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Kinship care is the increasingly preferred child placement with a relative when the biological parents are unable to provide care. Program and resource supports must understand how to best meet these caregivers’ needs. Through thematic analysis of existing literature, this study aims to understand how kin caregiver characteristics affect kinship care outcomes. A total of 28 peer-reviewed articles were included in this analysis. Findings indicate that caregiver characteristics, including racial differences, family roles, economic burden, structural supports, and caregiver health, have potentially differential impacts on kinship care and outcomes. Identifying influential caregiver characteristics highlights the importance of adapting policy, programming, and research to support diverse kinship families, rather than viewing them as homogeneous. Incorporation of these characteristic considerations may lead to more effective and impactful supports and improved well-being for all kinship families.

Mark Schure spoke to LCGC Europe's Lifetime Achievement Award winner, Hernan Cortes, about his career with Dow Chemical, multidimensional chromatography, the evolution of mass spectrometry (MS), and the direction that [...]

Background: Food insecurity (FI) is an important public health issue for US veterans. For many veterans, civilian life is fraught with service-incurred health issues and socioeconomic challenges, each risk factors for FI. The FI literature on veterans is limited due to insufficient coverage of the topic’s complexity and the methods used to study it in this population. No published analysis has evaluated how FI has been examined in US veterans.Objectives: We assessed how FI has been examined in US military veterans by identifying (1) the major content areas, or domains, studied in association with FI and (2) the existing research gaps.Methods: A scoping literature review was conducted to map the main research domains of the FI literature and identify knowledge gaps. Electronic database and hand searches identified potentially relevant studies (n = 61). Data extraction, utilizing a standardized set of design parameters, was completed. Duplicate removal and application of inclusion/exclusion criteria resulted in the studies (n = 21) selected for critical review.Results: Eight research domains were determined: FI prevalence, health status, dietary practices, health care utilization, economic instability, homelessness/housing instability, food program participation, and community/emergency preparedness—the most dominant was health status and the least dominant were social determinants (ie, homelessness/housing instability, food program participation). Research on validity and usability of FI assessment methods in veterans was virtually absent. Military service factors, longitudinal effects, FI among women, intervention effectiveness, and other areas lacked sufficient inquiry.Conclusion: Research is required on lesser examined content areas and methodology to optimize surveillance and policy for veteran FI.

To investigate conformational properties of an isolated n-octadecane chain solvated in water−acetonitrile mixtures, configurational-bias Monte Carlo simulations in the isobaric−isothermal ensemble were performed at T323 K and p10 atm. The united-atom version of the transferable potentials for phase equilibria force field was used to represent n-octadecane and acetonitrile, and the TIP-4P model was used for water. In all four environments (neat water, 33 and 67 mole percent acetonitrile, and neat acetonitrile), similar conformational distributions are observed as in a previous study for water−methanol solvent mixtures; that is, the n-octadecane chain is found to predominantly adopt extended but not all-trans conformations, and only a small fraction of more collapsed conformations is observed for aqueous hydration, water-rich solvent environments. Analysis of the local solvation structures in the water−acetonitrile mixtures shows an enrichment of the acetonitrile molecules near the methylene and methyl segments of the n-octadecane chain. However, upon increasing the concentration of acetonitrile, the enhancement of acetonitrile and the depletion of water is more pronounced than for water−methanol mixtures because of the weaker interactions between acetonitrile and water.

The resolution metric for two-dimensional separations is reviewed. The Euclidean norm description of resolution, introduced by Giddings, is evaluated for its applicability in describing resolution of bivariate Gaussian zones. The experimentally accessible peak and valley heights in two-dimensional separations are shown to be sufficient for quantifying resolution in two dimensions under a number of assumptions. The equation that gives resolution as a function of the peak-to-valley ratio is shown to be the same for one- and two-dimensional separations. In fact, this equation is dimensionally invariant, that is, the same equation is applicable for any number of dimensions when resolution is defined in a certain consistent manner. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Micro Sep 9: 169–176, 1997

The numerical methodology needed to convert the retention ratio, R, to the dimensionless mear layer thickness, Λ, commonly encountered in field-flow fractionation (FFF), is reviewed and a rigorous interpolation scheme which is suitable for any of the FFF techniques is presented. Computer implementation and error estimates are discussed in detail.

Introduction:Frailty is often described as a reduction in energy reserves, especially with respect to physical ability and endurance, and it has not been examined in American Indians. The goals of this study were to estimate the prevalence of frailty and identify its correlates in a sample of American Indians. Methods:We examined data from 411 community-dwelling American Indians aged ≥55 years. Frailty was measured with weight loss, exhaustion, low energy expenditure, slowness, and weakness characteristics. Results:Slightly over 44% of participants were classified as pre-frail and 2.9% as frail. Significant correlates of a combined pre-frail and frail status identified in the fully adjusted analyses were younger age, female gender, lower levels of education, increased number of chronic medical conditions, and increased number of activities of daily living limitations. Marital status, chronic pain, and social support were not associated with pre-frail/frail status. Conclusions:Our findings point to specific areas in need of further research, including use of frailty measures that also capture psychosocial components and examining constructs of physical resilience. Targeting those with multiple chronic medical conditions may be an important area in which to intervene, with the goal of reducing risk factors and preventing frailty onset.