Looking for new ways to combat kids who bully, some communities are threatening to fine parents with no evidence that the approach is effective.

The state's highest court allowed some claims brought on behalf of relatives of victims of the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School to proceed against the firearms industry.

Nearly 45 percent of children in rural McDowell County, West Virginia do not live with their parents and many are being raised by grandparents.

Early in the second half, Ohio State freshman Jaloni Cambridge went down with an apparent lower-back injury.

Fadel Zeidan
Nov 18, 2015; 35:15307-15325
BehavioralSystemsCognitive

Kong-Fatt Wong
Jan 25, 2006; 26:1314-1328
BehavioralSystemsCognitive

Dopamine (DA) and norepinephrine (NE) have been repeatedly implicated in neuropsychiatric vulnerability, in part via their roles in mediating the decision-making processes. Although two neuromodulators share a synthesis pathway and are coactivated under states of arousal, they engage in distinct circuits and modulatory roles. However, the specific role of each neuromodulator in decision-making, in particular the exploration–exploitation tradeoff, remains unclear. Revealing how each neuromodulator contributes to exploration–exploitation tradeoff is important in guiding mechanistic hypotheses emerging from computational psychiatric approaches. To understand the differences and overlaps of the roles of these two catecholamine systems in regulating exploration, a direct comparison using the same dynamic decision-making task is needed. Here, we ran male and female mice in a restless two-armed bandit task, which encourages both exploration and exploitation. We systemically administered a nonselective DA antagonist (flupenthixol), a nonselective DA agonist (apomorphine), a NE beta-receptor antagonist (propranolol), and a NE beta-receptor agonist (isoproterenol) and examined changes in exploration within subjects across sessions. We found a bidirectional modulatory effect of dopamine on exploration. Increasing dopamine activity decreased exploration and decreasing dopamine activity increased exploration. The modulatory effect of beta-noradrenergic receptor activity on exploration was mediated by sex. Reinforcement learning model parameters suggested that dopamine modulation affected exploration via decision noise and norepinephrine modulation affected exploration via sensitivity to outcome. Together, these findings suggested that the mechanisms that govern the exploration–exploitation transition are sensitive to changes in both catecholamine functions and revealed differential roles for NE and DA in mediating exploration.

Harmonics are an integral part of music, speech, and vocalizations of animals. Since the rest of the auditory environment is primarily made up of nonharmonic sounds, the auditory system needs to perceptually separate the above two kinds of sounds. In mice, harmonics, generally with two-tone components (two-tone harmonic complexes, TTHCs), form an important component of vocal communication. Communication by pups during isolation from the mother and by adult males during courtship elicits typical behaviors in female mice—dams and adult courting females, respectively. Our study shows that the processing of TTHC is specialized in mice providing neural basis for perceptual differences between tones and TTHCs and also nonharmonic sounds. Investigation of responses in the primary auditory cortex (Au1) from in vivo extracellular recordings and two-photon Ca²⁺ imaging of excitatory and inhibitory neurons to TTHCs exhibit enhancement, suppression, or no-effect with respect to tones. Irrespective of neuron type, harmonic enhancement is maximized, and suppression is minimized when the fundamental frequencies (F₀) match the neuron's best fundamental frequency (BF₀). Sex-specific processing of TTHC is evident from differences in the distributions of neurons’ best frequency (BF) and best fundamental frequency (BF₀) in single units, differences in harmonic suppressed cases re-BF₀, independent of neuron types, and from pairwise noise correlations among excitatory and parvalbumin inhibitory interneurons. Furthermore, TTHCs elicit a higher response compared with two-tone nonharmonics in females, but not in males. Thus, our study shows specialized neural processing of TTHCs over tones and nonharmonics, highlighting local network specialization among different neuronal types.

