Special education teachers' perception of mentally handicapped pupils: a case study in the Greater Athens region of Greece

In this thesis I set out to study the process through which special education teachers characterise and educate a group of pupils who are categorised as mentally handicapped. Teachers' perceptions of their pupils are reflected in their educational practice and constitute an important element in the complex and lengthy procedure during which a child is defined as mentally handicapped. The research examines these issues in practice by way of a case study of teachers in the Greater Athens Region of Greece. During the school years the label of mental handicap may be confirmed and maintained in a child's identity as he/she moves into adulthood. Schooling may also work in a positive way and provide for a child's eventual integration in the mainstream education and the community. It is this positive aspect of schooling which has become an inseparable part of the underlying principles in special education today. The Greek Education Act of 1985 concerns individuals with special educational needs and refers to the category of mentally handicapped, among other groups, as those with a right to education. As stated in the Act the scope of education is to provide for the balanced and effective development of the individuals concerned as well as for their mutual acceptance and integration in the community as a whole. The above principles laid down by the policy makers are loosely framed in the context of the Act and are open to interpretation by those who are involved in the practice of special education. Reference in the Act to "the balanced and effective development of the individuals and possibilities for their integration" may be defined in a variety of ways by the professionals involved in the system of special education. Among the latter the role of the teachers is a central one. Teachers are Expected to educate pupils who are already categorised as mentally handicapped and help them develop their potential and integrate as best as possible in the community. Depending on their personal experience, gained in the community, their training and their involvement in the system of special education, teachers may take different approaches in defining what mental handicap is and how education of the mentally handicapped pupils should and/or could be carried out. On the one hand teachers develop a professional ideology, that is, their conception of how their task should be carried out. On the other hand, faced with practical aspects of implementing such ideologies, teachers reach decisions as how to handle different cases in given situations. Thus, I am using the concept of teachers' perceptions of mental handicap to refer to the practical aspects of teaching the mentally handicapped as well as the teachers' own ideologies. The empirical research began with an exploratory study. This involved a sample of 10 teachers in 5 special schools in the study area. The results of the exploratory phase were then used for the design of the main research which concerned the study of 13 special schools with a sample of 40 teachers. In both exploratory and main research I have followed a research methodology based on the ethnographic approach in educational studies. This involved a flexible design to start the research and the use of observation and informal interview techniques in data collection. The results have been analysed mainly qualitatively. They show the range of criteria teachers in the sample are applying to identify their mentally handicapped pupils, criteria such as physical features or social and psychological characteristics of the pupils. They are not, however, applied in a universal manner by all the teachers. Variation in the criteria is analysed and conclusions are drawn that may be of use to further study in this area. As far as education of the mentally handicapped is concerned the results of my research point out the existence of a complex network of interactions within which teachers have to carry out their task. It involves elements both within and outside the schools where they teach, i. e., the attitude of the community as a whole and the general atmosphere at work. Teachers' approaches towards their mentally handicapped pupils may be formed through a process of interaction in different setups. In this research I am attempting to discover the outcomes of such interactions by studying teachers' practice of special education in the actual setting of the schools. I have sought to demonstrate that the outcome of teachers' interaction in each specific situation adds to a cluster of perceptions within which mental handicap is defined and dealt with. In some cases teachers may help maintain this already existing cluster, in other cases they may modify its form

On the effect of land use change on the meteorological parameters above the greater Athens area

The rapid land use changes that took place in the Greater Athens Area (GAA) the past decades, due to the expansion of the urban grid, have changed the landscape of Attica significantly. Areas that were covered by low vegetation in the past are now replaced by roads (e.g. Attiki Odos) and new towns. On the other hand, accurate and updated data of land use are necessary for simulating the meteorological fields above urban areas, which in turn are given as input to photochemical models in order to study the dispersion of pollutants above urban areas. The purpose of the present work is to study the effects of land use changes on the meteorological parameters, such as wind speed profiles and temperature. For this reason, the meteorological mesoscale model MM5 was applied, using updated land use data. The model ran with the grid nesting method using two grids, the fine one covering the GAA with a spatial resolution of 5 × 5 km2. Results showed that the land use changes affected wind and temperature fields. Wind velocities decreased above areas covered by urban grid that were previously characterised as shrub land, while above the rapidly developing eastern suburbs of Attica an increase in velocities appeared

Development of a road transport emission inventory for Greece and the greater Athens area: Effects of important parameters

Traffic is considered one of the major polluting sectors and as a consequence a significant cause for the measured exceedances of ambient air quality limit values mainly in urban areas. The Greater Athens Area (located in Attica), the most populated area in Greece, faces severe air pollution problems due to the combination of high road traffic emissions, complex topography and local meteorological conditions. Even though several efforts were made to construct traffic emission inventories for Greece and Attica, still there is not a spatially and temporally resolved one, based on data from relevant authorities and organisations. The present work aims to estimate road emissions in Greece and Attica based on the top down approach. The programme COPERT 4 was used to calculate the annual total emissions from the road transport sector for the period 2006–2010 and an emission inventory for Greece and Attica was developed with high spatial (6 × 6 km2 for Greece and 2 × 2 km2 for Attica) and temporal (1-hour) resolutions. The results revealed that about 40% of national CO2, CO, VOC and NMVOC values and 30% of NOx and particles are emitted in Attica. The fuel consumption and the subsequent reduction of annual mileage driven in combination with the import of new engine anti-pollution technologies affected CO2, CO, VOC and NMVOC emissions. The major part of CO (56.53%) and CO2 (66.15%) emissions was due to passenger cars (2010), while heavy duty vehicles (HDVs) were connected with NOx, PM2.5 and PM10emissions with 51.27%, 43.97% and 38.13% respectively (2010). The fleet composition, the penetration of diesel fuelled cars, the increase of urban average speed and the fleet renewal are among the most effective parameters towards the emission reduction strategies

