EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY FOR THE ROMA CHILDREN? LIMITATIONS AND CHALLENGES AHEAD

The aim in this paper is to examine the school achievement of Roma children drawing from the outcomes of a small case study conducted in a lower secondary school in the Western Suburbs of Athens. Reducing educational inequalities is a key issue in education policy, aiming at promoting equality of opportunity for all children. Roma children are one of the most disadvantaged and marginalized groups in Western societies. In Greece, Roma people experienced an extreme social and educational exclusion of Roma people until the late 90s. During the last two decades, large intervention programs took place, aiming at including Roma children in education. The outcomes of these intervention progammes can be assessed as positive, as they bring and to a large extent retained Roma children in school for the first time, despite the huge difficulties and the resistance of the education communities and the local societies. However, it is argued that these achievements must be seen as only a first step towards enhancing equality of opportunity. The outcomes of this case study show that even in an area in which the most privileged Roma community is located, Roma children still underachieve compared to the non-Roma children.   Article visualizations

Principals’ views on policies and practices for the educational inclusion of Roma people

The role of school principals is recognized as crucial for the daily operation of schools in general and specifically for the management of the challenges posed by the increasing diversity of the current era. In this article, kindergarten principals’ views regarding policies and practices for the management of diversity with reference to one of the most marginalized group, the Roma people, are examined. For this purpose, ten semi-structured interviews with kindergarten principals in areas in which Roma people live either in settlements or inside the residential areas were conducted. Data analysis indicates that principals are aware of the inadequacies of the policies regarding the Roma people and they propose a series of measures at local and central level for the improvement of the school inclusion of Roma children. However, principals are also trapped to a deficit discourse that transfers to the Roma people the major responsibility for their social and educational exclusion

Pilgrimages Through Time and Space. The case of Marian Pilgrimages in Greece

Since ancient times and throughout history, religious sentiment has been one of the motives for people undertaking pilgrimages, seeking to communicate with the divine in sacred places. Travelling for religious reasons fulfilled a spiritual need and their undertaking was considered to be a redeeming action. It is indeed difficult to identify any other human activity so widespread in space and so resilient in time as undertaking a pilgrimage to shrines. Since antiquity there has been a firm belief that praying or fulfilling one’s religious tasks is more efficient when it takes place in specific sites: in places where gods or saints were born, spent a part of their lives, died or performed miracles, in areas with statues, cathedrals, churches, relics of saints and miracle icons or in sites where the most important events of the history of each religion took place. Many of the Christian pilgrimages are associated with the Holy Mother of God (Theotokos). In Greece, shrines monasteries and churches have been established in areas related with the miracles performed by the Virgin Mary (Panagia or the All Holy One in Greek). Apart from the basic Marian feast days, the life of the church and folk piety have added many more, which are associated with the Virgin Mary, the Miracle- Worker, or the foundation of churches dedicated to the Mother of God, or the finding of miracle-working icons portraying the Virgin Mary. Almost everywhere in Greece one can find a miraculous icon representing the Mother of God, each one with its own history and legends, which creates a mystical experience. Moreover, many of these pilgrimages are significant cultural monuments and attract tourists’ interest. This paper describes some of the main Marian pilgrimages in Greece as well as their management agencies and techniques in order to enhance travellers’ experience

Aberrant right subclavian artery leading to prenatal diagnosis of Koolen de Vries syndrome

Koolen de Vries syndrome is a rare genetic disorder with an estimated prevalence 1:16000 in the general population but it is considered to be an underdiagnosed syndrome. We report a 17q21.31 microdeletion which was diagnosed prenatally in a fetus with aberrant right subclavian artery (ARSA). Koolen de Vries syndrome is a rare chromosomal abnormality and according to the literature this is the first case in which the detection of ARSA led to this syndrome

