In the gravitational sector, we study the CPT violation and birefringence in gravitational waves. In presence of the CPT violation, a relative dephasing is generated between two circular polarization ...states of gravitational waves. This effect induces the birefringence of gravitational waves. Given the gravitational waveform modified by the CPT violation, we estimate the expected constraints on the CPT violation from Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, Einstein Telescope and Laser Interferometer Space Antenna.
Piriformospora indica
is known as a fungus that can easily colonize a wide range of plants and enhance host’s growth and tolerance to abiotic stresses, including salinity. The mechanistic basis ...behind this phenomenon remains poorly understood. This work was aimed to fill in this gap and reveal mechanisms enhancing salinity tolerance in maize roots colonised by
P. indica
. A range of agronomic and physiological characteristics were compared between inoculated and non-inoculated maize plants under 0/100/200 mM NaCl conditions. The impact of
P. indica
inoculation or root’s cytosolic K
+
retention ability were also assessed using micro-electrode ion flux estimation technique. The results showed that inoculated plants had higher biomass, higher stomatal conductance, lower K
+
efflux from roots and higher potassium content in shoots than non-inoculated plants under salt stress. Collectively, the results indicated that the beneficial effects of inoculation on plant performance under saline conditions were mainly attributed to the improved stomata operation associated with higher rate of K delivery into the shoots.
Advanced LIGO's discovery of gravitational-wave events is stimulating extensive studies on the origin of binary black holes. Assuming that the gravitational-wave events can be explained by binary ...primordial black hole mergers, we utilize the upper limits on the stochastic gravitational-wave background given by Advanced LIGO as a new observational window to independently constrain the abundance of primordial black holes in dark matter. We show that Advanced LIGO's first observation run gives the best constraint on the primordial black hole abundance in the mass range 1M_{⊙}≲M_{PBH}≲100M_{⊙}, pushing the previous microlensing and dwarf galaxy dynamics constraints tighter by 1 order of magnitude. Moreover, we discuss the possibility to detect the stochastic gravitational-wave background from primordial black holes, in particular from subsolar mass primordial black holes, by Advanced LIGO in the near future.
Primordial gravitational waves are a crucial prediction of inflation theory, and their detection through their imprints on the cosmic microwave background is actively being pursued. However, these ...attempts have not yet been successful. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to detect primordial gravitational waves by searching for a signal of second-order tensor perturbations. These perturbations were produced due to nonlinear couplings between the linear tensor and scalar perturbations in the early universe. We anticipate a blue-tilted tensor spectral index, and suggest that the tensor-to-scalar ratio can potentially be measured with high precision using a detector network composed of the ground-based Einstein Telescope and the space-borne LISA project on a decade timescale.
The emerging split aptamers-based aptasensors show great advantages on highly sensitive and selective detection of small molecules. Split aptamers originate from one parent aptamer which is ...artificially dissected into two or more aptamer fragments, and in the presence of targets, these fragments reassemble specifically into a whole complex. This enables aptasensing detection of small molecules could be designed to be more diverse in form, and more importantly, to provide higher specificity and sensitivity. Herein, this review summarizes and discusses the state of art of split aptamers and their recent applications on the detection of small molecules, including all the existing reported split aptamers for small molecules and the diverse split aptamers-based aptasensors developed in the last five years. And future development prospects are discussed and predicted, with expectation to provide references to facilitate further researches for developing novel aptamers and aptasensors towards small molecules.
•All the existing split aptamers towards small molecules were summarized in a mini database.•Advances of split aptamer-based aptasensing small molecules were summarized.•Critical discussions on the split aptamers and aptasenors were given in each part.•Perspectives were predicted to facilitate further researches of developing novel split aptamers and aptasensors.
A discovery of gravitational waves from binary black holes raises a possibility that measurements of them can provide strict tests of CPT invariance in gravitational waves. When CPT violation exists, ...if any, gravitational waves with different circular polarizations could gain a slight difference in propagating speeds. Hence, the birefringence of gravitational waves is induced and there should be a rotation of plus and cross modes. For CPT-violating dispersion relation
ω
2
=
k
2
±
2
ζ
k
3
, where a sign
±
denotes different circular polarizations, we find no substantial deviations from CPT invariance in gravitational waves by analyzing a compilation of ten signals of binary black holes in the LIGO-Virgo catalog GWTC-1. We obtain a strict constraint on the CPT-violating parameter, i.e.,
ζ
=
0
.
14
-
0.31
+
0.22
×
10
-
15
m
, which is around two orders of magnitude better than the existing one. Therefore, this study stands for the up-to-date strictest tests of CPT invariance in gravitational waves.
