Exploring interacting chiral spin chains in terms of black hole physics

In this paper we explore the properties of a 1-dimensional spin chain in the presence of chiral interactions, focusing on the system's transition to distinct chiral phases for various values of the chiral coupling. By employing the mean field theory approximation we establish a connection between this chiral system and a Dirac particle in the curved spacetime of a black hole. Surprisingly, the black hole horizon coincides with the interface between distinct chiral phases. We examine the chiral properties of the system for homogeneous couplings and in scenarios involving position dependent couplings that correspond to black hole geometries. To determine the significance of interactions in the chiral chain we employ bosonization techniques and derive the corresponding Luttinger liquid model. Furthermore, we investigate the classical version of the model to understand the impact of the chiral operator on the spins and gain insight into the observed chirality. Our findings shed light on the behavior of the spin chain under the influence of the chiral operator, elucidating the implications of chirality in various contexts, including black hole physics.Comment: 18 pages, 12 figures,. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2212.1254

Selective lability of ruthenium(II) arene amino acid complexes.

A series of organometallic complexes of the form [(PhH)Ru(amino acid)](+) have been synthesized using amino acids able to act as tridentate ligands. The straightforward syntheses gave enantiomerically pure complexes with two stereogenic centers due to the enantiopurity of the chelating ligands. Complexes were characterized in the solid-state and/or solution-state where the stability of the complex allowed. The propensity toward labilization of the coordinatively saturated complexes was investigated. The links between complex stability and structural features are very subtle. Nonetheless, H/D exchange rates of coordinated amino groups reveal more significant differences in reactivity linked to metallocycle ring size resulting in decreasing stability of the metallocycle as the amino acid side-chain length increases. The behavior of these systems in acid is unusual, apparently labilizing the carboxylate residue of the amino acid. This acid-catalyzed hemilability in an organometallic is relevant to the use of Ru(II) arenes in medicinal contexts due to the relatively low pH of cancerous cells.TGS and MO thank the EPSRC for Studentships EP/P505445/1 and EP/K503/009/1, respectively.This is the final version of the article. It was first published by ACS at http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ic502051

SeqAssist: A Novel Toolkit For Preliminary Analysis of Next-Generation Sequencing Data

Background: While next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies are rapidly advancing, an area that lags behind is the development of efficient and user-friendly tools for preliminary analysis of massive NGS data. As an effort to fill this gap to keep up with the fast pace of technological advancement and to accelerate data-to-results turnaround, we developed a novel software package named SeqAssist ( Sequencing Assistant or SA). Results: SeqAssist takes NGS-generated FASTQ files as the input, employs the BWA-MEM aligner for sequence alignment, and aims to provide a quick overview and basic statistics of NGS data. It consists of three separate workflows: (1) the SA_RunStats workflow generates basic statistics about an NGS dataset, including numbers of raw, cleaned, redundant and unique reads, redundancy rate, and a list of unique sequences with length and read count; (2) the SA_Run2Ref workflow estimates the breadth, depth and evenness of genome-wide coverage of the NGS dataset at a nucleotide resolution; and (3) the SA_Run2Run workflow compares two NGS datasets to determine the redundancy (overlapping rate) between the two NGS runs. Statistics produced by SeqAssist or derived from SeqAssist output files are designed to inform the user: whether, what percentage, how many times and how evenly a genomic locus (i.e., gene, scaffold, chromosome or genome) is covered by sequencing reads, how redundant the sequencing reads are in a single run or between two runs. These statistics can guide the user in evaluating the quality of a DNA library prepared for RNA-Seq or genome (re-)sequencing and in deciding the number of sequencing runs required for the library. We have tested SeqAssist using a synthetic dataset and demonstrated its main features using multiple NGS datasets generated from genome re-sequencing experiments. Conclusions: SeqAssist is a useful and informative tool that can serve as a valuable assistant to a broad range of investigators who conduct genome re-sequencing, RNA-Seq, or de novo genome sequencing and assembly experiments

Scientific challenges and present capabilities in underwater robotic vehicle design and navigation for oceanographic exploration under-ice.

This paper reviews the scientific motivation and challenges, development, and use of underwater robotic vehicles designed for use in ice-covered waters, with special attention paid to the navigation systems employed for under-ice deployments. Scientific needs for routine access under fixed and moving ice by underwater robotic vehicles are reviewed in the contexts of geology and geophysics, biology, sea ice and climate, ice shelves, and seafloor mapping. The challenges of under-ice vehicle design and navigation are summarized. The paper reviews all known under-ice robotic vehicles and their associated navigation systems, categorizing them by vehicle type (tethered, untethered, hybrid, and glider) and by the type of ice they were designed for (fixed glacial or sea ice and moving sea ice). © 2020 by the authors

Use of a fluorinated probe to quantitatively monitor amino acid binding preferences of ruthenium(ii) arene complexes.

In order to address outstanding questions about ruthenium complexes in complex biological solutions, 19F NMR spectroscopy was used to follow the binding preferences between fluorinated RuII(η6-arene)(bipyridine) complexes and protected amino acids and glutathione. Reporting what ruthenium compounds bind to in complex environments has so far been restricted to relatively qualitative methods, such as mass spectrometry and X-ray spectroscopic methods; however, quantitative information on the species present in the solution phase cannot be inferred from these techniques. Furthermore, using 1H NMR, in water, to distinguish and monitor a number of different complex RuII(η6-arene) adducts forming is challenging. Incorporating an NMR active heteroatom into ruthenium organometallic complexes provides a quantitative, diagnostic 'fingerprint' to track solution-phase behaviour and allow for unambiguous assignment of any given adduct. The resulting 19F NMR spectra show for the first time the varied, dynamic behaviour of organoruthenium compounds when exposed to simple biomolecules in complex mixtures. The rates of formation of the different observed species are dramatically influenced by the electronic properties at the metal, even in a closely related series of complexes in which only the electron-donating properties of the arene ligand are altered. Preference for cysteine binding is absolute: the first quantitative solution-phase evidence of such behaviour

E-cadherin can limit the transforming properties of activating β-catenin mutations

Wnt pathway deregulation is a common characteristic of many cancers. But only Colorectal Cancer predominantly harbours mutations in APC, whereas other cancer types (hepatocellular carcinoma, solid pseudopapillary tumours of pancreas) have activating mutations in β-catenin (CTNNB1). We have compared the dynamics and the potency of β-catenin mutations in vivo. Within the murine small intestine (SI), an activating mutation of β-catenin took much longer to achieve a Wnt deregulation and acquire a crypt-progenitor-cell (CPC) phenotype than Apc or Gsk3 loss. Within the colon, a single activating mutation of β-catenin was unable to drive Wnt deregulation or induce the CPC phenotype. This ability of β-catenin mutation to differentially transform the SI versus the colon correlated with significantly higher expression of the β-catenin binding partner E-cadherin. This increased expression is associated with a higher number of E-cadherin:β-catenin complexes at the membrane. Reduction of E-cadherin synergised with an activating mutation of β-catenin so there was now a rapid CPC phenotype within the colon and SI. Thus there is a threshold of β-catenin that is required to drive transformation and E-cadherin can act as a buffer to prevent β-catenin accumulation