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Immigrant minority (IM) languages have a significant presence in certain European regions. Nonetheless, these languages are not usually included in the school curriculum. This paper aims to analyse the studies published between 2010 and 2020 considering IM languages in multilingual European education contexts. The method included a search of academic papers published in the databases ERIC, Web of Science and Scopus, which yielded 42 studies. The studies were analysed by considering: (1) the demographic characteristics of the countries where the studies were conducted, (2) the sociolinguistic or psycholinguistic focus of the papers in relation to the European country, and (3) the characteristics of the bi-multilingual education programme including IM languages. The results indicate that: (1) the demographic characteristics of the country are not strictly related to the number of studies published, (2) most studies have a sociolinguistic approach even though many studies analyse both sociolinguistic and psycholinguistic factors, and (3) only seven multilingual education programmes including IM languages were described in these papers. We conclude that there is a lack of research focusing on IM languages in educational settings and discuss how addressing these gaps could create opportunities for building equitable multilingual communities in Europe.

This paper presents and discusses the results of a study which investigated the needs, attitudes and beliefs of foreign language teachers of refugees in Greece and other countries of Europe. The research which was conducted in two phases, with the one being the pilot phase, involved approximately 120 teachers who commented on the difficulties that they face in contexts with students from refugee and migrant backgrounds. Students' trauma experiences, lack of schooling experience, behavioral problems, lack of specially designed materials catering for the needs of refugees, and of course the language barrier, were among the most frequently claimed problems. The paper ends with some empirically derived suggestions on how teachers could deal with the challenges related to this new reality.

This paper considers recent evidence on autism education in Greece in order to shed light on current developments and attitudes. Given the increase in relevant research in the country, a scoping review to identify topics that have been explored so far and propose areas for future research and implications for practice is timely and necessary. Peer-reviewed papers published between 2000 and 2019 were identified via electronic databases and their main themes were analysed. Themes related to autistic individual (i.e. the voice of autistic individuals and intervention studies), the family around them (i.e. the role of family and stigma), the role of teachers (i.e. teacher training and teacher stress levels) and the wider society (i.e. parent-teacher collaboration, the medical/deficit model of disability and inclusion) emerged from the review. The above themes are discussed in the light of the cultural characteristics of Greece and the recent economic crisis the country underwent as well as similar findings from other European countries.

Museums seek to be places for democratization, inclusion and polyphony. In this paper we present the multimodal conversations of the participating adolescents in the course of a museum pedagogical program in the Museum of Contemporary Art of Crete. The program's topic is Europe and the concept of European identity. Firstly, we prepare the ground through creating an environment of safety and confidence, and next, together with our groups we study the selected artworks, following the routines of 'Artful Thinking', which propose the development of critical thinking through specific questions. This process reinforces reflective thinking and skills of participating in a dialogue. Our aim is to describe and share how a museum through its collections and programs can constitute a space where democratic dialogue and healthy debate are cultivated. In this space, everybody is invited to participate in inquiring, reflecting on self, answering, sharing, with and through the art.

This paper is concerned with multimodal literacy involving the different kinds of knowledge required to fully access texts with multiple semiotic resources used in reading comprehension test tasks. Such literacy requirements have not drawn researchers' attention to date, mainly because the foreign language teaching and testing project has primarily focussed on the verbal features of reading comprehension texts. Drawing on data from the Greek National Foreign Language Exams (known with the acronym KPG) -- one of the few high-stakes examination systems which use multimodal reading comprehension texts -- the paper approaches reading comprehension as a meaning-making process highly dependent on both image and language used in test tasks and the relations between them (i.e. "intersemiosis"). Working mainly within the framework of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), this study has attempted a systematic description of the visual and intersemiotic literacy indicators of 86 multimodal media texts used in KPG reading comprehension test tasks. For the SFL-oriented multimodal discourse analysis, Tan et al.'s categories of system choices suggested for the analysis of different types of multimodal media texts, and the Multimodal Analysis Image (MMA) interactive software program were used.

Children from Roma communities are consistently among the lowest academic achievers in many European countries and this holds true in Greece. In Greek schools, Roma students experience high dropout rates and low performance compared to their non-Roma peers. Moreover, in Greece, as elsewhere, Roma experience wide-spread discrimination. Drawing on a set of in-depth interviews with 20 Greek Roma who have entered higher education, this paper examines how these participants account for their educational success. In particular, this article analyses the influence of 'community factors' on the participants' academic progression. This article highlights aspects of the Greek case of Roma's educational success that may contribute towards addressing aspects related to Roma's educational exclusion and promoting educational progression in the European context more widely.

