Quantifying Electricity Demand for 100% Electrified Transportation in New York City

Envisioning a future 100% electrified transportation sector, this paper proposes a model framework that uses socio-economic, demographic, and geographic data to estimate electric energy demand from commuter traffic. Additionally, we explore the possible mode choices of each individual, which allows to create mode-mix scenarios for the entire population. We quantify the electric energy demand for each scenario using technical specifications of state-of-the-art battery and electric drives technology in combination with different charging scenarios. Using data sets for New York City, our results highlight the need for infrastructure investments, the usefulness of flexible charging policies and the positive impact of incentivizing micromobility and mass-transit options. Our model and results are publicly available as interactive Dashboard under tecnyc.herokuapp.com

(6,6′-Dimethyl-2,2′-bipyridine-κ2 N,N′)diiodidomercury(II)

In the title complex, [HgI2(C12H12N2)], the HgII atom has a distorted tetra­hedral coordination formed by two N atoms of the 6,6′-dimethyl-2,2′-bipyridine ligand and two terminal I atoms [N—Hg—N = 70.1 (2) and I—Hg—I = 130.59 (3)°]. The crystal packing features π–π contacts between the pyridine rings of adjacent mol­ecules [centroid–centroid distance = 3.773 (5) Å] and also between a pyridine ring of one mol­ecule and the five-membered chelate ring of an adjacent mol­ecule [centroid–centroid distance = 3.668 (4) Å]

Utilization of the ability to induce activation of the nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like factor 2 (Nrf2) to assess potential cancer chemopreventive activity of liquorice samples

Introduction – Nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like factor 2 (Nrf2) is a transcription factor that regulates expression of many detoxification enzymes. Nrf2-antioxidant responsive element (Nrf2-ARE) signalling pathway can be a target for cancer chemoprevention. Glycyrrhiza glabra, common name, ‘liquorice’, is used as a sweetening and flavouring agent, and traditionally, to treat various ailments, and implicated to chemoprevention. However, its chemopreventive property has not yet been scientifically substantiated. Objective – To assess the ability of liquorice root samples to induce Nrf2 activation correlating to their potential chemopreventive property. Methods – The ability of nine methanolic extracts of liquorice root samples, collected from various geographical origins, to induce Nrf2 activation was determined by the luciferase reporter assay using the ARE-reporter cell line, AREc32. The antioxidant properties were determined by the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryhydrazyl (DPPH) and the ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays. Results – All extracts exhibited free-radical-scavenging property (RC50 = 136.39-635.66 g/mL). The reducing capacity of ferrous ion was 214.46-465.59 M Fe(II)/g. Nrf2 activation indicated that all extracts induced expression of ARE-driven luciferase activity with a maximum induction of 2.3 fold relative to control. These activities varied for samples from one geographical location to another. Conclusions – The present findings add to the existing knowledge of cancer chemoprevention by plant-derived extracts or purified phytochemicals, particularly the potential use of liquorice for this purpose

Phenotypes of adults with congenital heart disease around the globe: a cluster analysis

Objective To derive cluster analysis-based groupings for adults with congenital heart disease (ACHD) when it comes to perceived health, psychological functioning, health behaviours and quality of life (QoL). Methods This study was part of a larger worldwide multicentre study called APPROACH-IS; a cross sectional study which recruited 4028 patients (2013–2015) from 15 participating countries. A hierarchical cluster analysis was performed using Ward's method in order to group patients with similar psychological characteristics, which were defined by taking into consideration the scores of the following tests: Sense Of Coherence, Health Behavior Scale (physical exercise score), Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale, Illness Perception Questionnaire, Satisfaction with Life Scale and the Visual Analogue Scale scores of the EQ-5D perceived health scale and a linear analogue scale (0–100) measuring QoL. Results 3768 patients with complete data were divided into 3 clusters. The first and second clusters represented 89.6% of patients in the analysis who reported a good health perception, QoL, psychological functioning and the greatest amount of exercise. Patients in the third cluster reported substantially lower scores in all PROs. This cluster was characterised by a significantly higher proportion of females, a higher average age the lowest education level, more complex forms of congenital heart disease and more medical comorbidities. Conclusions This study suggests that certain demographic and clinical characteristics may be linked to less favourable health perception, quality of life, psychological functioning, and health behaviours in ACHD. This information may be used to improve psychosocial screening and the timely provision of psychosocial care

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

microbeMASST: A Taxonomically-informed Mass Spectrometry Search Tool for Microbial Metabolomics Data

microbeMASST, a taxonomically informed mass spectrometry (MS) search tool, tackles limited microbial metabolite annotation in untargeted metabolomics experiments. Leveraging a curated database of >60,000 microbial monocultures, users can search known and unknown MS/MS spectra and link them to their respective microbial producers via MS/MS fragmentation patterns. Identification of microbe-derived metabolites and relative producers without a priori knowledge will vastly enhance the understanding of microorganisms’ role in ecology and human health

A Taxonomically-informed Mass Spectrometry Search Tool for Microbial Metabolomics Data

MicrobeMASST, a taxonomically-informed mass spectrometry (MS) search tool, tackles limited microbial metabolite annotation in untargeted metabolomics experiments. Leveraging a curated database of >60,000 microbial monocultures, users can search known and unknown MS/MS spectra and link them to their respective microbial producers via MS/MS fragmentation patterns. Identification of microbial-derived metabolites and relative producers, without a priori knowledge, will vastly enhance the understanding of microorganisms’ role in ecology and human health

Dibromido(6,6′-dimethyl-2,2′-bipyridine-κ2N,N′)cadmium

In the title compound, [CdBr2(C12H12N2)], the CdII atom is four-coordinated in a distorted tetrahedral geometry by two N atoms from a 6,6′-dimethyl-2,2′-bipyridine ligand and two terminal Br atoms. In the crystal, C—H...Br hydrogen bonds and π–π stacking interactions between the pyridine rings [centroid–centroid distance = 3.763 (5) Å] are present