Background and Aims
There is growing evidence that single‐stranded, circular RNA (circRNA) plays a key role in the development of certain cancers, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). It is less ...clear, however, what role circRNA plays in HCC metastasis.
Approach and Results
In this study, through circRNA sequencing, we identified a circRNA: circASAP1 (a circRNA derived from exons 2 and 3 of the ASAP1 gene, hsa_circ_0085616), which is associated with pulmonary metastasis after curative resection in patients with HCC. CircASAP1 was overexpressed in HCC cell lines with high metastatic potential and in metastatic HCCs. In vitro, circASAP1 promoted cell proliferation, colony formation, migration, and invasion, and in vivo, it enhanced tumor growth and pulmonary metastasis. Mechanism studies showed that circASAP1 acts as a competing endogenous RNA for microRNA 326 (miR‐326) and microRNA 532‐5p (miR‐532‐5p), both of which are tumor suppressors in HCC. We found that mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) 1 and colony stimulating factor (CSF)‐1 were direct common targets for microRNA 326 (miR‐326) and microRNA 532‐5p (miR‐532‐5p), which were regulated by circASAP1. CircASAP1 promotes HCC cell proliferation and invasion by regulating miR‐326/miR‐532‐5p‐MAPK1 signaling and, furthermore, mediates tumor‐associated macrophage infiltration by regulating the miR‐326/miR‐532‐5p‐CSF‐1 pathway. Clinical HCC samples exhibited a positive correlation between circASAP1 expression and levels of CSF‐1, MAPK1, and CD68+ tumor‐associated macrophages, all of which were predictive of patient outcomes.
Conclusion
We identified circASAP1 as a key regulator of HCC metastasis that acts on miR‐326/miR‐532‐5p‐MAPK1/CSF‐1 signaling and serves as a prognostic predictor in patients with HCC.
Quantum walks are the quantum mechanical analog of classical random walks and an extremely powerful tool in quantum simulations, quantum search algorithms, and even for universal quantum computing. ...In our work, we have designed and fabricated an 8x8 two-dimensional square superconducting qubit array composed of 62 functional qubits. We used this device to demonstrate high fidelity single and two particle quantum walks. Furthermore, with the high programmability of the quantum processor, we implemented a Mach-Zehnder interferometer where the quantum walker coherently traverses in two paths before interfering and exiting. By tuning the disorders on the evolution paths, we observed interference fringes with single and double walkers. Our work is an essential milestone in the field, brings future larger scale quantum applications closer to realization on these noisy intermediate-scale quantum processors.
Quantum key distribution (QKD)1,2 offers a long-term solution to secure key exchange. Due to photon loss in transmission, it was believed that the repeaterless key rate is bounded by a linear ...function of the transmittance, O(η) (refs. 3,4), limiting the maximal secure transmission distance5,6. Recently, a novel type of QKD scheme has been shown to beat the linear bound and achieve a key rate performance of O(η) (refs. 7–9). Here, by employing the laser injection technique and the phase post-compensation method, we match the modes of two independent lasers and overcome the phase fluctuation. As a result, the key rate surpasses the linear bound via 302 km and 402 km commercial-fibre channels, over four orders of magnitude higher than existing results5. Furthermore, our system yields a secret key rate of 0.118 bps with a 502 km ultralow-loss fibre. This new type of QKD pushes forward long-distance quantum communication for the future quantum internet.Phase-matching quantum key distribution is implemented with a 502 km ultralow-loss optical fibre. The fluctuations of the laser initial phases and frequencies are suppressed by the laser injection technique and the phase post-compensation method.
Long-distance entanglement distribution is essential for both foundational tests of quantum physics and scalable quantum networks. Owing to channel loss, however, the previously achieved distance was ...limited to ~100 kilometers. Here we demonstrate satellite-based distribution of entangled photon pairs to two locations separated by 1203 kilometers on Earth, through two satellite-to-ground downlinks with a summed length varying from 1600 to 2400 kilometers. We observed a survival of two-photon entanglement and a violation of Bell inequality by 2.37 ± 0.09 under strict Einstein locality conditions. The obtained effective link efficiency is orders of magnitude higher than that of the direct bidirectional transmission of the two photons through telecommunication fibers.
Quantum walks are the quantum analogs of classical random walks, which allow for the simulation of large-scale quantum many-body systems and the realization of universal quantum computation without ...time-dependent control. We experimentally demonstrate quantum walks of one and two strongly correlated microwave photons in a one-dimensional array of 12 superconducting qubits with short-range interactions. First, in one-photon quantum walks, we observed the propagation of the density and correlation of the quasiparticle excitation of the superconducting qubit and quantum entanglement between qubit pairs. Second, when implementing two-photon quantum walks by exciting two superconducting qubits, we observed the fermionization of strongly interacting photons from the measured time-dependent long-range anticorrelations, representing the antibunching of photons with attractive interactions. The demonstration of quantum walks on a quantum processor, using superconducting qubits as artificial atoms and tomographic readout, paves the way to quantum simulation of many-body phenomena and universal quantum computation.
