72 research outputs found
A high-performance integrated single-photon detector for telecom wavelengths
We have integrated a commercial avalanche photodiode (APD) and the circuitry
needed to operate it as a single-photon detector (SPD) onto a single PC-board.
At temperatures accessible with Peltier coolers (~200-240K), the PCB-SPD
achieves high detection efficiency (DE) at 1308 and 1545 nm with low dark count
probability (e.g. ~10-6/bias pulse at DE=20%, 220 K), making it useful for
quantum key distribution (QKD). The board generates fast bias pulses, cancels
noise transients, amplifies the signals, and sends them to an on-board
discriminator. A digital blanking circuit suppresses afterpulsing.Comment: (10 pages, 6 figures
Order out of Randomness : Self-Organization Processes in Astrophysics
Self-organization is a property of dissipative nonlinear processes that are
governed by an internal driver and a positive feedback mechanism, which creates
regular geometric and/or temporal patterns and decreases the entropy, in
contrast to random processes. Here we investigate for the first time a
comprehensive number of 16 self-organization processes that operate in
planetary physics, solar physics, stellar physics, galactic physics, and
cosmology. Self-organizing systems create spontaneous {\sl order out of chaos},
during the evolution from an initially disordered system to an ordered
stationary system, via quasi-periodic limit-cycle dynamics, harmonic mechanical
resonances, or gyromagnetic resonances. The internal driver can be gravity,
rotation, thermal pressure, or acceleration of nonthermal particles, while the
positive feedback mechanism is often an instability, such as the
magneto-rotational instability, the Rayleigh-B\'enard convection instability,
turbulence, vortex attraction, magnetic reconnection, plasma condensation, or
loss-cone instability. Physical models of astrophysical self-organization
processes involve hydrodynamic, MHD, and N-body formulations of Lotka-Volterra
equation systems.Comment: 61 pages, 38 Figure
Autocompensating Quantum Cryptography
Quantum cryptographic key distribution (QKD) uses extremely faint light
pulses to carry quantum information between two parties (Alice and Bob),
allowing them to generate a shared, secret cryptographic key. Autocompensating
QKD systems automatically and passively compensate for uncontrolled time
dependent variations of the optical fiber properties by coding the information
as a differential phase between orthogonally-polarized components of a light
pulse sent on a round trip through the fiber, reflected at mid-course using a
Faraday mirror. We have built a prototype system based on standard telecom
technology that achieves a privacy-amplified bit generation rate of ~1000
bits/s over a 10-km optical fiber link. Quantum cryptography is an example of
an application that, by using quantum states of individual particles to
represent information, accomplishes a practical task that is impossible using
classical means.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures, 1 table. Submitted to the New Journal of Physic
Experimental implementation of time-coding quantum key distribution
We have implemented an experimental set-up in order to demonstrate the
feasibility of time-coding protocols for quantum key distribution. Alice
produces coherent 20 ns faint pulses of light at 853 nm. They are sent to Bob
with delay 0 ns (encoding bit 0) or 10 ns (encoding bit 1). Bob directs at
random the received pulses to two different arms. In the first one, a 300 ps
resolution Si photon-counter allows Bob to precisely measure the detection
times of each photon in order to establish the key. Comparing them with the
emission times of the pulses sent by Alice allows to evaluate the quantum bit
error rate (QBER). The minimum obtained QBER is 1.62 %. The possible loss of
coherence in the set-up can be exploited by Eve to eavesdrop the line.
Therefore, the second arm of Bob set-up is a Mach-Zender interferometer with a
10 ns propagation delay between the two path. Contrast measurement of the
output beams allows to measure the autocorrelation function of the received
pulses that characterizes their average coherence. In the case of an ideal
set-up, the value expected with the pulses sent by Alice is 0.576. The
experimental value of the pulses autocorrelation function is found to be 0.541.
