Taking advantage of quantum mechanics for executing computational tasks faster than classical computers1 or performing measurements with precision exceeding the classical limit2,3 requires the ...generation of specific large and complex quantum states. In this context, cluster states4 are particularly interesting because they can enable the realization of universal quantum computers by means of a ‘one-way’ scheme5, where processing is performed through measurements6. The generation of cluster states based on sub-systems that have more than two dimensions, d-level cluster states, provides increased quantum resources while keeping the number of parties constant7, and also enables novel algorithms8. Here, we experimentally realize, characterize and test the noise sensitivity of three-level, four-partite cluster states formed by two photons in the time9 and frequency10 domain, confirming genuine multi-partite entanglement with higher noise robustness compared to conventional two-level cluster states6,11–13. We perform proof-of-concept high-dimensional one-way quantum operations, where the cluster states are transformed into orthogonal, maximally entangled d-level two-partite states by means of projection measurements. Our scalable approach is based on integrated photonic chips9,10 and optical fibre communication components, thus achieving new and deterministic functionalities.
Hydrogen sulfide (H
S) has been largely referred as a toxic gas and environmental hazard, but recent years, it has emerged as an important gas-signaling molecule with effects on multiple ...physiological processes in both animal and plant systems. The regulatory functions of H
S in plants are involved in important processes such as the modulation of defense responses, plant growth and development, and the regulation of senescence and maturation. The main signaling pathway involving sulfide has been proven to be through protein persulfidation (alternatively called
sulfhydration), in which the thiol group of cysteine (-SH) in proteins is modified into a persulfide group (-SSH). This modification may cause functional changes in protein activities, structures, and subcellular localizations of the target proteins. New shotgun proteomic approaches and bioinformatic analyses have revealed that persulfidated cysteines regulate important biological processes, highlighting their importance in cell signaling, since about one in 20 proteins in Arabidopsis is persulfidated. During oxidative stress, an increased persulfidation has been reported and speculated that persulfidation is the protective mechanism for protein oxidative damage. Nevertheless, cysteine residues are also oxidized to different post-translational modifications such
-nitrosylation or
sulfenylation, which seems to be interconvertible. Thus, it must imply a tight cysteine redox regulation essential for cell survival. This review is aimed to focus on the current knowledge of protein persulfidation and addresses the regulation mechanisms that are disclosed based on the knowledge from other cysteine modifications.
Hydrogen sulfide-mediated signaling pathways regulate many physiological and pathophysiological processes in mammalian and plant systems. The molecular mechanism by which hydrogen sulfide exerts its ...action involves the post-translational modification of cysteine residues to form a persulfidated thiol motif, a process called protein persulfidation. We have developed a comparative and quantitative proteomic analysis approach for the detection of endogenous persulfidated proteins in wild-type Arabidopsis and L-CYSTEINE DESULFHYDRASE 1 mutant leaves using the tag-switch method. The 2015 identified persulfidated proteins were isolated from plants grown under controlled conditions, and therefore, at least 5% of the entire Arabidopsis proteome may undergo persulfidation under baseline conditions. Bioinformatic analysis revealed that persulfidated cysteines participate in a wide range of biological functions, regulating important processes such as carbon metabolism, plant responses to abiotic and biotic stresses, plant growth and development, and RNA translation. Quantitative analysis in both genetic backgrounds reveals that protein persulfidation is mainly involved in primary metabolic pathways such as the tricarboxylic acid cycle, glycolysis, and the Calvin cycle, suggesting that this protein modification is a new regulatory component in these pathways.
Hydrogen sulfide is a highly reactive molecule that is currently accepted as a signaling compound. This molecule is as important as carbon monoxide in mammals and hydrogen peroxide in plants, as well ...as nitric oxide in both eukaryotic systems. Although many studies have been conducted on the physiological effects of hydrogen sulfide, the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. One of the proposed mechanisms involves the posttranslational modification of protein cysteine residues, a process called S-sulfhydration. In this work, a modified biotin switch method was used for the detection of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) proteins modified by S-sulfhydration under physiological conditions. The presence of an S-sulfhydration-modified cysteine residue on cytosolic ascorbate peroxidase was demonstrated using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis, and a total of 106 S-sulfhydrated proteins were identified. Immunoblot and enzyme activity analyses of some of these proteins showed that the sulfide added through S-sulfhydration reversibly regulates the functions of plant proteins in a manner similar to that described in mammalian systems.
