Generation and analysis of correlated pairs of photons on board a nanosatellite

Satellites carrying sources of entangled photons could establish a global quantum network, enabling private encryption keys between any two points on Earth. Despite numerous proposals, demonstration of space-based quantum systems has been limited due to the cost of traditional satellites. We are using very small spacecraft to accelerate progress. We report the in-orbit operation of a photon pair source aboard a 1.65 kg nanosatellite and demonstrate pair generation and polarization correlation under space conditions. The in-orbit photon correlations exhibit a contrast of 97+/-2%, matching ground-based tests. This pathfinding mission overcomes the challenge of demonstrating in-orbit performance for the components of future entangled photon experiments. Ongoing operation establishes the in-orbit lifetime of these critical components. More generally, this demonstrates the ability for nanosatellites to enable faster progress in space-based research

Gelsolin induces colorectal tumor cell invasion via modulation of the urokinase-type plasminogen activator cascade

Gelsolin is a cytoskeletal protein which participates in actin filament dynamics and promotes cell motility and plasticity. Although initially regarded as a tumor suppressor, gelsolin expression in certain tumors correlates with poor prognosis and therapy-resistance. In vitro, gelsolin has anti-apoptotic and pro-migratory functions and is critical for invasion of some types of tumor cells. We found that gelsolin was highly expressed at tumor borders infiltrating into adjacent liver tissues, as examined by immunohistochemistry. Although gelsolin contributes to lamellipodia formation in migrating cells, the mechanisms by which it induces tumor invasion are unclear. Gelsolin’s influence on the invasive activity of colorectal cancer cells was investigated using overexpression and small interfering RNA knockdown. We show that gelsolin is required for invasion of colorectal cancer cells through matrigel. Microarray analysis and quantitative PCR indicate that gelsolin overexpression induces the upregulation of invasion-promoting genes in colorectal cancer cells, including the matrix-degrading urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA). Conversely, gelsolin knockdown reduces uPA levels, as well as uPA secretion. The enhanced invasiveness of gelsolin-overexpressing cells was attenuated by treatment with function-blocking antibodies to either uPA or its receptor uPAR, indicating that uPA/uPAR activity is crucial for gelsolin-dependent invasion. In summary, our data reveals novel functions of gelsolin in colorectal tumor cell invasion through its modulation of the uPA/uPAR cascade, with potentially important roles in colorectal tumor dissemination to metastatic sites

Expression of an anti-CD4 single-chain antibody fragment from the donor cornea can prolong corneal allograft survival in inbred rats

To investigate whether expression of an anti-CD4 antibody fragment (scFv) by a lentivector-transduced donor cornea can prolong rat corneal allograft survival. Methods Inbred Fischer 344 rats received penetrating corneal allografts from Wistar-Furth donors after a 3 h transduction of the donor cornea with a lentivector carrying anti-CD4scFv cDNA (Lv-CD4scFv), a lentivector carrying the reporter gene-enhanced yellow fluorescence protein (LV-eYFP), or an adenoviral vector carrying anti-CD4 scFv cDNA (Ad-CD4scFv). Unmodified controls were also performed. Graft survival was assessed by corneal clarity, and rejection was confirmed histologically. Results In organ-cultured corneas, expression of anti-CD4 scFv was detected at 2 days post-transduction with the adenoviral vector, compared with 5 days post-transduction with the lentivector, and was 10-fold higher than the former. More inflammation was observed in Ad-CD4scFv-modified allografts than in Lv-CD4scFv-modified grafts at 15 days postsurgery (p=0.01). The median time to rejection for unmodified, LV-eYFP and Ad-CD4scFv grafts was day 17, compared with day 22 for Lv-CD4scFv grafts (p≤0.018). Conclusion Donor corneas transduced with a lentiviral vector carrying anti-CD4scFv cDNA showed a modest but significant prolongation in graft survival compared with unmodified, Lv-eYFP and Ad-CD4scFv grafts. However, rejection still occurred in all Lv-CD4scFv grafts, indicating that sensitisation may have been delayed but was not prevented.Australian National Health & Medical Research Council and the Ophthalmic Research Institute of Australia

