Entanglement-enhanced probing of a delicate material system

Quantum metrology uses entanglement and other quantum effects to improve the sensitivity of demanding measurements. Probing of delicate systems demands high sensitivity from limited probe energy and has motivated the field's key benchmark-the standard quantum limit. Here we report the first entanglement-enhanced measurement of a delicate material system. We non-destructively probe an atomic spin ensemble by means of near-resonant Faraday rotation, a measurement that is limited by probe-induced scattering in quantum-memory and spin-squeezing applications. We use narrowband, atom-resonant NOON states to beat the standard quantum limit of sensitivity by more than five standard deviations, both on a per-photon and per-damage basis. This demonstrates quantum enhancement with fully realistic loss and noise, including variable-loss effects. The experiment opens the way to ultra-gentle probing of single atoms, single molecules, quantum gases and living cells.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures; Nature Photonics, advance online publication, 16 December 201

Sequential Effects in Judgements of Attractiveness: The Influences of Face Race and Sex

In perceptual decision-making, a person’s response on a given trial is influenced by their response on the immediately preceding trial. This sequential effect was initially demonstrated in psychophysical tasks, but has now been found in more complex, real-world judgements. The similarity of the current and previous stimuli determines the nature of the effect, with more similar items producing assimilation in judgements, while less similarity can cause a contrast effect. Previous research found assimilation in ratings of facial attractiveness, and here, we investigated whether this effect is influenced by the social categories of the faces presented. Over three experiments, participants rated the attractiveness of own- (White) and other-race (Chinese) faces of both sexes that appeared successively. Through blocking trials by race (Experiment 1), sex (Experiment 2), or both dimensions (Experiment 3), we could examine how sequential judgements were altered by the salience of different social categories in face sequences. For sequences that varied in sex alone, own-race faces showed significantly less opposite-sex assimilation (male and female faces perceived as dissimilar), while other-race faces showed equal assimilation for opposite- and same-sex sequences (male and female faces were not differentiated). For sequences that varied in race alone, categorisation by race resulted in no opposite-race assimilation for either sex of face (White and Chinese faces perceived as dissimilar). For sequences that varied in both race and sex, same-category assimilation was significantly greater than opposite-category. Our results suggest that the race of a face represents a superordinate category relative to sex. These findings demonstrate the importance of social categories when considering sequential judgements of faces, and also highlight a novel approach for investigating how multiple social dimensions interact during decision-making

Suppression of HBV by Tenofovir in HBV/HIV coinfected patients : a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Hepatitis B coinfection is common in HIV-positive individuals and as antiretroviral therapy has made death due to AIDS less common, hepatitis has become increasingly important. Several drugs are available to treat hepatitis B. The most potent and the one with the lowest risk of resistance appears to be tenofovir (TDF). However there are several questions that remain unanswered regarding the use of TDF, including the proportion of patients that achieves suppression of HBV viral load and over what time, whether suppression is durable and whether prior treatment with other HBV-active drugs such as lamivudine, compromises the efficacy of TDF due to possible selection of resistant HBV strains. Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis following PRISMA guidelines and using multilevel mixed effects logistic regression, stratified by prior and/or concomitant use of lamivudine and/or emtricitabine. Results: Data was available from 23 studies including 550 HBV/HIV coinfected patients treated with TDF. Follow up was for up to seven years but to ensure sufficient power the data analyses were limited to three years. The overall proportion achieving suppression of HBV replication was 57.4%, 79.0% and 85.6% at one, two and three years, respectively. No effect of prior or concomitant 3TC/FTC was shown. Virological rebound on TDF treatment was rare. Interpretation: TDF suppresses HBV to undetectable levels in the majority of HBV/HIV coinfected patients with the proportion fully suppressed continuing to increase during continuous treatment. Prior treatment with 3TC/FTC does not compromise efficacy of TDF treatment. The use of combination treatment with 3TC/FTC offers no significant benefit over TDF alone

Effects of Short-Term Continuous Subcutaneous Insulin Infusion on Fasting Plasma Fibroblast Growth Factor-21 Levels in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

To investigate the effects of short-term continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) on plasma fibroblast growth factor-21 (FGF-21) levels in patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus (nT2DM).Sixty-eight patients with nT2DM (nT2DM group), and 52 gender-, age- and body mass index (BMI) -matched normal glucose tolerance (NGT group) controls participated in the study. 30 nT2DM patients with FBG≥14.0 mmol/L were treated with CSII for 2 weeks, and were underwent a euglycemic–hyperinsulinemic clamp pre- and post-treatment. Plasma FGF-21 concentrations were measured with a commercial ELISA kit. The relationship between plasma FGF-21 levels and metabolic parameters was also analyzed.<0.05), accompanied by a significant increase in the whole body glucose uptake (M value) and blood glucose control. The changes in plasma FGF-21 levels (ΔFGF-21) were positively associated with the amelioration of insulin resistance shown by the changes in M value.Plasma FGF-21 level is associated with whole body insulin sensitivity and significantly reduced following short-term CSII treatment

Non-homologous end-joining pathway associated with occurrence of myocardial infarction: gene set analysis of genome-wide association study data

&lt;p&gt;Purpose: DNA repair deficiencies have been postulated to play a role in the development and progression of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The hypothesis is that DNA damage accumulating with age may induce cell death, which promotes formation of unstable plaques. Defects in DNA repair mechanisms may therefore increase the risk of CVD events. We examined whether the joints effect of common genetic variants in 5 DNA repair pathways may influence the risk of CVD events.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Methods: The PLINK set-based test was used to examine the association to myocardial infarction (MI) of the DNA repair pathway in GWAS data of 866 subjects of the GENetic DEterminants of Restenosis (GENDER) study and 5,244 subjects of the PROspective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at Risk (PROSPER) study. We included the main DNA repair pathways (base excision repair, nucleotide excision repair, mismatch repair, homologous recombination and non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ)) in the analysis.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Results: The NHEJ pathway was associated with the occurrence of MI in both GENDER (P = 0.0083) and PROSPER (P = 0.014). This association was mainly driven by genetic variation in the MRE11A gene (PGENDER = 0.0001 and PPROSPER = 0.002). The homologous recombination pathway was associated with MI in GENDER only (P = 0.011), for the other pathways no associations were observed.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Conclusion: This is the first study analyzing the joint effect of common genetic variation in DNA repair pathways and the risk of CVD events, demonstrating an association between the NHEJ pathway and MI in 2 different cohorts.&lt;/p&gt

Postcopulatory sexual selection

The female reproductive tract is where competition between the sperm of different males takes place, aided and abetted by the female herself. Intense postcopulatory sexual selection fosters inter-sexual conflict and drives rapid evolutionary change to generate a startling diversity of morphological, behavioural and physiological adaptations. We identify three main issues that should be resolved to advance our understanding of postcopulatory sexual selection. We need to determine the genetic basis of different male fertility traits and female traits that mediate sperm selection; identify the genes or genomic regions that control these traits; and establish the coevolutionary trajectory of sexes

Self-Injurious Behavior in Adolescents

Janis Whitlock discusses the epidemiology and and care of adolescents undertaking nonsuicidal self-injury, also called “deliberate self-harm.

Lessons from an international trial evaluating vaccination strategies for recovered inpatients with COVID-19 (VATICO)

The protection provided by natural versus hybrid immunity from COVID-19 is unclear. We reflect on the challenges from trying to conduct a randomized post-SARS-CoV-2 infection vaccination trial study with rapidly evolving scientific data, vaccination guidelines, varying international policies, difficulties with vaccine availability, vaccine hesitancy, and a constantly evolving virus