This paper examines tourism competition among the Mediterranean countries with particular emphasis on Greece. The estimated model includes as explanatory variables an income index, a price index of the host country, a price index of the competitors (Spain, Portugal and Italy) and exchange rate. The results show that the main determinants of Greece's tourism demand are both price indexes and exchange rate. They also show that Spain seems to be Greece's main competitor.

Objective: Preterm labor is one of the most significant obstetric problems associated with high rate of actual and long-term perinatal complications. Despite the creation of scoring systems, uterine activity monitoring, cervical ultrasound and several biochemical markers, the prediction and prevention of preterm labor is still a matter of concern. The aim of this study was to examine cervical findings for the prediction and the comparative use of Arabin pessary or cerclage for the prevention of preterm birth in asymptomatic women with high risk factors for preterm labor. Material and methods: The study group was composed of singleton pregnancies (spontaneously conceived) with high risk factors for preterm labor. Cervical length, dilatation of the internal cervical os and funneling, were estimated with transvaginal ultrasound during the first and the second trimesters of pregnancy. Results: Cervical funneling, during the second trimester of pregnancy, was the most significant factor for the prediction of preterm labor. The use of Arabin cervical pessary was found to be more effective than cerclage in the prolongation of pregnancy. Conclusion: In women at risk for preterm labor, the detection of cervical funneling in the second trimester of pregnancy may help to predict preterm labor and to apply the appropriate treatment for its prevention. Although the use of cervical pessary was found to be more effective than cerclage, more studies are needed to classify the effectiveness of different methods for such prevention.

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In this study, there was a high prevalence of successful graft uptake following nasal dermoplasty. This technique may have potential for the control of recurrent nasal polyps. Although it is demanding and time-consuming, it may reduce the need for multiple operations. Further research is justified to establish its efficacy.

Schizophrenic patients given LSD-25 show an increase of psychopathological phenomena and a regression to the prime stage of their psychosis, the manifestations of which seem to be more directly related to the life history of the patients.∗ It has also been observed that some “normal” experimental subjects show various paranoid symptoms with the same drug, but whether these are in any way determined by heredity is not known.

Cases of herpes zoster are not rare in everyday medical practice and the various neurological complications, such as post-herpetic neuralgias, are well known. Myelitis or encephalitis, on the other hand, are much rarer complications.The following case admitted to the Neuropsychiatric Clinic of the University of Salonica is of special interest because of the focal cerebral lesions, which are very rare sequelae of herpes zoster.A single man, aged 29, a farm worker from Konitsa in northern Greece, was admitted on April 29, 1957. There was nothing significant in his family or previous personal history. He consumed moderate quantities of tobacco and alcohol. He was right-handed.On March 23, 1957, the patient developed a typical left ophthalmic herpes zoster, with slight ptosis of the left eyelid and diplopia on looking upwards. He recovered from his illness in a few days, and was well, except for slight pain in the left frontal region.On April 26, while lying in bed, but before falling asleep, all of a sudden he discovered that he could not speak and at the same time that his right arm and leg were weak.On examination, the skull was normal on palpation, without any bruit. The visual fields were normal. The left pupil was definitely larger than the right and reacted sluggishly to light and on accommodation. There was no nystagmus but slight ptosis of the left upper lid. The lower part of the right face was paralysed and the upper part was slightly affected. The pharyngeal reflex was sluggish and the tongue deviated to the right when protruded.Voluntary movement in the upper limb was abolished on the right side. There was slight hypotonia on the right. The tendon reflexes were less marked on the right. Meyer's sign was absent on the right. There were no trophic disturbances. The abdominal and cremasteric reflexes were less brisk on the right side. Movements of the lower limbs were not fully performed and power was reduced on the right. The tendon reflexes were brisker on the right. Both plantar reflexes were extensor, more so on the right. Oppenheim's and Rossolimo's signs were present on the right. His gait was hemiplegic. All forms of sensation, including the discriminative, appeared to be normal, as far as could be judged in the presence of aphasia. Kahn reactions of blood and C.S.F. were negative.There were slight traces of protein in the urine. A blood count gave 3,700,000 red cells and 5,400 white cells per c.mm.; Hb 75 %. Radiographs of the skull were normal.The patient's condition gradually but definitely improved, so that a month after the onset of the paralysis power was almost fully restored in the right leg, and less so in the right arm and face. The aphasic disturbances subsided to a great degree, but a slight difficulty in pronouncing unfamiliar words was left. There was slight sensory loss in the left frontal region. The tendon reflexes were brisker on the right and the plantar reflexes still extensor.The Literature The case is described above of a patient who, four weeks after the onset of left ophthalm...

In an initial period of vertebrate phylogeny (bone marrow-less vertebrates), lymphohaematopoiesis takes place in numerous organs containing a suitable microenvironment. Among other organs (i.e., gonads, kidney and spleen), the liver is apparently the most appropriate site for homing and differentiation of haematopoietic cell precursors. Interaction between haematopoietic cells and stromal cells is important for regulation of haematopoiesis. Numerous soluble and membrane-bound factors directly regulating haematopoiesis have been documented, but little is known about the effect of the foetal hepatic epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) stromal cells' activity and their product-fibronectin, on foetal hepatic haematopoiesis. The binding of late-stage erythroid cells to FN has been well characterised and is believed to be critical for the terminal stages of erythroid differentiation. The intention of this article is to provide a quantitative overview of FN, produced by hepatic EMT stromal cells, in foetal hepatic haematopoiesis during the first and second trimester of development. Paraffin-embedded specimens from the liver of 30 human embryos in the first and second trimesters of gestation were investigated by conventional histology and immunohistology for the presence of FN and specific haematopoietic cell types. The staining intensity, and localisation of FN and haematopoietic markers in sequential sections were examined. Furthermore, double immunohistochemical staining was performed to assess simultaneous detection of FN and haematopoietic markers. FN was expressed in the EMT stromal cells of the hepatic portal triads more strongly during the second trimester than the first. Furthermore, an intense immunostaining for haematopoietic lineages, and especially for erythropoiesis, was observed in the second trimester compared to the first. The results of the double immunostaining disclosed an intimate co-expression of the FN and CD haematopoietic markers. Foetal hepatic EMT stromal cells provide a unique microenvironment that supports the emergence, expansion and maintenance of human foetal haematopoietic development during the mid-gestational stage. FN produced by the EMT stromal cells follows a time course parallel to that of haematopoiesis. We suggest that in foetal liver, phenotypic modifications of EMT stromal cells expressing FN concerning the cell adhesion capacity of the protein are associated with proliferation and differentiation of specific haematopoietic cell lineages during the second trimester of gestation, probably reflecting the increasing demand of the growing foetus for mature erythroid and myeloid cells.

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