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In this paper, we examine how bordered reality is being imposed and resisted in the context of where we are placed right now, 'Greece'. Drawing on ethnographic research and discourse analysis, conducted in Lesvos, Samos, and Athens (from March to September 2016), we examine how resistance to a bordered reality took place, as islands in the north Aegean, as well as Greek and European territories, were being remapped according to the logic of the hotspot. We approach this process methodologically from the situated angle of the embodiment of resistance in the concrete experiences of people (including the researchers ourselves), whose narratives reveal the distracted spatial coordinates of the 'hotspot regime', which becomes a traveling control device. Rather than approaching the hotspots on the five Greek border islands as geographically fixed entities we introduce the concept of the mobile hotspot to show how the logic of the hotspot suffuses the uneven geographies of a bordered reality. We use the ferry as an illustrative tool with which to critically explore the density, tensions, and conflict-ridden nature of movements within, around, and against the hotspots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on ethnographic research with children in Athens, the authors examine sensual, performative and embodied aspects of children's photographic representations of a monument that is central in the Greek national, cultural and historical discourse, the Acropolis. Moving away from the hermeneutics of cultural domination, the focus of this article is on how the pictures depicted the monument and how they were used by the children. Assuming an analytical framework which incorporates aspects of sensual experience in the analysis of the photography, the authors discuss how the children's pictures of the Acropolis not only make visual records of the monument, and thus are not simply visual evidence of the centrality of the mainstream Greek national and historical discourse, but also how they entail the children's embodied relation to it, and what this relation might tell us about childhood expressions of heritage and belonging, and by extension about politics in childhood. The analytical focus on embodied aspects of children's photography illuminates complexities of cultural representation and their gestural, discursive and political significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is located within attempts to debate the contested notion of community and its relevance to diasporic/migrant communities. In particular, this paper furthers such debates by exploring how those in diaspora negotiate the politics of identity, belonging, and unity within their daily lives. It stresses the importance of considering diasporic communities as fluid, positioned, and symbolic, in which negotiations of identity are actively carried out. In the process, it considers not only the importance of community as a unifying space, but also its potential for tensions and constructions of difference. It does this using an in-depth qualitative case study of diasporic Palestinians living in Athens, Greece. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this paper is to investigate whether immersive virtual reality is suitable for learning about archaeology and the past in cultural heritage settings. To that end it presents the conclusions related to learning from the visitors' survey undertaken in 2007 by the Museology Laboratory of the University of the Aegean at the Hellenic Cosmos (the exhibition centre of the Foundation of the Hellenic World) in Athens, and contrasts these with other similar studies. This project was aimed at comparing the learning outcomes, perception and use by audiences of two different virtual reality systems and a related exhibition. It included qualitative and quantitative analysis of the data gathered through in situ observations, interviews with museum educators and face-to-face questionnaires with visitors. The results confirmed that, as previous studies have shown, virtual reality systems allow a different kind of learning, but also questioned the common believe about their advantage for children in comparison with other interpretation methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Overweight and obesity are important public health priorities. Mindful eating can contribute in preventing automatic eating behavior and emotional dysregulation, both being primary causes of overeating and negative body image. This research outlines an eight-week mindful eating intervention (i.e., project EATT) focusing on people with overweight or obesity in assisting positive behavioral, psychological and physiological change. Methods: Fifty-seven people residing in Athens were recruited to participate in this research, where participants were allocated to either an experimental or a waitlist condition. Changes in body weight, and eating attitude, mindfulness, self-compassion, anxiety questionnaires were administered at baseline and post-intervention, and at a 14-month follow-up. Results: Results indicated that mindfulness and self-compassion increased significantly, while anxiety symptoms decreased. Significance was also observed in reduction of overeating symptoms and oral control. While a negative relationship was observed between anxiety and mindfulness, and anxiety and self-compassion, self-compassion was negatively associated with overeating episodes. Conclusions: The intervention improved participants' relationship with food and enabled changes towards successful weight regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the relation between assertiveness and parental behavior as perceived by young adults through parental acceptance-rejection and behavioral and psychological control. Αssertiveness is a mode of personal behavior and communication characterized by willingness to stand up for one's own needs and interests in an open and direct way. Inappropriate parenting may be associated