BRIEF BEHAVIORAL ACTIVATION TREATMENT FOR DEPRESSION IN SPANISH-SPEAKING LATINOS: ACCEPTABILITY AND PRELIMINARY EVALUATION

Although depression is highly treatable, disparities in mental health treatment in the US have prevented Latinos who lack English language proficiency from accessing efficacious interventions. Reasons cited for these disparities include language barriers, high cost of services, lack of culturally sensitive treatments, and stigma toward mental health treatment. A direct Spanish translation of the Brief Behavioral Activation Treatment for Depression (BATD) may be well-equipped to address the existing barriers through its focus on individual and cultural values, its efficiency and straight-forward nature, itsfocus on developing existing and new strengths, and conceptualization of depression as a consequence of clients' environments and not of cognitive processes, which may serve to decrease stigma associated with care. Using this translation, the current study sought to establish preliminary efficacy and acceptability of BATD in a group of depressed Spanish-speaking Latinos (N=10) . Results showed that over time there was a significant decrease in self-reported depression and a significant increase in activation as indicated by multiple self-report measures. Further, increases in activation corresponded to decreases in depression. Sustained clinical gains through a one-month follow-up were observed. Taken together, these results provide preliminary support for BATD as an efficacious treatment for depression. Consideration of the results combined with interview-based feedback obtained from participants provide several domains for modification of this treatment for future studies, and suggest that the next logical step is to include a treatment control group and a larger sample size in future investigations

Enhancing nature conservation and health: Changing the focus to active pro-environmental behaviours

Most research about the promotion of pro-environmental behaviours has focused on actions conducted at home (e.g. energy saving). While acknowledging their relevance, the effect of such behaviours on the mitigation of two of the most relevant global environmental problems (climate change and biodiversity loss) is relatively small. We present a literature review with two main objectives. First is to introduce the concept of active pro-environmental behaviours. These are a combination of outdoor physical activities and pro-environmental behaviours. The latter involve behaviours that have a minimum impact on the environment, or even have positive consequences for the environment. Active commuting and tree planting are examples of active pro-environmental behaviours. The second objective is to discuss the relevance of active pro-environmental behaviours for people’s health and sustainability and, thereby, to encourage more research and efforts towards the promotion of these behaviours. We conclude by suggesting how stakeholders can promote active pro-environmental behaviours

Revisiting Theoretical Predictions of the Motion and Direction of FTE's

Flux Transfer Events (FTEs) are magnetopause signatures that result from the passage of flux ropes produced by transient bursts of reconnection. They exhibit bipolar signatures in the component of the magnetic field normal to the magnetopause and transient increases or crater-like structures in the magnetic field strength. We use the bipolar magnetic field signatures and magnetic field strength variations observed by all four Cluster spacecrafts during the years of 2002 and 2003 to determine the velocity and direction fof FTE motion for comparison with predictions for the motion of FTEs generated by the component and anti-parallel reconnection models

The utility and limitations of the New Ecological Paradigm scale for children

The New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale adapted for use with children (NEP-C) is one of the most frequently used measures of children’s environmental beliefs. Though widely utilized, the limitations of the NEP-C instrument are often overlooked. Based on a systematic synthesis of existing literature examining the NEP-C, we argue that the scale assesses specific types of beliefs within the larger NEP, that some children have difficulty comprehending items of this scale, and that the one-factor and three-factor models proposed in the original NEP-C did not achieve an exact fit to empirical data. Additionally, the relevance of the NEP-C total score as a predictor of children’s pro-environmental behaviors is questionable. Although the NEP-C is useful for measuring specific types of environmental beliefs, many researchers using this scale may be interested in broader constructs. We highlight potential benefits and drawbacks of using the NEP-C and discuss new directions for environmental education research

A multi-stakeholder participatory study identifies the priorities for the sustainability of the small ruminants farming sector in Europe

