Knowledge Utilization in Social Work and Legal Practice

The gap between knowledge generated by systematic inquiry and its eventual use by practitioners has been a concern in social work for several decades. Explanations for the gap have been identified as the orientation or attitudes of practitioners, the character of professional education, and the nature of scientific inquiry. The structural character of both practice itself and its knowledge base have been overlooked as an explanation. By comparing legal and social work practice, we suggest that characteristics of social work practice and knowledge also impede research utilization

Intrinsic Optical and Electronic Properties from Quantitative Analysis of Plasmonic Semiconductor Nanocrystal Ensemble Optical Extinction

The optical extinction spectra arising from localized surface plasmon resonance in doped semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) have intensities and lineshapes determined by free charge carrier concentrations and the various mechanisms for damping the oscillation of those free carriers. However, these intrinsic properties are convoluted by heterogeneous broadening when measuring spectra of ensembles. We reveal that the traditional Drude approximation is not equipped to fit spectra from a heterogeneous ensemble of doped semiconductor NCs and produces fit results that violate Mie scattering theory. The heterogeneous ensemble Drude approximation (HEDA) model rectifies this issue by accounting for ensemble heterogeneity and near-surface depletion. The HEDA model is applied to tin-doped indium oxide NCs for a range of sizes and doping levels but we expect it can be employed for any isotropic plasmonic particles in the quasistatic regime. It captures individual NC optical properties and their contributions to the ensemble spectra thereby enabling the analysis of intrinsic NC properties from an ensemble measurement. Quality factors for the average NC in each ensemble are quantified and found to be notably higher than those of the ensemble. Carrier mobility and conductivity derived from HEDA fits matches that measured in the bulk thin film literature

Beyond technique – The limits of books (and online videos) in developing self defense coaches’ professional judgement and decision making in the context of skill development for violent encounters

The depiction and description of body techniques of combat have always been a part of martial arts culture. For example, self-defence techniques of the Israeli system of Krav Maga have routinely been depicted and described in books. More recently, the dissemination of similar knowledge has been presented within emerging modern technologies such as online videos and blogs. We argue, however, that such approaches limit and may even harm the development of professional judgement and decision making of self-defence coaches. By focusing on (a) the distinction between declarative and procedural knowledge and (b) the complexity and non-linearity of self-defence situations, we point out the limitations of the depicted and described knowledge in these media (or channels) of communication. In essence, we argue that the focus on providing procedural knowledge to coaches promotes a view that self-defence skill development is linear. These foci ultimately will limit the adaptability of the coach in creating effective skill development programs for practitioners who need to be able to cope with complex dynamics of real world violence

Effects of Disking Versus Feed Patch Management on Northern Bobwhite Brood Habitat and Hunting Success

More than 60 years ago, Herbert Stoddard (1931:376) wrote there is little doubt that such methods [i.e., disking and harrowing] are more practical for Southeastern quail preserves than artificial plantings, which are costly on a large scale and not always effective. Incredibly, this statement, and testing it as an hypothesis, has been ignored by the bobwhite research community until the past 10 years. Therefore, we designed a pilot study to compare measures of northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) brood habitat (vegetation composition and arthropod biomass) and direct measures of hunting success (covey finds per half-day hunt) to test whether feed patches were really necessary for bobwhite habitat management in southern Georgia and northern Florida. We applied experimental treatments (disk only versus feed patch planting) by using shooting courses (150-250 ha each) on 2 southeastern shooting plantations during 1994, 1995 and 1996. Overall, results were equivocal between the feed patch and disking treatments; no consistent pattern or difference in brood habitat composition or hunting success was observed. One factor responsible for this pattern may be the relatively fine-grained scale (only 1-3% of the shooting courses were planted or disked) at which treatments were applied were insufficient to significantly influence bobwhite abundance. Further research using increased amounts of ground disturbance and planting (5%, 10%, 20%, etc.) will be required before the actual need for agricultural plantings can be determined in the context of their efficacy for bobwhite management. One potential result of these findings is that significant cost savings can be realized by disking rather than planting agricultural crop plants because at least 70% of the costs of planting are a function of seed, fertilizer and cultivation, whereas only about 30% are attributed to disking

Effects of Seasonal Fire Applications on Northern Bobwhite Brood Habitat and Hunting Success

