Art censorship as art criticism: fighting the sacrilegious and protecting the 'shell'

Art censorship in Greece since the establishment of the new Greek state in 1830 has been formulated in relation to the ideological patterns of national identity. The influence of Romanticism intensified references to ancient ancestors, legitimised the focus on tradition, and corresponded to the need of the newly formed Greek society to establish the country’s position as a cultural equal of the other European countries. Ever since, the constant calling of Greek society upon the symbols of national identity have created rigid ideological barriers in the country. The fine arts were expected to express higher values; sculpture in particular, owing to its public and monumental character, was connected to the concept of “nation” and assumed the role of helping to visualise its constituent elements. On the part of the audience, art critics included, censorship took the form of art criticism. Sculptors, on the other hand, had to self-censor their work by adapting themselves to the requirements of their environment. Modernity became an obvious target of animosity during the 20th century. The imminent danger supposedly posed involved contaminating the authenticity of “Greekness”. During the seven-year dictatorship (1967–1974) modernity was for the first time understood as protecting — instead of violating — the essence of national identity, because of its connection to political art revolting against the regime. During the past three decades, despite the radical changes the country has undergone, a peculiar kind of self-censorship exercised by the state — on the occasion of prominent official and public cultural events — has proved the use of culture as leverage for broader political views and resulted in an ongoing introversion

Νέες πολιτισμικές γεωγραφίες στην Αθήνα του εικοστού πρώτου αιώνα: το κέντρο της παλιάς πόλης ως όριο και σκηνή θεάτρου “Πολιτισμός: Life-style ή Modus Vivendi στο ιστορικό κέντρο της Αθήνας;"

Please note: this article is in Greek. New Cultural Geographies in twenty first century Athens: the old towns’ center as stage and borderline: for many decades the new formed Hellenic state needed to refer to its ancient past in order to accept any form of current cultural activity. Since 1990 Athens’ historical centre areas (Psiri, Gazi, Keramikos-Metaxourigio and Votanicos) have undergone a vast change, first because of the geographic shift of the artistic activities towards this area and, secondly, because of the “international friendly” attitudes. Thus, international festivals, biennials and exhibitions became a common ground. In down town centre, first came the galleries, the multicultural spaces, the private museums, the alternative theatre and music stages and the modern dance groups, followed, right after, by the artists’, graphic designers’ and fashion studios, along with the leisure reference points. All together they created a new life style. The characteristics of this phenomenon, the new social behaviours, the financial factors and the Media influence formed new identities and resulted in remarkably higher participation percentages in Culture

«Έλεγχος ποιότητας δισκίων Ρανιτιδίνης»

Η παρούσα πτυχιακή εργασία με τίτλο «Έλεγχος Ποιότητας Δισκίων Ρανιτιδίνης» πραγματοποιήθηκε στο εργαστήριο Αναλυτικής Χημείας στα πλαίσια του προπτυυχιακού προγράμματος σπουδών του τμήματος Χημείας. Αρχικά παρουσιάζονται γενικές πληροφορίες για τα φαρμάκα, καθώς και τους ελέγχους στους οποίους υπόκεινται. ‘Επειτα, περιγράφεται αναλυτικά η τεχνική της Υγροχρωματογραφίας Υψηλής Απόδοσης (HPLC) καθώς επίσης και κάποιοι άλλοι τύποι χρωματογραφίας και οι βασικές αρχές και παράμετροι αυτών. Στη συνέχεια περιγράφεται η προετοιμασία ενός δείγματος φαρμάκου , η οργανολογία της HPLC και οι διαδικασίες που ακολουθήθηκαν για να γίνουν οι απαραίτητοι έλεγχοι. Τέλος, παρουσιάζονται πληροφορίες για το εξεταζόμενο φάρμακο,την Υδροχλωρική Ρανιτιδίνη, τα όργανα που χρησιμοποιήθηκαν κατά τη διάρκεια της πτυχιακής εργασίας, όλα τα αντιδραστήρια και οι διαλύτες, η επικυρωμένη μέθοδος για τον έλεγχο της ρανιτιδίνης, καθώς και τα αποτελέσματα που πάρθηκαν και τα συμπεράσματα που εξήχθησαν.This diploma thesis entitled “Quality Control of RanitidineTablets” was carried out in the laboraroty of Analytical Chemistry in the frame of the undergraduate degree curriculum for Chemistry. Initially, general information of medicines and their quality control, they are subject to, are presented. Afterwards, the technique of High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) is diescribed and some other types of chromatography, as well as their basic principles and their parameters are reported. Then, the preparation of a drug sample in order to perform all the necessary controls is described. Finally, the basic knowledgment of ranitidine , and the instrumentation which was used during the thesis is presented along with all the reagents and the solvents, the validated method used, as well as the results obtained and the conclusions of the controls

Μελετώντας την εισαγωγή της άλγεβρας στην Α' γυμνασίου: Διδακτικοί σχεδιασμοί, υλικά και διδακτικές πρακτικές εκπαιδευτικών

