Assessing cultural and linguistic competencies in doctoral clincial psychology students

The increase of Spanish-speaking populations in the U.S. has resulted in an increased demand for culturally competent, Spanish-speaking mental health providers. Yet, little is known about the methods in which academic programs and clinical training sites are preparing their bilingual students to deliver services in Spanish to the Latino populations. This qualitative study used phone interviews with five supervising, bilingual licensed psychologists to examine the methods they utilize to evaluate the linguistic and cultural competencies in their trainees. Additionally, this study gathered feedback on the Spanish Language Assessment measure to assist in modifications. The thematic analysis highlighted methods of evaluation, the intersection of culture and language, Spanish supervision, and modification for the assessment measure. This research study is significant because it informs the literature on bilingual therapy, supervision and evaluation. Furthermore, the findings will allow mental health professionals to have a better understanding of the training needs of students providing mental health services in Spanish. Additionally, it emphasizes the importance of having measures that can be used to evaluate the cultural competency and the ability to deliver mental health services in Spanish

Pedagogía, una materia disruptiva

En esta ponencia se presenta la propuesta educativa al interior del espacio pedagogía que está destinada a la formación de profesores universitarios en ciencias biológicas al interior de la FCEFyN de la UNC. A esta experiencia la venimos desarrollando, desde el año 2012, con el propósito central de generar un espacio curricular cuya metodología de trabajo promueva el desarrollo de una actitud crítica y reflexiva frente a los hechos sociales, en especial, el educativo. En esta comunicación se relata la experiencia en sí misma recuperando sus rasgos esenciales y la metodología de trabajo, a la vez que se desarrollan algunos principios y criterios que dan basamento a dicha propuesta. Finalmente, y en prospectiva, se esbozan algunos interrogantes que abren puertas para seguir pensando la docencia como oficio.Fil: Forestello, Rosanna P. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba.Fil: Rivero Mariel E.. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba

Criteria for effective zero-deforestation commitments

Zero-deforestation commitments are a type of voluntary sustainability initiative that companies adopt to signal their intention to reduce or eliminate deforestation associated with commodities that they produce, trade, and/or sell. Because each company defines its own zero-deforestation commitment goals and implementation mechanisms, commitment content varies widely. This creates challenges for the assessment of commitment implementation or effectiveness. Here, we develop criteria to assess the potential effectiveness of zero-deforestation commitments at reducing deforestation within a company supply chain, regionally, and globally. We apply these criteria to evaluate 52 zero-deforestation commitments made by companies identified by Forest 500 as having high deforestation risk. While our assessment indicates that existing commitments converge with several criteria for effectiveness, they fall short in a few key ways. First, they cover just a small share of the global market for deforestation-risk commodities, which means that their global impact is likely to be small. Second, biome-wide implementation is only achieved in the Brazilian Amazon. Outside this region, implementation occurs mainly through certification programs, which are not adopted by all producers and lack third-party near-real time deforestation monitoring. Additionally, around half of all commitments include zero-net deforestation targets and future implementation deadlines, both of which are design elements that may reduce effectiveness. Zero-net targets allow promises of future reforestation to compensate for current forest loss, while future implementation deadlines allow for preemptive clearing. To increase the likelihood that commitments will lead to reduced deforestation across all scales, more companies should adopt zero-gross deforestation targets with immediate implementation deadlines and clear sanction-based implementation mechanisms in biomes with high risk of forest to commodity conversion.ISSN:0959-3780ISSN:1872-949

Spatial and Temporal Changes in Groundwater Salinity in South Florida

A combination of statistical and interpolation methods and Geographic Information System (GIS) spatial analysis was used to evaluate the spatial and temporal changes in groundwater Cl− concentrations in Collier and Lee Counties (southwestern Florida), and Miami-Dade and Broward Counties (southeastern Florida), since 1985. In southwestern Florida, the average Cl− concentrations in the shallow wells (0–43 m) in Collier and Lee Counties increased from 132 mg L−1 in 1985 to 230 mg L−1 in 2000. The average Cl− concentrations in the deep wells (\u3e43 m) of southwestern Florida increased from 392 mg L−1 in 1985 to 447 mg L−1 in 2000. Results also indicated a positive correlation between the mean sea level and Cl− concentrations and between the mean sea level and groundwater levels for the shallow wells. Concentrations in the Biscayne Aquifer (southeastern Florida) were significantly higher than those of southwestern Florida. The average Cl− concentrations increased from 159 mg L−1 in 1985 to 470 mg L−1 in 2010 for the shallow wells (\u3c33 m) and from 1360 mg L−1 in 1985 to 2050 mg L−1 in 2010 for the deep wells (\u3e33 m). In the Biscayne Aquifer, wells showed a positive or negative correlation between mean sea level and Cl− concentrations according to their location with respect to the saltwater intrusion line. Wells located inland behind canal control structures and west of the saltwater intrusion line showed negative correlation values, whereas wells located east of the saltwater intrusion line showed positive values. Overall, the results indicated that since 1985, there was a potential decline in the available freshwater resources estimated at about 12–17% of the available drinking-quality groundwater of the southeastern study area located in the Biscayne Aquifer

