Christos K.; Biskas, Pandelis N.; Vagropoulos, Stylianos I.; Bakirtzis, Anastasios G.

2014-01-01

This paper presents an extensive analysis of the Greek electricity market for the next 7-year period (2014–2020) based on an hour-by-hour simulation considering five different RES technologies, namely wind, PV, small hydro, biomass and CHP with emphasis on PV integration. The impact of RES penetration on the electricity market operation is evaluated under two different models regarding the organization of the Greek wholesale day-ahead electricity market: a mandatory power pool for year 2014 (current market design) and a power exchange for the period 2015–2020 (Target Model). An integrated software tool is used for the simulation of the current and the future day-ahead market clearing algorithm of the Greek wholesale electricity market. Simulation results indicate the impact of the anticipated large-scale RES integration, in conjunction with each market model, on specific indicators of the Greek electricity market in the long-term. - Highlights: • Analysis of the Greek electricity market for the next 7-year period (2014–2020) based on hour-by-hour simulation. • Five different RES technologies are considered with emphasis on PV integration. • A power pool (for 2014) and a power exchange (for 2015–2020) are considered. • Various market indicators are used for the analysis of the impact of the RES integration on the Greek electricity market. • Two alternative tariff schemes for the compensation of the new ground-mounted PV units from 2015 onwards are investigated

Evaluating and Recommending Greek Newspapers' Websites Using Clustering

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Kanellopoulos, Dimitris; Kotsiantis, Sotiris

2012-01-01

Purpose: The aim of this work is to evaluate Greek newspaper websites using clustering and a number of criteria obtained from the Alexa search engine. Furthermore, a recommendation approach is proposed for matching Greek online newspapers with the profiles of potential readers. The paper presents the implementation and validation of a recommender…

Inflectional spelling deficits in developmental dyslexia.

Science.gov (United States)

Egan, Joanne; Tainturier, Marie-Josèphe

2011-01-01

The goal of this study was to examine past-tense spelling deficits in developmental dyslexia and their relationship to phonological abilities, spoken morphological awareness and word specific orthographic memory. Three groups of children (28 9-year-old dyslexic, 28 chronological age-matched and 28 reading/spelling age-matched children) completed a battery of tests including spelling regularly inflected words (e.g., kissed) and matched one-morpheme words (e.g., wrist). They were also assessed on a range of tests of reading and spelling abilities and associated linguistic measures. Dyslexic children were impaired in relation to chronological age-matched controls on all measures. Furthermore, they were significantly poorer than younger reading and spelling age-matched controls at spelling inflected verbs, supporting the existence of a specific deficit in past-tense spelling in dyslexia. In addition to under-using the -ed spelling on inflected verbs, the dyslexic children were less likely to erroneously apply this spelling to one-morpheme words than younger controls. Dyslexics were also poorer than younger controls at using a consistent spelling for stems presented in isolation versus as part of an inflected word, indicating that they make less use of the morphological relations between words to support their spelling. In line with this interpretation, regression analyses revealed another qualitative difference between the spelling and reading age-matched group and the dyslexic group: while both spoken morphological awareness and orthographic word specific memory were significant predictors of the accuracy of past-tense spelling in the former group, only orthographic memory (irregular word reading and spelling) was a significant factor in the dyslexic group. Finally, we identified a subgroup of seven dyslexic children who were severely deficient in past-tense spelling. This subgroup was also significantly worse than other dyslexics and than younger controls on scores

[A review of the principle mythical gods in ancient greek medicine].

Science.gov (United States)

Lips Castro, Walter; Urenda Arias, Catalina

2014-12-01

Like their prehistoric ancestors, the people of early civilizations lived related to the supernatural. Facing life-threatening situations, such as illness and death, people of ancient civilizations resorted to divination, prophecy, or the oracle. Regarding the curative activities of the ancient Greek civilization, there was a period in which these processes were exclusively linked to a supernatural perspective of the origin of disease. This stage of development of Greek healing practices corresponds to what might be called pre-Hippocratic Greek medicine. In ancient Greek civilization, myths exerted a strong influence on the concepts of disease and the healing processes. Although the first divine figure of Greek mythology related to medicine was Paeon, healing cults related to Apollo and Asclepius had a higher importance in tradition and Greek mythology. The Apollonian divine healing consisted in the ability to eliminate chaos and keep away evil, while in the Asclepian perspective, the role of healer was linked to specific procedures. Personal and medical skills allowed Asclepius to surpass his father and achieve his final consecration as a god of medicine.

The art of alleviating pain in greek mythology.

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Türe, Hatice; Türe, Uğur; Göğüş, F Yilmaz; Valavanis, Anton; Yaşargil, M Gazi

2005-01-01

We reviewed many of the essential Greek myths to identify the methods used at that time to relieve the pain of both illness and surgery, and we discovered many pioneering methods. Both gods and demigods implemented these methods to ease pain, to conduct surgery, and, on occasion, to kill mythological beings. The myths describe the three most common components of anesthesia: hypnosis, amnesia, and (an)algesia. Drugs and music-aided hypnosis were two of the most common methods use to treat emotional and surgical pain. This article identifies highlights in the development of concepts to treat pain in Greek mythology. The examples found in the Greek myths remind us of the historical significance of pain treatment.

On children's dyslexia with NIRS

Science.gov (United States)

Gan, Zhuo; Li, Chengjun; Gong, Hui; Luo, Qingming; Yao, Bin; Song, Ranran; Wu, Hanrong

2003-12-01

Developmental dyslexia is a kind of prevalent psychologic disease. Some functional imaging technologies, such as FMRI and PET, have been used to study the brain activities of dyslexics. NIRS is a kind of novel technology which is more and more widely being used for study of the cognitive psychology. However, there aren"t reports about the dyslexic research using NIRS to be found until now. This paper introduces a NIRS system of four measuring channels. Brain activities of dyslexic subjects and normal subjects during reading task were studied with the NIRS system. Two groups of subjects, the group of dyslexia and the group of normal, were appointed to perform two reading tasks. At the same time, their cortical activities were measured with the NIRS system. This experimental result indicates that the brain activities of the dyslexic group were significantly higher than the control group in BA 48 and that NIRS can be used for the study of human brain activity.

Dyslexic children fail to comply with the rhythmic constraints of handwriting.

Science.gov (United States)

Pagliarini, Elena; Guasti, Maria Teresa; Toneatto, Carlo; Granocchio, Elisa; Riva, Federica; Sarti, Daniela; Molteni, Bruna; Stucchi, Natale

2015-08-01

In this study, we sought to demonstrate that deficits in a specific motor activity, handwriting, are associated to Developmental Dyslexia. The linguistic and writing performance of children with Developmental Dyslexia, with and without handwriting problems (dysgraphia), were compared to that of children with Typical Development. The quantitative kinematic variables of handwriting were collected by means of a digitizing tablet. The results showed that all children with Developmental Dyslexia wrote more slowly than those with Typical Development. Contrary to typically developing children, they also varied more in the time taken to write the individual letters of a word and failed to comply with the principles of isochrony and homothety. Moreover, a series of correlations was found among reading, language measures and writing measures suggesting that the two abilities may be linked. We propose that the link between handwriting and reading/language deficits is mediated by rhythm, as both reading (which is grounded on language) and handwriting are ruled by principles of rhythmic organization. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

OC19 - Measuring feasibility, reliability and validity of the Greek version of PedsQL cardiac module.

Science.gov (United States)

Drakouli, Maria; Petsios, Konstantinos; Matziou, Vasiliki

2016-05-09

Theme: Cardiology Introduction: Measuring quality of life (QoL) in children and adolescents with congenital heart disease (CHD) is of great clinical importance. The aim of the study was: (a) to adapt the PedsQL Cardiac Module for children aged two to 18 years with CHD in a sample of the Greek population; (b) to determine its reliability and validity. Forward and backward translation methodology was used. Parents and children completed the instrument during: (a) hospitalization and (b) visits in the paediatric cardiology outpatient department. Cross-informant variance between children and parents was thoroughly assessed. Missing item responses did not exceed 5%. All internal consistency reliability coefficients for the inventory exceeded the minimum standards for group comparisons, over 0.75. Hypothesized correlations between cardiac module and core scales were statistically significant, (pModule in children with congenital heart defect (CHD).

Three Generations of Greek Americans: A Study in Ethnicity.

Science.gov (United States)

Scourby, Alice

1980-01-01

Measures ethnic identity among three generations of Greek Americans living in the New York Metropolitan area. Shows that, though there is a generational variation, the majority of Greeks still have relatively strong attachment to their ethnic culture, despite their identification with American society. (Author/GC)

Fluidized bed combustion with the use of Greek solid fuels

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Kakaras Emmanuel

2003-01-01

Full Text Available The paper is an overview of the results obtained up to date from the combustion and co-combustion activities with Greek brown coal in different installations, both in semi-industrial and laboratory scale. Combustion tests with Greek lignite were realized in three different Circulating Fluidized Bed Combustion (CFBC facilities. Low rank lignite was burned in a pilot scale facility of approx. 100kW thermal capacity, located in Athens (NTUA and a semi-industrial scale of 1.2 MW thermal capacity, located at RWE's power station Niederaussem in Germany. Co-combustion tests with Greek xylitic lignite and waste wood were carried out in the 1 MWth CFBC installation of AE&E, in Austria. Lab-scale co-combustion tests of Greek pre-dried lignite with biomass were accomplished in a bubbling fluidized bed in order to investigate ash melting problems. The obtained results of all aforementioned activities showed that fluidized bed is the appropriate combustion technology to efficiently exploit the low quality Greek brown coal either alone or in conjunction with biomass species.

'The Greek Fall: Simulacral Thanatotourism in Europe'

OpenAIRE

Tzanelli, R

2012-01-01

The paper explores the socio-cultural dynamics of Greek demonstrations in 2011, suggesting that their function exceeds that of social movements as we know them. A form of what I term ‘simulacral thanatotourism’, including marches and demonstrations to Greek cities in protest for austerity measures, actualised in this context a form of mourning about the end of Greece’s place in European polity. This mourning, which places Greece at the centre of a withering European democratic cosmos, inspire...

Diglossic Past and Present Lexicographical Practices: The Case of Two Greek Dictionaries.

Science.gov (United States)

Tseronis, Assimakis

2002-01-01

Discusses publication of two recent dictionaries of Modern Greek. Suggests their respective lexical coverage reveals the continuing survival of the underlying ideologies of the two sponsoring institutions concerning the history of the Greek language and their opposing standpoints in relation to Greek diglossia. The two dictionaries proceed from…

The Greek Concept of the State

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Valentin Kalan

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The starting-point of my paper is the general recognition of the importance of Ancient Greek democracy and Greek political philosophy for modern democracy and for the assessment of political activity today. Here I draw on the studies by Castoriadis and Hansen. With regard to the ancient definitions of the state, Aristotle’s distinctive feature is that he takes into account the topographical and political-administrative aspects, while Plato’s definitions are – predictably –characterised by the notion that a politician is one who administers state affairs on the basis of his knowledge. The discussion of the entry polis in theEtymologicum Magnum is accompanied by a brief survey of the more recent etymological explanations from the perspective of semantics. Language issues are further addressed in the section on synonyms for the polis, such as ἀκρόπολις, ἄστυ, χώρα, ἄνθρωποι, δῆμος, κοινωνία, πατρίς, ἔθνος. Describing the basic characteristics of the concept of the state, the paper begins with the territory or space, which is often merely touched upon in political theory as the latter prefers to concentrate on the functioning of the political system. According to Aristotle, the territory or space is, like the climate, an external condition of the state, but at the same time a basic one, determined by Nature, φύσις, herself. The discussion of the populace from a political perspective dwells on the Greek vocabulary referring to citizens, male and female. Among the characteristics of the Greek concept of the state, particular emphasis is placed on the religious and mythological foundation of its politics, which is evident in the worship of gods/goddesses as the tutelary deities of cities (such as Zeus, Athena, Hera, Apollo, etc., with their temples, in the cult of the hearth goddess Hestia, and in the Tholos as the Prytaneum building. A further essential quality of the ancient Greek

The Financial Performance of the Greek Football Clubs

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Panagiotis Dimitropoulos

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to analyze the financial performance of the football clubs participating within the first division of the Greek football league for a period of 14 years (1993-2006 and to propose specific actions that need to be taken by both managers and regulators in order to improve the financial stability of the clubs. We perform financial analysis of key accounting ratios extracted from the football club’s annual financial statements in order to explain the particular causes of the recent financial crisis which characterizes the Greek professional football league. The analysis of the clubs’ annual financial statements revealed that the Greek football clubs are highly leveraged, have intense liquidity and profitability problems and face an increased danger of financial distress, despite the increased amounts that football clubs invested during 2005. The above mentioned crisis can be attributed to aggregate financial mismanagement and political inefficiencies during the last fifteen years. The paper proposes specific actions that need to be taken by both managers and regulators in order to improve the financial stability of the clubs and the overall competitiveness of the Greek football league.

The Salpinx in Greek Cult

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Gullög Nordquist

1996-01-01

Full Text Available The salpinx is not often treated by scholars of ancient Greek music, because it was mainly a military instrument. The instrument was usually not used for musical purposes, only for giving signals. In Greece the salpinx is known from the 8th century onwards. The Greek salpinx was an aerophone, usually made of bronze, and consisted of an 80 to 120 cm long, straight, tube with cylindrical bore, and with a conical or more often bell-shaped final, kodon, which could be made of bone. The bone had to be fired in order to get the right acoustic qualities, according to Aristotle. Salpinx is usually translated as "trumpet", but the type of sound generator it may have had has been discussed.

The Comparison of Postural Control Ability in Children with/without Dyslexia

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Morteza Arghiani

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Objective: In some reviewed studies on children with dyslexia it is observed that there is a significant relationship between the ability of postural control and dyslexia. In this study, by controlling the interfering factors, we have reviewed this relation by comparing postural control and balance ability in normal and dyslexic children. Materials & Methods: This case-control study is done on 19 boys with dyslexia (112.90±13.78 and 19 Normal boys (118.42±15.62. Normal children and children with dyslexia were matched in age, height and weight. Positioning duties included standing with adjacent feet on firm surface with open and closed eyes, and with close eyes on the foam and with internal perturbation on firm surface. Duration of each assignment was 35 seconds and the force plate device was used to evaluate the condition performance. Balances component of Bruininks Oseretsky test were take from all of the samples and correlation between functional and laboratory test were examined. Results: The results showed that the area on firm surface with open eyes, internal perturbation dependency rate in the standard deviations of the lateral body sways (SDX and of the antero-posterior body sways (SDY and the surface area, there were significant differences between normal and dyslexic children, but there was not any significant difference between the two groups in path length and mean velocity in different postural control modes (foam, firm surface, open and close eyes and visual dependence in all parameters (path length, velocity and surface area. We did not find significant correlation between Center of Pressure (COP and the balance part of Bruininks Oseretsky test in children with dyslexia. Conclusion: In spite of differences in some postural control parameters between normal group and children with dyslexia, it was not found significant relationship between postural control and dyslexia.

The Greek Indignants through the domestic TV news bulletins

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Anastasia Veneti

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The Greek fiscal crisis kicked off many structural changes within the Greek society. Among these the uprising of a new form of protest, the movement of “indignados” (Spanish word meaning indignants in English, aganaktismeni in Greek. The paper surveys the ways in which the specific movement was presented to the public by the domestic TV news bulletins. The proposed research relies theoretically on the framing analysis approach, aiming to elaborate on the Media point of view regarding the specific social movement. The research method is media monitoring and analysis (stemming from the research rationale of content analysis.

The Movement Assessment Battery in Greek Preschoolers: The Impact of Age, Gender, Birth Order, and Physical Activity on Motor Outcome

Science.gov (United States)

Giagazoglou, Paraskevi; Kabitsis, Nikolaos; Kokaridas, Dimitrios; Zaragas, Charilaos; Katartzi, Ermioni; Kabitsis, Chris

2011-01-01

Early identification of possible risk factors that could impair the motor development is crucial, since poor motor performance may have long-term negative consequences for a child's overall development. The aim of the current study was the examination of disorders in motor coordination in Greek pre-school aged children and the detection of…

Greek women and broken nerves in Montreal.

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Dunk, P

1989-05-01

In this paper, I examine the importance of class, ethnicity and gender in the causation and meaning of somatization for Greek women in Montreal. I argue that nevra--a form of psychosocial distress experienced by many of the women--is a phenomenon of the poor working conditions, low wages and gender relations in the Greek community. Data is based on interviews with 100 Greek families in Montreal and 45 patients in two different clinical settings. Comparing results with material on nervios and nerves from Latin America and the United States, I concur with Low (1985) that nerves should be viewed as a 'culturally-interpreted symptom' rather than a 'culture bound syndrome'. It is further suggested that the importance of social and material conditions and gender relations in mediating the cultural interpretation must be stressed. Failure to do so often results in the medicalization of nevra and the creation of a chronic sick role for the patient.

Phonological Skills, Visual Attention Span, and Visual Stress in Developmental Dyslexia

Science.gov (United States)

Saksida, Amanda; Iannuzzi, Stéphanie; Bogliotti, Caroline; Chaix, Yves; Démonet, Jean-François; Bricout, Laure; Billard, Catherine; Nguyen-Morel, Marie-Ange; Le Heuzey, Marie-France; Soares-Boucaud, Isabelle; George, Florence; Ziegler, Johannes C.; Ramus, Franck

2016-01-01

In this study, we concurrently investigated 3 possible causes of dyslexia--a phonological deficit, visual stress, and a reduced visual attention span--in a large population of 164 dyslexic and 118 control French children, aged between 8 and 13 years old. We found that most dyslexic children showed a phonological deficit, either in terms of…

"If they can't tell the difference between duphalac and digoxin you've got patient safety issues". Nurse Lecturers' constructions of students' dyslexic identities in nurse education.

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, William

2014-06-01

The paper explores how student nurses with a dyslexic identity were discursively constructed by lecturing staff in nurse education. An increasing number of students completing programmes of study in higher education are registering and disclosing one or more disabilities to their respective institutional support services. As students with dyslexia enter the nursing profession, they bring with them their own unique identity that situates their disability in a specific light. Nurse lecturers play an integral role in supporting all students including those with a disability; however no previous research has attempted to examine the language they use to construct students with a dyslexic identity. Critically, the internalised views of those with teaching and learning responsibilities who directly interact with students with disabilities have a critical influence on the nature of the supports provided, as well as decisions about students' professional competence. Discussions that centre on the inclusion of individuals with disability in healthcare education are shaped by language and diverse ways of understanding, therefore, an exploratory discursive design, examining how dyslexic identities are socially constructed by nurse lecturers is an overarching focus of the paper. Using narrative interviewing, twelve nurse lecturers from two higher education institutions in the Republic of Ireland were interviewed during the period February to July 2012. Discourse analysis was guided by a narrative-discursive approach. Nurse lecturers identified 'Getting the work done' as a critical component to becoming a nurse, where expectations associated with efficiency and independence superseded students' right to accommodation. An implicit mild-severe binary existed amongst lecturers while categorising students with dyslexia, with those placed in the latter considered professionally unsuitable. These concerns are individually critiqued. Critically, policy leaders must continue to

Validation of the TRUST tool in a Greek perioperative setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Chatzea, Vasiliki-Eirini; Sifaki-Pistolla, Dimitra; Dey, Nilanjan; Melidoniotis, Evangelos

2017-06-01

The aim of this study was to translate, culturally adapt and validate the TRUST questionnaire in a Greek perioperative setting. The TRUST questionnaire assesses the relationship between trust and performance. The study assessed the levels of trust and performance in the surgery and anaesthesiology department during a very stressful period for Greece (economic crisis) and offered a user friendly and robust assessment tool. The study concludes that the Greek version of the TRUST questionnaire is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring team performance among Greek perioperative teams. Copyright the Association for Perioperative Practice.

