Exploring the development of Greek (non)temporal connectives with a Story Retelling Production Task

The study aims to investigate the acquisition of the Greek connectives enό (=while/even though), kaθόs (=while/since) and afu (=after/since), which are ambiguous between a temporal and a non-temporal interpretation, and compare them with the unambiguous temporal όtan (=when). A short-story retell task (i.e. elicited production) was incorporated to answer our research aims. Four child groups aged 5;6, 7;8, 9;10 and 11;6 and a group of adult controls participated in the task. The results showed that the temporal interpretation of the ambiguous connectives is reproduced more than the non-temporal one. Unambiguous όtan is most frequently primed in the younger ages

The development of passive and reflexive interpretation of non-active voice morphology in L1 Greek

Modern Greek (MG) non-active voice forms without a ‘by’ PP phrase are ambiguous between the reflexive/non-reflexive interpretation (Tsimpli, 2005b) since there is no one-to-one correspondence between voice and diathesis (Tzartzanos, 1996). This paper discusses Greek L1 children’s mastery of the reflexive/passive interpretation of non-active verb forms with [+] animate syntactic subjects. It examines reading preferences (reflexive/passive) of non-active structures based on ‘inherent’ verb properties. Finally, it investigates the availability of voice alternations in contexts of non-active structures containing actional verbs

STRENGTHENING THE ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP OF ROMA WOMEN THROUGH THEIR PARTICIPATION IN THE ROMA POLITICAL SCHOOL IN GREECE

This article explores the participation of Roma women in public life and how this is strengthened through their participation in the Roma Political School in Greece. The study focused on the reasons for participation and the expectations of women from their participation in the Roma Political School, but also on the barriers they encounter and the opportunities they are given to participate in social and political events. It has highlighted the emergence of proposals for the empowerment and strengthening of the position of Roma women in politics. A qualitative methodology was followed, and data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 4 Roma women and two officials of the Council of Europe who participated in the Roma Political School in Greece. The findings of the study showed that progress has been made towards the active citizenship of Greek Roma women and, through their participation in the RPS, women expect to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills in order to actively participate in the community and contribute to resolving the problems and addressing the needs of their community. However, there are also several inhibiting factors that affect the active citizenship of women: stereotypical perceptions of the position of women prevailing in the Gypsy community, women's low level of education, and their lack of self-confidence. The main proposals that emerged in relation to strengthening women's participation in the public sphere are related to information and the dissemination of information, the strengthening of women's participation in associations, the participation of women in education and adult education and in specialized political programs, and the breaking down of stereotypes concerning the position of women.  Article visualizations

Early data about the use of roflumilast in patients with COPD

Η ροφλουμιλάστη αποτελεί έναν νεότερο αντιφλεγμονώδη παράγοντα 2ης γραμμής για τη θεραπεία ασθενών με συγκεκριμένο φαινότυπο Χρόνιας Αποφρακτικής Πνευμονοπάθειας. Στο παρόν άρθρο μετά από αναδίφηση της πλέον πρόσφατης διεθνούς βιβλιογραφίας, επιχειρείται η παρουσίαση των έως τώρα πειραματικών αλλά και κλινικών αποτελεσμάτων, όσον αφορά στα οφέλη που προκύπτουν από τη χρήση της, τους περιορισμούς της χορήγησης της, αλλά και τις μελλοντικές προοπτικές για τη βελτιστοποίηση της δράσης της.Roflumilast is a new second line anti-inflammatory drug, approved by the FDA in March 2011, for the treatment of patients with a specific phenotype of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). In this review article, after systematically reviewing the latest published references on roflumilast, we aim at presenting the experimental and clinical results that have emerged so far, concerning the benefits and the limitations of its use and the future prospects for the optimization of its effects

Historical development of the BFGS secant method and its characterization properties

