Η εξ αποστάσεως εκπαίδευση, κατά τη διάρκεια της πανδημίας του Covid-19, σε πολυπολιτισμικές τάξεις στο ελληνικό δημόσιο σχολείο: Απόψεις εκπαιδευτικών πρωτοβάθμιας εκπαίδευσης.

Η πανδημική κρίση επέφερε μεγάλες και αναπάντεχες αλλαγές στην καθημερινή μας ζωή. Από αυτές τις αλλαγές δεν θα μπορούσε να μην επηρεαστεί το παγκόσμιο εκπαιδευτικό σύστημα. Μεγάλος αριθμός χωρών οδηγήθηκαν σε υποχρεωτική και κατ’ επείγουσα εξ αποστάσεως εκπαίδευση, δημιουργώντας με αυτόν τον τρόπο μία νέα «εκπαιδευτική πραγματικότητα». Αυτή η νέα συνθήκη επηρέασε, σε ιδιαίτερα μεγάλο βαθμό, τους μαθητές που φοιτούν σε δημοτικά σχολεία. Λόγω του νεαρού της ηλικίας τους, βρέθηκαν αντιμέτωποι με καταστάσεις και προβλήματα τα οποία, ορισμένες φορές, αποδείχθηκαν ανυπέρβλητα. Το ελληνικό δημόσιο δημοτικό σχολείο του σήμερα, αποτελείται, ως επί των πλείστων, από πολυπολιτισμικές τάξεις. Οι μαθητές που τις απαρτίζουν προέρχονται από διαφορετικά κοινωνικά, οικονομικά και πολιτισμικά υπόβαθρα. Όσον αφορά την αποτελεσματικότητα της εξ αποστάσεως εκπαίδευσης, ο υλικοτεχνικός εξοπλισμός, η σταθερή σύνδεση δικτύου και η επιρροή που ασκεί το οικογενειακό περιβάλλον, αποτέλεσαν παραμέτρους υψίστης σημασίας για τους μαθητές. Λόγω των προαναφερθέντων, οι συζητήσεις περί ίσων ευκαιριών στην εκπαίδευση έγιναν πιο επίκαιρες από ποτέ. Η παρούσα εργασία προσπάθησε να ερευνήσει τις απόψεις και τις αντιλήψεις που αποκόμισαν οι εκπαιδευτικοί την περίοδο της εξ αποστάσεως εκπαίδευσης που διενεργήθηκε σε πολυπολιτισμικές τάξεις. Τα αποτελέσματα αυτής της έρευνας έδειξαν ότι η τεχνολογία μπορεί να αποτελέσει ένα πολύ χρήσιμο εκπαιδευτικό εργαλείο μόνο όμως όταν μπορεί να χρησιμοποιηθεί ισότιμα από όλους.Pandemic crisis brought some big and unexpected changes in our daily life. These changes could not but affect the global educational system as well. A large number of countries were forced to adopt distance learning, under urgent circumstances creating a new “educational reality”. These new circumstances have had a particularly big impact on primary school students. Because of their young age, they faced some certain situations and problems which, often proved to be insurmountable to them. In today’s Greek public primary school, most classes are multicultural. Their students, come from different social, economic and cultural backgrounds. As for the effectiveness of distance education, logistics, a stable internet connection and family’s influence were proved very important factors. In view of the above, discussions about equal opportunities in education have become more relevant than ever. This very study investigates the opinions and perceptions, gained by teachers during the distance learning period, in multicultural classrooms. The results of this research showed that technology could be a very useful educational tool but only when it is used equally by everyone

Graph Theoretical Analysis of local ultraluminous infrared galaxies and quasars

We present a methodological framework for studying galaxy evolution by utilizing Graph Theory and network analysis tools. We study the evolutionary processes of local ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) and quasars and the underlying physical processes, such as star formation and active galactic nucleus (AGN) activity, through the application of Graph Theoretical analysis tools. We extract, process and analyse mid-infrared spectra of local (z < 0.4) ULIRGs and quasars between 5-38 microns through internally developed Python routines, in order to generate similarity graphs, with the nodes representing ULIRGs being grouped together based on the similarity of their spectra. Additionally, we extract and compare physical features from the mid-IR spectra, such as the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) emission and silicate depth absorption features, as indicators of the presence of star-forming regions and obscuring dust, in order to understand the underlying physical mechanisms of each evolutionary stage of ULIRGs. Our analysis identifies five groups of local ULIRGs based on their mid-IR spectra, which is quite consistent with the well established fork classification diagram by providing a higher level classification. We demonstrate how graph clustering algorithms and network analysis tools can be utilized as unsupervised learning techniques for revealing direct or indirect relations between various galaxy properties and evolutionary stages, which provides an alternative methodology to previous works for classification in galaxy evolution. Additionally, our methodology compares the output of several graph clustering algorithms in order to demonstrate the best-performing Graph Theoretical tools for studying galaxy evolution.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Computin