Sin, Punishment And Forgiveness In Ancient Greek Religion: A ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper looks in particular at the special sin of hubris in ancient Greek religious thought. It examines what constitutes hubris and some cases in which hubris has been committed and punished. It demonstrates with examples that hubris is an unforgivable sin in ancient Greek religion and examines the reasons for this ...

Short Overview of the Evolution of Modern Greek State

OpenAIRE

Shalva Tchkadua

2012-01-01

In the article the author describes and analyzes the historical path of Greece, from the national liberation movement to its integration into Euro-Atlantic structures. The article briefly but clearly describes the process of the Greek national liberation movement. The author highlights the Greek nation’s fight to strengthen independence and democracy.

Making a Voluntary Greek Debt Exchange Work

OpenAIRE

Gulati, Mitu; Zettelmeyer, Jeromin

2012-01-01

Within the next few months, the Greek government, is supposed to persuade private creditors holding about EUR 200bn in its bonds to voluntarily exchange their existing bonds for new bonds that pay roughly 50 percent less. This may work with large creditors whose failure to participate in a debt exchange could trigger a Greek default, but may not persuade smaller creditors, who will be told that their claims will continue to be fully serviced if they do not participate in the exchange. This pa...

Investigating High-School Chemical Kinetics: The Greek Chemistry Textbook and Students' Difficulties

Science.gov (United States)

Gegios, Theodoros; Salta, Katerina; Koinis, Spyros

2017-01-01

In this study we present an analysis of how the structure and content of the Greek school textbook approaches the concepts of chemical kinetics, and an investigation of the difficulties that 11th grade Greek students face regarding these concepts. Based on the structure and content of the Greek textbook, a tool was developed and applied to…

GREEK MYTHOLOGY AS SEEN IN RICK RIORDAN’S THE LIGHTNING THIEF

OpenAIRE

Hikmat, Muhamad Nurul

2012-01-01

The novel by Rick Riordan entitled The Lightning Thief is written based on Greek Mythology. This mythology is The Greek’s manifestation of culture that ages thousands years. To reveal the representation of Greek Mythology in The Lightning Thief as a cultural manifestation, study and analysis is conducted through dynamic structuralism approach focusing on plot, characters and settings (factual structure) of the novel. The plot is originated from three Greek heroes’ stories. The characters invo...

Neural biomarkers for dyslexia, ADHD and ADD in the auditory cortex of children

OpenAIRE

Bettina Serrallach; Christine Gross; Valdis Bernhofs; Dorte Engelmann; Jan Benner; Jan Benner; Nadine Gündert; Maria Blatow; Martina Wengenroth; Angelika Seitz; Monika Brunner; Stefan Seither; Stefan Seither; Richard Parncutt; Peter Schneider

2016-01-01

Dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and attention deficit disorder (ADD) show distinct clinical profiles that may include auditory and language-related impairments. Currently, an objective brain-based diagnosis of these developmental disorders is still unavailable. We investigated the neuro-auditory systems of dyslexic, ADHD, ADD, and age-matched control children (N=147) using neuroimaging, magnet-encephalography and psychoacoustics. All disorder subgroups exhibited an ...

The language of modern medicine: it's all Greek to me.

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Kristopher N

2004-01-01

The Greek language has shaped and formed the lexicon of modern medicine. Although medical terminology may seem complex and difficult to master, the clarity and functionality of this language owe a great debt to the tongue of the classical Greeks.

Body symmetry and asymmetry in early Greek anatomical reasoning.

Science.gov (United States)

Crivellato, Enrico; Ribatti, Domenico

2008-05-01

This historical note focuses on some of the earliest reports of human anatomy found in Greek medical literature. These passages testify the initial steps taken by Greek scientists in building a theoretical model of the human body. In these excerpts, one finds erroneous anatomical descriptions, which shed light on the epistemological approach used by these intellectual pioneers. Because of the lack of systematic dissection, it appears that early Greek anatomists developed a somewhat stylized idea of the human body that used a certain degree of symmetry. Overcoming the concept of a strict left-right bilateral parallelism in human body architecture was a challenging intellectual task that required prolonged observation of dissected corpses. (c) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Internet Addiction among Greek University Students: Demographic Associations with the Phenomenon, Using the Greek Version of Young's Internet Addiction Test

OpenAIRE

Frangos, C. C.; Frangos, C. C.; Kiohos, A.

2010-01-01

Internet addiction (IA) is a new disorder described in 1996 by the psychologist Kimberly Young. The aim of this paper is to estimate the percentage of IA among Greek university students. Results of a sample survey among 1876 Greek university students, 18-27 years old, are presented. The questionnaire consisted of eight questions from Young’s Diagnostic Test for Internet Addiction (YDTIA) as well as an inventory including demographic factors and questions about academic performance, computer a...

Transition of Greek art song from the national school to modernism

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Kontossi Sofia

2008-01-01

Full Text Available This study presents the different ways in which two Greek composers, Leonidas Zoras and Jani Christou, viewed modernism. The songs of Zoras are typical example of the gradual withdrawal from the aesthetic framework of the National School which dominated during the first decades of the twentieth century. In contrast, Jani Christou, who spent his childhood in Alexandria and received an exclusively Western-type education, remained untouched by Greek traditional music or the Greek National School. His work was moulded by the ancient Greek philosophical belief in the elation of the listener through the transcendental power of Art. By his Six T. S. Eliot Songs Christou offered some of the best examples of twentieth-century expressionistic vocal music.

Cognitive and Academic Abilities Associated with Symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Comparison between Subtypes in a Greek Non-Clinical Sample

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Papaioannou, Sophia; Mouzaki, Angeliki; Sideridis, Georgios D.; Antoniou, Foteini; Padeliadu, Suzanna; Simos, Panagiotis G.

2016-01-01

The study assessed cognitive and academic performance of children demonstrating teacher-rated ADHD-related symptoms (Inattention [IA] and/or Hyperactivity/Impulsivity [H/I]) in a representative sample of, largely untreated, Greek elementary school students (N?=?923). A battery of tests assessing short-term memory (STM), sustained attention,…

History through Art and Architecture: Ancient Greek Architecture [and] Ancient Greek Sculpture. Teacher's Manual.

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, Ann

This document consists of two teaching manuals designed to accompany a commercially-available "multicultural, interdisciplinary video program," consisting of four still videotape programs (72 minutes, 226 frames), one teaching poster, and these two manuals. "Teacher's Manual: Ancient Greek Architecture" covers: "Ancient…

Prevalence of dental caries in 5-year-old Greek children and the use of dental services: evaluation of socioeconomic, behavioural factors and living conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Mantonanaki, Magdalini; Koletsi-Kounari, Haroula; Mamai-Homata, Eleni; Papaioannou, William

2013-04-01

To assess dental caries and use of dental services experience in 5-year-old children attending public kindergartens in Attica, Greece and to examine the influence of certain socioeconomic factors and living conditions as well as dental behaviours and attitudes. In this cross-sectional study, a random and stratified sample of 605 Greek children was examined using decayed, missing, filled tooth surfaces and simplified debris indices. The use of dental services was measured by children's dental visits (any dental visit up to the age of 5 years). Care Index was also calculated. Risk indicators were assessed by a questionnaire. Zero-inflated Poisson and Logistic Regression Analysis were generated to test statistical significant associations. The prevalence of dental caries was 16.5%. Care Index was 32% and dental visits were reported for the 84% of the children. Medium Socio-Economic Level (SEL) was associated with no detectable caries. High SEL was related to decreased decayed, missing, filled teeth values, while female gender and rented houses had the opposite effect. The age of the mother (35-39 years) and the higher SEL were related to higher levels of dental services use. It is suggested that there are differences in the experience of dental caries and use of dental services among preschool children in Attica, which are related to demographic, socioeconomic factors and living conditions. Dental public polices should focus on groups with specific characteristics in order to improve oral health levels of disease-susceptible populations. © 2013 FDI World Dental Federation.

Relationships between Categorical Perception of Phonemes, Phoneme Awareness, and Visual Attention Span in Developmental Dyslexia.

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Rachel Zoubrinetzky

Full Text Available We tested the hypothesis that the categorical perception deficit of speech sounds in developmental dyslexia is related to phoneme awareness skills, whereas a visual attention (VA span deficit constitutes an independent deficit. Phoneme awareness tasks, VA span tasks and categorical perception tasks of phoneme identification and discrimination using a d/t voicing continuum were administered to 63 dyslexic children and 63 control children matched on chronological age. Results showed significant differences in categorical perception between the dyslexic and control children. Significant correlations were found between categorical perception skills, phoneme awareness and reading. Although VA span correlated with reading, no significant correlations were found between either categorical perception or phoneme awareness and VA span. Mediation analyses performed on the whole dyslexic sample suggested that the effect of categorical perception on reading might be mediated by phoneme awareness. This relationship was independent of the participants' VA span abilities. Two groups of dyslexic children with a single phoneme awareness or a single VA span deficit were then identified. The phonologically impaired group showed lower categorical perception skills than the control group but categorical perception was similar in the VA span impaired dyslexic and control children. The overall findings suggest that the link between categorical perception, phoneme awareness and reading is independent from VA span skills. These findings provide new insights on the heterogeneity of developmental dyslexia. They suggest that phonological processes and VA span independently affect reading acquisition.

Relationships between Categorical Perception of Phonemes, Phoneme Awareness, and Visual Attention Span in Developmental Dyslexia.

Science.gov (United States)

Zoubrinetzky, Rachel; Collet, Gregory; Serniclaes, Willy; Nguyen-Morel, Marie-Ange; Valdois, Sylviane

2016-01-01

We tested the hypothesis that the categorical perception deficit of speech sounds in developmental dyslexia is related to phoneme awareness skills, whereas a visual attention (VA) span deficit constitutes an independent deficit. Phoneme awareness tasks, VA span tasks and categorical perception tasks of phoneme identification and discrimination using a d/t voicing continuum were administered to 63 dyslexic children and 63 control children matched on chronological age. Results showed significant differences in categorical perception between the dyslexic and control children. Significant correlations were found between categorical perception skills, phoneme awareness and reading. Although VA span correlated with reading, no significant correlations were found between either categorical perception or phoneme awareness and VA span. Mediation analyses performed on the whole dyslexic sample suggested that the effect of categorical perception on reading might be mediated by phoneme awareness. This relationship was independent of the participants' VA span abilities. Two groups of dyslexic children with a single phoneme awareness or a single VA span deficit were then identified. The phonologically impaired group showed lower categorical perception skills than the control group but categorical perception was similar in the VA span impaired dyslexic and control children. The overall findings suggest that the link between categorical perception, phoneme awareness and reading is independent from VA span skills. These findings provide new insights on the heterogeneity of developmental dyslexia. They suggest that phonological processes and VA span independently affect reading acquisition.

Relationships between Categorical Perception of Phonemes, Phoneme Awareness, and Visual Attention Span in Developmental Dyslexia

Science.gov (United States)

Zoubrinetzky, Rachel; Collet, Gregory; Serniclaes, Willy; Nguyen-Morel, Marie-Ange; Valdois, Sylviane

2016-01-01

We tested the hypothesis that the categorical perception deficit of speech sounds in developmental dyslexia is related to phoneme awareness skills, whereas a visual attention (VA) span deficit constitutes an independent deficit. Phoneme awareness tasks, VA span tasks and categorical perception tasks of phoneme identification and discrimination using a d/t voicing continuum were administered to 63 dyslexic children and 63 control children matched on chronological age. Results showed significant differences in categorical perception between the dyslexic and control children. Significant correlations were found between categorical perception skills, phoneme awareness and reading. Although VA span correlated with reading, no significant correlations were found between either categorical perception or phoneme awareness and VA span. Mediation analyses performed on the whole dyslexic sample suggested that the effect of categorical perception on reading might be mediated by phoneme awareness. This relationship was independent of the participants’ VA span abilities. Two groups of dyslexic children with a single phoneme awareness or a single VA span deficit were then identified. The phonologically impaired group showed lower categorical perception skills than the control group but categorical perception was similar in the VA span impaired dyslexic and control children. The overall findings suggest that the link between categorical perception, phoneme awareness and reading is independent from VA span skills. These findings provide new insights on the heterogeneity of developmental dyslexia. They suggest that phonological processes and VA span independently affect reading acquisition. PMID:26950210

Research Article Special Issue

African Journals Online (AJOL)

pc

2017-11-10

Nov 10, 2017 ... Keywords: feature selection; dyslexic children; computer based screening test. .... One of the characteristics of dyslexia is memory loss among dyslexics [13-14]. ... The module task examined the short term .... In the long.

Risk assessment for children exposed to DDT residues in various milk types from the Greek market.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsakiris, Ioannis N; Goumenou, Marina; Tzatzarakis, Manolis N; Alegakis, Athanasios K; Tsitsimpikou, Christina; Ozcagli, Eren; Vynias, Dionysios; Tsatsakis, Aristidis M

2015-01-01

The occurrence of residues of DDT and its metabolites was monitored in 196 cow milk samples of various pasteurized commercial types collected from the Greek market. Residue levels were determined by GC-MS analysis. In 97.4% of the samples at least one DDT isomer or one of the DDT metabolites was detected, in levels not exceeding the maximum permitted residue level by the EU. Hazard Index for both carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic effects was estimated under two assumptions: a) using DDT concentrations from positive samples and b) imputing LOD/2 as an arbitrary concentration for negative samples. No statistically significant differences in detected or summed residue (p > 0.05) concentrations between different milk types were observed, with the exception of specific metabolites of DDT in some milk types. Exposure assessment scenarios were developed for children aged 1, 3, 5, 7 and 12 years old based on estimated body weights and daily milk consumption. Hazard Indices for non-carcinogenic effects were below 0.109 covering also carcinogenic effects according to WHO approach. The cancer risk values for carcinogenic effects according to the US EPA Cancer Benchmark Concentration approach, ranged from 0.4 to 18. For both effects the highest values were calculated for the 1- to 3-year-old age groups. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Greek and Roman Myths.

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Carr, Fredella; Faggionato, Michael

Designed for use with the text "Greek and Roman Myths," this junior high school learning activity packet introduces students to mythology and examines the influence of myths on contemporary culture. Over 20 exercises, tagged to specific readings in the text, cover identification of the major gods, the Prometheus myth, the Atlas myth,…

Burnout syndrome indices in Greek intensive care nursing personnel.

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Karanikola, Maria N K; Papathanassoglou, Elizabeth D E; Mpouzika, Meropi; Lemonidou, Chrysoula

2012-01-01

Burnout symptoms in Greek intensive care unit (ICU) nurses have not been explored adequately. The aim of this descriptive, correlational study was to investigate the prevalence and intensity of burnout symptoms in Greek ICU nursing personnel and any potential associations with professional satisfaction, as well as with demographic, educational, and vocational characteristics. Findings showed that the overall burnout level reported by Greek ICU nursing personnel was at a moderate to high degree. The most pronounced symptom of burnout was depersonalization, whereas emotional exhaustion was found to be a strong predictor of job satisfaction. This is a factor connected with the nurses' intention to quit the job. It appears that work factors have a more powerful influence over the development of burnout in comparison to personality traits.

Slowing in reading and picture naming: the effects of aging and developmental dyslexia.

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De Luca, Maria; Marinelli, Chiara Valeria; Spinelli, Donatella; Zoccolotti, Pierluigi

2017-10-01

We examined the slowing in vocal reaction times shown by dyslexic (compared to control) children with that of older (compared to younger) adults using an approach focusing on the detection of global, non-task-specific components. To address this aim, data were analyzed with reference to the difference engine (DEM) and rate and amount (RAM) models. In Experiment 1, typically developing children, children with dyslexia (both attending sixth grade), younger adults and older adults read words and non-words and named pictures. In Experiment 2, word and picture conditions were presented to dyslexic and control children attending eighth grade. In both experiments, dyslexic children were delayed in reading conditions, while they were unimpaired in naming pictures (a finding which indicates spared access to the phonological lexicon). The reading difficulty was well accounted for by a single multiplicative factor while only the residual effect of length (but not frequency and lexicality) was present after controlling for over-additivity using a linear mixed effects model with random slopes on critical variables. Older adults were slower than younger adults across reading and naming conditions. This deficit was well described by a single multiplicative factor. Thus, while slowing of information processing is limited to orthographic stimuli in dyslexic children, it cuts across verbal tasks in older adults. Overall, speed differences in groups such as dyslexic children and older adults can be effectively described with reference to deficits in domains encompassing a variety of experimental conditions rather than deficits in single specific task/conditions. The DEM and RAM prove effective in teasing out global vs. specific components of performance.

A Comparative Study of Primary School Teachers’ Views about Dyslexia in the UK and Greece

OpenAIRE

Kostopoulou, Rodopi

2013-01-01

The present study is a comparative research on primary teachers’ understanding of dyslexia in the UK and Greece. More specifically, aim of the research was to investigate primary teachers’ knowledge about dyslexia, their attitudes towards students with dyslexia, the procedures they follow for the identification of dyslexic students and the way teachers respond to their learning and emotional needs, in both countries. The sample consisted of six primary teachers (three English and three Greek)...

Greek Hepatoscopy and its Criteria

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Vítek, Tomáš

2016-01-01

Roč. 112, č. 1 (2016), s. 139-164 ISSN 0033-4987 Institutional support: RVO:67985955 Keywords : divination * liver * signs * divinatory treatises * Greek religion Subject RIV: AA - Philosophy ; Religion http://www.libraweb.net/articoli.php?chiave=201606401&rivista=64

The Greek Financial Crisis – Theoretical Implications

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Garry Jacobs

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The world we live in is a product of the way we think. Our conception of reality determines what we see and what we achieve. The Greek crisis is not simply a case of high public debt, economic mismanagement or weak political will in Greece or the Eurozone. It is underpinned by economic premises, constructs and resulting practices that promote exactly the type of dilemma Greece faces today. Without addressing these conceptual issues, no lasting solution is possible. Rather it can be expected to repeat and spread to other countries and regions. This article is based on views presented by participants in a WAAS webinar examining the Greek financial crisis in the light of economic theory and practice. Wherever there are unmet social needs and underutilized social resources, such as high levels of unemployment, the potential exists to stimulate economic activity, enhance human welfare and promote resilience and sustainable entrepreneurship. Both conditions prevail in Greece today, but neither current nor anticipated policies are likely to result in near term benefits to the Greek people and the local economy nor for Europe and the world economy. It supports the view that a permanent and effective win-win solution can be found to the Greek crisis, compatible with the financial stability of the country and the welfare of its citizens within the framework of the Eurozone, but that such a solution will require a rethinking of fundamental theoretical issues and adoption of innovative policy instruments beyond those presently being contemplated.

