The Embodiment of Tolerance in Discourses and Practices Addressing Cultural Diversity in Schools: The case of Cyprus

Work Package 3: Country Reports on Tolerance and Cultural Diversity DiscoursesThe ACCEPT PLURALISM project (2010-2013) is funded by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework Programme, Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities. (Call FP7-SSH-2009-A, Grant Agreement no: 243837). Coordinator: Prof. Anna Triandafyllidou, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute

Exploring intercultural education discourses and everyday practices in a Greek-Cypriot primary school

This thesis is an ethnographic study of intercultural education discourses and everyday\ud practices in an urban Greek-Cypriot primary school. The pupil population is comprised of\ud Greek-Cypriots, Eastern European economic migrants and increasing numbers of newlyarrived\ud Iraqi-Palestinian asylum-seekers. Despite the introduction of intercultural\ud education policy in 2001, the education system prescribes a monoculturalist and\ud nationalist ethos. At the same time, the limited opportunities for intercultural education\ud training leave teachers uncertain as to how to respond to the increasing diversity.\ud Informed by ethnographic, discursive and intersectional approaches, this study analyses\ud data from fieldwork conducted in this school for a total of three months over a period of\ud three years.\ud The analysis identifies the discursive resources from which teachers draw to talk about\ud diversity in Greek-Cypriot society and construct the Other, mainly in essentialist and\ud negative ways. It also identifies teachers' constructions of racism on a societal and\ud educational level, including racism denials, minimizations and justifications. The thesis\ud argues that teachers' constructions of racism inhibit them from recognizing and\ud challenging institutional racism and racialized incidents they observe among their pupils.\ud The study also demonstrates how minoritized children become differentially racialized\ud as groups and individuals through institutional, teachers' and children's discourses and\ud practices, regardless of intentionality. As a result, many minoritized children experience\ud school in an environment of harassment. The study discusses the experiences of an\ud Iraqi-Palestinian boy as an example of how intercultural education is implemented.\ud Some teachers' resistance to the dominant discourses of colourblindness and racism\ud denial, and minoritized children's negotiation of their racialized positionings create the\ud spaces of ambivalence that are necessary for change.\ud The findings bear implications for policy and practice in terms of teacher training,\ud development of antiracist policies and supportive networks for teachers, changes in the\ud curriculum, and, structural transformations, so that educational opportunities are\ud equally provided to all children

Generalised matrix functions on M-matrices

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

EMPATHIC-N in a Greek-Cypriot sample: confirming its factorial structure

Abstract Background Family-centered care has been receiving increased attention during the last decades and health professionals recognize family satisfaction with care as an important health indicator. The Empowerment of Parents in The Intensive Care-Neonatology (EMPATHIC-N) is a newly developed, yet empirically reliable and valid measure for the assessment of parental satisfaction with the care provided by Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU). The present study aims to present the Greek version of the EMPATHIC-N and to confirm its factorial structure. Methods The EMPATHIC-N was translated in Greek using a forward-backward translation and was piloted before use. A sample of 256 families receiving intensive care at the NICU of Archbishop Makarios III Public Hospital in Cyprus which is the only NICU in Cyprus, participated in the validation study of the EMPATHIC-N. Confirmatory factor analyses were performed using SPSS and AMOS 24.0. Results The Greek version of the EMPATHIC-N had good psychometric characteristics (Cronbach’s alpha = .87). The CFAs for the separate subscales of professionalism, organization, information, parental involvement and intervention for the EMPATHIC-N showed that all five subscales represented five distinct components of parental satisfaction with care. The CFA of the general instrument supported that a second-order model with a higher-order factor reflecting the organizational structure (professionalism, intervention and organization loaded on this factor) fitted the data best [χ2 (259) = 405.332, p < .001, ΤLI = .887, CFI = .903, RMSEA = .065 (90% CI .058, .073), SRMR = .0597]. Conclusions EMPATHIC-N is a valid and reliable measure for the assessment of parental satisfaction with neonatal care in a Greek-Cypriot context. The organizational dimension of the NICUs is an important component with specific research and clinical implications for the enhancement of parental satisfaction with care

First outbreak of nosocomial legionella infection in term neonates caused by a cold mist ultrasonic humidifier

Background To date, all descriptions of legionellosis in neonates have emerged from a small number of isolated case reports in newborns with unusually severe pneumonia. In December 2008, a large outbreak of Legionella infection occurred in term neonates in Cyprus, providing new information on the epidemiological and clinical features of Legionellosis in this age group.Methods An environmental investigation was performed at a small private hospital where the infected neonates were delivered. The medical records of the infected neonates were retrospectively reviewed to obtain clinical data on presentation, complications, and course of disease.Results Nine of the 32 (28%) newborns who were exposed to the contaminated source at the private nursery were infected with Legionella. Six subjects had pulmonary infiltrates, but in 3 cases there were no abnormal radiological findings and clinical presentation was mild. In 4 neonates, pulmonary infiltrates at presentation were bilateral and extensive and 3 died, conferring a mortality rate of 50% in subjects with pulmonary infiltrates and an overall mortality of 33.3%. Legionella pneumophila serogroup 3 was recovered in neonatal biological samples, although in some patients there was implication of a second strain, serogroup 1. It was determined that the neonates were infected while in the nursery at the private hospital by aerosol produced by a recently installed cold-mist humidifier that was filled with contaminated water.Conclusions Use of humidifiers in nursery units must be avoided as the risk of disseminating Legionella in neonates is very high. In neonates legionellosis should be suspected when signs of infection first appear and take an unusual course, even when no pulmonary infiltrates appear

The mutational spectrum of Lynch syndrome in cyprus.

Lynch syndrome is the most common form of hereditary colorectal cancer and is caused by germline mutations in the mismatch repair (MMR) genes MLH1, MSH2, MSH6 and PMS2. Mutation carriers have an increased lifetime risk of developing colorectal cancer as well as other extracolonic tumours. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the frequency and distribution of mutations in the MLH1, MSH2 and MSH6 genes within a cohort of Cypriot families that fulfilled the revised Bethesda guidelines. The study cohort included 77 patients who fulfilled at least one of the revised Bethesda guidelines. Mutational analysis revealed the presence of 4 pathogenic mutations, 3 in the MLH1 gene and 1 in the MSH2 gene, in 5 unrelated individuals. It is noted that out of the 4 pathogenic mutations detected, one is novel (c.1610delG in exon 14 of the MLH1) and has been detected for the first time in the Cypriot population. Overall, the pathogenic mutation detection rate in our patient cohort was 7%. This percentage is relatively low but could be explained by the fact that the sole criterion for genetic screening was compliance to the revised Bethesda guidelines. Larger numbers of Lynch syndrome families and screening of the two additional predisposition genes, PMS2 and EPCAM, are needed in order to decipher the full spectrum of mutations associated with Lynch syndrome predisposition in Cyprus

Summary of the pathogenic mutations detected and family history of the probands.

+<p>Mutation nomenclature according to NM_000249.3 (<i>MLH1</i>), NM_000251.2 (<i>MSH2</i>) and NM_000179.2 (<i>MSH6</i>). For the nomenclature of mutations nucleotide 1 is the A of the ATG-translation initiation codon.</p>++<p>BrC – brain cancer.</p><p>CRC – colorectal cancer.</p><p>EC – endometrial cancer.</p><p>RC – renal cancer.</p