Resource-efficient quantum key distribution with integrated silicon photonics

Integrated photonics provides a promising platform for quantum key distribution (QKD) system in terms of miniaturization, robustness and scalability. Tremendous QKD works based on integrated photonics have been reported. Nonetheless, most current chip-based QKD implementations require additional off-chip hardware to demodulate quantum states or perform auxiliary tasks such as time synchronization and polarization basis tracking. Here, we report a demonstration of resource-efficient chip-based BB84 QKD with a silicon-based encoder and decoder. In our scheme, the time synchronization and polarization compensation are implemented relying on the preparation and measurement of the quantum states generated by on-chip devices, thus no need additional hardware. The experimental tests show that our scheme is highly stable with a low intrinsic QBER of $0.50\pm 0.02\%$ in a 6-h continuous run. Furthermore, over a commercial fiber channel up to 150 km, the system enables realizing secure key distribution at a rate of 866 bps. Our demonstration paves the way for low-cost, wafer-scale manufactured QKD system.Comment: comments are welcome

Th-MYCN Mice with Caspase-8 Deficiency Develop Advanced Neuroblastoma with Bone Marrow Metastasis

Neuroblastoma, the most common extracranial pediatric solid tumor, is responsible for 15% of all childhood cancer deaths. Patients frequently present at diagnosis with metastatic disease, particularly to the bone marrow (BM). Advances in therapy and understanding of the metastatic process have been limited due in part, to the lack of animal models harboring BM disease. The widely employed transgenic model, the Th-MYCN mouse, exhibits limited metastasis to this site. Here we establish the first genetic immunocompetent mouse model for metastatic neuroblastoma with enhanced secondary tumors in the BM. This model recapitulates two frequent alterations in metastatic neuroblasoma, over-expression of MYCN and loss of caspase-8 expression. Mouse caspase-8 gene was deleted in neural crest lineage cells by crossing a Th-Cre transgenic mouse with a caspase-8 conditional knockout mouse. This mouse was then crossed with the neuroblastoma prone Th-MYCN mouse. While over-expression of MYCN by itself rarely caused bone marrow metastasis, combining MYCN overexpression and caspase-8 deletion significantly enhanced BM metastasis (37% incidence). Microarray expression studies of the primary tumors mRNAs and microRNAs revealed extracellular matrix (ECM) structural changes, increased expression of genes involved in epithelial to mesenchymal transition, inflammation and down-regulation of miR-7a and miR-29b. These molecular changes have been shown to be associated with tumor progression and activation of the cytokine transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) pathway in various tumor models. Cytokine TGF-β can preferentially promote single cell motility and blood borne metastasis and therefore activation of this pathway may explain the enhanced BM metastasis observed in this animal model.Fil: Teitz, Tal. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Department of Tumor Cell Biology; Estados UnidosFil: Inoue, Madoka. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Department of Tumor Cell Biology; Estados UnidosFil: Valentine, Marcus B.. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Department of Tumor Cell Biology; Estados UnidosFil: Zhu, Kejin. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Department of Tumor Cell Biology; Estados UnidosFil: Rehg, Jerold E.. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Department of Pathology; Estados UnidosFil: Zhao, Wei. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Department of Biostatistics; Estados UnidosFil: Finkelstein, David. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Department of Computational Biology; Estados UnidosFil: Wang, Yong-Dong. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Hartwell Center for Bioinformatics and Biotechnology; Estados UnidosFil: Johnson, Melissa D.. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Animal Imaging Center; Estados UnidosFil: Calabrese, Christopher. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Animal Imaging Center; Estados UnidosFil: Rubinstein, Marcelo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Hakem, Razqallah. University of Toronto. Ontario Cancer Institute. Department of Medical Biophysics; CanadáFil: Weiss, William A.. University of California. Departments of Neurology, Pediatrics and Neurological Surgery; Estados UnidosFil: Lahti, Jill M.. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Department of Tumor Cell Biology; Estados Unido

A Review on Durability of Alkali-activated System from Sustainable Construction Materials to Infrastructures