Literacy Development among Language Minority Background and Dyslexic Children in Finnish Orthography Context

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Sikiö, Riitta; Siekkinen, Martti; Holopainen, Leena

2016-01-01

This study examines the development of reading and writing from first to second grade in transparent orthography (Finnish) among three groups: language minority children (n = 49), Finnish children at risk of reading difficulties (n = 347), and Finnish speaking children (n = 1747). Findings indicated that reading and writing skills in the language…

The factor structure of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ in Greek adolescents

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Rotsika Vasiliki

2009-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ is a practical, economic and user-friendly screening instrument of emotional and behavioural problems in children and adolescents. This study was aimed primarily at evaluating the factor structure of the Greek version of the SDQ. Methods A representative nationwide sample of 1,194 adolescents (11 to 17 years old completed the questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA was conducted to assess the factor structure of the SDQ. Results CFA supported the original five-factor structure. The modification of the model provided some improvements. Internal consistency was acceptable for total difficulties, emotional symptoms and prosocial behaviour scale, moderate for hyperactivity/inattention scale and inadequate for peer and conduct problems scale. Older adolescents (aged 15 to 17 years reported more hyperactivity/inattention and conduct problems than younger ones (aged 11 to 14 years and girls reported more emotional symptoms and less prosocial behaviour problems than boys. Adolescents of low socioeconomic status (SES reported more difficulties than those of medium and high SES. Conclusion The Greek SDQ could be potentially considered as a community-wide screening instrument for adolescents' emotional and behavioural problems.

Exergy-based comparison of two Greek industries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Xydis, George; Koroneos, C.; Naniki, E.

2011-01-01

In this work, the potential of the increase in exergy and energy efficiency of the Greek construction and Food, Drink and Tobacco (FDT) industries has been examined using energy and exergy analysis methodology. These two industries play a vital role towards sustainable development of the country....... The continuous increase in energy use in these two industries during the years 1971–2000 shows that both remain steadily in an ascendant orbit. The aim was to analyse and compare the energy use and exergy consumption in the Greek construction and FDT industries to gain insights into each sector's efficiency...

Measuring the Impact of Economic Crisis to the Greek Vehicle Market

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Evanthia A. Nanaki

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The fallout of the global economic crisis has impacted Greece severely as the austerity measures that were implemented since 2009 have had a devastating effect on poverty and the level of living. The financial agreement of the Greek government with the International Monetary Fund (IMF gave rise to a deep recession phase in the Greek market that started in early 2008. The automobile industry is among the sectors that have been severely affected by the economic crisis. Given that the demand for cars fell sharply and that the Greek car market is facing serious problems, mapping and understanding them can provide useful input to the Greek vehicle market. Regression analysis is being employed, and the interrelations of different variables, such as net disposable income, unemployment rate, fuel prices, the Greek crisis, loans directed to the vehicle market, as well as the inflation rate for the period of 2000–2016, are investigated. Analyzing the factors affecting car sales can provide policy-makers with knowledge in order to take legislative and economic measures, so as to boost sales of new environmental friendly vehicles not only in Greece, but in all EU states.

Preschool Phonological and Morphological Awareness As Longitudinal Predictors of Early Reading and Spelling Development in Greek.

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Diamanti, Vassiliki; Mouzaki, Angeliki; Ralli, Asimina; Antoniou, Faye; Papaioannou, Sofia; Protopapas, Athanassios

2017-01-01

Different language skills are considered fundamental for successful reading and spelling acquisition. Extensive evidence has highlighted the central role of phonological awareness in early literacy experiences. However, many orthographic systems also require the contribution of morphological awareness. The goal of this study was to examine the morphological and phonological awareness skills of preschool children as longitudinal predictors of reading and spelling ability by the end of first grade, controlling for the effects of receptive and expressive vocabulary skills. At Time 1 preschool children from kindergartens in the Greek regions of Attika, Crete, Macedonia, and Thessaly were assessed on tasks tapping receptive and expressive vocabulary, phonological awareness (syllable and phoneme), and morphological awareness (inflectional and derivational). Tasks were administered through an Android application for mobile devices (tablets) featuring automatic application of ceiling rules. At Time 2 one year later the same children attending first grade were assessed on measures of word and pseudoword reading, text reading fluency, text reading comprehension, and spelling. Complete data from 104 children are available. Hierarchical linear regression and commonality analyses were conducted for each outcome variable. Reading accuracy for both words and pseudowords was predicted not only by phonological awareness, as expected, but also by morphological awareness, suggesting that understanding the functional role of word parts supports the developing phonology-orthography mappings. However, only phonological awareness predicted text reading fluency at this age. Longitudinal prediction of reading comprehension by both receptive vocabulary and morphological awareness was already evident at this age, as expected. Finally, spelling was predicted by preschool phonological awareness, as expected, as well as by morphological awareness, the contribution of which is expected to

Preschool Phonological and Morphological Awareness As Longitudinal Predictors of Early Reading and Spelling Development in Greek

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vassiliki Diamanti

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Different language skills are considered fundamental for successful reading and spelling acquisition. Extensive evidence has highlighted the central role of phonological awareness in early literacy experiences. However, many orthographic systems also require the contribution of morphological awareness. The goal of this study was to examine the morphological and phonological awareness skills of preschool children as longitudinal predictors of reading and spelling ability by the end of first grade, controlling for the effects of receptive and expressive vocabulary skills. At Time 1 preschool children from kindergartens in the Greek regions of Attika, Crete, Macedonia, and Thessaly were assessed on tasks tapping receptive and expressive vocabulary, phonological awareness (syllable and phoneme, and morphological awareness (inflectional and derivational. Tasks were administered through an Android application for mobile devices (tablets featuring automatic application of ceiling rules. At Time 2 one year later the same children attending first grade were assessed on measures of word and pseudoword reading, text reading fluency, text reading comprehension, and spelling. Complete data from 104 children are available. Hierarchical linear regression and commonality analyses were conducted for each outcome variable. Reading accuracy for both words and pseudowords was predicted not only by phonological awareness, as expected, but also by morphological awareness, suggesting that understanding the functional role of word parts supports the developing phonology–orthography mappings. However, only phonological awareness predicted text reading fluency at this age. Longitudinal prediction of reading comprehension by both receptive vocabulary and morphological awareness was already evident at this age, as expected. Finally, spelling was predicted by preschool phonological awareness, as expected, as well as by morphological awareness, the contribution of which is

A Directed Network of Greek and Roman Mythology

OpenAIRE

Choi, Yeon-Mu; Kim, Hyun-Joo

2005-01-01

We study the Greek and Roman mythology using the network theory. We construct a directed network by using a dictionary of Greek and Roman mythology in which the nodes represent the entries listed in the dictionary and we make directional links from an entry to other entries that appear in its explanatory part. We find that this network is clearly not a random network but a directed scale-free network. Also measuring the various quantities which characterize the mythology network, we analyze t...

The Development of Spatial Configuration Processing of Visual Word Forms

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Chienhui Kao

2011-05-01

Full Text Available The analysis of spatial relationship, or configuration, among the components of a character is important for visual word form recognition (Kao et al., 2010. We investigated such spatial configuration processing in dyslexics and developing populations. Four types of characters: real- and non-characters and their upside-down versions were used in this study. The task of the observers was to determine whether two characters presented on the display were identical. One group of dyslexic children (Dys and two groups of non-dyslexic controls, one (RL matched Dys in reading performance and the other (CA matched in age, were recruited in this study. Dys performed significantly worse than the control groups for all character types, suggesting a worse visual word form processing in dyslexics. For Dys and CA, the proportional correct response for the upright real characters was better than that for their upside-down versions. RL, (which was younger showed the same effect for the non-characters. Since the non-characters disrupts the global configuration while the inverted characters disrupted both local and global configurations, our results suggest that younger children recognize a word with an analysis of the local configuration while older children, regardless of whether they are dyslexics or not, analyze the global configuration.

Abnormal auditory ERP N100 in children with dyslexia: comparison with their control siblings

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Papageorgiou Charalabos

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Recent research has implicated deficits of the working memory (WM and attention in dyslexia. The N100 component of event-related potentials (ERP is thought to reflect attention and working memory operation. However, previous studies showed controversial results concerning the N100 in dyslexia. Variability in this issue may be the result of inappropriate match up of the control sample, which is usually based exclusively on age and gender. Methods In order to address this question the present study aimed at investigating the auditory N100 component elicited during a WM test in 38 dyslexic children in comparison to those of 19 unaffected sibling controls. Both groups met the criteria of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10. ERP were evoked by two stimuli, a low (500 Hz and a high (3000 Hz frequency tone indicating forward and reverse digit span respectively. Results As compared to their sibling controls, dyslexic children exhibited significantly reduced N100 amplitudes induced by both reverse and forward digit span at Fp1, F3, Fp2, Fz, C4, Cz and F4 and at Fp1, F3, C5, C3, Fz, F4, C6, P4 and Fp2 leads respectively. Memory performance of the dyslexics group was not significantly lower than that of the controls. However, enhanced memory performance in the control group is associated with increased N100 amplitude induced by high frequency stimuli at the C5, C3, C6 and P4 leads and increased N100 amplitude induced by low frequency stimuli at the P4 lead. Conclusion The present findings are in support of the notion of weakened capture of auditory attention in dyslexia, allowing for a possible impairment in the dynamics that link attention with short memory, suggested by the anchoring-deficit hypothesis.

Greek School Textbooks at a Political Crossroads: (Re)Defining the Greek Citizen in the Greek School during the Reign of Colonels (1967-1974)

Science.gov (United States)

Zervas, Theodore G.

2016-01-01

This paper analyzes several elementary and middle school textbooks, educational decrees, and other primary sources to help shed light on how schooling, and more generally education, during what would be known as the "Reign of the Colonels" or "Military 'Junta'" attempted to reshape a Greek national identity. This paper seeks to…

[The concept of mania in Greek medical and philosophical literature].

Science.gov (United States)

Corleto, L M

1992-01-01

Coverage of the concept of mania in late archaic Greek culture displays a clear difference between its use in medical and philosophical works. Medical literature uses the terms [Greek] and [Greek] to describe mania, with the condition seen largely associated with physical illness. Specific treatment for this attered psychic state is not advanced. The philosophical view sees mania as a divine folly and thus possessing positive as well as negative aspects. Plate identifies four types of mania and treatment is closely associated with the divinity seen as responsible for that particular type. The radical rationalism found in the medical literature is a counterpoint to moderation as shown by Plato with his interest on regulations of society.

Devastating epidemics in recent ages Greek populations.

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Kotsiou, Antonia; Michalaki, Vasiliki; Anagnostopoulou, Helen N

2017-12-01

In the recent Greek ages the most devastating epidemics were plague, smallpox, leprosy and cholera. In 1816 plague struck the Ionian and Aegean Islands, mainland Greece, Constantinople and Smyrna. The Venetians ruling the Ionian Islands effectively combated plague in contrast to the Ottomans ruling all other regions. In 1922, plague appeared in Patras refugees who were expelled by the Turks from Smyrna and Asia Minor. Inoculation against smallpox was first performed in Thessaly by the Greek women, and the Greek doctors Emmanouel Timonis (1713, Oxford) and Jakovos Pylarinos (1715, Venice) made relevant scientific publications. The first leper colony opened in Chios Island. In Crete, Spinalonga was transformed into a leper island, which following the Independence War against Turkish occupation and the unification of Crete with Greece in 1913, was classified as an International Leper Hospital. Cholera struck Greece in 1853-1854 brought by the French troops during the Crimean War, and again during the Balkan Wars (1912-13) when the Bulgarian troops brought cholera to northern Greece. Due to successive wars, medical assistance was not always available, so desperate people turned many times to religion through processions in honor of local saints, for their salvation in epidemics.

USE OF MODERN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES IN TEACHING OF OLD GREEK FOR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

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Viacheslav M. Shovkovyi

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Work is devoted to determination of sphere of the use of modern information technologies in the process of teaching the ancient Greek language for students of higher educational establishments. The necessity of the use of electronic dictionaries and internet-resources is grounded during teaching of normative course of grammar of ancient Greek language, ancient Greek textual criticism, and also disciplines of extralinguistic block. An electronic dictionary and internet-resources is able to provide mobility, plenitude of information. Theoretical positions of the article must be fixed in basis of development of site which will have complete information about a culture and way of life of ancient greeks.

Alchemy, Chinese versus Greek, an etymological approach: a rejoinder.

Science.gov (United States)

Mahdihassan, S

1988-01-01

The theory generally accepted maintains that Alchemy arose at Alexandria as a child of Greek culture. It has two names, Chemeia as the earlier and Chumeia as the later. There is another theory that Alchemy arose in China. Its founder was the aged ascetic who longed after drugs of longevity. He first tried jade, next gold and cinnabar, but the ideal was a drug which was red like cinnabar and fire-proof like gold. But what was actually prepared was red colloidal gold or "calcined gold," by grinding gold granules in a decoction of an herb of longevity. It was called Chin-I; Chin = gold and I = plant juice. In Fukin dialect Chin-I = Kim-Iya. This was Arabicized, by pre-Islamic Arabs trading in silk with China, as Kimiya, whence arose Al-Kimiya and finally Al-chemy. It was first accepted by Bucharic speaking Copts in Egypt who transliterated Kimiya = Chemeia, pronouncing it as the Arabs did. With the increase of trade in silk the Chinese also went to Alexandria and helped the Greeks to translate Chin-I as Chrusozomion meaning, gold (making) ferment, instead of gold making plant juice. Consistent with this origin of the word Chemeia is the fact that the earlier Alchemists were not Greeks but probably Bucharic speaks Copts or Egyptians. The consumer of Chin-I or Chemeia became "a drug-made immortal" called Chin-Jen, Golden-Man. This was translated into Greek as Chrusanthropos. Thus the etymoloogy of two Greek words Chrusozomion and Chrusanthropos support the origin of the loan word, Chemeia as Chinese. To save space it is not proposed to discuss the origin of Chumeia.

Quality characteristics of Greek fly ashes and potential uses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Skodras, G.; Grammelis, P.; Kakaras, E. [Institute for Solid Fuels Technology and Applications, Ptolemais (Greece); Karangelos, D.; Anagnostakis, M.; Hinis, E. [Nuclear Engineering Section, Mechanical Engineering Department, National Technical University of Athens, Athens (Greece)

2007-01-15

The main characteristics of fly ash from Greek coal-fired boilers are presented in this paper in relation to its exploitation potential. Both fuel and fly ash samples were collected and analyzed according to the ASTM Standards. Apart from the typical analyses (proximate, ultimate, ash analysis and calorific value), an ICP-AES spectrometer was used for the analysis of heavy metals in the ash. Experimental measurements in order to determine the radioactivity content of raw fuel and the fly ash were carried out as well. A representative fly ash sample from Ptolemais power plant was evaluated and tested as filler in Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC). Ashes from the Greek brown coal are classified in type C, most of the fly ash being produced in Ptolemais of Northern Greece, while the rest in Megalopolis. Ptolemais fly ash is rich in calcium compounds, while Megalopolis fly ash contains more pyrite. Increased heavy metal concentrations are observed in the fly ash samples of Greek coal. Greek fly ash appears to have not only pozzolanic but also hydraulic behaviour. Furthermore, Greek fly ash, depending on its origin, may have relatively high natural radioactivity content, reaching in the case of Megalopolis fly ash 1 kBq kg{sup -1} of {sup 226}Ra. The laboratory results showed that fly ashes can be a competitive substitute to conventional limestone filler material in SCC. Fly ash is mostly used in Greece in cement industry replacing cement clinker and aiming to the production of special types of Portland cements. However, a more aggressive utilisation strategy should be developed, since low quantities of the total produced fly ash are currently further utilised. (author)

A Greek physician's portrait in Windsor Castle.

Science.gov (United States)

Bartsocas, Christos S

2017-01-01

To the visitor to Windsor Castle, the Thomas Lawrence portraits in the Waterloo Chamber represent the most important contributors to the military defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte, by British, Prussian, Russian and Austrian forces at the Battle of Waterloo. Nevertheless, only few individuals realise that a Greek physician, Count Ioannis Capodistrias, a native of the island of Corfu, stands among these leading personalities as a diplomat, the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, who contributed remarkably to European unity in the early nineteenth century and as a statesman ('Governor' of Greece) with a tragic end to his life, after establishing a Greek State practically from ruins.

The Greek Electricity Market Reforms: Political and Regulatory Considerations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Danias, Nikolaos; Kim Swales, John; McGregor, Peter

2013-01-01

The paper tracks the evolution of the Greek electricity market since the beginning of the liberalization process. Its progress is benchmarked against the criteria suggested by Littlechild (2006b). The Littlechild framework highlights key remaining deficiencies in the stances and policies adopted which need to be resolved in order for liberalization to proceed successfully. The focus is on the agendas of the Greek government, other domestic political forces and the European Union. A central requirement is the clear commitment to liberalization by the Greek government. In particular the government needs to give up political control over the previous vertically integrated, state-controlled electricity firm, Public Power Company (PPC), and allow more decision making powers and genuine independence to the market regulator. Liberalization is rendered more difficult by the present financial and economic crisis in Greece. - Highlights: • Greek electricity market liberalization is benchmarked against the Littlechild standard electricity market reform model. • Although the majority of the model requirements are met, liberalization in Greece is only partially successful. • Some elements of liberalization are qualitatively more significant than others. • More fundamental political economy issues need to be addressed in order for the liberalization to progress. • Financial crisis in Greece adds extra challenges

On the acoustics of ancient Greek and Roman theaters.

Science.gov (United States)

Farnetani, Andrea; Prodi, Nicola; Pompoli, Roberto

2008-09-01

The interplay of architecture and acoustics is remarkable in ancient Greek and Roman theaters. Frequently they are nowadays lively performance spaces and the knowledge of the sound field inside them is still an issue of relevant importance. Even if the transition from Greek to Roman theaters can be described with a great architectural detail, a comprehensive and objective approach to the two types of spaces from the acoustical point of view is available at present only as a computer model study [P. Chourmouziadou and J. Kang, "Acoustic evolution of ancient Greek and Roman theaters," Appl. Acoust. 69, re (2007)]. This work addresses the same topic from the experimental point of view, and its aim is to provide a basis to the acoustical evolution from Greek to Roman theater design. First, by means of in situ and scale model measurements, the most important features of the sound field in ancient theaters are clarified and discussed. Then it has been possible to match quantitatively the role of some remarkable architectural design variables with acoustics, and it is seen how this criterion can be used effectively to define different groups of ancient theaters. Finally some more specific wave phenomena are addressed and discussed.

