Broad-band spectral study of LMXB black hole candidate 4U 1957+11 with NuSTAR

We present here the results of broadband spectral analysis of a low-mass X-ray binary and a black hole candidate 4 U 1957+11.The source was observed nine times with the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope A rray(NuSTAR)between September 2018 and November 2019.During these observations,the spectral state of 4 U 1957+11 evolved marginally.The disc dominant spectra are described well with a hot,multicolor disc blackbody with disc temperature varying in the range kT_(in)~1.35-1.86 keV and a non-thermal component having a steep slope(Γ=2-3).A broad Fe emission line feature(5-8 keV)was observed in the spectra of all the observations.The relativistic disc model was used to study the effect of distance,inclination and the black hole mass on its spin.Simulations indicate a higher spin for smaller distances and lower black hole masses.At smaller distances and higher masses,spin is maximum and almost independent of the distance.An inverse correlation exists between the spin and the spectral hardening factor for all the cases.The system prefers a moderate spin of about 0.85 for black hole masses between 4-6 M⊙for a 7 kpc distance.

Should we recycle the graphite from spent lithium-ion batteries?The untold story of graphite with the importance of recycling

Demand for graphite in the forthcoming years to develop Li-ion batteries(LIBs)with the goal of driving electric vehicles(EV)and its requirement in multifarious energy storage applications as an electrode.The emerging sector of LIB-based EVs,along with portable electronics,produces an inevitable volume of batteries in the e-waste stream.The main reason for the lower percentage of recycling(at present,<5%)is due to the recovery of economically rich metals like Li,Ni,and Co.However,complete recycling technologies,including the strategic material graphite,which is available in a massive amount of spent LIBs,are urgently needed to be updated to ensure the reuse of all components.This approach lifts the recycling process to develop an economic one besides the geostrategic and environmental policy aspects.Here,we summarize the importance of graphite and its demand and specify the reasons to recycle the graphite from spent LIBs along with its development as an anode in detail.Additionally,the approach of the current recycling process of graphite in lab-scale and industries for various applications,including energy storage,are discussed with the highlights of future progress.

Methods for a blind analysis of isobar data collected by the STAR collaboration

In 2018,the STAR collaboration collected data from^(96)_(44)Ru+^(96)_(44)Ru and^(96)_(40)Zr+^(96)_(40)Zr at√^(S)NN=200 Ge V to search for the presence of the chiral magnetic effect in collisions of nuclei.The isobar collision species alternated frequently between 9644 Ru+^(96)_(44)Ru and^(96)_(40)Zr+^(96)_(40)Zr.In order to conduct blind analyses of studies related to the chiral magnetic effect in these isobar data,STAR developed a three-step blind analysis procedure.Analysts are initially provided a"reference sample"of data,comprised of a mix of events from the two species,the order of which respects time-dependent changes in run conditions.After tuning analysis codes and performing time-dependent quality assurance on the reference sample,analysts are provided a species-blind sample suitable for calculating efficiencies and corrections for individual≈30-min data-taking runs.For this sample,species-specific information is disguised,but individual output files contain data from a single isobar species.Only run-by-run corrections and code alteration subsequent to these corrections are allowed at this stage.Following these modifications,the"frozen"code is passed over the fully un-blind data,completing the blind analysis.As a check of the feasibility of the blind analysis procedure,analysts completed a"mock data challenge,"analyzing data from Au+Au collisions at√^(S)NN=27 Ge V,collected in 2018.The Au+Au data were prepared in the same manner intended for the isobar blind data.The details of the blind analysis procedure and results from the mock data challenge are presented.

Interpretation of residual gravity anomaly caused by simple shaped bodies using very fast simulated annealing global optimization

A very fast simulated annealing（VFSA） global optimization is used to interpret residual gravity anomaly.Since,VFSA optimization yields a large number of best-fitted models in a vast model space;the nature of uncertainty in the interpretation is also examined simultaneously in the present study.The results of VFSA optimization reveal that various parameters show a number of equivalent solutions when shape of the target body is not known and shape factor ＇q＇ is also optimized together with other model parameters.The study reveals that amplitude coefficient k is strongly dependent on shape factor.This shows that there is a multi-model type uncertainty between these two model parameters derived from the analysis of cross-plots.However,the appraised values of shape factor from various VFSA runs clearly indicate whether the subsurface structure is sphere,horizontal or vertical cylinder type structure.Accordingly,the exact shape factor（1.5 for sphere,1.0 for horizontal cylinder and 0.5 for vertical cylinder）is fixed and optimization process is repeated.After fixing the shape factor,analysis of uncertainty and cross-plots shows a well-defined uni-model characteristic.The mean model computed after fixing the shape factor gives the utmost consistent results.Inversion of noise-free and noisy synthetic data as well as field data demonstrates the efficacy of the approach.