Since the early part of the 20th century, land managers have used prescribed fire during February and March to maintain and enhance habitat for northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus) in southern pine forests. During the past 2 decades, some managers have started to shift their use of fire to mimic more natural lightning-season (April to August) ignitions because these fires encourage flowering of plants in intact native ground cover, and are potentially more effective at hardwood control than winter fires. Therefore, we designed a short-term pilot study to evaluate whether seasonal applications of prescribed fire had any effect on bobwhite brood habitat (as measured by vegetation composition and arthropod biomass) or bobwhite abundance (as measured by hunting success) during the subsequent fall. During the first two years of our study (1994 and 1995), results showed that arthropod biomass and bobwhite hunting success were slightly greater on the shooting course burned during lightning-season (May) than the one burned during February and March. These results indicate that applications of lightning-season fire can be used, at least on a small scale (i.e., management blocks \u3c250 ha) in southern pine forests for hardwood control, and possibly enhancement of native ground cover without short-term negative impacts on northern bobwhites

It’s not about the pain – it’s about the feedback’: krav maga experts’ views on self-defence performance and the experience of contact, pain and injury in the process of skill development

Expert performance in self-defence situations has not been the subject of rigorous empirical investigation. This study aims is broaden knowledge in self-defence, its development and the role of contact, pain and inju- ry in training, in order to stimulate future research activity. Semi-structured interviews with two Israeli krav maga experts centred on the development of expertise in self-defence. The interviews were analysed using an interpretative phenomenological framework; an induc- tive approach that captures the richness and complexity of the lived experience. Two analytically leading themes emerged concerning a) the characteristics of expert self-defence performance and b) the benefits, drawbacks and limitations of contact and pain in training activities. By examining the analytic observation through a theoretical lens with regards to (a) the key components of decision-making and mind-set and (b) contact, pain and injury in the training process, we point the direction for further avenues of inquiry in the context of self-defence performance and the development of the associated skills

Directed mutational scanning reveals a balance between acidic and hydrophobic residues in strong human activation domains

Acidic activation domains are intrinsically disordered regions of the transcription factors that bind coactivators. The intrinsic disorder and low evolutionary conservation of activation domains have made it difficult to identify the sequence features that control activity. To address this problem, we designed thousands of variants in seven acidic activation domains and measured their activities with a high-throughput assay in human cell culture. We found that strong activation domain activity requires a balance between the number of acidic residues and aromatic and leucine residues. These findings motivated a predictor of acidic activation domains that scans the human proteome for clusters of aromatic and leucine residues embedded in regions of high acidity. This predictor identifies known activation domains and accurately predicts previously unidentified ones. Our results support a flexible acidic exposure model of activation domains in which the acidic residues solubilize hydrophobic motifs so that they can interact with coactivators. A record of this paper\u27s transparent peer review process is included in the supplemental information

Topics, Sources and Applicability of Coaching Knowledge in Police Training

The current study explored police trainers’ perceptions of their actual and preferred methods of acquiring new coaching knowledge; the types of knowledge they currently require and/or desire; and how they apply new knowledge. A total of 163 police trainers from Germany and Austria participated in the study. The responses were analysed using an inductive approach. The results showed that police trainers thought they needed knowledge of pedagogy, policing, and self-development, with reasons being centred around a need to optimise learning, training content and the engagement of learners within the training sessions. Preferred methods of learning focused predominantly around informal and non-formal opportunities, the reasons for which were social interaction, the reality-based focus of the content and the perceived quality. Finally, police trainers identified technical or tactical policing knowledge, or knowledge specific to the delivery of police training as useful, recently acquired coaching knowledge, mainly because it was perceived to have direct application to their working practices. Based on these findings, it is suggested police trainers are in need of context-specific knowledge and support to develop the declarative knowledge structures that afford critical reflection of new information

Structural evolution of the El Salvador Fault Zone: an evolving fault system within a volcanic arc.

