Journal of The Royal Society Interface

Abstract Cells tightly regulate membrane composition to maintain homeostasis and adapt to perturbations. Disruptions in lipid metabolism, such as those occurring in Gaucher disease (GD), can disturb this balance. In GD, excess glucosylceramide (GlcCer) accumulates in lysosomes, altering overall lipid metabolism and potentially impacting membrane composition. This study investigates how GlcCer inf…

Abstract The second law of thermodynamics dictates that local decreases in entropy must be offset by increases elsewhere. While this principle is well established in mechanical systems, its role in biological motor control remains underexplored. This study analysed 576 bimanual coordination trials on 16 participants collected across circadian cycles under normal conditions and thermal perturbatio…

Abstract Bacteriophages are the focus of extensive research, and monitoring their dynamics and interactions with bacterial hosts is crucial to characterize the mechanisms of infection and to support potential applications in biotechnology and medicine. Traditional monitoring techniques rely on the fluorescent labelling of bacteriophages due to their size being nanometric. In this paper, we propos…

Abstract Structural colour is widespread in animals, yet we know relatively little about its evolution and development. We shed light on the evolution of structural barbule colour (often referred to as iridescent structural colour) by describing feather nanostructures responsible for plumage colours in the cuckoos (family Cuculidae). The melanosomes found in feathers with structural barbule colou…

Abstract There is strong evidence that skin stretch at the joint contributes to proprioception, the perceptual representation of body position and motion. Previous studies on fingers and hand dorsum focused on illusory movement elicited by skin-stretch stimuli when no actual motion was performed, often combined with local anesthesia and mostly delivered qualitatively, leaving unclear how controll…

Abstract Many organisms, including tardigrades, can survive extreme conditions. However, the mechanisms underlying this extremotolerance remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate inducible thermotolerance in the eutardigrade Paramacrobiotus sp., linked to its anhydrobiotic ‘tun’ state. While active tardigrades did not survive exposure to 45°C for 1 h, approximately 90% of those in the anhydrobiotic tu…

Abstract Pulmonary disease is a globally leading cause of morbidity and mortality, largely attributable to the lung’s chronic particulate inhalation. Pervasive environmental hazards and, notably, habitual smoking produce inflammation and damage, consequently changing tissue- and organ-scale mechanical properties. While the parenchyma is regarded as a site of major disease manifestation, the mecha…

Abstract Phase separation in mixed lipid layers is used here to mimic crowding at interfaces, providing insights into the dynamics of (and within) phospholipid monolayers. The interface is fully fluid at temperatures above the liquid-condensed (LC) phase melting point for the range of accessible interfacial pressures. Upon cooling, temperature-induced phase separation occurs. We moreover control …

Abstract Although the rapid expansion of wind energy is essential for achieving carbon net zero targets, it may conflict with ecological objectives aimed at conserving and enhancing biodiversity. Birds in general are susceptible to colliding with wind turbines, and the impact of these structures may be especially significant for certain species. By examining how birds acquire, process and respond…

Abstract Touching an object elicits skin oscillations that are biomechanically transmitted throughout the hand, driving responses in thousands of tactile receptors, including numerous exquisitely sensitive Pacinian corpuscles (PCs). Accepted descriptions of PC functionality characterize their response properties as highly stereotyped, based on experimental data gathered when stimuli are applied n…

Abstract In self-organizing biological systems, structure often emerges from the interplay between physical constraints and active behaviours. We explore this principle in the unicellular slime mould Physarum polycephalum, focusing on how it selects growth paths and modulates movement under geometric confinement. Using microfluidic devices with bifurcating channels of varying lengths and hydrauli…

Abstract West Nile virus (WNV) is a mosquito-borne zoonotic pathogen with expanding distribution and recurrent outbreaks in Europe and the Americas. WNV transmission depends on interactions between competent avian hosts and mosquito vectors, but empirical data on host competence remain narrow, limiting large-scale assessments of viral hazard. Here, we compile viremia data from experimental infect…

Abstract Conventional human movement science often considers body parts and processes separately as belonging to complementary but distinct domains (motor control, cognition). We break with this tradition by exploring how mechanical and cognitive demands jointly shape whole-body functional coordination in healthy young adults. Forty-eight participants performed postural control tasks under four c…

Abstract Infectious disease forecasting is important to public health decision-making, particularly for mitigating the burden of seasonal influenza. We propose and evaluate comprehensive autoregressive modelling approaches (autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) and autoregressive integrated moving average with exogenous variables (ARIMAX)) for short-term forecasts of influenza-related …

Abstract Heart failure (HF) is a global health crisis, with over 18 million annual deaths attributed to cardiovascular diseases. Early detection is critical to enable timely lifestyle interventions and targeted pharmacotherapy, yet existing prediction methods often fail to integrate high-dimensional multi-source data or capture dynamic temporal patterns in patient health records. Here, we present…

Abstract Behavioural norms vary across cultures, and they vary in distinct ways for different behaviours. We show that this variation is not random but highly predictable. We introduce the Moral Flavours Model, a theory proposing that norms emerge from three factors: how much moral concern a behaviour evokes overall, its ‘moral flavour’ (the type of concern it evokes), and societies’ ‘moral taste…

Ultrasound image velocimetry (UIV) is a non-invasive method with high temporal-spatial resolution for measuring flow velocity in opaque media, particularly in biomedical fields. Velocity measurement uncertainty propagates into pressure and shear estimates, which are critical diagnostic parameters. Despite its importance, no method currently quantifies UIV uncertainty due to complex error sources.…

Although case numbers can describe the general dynamics of an epidemic, they have limited capacity to determine behavioural characteristics of disease transmission. Such insights are critical for enabling health authorities to better predict and respond to future epidemics. An optimal probabilistic linkage approach was applied to 18 383 Australian Delta-variant SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequences and 11…

Groups of non-processive myosin motors exhibit complex behaviours when interacting with actin filaments, often operating at larger scales and time frames than individual myosin heads. This suggests strong cooperative dynamics, but underlying interactions driving this emergent behaviour remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate the diversity of in vitro behaviours that can be captured by a simple mecha…

Slender biological structures, which are widely observed in nature, exhibit exceptional properties and biological functions. A notable example is the Curculio rostrum that can drill into fruits for feeding and egg-laying without buckling. However, it remains unknown how the slender and curved Curculio rostrum resists buckling. In this article, we propose an elastic rod model for the rostrum that …