An exploration of loyalty determinants in Greek wine varieties

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Krystallis, Athanasios; Chrysochou, Polymeros

2010-01-01

Purpose - This paper aims to provide a deeper understanding of the market structure of Greek red and white wine varieties and to measure the loyalty behaviour of frequent wine buyers in Greece. Design/methodology/approach - The study measures brand performance and loyalty of four different Greek...... wine varieties. Based on stated preference data, basic brand performance measures are estimated through Juster purchase probabilities of brand choice. To measure loyalty behaviour, the polarisation index w (phi) is used as a measure to model both loyalty to the brand name and specific wine attributes...... and their levels. Findings - The findings of the present study point to the conclusion that each one of the four Greek wine varieties under examination exhibits its own market structure and loyalty profile, whereas price, quality certification and winemaker's size seem to function as loyalty stimulators more...

Lexical Decision with Left, Right and Center Visual Field Presentation: A Comparison between Dyslexic and Regular Readers by Means of Electrophysiological and Behavioral Measures

Science.gov (United States)

Shaul, Shelley

2012-01-01

This study examined the differences in processing between regular and dyslexic readers in a lexical decision task in different visual field presentations (left, right, and center). The research utilized behavioral measures that provide information on accuracy and reaction time and electro-physiological measures that permit the examination of brain…

Teaching Ancient Greek History in Greek Compulsory Education: Textual and Ideological Continuities and Discontinuities

Science.gov (United States)

Papakosta, Konstantina

2017-01-01

The reality of Greek education presents a dissension in relation to the global trends regarding the existence and use of a single textbook per school subject. This reality also influences the orientation of education research. Thus, the international trend to study how textbooks affect the uptake of knowledge by the student, which is followed by…

The Emotional Readiness of Greek Cypriot Teachers for Peaceful Co-Existence

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Zembylas, Michalinos; Kendeou, Panayiota; Michaelidou, Athina

2011-01-01

In this article, we: (1) offer a conceptualisation of what it means for Greek Cypriot teachers to be "reconciled" with the "other side" (i.e. Turkish Cypriots) in Cyprus; (2) examine Greek Cypriot teachers' emotional responses to the new educational objective of cultivating peaceful coexistence in schools; and (3) investigate…

Conception, complicated pregnancy, and labour of gods and heroes in Greek mythology.

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Iavazzo, Christos; Trompoukis, Constantinos; Sardi, Thalia; Falagas, Matthew E

2008-01-01

Pregnancy and labour are holy moments in a woman's life. Even in Greek mythology we can find descriptions of them. We searched in the Greek myths to find descriptions of labours of ancient heroes and gods. We identified descriptions of extracorporeal fertilization, superfecundation, ectopic pregnancy, preterm labour, prolonged pregnancy and Caesarean section. The use of imagination could help the reader to find similarities in present or future developments in the field of obstetrics. It could be concluded that various aspects of modern obstetrical practice are described in Greek mythology.

Isaac Vossius’ Sylloge of Greek Technopaegnia

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Guillermo Galán-Vioque

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Tracing the sources that Vossius (1618–1689 used in compiling his anthology of Greek technopaegnia (Leiden ms. Vossius misc. 13 illuminates both his research methods and the evolution of his dispute with Salmasius.

Analysis of the Design Criteria for Ancient Greek and Roman Catapults

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Paasch, Kasper

2011-01-01

This paper will give a short overview of use of COMSOL Multiphysics for analyzing ancient Greek and Roman catapults with the main focus on the energy storing torsion springs. Catapults have been known and used in the Greek and Roman world from around 399 BC and a fully standardized design for pow...

Growth, Debt and Sovereignty: Prolegomena to the Greek Crisis

OpenAIRE

Stavros B. Thomadakis

2015-01-01

The paper reflects a basic premise: Greek participation in the Euro-zone marked a definitive institutional break in the process of contracting and managing public debt. Instead of internal debt, used extensively in earlier decades, euro-denominated sovereign issues were now placed in the international market. Thus, the Greek state became a net ‘exporter’ of financial claims to an extent unprecedented in its recent history. In assessing the prolegomena to crisis, I offer a review of the post-j...

Reading speed and phonological awareness deficits among Arabic-speaking children with dyslexia.

Science.gov (United States)

Layes, Smail; Lalonde, Robert; Rebaï, Mohamed

2015-02-01

Although reading accuracy of isolated words and phonological awareness represent the main criteria of subtyping developmental dyslexia, there is increasing evidence that reduced reading speed also represents a defining characteristic. In the present study, reading speed and accuracy were measured in Arabic-speaking phonological and mixed dyslexic children matched with controls of the same age. Participants in third and fourth grades, aged from 9-10 to 9-8 years, were given single frequent and infrequent word and pseudo-word reading and phonological awareness tasks. Results showed that the group with dyslexia scored significantly lower than controls in accuracy and speed in reading tasks. Phonological and mixed dyslexic subgroups differed in infrequent and frequent word reading accuracy, the latter being worse. In contrast, the subgroups were comparable in pseudo-word identification and phonological awareness. Delayed phonological and recognition processes of infrequent and frequent words, respectively, were placed in the context of the dual route model of reading and the specific orthographic features of the Arabic language. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Greek Archer Evolution in the Greek Military Context

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José Javier Vilariño Rodríguez

2010-03-01

Full Text Available The trajectory of the bow in the History of Greece is associated with the transformation that was originated inside of the military environment. The poor prominence that for many centuries was granted to the archers in the warlike context, was going to give an unexpected draft with the explosion of the Persian Wars. Later, the playwright Euripides was going to turn Herakles, one of the most famous archer of the hellenic world, into the spokesman of the change that was going to bring with it the acceptance and the definitive incorporation of these soldiers as contingent of considerable value inside the greek armies.

Greek mythology: the eye, ophthalmology, eye disease, and blindness.

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Trompoukis, Constantinos; Kourkoutas, Dimitrios

2007-06-01

In distant eras, mythology was a form of expression used by many peoples. A study of the Greek myths reveals concealed medical knowledge, in many cases relating to the eye. An analysis was made of the ancient Greek texts for mythological references relating to an understanding of vision, visual abilities, the eye, its congenital and acquired abnormalities, blindness, and eye injuries and their treatment. The Homeric epics contain anatomical descriptions of the eyes and the orbits, and an elementary knowledge of physiology is also apparent. The concept of the visual field can be seen in the myth of Argos Panoptes. Many myths describe external eye disease ("knyzosis"), visual disorders (amaurosis), and cases of blinding that, depending on the story, are ascribed to various causes. In addition, ocular motility abnormalities, congenital anomalies (cyclopia), injuries, and special treatments, such as the "licking" method, are mentioned. The study of mythological references to the eye reveals reliable medical observations of the ancient Greeks, which are concealed within the myths.

Skewed Sociolinguistic Awareness of a Native Non-standard Dialect: Evidence from the Cypriot Greek Writing of Greek Cypriot Students

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Ioli Ayiomamitou

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Over the last 50 years, sociolinguistic research in settings in which a regional, social, or ethnic non-standard linguistic variety is used alongside the standard variety of the same language has steadily increased. The educational implications of the concomitant use of such varieties have also received a great deal of research attention. This study deals with regional linguistic variation and its implications for education by focusing on the Greek Cypriot educational context. This context is ideal for investigating the linguistic profiles of speakers of proximal varieties as the majority of Greek Cypriots are primarily educated in just one of their varieties: the standard educational variety. The aim of our study was to understand Greek Cypriot primary school pupils’ sociolinguistic awareness via examination of their written production in their home variety [Cypriot Greek (CG dialect]. Our assumption was that, because written production is less spontaneous than speech, it better reflects pupils’ conscious awareness. Pupils were advised to produce texts that reflected their everyday language with family and friends (beyond school boundaries. As expected, students’ texts included an abundance of mesolectal features and the following were the ten most frequent: (1 palato-alveolar consonants, (2 future particle [ená] and conditional [ítan na] + subjunctive, (3 consonant devoicing, (4 CG-specific verb stems, (5 final [n] retention, (6 [én/ éni] instead of [íne], (7 CG-specific verb endings, (8 [én/é] instead of [ðen], (9 elision of intervocalic fricative [ɣ], and (10 CG-specific adverbs. Importantly, in addition to the expected mesolectal features that reflect contemporary CG, students included a significant and unexpected number of basilectal features and instances of hyperdialectism (that are not representative of today’s linguistic reality which rendered their texts register-inappropriate. This led us to conclude that Greek

[Relationship between magnocellular function and reading skills in children: a study using visual evoked potentials].

Science.gov (United States)

Kobayashi, Tomoka; Inagaki, Masumi; Yamazaki, Hiroko; Kita, Yosuke; Kaga, Makiko; Oka, Akira

2014-11-01

Developmental dyslexia (DD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. The magnocellular deficit theory is one of several hypotheses that have been proposed to explain the pathophysiology of DD. In this study, we investigated magnocellular system dysfunction in Japanese dyslexic children. Subjects were 19 dyslexic children (DD group) and 19 aged-matched healthy children (TD group). They were aged between 7 and 16 years. Reversed patterns of black and white sinusoidal gratings generated at a low spatial frequency, high reversal frequency of 7.5 Hz, and low contrasts were used specifically to stimulate the magnocellular system. We recorded visual evoked potentials (VEP) from the occipital area and examined their relationship with reading and naming tasks, such as the time to read hiragana characters, rapid automatized naming of pictured objects, and phonological manipulation. Compared to the TD group, the DD group showed a significantly lower peak amplitude of VEPs through the complex demodulation method. Structural equation modeling showed that VEP peak amplitudes were related to the rapid automatized naming of pictured objects, and better rapid automatized naming resulted in higher reading skills. There was no correlation between VEP findings and the capacity for phonological manipulation. VEPs in response to the magnocellular system are useful for understanding the pathophysiology of DD. Single phonological deficit may not be sufficient to cause DD.

The Longitudinal Contribution of Early Morphological Awareness Skills to Reading Fluency and Comprehension in Greek

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George Manolitsis

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this longitudinal study was to examine the role of three morphological awareness (MA skills (inflection, derivation, and compounding in word reading fluency and reading comprehension in a relatively transparent orthography (Greek. Two hundred and fifteen (104 girls; Mage = 67.40 months, at kindergarten Greek children were followed from kindergarten (K to grade 2 (G2. In K and grade 1 (G1, they were tested on measures of MA (two inflectional, two derivational, and three compounding, letter knowledge, phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming (RAN, and general cognitive ability (vocabulary and non-verbal IQ. At the end of G1 and G2, they were also tested on word reading fluency and reading comprehension. The results of hierarchical regression analyses showed that the inflectional and derivational aspects of MA in K as well as all aspects of MA in G1 accounted for 2–5% of unique variance in reading comprehension. None of the MA skills predicted word reading fluency, after controlling for the effects of vocabulary and RAN. These findings suggest that the MA skills, even when assessed as early as in kindergarten, play a significant role in reading comprehension development.

Practical Hints on Greek and Latin

Science.gov (United States)

Jopes, James

1978-01-01

A discussion of some of the difficulties and procedures in translating classical quotations occurring in a modern text. Some of the topics covered are: use of published translations, transliteration from ancient Greek, and non-classical idioms such as medieval and botanical Latin. (AMH)

Validation of the Reflux Disease Questionnaire into Greek

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Eirini Oikonomidou

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Primary care physicians face challenges in diagnosing and managing gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD. The Reflux Disease Questionnaire (RDQ meets the standards of validity, reliability, and practicability. This paper reports on the validation of the Greek translation of the RDQ. RDQ is a condition specific instrument. For the validation of the questionnaire, the internal consistency of its items was established using the alpha coefficient of Chronbach. The reproducibility (test-retest reliability was measured by kappa correlation coefficient and the criterion of validity was calculated against the diagnosis of another questionnaire already translated and validated into Greek (IDGP using kappa correlation coefficient. A factor analysis was also performed. Greek RDQ showed a high overall internal consistency (alpha value: 0.91 for individual comparison. All 8 items regarding heartburn and regurgitation, GERD, had good reproducibility (Cohen’s κ 0.60-0.79, while the remaining 4 items about dyspepsia had a moderate reproducibility (Cohen’s κ=’ 0.40-0.59 The kappa coefficient for criterion validity for GERD was rather poor (0.20, 95% CI: 0.04, 0.36 and the overall agreement between the results of the RDQ questionnaire and those based on the IDGP questionnaire was 70.5%. Factor analysis indicated 3 factors with Eigenvalue over 1.0, and responsible for 76.91% of variance. Regurgitation items correlated more strongly with the third component but pain behind sternum and upper stomach pain correlated with the second component. The Greek version of RDQ seems to be a reliable and valid instrument following the pattern of the original questionnaire, and could be used in primary care research in Greece.

Fear of rape: its perceived seriousness and likelihood among young Greek women.

Science.gov (United States)

Softas-nall, B; Bardos, A; Fakinos, M

1995-06-01

This paper examines the magnitude and prevalence of fear of crime as a function of seriousness and probability of occurrence among Greek female university students aged 17-29 years. The findings show that rape is the most fear producing of all offenses in young Greek women. Fear of rape is even greater than fear of murder, robbery, threat with a dangerous object, and other serious crimes. Consequently, Greek women distance themselves from possible sources of danger; thus, most of them are deprived of some of their basic freedoms. This finding is interpreted in light of rape's reported likelihood in conjunction with its reported seriousness. The findings are similar to those reported in other countries and in line with the feminist claim regarding the universality of the fear of rape in the daily life of young women. Explanations of high fear in terms of physical and social vulnerability and as a possible reflection of hidden violence against Greek women are also included in the discussion.

Attitudes of Greek Drivers with Focus on Mobile Phone Use While Driving.

Science.gov (United States)

Yannis, George; Theofilatos, Athanasios; Marinou, Paraskevi

2015-01-01

This article investigates the attitudes and behavior of Greek drivers with specific focus on mobile phone use while driving. The research is based on the data of the pan-European SARTRE 4 survey, which was conducted on a representative sample of Greek drivers in 2011. Analysis of the drivers' behavior was carried out by the statistical methods of factor and cluster analysis. According to the results of factor analysis, Greek drivers' responses in the selected questions were summarized into 4 factors, describing road behavior and accident involvement probability as well as their views on issues concerning other drivers' road behaviors, fatigued driving, enforcement of road safety, and mobile phone use while driving. The results of cluster analysis indicated 5 different groups of Greek drivers--the moderate, the optimistic, the conservative, the risky, and the reasonably cautious--and the characteristics of each group where identified. These results may be useful for the appropriate design of targeted road safety campaigns and other countermeasures.

The Greek concept of egkíklios paideía and its diffusion in the Hellenistic era

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Miguel Spinelli

2016-05-01

Full Text Available This paper is about the concept of egkíklios paideía, used in ancient Greece to define the children’s (paidós school term (egkíklios. The goals of the syllabus used to be, on the one hand, enabling the children to use the intellect, and, on the other hand, professional, social and human amendment. The paper uses two sources. First, the ancient philosophers. Second, other educational conceptions spread all over the Greek civilization in the Hellenistic age. Concerning the ancient philosophers, the paper analyzes a single dictum attributed to three different philosophers: Gorgias, Aristippus and Bion. The subject of the dictum is a comparison between, on the one hand, philosophy and Penelope, and, on the other hand, the other disciplines of the syllabus and Penelope’s servants. Concerning the Hellenistic diffusion, the paper deals with Filo, Quintilian and Clement of Alexandria. Regarding these writers, the paper aims to show an overturn: among the Greeks, philosophy used to be the master (the déspoina; later, it became the servant (the doulís

GREEKS AND BARBARIANS IN HOMER’S “ODYSSEY”

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Ştefania VOICU

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Homer’s “Odyssey”, viewed as a relevant literary source for Archaic Greece, has led to the development of different research domains through the medium of hermeneutics or text interpretation. One of these directions regards the reconstitution of social aspects pertaining to the Archaic Greek world. Given that Odysseus’ adventures unfold beyond the borders of the world known by the hero, Greek identity can only be rendered by exclusion, the exclusion of the Other: the reverse of the reprehensible deeds or aspects of the Other comes to define the real, or at least desirable, characteristics of the one operating the exclusion.

Psychometric Properties of the Greek Version of the Patient Dignity Inventory in Advanced Cancer Patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Parpa, Efi; Kostopoulou, Sotiria; Tsilika, Eleni; Galanos, Antonis; Katsaragakis, Stylianos; Mystakidou, Kyriaki

2017-09-01

The patient dignity inventory (PDI) is an instrument to measure dignity distressing aspects at the end of life. The aims of the present study were the translation of the PDI in Greek language as well as to measure its psychometric aspects in a palliative care unit. A back-translation method was obtained at the Greek version. One hundred twenty advanced cancer patients completed the Greek version of the PDI, the Greek hospital anxiety and depression scale, the Greek schedule of attitudes toward hastened death (SAHD-Gr), and the Greek 12-item short form health survey. Confirmatory factor analysis failed to fit to the original instrument's structure and exploratory factor analysis was conducted revealing five factors ("Psychological Distress," "Body Image and Role Identity," "Self-Esteem," "Physical Distress and Dependency," and "Social Support"). The psychometric analysis of the PDI-Gr demonstrated a good concurrent validity, and the instrument discriminated well between subgroups of patients regarding age differences. Cronbach α were between 0.71 and 0.9 showing a good internal consistency. The Greek version of the PDI showed good psychometric properties in advanced cancer patients, supported the usefulness of the instrument assessing the sense of dignity distressing aspects of the terminally ill cancer patients. Copyright © 2017 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Systematic review of the prevalence of mental illness stigma within the Greek culture.

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Tzouvara, Vasiliki; Papadopoulos, Chris; Randhawa, Gurch

2016-05-01

A number of primary studies have now assessed mental illness stigma within the Greek culture. A synthesis and appraisal of all available evidence is now required and will contribute to our growing understanding of the relationship between the cultural context and the formation of stigmatising attitudes. To systematically review the prevalence of mental illness public stigma within the Greek and Greek Cypriot culture. Empirical articles with primary data pertaining to the prevalence of mental illness public stigma among Greek and/or Greek Cypriot populations were retrieved. Included studies were assessed for quality and extracted data were narratively synthesised. A total of 18 studies met the inclusion criteria. Methodological quality was highly variable; only 1 study was adequately statistically powered, 10 studies employed at least some element of probability sampling and obtained response rates of at least 70%, while 10 and 13 studies employed reliable and validated prevalence tools, respectively. Studies sampled the general population (n = 11), students (n = 4), healthcare professionals (n = 2), police officers, employers and family members (all n = 1). Stigma was consistently identified in moderate and high proportions across all of these groups, particularly in terms of social discrimination and restrictiveness, social distance and authoritarianism. However, some evidence of benevolence and positivity towards high-quality social care was also identified. The review highlights the wide-scale prevalence of mental illness stigma within the Greek culture and the need for further rigorous research including culturally tailored stigma interventions. © The Author(s) 2016.

