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The article presents the discussion on persistent rise of strongman leaders in 2024, highlighting the ongoing global conflict between democracy and authoritarianism. Topics include historical warnings against authoritarian rule, the appeal of strong leadership as evidenced by public opinion surveys; and an exploration of the psychological factors that contribute to the strongman phenomenon and the allure they hold for followers.

The article highlights the surprising resilience and expansion of the Chabad movement, which has thrived in the 30 years since the death of its leader, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. It also discusses Chabad's significant growth in outreach efforts, its influential role in American Jewish life, and the internal and external challenges it has faced, including divisions over Messianic beliefs and competition with other Jewish denominations.

Monitoring of pesticide concentration distribution across farm fields is crucial to ensure precise and efficient application while preventing overuse or untreated areas. Inspired by nature's wettability patterns, we developed a biomimetic fern leaf pesticide collection patch using laser-induced graphene (LIG) alongside an external electrochemical LIG biosensor. This “collect-and-sense” system allows for rapid pesticide spray monitoring in the farm field. The LIG is synthesized and patterned on polyimide through a high-throughput gantry-based CO2laser process, making it amenable to scalable manufacturing. The resulting LIG-based leaf exhibits a remarkable water collection capacity, harvesting spray mist/fog at a rate approximately 11 times greater than a natural ostrich fern leaf when the collection is normalized to surface area. The developed three-electrode LIG pesticide biosensor, featuring a working electrode functionalized with electrodeposited platinum nanoparticles (PtNPs) and the enzyme glycine oxidase, displayed a linear range of 10–260 μM, a detection limit of 1.15 μM, and a sensitivity of 5.64 nA μM−1for the widely used herbicide glyphosate. Also, a portable potentiostat with a user-friendly interface was developed for remote operation, achieving an accuracy of up to 97%, when compared to a standard commercial benchtop potentiostat. The LIG “collect-and-sense” system can consistently collect and monitor glyphosate spray after 24–48 hours of spraying, a time that corresponds to the restricted-entry interval required to enter most farm fields after pesticide spraying. Hence, this innovative “collect-and-sense” system not only advances precision agriculture by enabling monitoring and mapping of pesticide distribution but also holds the potential to significantly reduce environmental impact, enhance crop management practices, and contribute to the sustainable and efficient use of agrochemicals in modern agriculture.

The article discusses Joshua Malina's role as Hermann Merz in Tom Stoppard's play Leopoldstadt, highlighting his Jewish identity and personal experiences. It explores topics including Malina's career, Jewish representation in Hollywood, his advocacy for Israel, and his engagement with online anti-Semitism.

The article offers information about the current state of Israel and its internal challenges. It highlights the divisions within Israeli society, particularly between the nationalist and religious factions versus secular and liberal Jews. It emphasizes the need for civil society to reclaim symbols and ideals from the nationalists and calls for a renewed commitment to democracy.

Methyltransferase-like protein 16 (METTL16) is one of four catalytically active, S-adenosylmethionine (SAM)-dependent m6A RNA methyltransferases in humans. Well-known methylation targets of METTL16 are U6 small nuclear RNA (U6 snRNA) and the MAT2A mRNA hairpins; however, METTL16 binds to other RNAs, including the 3′ triple helix of the metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1). Herein, we investigated the kinetic mechanism and biochemical properties of METTL16. METTL16 is a monomer in complex with either the MALAT1 triple helix or U6 snRNA and binds to these RNAs with respective dissociation constants of 31 nM and 18 nM, whereas binding to the methylated U6 snRNA product is 1.1 μM. The MALAT1 triple helix, on the other hand, is not methylated by METTL16 under in vitroconditions. Using the U6 snRNA to study methylation steps, preincubation and isotope partitioning assays indicated an ordered-sequential mechanism, whereby METTL16 binds U6 snRNA before SAM. The apparent dissociation constant for the METTL16·U6 snRNA·SAM ternary complex is 126 μM. Steady-state kinetic assays established a kcatof 0.07 min–1, and single-turnover assays established a kchemof 0.56 min–1. Furthermore, the methyltransferase domain of METTL16 methylated U6 snRNA with an apparent dissociation constant of 736 μM and a kchemof 0.42 min–1, suggesting that the missing vertebrate conserved regions weaken the ternary complex but do not induce any rate-limiting conformational rearrangements of the U6 snRNA. This study helps us to better understand the catalytic activity of METTL16 in the context of its biological functions.