Since the early twentieth century, children have been regarded as a protected class, legally and symbolically, in the United States. Although legal protections for U.S. children have also extended to ...non-citizen children, this study investigates whether the symbolic aspect of children’s protected status is undermined in the case of immigrant children. Through an examination of media reports during the 2014 entrance of unaccompanied minors from Central America and Mexico, I analyze how anti-immigrant protestors portrayed unaccompanied minors in quotes published in news articles across several online historical databases including ProQuest Historical Newspaper and the Local Historical Newspaper Archives by NewsBank. Based on this analysis, I find that the symbolic protected status normally attributed to children did not extend to unaccompanied minors. Specifically, anti-immigrant protestors mobilized forms of racialization typically employed against immigrant adults, which took four distinct forms that framed immigrant children as: (1) threats to the economy, (2) carriers of disease, (3) criminal and terrorist threats, and (4) invaders. Despite belonging to a vulnerable and normally protected group, immigrant children were racialized in ways well-established by scholars as characteristic of adult migrants by anti-immigrant protestors, who portrayed them as unsacred children unworthy of a protected status. This study contributes to our understandings of child and immigrant racialization and further contextualizes policies of detention and deportation against immigrant children.
This review focuses on recent advances relating to H2S signaling mechanisms, and highlights interconnections between H2S and H2O2 at the post-translational modification level and with ABA in stomatal ...movement.
Abstract
Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a signaling molecule that regulates critical processes and allows plants to adapt to adverse conditions. The molecular mechanism underlying H2S action relies on its chemical reactivity, and the most-well characterized mechanism is persulfidation, which involves the modification of protein thiol groups, resulting in the formation of persulfide groups. This modification causes a change of protein function, altering catalytic activity or intracellular location and inducing important physiological effects. H2S cannot react directly with thiols but instead can react with oxidized cysteine residues; therefore, H2O2 signaling through sulfenylation is required for persulfidation. A comparative study performed in this review reveals 82% identity between sulfenylome and persulfidome. With regard to abscisic acid (ABA) signaling, widespread evidence shows an interconnection between H2S and ABA in the plant response to environmental stress. Proteomic analyses have revealed persulfidation of several proteins involved in the ABA signaling network and have shown that persulfidation is triggered in response to ABA. In guard cells, a complex interaction of H2S and ABA signaling has also been described, and the persulfidation of specific signaling components seems to be the underlying mechanism.
Hydrogen sulfide (H
S) is a gaseous signaling molecule that regulates diverse cellular signaling pathways through persulfidation, which involves the post-translational modification of specific Cys ...residues to form persulfides. However, the mechanisms that underlie this important redox-based modification remain poorly understood in higher plants. We have, therefore, analyzed how protein persulfidation acts as a specific and reversible signaling mechanism during the abscisic acid (ABA) response in Arabidopsis (
). Here we show that ABA stimulates the persulfidation of l-CYSTEINE DESULFHYDRASE1, an important endogenous H
S enzyme, at Cys44 and Cys205 in a redox-dependent manner. Moreover, sustainable H
S accumulation drives persulfidation of the NADPH oxidase RESPIRATORY BURST OXIDASE HOMOLOG PROTEIN D (RBOHD) at Cys825 and Cys890, enhancing its ability to produce reactive oxygen species. Physiologically, s-persulfidation-induced RBOHD activity is relevant to ABA-induced stomatal closure. Together, these processes form a negative feedback loop that fine-tunes guard cell redox homeostasis and ABA signaling. These findings not only expand our current knowledge of H
S function in the context of guard cell ABA signaling, but also demonstrate the presence of a rapid signal integration mechanism involving specific and reversible redox-based post-translational modifications that occur in response to changing environmental conditions.
