Geo-environmental changes and historical events in the area of the Greek archaeological site of Selinunte (Western Sicily, Italy)

Detailed geomorphological and geo-archaeological surveys were carried out in this study at the Greek archaeological site of Selinunte to reconstruct the landscape evolution that occurred before and during the anthropization of the site and to verify the possible correlations between geo-environmental changes and human events that characterized almost four centuries of the history of the city. By using a multidisciplinary approach and different survey techniques, this study testified the role played by climate, geomorphological setting and georesources in conditioning the development of the city and the close relationship sometimes observed between the historical events and natural processes. This included the controversial and never discovered hydraulic work of Empedocles who, according to textual sources, in 444 BC, resolved a public health problem linked to the presence of marshy areas

Bullying and victimization in children with special educational needs: implications for inclusive practices

Bullying has been recognized as a widespread, persistent and serious problem occurring in schools across different national contexts. Despite the surge of interest in bullying in recent years, much of the research has focused on its multiple facets and characteristics among non-disabled students, while little is known about its incidence and dimensions in the population of students receiving special education support provision. It is well-known that schooling has generally been constructed and operates around the notions of normalization and homogeneity and children’s diversity often generates discriminating responses contributing to exclusionary educational experiences. In the light of above, the present study aims at exploring the extent and different types of bullying and victimization among Greek students receiving special education support provision. The sample of the study consisted of 173 students attending 5th and 6th primary school grades and participating in pull-out special education delivery programs operating within mainstream schools. According to the findings, participants were actively involved in both bullying and victimization with higher rates in victimization. Bullying was mainly related to physical aggressiveness, humiliating and racist behaviors towards others and social isolation from peers, while victimization included destruction of personal belongings attacked. Statistically significant differences were identified between girls and boys over the different types of bullying and victimization getting involved in, with girls experiencing mostly social isolation and manipulation from others and boys displaying aggressiveness towards others and attacking peers. Statistically significant differences were also found in physical bullying between children receiving more than 12 hours a week special education support and the rest. Children with developmental disabilities tended to use more indirect methods of bullying such as social exclusion more often than children with learning difficulties and children with learning difficulties combined with socio-emotional behavioral disorders. Overall bullying behavior was found to be predicted by presence of playmates during playtime and victimization by absence of playmates during break and limited number of friends in class. The implications of the study for developing school-based inclusive responses to students with SENs, are also discussed. - O bullying tem sido reconhecido como um problema generalizado, persistente e grave que ocorre nas escolas em diferentes contextos nacionais. Apesar da onda de interesse nos comportamentos de bullying ao longo dos últimos anos, grande parte da pesquisa concentrou-se nas suas múltiplas facetas e características entre os estudantes sem deficiência, pouco se sabendo sobre a incidência e dimensões no seio da população estudantil com necessidades educativas especiais. É sabido que a escolaridade tem sido geralmente orientada e opera em função das noções de normalização e de homogeneidade, sendo que a diversidade das crianças gera, muitas vezes, atitudes discriminatórias que contribuem para experiências de exclusão educativa. À luz do exposto, o presente estudo tem por objectivo explorar a extensão e diferentes tipos de bullying e vitimização entre estudantes gregos que recebem apoio ao nível da educação especial. A amostra do estudo foi constituída por 173 alunos do 5 º e 6 º anos do ensino básico que participam em programas de educação especial em funcionamento no seio de escolas regulares. De acordo com os resultados obtidos, verificou-se que os alunos da amostra se encontravam activamente envolvidos em comportamentos de bullying e vitimização, com índices de envolvimento mais elevados de vitimização. O bullying encontrou-se fundamentalmente relacionado aos comportamentos agressivos físicos, comportamentos racistas e de humilhação para com os outros e isolamento social dos seus pares, enquanto a vitimização incluiu a destruição de pertences pessoais e ser atacado. Diferenças estatisticamente significativas foram identificadas entre raparigas e rapazes relativamente aos diferentes tipos de comportamentos de bullying e vitimização em que se envolveram, sendo que as raparigas vivenciaram maioritariamente o isolamento social e a manipulação de outros, e os rapazes exibindo maioritariamente comportamentos de agressividade para com os outros e ataques aos colegas. Diferenças estatisticamente significativas foram também encontradas relativamente aos comportamentos de bullying entre crianças que recebem mais de 12 horas semanais de apoio no ensino especial. Crianças com deficiências de desenvolvimento tendem a usar métodos mais indirectos de bullying, como a exclusão social, mais frequentemente do que crianças com dificuldades de aprendizagem e do que as crianças com dificuldades de aprendizagem combinadas com distúrbios sócio-emocionais e comportamentais. No geral confirmou-se, como factor preditor da ocorrência de comportamentos de bullying, a presença dos colegas durante o recreio, e como factor preditor da vitimização a falta de companheiros durante o intervalo e o número limitado de amigos na sala de aula. As implicações do estudo para o desenvolvimento de respostas baseadas na escola inclusiva para alunos com necessidades educativas especiais, também são discutidas