Balancing plasticity and stability in neural circuits is essential for an animal’s ability to learn from its environment while preserving proper processing and perception of sensory information. However, unlike the mechanisms that drive plasticity in neural circuits, the activity-induced molecular mechanisms that convey functional stability remain poorly understood. Focusing on the visual cortex of adult mice and combining transcriptomics, electrophysiology, and in vivocalcium imaging, we find that the daily appearance of light induces, in excitatory neurons, a large gene program along with rapid and transient increases in the ratio of excitation and inhibition (E/I ratio) and neural activity. Furthermore, we find that the light-induced transcription factor NPAS4 drives these daily normalizations of the E/I ratio and neural activity rates and that it stabilizes the neurons’ response properties. These findings indicate that daily sensory-induced transcription normalizes the E/I ratio and drives downward firing rate homeostasis to maintain proper sensory processing and perception.

The article presents the discussion on rabbis and scholars, biblical and historical figures or elders. Topics include identifying role models being a necessary step to emotional intelligence and self-awareness; and Spinoza's inspiring traits showing courage, integrity, love of truth and a realistic optimism despite all keeping the faith in humanity.

The article examines whether antisemitism is an eternal condition of Jewish life, highlighting the perspective that it is inherent in all non-Jews. It also discusses the historical context of antisemitism, the fluctuating nature of antisemitism based on external factors, and the distinction between anti-Zionism and antisemitism, particularly in the Global South.

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The article discusses that American Jews like all Americans often overestimate Israel's importance. Israel isn't just a replica of the United States, with the only difference being that in Israel the Jews have guns. Israelis created a new nation, a new culture, a new language, a new identity which was precisely the aim of the original Zionists. Too often, Americans on both the right and the left, project our fantasies and obsessions onto Israel and Israelis.

An interview with joke tellers, writers and scholars Jessica Kirson, Michael Wex and Ruth R. Wisse is presented. Topics include examines that Cohen has officially converted to Catholicism after months of study and is invited to address those gathered for Mass; and focuses on several thoughts the waiter stated to the group of Jewish women sitting in a restaurant.

Co-assembling enzymes with nanoparticles (NPs) into nanoclusters allows them to access channeling, a highly efficient form of multienzyme catalysis. Using pyruvate kinase (PykA) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) to convert phosphoenolpyruvic acid to lactic acid with semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) confirms how enzyme cluster formation dictates the rate of coupled catalytic flux (kflux) across a series of differentially sized/shaped QDs and 2D nanoplatelets (NPLs). Enzyme kinetics and coupled flux were used to demonstrate that by mixing different NP systems into clusters, a >10× improvement in kfluxis observed relative to free enzymes, which is also ≥2× greater than enhancement on individual NPs. Cluster formation was characterized with gel electrophoresis and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging. The generalizability of this mixed-NP approach to improving flux is confirmed by application to a seven-enzyme system. This represents a powerful approach for accessing channeling with almost any choice of enzymes constituting a multienzyme cascade.

The article presents the discussion on future of community in the 21st century. Topics include concept of community being central to Judaism and ethos of the Jewish people; human concepts changes with time such as tribe, village, guild, town, neighborhood, union, and fraternity; and instigating by inventions such as the telegraph, telephone, rapid transportation, and the internet.

The article offers information on the attack on Nir Oz, a kibbutz on the southern border of Israel, where over 100 residents were killed, and about 80 were taken captive during a Hamas attack. Jonathan Dekel-Chen, a resident, shares his experience, stating that the terrorists caught them by surprise. Topics include the impact on residents, with dozens missing or confirmed in captivity, and the tactics used by Hamas, including attempts to breach safe rooms and setting fires in homes.

