Cell Phones, Student Rights, and School Safety: Finding the Right Balance

Despite the potential instructional benefits of integrating devices such as cell phones into schools and classrooms, research reveals that their improper use can negatively impact student behaviour, learning, and well-being. This paper reviews the literature and litigation on cell phone use in schools due to controversies over cheating, cyberbullying, sexting, and searches of student cell phones. Recent studies suggested that the presence of cell phones and related technologies in classrooms could detract from students’ academic performances while contributing to higher rates of academic dishonesty and cyberbullying. The growing prevalence of cyberbullying is especially concerning because it can have severely negative, even tragic, effects on student mental health and safety. However, given the relatively discreet nature of cell phone use, regulations about their use can be difficult to enforce. After reviewing literature and litigation on the potential risks associated with inappropriate cell phone use in schools, this paper offers suggestions for educators to consider when devising or revising policies balancing students’ individual rights with their safety and well-being before ending with a brief conclusion

The Decoding of the Human Spirit: A Synergy of Spirituality and Character Strengths Toward Wholeness

Little attention has been given to the integral relationship between character strengths and spirituality (the search for or communing with the sacred to derive meaning and purpose). The science of character strengths has surged in recent years with hundreds of studies, yet with minimal attention to spirituality or the literature thereof. At the same time, the science of spirituality has steadily unfolded over the last few decades and has offered only occasional attention to select strengths of character (e.g., humility, love, and forgiveness) or the universal typology of the VIA classification of character strengths and virtues. In this exploration, we argue that there is a robust synergy of these sciences and practices revealing that spirituality is vitally concerned with promoting character strengths. At the same time, character strengths can enhance and deepen spiritual practices, rituals, and experiences. We elaborate on how character strengths and spirituality come together in the context of the psycho-spiritual journey toward wholeness. By wholeness, we are referring to a way of being in the world that involves a life-affirming view of oneself and the world, a capacity to see and approach life with breadth and depth and the ability to organize the life journey into a cohesive whole. We further discuss six levels by which spirituality can be integrated within the VIA Classification, including a meta-perspective in which wholeness represents a meta-strength or superordinate virtue. We frame two pathways of integration: the grounding path, in which character strengths offer tangibility and thereby deepen and enhance spirituality, and the sanctification path, in which spirituality elevates character strengths. Finally, we turn to research-based practices and examine how character strengths might facilitate and contribute to spiritual practices and, conversely, how spirituality might enhance character strength practices. Such multifaceted integration offers insight and wisdom to both areas of study and opens up new directions for psycho-spiritual research and practices to deepen and broaden our understanding of what it means to be human

Reducing Youth Risk Behaviors Through Interactive Theater Intervention

The reduction of risk behaviors in secondary schools is a key concern for parents, teachers, and school administrators. School is one of the primary contexts of socialization for young people; thus, the investment in school-based programs to reduce risk behaviors is essential. In this study, we report on youth who participated in an intervention designed to improve decision-making skills based on positive youth development approaches. We examine changes in decision-making skills before and after involvement in the Teen Interactive Theater Education (TITE) program and retrospective self-assessment of change in knowledge, abilities, and beliefs as a result of participating in TITE (n = 127). Youth that reported increases in knowledge, abilities, and beliefs due to the intervention (n = 89) were more likely to think about the consequences of their decisions and list options before making a decision compared to their counterparts that reported less overall learning (n = 38). Implications for intervention research and stakeholders are discussed

Testing platform-independent quantum error mitigation on noisy quantum computers

We apply quantum error mitigation techniques to a variety of benchmark problems and quantum computers to evaluate the performance of quantum error mitigation in practice. To do so, we define an empirically motivated, resource-normalized metric of the improvement of error mitigation which we call the improvement factor, and calculate this metric for each experiment we perform. The experiments we perform consist of zero-noise extrapolation and probabilistic error cancellation applied to two benchmark problems run on IBM, IonQ, and Rigetti quantum computers, as well as noisy quantum computer simulators. Our results show that error mitigation is on average more beneficial than no error mitigation - even when normalized by the additional resources used - but also emphasize that the performance of quantum error mitigation depends on the underlying computer

Behavioral Expression of Contextual Fear in Male and Female Rats

The study of fear conditioning has led to a better understanding of fear and anxiety-based disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Despite the fact many of these disorders are more common in women than in men, the vast majority of work investigating fear conditioning in rodents has been conducted in males. The goal of the work presented here was to better understand how biological sex affects contextual fear conditioning and expression. To this end, rats of both sexes were trained to fear a specific context and fear responses were measured upon re-exposure to the conditioning context. In the first experiment, male and female rats were given context fear conditioning and tested the next day during which freezing behavior was measured. In the second experiment, rats were trained and tested in a similar fashion while fear-potentiated startle and defecation were measured. We found that males showed more freezing behavior than females during a fear expression test. The expression of fear-potentiated startle did not differ between sexes, while males exhibited more defecation during a test in a novel context. These data suggest that the expression of defensive behavior differs between sexes and highlight the importance of using multiple measures of fear when comparing between sexes

