The distinction between laiko and logio as a particular characteristic of the Modern Greek language: historical interpretation, contemporary function and didactic usage

It is well known that the Greek language, despite its long history and the various adventures it has experienced over the centuries and in contrast with other ancient European languages (e.g. Latin), has not undergone any radical changes with the passage of time. Instead, it has maintained a noteworthy diachronic homogeneity and a unified character that have made it intriguing for scholars and, at the same time, give it a unique nature. The functional presence of a large number of diachronic elements within contemporary Modern Greek undoubtedly make it a unique case. They have not, however, been sufficiently researched, and this paper aims to make a contribution in this direction

Serum Neurofilament Light Protein as a Marker for Diffuse Axonal Injury: Results from a Case Series Study

Diffuse axonal injury (DAI) is an important cause of morbidity in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). There is currently no simple and reliable technique for early identification of patients with DAI, or to prognosticate long-term outcome in this patient group. In the present study, we examined acute serum concentrations of neurofilament light (NFL) in nine patients with severe TBI and DAI using a novel ultrasensitive single molecule array (Simoa) assay. The relationships between the NFL concentrations and MRI in the acute stage as well as clinical outcome and magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging (MR-DTI) parameters at 12 months were analyzed. We found that the mean NFL concentrations among the patients displayed a 30-fold increase compared with controls, and that NFL completely discriminated between the patients and controls. We also found a relationship between serum NFL and MR-DTI parameters, with higher NFL concentrations in patients with higher trace (R2 = 0.79) and lower fractional anisotropy (FA) (R 2 = 0.83). These results suggest that serum NFL may be a valuable blood biomarker for TBI, reflecting the severity of DAI

Stable isotope evidence for near-surface, low-temperature formation of Mg-(hydro)carbonates in highly altered Greek Mesozoic serpentinites

Authigenic magnesite, hydromagnesite and huntite associated with intensely altered and serpentinized ophiolitic rocks in Attica (mainland Greece) occur predominantly as veinlets and nodules within a totally weathered former-serpentinite groundmass. Carbonate δ18O values are consistent with post-geothermal fluid temperatures between 25-70 ˚C, but mostly between 25-30 ˚C, from a dominantly meteoric-sourced groundwater, indicating near-surface, low-temperature conditions. Despite the proximity of a volcanic centre with strong CO2 flux, 75% of the carbon isotope data imply little or no incorporation of this CO2 into the authigenic Mg-(hydro)carbonates. Indeed, many δ13C values are more negative than soil-zone calcrete values, and in this setting Mg-(hydro)carbonate δ13C below -6‰ VPDB probably indicate disequilibrium effects in alkaline groundwaters. Geothermal fluids and groundwaters were mainly routed through structural conduits. Some of the low temperature hydromagnesite subsequently dehydrated to magnesite under near-surface conditions, while huntite is likely a diagenetic transformation of hydromagnesite, forming close to the volcanic centre where fluid Mg/Ca ratios were low. The isotopic signatures are distinct from previously published Balkan-East Mediterranean magnesite data arrays but are consistent with many other ultramafic-associated magnesium carbonates worldwide; their association with likely fluid compositions provide important context for Mg-(hydro)carbonate formation as geothermal conditions cool to near surface temperatures

The Epicurean Parasite: Horace, Satires 1.1-3

We have learned a great deal in recent years about reading Horace\u27s satires; there is now widespread agreement that the speaker of the satires is himself a character within them, a persona. Such a persona may be most effective when it has obvious connections with its creator, but that fact does not preclude the exaggeration of reality, or even its complete inversion. For Horace the implications of this approach are exciting: instead of a poet discoursing with cheerful earnestness on morality, on poetry and on his daily life, we have a fictional character, whom we do not have to take seriously at all.The three diatribe satires present us with a character so absurd that they have been taken, I think rightly, as parodies. Although the poems were once appreciated as effective moralising sermons, even their admirers found it hard to justify the lack of intellectual coherence, to say nothing of the astonishing vulgarity of the second satire. As parodies, however, the poems are wonderfully successful. The speaker trots out a series of banalities: ‘people should be content with who they are’; ‘people should not go to extremes’; ‘people should be consistent’. But he invariably gets distracted, goes off on tangential rants, and makes a fool of himself. The moralist of the first three satires is, to put it bluntly, a jerk