Μοριακή επιδημιολογία και μικροβιολογία σεξουαλικώς μεταδιδόμενων νοσημάτων

ΠΕΡΙΛΗΨΗ Αντικείμενο Σκοπός: Η διερεύνηση και η διάγνωση των σεξουαλικώς μεταδιδόμενων νοσημάτων (ΣΜΝ) συμπεριλαμβανομένου και του HPV και η παρουσία κυτταρολογικών αλλαγών στον τράχηλο σε μια cohort μελέτη με σεξουαλικώς ενεργές γυναίκες στον ελλαδικό χώρο. Υλικό και μέθοδοι: Πραγματοποιήθηκε κυτταρολογία τραχήλου μήτρας και μοριακή τυποποίηση HPV και άλλων ΣΜΝ για 345 ενεργά σεξουαλικά γυναίκες ηλικίας μεταξύ 18 και 45 ετών (mean 33.2±7.2years) που προσήλθαν σε γυναικολογική κλινική για έλεγχο διαλογής ρουτίνας. Μελετήθηκε η συσχέτιση του HPV και άλλων ΣΜΝ με την κυτταρολογική εικόνα. Αποτελέσματα: HPVεντοπίστηκε σε 61 γυναίκες (17.7%) και άλλα ΣΜΝ σε 82 (23.8%). Το Ureaplasma spp ήταν το πιο συχνά εντοπιζόμενο παθογόνο, το οποίο βρέθηκε σε 63 (18.2%) γυναίκες και ακολούθησαν το Mycoplasma spp (21 γυναίκες, 25.6%) και το Chlamydia trachomatis (πέντε γυναίκες, 6.1%). Η HPV θετικότητα μόνο (with no co-presence of STI) συσχετίσθηκε με μη φυσιολογική κυτταρολογία (odds ratio 6.9, p<0.001), ενώ γυναίκες που ήταν αρνητικές τόσο για HPVόσο και για τα άλλα ΣΜΝ είχαν μεγαλύτερη πιθανότητα να εμφανίσουν φυσιολογική κυτταρολογία τραχήλου μήτρας (odds ratio 0.36, p<0.01). Δεκαέξι από τις 63 (25.4%) γυναίκες οι οποίες ελέγχθηκαν θετικές για Ureaplasma spp, είχαν high-risk HPVτύπο (odds ratio 2.3, p=0.02). Συμπεράσματα: Σε έναν πληθυσμό με αυξημένη εμφάνιση του Ureaplasma spp, υπήρχε συσχέτιση αυτού του συγκεκριμένου παθογόνου με υψηλού κινδύνου (HighRisk) HPV λοίμωξη, εύρημα που χρειάζεται περαιτέρω διερεύνηση και μελέτη.SUMMARY Objective: To investigate the diagnosis of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) with human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and the presence of cytological changes in the cervix in a cohort of sexually active women in Greece. Methods: Cervical cytology testing and the molecular typing of HPV and other STIs were performed for 345 sexually active women aged between 18 and 45 years (mean 33.2±7.2years) visiting a gynaecology clinic for routine cervical screening. The association of HPV and STI detection with cytological findings was investigated. Results: HPV was detected in 61 women (17.7%) and STIs in 82 (23.8%). Ureaplasmaspp was the most frequently detected pathogen, which was found in 63 (18.2%) women, followed by Mycoplasma spp (21 women, 25.6%) and Chlamydia trachomatis (five women, 6.1%). HPV positivity only (with no co-presence of STI) was associated with an abnormal cytology (odds ratio 6.9, p<0.001), while women who were negative for both HPV and STIs had a higher probability of a normal cytology (odds ratio 0.36, p<0.01). Sixteen out of the 63 (25.4%) women who tested positive for Ureaplasmaspp, harboured a high-risk HPV type (odds ratio 2.3, p=0.02). Conclusions: In a population with a high prevalence of Ureaplasmaspp, there was an association of this pathogen with high-risk HPV infection, a finding that needs further elucidation

Politicizing science vs. technicalizing politics: A comparative study of Kastelli Heraklion International Airport, Greece and Chinchero Cusco International Airport, Peru