The BFGS secant method is the preferred secant method for finite-dimensional unconstrained optimization. The first part of this research consists of recounting the historical development of secant methods in general and the BFGS secant method in particular. Many people believe that the secant method arose from Newton's method using finite difference approximations to the derivative. We compile historical evidence revealing that a special case of the secant method predated Newton's method by more than 3000 years. We trace the evolution of secant methods from 18th-century B.C. Babylonian clay tablets and the Egyptian Rhind Papyrus. Modifications to Newton's method yielding secant methods are discussed and methods we believe influenced and led to the construction of the BFGS secant method are explored. In the second part of our research, we examine the construction of several rank-two secant update classes that had not received much recognition in the literature. Our study of the underlying mathematical principles and characterizations inherent in the updates classes led to theorems and their proofs concerning secant updates. One class of symmetric rank-two updates that we investigate is the Dennis class. We demonstrate how it can be derived from the general rank-one update formula in a purely algebraic manner not utilizing Powell's method of iterated projections as Dennis did it. The literature abounds with update classes; we show how some are related and show containment when possible. We derive the general formula that could be used to represent all symmetric rank-two secant updates. From this, particular parameter choices yielding well-known updates and update classes are presented. We include two derivations of the Davidon class and prove that it is a maximal class. We detail known characterization properties of the BFGS secant method and describe new characterizations of several secant update classes known to contain the BFGS update. Included is a formal proof of the conjecture made by Schnabel in his 1977 Ph.D. thesis that the BFGS update is in some asymptotic sense the average of the DFP update and the Greenstadt update

Understanding the effects of human capital on economic growth

Er is veel consensus in de literatuur met betrekking tot het belang van onderwijs, dat wil zeggen menselijk kapitaal. Zowel voor de economie als voor de maatschappij als geheel heeft onderwijs grote waarde: het genereert geldelijke omzet, maar ook sociaal rendement. Dit proefschrift onderzoekt het belang van onderwijs, en dus menselijk kapitaal, voor het faciliteren van snellere economische groei. Ten eerste laat ik de veronderstelling los dat een gewerkt uur een constante hoeveelheid arbeidsdiensten oplevert. Pas afgestudeerden wijken van eerdere cohorten af met betrekking tot de arbeidsdiensten per gewerkt uur die zij leveren. Deze vintage effecten van menselijk kapitaal spelen een grote rol in de verklaring van het verschil in de trans-Atlantische productiviteitsgroei tussen 1995 en 2005. Ten tweede kijk ik opnieuw naar het vermogen van menselijk kapitaal om externaliteiten te genereren door middel van technologische vooruitgang en adoptie van technologie. Om potentiële externaliteiten op te sporen, gebruik ik een methode die menselijk kapitaal met de totale factor productiviteit verbindt. Externaliteiten worden gegenereerd door tertiair opgeleide mensen en hangen in hoge mate af van het niveau van de technologische ontwikkeling van een land. Ten derde onderzoek ik internationale “spill-overs” van menselijk kapitaal. Ik analyseer de impact van migratie op het menselijk kapitaal van het thuis land en kom tot de conclusie dat landen met een hogere emigratie van vakbekwame werknemers een snellere groei in hun kennisintensieve industrieën laten zien. Dit suggereert een ‘brain gain’ in plaats van ‘brain drain’

