Does State Policy Help or Hurt the Dropout Problem in California?

Examines the scope and causes of California's dropout problem, and assesses whether some state policies unintentionally drive students out of schools. Proposes a comprehensive policy framework focused on effectively serving at-risk students

A Randomized Controlled Trial of Sertraline in Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Objective: Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors like sertraline have been shown in observational studies and anecdotal reports to improve language development in young children with fragile X syndrome (FXS). A previous controlled trial of sertraline in young children with FXS found significant improvement in expressive language development as measured by the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL) among those with comorbid autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in post hoc analysis, prompting the authors to probe whether sertraline is also indicated in nonsyndromic ASD. Methods: The authors evaluated the efficacy of 6 months of treatment with low-dose sertraline in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 58 children with ASD aged 24 to 72 months. Results: 179 subjects were screened for eligibility, and 58 were randomized to sertraline (32) or placebo (26). Eight subjects from the sertraline arm and five from the placebo arm discontinued. Intent-to-treat analysis showed no significant difference from placebo on the primary outcomes (MSEL expressive language raw score and age equivalent combined score) or secondary outcomes. Sertraline was well tolerated, with no difference in side effects between sertraline and placebo groups. No serious adverse events possibly related to study treatment occurred. Conclusion: This randomized controlled trial of sertraline treatment showed no benefit with respect to primary or secondary outcome measures. For the 6-month period, treatment in young children with ASD appears safe, although the long-term side effects of low-dose sertraline in early childhood are unknown. Clinical Trial Registration: www.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier NCT02385799

Genetic dissection of an amygdala microcircuit that gates conditioned fear

The role of different amygdala nuclei (neuroanatomical subdivisions) in processing Pavlovian conditioned fear has been studied extensively, but the function of the heterogeneous neuronal subtypes within these nuclei remains poorly understood. Here we use molecular genetic approaches to map the functional connectivity of a subpopulation of GABA-containing neurons, located in the lateral subdivision of the central amygdala (CEl), which express protein kinase C-δ (PKC-δ). Channelrhodopsin-2-assisted circuit mapping in amygdala slices and cell-specific viral tracing indicate that PKC-δ^+ neurons inhibit output neurons in the medial central amygdala (CEm), and also make reciprocal inhibitory synapses with PKC-δ^− neurons in CEl. Electrical silencing of PKC-δ^+ neurons in vivo suggests that they correspond to physiologically identified units that are inhibited by the conditioned stimulus, called Cel_(off) units. This correspondence, together with behavioural data, defines an inhibitory microcircuit in CEl that gates CEm output to control the level of conditioned freezing

Electronic Cartero Machine (ECM): An RFID-Based One-Way SMS-Sending Kiosk

The study\u27s goal was to see whether a one - way text messaging machine using RFID will be effective to the students, teachers, and parents/guardians. The study has taken advantage of the school’s usage of RFID to record the attendance. The same RFIDs are to be used to register into the Electronic Cartero Machine (ECM). The researchers built a system where students can message their parents/guardians their concerns by tapping the students registered RFID using the Raspberry Pi as a controller to show the GUI (Graphical User Interface) of the system. The main program is custom made using Java SE (Standard Edition) and Swing. There are 20 respondents to the survey, consisting of the students, teachers, parents/guardians, and administrative staffs to evaluate the appearance, maintainability, ease in usage and accuracy. The survey uses general acceptability indicators to describe the mean of the outcome. From the results of the survey, the appearance mean is 4.25 which suggests that the design of the ECM, especially the GUI is clear and identifiable, the maintainability mean is 4.7 which indicates that it can easily be maintained. Ease in usage is 4.9 which means that it can send the text messages to the proper recipients. The overall mean is 4.5675. It scored Excellent on the general acceptability indicators. Furthermore, the researchers discovered that the ECM is similar with the regular cellular phones in terms of sending time. Also, the number of characters being sent affects the sending time of the ECM

A quest for an effective technology transfer law: An assessment of the Philippine Technology Transfer Act of 2009

Technology transfer refers to the process by which one party systematically transfers to another party the knowledge for the manufacture of a product, the application of a process, or rendering of a service, which may involve the transfer, assignment or licensing of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs). This paper discusses the implications of the recently passed Technology Transfer Act of 2009 (TTA) on the present structure of dissemination of government-funded Research & Development ( R & D) into useful products and services that will redound to the benefit of Filipinos. It discusses ownership and royalties for commercialized R & D, which marks the essence of this act, and how it meets the issues raised by the inventors. At the end of this paper, we aim to identify if the recently passed Technology Transfer Act comply with existing laws on intellectual creation, in addition to the criterion of a sound and comprehensive Technology Transfer Law established by the Intellectual Property Code, Civil Code, The Constitution of the Philippines and expert commentaries and fundamental insinuations for technology transfer capacities

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Paper presented in national symposium on future goals of physiological research for the improvement of plant resources, held at Annamalai University, December 18-20, 1998.Not AvailableNot Availabl

Basbas: A short feature film about religious fanaticism

Basbas is a 17-minute short satire film that revolves around the religious themes of faith healing and blind following. It tells the story of Eva and Carlo, a mother and son, resorting to religious healing as their last hope in curing the mother’s terminal disease where they both experience a transformation in their life.The thesis film centers on fanaticism and blind faith, with religion as its primary front. The thesis film discusses Filipino idolatry and blind faith in abusive cult-like religious sects in the country. In several scenes in the film, it exposes the satirical nature of cult conversion where clear actions of malalignment are often misinterpreted into acts of good due to the inherent desperation of soon-to-be converted followers who are preyed upon by the leaders of these sects. Therefore, the film uses religion to create a story about how victims are exploited by preying on their vulnerabilities brought about by socio-economic conditions. Hence, the film explores how religion can be used as a tool for personal gain through weaponizing blind following, with the use of modern methods towards propagating their ideologies. Lastly, Basbas also depicts how people can become slaves to their own desires and have misconceptions about their religion.Due to the nature and sensitivity of the topic of religion, the researchers created a purely fictitious religious organization that does not reflect any existing religion but rather portrays the occurrences and the impact of blind faith and fanaticism that can predispose one’s cognitive ability to criticize reality. 1080p. MP4 Format. Keywords: Fanaticism, Blind Faith, Religious Fanaticism, Religious Consumerism, Goal Directed Behavior, Desire, Intention, and Behavio

Audio interface guidelines for the visually impaired for conveying sound localization

This study will develop a model in which audio cues can convey effectively the position or localization of the sound. The experiments done will test the limits and abilities of the visually impaired to localize sound in a 2-dimentional space using variety of audio cues. The goal is to determine which sound cues are suitable for the different layout of an audio interface