Measurements in two bases are sufficient for certifying high-dimensional entanglement

High-dimensional encoding of quantum information provides a promising method of transcending current limitations in quantum communication. One of the central challenges in the pursuit of such an approach is the certification of high-dimensional entanglement. In particular, it is desirable to do so without resorting to inefficient full state tomography. Here, we show how carefully constructed measurements in two bases (one of which is not orthonormal) can be used to faithfully and efficiently certify bipartite high-dimensional states and their entanglement for any physical platform. To showcase the practicality of this approach under realistic conditions, we put it to the test for photons entangled in their orbital angular momentum. In our experimental setup, we are able to verify 9-dimensional entanglement for a pair of photons on a 11-dimensional subspace each, at present the highest amount certified without any assumptions on the state.Comment: 11+14 pages, 2+7 figure

Metabolomics to unveil and understand phenotypic diversity between pathogen populations

Visceral leishmaniasis is caused by a parasite called Leishmania donovani, which every year infects about half a million people and claims several thousand lives. Existing treatments are now becoming less effective due to the emergence of drug resistance. Improving our understanding of the mechanisms used by the parasite to adapt to drugs and achieve resistance is crucial for developing future treatment strategies. Unfortunately, the biological mechanism whereby Leishmania acquires drug resistance is poorly understood. Recent years have brought new technologies with the potential to increase greatly our understanding of drug resistance mechanisms. The latest mass spectrometry techniques allow the metabolome of parasites to be studied rapidly and in great detail. We have applied this approach to determine the metabolome of drug-sensitive and drug-resistant parasites isolated from patients with leishmaniasis. The data show that there are wholesale differences between the isolates and that the membrane composition has been drastically modified in drug-resistant parasites compared with drug-sensitive parasites. Our findings demonstrate that untargeted metabolomics has great potential to identify major metabolic differences between closely related parasite strains and thus should find many applications in distinguishing parasite phenotypes of clinical relevance

Salvage radiotherapy for patients with PSA relapse after radical prostatectomy: a single institution experience

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To assess the efficacy of salvage radiotherapy (RT) for persistent or rising PSA after radical prostatectomy and to determine prognostic factors identifying patients who may benefit from salvage RT.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Between 1990 and 2003, 59 patients underwent RT for PSA recurrence after radical prostatectomy. Patients received a median of 66 Gy to the prostate bed with 3D or 2D RT. The main end point was biochemical failure after salvage RT, defined as an increase of the serum PSA value >0.2 ng/ml confirmed by a second elevation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Median follow-up was 38 months. The 3-year and 5-year bDFS rates were 56.1% and 41.2% respectively. According to multivariate analysis, only preRT PSA ≥1 ng/ml was associated with biochemical relapse.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>When delivered early, RT is an effective treatment after radical prostatectomy. Only preRT PSA ≥1 ng/ml predicted relapse.</p

The Ninth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) presents the first spectroscopic data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). This ninth data release (DR9) of the SDSS project includes 535,995 new galaxy spectra (median z=0.52), 102,100 new quasar spectra (median z=2.32), and 90,897 new stellar spectra, along with the data presented in previous data releases. These spectra were obtained with the new BOSS spectrograph and were taken between 2009 December and 2011 July. In addition, the stellar parameters pipeline, which determines radial velocities, surface temperatures, surface gravities, and metallicities of stars, has been updated and refined with improvements in temperature estimates for stars with T_eff<5000 K and in metallicity estimates for stars with [Fe/H]>-0.5. DR9 includes new stellar parameters for all stars presented in DR8, including stars from SDSS-I and II, as well as those observed as part of the SDSS-III Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration-2 (SEGUE-2). The astrometry error introduced in the DR8 imaging catalogs has been corrected in the DR9 data products. The next data release for SDSS-III will be in Summer 2013, which will present the first data from the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) along with another year of data from BOSS, followed by the final SDSS-III data release in December 2014.Comment: 9 figures; 2 tables. Submitted to ApJS. DR9 is available at http://www.sdss3.org/dr