With growing concerns for greenhouse gas emissions, alkali-activated materials (AAMs) have received significant attention due to the benefit of low carbon footprint. In the process of promoting large-scale and commercialized applications of AAMs, one of the most significant concerns is the long-term durability. This work presents a critical review on the durability performance of alkali-activated system. At the material level, this work reviews factors influencing the mass transport properties of AAMs, and effects of a number of factors such as chemical activators, raw materials, curing regimes, and exposure environments on the durability of AAMs subjected to both physically and chemically induced deterioration. At the structure level, the durability performance of structures made from AAMs, including beam, slab, box culvert, and repairing materials and protection coating under extreme conditions are reviewed. The review indicates that AAMs have potentials to manufacture durable materials by appropriate selection of raw materials, chemical activators and optimization of mixing design. Furthermore, perspectives are proposed for the further study on the durability of AAMs at both material and structure levels. The related results are of interest to the research community as well as to the stakeholders of AAMs industries who seek sustainability in their products.This article is published as Li, Wengui, Zhuo Tang, Vivian WY Tam, XinYu Zhao, and Kejin Wang. "A Review on Durability of Alkali-activated System from Sustainable Construction Materials to Infrastructures." ES Materials & Manufacturing 4, no. 2 (2019): 2-19. DOI: 10.30919/esmm5f204. Copyright 2019 Engineered Science Publisher LLC. Posted with permission

Hydration and microstructure of cement paste mixed with seawater – An advanced investigation by SEM-EDS method

This study aimed to investigate the microstructural hydration features of Portland cement incorporating with natural seawater (SW). Special attention was paid to characterizing the pore structure, hydrated and anhydrous phases using microscopy techniques, such as secondary electron (SE), backscattered electron (BSE) imaging and energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) mapping. Through the utilization of algorithms, information extracted from these methods underwent self-corrected, denoising, and imaging calibration, which significantly contributed to the calculation of pore volume, identification and segmentation of various phases, and quantitative characterization. By leveraging the chemical and spatial information from EDS mapping, highly detailed distribution maps of the different cement phases could be obtained, surpassing the conventional BSE grayscale segmentation method in phase identification. Statistical analysis revealed that the deviation of the phase quantification was reduced when using a magnification of 250 times. Higher content of hydrate phases with lower porosity can be observed in SW samples exhibited a higher content of hydrate phases with lower porosity, indicating a stimulated hydration effect. However, accurately determining hydrate phases with small crystal sizes, such as ettringite, necessitated an increase in mapping resolution. Therefore, the use EDS mapping for quantification of various cement phases in submicroscopic and microscopic characterization is both feasible and promising.This is a manuscript of an article published as Li, Peiran, Wengui Li, Kejin Wang, Hanbing Zhao, and Surendra P. Shah. "Hydration and microstructure of cement paste mixed with seawater–An advanced investigation by SEM-EDS method." Construction and Building Materials 392 (2023): 131925. DOI: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2023.131925. Copyright 2023 Elsevier Ltd. Posted with permission

Effects of CNT and MgO–Type Expansive Agent on the Cracking Resistance of Face-Slab Concrete of CFRD

