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Since the beginning of the modern era, the social policy of European countries has merged the trends of assistance and control. The concept of active social policy (ASP), developed in Europe at the turn of 20th, is another attempt to link the idea of assistance and mobilization of the unemployed and economically inactive. It consists in programme-based linking of activation methodology with the use of conditional support instruments (characterising the mobilisation and control order) with the assumptions of social inclusion (referring to social solidarity and empowerment of beneficiaries coming from the assistance order). The paper presents various ways of implementing this concept at the social practice level. Differences are visible at three levels of the concept's implementation: the formatting of legal and institutional support tools, the application of activation service management techniques s and the practice of frontline work with the customers the customers; moreover, legitimisation processes, consisting in attributing specific social meanings and functions to activation, proceed in different ways. It might be stated that activation services "overgrow with" different organisational cultures. The analysis of these cultures reveals that despite the care taken in the programming phase of activation policies to combine coherently the support and mobilisation items, in the implementation phase one or another historically established approaches to the people socially marginalised and excluded usually prevails. Bearing this in mind, the paper presents the original proposal for a bipolar typology of activation policies, services and frontline work practices, distinguishing two activation modes: (1) the empowerment mode, corresponding to the assistance order, and (2) the underclass management mode, corresponding to the mobilisation-control order. These are two fundamentally different and at the same time internally coherent Max Weber's ideal types, i.e. multidimensional analytical tools covering all activation levels and aspects. They provide a continuum on which activation policies of individual countries (macro level of activation approach), specific models of organisation and management of activation services (mezzo level) and specific frontline work practices (micro level) can be positioned according to the criterion of proximity/distance from either model extreme.

"In earlier rounds of the European Social Survey, non-response bias was studied by using population statistics and call record information (para data). In the third round, a new feature was introduced: two kinds of non-respondent surveys were set up using a short list of questions which were designed to study non-response bias. In Belgium, a very short questionnaire was offered to all refusals at the doorstep (doorstep questions survey, DQS). In Norway and two other countries, somewhat longer versions of the basic questionnaire were offered to all main survey non-respondents and to samples of respondents (non-response survey, NRS). Logistic regression models were applied in order to estimate response propensities. This paper shows that propensity score weighting adjustment of non-response bias, on the basis of key socio-demographic and attitudinal variables, is effective for most demographic and non-demographic variables in both Belgium and Norway. Application of the weighting procedure balances the samples of cooperative respondents and non-respondents according to the key variables studied since systematic differences between cooperative respondents and non-respondents have disappeared." (author's abstract)