This paper aims to present research on measuring competences for democratic culture. It describes the development of a multiple-item scale that measures competences in teaching democratic citizenship and human rights through religious education. A principal component analysis based on the 135 items of the Council of Europe's Reference framework of competences for democratic culture was carried out in two phases, in order to construct and refine the scale. The result was a 52-item scale divided into six components. This was tested for its reliability, factor structure and validity; firstly on a sample of 123, and secondly on a sample of 403 secondary RE teachers (2018-19). The research scrutinises the concept of democratic competences as being the ability to mobilise and deploy relevant values, attitudes, skills, knowledge and/or understanding. It concludes that these competences are more complex structures than has been assumed.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review the use of "competence" as a concept and through the use of occupational competence standards in six European countries. Design/methodology/approach: Partners in an Erasmus+ project in each of the six countries prepared a review of the use of "competence" in their countries using a common template. The authors of this paper reviewed additional literature, summarised the individual country reviews and provided an analysis and commentary. Findings: "Competence" is becoming a widely used concept across Europe, but its interpretation and application both vary. Between them, the countries in the study illustrate the use of separate occupational standards, both as a national strategy and developed by self-governing professions; as well as competence embedded directly in qualification and training specifications. The use of separate standards as a mandatory component in national vocational education and training systems is questioned, while the use of appropriate standards for licensing and qualified status is largely endorsed. Research limitations/implications: The country reviews were conducted principally from the perspective of informing the developments taking place in the project, so were not comprehensive and also differed in emphasis between countries. Practical implications: The study points to the need to avoid promoting any particular model of occupational competence at a European level, as opposed to seeking common ground that will aid mutual recognition of qualifications. It also cautions against the uncritical transfer of models and policies from one national system to another. Originality/value: The paper provides additional evidence against "policy borrowing" without careful consideration of context, and contrasts the use of competence standards as part of a system-wide strategy with their tailored application for specific purposes.

This paper reports on an investigation examining provision of physical education continuing professional development (CPD) in European countries undertaken to identify the types of practices being employed. We begin by providing a brief overview of what we currently know about CPD internationally in general education and physical education. Data are reported to reflect Parker and Patton's (2017) key characteristics of CPD that highlight effective CPD, summarise current trends and issues in physical education, and are intended to serve as a guide to how teachers learn and how they might be better served in that learning in these European countries. Studying current practices in CPD provision identified in this study provided modest insight to inform teacher education programmes and CPD providers on the current status of physical education CPD currently being employed in Europe. We propose these findings might inform international and comparative education with respect to CPD and set the foundation for physical education colleagues in Europe to develop a CPD network where endeavours such as sharing of CPD practices, engaging in discussion of those practices, and the design of collaborative research on such CPD practices are based.

This article presents results from an extensive systematic and meta-analytical review of the effectiveness of school-based bullying prevention programs. Its main aim is to explore the results of this meta-analysis specifically in regard to variations in the effectiveness of school-bullying programs globally and the effectiveness of specific anti-bullying programs. Our meta-analysis included 100 independent evaluations, and found that, overall, programs were effective in reducing school-bullying perpetration and victimization. In the present paper, we focused on 12 countries (e.g., Italy, Norway, USA, UK), three regions (i.e., Europe, North America, and Scandinavia) and four anti-bullying programs (i.e., KiVa, NoTrap!, OBPP, and ViSC) with multiple evaluations. Our results showed that anti-bullying programs evaluated in Greece were the most effective in reducing bullying perpetration, followed by Spain and Norway. Anti-bullying programs evaluated in Italy were the most effective in reducing bullying victimization, followed by Spain and Norway. Evaluations conducted in North America were the most effective in reducing bullying perpetration, and evaluations conducted in Scandinavia were the most effective in reducing bullying victimization. Evaluations of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program produced the largest effect sizes for bullying perpetration outcomes, but the NoTrap! Program was the most effective in reducing bullying victimization. We also systematically review the core components of the intervention programs and make recommendations for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers.

This study presents an update of forensic accounting of the numbers and demographics of migrants found deceased in the Evros region of Greece in the years from 2015–22. Compared to data from 2000–14, this update reflects the mounting number of border‐related deaths in the region, as well as the changing demographic trends associated with the migrants who perish crossing the Greek‐Turkish border. Specifically, the paper documents a broadening of locations from which migrants originate, the increasing diversity of migrant death locations, and a shift in the leading causes of death. It contains important forensic accounting of the unique humanitarian crisis occurring along the Greek‐Turkish land border while also providing an additional context for the global migration crisis. The data presented here offer insights into other forensic stakeholders impacted by the global migration crisis, with respect to what factors contribute to and detract from identification rates, and can help stakeholders make informed policy decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Cuadernos Europeos de Deusto is the property of Universidad de Deusto and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The slogan that prefaces the paper provides the theoretical caveat for the tensions, limitations, and contradictions of academic discourses in conjuring the daily realities of the era of the ‘refugee crisis' in Greece. This paper has the form of a dialogue between a sociologist and photographer (Myrto) and a political theorist and activist (Anna) who investigate different forms of the ways the ‘refugee crisis' is changing the socio-political landscapes in Greece. The multiple aspects of our identities provide valuable tools with which we unpack the multiple and contradictory narratives of researching, learning, and disseminating in the current milieu. In particular, we are interested in the ways we shape knowledge and the tension between the epistemological and the ontological ways of knowing. In other words, by moving from theory to praxis and back, we are attempting to reconcile the problem of knowing and the problem of being part of a specific crisis milieu. For example, how can we use crisis as a research methodology? What can we learn from the ongoing ‘refugee crisis' in relation to issues of citizenship, belonging, and the future of the European project? Furthermore, the paper attempts to transcend discursive borders between social sciences and the humanities by analysing the deeply performative, situated and embodied practices of doing research in moments of crisis. For example, how to navigate multiple, and at times contradictory, aspects of one’s identity without returning to outmoded discourses of positivism and objectivity? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we analyse discourses about Europe in Greek debates about immigration and citizenship and highlight the complexities of 'Europeanness' as a symbolic resource for argumentation in these debates. Our data consist of lay discourses from 2 rounds of online public deliberation (2009-2010 and 2015) about a controversial new citizenship law in Greece. Our analysis shows that Europe is an ambivalent category. On the one hand, Europe symbolises progress, but, on the other hand, it is also constructed in terms of decline and 'contamination' by multiculturalism. Further, our analysis shows that the category of Europe can be mobilised in contradictory ways, in order to support arguments for and against citizenship rights for migrants. The paper concludes with a discussion of the ways in which constructions of Europe are implicated in processes of othering and inclusion in the context of current immigration debates. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Can the rise of wealth–income ratios observed in rich economies be found in the case of Greece as well? This paper uses a generalization of a two‐good wealth accumulation equation to estimate the evolution of the national wealth–income ratio, and finds that, similarly to the European evidence, the ratio rises from about 280 percent in the 1970s to about 500 percent on the eve of the current financial crisis. On average, during 1974–96, the saving‐induced wealth growth cancels out the capital losses, whereas in the subsequent decade, 1997–2007, the balance changes considerably when the saving effect vanishes and the prolonged capital gains result in a rising wealth–income ratio. During the recession, income falls faster than wealth. The results remain robust to several alterations of the benchmark framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economic crisis signifies a turning point for Greek national self-image. The present paper explores the ideological function of interpretative repertoires in relation to the reproduction and contestation of national identity. We focus on two basic repertoires: a victimizing and a self-blaming one. Even though connotations of victimhood are not homogenous, its association with an external enemy is very popular. This paper demonstrates that discourses of victimization are not unambiguous and solidified; they interact with self-blaming discursive patterns, thus leading to hybrid perceptions of the national self-image that are adjusted to particular political actors’ strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The expansion of urban ecosystems and climate change, both outcomes of massive lifestyle changes, contribute to a series of side effects such as environmental deterioration, spread of diseases, increased greenhouse gas emissions and introduction of invasive species. In the case of the Athens metropolitan area, an invasive mosquito species—the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus)–has spread widely in the last decade. This spread is favoured within urban environments and is also affected by changing climatic trends. The Asian tiger mosquito is accompanied by risks of mosquito-borne diseases, greater nuisance levels, and increased expenses incurring for its confrontation. The main aims of this paper are (i) to estimate the various costs associated with their control of this invasive species, as well as its health and nuisance impacts, (ii) to evaluate the level of citizens’ well-being from averting these impacts and (iii) to record citizens’ and experts’ perceptions regarding alternative control measures. Evidence shows that experts tend to place a high value on mosquito control when associated with serious health risks, while citizens are more sensitive and concerned about the environmental impacts of control methods. The synthesis of results produced by the current study could act as a preliminary guide for the estimation of societal welfare from the confrontation of similar problems in the context of a complex ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: As the burden of migration to Europe increases, Greece is in a critical geographical crossroad and despite its longstanding financial troubles, is now mapping new paths for coping with modern immigration influx via adhering to improved social status of refugees and migrants. In terms of access to health services by refugees and immigrants in Greece, it should be noted that the institutional framework concerning access has been relatively restricted until recently. Aim: The main objective of this paper is to explore factors associated with nursing and contemporary migration and also to present an overview of the European and Greek policies and initiatives to protect migrants' health. Method: A critical literature search was performed, seeking key material and benchmark policy statements exploring and explaining the complexities and the challenges associated with migration per se and the impact on people's health. Findings-Discussion: Findings are grouped and discussed further under five pillars, i.e.: Immigration in Europe in Recent Years, Configuring Europe's migration policy to address first migration rates, How is Europe securing migrant's health, Health care provision and utilization for migrants in Europe and Health care provision and utilization for migrants in Greece. Overall, it can be argued that the refugee crisis had a major impact on the Greek NHS and that the influx of forcibly displaced people raised critical issues concerned health care provision including services for mental comorbidities and psychosocial support. Yet, efforts are made to adjust policy and practice in the light of meeting health needs for migrants despite economic limitations, which are affecting both locals and refugees alike. Conclusions: Nursing, in this turbulent health provision environment is expected to provide health interventions addressed to migrants. As the spectrum of migration into Europe continues due to various political, social and financial complexities, the need for societal responses including appropriate policy implementation and relevant nursing education is essential. Thus, migration will continue to pose challenges to society and to health in Greece and beyond. Only through continuous attentiveness will it be possible to identify, and then avoid or reduce health disadvantages faced by persons with a migration background. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background This paper provides the socio-economic context of the MIGHEAL study, the results of which are presented in this special issue. The aim of the MIGHEAL study was to compare the physical and mental health of the native and migrant populations of Greece in the wake of the economic crisis that commenced in 2008. Methods The background of the migrant population of Greece is described, drawing on population censuses of Greece and data on residence permits held by foreigners. Then the migrant and native populations are compared with respect to several socio-economic outcomes, using Eurostat data on unemployment and the risk of poverty. Results The settled migrant population of Greece is largely of Central and Eastern European origin, resulting from the massive migrant inflowsthat started at the beginning of the 1990s after the collapse of socialist regimes in the area. Before the economic crisis, migrant unemployment was lower than that of natives, but after its onset, the unemployment of migrants surpassed that of natives. Prior to the crisis, migrants were already subject to greater risk of poverty than natives, but the gap widened considerably subsequent to the crisis. Conclusion The Greek institutional framework has restricted access to citizenship for both first- and second-generation migrants while conditions for permit renewal are onerous, rendering citizenship an important factor differentiating socio-economic outcomes. The different outcomes observed among the native and migrant populations after the onset of the Greek economic crisis create concerns regarding health inequalities between the two populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Since the outbreak of the crisis in Southern Europe, young highly educated Italians, Spaniards, Portuguese and Greeks have been taking their talents and expertise to other countries in search of a better quality of life and career prospects. This paper explores the characteristics of these new emigrants, the reasons for which they are leaving, and whether these reasons are shaped by the economic crisis, by pre-crisis grievances, or by other factors. We analyse original data from 6377 questionnaires collected in 4 countries through an e-survey we ran in 2013. We refer to the existing literature on the drivers of highly skilled emigration and the (un)employment situation in the four aforementioned Southern European countries which have been hardest hit by the economic crisis. We suggest that while gender is not important, age, marital status, education and satisfaction with current employment (both income related and with regard to future prospects) are important factors predicting emigration. Non-economic factors, notably career opportunities, quality of life and future prospects supersede all other considerations in the decision to emigrate for these highly educated Europeans. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Rostrum of Asclepius / Vima tou Asklipiou is the property of Technological Educational Institute of Athens and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In the context of a cross-national economic crisis, questions about democratic legitimacy are again topical. We explore the question of democratic legitimacy in Portugal and Greece by employing the conceptual differentiation between diffuse and specific regime support. Our findings indicate that while specific support has fallen in both countries, only Greece has experienced a precipitous fall in diffuse support, suggesting a link between regime performance and support for democracy. Individual-level analyses do not reveal any clear patterns concerning the impact of long-term societal factors or short-term economic considerations. Due to data quality limitations the paper has a predominately exploratory nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Europe has a long history of non-native species introductions given its central role in global trade in recent centuries. Currently, approximately two hundred cerambycid species have been found in Europe, as the result of introductions between and within biogeographical regions; still, despite better monitoring and stronger restrictions, the arrivals and spread of non-native Cerambycidae continue. New information: The aim of this contribution is to report and discuss the first European records of the nonnative longhorn beetle Olenecamptus bilobus (Fabricius, 1801) on the basis of three specimens recorded almost simultaneously in Spain and Greece, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lithic artifacts were still in use in Bronze Age Europe, in spite of the emergence of a new technology, namely metallurgy, during this period. In fact, stone technology continued to be used everywhere until at least the end of the Early Bronze Age, and even until the end of the Late Bronze Age in specific areas. This is especially true for Greece where lithic raw material and/or tool networks were still operating during the whole Bronze Age. During the Middle Bronze Age in mainland Greece, obsidian and high-quality chert were still widely used, especially in settlements. This raises the question of the necessity of the use of obsidian instead of a stronger or more versatile material (chert or metal). Why was volcanic glass, which required considerable investment in terms of know-how and long-distance transportation, still used in spite of the technological context (where metallurgy was already developed)? The purpose of this paper is to contribute to this debate through the use-wear analysis of obsidian tools. Artifacts from settlement levels of the Middle Helladic site of Kirrha (Phocis, Greece) have been examined. In this domestic-use context, bronze and chert were also found. The main results of this study show an exclusive form and use of obsidian: bladelets were used for cutting soft and siliceous plant matter, with the exception of Graminae harvesting activity. These results point to the specialization of the lithic industry in terms of raw materials, where sharp obsidian artefacts were employed for cutting of soft and flexible materials, depending on the relative brittleness of the rock, at least at Kirrha. Thus, among the numerous propositions concerning continued obsidian circulation during the entire Bronze Age, a functional use (at least) could be proven, if this observation is also made elsewhere in Greece. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The technological systems and subsistence strategies of Middle Pleistocene hominins in South-East Europe are insufficiently understood due to the scarcity of well-preserved, excavated assemblages. In this paper, we present first results from the study of the lithic and bone artifacts unearthed at the Lower Palaeolithic site Marathousa 1 (MAR-1), Megalopolis, Greece. The context of the site represents a depositional environment close to a lakeshore, where rapid burial in a very fine-grained matrix ensured extraordinary conditions for preservation. Lithic artifacts occur in spatial and stratigraphic association with remains of the elephant Palaeoloxodon antiquus as well as other mammals. Bones, including those of elephants, show clear anthropogenic flaking scars, cut-marks and fracture patterns indicating deliberate breakage and modification by early humans. The MAR-1 lithic assemblage is composed of small-sized debitage, retouched tools, a few small and exhausted cores, as well as a large number of debris and retouch products, such as chips and resharpening flakes. Currently, there are no indications of Acheulean bifacial debitage, large cutting tools are missing, and a key aspect of the material refers to its 'microlithic' character. The scarcity of cores and primary flakes indicates a fragmented reduction sequence and complex discard patterns that require further investigation. On the basis of the on-going analysis of lithic material from three field seasons, we discuss aspects of assemblage composition and the role of raw material types, the main technological and typological traits of the industry, as well as the potential contribution of the MAR-1 assemblage in broader discussions about Middle Pleistocene lithic techno-complexes and subsistence strategies in Eurasia. Finally, we briefly present a small sample of bone artifacts, which suggest that hominin exploitation of the animal carcasses was not restricted to marrow extraction and bone processing for nutritional needs, but included also the knapping of bones, potentially with the aim of using the knapped products as tools. The MAR-1 archaeological record compares well with other important Eurasian sites yielding 'small tool assemblages', such as Ficoncella, La Polledrara, Bilzingsleben, Schöningen and Vértesszőlős, some of which, like MAR-1, have provided evidence of elephant or other mega-fauna exploitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The PaGE Project survey of the Megalopolis Basin (Arcadia, Greece), conducted in 2012–2013 over a period of two field seasons, was an intensive, target-oriented surface survey of Pleistocene sediments. Implementing a modified version of field methods applied in our survey of cave systems and Pleistocene cave sediments, the main goal of this systematic research focused on the identification of intact stratified remains from either stratigraphic sections or on remnants of exposed ancient surfaces. The project area consisted of the active open-cast lignite mine of Megalopolis, where access to recently exposed sections were abundant, and of the alluvial fans in the surrounding uplands, where hominins exploited the commanding views of the ancient lake. This paper presents the survey results and applied field methods for conducting archaeological research within the remnants of an Early to Middle Pleistocene ancient lake system. The project succeeded in identifying at least five surface and stratified sites, the latter including the Lower Paleolithic remains of Marathousa-1. This site is currently under investigation, but has already yielded the oldest chronometrically dated archaeological remains in Greece. Therefore, PaGE has not only managed to place mainland Greece on the Lower Paleolithic map of Europe, but has also successfully tested a methodological corpus for survey research targeting the earliest phases of the Paleolithic period in a Mediterranean landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The databases of children's anthropometric parameters are often outdated, rarely representative and are not always available at an international level. Objectives: To present children's anthropometric parameters in six European countries that contributed to the Feel4Diabetes project and find country-specific differences. Design/Setting: The Feel4Diabetes study was performed between 2016 and 2018, targeting children in Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, Greece, Hungary and Spain. The current study presents data from the baseline and the yearly follow-up anthropometric measurements. Subjects: In total, 20,832 measurements of children (48.7% boys) between 6 and 10 years of age were conducted. Main outcome measure: weight, height, BMI. Results: Belgian boys had the lowest body weight and height, while Greek boys had the highest body weight, and Finnish had the highest body height. The highest proportion of overweight (percentile above 85%) and obese boys (percentile above 95%) was in Greece, followed by Hungarian, Spanish, Bulgarian and Finnish boys. In contrast, Belgian boys had the lowest ratio in both categories. Among girls, Greece had the highest; Belgium had the lowest body weight; Finland was the highest in all age categories. The ratio in the overweight range was the highest in Greece, followed by Spanish, Bulgarian and Hungarian girls, who were second in the obese category. Finnish girls had lower and Belgian girls had the lowest ratio in both BMI categories. All the detailed data are presented in tables, and the trends are figures. Conclusions: Our study presents fresh and comparable anthropometric data of children between 6 and 10 years of age in six European countries, supporting the need for appropriate obesity prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Interscientific Health Care is the property of University of Thessaly, Medical School / Technological Education Institute, Nursing Department and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article analyses the impact of the ongoing economic crisis on Greek urban economies. Utilizing a dataset of socio-economic, demographic and policy variables at the municipal level and applying spatial econometric techniques, it provides strong statistical evidence of heterogeneous effects on regional-municipal labour markets and welfare with the cities/municipalities that performed best in the pre-crisis period suffering more than the lagging municipalities and with urban agglomerations more vulnerable to crisis, thus questioning the length of bottoming. However, exogenously set variables, tourism and policy related, the inherent features of urban economies, such as the specialization of industry, and their inter-linkages with their peri-rural municipalities, act as stabilizers that ease the crisis effects and may support recovery. Fiscal policy has been cyclical to the economic downturn. The findings have substantial policy implications for crisis management, recovery policy measures and the country's cohesion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although migration has always been a timeless and volatile phenomenon, modern transnational movements of people have become a dominant topic of interest by constantly acquiring new characteristics that modify their evolutionary process. Europe is a geographical area that has been significantly affected by recent changes as a result of the evolution of migration flows of the last 30 years. The urgent need to initially understand and later implement evidence-based policies in order to sufficiently manage the migration phenomenon can be considered as the basic spark that led to the scientific blast of the 21st century, focusing on the gradual development of migration studies. One of the most notable efforts of the scientific community was the use of the comparison method to examine, understand, and in some cases even forecast the characteristics of specific migration case studies, thereby forming the backbone of comparative migration research in general. Greece, due to its geographical position, has been unintentionally positioned, many times, inside the so called "ring of fire", as result of multiple factors and disastrous events that evolved mainly in its neighbouring countries, forcing massive, irregular migration flows to its external borders. The outbreak of the Albanian exodus in the early 1990s and the recent refugee flows of 2015 can be described as two major migration crises that have occurred in Greek's contemporary history, making their comparison a fruitful example of the potential capabilities of the above-mentioned method, contributing to a holistic study of the migration phenomenon in Greece. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To determine the spread of ESBLs and carbapenemases in Enterobacterales and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Europe.Methods: 45 335 Gram-negative bacilli were collected in 18 European countries as part of the International Network for Optimal Resistance Monitoring (INFORM) global surveillance programme from 2013 to 2017. Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined using broth microdilution, and 9546 isolates were screened for β-lactamase genes by PCR and sequencing.Results: ESBLs were identified in 35.5% of Klebsiella pneumoniae and 18.5% of Escherichia coli. ESBL carriage was lowest among isolates in Northern/Western Europe and highest in Eastern Europe. CTX-M-15 was the dominant ESBL in all countries except Greece, where SHV-type ESBLs were more common. Carbapenemases (KPC, OXA-48-like, GES, NDM and VIM) were found in 3.4% of Enterobacterales and were most common among K. pneumoniae (10.5% of those collected). Carbapenemase carriage was lowest in Northern/Western and highest in Southern Europe. KPC-positive Enterobacterales were most abundant but the percentages of OXA-48-like-, NDM- and VIM-positive isolates increased over time and were correlated with an increase in meropenem non-susceptibility. Carbapenemases (VIM, IMP, NDM and GES) were also identified in 5.1% of P. aeruginosa and were commonly found in Eastern Europe. Carbapenemase carriage and meropenem non-susceptibility among P. aeruginosa fluctuated over the 5 years studied and were not well correlated.Conclusions: ESBL and carbapenemase carriage varied by species and European subregion. Meropenem non-susceptibility in European isolates of Enterobacterales can be attributed to carbapenemase carriage and is increasingly caused by MBLs and OXA-48-like carbapenemases. Carbapenemases or other β-lactamases are not a common cause of meropenem non-susceptibility in P. aeruginosa in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We here describe new remains of amphibians and reptiles from the early Miocene (MN 4) of two different Greek localities, Aliveri and Karydia. The newly described material consists of urodelans, alytids, indeterminate anurans, turtles, crocodylians, lacertids, indeterminate scincomorphs, anguids, colubrids, viperids, and indeterminate snakes. The presence of the frog Latonia cf. gigantea in Greece is documented for the first time. Additionally, the presence of viperids in Aliveri implies a much wider distribution for these snakes during the early Miocene of Europe. Of special interest is the presence of a peculiar colubrid that seems to possess a hitherto unknown vertebral structure, which is herein defined as the 'paracentral ridge'. Although incomplete, the new material has important taxonomic and biogeographic implications, as it enhances our understanding of southeastern European herpetofaunas from the early Miocene, a time period that was characterised by major dispersal and extinction events and climatic change that affected the whole continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both close inbreeding and distant outbreeding may reduce fitness below the level of individuals with intermediate parental relatedness. In the haplodiploid plant-inhabiting predatory mite Phytoseiulus persimilis, which is patchily distributed within and among host plants, fitness is indeed reduced in the short term, i.e. by a single generation of inbreeding. However, in the medium to long term (multiple generations), distant out-breeding should provide for favorable demographic founder effects in isolated populations. We tested this prediction in isolated experimental lineages founded by females mated to a sibling (close inbreeding), a male from the same population (intermediate relatedness) or a male from another population (distant outbreeding) and monitored lineage growth and persistence over four generations. Cross-generationally, lineages founded by distantly outbred females performed the best, i.e. produced the most descendants. However, this was solely due to superior performance from the F2 generation onwards, whereas in the F1 generation, lineages founded by females mated to males from their own population (intermediate relatedness) performed the best, as predicted from short-term in- and out-breeding depression effects. At the genetic level, this result was most likely due to distantly outbred founders introducing higher allelic variability and lower homozygosity levels, counterbalancing inbreeding depression, which inevitably occurs in isolated lineages, from the F2 generation onwards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous research has focussed on individual-level determinants of nursing home admission (NHA), although substantial variation in the prevalence of NHA between European countries suggests a substantial impact of country of residence. The aim of this analysis was to assess individual-level determinants and the role of country of residence and specifically a country`s public institutional long-term care infrastructure on proxy-reported NHA in the last year of life. Methods: We analysed data from 7,018 deceased respondents (65+) of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (2004–2015, 16 countries) using Bayesian hierarchical logistic regression analysis in order to model proxy-reported NHA. Results: In total, 14% of the general older population utilised nursing home care in the last year of life but there was substantial variation across countries (range = 2–30%). On the individual-level, need factors such as functional and cognitive impairment were the strongest predictors of NHA. In total, 18% of the variance of NHA was located at the country-level; public expenditure on institutional care strongly affected the chance of NHA in the last year of life. Conclusion: On the individual-level, the strong impact of need factors indicated equitable access to NHA, whereas differences in public spending for institutional care indicated inequitable access across European countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This introduction summarizes and discusses the main findings of the supplement 'Health in crises. Migration, austerity and inequalities in Greece and Europe' to the European Journal of Public Health. The supplement applies data from the ESS (2014) health module in combination with the MIGHEAL study, which is a new source of data on the Greek population specially designed to examine health inequalities among and between migrants and natives. This has enabled the authors of the nine articles that