Washington — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on March 28 submitted for review to the White House Office of Management and Budget a notice of proposed rulemaking intended to add flexibility to FMCSA’s hours-of-service regulations for commercial truck drivers.

Washington — The Senate has confirmed Amit Bose as administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, with a 68-29 vote Jan. 12.

West Lafayette, IN — At least 83 incidents involving confined spaces in the agriculture industry were documented last year – up 41%, according to an annual report recently released by Purdue University.

What rescue provisions must be in place for entry into a simple confined space that isn’t a permit space?

Where can confined spaces be found?

When an area is identified as a confined space, what does an employer need to do about it?

Can I use one attendant to electronically monitor multiple 1910.146 confined space entries?

What is the best technology for detecting combustible gases in confined spaces?

What elements should a confined space rescue plan include?

What best practices can employers follow to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 inside confined spaces?

OSHA requires a direct-reading portable gas detector to test the atmosphere in a confined space before my workers enter. Why is a direct-reading monitor needed instead of an alarm-only monitor?

Shane McEwen, Blackline Safety, explains how organizations incorporating "connected safety" into their worker safety programs can minimize the risk of hazardous tasks performed in confined spaces.

When it comes to protecting workers in confined spaces, what are some monitoring best practices?

Spot your knowledge gaps on OSHA regulations about confined spaces.

Richmond, British Columbia – Agricultural employers can keep track of confined spaces on their properties with a new mobile application from WorkSafeBC.

Workman Winch is a rugged, versatile and economical winch for lifting, lowering, and positioning personnel and materials in confined space applications.

A lack or absence of oxygen, the presence of toxic chemicals or fumes, and extreme temperatures: These are some of the major hazards associated with confined spaces.

Washington – A new fact sheet from OSHA is intended to protect residential construction workers operating in confined spaces such as attics, basements and crawl spaces.

Washington – The Senate confirmed Thomas Perez on July 18 as secretary of labor with a 54-46 vote.

Washington – Cynthia Attwood has been confirmed for her second term as a commissioner of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Confined space covers provide a best-practice, all-in-one solution of signage and barrier protection to exceed the OSHA 29 CFR 1910.146 standard for permit-required confined spaces.

Salem, OR — Oregon OSHA is offering for free its latest training course on keeping workers safe in confined spaces.

Salem, OR — Oregon OSHA has launched a Spanish version of its training course on keeping workers safe in confined spaces.

Washington — The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Moshe Marvit to serve on the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission.

Builder sentiment for new single-family homes increased in October, despite ongoing affordability challenges. The National Association of Home Builders reports optimism for 2025 market conditions, with builders anticipating easing inflation and moderating mortgage rates. The upcoming election remains a key factor in housing policy outlook.

Infinity Drain identifies emerging bathroom trends of 2025.

Infinity Drain now offers customization capabilities for its product lines, and it also offers Next Day Custom Linear Drains. 

Builders are getting increasingly concerned about affordability hurdles ahead for most buyers.

Children's Geographies; 06/01/2022
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Children's Geographies; 02/01/2024
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The post MSc Social Work: gaining confidence as a Social Worker was curated by information for practice.

The post Study Confirms Real-World Reliability of a Key Tool for Alcohol Screening was curated by information for practice.

NPR's Michel Martin talks with Edward Whelan of the Ethics and Public Policy Center about President-elect Trump's influence on Senate Republicans' selection of a new majority leader.

For much of human history, human beings have waged war against each other. In the new novel by Marko Kloos, that tendency to wage war remains as strong as ever more than a thousand years into the future. Aftershocks is an adventure story as well as a portrait of a technologically-advanced civilization struggling to maintain the peace after a devastating war. Kloos spoke with NHPR’s Peter Biello.

Recounts are expected in two Minnesota House races. The election results could determine control of that legislative body. The upcoming recounts are expected soon and come after initial ballot totals changed when election officials discovered technical glitches.

Infinigate Group, the technology platform and trusted advisor in cybersecurity, cloud and network infrastructure, has expanded its partnership with CYREBRO, an AI-native Managed Detection and Response (MDR) solution, bringing state-level SOC services to MSPs and MSSPs across Europe, through the Infinigate Cloud marketplace.

The Ergonomic Solutions Group, the designer and manufacturer of technology mounting solutions, has launched the SpacePole Kiosk – described as a multifunctional platform with maximum flexibility for a wide range of self-service applications including self-check-in/check-out, self-ordering, endless aisle, product display & advertising, ticketing, click & collect and many more.

Paynetics, provider of embedded finance services, has entered into a strategic partnership with tell.money to implement the Confirmation of Payee (CoP) service. The collaboration ensures that Paynetics will take advantage of tell.money CoP service, allowing partners to embed financial services while staying fully CoP covered with minimal effort.

[Domestic] :
The nation has confirmed its first case of highly pathogenic avian influenza so far this fall season at a poultry farm in Gangwon Province.  Quarantine authorities said Wednesday that the birds at the farm in Donghae had the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of the virus. The farm, which raises some 700 ...

