Quantum networks reveal quantum nonlocality

The results of local measurements on some composite quantum systems cannot be reproduced classically. This impossibility, known as quantum nonlocality, represents a milestone in the foundations of quantum theory. Quantum nonlocality is also a valuable resource for information processing tasks, e.g. quantum communication, quantum key distribution, quantum state estimation, or randomness extraction. Still, deciding if a quantum state is nonlocal remains a challenging problem. Here we introduce a novel approach to this question: we study the nonlocal properties of quantum states when distributed and measured in networks. Using our framework, we show how any one-way entanglement distillable state leads to nonlocal correlations. Then, we prove that nonlocality is a non-additive resource, which can be activated. There exist states, local at the single-copy level, that become nonlocal when taking several copies of it. Our results imply that the nonlocality of quantum states strongly depends on the measurement context.Comment: 4 + 3 pages, 4 figure

Accuracy of prediction models for long-term type 2 diabetes remission after gastric bypass

AimTo evaluate the accuracy of DiaBetter, DiaRem, Ad-DiaRem and 5y-Ad-DiaRem scores' at predicting T2D remission 10 or more years after surgery.MethodsPatients with obesity and T2D (n = 126) submitted to RYGB with 10 or more years of follow-up. It was a unicentric trial. Pre-operative anthropometric and clinical data was retrieved to calculate DiaRem, DiaBetter, Ad-DiaRem and 5y-Ad-DiaRem scores, while a hospital visit was conducted to assess current diabetes status. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve was calculated as estimate of the scores' accuracy to predict long-term T2D remission.ResultsAmong the entire cohort (n = 126), 70 subjects (55.6%) achieved and maintained T2D remission 10 or more years after RYGB. The 5y-Ad-DiaRem score was the one that depicted the highest discriminative power (AUROC = 0.838) to predict long-term T2D remission when compared to DiaBetter (AUROC = 0.735), DiaRem (AUROC = 0.721) and Ad-DiaRem (AUROC = 0.720).ConclusionThe score with highest accuracy to predict long-term T2D remission after RYGB surgery was the 5y-Ad-DiaRem. Yet, the available scores accuracy to predict T2D remission in the long term is still suboptimal, highlighting the unmet need for a better scoring system

Physical Interactions With Bacteria and Protozoan Parasites Establish the Scavenger Receptor SSC4D as a Broad-Spectrum Pattern Recognition Receptor

Since the pioneering discoveries, by the Nobel laureates Jules Hoffmann and Bruce Beutler, that Toll and Toll-like receptors can sense pathogenic microorganisms and initiate, in vertebrates and invertebrates, innate immune responses against microbial infections, many other families of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) have been described. One of such receptor clusters is composed by, if not all, at least several members of the scavenger receptor cysteine-rich (SRCR) superfamily. Many SRCR proteins are plasma membrane receptors of immune cells; however, a small subset consists of secreted receptors that are therefore in circulation. We here describe the first characterization of biological and functional roles of the circulating human protein SSC4D, one of the least scrutinized members of the family. Within leukocyte populations, SSC4D was found to be expressed by monocytes/macrophages, neutrophils, and B cells, but its production was particularly evident in epithelial cells of several organs and tissues, namely, in the kidney, thyroid, lung, placenta, intestinal tract, and liver. Similar to other SRCR proteins, SSC4D shows the capacity of physically binding to different species of bacteria, and this opsonization can increase the phagocytic capacity of monocytes. Importantly, we have uncovered the capacity of SSC4D of binding to several protozoan parasites, a singular feature seldom described for PRRs in general and here demonstrated for the first time for an SRCR family member. Overall, our study is pioneer in assigning a PRR role to SSC4D.This work was funded by National Funds through FCT– Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., under the projects SRecognite Infect-ERA/0003/2015 and UIDB/04293/ 2020. Individual funding to JT was provided by FCT through CEECIND/02362/2017. MC, RS, and MS were recipients of studentships from FCT, respectively, SFRH/BD/116791/2016, SFRH/BD/110691/2015, and SFRH/BD/133485/2017. This paper is dedicated to our colleague and friend Rui Appelberg (1960-2020). The authors acknowledge the support of the i3S Scientific Platform BioSciences Screening, member of the national infrastructure PPBI–Portuguese Platform of Bioimaging (PPBI-POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022122) and PT-OPENSCREEN. Tissue sections were kindly provided by Amaro Frutuoso, Department of Complementary Means of Diagnosis and Therapy, Service of Pathology, Hospital Pedro Hispano, Matosinhos

