The legality and justifiability of the methods used for monitoring the progress of home-educated children in Finland

This paper provides an overview of the homeschooling movement in Finland focusing on the methods used to monitor the progress of compulsory education of home-educated children. Although the child’s home municipality is obliged to monitor the progress of compulsory education, there are currently no national uniform instructions on how monitoring should take place. Therefore, home-educated children are treated differently depending on where they live. In this article, the authors argue that the current monitoring methods not only decrease the child’s motivation to learn but are also inexpedient, illegal and, in many cases, impossible to carry out. The study is based primarily on the qualitative approach, but it combines both qualitative and quantitative methods including surveys, interviews, observation and documents. It is the first empirical research conducted on the monitoring methods of home-educated children in Finland.</p

Vahva demokratia ja kotiopetus

Perusopetuksen yhtenä tehtävänä on kasvattaa lapsista ja nuorista demokraattisenyhteiskunnan arvojen ja normien mukaisia osallistuvia toimijoita. Kaikki lapseteivät kuitenkaan osallistu kunnan järjestämään perusopetukseen vaan suorittavatoppivelvollisuuttaan kotiopetuksessa. Kotiopetuskritiikki kohdistuu erityisesti lastensosiaalisten taitojen kehittymiseen, mitä pidetään aktiivisen toimijuuden ja osalli-suuden välttämättömänä edellytyksenä demokraattisessa yhteiskunnassa. Vahvademokratia mahdollistaa uusia tapoja ajatella ja harjoittaa demokratiaa, muttademokratiaa vahvassa mielessä ei opeteta kouluissamme. Tässä artikkelissa selven-nämme kotiopetuksen käsitettä ja käytäntöjä Suomessasekä tarkastelemme kotiope-tukseen kohdistuvaa kritiikkiä. Pohdimme, muodostaako kotiopetus uhan demokra-tialle kuten kotiopetuksen kritiikissä väitetään vai voiko kotiopetusta pitää demo-kratiaa edistävänä toimintana. Vaikka koulu on merkittävin demokratiakasvatuksenkonteksti, tulee kotiopetus säilymään pienempänä muttei lainkaan vähäisenä demo-kratiakasvatuksen kontekstina.</p

Investigating sex-specific effects of familial risk for ADHD and other neurodevelopmental disorders in the Swedish population

Background: Many psychiatric disorders show sex differences in prevalence. Recent studies suggest that females diagnosed with anxiety and depression carry more genetic risks related to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), compared to affected males. Aims: In this register-based study, we aimed to test whether females who received clinical diagnoses of anxiety, depressive, bipolar, and eating disorders are at higher familial risk for ADHD and other neurodevelopmental disorders (NDs), compared to diagnosed males. Method: We analysed data from a record-linkage of several Swedish national registers, including 151,025 sibling pairs from 103,941 unique index individuals diagnosed with anxiety, depressive, bipolar, or eating disorders, as well as data from 646,948 cousin pairs. We compared the likelihood of having a relative diagnosed with ADHD/NDs in index males and females. Results: Females with anxiety disorders were more likely than affected males to have a brother with ADHD [OR(CIs)=1.13(1.05-1.22)]. Results for broader NDs were similar and were driven by ADHD diagnoses. Follow-up analyses revealed similar point estimates for several categories of anxiety disorders, with the strongest effect observed for agoraphobia [OR(CIs)=1.64(1.12-2.39)]. No significant associations were found in individuals with depressive, bipolar, or eating disorders, or in cousins. Conclusions: These results provide modest support for the possibility that familial/genetic risks for ADHD may show sex-specific phenotypic expression. Alternatively, there could be sex-specific biases in diagnoses of anxiety and ADHD. These factors could play a small role in the observed sex differences in prevalence of ADHD and anxiety

Kepler eclipsing binary stars. VII. the catalogue of eclipsing binaries found in the entire Kepler data set

The primary Kepler Mission provided nearly continuous monitoring of ~200,000 objects with unprecedented photometric precision. We present the final catalog of eclipsing binary systems within the 105 deg2 Kepler field of view. This release incorporates the full extent of the data from the primary mission (Q0-Q17 Data Release). As a result, new systems have been added, additional false positives have been removed, ephemerides and principal parameters have been recomputed, classifications have been revised to rely on analytical models, and eclipse timing variations have been computed for each system. We identify several classes of systems including those that exhibit tertiary eclipse events, systems that show clear evidence of additional bodies, heartbeat systems, systems with changing eclipse depths, and systems exhibiting only one eclipse event over the duration of the mission. We have updated the period and galactic latitude distribution diagrams and included a catalog completeness evaluation. The total number of identified eclipsing and ellipsoidal binary systems in the Kepler field of view has increased to 2878, 1.3% of all observed Kepler targets

Mental health of adults in Ireland during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic: Results from a nationally representative, longitudinal study

