Machine learning, a branch of artificial intelligence, learns from previous experience to optimize performance, which is ubiquitous in various fields such as computer sciences, financial analysis, ...robotics, and bioinformatics. A challenge is that machine learning with the rapidly growing "big data" could become intractable for classical computers. Recently, quantum machine learning algorithms Lloyd, Mohseni, and Rebentrost, arXiv.1307.0411 were proposed which could offer an exponential speedup over classical algorithms. Here, we report the first experimental entanglement-based classification of two-, four-, and eight-dimensional vectors to different clusters using a small-scale photonic quantum computer, which are then used to implement supervised and unsupervised machine learning. The results demonstrate the working principle of using quantum computers to manipulate and classify high-dimensional vectors, the core mathematical routine in machine learning. The method can, in principle, be scaled to larger numbers of qubits, and may provide a new route to accelerate machine learning.
Highlights • CP−/− mice and mice that received FAC had high levels of brain iron. • Brain iron accumulation exacerbated TH-positive neurons apoptosis in MPTP-treated mice. • DFO reduced the neuronal ...damage in MPTP-treated CP−/− mice. • Increased oxidative stress was involved in cell apoptosis exacerbated by the increased brain iron.
Functional failure of tau contributes to age-dependent, iron-mediated neurotoxicity, and as iron accumulates in ischemic stroke tissue, we hypothesized that tau failure may exaggerate ...ischemia-reperfusion-related toxicity. Indeed, unilateral, transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) suppressed hemispheric tau and increased iron levels in young (3-month-old) mice and rats. Wild-type mice were protected by iron-targeted interventions: ceruloplasmin and amyloid precursor protein ectodomain, as well as ferroptosis inhibitors. At this age, tau-knockout mice did not express elevated brain iron and were protected against hemispheric reperfusion injury following MCAO, indicating that tau suppression may prevent ferroptosis. However, the accelerated age-dependent brain iron accumulation that occurs in tau-knockout mice at 12 months of age negated the protective benefit of tau suppression against MCAO-induced focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury. The protective benefit of tau knockout was revived in older mice by iron-targeting interventions. These findings introduce tau-iron interaction as a pleiotropic modulator of ferroptosis and ischemic stroke outcome.
To explore the characteristics of Helicobacter pylori resistance in China and the association between antibiotic resistance and several clinical factors.
H. pylori strains were collected from ...patients in 13 provinces or cities in China between 2010 and 2016. Demographic data including type of disease, geographic area, age, gender and isolation year were collected to analyse their association with antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic resistance was detected using the Etest test and the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method.
H. pylori were successfully cultured from 1117 patients. The prevalence of metronidazole, clarithromycin (CLA), azithromycin, levofloxacin (LEV), moxifloxacin, amoxicillin (AMO), tetracycline and rifampicin resistance was 78.2, 22.1, 23.3, 19.2, 17.2, 3.4, 1.9 and 1.5%, respectively. No resistance to furazolidone was observed. The resistance rates to LEV and moxifloxacin were higher in strains isolated from patients with gastritis compared to those with duodenal ulcer and among women. Compared to patients ≥40 years old, younger patients exhibited lower resistance rates to CLA, azithromycin, LEV and moxifloxacin. The resistance rates to CLA and AMO were higher in strains isolated more recently, and we also found that the prevalence of resistance to metronidazole, CLA, azithromycin and AMO were significantly different among different regions of China.
The resistance rates to metronidazole, CLA and LEV were high in China. Patient age, gender, disease and location were associated with the resistance of H. pylori to some antibiotics. Furazolidone, AMO and tetracycline are better choices for H. pylori treatment in China.
Although significant advances have recently been made in the diagnosis and treatment of cervical carcinoma, the long-term survival rate for advanced cervical cancer remains low. Therefore, an urgent ...need exists to both uncover the molecular mechanisms and identify potential therapeutic targets for the treatment of cervical cancer. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have important roles in cancer progression and could be used as either potential therapeutic agents or targets. miR-506 is a component of an X chromosome-linked miRNA cluster. The biological functions of miR-506 have not been well established. In this study, we found that miR-506 expression was downregulated in approximately 80% of the cervical cancer samples examined and inversely correlated with the expression of Ki-67, a marker of cell proliferation. Gain-of-function and loss-of-function studies in human cervical cancer, Caski and SiHa cells, demonstrated that miR-506 acts as a tumor suppressor by inhibiting cervical cancer growth in vitro and in vivo. Further studies showed that miR-506 induced cell cycle arrest at the G1/S transition, and enhanced apoptosis and chemosensitivity of cervical cancer cell. We subsequently identified Gli3, a hedgehog pathway transcription factor, as a direct target of miR-506 in cervical cancer. Furthermore, Gli3 silencing recapitulated the effects of miR-506, and reintroduction of Gli3 abrogated miR-506-induced cell growth arrest and apoptosis. Taken together, we conclude that miR-506 exerts its anti-proliferative function by directly targeting Gli3. This newly identified miR-506/Gli3 axis provides further insight into the pathogenesis of cervical cancer and indicates a potential novel therapeutic agent for the treatment of cervical cancer.