An introduction is presented about the anticipation and diversity of submissions for the Moment Magazine-Karma Foundation Short Fiction Contest, leading to the publication of the three winning stories in their special fall fiction issue.

The first step of SARS-CoV-2 infection is binding of the spike protein’s receptor binding domain to the host cell’s ACE2 receptor on the plasma membrane. Here, we have generated a versatile imaging probe using recombinant Spike receptor binding domain conjugated to fluorescent quantum dots (QDs). This probe is capable of engaging in energy transfer quenching with ACE2-conjugated gold nanoparticles to enable monitoring of the binding event in solution. Neutralizing antibodies and recombinant human ACE2 blocked quenching, demonstrating a specific binding interaction. In cells transfected with ACE2-GFP, we observed immediate binding of the probe on the cell surface followed by endocytosis. Neutralizing antibodies and ACE2-Fc fully prevented binding and endocytosis with low nanomolar potency. Importantly, we will be able to use this QD nanoparticle probe to identify and validate inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike and ACE2 receptor binding in human cells. This work enables facile, rapid, and high-throughput cell-based screening of inhibitors for coronavirus Spike-mediated cell recognition and entry.

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text.Illustrations of the g-computation algorithm to evaluate population average treatment and intervention effects have been predominantly implemented in settings with complete exposure information. Thus, worked examples of approaches to handle missing data in this causal framework are needed to facilitate wider use of these estimators. We illustrate two-stage g-computation estimators that leverage partially observed information on the full study sample and complete exposure information on a subset to estimate causal effects. In a hypothetical cohort of 1,623 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive women with 30% complete opioid prescription information, we illustrate a two-stage extrapolation g-computation estimator for the average treatment effect of shorter or longer duration opioid prescriptions; we further illustrate two-stage inverse probability weighting and imputation g-computation estimators for the average intervention effect of shortening the duration of prescriptions relative to the status quo. Two-stage g-computation estimators approximated the true risk differences for the population average treatment and intervention effects while g-computation fit to the subset of complete cases was biased. In 10,000 Monte Carlo simulations, two-stage approaches considerably reduced bias and mean squared error and improved the coverage of 95% confidence limits. Although missing data threaten validity and precision, two-stage g-computation designs offer principled approaches to handling missing information.

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text.

The article presents the regression of a society. Topics include reducing extreme poverty, increasing access to education, and curbing hunger; backlashing against the gains for racial justice and gender equity; and believing in inclusive democracy, the idea of a people-centered, accountable and transparent government, and remain silent or immobilized.

The article highlights the changes in American Jews from 1975 to the 2020 that published in the periodical. It discusses about Eastern European immigrant family, who arrived in the U.S. along with examine the state of Zionism inside and outside of Israel; and also focuses on religious ideologies of Jews.

Despite the discovery of modified nucleic acids nearly 75 years ago, their biological functions are still being elucidated. N6‐methyladenosine (m6A) is the most abundant modification in eukaryotic messenger RNA (mRNA) and has also been detected in non‐coding RNAs, including long non‐coding RNA, ribosomal RNA, and small nuclear RNA. In general, m6A marks can alter RNA secondary structure and initiate unique RNA–protein interactions that can alter splicing, mRNA turnover, and translation, just to name a few. Although m6A marks in human RNAs have been known to exist since 1974, the structures and functions of methyltransferases responsible for writing m6A marks have been established only recently. Thus far, there are four confirmed human methyltransferases that catalyze the transfer of a methyl group from S‐adenosylmethionine (SAM) to the N6position of adenosine, producing m6A: methyltransferase‐like protein (METTL) 3/METTL14 complex, METTL16, METTL5, and zinc‐finger CCHC‐domain‐containing protein 4. Though the methyltransferases have unique RNA targets, all human m6A RNA methyltransferases contain a Rossmann fold with a conserved SAM‐binding pocket, suggesting that they utilize a similar catalytic mechanism for methyl transfer. For each of the human m6A RNA methyltransferases, we present the biological functions and links to human disease, RNA targets, catalytic and kinetic mechanisms, and macromolecular structures. We also discuss m6A marks in human viruses and parasites, assigning m6A marks in the transcriptome to specific methyltransferases, small molecules targeting m6A methyltransferases, and the enzymes responsible for hypermodified m6A marks and their biological functions in humans. Understanding m6A methyltransferases is a critical steppingstone toward establishing the m6A epitranscriptome and more broadly the RNome. This article is categorized under:RNA Interactions with Proteins and Other Molecules > Protein‐RNA RecognitionRNA Interactions with Proteins and Other Molecules > RNA‐Protein ComplexesRNA Interactions with Proteins and Other Molecules > Protein‐RNA Interactions: Functional Implications The human N6‐methyladenosine (m6A) epitranscriptome as written by methyltransferase‐like protein (METTL) 3/METTL14 and three methyltransferases which are no longer ghost authors: METTL16, METTL5, and zinc‐finger CCHC‐domain‐containing protein 4.