Lagrangian studies, circulation and mixing in the Southern Ocean

Oceans play a vital role as one of the major components of Earth's climate system. The study of oceanic processes and the complexity inherent in dynamic ows is essential for understanding their regulatory character on the climate's variability. A key region for the study of such intrinsic oceanic variability is the Southern Ocean. In the form of a wind-driven, zonally unbounded, strong eastward ow, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) circumnavigates the Antarctic continent connecting each of the ocean basins. The dynamics of the ACC, which is characterised by the absence of land barriers, apart from when crossing Drake Passage, have long been a topic of debate [Rintoul et al., 2001]. The main interests of this study focus on inferring and mapping the dynamic variability the ACC exhibits by means of transient disturbances [Hughes, 2005] (such as mesoscale eddies) and subsequent mixing from Lagrangian trajectories. The distribution of eddy transport and intensity, the mixing of conservative quantities and ow dynamics through to the interaction of eddy kinetic energy, mean ow and topography are examined. The sparseness of observations in the Southern Ocean and the necessity to understand the role of the oceanic circulation in the climate by a holistic approach highlights computational ocean circulation models as indispensable. In the context of this study, output from the run401 of the Ocean Circulation and Climate Advance Model (OCCAM) 1/12� ocean model, developed at the U.K. National Oceanography Centre, is utilised. In order to deduce the temporal and spatial variability of the ow dynamics, as well as its vertical distribution, simulation of monthly releases of passive particles using di�erent schemes (i.e. cluster or linear alignment) on isobaric and isoneutral surfaces was conducted. An analysis of the Lagrangian trajectories reveals the characteristics of the dynamics that control the ow and depict regions of enhanced eddy activity and mixing. The model's ability to simulate real oceanic ows is established through comparison with a purposeful release of the tracer CF3SF5, which is conducted as part of the DIMES experiment (http://dimes.ucsd.edu/). We �nd that topography plays a fundamental role in the context of Southern Ocean mixing through the association of high EKE regions, where the interaction of vortical elements and multi �lamented jets in non-parallel ows supports an e�ective mechanism for eddy stirring, resulting in the enhanced dispersion of particles. Suppression of mixingin regions where the ow is delineated by intensi�ed and coherent, both in space and time, jets (strong PV gradients) signifying the separation of the ow in di�erentiated kinematic environments, is illustrated. The importance of a local approximation to mixing instead of the construction of zonal averages is presented. We present the caveats of classical di�usion theory in the presence of persistent structures and �nd that values of 1000-2000 m2

A multi-measure approach for assessing the performance of fMRI preprocessing strategies in resting-state functional connectivity

It is well established that head motion and physiological processes (e.g. cardiac and breathing activity) should be taken into consideration when analyzing and interpreting results in fMRI studies. However, even though recent studies aimed to evaluate the performance of different preprocessing pipelines there is still no consensus on the optimal strategy. This is partly due to the fact that the quality control (QC) metrics used to evaluate differences in performance across pipelines have often yielded contradictory results. Furthermore, preprocessing techniques based on physiological recordings or data decomposition techniques (e.g. aCompCor) have not been comprehensively examined. Here, to address the aforementioned issues, we propose a framework that summarizes the scores from eight previously proposed and novel QC metrics to a reduced set of two QC metrics that reflect the signal-to-noise ratio and the reduction in motion artifacts and biases in the preprocessed fMRI data. Using this framework, we evaluate the performance of three commonly used practices on the quality of data: 1) Removal of nuisance regressors from fMRI data, 2) discarding motion-contaminated volumes (i.e., scrubbing) before regression, and 3) low-pass filtering the data and the nuisance regressors before their removal. Using resting-state fMRI data from the Human Connectome Project, we show that the scores of the examined QC metrics improve the most when the global signal (GS) and about 17% of principal components from white matter (WM) are removed from the data. Finally, we observe a small further improvement with low-pass filtering at 0.20 Hz and milder variants of WM denoising, but not with scrubbing