The proteome landscape of the root cap reveals a role for the jacalin-associated lectin JAL10 in the salt-induced endoplasmic reticulum stress pathway

Rapid climate change has led to enhanced soil salinity,one of the major determinants of land degradation,resulting in low agricultural productivity.This has a strong negative impact on food security and environmental sustainability.Plants display various physiological,developmental,and cellular responses to deal with salt stress.Recent studies have highlighted the root cap as the primary stress sensor and revealed its crucial role in halotropism.The root cap covers the primary root meristem and is the first cell type to sense and respond to soil salinity,relaying the signal to neighboring cell types.However,it remains unclear how root-cap cells perceive salt stress and contribute to the salt-stress response.Here,we performed a root-cap cell-specific proteomics study to identify changes in the proteome caused by salt stress.The study revealed a very specific salt-stress response pattern in root-cap cells compared with non-rootcap cells and identified several novel proteins unique to the root cap.Root-cap-specific protein–protein interaction(PPI)networks derived by superimposing proteomics data onto known global PPI networks revealed that the endoplasmic reticulum(ER)stress pathway is specifically activated in root-cap cells upon salt stress.Importantly,we identified root-cap-specific jacalin-associated lectins(JALs)expressed in response to salt stress.A JAL10-GFP fusion protein was shown to be localized to the ER.Analysis of jal10 mutants indicated a role for JAL10 in regulating the ER stress pathway in response to salt.Taken together,our findings highlight the participation of specific root-cap proteins in salt-stress response pathways.Furthermore,root-cap-specific JAL proteins and their role in the salt-mediated ER stress pathway open a new avenue for exploring tolerance mechanisms and devising better strategies to increase plant salinity tolerance and enhance agricultural productivity.

Evaluation of diuretic and laxative activity of hydro-alcoholic extract of Desmostachya bipinnata(L.) Stapf in rats

OBJECTIVE： In continuation to the growing evidence for therapeutical potential of Desmostachya bipinnata （Linn） Stapf, the current pharmacological study was carried out to evaluate the diuretic and laxative activity of its hydro-alcoholic extract in rats. METHODS： The hydro-alcoholic extract of D. bipinnata whole plant was prepared by using Sox- hlet extractor and subjected to analysis by standard preliminary phytochemical tests. Evaluation of both diuretic and laxative activity was carried out using standard methods as reported earlier. Frusemide （20 mg/kg） was served as positive control for diuretic activity and sennosides （10 mg/kg） served as negative control for laxative activity. RESULTS： The hydro-alcoholic extract showed significant diuretic activity and was found to be the most potent in increasing the urinary output at 500 mg/kg when the effect was compared with that of the standard frusemide （P〈0.01）. Moreover, this extract was found to be most effective in increasing urinary electrolyte concentration （Na＋, K＋, and Cl-） at both doses tested. Whereas the results for laxative activity showed minimal increase of feces output at the dose of 500 mg/kg and the increase was negligible when compared with that of the standard drug sennosides. CONCLUSION： Altogether, the above significant findings validate and support its folkloric diuretic use and lend pharmacological credence to the ethno-medical use of this plant in traditional system of medicine, which demands further studies to investigate its active constituents, as well as its use and safety.

Direct reuse of oxide scrap from retired lithium-ion batteries:advanced cathode materials for sodium-ion batteries

The direct reuse of retired lithium-ion batteries(LIBs)cathode materials is one of the optimum choices for"waste-to-wealth"by virtue of sustainable and high economic efficiency.Considering the harmfulness of retired LIBs and the serious shortage of lithium resources,in this work,the spent oxide cathode materials after simple treatment are directly applied to the sodium-ion batteries(SIBs)and exhibit promising application possibilities in advanced SIBs.The spent oxide cathode shows an appropriate initial discharge capacity of 109 mAh·g^(-1)and exhibits transition and activation processes at a current density of 25 mA·g^(-1).Further,it demonstrates decent cycle performance and comparatively good electrode kinetics performance(the apparent ion diffusion coefficient at steady state is about 1×10^(-12)cm^(2)·s^(-1)).The"waste-towealth"concept of this work provides an economical and sustainable strategy for directly reusing the retired LIBs and supplies a large amount of raw material for the largescale application of SIBs.

