Dynamic Characteristics of Periodic Motions in a Restricted N-Body Problem

We investigate the existence and follow the evolution and dynamic stability of periodic motions in a restricted version of the N-body problem, where the positions of the mass bodies reside persistently on a planar polygon ring and its geometrical centre. The results show the existence of both (linearly) stable and unstable periodic orbits around the body placed on the ring centre (inside the ring), around all the periphery bodies (outside the ring) and around one or more of the periphery bodies. The stable periodic trajectories form regions of gravitational stability, whereas some classes of the unstable orbits exhibit bifurcations to non-symmetric periodic orbits of the same period, and less often period-doubling bifurcations

The Role of the Religion Vis-à-vis the 'Health Challenges' of Covid-19

Αim: In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, the aim of the present study was to investigate to what extent the undergraduate students of the Department of Dentistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki felt the need to come closer to their own religiosity, spirituality or faith. Materials and methods: Empirical research was conducted by means of an anonymous questionnaire, comprising demographics and items focusing on religiosity, spirituality and faith. The results of the survey were processed using MICROSOFT EXCEL IBM SPSS STATISTICS 24 statistical processing software. Results:  To overcome health dilemmas, the wide majority of  students did not focus on religious & spiritual practices (70% & 66.7%) while at the same time their religiosity & spirituality was not enhanced (74% & 78%). However, for the same period 53% of the students stated that their faith was enhanced. Conclusions-Discussion: While overall students’ religiosity & spirituality indicators were low, for the same period they stated that their faith in overcoming health distress was strengthened, which triggers new questions and prompts further research in the field of humanities.&nbsp

The Impact of Religious Beliefs and Practices on Coping with Health Challenges Posed by Covid-19

In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, the aim of the present study was to investigate to what extent the undergraduate students of the Department of Dentistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, felt the need to come closer to their own religiosity, spirituality, or faith. Materials and methods: Empirical research was conducted by means of an anonymous questionnaire, comprising demographics and items focusing on religiosity, spirituality, and faith. The survey results were processed using “MICROSOFT EXCEL IBM SPSS STATISTICS 24” statistical processing software. Results:  To overcome health dilemmas, the wide majority of students did not focus on religious & spiritual practices (70% & 66.7%) while at the same time, their religiosity & spirituality was not enhanced (74% & 78%). However, for the same period, 53% of the students stated that their faith was enhanced. Conclusions: While overall students’ religiosity & spirituality indicators were low, for the same period they stated that their faith in overcoming health distress was strengthened, which triggers new questions and prompts further research in the field of humanities.&nbsp

Highly relativistic electron flux enhancement during the weak geomagnetic storm of April-May 2017

We report observations of energetic electron flux and Phase Space Density (PSD) to show that a relatively weak magnetic storm with $Sym-H_{min} \approx -50$nT, resulted in a relativistic and ultra--relativistic electron enhancement of two orders of magnitude similar to the St. Patrick's event of 2015, an extreme storm with $Sym-H_{min} \approx -235 nT$. This enhancement appeared at energies up to $\approx 10$ MeV, lasted for at least 24 days and was not recorded in geosynchronous orbit where most space weather alert data are collected. By combined analysis of PSD radial profiles and Fokker--Planck simulation, we show that the enhancement of relativistic and ultra--relativistic electrons is caused by different mechanisms: first, chorus waves during the intense substorm injections of April 21--25 accelerate the seed electron population to relativistic energies and redistribute them while inward diffusion driven by Pc5 ULF waves further accelerates them to ultra--relativistic energies

Exploring elements of an effective practitioner-patient relationship in dentistry

Purpose: The present study, having human-centered orientation (empathy) as an index of the doctor-patient relationship, aims to record the degree of user/patient satisfaction with the health services provided by the Department of Oral Medicine/ Pathology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.Materials and Methods: Quantitative analysis of the research was conducted using a four-item anonymous questionnaire on satisfaction: (a) communication (b) information/ awareness (c) respect/ acceptance and (d) interest/ understanding. The participants were 600 patients with oral diseases of various severity. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM Statistics SPSS 20 and 25.Results: The participants were 61.7% females (median age 58.5 years) and 38.3% males (median age 60 years). According to the scores the patients’ satisfaction was: a) communication (97.8%), (b) information/ awareness (85.8%), (c) respect/ acceptance (78.8%), and (d) interest/ understanding (67.7%).Conclusion: Quantitative analysis of the empirical study established that the patients of Department of Oral Medicine revealed a fairly high rate of satisfaction. However some service parameters (interest/ understanding) need further attention and for this reason improvement proposals have been tabled

The association of coffee intake with liver cancer risk is mediated by biomarkers of inflammation and hepatocellular injury: data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition.

BACKGROUND: Higher coffee intake has been purportedly related to a lower risk of liver cancer. However, it remains unclear whether this association may be accounted for by specific biological mechanisms. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to evaluate the potential mediating roles of inflammatory, metabolic, liver injury, and iron metabolism biomarkers on the association between coffee intake and the primary form of liver cancer-hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). DESIGN: We conducted a prospective nested case-control study within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition among 125 incident HCC cases matched to 250 controls using an incidence-density sampling procedure. The association of coffee intake with HCC risk was evaluated by using multivariable-adjusted conditional logistic regression that accounted for smoking, alcohol consumption, hepatitis infection, and other established liver cancer risk factors. The mediating effects of 21 biomarkers were evaluated on the basis of percentage changes and associated 95% CIs in the estimated regression coefficients of models with and without adjustment for biomarkers individually and in combination. RESULTS: The multivariable-adjusted RR of having ≥4 cups (600 mL) coffee/d compared with <2 cups (300 mL)/d was 0.25 (95% CI: 0.11, 0.62; P-trend = 0.006). A statistically significant attenuation of the association between coffee intake and HCC risk and thereby suspected mediation was confirmed for the inflammatory biomarker IL-6 and for the biomarkers of hepatocellular injury glutamate dehydrogenase, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT), and total bilirubin, which-in combination-attenuated the regression coefficients by 72% (95% CI: 7%, 239%). Of the investigated biomarkers, IL-6, AST, and GGT produced the highest change in the regression coefficients: 40%, 56%, and 60%, respectively. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that the inverse association of coffee intake with HCC risk was partly accounted for by biomarkers of inflammation and hepatocellular injury.This is the final version of the article. It was first available from American Society for Nutrition via http://dx.doi.org/10.3945/​ajcn.115.11609