Spelling Errors of Dyslexic Children in Bosnian Language with Transparent Orthography

Science.gov (United States)

Duranovic, Mirela

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the nature of spelling errors made by children with dyslexia in Bosnian language with transparent orthography. Three main error categories were distinguished: phonological, orthographic, and grammatical errors. An analysis of error type showed 86% of phonological errors, 10% of orthographic errors, and 4%…

Laterality of Temporoparietal Causal Connectivity during the Prestimulus Period Correlates with Phonological Decoding Task Performance in Dyslexic and Typical Readers

OpenAIRE

Frye, Richard E.; Liederman, Jacqueline; McGraw Fisher, Janet; Wu, Meng-Hung

2011-01-01

We examined how effective connectivity into and out of the left and right temporoparietal areas (TPAs) to/from other key cortical areas affected phonological decoding in 7 dyslexic readers (DRs) and 10 typical readers (TRs) who were young adults. Granger causality was used to compute the effective connectivity of the preparatory network 500 ms prior to presentation of nonwords that required phonological decoding. Neuromagnetic activity was analyzed within the low, medium, and high beta and ga...

Greek and Roman Mythology: English, Mythology.

Science.gov (United States)

Hargraves, Richard; Kenzel, Elaine

The aim of the Quinmester course "Greek and Roman Mythology" is to help students understand mythological references in literature, art, music, science and technology. The subject matter includes: creation myths; myths of gods and heroes; mythological allusions in astrology, astronomy, literature, science, business, puzzles, and everyday…

Quantitative assessment of drawing tests in children with dyslexia and dysgraphia.

Science.gov (United States)

Galli, Manuela; Cimolin, Veronica; Stella, Giacomo; De Pandis, Maria Francesca; Ancillao, Andrea; Condoluci, Claudia

2018-05-07

Drawing tests in children diagnosed with dyslexia and dysgraphia were quantitatively compared. Fourteen children with dysgraphia, 19 with dyslexia and 13 normally developing were asked to copy 3 figures: a circle, a square and a cross. An optoelectronic system allowed the acquisition of the drawing track in three-dimensions. The participants' head position and upper limb movements were measured as well. A set of parameters including movement duration, velocity, length of the trace, Range of Motion of the upper limb, was computed and compared among the 3 groups. Children with dyslexia traced the circle faster than the other groups. In the cross test, dyslexic participants showed a reduced execution time and increased velocity while drawing the horizontal line. Children with dyslexia were also faster in drawing certain sides of square with respect to the other groups. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Minimising generation of acid whey during Greek yoghurt manufacturing.

Science.gov (United States)

Uduwerella, Gangani; Chandrapala, Jayani; Vasiljevic, Todor

2017-08-01

Greek yoghurt, a popular dairy product, generates large amounts of acid whey as a by-product during manufacturing. Post-processing treatment of this stream presents one of the main concerns for the industry. The objective of this study was to manipulate initial milk total solids content (15, 20 or 23 g/100 g) by addition of milk protein concentrate, thus reducing whey expulsion. Such an adjustment was investigated from the technological standpoint including starter culture performance, chemical and physical properties of manufactured Greek yoghurt and generated acid whey. A comparison was made to commercially available products. Increasing protein content in regular yoghurt reduced the amount of acid whey during whey draining. This protein fortification also enhanced the Lb. bulgaricus growth rate and proteolytic activity. Best structural properties including higher gel strength and lower syneresis were observed in the Greek yoghurt produced with 20 g/100 g initial milk total solid compared to manufactured or commercially available products, while acid whey generation was lowered due to lower drainage requirement.

Greek perceptions of frontier in Magna Graecia: literature and archaeology in dialogue

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Airton POLLINI

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with Greek perceptions of frontier in Magna Graecia, from a historical archaeological, contextual standpoint. Considering the complex relationship between literary and archaeological evidence, the paper uses as a case study the frontier in Southern Italy, discussing the subjective frontier perceptions by Greeks and Natives in interaction.

Familiarity with Latin and Greek Anatomical Terms and Course Performance in Undergraduates

Science.gov (United States)

Pampush, James D.; Petto, Andrew J.

2011-01-01

Commonly used technical anatomy and physiology (A&P) terms are predominantly rooted in Latin and Greek vocabulary, so it is commonly inferred that a solid grounding in Latin and Greek roots of medical terminology will improve student learning in anatomy and related disciplines. This study examines the association of etymological knowledge of…

Generics Pricing: The Greek Paradox.

Science.gov (United States)

Karafyllis, Ioannis; Variti, Lamprini

2017-01-01

This paper explains and develops a methodological framework to help evaluate the performance of generic pharmaceutical policies and the correct evaluation of generics sales. Until today erroneous recording of generics does not help proper pricing and their penetration in the Greek market. This classifies Greece on the outliners in every study or comparison that is referred on papers or studies.

From antiquity to Olympic revival: sports and Greek national historiography (nineteenth-twentieth centuries).

Science.gov (United States)

Koulouri, Christina

2010-01-01

This study investigates the evolution of the historiography of Greek sport from the foundation of the Greek state (1830) until 1982 and its links with Greek national history, which also took shape primarily during the nineteenth century. The gradual 'nationalisation' of sport as an element of Greek national character since antiquity corresponded to changes in perceptions of the national past reflected in historiography. The ancient Olympic Games, Byzantine contests and exercises, the competitions of the klephts and armatoloi (militia soldiers) during the Ottoman rule and the modern revival of the Olympic Games were all successively integrated in a national history of sport confirming national continuity and unity. However this particular genre of national historiography did not gain academic recognition until recently. The authors of histories of physical exercise and sport were amateurs or physical education instructors and could not ensure to their work the authority of a separate discipline.

Option's value - Greek measures fluctuations and their consequences

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Izabela Pruchnicka-Grabias

2004-01-01

Full Text Available Options are financial instruments that can be applied in many situations. Options buyers sell risk which is bought by their sellers who are obliged to reduce it as much as possible. It can be done by using hedging strategies based on Greek letters and options values analysis. The author proves that Greek letters are not constant during the time of option’s life. The paper shows to what extent they are influenced by such factors as risk free interest rate, volatility, underlying asset price and time to maturity. The conclusion is that options sellers must play an active role, i.e. follow fluctuations of all these parameters and modify their hedging portfolios regularly.

[Speech perception development in children with dyslexia].

Science.gov (United States)

Ortiz, Rosario; Jiménez, Juan E; Muñetón, Mercedes; Rojas, Estefanía; Estévez, Adelina; Guzmán, Remedios; Rodríguez, Cristina; Naranjo, Francisco

2008-11-01

Several studies have indicated that dyslexics show a deficit in speech perception (SP). The main purpose of this research is to determine the development of SP in dyslexics and normal readers paired by grades from 2nd to 6th grade of primary school and to know whether the phonetic contrasts that are relevant for SP change during development, taking into account the individual differences. The achievement of both groups was compared in the phonetic tasks: voicing contrast, place of articulation contrast and manner of articulation contrast. The results showed that the dyslexic performed poorer than the normal readers in SP. In place of articulation contrast, the developmental pattern is similar in both groups but not in voicing and manner of articulation. Manner of articulation has more influence on SP, and its development is higher than the other contrast tasks in both groups.

High prevalence of BRCA1 founder mutations in Greek breast/ovarian families.

Science.gov (United States)

Konstantopoulou, I; Tsitlaidou, M; Fostira, F; Pertesi, M; Stavropoulou, A-V; Triantafyllidou, O; Tsotra, E; Tsiftsoglou, A P; Tsionou, C; Droufakou, S; Dimitrakakis, C; Fountzilas, G; Yannoukakos, D

2014-01-01

We have screened 473 breast/ovarian cancer patients with family history, aiming to define the prevalence and enrich the spectrum of BRCA1/2 pathogenic mutations occurring in the Greek population. An overall mutation prevalence of 32% was observed. Six BRCA1 recurrent/founder mutations dominate the observed spectrum (58.5% of all mutations found). These include three mutations in exon 20 and three large genomic deletions. Of the 44 different deleterious mutations found in both genes, 16 are novel and reported here for the first time. Correlation with available histopathology data showed that 80% of BRCA1 carriers presented a triple-negative breast cancer phenotype while 82% of BRCA2 carriers had oestrogen receptor positive tumours. This study provides a comprehensive view of the frequency, type and distribution of BRCA1/2 mutations in the Greek population as well as an insight of the screening strategy of choice for patients of Greek origin. We conclude that the Greek population has a diverse mutation spectrum influenced by strong founder effects. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A Neuro-Psychological Investigation into Dyslexia.

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Newton, Margaret A.

Electroencephalographic studies were done on 25 dyslexic and 25 normal reading children (all between the ages of 8 and 13 years). Results indicated that, of dyslexic Ss showing evidence of unresolved dominance in the EEG recordings, 35 percent of cases were possibly genetically determined with a further 40 percent possibly neurologically impaired.…

The first medical ethics and deontology in Europe as derived from Greek mythology.

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Konstantinidou, Meropi K; Pavlides, Pavlos; Fiska, Aliki

2016-01-01

Medical ethics and deontology are mentioned in Greek myths long before 700 B.C. We collected and present information derived from ancient Greek mythology and related to (how) ancient physicians took care of the sick or injured and how they were rewarded for their services.

Connectivity Practices and Activity of Greek Political Blogs

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Kostas Zafiropoulos

2012-08-01

Full Text Available This paper uses Social Network Analysis indexes to study Greek political blogs. The indexes describe bloggers’ community recommendations, centrality and bloggers’ attempt to form spheres of influence. Five Social Network Analysis indexes are used: incoming links, normalized betweenness, outgoing links, number of 1-cliques a blog belongs to, and size of blog’s ego-network. By recording 127 Greek political blogs, the paper finds that there are two distinct blog performance properties regarding connectivity: Only a few blogs serve as authority blogs having many incoming links and centrality, while a few others try to expand their influence territory by having many outgoing links and forming larger 1-cliques and ego-networks. Next, the paper associates the proposed indexes with blogs’ and users’ community activity. Authority blogs present high blog activity and users’ community activity, as well. These are recorded by large numbers of posts and comments to the blog posts, respectively. It is shown that blogs, which strive to expand their network by using many outgoing links are more likely to link to the authority blogs. Content analysis reveals that authority blogs provide news and information and promote discussion to a much higher degree compared to the overall Greek political blogosphere.

NATIONAL FLEET DEVELOPMENT IN THE INNOVATIVE ECONOMY. CASE STUDY OF THE GREEK FLEET

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Marek Grzybowski

2016-06-01

Full Text Available In the article the development of the Greek fleet in the period of last ten years was discussed. The Greek fleet is an example of accommodating itself to the requirements of the global and innovative economy. Greek shipowners are developing their fleets through the consolidation and replacing older ships with new generation vessels. They are invest-ing into ships adapted for new markets, including LNG maritime transport market. As a result of it Greece became a market leader in maritime transport sector and their fleet a biggest and youngest fleet of world in 2016.

A sublexical training study for spelling in a biliterate Greek- and English-speaking child.

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Niolaki, Georgia Z; Terzopoulos, Aris R; Masterson, Jackie

2017-06-01

RI is an emergent trilingual boy, literate in Greek and English, with difficulties in reading and spelling in both languages. Assessment with non-literacy tests revealed a deficit in phonological ability and in visual memory for sequentially presented characters. RI took part in a training programme that targeted sublexical spelling processes. Post-intervention assessment revealed improvement in reading and spelling in Greek but not in English. Assessments of lexical and sublexical skills showed improvement in nonword spelling and nonword reading for Greek. For English, there was some indication of improvement in nonword reading at delayed post-intervention testing, but no evidence of improvement in nonword spelling. Possible reasons for the difference in outcome for the two languages are considered, including the level of transparency of written Greek and English.

Development and validation of a Greek language version of the Manchester Foot Pain and Disability Index.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaoulla, Patricia; Frescos, Nicoletta; Menz, Hylton B

2008-06-01

The Manchester Foot Pain and Disability Index (MFPDI) is a 19 item questionnaire used to assess the severity and impact of foot pain. The aim of this study was to develop a Greek-language version of the MFPDI and to assess the instrument's psychometric properties. The MFPDI was translated into Greek by three bilingual content experts and two bilingual language experts, and then back-translated into English to assess for equivalence. The final Greek version was administered, along with a questionnaire consisting medical history and the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36 (SF-36), to 104 Greek-speaking, community-dwelling people (64 female, 40 male), aged between 64 and 90 years (mean 73.00, SD 5.26) with disabling foot pain. The Greek translation of the MFPDI was found to have high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha= 0.89, and item-total correlation coefficients from 0.33 to 0.72). Principal components analysis revealed a four-factor structure representing the constructs of functional limitation, pain intensity, concern with appearance and activity restriction, which explained 60.8% of the variance, with 38.9% of the variance explained by the first construct (functional limitation). Six items demonstrated different factor loadings to the original English version. The Greek-language version of the MFPDI appears to be a valid tool in assessing foot pain in Greek-speaking older people. The total MFPDI scores are comparable between the Greek and English version, however due to differences in the factor loadings of some items, between-language comparisons of MFPDI should be undertaken with some caution.

From Assimilation to Kalomoira: Satellite Television and its Place in New York City’s Greek Community

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Michael Nevradakis

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the role that imported satellite television programming from Greece has played in the maintenance and rejuvenation of Greek cultural identity and language use within the Greek-American community of New York City—the largest and most significant in the United States. Four main concepts guide this paper, based on prior theoretical research established in the field of Diaspora studies: authenticity, assertive hybridity, cultural capital, and imagined communities. Satellite television broadcasts from Greece have targeted the audience of the Hellenic Diaspora as an extension of the homeland, and as a result, are viewed as more “authentic” than Diaspora-based broadcasts. Assertive hybridity is exemplified through satellite programming such as reality shows and the emergence of transnational pop stars such as Kalomoira, who was born and raised in New York but attained celebrity status in Greece as the result of her participation on the Greek reality show Fame Story. Finally, satellite television broadcasts from Greece have fostered the formation of a transnational imagined community, linked by the shared viewing of Greek satellite programming and the simultaneous consumption of Greek pop culture and acquisition of cultural capital. All of the above concepts are evident in the emergence of a Greek “café culture” and “sports culture”, mediated by satellite television and visible in the community’s public spaces. These findings contradict predictions often seen in the prior scholarship on the topic, which foresaw a quick erosion of Greek language use within the Greek-American community.

The health meanings and practices of older Greek-Canadian widows.

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Rosenbaum, J N

1991-11-01

Folk health and illness beliefs and practices were abstracted from a large-scale study of older Greek-Canadian widows conceptualized within Leininger's theory of Cultural Care Diversity and Universality using ethnographic, ethnonursing, and life health-care history methods. Data were collected using observation-participation and interviews in three Greek-Canadian communities with 12 widowed key informants and 30 general informants. Interview inquiry guides, Leininger's Life History Health Care Protocol, and field journal recordings assisted data collection. Data were analysed using Leininger's phases of analysis for qualitative data. A major health theme which was abstracted from the raw data and patterns was: health for Greek-Canadian widows meant a state of well-being, ability to perform daily role activities, and avoidance of pain and illness. The findings, which also included folk health care and illness beliefs and practices, will stimulate future nursing research related to health and nursing care of people of diverse cultures.

"Republica de Kubros": Transgression and Collusion in Greek-Cypriot Adolescents' Classroom Silly-Talk

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Charalambous, Constadina

2012-01-01

This paper focuses on seemingly "silly" talk, whispered by Greek-Cypriot students during Turkish-language classes. Taking into account the history of violent conflict between the Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot communities, Turkish-language learners' silly-talk emerges as an interactional space that refracts larger discourses and…

Post in the 'modern': Greek film music and the work of Nikos Mamangakis

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Pulakis Nik

2008-01-01

Full Text Available This article is focused on Nikos Mamangakis, one of the most ambiguous art-popular composers in Greece. His compositions for cinema are also quite provocative. Mamangakis' cooperation with Finos Film (the major Greek film production company in post-war era and, on the contrary, his collaboration with Nikos Perakis (one of the most well-known contemporary film directors vividly illustrate the transformation of film music from the so-called Old to the New Greek Cinema. Through an overall analysis of two of Mamangakis' most important film scores, I hope to reveal the transition process from a realistic modernist perspective to a postmodern one. A second goal is to present critically the general ideological shift in Greek socio-cultural sphere following the seventies change of polity. This paper underlines the perception of Greek music culture as a special case of Western music, which however holds its very distinct stylistic idioms, cultural practices and ideological functions.

Self-Esteem of Greek Mothers of Children with Intellectual Disabilities.

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Argyrakouli, Effi; Zafiropoulou, Maria

2003-01-01

This study examined the self-esteem of 50 mothers of children with intellectual disabilities living in central Greece and 50 similar mothers of non-disabled children. Results indicated significantly lower self-esteem for mothers of children with intellectual disabilities. The best predictor of positive maternal self-esteem in the disabled group…

For the benefit of the Greek “Great Idea ”: the excavations during the Asia Minor campaign (1919 - 22

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Kalliope Pavli

2013-12-01

Full Text Available U pon the landing of t he Greek troops in Smyrna on May 1919 , that inaugura ted a 3 - years military campaign , the Greek Government sent archaeologists to excavate some of the most famous archaeological sites of the western coast , while the Greek Army also participated by gathering artifacts on its way to Ankara . The researches attempted to “ prove ” the “since ever pure ” and “solid” Greekness of Asia Minor by d iminish ing, on the other hand, the role of other ancient people into the creation of the Aegean and Anatolian civilization ; e ven the Islamic monuments were built by Greeks, according to Greek scholars and to the racial classification of people and their abilities. T he Greek campaign hadn’t been simply a matter of historical (misinterpretation ; t he Greek ruling class never hid e that their ultimate goal was the raw materials of Anatolia even if the ethno - historical myths history and the archeological interpretations added a widely accepted gloss in the war . T his paper aims to introduce the predetermined archaeological assessment s in relation to the necessity of the Greek government to become more effective ideologically, especially on realizing that the campaign was no more politically and militarily tenable .