with assertiveness difficulties and as evidence-based findings from many surveys have shown that assertive skills can be improved, it seems to be of great importance to examine the relation between assertiveness and parental rejection along with lack of support, and vice versa. In this study, assertiveness was investigated using the Rathus Assertiveness Schedule and parental behavior was studied using the Adult Parental Acceptance-Rejection/Control Questionnaire. Psychosocial personality traits and psychological control were assessed through the Adult Personality Assessment Questionnaire and the Psychological Control Scale, respectively. The sample consisted of 1,117 university students from Greek universities in Athens, Greece, and in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H). For all measures and their psychometric structure, factor equivalence for the two countries was verified through congruence coefficients and through confirmatory factor analyses. Findings showed that in respect to the Greek sample (but not the B&H sample), assertive-behavior skills are more common among men than women. Assertiveness for all participants is correlated with maternal psychological control and paternal acceptance and also with self-evaluation and worldview. Apparently, maternal psychological control and paternal acceptance-rejection seemed to be associated with young adults' levels of assertiveness to a greater degree than with the other parental behavior parameters assessed in the present research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The measurement of victimisation was rare and sporadic in Greece until 2005 when it was included in the EU International Crime Survey (EUICS). Many findings are highly interesting as for example those concerning corruption. There are also high ratings of feeling unsafe among the inhabitants of Greece, in particular those in Athens, in spite of the relatively low rates of their victimisation. This paper focuses on this point, trying to reveal the factors which could explain this 'paradox'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The crisis in Greece led to one of the largest economic shocks in European history. Drawing on micro-data from the Greek Labour Force Survey, we utilize standard micro-econometric methods and non-linear decomposition techniques to measure the size of the shock exerted on the Greek regional and national labor markets and the compositional and price adjustments in response to this. We find elements of economic dynamism, with some sizeable price adjustments in the economy of the Greek capital, Athens; but overall our results show that compositional adjustments (in labor quality/characteristics) have been partial and limited, becoming stronger only in the more recent recovery. Our results suggest a significant metropolitan advantage with regard to economic resilience, coming predominantly from a more efficient functioning of the labor market in metropolitan areas vis-a-vis other regions. Our use of the decomposition techniques for the analysis of macro-level developments in the labor market offers a novel perspective to the application of the decomposition methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I show how groups and individuals maintain racialized symbolic boundaries at the micro-level of personal interactions. Using data collected during an ethnographic study in Athens, Greece, where I worked as a fruit vendor in a street market, I detail how local Greek vendors and immigrant workers use language, gesture, olfaction, along with their interpretations of faith and sexuality to reproduce patterns of social distance that allow for racialized stigma and discrimination. I apply the framework of symbolic interactionism and draw from literature on symbolic boundaries to explore how immigrant street market workers experience and resist racialization throughout the interaction order. I show that racialization underlies perceptions of the immigrant "other," especially in the case of Greece where race is often ignored as a crucial factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the proportion of older people in Greece grows and the need for promoting healthy aging is apparent, it becomes increasingly important to investigate the relationship between social support and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of older people in the community. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 451 older people living in the community in greater Athens, Greece, with an anonymous questionnaire, including demographics, and the EQ5D including EuroQol–visual analogue scale (EQ-VAS) and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Multivariate linear regression analysis was applied to identify independent factors related to perceived social support and HRQoL. The majority of older people were women, married or widowed, living with their family or alone. Perceived social support was medium and higher from significant others and family. A statistically significant positive relationship was found between social support from significant others/friends and HRQoL, as well as between social support from friends/family/significant others and EQ-VAS. In conclusion, HRQoL of older people is influenced by the received social support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article highlights the topics discussed in the Fourth Middle Eastern-Mediterranean Pediatric Congress in Athens, Greece from September 27-30, 1964. The program consisted of two sessions and a three-day series of short communications. The first day reporters were A. Prader, the representative of Zurich, Switzerland in the conference, and A. Minkowski of Paris, France. According to Minkowski, the apneic spells of dysmature children have been found to be related to hypernatremia and to cerebral edema found at postmortem examination. Meanwhile, J. H. P. Jonxis of Groningen, Netherlands called attention to the factors in the therapy of the respiratory distress syndrome in premature infants.

