The 39th International Conference on Antiviral Research (ICAR), hosted by the International Society for Antiviral Research (ISAR), took place April 27-May 1, 2026, at the Cubex Centrum Praha in Prague, Czech Republic. The annual meeting brought together scientists from academia, industry, government, and public health to present recent advances across antiviral discovery, therapeutic development, vaccine research, host-directed approaches, and preparedness for emerging and re-emerging viral threats. The 2026 program included plenary and award lectures, oral presentations, poster sessions, late-breaking presentations, shotgun presentations, and focused scientific sessions spanning arboviruses, coronaviruses, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), chronic, latent, and persistent viruses, hepatotropic and gastrointestinal viruses, artificial intelligence (AI)-driven drug discovery, broad-spectrum antiviral drugs, non-respiratory biothreat viruses, and pandemic preparedness. The opening plenary featured lectures on influenza virus and hepatitis D virus entry inhibition, while ISAR award lectures highlighted major contributions to antiviral science, including global virus research, antiviral and vaccine development, broad-spectrum antiviral approaches, rational drug design, and small-molecule development for yellow fever disease. ICAR 2026 also included dedicated activities to support professional development and community building, including the Women in Science Roundtable, First Timer and New Member Morning Coffee, PechaKucha Competition, the Chu Family Foundation Fellowship presentations, ISAR Annual Meeting, and Career Development Interactive Roundtable. Overall, ICAR 2026 reinforced ISAR's role as an international forum for scientific exchange, interdisciplinary collaboration, and development of the next generation of antiviral researchers.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and spinal cord injury (SCI) affect more than 220 million people worldwide and are associated with cardiometabolic, endocrine, neurological, and psychiatric sequelae for years to decades after an acute injury. However, most health systems still treat neurotrauma (TBI and SCI, collectively) as a time-limited event, leaving long-term surveillance of these patients fragmented or absent, which leads to preventable mortality and avoidable readmissions. TBI and SCI in adults should be reclassified as acute-onset multisystem chronic-risk conditions. Existing cardiovascular, endocrine, and psychiatric services do not capture neurotrauma-specific risks, including trauma-induced hypopituitarism, autonomic dysregulation, accelerated ageing, and cognitive-behavioural impairment, so neurotrauma care is best framed as a missing node in chronic neurological care. We propose a risk-stratified pathway of care navigation, multisystem screening, and telehealth; convergence with adjacent stroke, cardiometabolic, memory, psychiatric, pain, and epilepsy services; and the financing, workforce, and registry reforms needed to deliver measurable reductions in 5-year mortality, avoidable rehospitalisation, and long-term disability.

This study aimed to optimize the technofunctional properties of low-fat Oaxaca cheese by incorporating inulin, modified maize starch (MMS), and modified potato starch (MPS), and applying response surface methodology (RSM). A three-factor central composite rotatable design (CCRD) was employed with inulin (X1), MMS (X2), and MPS (X3) as independent variables, resulting in 20 experimental treatments. The evaluated responses were meltability, yield, color changes (ΔE), and textural properties. The results showed that the formulation significantly affected the physicochemical properties of the cheese. The meltability ranged between 14.5% and 24.0%, and the yield was 9.8%-14.3%. The modified starches promoted more compact and rigid matrices, reducing the molecular mobility and meltability, whereas inulin acted as a plasticizer and favored softer and more elastic structures. Textural properties are highly dependent on the interactions between hydrocolloids and starch, particularly their hardness, adhesiveness, cohesiveness, and resilience. The quadratic models presented R2 values between 0.6 and 0.8, indicating that the system behavior is defined by a trade-off in which modified starches enhance yield and firmness through water retention, whereas inulin acts as a plasticizer to preserve elasticity and meltability. Optimization through a desirability function resulted in an optimal formulation containing 0.17% inulin, 0.99% MMS, and 0.026% MPS, with a desirability reaching 1. The experimental validation demonstrated high predictive accuracy (>80%-97%) for structural and performance parameters (yield, hardness, cohesiveness, adhesiveness, resistance, and springiness). However, responses such as meltability, chewiness, and E showed greater deviations, reflecting the structural complexity of low-fat cheese matrices. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: The findings of this study may help dairy manufacturers develop lower-fat Oaxaca cheese with improved texture, moisture retention, and melting properties using modified starches and inulin as functional ingredients. This approach could provide consumers with reduced-fat cheese options that more closely resemble the sensory characteristics of traditional Oaxaca cheese, while supporting product innovation in the dairy industry.

