Children's Geographies; 10/01/2023
(AN 173035624); ISSN: 14733285
Academic Search Premier

Children's Geographies; 04/01/2024
(AN 178088137); ISSN: 14733285
Academic Search Premier

Volume 20, Issue 3, July-September 2024, Page 292-310. Read the full article ›

The post Factors Influencing Palliative and End-of-Life Care for Adults with Intellectual Disabilities: A Scoping Review of Health and Care Workers’ Experiences was curated by information for practice.

Evaluation &the Health Professions, Ahead of Print. This systematic review provides an overview of the unique challenges allied health professions face in the translation and implementation of evidence into practice, which remain relatively under reported and uninformed by a theoretical basis of behaviour change. MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and Scopus databases from 2010 to 2022 were […]

The post Factors Influencing the Translation of Evidence Into Clinical Practice for Hospital Allied Health Professionals in Terms of the Domains of Behaviour Change Theory: A Systematic Review was curated by information for practice.

Objectives: Methamphetamine use is associated with numerous negative health and social concerns in Canada. Sex and gender-related factors play a crucial role in the uptake, patterns of use, responses, and treatment outcomes. This scoping review examines academic evidence on methamphetamine interventions that incorporate sex, gender, trauma, and/or equity elements. Materials and Methods: Research question #1 […]

The post Considering Sex, Gender, and Equity Factors in Methamphetamine Interventions: Findings From a Scoping Review was curated by information for practice.

Sustained financing for Universal Health Coverage (UHC) has been a concern for the Cameroon government. Household contributions have been considered as a financing mechanism, but this raises concerns on the wi… Read the full article ›

The post Factors associated with household willingness to pay for Universal Health Coverage in Cameroon: a nationwide cross-sectional analysis was curated by information for practice.

We know…we’ve been remiss, and it’s time to talk about the elephant in the room. Something Wild, as you know, is a chance to take a closer look at the wildlife, ecosystems and marvelous phenomena you can find in and around New Hampshire. But over the years there is one species in New Hampshire that we haven’t spent much time examining. A species, I think that has been conspicuous in its absence. Humans. So we’re grabbing the bull by the horns and digging in to a complex species that is an important part of the ecosystem. And we thought we’d start with a particular trait that’s been with us almost since the beginning: olfaction.

A strike by 33,000 Boeing factory workers is coming to an end after more than seven weeks. The aerospace giant's unionized machinists voted on Monday to accept a company contract offer that includes a 38 percent wage increase over four years.

We know…we’ve been remiss, and it’s time to talk about the elephant in the room. Something Wild, as you know, is a chance to take a closer look at the wildlife, ecosystems and marvelous phenomena you can find in and around New Hampshire. But over the years there is one species in New Hampshire that we haven’t spent much time examining. A species, I think that has been conspicuous in its absence. Humans. So we’re grabbing the bull by the horns and digging in to a complex species that is an important part of the ecosystem. And we thought we’d start with a particular trait that’s been with us almost since the beginning: olfaction. The sense of smell among other sensory systems are relatively unchanged throughout mammalian history. As Nate Dominy, professor of anthropology and biological sciences at Dartmouth, says, “a lot of the traits we see in mammals are retention of those basic traits.” Dominy suggested our olfactory sense was really important to our proto-mammalian ancestors. Picture

By Georgia Leybourne, Chief Marketing Officer, Linnworks.

Success in ecommerce and retail today hinges on consumer convenience. It is fast becoming a powerful tool in the e-commerce industry, transforming the way businesses engage with their customers and increasing sales through social commerce.

A new study finds that seniors who tend to mirror other people's feelings are more likely to show signs of being anxious or depressed themselves.

People with conditions or habits such as high blood pressure, an irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation, or smoking, not only have a higher risk of stroke, they may also have more severe strokes than people without these risk factors, according to a study published in the November 13, 2024, online issue of Neurology(r), the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

A new study finds that seniors who tend to mirror other people's feelings are more likely to show signs of being anxious or depressed themselves.

People with conditions or habits such as high blood pressure, an irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation, or smoking, not only have a higher risk of stroke, they may also have more severe strokes than people without these risk factors, according to a study published in the November 13, 2024, online issue of Neurology(r), the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Actor Yoo Teo has been included in the 2024 version of Gold House's 'The A100' list.The list, announced every May, nominates 100 of the world's most impactful Asian Pacific leaders in American culture...

