Sustaining and Strengthening a Macro Identity: The Association of Macro Practice Social Work

Macro practice focuses on community-level interventions, such as management, organizing, research, and policy advocacy. Despite social work’s deep roots in this type of work, macro practice and macro practitioners often practice without support or connections with other macro practitioners, and are underrepresented in the profession. In 2006, a group of social workers, including academics and practitioners, formed the Association of Macro Practice Social Work (AMPSW). AMPSW works to strengthen the professional identity of macro practitioners, elevate the status of macro social workers, and address common concerns within the social work profession

Remote Acculturation 101: A Primer on Research, Implications, and Illustrations from Classrooms Around the World

Remote acculturation (RA) is a modern form of acculturation common among youth, which results from contact with a distant culture via the 4 Ts of globalization (trade, technology, tourism, and transnationalism). This article provides an introduction to RA by describing the what, who, how, where, and why of RA, summarizing its implications for youth development and health, and offering additional resources for student/classroom use. Utilizing our perspectives as psychology researchers and secondary school educators spanning 19 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and South America, we supplement research findings from our lab and others with real-world illustrations from our classrooms around the globe. We conclude that the prominent role of media in RA presents cost-effective opportunities to promote its benefits (e.g., foreign media can sharpen cultural competence) and proactively buffer its risks (e.g., media literacy for inoculation against poor health habits)

Finding Latent Groups in Observed Data: A Primer on Latent Profile Analysis in Mplus for Applied Researchers

The present guide provides a practical guide to conducting latent profile analysis (LPA) in the Mplus software system. This guide is intended for researchers familiar with some latent variable modeling but not LPA specifically. A general procedure for conducting LPA is provided in six steps: (a) data inspection, (b) iterative evaluation of models, (c) model fit and interpretability, (d) investigation of patterns of profiles in a retained model, (e) covariate analysis, and (f) presentation of results. A worked example is provided with syntax and results to exemplify the steps

Kpc-scale Properties of Emission-line Galaxies

We perform a detailed study of the resolved properties of emission-line galaxies at kpc-scale to investigate how small-scale and global properties of galaxies are related. 119 galaxies with high-resolution Keck/DEIMOS spectra are selected to cover a wide range in morphologies over the redshift range 0.2<z<1.3. Using the HST/ACS and HST/WFC3 imaging data taken as a part of the CANDELS project, for each galaxy we perform SED fitting per resolution element, producing resolved rest-frame U-V color, stellar mass, star formation rate, age and extinction maps. We develop a technique to identify blue and red "regions" within individual galaxies, using their rest-frame color maps. As expected, for any given galaxy, the red regions are found to have higher stellar mass surface densities and older ages compared to the blue regions. Furthermore, we quantify the spatial distribution of red and blue regions with respect to both redshift and stellar mass, finding that the stronger concentration of red regions toward the centers of galaxies is not a significant function of either redshift or stellar mass. We find that the "main sequence" of star forming galaxies exists among both red and blue regions inside galaxies, with the median of blue regions forming a tighter relation with a slope of 1.1+/-0.1 and a scatter of ~0.2 dex compared to red regions with a slope of 1.3+/-0.1 and a scatter of ~0.6 dex. The blue regions show higher specific Star Formation Rates (sSFR) than their red counterparts with the sSFR decreasing since z~1, driver primarily by the stellar mass surface densities rather than the SFRs at a giver resolution element.Comment: 17 pages, 17 figures, Submitted to the Ap

Bowhead whales use two foraging strategies in response to fine-scale differences in zooplankton vertical distribution

© The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Fortune, S. M. E., Ferguson, S. H., Trites, A. W., Hudson, J. M., & Baumgartner, M. F. Bowhead whales use two foraging strategies in response to fine-scale differences in zooplankton vertical distribution. Scientific Reports, 10(1), (2020): 20249, doi:10.1038/s41598-020-76071-9.As zooplanktivorous predators, bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) must routinely locate patches of prey that are energy-rich enough to meet their metabolic needs. However, little is known about how the quality and quantity of prey might influence their feeding behaviours. We addressed this question using a new approach that included: (1) multi-scale biologging and unmanned aerial system observations of bowhead whales in Cumberland Sound, Nunavut (Canada), and (2) an optical plankton counter (OPC) and net collections to identify and enumerate copepod prey species through the water column. The OPC data revealed two prey layers comprised almost exclusively of lipid-rich calanoid copepods. The deep layer contained fewer, but larger, particles (10% greater overall biomass) than the shallow prey layer. Dive data indicated that the whales conducted long deep Square-shaped dives (80% of dives; averaging depth of 260.4 m) and short shallow Square-shaped dives (16%; averaging depth of 22.5 m) to feed. The whales tended to dive proportionally more to the greater biomass of zooplankton that occurred at depth. Combining behavioural recordings with prey sampling showed a more complex feeding ecology than previously understood, and provides a means to evaluate the energetic balance of individuals under current environmental conditions.Funding was awarded to S.H.F and provided by: Fisheries and Oceans Canada (Emerging Fisheries), World Wildlife Fund Canada (Arctic Species Conservation Fund), Nunavut Wildlife Research Trust Fund, Nunavut General Monitoring Program, Ocean Tracking Network and ArcticNet Centre of Excellence. Personal support was awarded to S.M.E.F and provided by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Canadian Graduate Scholarship, Northern Scientific Training Program (Canadian Polar Commission), The Molson Foundation and the W.Garfield Weston Foundation

Design of a valid simulation for researching physical, physiological and cognitive performance in volunteer firefighters during bushfire deployment.