Increasing the Measured Effective Quantum Volume with Zero Noise Extrapolation

Quantum Volume is a full-stack benchmark for near-term quantum computers. It quantifies the largest size of a square circuit which can be executed on the target device with reasonable fidelity. Error mitigation is a set of techniques intended to remove the effects of noise present in the computation of noisy quantum computers when computing an expectation value of interest. Effective quantum volume is a proposed metric that applies error mitigation to the quantum volume protocol in order to evaluate the effectiveness not only of the target device but also of the error mitigation algorithm. Digital Zero-Noise Extrapolation (ZNE) is an error mitigation technique that estimates the noiseless expectation value using circuit folding to amplify errors by known scale factors and extrapolating to the zero-noise limit. Here we demonstrate that ZNE, with global and local unitary folding with fractional scale factors, in conjunction with dynamical decoupling, can increase the effective quantum volume over the vendor-measured quantum volume. Specifically, we measure the effective quantum volume of four IBM Quantum superconducting processor units, obtaining values that are larger than the vendor-measured quantum volume on each device. This is the first such increase reported

The evaluation of tactile dysfunction in the hand in type 1 diabetes: a novel method based on haptics

Aims We present an innovative method based on haptics for the evaluation of the sense of touch in the hand, in people affected by type 1 diabetes. Methods Forty individuals affected by diabetes and 20 healthy controls took part in the study; the diabetes group was further divided into two subgroups based on vibration sensitivity in the lower limb. By means of a novel haptic device, tactile sensitivity in the fingertip was measured as the ability of the participants to discriminate slip motion speed. Results Tactile sensitivity was significantly lower in individuals affected by diabetes as compared to controls. Depending on the subgroup, the difference from the controls was equal to 0.11 (95% CI from 0.029 to 0.186) and to 0.267 (95% CI from 0.198 to 0.336). Within the diabetes group, tactile sensitivity correlated with vibration sensitivity in the upper (p = 0.001) and lower limb (p = 0.003). A significant relationship between nerve conduction parameters and tactile sensitivity was found (p = 0.03). Finally, we combined the different predictors (clinical, vibratory and electroneurography data) by using cluster analysis; tactile sensitivity was found to be significantly different between different clusters (p = 0.004). Conclusions Early signs of tactile dysfunction in the hand were found in individuals affected by diabetes, even in absence of diabetic neuropathy. The protocol presented in this study is a promising tool for the assessment of tactile dysfunction in the hand in people affected by type 1 diabetes

Measurement of Magnetic Flux in a Hall Thruster for Comparison to Mathematical Model

As part of the early development of a Hall-effect thruster, a type of advanced electric propulsion system, a prototype thruster body was built for the purpose of experimentation. To be as close as possible to reality, the prototype was designed and built under the assumption that it would be fireable. As such, it is equipped with a ceramic discharge chamber, as well as with customized electromagnets which use 28 AWG magnet wire and 1010 steel for the cores. The field is measured using Hall sensors for comparison with a mathematical model of the field. Physical systems and mathematical models can be used to iteratively improve one another, so this experiment serves as a beginning to the much larger project of fully developing a fully functional thruster system. Results of this experiment will affect the progress of development, either requiring system modifications or allowing for further system design

Characterization and prognostic value of mutations in exons 5 and 6 of the p53 gene in patients with colorectal cancers in central Iran

Background/Aims: We aimed to investigate the relation-ships among various mutations of the p53 gene and their protein products, histological characteristics, and disease prognosis of primary colorectal cancer in Isfahan, central Iran. Methods: Sixty-one patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma were enrolled in the study. Mutations of the p53 gene were detected by single-stranded conformation polymorphism and DNA sequencing. The protein stability was evaluated by immunohistochemistry. Patients were followed up to 48 months. Results: Twenty-one point mutations in exons 5 and 6 were detected in the tumor specimens of 14 patients (23%). Of those, 81% and 9.5% were missense and nonsense mutations, respectively. There were also two novel mutations in the intronic region between exons 5 and 6. In 11 mutated specimens, protein stability and protein accumulation were identified. There was a relationship between the type of mutation and protein accumulation in exons 5 and 6 of the p53 gene. The presence of the mutation was associated with an advanced stage of cancer (trend, p<0.009). Patients with mutated p53 genes had significantly lower survival rates than those with wild type p53 genes (p<0.01). Conclusions: Mutations in exons 5 and 6 of the p53 gene are common genetic alterations in colorectal adenocarcinoma in central Iran and are associated with a poor prognosis of the disease

Automatic memory processes in normal ageing and Alzheimer’s disease

This study examined the contribution of automatic and controlled uses of memory to stem completion in young, middle-aged and older adults, and compared these data with a study involving patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) who performed the same task (Hudson and Robertson, 2007). In an inclusion task participants aimed to complete three-letter word stems with a previously studied word, in an exclusion task the aim was to avoid using studied words to complete stems. Performances under inclusion and exclusion conditions were contrasted to obtain estimates of controlled and automatic memory processes using process-dissociation calculations (Jacoby, 1991). An age-related decline, evident from middle age was observed for the estimate of controlled processing, whereas the estimate of automatic processing remained invariant across the age groups. This pattern stands in contrast to what is observed in AD, where both controlled and automatic processes have been shown to be impaired. Therefore, the impairment in memory processing on stem completion that is found in AD is qualitatively different from that observed in normal ageing