The European small ruminants (i.e. sheep and goats) farming sector (ESRS) provides economic, social and environmental benefits to society, but is also one of the most vulnerable livestock sectors in Europe. This sector has diverse livestock species, breeds, production systems and products, which makes difficult to have a clear vision of its challenges through using conventional analyses. A multi-stakeholder and multi-step approach, including 90 surveys, was used to identify and assess the main challenges for the sustainability of the ESRS to prioritize actions. These challenges and actions were identified by ESRS experts including farmers, cooperatives, breeding associations, advisers and researchers of six EU countries and Turkey. From the 30 identified challenges, the most relevant were economy-related challenges such as ‘uncertainty of meat and milk prices’, ‘volatility of commodity prices’, ‘low farm income’, ‘high subsidy dependency’ and ‘uncertainty in future changes in subsidies’ resulting in ‘a sector not attractive to young farmers’. Most of these challenges were beyond the farmer''s control and perceived as difficult to address. Challenges were prioritized using an index, calculated by multiplying the relevance and the feasibility to address measures. The identified challenges had a similar priority index across the whole sector with small differences across livestock species (sheep vs goats), type of products (meat vs dairy) and intensification levels (intensive vs semi-intensive vs extensive). The priorities were different, however, between socio-geographical regions (Southern vs Central Europe). Some of the top prioritized challenges were linked to aspects related to the production systems (‘low promotion of local breeds’ and ‘slow adaptability of high producing breeds’) and market practices (‘unfair trade/lack of traceability’). The majority of the priority challenges, however, were associated with a deficient knowledge or training at farm level (‘poor business management training’, ‘lack of professionalization’, ‘slow adoption of innovations’), academia (‘researchers do not address real problems’) and society as a whole (‘low consumer education in local products’, ‘low social knowledge about farming’, ‘poor recognition of farming public services’). Thus, improved collaboration among the different stakeholders across the food chain with special implication of farmers, associations of producers, academia and governments is needed to facilitate knowledge exchange and capacity building. These actions can contribute to make ESRS economically more sustainable and to adapt the production systems and policy to the current and future societal needs in a more region-contextualized framework

Perceived Performance of Cooperating Schools: Gearing Towards Future Policies

Part of providing quality education is the quest to continually improve one’s service delivery since competition is now the essence of time. In the academic field, inputs in the life of pre-service teachers are considered to be of utmost significance. These include the cooperating teachers as well as the cooperating officials who may directly or indirectly influence the future would-be-teachers, the learners who may inspire them more and the learning environment that may significantly affect their desire to enter the world of teaching upon completion of the internship.  This study determined the performance of the cooperating schools as perceived by the selected elementary and secondary education students enrolled during the second semester of the calendar year 2019 in one of the higher education institutions in the Philippines offering a teacher-education program. Employing the quantitative (descriptive) research design, the results revealed that the cooperating schools’ over-all performance was excellent. However, the performance rank of the indicated factors along the cooperating schools’ selected variables (i.e. cooperating teachers, cooperating officials, learners, and learning environment) vary. In general, among all the factors included in the four main elements in the cooperating school; the learning environment particularly on functional, medical and dental facilities gained a very good rating.

Interactive effects of herbivory and substrate orientation on algal community dynamics on a coral reef

Herbivory is a significant driver of algal community dynamics on coral reefs. However, abiotic factors such as the complexity and orientation of the benthos often mediate the impact of herbivores on benthic communities. We experimentally evaluated the independent and interactive effects of substrate orientation and herbivorous fishes on algal community dynamics on a coral reef in the Florida Keys, USA. We created horizontal and vertical substrates, mimicking the trend in the reduction of vertical surfaces of coral reefs, to assess how algal communities developed either with herbivory (open areas) or without herbivory (herbivore exclosures). We found that substrate orientation was the dominant influence on macroalgal community composition. Herbivores had little impact on community development of vertical substrates as crustose algae dominated these substrates regardless of being in exclosures or open areas. In contrast, herbivores strongly impacted communities on horizontal substrates, with upright macroalgae (e.g., Dictyota spp., articulated coralline algae) dominating herbivore exclosures, while filamentous turf algae and sediment dominated open areas. Outside of exclosures, differences between vertical and horizontal substrates exposed to herbivores persisted despite similar intensity of herbivory. Our results suggest that the orientation of the reef benthos has an important impact on benthic communities. On vertical surfaces, abiotic factors may be more important for structuring algal communities while herbivory may be more important for controlling algal dynamics in flatter areas. Thus, the decline in structural complexity of Caribbean coral reefs and the flattening of reef substrates may fundamentally alter the impact that herbivores have on benthic community dynamics

Governor Patrick Announces Investments to Create Growth and Opportunity in Brockton

<p>This cross-sectional study aims to improve our understanding of the psychological pathways behind the commonly reported link between experiences in nature and pro-environmentalism. Particularly, we explore whether nature experiences lead to self-reported pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs) and whether this relation is mediated by connectedness to nature. Additionally, we examine the possible lasting effect of childhood experiences with nature on adults’ PEB. Most studies reporting on the link between contact with nature and pro-environmentalism have been conducted in developed countries, limiting the generalization of the results. To address this gap in the literature, the current study was conducted in a developing country (Brazil) with a sample of 224 young adults. According to our findings, greater contact with nature during childhood is associated with greater contact with nature as an adult, which, in turn, is positively associated with connectedness to nature and PEB. The stimulation of pleasant experiences while in direct contact with nature during childhood seems to trigger interactions with nature in adulthood and consequently, adults embrace pro-environmental actions.</p

Four challenges for measurement in environmental psychology, and how to address them

Stress and Psychopatholog