Towards Liberating Education: A Proposed Rights-based Instructional Planning Approach for Teaching Higaonon Learners in the Philippines

This study proposes a rights-based instructional planning approach for teachers serving indigenous learners, particularly those assigned to schools in Higaonon communities (IPEd). The content of the paper focuses on the following:(1) assumptions about Higaonon indigenous learners; (2) components of the right-based instructional planning approach; and (3) facilitating and hindering factors that may affect the implementation of the right-based instructional planning approach. The researcher used an exploratory research design to develop the proposed planning approach. It was conducted in Higaonon communities in the Municipality of Esperanza, Agusan Del Sur, Philippines. The responses of the selected school officials, IPEd teachers, Higaonon tribal leaders, parents, students, and external stakeholders. The responses of the selected school officials, IPEd teachers, Higaonon tribal leaders, parents, students, and external stakeholders. This paper strongly believes that shifting from a culture-based to right-based IPEd teaching approach is expected to lay down positive changes in all aspects of life for indigenous learners, including social, economic, education, civic, and political, as they begin to understand and protect the inherent rights to ancestral domains, cultural integrity, self-governance, and social justice which are accounted for them. The early inculcation of Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) law into their identity formation through school curriculum is projected to eradicate all forms of discrimination, exclusion, alienation, disintegration, and vulnerabilities in mainstream societies

Accuracy of the Personal Economic Distress Index Among Arabic Unemployed

Objectives: Studies about The Index of Personal Economic Distress (IPED) in Arab countries since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic have been alarming. This study aimed to explore the reliability, factor structure, and criterion validity of the Arabic IPED in a sample of unemployed Tunisians during the past 6 months.Methods: The Arabic version of the IPED and the validated Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were administered to a total of 2011 unemployed people originating from all Tunisian regions. Principal component analysis (PCA) with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to establish the spontaneous distribution of the 8 items and possible factors of the IPED. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was conducted to assess the ability of the IPED to distinguish between unemployed individuals with no economic distress and those in distress. The correlation between the IPED and the HADS were explored.Results: The reliability of the Arabic version of the IPED was adequate. The PCA suggested two main components of the Arabic version of the IPED: the first component including five items focused on financial responsibilities towards state structures and the second dimension containing three items focused on well-being. A statistically significant association (p = 0.01; r = 0.05) was found between the well-being dimension of the IPED and the Anxiety subscale of HADS.Conclusion: This validated version of the IPED is an important tool to study the impact of economic crises on the mental health of unemployed people, as demonstrated in the link found in this study between economic distress and anxiety

Readout Concepts for DEPFET Pixel Arrays

Field effect transistors embedded into a depleted silicon bulk (DEPFETs) can be used as the first amplifying element for the detection of small signal charges deposited in the bulk by ionizing particles, X-ray photons or visible light. Very good noise performance at room temperature due to the low capacitance of the collecting electrode has been demonstrated. Regular two dimensional arrangements of DEPFETs can be read out by turning on individual rows and reading currents or voltages in the columns. Such arrangements allow the fast, low power readout of larger arrays with the possibility of random access to selected pixels. In this paper, different readout concepts are discussed as they are required for arrays with incomplete or complete clear and for readout at the source or the drain. Examples of VLSI chips for the steering of the gate and clear rows and for reading out the columns are presented.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, submitted to Nucl. Instr. and Methods as proceedings of the 9th European Symposium on Semiconductor Detectors, Elmau, June 23-27, 200

Recent changes in drug abuse scenarios : The new/novel psychoactive substances (NPS) phenomenon

© 2018 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Recent Changes in Drug Abuse Scenario: The New/Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS) Phenomenon

In parallel with a decrease/stabilization in the use of internationally controlled drugs, the market of novel psychoactive substances (NPS) continues increasing, year after year, with the Internet playing a pivotal role in contributing to this complex scenario. At times, although misleading, the terms ‘legal highs’ or ’research chemicals’ have been used to describe these molecules. Overall, about 5% of 19–24-year-old European people have already experimented with them, because both NPS’ intense psychoactive effects and their virtual non-detectability in routine drug screenings. Although ‘novel’ typically refers to molecules that have recently become a reason of current/potential public health concern, at times, the NPS scenario may indeed focus on pharmaceutical molecules. These may have either not entered the market, or are currently prescribed, with their potential for misuse resulting from the relating high dosages/idiosyncratic ways of self-administration. A concurrent use of a range of different NPS, and/or medications, is frequently being reported and this may be a reason of further clinical complications. Given their complex pharmacodynamics, there are increasing levels of concern about the onset of acute/chronic psychopathological associated with NPS intake. This Special Issue aims at providing an overview of a range of NPS-related issues, e.g., preclinical, epidemiological, and clinical pharmacological; the medical and psychopathological consequences associated with their intake; and, finally, the analytical chemistry and forensic analysis challenges associated with the NPS phenomenon.Peer reviewe