Compensatory education for disadvantaged Mexican students : an impact evaluation using propensity score matching

The authors use propensity score matching to evaluate the effectiveness of CONAFE, a compensatory education program in Mexico, in improving student test scores and lowering repetition and failure rates. They find that CONAFE is most effective in improving primary school math learning and secondary school Spanish learning. Secondary education delivered by way of television to remote communities and bilingual education for indigenous students are both shown to improve student achievement. CONAFE also lowers primary school repetition and failure rates. The authors conclude that this compensatory education program can effectively improve short-term learning results for disadvantaged students, but that improvement varies by the subject of instruction and the demographics of students taught.Primary Education,Gender and Education,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Teaching and Learning,Public Health Promotion,Teaching and Learning,Gender and Education,Primary Education,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Girls Education

Bol i glazba u terapiji: istok i zapad

The research, which has been carried out by art-therapists, clinical psychologists, neurologists and others, has helped to provide measurable data that support the values of music in healing that have long been empirically understood by traditional healers in the east and west cultures. The growing holistic consciousness within the health care professions has led to a renewed interest in the integration of music and the other creative arts into forward-looking approaches to psychotherapy and medical interventions. Trance induction is only one aspect of traditional music and healing practices and, in any case, the induction of similar altered states of consciousness through techniques like music and imagery are common place in clinical music therapy practice and this without a sacrilized ritual context. Music in therapy is also applied in medical settings to achieve such physiological goals as pain reduction, control of stress hormone levels and muscle tension and in enhancing the immune system in cancer patients.U istraživanjima koja su provodili art-terapeuti, klinički psiholozi, neurolozi i drugi, dobiveni su podaci o utjecaju i vrijednosti glazbe u liječenju, što su već od davnina shvaćali i tradicionalni iscjelitelji u kulturama istoka i zapada. Razvoj holističkih pristupa i svijesti u medicinskim disciplinama potaknuo je zanimanje za uključivanje glazbe i drugih ekspresivnih medija u suvremene koncepte tretmana u psihoterapiji i drugim oblicima liječenja. Uvođenje u trans samo je jedan aspekt tradicionalnih glazbenih i terapijskih metoda, kroz induciranje posebnih stanja svijesti, uz primjenu glazbe u vođenoj imaginaciji koja je bez posvećenog obrednog konteksta uobičajena i u kliničkoj primjeni glazbe u terapiji. Glazba u terapiji također se primjenjuje u medicini u smanjenju boli, kontroli stresnih hormona i razine mišićne napetosti, kao i podržavanju imunološkog sustava u oboljelih od raka

Bol i glazba u terapiji: istok i zapad

The research, which has been carried out by art-therapists, clinical psychologists, neurologists and others, has helped to provide measurable data that support the values of music in healing that have long been empirically understood by traditional healers in the east and west cultures. The growing holistic consciousness within the health care professions has led to a renewed interest in the integration of music and the other creative arts into forward-looking approaches to psychotherapy and medical interventions. Trance induction is only one aspect of traditional music and healing practices and, in any case, the induction of similar altered states of consciousness through techniques like music and imagery are common place in clinical music therapy practice and this without a sacrilized ritual context. Music in therapy is also applied in medical settings to achieve such physiological goals as pain reduction, control of stress hormone levels and muscle tension and in enhancing the immune system in cancer patients.U istraživanjima koja su provodili art-terapeuti, klinički psiholozi, neurolozi i drugi, dobiveni su podaci o utjecaju i vrijednosti glazbe u liječenju, što su već od davnina shvaćali i tradicionalni iscjelitelji u kulturama istoka i zapada. Razvoj holističkih pristupa i svijesti u medicinskim disciplinama potaknuo je zanimanje za uključivanje glazbe i drugih ekspresivnih medija u suvremene koncepte tretmana u psihoterapiji i drugim oblicima liječenja. Uvođenje u trans samo je jedan aspekt tradicionalnih glazbenih i terapijskih metoda, kroz induciranje posebnih stanja svijesti, uz primjenu glazbe u vođenoj imaginaciji koja je bez posvećenog obrednog konteksta uobičajena i u kliničkoj primjeni glazbe u terapiji. Glazba u terapiji također se primjenjuje u medicini u smanjenju boli, kontroli stresnih hormona i razine mišićne napetosti, kao i podržavanju imunološkog sustava u oboljelih od raka

An Asymptotically-Optimal Sampling-Based Algorithm for Bi-directional Motion Planning

Bi-directional search is a widely used strategy to increase the success and convergence rates of sampling-based motion planning algorithms. Yet, few results are available that merge both bi-directional search and asymptotic optimality into existing optimal planners, such as PRM*, RRT*, and FMT*. The objective of this paper is to fill this gap. Specifically, this paper presents a bi-directional, sampling-based, asymptotically-optimal algorithm named Bi-directional FMT* (BFMT*) that extends the Fast Marching Tree (FMT*) algorithm to bi-directional search while preserving its key properties, chiefly lazy search and asymptotic optimality through convergence in probability. BFMT* performs a two-source, lazy dynamic programming recursion over a set of randomly-drawn samples, correspondingly generating two search trees: one in cost-to-come space from the initial configuration and another in cost-to-go space from the goal configuration. Numerical experiments illustrate the advantages of BFMT* over its unidirectional counterpart, as well as a number of other state-of-the-art planners.Comment: Accepted to the 2015 IEEE Intelligent Robotics and Systems Conference in Hamburg, Germany. This submission represents the long version of the conference manuscript, with additional proof details (Section IV) regarding the asymptotic optimality of the BFMT* algorith

Time Spent Working in Custody Influences Work Sample Test Battery Performance of Deputy Sheriffs Compared to Recruits

This study determined the influence of years spent working in custody on fitness measured by a state-specific testing battery (Work Sample Test Battery; WSTB) in deputy sheriffs. Retrospective analysis was conducted on one patrol school class (51 males, 13 females) divided into three groups depending on time spent working in custody: DS24 (<24 months; n = 20); DS2547 (25–47 months; n = 23); and DS48+ (≥48 months; n = 21). These groups were compared to a recruit class (REC; 219 males, 34 females) in the WSTB, which comprised five tasks completed for time: 99-yard (90.53-m) obstacle course (99OC); 165-pound (75-kg) dummy drag; six-foot (1.83-m) chain link fence (CLF) and solid wall (SW) climb; and 500-yard (457.2-m) run (500R). A univariate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) (controlling for sex and age) with Bonferroni post hoc determined significant between-group differences. DS48+ were slower in the 99OC compared to the REC (p = 0.007) and performed the CLF and SW slower than all groups (p ≤ 0.012). DS24, DS2547, and DS48+ were all slower than REC in the 500R (p ≤ 0.002). Physical training should be implemented to maintain fitness and job-specific task performance in deputy sheriffs working custody, especially considering the sedentary nature of this work