Male urine signals social rank in the Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The urine of freshwater fish species investigated so far acts as a vehicle for reproductive pheromones affecting the behaviour and physiology of the opposite sex. However, the role of urinary pheromones in intra-sexual competition has received less attention. This is particularly relevant in lek-breeding species, such as the Mozambique tilapia (<it>Oreochromis mossambicus</it>), where males establish dominance hierarchies and there is the possibility for chemical communication in the modulation of aggression among males. To investigate whether males use urine during aggressive interactions, we measured urination frequency of dye-injected males during paired interactions between size-matched males. Furthermore, we assessed urinary volume stored in the bladder of males in a stable social hierarchy and the olfactory potency of their urine by recording of the electro-olfactogram.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Males released urine in pulses of short duration (about one second) and markedly increased urination frequency during aggressive behaviour, but did not release urine whilst submissive. In the stable hierarchy, subordinate males stored less urine than males of higher social rank; the olfactory potency of the urine was positively correlated with the rank of the male donor.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Dominant males store urine and use it as a vehicle for odorants actively released during aggressive disputes. The olfactory potency of the urine is positively correlated with the social status of the male. We suggest that males actively advertise their dominant status through urinary odorants which may act as a 'dominance' pheromone to modulate aggression in rivals, thereby contributing to social stability within the lek.</p

Chemical diplomacy in male tilapia: urinary signal increases sex hormone and decreases aggression

Androgens, namely 11-ketotestosterone (11KT), have a central role in male fish reproductive physiology and are thought to be involved in both aggression and social signalling. Aggressive encounters occur frequently in social species, and fights may cause energy depletion, injury and loss of social status. Signalling for social dominance and fighting ability in an agonistic context can minimize these costs. Here, we test the hypothesis of a 'chemical diplomacy' mechanism through urinary signals that avoids aggression and evokes an androgen response in receiver males of Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus). We show a decoupling between aggression and the androgen response; males fighting their mirror image experience an unresolved interaction and a severe drop in urinary 11KT. However, if concurrently exposed to dominant male urine, aggression drops but urinary 11KT levels remain high. Furthermore, 11KT increases in males exposed to dominant male urine in the absence of a visual stimulus. The use of a urinary signal to lower aggression may be an adaptive mechanism to resolve disputes and avoid the costs of fighting. As dominance is linked to nest building and mating with females, the 11KT response of subordinate males suggests chemical eavesdropping, possibly in preparation for parasitic fertilizations.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Modulation of CD4 T cell function via CD6-targeting

In recent years molecules involved on the immune synapse became successful targets for therapeutic immune modulation. CD6 has been extensively studied, yet, results regarding CD6 biology have been controversial, in spite of the ubiquitous presence of this molecule on virtually all CD4 T cells. We investigated the outcome of murine and human antibodies targeting CD6 domain 1. We found that CD6-targeting had a major impact on the functional specialization of CD4 cells, both human and murine. Differentiation of CD4 T cells towards a Foxp3+ Treg fate was prevented with increasing doses of anti-CD6, while Th1 polarization was favoured. No impact was observed on Th2 or Th17 specialization. These in vitro results provided an explanation for the dose-dependent outcome of in vivo anti-CD6 administration where the anti-inflammatory action is lost at the highest doses. Our data show that therapeutic targeting of the immune synapse may lead to paradoxical dose-dependent effects due to modification of T cell fate.Funded by UID/BIM/50005/2019, project funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) / Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior (MCTES) throught Fundos do Orçamento do Estado, pela Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) ( PTDC/DTP-FTO/3080/2014 ); and by the project SRecognite Infect - ERA/0003/2015 using national funds through FCT . Funders did not have a role in study design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation, or in the writing of the manuscript