The article focuses on the debate surrounding campus antisemitism and free speech, exploring questions related to the characterization of certain statements as genocidal, the presence of hypocrisy in addressing speech offenses and handling Israel-Palestine disputes on campus. Topics include the challenges in defining genocidal speech, the evolving notion of emotional safety on campuses, and proposed strategies for fostering open dialogue on Israel-Palestine disputes within university settings.

The article focuses on the challenges of acknowledging and addressing the suffering and devastation in Gaza, with topics including denial of the humanitarian crisis, the impact of war on individuals' perspectives, and the difficulty of promoting amid conflicting narratives. The author reflects on the need to confront tribalism, hate, and the zero-sum nature of suffering, emphasizing the importance of recognizing others' pain and breaking the cycle of violence in the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Enhancements in enzymatic catalytic activity are frequently observed when an enzyme is displayed on a nanoparticle (NP) surface. The exact mechanisms of how this unique interfacial environment gives rise to this phenomenon are still not understood, although evidence suggests that it can help alleviate some of the enzyme’s rate-limiting mechanistic steps. The physicochemical limitations that govern when this process arises are also not known including, in particular, the range of NP size and curvature that are associated with it. To investigate the latter, we undertook a case study using the enzyme phosphotriesterase (PTE) and a series of differentially sized gold NPs (AuNPs). PTE, expressed with a terminal hexahistidine sequence, was ratiometrically coordinated to a series of increasing size AuNPs (diameter ≃ 1.5, 5, 10, 20, 55, 100 nm) surface-functionalized with Ni2+-nitrilotriacetic acid ligands and its activity assayed in a comparative format versus that of equivalent amounts of free enzyme controls. PTE-AuNP samples were prepared where the total PTE concentration and NP surface density were kept fixed by varying AuNP concentration along with the converse format. Assembly to the AuNPs increased PTE kcatca. 3–10-fold depending upon NP size, with the smaller-sized particles showing the highest increase, while enzyme efficiency only increased 2-fold. Further kinetic testing suggested that the PTE enhancement again arose from alleviating its rate limiting step of enzyme–product release and not from a change in the activation energy. Comparison of kcatand enzyme specificity with AuNP diameter revealed that enhancement was directly correlated to AuNP size and curvature with the smaller NPs showing the largest kinetic enhancements. Kinetic simulations showed that almost all of the PTE enhancement variation across AuNP sizes could be reproduced by adjusting only the rate of enzyme–product dissociation. Understanding how NP size directly affects the enhancement of an attached enzyme can provide a rational basis for designing hybrid enzyme–NP materials that specifically exploit this emergent property.

The article focuses on the interview with Andre Aciman and Debra Granic, when asked that what resonate with them as a film director, the writer says that as a writer, we are focused on the language and the details that we want to convey to the reader. When asked about the adaptation from book into film, he depicted that the story itself is a road map, a template, a creation that brought the coordinates and the concept depends on the author.

Several personal narratives are presented which explore experiences of several Jews about Judaism an anti-Semitism.

