The Archaeology of Xenitia: Greek Immigration and Material Culture Ed. by Kostis Kourelis

Book reviewBook review

Racial and Ethnic Attitudes and Individual Relatedness Among Greek-Americans

The article looks at the self-identity of Greek immigrants in the U.S. and incorporation of American racial ideologies into their racial repertoires. It recognizes Greek Americans for creating a national and racial framework that blends elements of both home and host society institutions and ideologies. It recalls the arrival of thousands of Greek immigrants in the U.S. in the 20th century. The increasing inter-marriage rates between Greek immigrants and Greek Americans are also noted

From "noikokyra' to "lady": Greek immigrant women, assimilation and race

This paper examines how upward mobility among Greek immigrant women in NYC affects their perceived roles in the family and also the narratives the women construct to frame their experiences. Class and labor market incorporation (formal vs. informal) mainly affect the type of narrative the women construct. Working class women use the ideology of the «noikokyra» to frame their experiences and responsibilities in the home and the community, while lower middle and middle class women select competing elements from American gender and class ideologies to construct their narratives. These two latter groups construct an American-based version of the «lady» as a goal which they aspire to. Despite the differences in gender ideologies between the lower middle and middle class women’s narratives, these two categories of women share the idea of «whiteness» as a goal to be achieved. The paper is based on one-hundred fifteen in-depth interviews with Greek immigrant women in New York between the ages of twenty-two and seventy.This paper examines how upward mobility among Greek immigrant women in NYC affects their perceived roles in the family and also the narratives the women construct to frame their experiences. Class and labor market incorporation (formal vs. informal) mainly affect the type of narrative the women construct. Working class women use the ideology of the «noikokyra» to frame their experiences and responsibilities in the home and the community, while lower middle and middle class women select competing elements from American gender and class ideologies to construct their narratives. These two latter groups construct an American-based version of the «lady» as a goal which they aspire to. Despite the differences in gender ideologies between the lower middle and middle class women’s narratives, these two categories of women share the idea of «whiteness» as a goal to be achieved. The paper is based on one-hundred fifteen in-depth interviews with Greek immigrant women in New York between the ages of twenty-two and seventy

Deciphering the genomic, epigenomic, and transcriptomic landscapes of pre-invasive lung cancer lesions.

The molecular alterations that occur in cells before cancer is manifest are largely uncharted. Lung carcinoma in situ (CIS) lesions are the pre-invasive precursor to squamous cell carcinoma. Although microscopically identical, their future is in equipoise, with half progressing to invasive cancer and half regressing or remaining static. The cellular basis of this clinical observation is unknown. Here, we profile the genomic, transcriptomic, and epigenomic landscape of CIS in a unique patient cohort with longitudinally monitored pre-invasive disease. Predictive modeling identifies which lesions will progress with remarkable accuracy. We identify progression-specific methylation changes on a background of widespread heterogeneity, alongside a strong chromosomal instability signature. We observed mutations and copy number changes characteristic of cancer and chart their emergence, offering a window into early carcinogenesis. We anticipate that this new understanding of cancer precursor biology will improve early detection, reduce overtreatment, and foster preventative therapies targeting early clonal events in lung cancer

Epigenetic dysregulation and poorer prognosis in DAXX-deficient pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours

Exome sequencing of sporadic pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (PNETs) has identified mutually exclusive mutations in the chromatin regulators α- thalassaemia/mental retardation X-linked (ATRX) and death associated protein 6 (DAXX) genes in 43% of cases (18% and 23% of cases respectively in 68 cases studied) (Elsässer et al. 2011; Jiao et al. 2011). ATRX and DAXX are chromatin remodelers; their loss leads to alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) and chromosomal instability (CIN) (Heaphy et al. 2011). ALT is a telomerase independent mechanism for maintenance of telomere stabilisation. Although it was initially reported that ATRX/DAXX mutant tumours had superior 10-year survival and outcome (Jiao et al. 2011), a recent larger study on 243 tumours has demonstrated that ATRX and DAXX loss and associated ALT in PNETs correlates with CIN, advanced tumour stage, development of metastases and poorer progression free (PFS) and overall survival (OS) (Marinoni et al. 2014) ..