The Introduction of “Anti-Racist Legislation” in the Greek Legal Order: Political Strategies, Legalised Violence and the Formal Protection of Gender Identity.

The present article follows the introduction of the much-contested “anti-racist legislation” during a particularly dark era of governance in Greece. Within a context of deepening crisis, absolute legitimation of state racism and institutional violence against the nation’s racial, gender, religious and sexual Others, the politico-legal choice of a right-wing government to go through with this reform appears paradoxical at first glance. Even more so, the introduction of gender identity among the protected characteristics seems at odds not only with governmental actions that have directly targeted trans individuals but also with the overall gender-normative imperative of the law and the hostile institutional atmosphere that mirrors and reproduces it. In view of this seemingly paradoxical legislative choice, queried here is the concrete work performed by the “anti-racist law” reform in the context in which it unfolded. Utilising a broader problematisation of any legal regime’s authority to justify its own violence, it is suggested that a closer reading of the conditions under which the reform took place brings into light its instrumentalisation, during that era, to legitimise systemic racism and institutional gender/sexual violence materialised through operations against marginalised populations

Reserving the Right to be Complex: Gender Variance and Trans Identities in the Greek Legal Order

Within the Greek legal order, gender identity recognition and the legal implications of trans identities have, in recent times, increasingly become the subjects of legislation and legal analysis. Nonetheless, in this newly emerging debate, contextspecificity and historicity are often side-stepped. In this vein, the present thesis asks: How did issues of gender variance emerge in the national legal order during the previous century and how were they discussed and regulated before the existence of LGBTI+ rights? Starting from the premise that the legal management of gender identity adheres to different large-scale political projects on a macro level while, on a ground level, it is materialised through bureaucratic informality and individual survival strategies, the thesis proceeds to explore the following queries: To which processes and projects does recent trans-related legislation relate and how can it be comprehended within them? How does such legislation translate into legal reality as a lived experience in Greece and how can it be appraised on a symbolic and material level? With these questions in mind, the thesis analyses texts that were compiled through archival research to create a genealogy of the legal management of gender identity during the previous century. It unearths categorical conflations, interpretative workings and other dominant epistemic gestures that created a chaotic nexus within the supposedly self-evident process of registering and categorising legible citizens. Multiple contemporary legal sources and a set of semi-structured interviews are then used to appraise the main pieces of legislation relating to gender identity issues at state and ground level. Exploring the way in which trans rights can be understood in a national context of traditional ethno-sexual values, the thesis makes an argument for complex in concreto readings of such legislation that go beyond its mere understanding as a linear and universal narrative of progress or assimilation

Effect of Aloe vera and vitamin E supplementation on the immune response of broilers

Background: herbs are among the feed supplements under investigation that could replace antibiotics to improve humoral and cellular immune response in birds. Objective: this study evaluated the potential of Aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis Miller) and vitamin E as immunostimulants on humoral and cellular immune responses in broilers. Methods: broilers were randomly assigned to three dietary treatments: a negative control (basal diet + with no additive), basal diet + 1% Aloe vera gel in drinking water, and basal diet + 100 mg/Kg vitamin E in the feed. Antibody titers against sheep red blood cells and Newcastle disease virus were used to examine the humoral immune response, whereas cellular immune response was evaluated using the phytohemagglutinin-P tests. Results: the highest level of antibody titer against sheep red blood cells on examination days 28 and 38, and the highest response to injection of phytohemagglutinin-P on day 38 was observed in the Aloe vera gel group (p\u3c0.05). However, the response of broilers fed Aloe vera gel was not different from those receiving vitamin E (p\u3e0.05). In addition, the greatest antibody level against Newcastle disease virus was obtained on days 25 and 35 in the vitamin E group, with no significant difference from the Aloe vera gel group (p\u3e0.05). Conclusion: in general, our findings demonstrated that both Aloe vera gel and vitamin E can enhance humoral and cellular immune responses of broilers, while Aloe vera gel can be used as an immunostimulant in chickens

Success Rate of Split-Thickness Skin Grafting of Chronic Venous Leg Ulcers Depends on the Presence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa: A Retrospective Study

The last years of research have proposed that bacteria might be involved in and contribute to the lack of healing of chronic wounds. Especially it seems that Pseudomonas aeruginosa play a crucial role in the healing. At Copenhagen Wound Healing Centre it was for many years clinical suspected that once chronic venous leg ulcers were colonized (weeks or months preoperatively) by P. aeruginosa, the success rate of skin grafting deteriorated despite aggressive treatment. To investigate this, a retrospective study was performed on the clinical outcome of 82 consecutive patients with chronic venous leg ulcers on 91 extremities, from the 1st of March 2005 until the 31st of August 2006. This was achieved by analysing the microbiology, demographic data, smoking and drinking habits, diabetes, renal impairment, co-morbidities, approximated size and age of the wounds, immunosuppressive treatment and complicating factors on the clinical outcome of each patient. The results were evaluated using a Student T-test for continuous parameters, chi-square test for categorical parameters and a logistic regression analysis to predict healing after 12 weeks. The analysis revealed that only 33,3% of ulcers with P. aeruginosa, isolated at least once from 12 weeks prior, to or during surgery, were healed (98% or more) by week 12 follow-up, while 73,1% of ulcers without P. aeruginosa were so by the same time (p = 0,001). Smoking also significantly suppressed the outcome at the 12-week follow-up. Subsequently, a logistic regression analysis was carried out leaving P. aeruginosa as the only predictor left in the model (p = 0,001). This study supports our hypothesis that P. aeruginosa in chronic venous leg ulcers, despite treatment, has considerable impact on partial take or rejection of split-thickness skin grafts

Vitamin E, selenium and meat quality in sheep

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Fruit and Vegetable Co-Products as Functional Feed Ingredients in Farm Animal Nutrition for Improved Product Quality

There are significant environmental, economic and social factors favoring the reutilization of fruit and vegetable processing co-products in farm animal nutrition. Current evidence shows that fruit and vegetable processing co-products can be effectively used in farm animal nutrition as functional feed ingredients for the production of food products of improved quality. These ingredients comply with consumer requests for the production of “clean,” “natural” and “eco/green” label food products. The main parameters affecting extensive application of fruit and vegetable processing by-/co-products as functional feed ingredients in livestock nutrition are related to animal factors, logistics, and commercial value. Further research is needed to enable the commercial application of these products to livestock nutrition

Analysis of energy consumption in building facilities of a supermarket chain

Εθνικό Μετσόβιο Πολυτεχνείο--Μεταπτυχιακή Εργασία. Διεπιστημονικό-Διατμηματικό Πρόγραμμα Μεταπτυχιακών Σπουδών (Δ.Π.Μ.Σ.) “Παραγωγή και Διαχείριση Ενέργειας