An optimal single-photon source should deterministically deliver one, and only one, photon at a time, with no trade-off between the source’s efficiency and the photon indistinguishability. However, ...all reported solid-state sources of indistinguishable single photons had to rely on polarization filtering, which reduced the efficiency by 50%, fundamentally limiting the scaling of photonic quantum technologies. Here, we overcome this long-standing challenge by coherently driving quantum dots deterministically coupled to polarization-selective Purcell microcavities. We present two examples: narrowband, elliptical micropillars and broadband, elliptical Bragg gratings. A polarization-orthogonal excitation–collection scheme is designed to minimize the polarization filtering loss under resonant excitation. We demonstrate a polarized single-photon efficiency of 0.60 ± 0.02 (0.56 ± 0.02), a single-photon purity of 0.975 ± 0.005 (0.991 ± 0.003) and an indistinguishability of 0.975 ± 0.006 (0.951 ± 0.005) for the micropillar (Bragg grating) device. Our work provides promising solutions for truly optimal single-photon sources combining near-unity indistinguishability and near-unity system efficiency simultaneously.
Quantum computers promise to perform certain tasks that are believed to be intractable to classical computers. Boson sampling is such a task and is considered a strong candidate to demonstrate the ...quantum computational advantage. We performed Gaussian boson sampling by sending 50 indistinguishable single-mode squeezed states into a 100-mode ultralow-loss interferometer with full connectivity and random matrix-the whole optical setup is phase-locked-and sampling the output using 100 high-efficiency single-photon detectors. The obtained samples were validated against plausible hypotheses exploiting thermal states, distinguishable photons, and uniform distribution. The photonic quantum computer,
, generates up to 76 output photon clicks, which yields an output state-space dimension of 10
and a sampling rate that is faster than using the state-of-the-art simulation strategy and supercomputers by a factor of ~10
.
The propensity of the activated neutrophils to form extracellular traps (NETs) is demonstrated in multiple inflammatory conditions. In this study, we investigated the roles of NETs in metastasis of ...hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and further explored the underlying mechanism of how NETs affect metastasis as well as the therapeutic value.
The neutrophils were isolated from the blood of human HCC patients and used to evaluate the formation of NETs. The expression of NET markers was detected in tumor specimens. A LPS-induced NET model was used to investigate the role of NETs on HCC metastasis. RNA-seq was performed to identify the key molecular event triggered by NETs, and their underlying mechanism and therapeutic significance were explored using both in vitro and in vivo assays.
NET formation was enhanced in neutrophils derived from HCC patients, especially those with metastatic HCCs. NETs trapped HCC cells and subsequently induced cell-death resistance and enhanced invasiveness to trigger their metastatic potential, which was mediated by internalization of NETs into trapped HCC cells and activation of Toll-like receptors TLR4/9-COX2 signaling. Inhibition of TLR4/9-COX2 signaling abrogated the NET-aroused metastatic potential. A combination of DNase 1 directly wrecking NETs with anti-inflammation drugs aspirin/hydroxychloroquine effectively reduced HCC metastasis in mice model.
NETs trigger tumorous inflammatory response and fuel HCC metastasis. Targeting NETs rather than neutrophils themselves can be a practice strategy against HCC metastasis.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
We report phase-programmable Gaussian boson sampling (GBS) which produces up to 113 photon detection events out of a 144-mode photonic circuit. A new high-brightness and scalable quantum light source ...is developed, exploring the idea of stimulated emission of squeezed photons, which has simultaneously near-unity purity and efficiency. This GBS is programmable by tuning the phase of the input squeezed states. The obtained samples are efficiently validated by inferring from computationally friendly subsystems, which rules out hypotheses including distinguishable photons and thermal states. We show that our GBS experiment passes a nonclassicality test based on inequality constraints, and we reveal nontrivial genuine high-order correlations in the GBS samples, which are evidence of robustness against possible classical simulation schemes. This photonic quantum computer, Jiuzhang 2.0, yields a Hilbert space dimension up to ∼ 1043, and a sampling rate ∼ 1024 faster than using brute-force simulation on classical supercomputers.
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CMK, CTK, FMFMET, IJS, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
In the past several decades, conducting polymers have achieved remarkable progress and have been widely applied as the active materials for optoelectronics. So far, p-type conducting polymers exhibit ...high conductivities over 1000 S cm–1 and thermoelectric performance comparable to that of inorganic materials; however, only a few n-type conducting polymers showed conductivities over 1 S cm–1 after doping. The low conductivity of n-type conducting polymers is considered as the major barrier for further enhancing their thermoelectric performances. In this perspective, we highlight the scientific and engineering challenges to enhance the conductivity of n-type polymer thermoelectric materials, including n-doping efficiency in n-type polymers, factors influencing charge carrier mobilities after doping, and stability of n-type conducting polymers. Recent development and strategies to address these issues and enhance the conductivity of n-type conjugated polymers are summarized and discussed, providing materials and device engineering guidelines for the future high-performance polymer thermoelectric materials research and development.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
The exploration of novel systems for the electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) for the production of hydrocarbons like CH4 remains a giant challenge. Well‐designed electrocatalysts with ...advantages like proton generation/transferring and intermediate‐fixating for efficient CO2RR are much preferred yet largely unexplored. In this work, a kind of Cu‐porphyrin‐based large‐scale (≈1.5 μm) and ultrathin nanosheet (≈5 nm) has been successfully applied in electrochemical CO2RR. It exhibits a superior FECH4
of 70 % with a high current density (−183.0 mA cm−2) at −1.6 V under rarely reported neutral conditions and maintains FECH4
>51 % over a wide potential range (−1.5 to −1.7 V) in a flow cell. The high performance can be attributed to the construction of numerous hydrogen‐bonding networks through the integration of diaminotriazine with Cu‐porphyrin, which is beneficial for proton migration and intermediate stabilization, as supported by DFT calculations. This work paves a new way in exploring hydrogen‐bonding‐based materials as efficient CO2RR catalysts.
