Proposal for witnessing non-classical light with the human eye

We give a complete proposal showing how to detect the non-classical nature of photonic states with naked eyes as detectors. The enabling technology is a sub-Poissonian photonic state that is obtained from single photons, displacement operations in phase space and basic non-photon-number-resolving detectors. We present a detailed statistical analysis of our proposal including imperfect photon creation and detection and a realistic model of the human eye. We conclude that a few tens of hours are sufficient to certify non-classical light with the human eye with a p-value of 10%.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, accepted versio

Persistent Homology Over Directed Acyclic Graphs

We define persistent homology groups over any set of spaces which have inclusions defined so that the corresponding directed graph between the spaces is acyclic, as well as along any subgraph of this directed graph. This method simultaneously generalizes standard persistent homology, zigzag persistence and multidimensional persistence to arbitrary directed acyclic graphs, and it also allows the study of more general families of topological spaces or point-cloud data. We give an algorithm to compute the persistent homology groups simultaneously for all subgraphs which contain a single source and a single sink in $O(n^4)$ arithmetic operations, where $n$ is the number of vertices in the graph. We then demonstrate as an application of these tools a method to overlay two distinct filtrations of the same underlying space, which allows us to detect the most significant barcodes using considerably fewer points than standard persistence.Comment: Revised versio

Coopération modélisation : discrimination pour la reconnaissance d'écriture manuscrite

-Reconnaître l'écriture manuscrite est un problème d'une telle complexité qu'il est devenu courant de faire coopérer plusieurs algorithmes de classification. Dans cet article, nous présentons un classifieur hybride original. Un premier expert de modélisation détermine les deux classes les plus pertinentes en comparant le symbole inconnu à un ensemble exhaustif de symboles. Le second, discriminant, permet de lever les ambiguïtés. Cette architecture hybride exploite le fait que la "bonne" classe appartient le plus souvent aux deux classes les plus pertinentes trouvées par le premier classifieur. Les expérimentations, conduites sur une base de test de 20000 formes (62 classes), montrent que l'apport relatif de la coopération s'élève à 30%

CSRP3 mediates polyphenols-induced cardioprotection in hypertension

Berries contain bioactive polyphenols, whose capacity to prevent cardiovascular diseases has been established recently in animal models as well in human clinical trials. However, cellular processes and molecular targets of berries polyphenols remain to be identified. The capacity of a polyphenol-enriched diet (i.e., blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberry tree fruits and Portuguese crowberries berries mixture) to promote animal survival and protect cardiovascular function from salt-induced hypertension was evaluated in a chronic salt-sensitive Dahl rat model. The daily consumption of berries improved survival of Dahl/salt-sensitive rats submitted to high-salt diet and normalized their body weight, renal function and blood pressure. In addition, a prophylactic effect was observed at the level of cardiac hypertrophy and dysfunction, tissue cohesion and cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Berries also protected the aorta from fibrosis and modulated the expression of aquaporin-1, a channel involved in endothelial water and nitric oxide permeability. Left ventricle proteomics analysis led to the identification of berries and salt metabolites targets, including cystein and glycin-rich protein 3 (CSRP3), a protein involved in myocyte cytoarchitecture. In neonatal rat ventricular cardiomyocytes, CSRP3 was validated as a target of a berries-derived polyphenol metabolite, 4-methylcatechol sulfate, at micromolar concentrations, mimicking physiological conditions of human plasma circulation. Accordingly, siRNA silencing of CSRP3 and 4-methylcatechol sulfate pretreatment reversed cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and CSRP3 overexpression induced by phenylephrine. Our systemic study clearly supports the modulation of CSRP3 by a polyphenol-rich berries diet as an efficient cardioprotective strategy in hypertension-induced heart failure

Causal effect of plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 on coronary heart disease

Background: Plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI‐1) plays an essential role in the fibrinolysis system and thrombosis. Population studies have reported that blood PAI‐1 levels are associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). However, it is unclear whether the association reflects a causal influence of PAI‐1 on CHD risk. Methods and Results: To evaluate the association between PAI‐1 and CHD, we applied a 3‐step strategy. First, we investigated the observational association between PAI‐1 and CHD incidence using a systematic review based on a literature search for PAI‐1 and CHD studies. Second, we explored the causal association between PAI‐1 and CHD using a Mendelian randomization approach using summary statistics from large genome‐wide association studies. Finally, we explored the causal effect of PAI‐1 on cardiovascular risk factors including metabolic and subclinical atherosclerosis measures. In the systematic meta‐analysis, the highest quantile of blood PAI‐1 level was associated with higher CHD risk comparing with the lowest quantile (odds ratio=2.17; 95% CI: 1.53, 3.07) in an age‐ and sex‐adjusted model. The effect size was reduced in studies using a multivariable‐adjusted model (odds ratio=1.46; 95% CI: 1.13, 1.88). The Mendelian randomization analyses suggested a causal effect of increased PAI‐1 level on CHD risk (odds ratio=1.22 per unit increase of log‐transformed PAI‐1; 95% CI: 1.01, 1.47). In addition, we also detected a causal effect of PAI‐1 on elevating blood glucose and high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol. Conclusions: Our study indicates a causal effect of elevated PAI‐1 level on CHD risk, which may be mediated by glucose dysfunction.C. Song … Deborah Lawler … Lyle J. Palmer ... et al. (CHARGE Consortium Hemostatic Factor Working Group; ICBP Consortium; CHARGE Consortium Subclinical Working Group

Aneurysms—from traumatology to screening

This paper deals with aneurysmal disease, primarily when localized in the abdominal aorta. It is based on the Olof Rudbeck lecture 2009. Aneurysm is a localized widening of an artery, and its definition has become an important issue today when the disease is in focus for screening programmes. Aetiology and pathogenesis are still poorly understood, but a genetic component determining the strength of the aortic wall is important, and there is a strong male dominance. Historically, several attempts have been made to treat the disease, but reconstructive treatment has been possible only since 1951, in an increasing number of cases performed endovascularly. By early detection through screening, and thereby the possibility to treat before rupture, it has now become possible to decrease the total mortality from the disease in the population

A Gene in the Process of Endosymbiotic Transfer

BACKGROUND: The endosymbiotic birth of organelles is accompanied by massive transfer of endosymbiont genes to the eukaryotic host nucleus. In the centric diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana the Psb28 protein is encoded in the plastid genome while a second version is nuclear-encoded and possesses a bipartite N-terminal presequence necessary to target the protein into the diatom complex plastid. Thus it can represent a gene captured during endosymbiotic gene transfer. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To specify the origin of nuclear- and plastid-encoded Psb28 in T. pseudonana we have performed extensive phylogenetic analyses of both mentioned genes. We have also experimentally tested the intracellular location of the nuclear-encoded Psb28 protein (nuPsb28) through transformation of the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum with the gene in question fused to EYFP. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We show here that both versions of the psb28 gene in T. pseudonana are transcribed. We also provide experimental evidence for successful targeting of the nuPsb28 fused with EYFP to the diatom complex plastid. Extensive phylogenetic analyses demonstrate that nucleotide composition of the analyzed genes deeply influences the tree topology and that appropriate methods designed to deal with a compositional bias of the sequences and the long branch attraction artefact (LBA) need to be used to overcome this obstacle. We propose that nuclear psb28 in T. pseudonana is a duplicate of a plastid localized version, and that it has been transferred from its endosymbiont