Concrete face rockfill dam (CFRD) is a commonly used and cost-effective type of dams. However, random cracks are often seen in the face slab concrete (FSC) of a CFRD during construction, largely due to the shrinkage caused by concrete temperature gradients, drying, and cementitious hydration. This study aims to improve the cracking resistance of FSC by using shrinkage compensating and cracking control materials. In this study, 5.0% by weight MgO-type expansive agent (MEA) or 0.1% by weight carbon nanotube (CNT) was added to a reference FSC (FSC-REF) selected from a CFRD. Fresh and hardened state properties of the developed concrete were tested. Different properties such as hydration heat, capillary pressure, mechanical properties at various ages, drying and autogenous shrinkage, thermal expansion coefficient (CTE), pore structure, and cracking resistance at early age of the FSC mixes (FSC-REF, FSC-MgO, and FSC-CNT) were determined. The results showed that the CNT addition lowered the capillary pressure and reduced the risk of plastic shrinkage cracking, while it also reduced drying and autogenous shrinkage of FSC. The addition of both CNT and MgO had little influence on the heat of hydration of FSC, but these slightly improved the axial tensile properties of FSC. CNT reduced the thermal expansion coefficient of FSC, whereas MgO increased it. Both CNT and MgO decreased the total porosity of the FSC, and the CNT addition significantly reduced the number of mesopores. The temperature-stress test results showed that MgO/CNT improved the cracking resistance of the FSC at early age under both temperature matching curing mode and constant temperature curing mode. Based on measured properties, CNT can be considered a promising additive for cracking control of FSC.This is a manuscript of an article published as Zhao, Zhifang, Hougui Zhou, Kejin Wang, Xu Wu, and Surendra P. Shah. "Effects of CNT and MgO–Type Expansive Agent on the Cracking Resistance of Face-Slab Concrete of CFRD." Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering 34, no. 12 (2022): 04022331. This material may be found at DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0004497. Copyright 2022 ASCE. Posted with permission. This material may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the American Society of Civil Engineers

Triaxial compressive performance of recycled aggregate/glass sand concrete: Experimental study and mechanism analysis

In real-world applications, concrete is often subjected to triaxial compression combined with pore water pressure. Understanding the mechanical properties of the concrete made with recycled coarse aggregate (RCA) and recycled glass sand (RGS) under complex stress states can enhance its practical application. This study first investigated the microscopic properties of interfacial transition zones (ITZs) using nanoscratch and backscattered electron-based (BSE-based) image analysis. Subsequently, mechanical properties under confining pressures ranging from 0 to 14 MPa and pore water pressure ranging from 0 to 13 MPa were assessed based on the stress-strain behaviours. The results reveal that the chemical activity and specific surface areas of aggregate were closely related to ITZ microscopic properties. Despite with the same water-cement ratio, the ITZs between RCA and the paste matrix displayed better cohesion performance than the ITZs between RGS and the paste matrix. Confining pressure was found to increase the internal friction angle of concrete, thereby improving mechanical strength and ductility. The poor cohesion of the RGS-paste matrix interface resulted in a decrease in the peak stress and an increase in the peak strain under triaxial compression. Pore water pressure played a dual role in triaxial compression, providing support and promoting crack expansion. The supporting effect enhanced the initial stiffness of concrete, while the crack expansion effect reduced the peak stress. The William-Warnke failure criterion was proven to be suitable for describing the failure surfaces of concrete with RCA and RGS under various complex stress states. To accurately predict the stress-strain curve, it is essential to comprehensively consider the influence of ITZs in concrete and the effect of pore water pressure.This article is published as Zhao, Hanbing, Yong Hu, Yunan Li, Kejin Wang, Frank Dehn, and Wengui Li. "Triaxial compressive performance of recycled aggregate/glass sand concrete: Experimental study and mechanism analysis." Journal of Cleaner Production 442 (2024): 141006. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.141006. © 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Mechanical properties of multi-recycled aggregate concrete under combined compression and shear

The mechanical properties and strength failure criteria of natural aggregate concrete and multi-recycled aggregate concrete (multi-RAC) under combined compression and shear loading states are investigated in this study. The peak shear strength, peak shear displacement, and failure patterns are compared under different regeneration cycles and normal compressive stress ratios. The results reveal that both the peak shear strength and peak shear displacement increase with the increased normal stress ratio. The shear failure pattern with higher severity corresponds to more spalling powder and debris deposited on the shear fracture surface. When the regeneration cycles of coarse aggregate increase, the peak shear strength decreases and the descending trend become more evident with the higher vertical compressive stress ratio, whereas the peak shear displacement significantly fluctuates, regardless of the regeneration cycles and normal compressive stress ratios. Under the normal compressive stress, contact friction strength is the dominant component of peak shear strength in terms of cohesive strength, contact friction strength, and shear dilation strength. Based on different stress expressions, three compression-shear failure criterion models considering the regeneration cycles of coarse aggregate under planar stress state were established for RAC. The stress invariance failure criterion model and octahedral stress failure criterion model in quadratic parabolic functional forms can provide the high prediction accuracies.This is a manuscript of an article published as Lei, Bin, Hongchen Yu, Yipu Guo, Hanbing Zhao, Kejin Wang, and Wengui Li. "Mechanical properties of multi-recycled aggregate concrete under combined compression and shear." Engineering Failure Analysis 143, Part A (2023): 106910. DOI: 10.1016/j.engfailanal.2022.106910. Copyright 2022 Elsevier Ltd. Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). Posted with permission