Vaccination and neurological disorders

Active immunization of children has been proven very effective in elimination of life threatening complications of many infectious diseases in developed countries. However, as vaccination-preventable infectious diseases and their complications have become rare, the interest focuses on immunization-related adverse reactions. Unfortunately, fear of vaccination-related adverse effects can led to decreased vaccination coverage and subsequent epidemics of infectious diseases. This review includes reports about possible side effects following vaccinations in children with neurological disorders and also published recommendations about vaccinating children with neurological disorders. From all international published data anyone can conclude that vaccines are safer than ever before, but the challenge remains to convey this message to society

Benign epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes: Relationship between type of seizures and response to medication in a Greek population

Purpose: Benign epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (BECTS) is considered to be the most common childhood epileptic syndrome. We studied the relationship between the type of seizures and response to medication in a Greek population. Materials and Methods: We studied 60 neurodevelopmentally normal children diagnosed with BECTS. Children were subdivided into three groups, based on type of seizures: Group A comprised 32 children with generalized tonic-clonic seizures, Group B 19 children with focal seizures and Group C 9 children with focal seizures with secondary generalization. All patients in the present study were started on an antiepileptic medication after the third seizure (sodium valproate, carbamazepine, and oxcarbazepine), and we studied the response to medication. Results: 10 from 13 (76.92%) of patients in Group A, 13 from 15 (86.66%) patients in Group B, and all 6 patients (100%) in Group C started carbamazepine or oxcarbazepine had a favorable respond. Similarly, 16 from 19 (84.2%) of patients in Group A, 3 from 4 patients (75%) in Group B, and 1 from 3 patients (33.3%) in Group C, started sodium valproate responded well to medication. Conclusions: The majority of children responded well to the first antiepileptic treatment and had a favorable outcome, regardless of type of seizures. 88.3% of children became seizure free by 1 or 2 years after seizure onset. These findings are indicative that the type of seizures has no major effect neither in response to antiepileptic treatment or in the final outcome. Further research in a larger number of children is needed

Postherpes simplex encephalitis: a case series of viral-triggered autoimmunity, synaptic autoantibodies and response to therapy

Background: Recent evidence suggests that patients with herpes simplex virus (HSV) encephalitis may relapse because of autoimmunity against the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR). We present a case series of post-HSV relapsing encephalopathy associated with antibodies to central nervous system (CNS) synaptic antigens. Patient/Methods: Sera and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from five patients with HSV encephalitis who relapsed after antiviral therapy were tested for anti-NMDAR, gamma-aminobutyric acid b receptor (GABAbR), α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptor (AMPAR), Leucine-rich, glioma inactivated 1 (LGI1), anti -contactin-associated protein-like 2 (CASPR2) and dipeptidyl-peptidase-like protein-6 (DDPX) antibodies using cell-based assays. Results: Five patients (two infants, one child and two adults) developed post-HSV autoimmune encephalitis. The infants, aged 9 months and 10 months, after prompt and seemingly successful anti-HSV therapy, were readmitted with typical signs of NMDAR-encephalitis evolving within days, with NMDAR antibodies detected in both serum and CSF. Although they were promptly treated with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) and with IVIg followed by rituximab, respectively, they were both left with psychomotor deficits. A 14-year-old girl with seizures due to HSV encephalitis improved with anti-HSV therapy. Later, she manifested intractable seizures and she was found positive for anti-NMDAR antibodies which persist. The two adults were women, aged 58 and 33 years. The first recovered after anti-HSV therapy and remained asymptomatic for 6 months, until she developed generalized seizures with persisting CSF anti-NMDAR antibodies; the second, who continued to be encephalopathic after 2 weeks of anti-HSV therapy, tested positive for anti-NMDAR antibodies in the serum and anti-GABAbR antibodies in the serum and CSF. She recovered fully following IVIg therapy but her serum anti-GABAbR antibodies persist 34 months later. Discussion: Infection of the CNS with HSV can trigger CNS autoimmunity associated not only with anti-NMDAR but also with anti-GABAbR antibodies. These antibodies can persist in the serum, even without associated symptoms, but their presence in the CSF is firmly associated with disease development. In contrast to children and adults who responded well to therapies, the infants had an incomplete recovery with severe psychomotor deficits probably due to the interference of anti-NMDAR antibodies with neuro-developmental processes