SU(3) Quantum Interferometry with single-photon input pulses

We develop a framework for solving the action of a three-channel passive optical interferometer on single-photon pulse inputs to each channel using SU(3) group-theoretic methods, which can be readily generalized to higher-order photon-coincidence experiments. We show that features of the coincidence plots vs relative time delays of photons yield information about permanents, immanants, and determinants of the interferometer SU(3) matrix

Generalized multi-photon quantum interference

Non-classical interference of photons lies at the heart of optical quantum information processing. This effect is exploited in universal quantum gates as well as in purpose-built quantum computers that solve the BosonSampling problem. Although non-classical interference is often associated with perfectly indistinguishable photons this only represents the degenerate case, hard to achieve under realistic experimental conditions. Here we exploit tunable distinguishability to reveal the full spectrum of multi-photon non-classical interference. This we investigate in theory and experiment by controlling the delay times of three photons injected into an integrated interferometric network. We derive the entire coincidence landscape and identify transition matrix immanants as ideally suited functions to describe the generalized case of input photons with arbitrary distinguishability. We introduce a compact description by utilizing a natural basis which decouples the input state from the interferometric network, thereby providing a useful tool for even larger photon numbers

Neuroprotective Role of Selected Antioxidant Agents in Preventing Cisplatin-Induced Damage of Human Neurons In Vitro

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a side effect of platinum-based chemotherapy and decreases the quality of life of cancer patients. We compared neuroprotective properties of several agents using an in vitro model of terminally differentiated human cells NT2-N derived from cell line NT2/D1. Sodium azide and an active metabolite of amifostine (WR1065) increase cell viability in simultaneous treatment with cisplatin. In addition, WR1065 protects the non-dividing neurons by decreasing cisplatin caused oxidative stress and apoptosis. Accumulation of Pt in cisplatin-treated cells was heterogeneous, but the frequency and concentration of Pt in cells were lowered in the presence of WR1065 as shown by X-ray fluorescence microscopy (XFM). Transition metals accumulation accompanied Pt increase in cells; this effect was equally diminished in the presence of WR1065. To analyze possible chemical modulation of Pt-DNA bonds, we examined the platinum L-III near edge spectrum by X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The spectrum found in cisplatin-DNA samples is altered differently by the addition of either WR1065 or sodium azide. Importantly, a similar change in Pt edge spectra was noted in cells treated with cisplatin and WR1065. Therefore, amifostine should be reconsidered as a candidate for treatments that reduce or prevent CIPN

Severe childhood malaria syndromes defined by plasma proteome profiles

BACKGROUND Cerebral malaria (CM) and severe malarial anemia (SMA) are the most serious life-threatening clinical syndromes of Plasmodium falciparum infection in childhood. Therefore it is important to understand the pathology underlying the development of CM and SMA, as opposed to uncomplicated malaria (UM). Different host responses to infection are likely to be reflected in plasma proteome-patterns that associate with clinical status and therefore provide indicators of the pathogenesis of these syndromes. METHODS AND FINDINGS Plasma and comprehensive clinical data for discovery and validation cohorts were obtained as part of a prospective case-control study of severe childhood malaria at the main tertiary hospital of the city of Ibadan, an urban and densely populated holoendemic malaria area in Nigeria. A total of 946 children participated in this study. Plasma was subjected to high-throughput proteomic profiling. Statistical pattern-recognition methods were used to find proteome-patterns that defined disease groups. Plasma proteome-patterns accurately distinguished children with CM and with SMA from those with UM, and from healthy or severely ill malaria-negative children. CONCLUSIONS We report that an accurate definition of the major childhood malaria syndromes can be achieved using plasma proteome-patterns. Our proteomic data can be exploited to understand the pathogenesis of the different childhood severe malaria syndromes

A Next-Generation Hard X-Ray Nanoprobe Beamline for In Situ Studies of Energy Materials and Devices

The Advanced Photon Source is developing a suite of new X-ray beamlines to study materials and devices across many length scales and under real conditions. One of the flagship beamlines of the APS upgrade is the In Situ Nanoprobe (ISN) beamline, which will provide in situ and operando characterization of advanced energy materials and devices under varying temperatures, gas ambients, and applied fields, at previously unavailable spatial resolution and throughput. Examples of materials systems include inorganic and organic photovoltaic systems, advanced battery systems, fuel cell components, nanoelectronic devices, advanced building materials and other scientifically and technologically relevant systems. To characterize these systems at very high spatial resolution and trace sensitivity, the ISN will use both nanofocusing mirrors and diffractive optics to achieve spots sizes as small as 20 nm. Nanofocusing mirrors in Kirkpatrick–Baez geometry will provide several orders of magnitude increase in photon flux at a spatial resolution of 50 nm. Diffractive optics such as zone plates and/or multilayer Laue lenses will provide a highest spatial resolution of 20 nm. Coherent diffraction methods will be used to study even small specimen features with sub-10 nm relevant length scale. A high-throughput data acquisition system will be employed to significantly increase operations efficiency and usability of the instrument. The ISN will provide full spectroscopy capabilities to study the chemical state of most materials in the periodic table, and enable X-ray fluorescence tomography. Insitu electrical characterization will enable operando studies of energy and electronic devices such as photovoltaic systems and batteries. We describe the optical concept for the ISN beamline, the technical design, and the approach for enabling a broad variety of in situ studies. We furthermore discuss the application of hard X-ray microscopy to study defects in multi-crystalline solar cells, one of the lines of inquiries for which the ISN is being developed