Knowing the resulting loss of coherence and the measured QBER, one can evaluate
the mutual information between Alice and Eve and the mutual information between
Alice and Bob, in the case of intercept-resend attacks and in the case of
attacks with intrication. With our values, Bob has an advantage on Eve of 0.43
bit per pulse. The maximum possible QBER corresponding to equal informations
for Bob and Eve is 5.8 %. With the usual attenuation of fibres at 850 nm, it
shows that secure key distribution is possible up to a distance of 2.75 km,
which is sufficient for local links.Comment: 27 pages, 6 figure
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Sensitive Detection and Analysis of Neoantigen-Specific T Cell Populations from Tumors and Blood
Neoantigen-specific T cells are increasingly viewed as important immunotherapy effectors, but physically isolating these rare cell populations is challenging. Here, we describe a sensitive method for the enumeration and isolation of neoantigen-specific CD8+ T cells from small samples of patient tumor or blood. The method relies on magnetic nanoparticles that present neoantigen-loaded major histocompatibility complex (MHC) tetramers at high avidity by barcoded DNA linkers. The magnetic particles provide a convenient handle to isolate the desired cell populations, and the barcoded DNA enables multiplexed analysis. The method exhibits superior recovery of antigen-specific T cell populations relative to literature approaches. We applied the method to profile neoantigen-specific T cell populations in the tumor and blood of patients with metastatic melanoma over the course of anti-PD1 checkpoint inhibitor therapy. We show that the method has value for monitoring clinical responses to cancer immunotherapy and might help guide the development of personalized mutational neoantigen-specific T cell therapies and cancer vaccines
2016 Research & Innovation Day Program
A one day showcase of applied research, social innovation, scholarship projects and activities.https://first.fanshawec.ca/cri_cripublications/1003/thumbnail.jp
Phenotypic Characterization of EIF2AK4 Mutation Carriers in a Large Cohort of Patients Diagnosed Clinically With Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.
BACKGROUND: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare disease with an emerging genetic basis. Heterozygous mutations in the gene encoding the bone morphogenetic protein receptor type 2 (BMPR2) are the commonest genetic cause of PAH, whereas biallelic mutations in the eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 alpha kinase 4 gene (EIF2AK4) are described in pulmonary veno-occlusive disease/pulmonary capillary hemangiomatosis. Here, we determine the frequency of these mutations and define the genotype-phenotype characteristics in a large cohort of patients diagnosed clinically with PAH. METHODS: Whole-genome sequencing was performed on DNA from patients with idiopathic and heritable PAH and with pulmonary veno-occlusive disease/pulmonary capillary hemangiomatosis recruited to the National Institute of Health Research BioResource-Rare Diseases study. Heterozygous variants in BMPR2 and biallelic EIF2AK4 variants with a minor allele frequency of <1:10 000 in control data sets and predicted to be deleterious (by combined annotation-dependent depletion, PolyPhen-2, and sorting intolerant from tolerant predictions) were identified as potentially causal. Phenotype data from the time of diagnosis were also captured. RESULTS: Eight hundred sixty-four patients with idiopathic or heritable PAH and 16 with pulmonary veno-occlusive disease/pulmonary capillary hemangiomatosis were recruited. Mutations in BMPR2 were identified in 130 patients (14.8%). Biallelic mutations in EIF2AK4 were identified in 5 patients with a clinical diagnosis of pulmonary veno-occlusive disease/pulmonary capillary hemangiomatosis. Furthermore, 9 patients with a clinical diagnosis of PAH carried biallelic EIF2AK4 mutations. These patients had a reduced transfer coefficient for carbon monoxide (Kco; 33% [interquartile range, 30%-35%] predicted) and younger age at diagnosis (29 years; interquartile range, 23-38 years) and more interlobular septal thickening and mediastinal lymphadenopathy on computed tomography of the chest compared with patients with PAH without EIF2AK4 mutations. However, radiological assessment alone could not accurately identify biallelic EIF2AK4 mutation carriers. Patients with PAH with biallelic EIF2AK4 mutations had a shorter survival. CONCLUSIONS: Biallelic EIF2AK4 mutations are found in patients classified clinically as having idiopathic and heritable PAH. These patients cannot be identified reliably by computed tomography, but a low Kco and a young age at diagnosis suggests the underlying molecular diagnosis. Genetic testing can identify these misclassified patients, allowing appropriate management and early referral for lung transplantation
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