Light signaling and UV-B-mediated plant growth regulation^FA

Light plays an important role in plants' growth and development throughout their life cycle. Plants alter their morphological features in response to light cues of varying intensity and quality. Dedicated photoreceptors help plants to perceive light signals of different wave-lengths. Activated photoreceptors stimulate the down-stream signaling cascades that lead to extensive gene expression changes responsible for physiological and developmental responses. Proteins such as ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL5 (HY5) and CONSTITUTIVELY PHOTO-MORPHOGENIC 1 (COP1) act as important factors which modulate light-regulated gene expression, especially during seedling development. These factors function as central regulatory intermediates not only in red, far-red, and blue light pathways but also in the UV-B signaling pathway. UV-B radiation makes up only a minor fraction of sunlight, yet it imparts many positive and negative effects on plant growth. Studies on UV-B perception, signaling, and response in plants has considerably surged in recent times. Plants have developed different strat-egies to use UV-B as a developmental cue as well as to withstand high doses of UV-B radiation. Plants' re-sponses to UV-B are an integration of its cross-talks with both environmental factors and phytohormones. This review outlines the current developments in light sig-naling with a major focus on UV-B-mediated plant growth regulation.

Self-assembled vertically aligned gold nanorod super-lattices for ultra-high sensitive detection of molecules

我们显示出超点阵能作为探针或底层服务为的那自我装配的垂直地排列的金 nanorod (VA-GNRs ) 超离频各种各样的分子的敏感察觉。d葡萄糖和2,4,6强烈炸药( TNT )由于他们的很低的拉曼剖面图被选择了为模型系统( 5.6 佩?????汣獡????汰獵瀭畬???㈠?猯'T￣慮潮畴敢??????????????????????吗???????????????????￡???霔？？

Starch based nanofibrous scaffolds for wound healing applications

Starch is an attractive polymer for wound healing applications because of its wide availability,low cost,biocompatibility,biodegradability and wound-healing property.Here,we have fabricated starch-based nanofibrous scaffolds by electrospinning for wound healing applications.The diameter of the optimized nanofibers was determined by field emission scanning electron microscopy(FE-SEM)and was found to be in the range of 110e300 nm.The mechanical strength(0.5e0.8 MPa)of the nanofibrous scaffolds was attuned using polyvinyl alcohol(plasticizer)and glutaraldehyde(crosslinking agent),to impart them with sufficient durability for skin tissue engineering.Absence of negative interactions between the polymers was confirmed by Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy(ATR-FTIR),differential scanning microscopy(DSC)and thermal gravimetric analysis(TGA).Cellular assays with L929 mouse fibroblast cells indicated the ability of the scaffolds to promote cellular proliferation,without exhibiting any toxic effect to the cells.Thus,the nanofibrous scaffolds demonstrated potential for wound healing applications.

Balancing anti-viral innate immunity and immune homeostasis

Immunity against pathogenic challenge requires the engagement of pathogen origin molecular signatures by innate immune sensors that are expressed on various immune and non-immune cells.This microbial pathogen primarily includes various bacteria or viruses.The sensing of viruses leads to the complex interaction of innate immune sensors,which consist of families of evolutionarily conserved germline-encoded molecules known as pathogen recognition receptors(PRRs).This family includes RIG-I-like receptors(RLRs),Toll-like receptors(TLRs),NOD-like receptors(NLRs)1 and DNA sensors(cGAS,IFI16,DAI and AIM2).2 The cytoplasmic helicases RIG-I and MDA5 are the key innate sensors that detect viral genomic RNAs.A few Toll-like receptors(TLRs),such as TLR3,TLR7,TLR8 and TLR9,are present on endocytic vesicles and are crucial for sensing nucleic acid from viruses and inducing the appropriate innate immune responses.

Measurement of away-side broadening with self-subtraction of flow in Au+Au collisions at √sNN=200 GeV

High transverse momentum(pT)particle production is suppressed owing to the parton(jet)energy loss in the hot dense medium created in relativistic heavy-ion collisions.Redistribution of energy at low-to-modest pT has been difficult to measure,owing to large anisotropic backgrounds.We report a data-driven method for background evaluation and subtraction,exploiting the away-side pseudorapidity gaps,to measure the jetlike correlation shape in Au+Au collisions at √sNN=200 GeV in the STAR experiment.The correlation shapes,for trigger particles pT>3GeV/c and various associated particle pT ranges within 0.5<pT<10GeV/c,are consistent with Gaussians,and their widths increase with centrality.The results indicate jet broadening in the medium created in central heavy-ion collisions.

DET1 regulates HY5 through COP1: A new paradigm in the regulation of HY5

Light has a multitude of effects at all stages of the life cycle.It controls seed germination,seedling de-etiolation,flowering,and tropic movements,among others,through an array of complex signaling events.Several wavelength-specific photoreceptors perceive light:far-red/red by phytochromes(phyA–phyE);blue by cryptochromes(cry1 and cry2),phototropins(phot1 and phot2),and Zeitlupe family proteins(ZTL,FKF1,and LKP1);and UV-B by UV RESISTANCE LOCUS 8(UVR8)(Paik and Huq,2019).Light signals perceived by the photoreceptors are transduced to a group of highly conserved proteins such as CONSTITUTIVE PHOTOMORPHOGENIC/DEETIOLATED/FUSCA(COP/DET/FUS),which act to suppress seedling photomorphogenesis(Lau and Deng,2012).The COP/DET/FUS proteins were originally discovered in Arabidopsis through genetic screens aimed at identifying mutants that display photomorphogenic features such as cop/det and/or fusca(accumulation of very high levels of anthocyanin pigment)and the expression of light-inducible genes in the dark(Lau and Deng,2012).

The conserved ubiquitin-like protein Hub1 plays a critical role in splicing in human cells

与正规象 ubiquitin 一样蛋白质不同， Hub1 不形成共有原子价与底层结合，但是 proteinsnon-covalently 绑。在 Saccharomyces cerevisiae， Hub1 与 spliceosomes 联系并且调停，没有影响通常拼接的 pre-mRNA SRC1 的其他的拼接。人的 Hub1 高度类似于它的酵母相当或相同的事物，而是它的细胞的 functionremains 大部分未经勘探。这里，我们证明人的 Hub1 作为在酵母绑在 spliceosomal 蛋白质 Snu66；然而， unlikeits S。cerevisiae 相当或相同的事物，人的 Hub1 为生存能力是必要的。在 Hub1 导致的人的 vivo 弄空延长了各种各样的细胞的缺点，包括拼接的点缀畸形，部分原子 retentionof mRNAs，有丝分裂的大祸，并且因而由 apoptosis 的房间死亡。然而， Hub1 弄空的早后果仅仅是严重 splicingdefects 为特定拼接地点导致 exon 跳过和 intron 保留。因此，象 ubiquitin 一样 proteinHub1 不是为拼接，而是其他的拼接的 spliceosome performanceand facilitator 的一个调节的人通常需要的一个正规 spliceosomal 因素。

Targeting autophagy with small molecules for cancer therapy

Autophagy is a conserved lysosomal-dependent catabolic process that maintains the cellular homeostasis by recycling misfolded proteins and damaged organelles. It involves a series of ordered events (initiation, nucleation, elongation, lysosomal fusion and degradation) that are tightly regulated/controlled by diverse cell signals and stress. It is like a double-edged sword that can play either a protective or destructive role in cancer, by pro-survival or apoptotic cues. Recently, modulating autophagy by pharmacological agents has become an attractive strategy to treat cancer. Currently, a number of small molecules that inhibit autophagy initiation (e.g., ULK kinase inhibitors), nucleation (e.g., Vps34 inhibitors), elongation (e.g., ATG4 inhibitors) and lysosome fusion (e.g., chloroquine, hydroxyl chloroquine,etc.) are reported in pre-clinical and clinical study. Also a number of small molecules reported to induce autophagy by targeting mammalian target of rapamycin (e.g., rapamycin analogs) or adenosine 5'-monophosphate-activated protein kinase (e.g., sulforaphane). The study results suggest that many potential "druggable" targets exist in the autophagy pathway that could be harnessed for developing new cancer therapeutics. In this review, we discuss the reported autophagy modulators (inhibitors and inducers), their molecular mode of action and their applications in cancer therapy.

Long COVID:From olfactory dysfunctions to viral Parkinsonism

Neurological and psychiatric complications continue to be a public health concern in long coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19).This varies from olfactory dysfunctions such as parosmia to cognitive and emotional challenges.Historically,the surge of neurological disorders followed the viral pandemics,for example,the emergence of Encephalitis Lethargica after the outbreak of Spanish Influenza.During and after COVID-19 infection,the problems associated with the sense of smell and the reports of affected olfactory and limbic brain areas are leading to a growing concern about the similarity with the symptoms and the pattern of degeneration observed at the onset of Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.These reports reveal the essentiality of long-term studies of olfactory and cognitive functions in the post-COVID era and the experiments using animal models to dissect the neural basis of these complications.In this manuscript,we summarize the research reporting the potential correlation between neurological disorders and viral pandemic outbreaks with a historical perspective.Further,we discuss the studies providing evidence of neurodegeneration due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection by focusing on viral Parkinsonism.