The European Union (EU) relies on imports to feed livestock. In particular, protein self-sufficiency in EU for feed is not reached. Most of imported protein rich feed consist of soybean meals, which raises questions in terms of deforestation, consumer expectations for GMO-free products and security of supply. In this context, the 2014 CAP aims at improving protein self-sufficiency in EU for feed by developing production of protein-rich crops, such as legumes. Nevertheless, the development of legumes still faces economic and environmental challenges (Watson et al., 2017), such as lower annual gross margins per hectare than those of major crops and regulatory constraints which prohibit the spreading of animal manure on most legumes.The purpose of this paper is to implement an appropriate stylized framework to assess the impacts of increased protein self-sufficiency through legume development at the regional level. Both economic and environmental impacts have to be studied. Mathematical programming models offer a prospective analysis, which permits to assess agricultural practices even though they have not been introduced at large scale yet. Among mathematical programming, bio-economic models permits to assess both economic and environmental impacts. In the case of legume production, several bio-economic models have been conducted, at the field scale and at the farm scale (Schläfke et al., 2014). Such models are relevant because decision-making processes take place at the farm scale and because they help appraising farm's sustainability. However, they fail to give indicators at higher scales, while this may be useful to policy makers. Hybrid models (Britz et al., 2012) address this issue by aggregating results from the farm to the region. These models usually take into account the diversity of farms but they badly represent the heterogeneity of soil and climate conditions. In the case of legume production, conditions such as soil pH and water deficit have to be taken into account because they limit the possibilities of implanting legumes. Besides, one of the levers to increase the production of legumes has been very little studied: the complementarity of farms. On the one hand, livestock farms could export animal manure to crop farms, which are deficient in nitrogen for crop fertilization. On the other hand, crop farms could produce legumes and trade it in order to feed animals of livestock farms. Our hypothesis is that increasing protein self-sufficiency through legume exchanges between farms can have positive economic and environmental impacts.MATERIAL AND METHODS The bio-economic model SYNERGY proposed here is in direct line with these considerations. First, it is a hybrid model implemented at farm scale and then, aggregated at the regional level. Second, it takes into account various types of farm (crop farm, dairy farm, hog farm) as well as the heterogeneity of soil and climatic conditions. Third, the complementarity of farms is highlighted by accounting for exchanges of legumes and animal manure between farms. SYNERGY optimizes the sum of each farm's expected income at the regional level. It is composed of five modules: four modules describe farm activities (i.e., the cropping module, the fertilization module, the livestock module and the feeding module). Thanks to farm activities, farmers produce commodities (i) to self-supply needs for their management systems (e.g., a livestock farmer can use crops grown on its farm to feed his animals) and, (ii) to sell them on markets. Depending on the commodity, commodities can be exchanged on either local markets (i.e., to other farms of the region), on worldwide market or on both markets. The fifth module permits to assess environmental impacts through nitrogen-related indicators: SyNE (System Nitrogen Efficiency) and SyNB (System N Balance) based on (Godinot et al., 2014) have been integrated. SYNERGY is implemented on a stylized area inspired from a small region of western France where livestock farms are dominant. Three scenarios are simulated: the baseline scenario (B), which should reproduce the observed data; the scenario (SC1) where local exchanges between farms are made possible; the scenario (SC2) where, in addition to these local exchanges, a GMO-free certification is implemented for animal commodities for produced from legume-based rations instead of soybean-based rations. SYNERGY generates three types of outputs: (i) an assessment of protein self-sufficiency in animal feed, (ii) an economic assessment by calculating incomes and, (iii) an environmental assessment by calculating the nitrogen-related indicators SyNE and SyNB. All these assessments are done at the farm scale, and at the regional level through a scaling process.RESULTS AND DISCUSSION SYNERGY model currently incorporates limited and highly constrained technical alternatives (i.e., soybean-based ration vs legume-based). Thus, the first results can only be interpreted in relation to the trends they present. When local exchanges between farms are possible (scenario SC1), protein self-sufficiency rises at the regional level, as do incomes. However, this greater self-sufficiency is not associated with an increase in the legumes area, but only with local exchanges of cereals. Thus, protein self-sufficiency is not only linked with protein rich materials but must be seen in a more comprehensive way by taking into account all sources of proteins. When a GMO-free certification is added(scenario SC2), the legumes area increases significantly and exchanges of legumes between crop farm and livestock farms happen. Protein self-sufficiency is improved thanks to a substitution of soybean-based rations for legume-based rations. However, the self-sufficiency is not strengthened compared to scenario SC2. One of the reason is that the legume-based ration for pig is less effective than the soybean-based ration. Concerning the environmental assessment, in both SC1 and SC2 scenarios, SyNE indicator decreases and SyNB indicator increases in all types of farms. Thus, farms become less efficient in N and N losses become higher than in the baseline scenario (B). CONCLUSION The purpose of this paper was to implement an appropriate stylized framework to assess the impacts of increased protein self-sufficiency through legume development at the regional level. The results show that protein self-sufficiency can initially be strengthened at the regional level, thanks to local exchanges of cereals. It can also be enhanced to the same extent by the development and exchanges of legumes, when a market for differentiated feeds such as GMO-free animal products, exists. Thus, SYNERGY model highlights that the complementarity between livestock farms and crop farms is a relevant lever for improving regional protein self-sufficiency.

