Publications by authors named "M W Wessels"

Unlabelled: Streptolysin O (SLO) is a virulence determinant of group A (), the agent of streptococcal sore throat and severe invasive infections. SLO is a member of a family of bacterial pore-forming toxins known as cholesterol-dependent cytolysins, which require cell membrane cholesterol for pore formation. While cholesterol is essential for cytolytic activity, accumulating data suggest that cell surface glycans may also participate in the binding of SLO and other cholesterol-dependent cytolysins to host cells.

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High-energy nuclear collisions create a quark-gluon plasma, whose initial condition and subsequent expansion vary from event to event, impacting the distribution of the eventwise average transverse momentum [P([p_{T}])]. Disentangling the contributions from fluctuations in the nuclear overlap size (geometrical component) and other sources at a fixed size (intrinsic component) remains a challenge. This problem is addressed by measuring the mean, variance, and skewness of P([p_{T}]) in ^{208}Pb+^{208}Pb and ^{129}Xe+^{129}Xe collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.

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Background: Individuals harbouring pathogenic variants are at risk for aneurysms/dissections throughout the arterial tree. Based on prior reports of sex differences in thoracic aortic aneurysm/dissection, we investigated the sexual dimorphism for vascular events in variant-harbouring patients.

Methods: We analysed two large pedigrees comprising 84 individuals segregating pathogenic missense variants affecting the same p.

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Article Synopsis
  • This study explores the challenges of multitasking in the operating room (OR), focusing on how various distractions impact surgical performance in a virtual reality (VR) setting.
  • Researchers created an immersive virtual reality environment that simulates an OR, incorporating different types of distractions (auditory, visual, and audio-visual) while participants practice laparoscopic skills.
  • Participants, consisting of medical students and surgical residents, underwent a series of controlled tasks while their stress, heart rate, and perceptions of time were tracked, along with feedback collected through questionnaires to evaluate usability and immersion.
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