Boson sampling is considered as a strong candidate to demonstrate 'quantum computational supremacy' over classical computers. However, previous proof-of-principle experiments suffered from small ...photon number and low sampling rates owing to the inefficiencies of the single-photon sources and multiport optical interferometers. Here, we develop two central components for high-performance boson sampling: robust multiphoton interferometers with 99% transmission rate and actively demultiplexed single-photon sources based on a quantum dot-micropillar with simultaneously high efficiency, purity and indistinguishability. We implement and validate three-, four- and five-photon boson sampling, and achieve sampling rates of 4.96kHz, 151Hz and 4Hz, respectively, which are over 24,000 times faster than previous experiments. Our architecture can be scaled up for a larger number of photons and with higher sampling rates to compete with classical computers, and might provide experimental evidence against the extended Church-Turing thesis.
Single-photon imaging over 200 km Li, Zheng-Ping; Ye, Jun-Tian; Huang, Xin ...
Optica,
03/2021, Letnik:
8, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Long-range active imaging has widespread applications in remote sensing and target recognition. Single-photon light detection and ranging (lidar) has been shown to have high sensitivity and temporal ...resolution. On the application front, however, the operating range of practical single-photon lidar systems is limited to about tens of kilometers over the Earth’s atmosphere, mainly due to the weak echo signal mixed with high background noise. Here, we present a compact coaxial single-photon lidar system capable of realizing 3D imaging at up to 201.5 km. It is achieved by using high-efficiency optical devices for collection and detection, and what we believe is a new noise-suppression technique that is efficient for long-range applications. We show that photon-efficient computational algorithms enable accurate 3D imaging over hundreds of kilometers with as few as 0.44 signal photons per pixel. The results represent a significant step toward practical, low-power lidar over extra-long ranges.
Geraniol is an acyclic isoprenoid monoterpene isolated from the essential oils of aromatic plants including
, and several other plants. The limited source of geraniol from plant isolation cannot ...fulfill the great demand from the flavor and fragrance industries, which require maximizing geraniol production through biotechnology processes. The diverse activities of geraniol suggested that geraniol could treat various diseases as a promising drug candidate. In order to evaluate the potential of geraniol applied in a clinical trial, this review aims at providing a comprehensive summary of the pharmacological effects of geraniol. The publications retrieved from PubMed, ScienceDirect, Springer, and Wiley databases were collected and summarized for the last 6 years. Then, the potential application of geraniol as a drug is discussed based on its pharmacological properties, including antitumor, anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, and antimicrobial activities, and hepatoprotective, cardioprotective, and neuroprotective effects. Hence, this review aims at providing evidence of the pharmacological activities of geraniol in the context of further development as a drug candidate in clinical application.
We have demonstrated a facile and green way to synthesize dendritic mesoporous silica nanoparticles (DMSNs) on an ultra-large scale (kg) with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and an anionic ...surfactant as dual templates free of organic solvents. In contrast to its co-template role in tuning the packing parameter of the surfactant molecule organization, the anionic surfactant herein acts as a more strongly competitive counterion against the adsorption of negatively charged silicate oligomers (I − ) on the micelles. Based on the new understanding of the interaction between the cationic–anionic surfactant ionic pairs and the silicate oligomers, we proposed a dual template synergistically controlled micelle self-aggregated model to understand the formation mechanism of dendritic MSNs where the anionic surfactant stabilized micelles or micelle blocks are basic self-assembling building units for the formation of center-radial pore channel networks. By using one-pot in situ isomorphous substitution, the metal Ti atom can be easily incorporated into the silica frameworks of DMSNs, and the obtained Ti-DMSN catalyst shows a superior catalytic performance in the epoxidation of cyclohexene over the typical mesoporous Ti-MCM-41 silicas.
Currently, there are no approved specific antiviral agents for novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In this study, 10 severe patients confirmed by real-time viral RNA test were enrolled ...prospectively. One dose of 200 mL of convalescent plasma (CP) derived from recently recovered donors with the neutralizing antibody titers above 1:640 was transfused to the patients as an addition to maximal supportive care and antiviral agents. The primary endpoint was the safety of CP transfusion. The second endpoints were the improvement of clinical symptoms and laboratory parameters within 3 d after CP transfusion. The median time from onset of illness to CP transfusion was 16.5 d. After CP transfusion, the level of neutralizing antibody increased rapidly up to 1:640 in five cases, while that of the other four cases maintained at a high level (1:640). The clinical symptoms were significantly improved along with increase of oxyhemoglobin saturation within 3 d. Several parameters tended to improve as compared to pretransfusion, including increased lymphocyte counts (0.65 × 109/L vs. 0.76 × 109/L) and decreased C-reactive protein (55.98 mg/L vs. 18.13 mg/L). Radiological examinations showed varying degrees of absorption of lung lesions within 7 d. The viral load was undetectable after transfusion in seven patients who had previous viremia. No severe adverse effects were observed. This study showed CP therapy was well tolerated and could potentially improve the clinical outcomes through neutralizing viremia in severe COVID-19 cases. The optimal dose and time point, as well as the clinical benefit of CP therapy, needs further investigation in larger well-controlled trials.
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