Nature protection in Greece: an appraisal of the factors shaping integrative conservation and policy effectiveness

The proliferation of designated areas following the implementation of Natura 2000 in Greece has initiated changes in the protected area design and conservation policy making aiming at delivering action for biodiversity and integrative planning on a wider landscape. Following the sustainability concept, an integrative approach cannot realistically take place simply by extending the protected area and designations. The paper addresses public involvement and inter-sectoral coordination as major procedural elements of integrative management and evaluates the nature and strength of their negative or positive influences on the fulfillment of an integrative vision of nature conservation. A review of the history of protected areas and administration developments in Greece provide useful input in the research. The analysis has shown that the selected network of Natura 2000 sites has been superimposed upon the existing system and resulted in duplication of administrative effort and related legislation. As a result the overall picture of protected areas in the country appears complex, confusing and fragmented. Major failures to integrated conservation perspective can be traced to structural causes rooted in politico-economic power structures of mainstream policy and in a rather limited political commitment to conservation. It is concluded that greater realisation. of integrated conservation in Greece necessitates policy reforms related mainly to sectoral legal frameworks to promote environmentalism as well as an increased effort by the managing authorities to facilitate a broader framework of public dialogue and give local communities incentives to sustainably benefit from protected areas. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Identification of lipophilic flavones and flavonols by comparative HPLC, TLC and UV spectral analysis

The identification of lipophilic flavones and flavonols using a combination of high performance liquid chromatography, thin layer chromatography and UV spectral analysis is discussed. Data are provided for the flavones, apigenin, luteolin and tricetin and twelve of their methyl ethers, 8-hydroxyluteolin, 6-hydroxyluteolin and scutellarein and fourteen of their methyl ethers, and some 6,8-dihydroxyapigenin and 6,8-dihydroxyluteolin derivatives. Data for some forty two flavonols with extra 6- and/or 8-hydroxylation, mostly 6-hydroxykaempferol and quercetagetin derivatives, are also presented. The remaining compounds analysed include fourteen 5-deoxyflavones, four 5-methoxyflavones and five 5-deoxyflavonols plus further 5-hydroxylated flavones and flavonols without B-ring oxidation or with 2-, 5- or 6-hydroxylation. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Oxorhenium(V) complexes with tetradentate NSNO pyridylthioazophenolates: syntheses, spectral and electrochemical studies

A family of oxorhenium (V) complexes of newly designed pyridylthioazophenolate ligands has been synthesized and isolated in pure form. The solid state structure of an organic compound (HL1) has been established by X-ray crystallography. The molecular structure observed in the solid state is that the two molecules of the ligand (HL1) in the asymmetric unit have similar geometries, except for the orientation of the pyridine ring. This series of organic moieties acts as tetradentate monobasic NSNO donor chelators in oxorhenium(V) complexes which has been characterized by elemental analyses, IR, H-1-NMR, UV-Vis. The complexes are 1: 1 electrolytes in nature in MeOH solution, the counter anion being ClO4). The electrochemical studies of the [(ReO)-O-V(L)Cl]ClO4 complexes in MeCN using TBAP as supporting electrolyte exhibit quasi-reversible voltammogram showing one-electron couple for [(ReO)-O-VI(L)Cl](2+)-[(ReO)-O-V(L)Cl](+) in the 1.11-1.29 V vs SCE range.

Ruthenium (III) complexes of tetradentate NSNO pyridylthioazophenolates: Synthesis, spectral studies, crystal structure and redox properties

A family of ruthenium (III) complexes of tetradentate monobasic NSNO donor chelators (HL) have been synthesized and isolated in their pure form. On chromatographic separation, trans-dichloro and cis-dichloro ruthenium (111) complexes of pyridylthioazophenolates are eluted using 19:1 and 7:3 (v/v) DCM-MeOH mixtures, respectively. Both cis and trans isomers of the dark brown colored ruthenium (111) complexes, having the general formula of [Ru(L)Cl-2], have been characterized by elemental analyses, spectroscopic and other physico-chemical tools. The magnetic moments of both the cis- and trans-[Ru(L)Cl-2] complexes are in the range of 1.71-1.79 BM. One of the complexes, trans-[Ru(L1)Cl-2] (2a), has been subjected to single-crystal X-ray analysis which confirms that the chlorines are in mutually trans positions in the molecule. The EPR spectra of the cis-[Ru(L)Cl-2] complexes (1) in DMF are consistent with the fact that the complexes are low-spin octahedral with one unpaired electron having three different g values (g(x) not equal g(y) not equal g(z)) complexes are monomeric with an octahedral coordination sphere. The electrochemical studies of [Ru(L)Cl,] in DMF show a quasi-reversible voltammogram. The reduction potentials for the cis-isomers are comparatively lower than those of the corresponding trans isomers. On reaction with the bidentate bipyridyl ligand in the presence of AgNO3, the cis-[Ru(L)Cl-2] complexes (1) produce a series of complexes with the general formula [Ru(L)(bpy)(2)](PF6)(2) (3). which have also been characterized by elemental analyses, spectroscopic and other physico-chemical tools. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Tris-(1,3-diaryltriazenide) complexes of rhodium: synthesis, structure and, spectral and electrochemical properties