Implanting Ni-O-VOx sites into Cu-doped Ni for low-overpotential alkaline hydrogen evolution

Nickel-based catalysts are most commonly used in industrial alkaline water electrolysis. However, it remains a great challenge to address the sluggish reaction kinetics and severe deactivation problems of hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Here, we show a Cu-doped Ni catalyst implanted with Ni-O-VOx sites (Ni(Cu)VOx) for alkaline HER. The optimal Ni(Cu) VOx electrode exhibits a near-zero onset overpotential and low overpotential of 21 mV to deliver -10 mA cm−2, which is comparable to benchmark Pt/C catalyst. Evidence for the formation of Ni-O-VOx sites in Ni(Cu)VOx is established by systematic X-ray absorption spectroscopy studies. The VOx can cause a substantial dampening of Ni lattice and create an enlarged electrochemically active surface area. First-principles calculations support that the Ni-O-VOx sites are superactive and can promote the charge redistribution from Ni to VOx, which greatly weakens the H-adsorption and H2 release free energy over Ni. This endows the Ni(Cu)VOx electrode high HER activity and long-term durability.This research was undertaken with the assistance of resources provided by the National Computational Infrastructure (NCI) facility at the Australian National University; allocated through both the National Computational Merit Allocation Scheme supported by the Australian Government and the Australian Research Council grant (LE190100021). C.Z. is grateful for the award of a Future Fellow from Australian Research Council (FT170100224)

How the Kano model contributes to Kansei engineering in services

Recent studies show that products and services hold great appeal if they are attractively designed to elicit emotional feelings from customers. Kansei engineering (KE) has good potential to provide a competitive advantage to those able to read and translate customer affect and emotion in actual product and services. This study introduces an integrative framework of the Kano model and KE, applied to services. The Kano model was used and inserted into KE to exhibit the relationship between service attribute performance and customer emotional response. Essentially, the Kano model categorises service attribute quality into three major groups (must-be [M], one-dimensional [O] and attractive [A]). The findings of a case study that involved 100 tourists who stayed in luxury 4- and 5-star hotels are presented. As a practical matter, this research provides insight on which service attributes deserve more attention with regard to their significant impact on customer emotional needs. Statement of Relevance: Apart from cognitive evaluation, emotions and hedonism play a big role in service encounters. Through a focus on delighting qualities of service attributes, this research enables service providers and managers to establish the extent to which they prioritise their improvement efforts and to always satisfy their customer emotions beyond expectation. Keywords: Kansei engineering, emotional feelings, Kano model, service

Non-repudiation in an agent-based e-commerce system

Abecos is an agent-based e-commerce system under development at the Nanyang Technological University. It aims to provide a software infrastructure for a large scale, distributed system whereby seller and buyer (software) agents engage in e-commerce activities on behalf of organizations and individuals. A key factor in making this system usable in practice is strict security controls. One aspect of security is the provision of non-repudiation services. As protocols for non-repudiation have focused on the singlemessage non-repudiation, its adaptation to afford non-repudiation in a communication session for two agents in Abecos is inefficient. In this work, we investigate and propose a protocol for enforcing non-repudiation in a session. We compare and show that it is more efficient than simple adaptations of existing protocols. Keywords: Electronic Commerce, Security, Non-Repudiation Protocol 1 Introduction Electronic commerce is an emerging paradigm of business on the fast g..