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Parameters in analytical models for X-ray form factors of ions f0(s), based on the inverse Mott–Bethe formula involving a variable number of Gaussians, are determined for a wide range of published data sets {s, f0(s)}. The models reproduce the calculated form-factor values close to what is expected from a uniform statistical distribution with limits determined by their precision. For different ions associated with the same atom, the number of Gaussians in the models decreases with increasing net positive charge.

In electron diffraction, thermal atomic motion produces incoherent scattering over a relatively wide angular range, which appears as a diffuse background that is usually subtracted from measurements of Bragg spot intensities in structure solution methods. The transfer of electron flux from Bragg spots to diffuse scatter is modelled using complex scattering factors f + if' in the Bloch wave methodology. In a two-beam Einstein model the imaginary `absorptive' scattering factor f' can be obtained by the evaluation of an integral containing f over all possible scattering angles. While more sophisticated models of diffuse scatter are widely used in the electron microscopy community, it is argued in this paper that this simple model is appropriate for current structure solution and refinement methods. The two-beam model is a straightforward numerical calculation, but even this simplistic approach can become time consuming for simulations of materials with large numbers of atoms in the unit cell and/or many incident beam orientations. Here, a parameterized form of f' is provided for 103 elements as neutral, spherical atoms that reduces calculation time considerably.

The crystal structure of the intracellular domain of transforming growth factor β type I receptor (TβR1) in complex with the competitive inhibitor SB505124 is presented. The study provides insights into the structure and function of TβR1 in complex with SB505124, and as such offers molecular-level understanding of the inhibition of this critical signalling pathway. The potential of SB505124 as an avenue for therapy in cancer treatment is discussed on basis of the results.

N-terminally hexahistidine-tagged O. volvulus macrophage migration inhibitory factor-1 has a unique jellyfish-like structure with the prototypical macrophage migration inhibitory factor trimer as the `head' and a C-terminal extension as the `tail'.

The methanol-to-hydrocarbons (MTH) process involves the conversion of methanol, a C1 feedstock that can be produced from green sources, into hydrocarbons using shape-selective microporous acidic catalysts – zeolite and zeotypes. This reaction yields a complex mixture of species, some of which are highly reactive and/or present in several isomeric forms, posing significant challenges for effluent analysis. Conventional gas-phase chromatography (GC) is typically employed for the analysis of reaction products in laboratory flow reactors. However, GC is not suitable for the detection of highly reactive intermediates such as ketene or formaldehyde and is not suitable for kinetic studies under well defined low pressure conditions. Photoelectron–photoion coincidence (PEPICO) spectroscopy has emerged as a powerful analytical tool for unraveling complex compositions of catalytic effluents, but its availability is limited to a handful of facilities worldwide. Herein, PEPICO analysis of catalytic reactor effluents has been implemented at the FinEstBeAMS beamline of MAX IV Laboratory. The conversion of dimethyl ether (DME) on a zeolite catalyst (ZSM-5-MFI27) is used as a prototypical model reaction producing a wide distribution of hydrocarbon products. Since in zeolites methanol is quickly equilibrated with DME, this reaction can be used to probe vast sub-networks of the full MTH process, while eliminating or at least slowing down methanol-induced secondary reactions and catalyst deactivation. Quantitative discrimination of xylene isomers in the effluent stream is achieved by deconvoluting the coincidence photoelectron spectra.

The formation of a vitrified thin film embedded with randomly oriented macromolecules is an essential prerequisite for cryogenic sample electron microscopy. Most commonly, this is achieved using the plunge-freeze method first described nearly 40 years ago. Although this is a robust method, the behaviour of different macromolecules shows great variation upon freezing and often needs to be optimized to obtain an isotropic, high-resolution reconstruction. For a macromolecule in such a film, the probability of encountering the air–water interface in the time between blotting and freezing and adopting preferred orientations is very high. 3D reconstruction using preferentially oriented particles often leads to anisotropic and uninterpretable maps. Currently, there are no general solutions to this prevalent issue, but several approaches largely focusing on sample preparation with the use of additives and novel grid modifications have been attempted. In this study, the effect of physical and chemical factors on the orientations of macromolecules was investigated through an analysis of selected well studied macromolecules, and important parameters that determine the behaviour of proteins on cryo-EM grids were revealed. These insights highlight the nature of the interactions that cause preferred orientations and can be utilized to systematically address orientation bias for any given macromolecule and to provide a framework to design small-molecule additives to enhance sample stability and behaviour.

