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Abstract: A novel product for managing Pomacea canaliculata, golden apple snail (GAS), containing quinoa saponins (Chenopodium quinoa), was evaluated under laboratory conditions for the protection of newly sprouted rice seeds. Experimental methods mimicked conditions found in direct-seeded rice cultivation in the Philippines, but with a very high GAS density (90snails/m2). Protection of newly sprouted seeds was directly proportional to saponin concentration in rice water. At 9 and 11ppm saponin, seedling protection after 48h against GAS of different sizes was 93% and 95%, respectively. Seedling recovery after 5d with 11ppm saponin was 93%. This value declined to 0% and 4%, for the control (untreated) and niclosamide, a synthetic chemical molluscicide, respectively. The results indicated that although niclosamide provides high efficacy against GAS (100% mortality, 24h), it has a serious detrimental effect on rice seedlings. Mean GAS mortality with 11ppm saponin was low at 24h (45%), but increased to 94% at 48h. Thus, seedling protection was probably due to an almost immediate closure of the snail''s opercula when exposed to saponin solutions, followed by significant death rates within 24 and 48h. The product also exhibits ovicidal effects, particularly with 1–5d old egg masses; older egg masses were less susceptible to the product. The use of 11ppm saponin slightly affected shoot growth, but this effect disappeared with time and the plants attained normal development. Saponin application rates at 10ppm saponin in the rice water correspond to ca. 6kg product/ha under cultivation conditions used in the Philippines. These results suggest that quinoa saponins may represent a commercially feasible environmentally benign alternative to synthetic chemical molluscicides against GAS, particularly in direct-seeded rice culture. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study used longitudinal survey data of Filipino American and Korean American youth to examine ways in which universal factors (e.g., peer antisocial behaviors and parent-child conflict) and Asian American (AA) family process variables (e.g., gendered norms) independently and collectively predict grade point average (GPA), externalizing, and internalizing problems. We aimed to explain the "Asian American youth paradox" in which low externalizing problems and high GPA coexist with high internalizing problems. We found that universal factors were extensively predictive of youth problems and remained robust when AA family process was accounted for. AA family process also independently explained youth development and, in part, the AA youth paradox. For example, gendered norms increased mental distress. Academic controls did the opposite of what it is intended, that is, had a negative impact on GPA as well as other developmental domains. Family obligation, assessed by family-centered activities and helping out, was beneficial to both externalizing and internalizing youth outcomes. Parental implicit affection, one of the distinct traits of AA parenting, was beneficial, particularly for GPA. This study provided important empirical evidence that can guide cross-cultural parenting and meaningfully inform intervention programs for AA youth., (© 2020 Family Process Institute.)

Purpose: To estimate the economic effects of implementing a universal screening and treatment program for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in the Philippines with the Economic Model for Retinopathy of Prematurity (EcROP)., Methods: The EcROP is a cost-effectiveness, cost-benefit, and cost-utility analysis. Fifty parents of legally blind individuals (aged 3 to 28 years) from three schools for the blind in the Philippines were interviewed to estimate the societal burden of raising a blind child. A decision tree analytic model, with deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analysis, was used to calculate the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (primary outcome) and the incremental monetary benefit (secondary outcome) for implementing an optimal national ROP program, compared to estimates of the current policy. Findings were extrapolated to estimate the national economic benefit of an ideal screening and treatment program., Results: The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio for a national program over the current policy was strongly favorable to the ideal program for the Philippines and represents an opportunity for substantial societal cost savings. The per-child incremental, annual monetary benefit of a national program over the current policy was $2,627. Extrapolating to the population of children at risk in 1 year showed that the national annual net benefit estimate would be $64,320,692, which is favorable to the current policy., Conclusions: The EcROP demonstrates that implementing a national ROP screening and treatment program is cost-saving and cost-effective, and would substantially decrease childhood blindness in the Philippines. [J Pediatr Ophthalmol Strabismus. 2019;56(6):388-396.]., (Copyright 2019, SLACK Incorporated.)