A Cu‐porphyrin‐based large‐scale, ultrathin nanosheet with numerous hydrogen‐bonding networks was developed for the highly selective electroreduction of CO2 to CH4 under neutral conditions. This catalyst exhibits a superior FECH4
of 70 % with a high current density (−183.0 mA cm−2) at −1.6 V under rarely reported neutral conditions and maintains FECH4
>51 % over a wide potential range (−1.5 to −1.7 V) in a flow cell.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Currently available studies have implicated that exosome‐delivered microRNAs (miRNAs) play crucial roles in human cancer. However, the association of serum exosomal miR‐638 and hepatocellular ...carcinoma (HCC) remains largely unknown. We aim to investigate the expression of exosomal miR‐638 in serum of HCC patients and its prognostic role in this deadly disease. Kaplan‐Meier and Cox regression analyses were used to determine the survival of patients histologically diagnosed with HCC. Reduced levels of exosomal miR‐638 in serum samples from patients with HCC were identified by real‐time PCR. Negative association of serum exosomal miR‐638 with tumor size, vascular infiltration, and TNM stage was observed in HCC patients. Besides, the proliferation of Huh7 and SMCC7721 HCC cells were significantly inhibited when miR‐638 was over‐expressed in these cells. In addition, HCC patients with lower levels of serum exosomal miR‐638 had poor overall survival than those with higher levels of exosomal miR‐638 in serum. Our study strongly suggests that serum exosome‐delivered miR‐638 may serve as a novel circulating biomarker for HCC. Downregulation of miR‐638 predicts poor prognosis for patients with HCC.
Our study shows the evidence that downregulation of serum exosome‐encapsulated miR‐638 predicts poor prognosis for patients with HCC, which may serve as a novel circulating cancer biomarker. Nevertheless, the underlying molecular mechanisms of exosomal miR‐638 in HCC initiation and progression warrant further investigation in more future studies.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Strategies that enable simultaneous morphology‐tuning and electroreduction performance boosting are much desired for the exploration of covalent organic frameworks in efficient CO2 electroreduction. ...Herein, a kind of functionalizing exfoliation agent has been selected to simultaneously modify and exfoliate bulk COFs into functional nanosheets and investigate their CO2 electroreduction performance. The obtained nanosheets (Cu−Tph−COF−Dct) with large‐scale (≈1.0 μm) and ultrathin (≈3.8 nm) morphology enable a superior FECH4 (≈80 %) (almost doubly enhanced than bare COF) with large current‐density (−220.0 mA cm−2) at −0.9 V. The boosted performance can be ascribed to the immobilized functionalizing exfoliation agent (Dct groups) with integrated amino and triazine groups that strengthen CO2 absorption/activation, stabilize intermediates and enrich the CO concentration around the Cu active sites as revealed by DFT calculations. The point‐to‐point functionalization strategy for modularly assembling Dct‐functionalized COF catalyst for CO2 electroreduction will open up the attractive possibility of developing COFs as efficient CO2RR electrocatalysts.
A kind of functionalizing exfoliation agent has been selected to simultaneously modify and exfoliate bulk COFs into functional nanosheets and the obtained materials can be applied in highly selective CO2 electroreduction into CH4.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Lithium metal based anode with hierarchical structure to enable high rate capability, volume change accommodation, and dendritic suppression is highly desirable for all-solid-state lithium metal ...battery. However, the fabrication of hierarchical lithium metal based anode is challenging due to the volatility of lithium. Here, we report that natural diatomite can act as an excellent template for constructing hierarchical silicon-lithium based hybrid anode for high performance all-solid-state lithium metal battery. This hybrid anode exhibits stable lithium stripping/plating performance over 1000 h with average overpotential lower than 100 mV without any short circuit. Moreover, all-solid-state full cell using this lithium metal composite anode to couple with lithium iron phosphate cathode shows excellent cycling stability (0.04% capacity decay rate for 500 cycles at 0.5C) and high rate capability (65 mAh g
at 5C). The present natural diatomite derived hybrid anode could further promote the fabrication of high performance all-solid-state lithium batteries from sustainable natural resources.
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