Functional assessment of the glycoproteins of a novel Hendra virus variant reveals contrasting fusogenic capacities of the receptor-binding and fusion glycoproteins.

Unlabelled: A novel Hendra virus (HeV) genotype (HeV genotype 2 [HeV-g2]) was recently isolated from a deceased horse, revealing high-sequence conservation and antigenic similarities with the prototypic strain, HeV-g1. As the receptor-binding (G) and fusion (F) glycoproteins of HeV are essential for mediating viral entry, functional characterization of emerging HeV genotypic variants is key to understanding viral entry mechanisms and broader virus-host co-evolution. We first confirmed that HeV-g2 and HeV-g1 glycoproteins share a close phylogenetic relationship, underscoring HeV-g2's relevance to global health.

During haptic communication, the central nervous system compensates distinctly for delay and noise.

Physically connected humans have been shown to exploit the exchange of haptic forces and tactile information to improve their performance in joint action tasks. As human interactions are increasingly mediated through robots and networks it is important to understand the impact that network features such as lag and noise may have on human behaviour. In this paper, we investigated interaction with a human-like robot controller that provides similar haptic communication behaviour as human-human interaction and examined the influence and compensation mechanisms for delay and noise on haptic communication.

Control limitations in the null-space of the wrist muscle system.

The redundancy present within the musculoskeletal system may offer a non-invasive source of signals for movement augmentation, where the set of muscle activations that do not produce force/torque (muscle-to-force null-space) could be controlled simultaneously to the natural limbs. Here, we investigated the viability of extracting movement augmentation control signals from the muscles of the wrist complex. Our study assessed (i) if controlled variation of the muscle activation patterns in the wrist joint's null-space is possible; and (ii) whether force and null-space cursor targets could be reached concurrently.

A quantitative pipeline to assess secretion of human leptin coding variants reveals mechanisms underlying leptin deficiencies.

The hormone leptin, primarily secreted by adipocytes, plays a crucial role in regulating whole-body energy homeostasis. Homozygous loss-of-function mutations in the leptin gene (LEP) cause hyperphagia and severe obesity, primarily through alterations in leptin's affinity for its receptor or changes in serum leptin concentrations. Although serum concentrations are influenced by various factors (e.

Why does hormonal contraception and menopausal hormonal treatment have such a small effect on breast cancer risk?

Oestrogen is considered by many to be a major cause of breast cancer, and yet hormonal contraception and menopausal hormonal therapy have a paradoxically small effect on breast cancer risk. Also, in the oestrogen-only arm of the Women's Health Initiative, subjects given oestrogen had a reduced risk of breast cancer compared to controls. Initiation of breast cancer likely begins early in life, in the long-lived ERPR breast stem cell.

Expanding the clinical spectrum of biglycan-related Meester-Loeys syndrome.

Pathogenic loss-of-function variants in BGN, an X-linked gene encoding biglycan, are associated with Meester-Loeys syndrome (MRLS), a thoracic aortic aneurysm/dissection syndrome. Since the initial publication of five probands in 2017, we have considerably expanded our MRLS cohort to a total of 18 probands (16 males and 2 females). Segregation analyses identified 36 additional BGN variant-harboring family members (9 males and 27 females).

Metagenomic analysis of individual mosquito viromes reveals the geographical patterns and drivers of viral diversity.

Mosquito transmitted viruses are responsible for an increasing burden of human disease. Despite this, little is known about the diversity and ecology of viruses within individual mosquito hosts. Here, using a meta-transcriptomic approach, we determined the viromes of 2,438 individual mosquitoes (81 species), spanning ~4,000 km along latitudes and longitudes in China.

Higher-order fractal transverse modes observed in microlasers.

Two classes of higher-order, fractal spatial eigenmodes have been predicted computationally and observed experimentally in microlasers. The equatorial plane of a close-packed array of microspheres, lying on one mirror within a Fabry-Pérot resonator and immersed in the laser gain medium, acts as a refractive slit array in a plane transverse to the optical axis. Edge diffraction from the slit array generates the high spatial frequencies (>10cm) required for the formation of high-order laser fractal modes, and fractal transverse modes are generated, amplified, and evolve within the active medium.

Can Training Make Three Arms Better Than Two Heads for Trimanual Coordination?