Form factors based on aspherical models of atomic electron density have brought great improvement in the accuracies of hydrogen atom parameters derived from X-ray crystal structure refinement. Today, two main groups of such models are available, the banks of transferable atomic densities parametrized using the Hansen–Coppens multipole model which allows for rapid evaluation of atomic form factors and Hirshfeld atom refinement (HAR)-related methods which are usually more accurate but also slower. In this work, a model that combines the ideas utilized in the two approaches is tested. It uses atomic electron densities based on Hirshfeld partitions of electron densities, which are precalculated and stored in a databank. This model was also applied during the refinement of the structures of five small molecules. A comparison of the resulting hydrogen atom parameters with those derived from neutron diffraction data indicates that they are more accurate than those obtained with the Hansen–Coppens based databank, and only slightly less accurate than those obtained with a version of HAR that neglects the crystal environment. The advantage of using HAR becomes more noticeable when the effects of the environment are included. To speed up calculations, atomic densities were represented by multipole expansion with spherical harmonics up to l = 7, which used numerical radial functions (a different approach to that applied in the Hansen–Coppens model). Calculations of atomic form factors for the small protein crambin (at 0.73 Å resolution) took only 68 s using 12 CPU cores.

Dynamical refinement is a well established method for refining crystal structures against 3D electron diffraction (ED) data and its benefits have been discussed in the literature [Palatinus, Petříček & Corrêa, (2015). Acta Cryst. A71, 235–244; Palatinus, Corrêa et al. (2015). Acta Cryst. B71, 740–751]. However, until now, dynamical refinements have only been conducted using the independent atom model (IAM). Recent research has shown that a more accurate description can be achieved by applying the transferable aspherical atom model (TAAM), but this has been limited only to kinematical refinements [Gruza et al. (2020). Acta Cryst. A76, 92–109; Jha et al. (2021). J. Appl. Cryst. 54, 1234–1243]. In this study, we combine dynamical refinement with TAAM for the crystal structure of 1-methyl­uracil, using data from precession ED. Our results show that this approach improves the residual Fourier electrostatic potential and refinement figures of merit. Furthermore, it leads to systematic changes in the atomic displacement parameters of all atoms and the positions of hydrogen atoms. We found that the refinement results are sensitive to the parameters used in the TAAM modelling process. Though our results show that TAAM offers superior performance compared with IAM in all cases, they also show that TAAM parameters obtained by periodic DFT calculations on the refined structure are superior to the TAAM parameters from the UBDB/MATTS database. It appears that multipolar parameters transferred from the database may not be sufficiently accurate to provide a satisfactory description of all details of the electrostatic potential probed by the 3D ED experiment.

This study examines various methods for modelling the electron density and, thus, the electrostatic potential of an organometallic complex for use in crystal structure refinement against 3D electron diffraction (ED) data. It focuses on modelling the scattering factors of iron(III), considering the electron density distribution specific for coordination with organic linkers. We refined the structural model of the metal–organic complex, iron(III) acetyl­acetonate (FeAcAc), using both the independent atom model (IAM) and the transferable aspherical atom model (TAAM). TAAM refinement initially employed multipolar parameters from the MATTS databank for acetyl­acetonate, while iron was modelled with a spherical and neutral approach (TAAM ligand). Later, custom-made TAAM scattering factors for Fe—O coordination were derived from DFT calculations [TAAM-ligand-Fe(III)]. Our findings show that, in this compound, the TAAM scattering factor corresponding to Fe3+ has a lower scattering amplitude than the Fe3+ charged scattering factor described by IAM. When using scattering factors corresponding to the oxidation state of iron, IAM inaccurately represents electrostatic potential maps and overestimates the scattering potential of the iron. In addition, TAAM significantly improved the fitting of the model to the data, shown by improved R1 values, goodness-of-fit (GooF) and reduced noise in the Fourier difference map (based on the residual distribution analysis). For 3D ED, R1 values improved from 19.36% (IAM) to 17.44% (TAAM-ligand) and 17.49% (TAAM-ligand-Fe3+), and for single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD) from 3.82 to 2.03% and 1.98%, respectively. For 3D ED, the most significant R1 reductions occurred in the low-resolution region (8.65–2.00 Å), dropping from 20.19% (IAM) to 14.67% and 14.89% for TAAM-ligand and TAAM-ligand-Fe(III), respectively, with less improvement in high-resolution ranges (2.00–0.85 Å). This indicates that the major enhancements are due to better scattering modelling in low-resolution zones. Furthermore, when using TAAM instead of IAM, there was a noticeable improvement in the shape of the thermal ellipsoids, which more closely resembled those of an SCXRD-refined model. This study demonstrates the applicability of more sophisticated scattering factors to improve the refinement of metal–organic complexes against 3D ED data, suggesting the need for more accurate modelling methods and highlighting the potential of TAAM in examining the charge distribution of large molecular structures using 3D ED.

