Cremation and Grief:Are Ways of Commemorating the Dead Related to Adjustment Over Time?

Funeral services are known to serve multiple functions for bereaved persons. There is also a common, intuitively reasonable assumption of positive associations between engaging in funeral activities and adjustment to bereavement. We examined whether restricting ceremonial cremation arrangements to a minimum has a negative association with grief over time. Bereaved persons in the United Kingdom completed questionnaires 2 to 5 months postloss and again a year later (N = 233 with complete data; dropout = 11.4%). Neither type nor elaborateness of the cremation service, nor satisfaction with arrangements (typically high), emerged as significantly related to grief; no major subgroup differences (e.g., according to income level) were found. Results suggested that it does not matter to grief whether a more minimalistic or elaborate funeral ceremony was observed. We concluded that the funeral industry represented in this investigation is offering bereaved people the range of choices regarding cremation arrangements to meet their needs. Limits to generalizability are discussed

Від фундаментальних досліджень до комерціалізації результатів: досвід і завдання НАН України

У статті дано короткий огляд деяких науково-технічних розробок, що виконані в останні роки в установах НАН України і вже знайшли практичне застосування або готові до інноваційного впровадження. Ці розробки переконують у тому, що наука України зберігає потужний потенціал, який може повністю реалізуватися при належній фінансовій підтримці з боку держави і створенні сприятливого інноваційного клімату, що дасть можливість науковцям заробляти значні позабюджетні кошти своєю прикладною діяльністю.В статье приведен краткий обзор некоторых научно-технических разработок, которые выполнены в последние годы в учреждениях НАН Украины и уже нашли практическое применение либо готовы к инновационному внедрению. Эти разработки убеждают в том, что наука Украины сохраняет мощный потенциал, который может полностью реализоваться при надлежащей финансовой поддержке со стороны государства и создании благоприятного инновационного климата, что позволит ученым зарабатывать значительные внебюджетные средства своей прикладной деятельностью.A brief review of some science & technology developments is contained, accomplished in recent years in institutions of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) of Ukraine, already used or ready for innovation-specific applications. These developments can assure that science in Ukraine could preserve the powerful capacity that can be fully utilized given proper financial support from the state and fostering favorable innovation climate, which will allow scientists to earn good off-budget money by applied activities

Self-disclosure mediates the effects of gender orientation and homophobia on the relationship quality of male same-sex friendships

This study tested the degree to which self-disclosure mediates the effects of gender orientation and homophobia on relational satisfaction, closeness, and commitment in men’s same-sex friendships. Participants included 211 men from the southwest region of the US, who reported on either geographically close (n = 107) or long distance same-sex friendships (n = 104). Results indicated that self-disclosure mediates the positive effect of femininity on satisfaction, closeness, and commitment in men’s same-sex friendships. Self-disclosure also mediates the negative, indirect effects of homophobia on all three relational outcomes. Tests of structural invariance provided no evidence to suggest that the indirect effects of femininity and homophobia on all three relational outcomes vary as a function of geographic distance.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

Trauma-focused treatments for refugee children: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial of the effectiveness of KIDNET versus EMDR therapy versus a waitlist control group (KIEM)

BACKGROUND: Prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in refugees is reportedly higher in comparison to the general population. Refugee children specifically are often coping with trauma and loss and are at risk for mental health difficulties. With staggering numbers of people seeking refuge around the world and 50% being 18 years or younger, research examining the effects of trauma-focused therapies for refugee children with PTSD is highly needed. Both Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy and the child version of Narrative Exposure Therapy (KIDNET) have been used for refugees, although these treatment methods have not been systematically compared. The aim of the current study is to investigate the effectiveness of EMDR and KIDNET, compared to a waitlist control group and with each other, offered to refugee children. METHODS: A randomized controlled three-arm trial has been designed. The primary outcome is PTSD diagnosis and symptom severity assessed with the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for Children DSM5 (CAPS-CA-5) at baseline (T1), 1 month post-treatment, or after 8 weeks of waiting (T2) and 3 months follow-up (T3). Additionally, instruments to assess posttraumatic stress symptoms, behavioral and emotional problems, and quality of life perception in children aged 8-18 are conducted at T1, T2, and T3. DISCUSSION: This is the first RCT that examines the effectiveness of EMDR and KIDNET in refugee children aged 8-18 years specifically, compared to a waitlist control group intended to reduce PTSD diagnosis and severity of posttraumatic stress symptoms and comorbid complaints in a growing and challenging population. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Dutch Trial Register NL40769 . Retrospectively registered on June 16, 2021