Supernumerary effectors have been proposed to enable users to perform tasks alone that normally require assistance from a partner. While various supernumerary robotic limbs have been developed in the last decade, the capability of users to operate them effectively has not yet been proven. Here we tested whether users (i) can complete a task that requires simultaneous and fine control of three effectors, and (ii) can be trained to do so with similar or superior performance as through collaboration with a human partner.

Recruitment of PI4KIIIβ to the Golgi by ACBD3 is dependent on an upstream pathway of a SNARE complex and golgins.

ACBD3 is a protein localised to the Golgi apparatus and recruits other proteins, such as PI4KIIIβ, to the Golgi. However, the mechanism through which ACBD3 itself is recruited to the Golgi is poorly understood. This study demonstrates there are two mechanisms for ACBD3 recruitment to the Golgi.

Redundancy Resolution in Trimanual vs. Bimanual Tracking Tasks.

Supernumerary limbs promise to allow users to perform complex tasks that would otherwise require the actions of teams. However, how the user's capability for multimanual coordination compares to bimanual coordination, and how the motor system decides to configure its limb contributions given task redundancy is unclear. We conducted bimanual and trimanual (with the foot as a third-hand controller) virtual reality visuomotor tracking experiments to study how 32 healthy participants changed their limb coordination in response to uninstructed cursor mapping changes.

Dissociating haptic feedback from physical assistance does not improve motor performance.

In robots for motor rehabilitation and sports training, haptic assistance typically provides both mechanical guidance and task-relevant information. With the natural human tendency to minimise metabolic cost, mechanical guidance may however prevent efficient short term learning and retention. In this work, we explore the effect of providing haptic feedback to the not active hand during a tracking task.

A virtual reality platform to evaluate the effects of supernumerary limbs' appearance.

Supernumerary robot limbs (SL) can expand the ability of users by increasing the number of degrees of freedom that they control. While several SLs have been designed and tested on human participants, the effect of the limb's appearance on the user's acceptance, embodiment and device usage is not yet understood. We developed a virtual reality platform with a three-arm avatar that enabled us to systematically investigate the effect of the supernumerary limb's appearance on their perception and motion control performance.

How best to combine liver transplantation and bariatric surgery?-Results from a global, web-based survey.

Background And Aims: Obesity is a growing healthcare challenge worldwide and a significant risk factor for liver failure as seen with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Combining metabolic-bariatric surgery (MBS) with liver transplantation (LT) appears as attractive strategy to treat both, the underlying liver disease and obesity. However, there is an ongoing debate on best timing and patient selection.

Fatal Human Neurologic Infection Caused by Pigeon Avian Paramyxovirus-1, Australia.

Avian paramyxovirus type 1 (APMV-1) is a virus of birds that results in a range of outcomes, from asymptomatic infections to outbreaks of systemic respiratory and neurologic disease, depending on the virus strain and the avian species affected. Humans are rarely affected; those who are predominantly experience mild conjunctivitis. We report a fatal case of neurologic disease in a 2-year-old immunocompromised child in Australia.

Screening for mitochondrial function before use-routine liver assessment during hypothermic oxygenated perfusion impacts liver utilization.

Background: To report on a concept of liver assessment during ex situ hypothermic oxygenated perfusion (HOPE) and its significant impact on liver utilization.

Methods: An analysis of prospectively collected data on donation after circulatory death (DCD) livers, treated by HOPE at our institution, during a 11-year period between January 2012 and December 2022.

Findings: Four hundred and fifteen DCD Maastricht III livers were offered during the study period in Switzerland, resulting in 249 liver transplants.

Metagenomic analysis of individual mosquitos reveals the ecology of insect viruses.

Mosquito transmitted viruses are responsible for an increasing burden of human disease. Despite this, little is known about the diversity and ecology of viruses within individual mosquito hosts. Using a meta-transcriptomic approach, we analysed the virome of 2,438 individual mosquitos (79 species), spanning ~4000 km along latitudes and longitudes in China.

Micro mercury trapped ion clock prototypes with 10[Formula: see text] frequency stability in 1-liter packages.

Modern communication and navigation systems are increasingly relying on atomic clocks. As timing precision requirements increase, demands for lower SWaP (size, weight, and power) clocks rise. However, it has been challenging to break through the general trade-off trend between the clock stability performance and SWaP.

Machine perfusion techniques for liver transplantation - A meta-analysis of the first seven randomized-controlled trials.

Background & Aims: Machine perfusion is increasingly being tested in clinical transplantation. Despite this, the number of large prospective clinical trials remains limited. The aim of this study was to compare the impact of machine perfusion vs.