Histone lysine specific demethylase 1 (LSD1) was reported to be overexpressed in several human cancers and recognized as a promising anticancer drug target. In the current study, we designed and ...synthesized a novel series of pyrimidine–thiourea hybrids and evaluated their potential LSD1 inhibitory effect. One of the compounds, 6b, containing a terminal alkyne appendage, was shown to be the most potent and selective LSD1 inhibitor in vitro and exhibited strong cytotoxicity against LSD1 overexpressed gastric cancer cells. Compound 6b also showed marked inhibition of cell migration and invasion as well as significant in vivo tumor suppressing and antimetastasis role, without significant side effects by oral administration. Our findings indicate that the pyrimidine–thiourea-based LSD1 inactivator may serve as a leading compound targeting LSD1 overexpressed cancers.
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•At a same depth in concrete prism, the moisture content and sulfate concentration are higher at the diagonal of the prism.•There is no clear demarcation between ion convection and ...diffusion zones in concrete prism under dry-wet cycles.•The longer the wetting time in one dry-wet cycle, the deeper the spalling of concrete prism caused by sulfate attack.
External sulfate attack (ESA) coupled with wetting–drying alternation poses a significant threat to the concrete durability, while there are few models to simulate the above ESA behavior. In this paper, a simplified transport-mechanical model is proposed to numerically analyze the deterioration of concrete prism under ESA and dry-wet cycles. Firstly, a transport model of sulfate ion in concrete prism is established by considering the behaviors of ion diffusion, convection and chemical reaction, and numerically solved by the finite difference method. Secondly, the crystallization pressure of sulfate products in porous system is analyzed to calculate the equivalent expansion force. Then, the expansion strain and its-induced damage are calculated, and the criterion of boundary movement is further proposed. On the basis of model validation, a numerical simulation is performed to analyze the transport-mechanical response in concrete prism under ESA and dry-wet cycles. The results show that, there is no clear demarcation between the convection and diffusion zones in the prism. The spatial–temporal evolution of ESA-induced damage is similar to that of ion concentration. The longer the wetting time in one dry-wet cycles, the deeper the spalling of concrete prism caused by ESA.
Considerable progress has been made in the development of anticancer agents over the past few decades, and a lot of new anticancer agents from natural and synthetic sources have been produced. Among ...heterocyclic compounds, pyrimidine-fused bicyclic heterocycles possess a variety of biological activities such as anticancer, antiviral, etc. To date, 147 pyrimidine-fused bicyclic heterocycles have been approved for clinical assessment or are currently being used in clinic, 57 of which have been approved by FDA for clinical treatment of various diseases, and 22 of them are being used in the clinic for the treatment of different cancers. As the potentially privileged scaffolds, pyrimidine-fused bicyclic heterocycles may be used to discover new drugs with similar biological targets and improved therapeutic efficacy. This review aims to provide an overview of the anticancer applications and synthetic routes of 22 approved pyrimidine-fused bicyclic heterocyclic drugs in clinic.
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•22 pyrimidine-fused bicyclic heterocyclic drugs have been approved for the treatment of cancers.•Pyrimidine-fused bicyclic heterocycles could be used as privileged structures for further development of new drugs.•The synthetic routes of 22 drugs and their anticancer applications are summarized.
*LH = Left Hand, RH = Right Hand, LL = Left Leg.
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•One bath dyeing and reduction of Graphene Oxide was accomplished using the exhaust dyeing method.•The rGO and conductive polymer ...coated knitted fabric showed better stability against several washing and bending cycles.•The electrode showed improved electrical conductivity with low impedance and used as ECG electrode.
This research approach has been used to enhance and investigate the electrical performance of graphene-based textiles by using an exhaust dyeing method. We developed a highly flexible and wearable e-textile for smart clothing in general and electrocardiogram (ECG) biomedical applications in particular. One step dyeing and reduction of graphene oxide on the textile substrate was accomplished simultaneously at 90 °C in 2 h. After one bath dyeing and reduction of GO, the knitted fabric was coated with conductive polymer PEDOT: PSS via dip coating as a layer by layer (LBL) technique. The resultant knitted textile electrode showed a reduction in sheet resistance from 2.5 MΩ∼140KΩ with increasing (1∼10) dyeing cycles. The electrical conductivity was further the improved, as sheet resistance was decreased from 180KΩ∼120Ω when coated with PEDOT: PSS as compared to pristine PEDOT: PSS and rGO. The results showed that washing has an adverse effect on electrical conductivity. The textile electrode was stable up to 20∼30 washing and 120∼130 bending cycles. The developed electrodes were used as an ECG electrode, with low impedance and higher contact to human skin. The textile electrode showed the enhanced performance to detect the high-quality electrocardiograms (ECG) signals for heart rate in both wet and dry conditions.
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