The atomic structure of metallic glasses has been a long-standing scientific problem. Unlike crystalline metals, where long-range ordering is established by periodic stacking of fundamental building ...blocks known as unit cells, a metallic glass has no long-range translational or orientational order, although some degrees of short- and medium-range order do exist. Previous studies have identified solute- (minority atom)-centred clusters as the fundamental building blocks or short-range order in metallic glasses. Idealized cluster packing schemes, such as efficient cluster packing on a cubic lattice and icosahedral packing as in a quasicrystal, have been proposed and provided first insights on the medium-range order in metallic glasses. However, these packing schemes break down beyond a length scale of a few clusters. Here, on the basis of neutron and X-ray diffraction experiments, we propose a new packing scheme-self-similar packing of atomic clusters. We show that the medium-range order has the characteristics of a fractal network with a dimension of 2.31, and is described by a power-law correlation function over the medium-range length scale. Our finding provides a new perspective of order in disordered materials and has broad implications for understanding their structure-property relationship, particularly those involving a change in length scales.
The effects of microstructure on crack resistance and toughening mechanism of an ultra-low carbon steel were investigated. The microstructures were controlled via thermal-mechanical control ...processing (TMCP) and heat-treatments. Distribution of stress concentration, microcracks formation and propagation during Charpy impacting were investigated in detail. The results indicate that the lath martensitic structure provided a higher yield stress together with a better impact property, compared to the polygonal ferritic structure. The high strength can be attributed to the high density of dislocations in the lath martensitic structure introduced by quenching. The instrumented Charpy impact results indicated that the crack initiation energy in the lath martensitic structure was similar to that in the ferritic structure while the crack propagation energy was significantly greater than that in the ferritic structure, leading to the high toughness of the steel with the lath martensitic structure. Local stress concentration distributed uniformly in lath martensitic structure, leading to the homogeneous nucleation of microcrack. The high crack propagation energy in the lath martensitic structure can be attributed to the high fraction of high angle grain boundaries and fine effective grains, which deflected the cleavage crack propagation direction.
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•60 °C decrement in DBTT was obtained through controlling microstructure.•The lath martensite provides a good combination of strength and toughness.•The high crack propagation energy of lath martensite benefits to the good toughness.•HAGB and EGS deflect the cleavage crack propagation direction.
The primary pulmonary lymphoma (PPL), with a low incidence, was highly misdiagnosed in clinic. The present study analyzes the clinical features, laboratory and imaging data, pathologic ...characteristics, and summarizes misdiagnosis reasons of PPL cases, aims to provide a better understanding and increase the accuracy of early diagnosis and minimize the misdiagnosis of PPL.
The clinical data of 19 cases were collected from the first affiliated hospital of Wenzhou medical university (PRC) from April 2010 to May 2016. All cases were confirmed by pathology. The process of misdiagnosis was described. This study retrospectively analyzed the incidence, clinical presentation, laboratory examination, Chest CT scan and diagnosis of the cases.
The symptoms of the 19 cases were dyspnea, fever, hemoptysis, chest pain or physical findings without obvious symptoms. Five patients were pneumonia-like, nine patients had lung single nodule or mass and four patients got pleural effusion, which were reported by computed tomography (HRCT) scan. There were 2 cases of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), and 17 cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). In NHL cases, 12 cases were confirmed mucosa associated lymphoid tissue B lymphoma type, 3 cases were confirmed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma and ALK positive anaplastic large cell lymphoma were one case separately. Clinical and imaging manifestation of PPL is untypical, but there are still some hints: 1) Fuzzy shadow at the edge of lung mass with air bronchogram; 2) Lung mass shadow stable for a long time; 3) Pneumonia-like changing without infections clinical and lab manifestation. Thirteen patients (68.4%) were misdiagnosed as pneumonia, lung cancer and tuberculosis initially. The term between initial diagnosis and final diagnosis lasted for half a month up to 2 years, with median time of 6 months. Two cases were misdiagnosed as tuberculosis. One case was misdiagnosed as small cell lung cancer.
Clinical and imaging manifestation of PPL is untypical. Biopsies should be taken actively if the imaging findings don't match the symptoms or the anti-infection treatments to "lung infection" don't work. Accurate diagnosis requires adequate tissue sampling with appropriate ancillary pathologic studies. If clinical manifestation and the diagnosis don't match, repeated biopsy should be ordered.
Whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci) are phloem feeders, and some invasive species are composed of cryptic species complexes that cause extensive crop damage, particularly via the direct transmission of plant ...viruses. Apoptosis is a type of programmed cell death essential for organismal development and tissue homeostasis. The caspases belong to a family of cysteine proteases that play a central role in the initiation of apoptosis in many organisms. Here, we employed a comprehensive genomics approach to identity caspases in B. tabaci Middle East Asia Minor 1 (MEAM1), an invasive whitefly that carries a cryptic species complex that is devastating to crops. Four caspase genes were identified, and their motif compositions were predicted. Structures were relatively conserved in both putative effector and initiator caspases. Expression patterns of caspase genes differed across insect developmental stages. Three caspase genes were induced immediately after ultraviolet (UV) treatment. Expression levels of Bt‐caspase‐1 and Bt‐caspase‐3b increased in the midgut and salivary glands during apoptosis induced by UV treatments, whereas silencing of both genes reduced UV‐triggered apoptosis. Our study demonstrates that Bt‐caspase‐1 and Bt‐caspase‐3b, respectively, act as putative initiator and effector apoptotic caspases in the MEAM1 whitefly.
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