Hydrochemical impacts of limestone rock mining

atively, the surface water chemical composition in the surrounding areas showed much lower cationic and anionic charge. The specific conductivity and total dissolved solids of surface water in canals (close to the mining operations) are <900 μS cm −1 and <600 mgL −1 , respectively, which should be compared to groundwater quality in wells from the EAA area (>2,000 μScm −1 and >1,000 mgL , respectively). A steady-state groundwater fluid flow and transient solute transport modeling exercise was conducted to estimate surface/groundwater interactions. The modeled solute in surface water was transported downgradient through groundwaters, migrated approximately 30 m from the source area (after 5 years of operation), and needed more than 116 years to dissipate. An upward transport was also identified whereby chloride and sulfate, naturally present in deeper groundwaters, migrated approximately 200 m (after 1 year of mining) into the pristine shallower aquifer and reached the surface water with a concentration equaling 80% of that in the rock mining pit

Hydrochemical impacts of limestone rock mining

atively, the surface water chemical composition in the surrounding areas showed much lower cationic and anionic charge. The specific conductivity and total dissolved solids of surface water in canals (close to the mining operations) are <900 μS cm −1 and <600 mgL −1 , respectively, which should be compared to groundwater quality in wells from the EAA area (>2,000 μScm −1 and >1,000 mgL , respectively). A steady-state groundwater fluid flow and transient solute transport modeling exercise was conducted to estimate surface/groundwater interactions. The modeled solute in surface water was transported downgradient through groundwaters, migrated approximately 30 m from the source area (after 5 years of operation), and needed more than 116 years to dissipate. An upward transport was also identified whereby chloride and sulfate, naturally present in deeper groundwaters, migrated approximately 200 m (after 1 year of mining) into the pristine shallower aquifer and reached the surface water with a concentration equaling 80% of that in the rock mining pit

Geodesign Education: Case Studies from the US, Brazil and Italy

This paper focuses on the adoption of the geodesign approach, including methods and tools, in spatial planning and design courses in higher education with an international comparative perspective. The comparative review is based on four case studies developed in the US, Brazil and Italy. They were developed by the authors of this article in order to showcase the differences in the implementation and use of geodesign framework, scenario planning and newly developed web-based tools. The comparison and discussion of case studies demonstrates the possibility and potential of applying geodesign methods at different scales, approaches and variety of participants. The paper concludes with a comparative summary of the presented case studies and a discussion.This accepted presentation is published as Moura, A.C.M., Campagna, M., Poplin, A., Rivero, R.G., Scorza, F. (2023). Geodesign Education: Case Studies from the US, Brazil and Italy. In: , et al. Computational Science and Its Applications – ICCSA 2023 Workshops. ICCSA 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14107. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-37114-1_18. Posted with permission

Experiences in Geodesign in Georgia, USA

Collaborative planning in the coast of Georgia, USA, at the regional scale, by applying a Geodesign framework used for the evaluation and negotiation of alternative plans from multiple stakeholders, using innovative tools for assessing, visualizing and sharing proposals. Each project evaluated issues of conservation, resilience, and regional development in a sensitive coastal area, with great historic and ecological value, in a region that has been exposed to the impacts of two hurricanes in the past three years. The second project integrates two dynamic models for ecological connectivity and for land use allocation using the most recent green infrastructure national datasets. A single negotiated regional plan was the result that will be used for future planning efforts by the coastal regional agency as well as other stakeholders.DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.20.2018.14</p

Leveraging the NEON Airborne Observation Platform for socio‐environmental systems research

Abstract During the 21st century, human–environment interactions will increasingly expose both systems to risks, but also yield opportunities for improvement as we gain insight into these complex, coupled systems. Human–environment interactions operate over multiple spatial and temporal scales, requiring large data volumes of multi‐resolution information for analysis. Climate change, land‐use change, urbanization, and wildfires, for example, can affect regions differently depending on ecological and socioeconomic structures. The relative scarcity of data on both humans and natural systems at the relevant extent can be prohibitive when pursuing inquiries into these complex relationships. We explore the value of multitemporal, high‐density, and high‐resolution LiDAR, imaging spectroscopy, and digital camera data from the National Ecological Observatory Network’s Airborne Observation Platform (NEON AOP) for Socio‐Environmental Systems (SES) research. In addition to providing an overview of NEON AOP datasets and outlining specific applications for addressing SES questions, we highlight current challenges and provide recommendations for the SES research community to improve and expand its use of this platform for SES research. The coordinated, nationwide AOP remote sensing data, collected annually over the next 30 yr, offer exciting opportunities for cross‐site analyses and comparison, upscaling metrics derived from LiDAR and hyperspectral datasets across larger spatial extents, and addressing questions across diverse scales. Integrating AOP data with other SES datasets will allow researchers to investigate complex systems and provide urgently needed policy recommendations for socio‐environmental challenges. We urge the SES research community to further explore questions and theories in social and economic disciplines that might leverage NEON AOP data

Mincle, an Innate Immune Receptor, Is Expressed in Urothelial Cancer Cells of Papillomavirus-Associated Urothelial Tumors of Cattle

Mincle, macrophage-inducible C-type lectin, is a member of C-type lectin receptors. It plays an important role in anti-mycobacterial and anti-fungal immunity. Furthermore it senses dead cells through its primary ligand SAP130