The European Union (EU) relies on imports to feed livestock. In particular, protein self-sufficiency in EU for feed is not reached. Most of imported protein rich feed consist of soybean meals, which raises questions in terms of deforestation, consumer expectations for GMO-free products and security of supply. In this context, the 2014 CAP aims at improving protein self-sufficiency in EU for feed by developing production of protein-rich crops, such as legumes. Nevertheless, the development of legumes still faces economic and environmental challenges (Watson et al., 2017), such as lower annual gross margins per hectare than those of major crops and regulatory constraints which prohibit the spreading of animal manure on most legumes. The purpose of this paper is to implement an appropriate stylized framework to assess the impacts of increased protein self-sufficiency through legume development at the regional level. Both economic and environmental impacts have to be studied. Mathematical programming models offer a prospective analysis, which permits to assess agricultural practices even though they have not been introduced at large scale yet. Among mathematical programming, bio-economic models permits to assess both economic and environmental impacts. In the case of legume production, several bio-economic models have been conducted, at the field scale and at the farm scale (Schläfke et al., 2014). Such models are relevant because decision-making processes take place at the farm scale and because they help appraising farm's sustainability. However, they fail to give indicators at higher scales, while this may be useful to policy makers. Hybrid models (Britz et al., 2012) address this issue by aggregating results from the farm to the region. These models usually take into account the diversity of farms but they badly represent the heterogeneity of soil and climate conditions. In the case of legume production, conditions such as soil pH and water deficit have to be taken into account because they limit the possibilities of implanting legumes. Besides, one of the levers to increase the production of legumes has been very little studied: the complementarity of farms. On the one hand, livestock farms could export animal manure to crop farms, which are deficient in nitrogen for crop fertilization. On the other hand, crop farms could produce legumes and trade it in order to feed animals of livestock farms. Our hypothesis is that increasing protein self-sufficiency through legume exchanges between farms can have positive economic and environmental impacts. MATERIAL AND METHODS The bio-economic model SYNERGY proposed here is in direct line with these considerations. First, it is a hybrid model implemented at farm scale and then, aggregated at the regional level. Second, it takes into account various types of farm (crop farm, dairy farm, hog farm) as well as the heterogeneity of soil and climatic conditions. Third, the complementarity of farms is highlighted by accounting for exchanges of legumes and animal manure between farms. SYNERGY optimizes the sum of each farm's expected income at the regional level. It is composed of five modules: four modules describe farm activities (i.e., the cropping module, the fertilization module, the livestock module and the feeding module). Thanks to farm activities, farmers produce commodities (i) to self-supply needs for their management systems (e.g., a livestock farmer can use crops grown on its farm to feed his animals) and, (ii) to sell them on markets. Depending on the commodity, commodities can be exchanged on either local markets (i.e., to other farms of the region), on worldwide market or on both markets. The fifth module permits to assess environmental impacts through nitrogen-related indicators: SyNE (System Nitrogen Efficiency) and SyNB (System N Balance) based on (Godinot et al., 2014) have been integrated. SYNERGY is implemented on a stylized area inspired from a small region of western France where livestock farms are dominant. Three scenarios are simulated: the baseline scenario (B), which should reproduce the observed data; the scenario (SC1) where local exchanges between farms are made possible; the scenario (SC2) where, in addition to these local exchanges, a GMO-free certification is implemented for animal commodities for produced from legume-based rations instead of soybean-based rations. SYNERGY generates three types of outputs: (i) an assessment of protein self-sufficiency in animal feed, (ii) an economic assessment by calculating incomes and, (iii) an environmental assessment by calculating the nitrogen-related indicators SyNE and SyNB. All these assessments are done at the farm scale, and at the regional level through a scaling process. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION SYNERGY model currently incorporates limited and highly constrained technical alternatives (i.e., soybean-based ration vs legume-based). Thus, the first results can only be interpreted in relation to the trends they present. When local exchanges between farms are possible (scenario SC1), protein self-sufficiency rises at the regional level, as do incomes. However, this greater self-sufficiency is not associated with an increase in the legumes area, but only with local exchanges of cereals. Thus, protein self-sufficiency is not only linked with protein rich materials but must be seen in a more comprehensive way by taking into account all sources of proteins. When a GMO-free certification is added(scenario SC2), the legumes area increases significantly and exchanges of legumes between crop farm and livestock farms happen. Protein self-sufficiency is improved thanks to a substitution of soybean-based rations for legume-based rations. However, the self-sufficiency is not strengthened compared to scenario SC2. One of the reason is that the legume-based ration for pig is less effective than the soybean-based ration. Concerning the environmental assessment, in both SC1 and SC2 scenarios, SyNE indicator decreases and SyNB indicator increases in all types of farms. Thus, farms become less efficient in N and N losses become higher than in the baseline scenario (B). CONCLUSION The purpose of this paper was to implement an appropriate stylized framework to assess the impacts of increased protein self-sufficiency through legume development at the regional level. The results show that protein self-sufficiency can initially be strengthened at the regional level, thanks to local exchanges of cereals. It can also be enhanced to the same extent by the development and exchanges of legumes, when a market for differentiated feeds such as GMO-free animal products, exists. Thus, SYNERGY model highlights that the complementarity between livestock farms and crop farms is a relevant lever for improving regional protein self-sufficiency.

