Planktonic algae abundance and diversity are similar in urban stormwater ponds of different geographic locations and natural shallow lakes

Elevated levels of different contaminants are typical to stormwater management ponds. Despite that, a number of works report stormwater ponds serving as habitats for a variety of biota. In this study we aimed to examine phytoplankton communities of urban ponds, as the basis of the aquatic food web, and compare them to those of natural shallow lakes. Stormwater ponds were selected from two distant geographic locations: three in Denmark and three in Canada. As a reference to natural systems, three Danish shallow lakes were sampled. The sampling was carried out in the spring, summer and fall of 2014. The phytoplankton communities in ponds were found to be at least as rich in taxa as natural shallow lakes. Their abundance and biovolume varied highly among the types of water bodies as well as in each pond or lake individually, depending on the sampling month. We did not find any significant differences among ponds and natural shallow lakes at the investigated taxonomic level, despite some distinction observed by multivariate DCA and CCA analyses. Little difference was found between Canadian and Danish ponds as well, even though they are separated by a large geographic distance. This study shows that stormwater ponds are habitats for diverse planktonic algae communities which have some similarities to those of natural shallow lakes. Also, the similarities observed between Danish and Canadian ponds indicate some consistence with the urban homogenization hypothesis, although this should be further looked into by future works examining a larger number and distinct types of ponds.

     

Social Work Student Self-Care and Academic Stress

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between self-care and academic stress in the hope that training social work students to practice self-care will start them on the right path to academic success and career longevity. The study surveyed 90 BASW and MSW students using the Academic Stress Scale. Students who practiced daily self-care had lower academic stress. In addition, with each year of progression through the program, students experienced minimally less academic stress. The type of self-care practiced was not a factor. Social work programs can be encouraged to teach self-care. Self-care theory and domains are also reviewed. More studies are needed to examine other factors that might reduce academic stress.     

Sexual Inactivity Among Transfeminine Persons: A Canadian Respondent-Driven Sampling Survey

Sexual health research with transfeminine persons (individuals assigned male at birth who identify as female or feminine) has focused on HIV infection and sexual function following medical treatments. Yet, approximately half of transfeminine persons in Ontario, Canada, reported no partnered sex in the previous year. Therefore, we identified sociodemographic, social, and psychosocial factors associated with past-year sexual inactivity among transfeminine Ontarians. A multi-mode respondent-driven sampling survey of transgender people was conducted in 2009–2010 (N = 433), including 173 transfeminine individuals who had ever been sexually active. Frequencies and regression models were weighted using RDS II methods; prevalence ratios were estimated from logistic regression models using average marginal predictions. Of sexually experienced transfeminine persons, 43% (95% CI [31, 55]) reported no past-year sex partners. Sexual inactivity was independently associated with older age, childhood sexual abuse, and residing outside of the province’s largest city. Transfeminine persons who had genital surgery for gender affirmation were less likely to be abstinent, as compared to those who were living in their felt gender without surgery. Transphobic harassment and higher levels of trans-related sexual body image worries were also associated with sexual inactivity, as was reduced sexual satisfaction. Implications for research and clinical practice are discussed.     

Broadening the enclave debate: The labor market experiences of Dominican and Colombian men in New York city

This article provides new data on immigrant employment in ethnic firms, in an attempt to go beyond the terms of the ethnic enclave debate as it has developed so far. We contend that enclave research has focused too narrowly on wages. Using data from a survey of Colombian and Dominican immigrants in New York City, we compare enclave, primary, and secondary workers on three types of work-related resources: wages, opportunities for skill acquisition, and access to nonmonetary fringe benefits. We find little evidence that Dominican and Colombia men in the enclave comprise a protected labor market sector. On the contrary, they are disadvantaged with respect to several fringe benefits.An earlier version was presented at the 1990 American Sociological Association meetings.     

Hispanic intermarriage in New York City: new evidence from 1991

"This study [uses] 1991 marriage records from New York City [to examine] trends in marital assimilation among Puerto Ricans and the non-Puerto Rican Hispanic population. The prevalence of intermarriage varies among the six Hispanic national-origin groups. Changes in intermarriage patterns since 1975 are documented. Results show very high rates of intermarriage with non-Hispanics among Cubans, Mexicans, Central Americans, and South Americans. Considerable intermarriage among Hispanics of different national origins is characteristic of all Hispanics. Finally, Puerto Ricans and Dominicans have distinct patterns of intermarriage...."     

Social Work Students' Research-Related Anxiety and Self-Efficacy: Research Instructors' Perceptions and Teaching Innovations

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine social work research instructors' perceptions of research-related anxiety and research confidence among social work students, and teaching strategies to identify and manage anxiety. A national web-based survey of 186 BSW and MSW social work research instructors was conducted. Many BSW (70%) and MSW (61%) research instructors reported that they used specific activities or approaches to assess or impact upon student anxiety. Qualitative analysis results suggested a teaching model for social work research instructors designed to reduce students' research-related anxiety, including by enhancing their research confidence. Strategies that instructors can use include creating a supportive class climate, providing activities that are emotion-, cognitive-, and action-focused as well as the use of strategic timing. These findings can be used to guide social work research instructors' facilitation of students' attainment of research competencies and help further students' research–practice integration.     

The person of the category: the pricing of risk and the politics of classification in insurance and credit

In recent years, scholars in the social sciences and humanities have turned their attention to how the rise of digital technologies is reshaping political life in contemporary society. Here, we analyze this issue by distinguishing between two classification technologies typical of pre-digital and digital eras that differently constitute the relationship between individuals and groups. In class-based systems, characteristic of the pre-digital era, one’s status as an individual is gained through membership in a group in which salient social identities are shared in common with other group members. In attribute-based systems, characteristic of the digital era, one’s status as an individual is determined by virtue of possession of a set of attributes that need not be shared with others. We argue that differences between these two types of classification technologies have important implications for how persons attach (or fail to attach) to groups, and therefore what kinds of political mobilization are possible. We illustrate this argument by examining contention over the use of gender as a variable in the pricing of risk in insurance and credit – two markets in which individuals directly encounter class-based and attribute-based systems of classification, respectively.

     

A Note on the Estimation of Missing Values in Time Series

This paper derives an expression for the likelihood function of the parameters in an autoregressive-moving average model when some values are missing from the observed time series. The estimation of the missing values and their mean squared errors is discussed. Stationary as well as nonstationary models are considered.