Imagining Homeland: Identity and Repertories of a Greek Labour-immigrant Musician in Germany

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Smaragdi Boura

2006-05-01

Full Text Available Migration has always played an important and determinative role in the formation of the Greek life-cycle, since the existence of a Greek Diaspora originates back to the institution of the Greek nation. However, whether the migration phenomenon represents a typical and integral part of the Greek cultural tradition or mentality, or appears as a forced consequence of specific economic or political circumstances, it should be pointed out that it has proved to be a transformative factor for the lives of people involved in it. The fate of "metanastes" (immigrants and the life in "xenitia" (foreign host land appear to be a very common and prominent topic elaborated in the poetic texts of the Greek "dimotika tragoudia" (traditional songs and "laika tragoudia" (folk-popular songs. Through these repertoires, music reveals its power in conveying and symbolically communicating and expressing public notions, feelings and cultural messages that acquire a particular significance for immigrant communities. Furthermore, diasporic music—along with dance—constitutes one of the basic components of the immigrant's cultural heritage, representing: an expressive way of maintaining cultural identity; a fixed, however metaphorical, conjunctional link between the mother country and the host land; and, a fundamental context through which the migratory community identifies or reconstitutes itself in relation to the majority and other surrounding groups. The author uses fieldwork from a year spent amongst Greek immigrant communities in the Stuttgart region of Germany to address and reflect on issues around the role of music in identity construction and the way in which this connects with processes of integration, assimilation and transnationalism. Specifically, the paper explores the multiple identities and repertories of a Greek musician in Germany, by focusing on several aspects of the musician's life-portrait and providing both emic and etic interpretations. This

Discriminação fonológica e memória em crianças com dislexia e bons leitores Phonological discrimination and memory in children with dyslexia and good readers

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Katerina Lukasova

2009-04-01

Full Text Available Presente estudo avaliou a capacidade de discriminação fonológica de sílabas em crianças com dislexia do desenvolvimento e bons leitores. Participaram do estudo 10 disléxicos e 10 controles pareados por idade, sexo, série, nível intelectual e atencional. 45 pares de sílabas diferentes quanto à sonorização, ponto de articulação e sílabas iguais foram apresentados para julgamento de similaridade em provas SOM/SOM e SOM/ESCRITA. O intervalo entre estímulos variou de curto, médio e longo. Os resultados mostraram diferenças entre-grupo em tarefa SOM/SOM, sendo que os disléxicos obtiveram desempenho inferior aos bons leitores em sílabas sonoras e ponto de articulação com intervalos longos. Análise dos pares de sílabas mostrou baixo acerto dos disléxicos nas sonoras (/KA/-/GA/ e /FA/-/VA/ e ponto de articulação (/ZA/-/VA/. Os resultados mostram perda mais rápida da informação fonológica na memória de trabalho em crianças disléxicas.The present study assessed the syllables' phonological discrimination ability in children with developmental dyslexia and good readers. 10 dyslexics and 10 controls matched for age, gender, school grade, intelligence and attention participated in the study. 45 pairs of syllables differentiated by sound, point of articulation and identical syllables were presented in forced choice tests SOUND/SOUND and SOUND/LETTER. The inter stimuli time varied from short, medium and long. The results showed between-group differences in SOUND/SOUND test with dyslexics doing worse than good readers in sound syllables and point of articulation syllables with long intervals. Analysis of the syllables pairs showed lower score for dyslexics in sound syllables (/KA/-/GA/ and /FA/-/VA/ and point of articulation syllables (/ZA/-/VA/. The results showed faster loss of phonological information in dyslexic children working memory.

Effect of 24 Hours of Sleep Deprivation on Auditory and Linguistic Perception: A Comparison among Young Controls, Sleep-Deprived Participants, Dyslexic Readers, and Aging Adults

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Fostick, Leah; Babkoff, Harvey; Zukerman, Gil

2014-01-01

Purpose: To test the effects of 24 hr of sleep deprivation on auditory and linguistic perception and to assess the magnitude of this effect by comparing such performance with that of aging adults on speech perception and with that of dyslexic readers on phonological awareness. Method: Fifty-five sleep-deprived young adults were compared with 29…

HLA class II polymorphism and IDDM susceptibility in the Greek population.

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Khalil, I; Spyropoulou, M; Mallet, C; Loste, M N; Douay, C; Laperrière, J; Bartzokas, C; Lepage, V; Charron, D; Stavropoulos, C

1993-06-01

The frequencies of HLA-DQA1, DQB1 and DRB1 alleles were compared between 50 Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Melitus (IDDM) patients and 49 healthy controls in the Greek population. Statistically significant difference in the frequencies of HLA-DQA1*0501-DQB1*0201 (P = 10(-4)), DQA1*0301-DQB1*0201 (P = 0.01) and DQA1*0301-DQB1*0302 (P = 0.001) were observed. The DRB1*0405-DQA1*0301-DQB1*0201 was the only DR, DQ combination significantly associated with the disease. The unexpected increase of DRB1*0405 observed in the Greek IDDM may suggest as reported in Chinese and Japanese IDDM a contribution of DR beta and DQ alpha in susceptibility. Moreover, in contrast to the Asians, in the Greek, the DR beta, DQ alpha are found with the usual DQ beta 57-ve.

Social Values Priorities and Orientation towards Individualism and Collectivism of Greek University Students

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Papastylianou, Dona; Lampridis, Efthymios

2016-01-01

The study aimed to explore the value priorities of Greek young adults and their orientation towards individualism and collectivism and to investigate for possible relationships between value types and individualism and collectivism. Greek undergraduate students (n = 484) completed the Social Values Survey, the Auckland's Individualism and…

77 FR 18897 - Greek Independence Day: A National Day of Celebration of Greek and American Democracy, 2012

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-28

... our Union. Through two World Wars and a long Cold War, America and Greece stood as allies in the... United States of America A Proclamation Two hundred and thirty-six years ago, a new American Nation was... ancient Hellas, where Greeks brought forth the world's first democracy and kindled a philosophical...

76 FR 17329 - Greek Independence Day: A National Day of Celebration of Greek and American Democracy, 2011

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-29

... this milestone in the birthplace of democracy, we also celebrate our warm friendship with Greece and... strengthened by the profound influence of Greek culture on our national life. From the architecture of our... also look forward to our shared future and recommit to continuing our work as friends and allies. NOW...

Some Syntactic Features of Relative Constructions in the Greek New Testament

OpenAIRE

Herman C du Toit

2016-01-01

In the Greek New Testament, relative sentences that are introduced by relative pronouns alone, apart from the adverbial uses, are the most frequent subordinate sentence type. The research reported on in this paper aimed to investigate and describe a number of syntactic features of relative constructions in the Greek New Testament, taking account, among others, of some typological parameters that have been developed in the general linguistics literature for these constructions.The results indi...

Development and validation of a Greek language version of the Manchester Foot Pain and Disability Index

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Menz Hylton B

2008-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The Manchester Foot Pain and Disability Index (MFPDI is a 19 item questionnaire used to assess the severity and impact of foot pain. The aim of this study was to develop a Greek-language version of the MFPDI and to assess the instrument's psychometric properties. Methods The MFPDI was translated into Greek by three bilingual content experts and two bilingual language experts, and then back-translated into English to assess for equivalence. The final Greek version was administered, along with a questionnaire consisting medical history and the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36 (SF-36, to 104 Greek-speaking, community-dwelling people (64 female, 40 male, aged between 64 and 90 years (mean 73.00, SD 5.26 with disabling foot pain. Results The Greek translation of the MFPDI was found to have high internal consistency (Cronbach's α= 0.89, and item-total correlation coefficients from 0.33 to 0.72. Principal components analysis revealed a four-factor structure representing the constructs of functional limitation, pain intensity, concern with appearance and activity restriction, which explained 60.8% of the variance, with 38.9% of the variance explained by the first construct (functional limitation. Six items demonstrated different factor loadings to the original English version. Conclusion The Greek-language version of the MFPDI appears to be a valid tool in assessing foot pain in Greek-speaking older people. The total MFPDI scores are comparable between the Greek and English version, however due to differences in the factor loadings of some items, between-language comparisons of MFPDI should be undertaken with some caution.

Dental erosion prevalence and associated risk indicators among preschool children in Athens, Greece.

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Mantonanaki, Magdalini; Koletsi-Kounari, Haroula; Mamai-Homata, Eleni; Papaioannou, William

2013-03-01

The aims of the study were to investigate dental erosion prevalence, distribution and severity in Greek preschool children attending public kindergartens in the prefecture of Attica, Greece and to determine the effect of dental caries, oral hygiene level, socio-economic factors, dental behavior, erosion related medication and chronic illness. A random and stratified sample of 605 Greek preschool children was clinically examined for dental erosion using the Basic Erosive Wear Examination Index (ΒΕWE). Dental caries (dmfs) and Simplified Debris Index were also recorded. The data concerning possible risk indicators were derived by a questionnaire. Zero-inflated Poisson regression was generated to test the predictive effects of the independent variables on dental erosion. The prevalence of dental erosion was 78.8 %, and the mean and SE of BEWE index was 3.64 ± 0.15. High monthly family income was positively related to ΒΕWE cumulative scores [RR = 1.204 (1.016-1.427)], while high maternal education level [RR = 0.872 (0.771-0.986)] and poor oral hygiene level [DI-s, RR = 0.584 (0.450-0.756)] showed a negative association. Dental erosion is a common oral disease in Greek preschool children in Attica, related to oral hygiene and socio-economic factors. Programs aimed at erosion prevention should begin at an early age for all children.

Greek Immigrants in Australia: Implications for Culturally Sensitive Practice.

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Georgiades, Savvas Daniel

2015-10-01

This exploratory research examined adjustment challenges, resiliencies, attitudes, emotional health, economic stability, criminal involvement, victimization and service experiences, and some cultural propensities of Greek Immigrants (GIs) in Australia using a convenient multi-generational sample (n = 123; response rate = .5). Data were collected via surveys, telephone, and personal-interviews in four major Australian cities. Among other things, the study revealed that Greek identity and cultural customs are often significant to first generation GIs. Adjustment challenges upon entry include primarily language, housing, and transportation difficulties, nostalgia for relatives and the motherland, unfamiliarity with socio-cultural systems, unemployment, money challenges, and lack of friendships. Christian faith, the extended family, family values and traditions, cultural pride for ancient Greek achievements, and a hard 'work ethic' are notable resiliencies that support GIs in their struggles and solidify their pursuit for happiness and success. Financial concerns, aging, and nostalgia for relatives and the motherland were the primary causes of socio-emotional instability. Attitudinal differences in the respondents based on age, gender, and socio-economic status, cross-cultural comparisons, and recommendations for culturally-sensitive practice with GIs are analyzed and methodological limitations illuminated. Future research needs in the field are also highlighted.

Different letter-processing strategies in diagnostic subgroups of developmental dyslexia.

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Lachmann, Thomas; van Leeuwen, Cees

2008-07-01

Normally reading adults (N = 15) and primary school children (N = 24) and two diagnostic subgroups of children with developmental dyslexia (N = 21)-all native German speakers-performed a successive same-different task with pairs of letters and nonletters (pseudoletters or geometrical shapes). The first item of a pair was always presented on its own, and the second either on its own or surrounded by a congruent or incongruent nontarget shape. Adults showed congruence effects with nonletters but not with letters, and children with both types of stimuli. Frequent-word reading-impaired dyslexics (N = 11) in addition showed dramatically slower overall reaction times. Nonword reading-impaired dyslexics (N = 10) showed congruence effects with nonletters but negative congruence effects with letters. The results support the notion that normal readers have established a special visual processing strategy for letters. Processing speed rather than reading expertise seems crucial for this strategy to emerge. The contrasting effects between subgroups of dyslexics reveal specific underlying deficits.

Cicerono santykis su graikais ir jų kultūra | Cicero’s attitude to Greeks and their culture

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Audronė Kučinskienė

2006-01-01

Full Text Available In this article certain aspects of the following problems are discussed: Cicero’s controversial attitude to the Greeks; the traits of the Greek national character as portrayed in Cicero’s works, as well as Cicero’s ambivalent appreciation of the Greek art and literature.The principle of odi et amo clearly shows itself in Cicero’s attitude to the Greeks, both his contemporaries and the ancients, their art and literature. Cicero felt he owed an enormous debt to his Greek education, considering himself as an inheritor of their culture, and yet he denounced it at every opportunity and tried to emphasise the superiority of the Roman ancestors against the Greeks. He greatly appreciated Greek literature and yet he wished he could manage without it, because the Greek literary standards made him aware of what Roman literature should be.The main national traits ascribed to the Greeks in Cicero’s speeches ant letters are the lack of trustworthiness (fides, unreliability (levitas, and vanity (vanitas as opposed to the Roman dignity (dignitas and gravity (gravitas.We argue that in evaluating Cicero’s attitude to the Greeks it is especially important to take into account the genre of those Cicero’s works from which we derive our knowledge about his views. His speeches as well as his treatises are intended for the public audience, so the author tries to portray himself in accordance with the public expectations, while his private correspondence, especially the letters to Atticus, reveals his personal views, not restricted by the public opinion. As we have shown in this article, in his speeches Cicero tries to conceal his expertise in the Greek art and literature, as this would not fit his Roman dignity. On the other hand, in his private life, as it appears from his letters to Atticus, he eagerly seeks pieces of Greek art to decorate his villas.This seeming inconsistency of Cicero’s views, however, can be partly explained as follows. It is to be

The Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment in the Greek Regions

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Marialena PETRAKOU

2013-06-01

Full Text Available This study investigates the determinants of FDI in the Greek regions. The aim of the study is to understand whether and to what extent the presence of localization economies in the Greek regions, has an impact on FDI locational decisions. We use a pooled cross-section dataset of FDI stock and we study the effect of localization economies and of other basic determinants, on the attraction of FDI. We find the most significant influences to be market size, human capital, geographic position and the presence of localization economies.

Screening for the C9ORF72 repeat expansion in a greek frontotemporal dementia cohort.

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Kartanou, Chrisoula; Karadima, Georgia; Koutsis, Georgios; Breza, Marianthi; Papageorgiou, Sokratis G; Paraskevas, George P; Kapaki, Elisabeth; Panas, Marios

2018-02-01

The C9orf72 repeat expansion is a common genetic cause of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in European populations. A previous study has reported a high frequency of the expansion in Greek ALS. However, no data have been reported on the frequency of the expansion in Greek FTD. Currently, we investigated the frequency of the C9orfF72 expansion in a well-characterized cohort of 64 Greek FTD patients. We detected the C9orf72 repeat expansion in 9.3% of cases. Overall, 27.7% of familial and 2.2% of sporadic cases were expansion-positive. Five out of 6 cases had a diagnosis of behavioral variant FTD. All expansion-positive cases had fairly typical FTD presentations. Clinical features included motor neuron disease, Parkinsonism and hallucinations. We conclude that the overall frequency of C9orf72-positive cases in Greek FTD is high, comparable to Greek ALS, similar to some Western European, but significantly higher than some Mediterranean FTD populations.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF VALUE ORIENTATIONS IN RUSSIAN AND GREEK STUDENTS

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E N Polyanskaya

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This article is devoted to the problem of the value orientations of modern young people, who begin their independent life in the current conditions of the difficult changes in the political, social and economic life of the countries. Greece and Russia are two of the countries, which are in crisis due to the globalisation processes. The article gives the details of the results of the empirical study of the value orientations in Greek and Russian students and presents their comparative analysis. It identifies the similarity of the value orientations in Greek and Russian students, which appears in the fact that the value of health (it seems quite difficult to achieve and the value of self-development and self-improvement (an easily achievable value are important to the students of both groups; and the values of creativity and financially-secure life (the value, which is difficult to achieve have little significance. The significant differences between the groups lie in the fact, that the Russian group is dominated by the people with the focus on business, the value of interesting work is important to them, they are more focused on business activity, as well as on love, and the interpersonal relations are less significant for them. The Greek students are often focused on themselves, on their families; freedom in actions, confidence and friendship are more important to them. The peculiarities of the value orientations of the Russian students are internally more conflicting: first of all, we are talking of an important value of love and its dissatisfaction, the important value of an interesting job and the idea that it is difficult to achieve these values. The internal conflict of the Greek students often concerns the importance and the low availability of the value of freedom. The study shows that the peculiarities of the value orientations of Russian students reflect the socio-economic changes in the society, while the values of Greek students

Greek mental health reform: views and perceptions of professionals and service users.

Science.gov (United States)

Loukidou, E; Mastroyiannakis, A; Power, T; Craig, T; Thornicroft, G; Bouras, N

2013-01-01

The Greek mental health system has been undergoing radical reforms for over the past twenty years. In congruence with trends and practices in other European countries, Greek mental health reforms were designed to develop a community-based mental health service system. The implementation of an extensive transformation became possible through the "Psychargos" program, a national strategic and operational plan, which was developed by the Ministry of Health and Social Solidarity. The Psychargos program was jointly funded by the European Union by 75% of the cost over a period of 5 years and the Greek State. After the period of 5 years, the entire cost of the new services became the responsibility of the Greek National Budget. Over the years the Psychargos program became almost synonymous with the deinstitutionalisation of long term psychiatric patients with the development of a wide range of community mental health services. The Psychargos program ended in December 2009. This article presents the views of service providers and service users as part an ex-post evaluation of the Psychargos program carried out in 2010. Data derived for this part of the evaluation are from the application of the qualitative method of focus groups. The outcomes of the study identified several positive and noteworthy achievements by the reforms of the Greek mental health system as well as weaknesses. There was considerable similarity of the views expressed by both focus groups. In addition the service users' focus group emphasized more issues related to improving their mental health wellbeing and living a satisfying, hopeful, and contributing life.

Instilling Aggressiveness: U.S. Advisors and Greek Combat Leadership in the Greek Civil War, 1947-1949

Science.gov (United States)

2012-12-14

1, Archives: William G. Livesay Papers, Military History Institute, Carlisle Barracks, PA. 160Benjamin Taylor , Memorandum for the Department of...Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD, Records Group 319, Entry 154, Decimal File 319.1, Box 51. 280Benjamin Taylor , Memorandum for...country-reader-series/ (accessed 5 November 2012). Clive, Nigel . A Greek experience, 1943-1948. Salisbury: Michael Russell (Publishing), 1985

Order short-term memory is not specifically impaired in dyslexia and does not affect orthographic learning

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Eva eStaels

2014-09-01

Full Text Available This article reports two studies that investigate short-term memory (STM deficits in dyslexic children and explores the relationship between short-term memory and reading acquisition. In the first experiment, thirty-six dyslexic children and sixty-one control children performed an item STM task and a serial order STM task. The results of this experiment show that dyslexic children do not suffer from a specific serial order STM deficit. In addition, the results demonstrate that phonological processing skills are as closely related to both item STM and serial order STM. However, nonverbal intelligence was more strongly involved in serial order STM than in item STM. In the second experiment, the same two STM tasks were administered and reading acquisition was assessed by measuring orthographic learning in a group of one hundred and eighty-eight children. The results of this study show that orthographic learning is exclusively related to item STM and not to order STM. It is concluded that serial order STM is not the right place to look for a causal explanation of reading disability, nor for differences in word reading acquisition.

The history of the Greek Anti-Malaria League and the influence of the Italian School of Malariology.