Onchocerca volvulus causes blindness, onchocerciasis, skin infections and devastating neurological diseases such as nodding syndrome. New treatments are needed because the currently used drug, ivermectin, is contraindicated in pregnant women and those co-infected with Loa loa. The Seattle Structural Genomics Center for Infectious Disease (SSGCID) produced, crystallized and determined the apo structure of N-terminally hexahistidine-tagged O. volvulus macrophage migration inhibitory factor-1 (His-OvMIF-1). OvMIF-1 is a possible drug target. His-OvMIF-1 has a unique jellyfish-like structure with a prototypical macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) trimer as the `head' and a unique C-terminal `tail'. Deleting the N-terminal tag reveals an OvMIF-1 structure with a larger cavity than that observed in human MIF that can be targeted for drug repurposing and discovery. Removal of the tag will be necessary to determine the actual biological oligomer of OvMIF-1 because size-exclusion chomatographic analysis of His-OvMIF-1 suggests a monomer, while PISA analysis suggests a hexamer stabilized by the unique C-terminal tails.

A general formalism is presented for the isotropically averaged single-chain scattering function (form factor) of single, double, triple and higher-order helices, as well as twisted fibres consisting of concentric layers of strands. Form factors for double and triple helices with differently sized grooves have also been derived. The formulas include the longitudinal and transverse interference over the pitch and radius of the helices, respectively. The results may be useful for the analysis of small-angle scattering data of (bio)macromolecules or molecular assemblies exhibiting a helical arrangement.

Here, it is investigated how optical properties of single scatterers in interacting multi-particle systems influence measurable structure factors. Both particles with linear gradients of their scattering length density and core–shell structures evoke characteristic deviations between the weighted sum 〈S(Q)〉 of partial structure factors in a multi-component system and experimentally accessible measurable structure factors SM(Q). While 〈S(Q)〉 contains only the structural information of self-organizing systems, SM(Q) is additionally influenced by the optical properties of their constituents, resulting in features such as changing amplitudes, additional peaks in the low-wavevector region or splitting of higher-order maxima, which are not related to structural reasons. It is shown that these effects can be systematically categorized according to the qualitative behaviour of the form factor in the Guinier region, which enables assessing the suitability of experimentally obtained structure factors to genuinely represent the microstructure of complex systems free from any particular model assumption. Hence, a careful data analysis regarding size distribution and optical properties of single scatterers is mandatory to avoid a misinterpretation of measurable structure factors.

James Franco attends a special screening of the final season of "The Deuce" at Metrograph on Sept. 5, 2019 in New York City. =; Credit: Taylor Hill/WireImage/Getty Images

The parties involved in a sexual misconduct case against Oscar-winning actor James Franco have reached a preliminary settlement agreement. The two actors who filed the suit have agreed to drop their claims.

In 2019, Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal alleged that James Franco's Studio 4 acting school sexually exploited female students. The complaint, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, also alleged fraud and sought to represent more than 100 former female students at the now defunct Studio 4. Vince Jolivette, Jay Davis and Franco's RabbitBandini Productions were also named in the suit which accused Studio 4 of setting out to "create a steady stream of young women to objectify and exploit."

According to their joint status report filed on Feb. 11, Tither-Kaplan and Gaal agreed to drop their individual claims. The Sexual Exploitation Class claims will also be dismissed. NPR is reaching out to both parties for comment.

The original complaint was filed shortly after Franco won a Golden Globe for his performance in The Disaster Artist. Franco denied the allegations. In a statement to NPR at the time, his attorney said "James will not only fully defend himself, but will also seek damages from the plaintiffs and their attorneys for filing this scurrilous publicity seeking lawsuit."

In 2016, Franco made a docuseries based on his Sex Scenes class at Studio 4 that he posted on his Facebook page. The videos have since been taken down, but one is still available on Vimeo. Tither-Kaplan, who was a student in the class, told NPR she thought it would teach her how to "maneuver in sex scenes professionally as an actor," but it "did not do that at all."

According to Tither-Kaplan, the class did not explain industry standards such as "nudity riders, the detail required in them, the right to counsel with the director about nude scenes, the custom to choreograph nude scenes ahead of time to negotiate them with the cast and the director — I knew none of that throughout that class."