Correlation between novel compound heterozygous ADAMTSL4 variants and primary phenotypes of ectopia lentis et pupillae

Purpose: To investigate molecular pathogenesis of congenital ectopia lentis accompanied by various ophthalmic manifestations. Methods: Three female siblings, their spouse and offspring underwent ophthalmic and general medical examinations. Genetic variants were screened with whole exome sequencing and analyzed in either dominant or recessive inheritance manner. Gene mutations were ascertained with the Sanger sequencing after polymerase chain reaction. Results: All three female siblings were diagnosed as the Ectopia lentis et pupillae (ELeP) through combination of clinical examination and genetic analysis. No characteristic pathological changes of skeletal, metabolic and cardiac abnormalities were observed. Novel compound heterozygous mutations (p.Ser264LeufsX37/ p.Gly757ValfsX62) in ADAMTSL4 were discreetly identified in this ELeP pedigree. The skin problem of three patients was recalled, and current symptom of the proband was observed further when we re-investigated after we identified the relevant variants. The molecular etiology of skin problem of three female siblings might be due to variants including ALOX15B, TRBV3-1, and NUDT18. Conclusions: Novel compound heterozygous ADAMTSL4 variants are responsible for ELeP in autosomal recessive inheritance manner in the current pedigree. Correlation between ADAMTSL4 variants and ELeP was firstly established based on our 12 years follow-up studies and previous reports of ELeP and ADAMTSL4–related eye disorders. The primary phenotypes caused by ADAMTSL4 variants include EL, EP, poor pupillary dilation, and axial elongation. Varying phenotypes including glaucoma, high myopia retinapathy, and poor vision and so on, may be secondary impairments. All these secondary impairments may be improved if proper clinical interventions are implemented in time

Effect of pore water pressure on mechanical performance of recycled aggregate concrete under triaxial compression

The pore water pressure in concrete can significantly increase due to volume compression. Recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) possesses a more complex microstructure compared to natural aggregate concrete (NAC). Understanding the porosity and micromechanical properties of RAC is crucial for analysing its failure mechanism under the influence of coupled confining pressure and pore water pressure. This study compares the constituent proportions and micromechanical properties of interfacial transition zones (ITZs) and the adjacent paste matrix in NAC and RAC. Compressive stress-strain curves were obtained for concrete under coupled confining pressure and pore water pressure. The results indicate that the newly formed ITZ, which bonds to old mortar, outperformed the one bonded to natural aggregate when considering the same water-cement ratio. Compressive strength, ductility, and maximum volumetric strain gradually increased with increasing confining pressure. However, when pore water pressure was removed, compressive strength decreased while elastic modulus improved. Due to the inferior microstructures of RAC compared to NAC, the supportive effect of pore water becomes more pronounced. This is evident in the gradual increase in peak strain with increased pore water pressure for the stress-strain curves of RAC (100 % replacement ratio). Finally, a failure criterion and stress-strain theoretical model considering pore water pressure are proposed, and satisfactory fitting results are obtained.This article is published as Li, Yunan, Hanbing Zhao, Yong Hu, Fulin Qu, Dunming Zhu, Kejin Wang, and Wengui Li. "Effect of pore water pressure on mechanical performance of recycled aggregate concrete under triaxial compression." Cement and Concrete Composites (2023): 105402. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2023.105402. © 2023 The Authors. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)