We report the application of ancestral sequence reconstruction on coronavirus spike protein, resulting in stable and highly soluble ancestral scaffold antigens (AnSAs). The AnSAs interact with plasma of patients recovered from COVID-19 but do not bind to the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor. Cryo-EM analysis of the AnSAs yield high resolution structures (2.6–2.8 Å) indicating

The exponential-6 (exp-6) potential is commonly used to model fluids at high densities. In this paper, I propose a new equation of state (EOS) in the form of an analytical expression for the excess Helmholtz free energy of an exp-6 fluid. The EOS is based on extensive Monte Carlo simulations and therefore combines the excellent accuracy of the simulations with the numerical efficiency of a polynom

Manus till teaterföreställningen i ett hus vid skogens slut som gjordes på Turteatern i Stockholm."Vid civilisationens ände tittar människan yrvaket upp. En ångest som liknar en tomhet dånar i hennes inre. Strategierna för distraktion fungerar inte längre. Information flödar in i henne utan att hitta fästpunkter, politiken är lika död som de för länge sedan bortglömda gudarna, och själva pengasyst

Denmark recently adopted a law to ban inappropriate treatment of any writing or object with religious significance – a peace initiative in the best interests of a multicultural society. I see this law as a step towards freedom of expression that will also help bridge social divides.

BackgroundObstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a prevalent disorder and symptoms of nasal obstruction are highly prevalent in OSA. Treatment of nasal obstruction in OSA patients has shown modest and variable outcomes in reducing the apnea hypopnea index (AHI), but significant improvements in other indicators, such as sleep quality and daytime sleepiness as well as reductions in arousals have been obse

Protoplanets growing within the protoplanetary disk by pebble accretion acquire hydrostatic gas envelopes. Due to accretion heating, the temperature in these envelopes can become high enough to sublimate refractory minerals which are the major components of the accreted pebbles. Here we study the sublimation of different mineral species and determine whether sublimation plays a role during the gro

Context. With data releases from the astrometric space mission Gaia, exploration of the structure of the Milky Way is now possible in unprecedented detail, and has unveiled many previously unknown structures in the Galactic disc and halo. One such feature is the Gaia phase spiral where the stars in the Galactic disc form a spiral density pattern in the Z- VZ plane. Many questions regarding the pha

Dynamical response of water exposed to x-rays is of utmost importance in a wealth of science areas. We exposed isolated water isotopologues to short x-ray pulses from a free-electron laser and detected momenta of all produced ions in coincidence. By combining experimental results and theoretical modeling, we identify significant structural dynamics with characteristic isotope effects in H2O2+, D2O

In this study we derive analytically the equilibrium melting probabilities for basepairs of a DNA molecule with a defect site. We assume that the defect is characterized by a change in the Watson-Crick basepair energy of the defect basepair, and in the associated two stacking energies for the defect, as compared to the remaining parts of the DNA. The defect site could, for instance, occur due to D

Free-electron lasers provide bright, ultrashort, and monochromatic x-ray pulses, enabling novel spectroscopic measurements not only with femtosecond temporal resolution: The high fluence of their x-ray pulses can also easily enter the regime of the non-linear x-ray-matter interaction. Entering this regime necessitates a rigorous analysis and reliable prediction of the relevant non-linear processes

Context. Galaxies are expected to accrete pristine gas from their surroundings to sustain their star formation over cosmic timescales. This mechanism is well established in models and simulations, but evidence from observations is mostly indirect. These gas inflows leave distinct traces in the chemical composition of newborn stars and alter the distribution of stellar abundances compared to what w

As stellar compositions evolve over time in the Milky Way, so will the resulting planet populations. In order to place planet formation in the context of Galactic chemical evolution, we made use of a large (N = 5325) stellar sample representing the thin and thick discs, defined chemically, and the halo, and we simulated planet formation by pebble accretion around these stars. We built a chemical m

Using only linearly polarized light, we study the possibility of generating spin-polarized photoelectrons from xenon atoms. No net spin polarization is possible, since the xenon ground state is spinless, but when the photoelectrons are measured in coincidence with the residual ion, spin polarization emerges. Furthermore, we show that ultrafast dynamics of the recolliding photoelectrons contribute

Site-selective probing of iodine 4d orbitals at 13.1 nm was used to characterize the photolysis of CH2I2 and CH2BrI initiated at 202.5 nm. Time-dependent fragment ion momenta were recorded using Coulomb explosion imaging mass spectrometry and used to determine the structural dynamics of the dissociating molecules. Correlations between these fragment momenta, as well as the onset times of electron