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Aggression is a complex behavior broadly involving many body systems, commonly investigated at the biological level within specific pathways. Studying metabolites in relation to aggression can shed light on the biology of aggression in a broader context of various biological pathways affecting behavior. Associations between metabolites and aggression are not well known. Here, using a selected set of 11 low molecular weight metabolites including amino acids and ketones, we aimed to identify metabolites that associate with adolescent aggression. Our dataset is a sub-sample of a population-based, longitudinal study of Finnish twins born in 1983-1987 with available plasma samples at age 22 and aggression levels rated in adolescence (N=725) by parents of the twins (at age 12), their teachers (at ages 12 & 14), or the twins and their co-twins (at ages 14 & 17). Linear regression models, adjusted for age, sex, body mass index and the clustered twin data, were used with the metabolite as the outcome and aggression levels as predictors. Five metabolites showed unadjusted correlations greater than 0.1 with aggression. However, we found that aggression showed consistent negative associations only with 3-hydroxybutyrate, a ketone body produced in the fasting state. Effect sizes for different single raters were generally similar in magnitude, while age 12 teacher-rated aggression and age 14 self-rated aggression were both significant predictors of 3-hydroxybutyrate in multi-rater modeling. These exploratory results indicate ketone metabolism as a possible new pathway to investigate further to better understand the biology of aggression.

The study used quasi-experimental research with pre-test and post-test design approach to analyse the effectiveness of using the Gallery Walk technique in enhancing reading comprehension and oral English language proficiency among junior high school students. Cluster sampling technique was used in determining the respondents who experienced the Gallery Walk teaching technique and those who experienced the conventional teaching technique. Pre-test result showed no differences in the level of reading comprehension and oral English language proficiency prior to the experiment. After the implementation of the study, post-test was given, and results revealed differences in the students' performance. Findings revealed that the students who were taught using the Gallery Walk technique showed improvement in reading comprehension and oral English language proficiency as compared to those who underwent the conventional teaching technique. In addition, students had positive feedback about the implementation of Gallery Walk. Finally, the study recommended the use of the Gallery Walk technique in teaching English 8 for enhancing reading comprehension and oral English language proficiency.

Filipino students exhibit lower levels of performance in mathematics and science competency compared to neighboring countries based on national and international surveys. The root cause of this issue is the decline in students’ interest in learning mathematics alongside their insufficient critical thinking skills. This has posed challenges among mathematics teachers to innovate ways on how to enhance students’ critical thinking skills and motivate students towards better performance in mathematics. The primary objective of the study was to determine the effectiveness of a contextualized question-embedded video-based teaching and learning tool on the interest and mathematical critical thinking skills of Grade 10 students. The study used a descriptive experimental research design with the REACT and Socratic methods to contextualize and embed questions in the video tool. A survey questionnaire was used to assess students’ interest before and after utilization, and a pretest and posttest assessment was conducted to evaluate students’ interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and inference skills. Based on the findings, using a contextualized question-embedded video-based teaching and learning tool is effective in increasing students’ interest and critical thinking skills. Moreover, there was a significant difference between students’ mathematical interest in terms of their attitude, initiatives, mathematics experience, and the utilization of contextualized question-embedded video-based teaching and learning tool. The pretest and posttest results of the experimental and control groups also showed significant differences in critical thinking skills. The study concludes that using contextualized question-embedded video-based as teaching and learning tools effectively improves students’ interest and critical thinking skills in Mathematics. Further larger-scale studies with different grade levels can validate the findings of the current study.

