The police and the far right in Greece::a case study of police voting behaviour in Athens

The electoral advance of the far right party of Golden Dawn has left a clear mark on the Greek parliamentary elections of 2012. A less debated aspect of these results involves the extent of the electoral influence of Golden Dawn among police personnel. Using electoral data from two districts in Greece’s capital city, this paper explores the extent of that influence among major front line police units based in those localities. Our analysis obtains clear indications that Golden Dawn’s presence has been much more emphatic among police personnel than among the general public. These results warrant further exploration of this development, particularly in light of the possibility that far-right ideology may influence the character of everyday policing in Greece and the use of police discretion at the detriment of vulnerable or politically undesirable groups

Helminth Communities of Owls (Strigiformes) Indicate Strong Biological and Ecological Differences from Birds of Prey (Accipitriformes and Falconiformes) in Southern Italy

We compared the helminth communities of 5 owl species from Calabria (Italy) and evaluated the effect of phylogenetic and ecological factors on community structure. Two host taxonomic scales were considered, i.e., owl species, and owls vs. birds of prey. The latter scale was dealt with by comparing the data here obtained with that of birds of prey from the same locality and with those published previously on owls and birds of prey from Galicia (Spain). A total of 19 helminth taxa were found in owls from Calabria. Statistical comparison showed only marginal differences between scops owls (Otus scops) and little owls (Athene noctua) and tawny owls (Strix aluco). It would indicate that all owl species are exposed to a common pool of 'owl generalist' helminth taxa, with quantitative differences being determined by differences in diet within a range of prey relatively narrow. In contrast, birds of prey from the same region exhibited strong differences because they feed on different and wider spectra of prey. In Calabria, owls can be separated as a whole from birds of prey with regard to the structure of their helminth communities while in Galicia helminths of owls represent a subset of those of birds of prey. This difference is related to the occurrence in Calabria, but not Galicia, of a pool of 'owl specialist' species. The wide geographical occurrence of these taxa suggest that local conditions may determine fundamental differences in the composition of local communities. Finally, in both Calabria and Galicia, helminth communities from owls were species-poor compared to those from sympatric birds of prey. However, birds of prey appear to share a greater pool of specific helmith taxa derived from cospeciation processes, and a greater potential exchange of parasites between them than with owls because of phylogenetic closeness

Is there still a role for open surgery in the management of renal stones?

Purpose of review In the last few decades, with the improvement in endourological surgery and the invention and evolution of extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy, the indications for open surgery in stone disease have become rare, although open surgery still has a role in selected cases. In this review we discuss the current indications of open surgery for the elimination of urinary calculi, Recent findings A MEDLINE and MeSH search was performed to evaluate currently available guidelines on open stone surgery and identify the evidence-based medicine that support the role of open surgery in treating urinary lithiasis. The latest papers published on open stone surgery are reviewed and conclusions are drawn, based on their results. Summary Open stone surgery should be avoided in most cases, but should be considered for those patients in whom a reasonable number of less invasive procedures would not be useful. The most common indications for open stone surgery include complex stone burden, failure of extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy or endourological treatment and anatomical abnormalities (such as ureteropelvic junction obstruction and infundibular stenosis with or without renal caliceal diverticulum). The level of evidence for the currently available guidelines is not adequate, mainly because of lack of properly designed, large prospective randomized trials that compare different treatment options

Photoselective vaporization of the prostate. Review of cost implementation to BPH treatment

Effective treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) involves not only a reduction of symptom scores and the prevention of serious complications, but also an improvement in overall patient's quality of life and cost effectiveness. There is a paucity of data regarding cost effectiveness when the pharmacologic, the minimally invasive and the surgical treatments of BPH are compared. The potassium-titanyl-phosphate laser prostatectomy seems to be a safe and effective treatment option both in the short and in the long-term run. Preliminary results indicate that photoselective vaporization of the prostate is also a cost-effective method when compared to different minimally invasive treatments and to the transurethral prostatectomy. © 2007 Nature Publishing Group. All rights reserved

Correlating uniaxial compressive strength with schmidt hardness, point load index, young's modulus, and mineralogy of gabbros and basalts (Northern Greece)

An attempt has been made to correlate the uniaxial compressive strength and Young's modulus of gabbros and basalts with Schmidt hammer rebound number, the point load strength index, I5(50), and the degree of weathering. Sixty three samples of gabbro and thirty of basalt from the ophiolitic comlex of Pindos zone (Northern Greece) have been collected by core drilling and tested accordingly. The results have been processed using techniques from the statistical software SPSS. Some of the equations produced show relatively high correlation coefficients, all significant at a significance level higher than 95 %. The equations establish reliable prediction models for the uniaxial compressive strength and modulus of elasticity of the above rock types by means of simple tests which can be carried out in the field

Correlating uniaxial compressive strength with schmidt hardness, point load index, young's modulus, and mineralogy of gabbros and basalts (Northern Greece) [Corrélations entre la résistance en compression simple et la dureté schmidt, l'essai sous charge ponctuelle, le module d'élasticité de young et la minéralogie de gabbros et de basaltes (Nord de la Grèce)]

Ce travail présente les corrélations entre la résistance à la compression simple et le module d'élasticité de Young de gabbros et de basaltes, et les mesures au marteau de Schmidt, la résistance à l'écrasement sous charge ponctuelle (Is(50), ainsi que le degré d'altération. Soixante échantillons de gabbro et trente échantillons de basalte provenant du complexe ophiolitique de Pinde dans le Nord de la Grèce ont été prélevés par sondage et examinés en laboratoire. Les résultats des essais ont été interprétés à l'aide du logiciel SPSS. Quelques-unes des équations produites sont associées à des coefficients de corrélation relativement élevés à un niveau significatif, de 95%. Ces résultats obtenus servent de base pour des modèles de prévision de la résistance et de la déformabilité des roches étudiées, à l'aide d'essais simples qui peuvent être mis en œuvre sur le terain