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Tsiamis, Costas; Piperaki, Evangelia Theophano; Tsakris, Athanassios

2013-03-01

In 1905, a group of eminent Greek physicians led by Professor of Hygiene and Microbiology Constantinos Savvas and the pediatrician Dr. Ioannis Kardamatis founded the Greek Anti-Malaria League. The League assumed a role that the State would not, and for the next 25 years organized the country's anti-malaria campaign. During its first steps, the Greek Anti-Malaria League adopted the principles of Professor Angelo Celli's Italian Anti-Malaria League. The League's accomplishments include a decrease in malarial prevalence, due to mass treatment with quinine, new legislation ensuring the provision of quinine, State monopoly and the collection of epidemiologic data. However, defeat in the Greek-Turkish War (1922) and the massive influx of one million Greek refugees that ensued, led to a change in malarial epidemiology. In 1928, following a visit to Italy, the Greek League adopted the organization and knowledge of the Italian Malaria Schools in Rome and in Nettuno, and this experience served as the basis of their proposal to the State for the development of the anti-malaria services infrastructure. The State adopted many of Professor Savvas' proposals and modified his plan according to Greek needs. The League's experience, accumulated during its 25 years of struggle against malaria, was its legacy to the campaigns that eventually accomplished the eradication of malaria from Greece after World War II.

Homosexuality according to ancient Greek physicians.

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Laios, K; Moschos, M M; Koukaki, E; Kontaxaki, M-I; Androutsos, G

2017-01-01

Homosexuality and pedophilia in ancient Greece greatly concerned many researchers who were mainly interested in highlighting the social aspect of this phenomenon in ancient Greek society. An important source on the subject was the paintings of a man and his lover in attic black and red figured pottery, up to the end of the 5th century BC. Another main source was the information that derived from the texts of ancient Greek literature, especially poetry. Homosexuality was not only referring to relationships between males, but it was also manifested in lesbian love. It is believed that in the Homeric world homosexuality was not favored. In Greek society of the archaic period, the restriction of women at home, the satisfaction of sexual needs with courtesans, the marriage for the purpose of maintaining and managing the property, put women aside, marginalizing them in terms of social life, impeding the cultivation of emotional relationships between sexes. At the same time, in the society of those times, the aristocratic ideal, the constant communication of men during military training and the war, the male nudity in sports and the promotion of beauty and bravery in athletic contests, as well as the gatherings and the entertainment of men at the symposia, created a suitable substrate in which male homosexuality could develop. In this context, pedophile relationships were developed mainly during the archaic period, as recorded on vase paintings, where a mature man developed a special relationship with a teenager of the same social class. The mature man had the role of mentor for the juvenile, he would look after him and cover his living expenses and education cost. In this relationship, exhibiting predominantly the social dimension of an initiation process and introduction to adult life, the erotic homosexual intercourse could find a place to flourish. The above-mentioned relationship could not last forever, given that this would later transform into an emotional

Assessing the Students' Evaluations of Educational Quality (SEEQ) Questionnaire in Greek Higher Education

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Grammatikopoulos, Vasilis; Linardakis, M.; Gregoriadis, A.; Oikonomidis, V.

2015-01-01

The aim of the current study was to provide a valid and reliable instrument for the evaluation of the teaching effectiveness in the Greek higher education system. Other objectives of the study were (a) the examination of the dimensionality and the higher-order structure of the Greek version of Students' Evaluation of Educational Quality (SEEQ)…

The End of the Greek City States.

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Helms, Dorcas

1990-01-01

Presents a class activity on the demise of the Hellenic period and the factors responsible for the domination of Greece by Macedonia. Asks students to decide whether the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars were justified. Focuses on the role of Demosthenes and his championing of Greek liberty. (RW)

Italy-Greece cooperation for transplantation of medically urgent Greek patients: is it an effective, efficient model?

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Peritore, D; Pretagostini, R; Di Ciaccio, P; Fiaschetti, P; Gabbrielli, F; Oliveti, A; Stabile, D; Ricci, A; Vaia, F; Nanni Costa, A

2012-09-01

In 2005 the Italian National Transplant Centre (CNT) signed a cooperation agreement with the Hellenic Transplant Organization (HTO) fostering the transfer and transplantation of urgent Greek liver patients at Italian transplantation centers. So as to not reduce access to transplantation for Italian patients, the agreement provided compensation for organs allocated to Greek transplant recipients. The aim of this study was to analyze the flow of patients from Greece to Italy and the number of received livers to consider the possibility to extend this kind of agreement to other countries, so that this should not penalize Italian recipients. The agreement provides the possibility for Greek patients affected by acute disease to be transferred to Italian transplantation centers participating in the agreement. Until 2008 livers transplanted into Greek recipients were returned through a preferential offer of surplus Greek organs, whereas from 2009 an obligation of payback was introduced. During the reviewed period requests for transfer, transferred patients, and number of patients who later underwent transplantation in Italy were 56, 26, and 23, respectively. Livers offered by the Greek organization that were accepted, transferred, and transplanted in Italy have been 82, 50, and 44, respectively. According to our analysis, the cooperation has had as positive impact for both Greece, which has difficulties transplanting urgent recipient because of the low number of donors, and for Italy, which is not penalized by the use of an organ in a Greek recipients, but is also rewarded for helpfulness. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Working-memory training improves developmental dyslexia in Chinese children

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Yan Luo; Jing Wang; Hanrong Wu; Dongmei Zhu; Yu Zhang

2013-01-01

Although plasticity in the neural system underlies working memory, and working memory can be improved by training, there is thus far no evidence that children with developmental dyslexia can were recruited from an elementary school in Wuhan, China. They received working-memory training, including training in visuospatial memory, verbal memory, and central executive tasks. The difficulty of the tasks was adjusted based on the performance of each subject, and the training sessions lasted 40 minutes per day, for 5 weeks. The results showed that working-memory training significantly enhanced performance on the nontrained working memory tasks such as the visuospatial, the verbal domains, and central executive tasks in children with developmental dyslexia. More importantly, the visual rhyming task and reading fluency task were also significantly improved by training. Progress on working memory measures was related to changes in reading skills. These experimental findings indicate that working memory is a pivotal factor in reading development among children with developmental dyslexia, and interventions to improve working memory may help dyslexic children to become more proficient in reading.

The Table of Chords and Greek Trigonometry

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Stefano Buscherini

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Trigonometry was born due to the need of ancient astronomy to calculate and to predict the movement of the heavenly bodies. However it is hard to know who the founder of this mathematical branch was: it is likely that its origins date back to Hipparchus of Nicaea who compiled the first table of chords, which are the forerunners of the modern trigonometric function “sine”. Nevertheless the most ancient existing work on trigonometry is the Almagest of Ptolemy in which the author describes the mathematical steps that are necessary for the compilation of the table of chords. These steps are based on more ancient theories and for this reason one gets the impression that they could be the result of a preparatory study. This article is not only a brief survey of Greek trigonometry but it also analyzes the Greek numeration system, the sexagesimal fractions and the arithmetical operations which were used in the calculation of the chords.

Health Narratives in the Greek Translated Press

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Themis Panagiotis Kaniklidou

2016-08-01

Full Text Available This paper looks see how meaning is constructed in translated news texts about health and science and awards a narrative potential to unforced translation shifts, moving along the theoretical lines of Baker's Narrative Theory (2006. The thematic thread of health zooms in on “emotional frames” (Nabi, 2003 of risk and fear of human health that is narrated as being 'under attack’ by potentially dangerous diseases. Themes also orbit around schemas that promote hope and optimism about science represented as coming to the rescue of man from fear of the disease. The data consists of 21 pairs of English-Greek health news articles culled from the Greek newspapers I Kathimerini, To Vima and Ta Nea. Findings point towards translation as a process that employs lexicogrammatical and intrasentential configurations to a give emphasis to the risk or hope dimensions underlying a heath or science story, b enable the reflection or emergence of a cascade of public, conceptual and master narratives.

Cross-cultural differences in oral impacts on daily performance between Greek and British older adults.

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Tsakos, G; Marcenes, W; Sheiham, A

2001-12-01

To examine whether there are significant cross-cultural differences in oral health-related quality of life and perceived treatment need between older people of similar clinical oral status living in Greece and Britain. Cross-sectional surveys of adults living independently aged 65 years or older. In Britain, data from the national diet and nutrition survey were used, while the Greek sample was drawn from two municipalities in Athens. Participants 753 in Britain and 681 in Greece. Oral health-related quality of life, assessed through the modified Oral Impacts on Daily Performance (OIDP) indicator, and perceived need for dental treatment. Thirty-nine per cent of Greek and 12.3% of British dentate and 47.6% of Greek and 16.3% of British edentulous participants had experienced oral impacts affecting their daily life in the last six months. The most prevalent impact was difficulty eating. Apart from that, 56.3% of Greek and 37.1% of British dentate and 33.5% of Greek and 25.3% of British edentulous participants perceived dental treatment need. After controlling for sociodemographic variables, perceived general health and clinical oral status, Greek dentate and edentulous participants were significantly more likely to experience oral impacts than their British counterparts, while in relation to perceived treatment need significant cross-cultural differences existed only between dentate respondents. The results indicated an independent cultural influence in the perception of oral impacts in older people.

Differential Social Integration among First Generation Greeks in New York: Participation in Religious Institutions.

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Veglery, Anna

1988-01-01

Studies the relationship of educational level and knowledge of English on the differential integration of 71 post-1965 Greek immigrants into the religious structure of the Greek community of New York, New York. Tentatively concludes that socioeconomic status may play a larger role than the variables explored. (FMW)

The Johannine Literature in a Greek Context

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Buch-Hansen, Gitte

2017-01-01

and apocalypticism by Greek rationality, to illustrate the Prologue’s Middle Platonism, and to introduce Stoicism into John’s thinking. Finally, it demonstrates how readings of the Prologue in light of Aristotle’s theory of epigenesis have displaced the focus from the logos to the pneuma and thereby managed...

Early screening for dyslexia--a collaborative pilot project.

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Ball, S; Becker, T; Boys, M; Davies, S; Noton, H

2001-01-01

An ongoing collaborative project, currently being piloted in 12 Wiltshire primary schools, is described. The aim is to provide a means of identifying potentially dyslexic children by the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2) with a view to early intervention. The causal links identified by research between phonological skills and literacy development are taken as the theoretical basis of an initial screening procedure, and an intervention package is implemented for identified children. Those demonstrating persistent difficulties one year later are further assessed over a school term using an assessment package designed to identify those children showing a dyslexic profile. Further intervention is then planned and implemented.

3 CFR 8353 - Proclamation 8353 of March 24, 2009. Greek Independence Day: A National Day of Celebration of...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... Independence Day: A National Day of Celebration of Greek and American Democracy, 2009 8353 Proclamation 8353... National Day of Celebration of Greek and American Democracy, 2009By the President of the United States of... Celebration of Greek and American Democracy.” I call upon the people of the United States to observe this day...

The influence of Greek drama on Matthew's Gospel

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2014-05-20

May 20, 2014 ... Amongst other things, the chorus provided for scene changes, offer ..... The archaeology of difference: Gender, ethnicity, class and the ... MacLennan, B., 1999, 'Typical structure of a Greek play', in web.eecs.utk.edu, viewed.

Association between dental caries and body mass in preschool children.

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Pikramenou, V; Dimitraki, D; Zoumpoulakis, M; Verykouki, E; Kotsanos, N

2016-06-01

This was to explore the association between dental caries and body mass index (BMI) by conducting a cross-sectional study of a sample of preschool children from a major Greek city. The sample consisted of 2180 children aged 2.5-5.9 years from 33 private day care centres of Thessaloniki. The examinations were performed on site in ample day light by one examiner using disposable dental mirrors and a penlight. Oral examinations included recording of dental caries by dmfs index. Subject's height and weight were measured using a portable measuring unit and a digital scale, respectively. The overall prevalence of underweight, normal weight, overweight and obese children in each BMI-based weight category was 11.8, 72.2, 12.8, and 3.2 %, respectively. The mean age of the total sample was 50.09 (±10.28) months, mean dmfs was 0.36 (±1.9) and the caries-free children were 90.0 %. Overweight children were 1.36 times and obese children 1.99 times more likely to have higher dmfs than normal weight children. The mean dmfs values of underweight children did not significantly differ than that of children with normal weight. The relatively higher dmfs of the obese and overweight children was mostly evident in the older (60-71 months) age group. Caries prevalence in this sample of Greek children attending private day care centres was low. Overweight and obese preschool children were at higher risk of dental caries than normal- and underweight children.

"They're Telling Me What I Already Know Instead of What I Don't Know": Dyslexic Pupils' Experiences of Withdrawal Tuition during the Later Primary Years

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Anderson, Rosemary

2009-01-01

This article reports findings from a qualitative case study whose main focus was on how four 10-11-year-old dyslexic pupils coped with the demands of classroom reading during their final two years (Years 5-6) at a primary school in the north of England. Data were also collected on more general issues associated with the pupils' experiences of…

GreekLex 2: A comprehensive lexical database with part-of-speech, syllabic, phonological, and stress information.

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Kyparissiadis, Antonios; van Heuven, Walter J B; Pitchford, Nicola J; Ledgeway, Timothy

2017-01-01

Databases containing lexical properties on any given orthography are crucial for psycholinguistic research. In the last ten years, a number of lexical databases have been developed for Greek. However, these lack important part-of-speech information. Furthermore, the need for alternative procedures for calculating syllabic measurements and stress information, as well as combination of several metrics to investigate linguistic properties of the Greek language are highlighted. To address these issues, we present a new extensive lexical database of Modern Greek (GreekLex 2) with part-of-speech information for each word and accurate syllabification and orthographic information predictive of stress, as well as several measurements of word similarity and phonetic information. The addition of detailed statistical information about Greek part-of-speech, syllabification, and stress neighbourhood allowed novel analyses of stress distribution within different grammatical categories and syllabic lengths to be carried out. Results showed that the statistical preponderance of stress position on the pre-final syllable that is reported for Greek language is dependent upon grammatical category. Additionally, analyses showed that a proportion higher than 90% of the tokens in the database would be stressed correctly solely by relying on stress neighbourhood information. The database and the scripts for orthographic and phonological syllabification as well as phonetic transcription are available at http://www.psychology.nottingham.ac.uk/greeklex/.

Reasons behind Greek problem drug users’ decisions to quit using drugs and engage in treatment of their own volition: sense of self and the Greek filotimo.

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Fotopoulou, Maria

2014-04-01

The aim of this study was to explore Greek problem drug users’ perceptions of the reasons that led them to quit using drugs and engage in treatment of their own volition. Qualitative semi-structured in-depth interviews. Two state drug agencies in Thessaloniki, Greece. A total of 40 adult problem drug-using men and women participated in the study. Participants were asked to reflect on their decisions to wean themselves from drugs and enter treatment. Findings Participants reported that their decisions centred on the re-conceptualization of the drug-using community and their membership in it, the desire to restore aspects of identities thatwere deemed to be spoiled, and finally memories of their drug-free selves. The importance of the distinctively Greek notion of filotimo in this discussion is highlighted. Primarily in relation to filotimo (a concept that represents a complex array of virtues that regulates behaviour towards one’s family), the desire to restore one’s spoiled identity plays a pivotal role in Greek problem drug users’ decisions to cease drug use and engage in treatment.

The Greek crisis: Causes and implications

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Vlamis Prodromos

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents and critically discusses the origins and causes of the Greek fiscal crisis and its implications for the euro currency as well as the SEE economies. In the aftermath of the 2007-2009 financial crisis the enormous increase in sovereign debt has emerged as an important negative outcome, since public debt was dramatically increased in an effort by the US and the European governments to reduce the accumulated growth of private debt in the years preceding the recent financial turmoil. Although Greece is the country member of the eurozone that has been in the middle of this ongoing debt crisis, since November 2009 when it was made clear that its budget deficit and mainly its public debt were not sustainable, Greece’s fiscal crisis is not directly linked to the 2007 US subprime mortgage loan market crisis. As a result of this negative downturn the Greek government happily accepted a rescue plan of 110 billion euros designed and financed by the European Union and the IMF. A lengthy austerity programme and a fiscal consolidation plan have been put forward and are to be implemented in the next three years.

Greek Secondary School Students' Views about Biology

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Mavrikaki, Evangelia; Koumparou, Helen; Kyriakoudi, Margarita; Papacharalampous, Irene; Trimandili, Maria

2012-01-01

This paper aims to give a picture of Greek students' views about biology and some of the factors that affect them. A questionnaire measuring students' intrinsic motivation to learn biology, individual interest in biology and perceived difficulty of biology, along with information about students' gender, level, parents' occupation and educational…

Development and validation of a Greek language version of the Manchester Foot Pain and Disability Index

OpenAIRE

Kaoulla, Patricia; Frescos, Nicoletta; Menz, Hylton B

2008-01-01

Abstract Background The Manchester Foot Pain and Disability Index (MFPDI) is a 19 item questionnaire used to assess the severity and impact of foot pain. The aim of this study was to develop a Greek-language version of the MFPDI and to assess the instrument's psychometric properties. Methods The MFPDI was translated into Greek by three bilingual content experts and two bilingual language experts, and then back-translated into English to assess for equivalence. The final Greek version was admi...

Translating and validating a Training Needs Assessment tool into Greek

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Hicks Carolyn M

2007-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The translation and cultural adaptation of widely accepted, psychometrically tested tools is regarded as an essential component of effective human resource management in the primary care arena. The Training Needs Assessment (TNA is a widely used, valid instrument, designed to measure professional development needs of health care professionals, especially in primary health care. This study aims to describe the translation, adaptation and validation of the TNA questionnaire into Greek language and discuss possibilities of its use in primary care settings. Methods A modified version of the English self-administered questionnaire consisting of 30 items was used. Internationally recommended methodology, mandating forward translation, backward translation, reconciliation and pretesting steps, was followed. Tool validation included assessing item internal consistency, using the alpha coefficient of Cronbach. Reproducibility (test – retest reliability was measured by the kappa correlation coefficient. Criterion validity was calculated for selected parts of the questionnaire by correlating respondents' research experience with relevant research item scores. An exploratory factor analysis highlighted how the items group together, using a Varimax (oblique rotation and subsequent Cronbach's alpha assessment. Results The psychometric properties of the Greek version of the TNA questionnaire for nursing staff employed in primary care were good. Internal consistency of the instrument was very good, Cronbach's alpha was found to be 0.985 (p 1.0, KMO (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy = 0.680 and Bartlett's test of sphericity, p Conclusion The translated and adapted Greek version is comparable with the original English instrument in terms of validity and reliability and it is suitable to assess professional development needs of nursing staff in Greek primary care settings.