Even though recent discussions on food prices and indirect land use change point at potential conflicts associated with the production of biofuels the appraisal of biofuels as an effective instrument to slow down climate change and reduce energy dependency still prevails. The EU Renewable Energy Directive (EUROPEAN COMMISSION, 2009) underlines this trend by setting a target of 10% share of energy from renewable sources in the transport sector by 2020. As economic competitiveness of biofuel production is still not given in most European countries, support policies are essential to achieve this target. Second generation technologies have still not attained marketability, wherefore biofuel consumption will continue to significantly affect agricultural markets. Furthermore, biofuel trade receives more attention. Apart from Brazil the USA has evolved to one of the key biofuel producer in recent years replacing the EU as the dominant biodiesel exporter. Those developments in regions outside the EU have to be considered within the evolution of biofuel markets. The primary objective of this paper is to analyse in detail impacts of future biofuel developments on agricultural markets under several assumptions regarding the availability of 2nd generation technologies, the EU support policy framework and the EU trade policy regime. Therefore, we developed an extended version of the comparative static agricultural sector model CAPRI which covers global biofuel markets with a detailed focus on Europe. The results supplement already existing model-based impact assessments while focussing on EU Member State level and introducing global bilateral trade of biofuels based on the Armington approach. The results of our scenario analysis presented in this paper indicate that the European 2020 biofuel target will significantly affect global and European biofuel- as well as agricultural markets. Thereby, global biofuel trade will notably increase, especially flows of biodiesel from the USA and Argentina and of ethanol from Brazil into ...

Περιέχει το πλήρες κείμενο ; Περιέχει βιβλιογραφία. ; The aim of this study is to provide a comprehensive examination of university libraries in Greece seen in the European context. To this end, the thesis: i. discusses the context in which Greek university libraries have developed and the challenges they face; ii. examines the factors that affect their operation and development; iii. assesses their role in university education in supporting the informational, educational and research needs of the academic community; iv. compares their position with similar libraries in other member states of the European Union and in Scandinavia; v. suggests actions needed in order that university libraries in Greece should develop further and play their role better. In this study a standard model for university libraries is developed and performance indicators and methodologies which are proper for this model are used. University libraries are examined as open, dynamic, multi-goal seeking and purposeful systems. They consist of resources which are transformed into outputs for the benefit of their users. Inputs, outputs and outcomes can be measured in a greater or less accuracy but measurement itself is meaningful only if it is placed in some kind of context. University libraries operate within a given environment. They receive their inputs from this environment, and their outputs are used by people or other systems in the environment. They are also constrained by factors in this environment such as the social, economic, educational, technological, etc. In this study not only the performance indicators themselves but also the relationships between them that are indicative of performance were analysed. The main findings of the study are related to the environment within which Greek University Libraries operate, the organisational structures, and administrative practices applied, issues concerning staff and the way they affect library development, the provision of library material, the organisation1 of technical services, and the reader services that are provided. Library performance is assessed in a number of ways. The indicators produced and comparisons with the state of development of university libraries in other European countries show that Greek University libraries fall behind them in terms of almost all indicators used. It appears that Greek University libraries are weak in meeting the needs of their users in both education and research.

