University of Crete

About: University of Crete is a education organization based out in Rethymno, Greece. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Galaxy. The organization has 8681 authors who have published 21684 publications receiving 709078 citations. The organization is also known as: Panepistimio Kritis.

Birth weight and prenatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE): a meta-analysis within 12 European Birth Cohorts

Abstract: Objectives: Exposure to high concentrations of persistent organochlorines may cause fetal toxicity, but the evidence at low exposure levels is limited. Large studies with substantial exposure contr...

Impact of inherent periodic structure on effective medium description of left-handed and related metamaterials

Abstract: We study the frequency dependence of the effective electromagnetic parameters of left-handed and related metamaterials of the split ring resonator and wire type. We show that the reduced translational symmetry speriodic structured inherent to these metamaterials influences their effective electromagnetic response. To anticipate this periodicity, we formulate a periodic effective medium model which enables us to distinguish the resonant behavior of electromagnetic parameters from effects of the periodicity of the structure. We use this model for the analysis of numerical data for the transmission and reflection of periodic arrays of split ring resonators, thin metallic wires, cut wires, as well as the left-handed structures. The present method enables us to identify the origin of the previously observed resonance-antiresonance coupling as well as the occurrence of negative imaginary parts in the effective permittivities and permeabilities of those materials. Our analysis shows that the periodicity of the structure can be neglected only for the wavelength of the electromagnetic wave larger than 30 space periods of the investigated structure.

Radiation exposure in X-ray-based imaging techniques used in osteoporosis

Abstract: Recent advances in medical X-ray imaging have enabled the development of new techniques capable of assessing not only bone quantity but also structure. This article provides (a) a brief review of the current X-ray methods used for quantitative assessment of the skeleton, (b) data on the levels of radiation exposure associated with these methods and (c) information about radiation safety issues. Radiation doses associated with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry are very low. However, as with any X-ray imaging technique, each particular examination must always be clinically justified. When an examination is justified, the emphasis must be on dose optimisation of imaging protocols. Dose optimisation is more important for paediatric examinations because children are more vulnerable to radiation than adults. Methods based on multi-detector CT (MDCT) are associated with higher radiation doses. New 3D volumetric hip and spine quantitative computed tomography (QCT) techniques and high-resolution MDCT for evaluation of bone structure deliver doses to patients from 1 to 3 mSv. Low-dose protocols are needed to reduce radiation exposure from these methods and minimise associated health risks.

Molecular characterization of ribosomal DNA polymorphisms discriminating among chromosomal forms of Anopheles gambiae s.s.

Abstract: The sequence of a 2.3 kb long DNA segment derived from the 5′-most end of the ribosomal intergenic spacer was determined in three chromosomal forms of Anopheles gambiae s.s. The analysis revealed that the sequence of the Mopti form differed from that of the Bamako and Savanna forms by a total of ten nucleotide substitutions. Using these sequence variations we set up a diagnostic polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay to distinguish mosquitoes belonging to the three chromosomal forms, facilitating studies on the distribution and the ecology of these incipient taxa. The assay also allows to distinguish whether a given specimen could represent a heterozygote between Mopti and Savanna or Bamako.

Tracking the articulated motion of two strongly interacting hands

Abstract: We propose a method that relies on markerless visual observations to track the full articulation of two hands that interact with each-other in a complex, unconstrained manner. We formulate this as an optimization problem whose 54-dimensional parameter space represents all possible configurations of two hands, each represented as a kinematic structure with 26 Degrees of Freedom (DoFs). To solve this problem, we employ Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), an evolutionary, stochastic optimization method with the objective of finding the two-hands configuration that best explains observations provided by an RGB-D sensor. To the best of our knowledge, the proposed method is the first to attempt and achieve the articulated motion tracking of two strongly interacting hands. Extensive quantitative and qualitative experiments with simulated and real world image sequences demonstrate that an accurate and efficient solution of this problem is indeed feasible.