Image-Derived Input Function for Human Brain Using High Resolution PET Imaging with [11C](R)-rolipram and [11C]PBR28

The aim of this study was to test seven previously published image-input methods in state-of-the-art high resolution PET brain images. Images were obtained with a High Resolution Research Tomograph plus a resolution-recovery reconstruction algorithm using two different radioligands with different radiometabolite fractions. Three of the methods required arterial blood samples to scale the image-input, and four were blood-free methods. values was quantified using a scoring system. Using the image input methods that gave the most accurate results with Logan analysis, we also performed kinetic modelling with a two-tissue compartment model.)-rolipram, which has a lower metabolite fraction. Compartment modeling gave less reliable results, especially for the estimation of individual rate constants.C]PBR28), the more difficult it is to obtain a reliable image-derived input function; and 4) in association with image inputs, graphical analyses should be preferred over compartmental modelling

Impact of STROBE Statement Publication on Quality of Observational Study Reporting: Interrupted Time Series versus Before-After Analysis

Background:In uncontrolled before-after studies, CONSORT was shown to improve the reporting of randomised trials. Before-after studies ignore underlying secular trends and may overestimate the impact of interventions. Our aim was to assess the impact of the 2007 STROBE statement publication on the quality of observational study reporting, using both uncontrolled before-after analyses and interrupted time series.Methods:For this quasi-experimental study, original articles reporting cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional studies published between 2004 and 2010 in the four dermatological journals having the highest 5-year impact factors (≥4) were selected. We compared the proportions of STROBE items (STROBE score) adequately reported in each article during three periods, two pre STROBE period (2004-2005 and 2006-2007) and one post STROBE period (2008-2010). Segmented regression analysis of interrupted time series was also performed.Results:Of the 456 included articles, 187 (41%) reported cohort studies, 166 (36.4%) cross-sectional studies, and 103 (22.6%) case-control studies. The median STROBE score was 57% (range, 18%-98%). Before-after analysis evidenced significant STROBE score increases between the two pre-STROBE periods and between the earliest pre-STROBE period and the post-STROBE period (median score2004-0548% versus median score2008-1058%, p<0.001) but not between the immediate pre-STROBE period and the post-STROBE period (median score2006-0758% versus median score2008-1058%, p = 0.42). In the pre STROBE period, the six-monthly mean STROBE score increased significantly, by 1.19% per six-month period (absolute increase 95%CI, 0.26% to 2.11%, p = 0.016). By segmented analysis, no significant changes in STROBE score trends occurred (-0.40%; 95%CI, -2.20 to 1.41; p = 0.64) in the post STROBE statement publication.Interpretation:The quality of reports increased over time but was not affected by STROBE. Our findings raise concerns about the relevance of uncontrolled before-after analysis for estimating the impact of guidelines

Antimonial Resistance in Leishmania donovani Is Associated with Increased In Vivo Parasite Burden

Leishmania donovani is an intracellular protozoan parasite that causes visceral leishmaniasis (VL). Antimonials (SSG) have long been the first-line treatment against VL, but have now been replaced by miltefosine (MIL) in the Indian subcontinent due to the emergence of SSG-resistance. Our previous study hypothesised that SSG-resistant L. donovani might have increased in vivo survival skills which could affect the efficacy of other treatments such as MIL. The present study attempts to validate these hypotheses. Fourteen strains derived from Nepalese clinical isolates with documented SSG-susceptibility were infected in BALB/c mice to study their survival capacity in drug free conditions (non-treated mice) and in MIL-treated mice. SSG-resistant parasites caused a significant higher in vivo parasite load compared to SSG-sensitive parasites. However, this did not seem to affect the strains' response to MIL-treatment since parasites from both phenotypes responded equally well to in vivo MIL exposure. We conclude that there is a positive association between SSG-resistance and in vivo survival skills in our sample of L. donovani strains which could suggest a higher virulence of SSG-R strains compared to SSG-S strains. These greater in vivo survival skills of SSG-R parasites do not seem to directly affect their susceptibility to MIL. However, it cannot be excluded that repeated MIL exposure will elicit different adaptations in these SSG-R parasites with superior survival skills compared to the SSG-S parasites. Our results therefore highlight the need to closely monitor drug efficacy in the field, especially in the context of the Kala-azar elimination programme ongoing in the Indian subcontinent