constitute this supplement to address several pressing issues about the distribution of health and its determinants in Greece and other European countries. The main finding of the present supplement is the exceptionally high rates of reported depressive symptoms across the whole population residing in Greece and particularly among women. Levels of unmet need for healthcare were also found to be alarmingly high in Greece compared with other European countries, suggesting that the crisis and subsequent austerity policies may have impacted the provision of healthcare services and access to healthcare for broad sections of the population, whether native or migrant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the MIGHEAL study, which was developed in parallel with the European Social Survey (ESS) Round 7 (2014). Conducted in Greece in 2016 by the National Centre for Social Research, the study was specifically designed to further our understanding of how health varies by social status, focusing particularly on migrant status. In the current article, we report results on health status (non-communicable diseases, self-reported health and depressive symptoms) and health determinants (risky health behaviours, social determinants and access to health care) in Greece, among migrants and native-born. Estimates for the Greek overall population are compared with the European ones (using the ESS 2014 data) and discussed with reference to the ongoing economic and social crisis in Greece. The study provides evidence of social inequalities in health, complementing the pan-European documentation, and supports prior research, which has identified negative health consequences of the crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The activity of ceftazidime/avibactam was assessed against 24 750 isolates of Enterobacteriaceae collected from 96 medical centres in 18 European countries as part of the International Network for Optimal Resistance Monitoring (INFORM) global surveillance programme from 2012 to 2015. Activity was analysed against subsets of isolates based on resistant phenotypes and β-lactamase content.Methods: Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed using broth microdilution and the presence of β-lactamase genes in isolates of interest was determined using PCR and sequencing.Results: Ceftazidime/avibactam was the most active agent, compared with all other tested comparator agents, against the overall collection of Enterobacteriaceae isolates (99.4% susceptible) and against subsets of ceftazidime-non-susceptible (97.7% susceptible), colistin-resistant (98.2% susceptible), MDR (96.7% susceptible) and meropenem-non-susceptible, MBL-negative (98.5% susceptible) isolates. At the country level, susceptibility to ceftazidime/avibactam ranged from 96.3% to 100% among Enterobacteriaceae isolates, with decreased susceptibilities only observed in countries where MBLs were more frequently encountered (e.g. Greece and Romania). Ceftazidime/avibactam was active against 99.7% of Enterobacteriaceae isolates that carried serine β-lactamases, including ESBLs, AmpC cephalosporinases and carbapenemases (KPC, GES and OXA-48-like) in all combinations. As expected, ceftazidime/avibactam was not active against isolates carrying MBLs.Conclusions: The data show that ceftazidime/avibactam is highly potent in vitro against clinical isolates of Enterobacteriaceae collected in European countries, including isolates that exhibit resistance to ceftazidime, meropenem and colistin and combined resistance to agents from multiple drug classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The activity of ceftazidime/avibactam was assessed against 5716 Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates collected from 96 medical centres in 18 European countries as part of the International Network for Optimal Resistance Monitoring (INFORM) global surveillance programme from 2012 to 2015. Activity was analysed against subsets of isolates based on resistance phenotypes and β-lactamase content.Methods: Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed by broth microdilution and β-lactamase genes were detected by PCR screening and sequencing.Results: Ceftazidime/avibactam was highly active in vitro against the overall collection of P. aeruginosa isolates and colistin-resistant isolates (92.4% and 92.9% susceptible, respectively). Although activity was slightly reduced against MBL-negative subsets of ceftazidime-non-susceptible (79.6% susceptible), meropenem-non-susceptible (85.1% susceptible) and MDR (81.6% susceptible) P. aeruginosa, ceftazidime/avibactam remained the second most active entity, after colistin, compared with all other comparator agents tested. At the country level, susceptibility to ceftazidime/avibactam ranged from 74.6% to 99.6%, with decreased susceptibilities only observed in countries where MBLs are more frequently encountered, such as the Czech Republic, Greece, Romania and Russia. Ceftazidime/avibactam was also active in vitro against 87.6% of meropenem-non-susceptible isolates in which no acquired β-lactamases were detected by molecular methods; these isolates were assumed to hyperproduce the chromosomally encoded AmpC in combination with alterations in OprD or drug efflux. As expected, ceftazidime/avibactam was not active against isolates carrying MBLs.Conclusions: The data show that ceftazidime/avibactam is highly potent in vitro against clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa collected in European countries, including isolates that exhibit resistance to ceftazidime, meropenem and colistin and combined resistance to agents from multiple drug classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While states around the world have responded to mass mobility by increasing border policing, our knowledge of the daily reality of that form of policing remains limited. How migrant women are policed has been particularly neglected. The political and practical difficulty of examining the context, process and experience of border control practices appears often to be insurmountable. This article contributes to filling some of the gaps in our knowledge by drawing on ethnographic data collected over a 12-month period in Greek immigration detention centres from 2011 to 2012. In it we examine the experience of policing and irregular entry across the Greek Turkey border - an entry-point to Europe that is routinely regarded as being in crisis. As we will demonstrate, border policing at this site is capricious and unpredictable. It is also highly racialised and gendered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2015, the so-called refugee crisis has transformed 'humanitarianism' into a word devoid of meaning or value for European politics. By now, we all know there are numerous migrant populations in Europe living under inhuman conditions and denied their inalienable human rights; still, it seems futile to argue that equal value should be attached to all lives. Introducing care ethics into relief work calls to reflect upon humanitarianism differently, as a relationship between local communities, Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) workers and refugees that is embedded in space and time and might be allowed to have a future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Many would-be tourists were