This paper aims to add to the debate on the negative externalities of tourism-related megaprojects. It examines the policy adoption and implementation of two contentious airport projects in two tourist-heavy regions, Heraklion (Kastelli), Greece, and Cusco (Chinchero), Peru. In the context of destination competitiveness and commitment to neoliberal economic growth, national and regional governments in both countries became attracted by the idea of regional economic development and further increasing the number of international tourists and tourism investments. Deciding whether building a new airport serves the public interest or not is a complex policy problem with technical uncertainties and conflicting interests, which entails both a technical and political process of expressing and pairing policy actors’ goals and means. The aim of the paper is to identify similarities and differences between the tactics adopted and arguments used for and against the two airport development projects by the respective advocacy coalitions

Τεχνικογεωλογικές και υδρογεωλογικές συνθήκες και προβλήματα στο χώρο του σταθμού "Ανθούπολη" του Μετρό Αθηνών

98 σ.Η παρούσα εργασία αναφέρεται στην περιγραφή και στην ανάλυση των τεχνικογεωλογικών και υδρογεωλογικών συνθηκών στο χώρο του σταθμού ΄΄Ανθούπολη΄΄ του ΜΕΤΡΟ Αθηνών. Επιπρόσθετα, καταγράφονται τα σημαντικότερα προβλήματα που παρουσιάστηκαν κατά την κατασκευή του έργου. Με τον σταθμό αυτό, ολοκληρώθηκε η επέκτασης τ ης Γραμμής 2 από τον Α γ. Αντώνιο προς την Ανθούπολη. Στην περιοχή του σταθμού απαντώνται κυρίως τρεις γεωλογικοί σχηματισμοί: ο υγιείς ασβεστιτικός ψαμμίτης, ο σχηματισμός του μεταψαμμίτη και του μεταϊλυόλιθου, που αποτελούν μέλη του Αθηναϊκού Σχιστόλιθου καθώς και οι μαργαϊκοί νεογενείς σχηματισμοί. Ο σταθμός δηλαδή βρίσκεται στο όριο των σχηματισμών της σειράς του Αθηναϊκού Σχιστόλιθου και των νεογενών σχηματισμών. Το όριο αυτό είναι ένα ρήγμα με διεύθυνση ΒΑ/ ΝΔ – ΝΔ / κή, που οριοθετεί τη νεογενή λεκάνη του Περιστερίου από ανατολικά. Αρχικά σχολιάζονται οι γεωλογικές και υδρογεωλογικές συνθήκες στο Λεκανοπέδιο Αθηνών, καθώς επίσης και στην ευρύτερη ζώνη του έργου, την περιοχή της Ανθούπολης Περιστερίου και στη συνέχεια αναλύονται οι γεωλογικές συνθήκες στη στενή περιοχή του έργου. Αξίζει να σημειωθεί ότι η ευρύτερη περιοχή της Ανθούπολης Περιστερίου παρουσιάζει γεωλογικό ενδιαφέρον, αφού η εκμετάλλευση των κοιτασμάτων λιγνίτη κατά το παρελθόν και η λειτουργία λιγνιτωρυχείων, εγκυμονεί κινδύνους για τα τεχνικά έργα από πιθανές εδαφικές υποχωρήσεις.This project refers to the description and the analysis of engineering - geological and hydrogeological conditions, of ΄΄Anthoupoli΄΄ Athens METRO station. In addition, the most important problems which occurred during the construction of this project, are registered and discussed. With the construction of the station, the extension of Line 2 to Anthoupolis, was completed. Three main geological formations are found at the area of the station: the fresh calsitic sandstone, the formation of metasandstone to metasiltstone and marly neogene sediments. The station is located at the border between the formations of Athenian Schist and neogene sediments. This border is actually a fault with a NE / SW - SW direction, which delimits the neogene basin of Peristeri to the east. First, the geological and hydrogeological conditions of Athens basin as well as in the wider zone of the project, the area of Anthoupoli, Peristeri, are described and then engineering – geological regime of the project site are analyzed. It is worth to be noted that the wider area of Anthoupoli, Peristeri presents a high geological interest, as the excavation of the deposits of lignite in the past and the operation of the lignite mines in Peristeri neogene basin , hide a risk of danger regarding the subsidence manifestation due the old mine activity.Ηλίας Π. Παρθένη