A next-generation in-situ nanoprobe beamline for the Advanced Photon Source

The Advanced Photon Source is currently developing a suite of new hard x-ray beamlines, aimed primarily at the study of materials and devices under real conditions. One of the flagship beamlines of the APS Upgrade is the In-Situ Nanoprobe beamline (ISN beamline), which will provide in-situ and operando characterization of advanced energy materials and devices under change of temperature and gases, under applied fields, in 3D. The ISN beamline is designed to deliver spatially coherent x-rays with photon energies between 4 keV and 30 keV to the ISN instrument. As an x-ray source, a revolver-type undulator with two interchangeable magnetic structures, optimized to provide high brilliance throughout the range of photon energies of 4 keV – 30 keV, will be used. The ISN instrument will provide a smallest hard x-ray spot of 20 nm using diffractive optics, with sensitivity to sub-10 nm sample structures using coherent diffraction. Using nanofocusing mirrors in Kirkpatrick-Baez geometry, the ISN will also provide a focus of 50 nm with a flux of 8·1011 Photons/s at a photon energy of 10 keV, several orders of magnitude larger than what is currently available. This will allow imaging of trace amounts of most elements in the periodic table, with a sensitivity to well below 100 atoms for most metals in thin samples. It will also enable nanospectroscopic studies of the chemical state of most materials relevant to energy science. The ISN beamline will be primarily used to study inorganic and organic photovoltaic systems, advanced batteries and fuel cells, nanoelectronics devices, and materials and systems diesigned to reduce the environmental impact of combustion.United States. Dept. of Energy (SunShot Initiative Contract DE-EE0005314)United States. Dept. of Energy (SunShot Initiative Contract DE-EE0005329)United States. Dept. of Energy (SunShot Initiative Contract DE-EE0005948

Comparison of The Genome Profiles Between Head and Body Lice

The body louse (Pediculus humanus humanus) is known to have diverged from the head louse (P. humanus capitis) but genomic differences between these two subspecies still remain unexplored. To compare genomic profiles between head and body lice, whole genome sequences of head lice were determined by next generation sequencing methods based on both Illumina Genome analyzer and Roche GS FLX pyrosequencing and compared with the reference genome sequences of the body louse. Total consensuses generated by mapping to the body louse genome in conjunction with de novo assembly of head louse genome sequences revealed a head louse genome size of 110 Mbp with a 96% coverage of the body louse genome sequences. A total of 12,651 genes were predicted from the head louse genome sequences although more precise assembly and functional annotation of the genome is required for a more accurate gene count. Among the 873 genes that were putatively specific to the head louse, 15 genes were confirmed to be transcribed in both head and body lice, suggesting the previously estimated gene number of the body louse was likely underestimated. The single nucleotide polymorphism analysis showed that the nucleotide diversity of genome between head and body lice was 2.2%, which was larger than that of the transcriptome between head and body lice. An endosymbiont genome analysis showed that the composition of endosymbionts in head lice was similar to that of body lice and Candidatus Riesia pediculicola was the primary endosymbiont in both head and body lice

Linking deeply-sourced volatile emissions to plateau growth dynamics in southeastern Tibetan Plateau

© The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Zhang, M., Guo, Z., Xu, S., Barry, P. H., Sano, Y., Zhang, L., Halldorsson, S. A., Chen, A.-T., Cheng, Z., Liu, C.-Q., Li, S.-L., Lang, Y.-C., Zheng, G., Li, Z., Li, L., & Li, Y. Linking deeply-sourced volatile emissions to plateau growth dynamics in southeastern Tibetan Plateau. Nature Communications, 12(1), (2021): 4157, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24415-y.The episodic growth of high-elevation orogenic plateaux is controlled by a series of geodynamic processes. However, determining the underlying mechanisms that drive plateau growth dynamics over geological history and constraining the depths at which growth originates, remains challenging. Here we present He-CO2-N2 systematics of hydrothermal fluids that reveal the existence of a lithospheric-scale fault system in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau, whereby multi-stage plateau growth occurred in the geological past and continues to the present. He isotopes provide unambiguous evidence for the involvement of mantle-scale dynamics in lateral expansion and localized surface uplift of the Tibetan Plateau. The excellent correlation between 3He/4He values and strain rates, along the strike of Indian indentation into Asia, suggests non-uniform distribution of stresses between the plateau boundary and interior, which modulate southeastward growth of the Tibetan Plateau within the context of India-Asia convergence. Our results demonstrate that deeply-sourced volatile geochemistry can be used to constrain deep dynamic processes involved in orogenic plateau growth.This work was supported by China Seismic Experimental Site (CSES) (2019CSES0104), the Strategic Priority Research Program (B) of Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB26000000), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2020YFA0607700), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41930642, 41602341, 41772355, and 41702361), the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program (STEP) (2019QZKK0702), and the United Laboratory of High-Pressure Physics and Earthquake Science (2019HPPES02). P.H.B. was supported by the US National Science Foundation EAR Grant 1144559 during a portion of this work

A model for the differentiation between grid and conjunctive units in medial entorhinal cortex

The multiple layers of medial entorhinal cortex (mEC) contain cells that differ in selectivity, connectivity, and cellular properties. Grid cells in layer II and in the deeper layers express triangular grid patterns in the environment. The firing rate of the conjunctive cells found in layer III and below, on the other hand, show grid-by-head direction tuning. In this study, we model the differentiation between grid and conjunctive cells in a network with self-organized connections. Arranged into distinct layers, the model grid units and conjunctive units develop, with a similar time course, grid fields resulting from firing rate adaptation and competitive learning. Grid alignment in both layers is delayed with respect to the formation of triangular grids. A common grid orientation among conjunctive units is produced, in the model, by head-direction modulated collateral interactions, while the grids of grid units inherit the same orientation through connections from conjunctive units. Grid units as well as conjunctive units share a similar spacing but show a random distribution of spatial phases. Grid units however carry more spatial information than conjunctive units, thus providing better inputs for the hippocampus to form spatial memorie