Testing a new hypothesis regarding the advantage of an important developmental process in evolution: Progenesis

peer reviewe

Membrane-grafted asymmetric organocatalyst for an integrated synthesis-separation platform

In this work we introduce a sustainable membrane-based synthesis–separation platform for enantioselective organocatalysis. An azido derivatized cinchona-squaramide bifunctional catalyst was synthesized and subsequently grafted to the surface of a polybenzimidazole-based nanofiltration membrane. The favorable effect of the covalent graftingdue to the change in geometry and increased secondary interactionson the catalytic activity due to conformational changes was confirmed by quantum chemical calculations. Asymmetric <i>Michael</i> and aza-<i>Michael</i> reactions of 1,3-dicarbonyl and indole, pyrazole, and triazole derivatives to β-nitrostyrene were performed with as high as 99% enantiomeric excess. This report on the enantioselective aza-<i>Michael</i> reaction of pyrazoles and triazoles opens new frontiers in the application of squaramide-based cinchona catalysts. A catalytic membrane cascade reactor was developed for an integrated synthesis–purification process allowing at least 98% product and substrate recovery, and quantitative in situ solvent recycling. The sustainability of the synthetic methodology was assessed through E-factor and carbon footprint

School Belongingness and Coping with Victimisation in Bullied and Non-bullied Students: A Discriminant Analysis Approach

All rights reserved © 2017, Modern Greek Studies Association of Australia and New Zealand. Reproduced with permission of the publisher.Documented evidence has raised public and professional concern regarding the prevalence of victimisation in schools and the established immediate and long-term adverse consequences it has on many aspects of the development of adolescents. The purpose of our research was a) to examine the frequency of self-reported victimisation b) to investigate the victimisation coping strategies c) to examine possible gender and age effects and d) to identify differences between bullied and non-bullied students with regard to coping strategies and school belongingness. Eight hundred sixty students (860), aged 12 to 16, from 15 public secondary schools of Greece participated in the study. Gender proved a stronger differentiating factor than age in reporting being victimised, in coping with victimisation and in perceived school belongingness. Being a boy and feeling rejected in school puts individuals at high risk for being victimised. These results are in line with ecological approaches to school bullying phenomena

Investigation of the geological suitability specifications for urban areas planning