‘My Memories of the Time We Had Together Are More Important’: Direct Cremation and the Privatisation of UK Funerals

Funerals have long been of interest to social scientists. Previous sociological work has examined the relationship between individuality, belief and tradition within funeral services, founded on the assumption that public rituals have psycho-social benefit for organisers and attendees. With the introduction of direct cremation to the UK, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on funeral service attendance in 2020 and 2021, critique of this assumption is now needed. Drawing on interviews with recently bereaved people who organised a direct cremation in late 2017, this article illustrates how compromise, control and consistency are key drivers for not having a funeral service. The article argues that a declining importance in the fate of the body and a move towards ‘invite-only’ commemorative events represents a waning need for social support offered by a public, communal funeral service. In turn, this indicates a sequestration, or privatisation, of the contemporary funeral

Concert recording 2018-02-09

[Track 1]. Marche á huit instrumens á vent / Nannette Streicher -- [Track 2]. Dixtuor pour instruments á vent. I. Allegro moderato II. Moderato [Track 3]. III. Andante - Allegro scherzando [Track 4]. IV. Cantabile [Track 5]. V. Allegro risoluto / Claude Arrieu, née Louise Marie Simon -- [Track 6]. Octet for windinstruments / Tera de Marez Oyens -- [Track 7]. The unfortunate traveller, suite for brass band. I. Introduction II. Scherzo [Track 8]. III. Interlude [Track 9]. IV. March / Imogen Holst

Computational Simulations of Magnetic Particle Capture in Arterial Flows

The aim of Magnetic Drug Targeting (MDT) is to concentrate drugs, attached to magnetic particles, in a specific part of the human body by applying a magnetic field. Computational simulations are performed of blood flow and magnetic particle motion in a left coronary artery and a carotid artery, using the properties of presently available magnetic carriers and strong superconducting magnets (up to B ≈ 2 T). For simple tube geometries it is deduced theoretically that the particle capture efficiency scales as \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$\eta \sim \sqrt{{Mn}_{\rm p}}$$\end{document}, with Mnp the characteristic ratio of the particle magnetization force and the drag force. This relation is found to hold quite well for the carotid artery. For the coronary artery, the presence of side branches and domain curvature causes deviations from this scaling rule, viz. η ∼ Mnpβ, with β > 1/2. The simulations demonstrate that approximately a quarter of the inserted 4 μm particles can be captured from the bloodstream of the left coronary artery, when the magnet is placed at a distance of 4.25 cm. When the same magnet is placed at a distance of 1 cm from a carotid artery, almost all of the inserted 4 μm particles are captured. The performed simulations, therefore, reveal significant potential for the application of MDT to the treatment of atherosclerosis

Cryoelectron Tomography of HIV-1 Envelope Spikes: Further Evidence for Tripod-Like Legs

A detailed understanding of the morphology of the HIV-1 envelope (Env) spike is key to understanding viral pathogenesis and for informed vaccine design. We have previously presented a cryoelectron microscopic tomogram (cryoET) of the Env spikes on SIV virions. Several structural features were noted in the gp120 head and gp41 stalk regions. Perhaps most notable was the presence of three splayed legs projecting obliquely from the base of the spike head toward the viral membrane. Subsequently, a second 3D image of SIV spikes, also obtained by cryoET, was published by another group which featured a compact vertical stalk. We now report the cryoET analysis of HIV-1 virion-associated Env spikes using enhanced analytical cryoET procedures. More than 2,000 Env spike volumes were initially selected, aligned, and sorted into structural classes using algorithms that compensate for the “missing wedge” and do not impose any symmetry. The results show varying morphologies between structural classes: some classes showed trimers in the head domains; nearly all showed two or three legs, though unambiguous three-fold symmetry was not observed either in the heads or the legs. Subsequently, clearer evidence of trimeric head domains and three splayed legs emerged when head and leg volumes were independently aligned and classified. These data show that HIV-1, like SIV, also displays the tripod-like leg configuration, and, unexpectedly, shows considerable gp41 leg flexibility/heteromorphology. The tripod-like model for gp41 is consistent with, and helps explain, many of the unique biophysical and immunological features of this region