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The Mani peninsula is regarded as a key area of Greece for Palaeolithic studies due to the large number of known excavated sites containing deposits with artifacts and skeletal remains from the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic, revealing the abundance of human occupation in the wider area during the Middle-Late Pleistocene. Melitzia Cave is one of several karstic cavities found on the western coast of Mani peninsula, used as a shelter by Late Pleistocene humans. The Upper Palaeolithic avifauna assemblage recovered from Melitzia Cave has been studied both taxonomically and taphonomically to identify the agent of accumulation, as each predator hunts and consumes its prey in a particular way. The results point to extensive human hunting of rock partridges. A broadening of the dietary sources for humans, known as the Broad-Spectrum Revolution hypothesis, occurred in the Mediterranean after the Last Glacial Maximum and is marked by the hunting of small game such as rabbits and birds. Surface modifications, such as cut marks, peeling and percussion marks, as well as fragmentation patterns indicating the disarticulation of bones, point to human occupants being involved in the modification and disposal of the remains, as they captured the Aves for consumption. Only a few of the bones, bearing digestion or tooth marks, were brought into the cave by non-human predators, indicating that carnivores played a small role in creating and modifying the assemblage as well. This phenomenon enchanted the fact that intensive human occupation and carcass processing lead to a deficiency of carnivores. This study provides further evidence of the exploitation of avian resources by humans during the Upper Palaeolithic in the Eastern Mediterranean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, results from the examination of mammalian teeth from the cave of Kalamakia with modern techniques, as well as a qualitative overview of the microvertebrate and lithic material, are presented together with a revision of previous related work done for the site, in order to assess the palaeoenvironmental conditions in the area and the role they played in the Neanderthal's repeated occupation of the cave. Geometric morphometrics analyses performed on the first lower molars of Microtus spp. individuals revealed persistent populations of the subgenus Terricola, in which the presence of Microtus thomasi and Microtus subterraneus are continuous through the stratigraphic units. Mesowear analyses performed on ruminant teeth showed no significant variation in toothwear through time, except for relatively elevated levels of dietary abrasion for the more recent samples. The study of the lithics revealed that Neanderthals visited the cave in alternating short and more permanent episodes of occupation, with the human occupants exhibiting special concern for raw material economy, while exploiting poor raw materials for the construction of their tools. The overview of the microvertebrate remains showed a growing trend towards the upper stratigraphic units, where taxa typical of temperate climate, open woodland and shrubland become more dominant. These results, along with observations derived from previous studies, suggest that temperate climate and open environment were the factors that mainly contributed to making the cave of Kalamakia attractive as a habitation site to the humans of the area., (© 2020 The Authors.)

Valid characterization of carotid atherosclerosis (CA) is a crucial public health issue, which would limit the major risk held by CA for both patient safety and state economies. CA is typically diagnosed and assessed using duplex ultrasonography (US). Elastrography Imaging (EI) is a promising US technique for quantifying tissue elasticity (ES). In this work, we investigated the association between ES of carotid atherosclerotic lesions, derived from EI, and texture indices, calculated from US image analysis. US and EI images of 23 atherosclerotic plaques (16 patients) were analyzed. Texture features derived from US image analysis (Gray-Scale Median (GSM), plaque area (A) and co-occurrence-matrixderived features) were calculated. Statistical analysis revealed associations between US texture features and EI measured indices. This result indicates accordance in US and EI techniques and states the promising role of EI in diagnosis of CA.

Background: An educational intervention program for the prevention of cardiovascular disease among 171 Cretan school students (13- and 14-year-olds) is assessed. Three schools from the province of Agios Vassilios acted as the intervention group while two schools from a neighboring province (Amari) formed the control group., Methods: Variables measured included: systolic and diastolic blood pressures, body mass index, triceps skinfold thickness, serum total and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, and smoking habits. The intervention, based upon social learning theory, consisted of 10 sessions of theoretical and practical instruction on health issues in the classroom, supplemented with discussion, in the classroom, of the issues raised by different sessions., Results: At the end of 1 academic year of intervention the results showed, after adjusting for age, sex, baseline value, height, and weight, an increase in total serum cholesterol of 0.70 mg/dl in the intervention group and 17.91 mg/dl in the control group (P less than 0.0001). Diastolic blood pressure (fourth phase) decreased by 2.95 mm Hg in the intervention group and by 0.48 mm Hg in the control group (P less than 0.05). Similar changes were observed in the body mass index (P less than 0.05). The proportion of school children starting smoking was significantly lower in the intervention group (6%) than in the control (20%) (P less than 0.01). The results indicate that this health education program in schools is effective in decreasing some of the major CVD risk factors. The long-term effect remains to be evaluated.