Περιέχει το πλήρες κείμενο ; Περιέχει βιβλιογραφία. ; The aim of this study is to provide a comprehensive examination of university libraries in Greece seen in the European context. To this end, the thesis: i. discusses the context in which Greek university libraries have developed and the challenges they face; ii. examines the factors that affect their operation and development; iii. assesses their role in university education in supporting the informational, educational and research needs of the academic community; iv. compares their position with similar libraries in other member states of the European Union and in Scandinavia; v. suggests actions needed in order that university libraries in Greece should develop further and play their role better. In this study a standard model for university libraries is developed and performance indicators and methodologies which are proper for this model are used. University libraries are examined as open, dynamic, multi-goal seeking and purposeful systems. They consist of resources which are transformed into outputs for the benefit of their users. Inputs, outputs and outcomes can be measured in a greater or less accuracy but measurement itself is meaningful only if it is placed in some kind of context. University libraries operate within a given environment. They receive their inputs from this environment, and their outputs are used by people or other systems in the environment. They are also constrained by factors in this environment such as the social, economic, educational, technological, etc. In this study not only the performance indicators themselves but also the relationships between them that are indicative of performance were analysed. The main findings of the study are related to the environment within which Greek University Libraries operate, the organisational structures, and administrative practices applied, issues concerning staff and the way they affect library development, the provision of library material, the organisation1 of technical services, and the reader services that are provided. Library performance is assessed in a number of ways. The indicators produced and comparisons with the state of development of university libraries in other European countries show that Greek University libraries fall behind them in terms of almost all indicators used. It appears that Greek University libraries are weak in meeting the needs of their users in both education and research.

Nowadays, it is widely believed that greater disclosure and clarity over policy may lead to greater predictability of central bank actions. We examine whether communication by the European Central Bank (ECB) adds information compared to the information provided by a Taylor rule model in which real time expected inflation and output are used. We use five indicators of ECB communication that are all based on the ECB President's introductory statement at the press conference following an ECB policy meeting. Our results suggest that even though the indicators are sometimes quite different from one another, they add information that helps predict the next policy decision of the ECB. Furthermore, also when the interbank rate is included in our Taylor rule model, the ECB communication indicators remain significant.

Inflammation is a protective response exerted by the organism to eliminate an injurious stimulus. Endothelial cells play a fundamental role in different physiological processes since, changing their phenotype, modulate the complement and coagulation cascades, inflammation and innate and adaptive immunity. Medicinal plants have been the main remedy to treat different ailments and their study has permitted the development of many drugs. The aim of the present research was to study the phytochemical composition and the anti-inflammatory activity of four medicinal plants (Cucumis sativus L, Boswellia serrata Roxb. Colebr, Salvia sagittata Ruiz & Pav and Clinopodium tomentosum Kunth), traditionally used to treat different diseases, on primary culture of porcine aortic endothelial cells (pAECs) stimulated with Lipopolysaccharide (LPS). This approach is relevant in terms of screening possible positive activities of medicinal plants in relation to the Replacement and Reduction principles in agreement with the European Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes and its implementation in Italy through "Decreto Legislativo" n. 26/2014. Different extraction processes and techniques have been employed to verify their phytochemical and biological effects (HPLC, RT-PCR, Western blot). The phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of different bioactive compounds (11-keto-β-boswellic acid and β-boswellic acid in Boswellia serrata extracts, different phenolic acids and flavonoids with rosmarinic acid as the most abundant component in Salvia sagittata and Clinopodium tomentosum extracts). In the biological analysis, Cucumis sativus, Boswellia serrata, Salvia sagittata and Clinopodium tomentosum reduced the LPS-induced cytotoxicity with the decrement of different inflammatory cytokines and increment of protective molecules and anti-inflammatory cytokines. In conclusion, our results have clearly demonstrated that the medicinal plants studied have attenuated lipopolysaccharide induced inflammatory response in endothelial cells. Moreover the studies confirm the relevance of primary culture of pAECs as an interesting screening model to explore the huge variety of Ecuadorian medicinal plants.

