Suppression of charged particle production at large transverse momentum in central Pb-Pb collisions at sNN=2.76\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76 TeV

Inclusive transverse momentum spectra of primary charged particles in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{\rm NN}}}$ = 2.76 TeV have been measured by the ALICE Collaboration at the LHC. The data are presented for central and peripheral collisions, corresponding to 0-5% and 70-80% of the hadronic Pb-Pb cross section. The measured charged particle spectra in $|\eta|<0.8$ and $0.3 < p_T < 20$ GeV/$c$ are compared to the expectation in pp collisions at the same $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$, scaled by the number of underlying nucleon-nucleon collisions. The comparison is expressed in terms of the nuclear modification factor $R_{\rm AA}$. The result indicates only weak medium effects ($R_{\rm AA} \approx$ 0.7) in peripheral collisions. In central collisions, $R_{\rm AA}$ reaches a minimum of about 0.14 at $p_{\rm T}=6$-7GeV/$c$ and increases significantly at larger $p_{\rm T}$. The measured suppression of high-$p_{\rm T}$ particles is stronger than that observed at lower collision energies, indicating that a very dense medium is formed in central Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC.Comment: 15 pages, 5 captioned figures, 3 tables, authors from page 10, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/98

A Novel Tetrameric PilZ Domain Structure from Xanthomonads

PilZ domain is one of the key receptors for the newly discovered secondary messenger molecule cyclic di-GMP (c-di-GMP). To date, several monomeric PilZ domain proteins have been identified. Some exhibit strong c-di-GMP binding activity, while others have barely detectable c-di-GMP binding activity and require an accessory protein such as FimX to indirectly respond to the c-di-GMP signal. We now report a novel tetrameric PilZ domain structure of XCC6012 from the plant pathogen Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (Xcc). It is one of the four PilZ domain proteins essential for Xcc pathogenicity. Although the monomer adopts a structure similar to those of the PilZ domains with very weak c-di-GMP binding activity, it is nevertheless interrupted in the middle by two extra long helices. Four XCC6012 proteins are thus self-assembled into a tetramer via the extra heptad repeat α3 helices to form a parallel four-stranded coiled-coil, which is further enclosed by two sets of inclined α2 and α4 helices. We further generated a series of XCC6012 variants and measured the unfolding temperatures and oligomeric states in order to investigate the nature of this novel tetramer. Discovery of this new PilZ domain architecture increases the complexity of c-di-GMP-mediated regulation

Haematopoietic stem cells in perisinusoidal niches are protected from ageing.

With ageing, intrinsic haematopoietic stem cell (HSC) activity decreases, resulting in impaired tissue homeostasis, reduced engraftment following transplantation and increased susceptibility to diseases. However, whether ageing also affects the HSC niche, and thereby impairs its capacity to support HSC function, is still widely debated. Here, by using in-vivo long-term label-retention assays we demonstrate that aged label-retaining HSCs, which are, in old mice, the most quiescent HSC subpopulation with the highest regenerative capacity and cellular polarity, reside predominantly in perisinusoidal niches. Furthermore, we demonstrate that sinusoidal niches are uniquely preserved in shape, morphology and number on ageing. Finally, we show that myeloablative chemotherapy can selectively disrupt aged sinusoidal niches in the long term, which is linked to the lack of recovery of endothelial Jag2 at sinusoids. Overall, our data characterize the functional alterations of the aged HSC niche and unveil that perisinusoidal niches are uniquely preserved and thereby protect HSCs from ageing

Scientific, sustainability and regulatory challenges of cultured meat

Producing meat without the drawbacks of conventional animal agriculture would greatly contribute to future food and nutrition security. This Review Article covers biological, technological, regulatory and consumer acceptance challenges in this developing field of biotechnology. Cellular agriculture is an emerging branch of biotechnology that aims to address issues associated with the environmental impact, animal welfare and sustainability challenges of conventional animal farming for meat production. Cultured meat can be produced by applying current cell culture practices and biomanufacturing methods and utilizing mammalian cell lines and cell and gene therapy products to generate tissue or nutritional proteins for human consumption. However, significant improvements and modifications are needed for the process to be cost efficient and robust enough to be brought to production at scale for food supply. Here, we review the scientific and social challenges in transforming cultured meat into a viable commercial option, covering aspects from cell selection and medium optimization to biomaterials, tissue engineering, regulation and consumer acceptance

Changes in social norms during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic across 43 countries

