Comparing Compassionate Love for Humanity and Empathy as Predictors of Forgiveness

Undergraduate Applie

Treatment of Fragile X Syndrome with Cannabidiol: A Case Series Study and Brief Review of the Literature.

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is an X-linked dominant disorder caused by a mutation in the fragile X mental retardation 1 gene. Cannabidiol (CBD) is an exogenous phytocannabinoid with therapeutic potential for individuals with anxiety, poor sleep, and cognitive deficits, as well as populations with endocannabinoid deficiencies, such as those who suffer from FXS. The objective of this study was to provide a brief narrative review of recent literature on endocannabinoids and FXS and to present a case series describing three patients with FXS who were treated with oral CBD-enriched (CBD+) solutions. We review recent animal and human studies of endocannabinoids in FXS and present the cases of one child and two adults with FXS who were treated with various oral botanical CBD+ solutions delivering doses of 32.0 to 63.9 mg daily. Multiple experimental and clinical models of FXS combine to highlight the therapeutic potential of CBD for management of FXS. All three patients described in the case series exhibited functional benefit following the use of oral CBD+ solutions, including noticeable reductions in social avoidance and anxiety, as well as improvements in sleep, feeding, motor coordination, language skills, anxiety, and sensory processing. Two of the described patients exhibited a reemergence of a number of FXS symptoms following cessation of CBD+ treatment (e.g., anxiety), which then improved again after reintroduction of CBD+ treatment. Findings highlight the importance of exploring the therapeutic potential of CBD within the context of rigorous clinical trials

Sticks and Stones Can Break My Bones, but Words Can Mold My Society: How metaphors influence the immigration debate in Spain

Two different worlds converge on the Strait of Gibraltar, that of two continents and that of two religions. Yet despite the strait\u27s relatively short distance of only 14 kilometers, the cultural proximity between Spain and Morocco seems even closer as thousands of immigrants arrive in southern Spain each year from North Africa. Many come from Sub-Saharan Africa and have spent years waiting in Tangiers or outside Ceuta and Melilla to cross the border, if they are lucky, they will jump the fences and enter Spain through the Moroccan enclaves. Others, however, save enough money to hire a guide to ferry them across the straight in pateras. These boats are usually filled to more than double their capacity, however, and often travel in bad weather when getting caught by officials is less likely. It is all-too-common to read about African bodies washing ashore along the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts. Yet the hardships that these immigrants face is often overlooked because Spaniards are becoming more protective of their jobs, homes, and homogeneous culture. I became personally interested with the relationship between immigrants and Spaniards in the fall of 2004 when I moved to Cadiz, in south-west Spain to study Spanish for a year. Within the first month, a local friend casually mentioned how 15 dead immigrants had washed up on a beach several miles south of Cadiz the previous spring. This concept was exceedingly difficult for me to understand, yet for most Spaniards it is common news. People were risking their lives in front of my very eyes and this was something I could not ignore

The Impact of 1:1 Laptop Environments on the English Language Arts Achievement of Fifth Grade Students from Diverse Socio-Economic Backgrounds

This quantitative study extends previous research on the impact of one to one (1:1) laptop environments on student outcomes in English Language Arts (ELA) by focusing on students from various socio-economic backgrounds, while using a new technology-enhanced, state-administered assessment to measure performance. This study is significant because policy makers focus on state test scores when planning educational investments. Therefore, results from this study can assist policy makers in determining best practices related to technology integration to ensure equitable opportunities for all students. A non-experimental ex post facto causal comparative research design was used to explore the impact of 1:1 laptops on the ELA achievement of fifth grade students from various socio-economic backgrounds using a state-administered technology enhanced assessment. The target population included fifth grade students attending public schools within five different school systems located in a northeastern state that took the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) assessment during the 2015-2016 school year. The sample size was 400 students. To measure ELA achievement, data from the 2015-2016 PARCC assessments was collected along with demographic information on socio-economic status. A two-way ANOVA revealed a significant difference in the dependent variable (ELA PARCC scores) based on social economic status (FARMS vs. Non-FARMS). However, no significant difference was found in the dependent variable based on learning environment (1:1 laptop vs. not 1:1 laptop), and no significant interaction was found between learning environment and socio-economic status on PARCC ELA scores. Recommendations for future research are provided