Glial cell-line derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is a promising therapeutic molecule to treat Parkinson’s disease. Despite an excellent profile in experimental settings, clinical trials testing GDNF have failed. One of the theories to explain these negative outcomes is that the clinical trials were done in late-stage patients that have advanced nigrostriatal degeneration and may therefore not respond to a neurotrophic factor therapy. Based on this idea, we tested if the stage of nigrostriatal degeneration is important for GDNF-based therapies. Lentiviral vectors expressing regulated GDNF were delivered to the striatum of rats to allow GDNF expression to be turned on either while the nigrostriatal system was degenerating or after the nigrostriatal system had been fully lesioned by 6-OHDA. In the group of animals where GDNF expression was on during degeneration, neurons were rescued and there was a reversal of motor deficits. Turning GDNF expression on after the nigrostriatal system was lesioned did not rescue neurons or reverse motor deficits. In fact, these animals were indistinguishable from the control groups. Our results suggest that GDNF can reverse motor deficits and nigrostriatal pathology despite an ongoing nigrostriatal degeneration, if there is still a sufficient number of remaining neurons to respond to therapy.

The article presents an interview with Cynthia Ozick, a novelist. Topics include few people knowing about the Jewish community at Elephantine and writing about descendant of that community; writing the novel in the voice of an anti-Semite; and antique objects grasping or studying as on secret and mystical things from the past essentially unknowable.

The article focuses on Israel's potential qualification for the U.S. visa waiver program, with discussions surrounding its exclusion due to certain requirements, particularly related to Palestinian travelers. Topics include visa denial rates, reciprocity, and concerns about security and discrimination in the context of the program.

The article presents the complex interrelationship between race and identity. Topics include highlighting both the usefulness and the limitations of taxonomies as well as the power; reflecting the Jewish community's reckoning with race and the own racial blind spots; and influencing by geography, by generation, by socioeconomic status, and by denomination of Judaism.

The article highlights the struggle of American Jews for the expansion of their voting rights. Topics discussed include discussion on the connections between the Jewish identity and the legal actions; views of Jonathan Sarna, professor of American Jewish history at Brandeis University; and information on the role of Jews in securing the voting rights for the African Americans.

•Simplified Utility-Scale Grid Model.•Utility Scale Storage Modeling.•Renewable (Wind, PV) Utility-Scale Model.•Time series simulation model.•Large scale energy storage for New England.

Multistep enzymatic cascades are becoming more prevalent in industrial settings as engineers strive to synthesize complex products and pharmaceuticals in economical, environmentally friendly ways. Previous work has shown that immobilizing enzymes on nanoparticles can enhance their activity significantly due to localized interfacial effects, and this enhancement remains in place even when that enzyme’s activity is coupled to another enzyme that is still freely diffusing. Here, we investigate the effects of displaying two enzymes with coupled catalytic activity directly on the same nanoparticle surface. For this, the well-characterized enzymes pyruvate kinase (PykA) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were utilized as a model system; they jointly convert phosphoenolpyruvate to lactate in two sequential steps as part of downstream glycolysis. The enzymes were expressed with terminal polyhistidine tags to facilitate their conjugation to semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) which were used here as prototypical nanoparticles. Characterization of enzyme coassembly to two different sized QDs showed a propensity to cross-link into nanoclusters consisting of primarily dimers and some trimers. Individual and joint enzyme activity in this format was extensively investigated in direct comparison to control samples lacking the QD scaffolds. We found that QD association enhances LDH activity by >50-fold and its total turnover by at least 41-fold, and that this high activation appears to be largely due to stabilization of its quarternary structure. When both enzymes are simultaneously bound to the QD surfaces, their colocalization leads to >100-fold improvements in the overall rates of coupled activity. Experimental results in conjunction with detailed kinetic simulations provide evidence that this significant improvement in coupled activity is partially attributable to a combination of enhanced enzymatic activity and stabilization of LDH. More importantly, experiments aimed at disrupting channeled processes and further kinetic modeling suggest that the bulk of the performance enhancement arises from intermediary “channeling” between the QD-colocalized enzymes. A full understanding of the underlying processes that give rise to such enhancements from coupled enzymatic activity on nanoparticle scaffolds can provide design criteria for improved biocatalytic applications.