Data availability: The data generated in this study have been deposited in the Open Science Framework (https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/STKFR). Non-experimental data included in our datasets (i.e., intensity of government response to COVID-19 is the Stringency Index, COVID-19 deaths and cases per million) are taken from the Oxford COVID−19 Government Response Tracker [22 Hale, T. et al. A global panel database of pandemic policies (Oxford COVID−19 Government Response Tracker). Nat. Human Behav. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01079-8 (2021).] and Our World in Data [38 Ritchie, H. et al. Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19). Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus (2020).] (downloaded November 2020). Wave 0 data are from [3 Gelfand, M. J. et al. Differences between tight and loose cultures: a 33-nation study. Science 332, 1100–1104 (2011).[ and Wave 1 data are from [5 Eriksson, K. et al. Perceptions of the appropriate response to norm violation in 57 societies. Nat. Commun. 12, 1481 (2021).].Code availability: The survey and analysis code are available at the Open Science Framework (https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/STKFR).Supplementary information is available online at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-44999-5#Sec40 .The emergence of COVID-19 dramatically changed social behavior across societies and contexts. Here we study whether social norms also changed. Specifically, we study this question for cultural tightness (the degree to which societies generally have strong norms), specific social norms (e.g. stealing, hand washing), and norms about enforcement, using survey data from 30,431 respondents in 43 countries recorded before and in the early stages following the emergence of COVID-19. Using variation in disease intensity, we shed light on the mechanisms predicting changes in social norm measures. We find evidence that, after the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, hand washing norms increased while tightness and punishing frequency slightly decreased but observe no evidence for a robust change in most other norms. Thus, at least in the short term, our findings suggest that cultures are largely stable to pandemic threats except in those norms, hand washing in this case, that are perceived to be directly relevant to dealing with the collective threat.Knut and Wallenberg Grant “How do human norms form and change?” 2016.0167. (G.An.). The Swedish Research Council grant “Norms & Risk: Do social norms help dealing with collective threats” 2021-06271 (G.An.). Ministero dell’Istruzione dell’Università e della Ricerca, PRIN 2017, prot. 20178TRM3F (D.B.). Universidad de Los Andes, Fondo Vicerrectoría de Investigaciones (J.-C.C.). Ministry of Innovation and Technology of Hungary, National Research, Development and Innovation Fund NKFIH-OTKA K135963 (M.F.). Grant 23-061770 S of the Czech Science Foundation (M.H. and S.G.). RVO: 68081740 of the Institute of Psychology, Czech Academy of Sciences (M.H. and S.G.). RA Science Committee, research project N.20TTSH-070 (A.Gr. and N.Khac.). Open University of Israel, 511687 (R.N.). HSE University Basic Research Program (E.O.). Project BASIC (PID2022-141802NB-I00) funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by “ERDF A way of making Europe” (A.Sá.). US Army Research Office Grant W911NF-19-1-910281 (B.S.). Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, 019.183SG.001 (E.S.). Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, VI.Veni.201 G.013 (E.S.). European Commission, Horizon 2020-ID 870827 (E.S.). UKRI Grant “Secret Power” No. EP/X02170X/1 awarded under the European Commission’s “European Research Council - STG” Scheme (G.A.T.)

Anger and disgust shape judgments of social sanctions across cultures, especially in high individual autonomy societies

Data availability; The datasets analyzed during the current study are available in the Center for Open Science repository, https://osf.io/djnfg/.Supplementary Information is available online at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1038/s41598-024-55815-x#Sec17 .When someone violates a social norm, others may think that some sanction would be appropriate. We examine how the experience of emotions like anger and disgust relate to the judged appropriateness of sanctions, in a pre-registered analysis of data from a large-scale study in 56 societies. Across the world, we find that individuals who experience anger and disgust over a norm violation are more likely to endorse confrontation, ostracism and, to a smaller extent, gossip. Moreover, we find that the experience of anger is consistently the strongest predictor of judgments of confrontation, compared to other emotions. Although the link between state-based emotions and judgments may seem universal, its strength varies across countries. Aligned with theoretical predictions, this link is stronger in societies, and among individuals, that place higher value on individual autonomy. Thus, autonomy values may increase the role that emotions play in guiding judgments of social sanctions.This research was funded by the Swedish Foundation for Humanities and Social Sciences (Riksbankens Jubileumsfond) [P17-0030:1]. The contribution of J.W was supported by CAS Youth Innovation Promotion Association and fundings from the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Y5CX052003 and E2CX3315CX). The contributions of M.H and S.G. for the Czech part of research was supported by a Grant 23-061770S of the Czech Science Foundation and by RVO: 68081740 of the Institute of Psychology, Czech Academy of Sciences. Open access funding provided by Linköping University