Μετα-μεταφραστικές τροποποιήσεις ανοσοσφαιρινών και η κλινική τους σημασία

Η μετα-μεταφραστική τροποποίηση (post-translational modification) των ανοσοσφαιρινών, περιλαμβάνει κατά κύριο λόγο την Ν-γλυκοζυλίωση των ανοσοσφαιρινών και ιδίως της κύριας ανοσοσφαιρίνης που είναι η IgG. Οι IgG ανοσοσφαιρίνες αποτελούν τα αντισώματα που είναι μεσολαβητές της χυμικής ανοσίας, με στόχο την προστασία του οργανισμού από εξωκυττάρια βακτήρια και τοξίνες. Η Ν-γλυκοζυλίωση επιτελείται στο τραχύ ενδοπλασματικό δίκτυο και την συσκευή Golgi. Πρόκειται για την προσθήκη ενός ολιγοσακχαρίτη στο αμιδικό άτομο Ν της ασπαραγίνης 297 (Asn-297) που είναι ένα αμινοξικό κατάλοιπο, που βρίσκεται στην θέση 297 στο σταθερό Fc τμήμα της IgG ανοσοσφαιρίνης. Ο ολιγοσακχαρίτης είναι ο GlcNAc – GlcNAc - μανόζη - (μανόζη)2 - (GlcNAc)2 διακλαδισμένος σε δύο συνήθως βραχίονες που εκτείνονται από τον σταθερό συντηρημένο πυρήνα μανόζη-(GLcNAc)2 με την προσθήκη μιας μανόζης και ενός GlcNAc σε κάθε βραχίονα της διακλάδωσης. Επίσης μπορεί να προστεθεί στη συνέχεια σε κάθε βραχίονα από μία γαλακτόζη (Gal) ή και ένα σιαλικό οξύ. Η Ν-γλυκοζυλίωση επιδρά στην διαμόρφωση της δομής της ανοσοσφαιρίνης IgG και τελικά στην αλληλεπίδραση των αντισωμάτων IgG με τους Fcγ υποδοχείς (FcγRs) των κυττάρων της ανοσίας, με πιθανό αποτέλεσμα την ανάπτυξη διαφόρων παθήσεων όπως τα αυτοάνοσα νοσήματα και οι κακοήθειες. Η γνώση της επίδρασης της Ν-γλυκοζυλίωσης των IgG σε παθολογικές καταστάσεις, βρίσκει εφαρμογή στην ανάπτυξη φαρμακευτικών σκευασμάτων με κύριους εκπροσώπους τα μονοκλωνικά αντισώματα.The post-translational modification of immunoglobulins, includes mainly the N-glycosylation of the immunoglobulins, and in particular of the main immunoglobulin which is IgG. The IgG immunoglobulins constitute the antibodies which are mediators of humoral immunity, aiming to protect the human body from extracellular bacteria and toxins. The N-glycosylation is performed in the rough endoplasmic reticulum and in the Golgi apparatus. It is the addition of an oligosaccharide to the amide N-atom of asparagine 297 (Asn-297), which is an amino acid residue located in position 297 in the Fc portion of the constant IgG immunoglobulin fragment. The oligosaccharide is a GlcNAc-GlcNAc-mannose- (mannose) 2 - (GlcNAc) 2, branched usually into two arms and extending from the fixed core conserved mannose- (GLcNAc) 2, by the addition of a mannose and a GlcNAc residue on each arm of the oligosaccharide . Afterwards, a galactose (Gal) or a sialic acid residue, can be added to each arm. The N-glycosylation affects the IgG immunoglobulin structure and eventually the interaction of IgG to Fc-gamma receptors (FcγRs) of the immune cells, possibly resulting in the development of various diseases, such as autoimmune diseases and malignancies. The knowledge of the effect of N-glycosylation of IgG on pathological conditions has application in the development of pharmaceutical formulations, with monoclonal antibodies being the main representatives

Re(I) tricarbonyl complex of 1,10-phenanthroline-5,6-dione: DNA binding, cytotoxicity, antiinflammatory and anti-coagulant effects towards platelet activating factor

The complex fac-[Re(CO)3(phendione)Cl] (1) (where phendione = 1,10-phenanthroline-5,6-dione) has been synthesized and fully characterized by UV–visible, FTIR, and NMR techniques. The DNA binding properties of 1 are investigated by UV-spectrophotometric (melting curves), covalent binding assay, CV (cyclic voltammetry), circular dichroism (CD) and viscosity measurements. Experimental data indicate that 1 fits into the major groove without disrupting the helical structure of the B-DNA in contrast to the free phendione which intercalates within the base pairs of DNA. Upon irradiation, complex 1promotes the cleavage of plasmid pBR322 DNA from supercoiled form I to nicked form II via a proton coupled electron transfer mechanism. This comes as a result of experimental data in anaerobic/aerobic conditions and in the presence of DMSO. The biological activities of 1 and its precursors [Re(CO)5Cl] and phendione are tested towards a series of cancerous cell lines as glioblastoma (T98G), prostate cancer (PC3) and breast cancer (MCF-7) as well as platelet activating factor (PAF)-aggregation. Moreover, all the aforementioned compounds are tested for their ability to modulate PAF-basic metabolic enzyme activities in preparations of rabbit leukolytes. The in vitro experiments indicate that phendione has a better antitumor effect than cisplatin whereas [Re(CO)5Cl] is a better PAF inhibitor than both the phendione ligand and 1. Moreover, for the first time it is indicated that [Re(CO)5Cl], with a IC50 of 17 nM is comparable to the widely used PAF receptor antagonists, BN52021 and WEB2170 with IC50 of 30 and 20 nM, respectively, whereas 1 affects PAF-catabolism

Gypsy Identities in Europe: policy and research: Πρακτικά επιστηµονικού συνεδρίου (Ιωάννινα 2003)

Περιλαμβάνονται τα πλήρη κείμενα ή οι περιλήψεις των εισηγήσεων που έγιναν κατά τη διάρκεια της 2ης ημέρας (18.10.2003) του επιστημονικού συνεδρίου με θέμα Ταυτότητες τσιγγάνων στην Ευρώπη: έρευνα και πολιτικές, Ιωάννινα 17-18 Οκτωβρίου 2003