On the relationship between pump chirp and single-photon chirp in spontaneous parametric downconversion

We study the chronocyclic character, i.e. the joint temporal and spectral properties, of the single-photon constituents of photon pairs generated by spontaneous parametric down conversion. In particular we study how single photon properties, including purity and single-photon chirp, depend on photon pair properties, including the type of signal-idler spectral and correlations and the level of pump chirp.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figure

P53 and cancer-associated sialylated glygans are surrogate markers of cancerization of the bladder associated with \u3ci\u3eSchistosoma haematobium\u3c/i\u3e infection

Background Bladder cancer is a significant health problem in rural areas of Africa and the Middle East where Schistosoma haematobium is prevalent, supporting an association between malignant transformation and infection by this blood fluke. Nevertheless, the molecular mechanisms linking these events are poorly understood. Bladder cancers in infected populations are generally diagnosed at a late stage since there is a lack of non-invasive diagnostic tools, hence enforcing the need for early carcinogenesis markers. Methodology/Principal Findings Forty-three formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded bladder biopsies of S. haematobium-infected patients, consisting of bladder tumours, tumour adjacent mucosa and pre-malignant/malignant urothelial lesions, were screened for bladder cancer biomarkers. These included the oncoprotein p53, the tumour proliferation rate (Ki-67\u3e17%), cell-surface cancer-associated glycan sialyl-Tn (sTn) and sialyl-Lewisa/x (sLea/sLex), involved in immune escape and metastasis. Bladder tumours of non-S. haematobium etiology and normal urothelium were used as controls. S. haematobium-associated benign/pre-malignant lesions present alterations in p53 and sLex that were also found in bladder tumors. Similar results were observed in non-S. haematobium associated tumours, irrespectively of their histological nature, denoting some common molecular pathways. In addition, most benign/pre-malignant lesions also expressed sLea. However, proliferative phenotypes were more prevalent in lesions adjacent to bladder tumors while sLea was characteristic of sole benign/pre-malignant lesions, suggesting it may be a biomarker of early carcionogenesis associated with the parasite. A correlation was observed between the frequency of the biomarkers in the tumor and adjacent mucosa, with the exception of Ki-67. Most S. haematobium eggs embedded in the urothelium were also positive for sLea and sLex. Reinforcing the pathologic nature of the studied biomarkers, none was observed in the healthy urothelium. Conclusion/Significance This preliminary study suggests that p53 and sialylated glycans are surrogate biomarkers of bladder cancerization associated with S. haematobium, highlighting a missing link between infection and cancer development. Eggs of S. haematobium express sLea and sLex antigens in mimicry of human leukocytes glycosylation, which may play a role in the colonization and disease dissemination. These observations may help the early identification of infected patients at a higher risk of developing bladder cancer and guide the future development of non-invasive diagnostic tests

Functional Characterization of Nupr1L, A Novel p53-Regulated Isoform of the High-Mobility Group (HMG)-Related Protumoral Protein Nupr1

We have previously demonstrated a crucial role of nuclear protein 1 (NUPR1) in tumor development and progression. In this work, we report the functional characterization of a novel Nupr1-like isoform (NUPR1L) and its functional interaction with the protumoral factor NUPR1. Through the use of primary sequence analysis, threading, and homology-based molecular modeling, as well as expression and immunolocalization, studies reveal that NUPR1L displays properties, which are similar to member of the HMG-like family of chromatin regulators, including its ability to translocate to the cell nucleus and bind to DNA. Analysis of the NUPR1L promoter showed the presence of two p53-response elements at positions -37 and -7, respectively. Experiments using reporter assays combined with site-directed mutagenesis and using cells with controllable p53 expression demonstrate that both of these sequences are responsible for the regulation of NUPR1L expression by p53. Congruently, NUPR1L gene expression is activated in response to DNA damage induced by oxaliplatin treatment or cell cycle arrest induced by serum starvation, two well-validated methods to achieve p53 activation. Interestingly, expression of NUPR1L downregulates the expression of NUPR1, its closely related protumoral isoform, by a mechanism that involves the inhibition of its promoter activity. At the cellular level, overexpression of NUPR1L induces G1 cell cycle arrest and a decrease in their cell viability, an effect that is mediated, at least in part, by downregulating NUPR1 expression. Combined, these experiments constitute the first functional characterization of NUPR1L as a new p53-induced gene, which negatively regulates the protumoral factor NUPR1.Fil: Lopez, Maria Belen. Centre de Recherche En Cancerologie de Marseille; FranciaFil: Garcia, Maria Noé. Centre de Recherche En Cancerologie de Marseille; FranciaFil: Grasso, Daniel Hector. Centre de Recherche En Cancerologie de Marseille; Francia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Bintz, Jennifer. Centre de Recherche En Cancerologie de Marseille; FranciaFil: Molejon, Maria Ines. Centre de Recherche En Cancerologie de Marseille; Francia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Velez, Gabriel. Mayo Clinic; Estados UnidosFil: Lomberk, Gwen. Mayo Clinic; Estados UnidosFil: Neira, Jose Luis. Universidad de Miguel Hernández; EspañaFil: Urrutia, Raul. Mayo Clinic; Estados UnidosFil: Iovanna, Juan. Centre de Recherche En Cancerologie de Marseille; Franci