The El Salvador Fault Zone, firstly identifiedafter the 13th February 2001 Mw 6.6 El Salvador earthquake, is a 150 km long,20 km wide right-lateral strike-slip fault system. Ruptures along the ESFZ arethought to be responsible for most of the historical destructive earthquakesalong the El Salvador Volcanic Arc, as well as for most of the currentseismicity of the area. In this work, we focus on the geological setting of thefault zone by describing its geomorphology and structure, using field-based observations,digital terrain modelling, and aerial photograph interpretation with the aim atcontributing to the understanding of the ESFZ slip behaviour. In particular, weaddress the ESFZ structure, kinematics and evolution with time. The ESFZ is a complex set of traces divided inmajor rupture segments characterized by different geometry, kinematics andgeomorphic expressions. Natural fault exposures and paleoseismic trenchesexcavated along the fault show that the strike slip deformation is distributedin several planes. Both geometry and kinematics of the fault zone areconsistent with a transtensional strain regime.The estimated geological slip-rate for the mainfault segments by paleoseismic trenches and displaced geomorphic features impliesa deficit in velocity of the fault compared to the available GPS velocitiesdata. The high vertical scarps of some fault segments would require quaternaryslip rates not coherent neither with measured GPS velocities nor with sliprates obtained from paleoseismic analysis. This mismatch suggests apre-existing graben structure that would be inherited from the previousregional roll back related extensional stage. We consider that the ESFZ isusing this relict structure to grow up along it. As a result, we propose amodel for ESFZ development consistent with all these observations.La Zona de Falla de El Salvador (ZFES) es un sistema de falla de desgarre dextral de 150 km de longitud y 20 de anchura, que fue identificada por primera vez después del terremoto de Mw 6.6 de El Salvador de febrero de 2001. La mayoría de la sismicidad y de los terremotos históricos destructivos producidos en el arco volcánico salvadoreño han sido producidos por la ruptura de la ZFES. Este trabajo se centra en el marco geológico de la zona de falla describiendo su geomorfología y su estructura a través de observaciones de campo, del estudio de los modelos digitales del terreno y de la interpretación de las fotografías aéreas, con el objetivo de avanzar en el conocimiento del comportamiento de la ZFES. En concreto trataremos del estudio de la estructura, la cinemática y la evolución de la ZFES. La ZFES es un complejo sistema de fallas divididas en varios segmentos que se diferencian en la geometría, la cinemática y la expresión geomorfológica. En los afloramientos de la falla, así como en las trincheras paleosismicas excavadas se ha observado que la deformación de desgarre está distribuida en varios planos y tanto la geometría como la cinemática de la zona de falla indican que la ZFES está bajo un régimen de deformación transtensional. La tasa de deformación estimada para los principales segmentos a través del estudio paleosísmico y del análisis de indicadores geomorfológicos desplazados nos muestra un déficit de velocidad para la falla si lo comparamos con los datos obtenidos por GPS. Estos datos tampoco ayudan a explicar la existencia de grandes escarpes verticales que se observan en algunos segmentos de la falla, y que requerirían tasas de deformación muy elevadas. Esta discrepancia sugiere la existencia de una estructura de graben preexistente que puedo ser producida por el “roll-back” de la placa y que creó una fase extensional en el arco volcánico. En este trabajo consideramos que la ZFES está actualmente desarrollándose sobre la estructura extensional relicta y como resultado proponemos un modelo estructural consistente con estas observaciones

Police recruits’ wants and needs in police training in Germany

Police recruits undertake mandatory training programmes to prepare for conflict situations. To motivate recruits to engage in what is called “police training” (“Polizeitraining” or “Einsatztraining”) in Germany, police trainers should design activities that align with what the recruits want from training. As such, the current study investigated the wants and subjective training needs of police recruits by asking twenty-seven recruits of a German police force to identify positive and negative aspects of police training, as well as the characteristics of a competent police trainer. The qualitative data was analysed using content analysis. Higher order themes consisted of (a) the relevance of police training; (b) motivating aspects of police training; (c) negative aspects of police training; and (d) characteristics of a competent police trainer. Recruits expressed that police training is an important part of their education, which they perceived as relevant in preparing them for their duty and for upcoming performance tests. Prominent motivating aspects included the perception of competence and being challenged holistically. De-contextualized practice and static repetitions were demotivating factors. The police trainer is perceived to play a prominent role in learning and recruits want police trainers to (a) have sound knowledge of the taught content; (b) effectively deliver the training content; and (c) be mindful of individual differences. By offering insight into the wants and needs of recruits undertaking police training, the current study informs the practice of police trainers and trainer developers