According to the parties' agreement, the allegations of fraud will be "subject to limited release." It is not clear whether monetary payments are involved. The parties say they expect to file a motion for preliminary approval of the settlement agreement no later than March 15.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Actor Charles Grodin, whose comic characters were almost always hapless, and whose serious characters generally gave that trademark haplessness a sinister twist, died Tuesday of cancer at his home in Wilton, Conn. He was 86.

His death, from bone marrow cancer, was confirmed to NPR by his son, actor Nicholas Grodin.

He was the obstetrician who gave Rosemary's Baby to a coven of witches, the dog owner who couldn't control his enormous Saint Bernard in the Beethoven movies, and the man who met the girl of his dreams just a little bit late in The Heartbreak Kid. He was, sad to say, on his honeymoon.

Grodin credited Elaine May's direction of The Heartbreak Kid with jump-starting his film career in 1972, though he'd made his debut as an uncredited child actor almost two decades earlier in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. He became a familiar face in such comedies as Heaven Can Wait and Midnight Run, in which he played an accountant pursued by Robert De Niro after having embezzled from the mob.

When not working in films, Grodin directed plays on Broadway, including Lovers and Other Strangers in 1968 and Thieves in 1974 with Marlo Thomas. And in 1975, he scored a big success opposite Ellen Burstyn as an annual philanderer in the Broadway romantic comedy Same Time, Next Year (the part went to Alan Alda in the film version).

Grodin once described himself as "low-key, but high-strung," which also described a lot of his characters. And he was so sought after as a talk-show guest on late-night TV (Johnny Carson had him on The Tonight Show 36 times), he ended up hosting a talk show host himself in the 1990s.

His knack for deadpan humor extended to books with titles such as How I Got to Be Whoever It Is I Am.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Efforts to convert civilian research reactors from weapon-grade highly enriched uranium (HEU) to low enriched uranium (LEU) fuels are taking significantly longer than anticipated, says a congressionally mandated report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Our ability to observe and predict severe weather events and other disasters has improved markedly over recent decades, yet this progress does not always translate into similar advances in the systems used in such circumstances to protect lives.

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine examines to what extent and in which ways health care utilization -- such as in-patient hospitalizations, emergency department use, and hospital readmission -- reflects disease severity, disability, and ability to perform gainful activity.

New nuclear reactor concepts could help the U.S. meet its long-term climate goals, but a range of technical, regulatory, economic, and societal challenges must first be overcome. A new report provides recommendations to start laying the foundation required for advanced reactors to become a viable part of the U.S. energy system.

The average time it takes attackers to weaponize a vulnerability, either before or after a patch is released, shrank from 63 days in 2018-2019 to just five days last year

Even as it’s suffering from a heavy debt load, billionaire Anil Agarwal’s metals and mining conglomerate is expanding in electronics components to take advantage of India’s push to become a technology manufacturing hub. The display business is separate from Vedanta’s struggling chip venture and may find an easier path to success as it’s a less techically demanding undertaking.

The Ontario factory will produce sugar-free, high protein, and other specialty chocolate products.

To celebrate the holiday season, The Cheesecake Factory welcomes back its festive Peppermint Bark Cheesecake. 

Cookie Dough Lover’s Cheesecake with Pecans will debut on National Cheesecake Day, July 30.

Included in the limited-time offering is Pumpkin Cheesecake made by The Cheesecake Factory Bakery, an addition to the dessert menu just in time for fall.

Once constructed, the facility will produce The Cheesecake Factory’scheesecakes and signature bakery products for its restaurants and other foodservice wholesalers, retailers, and distributors.

New Peppermint Stick Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake debuts just in time for the holidays.

Snack Factory, maker of Pretzel Crisps and a Snyder’s-Lance brand, has reimagined the tortilla with the introduction of Snack Factory Tortilla Chips.

The tortillas can be found at most major Northern California grocery chains, plus some in Southern California and Texas. 

This holiday season, Snack Factory is again rolling out its seasonal Pretzel Crisps flavors, White Crème & Peppermint and Dark Chocolate & Peppermint. 

Portions of the dessert sales will benefit Feeding America’s hunger relief efforts.

Spencer Bell has been a fan of HoldRite plumbing brackets and the TESTRITE DWV testing system for years. So recently, when he heard that HoldRite had innovated the cast-in-place firestop sleeve process, he didn’t waste time learning more about it.

As the population grows older, there is a heightened need for affordable plumbing and HVACR systems that offer safety and accessibility.

It’s no secret that MEP contractors deliver massive value on every project out there. In 2019 alone, MEP contractors generated 46.3% ($70 billion) of total revenue delivered by the ENR Top 600 Specialty Contractors.