In the name of motivation: the procurement of social work and its technologies of self and power

In recent decades, market reforms have paved the way for new forms to govern social work practice by means of procurement, cost efficiency, measurement, and freedom of choice. In this article, we draw attention to how clients are constructed in terms of motivation, in a context where social work is shaped by a procurement arrangement. Empirically, the article is based on interviews with social workers providing social services in a procurement setting, with a focus on how they describe their work in relation to presumptive clients, and specifically their work upon the motivation of clients. The analysis is informed by a constructionist approach to governing and the construction of clients. The results illustrate how the ideal client is constructed as motivated to choose a provider of social services matching their specific needs and interests as well as displaying a will to change and take part in the services offered. The social work appearing as desirable is based on a therapeutic rationality, with dialogue as the primary means of working upon the motivation of clients. The results further illustrate how different technologies (of the self and power) operate and intertwine in the work upon motivation of clients

Social tjänst till salu : Om socialt arbete i upphandlingens tid

Social service for sale. On social work in times of procurement Market reforms within the Swedish welfare sector have paved the way for models based on buying and selling welfare services. Public procurement constitutes a hub for commissioning and providing social services. The aim of this article is to explore how social work is shaped within a procurement context. Attention is directed to how social workers providing procured services describe their work. The empirical material consists of interviews with 16 providers of social services within different areas of a procured social work. The results show how procurement shapes the provision of social work, in terms of specifications of time and quantity, a quantification of the work performed with clients and how the framework of procurement shapes the client as a commission and a case. It is further shown how providers compensate for and deal with the framework of procured social work to meet the clients needs. The results raise questions about the possibilities for procured social work regarding the services demarcation, specialisation, and time frame

The modular cross-synaptic nature of LTP/LTD following on-going neural activity

While synaptic efficacies are modified continuously by on-going spiking activity, it is yet unclear whether the underlying pre- and post-synaptic processes occur independently, or in accordance

Förord : Kritiska sociala arbeten

Det här temanumret handlar om kritiskt socialt arbete. Det finns en mångfald av kritiska perspektiv inom socialt arbete, med olika teoretisk, disciplinär och metodologisk ingång. Samtidigt kan vi urskilja vissa gemensamma drag i mångfalden av perspektiv. Stundtals knyts det kritiska inslaget till kritisk teori och inte sällan till den samhällskritik som teoretiker verksamma inom den så kallade Frankfurtskolan utvecklade (däribland Adorno, Fromm, Habermas, Horkheimer och Marcuse). En annan återkommande referenspunkt är framhållandet av den kritiska reflektionen och dess potential, där socialt arbete ses som något flexibelt, ovisst och mångsidigt, vilket i sin tur förutsätter ett förhållningssätt som är rörligt (Herz 2012). Gemensamt för många kritiska perspektiv är strävan efter att göra det sociala arbetet till en aktiv kraft för social förändring, en kraft som värnar sociala rättigheter och som – omvänt – motverkar social utsatthet.

Matched Pre- and Post-Synaptic Changes Underlie Synaptic Plasticity over Long Time Scales

Modifications of synaptic efficacies are considered essential for learning and memory. However, it is not known how the underlying functional components of synaptic transmission change over long time scales. To address this question, we studied cortical synapses from young Wistar rats before and after 12 h intervals of spontaneous or glutamate-induced spiking activity. We found that, under these conditions, synaptic efficacies can increase or decrease by up to 10-fold. Statistical analyses reveal that these changes reflect modifications in the number of presynaptic release sites, together with postsynaptic changes that maintain the quantal size per release site. The quantitative relation between the presynaptic and postsynaptic transmission components was not affected when synaptic plasticity was enhanced or reduced using a broad range of pharmacological agents. These findings suggest that ongoing synaptic plasticity results in matched presynaptic and postsynaptic modifications, in which elementary modules that span the synaptic cleft are added or removed as a function of experience

White Matter Brain Development after Exposure to Circulating Cell-Free Hemoglobin and Hyperoxia in a Rat Pup Model

Neonates born with critical congenital heart defects are at risk of diffuse white matter injuries and neurodevelopmental impairments. This study aimed to determine the impact of circulating cell-free hemoglobin and hyperoxia, both present during cardiopulmonary bypass circulation, on white matter brain development. Postnatal day 6 rat pups were injected intraperitoneally with cell-free Hb or vehicle and exposed to hyperoxia (fiO2 = 0.8) or normoxia (fiO2 = 0.21) for 24 h. We evaluated apoptosis, myelination, and oligodendrocyte maturation with immunohistochemistry, gene and protein analyses, and in vivo diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Consistent with previous studies, we found an increase in apoptosis of oligodendrocytes as determined by TUNEL+ staining in Olig2+ cells in white matter, cortex, thalamus, and hippocampus following exposure to hyperoxia with no additional effect of cell-free Hb. A transient increase in the mRNA expression of intercellular adhesion molecule 1 at 6 h was observed following combined exposure to cell-free Hb and hyperoxia. No indications of oligodendrocyte maturational delay or hypomyelination were observed after either insult, delivered separately or combined, as determined by immunohistochemistry, Western blot, and diffusion tensor MRI. In our model, exposure to circulatory cell-free Hb, with or without concomitant hyperoxia, did not significantly alter brain white matter development

Benchmarking Yield Assessment Exercise in Different Climates within an International Collaboration Framework

status: accepte

Spectrum of clinical presentations in familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis type 5 patients with mutations in STXBP2

Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is an often-fatal hyperinflammatory syndrome characterized by fever, hepatosplenomegaly, cytopenia, and in some cases hemophagocytosis. Here, we describe the mutation analysis, clinical presentation, and functional analysis of natural killer (NK) cells in patients with mutations in STXBP2 encoding Munc18-2, recently associated with familial HLH type 5. The disease severity among 11 persons studied here was highly variable and, accordingly, age at diagnosis ranged from 2 months to 17 years. Remarkably, in addition to typical manifestations of familial HLH (FHL), the clinical findings included colitis, bleeding disorders, and hypogammaglobulinemia in approximately one-third of the patients. Laboratory analysis revealed impairment of NK-cell degranulation and cytotoxic capacity. Interleukin-2 stimulation of lymphocytes in vitro rescued the NK cell-associated functional defects. In conclusion, familial HLH type 5 is associated with a spectrum of clinical symptoms, which may be a reflection of impaired expression and function of Munc18-2 also in cells other than cytotoxic lymphocytes. Mutations in STXBP2 should thus also be considered in patients with clinical manifestations other than those typically associated with HL