Η εισαγωγή των μαθητών της δευτεροβάθμιας εκπαίδευσης στην άλγεβρα αποτελεί βασικό ζήτημα μελέτης στην κοινότητα της διδακτικής των μαθηματικών. Μέσα από την συνεργασία δυο εκπαιδευτικών της δευτεροβάθμιας εκπαίδευσης οι οποίοι σχεδίασαν και εφάρμοσαν από κοινού δραστηριότητες στο πλαίσιο της συμμετοχής τους στο Ευρωπαϊκό πρόγραμμα PreMaTT, στην παρούσα έρευνα μελετάται ο διδακτικός σχεδιασμός και η πρακτική τους καθώς συνεργάζονται για την ανάπτυξη διδακτικών υλικών που αξιοποιούν ειδικά σχεδιασμένα ψηφιακά εργαλεία. Χρησιμοποιώντας το θεωρητικό πλαίσιο που βασίζεται στην εργασία δημιουργίας μονάδων διδασκαλίας των δυο εκπαιδευτικών, η έρευνα επικεντρώνεται στις αλληλεπιδράσεις μεταξύ των εκπαιδευτικών και των πηγών που τους επηρεάζουν στο σχεδιασμό δραστηριοτήτων. Η ανάλυση της δημιουργίας μονάδων διδασκαλίας ανέδειξε πτυχές της εξέλιξης των δυο εκπαιδευτικών στο επίπεδο γνώσης και του διδακτικού σχεδιασμού. Οι μετατοπίσεις των διδακτικών προσεγγίσεων και πρακτικών των δυο εκπαιδευτικών αποτέλεσαν γεγονότα που εξέλιξαν την επαγγελματική τους μάθηση. Επιπλέον, κομβικό σημείο αναφοράς και για τους δυο εκπαιδευτικούς έδειξε να αποτελεί η έτερο-παρατήρηση ως κομμάτι της μεταξύ τους συνεργασίας. Τέλος, προσδιορίστηκαν οι παράγοντες από τους οποίους επηρεάζεται η εξέλιξη της δημιουργίας μονάδων διδασκαλίας των δυο εκπαιδευτικών αναφορικά με την εισαγωγή της άλγεβρας στην δευτεροβάθμια εκπαίδευση κατά την εμπλοκή τους σε κύκλους διδακτικού σχεδιασμού, εφαρμογής στην τάξη και αποτίμησης.The introduction of secondary school students into algebra is a key issue of study in the mathematics teaching community. Through the collaboration of two secondary school teachers who jointly designed and implemented activities in the framework of their participation in the European program PreMaTT, the present study studies their teaching design and practice as they collaborate on the development of teaching materials using specially designed digital tools. Using the theoretical framework based on the documentational work of the two teachers, the research focuses on the interactions between teachers and resources that influence them in planning activities. Analysis of the genesis of documentational work highlighted aspects of the evolution of the two teachers at the level of knowledge and didactic design. The shifts in the teaching approaches and practices of the two teachers were facts that developed their professional learning. Moreover, a critical point for both teachers has been shown to be the other-observation as a part of their cooperation. Finally, there were identified the factors that influence the genesis of documentational work regarding the introduction of algebra in secondary education during their involvement in teaching, classroom and evaluation cycles

Regulation of Op18 during Spindle Assembly in Xenopus Egg Extracts

Oncoprotein 18 (Op18) is a microtubule-destabilizing protein that is negatively regulated by phosphorylation. To evaluate the role of the three Op18 phosphorylation sites in Xenopus (Ser 16, 25, and 39), we added wild-type Op18, a nonphosphorylatable triple Ser to Ala mutant (Op18-AAA), and to mimic phosphorylation, a triple Ser to Glu mutant (Op18-EEE) to egg extracts and monitored spindle assembly. Op18-AAA dramatically decreased microtubule length and density, while Op18-EEE did not significantly affect spindle microtubules. Affinity chromatography with these proteins revealed that the microtubule-destabilizing activity correlated with the ability of Op18 to bind tubulin. Since hyperphosphorylation of Op18 is observed upon addition of mitotic chromatin to extracts, we reasoned that chromatin-associated proteins might play a role in Op18 regulation. We have performed a preliminary characterization of the chromatin proteins recruited to DNA beads, and identified the Xenopus polo-like kinase Plx1 as a chromatin-associated kinase that regulates Op18 phosphorylation. Depletion of Plx1 inhibits chromatin-induced Op18 hyperphosphorylation and spindle assembly in extracts. Therefore, Plx1 may promote microtubule stabilization and spindle assembly by inhibiting Op18

Multisource noninvasive genetics of brown bears (Ursus arctos) in Greece reveals a highly structured population and a new matrilineal contact zone in southern Europe

In human‐dominated landscapes, connectivity is crucial for maintaining demographically stable mammalian populations. Here, we provide a comprehensive noninvasive genetic study for the brown bear population in the Hellenic Peninsula. We analyze its population structuring and connectivity, estimate its population size throughout its distribution, and describe its phylogeography in detail for the first time. Our results, based on 150 multilocus genotypes and on 244‐bp sequences of the mtDNA control region, show the population is comprised by three highly differentiated genetic clusters, consistent with geographical populations of Pindos, Peristeri, and Rhodope. By detecting two male bears with Rhodopean ancestry in the western demes, we provide strong evidence for the ongoing genetic connectivity of the geographically fragmented eastern and western distributions, which suggests connectivity of the larger East Balkan and Pindos‐Dinara populations. Total effective population size (Ne) was estimated to be 199 individuals, and total combined population size (NC) was 499, with each cluster showing a relatively high level of genetic variability, suggesting that migration has been sufficient to counteract genetic erosion. The mtNDA results were congruent with the microsatellite data, and the three genetic clusters were matched predominantly with an equal number of mtDNA haplotypes that belong to the brown bear Western mitochondrial lineage (Clade 1), with two haplotypes being globally new and endemic. The detection of a fourth haplotype that belongs to the Eastern lineage (Clade 3a1) in three bears from the western distribution places the southernmost secondary contact zone between the Eastern and Western lineages in Greece and generates new hypotheses about postglacial maxima migration routes. This work indicates that the genetic composition and diversity of Europe's low‐latitude fringe population are the outcome of ancient and historical events and highlight its importance for the connectivity and long‐term persistence of the species in the Balkans