Enveloped viruses commonly employ membrane fusion during cell penetration in order to deliver their genetic material across the cell boundary. Large conformational changes in the proteins embedded in the viral membrane play a fundamental role in the membrane fusion process. Despite the tremendously wide variety of viruses that contain membranes, it appears that they all contain membrane fusion ...

In this application oriented paper we develop information fusion explanation functions for simulation-based decision support for evaluation of military plans in expeditionary operations. The explanation function is based on a sensitivity analysis on the impact of different actions upon the success of the plan where we systematically vary the alternatives of each action of the plan, one action a...

During an action potential, Ca(2+) entering a presynaptic terminal triggers synaptic vesicle exocytosis and neurotransmitter release in less than a millisecond. How does Ca(2+) stimulate release so rapidly and precisely? Work over the last decades revealed that Ca(2+) binding to synaptotagmin triggers release by stimulating synaptotagmin binding to a core fusion machinery composed of SNARE and ...

SNARE (soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor) proteins mediate fusion by pulling biological membranes together via a zippering mechanism. Recent biophysical studies have shown that t- and v-SNAREs can assemble in multiple stages from the N-termini toward the C-termini. Here we show that functionally, membrane fusion requires a sequential, two-step folding pathway...

Cardiac cell therapies involving bone marrow-derived human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) have shown promising results, although their mechanisms of action are still poorly understood. Here, we investigated direct interactions between hMSCs and cardiomyocytes in vitro. Using a genetic Ca(2+) indicator gCaMP3 to efficiently label hMSCs in co-cultures with neonatal rat ventricular myocytes (NRVMs...

The concerted action of four viral glycoproteins and at least one cellular receptor is required to catalyze herpes simplex virus 1 entry into host cells either by fusion at the plasma membrane or intracellularly after internalization by endocytosis. Here, we applied cryo electron tomography to capture 3D intermediates from Herpes simplex virus 1 fusion at the plasma membrane in their native env...

Two bone graft extenders differing in chemical composition were implanted contralaterally in 27 consecutive patients undergoing instrumented posterolateral lumbar fusion as standard-of-care. Bone marrow aspirate and autogenous bone graft were equally combined either with β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) or a hybrid biomaterial [containing hyaluronic acid (HyA) but lacking a calcium salt] and impl...

The Location Stack is a set of design abstractions and sensor fusion techniques for location systems. It employs novel probabilistic techniques such as particle filters to fuse readings from multiple sensor technologies while providing a uniform programming interface to applications. Our implementation is publicly available and supports many location sensor technologies. Specifically, our live ...

objective(s) staphylococcus aureus is a foremost source of numerous nosocomial and community acquired infections. antibiotic therapy for vancomycin resistant s. aureus (vrsa) can not promise the eradication of infections. since adhesion is the major route of infections, adhesin based vaccine could suppress s. aureus infections. fibronectin binding protein a (fnbpa) and clumping factor a (clfa) ...