ABSTRACTBrain tumour is a severe disease that may lead to death if unrecognized and untreated. Brain tumor identification and segmentation is a complex and task in medical image processing. For radiologists, diagnosing and classifying tumor from various images is a challenging process. When the data size is large, deep learning methods outperform conventional learning algorithms. Convolutional Neural Networks are found to be one of the popular deep learning architectures. We propose a deep network with an Efficient Regularized CNN with Dimensionality Reduction Module (ERCNN-DRM), which works with less training data and produces more precise classification with minimal processing time and regularisation. The images are pre-processed, segmented and then the dimension reduced features are extracted using the proposed algorithms and then the proposed regularized classification takes place. The experiment is conducted on TCIA dataset which contains a total of 696 MRI, 224 of which are benign and 472 of which are malignant. The proposed scheme produces accuracy rate of 96.7% and reduces the complexity by working on dimensional reduced data. Performance measures such as accuracy, recall, precision, F-measures are analysed and the system is found to be significant than other state-of-the art.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, instructors’ pedagogy has been modified, and technology-based educational tools have been implemented. However, little is known about pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy in mathematics and their intentions in implementing such technology. Thus, the objective of this study is to test if perceived mathematics self-efficacy is significantly related to pre-service teachers’ behavioral intention to utilize virtual math manipulatives. The aim of the study was addressed through the use of a descriptive-correlational research design with sixty-nine (69) pre-service teachers. Students’ mathematics self-efficacy and behavioral intention to utilize virtual math manipulatives were assessed using researcher-made questionnaires. It was discovered that a significant association exists between the respondents’ content self-efficacy and their behavioral intention to utilize virtual math manipulatives as to attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. A similar relationship exists between self-efficacy and behavioral intention to use virtual math manipulatives in terms of attitude and behavioral control. The results imply that applying virtual manipulatives is anchored on knowledge and confidence of process and purpose. Therefore, preparing pre-service teachers for the classroom through a variety of training and seminars will help them improve their mathematics self-efficacy while also increasing their intention to use virtual manipulatives.

Mathematical underachievement among students was not only a source of concern in the Philippines, but has now spread throughout the world. Low critical thinking skill among Filipino students is one of the causes contributing to the country’s poor performance in mathematics. Students’ lack of critical thinking abilities may be due to teachers’ knowledge and expertise. To explore the critical thinking skills of pre-service teachers through the use of problem-based learning strategies is the main objective of the study. Quasi-experimental with a counterbalanced design was employed, presenting two problem-based learning strategies namely authentic strategy and non-linear strategy to two groups of teacher candidates. The results showed that students’ critical thinking skills in evaluating arguments and drawing conclusions are lacking. There is also a substantial difference in critical thinking skills between students in groups 1 and 2, except for the capacity to recognize assumptions. The pre-service teachers’ critical thinking skills do not differ significantly by sequence. The study results indicated that the pre-service teachers’ critical thinking skills were still low, particularly in terms of evaluating arguments and drawing conclusions due to inadequate background knowledge and lack of in-depth understanding of the mathematics concepts. The results imply that schools focus more on building strategies to improve and develop students’ critical thinking skills in mathematics education. Moreover, the study suggests that further research develop successful techniques for planning effective initiatives to increase critical thinking teaching and learning in higher education and training programs that could help improve the students’ critical thinking skills.

Due to the increasing number of applications for various purposes, including commercial, scientific, environmental, and military ones, Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks (UWSNs) have recently attracted substantial attention from academia and enterprises in research and development. Monitoring pollutants, tactical surveillance, tsunami alerts, and offshore drilling are some important applications. Due to acoustic transmission disruptions brought on by extreme noise, extraordinarily lengthy propagation delays, a high bit error rate, a constrained bandwidth, and interference, efficient sensor communication in UWSNs is a difficult challenge. Therefore, designing efficient communication among sensors and sinks is one of the fundamental research themes in UWSNs. This paper proposes an energy-efficient optimal cluster head (CH)-based routing in UWSNs. The proposed methodology consists of three stages namely, cluster formation, CH selection, and priority-based routing. In this study, initially, the clusters are formed using a k-means clustering algorithm. Then, the CHs are selected using the Adaptive Honey Badger optimization (AHBO) algorithm, which is used to reduce energy consumption and delay. AHBO is a combination of a honey badger, Levy flight, and genetic algorithm operators. After the CH selection process, data packets are transferred toward the base station through autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). The efficiency of the proposed approach is analyzed based on different metrics and performance compared with the different methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnic disparities in academic outcomes persist for Latinx youth in the U.S. Therefore, identifying factors that promote academic success in this population is essential. This study examined the interacting effect of components of hope (agency and pathways) and daytime sleepiness on academic outcomes (teacher-reported school engagement, student-reported school support, and GPA from academic records). Participants were 41 low-income, Latinx middle-school students attending a private, Jesuit school. Agency was positively associated with all three outcomes and pathways was positively associated with GPA and school engagement (p < 0.02). Unexpectedly, daytime sleepiness was positively associated with student GPA (p < 0.02). An interaction trend was found between agency and daytime sleepiness in accounting for variance in GPA (p = 0.09). Specifically, the link between agency and student GPA was significant and positive at both high (B = 0.26, p = 0.004) and low (B = 0.52, p = 0.0002) levels of daytime sleepiness, although the magnitude of effects was stronger at lower levels of daytime sleepiness. A trend was also found in the interaction between agency and daytime sleepiness in accounting for student-rated school support (p = 0.08). Post-hoc probing showed that agency was associated with school support at low (B = 0.45, p = 0.01) but not high (B = 0.10, p = 0.41) levels of daytime sleepiness. Given disparities in academic outcomes for Latinx youth, finding ways to promote academic achievement and school connectedness in the middle school years among this population is critical.