Every year, Australian firefighters protect our nation from the devastation of bushfire. Understanding the impact of consecutive long shifts in hot, smoky conditions is essential for making decisions during campaign fires. At present, the evidence-base for such decisions is limited to laboratory studies with little relevance to bushfire suppression or field research where the impact of environmental and workload stressors cannot be measured. To counter these limitations, we have developed a three-day simulation that mimics the work and environment of campaign bushfire suppression. Construction of the simulation involved three stages; 1) data collection and analysis; 2) design and development; and 3) trial and refinement. The frequency, intensity, duration and type of physical work performed on the fireground is well documented and a modified applied cognitive task analysis, using experienced firefighters was used as a framework to describe in detail the non-physical aspects of the work. The design and development of the simulation incorporated the physical and non-physical aspects of the work into simulated tasks. Finally, experienced firefighters participated in trials of the simulation and reviewed digital recordings to ensure that the simulation accurately represented campaign bushfire suppression work. The outcome of this project is a valid, realistic, and reliable simulation of the physiological, physical and cognitive aspects of a volunteer firefighter on a three-day bushfire deployment.<br /

Web 2.0 in Social Work Macro Practice: Ethical Considerations and Questions

Abstract The use of Web 2.0 technologies in macro practice social work is increasingly common. This paper provides an overview of the strengths and limitations of using these new technologies in macro practice settings and a discussion of ethical considerations. It also and identifies areas for future investigation and discussion

Extensive spontaneous plasticity of corticospinal projections after primate spinal cord injury.

Although axonal regeneration after CNS injury is limited, partial injury is frequently accompanied by extensive functional recovery. To investigate mechanisms underlying spontaneous recovery after incomplete spinal cord injury, we administered C7 spinal cord hemisections to adult rhesus monkeys and analyzed behavioral, electrophysiological and anatomical adaptations. We found marked spontaneous plasticity of corticospinal projections, with reconstitution of fully 60% of pre-lesion axon density arising from sprouting of spinal cord midline-crossing axons. This extensive anatomical recovery was associated with improvement in coordinated muscle recruitment, hand function and locomotion. These findings identify what may be the most extensive natural recovery of mammalian axonal projections after nervous system injury observed to date, highlighting an important role for primate models in translational disease research

Year-round foraging across large spatial scales suggest that bowhead whales have the potential to adapt to climate change

The ecological impact of environmental changes at high latitudes (e.g., increasing temperature, and decreased sea ice cover) on low-trophic species, such as bowhead whales, are poorly understood. Key to understanding the vulnerability of zooplanktivorous predators to climatic shifts in prey is knowing whether they can make behavioural or distributional adjustments to maintain sufficient prey acquisition rates. However, little is known about how foraging behaviour and associated environmental conditions fluctuate over space and time. We collected long-term movement (average satellite transmission days were 397 (± 204 SD) in 2012 and 484 (± 245 SD) in 2013) and dive behaviour data for 25 bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) equipped with time-depth telemetry tags, and used hierarchical switching-state-space models to quantify their movements and behaviours (resident and transit). We examined trends in inferred two-dimensional foraging behaviours based on dive shape of Eastern Canada-West Greenland bowhead whales in relation to season and sea ice, as well as animal sex and age via size. We found no differences with regards to whale sex and size, but we did find evidence that subsurface foraging occurs year-round, with peak foraging occurring in fall (7.3 hrs d-1 ± 5.70 SD; October) and reduced feeding during spring (2.7 hrs d-1 ± 2.55 SD; May). Although sea ice cover is lowest during summer foraging, whales selected areas with 65% (± 36.1 SD) sea ice cover. During winter, bowheads occurred in areas with 90% (± 15.5 SD) ice cover, providing some open water for breathing. The depth of probable foraging varied across seasons with animals conducting epipelagic foraging dives (&lt; 200 m) during spring and summer, and deeper mesopelagic dives (&gt; 400 m) during fall and winter that approached the sea bottom, following the seasonal vertical migration of lipid-rich zooplankton. Our findings suggest that, compared to related species (e.g., right whales), bowheads forage at relatively low rates and over a large geographic area throughout the year. This suggests that bowhead whales have the potential to adjust their behaviours (e.g., increased time allocated to feeding) and shift their distributions (e.g., occupy higher latitude foraging grounds) to adapt to climate-change induced environmental conditions. However, the extent to which energetic consumption may vary seasonally is yet to be determined