Practical Quantum Sensing with Thermal Light

Many quantum sensing suggestions rely on temporal correlations found in photon pairs generated by parametric down-conversion. In this work, we show that the temporal correlations in light with a thermal photon statistics can be equally useful for such applications. Using a sub-threshold laser diode as an ultrabright source of thermal light, we demonstrate optical range finding to a distance of up to 1.8 km.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Efficacy and safety of bempedoic acid for prevention of cardiovascular events and diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Bempedoic acid is an oral, once-daily, first-in-class drug being developed for the treatment of hyperlipidemia. However, evidence of bempedoic acid use for the prevention of cardiovascular events and diabetes is lacking. Thus, we aim to evaluate the benefit and safety of bempedoic acid use for the prevention of cardiovascular events and diabetes. METHODS: We searched Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials with no language restriction from inception until March 3, 2020. Pairs of reviewers independently identified randomized controlled trials comparing the use of bempedoic acid with placebo or no treatment for primary prevention of cardiovascular events in statin-intolerant patients with hypercholesterolemia. The primary outcomes were major adverse cardiac events, and percent change in LDL-C. RESULTS: We identified 11 trials including a total of 4391 participants. Bempedoic acid use was associated with a reduction in composite cardiovascular outcome (RR 0.75, 95% CI 0.56-0.99; I CONCLUSIONS: Bempedoic acid in patients with hypercholesterolemia was associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular events and diabetes

Improving feature location using structural similarity and iterative graph mapping

Locating program element(s) relevant to a particular feature is an important step in efficient maintenance of a software system. The existing feature location techniques analyze each feature independently and perform a one-time analysis after being provided an initial input. As a result, these techniques are sensitive to the quality of the input. In this paper, we propose to address the above issues in feature location using an iterative context-aware approach. The underlying intuition is that features are not independent of each other, and the structure of source code resembles the structure of features. The distinguishing characteristics of the proposed approach are: (1) it takes into account the structural similarity between a feature and a program element to determine feature-element relevance; (2) it employs an iterative process to propagate the relevance of the established mappings between a feature and a program element to the neighboring features and program elements. We evaluate our approach using two different systems, DirectBank, a small-scale industry financial system, and Linux kernel, a large-scale open-source operating system. Our evaluation suggests that the proposed approach is more robust and can significantly increase the recall of feature location with only a minor decrease of precision

Diffusion-weighted imaging lesions after endovascular treatment of cerebral aneurysms: A network meta-analysis

BackgroundThromboembolism is one of the common complications in endovascular treatments including coiling alone, stent-assisted coiling (SAC), balloon-assisted coiling (BAC), and flow-diverting (FD) stents. Such treatments are widely used in intracranial aneurysms (IAs), which usually present as positive lesions in diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI). Whether these adjunctive techniques increase postprocedural DWI-positive lesions after endovascular treatment remains unclear.MethodsA thorough electronic search for the literature published in English between January 2000 and October 2022 was conducted on PubMed, Medline, and EMBASE. Eighteen studies (3 cohort studies and 15 case–control studies) involving 1,843 patients with unruptured IAs (UIAs) were included. We performed a frequentist framework network meta-analysis (NMA) to compare the rank risks of cerebral thromboembolism of the above four endovascular treatments. The incoherence test was used to analyze the statistical disagreement between direct and indirect evidence. Funnel plots were used to analyze publication bias.ResultsThe incidences of DWI lesions in patients who received FD stents, SAC, BAC, and coiling alone were 66.1% (109/165), 37.6% (299/795), 31.1% (236/759), and 25.6% (236/921). The incidence of DWI lesions in patients who received FD stents was higher than that in patients who received SAC [OR: 2.40; 95% CI (1.15, 5.00), P < 0.05], BAC [OR: 2.62; 95% CI (1.19, 5.77), P < 0.05], or coiling alone [OR: 2.77; 95% CI (1.26, 6.07), P < 0.05]. The incoherence test showed preferable consistency in this NMA. No obvious publication bias was found in the funnel plot.ConclusionFD stent placement brings more ischemic lesions identified by DWI than any other procedures for patients with UIA. The characteristics of FD stents may result in a high incidence of DWI lesions

TREML2 Mutation Mediate Alzheimer’s Disease Risk by Altering Neuronal Degeneration

A coding missense mutation (rs3747742) in triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cell-like 2 (TREML2) has been recently proposed as an important protective factor against Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, the link between TREML2 and AD pathology remains unclear. Therefore, we explored the association of TREML2 rs3747742 with cognitive function, neuroimaging biomarkers and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers related to AD, including CSF total-tau (T-tau), phosphor-tau (P-tau), and amyloid-β (Aβ1-42). As for cognitive function, related cognitive scores of Clinical Dementia Rating Sum of Boxes (CDRSB), Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale-cognitive section 11 (ADAS-cog 11), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), and Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) were extracted. We used a multiple linear regression model to examine the association of TREML2 rs3747742 with the baseline variables. Furthermore, we also calculated the change rate of above variables influenced by TREML2 rs3747742 via applying a mixed-effects model over a 4-year follow-up. In this analysis, a total of 1,306 individuals from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database were included. Finally, we observed that only in AD patients, but not in normal controls or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) individuals, TREML2 rs3747742 exhibited a strong association with CSF total-tau levels at baseline (β = -22.1210, p = 0.0166) and 4-year follow-up (β = -0.3961, p = 0.0115). Furthermore, no associations were found with CSF Aβ1-42 levels, P-tau levels, neuroimaging biomarkers and cognitive function neither for baseline variables nor for longitudinal data. Thus, this study indicated that TREML2 mediated the risk of AD through influencing AD-related neurodegeneration (abnormal T-tau levels) but not P-tau levels and Aβ pathology

Genomic analysis of oesophageal squamous-cell carcinoma identifies alcohol drinking-related mutation signature and genomic alterations

Approximately half of the world's 500,000 new oesophageal squamous-cell carcinoma (ESCC) cases each year occur in China. Here, we show whole-genome sequencing of DNA and RNA in 94 Chinese individuals with ESCC. We identify six mutational signatures (E1–E6), and Signature E4 is unique in ESCC linked to alcohol intake and genetic variants in alcohol-metabolizing enzymes. We discover significantly recurrent mutations in 20 protein-coding genes, 4 long non-coding RNAs and 10 untranslational regions. Functional analyses show six genes that have recurrent copy-number variants in three squamous-cell carcinomas (oesophageal, head and neck and lung) significantly promote cancer cell proliferation, migration and invasion. The most frequently affected genes by structural variation are LRP1B and TTC28. The aberrant cell cycle and PI3K-AKT pathways seem critical in ESCC. These results establish a comprehensive genomic landscape of ESCC and provide potential targets for precision treatment and prevention of the cancer