Language and mathematics teaching/ learning in multicultural classrooms in Europe: Exploring problems and difficulties

In the framework of the Comenius action of the LLP programme of the European Commission, we are developing a project focusing on the role of the language in mathematics learning for non-mainstream students. We are in the first stage, exploring teachers’ needs in order to respond more effectively to teaching mathematics. Here we briefly present the project objectives and the first findings from the analysis of a questionnaire answered by lower secondary school teachers in the partners’ countries (Austria, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Italy and Norway). Questions were about teachers’ experience on teaching in multicultural classes, their pre-service and in-service training, material used or needed in order to facilitate their teaching

Green Alliances and the Role of Taxation

We examine two alternative strategies that an environmental group can embark when interacting with a firm. The first one which is already discussed in the literature is when the group campaigns against the firm. The second one which has not been modelled in the literature is when the group collaborates with the firm (green alliance) to reduce the cost of the cleaner technology. We look at the case of both options being available for the group in a setting with an environmental tax. One of the main results of the paper argues that for higher taxation the conflict scenario is more likely to happen, implying that collaboration and a more stringent environmental policy are substitutes. This identifies a previously unexamined and possibly adverse effect of public policy on environmental quality because it weakens the impact of the pollution tax on emission intensity. We also characterise the optimal tax that maximises social welfare and find that under pure conflict –when conflict is the only option for the environmentalists– optimal tax is higher than when the group can choose to act against or join forces with the firm, indicating that a less stringent environmental policy is needed in the latter scenario

Η εκπαίδευση των Πρώτων Λαών στον Καναδά: Από την αποικιακή αφομοίωση στη διαπολιτισμικότητα

Ο Καναδάς αποτελεί ένα από τα κράτη που έχουν θεσπίσει εθνική κοινωνική πολιτική με διαπολιτισμικά ιδεώδη. Οι ιθαγενείς ή αλλιώς τα Πρώτα Έθνη του Καναδά είναι το ζωντανό παράδειγμα της πορείας αυτής της χώρας προς τη διαπολιτισμικότητα. Στόχος της παρούσας μεταπτυχιακής εργασίας είναι η παρουσίαση αυτής της διαδρομής. Η χώρα ξεκινά μια πολιτική αφομοίωσης με τα Residential Schools, όπου η πολιτισμική ταυτότητα και η κουλτούρα καταδικάζονται, αφαιρούνται δια της βίας και θεωρούνται προβληματικές. Ακολουθεί αργότερα, μια πολιτική ενσωμάτωσης και περνά στη σύγχρονη εκπαίδευση των Αβοριγίνων μετά την πολιτική συμφιλίωσης και τη δημόσια συγνώμη του Καναδά στα Πρώτα Έθνη. Θα παρουσιαστούν αναλυτικά τα προγράμματα, η ύλη, οι νόμοι, τα νομοσχέδια, τα διατάγματα και τα κινήματα που οδήγησαν από το ‘Ινδιάνικο πρόβλημα’ στο δικαίωμα λήψης αποφάσεων που αφορούν ζητήματα της εκπαίδευσης τους από τους ίδιους τους Ινδιάνους. Σε ένα κράτος που από τα μέσα του 17ου αιώνα έως το 1969 κινούνταν με πλήρη αδιαφορία απέναντι στους Ιθαγενείς είναι σημαντικό να εξεταστεί πώς μόλις σε τρεις δεκαετίες ο Καναδάς κάνει τεράστια βήματα και χρησιμοποιεί την διαπολιτισμική εκπαίδευση με σκοπό να καλλιεργηθεί ο σεβασμός για την πολιτισμική κληρονομιά των άλλων.Canada is one of the countries which has instituted a national social policy, imbedded with intercultural ideals. Indigenous peoples, or the First Nations of Canada, are the living breathing example of this state’s course towards interculturalism. The aim of this postgraduate thesis is to present this path. The country established a policy of assimilation with the infamous Residential Schools, where cultural identity is condemned, forcibly removed and considered problematic. It later enters an integration policy and transcends to a contemporary education of the Aboriginals, following reconciliatory policies and the public apology of Canada to First Nations. An analysis of the programs, curriculum, laws, bills, acts and movements will be presented, which, originating from the ‘Indian problem’, led to the retrieval of Ε.Σταθοπούλου – – << Η εκπαίδευση των πρώτων Λαών στον Καναδά: από την αφομοίωση στην διαπολιτισμικότητα>> Πτυχιακή Εργασία 3 education from the First Nations for the First Nations. In a country where after the mid- 17th century and up to 1969 the Aboriginals where treated with indifference, it is important to examine how in only three decades, Canada took huge steps and used intercultural education as a means to achieve growing respect for the cultural heritage of others