In the mediodorsal thalamus (MD), neurons of the medial (MD-M) and lateral (MD-L) subnuclei project to the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) to control complementary aspects of behavior, with MD-M supporting more of the social/emotional domain and MD-L promoting cognitive functions. Our recent work shows that MD-M and MD-L have differences in hyperpolarization-activated, cyclic nucleotide-gated (HCN) pacemaker channels that may enable their distinct roles in behavior. Low HCN channel activity in MD-M neurons makes them relatively sensitive and responsive to inputs, while higher HCN channel activity makes MD-L neurons more specific and selective for which inputs it transforms into outputs. Knockout (KO) of the fragile X syndrome-related gene Fmr1 decreased the activity of HCN channels in MD-L but not MD-M neurons, making MD-L neurons more like MD-M cells physiologically. We sought to understand if these Fmr1-related changes in MD function were accompanied by changes in subcellular structure. Here, we assessed the dendritic morphology of MD neurons in adult Fmr1 KO and wildtype (WT) littermate mice. In acute ex vivo brain slices, we filled MD neurons with biocytin via whole cell recording pipettes. We used Neurolucida to trace the dendrites, performed quantitative analysis of dendritic architecture, compared MD-M and MD-L neurons in wildtype mice, and compared WT to KO mice for each subnucleus. In WT mice, MD-M neurons showed more distal dendritic branching compared with MD-L neurons. In Fmr1 KO mice, MD-M neurons lost their distal dendritic branching and exhibited significant reductions in multiple measures of dendritic complexity compared to WT controls (total dendritic length, number of nodes, and number of terminals), while MD-L neurons showed no morphological differences between WT and KO animals. Notably, these morphological changes show a double dissociation with our previous physiological findings: MD-M neurons exhibit structural but not functional changes, while MD-L neurons show functional but not structural changes in Fmr1 KO mice. Together, these findings suggest that FMRP regulates structure and function through independent, circuit-specific mechanisms in thalamocortical neurons, with implications for understanding the diverse cellular and network consequences of Fmr1 loss in fragile X syndrome.

The integration of artificial intelligence with physical modeling offers a transformative route for accelerating the design of active nanophotonic devices. Here, we present NanoPhotoNet-Lase, a physics-informed neural network (PINN) framework that embeds the electromagnetic and rate equations of lasing directly into its learning process to expedite the design of metasurface nanolasers. By coupling Maxwell's vector Helmholtz equation with the four-level population dynamics of dye gain media, the model achieves physics-guided prediction of optical responses, enabling rapid estimation of lasing thresholds across arbitrary nanostructure geometries and material configurations. Using a high-index metasurface cavity, the NanoPhotoNet-Lase model identifies optimized geometries supporting quasi-bound states in the continuum (BICs) with strong confinement and high-quality factors. The predicted lasing was experimentally realized using Rhodamine B dye as the gain medium. The measured lasing threshold (Pth~565 µJ/cm2) and emission wavelength (λ∼620 nm) exhibited <1% deviation from model predictions. Importantly, the framework enables the design of phase-gradient nanolaser metalenses and beam steering that numerically demonstrated coherent, directional, focused or steered emission. This work bridges physics-informed machine learning with experimental nanophotonics, establishing a scalable paradigm for real-time, physically interpretable design of coherent light-emitting metasurfaces.

Persistent organic contaminants are increasingly accumulating in saline waters, where high ionic strength and complex electrolytes hinder oxidative remediation. Electrogenerated reactive oxygen species (ROS) offer a promising route for pollutant degradation, yet the role of electrolyte cations in controlling ROS pathways remains poorly understood. Although singlet oxygen (1O2) is more persistent and matrix-tolerant than hydroxyl radicals (•OH), whether cation-induced changes in interfacial water structure govern ROS selectivity remains unclear. Here, using atomically dispersed Cu on Fe2O3-carbon nanotubes (Cu1/Fe2O3-CNTs) as a dual-ROS electrocatalyst, we show that alkali-metal cations exert distinct effects on ROS generation. •OH production follows the expected cation-size-dependent trend, whereas 1O2 generation exhibits an anomalous maximum in Na+-containing electrolytes, leading to superior contaminant degradation. Quantitative ROS measurements, in situ electrochemical analysis, spectroscopy, and theoretical calculations show that this behavior is primarily governed by selective stabilization of the *OOH intermediate rather than enhanced O2 adsorption. Na+ promotes a highly interconnected interfacial hydrogen-bond network that stabilizes *OOH and favors 1O2 formation. In natural seawater, this regulation enables >98.2% contaminant removal within 8 h at an estimated energy demand of 0.779 kWh m-3. These findings identify electrolyte cations as important regulators of ROS selectivity and provide a basis for efficient saline-water decontamination.

European countries implemented a range of policies to enhance uptake of biosimilar medicines, which are interchangeable with the originator but usually offer biological therapies at lower cost. However, challenges to biosimilar uptake persist. The study analysed the effectiveness of policies to improve biosimilar uptake.