[more...]

[Inter-Korea] :
The Joint Chiefs of Staff(JCS) has warned that North Korea will face corresponding countermeasures if it infiltrates drones into South Korean territory. JCS spokesperson Lee Sung-joon unveiled such a stance to reporters on Monday when asked to comment on Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim ...

[more...]

[International] :
A high-level U.S. government official reportedly confirmed that many North Korean troops deployed to Russia have been killed in combat against Ukraine. On Tuesday, the New York Times quoted the official as saying “a significant number” were killed in action, with the exact time of the armed conflict ...

[more...]

Marking its 15th debut anniversary, Infinite will tour eight cities across Asia. The tour will kick off in Seoul on Dec. 6 with a three-day concert before traveling to Taipei, Macau, Jakarta and...

[more...]

Earthquake hits Midlands as British Geological Survey confirm magnitude  Birmingham Live

In Part I of this series, all topologically possible 1-periodic infinite graphs (chain graphs) representing chains of tetrahedra with up to 6–8 vertices (tetrahedra) per repeat unit were generated. This paper examines possible restraints on embedding these chain graphs into Euclidean space such that they are compatible with the metrics of chains of tetrahedra in observed crystal structures. Chain-silicate minerals with T = Si4+ (plus P5+, V5+, As5+, Al3+, Fe3+, B3+, Be2+, Zn2+ and Mg2+) have a grand nearest-neighbour 〈T–T〉 distance of 3.06±0.15 Å and a minimum T⋯T separation of 3.71 Å between non-nearest-neighbour tetrahedra, and in order for embedded chain graphs (called unit-distance graphs) to be possible atomic arrangements in crystals, they must conform to these metrics, a process termed equalization. It is shown that equalization of all acyclic chain graphs is possible in 2D and 3D, and that equalization of most cyclic chain graphs is possible in 3D but not necessarily in 2D. All unique ways in which non-isomorphic vertices may be moved are designated modes of geometric modification. If a mode (m) is applied to an equalized unit-distance graph such that a new geometrically distinct unit-distance graph is produced without changing the lengths of any edges, the mode is designated as valid (mv); if a new geometrically distinct unit-distance graph cannot be produced, the mode is invalid (mi). The parameters mv and mi are used to define ranges of rigidity of the unit-distance graphs, and are related to the edge-to-vertex ratio, e/n, of the parent chain graph. The program GraphT–T was developed to embed any chain graph into Euclidean space subject to the metric restraints on T–T and T⋯T. Embedding a selection of chain graphs with differing e/n ratios shows that the principal reason why many topologically possible chains cannot occur in crystal structures is due to violation of the requirement that T⋯T > 3.71 Å. Such a restraint becomes increasingly restrictive as e/n increases and indicates why chains with stoichiometry TO<2.5 do not occur in crystal structures.

Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) is a widely used method for nanoparticle characterization. A common approach to analysing nanoparticles in solution by SAXS involves fitting the curve using a parametric model that relates real-space parameters, such as nanoparticle size and electron density, to intensity values in reciprocal space. Selecting the optimal model is a crucial step in terms of analysis quality and can be time-consuming and complex. Several studies have proposed effective methods, based on machine learning, to automate the model selection step. Deploying these methods in software intended for both researchers and industry raises several issues. The diversity of SAXS instrumentation requires assessment of the robustness of these methods on data from various machine configurations, involving significant variations in the q-space ranges and highly variable signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) from one data set to another. In the case of laboratory instrumentation, data acquisition can be time-consuming and there is no universal criterion for defining an optimal acquisition time. This paper presents an approach that revisits the nanoparticle model selection method proposed by Monge et al. [Acta Cryst. (2024), A80, 202–212], evaluating and enhancing its robustness on data from device configurations not seen during training, by expanding the data set used for training. The influence of SNR on predictor robustness is then assessed, improved, and used to propose a stopping criterion for optimizing the trade-off between exposure time and data quality.

Beauveriolides, including the main beauveriolide I {systematic name: (3R,6S,9S,13S)-9-benzyl-13-[(2S)-hexan-2-yl]-6-methyl-3-(2-methyl­prop­yl)-1-oxa-4,7,10-tri­aza­cyclo­tridecane-2,5,8,11-tetrone, C27H41N3O5}, are a series of cyclo­depsipeptides that have shown promising results in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and in the prevention of foam cell formation in atherosclerosis. Their crystal structure studies have been difficult due to their tiny crystal size and fibre-like morphology, until now. Recent developments in 3D electron diffraction methodology have made it possible to accurately study the crystal structures of submicron crystals by overcoming the problems of beam sensitivity and dynamical scattering. In this study, the absolute structure of beauveriolide I was determined by 3D electron diffraction. The cyclo­dep­si­peptide crystallizes in the space group I2 with lattice parameters a = 40.2744 (4), b = 5.0976 (5), c = 27.698 (4) Å and β = 105.729 (6)°. After dynamical refinement, its absolute structure was determined by comparing the R factors and calculating the z-scores of the two possible enanti­omorphs of beauveriolide I.