Rare diseases leading to childhood Glaucoma. epidemiology, pathophysiogenesis, and management

Noteworthy heterogeneity exists in the rare diseases associated with childhood glaucoma. Primary congenital glaucoma is mostly sporadic; however, 10% to 40% of cases are familial. CYP1B1 gene mutations seem to account for 87% of familial cases and 27% of sporadic cases. Childhood glaucoma is classified in primary and secondary congenital glaucoma, further divided as glaucoma arising in dysgenesis associated with neural crest anomalies, phakomatoses, metabolic disorders, mitotic diseases, congenital disorders, and acquired conditions. Neural crest alterations lead to the wide spectrum of iridocorneal trabeculodysgenesis. Systemic diseases associated with childhood glaucoma include the heterogenous group of phakomatoses where glaucoma is frequently encountered in the Sturge-Weber syndrome and its variants, in phakomatosis pigmentovascularis associated with oculodermal melanocytosis, and more rarely in neurofibromatosis type 1. Childhood glaucoma is also described in systemic disorders of mitotic and metabolic activity. Acquired secondary glaucoma has been associated with uveitis, trauma, drugs, and neoplastic diseases. A database research revealed reports of childhood glaucoma in rare diseases, which do not include glaucoma in their manifestation. These are otopalatodigital syndrome, complete androgen insensitivity, pseudotrisomy 13, Brachmann-de Lange syndrome, acrofrontofacionasal dysostosis, caudal regression syndrome, and Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome

Endothelin-Induced Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Calcium Depletion Waves in Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells

Agonist-stimulated waves of elevated cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i ) regulate blood vessel tone and vasomotion in vascular smooth muscle. Previous studies employing cytoplasmic Ca2+ indicators revealed that these Ca2+ waves were generated by a combination of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) and Ca2+ induced Ca2+ release (CICR) from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR); although, some of the mechanistic details remain uncertain. However, these findings were derived indirectly from observing agonist-induced [Ca2+]i fluctuations in the cytoplasm.
Here, for the first time, we have recorded Endothelin-1 (ET-1) induced waves of Ca2+ depletion from the SR lumen in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) using a calsequestrin-targeted Ca2+ indicator. Our findings show that these waves: (1) are due to regenerative CICR by the receptors for IP3 (IP3R), (2) have a marked latency period, (3) are characterized by a transient increase in SR Ca2+ ([Ca2+]SR ) both at the point of origin and at the wave front, (4) proceed with diminishing velocity, and (5) are arrested by the nuclear envelope. Our quantitative model indicates that the gradual decrease in the velocity of the SR depletion wave, in the absence of external Ca2+, results from continuity of the SR luminal network

Are Terrorist Networks Just Glorified Criminal Cells?

The notions of organized crime and terrorism have an old and rich history around the globe. Researchers and practitioners have been studying events and phenomena related to these notions for a long time. There are pointers in the literature in which it is misleading to see the unfair comparison between terrorist and criminal networks with the argument that all actors involved in these networks are simply evil individuals. In this paper, we conduct a systematic study of the operational structure of such networks from a network science perspective. We highlight some of the major differences between them and support our hypothesis with analytical evidence. We hope our work will impact current and future endeavors in counter terrorism, especially within the cyber realm, inside the United States of America and across our allied nations

Latisana. Vicende giuridiche di un feudo nell'ordinamento veneziano

The legal history matters of the Latisana feud in the Venetian legal order allow the study not only of the Venetian conception of the feudal asset, but also of the legal relationships between the vassals and the Serenissima Republic of Venice. What arises is a picture where the systematic needs of the territorial organization give way to contingent strategies, while the vassal’s serch for maximum autonomy is constrained by the economic interests of the Republic of Venice. The result is a unique model carachterized by the hybridization of the feudal law institutions, wich are in conformity with the habits and operating needs of the Serenissima Magistratures

Effect of the land use change characteristics on the air pollution patterns above the greater Athens area (GAA) after 2004

The Attica Peninsula has experienced the rapid expansion of the Athens urban area, prior to the Athens 2004 Olympics. As a result, the distribution of pollutant sources and emission patterns has changed with a subsequent effect on the distribution of photochemical pollutants and aerosols. The purpose of the present work is to perform a comparative study of the land use changes in the rapidly developing Attica Peninsula including the Greater Athens Area (GAA) before and after 2004, the year that the Olympic Games took place, as well as of the effect of these changes on the respective pollutant distribution profiles. The land use data were provided by USGS Global Land Use/Land Cover version 2.0 Database and the updating process was fulfilled with the help of a satellite image. The area was divided into cells using a spatial resolution of 5x5 km2. Results showed that the urban grid has expanded considerably the past fifteen years while a great shift of population has been made to the eastern area of Attica. Also, new towns were created while others expanded and many factories moved out of the center of the city of Athens. Moreover, the forest land has decreased considerably in the Attica Peninsula either by continuous and extended fires or by the residential burst. The Comprehensive Air Quality Model with extensions (CAMx) was used in order to estimate O3 distribution during a recorded pollution episode. Results revealed that land use changes affected slightly the O3 concentrations and the development of a new emission inventory related to the new LULC field is necessary