Developing students’ mathematical skills requires both procedure and reasoning. However, the declination of possessing these skills is still evident today. Hence, this study aimed to describe the students’ procedural fluency in terms of accuracy, flexibility, and efficiency and written adaptive reasoning in terms of explanation and justification in solving open-ended problems. The study employed descriptive-correlational design through purposive sampling of thirty students from a National High School in Laguna, Philippines. The quantitative data revealed that in procedural fluency, students can quickly submit a complete solution leading to correct answer. However, they fail to provide two or more solutions in solving open-ended problems. The results also showed that students can clearly explain the problem but struggle to justify their solution. Moreover, procedural fluency is positively correlated to their adaptive reasoning. Consequently, students with an average level of mathematical achievement scored significantly higher than those at a low mathematical level in terms of flexibility. Pedagogical implications suggest that problem-solving activities for students should not solely focus on getting the correct procedures and answers. Further, it is recommended that teachers should expose students in open-ended problems and allow them to try and justify their own unique solutions irrespective of their mathematical achievement.

HIV cure research is increasingly focused on anatomical tissues as sites for residual HIV replication during combined antiretroviral therapy (cART). Tissue-based HIV could contribute to low-level immune activation and viral rebound over the course of infection and could also influence the development of diseases, such as atherosclerosis, neurological disorders and cancers. cART-treated subjects have a decreased and irregular presence of HIV among tissues, which has resulted in a paucity of actual evidence concerning how or if HIV persists, replicates and evolves in various anatomical sites during therapy. In this study, we pooled 1806 HIV envelope V3 loop sequences from twenty-six tissue types (seventy-one total tissues) of six pre-cART subjects, four subjects with an unknown cART history who died with profound AIDS, and five subjects who died while on cART with an undetectable plasma viral load. A computational approach was used to assess sequences for their ability to utilize specific cellular coreceptors (R5, R5 and X4, or X4). We found that autopsied tissues obtained from virally suppressed cART+ subjects harbored both integrated and expressed viruses with similar coreceptor usage profiles to subjects with no or ineffective cART therapy (i.e., significant plasma viral load at death). The study suggests that tissue microenvironments provide a sanctuary for the continued evolution of HIV despite cART.

The article focuses on the impact of lead acetate, a heavy metal pollutant, on the hematology of the freshwater fish Oreochromis niloticus following prolonged exposure to sub-lethal concentrations. It highlights changes in key hematological parameters such as red blood cells (RBC), white blood cells (WBC), hemoglobin (Hb), and packed cell volume (PCV), demonstrating a decrease in RBC, Hb, and PCV, while WBC counts increased significantly.

The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is a major contributor to relapse to cocaine in humans and to reinstatement in rodent models of cocaine use disorder. The output from the mPFC is potently modulated by parvalbumin (PV)-containing fast–spiking interneurons, the majority of which are surrounded by perineuronal nets. We previously showed that treatment with chondroitinase ABC (ABC) reduced the consolidation and reconsolidation of a cocaine conditioned place preference memory. However, selfadministration memories are more difficult to disrupt. Here we report in male rats that ABC treatment in the mPFC attenuated the consolidation and blocked the reconsolidation of a cocaine self-administration memory. However, reconsolidation was blocked when rats were given a novel, but not familiar, type of retrieval session. Furthermore, ABC treatment prior to, but not after, memory retrieval blocked reconsolidation. This same treatment did not alter a sucrose memory, indicating specificity for cocaine-induced memory. In naive rats, ABC treatment in the mPFC altered levels of PV intensity and cell firing properties. In vivo recordings from the mPFC and dorsal hippocampus (dHIP) during the novel retrieval session revealed that ABC prevented reward-associated increases in high-frequency oscillations and synchrony of these oscillations between the dHIP and mPFC. Together, this is the first study to show that ABC treatment disrupts reconsolidation of the original memory when combined with a novel retrieval session that elicits coupling between the dHIP and mPFC. This coupling after ABC treatment may serve as a fundamental signature for how to disrupt reconsolidation of cocaine memories and reduce relapse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]