Interferometry with Photon-Subtracted Thermal Light

We propose and implement a quantum procedure for enhancing the sensitivity with which one can determine the phase shift experienced by a weak light beam possessing thermal statistics in passing through an interferometer. Our procedure entails subtracting exactly one (which can be generalized to m) photons from the light field exiting an interferometer containing a phase-shifting element in one of its arms. As a consequence of the process of photon subtraction, and somewhat surprisingly, the mean photon number and signal-to-noise ratio of the resulting light field are thereby increased, leading to enhanced interferometry. This method can be used to increase measurement sensitivity in a variety of practical applications, including that of forming the image of an object illuminated only by weak thermal light

Quantum-enhanced interferometry with weak thermal light

We propose and implement a procedure for enhancing the sensitivity with which one can determine the phase shift experienced by a thermal light beam possessing on average fewer than four photons in passing through an interferometer. Our procedure entails subtracting exactly one (which can be generalized to m) photon from the light field exiting an interferometer containing a phase-shifting element in one of its arms. As a consequence of the process of photon subtraction, the mean photon number and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the resulting light field are increased, leading to an enhancement of the SNR of the interferometric signal for that fraction of the incoming data that leads to photon subtraction

A Comprehensive Investigation on Common Polymorphisms in the MDR1/ABCB1 Transporter Gene and Susceptibility to Colorectal Cancer

ATP Binding Cassette B1 (ABCB1) is a transporter with a broad substrate specificity involved in the elimination of several carcinogens from the gut. Several polymorphic variants within the ABCB1 gene have been reported as modulators of ABCB1-mediated transport. We investigated the impact of ABCB1 genetic variants on colorectal cancer (CRC) risk. A hybrid tagging/functional approach was performed to select 28 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that were genotyped in 1,321 Czech subjects, 699 CRC cases and 622 controls. In addition, six potentially functional SNPs were genotyped in 3,662 German subjects, 1,809 cases and 1,853 controls from the DACHS study. We found that three functional SNPs (rs1202168, rs1045642 and rs868755) were associated with CRC risk in the German population. Carriers of the rs1202168_T and rs868755_T alleles had an increased risk for CRC (Ptrend = 0.016 and 0.029, respectively), while individuals bearing the rs1045642_C allele showed a decreased risk of CRC (Ptrend = 0.022). We sought to replicate the most significant results in an independent case-control study of 3,803 subjects, 2,169 cases and 1,634 controls carried out in the North of Germany. None of the SNPs tested were significantly associated with CRC risk in the replication study. In conclusion, in this study of about 8,800 individuals we show that ABCB1 gene polymorphisms play at best a minor role in the susceptibility to CRC

Membrane ruffling, macropinocytosis and antigen presentation in the absence of gelsolin in murine dendritic cells

Previous studies have shown that mice lacking the actin-severing and capping protein gelsolin have defects in leukocyte and platelet function. Moreover, dermal fibroblasts from gelsolin knockout (Gsn(-)) mice showed substantially reduced motility, membrane ruffling and pinocytosis. We have generated dendritic cells (DC) from spleens of Gsn- mice to investigate the importance of gelsolin in antigen endocytosis and processing. We show here that Gsn(-)DC produce apparently normal membrane ruffles which can resolve to form large macropinosomes. Moreover, presentation of exogenous antigens on both MHC class II and class I molecules was equivalent in Gsn- and wild-type DC. Thus the major rearrangements of the actin cytoskeleton needed for DC antigen uptake and presentation can proceed in the absence of a major actin filament regulatory protein

Supplement 1: Quantum-enhanced interferometry with weak thermal light

Supplementary material Originally published in Optica on 20 April 2017 (optica-4-4-487

New Cannibal Markets

Thanks to recent progress in biotechnology, surrogacy, transplantation of organs and tissues, blood products or stem-cell and gamete banks are now widely used throughout the world. These techniques improve the health and well-being of some human beings using products or functions that come from the body of others. Growth in demand and absence of an appropriate international legal framework have led to the development of a lucrative global trade in which victims are often people living in insecure conditions who have no other ways to survive than to rent or sell part of their body. This growing market, in which parts of the human body are bought and sold with little respect for the human person, displays a kind of dehumanization that looks like a new form of slavery. This book is the result of a collective and multidisciplinary reflection organized by a group of international researchers working in the field of medicine and social sciences. It helps better understand how the emergence of new health industries may contribute to the development of a global medical tourism. It opens new avenues for reflection on technologies that are based on appropriation of parts of the body of others for health purposes, a type of practice that can be metaphorically compared to cannibalism. Are these the fi rst steps towards a proletariat of men- and women-objects considered as a reservoir of products of human origin needed to improve the health or well-being of the better-off? The book raises the issue of the uncontrolled use of medical advances that can sometimes reach the anticipations of dystopian literature and science fiction