The domain architecture of large guanine nucleotide exchange factors for the small GTP-binding protein Arf

BACKGROUND: Small G proteins, which are essential regulators of multiple cellular functions, are activated by guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) that stimulate the exchange of the tightly bound GDP nucleotide by GTP. The catalytic domain responsible for nucleotide exchange is in general associated with non-catalytic domains that define the spatio-temporal conditions of activation. In the case of small G proteins of the Arf subfamily, which are major regulators of membrane trafficking, GEFs form a heterogeneous family whose only common characteristic is the well-characterized Sec7 catalytic domain. In contrast, the function of non-catalytic domains and how they regulate/cooperate with the catalytic domain is essentially unknown. RESULTS: Based on Sec7-containing sequences from fully-annotated eukaryotic genomes, including our annotation of these sequences from Paramecium, we have investigated the domain architecture of large ArfGEFs of the BIG and GBF subfamilies, which are involved in Golgi traffic. Multiple sequence alignments combined with the analysis of predicted secondary structures, non-structured regions and splicing patterns, identifies five novel non-catalytic structural domains which are common to both subfamilies, revealing that they share a conserved modular organization. We also report a novel ArfGEF subfamily with a domain organization so far unique to alveolates, which we name TBS (TBC-Sec7). CONCLUSION: Our analysis unifies the BIG and GBF subfamilies into a higher order subfamily, which, together with their being the only subfamilies common to all eukaryotes, suggests that they descend from a common ancestor from which species-specific ArfGEFs have subsequently evolved. Our identification of a conserved modular architecture provides a background for future functional investigation of non-catalytic domains

Light-Induced Energetic Decoupling as a Mechanism for Phycobilisome-Related Energy Dissipation in Red Algae: A Single Molecule Study

BACKGROUND: Photosynthetic organisms have developed multiple protective mechanisms to prevent photodamage in vivo under high-light conditions. Cyanobacteria and red algae use phycobilisomes (PBsomes) as their major light-harvesting antennae complexes. The orange carotenoid protein in some cyanobacteria has been demonstrated to play roles in the photoprotective mechanism. The PBsome-itself-related energy dissipation mechanism is still unclear. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here, single-molecule spectroscopy is applied for the first time on the PBsomes of red alga Porphyridium cruentum, to detect the fluorescence emissions of phycoerythrins (PE) and PBsome core complex simultaneously, and the real-time detection could greatly characterize the fluorescence dynamics of individual PBsomes in response to intense light. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our data revealed that strong green-light can induce the fluorescence decrease of PBsome, as well as the fluorescence increase of PE at the first stage of photobleaching. It strongly indicated an energetic decoupling occurring between PE and its neighbor. The fluorescence of PE was subsequently observed to be decreased, showing that PE was photobleached when energy transfer in the PBsomes was disrupted. In contrast, the energetic decoupling was not observed in either the PBsomes fixed with glutaraldehyde, or the mutant PBsomes lacking B-PE and remaining b-PE. It was concluded that the energetic decoupling of the PBsomes occurs at the specific association between B-PE and b-PE within the PBsome rod. Assuming that the same process occurs also at the much lower physiological light intensities, such a decoupling process is proposed to be a strategy corresponding to PBsomes to prevent photodamage of the photosynthetic reaction centers. Finally, a novel photoprotective role of gamma-subunit-containing PE in red algae was discussed