Body adiposity index to analyze the percentage of fat in young men aged between 7 and 17 years

BACKGROUND: The body adiposity index (BAI), uses anthropometry to estimate percent body fat (%F). However, previous studies have shown that the BAI has limited accuracy for children and adolescents. OBJECTIVE: We propose to develop and validate an adjusted BAI for use in male children and adolescents from 7 to 17 years of age. METHODS: The sample consisted of 141 physically active male children and adolescents (age: 12.5 ± 2.14). The %F was determined by X-ray dual energy absorptometry equipment (DXA) as the standard method and by BAI, using an equation that uses height and hip circumference. Arithmetic modeling was used to adjust the structure of the BAI mathematical model. RESULTS: The BAI arithmetic adjustment was successful, resulting in the mathematical model named in the present study of adjusted body adiposity index (BAIADJ ). BAI and BAIADJ correlated with DXA (r ≤ .70, p  .05). CONCLUSION: The adjusted model of the body adiposity index proves to be an effective tool for the analysis of the fat percentage in young males. In addition, it demonstrated significant degrees of agreement and validity in relation to DXA

A Substantial Amount of Hidden Magnetic Energy in the Quiet Sun

Deciphering and understanding the small-scale magnetic activity of the quiet solar photosphere should help to solve many of the key problems of solar and stellar physics, such as the magnetic coupling to the outer atmosphere and the coronal heating. At present, we can see only ${\sim}1$ of the complex magnetism of the quiet Sun, which highlights the need to develop a reliable way to investigate the remaining 99%. Here we report three-dimensional radiative tranfer modelling of scattering polarization in atomic and molecular lines that indicates the presence of hidden, mixed-polarity fields on subresolution scales. Combining this modelling with recent observational data we find a ubiquitous tangled magnetic field with an average strength of ${\sim}130$ G, which is much stronger in the intergranular regions of solar surface convection than in the granular regions. So the average magnetic energy density in the quiet solar photosphere is at least two orders of magnitude greater than that derived from simplistic one-dimensional investigations, and sufficient to balance radiative energy losses from the solar chromosphere.Comment: 21 pages and 2 figures (letter published in Nature on July 15, 2004

Cdc42 defines apical identity and regulates epithelial morphogenesis by promoting apical recruitment of Par6-aPKC and Crumbs

Cdc42 regulates epithelial morphogenesis together with the Par complex (Baz/Par3-Par6-aPKC), Crumbs (Crb/CRB3) and Stardust (Sdt/PALS1). However, how these proteins work together and interact during epithelial morphogenesis is not well understood. To address this issue, we used the genetically amenable Drosophila pupal photoreceptor and follicular epithelium. We show that during epithelial morphogenesis active Cdc42 accumulates at the developing apical membrane and cell-cell contacts, independently of the Par complex and Crb. However, membrane localization of Baz, Par6-aPKC and Crb all depend on Cdc42. We find that although binding of Cdc42 to Par6 is not essential for the recruitment of Par6 and aPKC to the membrane, it is required for their apical localization and accumulation, which we find also depends on Par6 retention by Crb. In the pupal photoreceptor, membrane recruitment of Par6-aPKC also depends on Baz. Our work shows that Cdc42 is required for this recruitment and suggests that this factor promotes the handover of Par6-aPKC from Baz onto Crb. Altogether, we propose that Cdc42 drives morphogenesis by conferring apical identity, Par-complex assembly and apical accumulation of Crb