Quantisation without Gauge Fixing: Avoiding Gribov Ambiguities through the Physical Projector

The quantisation of gauge invariant systems usually proceeds through some gauge fixing procedure of one type or another. Typically for most cases, such gauge fixings are plagued by Gribov ambiguities, while it is only for an admissible gauge fixing that the correct dynamical description of the system is represented, especially with regards to non perturbative phenomena. However, any gauge fixing procedure whatsoever may be avoided altogether, by using rather a recently proposed new approach based on the projection operator onto physical gauge invariant states only, which is necessarily free on any such issues. These different aspects of gauge invariant systems are explicitely analysed within a solvable U(1) gauge invariant quantum mechanical model related to the dimensional reduction of Yang-Mills theory.Comment: 22 pages, no figures, plain LaTeX fil

Nuclear Muon Capture on the Proton and 3He within the Standard Model and Beyond

Nuclear muon capture on the proton and $^3$He is considered both within and beyond the Standard Model in terms as general as is possible. Explicit and precise analytic expressions for all possible observables are given, assuming only a Dirac neutrino in the limit of vanishing mass. These results allow both for precision tests of the Standard Model and new physics, as well as for the assessment of the potential physics reach of experiments designed to measure specific observables. Using these expressions, stringent constraints can already be inferred from a recent precision measurement of the statistical capture rate on $^3$He. Likewise, similar constraints should follow the completion of a precision measurement in progress of the singlet capture rate on the proton.Comment: 36 pages, no figures, plain LaTeX fil

Breast Cancer Detection by Means of Artificial Neural Networks

Breast cancer is a fatal disease causing high mortality in women. Constant efforts are being made for creating more efficient techniques for early and accurate diagnosis. Classical methods require oncologists to examine the breast lesions for detection and classification of various stages of cancer. Such manual attempts are time consuming and inefficient in many cases. Hence, there is a need for efficient methods that diagnoses the cancerous cells without human involvement with high accuracies. In this research, image processing techniques were used to develop imaging biomarkers through mammography analysis and based on artificial intelligence technology aiming to detect breast cancer in early stages to support diagnosis and prioritization of high-risk patients. For automatic classification of breast cancer on mammograms, a generalized regression artificial neural network was trained and tested to separate malignant and benign tumors reaching an accuracy of 95.83%. With the biomarker and trained neural net, a computer-aided diagnosis system is being designed. The results obtained show that generalized regression artificial neural network is a promising and robust system for breast cancer detection. The Laboratorio de Innovacion y Desarrollo Tecnologico en Inteligencia Artificial is seeking collaboration with research groups interested in validating the technology being developed

Interculturalidad y educación: filosofía, decolonialidad y diversidad con carácter inclusivo

La decolonialidad es particularmente relevante en el contexto andino, dado el legado del colonialismo en la región, e implica criticar el legado del colonialismo en la educación y explorar enfoques alternativos basados en el conocimiento y la cultura indígenas. Al promover la educación decolonial, las comunidades pueden trabajar hacia la justicia social y el empoderamiento, y desafiar las narrativas dominantes que históricamente las han oprimido. La educación en el contexto andino es vista como un esfuerzo comunitario y está íntimamente ligada a la preservación de sus cultura y la promoción del desarrollo comunitario, aunque, reconciliar las prácticas educativas andinas con los enfoques educativos occidentales no es tarea fácil, ya que a menudo se basan en visiones del mundo y valores fundamentalmente diferentes. Al reconocer la importancia de las prácticas educativas y buscar integrarlas en los sistemas educativos contemporáneos, las comunidades pueden trabajar para preservar su cultura y promover sus propios enfoques únicos de la educación

La integración del conocimiento sobre la Cordillera Cantábrica: hacia un observatorio inter-autonómico del cambio global

La Cordillera Cantábrica (CC) presenta una serie de singularidades que le convierten en un excelente enclave para el seguimiento de los efectos del cambio global. Este estudio analiza la necesidad de generar un observatorio inter-autonómico del cambio global, que permitiría integrar el conocimiento actual sobre estas montañas y determinar las prioridades en la generación de nuevo conocimiento. Para cumplir este objetivo, se presentan dos aproximaciones complementarias. La primera consiste en la revisión de la literatura científica publicada sobre la CC y su comparación con otros enclaves geográficos de la Península Ibérica. La segunda consiste en la síntesis de información de un seminario titulado ?La CC como Centinela de los Efectos del Cambio Global?, celebrado en Santander en agosto de 2015. El análisis bibliográfico muestra que el número de publicaciones científicas sobre la CC es similar al de otros enclaves geográficos de la Península Ibérica, pero con menor riqueza de disciplinas. La producción científica está dominada por los centros de investigación más próximos y tiene una alta participación internacional. Las conclusiones del seminario evidencian que este sistema es un candidato ideal para el seguimiento de los efectos del cambio global sobre multitud de elementos biofísicos. Se considera que la generación de un seminario permanente, junto con la consolidación de las redes de seguimiento actuales, la coordinación de nuevos trabajos, y la mejora de la comunicación entre administraciones y comunidad científico-técnica son elementos esenciales en la futura generación de un observatorio del cambio global en la CC