1,350 research outputs found
Spleen Tyrosine Kinase Regulates AP-1 Dependent Transcriptional Response to Minimally Oxidized LDL
Oxidative modification of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) turns it into an endogenous ligand recognized by pattern-recognition receptors. We have demonstrated that minimally oxidized LDL (mmLDL) binds to CD14 and mediates TLR4/MD-2-dependent responses in macrophages, many of which are MyD88-independent. We have also demonstrated that the mmLDL activation leads to recruitment of spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk) to TLR4 and TLR4 and Syk phosphorylation. In this study, we produced a macrophage-specific Syk knockout mouse and used primary Syk−/− macrophages in our studies. We demonstrated that Syk mediated phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and JNK, which in turn phosphorylated c-Fos and c-Jun, respectively, as assessed by an in vitro kinase assay. c-Jun phosphorylation was also mediated by IKKε. c-Jun and c-Fos bound to consensus DNA sites and thereby completed an AP-1 transcriptional complex and induced expression of CXCL2 and IL-6. These results suggest that Syk plays a key role in TLR4-mediated macrophage responses to host-generated ligands, like mmLDL, with subsequent activation of an AP-1 transcription program
Spatially resolved spectroscopy of monolayer graphene on SiO2
We have carried out scanning tunneling spectroscopy measurements on
exfoliated monolayer graphene on SiO to probe the correlation between its
electronic and structural properties. Maps of the local density of states are
characterized by electron and hole puddles that arise due to long range
intravalley scattering from intrinsic ripples in graphene and random charged
impurities. At low energy, we observe short range intervalley scattering which
we attribute to lattice defects. Our results demonstrate that the electronic
properties of graphene are influenced by intrinsic ripples, defects and the
underlying SiO substrate.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, extended versio
Continuous variable quantum cryptography
We propose a quantum cryptographic scheme in which small phase and amplitude
modulations of CW light beams carry the key information. The presence of EPR
type correlations provides the quantum protection.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure
Regulatory T Cell Induction and Retention in the Lungs Drives Suppression of Detrimental Type 2 Th Cells During Pulmonary Cryptococcal Infection
Lethal disease caused by the fungus, Cryptococcus neoformans, is a consequence of the combined failure to control pulmonary fungal replication and immunopathology caused by induced type-2 helper T (Th2) cell responses in animal models. In order to gain incites into immune regulatory networks, we examined the role of regulatory T (Treg) cells in suppression of Th2 cells, using a mouse model of experimental cryptococcosis. Upon pulmonary infection with Cryptococcus, Treg cells accumulated in the lung parenchyma independently of priming in the draining lymph node. Using peptide-MHCII molecules to identify Cryptococcus-specific Treg cells combined with genetic fate-mapping, we noted that a majority of the Treg cells found in the lungs were induced during the infection. Additionally, we found that Treg cells utilized the transcription factor, Interferon Regulatory Factor 4 (IRF4), to dampen harmful Th2 cell responses, as well as mediate chemokine retention of Treg cells in the lungs. Taken together, induction and IRF4-dependent localization of Treg cells in the lungs allow Treg cells to suppress the deleterious effects of Th2 cells during cryptococcal infection
Universally Composable Quantum Multi-Party Computation
The Universal Composability model (UC) by Canetti (FOCS 2001) allows for
secure composition of arbitrary protocols. We present a quantum version of the
UC model which enjoys the same compositionality guarantees. We prove that in
this model statistically secure oblivious transfer protocols can be constructed
from commitments. Furthermore, we show that every statistically classically UC
secure protocol is also statistically quantum UC secure. Such implications are
not known for other quantum security definitions. As a corollary, we get that
quantum UC secure protocols for general multi-party computation can be
constructed from commitments
Relativistic quantum coin tossing
A relativistic quantum information exchange protocol is proposed allowing two
distant users to realize ``coin tossing'' procedure. The protocol is based on
the point that in relativistic quantum theory reliable distinguishing between
the two orthogonal states generally requires a finite time depending on the
structure of these states.Comment: 6 pages, no figure
Unambiguous state discrimination in quantum cryptography with weak coherent states
The use of linearly independent signal states in realistic implementations of
quantum key distribution (QKD) enables an eavesdropper to perform unambiguous
state discrimination. We explore quantitatively the limits for secure QKD
imposed by this fact taking into account that the receiver can monitor to some
extend the photon number statistics of the signals even with todays standard
detection schemes. We compare our attack to the beamsplitting attack and show
that security against beamsplitting attack does not necessarily imply security
against the attack considered here.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, updated version with added discussion of
beamsplitting attac
Gyroid Optical Metamaterials: Calculating the Effective Permittivity of Multidomain Samples
Gold gyroid optical metamaterials are known to possess a reduced plasma frequency and linear dichroism imparted by their intricate subwavelength single gyroid morphology. The anisotropic optical properties are, however, only evident when a large individual gyroid domain is investigated. Multidomain gyroid metamaterials, fabricated using a polyisoprene--polystyrene--poly(ethylene oxide) triblock terpolymer and consisting of multiple small gyroid domains with random orientation and handedness, instead exhibit isotropic optical properties. Comparing three effective medium models, we here show that the specular reflectance spectra of such multidomain gyroid optical metamaterials can be accurately modeled over a broad range of incident angles by a Bruggeman effective medium consisting of a random wire array. This model accurately reproduces previously published results tracking the variation in normal incidence reflectance spectra of gold gyroid optical metamaterials as a function of host refractive index and volume fill fraction of gold. The effective permittivity derived from this theory confirms the change in sign of the real part of the permittivity in the visible spectral region (so, that gold gyroid metamaterials exhibit both dielectric and metallic behavior at optical wavelengths). That a Bruggeman effective medium can accurately model the experimental reflectance spectra implies that small multidomain gold gyroid optical metamaterials behave both qualitatively and quantitatively as an amorphous composite of gold and air (i.e., nanoporous gold) and that coherent electromagnetic contributions arising from the subwavelength gyroid symmetry are not dominant.This research was supported through the Swiss National Science Foundation through the National Center of Competence in Research Bio-Inspired Materials and grant numbers 200021_163220 (to U.S.) and PZ00P2_168223 (to B.D.W.), the Adolphe Merkle Foundation, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) through the Cambridge NanoDTC EP/G037221/1, EP/L027151/1, and EP/ G060649/1, and ERC LINASS 320503 and from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 706329 (to I.G.). Y.G. and U.W. thank the National Science Foundation (DMR-1409105) for financial support
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