The suitability of an area to be selected for urban development, e.g. development of a new settlement area or the expansion of an existing one, depends on several factors. The lack of a systematic categorization of such factors, as well as the absence of any kind of quantified data that expresses the degree to which those factors affect construction activities, hinder well-structured and well-grounded decision making. Although appropriate legislation is in place, the specification and assumptions that are adopted in geological studies in practice often do not suffice, thus creating problems. The relevant national legislation has proved to be ineffective and obsolete since decisions and choices that were made 20 years ago have adopted a narrow view of critical urban development issues. The variety of the geographical relief in Greece, the widespread existence of archaeological sites, forested areas, and seismic activity (existence of rifts) combined with water resources on the surface, underground, and by the sea provides the ideal environment for developing and applying a holistic methodological approach to tackling the urban development problem. This thesis focuses on the development of a multi-criteria model by utilizing the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) Method. The application of the AHP method allows for the evaluation and ranking of alternative areas considered for development, based on the relative importance of the factors incorporated in the model. The validity of the model is examined by calculating the consistency ratio as well as by applying the model in the evaluation process of three alternative areas in the city of Loutraki, Greece. Furthermore, the model is tested for its applicability to investigating the techno-economic aspects in urban development studies in a manner that ensures transparency of procedures and results.Η καταλληλόλητα μιας περιοχής που προτείνεται προς πολεοδόμηση - δημιουργία ενός νέου οικισμού ή επέκταση ενός υπάρχοντος καθώς και ανάπτυξη μεμονωμένων τοπικών ρυμοτομικών σχεδίων - καθορίζεται από μια σειρά παραγόντων. Η έλλειψη συστημικής κατηγοριοποίησης αυτών καθώς και η πλήρης ανυπαρξία ποσοτικοποίησης του βαθμού, με τον οποίο κάθε μια εξ αυτών επηρεάζει την οικιστική/οικοδομική δραστηριότητα μιας περιοχής, δημιουργούν δυσκολίες στη συστηματική και τεκμηριωμένη λήψη αποφάσεων. Παρόλο που θεσμοθετημένα έχουν τεθεί οι βασικές τεχνικές προδιαγραφές και παραδοχές, που διέπουν τις μελέτες γεωλογικής καταλληλόλητας, παρατηρούνται στην εφαρμογή αυτών αρκετά προβλήματα και αδυναμίες. Η εθνική νομοθεσία αποδεικνύεται αποσπασματική και παρωχημένη, καθώς αποφάσεις 20 ετίας αντιμετωπίζουν μονομερώς κρίσιμα θέματα πολεοδόμησης. Το πολυσχιδές ανάγλυφο του Ελλαδικού χώρου, η έντονη παρουσία αρχαιολογικών χώρων, η ύπαρξη δασικών περιοχών και η σεισμικότητα (παρουσία ρηγμάτων) σε συνδυασμό με την παρουσία επιφανειακών, επιδερμικών, υπόγειων και παράκτιων υδάτων συνθέτουν το ιδανικό πεδίο για την εφαρμογή μιας ολιστικής μεθοδολογικής προσέγγισης του προβλήματος. Πλεονεκτήματα της προτεινόμενης επιστημονικής διερεύνησης είναι η δυνατότητα ανάπτυξης διαφορετικών σεναρίων - ανά περίπτωση - ώστε να λαμβάνονται υπόψη παράγοντες που εκφράζουν τις εκάστοτε επιχειρησιακές και επιχειρηματικές κατευθύνσεις. Η παρούσα μελέτη εστιάζει στην ανάπτυξη ενός μοντέλου πολυκριτηριακής ανάλυσης βασισμένο στη μέθοδο της Αναλυτικής Ιεραρχικής Διαδικασίας (Analytic Hierarchy Process - AHP). Η εφαρμογή της AHP, επιτρέπει την αξιολόγηση και την ιεράρχηση των υπό εξέταση εναλλακτικών για πολεοδόμηση περιοχών με βάση τη σχετική σημαντικότητα των παραγόντων του μοντέλου. Η εγκυρότητά του προτεινόμενου μοντέλου ελέγχεται, υπολογίζοντας το βαθμό συνέπειας (Consistency Ratio-CR) του και παράλληλα, μέσω της αξιολόγησης τριών ενδεχόμενων σεναρίων πολεοδομικής επέκτασης της περιοχής του Λουτρακίου. Η τεχνοοικονομική διάσταση του μοντέλου επιτρέπει τη χάραξη πολιτικής με διαφανή και αξιόπιστο τρόπο