Reaction of 1,3-diaryltriazenes (abbreviated in general as HL-R, where R stands for the para-substituent in the aryl fragment and H stands for the dissociable hydrogen atom, R = OCH3, CH3, H, Cl, NO2) with [Rh(PPh3)(2)(CO)Cl] in ethanol in the presence of NEt3 produces a series of tris-diaryltriazenide complexes of rhodium of type [Rh(L-R)(3)], where the triazenes are coordinated to rhodium as monoanionic, bidentate N,N-donors. Structure of the [Rh(L-OCH3)(3)] complex has been determined by X-ray crystallography. The complexes are diamagnetic, and show characteristic H-1 NMR signals and intense MLCT transitions in the visible region. They also fluoresce in the visible region under ambient condition while excited at around 400 nm. Cyclic voltammetry on these complexes shows a Rh(III)-Rh(IV) oxidation (within 0.84-1.67 V vs SCE), followed by an oxidation of the coordinated tri- and azene ligand (except the R = NO2 complex). An irreversible reduction of the coordinated triazene is also observed for all the complexes below -1.03 V vs SCE.

Palladium and platinum complexes of 2-(2 '-carboxyphenylazo)-4-methylphenol: synthesis, structure and spectral properties

Reaction of 2-(2'-carboxyphenylazo)-4-methylphenol (H2L) with [M(PPh3)(2)Cl-2] (M = Pd, Pt) affords mixed-ligand complexes of type [M(PPh3)(L)]. Structures of both the complexes have been determined by X-ray crystallography. Both the complexes are square planar, where the 2-(2'-carboxyphenylazo)-4-methylphenol is coordinated to the metal center, via dissociation of the two acidic protons, as a dianionic tridentate O,N,O-donor, and the fourth position is occupied by the triphenylphosphine. These complexes show intense MLCT transitions in the visible region.

Shaping literacy in the secondary school: policy, practice and agency in the age of the national literacy strategy

This article examines the definitions of literacy in operation in secondary schools, and the relationship between official literacy policy and the practices of the agents responsible for implementing this policy. We trace the history of national policy back to the Language Across the Curriculum movement of the 1970s as it provides an illustrative point of comparison with the first five years of the National Literacy Strategy. Drawing on empirical data which illuminate the views, perceptions and practices of key agents on a number of levels, we critically review the concept of 'school literacy' promoted in government policy, defining it as 'school-centric literacy' and question its ability to facilitate participation in the practices associated with the media and technological literacies which are increasingly a feature of school life. There is evidence of some unplanned effects of the current national policy but also that levels of agency, for literacy teachers in particular, may be rapidly diminishing.

Steady-spectrum contexts and perceptual compensation for reverberation in speech identification

Perceptual compensation for reverberation was measured by embedding test words in contexts that were either spoken phrases or processed versions of this speech. The processing gave steady-spectrum contexts with no changes in the shape of the short-term spectral envelope over time, but with fluctuations in the temporal envelope. Test words were from a continuum between "sir" and "stir." When the amount of reverberation in test words was increased, to a level above the amount in the context, they sounded more like "sir." However, when the amount of reverberation in the context was also increased, to the level present in the test word, there was perceptual compensation in some conditions so that test words sounded more like "stir" again. Experiments here found compensation with speech contexts and with some steady-spectrum contexts, indicating that fluctuations in the context's temporal envelope can be sufficient for compensation. Other results suggest that the effectiveness of speech contexts is partly due to the narrow-band "frequency-channels" of the auditory periphery, where temporal-envelope fluctuations can be more pronounced than they are in the sound's broadband temporal envelope. Further results indicate that for compensation to influence speech, the context needs to be in a broad range of frequency channels. (c) 2007 Acoustical Society of America.

A novel spectral representation of electromyographic signals

Time/frequency and temporal analyses have been widely used in biomedical signal processing. These methods represent important characteristics of a signal in both time and frequency domain. In this way, essential features of the signal can be viewed and analysed in order to understand or model the physiological system. Historically, Fourier spectral analyses have provided a general method for examining the global energy/frequency distributions. However, an assumption inherent to these methods is the stationarity of the signal. As a result, Fourier methods are not generally an appropriate approach in the investigation of signals with transient components. This work presents the application of a new signal processing technique, empirical mode decomposition and the Hilbert spectrum, in the analysis of electromyographic signals. The results show that this method may provide not only an increase in the spectral resolution but also an insight into the underlying process of the muscle contraction.

Pulse shaping using state space algorithms

We discuss the use of pulse shaping for optimal excitation of samples in time-domain THz spectroscopy. Pulse shaping can be performed in a 4f optical system to specifications from state space models of the system's dynamics. Subspace algorithms may be used for the identification of the state space models.