High speed synchrotron X-ray imaging studies of the ultrasound shockwave and enhanced flow during metal solidification processes

The highly dynamic behaviour of ultrasonic bubble implosion in liquid metal, the multiphase liquid metal flow containing bubbles and particles, and the interaction between ultrasonic waves and semisolid phases during solidification of metal were studied in situ using the complementary ultrafast and high speed synchrotron X-ray imaging facilities housed respectively at the Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, US, and Diamond Light Source, UK. Real-time ultrafast X-ray imaging of 135,780 frames per second (fps) revealed that ultrasonic bubble implosion in a liquid Bi-8 wt. %Zn alloy can occur in a single wave period (30 kHz), and the effective region affected by the shockwave at implosion was 3.5 times the original bubble diameter. Furthermore, ultrasound bubbles in liquid metal move faster than the primary particles, and the velocity of bubbles is 70 ~ 100% higher than that of the primary particles present in the same locations close to the sonotrode. Ultrasound waves can very effectively create a strong swirling flow in a semisolid melt in less than one second. The energetic flow can detach solid particles from the liquid-solid interface and redistribute them back into the bulk liquid very effectively

Prescribing patterns of low doses of antipsychotic medications in older Asian patients with schizophrenia, 2001-2009

Background: This study examined the use of low doses of antipsychotic medications (300mg/day CPZeq or less) in older Asian patients with schizophrenia and its demographic and clinical correlates. Methods: Information on hospitalized patients with schizophrenia, aged 55 years or older, was extracted from the database of the Research on Asian Psychotropic Prescription Patterns (REAP) study (2001-2009). Data on 1,452 patients in eight Asian countries and territories including China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, India, and Malaysia were analyzed. Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and antipsychotic prescriptions were recorded using a standardized protocol and data collection procedure. Results: The prescription frequency for low doses of antipsychotic medications was 40.9% in the pooled sample. Multiple logistic regression analysis of the whole sample showed that patients on low doses of antipsychotic medications were more likely to be female, have an older age, a shorter length of illness, and less positive symptoms. Of patients in the six countries and territories that participated in all the surveys between 2001 and 2009, those in Japan were less likely to receive low doses of antipsychotics. Conclusion: Low doses of antipsychotic medications were only applied in less than half of older Asian patients with schizophreni

Changes in cortical cytoskeletal and extracellular matrix gene expression in prostate cancer are related to oncogenic ERG deregulation

Abstract Background The cortical cytoskeleton network connects the actin cytoskeleton to various membrane proteins, influencing cell adhesion, polarity, migration and response to extracellular signals. Previous studies have suggested changes in the expression of specific components in prostate cancer, especially of 4.1 proteins (encoded by EPB41 genes) which form nodes in this network. Methods Expression of EPB41L1, EPB41L2, EPB41L3 (protein: 4.1B), EPB41L4B (EHM2), EPB41L5, EPB49 (dematin), VIL2 (ezrin), and DLG1 (summarized as „cortical cytoskeleton" genes) as well as ERG was measured by quantitative RT-PCR in a well-characterized set of 45 M0 prostate adenocarcinoma and 13 benign tissues. Hypermethylation of EPB41L3 and GSTP1 was compared in 93 cancer tissues by methylation-specific PCR. Expression of 4.1B was further studied by immunohistochemistry. Results EPB41L1 and EPB41L3 were significantly downregulated and EPB41L4B was upregulated in cancer tissues. Low EPB41L1 or high EPB41L4B expression were associated with earlier biochemical recurrence. None of the other cortical cytoskeleton genes displayed expression changes, in particular EPB49 and VIL2, despite hints from previous studies. EPB41L3 downregulation was significantly associated with hypermethylation of its promoter and strongly correlated with GSTP1 hypermethylation. Protein 4.1B was detected most strongly in the basal cells of normal prostate epithelia. Its expression in carcinoma cells was similar to the weaker one in normal luminal cells. EPB41L3 downregulation and EPB41L4B upregulation were essentially restricted to the 22 cases with ERG overexpression. Expression changes in EPB41L3 and EPB41L4B closely paralleled those previously observed for the extracellular matrix genes FBLN1 and SPOCK1, respectively. Conclusions Specific changes in the cortical cytoskeleton were observed during prostate cancer progression. They parallel changes in the expression of extracellular matrix components and all together appear to be associated with oncogenic ERG overexpression. We hypothesize that these alterations may contribute to the increased invasivity conferred to prostate cancer cells by ERG deregulation.</p