Remote preparation of continuous-variable qubits using loss-tolerant hybrid entanglement of light

Transferring quantum information between distant nodes of a network is a key capability. This transfer can be realized via remote state preparation where two parties share entanglement and the sender has full knowledge of the state to be communicated. Here we demonstrate such a process between heterogeneous nodes functioning with different information encodings, i.e., particle-like discrete-variable optical qubits and wave-like continuous-variable ones. Using hybrid entanglement of light as a shared resource, we prepare arbitrary coherent-state superpositions controlled by measurements on the distant discrete-encoded node. The remotely prepared states are fully characterized by quantum state tomography and negative Wigner functions are obtained. This work demonstrates a novel capability to bridge discrete- and continuous-variable platforms

High-efficiency WSi superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors for quantum state engineering in the near infrared

We report on high-efficiency superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors based on amorphous WSi and optimized at 1064 nm. At an operating temperature of 1.8 K, we demonstrated a 93% system detection efficiency at this wavelength with a dark noise of a few counts per second. Combined with cavity-enhanced spontaneous parametric down-conversion, this fiber-coupled detector enabled us to generate narrowband single photons with a heralding efficiency greater than 90% and a high spectral brightness of $0.6\times10^4$ photons/(s$\cdot$mW$\cdot$MHz). Beyond single-photon generation at large rate, such high-efficiency detectors open the path to efficient multiple-photon heralding and complex quantum state engineering

Demonstration of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Steering Using Hybrid Continuous- and Discrete-Variable Entanglement of Light

Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering is known to be a key resource for one-sided device-independent quantum information protocols. Here we demonstrate steering using hybrid entanglement between continuous- and discrete-variable optical qubits. To this end, we report on suitable steering inequalities and detail the implementation and requirements for this demonstration. Steering is experimentally certified by observing a violation by more than 5 standard deviations. Our results illustrate the potential of optical hybrid entanglement for applications in heterogeneous quantum networks that would interconnect disparate physical platforms and encodings

Long-Term Exposure of Early-Transformed Human Mammary Cells to Low Doses of Benzo[a]pyrene and/or Bisphenol A Enhances Their Cancerous Phenotype via an AhR/GPR30 Interplay

It is of utmost importance to decipher the role of chronic exposure to low doses of environmental carcinogens on breast cancer progression. The early-transformed triple-negative human mammary MCF10AT1 cells were chronically (60 days) exposed to low doses (10−10 M) of Benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), a genotoxic agent, and/or Bisphenol A (BPA), an endocrine disruptor. Our study revealed that exposed MCF10AT1 cells developed, in a time-dependent manner, an acquired phenotype characterized by an increase in cancerous properties (anchorage independent growth and stem-like phenotype). Co-exposure of MCF10AT1 cells to B[a]P and BPA led to a significantly greater aggressive phenotype compared to B[a]P or BPA alone. This study provided new insights into the existence of a functional interplay between the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) and the G protein-coupled receptor 30 (GPR30) by which chronic and low-dose exposure of B[a]P and/or BPA fosters the progression of MCF10AT1 cells into a more aggressive substage. Experiments using AhR or GPR30 antagonists, siRNA strategies, and RNAseq analysis led us to propose a model in which AhR signaling plays a “driver role” in the AhR/GPR30 cross-talk in mediating long-term and low-dose exposure of B[a]P and/or BPA. Retrospective analysis of two independent breast cancer cohorts revealed that the AhR/GPR30 mRNA expression signature resulted in poor breast cancer prognosis, in particular in the ER-negative and the triple-negative subtypes. Finally, the study identified targeting AhR and/or GPR30 with specific antagonists as a strategy capable of inhibiting carcinogenesis associated with chronic exposure to low doses of B[a]P and BPA in MCF10AT1 cells. Altogether, our results indicate that the engagement of both AhR and GPR30 functions, in particular in an ER-negative/triple-negative context of breast cells, favors tumor progression and leads to poor prognosis. © Copyright © 2020 Donini, El Helou, Wierinckx, Győrffy, Aires, Escande, Croze, Clezardin, Lachuer, Diab-Assaf, Ghayad, Fervers, Cavaillès, Maguer-Satta and Cohen

The RIP140 Gene Is a Transcriptional Target of E2F1

RIP140 is a transcriptional coregulator involved in energy homeostasis and ovulation which is controlled at the transcriptional level by several nuclear receptors. We demonstrate here that RIP140 is a novel target gene of the E2F1 transcription factor. Bioinformatics analysis, gel shift assay, and chromatin immunoprecipitation demonstrate that the RIP140 promoter contains bona fide E2F response elements. In transiently transfected MCF-7 breast cancer cells, the RIP140 promoter is transactivated by overexpression of E2F1/DP1. Interestingly, RIP140 mRNA is finely regulated during cell cycle progression (5-fold increase at the G1/S and G2/M transitions). The positive regulation by E2F1 requires sequences located in the proximal region of the promoter (−73/+167), involves Sp1 transcription factors, and undergoes a negative feedback control by RIP140. Finally, we show that E2F1 participates in the induction of RIP140 expression during adipocyte differentiation. Altogether, this work identifies the RIP140 gene as a new transcriptional target of E2F1 which may explain some of the effect of E2F1 in both cancer and metabolic diseases

When the Rules of Discourse Change, but Nobody Tells You: Making Sense of Mathematics Learning From a Commognitive Standpoint

In this article we introduce a research framework grounded in the assumption that thinking is a form of communication and that learning a school subject such as mathematics is modifying and extending one’s discourse. This framework is then applied in the study devoted to the learning of negative numbers. The analysis of data is guided by questions about (a) the discourse on negative numbers as such, and the features that set it apart from the mathematical discourse with which the students have been familiar when the learning began; (b) students’ and teacher’s efforts toward the necessary transition to the new meta-discursive rules, and (c) effects of the learning teaching process, that is, the extent of discursive change resulting from these efforts. Our findings lead to the conclusion that discursive change, rather than being necessitated by an extradiscursive reality, is spurred by communicational conflict, that is, by the situation that arises whenever different interlocutors seem to be acting according to differing discursive rules. Another conclusion is that school learning requires an active lead of an experienced interlocutor and is fuelled by a realistic communicational agreement between her and the learners