This article examines the unrest that emanated in Athens and rolled out across Greek cities in December 2008 as a case through which to advance understanding of how local, national and international arenas may together shape localized episodes of disorder. We begin by addressing the proximate and structural causes of the unrest, before turning to explore the multifarious character of protest actions, including novel and derivative forms of contestation deployed by protestors, and public debate about the appropriate apportioning of blame amongst the variety of actors involved. Finally, we look at the diverse outcomes of the unrest and their impact upon extant socio-political tensions. For each stage of the life-cycle of the unrest, we evaluate the relevance of international actors, practices and discourses. Our analysis of the Greek unrest of 2008 suggests, first, that the array of intersections between global, national and local dimensions of unrest is more diverse than has heretofore been recognized by pertinent scholarship, and, second, that international or transnational factors may play a significant role in the emergence, conduct and consequences of disorder even in instances where national and local dynamics remain predominant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By focusing on the cases of the Athens 2004 Olympic ceremonies, this article interrogates insular representations of the nation that are commonly nurtured by Olympic narratives. In particular, the article discusses the ways in which the Athens 2004 ceremonies articulated aspects of history, topography, and constituency in relation with Greece's present as well as with its past. By also locating instances that contest the perception of national identity as an overarching, unique, and pure entity, the article argues that the Olympics might be seen not as opportunities to elevate a nation's prestige, as it is hoped by many, but rather for making visible alternative identities and renewed national narratives that stretch the conceptual boundaries of the nation and its relation with Others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of the daily minimum air temperature and human-biometeorological variables, as well as their day-to-day changes, on sleep disturbances (SD) in the inhabitants of Athens, Greece. The SD dataset used for the analysis included the daily records of the psychiatric emergency unit of the Athens University Medical School for the years 1989 (with mild thermal load) and 1994 (with heavy thermal load). The meteorological variables for the estimation of the thermal indices were recorded by the meteorological station of Hellenikon, which is located at the headquarters of the Hellenic National Weather Service. The mean radiant temperature (Tmrt) and the thermal indices predicted mean vote (PMV), physiologically equivalent temperature (PET) and standard effective temperature (SET*) have been analyzed. The first step was to assess the SD frequencies as a function of the meteorological and human-biometeorological variables on the basis of 10-day intervals to determine the influence of the examined variables on SD. The daily SD records were included as Poisson random variables in the applied Generalized Linear Models (GLM). The extracted results suggested that a considerable increase in SD existed in 1994 compared to 1989. This was due to the many consecutive days with heavy thermal load (PET > 35°C and Tmin > 23°C) in 1994 compared to the lack of such days in 1989. Furthermore, statistically significant (p<0.01) positive relationships were found between minimum air temperature, all thermal indices and SD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study models simultaneously three commonly used indicators of fear of crime -- feeling unsafe alone at home after dark, feeling unsafe walking alone after dark and worry about becoming a victim of crime -- against direct (being a victim) and indirect (knowing a victim) victimization, controlling for demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of individuals via multivariate, i.e. multiple responses, multilevel analysis of data from Athens, Greece. The results show that (a) the association of the three indicators weakens as key explanatory factors of fear of crime are accounted for, (b) crime experiences are related to feeling unsafe at home alone after dark only via its association with feeling unsafe walking alone after dark and worry about becoming a victim of crime and (c) indirect and direct prior victimization and crime exposure predominantly shape perceived future risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this article is the chemical characterization of particles collected on the filters of the air-conditioning equipment. Forty four samples has been collected from seven different sites in Athens, Greece. They have been characterized by determining their total carbon content, the total organic carbon present and the dichloromethane soluble fraction and calculating the amount of inorganic carbon and elemental carbon. The results indicated that indoor- air quality is influenced by indoor activity, the use of electronics, smoking, and the renewal of the air. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article demythologizes the expedient and costly operation for a "superpanopticon" in the Athens 2004 Olympics, the first Summer Olympic Games after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. The Olympic industry, reflecting international and interconnected political-economic, governmental, and corporate interests, exploited real and perceived terrorist threats to prescribe extremely high security requirements. The Athens 2004 Olympics was used as a testing ground for the latest antiterrorist superpanoptic technology, which crucially failed to work. The central surveillance integration security system (C4I), planned by Science Applications International Corporation, could not be implemented on time for the games; hence, the security of the last Athens Olympics was dependent on conventional means. Using primary and secondary sources, the article inquires into the interesting and troublesome story of the deficient electronic surveillance system, which became a technological nightmare. It raises serious skepticism about the real antiterrorist efficiency of high-tech surveillance systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simultaneous indoor and outdoor PM10 and PM2.5 concentration measurements were conducted in seven primary schools in the Athens area during the winter of 2003–04 and 2004–05. The measurements were performed during school hours with the use of Harvard PEMs. Indoor PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations were also monitored continuously by a DustTrak monitor. Mean PM10 concentration was 236.13 μg·m-3 indoors and 162.89 μg·m-3 outdoors. The corresponding mean values for PM2.5 were 82.651 μg·m-3 indoors and 56.25 μg·m-3 outdoors. Indoor/Outdoor (I/O) ratios were close or above 1.00 at almost all sites. Indoor PM levels were greatly influenced by the presence of people and intensity of indoor activities. Moreover, PM concentrations exhibited significant short-term variability, underlying the need to include short-term measurements in children's exposure studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A multivariate analysis of 4797 cases of patients who were cured of their psychological symptoms and their notes filed by the psychiatric clinic of the Eginition Hospital in Athens, during the year 1994, has been done. The results of this analysis imply significant contribution of environmental variations, expressed by a discomfort index, in the aggravation of psychological symptoms like depression, sleep disturbances, anxiety, aggressiveness, etc. Moreover, geomagnetic field variations expressed by the international geomagnetic index (DST) manifest significant indications that they contribute to the aggravation of sleep disturbances. A clear seasonal variation, with a maximum around August and a minimum at the end of the year, appears in the environmental index, while a double oscillation with a period of about six months is obvious in the geomagnetic index. The same more or less seasonal variation was mirrored in most of the psychological symptoms we analysed in the present study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This exploratory study conducted from 1997 to 1998 is the first study to empirically investigate Greek battered women's help-seeking behavior from informal sources of help. In-depth interviews were conducted with 17 abused women in the only refuge for battered women in Athens. Results of this study indicate that Greek women tend to suffer years of violence before they ask for help because of various personal and sociocultural factors. These factors center around feelings of shame and guilt, hope that things will get better, and the concepts of marriage and the family that are of central importance to women's lives in Greece. The article concludes by highlighting the importance of using systems of informal support and recommending the need for more research on the issue of violence in Greece. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research conducted primarily in the United States suggests that the combination of Type A behaviour, high instrumentality, and low expressiveness may place individuals at relatively high risk for coronary-artery and heart disease. The present research investigates the trans-societal generalizability of the structure, reliability, relationships among, and distributional characteristics of these measures for 117 college students in Athens, Greece. As hypothesized, the Greek students were significantly less instrumental and less expressive than the American students, and scored significantly higher on the measure of Type A. Although there were significant mean differences between these samples, the results suggest that many of the interscale relationships are comparable, supporting an etic (universal) interpretation of the findings. Nevertheless, the results suggested several emic (unique) characteristics of these measures and their interrelationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the development and implementation of a democratic student government in the American Community Schools of Athens in Greece. Legislative process; Workshops for student government representatives; Educating the student body.

Describes several cases of choanal atresia in infants at the Alexandra Maternity Hospital in Athens, Greece. Signs and symptoms presented by the infants who had the condition; Procedures used to establish diagnosis of choanal atresia; Options available to treat the condition.