Bay State College

Literature has found that LGBTQIA + faculty members experience discrimination both within the classroom and the larger academic environment, including decreased faculty collaboration, student support, and opportunities for promotion and tenure. However, few researchers have examined the experiences of LGBQ faculty within social work programs. Given this paucity in the literature, we examined the perceptions of faculty members in US social work schools regarding inclusive LGBTIA + policies, and how these policies influence the environments for and experiences of LGBQ faculty members. This primary data collection consisted of a survey provided to social work faculty from the Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors and the Master of Social Work Program Directors in 2017, consisting of 193 respondents. A multi-level path analysis with latent factors was conducted using structural equation modeling (SEM) in R. We found that higher support was significantly associated with less phobia and fewer incidences; likewise, more intervention was significantly correlated with less phobia and fewer incidences. Additionally, more inclusive LGBTQIA + policies were associated with more interventions. Interestingly, the presence of more policies was linked with higher levels of reported phobia and more incidences. The results encourage a need for active interventions to combat homophobia and racism within schools of social work. Additionally, the results support a need for inclusive LGBTQIA + policies with social work programs to support and create safe environments for LGBTQIA + faculty.

This study tries to examine anthropocentrism as an environmental ethical theory which is applied by the Christian Religion towards the treatment of the environment particularly in terms of the disvirgining of the virgin forest that adds to the survival and existence of man. The study adopted expository, textual analysis and empirical methods. The study revealed that Christian Religion with the adoption of the anthropocentric theory sees man as the center of value and that all the virgin forests which contain non-human creatures that contribute to man’s survival and existence, the ecosystem, the food chain and the interdependence of man with its environment and surrounding that leads to the improvement of the ozone layer and the improvement of climate change is destroyed and decimated by man due to the imbibing of the Christian Religion and the discarding of the African Traditional Religion by the Kolo Creek Clan people. Therefore, it concluded that there should be a balance between the Christian Religious doctrines as practiced in Africa.

Significance:Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) presents an opportunity to study human brains in everyday activities and environments. However, achieving robust measurements under such dynamic condition remains a significant challenge.Aim:The modular optical brain imaging (MOBI) system is designed to enhance optode-to-scalp coupling and provide real-time probe 3-D shape estimation to improve the use of fNIRS in everyday conditions.Approach:The MOBI system utilizes a bendable and lightweight modular circuit-board design to enhance probe conformity to head surfaces and comfort for long-term wearability. Combined with automatic module connection recognition, the built-in orientation sensors on each module can be used to estimate optode 3-D positions in real-time to enable advanced tomographic data analysis and motion tracking.Results:Optical characterization of the MOBI detector reports a noise equivalence power (NEP) of 8.9 and 7.3 at 735 nm and 850 nm, respectively, with a dynamic range of 88 dB. The 3-D optode shape acquisition yields an average error of 4.2 mm across 25 optodes in a phantom test compared to positions acquired from a digitizer. Results for initial in vivo validations, including a cuff occlusion and a finger-tapping test, are also provided.Conclusions:To the best of our knowledge, the MOBI system is the first modular fNIRS system featuring fully flexible circuit boards. The self-organizing module sensor network and automatic 3-D optode position acquisition, combined with lightweight modules (18 g/module) and ergonomic designs, would greatly aid emerging explorations of brain function in naturalistic settings.