dissuaded from vacationing on Greece’s Aegean islands in 2016, in the aftermath of 2015’s ‘migrant crisis’. However, the islands witnessed an increased arrival of atypical ‘tourists’, among them volunteers intent on helping. This study is based on research undertaken on the islands of Lesvos and Chios in Greece as a volunteer myself. I focus on the figure of the volunteer, as an emergent humanitarian actor in border regions, to highlight issues with the way hospitality is currently being extended by one group of guests to another, at Europe’s frontiers. I investigate the way in which interactions between migrants and volunteers often end up reinforcing, rather than challenging, the distinction between them, and thus contribute to the legitimization of the current European border regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of the recent economic crisis and rising inequality, interest in the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) as a viable alternative economic model has gathered pace in Europe. This article, based on an innovative content analysis approach of organizations’ websites from the LIVEWHAT project, provides a snapshot of the SSE sectors’ main features in three European countries, namely Greece, Spain, and Switzerland, to understand how the SSE is practiced in varying contexts, uniquely affected by the current economic crisis, as well as within diverse SSE origins. The findings shed some light on distinct features and similarities indicating that the Swiss SSE sector, in line with its interrelations with the Swiss market economy, shows a greater degree of formalization and professionalization that defines its management structure, main activities, types of beneficiaries, goals, and means to achieve them. On the contrary, the relatively recent expansion of the Greek SSE sector is intertwined with the economic crisis, which has left a critical imprint on the SSE’s management structure, activities, aims, and means of accomplishing them. The Spanish SSE sector’s main features, on the other hand, lie in-between the Greek and the Swiss ones, providing an amalgam of various features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli National Park forms part of the Natura 2000 network in a region of Greece and represents one of the most diverse landscapes for raptors (birds of prey) breeding in Europe. It is adjacent to Bulgaria and Turkey and is a renowned biodiversity hotspot. WWF Greece established a Systematic Raptor Monitoring scheme in this area in 2001.This study summarises the results of the first 12 years of monitoring in the National Park. Overall, 25 to 27 raptor species were recorded by pooling data, of which20 species reproduced in the National Park. Raptors with continuous presence in the National Park exhibited stable, species-specific inter-annual variation. An average of 348±15.4 raptor territories were distributed throughout the National Park for all species. The Common buzzard (Buteo buteo) and the Shorttoed eagle (Circaetus gallicus) were the most common species year-round, followed by the Lesser-spotted eagle (Clanga pomarina) and Booted eagle (Aquila pennata). The Long-legged buzzard (Buteo rufinus), Honey buzzard (Pernis apivorus) and Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) exhibited a noticeable drop in population numbers over the study period. A significant new entry was the re-appearance of the Whitetailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla), which was recorded breeding again in the region after a 21-year absence. Species trends, along with their ecological traits, are discussed with respect to landscape changes in Dadia NP and minimum viable population and territory thresholds are proposed to outline essential conservation issues. Although a multi-year balance of the total number of occupied territories for all species was recorded, the number of common species increased compared to specialist species which had smaller, de-clining populations. The abandoning of traditional livestock farming, which induces an increase in closedcanopy forest coverage, might have led to the decline of the Lesser-spotted eagle, Long-legged buzzard and Honey buzzard numbers. Additional pressure is added from specialist forest dwelling raptors which are favoured by this change in habitat. The results of this study are expected to provide useful insights to facilitate conservation and management decisions about raptors and their habitat in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides a theoretical analysis of SME strategic postures and presents empirical evidence of strategic types of international SMEs across three European countries, namely Italy, Finland and Greece. Empirical investigation based on a sample of more than 550 international SMEs is performed through cluster analysis. Findings suggest there are four broad strategic types, namely, the entrepreneurial/growth oriented group of firms, a marketing/selling group of business, a cluster of firms which lack strategic orientation and strategy, and the cluster which focuses on innovation/technology and core manufacturing competencies. The taxonomy provides a description and an explanation of international strategic postures and the basis for theorizing on SMEs' international behavior and outcome consequences. Any programs - business and policy-wise - which aim to stimulate internationalization would benefit greatly from tailoring recommendations to the nature of the strategic types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The species Depressaria albarracinella Corley, sp. n., Agonopterix carduncelli Corley, sp. n. and Agonopterix pseudoferulae Buchner & Junnilainen, sp. n. and the subspecies Depressaria saharae Gastón & Vives ssp. tabelli Buchner, ssp. n. are described. Depressaria albarracinella was first found in Spain in 1969 and recognised as apparently new but the specimens in NHMUK have remained undescribed. Additional Spanish material has been located in ZMUC and other collections and three specimens have been found from Greece. Agonopterix carduncelli. A single male of an unidentified Agonopterix of the pallorella group was found in Algarve, Portugal in 2010. A search for larvae in March 2011 was successful and one male and one female were reared from Carthamus caeruleus. Additional specimens of the new species have been located in collections from Spain, Greece and Morocco. Agonopterix pseudoferulae. A specimen from Greece with the name Agonopterix ferulae (Zeller, 1847) found in the Klimesch collection in ZSM had forewing markings which suggested that it might be a different species. Further specimens from Italy and Greece have been examined, among them two reared from Elaeoselinum asclepium (Apiaceae). Both genitalia and barcode show that this is an undescribed species. Depressaria saharae Gastón & Vives, 2017 was described very recently (Gastón and Vives 2017) from northern Spain with a brief description, and figures of two males and male genitalia. Here the new species is redescribed, and additional data on distribution and relationships of the new species added. The opportunity is also taken to show that Canary Islands specimens with the same male genitalia should be treated as a new subspecies D. saharae ssp. tabelli Buchner, ssp. n. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]