Transportation Futures: Policy Scenarios for Achieving Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets, MNTRC Report 12-11

It is well established that GHG emissions must be reduced by 50% to 80% by 2050 in order to limit global temperature increase to 2°C. Achieving reductions of this magnitude in the transportation sector is a challenge and requires a multitude of policies and technology options. The research presented here analyzes three scenarios: changes in the perceived price of travel, land-use intensification, and increases in transit. Elasticity estimates are derived using an activity-based travel model for the state of California and broadly representative of the U.S. The VISION model is used to forecast changes in technology and fuel options that are currently forecast to occur in the U.S., providing a life cycle GHG forecast for the road transportation sector. Results suggest that aggressive policy action is needed, especially pricing policies, but also more on the technology side. Medium- and heavy-duty vehicles are in particular need of additional fuel or technology-based GHG reductions

Dependency Map of Proteins in the Small Ribosomal Subunit

The assembly of the ribosome has recently become an interesting target for antibiotics in several bacteria. In this work, we extended an analytical procedure to determine native state fluctuations and contact breaking to investigate the protein stability dependence in the 30S small ribosomal subunit of Thermus thermophilus. We determined the causal influence of the presence and absence of proteins in the 30S complex on the binding free energies of other proteins. The predicted dependencies are in overall agreement with the experimentally determined assembly map for another organism, Escherichia coli. We found that the causal influences result from two distinct mechanisms: one is pure internal energy change, the other originates from the entropy change. We discuss the implications on how to target the ribosomal assembly most effectively by suggesting six proteins as targets for mutations or other hindering of their binding. Our results show that by blocking one out of this set of proteins, the association of other proteins is eventually reduced, thus reducing the translation efficiency even more. We could additionally determine the binding dependency of THX—a peptide not present in the ribosome of E. coli—and suggest its assembly path

The incidence of subsequent contralateral hip fracture and factors associated with increased risk:The IMPACT Contralateral Fracture Study

IntroductionHip fractures are associated with high morbidity and mortality and patients that sustain a subsequent contralateral fracture experience inferior outcomes. The risk of contralateral fracture is highest within the first year, however the incidence and associated factors remain poorly understood. The aims were to investigate i) the incidence of a subsequent contralateral hip fracture within the first year ii) identify factors associated with an increased risk of contralateral fracture, and iii) compare early mortality risk after index versus contralateral hip fracture. MethodsThis study included all patients aged over 50 years admitted to NHS hospitals in Scotland between 1st March 2020 and 31st December 2020 (n=5566) as routine activity of the Scottish Hip Fracture Audit (SHFA). Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine factors associated with 30-day mortality and cox regression was used to identify factors associated with a contralateral fracture. ResultsDuring the study period 2.5% (138/5566) of patients sustained a contralateral hip fracture within 12 months of the index hip fracture. Socioeconomic deprivation was inversely associated with increased risk of contralateral fracture (odds ratio 2.64, p&lt;0.001), whilst advancing age (p=0.427) and sex (p=0.265) were not. After adjusting for significant cofounders there was no significant difference in 30-day mortality following contralateral fracture compared to index fracture (OR 1.22, p=0.433). ConclusionOne in 40 (2.5%) hip fracture patients sustained a contralateral fracture within 12 months of their index fracture and deprivation was associated with a reduced risk of contralateral fracture. No difference in 30-day mortality was found. <br/

5-(4-Cyano-5-dicyano­methyl­ene-2,2-dimethyl-2,5-dihydro-3-fur­yl)-3-(1-methyl-1,4-dihydro­pyridin-4-yl­idene)pent-4-enyl 3,5-bis­(benz­yloxy)benzoate acetonitrile 0.25-solvate: a synchrotron radiation study

The title compound, C42H36N4O5·0.25CH3CN, crystallizes with a partial twofold disordered (1/4) acetonitrile solvent of crystallization. The linking atoms to the 3,5-bis­(benz­yloxy)benzoic acid are disordered between two conformations in the ratio 0.780 (6):0.220 (6). In the crystal, the mol­ecules pack using mainly C—H⋯N(cyano) inter­actions coupled with weak C—H⋯O(ether) inter­actions and C—H⋯π inter­actions. A brief comparison is made between a conventional and this synchrotron data collection

2-{3-Cyano-5,5-dimethyl-4-[6-(pyrrol­i­din-1-yl)hexa-1,3,5-trien­yl]-2,5-dihydro-2-furylidene}malononitrile

The title compound, C20H20N4O, is packed into a three-dimensional ‘herringbone’ matrix using two different types of attractive C—H⋯N(cyano) inter­actions. The bond-length alternation, caused by delocalization of charge between the donor N atoms and the cyano acceptor groups, is compared with related compounds

