Titan cell production in Cryptococcus neoformans reshapes the cell wall and capsule composition during infection

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (R01AI080275 and R21AI22352), the NIH Fogarty International Center (R25TW009345), the University of Minnesota Center for Translational Science Institute (UL1TR000114), Wellcome Trust (086827, 075470, 097377, 101873 & 200208) and MRC Centre for Medical Mycology (N006364/1). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Quantum Gambling Using Three Nonorthogonal States

We provide a quantum gambling protocol using three (symmetric) nonorthogonal states. The bias of the proposed protocol is less than that of previous ones, making it more practical. We show that the proposed scheme is secure against non-entanglement attacks. The security of the proposed scheme against entanglement attacks is shown heuristically.Comment: no essential correction, 4 pages, RevTe

Practical quantum key distribution: On the security evaluation with inefficient single-photon detectors

Quantum Key Distribution with the BB84 protocol has been shown to be unconditionally secure even using weak coherent pulses instead of single-photon signals. The distances that can be covered by these methods are limited due to the loss in the quantum channel (e.g. loss in the optical fiber) and in the single-photon counters of the receivers. One can argue that the loss in the detectors cannot be changed by an eavesdropper in order to increase the covered distance. Here we show that the security analysis of this scenario is not as easy as is commonly assumed, since already two-photon processes allow eavesdropping strategies that outperform the known photon-number splitting attack. For this reason there is, so far, no satisfactory security analysis available in the framework of individual attacks.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures; Abstract and introduction extended, Appendix added, references update

Quantifying nonorthogonality

An exploratory approach to the possibility of analyzing nonorthogonality as a quantifiable property is presented. Three different measures for the nonorthogonality of pure states are introduced, and one of these measures is extended to single-particle density matrices using methods that are similar to recently introduced techniques for quantifying entanglement. Several interesting special cases are considered. It is pointed out that a measure of nonorthogonality can meaningfully be associated with a single mixed quantum state. It is then shown how nonorthogonality can be unlocked with classical information; this analysis reveals interesting inequalities and points to a number of connections between nonorthogonality and entanglement.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Many Roads to Synchrony: Natural Time Scales and Their Algorithms

We consider two important time scales---the Markov and cryptic orders---that monitor how an observer synchronizes to a finitary stochastic process. We show how to compute these orders exactly and that they are most efficiently calculated from the epsilon-machine, a process's minimal unifilar model. Surprisingly, though the Markov order is a basic concept from stochastic process theory, it is not a probabilistic property of a process. Rather, it is a topological property and, moreover, it is not computable from any finite-state model other than the epsilon-machine. Via an exhaustive survey, we close by demonstrating that infinite Markov and infinite cryptic orders are a dominant feature in the space of finite-memory processes. We draw out the roles played in statistical mechanical spin systems by these two complementary length scales.Comment: 17 pages, 16 figures: http://cse.ucdavis.edu/~cmg/compmech/pubs/kro.htm. Santa Fe Institute Working Paper 10-11-02

Regulatory T Cell Induction and Retention in the Lungs Drives Suppression of Detrimental Type 2 Th Cells During Pulmonary Cryptococcal Infection

Lethal disease caused by the fungus, Cryptococcus neoformans, is a consequence of the combined failure to control pulmonary fungal replication and immunopathology caused by induced type-2 helper T (Th2) cell responses in animal models. In order to gain incites into immune regulatory networks, we examined the role of regulatory T (Treg) cells in suppression of Th2 cells, using a mouse model of experimental cryptococcosis. Upon pulmonary infection with Cryptococcus, Treg cells accumulated in the lung parenchyma independently of priming in the draining lymph node. Using peptide-MHCII molecules to identify Cryptococcus-specific Treg cells combined with genetic fate-mapping, we noted that a majority of the Treg cells found in the lungs were induced during the infection. Additionally, we found that Treg cells utilized the transcription factor, Interferon Regulatory Factor 4 (IRF4), to dampen harmful Th2 cell responses, as well as mediate chemokine retention of Treg cells in the lungs. Taken together, induction and IRF4-dependent localization of Treg cells in the lungs allow Treg cells to suppress the deleterious effects of Th2 cells during cryptococcal infection

Detection of karakin poisoning using a targeted mass spectrometric workflow

Treatment and management of plant toxicosis is made more difficult when an alien plant species is ingested, as identification of the toxin may pose a challenge. High-resolution mass spectrometers are required for the toxicological analysis of samples in these cases owing to their ability to scan large mass ranges and accurately identify mass features. We present this case to highlight the value of this technology in clinical toxicology. A middle-aged woman reported visual impairment, dizziness and numbness of her mouth and tongue following the ingestion of a berry. Over time her condition deteriorated, warranting toxicological analysis. The tree the berry came from was identified as Cornynocarpus laevigatus, which is known to produce the karakin neurotoxin. The patient’s samples and the husk and pulp of the berries were analysed using a high-resolution mass spectrometer. This resulted in the identification of the toxin in the berry kernel and husk and patient’s hair, suggesting that karakin could have contributed to the patient’s condition

On the Quantum Computational Complexity of the Ising Spin Glass Partition Function and of Knot Invariants

It is shown that the canonical problem of classical statistical thermodynamics, the computation of the partition function, is in the case of +/-J Ising spin glasses a particular instance of certain simple sums known as quadratically signed weight enumerators (QWGTs). On the other hand it is known that quantum computing is polynomially equivalent to classical probabilistic computing with an oracle for estimating QWGTs. This suggests a connection between the partition function estimation problem for spin glasses and quantum computation. This connection extends to knots and graph theory via the equivalence of the Kauffman polynomial and the partition function for the Potts model.Comment: 8 pages, incl. 2 figures. v2: Substantially rewritte

Characterization of antifungal C-type lectin receptor expression on murine epithelial and endothelial cells in mucosal tissues

Funding Information: We thank P. Asamaphan, A. Clark, and B. Kerscher for providing NIH overexpression cell lines, S. Yamasaki for the anti‐Mincle antibody, the staff of the University of Aberdeen animal facility for the care for our animals, and the Iain Fraser Cytometry Centre at the University of Aberdeen for their assistance. This work was supported by funding from the Wellcome Trust (102705, 217163), the Medical Research Council Centre for Medical Mycology, and the University of Exeter (MR/N006364/2).Peer reviewedPublisher PD