Excitonic energy transfer is a versatile mechanism by which colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals can interact with a variety of nanoscale species. While this process is analogous to dipole-dipole ...coupling in molecular systems, the corresponding energy transfer dynamics can deviate from that of molecular assemblies due to manifestations of bulk-like features in semiconductor colloids. In particular, weak exciton binding, small singlet-triplet exciton splitting, and the energy disorder across nanocrystal ensembles can all play distinctive roles in the ensuing energy conversion processes. To characterize the variety of energy transfer schemes involving nanocrystals, this feature article will discuss the latest research by both our group and other groups on the key scenarios under which nanocrystals can engage in energy transfer with other nanoparticles, organic fluorophores, and plasmonic nanostructures, highlighting potential technological benefits to be gained from such processes. We will also shed light on experimental strategies for probing the energy transfer in nanocrystal-based assemblies, with a particular emphasis on novel characterization techniques.
Excitonic energy transfer is a versatile mechanism by which colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals can interact with a variety of nanoscale species. This feature article will discuss the latest research on the key scenarios under which semiconductor nanocrystals can engage in energy transfer with other nanoparticles, organic fluorophores, and plasmonic nanostructures, highlighting potential technological benefits to be gained from such processes.
Sentinel-2 satellites provide multi-spectral optical remote sensing images with four bands at 10 m of spatial resolution. These images, due to the open data distribution policy, are becoming an ...important resource for several applications. However, for small scale studies, the spatial detail of these images might not be sufficient. On the other hand, WorldView commercial satellites offer multi-spectral images with a very high spatial resolution, typically less than 2 m, but their use can be impractical for large areas or multi-temporal analysis due to their high cost. To exploit the free availability of Sentinel imagery, it is worth considering deep learning techniques for single-image super-resolution tasks, allowing the spatial enhancement of low-resolution (LR) images by recovering high-frequency details to produce high-resolution (HR) super-resolved images. In this work, we implement and train a model based on the Enhanced Super-Resolution Generative Adversarial Network (ESRGAN) with pairs of WorldView-Sentinel images to generate a super-resolved multispectral Sentinel-2 output with a scaling factor of 5. Our model, named RS-ESRGAN, removes the upsampling layers of the network to make it feasible to train with co-registered remote sensing images. Results obtained outperform state-of-the-art models using standard metrics like PSNR, SSIM, ERGAS, SAM and CC. Moreover, qualitative visual analysis shows spatial improvements as well as the preservation of the spectral information, allowing the super-resolved Sentinel-2 imagery to be used in studies requiring very high spatial resolution.
Noise is one of the rare aspects of experimental work that crosses all boundaries. It is present from scientific fields like ultrafast optical signal detection to applied fields such as image ...processing, or even in our day-to-day lives when we are simply trying to have a conversation in a loud room. In all these cases, incoherent, stochastic noise tends to drown a signal we aim to detect, and various techniques may need to be employed to improve the clarity of the waveform, which is characterized by the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Yet, considering the ubiquity of noise in scientific and technology fields, it may be surprising how few methods there exists for denoising a signal. Active amplification techniques alone cannot be employed for weak, noisy signals, since the SNR is inevitably degraded due to fundamental laws of physics, while bandpass filtering schemes necessarily lead to an attenuation of the signal. In this article, we review recent advances on the concept of passive amplification techniques based on the Talbot effect to enhance the noise properties of signals through coherent energy redistribution. We demonstrate the basic framework starting from pulse repetition rate multiplication with the Talbot effect. We then extend this theory to show the principle behind passive amplification of periodic waveforms, and then how this idea can be extended to arbitrary (generally, aperiodic) signals. Methods for passive amplification of both the time-domain and the frequency-domain representations of the signal of interest are reviewed. While here we focus on the application of the technique for optical signals in the standard telecommunication band (near wavelengths of 1550 nm), the proposed denoising scheme relies on widely available wave manipulations, such that it may offer exciting opportunities for any kind of physical wave support, such as acoustics, plasmonics and other regimes of the electromagnetic spectrum, like microwaves or X-rays.
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