University of Massachusetts Boston

About: University of Massachusetts Boston is a education organization based out in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 6541 authors who have published 12918 publications receiving 411731 citations. The organization is also known as: UMass Boston.

From Moral Exclusion to Moral Inclusion: Theory for Teaching Peace

Abstract: This article presents Moral Exclusion Theory as a way to systematize the study of complex issues in peace education and to challenge the thinking that supports oppressive social structures. The authors define its 2 key concepts: moral exclusion, the limited applicability of justice underlying destructive conflicts and difficult social problems; and moral inclusion, the emphasis on fairness, resource sharing, and concern for the well-being of all underlying peace building. They demonstrate the relevance of Moral Exclusion Theory in 4 key areas of peace education: (a) education for coexistence, (b) education for human rights, (c) education for gender equality, and (d) education for environmentalism. They then describe 2 common issues faced by schools, bullying and textbook bias, to demonstrate that moral exclusion is common and how students and staff can redress it. The article concludes with the challenge to use peace education as a tool for moral inclusion and for bringing about a world in which justice a...

An animal model for tinnitus

Abstract: Subjective tinnitus remains obscure, widespread, and without apparent cure. In the absence of a suitable animal model, past investigations took place in humans, resulting in studies that were understandably restricted by the nature of human investigation. Within this context, the development of a valid animal model would be considered a major breakthrough in this field of investigation. Our results showed changes in the spontaneous activity of single neurons in the inferior colliculus, consistent with abnormally increased neuronal activity within the auditory pathways after manipulations known to produce tinnitus in man. A procedure based on a Pavlovian conditioned suppression paradigm was recently developed that allows us to measure tinnitus behaviorally in conscious animals. Accordingly, an animal model of tinnitus is proposed that permits tests of hypotheses relating to tinnitus generation, allowing the accommodation of interventional strategies for the treatment of this widespread auditory disorder.

Reading the Windows to the Soul: Evidence of Domain-Specific Sparing in Williams Syndrome

Abstract: This study tested the hypothesis that Williams syndrome, a rare genetic neurodevelopmental disorder with an unusual cognitive phenotype, involves spared abilities in the domain of understanding other minds. A group of retarded adults with Williams syndrome was compared to an age-,IQ-,and languagematched group of adults with Prader-Willi syndrome, another genetic disorder without the cognitive characteristics of Williams syndrome, and a group of age-matched normal adults, on a task that taps mentalizing ability. The task involved selecting the correct labels to match photographs of complex mental state expressions in the eye region of the face. The adults with Williams syndrome performed significantly better than the adults with Prader-Willi on this task, and about half the group performed in the same range as the normal adults. These findings are consistent with anecdotal evidence about Williams syndrome and provide evidence that mentalizing is a distinct cognitive domain.This spared cognitive capacity may be linked to the relative sparing of limbic-cerebellar neural substrate in Williams syndrome, which is also connected to cortico-frontal regions that are known to be involved in understanding complex mental states.

Symptoms of ADHD and academic concerns in college students with and without ADHD diagnoses.

Abstract: Objective: Previous research has found ADHD symptoms to be common in the general population but has not compared endorsement of symptoms between ADHD and non-ADHD groups. This study examines self-r...

Fabrication of Low-Cost Paper-Based Microfluidic Devices by Embossing or Cut-and-Stack Methods

Abstract: This article describes the use of embossing and “cut-and-stack” methods of assembly, to generate microfluidic devices from omniphobic paper and demonstrates that fluid flowing through these devices behaves similarly to fluid in an open-channel microfluidic device. The porosity of the paper to gases allows processes not possible in devices made using PDMS or other nonporous materials. Droplet generators and phase separators, for example, could be made by embossing “T”-shaped channels on paper. Vertical stacking of embossed or cut layers of omniphobic paper generated three-dimensional systems of microchannels. The gas permeability of the paper allowed fluid in the microchannel to contact and exchange with environmental or directed gases. An aqueous stream of water containing a pH indicator, as one demonstration, changed color upon exposure to air containing HCl or NH3 gases.