Part One National Traditions of Parliamentary Law: Towards a European Model? -- 1. Constitutionalism and the Role of Parliaments -- AW Bradley, Katja S Ziegler and Denis Baranger -- 2. Parliamentary Law and Parliamentary Government in Britain: Some Historical Remarks -- Denis Baranger -- 3. The Formation of Parliamentary Law in France -- Pierre Avril -- 4. Parliamentary Law: The German Experience -- Fabian Wittreck -- 5. The Law and Custom of a New Parliament: The European Parliament -- Sionaidh Douglas-Scott -- Part Two Parliaments and the Executive -- 6. Cabinet as the Leading Part of Parliament: The Westminster Model in Europe -- Armel Le Divellec -- 7. Parliaments and the Executive: Old Control Rights and New Control Contexts in Germany -- Christoph Gusy -- 8. Executive Powers in Foreign Policy: The Decision to Dispatch the Military -- Katja S Ziegler -- 9. Separation of Powers, Public Law Theory and Comparative Analysis -- Nicholas Bamforth -- Part Three Parliaments, the Courts and Human Rights -- 10. Judicial Independence and Parliaments -- The Rt Hon Lady Justice Arden DBE -- 11. Why Should Judges Be Independent? -- Luc Heuschling -- 12. Independence of the Judiciary in Germany -- Gernot Sydow -- 13. Making Parliamentary Rights Effective: The Role of Constitutional Courts in Germany -- Pascale Cancik -- 14. The Parliamentary Protection of Human Rights -- Keith Ewing

The aim of the article is to reveal the methodological aspects of the European Romanticism's investigation in the musical art and culture studies works. The methodology of the research presupposes such methods: historical – in the analysis of the processes of formation and evolution of Romanticism in the European art of the 19th – the beginning of the 20th century; historical-cultural – in the consideration of the conceptual foundations of the universal cultural and socio-historical context of the Romantic epoch; descriptive – in the analysis of the terminology and its interpretation of the Romanticism notion; historical-comparative – in the comparison of different manifestations of Romanticism in the 19th – the beginning of the 20th century; method of modeling – in the construction of a stylistic model of Romanticism of the particular period; typological – in the definition of the most peculiar features of the Romantic style. The scientific novelty of the research is a systematization of the scientific experience of the examination of Romanticism and the definition of the modern tendencies of the research of these ranges of problems. Conclusions. The reasons for the difference in the definitions and interpretations of Romanticism by the musicologists and theorists of literature are defined. The common positions of the researchers of Romanticism are considered: the understanding of Romanticism as a multilevel category; consideration of national versions of Romanticism in different European cultures; recognition of Romanticism as a dynamic system of multidirectional tendencies.

Producción Científica ; Multimodal Learning Analytics (MMLA) uncovers the possibility to get a more holistic picture of a learning situation than traditional Learning Analytics, by triangulating learning evidence collected from multiple modalities. However, current MMLA solutions are complex and typically tailored to specific learning situations. In order to overcome this problem we are working towards an infrastructure that supports MMLA and can be adapted to different learning situations. As a first step in this direction, this paper analyzes four MMLA scenarios, abstracts their data processing activities and extracts a Data Value Chain to model the processing of multimodal evidence of learning. This helps us to reflect on the requirements needed for an infrastructure to support MMLA. ; European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant 669074) ; Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades - Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (projects TIN2017-85179-C3-2-R / TIN2014-53199- C3-2-R) ; Junta de Castilla y León - Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (project VA257P18) ; Comisión Europea (project 588438-EPP-1-2017-1-EL-EPPKA2- KA)