Greek students’ attitudes toward rape

Η περίληψη βρίσκεται μέσα στο αρχείο PDFLiterature on sexual harassment and violence against women describes a variety of myths and stereotypes regarding partial or total responsibility of rape victims and their “enjoyment” of sexual violence. Rape stigma and rape myths are aspects of generalized attitudes toward victims of rape and rapists, while it seems that sexual violence remains a taboo in today’s western societies. This study explores Greek university students’ attitudes towards rape. A questionnaire created for the purpose of this study was administered to 950 Greek students at the University of Athens and at the University of Ioannina, divided into three groups: a group of students from the Faculty of Law, a group from Departments orientated to Humanistic and Social Sciences and a group of students from other Faculties and Departments of Applied Sciences. Factor analysis revealed four factors: “Rape victim’s responsibility”, “Defining the concept of rape”, “Rape motivation” and “Rapist’s characteristics”. In line with previous research findings, the results indicated that women were less accepting of conservative attitudestowards rape than men; they also seemed to reject attitudes of “blaming the victim” more, and to hold negative views of rapists. Additionally, the results showed that students of rural origin retain more conservative attitudes with respect to the victim’s responsibility and the rapist’s characteristics than students of urban origin. Finally, students in Law Departments seemed to have accepted more moderate attitudes than the other two groups of students; they mostly disagree with conservative attitudes regarding victim’s responsibilities along with the Social Science students, but they agree more with Applied Sciences students in defining rape

Gene expression profile of circulating tumor cells in breast cancer by RT-qPCR

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have been associated with prognosis especially in breast cancer and have been proposed as a liquid biopsy for repeated follow up examinations. Molecular characterization of CTCs is difficult to address since they are very rare and the amount of available sample is very limited.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We quantified by RT-qPCR <it>CK-19, MAGE-A3, HER-2, TWIST1, hTERT α+β+</it>, and <it>mammaglobin </it>gene transcripts in immunomagnetically positively selected CTCs from 92 breast cancer patients, and 28 healthy individuals. We also compared our results with the CellSearch system in 33 of these patients with early breast cancer.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>RT-qPCR is highly sensitive and specific and can detect the expression of each individual gene at the one cell level. None of the genes tested was detected in the group of healthy donors. In 66 operable breast cancer patients, <it>CK-19 </it>was detected in 42.4%, <it>HER-2 </it>in 13.6%, <it>MAGE-A3 </it>in 21.2%, <it>hMAM </it>in 13.6%, <it>TWIST-1 </it>in 42.4%, and <it>hTERT α+β+ </it>in 10.2%. In 26 patients with verified metastasis, <it>CK-19 </it>was detected in 53.8%, <it>HER-2 </it>in 19.2%, <it>MAGE-A3 </it>in 15.4%, <it>hMAM </it>in 30.8%, <it>TWIST-1 </it>in 38.5% and <it>hTERT </it>α⁺β⁺in 19.2%. Our preliminary data on the comparison between RT-qPCR and CellSearch in 33 early breast cancer patients showed that RT-qPCR gives more positive results in respect to CellSearch.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Molecular characterization of CTCs has revealed a remarkable heterogeneity of gene expression between breast cancer patients. In a small percentage of patients, CTCs were positive for all six genes tested, while in some patients only one of these genes was expressed. The clinical significance of these findings in early breast cancer remains to be elucidated when the clinical outcome for these patients is known.</p

The potential impact of Saharan dust and polluted aerosols on microbial populations in the East Mediterranean Sea, an overview of a mesocosm experimental approach.

Recent estimates of nutrient budgets for the Eastern Mediterranean Sea (EMS) indicate that atmospheric aerosols play a significant role as suppliers of macro- and micro- nutrients to its Low Nutrient Low Chlorophyll water. Here we present the first mesocosm experimental study that examines the overall response of the oligotrophic EMS surface mixed layer (Cretan Sea, May 2012) to two different types of natural aerosol additions, “pure” Saharan dust (SD, 1.6 mg l-1) and mixed aerosols (A - polluted and desert origin, 1 mg l-1). We describe the rationale, the experimental set-up, the chemical characteristics of the ambient water and aerosols and the relative maximal biological impacts that resulted from the added aerosols. The two treatments, run in triplicates (3 m3 each), were compared to control-unamended runs. Leaching of approximately 2.1-2.8 and 2.2-3.7 nmol PO4 and 20-26 and 53-55 nmol NOx was measured per each milligram of SD and A, respectively, representing an addition of approximately 30% of the ambient phosphate concentrations. The nitrate/phosphate ratios added in the A treatment were twice than those added in the SD treatment. Both types of dry aerosols triggered a positive change (25-600% normalized per 1 mg l-1 addition) in most of the rate and state variables that were measured: bacterial abundance (BA), bacterial production (BP), Synechococcus (Syn) abundance, chlorophyll-a (chl-a), primary production (PP) and dinitrogen fixation (N2-fix), with relative changes among them following the sequence BP>PP≈N2-fix>chl-a≈BA≈Syn. Our results show that the ‘polluted’ aerosols triggered a relatively larger biological change compared to the SD amendments (per a similar amount of mass addition), especially regarding BP and PP. We speculate that despite the co-limitation of P and N in the EMS, the additional N released by the A treatment may have triggered the relatively larger response in most of the rate and state variables as compared to SD. An implication of our study is that a warmer atmosphere in the future may increase dust emissions and influence the intensity and length of the already well stratified water column in the EMS and hence the impact of the aerosols as a significant external source of new nutrients