Odor information arrives first in the main olfactory bulb and is then broadcasted to the olfactory cortices and striatum. Downstream regions have unique cellular and connectivity architectures that may generate different coding patterns to the same odors. To reveal region-specific response features, tuning and decoding of single-unit populations, we recorded responses to the same odors under the same conditions across regions, namely, the main olfactory bulb (MOB), the anterior olfactory nucleus (AON), the anterior piriform cortex (aPC), and the olfactory tubercle of the ventral striatum (OT), of awake male mice. We focused on chemically closely related aldehydes that still create distinct percepts. The MOB had the highest decoding accuracy for aldehydes and was the only region encoding chemical similarity. The MOB had the highest fraction of inhibited responses and narrowly tuned odor-excited responses in terms of timing and odor selectivity. Downstream, the interconnected AON and aPC differed in their response patterns to the same stimuli. While odor-excited responses dominated the AON, the aPC had a comparably high fraction of odor-inhibited responses. Both cortices share a main output target that is the MOB. This prompted us to test if the two regions convey also different net outputs. Aldehydes activated AON terminals in the MOB as a bulk signal but inhibited those from the aPC. The differential cortical projection responses generalized to complex odors. In summary, olfactory regions reveal specialized features in their encoding with AON and aPC differing in their local computations, thereby generating inverse net centrifugal and intercortical outputs.

Prince Laurent of Belgium was today appointed FAO Special Ambassador for Forests and the Environment.

The announcement was made by FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva at the Organization’s Committee on [...]

Information Note.

Study participants with lifelong anosmia sniffed less than those with a normal sense of smell. Future research could shed light on whether this has negative implications for their health

Ashley Hickey, a parent of a kid with celiac disease, is concerned that Nova Scotia's new school program does not offer any 100 per cent guaranteed gluten-free options.

A Fredericton judge suggested a joint sentencing proposal Tuesday was too lenient in the case of a former peace officer who left a loaded gun in the house while his children were home.

Since 1970, Lakehead Public Schools has operated Kingfisher Lake Outdoor Education Centre just outside of Thunder Bay, Ont. The CBC's Matt Fratpietro spent a morning with students from École Elsie MacGill Public School to learn more about the forests that surround the city.

As a troubled local gym goes dark, some members and the landlord say they haven’t heard from the owner about the future of the business in Thunder Bay, Ont.

The P.E.I. Woodlot Owners Association is encouraging its members to boost the biodiversity of their woods with different varieties of trees and shrubs. As CBC's Nancy Russell reports, the goal is to provide habitat for endangered species and protect the forests from future disasters like post-tropical storm Fiona.

Some business owners in Charlottetown have made suggestions for increasing the city’s housing supply, but not everyone is happy with their recommendations when it comes to rental properties.

The city said in a news release on Thursday that the Mayor’s Task Force on Transparency, Access and Accountability — which is in charge of reviewing community concerns about openness at the city — is looking for your feedback.

A US order to TSMC to cut AI chip supplies to China over Huawei sanctions won't cause problems for Apple. However, Taiwan's prohibition of TSMC producing 2-nanometer chips elsewhere could make an impact.

U.S. sanctions against Huawei has caused problems for TSMC over attempts by intermediaries to order certain AI-based chip designs on Huawei's behalf. From Monday, TSMC is suspending shipments of the AI-focused chips to China, on the orders of the United States.

The Department of Commerce imposed export restrictions of select chip designs that were intended to be shipped to China, an unnamed source of Reuters claims. The shipment ban, which kicks in from Monday, affects certain types of chips made with 7-nanometer processes or advanced designs, intended for AI or graphics processing.


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God gives an OM short term worker the perfect tract to explain the Gospel to an environmental activist.

In an annual OM Guatemala outreach, volunteers are challenged to leave their comfort zone and share God’s love in a different way.

A local Chinese mother teaches Cantonese to three Pakistani mothers before they all watch the film 'Magdalena: Released from Shame' together.

Black Lives Matter, climate change, family separation? All appropriate classroom topics, writes Christina Torres.

Two recent studies of Teach to One: Math highlight the tension in math between grade-level-based accountability systems and approaches to instruction that enable more personalized paths to college and career readiness.

The parents of a 16-year-old who died last fall from football-related brain trauma are suing the New York school districts he played for and the medical responders who tended to him the night he sustained his fatal injury.

In the lawsuit, the Chicago-based team's parents allege Little League was aware of potential residency issues, "but chose to ignore and/or deliberately conceal these facts in order to garner higher ratings, publicity, and money."