We have used the hetero-SAFT-VR approach developed by McCabe and collaborators [Mol. Phys. 104, 571 (2006)] to investigate the phase equilibria of a number of binary and ternary mixtures of n-alkanes, perfluoro- n-alkanes, and perfluoroalkylalkane diblock surfactants. We focused our work on the understanding of the microscopic conditions that control the phase behaviour of these mixtures, with a particular emphasis of the effect on the liquid–liquid separation and the stabilisation of n-alkaneþperfluoro-n-alkane mixtures when a diblock surfactant is added. We used very simple molecular models for n-alkanes, and perfluoro-n-alkanes that describe the molecules as chains with tangentially bonded segments with molecular parameters taken from the literature. In the particular case of semifluorinated alkanes or SFA surfactants, we used an hetero-segmented diblock chain model where the parameters for the alkyl and perfluoroalkyl segments taken from the corresponding linear alkanes and perfluoroalkanes, as shown in our previous work [J. Phys. Chem. B 111, 2856 (2007)]. Our goal was to identify the main effects on the phase behaviour when different perfluoroalkylalkane surfactants are added to mixtures of n-alkanes and perfluoro-n-alkanes. We selected the n-hepta- neþperfluoromethane binary mixture, and studied the changes on the phase behaviour when a symmetric (same number of alkyl and perfluoroalkyl chemical groups) or an asymmetric (different number of alkyl and perfluoroalkyl chemical groups) diblock surfactants is added to the binary mixture. We have obtained the phase diagrams of a wide range of binary and ternary mixtures at different thermodynamic conditions. We have found a variety of interesting behaviours as we modify the alkyl or/and the perfluoroalkyl chain-length of the diblock surfactants: the usual changes in the vapour–liquid phase separation, changes in the type of phase diagrams (typically from type I to type V phase behaviour according to the Scott and Konynenburg classification), azeotropy, and Bancroft points. We noted that the main effect of adding a symmetric or an asymmetric surfactant to the n-heptane þ perfluoromethane mixture is to stabilise the system, i.e. to decrease the two-phase (liquid–liquid) immiscibility region of the ternary diagram as the surfactant concentration is increased. This effect becomes larger as the chain length of the surfactant is increased, which is consistent with a higher number of alkyl–alkyl and perfluoroalkyl–perfluoroalkyl favourable interactions in the mixture. ; M.C.dR. acknowledges the Programme Alban from European Union Programme of High Level Scholarships for Latin America (identification number E03D21773VE) for a Fellowship. Authors also acknowledge financial support from project number FIS2007-66079-C02-02 of the Spanish Dirección General de Investigación, and additional support from Universidad de Huelva and Junta de Andalucía. ; M.C.dR. acknowledges the Programme Al beta an from European Union Programme of High Level Scholarships for Latin America (identification number E03D21773VE) for a Fellowship. Authors also acknowledge financial support from project number FIS2007-66079-C02-02 of the Spanish Direccion General de Investigacion, and additional support from Universidad de Huelva and Junta de Andalucia.

"This book examines the international dimensions of the Greek military dictatorship of 1967-74 and uses it as a case study to evaluate the major shifts occurring in the international system during a period of rapid change. The policies of the major nation-states in both East and West were determined by realistic Cold War considerations. At the same time, the Greek junta, a profoundly anti-modernist force, failed to cope with an evolving international agenda and moves towards international cooperation. Denouncing it became a rallying point both for international organizations and for human rights activists, and it enabled the EEC to underscore the notion that democracy was an integral characteristic of the European identity. This volume is an original in-depth study of an under-researched subject and the multiple interactions of a complex era. It is divided into three sections: Part I deals with the interaction of the Colonels with state actors; Part II deals with the responses of international organizations and the rising transnational human rights agenda for which the Greek junta became a totemic rallying point; Part III compares and contrasts the transitions to democracy in Southern Europe, and analyses the different models of transition, region building and how they intersected with attempts to foster a European identity. The Greek dictatorship may have been a parochial military regime, but its rise and fall interacted with significant international trends and can therefore serve as a salient case study for promoting a better understanding of international and European trends during the 1960s and 1970s. This book will be of much interest to students of Cold War studies, international history, foreign policy, transatlantic relations and International Relations, in general."--