The occurrences of Mg-hydroxycarbonates in serpentinites of the western section of the South Aegean volcanic arc (West Attica peninsula-Northeastern Argolis peninsula), Greece

Στα Γεράνεια όρη (Δυτική Αττική, Ελλάδα) απαντούν οφιολιθικά πετρώματα, υπερκείμενα Τριαδικών – Ιουρασκών ασβεστολίθων και υποκείμενα Πλειοπλειστοκαινικών ιζημάτων. Οι σχετικά εκτεταμένες οφιολιθικές εμφανίσεις συνίστανται κυρίως από σερπεντινιωμένους περιδοτίτες, θεωρούμενοι ως λερζόλιθοι με σπινέλιους, καθώς και δουνίτες. Στην Βορειοανατολική Αργολίδα απαντούν αρκετές μικρές εμφανίσεις σερπεντινιτών ως υπολείμματα ενός οφιολιθικού καλύμματος, συνιστάμενες από σερπεντινιωμένους και τεκτονικά παραμορφωμένους περιδοτίτες, επωθημένους στον Ηωκαινικό φλύσχη. Και οι δυο περιοχέςχαρακτηρίζονται από εκδηλώσεις ηφαιστειακής δραστηριότητας. Πρόσφατα ανακαλύφθηκαν αρκετές ακανόνιστες συγκεντρώσεις από λευκόχρωμα ορυκτά συσσωματώματα μέσα σε έντονα εξαλλοιωμένα και σερπεντινιωμένα υπερβασικά πετρώματα των περιοχών αυτών. Προσδιορίστηκαν τα ορυκτά υδρομαγνησίτης, το οποίο επικρατεί, μαγνησίτης, χουντίτης καθώς και ορυκτά της ομάδας των πυροαυριτών. Για την μελέτη των ορυκτών αυτών, καθώς και των ξενιστών τους, χρησιμοποιήθηκαν μέθοδοι όπως, PXRD ορυκτολογικές αναλύσεις, SEM και SEMEDS παρατηρήσεις και μικροαναλύσεις, καθώς και χημικές αναλύσεις. Υποδεικνύεται ότι ο σχηματισμός των δευτερογενών αυτών ορυκτών ελέγχεται από την εξαλλοίωση των οφιολίθων, ως συνδιασμένη δράση της έντονης υδροθερμικής δραστηριότητας πλούσιων σε CO2 διαλυμάτων, του τεκτονισμού, καθώς και του χημισμού του εδαφικού νερού που χαρακτηρίζεται από μεγάλες τιμές του λόγου Mg/Ca και του pH.In the area of West Attica Peninsula, Greece, ophiolitic rocks which outcrop mainly at the Geraneia Mountains, overlie Triassic-Jurassic limestone and covered by Plio - Pleistocene sedimentary rocks. The relatively widespread ophiolite occurrences are mainly serpentinized peridotites, considered as spinel lherzolites and dunites. In the Northeastern Argolis Peninsula several small remnants of an ophiolitic nappe outcrop which consists from serpentinized and tectonically deformed peridotites, overthrusted on the Eocene flysch. Both regions are characterized by manifestations of volcanic activity. Recently, white mineral aggregates have been discovered in several places in highly altered and serpentinized ultrabasic rocks of the above regions, with the form of irregular accumulations. The identified minerals are hydromagnesite, which predominates, and also magnesite, huntite, and minerals of pyroaurite group. For the study of the Mg-hydroxycarbonate minerals assemblages and the hosting material, PXRD mineralogical analysis, SEM investigations and SEM-EDS microprobe and chemical analyses has been performed. It is suggested that the origin of the secondary Mg-rich hydroxycarbonates was controlled by the alteration of the ophiolites due to a combining actions of intense hydrothermal activity with CO2 -rich fluids, tectonism, as well as the groundwater chemistry that is characterized by high Mg/Ca ratio and alkaline pH values