Districts could face a rising tide of special education-related lawsuits and complaints when schools resume, experts say, if they still cannot offer the services that students with disabilities missed out on for months.

Pennsylvania College of Technology has been awarded a $600,000 grant through the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry to develop a new sector apprenticeship in transportation. The apprenticeship will train bus mechanics, addressing the shortage of skilled bus service technicians and ensuring the consistent operation of public transit in urban and rural areas across the commonwealth.

Whether praying in Cantonese or Albanian, believers are one in heart.

A leading autism researcher and former special education teacher offers advice to help students cope with the abrupt changes brought on by the novel coronavirus outbreak.

A new resource offers tips on how to keep Individualized Education Program meetings focused and on-schedule.

Districts could face a rising tide of special education-related lawsuits and complaints when schools resume, experts say, if they still cannot offer the services that students with disabilities missed out on for months.

A new digital guide aims to identify students missing out on special education services and supports during distance learning.

As the cold weather approaches, it’s important to protect your family from the flu, COVID-19 and RSV. A Penn State Health pediatrician shares some simple tips to help keep everyone healthy.

Residential rental growth has reached its best levels since the pandemic started, a new report shows.

While interest rates have been seen painful hikes, they remain below pandemic levels, and property demand looks in relatively good shape. But one property expert warned against buying a home now.

A survey shows a mansion in Constantia, Cape Town can fetch R290 000 per month, while on the Garden Route, one can pay up to R55 000 per day for short-term holiday rentals.

The rental market is recovering, including in higher rental brackets. and estate agents reveal what you can get for R20 000 a month.

There was positive rental growth in all provinces despite tenants feeling the pinch due to challenging economic conditions, according to the latest Payprop Rental Index.

As schools apply more scrutiny to the methods and materials they use to teach early reading, educators and parents in some states have started to form new advocacy efforts—trying to pressure states and districts to adopt new approaches to teacher training and evaluating materials.

DOVER – Delaware State Housing Authority (DSHA) received national recognition for three of its newest programs when they were honored with a 2020 Annual Award for Program Excellence during the National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA) annual conference. DSHA received the most awards of any state housing authority in the country. The conference was […]

Sen. Kyle Evans Gay, in partnership with the Delaware State Housing Authority (DSHA), secured $200,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funding this month for an innovative pilot program that will help low-income renters in Delaware build credit.

DEHAP Program Increases from 15 Months to 18 Months DOVER, Del., April 21, 2022 – Delaware State Housing Authority (DSHA) announced today that eligible Delaware renters can now receive up to 18 months of rental and utility assistance through its Delaware Housing Assistance Program (DEHAP). Previously, the DEHAP provided 15 months of rental and utility […]

In response to recent federal U.S. Treasury policy changes, the Delaware State Housing Authority (DSHA) will temporarily pause accepting new applications for the Delaware Housing Assistance Program (DEHAP) at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, September 9. 

Program Pause Ends and Sets Agency Up to Assist Delaware Renters at High Risk of Eviction Dover, Del., October 12, 2022 – The Delaware State Housing Authority announced today the reopening of the DEHAP Rental Assistance Program, in addition to its new program guidelines. New applications and recertifications, which were unavailable during the pause, are now […]

This closure will allow DSHA to process existing applications submitted up to that point. Tenants and landlords with open or in-progress applications submitted before 8:00 a.m. on January 2, 2023, are encouraged to monitor their emails, text messages, and voicemails for status updates.

The program that provides renters an opportunity to build their credit score without taking on more debt by simply paying their rent   Dover, Del., January 9, 2022 – The Delaware Tenant Rent-Reporting Program Pilot is a new program funded by the American Rescue Plan Act and partnered with Self Financial (Self). “Rent is the […]

Dover, Del. January 29, 2024 – In January 2023, the Delaware State Housing Authority (DSHA) launched the Delaware Tenant Rent Reporting Pilot Program in partnership with Self Financial, Inc. and NeighborGood Partners. This voluntary and free program allows qualified Delaware renters to build their credit by reporting their on-time rent payments to Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion […]