The Contribution of Education to the Formation of the Democratic Citizen

The purpose of this paper is twofold; firstly, we will attempt to highlight the contribution of education to the formation of the democratic citizen. However, the reason for our study was the ideas of the ancient Greek thinkers regarding the relationship between education and the citizen. In the course of the work, we ascertain the topicality of their theories, as well as their influence on modern researchers, which will constitute the second purpose of our research. People have the same desire for glory, power and material wealth as the citizens of ancient Greece, that’s why their texts acquired a timeless value. To support our proposal, we will invoke the proposal of T. Parsons, who argues that Western societies originate from the ancient Greek ones (Parsons, 1966).In the study at hand, we will also be concerned with the issue, if education still plays a primary role in the formation of the democratic citizen, given that there are now many educational institutions, such as the Internet. In addition, we will deal with whether the concept of democracy has been differentiated in relation to the way it was understood by the ancient Greek philosophers, who believed that the citizen should be active and participate in the commons. Nowadays, do education systems promote political participation or passivity, serving the interests of the ruling class of states

The Economic Dimension of Education, Educational Inequalities and Their Role in Shaping the Democratic Citizen

In this paper we will deal with the inequalities in the field of education and the way they affect the democratic society. This is a very important issue, especially in our time, because the problem is becoming more intense due to the accelerated economic competition, globalization and the changes taking place in the social fabric of the state’s due to the migration of large parts of the population worldwide. In modern Democracy (Agamben, 2005) there is a strong criticism, which basically focuses on the fact that the modern state of Representative Democracy does not realize the goals set by the revolutions of the 19th century and his proclamations of equality and liberty. In today’s societies, education is an important parameter in the formation of the citizen, who will then play an active role in the creation of a democratic society, which will be governed by democratic principles and values. Although all citizens and stakeholders recognize the requirement for a democratic education, its realization remains a question. Within this context, the question arises whether and under what conditions today’s students can be the emancipated and critical citizens of the future society

Synthesis, structure and interactions with DNA of novel tetranuclear, [Mn-4(II/II/II/IV)] mixed valence complexes

Reaction of Mn(II) with phenoxyalkanoic acids and di-2-pyridyl ketone oxime (Hpko) leads to neutral tetranuclear complexes of the general formula Mn-4(O)(pko)(4)(phenoxyalkanoato)(4) (phenoxyalkanoic acids: H-mcpa = 2-methyl-4-chloro-phenoxy-acetic acid, H-2,4,5-T = 2,4.5-trichloro-phenoxy-acetic acid or H3,4-D = 3,4-dichloro-phenoxy-acetic acid). The compounds were synthesized by adding di2-pyridyl ketone oxime to MnCl2 in the presence of the sodium salts of the alkanoic acids in methanol. The crystal structure of Mn-4(II/II/ II/IV)(O)(pko)4(()2,4,5-T)(4) . 2.5CH(3)OH . 0.25H(2)O 1 shows that the complex consists of a [Mn-4( mu(4)-O)](8+) core with a Mn(IV) and 3 Mn(II) ions in octahedral environment and a mu(4)-O atom bridging the four manganese ions. Spectroscopic studies of the interaction of these tetranuclear clusters with DNA showed that these compounds bind to dsDNA. The binding strength of the Mn-4(II/II/II/ IV)(O)(pko)(4)(2,4,5-T)(4) complex for calf thymus DNA is equal to 1.1 X 10(4) M-1. Among the deoxyribonucleotides they bind preferentially to deoxyguanylic acid (dGMP). Competitive studies with ethidium bromide (EthBr) showed that the Mn-4(II/II/II/ IV)(O)(pko)(4)(2,4,.5-T)(4) complex exhibited the ability to displace the DNA-bound EthBr indicating that the complex binds to DNA via intercalation in strong competition with EthBr for the intercalative binding site. Additionally, DNA electrophoretic mobility experiments showed that all three complexes, at low cluster concentration, are obviously capable of binding to pDNA causing its cleavage (relaxation) at physiological pH and temperature. At higher cluster concentration, catenated dimer forms of pDNA was formed

Fractal and Multifractal Analysis of PET-CT Images for Therapy Assessment of Metastatic Melanoma Patients under PD-1 Inhibitors: A Feasibility Study

Longitudinal whole-body PET-CT scans with F-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) in patients suffering from metastatic melanoma were analyzed and the tracer distribution in patients was compared with that of healthy controls. Nineteen patients with metastatic melanoma were scanned before, after two and after four cycles of treatment with PD-1 inhibitors (pembrolizumab, nivolumab) applied as monotherapy or as combination treatment with ipilimumab. For comparison eight healthy controls were analyzed. As quantitative measures for the comparison between controls and patients, the nonlinear fractal dimension (FD) and multifractal spectrum (MFS) were calculated from the digitized PET-CT scans. The FD and MFS measures, which capture the dispersion of the tracer in the body, decreased with disease progression, since the tracer particles tended to accumulate around metastatic sites in patients, while the measures increased when the patients’ clinical condition ameliorate. The MFS measure gave better predictions and were consistent with the PET Response Evaluation Criteria for Immunotherapy (PERCIMT) in 81% of the cases, while FD agreed in 77% of all cases. These results agree, qualitatively, with a previous study of our group when treatment with ipilimumab monotherapy was considered

Toward a re-activation of Xavier Le Roy’s ‘Project'

Between 2nd and 5th April 2012 I worked with Rosana Irvine and sixteen other performers towards the reactivation of Xavier le Roy’s ‘Project’. This work culminated with a public performance of the game-choreographies created and post show discussion, at Siobhan Davies Studios, London. The four days’ work focussed on using Le Roys ‘General Rules Score for Project’ to discover the remit of game based choreography. The questions which emerged throughout the process and framed the work include: What is a rule and what is a task? How can rules enable a system of logic to appear? What is the aim of a rule inside a game and how does this shape the overall aim of a game? Does a game need to be finite or infinite to be satisfying to play and spectate? How evident do the rules of the game need to be to the spectators in order to engage with them? How can the players of the game start to reveal relationships within the nexus of the game? How can players start to own the rules of the game and create strategies within them? What shift needs to happen in the performance of the game for it to take shape as a choreographic event? What scope is there for the players to notice and attend to the spectators of the game/choreographic event? How are the game players’ decisions similar or dissimilar to those originating from a choreographic context? Further information about this project can be accessed via: http://dance4.co.uk/profile/rosanna-irvine/blog/2012-04/moving-and-thinking-towards-reactivation-xavier-le-roys-project Recorded footage is available, but with restricted access