Emerging SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern: Spike Protein Mutational Analysis and Epitope for Broad Neutralization

Mutations in the spike glycoproteins of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern have independently been shown to enhance aspects of spike protein fitness. Here, we report the discovery of a novel antibody fragment (VH ab6) that neutralizes all major variants, with a unique mode of binding revealed by cryo-EM studies. Further, we provide a comparative analysis of the mutational effects within variant spikes and identify the structural role of mutations within the NTD and RBD in evading antibody neutralization. Our analysis shows that the highly mutated Gamma N-terminal domain exhibits considerable structural rearrangements, partially explaining its decreased neutralization by convalescent sera. Our results provide mechanistic insights into the structural, functional, and antigenic consequences of SARS-CoV-2 spike mutations and highlight a spike protein vulnerability that may be exploited to achieve broad protection against circulating variants.

Psycho-killer: Shifting spectator address from Psycho to Bates Motel

Leveraging Carol Clover’s influential Men, Women, and Chain Saws, this article attempts to situate the A&E television series Bates Motel as a progressive prequel to Psycho. Through a close reading of the series’ formal and narrative components, vital distinctions are clarified between Psycho and Bates Motel, arguing that the latter achieves a unique mode of spectatorial address. This unique address is accomplished via three devices: a shift in genre away from the horror/slasher film to re-situate the backstory of Norman Bates within the melodrama – a genre traditionally geared to a female spectator; by playing Norman as an active investigative protagonist rather than the prototypical psycho-killer devoid of psychological complexity; and by opening up the narrative to dual protagonists via the inclusion of Norma Bates. Taken together, Bates Motel emerges as an adaptation of the iconic Hitchcock film whose very success is dependent on intentionally altering its mode of spectatorial address.

Balwin-Teaching-Learning-Based Artificial Raindrop Algorithm for UAV Route Planning

The prominent shortcoming of the basic artificial raindrop algorithm in UAV route planning is easily trapped into local optimal solution. In the present work, the original artificial raindrop algorithm is improved. A Balwin-teaching-learning-based artificial raindrop algorithm (BTLARA) is proposed, whereby each raindrop updates itself by using the combination of its own unique mode and Balwin-teaching-learning-based optimization pattern operator. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of this algorithm, the UAV route planning is utilized for simulation. According to the results, the algorithm proposed in this paper significantly enhances the convergence and can obtain higher-quality navigation trace and convergence, which enables it to better avoid threat paths.

The Saving Word of All Things

The presence of the divine ideas in the eternal Word permits mystical theologians to consider the cosmic implications of the Incarnation, and also provides a unique mode of understanding the soteriological significance of Christ’s death and resurrection—in which the world’s false construction of creatures is undone and the divine truth of every creature is vindicated. Pseudo-Dionysius, Aquinas, and Catherine of Siena emphasize the Trinitarian matrix of the divine ideas, bringing to light the divine love and delight in all creatures as the motivation for salvation. Maximus and Hadewijch point to the saving encounter between a person’s earthly self, suffering the distortions of sin, and their true identity in God, made possible in Christ. Eriugena, Aquinas, and Bonaventure all employ the divine ideas teaching in order to reflect upon the power of the Word incarnate to re-create the creatures according to God’s eternal knowing and loving of them.

Valve morphogenesis in selected centric diatoms

The traditional taxonomic affiliation of the diatom Ardissonea crystallina (C. Agardh) Grunow has been recently questioned, as it exhibits a mixture of polar centric and araphid pennate characters. Overall valve architecture and mode of sexual reproduction suggest that araphid pennates are its closest relatives. On the other hand, recovered molecular phylogenies consistently place it among the polar centrics. Our investigation of the earliest stages of valve morphogenesis, formation of the basal silica layer, adds to the argument that A. crystallina is indeed a polar centric diatom. We compared developmental stages in A. crystallina with unequivocally centric diatoms (non-polar Hyalodiscus stelliger and polar Biddulphia tridens) and published literature for araphid pennates and determined that A. crystallina has evolved an apparently unique mode of valve development. The significance of valve morphogenesis in better understanding diatom evolution and diversification is discussed.

Laughing with Sacred Things, ca. 1100–1350: A History in Four Objects

Exploring the range of circumstances in which medieval Christians laughed with, against, at, and through religious topics, this article investigates four objects: an ivory cross, an ampulla of a saint's blood, a preaching codex, and a pilgrim's badge. While these objects are taken to illustrate a diversity of attitudes to religious humor, they are also, in light of recent work citing the productive power of medieval matter, scrutinized as agents in their own right. The article suggests two significant patterns. On the one hand, the objects point to laughter's use as a unique mode of spiritual practice. Through amusing miracles, through the provocative work of comic sermons, and through the playful humor of pilgrimage badges, Christians from the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries were able to use humor to relate to their faith in sophisticated and often counterintuitive ways. Yet as the four objects and their use also attest, these modes of comic relation were also subjected to clerical reduction and regulation. Harnessing the pedagogical potential of laughter especially, preachers, hagiographers, and clerics all worked to redirect more anarchic forms of religious humor toward functional ends. While tracing how laughter with Christian topics was increasingly encouraged, the article suggests that the price of this encouragement was that laughter was often brought into a more policed domain of orthodox Christian practice.