Mapping social work across 10 countries: Structure, intervention, identity and challenges

An emerging global consciousness and rising attention given to international social work development has seen the recognition of comparative research within the profession. Understanding the functioning and organisation of social work within various country contexts is critical in order to formulate knowledge around its overall impact, successes and challenges, allowing social workers to learn from one another and build professional consolidation. The profession is mapped out in 10 countries, reflecting on its structure, identity and development. Although the profession is developing globally, it is also experiencing significant challenges. Key insights, conclusions and recommendations for future research are presented

The basic incentive mechanism of social activity of the individual

The main provisions of the system-diachronic approach to the study of the phenomenon of social activity of the individual are developed. Social activity, from the point of view of the system-diachronic approach, should be considered as a multi-level education, including cognitive, emotional-evaluative, motivational and socio-psychological phenomena combined in acts of interaction between the individual and the social environment undergoing qualitative changes in time. Description of the past, present and future state of the system “personality — social group”, the identification of elements of the system, progressively or regressively transformed, are the necessary conditions for a system-diachronic analysis of social activity. The basic incentive mechanism of the person’s social activity is revealed — diachronic mismatch in the system “personality — social environment”, as well as private cognitive, emotional-evaluative, motivational and socio-psychological mechanisms of social activity of the individual and the group

Role of Self-Reflection in the Process of Student Adaptation to University

The article considers the problem of determining the role of self-reflection in the process of adaptation of students to the conditions of study at university. It is suggested that the specifics of self-reflection depend on the outcomes of social psychological adaptation of students in the educational environment of university. The study involved 320 students (average age — 24.1 years old, SD = 6.8, males — 10.3%). The following standardized techniques were used: studies on student adaptation at university (T.D. Dubovitskaya, A.V. Krylova), diagnostics of social psychological adaptation (K. Rogers, R. Diamond), measures of selfreflection level (A.V. Karpov, V. V. Ponomaryova), and custom-developed scales for evaluating self-reflective activity. The study revealed that self-reflective activity and situational, retrospective, and perspective self-reflection are specific for welladapted students as well as for students with difficulties in adaptation. It is clear that regulation of dynamics of self-reflective images is important for the process of adaptation to university, allowing the individual to combine the dynamics necessary for quick response to changes in the situation and sufficient stability and clarity for understanding and creating motivation

Volitional qualities as predictors of the importance of social activity of students

The problem of studying the determinants of social activity of students is considered. It is assumed that there are similarities and differences in the subjective and personal determination of the directions of social activity of students. The study involved 261 students (the average age was 20.11 SD=1.2; men — 41%). The standardized questionnaire of volitional qualities of personality (M.V. Chumakov) and original scales for assessing the directions of social activity and subjective assessment of the degree of social activity of students are used. The most (leisure-communicative, educational-developing, activity in the sphere of self-development) and least (voluntary, spiritual-religious and socio-political) expressed directions of social activity are established. It is shown that the realization of different types of social activity is determined by different combinations of subjective and personal properties

Agroecological approach to quality assessment of organic aromatic products

The developed complex scientific-methodical approach to the survey of organic agricultural enterprise was presented in order to confirm the quality of aromatic products of the “Organic” class. The analysis of agrochemical soils indicators was performed for the first time, which were cultivated according to organic technology for eleven years. It was proven that long-term use of organic farming contributes to the preservation and improvement of soil fertility. An elemental biomass analysis of the apical part of lavender plants grown by organic method was carried out, from which the essential oil was then obtained. It was confirmed that the essential oil composition depends on the place of its production and on the soil characteristics on which the plants were grown. The elemental analysis of essential oil showed that there is an intensive carry-over of all major macro- and micronutrients from the soil into plants during their growth and development. In the lavender essential oil, there are more than 50 substances that determine its uniqueness. Therefore, to confirm the quality of “Organic” class products, we propose to conduct a comprehensive assessment of all components of the organic production system “soil — plant — products”. Thermal analysis, electron microscopy with detectors for energy dispersion analysis, chromatographic analysis, potentiometry, flame photometry and chemical analytical methods were used for the research. Differences in quality indicators of organic essential oil and oil obtained with the traditional farming method were revealed. The study found that the produced lavender oil is a unique quality product grown in an organic way. At present, quality management of agricultural products is possible subject to specialists' availability in the agro-industrial complex with competence in the field of chemical-toxicological and environmental analysis knowing methods to determine the quality and safety of agricultural products, including organic products

Evaluating Academic Adaptation in Students: A New Technique

Evaluation of academic adaptation in students is an important aspect of their incorporation into the educational environment of university. Academic adaptation can be considered a complex multicomponent formation that requires a specially developed tool to measure an individual’s ability to adapt to the educational environment in general. The aim of the research was to develop, validate and standardize a special technique for evaluating academic adaptation in university students. The study involved 419 1—4-year students aged 17—26, with the average age of M=19.6 SD=2.8 (18.4% male). A questionnaire was used to assess socio-demographic characteristics. To assess the academic potential, we used a technique called “Adaptability” by A.G. Maklakov and S.V. Chermenin. We assumed that academic adaptation includes cognitive, emotional, motivational, psychophysiological, communicative and personal components. Our technique includes six scales matching these components and a separate integral scale. In the process of designing the technique we tested its reliability, face, content and convergent validity and standardization. The results of these testing showed that the technique has good psychometric indicators and can be used both for research and applied purposes

Light and Small-Angle X-Ray Diffraction from Opal-Like Structures: Transition from Two- to Three-Dimensional Regimes and Effects of Disorder

Conclusions To summarize, in this chapter diffraction of light and x-rays on opal-like structures is considered. New methodological approaches to collection, processing, and interpretation of experimental data are presented. In particular, a novel representation of the light diffraction data in the “incident angle–registration angle” (θ, Θ) coordinates is shown to be an effective tool of data analysis. This representation allows one to easily distinguish the reflections originating from 2D diffraction from the ones governed by 3D Bragg diffraction. In addition, structural disorder becomes apparent in the (θ, Θ) representation. It is also demonstrated that the immersion spectroscopy method can be used to selectively switch diffraction reflections. This phenomenon is caused by inhomogeneity of the a-SiO2 particles that form synthetic opals. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that microradian x-ray diffraction is a powerful technique that is able to reveal the dominating structure and the presence of disorder in opallike structures. Short acquisition times, modern 2D detectors, and progress in computing techniques make 3D reconstructions of reciprocal space routinely available. This method provides extremely valuable information on the real structure of mesoscopic materials that cannot be easily obtained by other analytical approaches. K13299

MODERN DIRECTIONS OF STATE POLICY TO IMPROVE THE SAFETY AND QUALITY OF FOOD PRODUCTS

This article identifies approaches for improving the mechanisms of technical regulation in the field of food security and encouraging people to a healthy lifestyle based on the priorities of the state policy of the government of the Russian Federation, indicates their purpose and the key points in their implementation

REQUIREMENTS OF TECHNICAL REGULATIONS OF THE CUSTOMS UNION FOR DAIRY PRODUCTS

Since July 1, 2013, the basic technical regulations of the Customs Union have been put in place, including those dealing directly with milk and dairy products, which establish mandatory requirements for technical regulation facilities. The purpose of technical regulations is to protect the health and life of citizens, as well as to prevent misconduct that may mislead consumers, including providing the most reliable information about consumer properties, composition and name of products