Practical purification scheme for decohered coherent-state superpositions via partial homodyne detection

We present a simple protocol to purify a coherent-state superposition that has undergone a linear lossy channel. The scheme constitutes only a single beam splitter and a homodyne detector, and thus is experimentally feasible. In practice, a superposition of coherent states is transformed into a classical mixture of coherent states by linear loss, which is usually the dominant decoherence mechanism in optical systems. We also address the possibility of producing a larger amplitude superposition state from decohered states, and show that in most cases the decoherence of the states are amplified along with the amplitude.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figure

Toll like receptor-3 ligand poly-ICLC promotes the efficacy of peripheral vaccinations with tumor antigen-derived peptide epitopes in murine CNS tumor models

BACKGROUND: Toll-like receptor (TLR)3 ligands serve as natural inducers of pro-inflammatory cytokines capable of promoting Type-1 adaptive immunity, and TLR3 is abundantly expressed by cells within the central nervous system (CNS). To improve the efficacy of vaccine strategies directed against CNS tumors, we evaluated whether administration of a TLR3 ligand, polyinosinic-polycytidylic (poly-IC) stabilized with poly-lysine and carboxymethylcellulose (poly-ICLC) would enhance the anti-CNS tumor effectiveness of tumor peptide-based vaccinations. METHODS: C57BL/6 mice bearing syngeneic CNS GL261 glioma or M05 melanoma received subcutaneous (s.c.) vaccinations with synthetic peptides encoding CTL epitopes- mEphA2 (671–679), hgp100 (25–33) and mTRP-2 (180–188) for GL261, or ovalbumin (OVA: 257–264) for M05. The mice also received intramuscular (i.m.) injections with poly-ICLC. RESULTS: The combination of subcutaneous (s.c.) peptide-based vaccination and i.m. poly-ICLC administration promoted systemic induction of antigen (Ag)-specific Type-1 CTLs expressing very late activation antigen (VLA)-4, which confers efficient CNS-tumor homing of vaccine-induced CTLs based on experiments with monoclonal antibody (mAb)-mediated blockade of VLA-4. In addition, the combination treatment allowed expression of IFN-γ by CNS tumor-infiltrating CTLs, and improved the survival of tumor bearing mice in the absence of detectable autoimmunity. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that poly-ICLC, which has been previously evaluated in clinical trials, can be effectively combined with tumor Ag-specific vaccine strategies, thereby providing a greater index of therapeutic efficacy

ラット肝ミトコンドリアMonoamine Oxidaseによる過酸化水素産生系に対する柴胡加龍骨牡蠣湯の影響

Saiko-ka-ryukotsu-borei-to (SRBT) is adapted for psychoneurosis,such as autonomic dystonia and sleep disorder. Is has been postulated that reactive oxygen species (ROSs) plays an important role in psychoneurosis arising from oxidative neurogeneration.In this study,effect of SRBT on the formation of hydrogen peroxide generated by rat liver mitochondria oxdase (MAO) was investigated by enzymatic colorimetric assay using 2,2\u27-Azino-bis(3-ethyl benzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) oxidation catalyzed by peroxidase in vitro.SRBT (1mg/ml) had exhibited notable inhibition on the coupling reaction of ABTS radical cation with a hydrogen peroxide formed by peroxidase,suggesting inhibitory effect on monoamine oxdase activity.Comparative determination of the consequence on MAO with the lacking of each crude drug blended in SRBT indicated that Scutellaria root should by the active constituent participated with this activity.In Addition,when the MAO-inhibitory activity was compared with the partition of Sctellaria root decoction,the ethyl acetate-soluble layer had found to be the most effective in comparison with the other layers.Wogonin and baicalein had been revealed the principal components in ethyl acetate-soluble layer of Scutellaria root by TLC.These results have suggested that flavonoids derived from Scutellaria root might be involved in the inhibitory activity of SRBT on rat liver MAO

Current Performance and On-Going Improvements of the 8.2 m Subaru Telescope

An overview of the current status of the 8.2 m Subaru Telescope constructed and operated at Mauna Kea, Hawaii, by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan is presented. The basic design concept and the verified performance of the telescope system are described. Also given are the status of the instrument package offered to the astronomical community, the status of operation, and some of the future plans. The status of the telescope reported in a number of SPIE papers as of the summer of 2002 are incorporated with some updates included as of 2004 February. However, readers are encouraged to check the most updated status of the telescope through the home page, http://subarutelescope.org/index.html, and/or the direct contact with the observatory staff.Comment: 18 pages (17 pages in published version), 29 figures (GIF format), This is the version before the galley proo