A Novel Protocol-Authentication Algorithm Ruling Out a Man-in-the-Middle Attack in Quantum Cryptography

In this work we review the security vulnerability of Quantum Cryptography with respect to "man-in-the-middle attacks" and the standard authentication methods applied to counteract these attacks. We further propose a modified authentication algorithm which features higher efficiency with respect to consumption of mutual secret bits.Comment: 4 pages, submitted to the International Journal of Quantum Information, Proceedings of the meeting "Foundations of Quantum Information", Camerino, April 200

Numerical simulations of mixed states quantum computation

We describe quantum-octave package of functions useful for simulations of quantum algorithms and protocols. Presented package allows to perform simulations with mixed states. We present numerical implementation of important quantum mechanical operations - partial trace and partial transpose. Those operations are used as building blocks of algorithms for analysis of entanglement and quantum error correction codes. Simulation of Shor's algorithm is presented as an example of package capabilities.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, presented at Foundations of Quantum Information, 16th-19th April 2004, Camerino, Ital

Homogeneous heterotic supergravity solutions with linear dilaton

I construct solutions to the heterotic supergravity BPS-equations on products of Minkowski space with a non-symmetric coset. All of the bosonic fields are homogeneous and non-vanishing, the dilaton being a linear function on the non-compact part of spacetime.Comment: 36 pages; v2 conclusion updated and references adde

Analysis of the Fibroblast Growth Factor System Reveals Alterations in a Mouse Model of Spinal Muscular Atrophy

The monogenetic disease Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) is characterized by a progressive loss of motoneurons leading to muscle weakness and atrophy due to severe reduction of the Survival of Motoneuron (SMN) protein. Several models of SMA show deficits in neurite outgrowth and maintenance of neuromuscular junction (NMJ) structure. Survival of motoneurons, axonal outgrowth and formation of NMJ is controlled by neurotrophic factors such as the Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF) system. Besides their classical role as extracellular ligands, some FGFs exert also intracellular functions controlling neuronal differentiation. We have previously shown that intracellular FGF-2 binds to SMN and regulates the number of a subtype of nuclear bodies which are reduced in SMA patients. In the light of these findings, we systematically analyzed the FGF-system comprising five canonical receptors and 22 ligands in a severe mouse model of SMA. In this study, we demonstrate widespread alterations of the FGF-system in both muscle and spinal cord. Importantly, FGF-receptor 1 is upregulated in spinal cord at a pre-symptomatic stage as well as in a mouse motoneuron-like cell-line NSC34 based model of SMA. Consistent with that, phosphorylations of FGFR-downstream targets Akt and ERK are increased. Moreover, ERK hyper-phosphorylation is functionally linked to FGFR-1 as revealed by receptor inhibition experiments. Our study shows that the FGF system is dysregulated at an early stage in SMA and may contribute to the SMA pathogenesis

Preclinical safety and efficacy of a therapeutic antibody that targets SARS-CoV-2 at the sotrovimab face but is escaped by Omicron

The recurrent emerging of novel viral variants of concern (VOCs) with evasion of preexisting antibody immunity upholds severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) case numbers and maintains a persistent demand for updated therapies. We selected the patient-derived antibody CV38-142 based on its potency and breadth against the VOCs Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta for preclinical development into a therapeutic. CV38-142 showed in vivo efficacy in a Syrian hamster VOC infection model after post-exposure and therapeutic application and revealed a favorable safety profile in a human protein library screen and tissue cross-reactivity study. Although CV38-142 targets the same viral surface as sotrovimab, which maintains activity against Omicron, CV38-142 did not neutralize the Omicron lineages BA.1 and BA.2. These results highlight the contingencies of developing antibody therapeutics in the context of antigenic drift and reinforce the need to develop broadly neutralizing variant-proof antibodies against SARS-CoV-2

Techniques to realize flexible optical terabit-per-second transmission systems

In this paper, we review emerging technologies to build up Tb/s per channel transmission capacity. We discuss the appropriate choice of modulation formats as well as options for generation and multiplexing of multiple lower bit rate subchannels. Different multiplexing approaches, mainly based on various implementations of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing and Nyquist wavelength division multiplexing are introduced. Their main strengths and weaknesses are discussed by means of selected experimental demonstrations

Development and Evaluation of an Alternative Sensor Lifetime Enhancement Technique Used with the Online-Radiation-Monitoring System (DosiMon) at the European XFEL at DESY, Hamburg

The European XFEL (E-XFEL), that started operation in September 2017 at the DESY/XFEL site in Hamburg/Germany uses a single-tunnel concept, forcing all frontend machine devices and electronics to be located inside the accelerator tunnel. Electro-magnetic showers,mainly produced by gun dark-current, RF cavity field emission and beam-losses expose these devices to damaging irradiation. The new Online-Radiation-Monitoring-System (DosiMon) is mainly used for surveillance of radiation sensitive permanent magnet structures, diagnostic devices and rack-housed electronics. The integrated dose from Gamma- and optional future Neutron-radiation measurements can be monitored online by the DosiMonsystem. Safety limits ensure the correct function of monitored devices, provided by lifecycle estimations as measures for on time part exchange, to prevent significant radiation damage. A first expansion state currently enables more than 500 gamma measuring points. The development of a new sensor lifetime enhancement technique for the utilized RadFet sensors is presented together with corresponding evaluation measurements

Commissioning of the New Online-Radiation-Monitoring-System at the New European XFEL Injector with First Tests of the High-Sensitivity-Mode for Intra-Tunnel Rack Surveillance

System, developed for the 17.5 GeV superconducting European XFEL (E-XFEL) that is currently being built between the DESY campus at Hamburg and Schenefeld at Schleswig-Holstein [1,2], has been commissioned in a first system test setup at the E-XFEL Injector. As most of the electronic systems for machine control, diagnostics and safety of the E-XFEL will be located in cabinets inside the accelerator tunnel, the test setup incorporates all system parts like cabinet-internal and -external monitor electronics, infrastructure interface boards, firmware, software, cabling and sensors. Hence the commissioning system setup gives the possibility for first operation of the complete online radiation monitoring system under realistic environmental conditions in terms of irradiation, electro-magnetic interference (EMI) inside the injector tunnel, as well as operational and control system aspects. Commissioning results and measurements based on different internal and external sensor channels will be presented here, together with recent measurements done at different radiation sources using the high-sensibility mode for intra-rack radiation monitoring