Contrasts and reflection : social work fieldwork supervision in Brazil and England

This article compares field supervision in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to practices in a major city in England in order to contextualize the academic training of students. It considers practical dimensions and incorporates a qualitative study carried out in England exploring how the process of supervision in social work affects student learning and development from the supervisor’s perspective. In the study, particular attention is paid to field support provided to students and to practice educator qualifications. The results support the importance of placement supervision and the role of practice educators and supervisors in the overall social work education process

Feminisms in social work and social care : backwards, forwards or something in between

The various feminisms create a complex and sometimes contradictory picture. Within social work and social care there has been a mixed reception. However, it is maintained that a gendered analysis in a profession where women remain in the majority remains highly relevant. In particular, the continuing and increasing pay gap and the relatively low numbers of women in senior positions are used as markers. Similarly, comparisons between 'choice' feminism and current practices are appraised. It is argued that critical deconstructive analyses drawn from postmodern feminism remain significant in both naming and addressing pervasive gender inequalities in national and International arenas

NASA Ground and Launch Systems Processing Technology Area Roadmap

In 2010, NASA developed a set of 14 draft roadmaps to guide the development of space technologies under the leadership of the NASA Office of the Chief Technologist. Each of these roadmaps focused on a particular technology area. The roadmaps are intended to foster the development of advanced technologies and concepts that address NASA’s needs and contribute to other aerospace and national needs. NASA contracted with the National Research Council (NRC) to perform an independent critique of the draft roadmaps. NASA assessed the NRC’s prioritizations and recommendations and developed the Strategic Space Technology Investment Plan (SSTIP) to outline the future investment strategy. The Ground and Launch Systems Processing (GLSP) Technology Area Roadmap was developed to identify ground, launch and mission technologies that would dramatically transform future space operations, with significant improvement in life-cycle costs and the quality of life on earth, increasing reliability and mission availability, and enhancing methods to assess safety and mission risk posture. Since operations costs can constitute roughly 40% of the total mission costs, by realizing savings in this technology area, NASA could redirect significant investments toward supporting a broader customer base with robust exploration missions

Differential regenerative ability of sensory and motor neurons.

After injury, the adult mammalian central nervous system (CNS) lacks long-distance axon regeneration. This review discusses the similarities and differences of sensory and motor neurons, seeking to understand how to achieve functional sensory and motor regeneration. As these two types of neurons respond differently to axotomy, growth environment and treatment, the future challenge will be on how to achieve full recovery in a way that allows regeneration of both types of fibres simultaneously.This work was supported by grants from the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, the Medical Research Council, the European Research Council ECMneuro, the Cambridge NHMRC Biomedical Research Centre

Retinal glia promote dorsal root ganglion axon regeneration.

Axon regeneration in the adult central nervous system (CNS) is limited by several factors including a lack of neurotrophic support. Recent studies have shown that glia from the adult rat CNS, specifically retinal astrocytes and Müller glia, can promote regeneration of retinal ganglion cell axons. In the present study we investigated whether retinal glia also exert a growth promoting effect outside the visual system. We found that retinal glial conditioned medium significantly enhanced neurite growth and branching of adult rat dorsal root ganglion neurons (DRG) in culture. Furthermore, transplantation of retinal glia significantly enhanced regeneration of DRG axons past the dorsal root entry zone after root crush in adult rats. To identify the factors that mediate the growth promoting effects of retinal glia, mass spectrometric analysis of retinal glial conditioned medium was performed. Apolipoprotein E and secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC) were found to be present in high abundance, a finding further confirmed by western blotting. Inhibition of Apolipoprotein E and SPARC significantly reduced the neuritogenic effects of retinal glial conditioned medium on DRG in culture, suggesting that Apolipoprotein E and SPARC are the major mediators of this regenerative response.This work was supported by a van Geest Fight for Sight Early Career Investigator Award, grant number 1868 [BL].This is the final version of the article. It first appeared at http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.011599

Casting a Wide Net: Role of Perineuronal Nets in Neural Plasticity.

Perineuronal nets (PNNs) are unique extracellular matrix structures that wrap around certain neurons in the CNS during development and control plasticity in the adult CNS. They appear to contribute to a wide range of diseases/disorders of the brain, are involved in recovery from spinal cord injury, and are altered during aging, learning and memory, and after exposure to drugs of abuse. Here the focus is on how a major component of PNNs, chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans, control plasticity, and on the role of PNNs in memory in normal aging, in a tauopathy model of Alzheimer's disease, and in drug addiction. Also discussed is how altered extracellular matrix/PNN formation during development may produce synaptic pathology associated with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, and autism spectrum disorders. Understanding the molecular underpinnings of how PNNs are altered in normal physiology and disease will offer insights into new treatment approaches for these diseases

Neuronal Pentraxin 2 Binds PNNs and Enhances PNN Formation.

The perineuronal net (PNN) is a mesh-like proteoglycan structure on the neuronal surface which is involved in regulating plasticity. The PNN regulates plasticity via multiple pathways, one of which is direct regulation of synapses through the control of AMPA receptor mobility. Since neuronal pentraxin 2 (Nptx2) is a known regulator of AMPA receptor mobility and Nptx2 can be removed from the neuronal surface by PNN removal, we investigated whether Nptx2 has a function in the PNN. We found that Nptx2 binds to the glycosaminoglycans hyaluronan and chondroitin sulphate E in the PNN. Furthermore, in primary cortical neuron cultures, the addition of NPTX2 to the culture medium enhances PNN formation during PNN development. These findings suggest Nptx2 as a novel PNN binding protein with a role in the mechanism of PNN formation

Direct measurement of antiferromagnetic domain fluctuations

Measurements of magnetic noise emanating from ferromagnets due to domain motion were first carried out nearly 100 years ago and have underpinned much science and technology. Antiferromagnets, which carry no net external magnetic dipole moment, yet have a periodic arrangement of the electron spins extending over macroscopic distances, should also display magnetic noise, but this must be sampled at spatial wavelengths of order several interatomic spacings, rather than the macroscopic scales characteristic of ferromagnets. Here we present the first direct measurement of the fluctuations in the nanometre-scale spin- (charge-) density wave superstructure associated with antiferromagnetism in elemental Chromium. The technique used is X-ray Photon Correlation Spectroscopy, where coherent x-ray diffraction produces a speckle pattern that serves as a "fingerprint" of a particular magnetic domain configuration. The temporal evolution of the patterns corresponds to domain walls advancing and retreating over micron distances. While the domain wall motion is thermally activated at temperatures above 100K, it is not so at lower temperatures, and indeed has a rate which saturates at a finite value - consistent with quantum fluctuations - on cooling below 40K. Our work is important because it provides an important new measurement tool for antiferromagnetic domain engineering as well as revealing a fundamental new fact about spin dynamics in the simplest antiferromagnet.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figure

Evaluating community coalitions for prevention of substance abuse: The case of project freedom

In the United States alone, there are more than 2,000 community coalitions to address local concerns about abuse of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. This article describes an evaluation system used to examine the process, outcome, and impact of coalitions for the prevention of substance abuse. The evaluation addresses five key questions: (a) Was the community mobilized to address substance abuse (Process)? (b) What changes in the community resulted from the coalition (Outcome)? (c) Is there a change in reported use of alcohol and other substances by youths (Outcome)? (d) Does the coalition have a community-level impact on substance abuse (Impact)? and (e) Is community-level impact related to changes facilitated by the coalition (Impact)? To address these and other questions, using eight core measurement instruments, the evaluation system collects 15 distinct measures. This evaluation system is illustrated with a multiyear study of Project Freedom, a substance abuse coalition in a large midwestern city