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There are numerous studies dealing with olive oil management from ancient civilizations to the mid last century, but they are limited on the historical value of information. At the same time, much knowledge is widely available and accessible on the contemporaneous production of olive oil, the necessary inputs (water and energy) and outputs (by-products) of the production process. The present study aims to shed light on olive oil extraction management from antiquity to present and to bridge the gap between archaeological and modern agricultural, engineering, and environmental disciplines. For the purposes of this study, Crete, Greece, a well-known and traditional olive oil producing region is investigated. This study is dedicated to unveil practices concerning: (a) the processing of the olives, (b) the various energy aspects per era, (c) the role of water and energy at each stage of the extraction process, and (d) management of by-products per era. The main findings support that: (a) the evolution of the extraction processes was relatively slow and remained almost the same from Minoan times until the middle of the 20th century, (b) the importance of water has been demonstrated from the beginning in the efficient extraction of the maximum amount of olive oil, (c) wastewater was first reported during the Hellenistic-Roman period due to the increased quantities produced, (d) by-product management was only considered in the previous century for environmental purposes, (e) olive oil production has been a human-based process for centuries and was greatly increased by the introduction of animals, and (f) olive oil production was further increased with the utilization of mechanical and electrical energy. It can be therefore clearly concluded that past practices have both similarities and differences with the present ones, which in turn have been optimized in terms of energy sources, water uses, olive mill equipment, and environmental considerations, to result in maximum olive oil production with minimum environmental impacts. Based on this work, important lessons can be drawn that show the historical evolution of extraction and management practices., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Prosodic aspects of cross-linguistic contact are under-researched, especially past contact that has subsequently ceased. In this paper, we investigate declarative and polar question tunes of contemporary Cretan Greek, a regional variety of Greek whose speakers were in contact with Venetian speakers during the four and half centuries of Venetian rule on the island, from 1204 to 1669. The F0 contours of the Cretan tunes and alignment of peaks and troughs of interest with the nuclear vowel are compared to the corresponding tunes in Venetian dialect and Venetian Italian and to those in Athenian (Standard) Greek, which are used as control. The data (1610 declarative utterances and 698 polar questions) were drawn from natural speech corpora based on pragmatic criteria: broad focus for declaratives, broad focus, and information-seeking interpretation for polar questions. The pitch contour shapes of the tunes are modeled using polynomial basis functions, and the F0 alignment points are determined analytically. The results show the robustness of contact effects almost three and a half centuries after regular contact ceased and indicate that the shapes of the F0 contours of Cretan and Venetian declarative and polar question tunes are similar. In addition, Cretan alignment patterns are similar to Venetian and significantly different from Athenian. Insights are gained from research into how long prosodic characteristics may persist in a recipient language-decades or even centuries after the cessation of contact.

Importance: The recognition of the pulmonary circulation is a complex evolution in medical history and draws on theories across eras and cultures., Observations: This narrative review summarizes evidence suggesting that the recognition of pulmonary circulation is older than the time of Ibn Nafis. The theory of pulmonary circulation originated in ancient Persia (ad 224-637), was overshadowed by Greek theory from the 11th century, and reestablished by Ibn Nafis in the 13th century., Conclusions and Relevance: The findings of this review may help contextualize the story of the discovery of pulmonary circulation in ancient Persian and Greek theories before Ibn Nafis.

One of the most distinctive aspects of contemporary psychiatry is its firm grounding in a neurological and biochemical framework for the interpretation of mental life and its disturbances. In the absence of any strong neurological understanding or systematic knowledge of active pharmaceutical substances, one might expect that early ancient medicine readily resorted to non-somatic approaches to healing mental suffering. Instead, what is usually labelled "therapy of the word" and other forms of what one may call psychotherapy emerge relatively late in Greek medicine, only in the first centuries of our era. This paper provides an overview and analysis of this development in ancient history of psychology, philosophy and medicine, covering a broad period of time from the fifth century BCE to the end of the late-antique period, the fifth century CE. The focus is on the very idea (or lack thereof) of the curability of mental disturbance, and on the particular branch of therapeutics which addresses the psychological and existential condition of the patient, rather than his or her physiological state.

It is often suggested that the Greek tragedians present clinically credible pictures of mental disturbance. For instance, some modern interpreters have compared the process by which Cadmus brings Agave back to sanity in Euripides' Bacchae with modern psychotherapy. But a reading of medical writers' views on the psychological dimension of medicine offers little evidence for believing that these scenes reflect the practices of late fifth-century Athenian doctors, for whom verbal cures are associated with older traditions of non-rational thought, and thus are scorned in favor of more "scientific cures" based on diet or medication. This paper will argue that Athenian tragedians, working from older traditions that advocated verbal cures for some mental ailments, do understand the potential psychological effects that their work can have on audiences, since tragedy requires psychological interaction with its audience in order to be effective. From a close reading of select scenes in Euripidean tragedy, this paper suggests that the experiences of the characters who experience suffering in Euripides' Heracles and Bacchae are analogues of the experiences undergone by the spectators of tragedy at large. Parallels are made between the way that Agave and Heracles are both talked back to sanity by looking upon what has happened, and the way that tragedians make their audiences observe lamentations and meditations that follow the central tragic act, to help them return from the intense emotion provoked, perhaps, by the violence they have seen.

In this study a methodology for identifying the geographic origin of unidentified persons, their residence and moving patterns while providing information on lifestyle, diet and socio-economic status by combining stable isotopic data, with the biological information (isotopic composition of the skeleton), is presented. This is accomplished by comparing the oxygen isotopic composition of the spring water that individuals were drinking, during their living period, with the oxygen isotopic composition of their tooth enamel bioapatite. Spring water and teeth samples were collected from individuals from three different areas of Greece: North Greece, Central Greece and South Greece and isotopic analysis of δ 13 C and δ 18 O of tooth enamel bioapatite and δ 18 O of spring water were conducted. For these three areas the isotopic methodology is a promising tool for discriminating the provenance. Furthermore, as a case study, this methodology is applied to two archeological sites of Greece (Medieval-Thebes and Roman-Edessa) in order to determine paleomobility patterns.

Surgeons removed bladder stones by perineal lithotomy in ancient times. The first surgeon who dared to invade a body cavity knew human anatomy and was skilled in the use of surgical instruments. The operation probably originated in India since the Sushruta Samhita, a surgical text, antedates Hippocrates by several hundred years. Sushruta's knowledge of bladder of stones, surgical complications and instrumentation identifies him as originator of vesicolithotomy. Why did Hippocrates advise his students to leave operations for bladder stones to practitioners who were skilled in the art? Who were these practitioners and how did knowledge of vesicolithotomy reach Greece from India? Our research suggests that the operation came to Greece from India over ancient trade routes and with surgeons who accompanied Alexander the Great's army. The Sushruta Samhita was translated in Arabic and may have reached Europe during the dark ages by way of Arabian surgeons such as Albucasis. Chelseldon, an eighteenth century English surgeon, brought Sushruta's vesicolithotomy to a peak of perfection.

The study is a presentation of the sole written testimony of the great plague epidemic that struck the island of Rhodes in 1498, at the time when the Order of the Knights of St. John was settled there. The Greek poem "The Thanatikon (i.e., plague) of Rhodes", which was written by Emmanuel Georgillas Limenitis in the late 15th century and recounts the terrible events of the epidemic, was used as a source of information. Among the 644 verses of the poem, elements like the place, time, duration and how the epidemic spread can be identified. Within the historical context of the era, evaluation and analysis of the data reveal the correlation between human activities and the physical history of the disease in the Mediterranean during the 15th century. The Plague of Rhodes confirms the value of non-medical sources in the medico-historical and historico-epidemiological study of the evolution of the disease caused by Yersinia pestis while highlighting an enduring intrinsic weakness of surveillance systems. Despite modern means of epidemiological surveillance, the risk of relaxation of a health system after a long period of absence of an infectious disease constitutes a major factor for future resurgence of the specific disease.

Background: A number of designations for diseases, medicines and human body structures derive from classical mythology. To date, these eponyms have not been systematically investigated., Objectives: This paper provides an overview of this fringe component of medical vocabulary, looks at the history of several terms and formulates hypotheses as to why such creative etymologies have come into being., Materials and Methods: In addition to relevant texts on ancient mythology, a variety of medical textbooks from the early modern period were analyzed., Results: Between the 16th and the 20th centuries some 30 figures from Greek and Roman literature made their way into the terminology of medical sciences. A few of these expressions can be encountered in clinical use (e. g., Caput Medusae, Proteus, Oedipus complex) and remain official anatomical (atlas, Achilles tendon) or pharmaceutical nomenclature (atropine, morphine). The choice of these designations has often been similarity of form or analogies in function. Classical eponyms have gained acceptance on account of their succinctness, conciseness and scholarly veneer. Finally, this vocabulary shares its origin with other relevant terminology., Conclusions: In clinical classes, mythological designations can serve as a point of departure for digressions into literary, art and medical history in order to provide an understanding of cultural traditions and enhance education.

Background: Colorectal surgery has its roots in the early civilisations and its development followed a complex pathway never disjoined from the social and cultural environment where it took place., Method: The most relevant historical sources have been evaluated., Results: A comprehensive review of the history of colorectal surgery is presented, from the ancient Egyptian culture to the modern achievements. The development of surgery of colon, rectum and anus is reported with particular reference to the social environment and history; as the development of colorectal surgery parallels the occurrence of human historical events, the study of the former cannot be disjoined from the latter., Conclusion: Study and knowledge of the history of medicine--and, in particular, of colorectal surgery for those interested in this particular subject--is a privileged way to understand who we are nowadays and where we come from.

Comparative investigations centre on attitudes of demand and consumption in ethnic groups living in affluence, beginning with the first pre-Christian century in the Roman Empire on the one hand and in Western countries in the post-industrial age of hight-tech in times of far advanced globalization on the other. In this context medical, psycho-social and socio-economical aspects will be treated considering ideal and cultural breaks. Renowned Roman and Greek historians, physicians and philosophers are vouching as witnesses of the times for developments in the antique world with their literary works, in excerpts and verbatim. Obviously general moral decay is a side effect of any affluence. Even in the antiquitiy the "ideology of renewal" proclaimed by the Emperor Augustus died away mostly in emptiness just as do the appeals for improving one's state of health for surviving directed to all citizens in our time. With the rise of Rome as a world power general relative affluence was widespread to such an extent that diseases caused by affluence have occured as mass phenomena. The old Roman virtues of temperance and frugality turned into greed and addiction to pleasure. In this way the Roman people under the banner of affluence degenerated into a society of leisure time, consumption, fun and throwaway mentality. The decline of the Empire was predetermined. The promise of affluence which modern Europe is addicted to is demanding its price following the principle of causality. "How the pictures resemble each other!"

Modern songs, films, novels and daily speech often use heart imagery to illustrate 'inner self' experiences, such as deeply felt emotions. Where do these ideas come from and what relevance (if any) do they have for medicine today? This article explores some of the key origins and periods of development of heart/'inner self' ideas before considering the significance of heart/'inner self' interactions in modern clinical practice: from Aristotelian anatomy and the translated Hebrew Scriptures; through Shakespeare, William Harvey and the Protestant Reformation; to theories of emotion and modern-day cardiology. I conclude that heart/'inner self' interactions exist in clinically significant ways, but are poorly understood and under-recognised in healthcare settings. Greater integration of cardiovascular and psychosocial medicine would improve patient care., (Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.)

The multiplication of offences prompted by racism and the increase of complaints for racism leads us to consider the illusory concept of "human races". This idea crossed the history, and was reinforced by the discovery of remote tribes and human fossils, and by the development of sociobiology and quantitative psychology. Deprived of scientific base, the theory of the "races" must bow before the notions of genetic variation and unicity of mankind.

Lead is a major public health issue. Its use has been increasing since Neolithic times, climaxing in the Ancient Rome and the nineteenth century. Defining the frequency of plumbism before modern times proves to be a difficult matter because of its various and delayed symptoms, and of diagenetic processes affecting bones. After reviewing various methods of lead measurement in bone and tooth, we will expose ways to ascertain lead measurement interpretation in order to estimate the epidemiology of plumbism in ancient times.

Documentary evidence and artistic representations have traditionally served as the primary sources of information about Byzantine diet. According to these sources, Byzantine diet was based on grain (primarily wheat and barley), oil, and wine, supplemented with legumes, dairy products, meat, and marine resources. Here, we synthesize and compare the results of stable isotope ratio analyses of eight Greek Byzantine populations (6th-15th centuries AD) from throughout Greece. The δ(13) C and δ(15) N values are tightly clustered, suggesting that all of these populations likely consumed a broadly similar diet. Both inland and coastal Byzantine populations consumed an essentially land-based C(3) diet, significant amounts of animal protein, and possibly some C(4) plants, while no evidence of a general dependence on low-δ(15) N legumes was observed. One interesting result observed in the isotopic data is the evidence for the consumption of marine protein at both coastal sites (a reasonable expectation given their location) and for some individuals from inland sites. This pattern contrasts with previous isotopic studies mainly on prehistoric Greek populations, which have suggested that marine species contributed little, or not at all, to the diet. The possibility that fasting practices contributed to marine protein consumption in the period is discussed, as are possible parallels with published isotope data from western European medieval sites., (2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Vin Santo is the typical dessert wine produced in Tuscany, in particular, and in other areas of central and northern Italy, as well as on the Greek island of Santorini. It remains one of the most important "meditation wines", whose glamour starts with its ancient and mysterious origin. Italy is the country with the World's greatest tradition for sweet wine production. In this contest most of the steps in the Vin Santo making process are still linked to old local traditions. This chapter provides an overview of the different styles of Vin Santo produced in Italy together with its marketing. The main factors affecting grapes drying, alcoholic fermentation, maturation in barrels, are also described. So far there have been few scientific studies that have focused on Vin Santo. However, the increasing demand registered in the last few years for this kind of wine, is now greatly stimulating the research aimed to better manage its peculiar production process., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Although interest in the art of dissection and vivisection has waxed and waned throughout the ages, the past century has seen it accepted as commonplace in medical schools across the country. No other practice in medicine has contributed more to the understanding of neuroanatomy and the neurosciences as dissection of the human cadaver, the origins of which are widely documented to have been in Alexandrian Greece. This article chronicles the fascinating and often controversial use of dissection and vivisection in these fields through the ages, beginning with Herophilus of Alexandria, among the first systematic dissectors in the history of Western medicine. The authors comment on its role in the development of modern neurosurgery and conclude with remarks about use of this educational tool today in the United States.

While many ancient cultures contributed to our current knowledge about medicine and psychiatry origins, Ancient Greeks were among the best observers of feelings and moods patients could express toward medicine and toward what today referred as "psychopathology". Myths and religious references were used to explain what elsewhere impossible to understand or easily communicated. Most of ancient myths focus on ambiguous feelings patients could have towards drugs, especially psychotropic ones. Interestingly, such prejudices are common yet today. Recalling ancient findings and descriptions made using myths, should represent a valuable knowledge for modern physicians, especially for psychiatrists, and their patients, with the aim of better understanding each other and therefore achieving a better clinical outcome. The paper explores many human aspects and feelings toward doctors and their cures, referring to ancient myths, focusing on the perception of mental illness.

Automata have always held a particular fascination. Their history leads back to their mythical ancestors, whose destinies raise considerable ethical questions about the sense of technology and about the boundaries between nature and art. In the 16th century engineers, architects and also physicians discussed the status of the ,artes mechanicae' and the machines they produced or used. Useful, sometimes dangerous, amusing and elaborate artefacts liven up their texts. Together with wonderful automata we find there also orthopaedic stretching machines and artificial limbs, whose acceptance by medical practice was anything but a matter of course.

A panel illustrating spinal cord injury in The Dying Lioness in the British Museum dates to 650 BC. This paper outlines the subsequent progression of knowledge of the anatomy of the spinal cord. The animal dissections of Galen are considered because his deductions persisted through the Dark Ages until the late 18th century. Anatomy advanced gradually to yield discoveries of the complex tracts and grey matter elements of the cord and their functions. Amongst many distinguished exponents, the works of Blasius, Huber, Vicq d'Azyr and Stilling are emphasised., ((c) 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel)

Summary: The purpose of this review article is to prove the damage that alcohol causes to the respiratory system. We will make a brief review of alcohols history in the course of the centuries till nowadays. The problem of addiction to alcohol (alcoholism) will be examined for several countries. Alcohol's metabolism is another topic to be discussed parallel to its pharmacological action. In addition, alcohol's impact on the respiratory system varies from damaging the mucociliary system to the regulation of breathing and from the sleep apnea syndrome to diffusion disorders. "Alcoholic lung disease" constitutes a syndrome despite the fact that the damage of the lung due to concurrent smoking and drug use is often indistinguishable.

This study focuses on the ancient text of the Hippocratic Oath. Ancient authors refer to various oaths in the context of medical practice, but none of these closely resemble the Hippocratic Oath. The text of the Hippocratic Oath contains several contractual clauses, which clearly reflect a strictly structured community within an institutionalized professional framework. Comparison with the epigraphic and papyrological tradition suggests placing the text in the Hellenistic-Roman period. In particular, investigation of the oldest remaining ancient textual witness, the POxy XXXI 2547 of the third century A.D., reveals Christian influences in the use of language. This indicates a stage of development of the Hippocratic Oath in which the latter existed within a Christian context. The article concludes that, as early as the third century A.D., Christian influences played an equally significant role in the transmission of the Oath as pagan influences.