No abstract available

Mental health of adults in Ireland during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic: Results from a nationally representative, longitudinal study

No abstract available

GRS 1915+105: the distance, radiative processes and energy-dependent variability

We present an exhaustive analysis of five broad-band observations of GRS 1915+105 in two variability states, chi and omega, observed simultaneously by the PCA, HEXTE and OSSE. We find all the spectra well fitted by Comptonization of disc blackbody photons, with very strong evidence for the presence of a nonthermal electron component in the Comptonizing plasma. Both the energy and the power spectra in the chi state are typical to the very high/intermediate state of black-hole binaries. The spectrum of the omega state is characterized by a strong blackbody component Comptonized by thermal electrons and a weak nonthermal tail. We then calculate rms spectra (fractional variability as functions of energy) for the PCA data. We accurately model the rms spectra by coherent superposition of variability in the components implied by the spectral fits, namely a less variable blackbody and more variable Comptonization. The latter dominates at high energies, resulting in a flattening of the rms at high energies in most of the data. This is also the case for the spectra of the QPOs present in the chi state. Then, some of our data require a radial dependence of the rms of the disc blackbody. We also study the distance to the source, and find 11 kpc as the most likely value, contrary to a recent claim of a much lower value.Comment: Accepted to MNRAS, landscape table in a separate fil

SPLUS J142445.34-254247.1: An R-Process Enhanced, Actinide-Boost, Extremely Metal-Poor star observed with GHOST

We report on the chemo-dynamical analysis of SPLUS J142445.34-254247.1, an extremely metal-poor halo star enhanced in elements formed by the rapid neutron-capture process. This star was first selected as a metal-poor candidate from its narrow-band S-PLUS photometry and followed up spectroscopically in medium-resolution with Gemini South/GMOS, which confirmed its low-metallicity status. High-resolution spectroscopy was gathered with GHOST at Gemini South, allowing for the determination of chemical abundances for 36 elements, from carbon to thorium. At [Fe/H]=-3.39, SPLUS J1424-2542 is one of the lowest metallicity stars with measured Th and has the highest logeps(Th/Eu) observed to date, making it part of the "actinide-boost" category of r-process enhanced stars. The analysis presented here suggests that the gas cloud from which SPLUS J1424-2542 was formed must have been enriched by at least two progenitor populations. The light-element (Z<=30) abundance pattern is consistent with the yields from a supernova explosion of metal-free stars with 11.3-13.4 Msun, and the heavy-element (Z>=38) abundance pattern can be reproduced by the yields from a neutron star merger (1.66Msun and 1.27Msun) event. A kinematical analysis also reveals that SPLUS J1424-2542 is a low-mass, old halo star with a likely in-situ origin, not associated with any known early merger events in the Milky Way.Comment: 26 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication on Ap

A European research agenda for somatic symptom disorders, bodily distress disorders, and functional disorders: Results of an estimate-talk-estimate delphi expert study

Background: Somatic Symptom Disorders (SSD), Bodily Distress Disorders (BDD) and functional disorders (FD) are associated with high medical and societal costs and pose a substantial challenge to the population and health policy of Europe. To meet this challenge, a specific research agenda is needed as one of the cornerstones of sustainable mental health research and health policy for SSD, BDD, and FD in Europe. Aim: To identify the main challenges and research priorities concerning SSD, BDD, and FD from a European perspective. Methods: Delphi study conducted from July 2016 until October 2017 in 3 rounds with 3 workshop meetings and 3 online surveys, involving 75 experts and 21 European countries. EURONET-SOMA and the European Association of Psychosomatic Medicine (EAPM) hosted the meetings. Results: Eight research priorities were identified: (1) Assessment of diagnostic profiles relevant to course and treatment outcome. (2) Development and evaluation of new, effective interventions. (3) Validation studies on questionnaires or semi-structured interviews that assess chronic medical conditions in this context. (4) Research into patients preferences for diagnosis and treatment. (5) Development of new methodologic designs to identify and explore mediators and moderators of clinical course and treatment outcomes (6). Translational research exploring how psychological and somatic symptoms develop from somatic conditions and biological and behavioral pathogenic factors. (7) Development of new, effective interventions to personalize treatment. (8) Implementation studies of treatment interventions in different settings, such as primary care, occupational care, general hospital and specialty mental health settings. The general public and policymakers will benefit from the development of new, effective, personalized interventions for SSD, BDD, and FD, that will be enhanced by translational research, as well as from the outcomes of research into patient involvement, GP-patient communication, consultation-liaison models and implementation. Conclusion: Funding for this research agenda, targeting these challenges in coordinated research networks such as EURONET-SOMA and EAPM, and systematically allocating resources by policymakers to this critical area in mental and physical well-being is urgently needed to improve efficacy and impact for diagnosis and treatment of SSD, BDD, and FD across Europe