Translating and validating a Training Needs Assessment tool into Greek

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Markaki, Adelais; Antonakis, Nikos; Hicks, Carolyn M; Lionis, Christos

2007-01-01

Background The translation and cultural adaptation of widely accepted, psychometrically tested tools is regarded as an essential component of effective human resource management in the primary care arena. The Training Needs Assessment (TNA) is a widely used, valid instrument, designed to measure professional development needs of health care professionals, especially in primary health care. This study aims to describe the translation, adaptation and validation of the TNA questionnaire into Greek language and discuss possibilities of its use in primary care settings. Methods A modified version of the English self-administered questionnaire consisting of 30 items was used. Internationally recommended methodology, mandating forward translation, backward translation, reconciliation and pretesting steps, was followed. Tool validation included assessing item internal consistency, using the alpha coefficient of Cronbach. Reproducibility (test – retest reliability) was measured by the kappa correlation coefficient. Criterion validity was calculated for selected parts of the questionnaire by correlating respondents' research experience with relevant research item scores. An exploratory factor analysis highlighted how the items group together, using a Varimax (oblique) rotation and subsequent Cronbach's alpha assessment. Results The psychometric properties of the Greek version of the TNA questionnaire for nursing staff employed in primary care were good. Internal consistency of the instrument was very good, Cronbach's alpha was found to be 0.985 (p 1.0, KMO (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin) measure of sampling adequacy = 0.680 and Bartlett's test of sphericity, p < 0.001. Conclusion The translated and adapted Greek version is comparable with the original English instrument in terms of validity and reliability and it is suitable to assess professional development needs of nursing staff in Greek primary care settings. PMID:17474989

Greek long-term energy consumption prediction using artificial neural networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ekonomou, L.

2010-01-01

In this paper artificial neural networks (ANN) are addressed in order the Greek long-term energy consumption to be predicted. The multilayer perceptron model (MLP) has been used for this purpose by testing several possible architectures in order to be selected the one with the best generalizing ability. Actual recorded input and output data that influence long-term energy consumption were used in the training, validation and testing process. The developed ANN model is used for the prediction of 2005-2008, 2010, 2012 and 2015 Greek energy consumption. The produced ANN results for years 2005-2008 were compared with the results produced by a linear regression method, a support vector machine method and with real energy consumption records showing a great accuracy. The proposed approach can be useful in the effective implementation of energy policies, since accurate predictions of energy consumption affect the capital investment, the environmental quality, the revenue analysis, the market research management, while conserve at the same time the supply security. Furthermore it constitutes an accurate tool for the Greek long-term energy consumption prediction problem, which up today has not been faced effectively.

Greek and roman calendars

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Hannah, Robert

2005-01-01

The smooth functioning of an ordered society depends on the possession of a means of regularising its activities over time. That means is a calendar, and its regularity is a function of how well it models the more or less regular movements of the celestial bodies - of the moon, the sun or the stars. Greek and Roman Calendars examines the ancient calendar as just such a time-piece, whose elements are readily described in astronomical and mathematical terms. The story of these calendars is one of a continuous struggle to maintain a correspondence with the regularity of the seasons and the sun, d

Climate change projections for Greek viticulture as simulated by a regional climate model

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Lazoglou, Georgia; Anagnostopoulou, Christina; Koundouras, Stefanos

2017-07-01

Viticulture represents an important economic activity for Greek agriculture. Winegrapes are cultivated in many areas covering the whole Greek territory, due to the favorable soil and climatic conditions. Given the dependence of viticulture on climate, the vitivinicultural sector is expected to be affected by possible climatic changes. The present study is set out to investigate the impacts of climatic change in Greek viticulture, using nine bioclimatic indices for the period 1981-2100. For this purpose, reanalysis data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and data from the regional climatic model Regional Climate Model Version 3 (RegCM3) are used. It was found that the examined regional climate model estimates satisfactorily these bioclimatic indices. The results of the study show that the increasing trend of temperature and drought will affect all wine-producing regions in Greece. In vineyards in mountainous regions, the impact is positive, while in islands and coastal regions, it is negative. Overall, it should be highlighted that for the first time that Greece is classified into common climatic characteristic categories, according to the international Geoviticulture Multicriteria Climatic Classification System (MCC system). According to the proposed classification, Greek viticulture regions are estimated to have similar climatic characteristics with the warmer wine-producing regions of the world up to the end of twenty-first century. Wine growers and winemakers should take the findings of the study under consideration in order to take measures for Greek wine sector adaptation and the continuation of high-quality wine production.

The nature of water: Greek thought from Homer to Acusilaos.

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De Santo, Rosa Maria; Bisaccia, Carmela; Cirillo, Massimo; Pollastro, Rosa Maria; Raiola, Ilaria; De Santo, Luca Salvatore

2009-01-01

Greek philosophy finds its roots in the myth of Homer's and Hesiod's poems and especially in Orphism which introduced the concept of a soul separated from the body with an independent principle, psiche (soul), to be rewarded or punished after death. Orphism was an important step in Greek culture. It introduced the divine into man, the soul which does not die with the body and reincarnates. From Orphism started the need of rituals capable of separating the spirit from the body. From Homer to Acusilaos, water was a very important element which connected humans and gods, long before Thales of Miletus defined it the arche.

Oscar Wilde’s Social Comedies in Modern Greek Theatre (1908-1945

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Constantina Georgiadi

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The reception of Oscar Wilde in Greece has occasionally been studied, although modern theoretical works around aestheticism devote a significant part to his influence on Greek artists at the beginning of twentieth century. Some of his plays - mostly Salomé and A Florentine Tragedy (1908 as well as an adaptation of The Portrait of Dorian Gray (1916- appeared in translation and on theatre stage just after the release of his postmortem apologetic De Profundis. His comedy The Importance of Being Earnest, was introduced to the Greek audience simultaneously with his tragedies in 1908, and one more melodrama, An Ideal Husband was staged in 1917. After that year, only his tragedies were repeated whereas his melodramas disappeared in the interwar years, to reappear again in a sudden and noticeable frequency in the late 1930s and early 1940s. The aim of this paper is to identify the reasons of the constant absence of Oscar Wilde’s melodramas from the Greek stage but also to explain their sudden adoption in the late thirties through a new perspective: the interaction between theatre and the newly growing art of cinema. During the controversial 30s, a considerable number of film versions of Wilde's social melodramas were made in Europe, most of them in Germany; these movies were projected in Greece, restoring thereby the Irish writer and his work. The seventh art, which was anyway supplied by writers, actors and theatre directors, became the channel for the Greek public to get acquainted with Wilde’ s social comedies as a whole. Additionally, it affected the repertoire of Greek theatre groups, including the National Theatre of Greece. The paper will focus on cinema and theatre investigation of the 1930s and 1940s (mainly until WWII in Greece, exploring the interchangeable relationship between those two arts, as far as Wilde’s social melodramas are concerned, in the broader historical, social and cultural spectrum of the era. The essay will also

Who Killed Homer? The Demise of Classical Education and the Recovery of Greek Wisdom.

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Hanson, Victor Davis; Heath, John

This book argues that if we lose our knowledge of the Greek classics, we lose our understanding of Western culture and who we are. Familiarity with the literature, art, and philosophy of the classical world has been synonymous with "education" in the West for over two millennia. The Greek tenets of democracy, capitalism, materialism, personal…

Analyzing Greek Members Alcohol Consumption by Gender and the Impact of Alcohol Education Interventions

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Brown-Rice, Kathleen A.; Furr, Susan; Jorgensen, Maribeth

2015-01-01

Members of the Greek community have been found to engage in riskier alcohol drinking behaviors and have higher alcohol- related negative consequences. A sample of Greek members were surveyed in Spring of 2013 (n = 372). It was found that The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption (AUDIT-C) scores were significantly higher for male…

Internships at Greek Universities: An Exploratory Study

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Mihail, Dimitrios M.

2006-01-01

Purpose: Greece has the highest youth unemployment rate in the European Union. Even though it is clear that persistent unemployment requires bold measures so as to engage young educated Greeks in the labour market, there is no coherent policy at present targeting that population group, especially university students. This paper explores university…

A View from the Portico: Lessons from the Greeks. ASHE 1986 Annual Meeting Paper.

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Stanton, Charles M.

Views on the 1985 Association of American Colleges' (AAC) report, "Integrity in the College Curriculum," are presented based on lessons from the Greeks and specifically the period 450 to 350 B.C.E. Seven inferences are made on what an Athenian might offer in response to the AAC Report. For the Greeks, the goal of education was wisdom and…

Blaming the Jocks and the Greeks?: Exploring Collegiate Athletes' and Fraternity/Sorority Members' Attitudes toward LGBT Individuals

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Worthen, Meredith G. F.

2014-01-01

While past research has documented significant relationships between both athletic and Greek system (fraternity and sorority) membership and negative attitudes toward gays and lesbians, such work seems to vilify membership in athletics and the Greek system as causal mechanisms of homophobia. In this way, athletes and Greeks may be easy targets to…

The Enigma of Quality in Greek Higher Education. A mixed methods study of introducing quality management into Greek higher education.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Papadimitriou, A.; Papadimitriou, Antigoni

2011-01-01

This study investigated the adoption of quality management in Greek universities as an outcome of organizational processes. It examined a period in the first decade of the 21st century when program evaluation and quality management were heavily debated in Greece. The study recognizes that higher

Candidate gene investigation of spinal degenerative osteoarthritis in Greek population.

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Liva, Eleni; Panagiotou, Irene; Palikyras, Spyros; Parpa, Efi; Tsilika, Eleni; Paschou, Peristera; Mystakidou, Kyriaki

2017-12-01

Few data exist concerning the natural history of degenerative osteoarthritis (OA) of the spine and its associated gene investigation. Degenerative spinal OA demonstrates an international prevalence of 15% in the general population. The aim of this Greek case-control study is to examine gene polymorphisms that have been previously shown or hypothesized to be correlated to degenerative OA. Gene polymorphisms, especially for OA, have never been previously studied in the Greek population. The study was conducted from May 2009 to December 2012. Eligible subjects who agreed to take part in the study were Greek adults from all of Greece, referred for consultation to the Palliative Care and Pain Relief Unit of Aretaieion University Hospital, in Athens, Greece. A total of 601 matched pairs (cases and controls) participated in the study, 258 patients (188 women and 70 men) with clinically and radiologically confirmed degenerative OA and 243 control subjects (138 women and 105 men). All patients presented with chronic pain at the spine (cervical, thoracic or lumbar) caused by sympomatic osteophytes or disc narrowing, whereas clinical diagnosis of OA was based on the presence of both joint symptoms and evidence of structural changes seen on plain conventional X-rays. We investigated genetic variation across candidate OA gene GDF5, CDMP1, CDMP2, Asporin, SMAD3, and chromosomal region 7q22, in a sample of 258 patients with clinically and radiologically confirmed degenerative OA, and 243 control subjects from the Greek population. All subjects (patients and controls) were subsequently matched for the epidemiologic, demographic, and clinical risk factors, to prevent selection biases. A tagging single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) approach was pursued to cover variation across all targeted loci. Single marker tests as well as haplotypic tests of association were performed. There is no conflict of interest, and also, there are no study funding sources. We found significant

Diabetes knowledge among Greek Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus patients.

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Poulimeneas, Dimitrios; Grammatikopoulou, Maria G; Bougioukli, Vasiliki; Iosifidou, Parthena; Vasiloglou, Maria F; Gerama, Maria-Assimina; Mitsos, Dimitrios; Chrysanthakopoulou, Ioanna; Tsigga, Maria; Kazakos, Kyriakos

2016-01-01

Diabetes knowledge has been shown to improve glycemic control and associate with several demographic parameters. In Greece, a country with high obesity rates, disease knowledge has never been evaluated in diabetic patients. This cross sectional study aimed to assess diabetes knowledge and its associations between social and demographic parameters, among Greek type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. One hundred fifty nine patients with T2DM were recruited from an urban and a rural clinic in Greece. Diabetes knowledge was assessed with the Brief Diabetes Knowledge Test (DKT). Basic anthropometry was performed. Data regarding glycemic control and sociodemographic characteristics were collected from the patients' medical files. Greek T2DM patients demonstrated poor disease knowledge (mean DKT score 8.3±2.2/14.0 and mean DKT as a percent of correct answers 59.6±15.8%). No differences were observed between sex, place of residence, or glycemic control, among subjects. Patients with higher education demonstrated greater diabetes knowledge. Simple obesity with concurrent central obesity or suboptimal glycemic control decreased diabetes knowledge among participants. Additionally, waist circumference was inversely correlated to diabetes knowledge. Based on the DKT, Greek patients exhibit poor diabetes knowledge. This study provides evidence for the need for better diabetes education in order to ameliorate disease outcome. Copyright © 2016 SEEN. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Balancing Acts Between Ancient and Modern Cities: The Ancient Greek Cities Project of C. A. Doxiadis

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Mantha Zarmakoupi

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the inception and development of the Ancient Greek Cities (AGC research project (1963–77 of Constantinos A. Doxiadis and addresses the novelty of its methodological approach to the study of classical urbanism. With the AGC project, Doxiadis launched a comprehensive study of the ancient Greek built environment to provide an overview of the factors involved in its shaping. The project produced 24 published volumes — the first two laying out the historical and methodological parameters of the ensuing 22 monographs with case studies — as well as 12 unpublished manuscripts, and through international conferences initiated a wider dialogue on ancient cities beyond the classical Greek world. It was the first interdisciplinary study that attempted to tackle the environmental factors, together with the social and economic ones, underpinning the creation, development and operation of ancient Greek cities. Doxiadis’s innovative approach to the analysis of the ancient city was indebted to his practice as an architect and town planner and was informed by his theory of Ekistics. His purpose was to identify the urban planning principles of ancient Greek settlements in order to employ them in his projects. This paper examines the concept and methodology of the AGC project as well as the ways in which Doxiadis used the study of ancient cities in relation to his contemporary urban/architectural agendas, and explains this important moment in the historiography of ancient Greek urbanism.

The contribution of technology in business growth: The case of Greek ladies

OpenAIRE

Vassilakopoulou, Angelina

2013-01-01

The overall image of the use of digital technology by Greek women is not that encouraging. In information communication technology companies in the Greek market, there are only few ladies in high management mainly related to HR and marketing functions. The statistics on internet use show that although its penetration to the population is growing rapidly, there is a steady 10% gap between men (55%) and women (45%) use. It also becomes obvious, in relevant market surveys, that the internet is c...

Latin Feminine Personal Names of Greek origin coming from the Iberian Peninsula

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Araceli Striano

2013-06-01

Full Text Available The presence of Greek Personal Names in the Latin inscriptions coming from the Iberian Peninsula is considerable. Furthermore, from the evidence found in religious centres it is clear that these inscriptions comprise a broad chronological period reaching to Medieval times. This paper shows that the Phonetic and Morphological adaptation of these names was very limited in Latin. Consequently, the fact that the various forms of these Greek names did not expand outside the closed community which bore them is justified.

Effects of Greek orthodox christian church fasting on serum lipids and obesity

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Mamalakis George D; Linardakis Manolis K; Tzanakis Nikolaos E; Sarri Katerina O; Kafatos Anthony G

2003-01-01

Abstract Background No study to date has focused on the impact of Greek Orthodox Christian fasting on serum lipoproteins and obesity yet. Methods 120 Greek adults were followed longitudinally for one year. Sixty fasted regularly in all fasting periods (fasters) and 60 did not fast at all (controls). The three major fasting periods under study were: Christmas (40 days), Lent (48 days) and Assumption (August, 15 days). A total of 6 measurements were made during one year including pre- and end-f...

Greek cultural adaption and validation of the Kujala anterior knee pain scale in patients with patellofemoral pain syndrome.

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Papadopoulos, Costas; Constantinou, Antonis; Cheimonidou, Areti-Zoi; Stasinopoulos, Dimitrios

2017-04-01

To cross-culturally adapt and validate the Greek version of the Kujala anterior knee pain scale (KAKPS). The Greek KAKPS was translated from the original English version following standard forward and backward translation procedures. The survey was then conducted in clinical settings by a questionnaire comprising the Greek KAKPS and patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS) severity scale. A total of 130 (62 women and 68 men) Greek-reading patients between 18 and 45 years old with anterior knee pain (AKP) for at least four weeks were recruited from physical therapy clinics. To establish test-retest reliability, the patients were asked to complete the KAKPS at initial visit and 2-3 days after the initial visit. The Greek version of the PFPS severity scale was also administered once at initial visit. Internal consistency of the translated instrument was measured using Cronbach's α. An intraclass correlation coefficient was used to assess the test-retest reliability of the KAKPS. Concurrent validity was measured by correlating the KAKPS with the PFPS severity scale using Pearson's correlation coefficient. The results showed that the Greek KAKPS has good internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.942), test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.921) and concurrent validity (r > 0.7). This study has shown that the Greek KAKPS has good internal consistency, test-retest reliability and concurrent validity when correlated with the PFPS severity scale in adult patients with AKP for at least four weeks. Implications for rehabilitation The Greek version of the KAKPS has been found to be reliable and valid when used in adult patients with AKP for at least four weeks. The results of the psychometric characteristics were compatible with those of the original English version. The KAKPS could be applied in a Greek-speaking population to assess functional limitations and symptoms in patients aged 18-45 years old with AKP for at least four weeks.

Investigation of pre-drying lignite in an existing Greek power plant

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Agraniotis Michalis

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The application of lignite pre-drying technologies in next generation of lignite power plants by utilizing low pressure steam as a drying medium instead of hot recirculated flue gas - combined with thermal utilization of the vaporized coal moisture - is expected to bring efficiency increase of 2-4 percentage points in future lignite power plants compared with today’s state of the art. The pre-drying concept is of particular importance in Greek boilers firing lignite with a high water and ash content. The combustion of Greek predried lignite has been investigated experimentally and via numerical simulations in our previous research. This study focuses on the potential integration of a lignite pre-drying system in an existing Greek power plant with dry lignite co-firing thermal share of up to 30%. The radiative and convective heat fluxes to the boiler and the overall boiler heat balance is calculated for reference and dry lignite co-firing conditions by an in-house calculation code. The overall plant’s thermal cycle is then simulated using commercial thermal cycle calculation software. The net plant efficiency is in this way determined for reference and dry coal co-firing conditions. According to the simulation results the integration of a pre-drying system and the implementation of dry lignite co-firing may bring an efficiency increase of about 1.5 percentage points in existing Greek boilers. It is therefore considered as an important measure towards improving plant efficiency and reducing specific CO2 emissions in existing plants.

Children's Rights and the Operation of Greek Kindergartens

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Synodi, Evanthia

2014-01-01

This paper provides a critical analysis of the impact of the "Presidential Decree 200" (1998) regarding the operation of kindergartens in Greece, on children's enjoyment of their rights. It appears that the "Decree" does not respect, protect or fulfil the participation rights of the child whereas it respects, protects and…

Caesarean section in Ancient Greek mythology.

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Lurie, Samuel

2015-01-01

The narrative of caesarean birth appears on several occasions in Greek mythology: in the birth of Dionysus is the God of the grape harvest and winemaking and wine; in the birth of Asclepius the God of medicine and healing; and in the birth of Adonis the God of beauty and desire. It is possible, however not obligatory, that it was not solely a fantasy but also reflected a contemporary medical practice.

Standardization of the TEMPS-A in the Greek general population.