The term "backbone" appears in many expressions used in modern day society. In any scenario, it has one central meaning: stability. Best defined as a foundation that is able to sustain multiple stressors without adversely affecting integrity, the commonly and appropriately termed backbone of humans is the spinal column. As the central focus of stability in our species, the spine is subject to a great degree of trauma and mechanical forces. A variety of methods have been developed throughout history in the treatment of spinal column injury. Initial treatment involved the use of simple traction devices for the reduction of spinal fractures; these have evolved to include the current insertion of spinal instrumentation. The authors review the historical treatment and development of posterior instrumentation for thoracic spinal injury.

This paper reviews some major epidemics in the past 5,000 years in human history and derives 12 lessons in the context of epidemiologic surveillance. The corresponding 12 challenges proposed in this paper could be used to guide us in building a better and more comprehensive surveillance system in the 21st century. This will be achieved by: continuing the evolvement and improvement of surveillance; maintaining on an ongoing basis; being systematic; being population-based; including risk and intervention indicators in the data base; more efficient data analysis; stimulating etiologic research; improving forecasting capability; linking to development of intervention; evaluating the intervention; better ways of information dissemination; and dissemination without prejudice.

Training in history of medicine is carried out at St. Petersburg I. P. Pavlov State Medical University in the context of all forms of human society: "nonprogressive", "cyclic development", and "progressive". Each topic is presented in logical sequence with consideration for factors of mutual effect and mutual contributions of medicine of different regions, including Russia. Major attention is paid to the key points in development of medicine, its regularities, and basic characteristics.

Nephrology is a newborn speciality compared to the other medical specialities. However, the study of the urinary tract's physiology and pathology had begun simultaneously with the birth of medicine. The scientific revolution of the renaissance and enlightenment eras caused an intense contestation of earlier theories and methods as if all knowledge had evolved suddenly from parthenogenesis after the dark (?) medieval years and human intellect suddenly exploded to huge intelligence quotients after the 15th century while before that humans were mentally deprived. Indeed most of the scientific knowledge did evolve impressively during renaissance and enlightenment years but not through parthenogenesis. Some observations, discoveries and inventions of this era were actually reobservations, rediscoveries and reinventions. Such an example is that of the experiments of Sanctorius Santorii of the 16th century AD and of Erasistratus of the 3rd century BC. Sanctorius and Erasistratus carried out an experiment with the same basic principles, similar methodology and proportional results with an almost 2000 years lag phase. With our paper we wish to give credit to earlier researchers of physiological and medical knowledge who, despite the lack of technological support, often concluded in extremely accurate observations., (Copyright 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel)

Voice and speech were considered important by the Ancient and Byzantine Greeks and their disorders were examined and treated on a reasoned basis, without prejudice, by such famous doctors and practitioners of these periods as Hippocrates, Aristotle, Galen, Orebassius and Paul the Aeginitian. In this article, we present the voice and speech disorders which were described and analysed in the texts of Ancient and Byzantine Greek doctors and historians.

Modern anatomic knowledge has developed throughout centuries with transfer of knowledge from generations to generations. Ibn-i Sina (980-1037), Razi (850-923), Davud El-Antaki (?-1008), Ali ibn Abbas (?-982), Ahmed bin Mansur (14th century), Semseddin-i Itaki (1570-1640), and Ibn-i Nafis (1210-1288) were Islamic physicians who all contributed to the understanding of anatomy. They benefited from Greek and Roman pioneers, as well as from each other. To show the situation of thoracic anatomy in early Islamic physicians, we analyzed two original manuscripts in the Süleymaniye Library and some contemporary texts. There were original drawings of the trachea, lung, and vascular system in Semseddin-i Itaki's and Ahmed bin Mansur's anatomy texts. Ibn-i Nafis's writings revealed that he was the first person to describe the pulmonary circulation. Also Ali ibn Abbas wrote that the pulmonary artery wall had two layers and these layers may have a role in constriction and relaxation of this vessel. He also stated that pulmonary veins branched together with the bronchial tree. Ahmed bin Mansur, Ali ibn Abbas, and Ibn-i Nafis each wrote that the heart has two cavities. They also added that the wall of the septum is very thick and there are no passages in between. These show that Islamic physicians had important contributions to thoracic anatomy and physiology. European physicians benefited from these contributions till the end of the 16th century.

It is only in the past 100 years that dentists have embraced the concept of occlusion as the guide for reducing and stabilizing fractures involving the jaws. Through early history and into the middle ages, there were two schools of thought regarding the management of jaw fractures. Often overlooked is the influence wars have had on the evolution of treatment of maxillofacial injuries.

Dental procedures have been performed on animals, particularly horses, since earliest recorded history. In the absence of anesthesia and an understanding of physiology and pathology, treatment often was unnecessary, inappropriate or barbaric. Progress was made very slowly.