The Clinical Frailty Scale can be used retrospectively to assess the frailty of patients with hip fracture:a validation study

PURPOSE: Frailty is a common clinical syndrome affecting hip fracture patients. Recognising and accurately assessing frailty status is important in clinical and research settings. The Rockwood Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) is a commonly used instrument and demonstrates a strong correlation with mortality and length of hospital admission following hip fracture. What is not understood, however, is the validity of retrospectively assigned CFS scores in hip fracture patients. The aim of this study was to assess the validity of retrospective non-orthogeriatrician assigned CFS scores in hip fracture patients. METHODS: Hip fracture patients from a single major trauma centre were assessed and CFS scores were assigned prospectively by non-orthogeriatric clinicians (n = 57). A subset of these patients were also assigned a prospective CFS score by a specialist orthogeriatrician (n = 27). Two separate blinded observers (non-orthogeriatric clinicians) assigned CFS scores retrospectively using electronic patient records alone. Agreement and precision was examined using the Bland–Altman plot, accuracy was assessed using R(2) statistic and inter-rater reliability was assessed using quadratic weighted Cohen’s kappa. RESULTS: Seventy percent of the cohort were female with an average age of 83. Agreement was high between prospective non-orthogeriatrician assigned CFS scores and retrospective non-orthogeriatrician assigned CFS scores, with a low bias (0.046) and good accuracy (R(2) = 73%). Good agreement was also seen in comparisons between prospective orthogeriatrician assigned CFS scores versus retrospective non-orthogeriatrician assigned scores, with a low bias (0.23) and good accuracy (R(2) = 78%). Good inter-rater reliability was seen between blinded observers with a quadratic weighted Cohen’s kappa of 0.76. CONCLUSIONS: Retrospective CFS scores assigned by non-orthogeriatricians are a valid means of assessing frailty status in hip fracture patients. However, our results suggest a tendency for non-orthogeriatricians to marginally overestimate frailty status when assigning CFS scores retrospectively. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3

Perfect Transfer of Arbitrary States in Quantum Spin Networks

We propose a class of qubit networks that admit perfect state transfer of any two-dimensional quantum state in a fixed period of time. We further show that such networks can distribute arbitrary entangled states between two distant parties, and can, by using such systems in parallel, transmit the higher dimensional systems states across the network. Unlike many other schemes for quantum computation and communication, these networks do not require qubit couplings to be switched on and off. When restricted to $N$-qubit spin networks of identical qubit couplings, we show that $2\log_3 N$ is the maximal perfect communication distance for hypercube geometries. Moreover, if one allows fixed but different couplings between the qubits then perfect state transfer can be achieved over arbitrarily long distances in a linear chain. This paper expands and extends the work done in PRL 92, 187902.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures with updated reference

An investigation of the skin barrier restoring effects of a cream and lotion containing ceramides in a multi-vesicular emulsion in people with dry, eczema-prone, skin: The RESTORE study phase 1

Introduction The replenishment of skin lipids depleted in the dry skin state is a desirable therapeutic target to restore skin moisturization; however, there is limited evidence demonstrating the success of this approach through the use of topical emollients. The purpose of this study was to provide evidence of the benefits of a cream and equivalent lotion containing skin lipids in a multi-vesicular emulsion for the management of dry skin. The hypothesis was that the test cream and test lotion could sustain skin moisturization for longer than traditional emollients by sustainably delivering skin lipids. Methods A double-blind intra-subject vehicle-controlled single open-application test on the lower legs in people with dry, atopic dermatitis (atopic eczema)-prone, skin was conducted. There were six treatment sites, three per lower leg in each participant, which were treated with the test cream, the test lotion, three reference creams commonly prescribed in the UK and no treatment as a control. After baseline measurements of skin hydration, 100 μl of the test/reference creams was applied to each of the relevant treatment sites (random site allocation). Following treatment, measurements of skin hydration and scoring of visual dryness was conducted at timed intervals (3, 6, 12 and 24 h post-product application). Results The test cream and lotion both significantly increased skin hydration and reduced skin dryness for at least 24 h following a single application compared to a no treatment control site. Compared to three reference emollient creams the test cream and test lotion were the only products capable of sustaining clinically meaningful improvements in skin moisturization for 24 h. Conclusion The sustained moisturization imparted by the test products reduces the need for frequent emollient application, often requiring 3–4 applications per day for traditional emollients, and should reduce the high burden of managing dry skin conditions like atopic dermatitis

Publication bias in clinical trials

This is the protocol for a review and there is no abstract. The objectives are as follows: To summarise evidence of publication bias for trials of health care interventions.Output Type: Protoco