Quantum key distribution (QKD) uses individual light quanta in quantum superposition states to guarantee unconditional communication security between distant parties. However, the distance over which ...QKD is achievable has been limited to a few hundred kilometres, owing to the channel loss that occurs when using optical fibres or terrestrial free space that exponentially reduces the photon transmission rate. Satellite-based QKD has the potential to help to establish a global-scale quantum network, owing to the negligible photon loss and decoherence experienced in empty space. Here we report the development and launch of a low-Earth-orbit satellite for implementing decoy-state QKD-a form of QKD that uses weak coherent pulses at high channel loss and is secure because photon-number-splitting eavesdropping can be detected. We achieve a kilohertz key rate from the satellite to the ground over a distance of up to 1,200 kilometres. This key rate is around 20 orders of magnitudes greater than that expected using an optical fibre of the same length. The establishment of a reliable and efficient space-to-ground link for quantum-state transmission paves the way to global-scale quantum networks.
Immunosuppressive molecules are extremely valuable prognostic biomarkers across different cancer types. However, the diversity of different immunosuppressive molecules makes it very difficult to ...accurately predict clinical outcomes based only on a single immunosuppressive molecule. Here, we establish a comprehensive immune scoring system (ISS
) based on 6 immunosuppressive ligands (NECTIN2, CEACAM1, HMGB1, SIGLEC6, CD44, and CD155) using the LASSO method to improve prognostic accuracy and provide an additional selection strategy for adjuvant chemotherapy of gastric cancer (GC). The results show that ISS
is an independent prognostic factor and a supplement of TNM stage for GC patients, and it can improve their prognosis prediction accuracy; in addition, it can distinguish GC patients with better prognosis from those with high prognostic nutritional index score; furthermore, ISS
can also be used as a tool to select GC patients who would benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy independent of their TNM stages, MSI status and EBV status.
Cobalt‐based nanomaterials have been intensively explored as promising noble‐metal‐free oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts. Herein, we report phase‐selective syntheses of novel ...hierarchical CoTe2 and CoTe nanofleeces for efficient OER catalysts. The CoTe2 nanofleeces exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity and stablity for OER in alkaline media. The CoTe2 catalyst exhibited superior OER activity compared to the CoTe catalyst, which is comparable to the state‐of‐the‐art RuO2 catalyst. Density functional theory calculations showed that the binding strength and lateral interaction of the reaction intermediates on CoTe2 and CoTe are essential for determining the overpotential required under different conditions. This study provides valuable insights for the rational design of noble‐metal‐free OER catalysts with high performance and low cost by use of Co‐based chalcogenides.
Fleeced: Hierarchical CoTe2 nanofleeces were synthesized by using ultrathin Te nanowires as templates. They exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity and stablity for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline media. The CoTe2 catalyst exhibited superior OER activity to the CoTe catalyst and was comparable to the state‐of‐the‐art RuO2 catalyst.
Background
Serum prealbumin (PALB) can predict the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer (GC). However, the prognostic value of combination of C-reactive protein and PALB (CRP/PALB) remains ...unclear.
Methods
A total of 419 gastric cancer patients included in a clinical trial (NCT02327481) were analyzed. The present study is a substudy of the trial. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated, and by calculating the areas under the curve (AUC) and the C-index, the discriminative ability of each inflammatory index was compared, including CRP/PALB, C-reactive protein/albumin, Glasgow prognostic score (GPS), modified GPS, systemic immune-inflammation index, neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio, and platelet–lymphocyte ratio.
Results
Ultimately, 401 patients were included in this study. The optimal cutoff value of CRP/PALB was 17.7. According to this cutoff point, the entire sample was divided into a CRP/PALB < 17.7 (LCP) group and a CRP/PALB ≥ 17.7 (HCP) group, comprising 245 and 156 patients, respectively. There were 54 and 22 patients experienced recurrence in the HCP and LCP group, respectively,
p
< 0.001. Compared with traditional inflammatory indices, CRP/PALB had the highest AUC (0.707) and C-index (0.716), all
p
< 0.05. The post-recurrence survival (PRS) of patients in the HCP group was significantly shorter than that in the LCP group (
p
= 0.010), especially for pathological stage III patients (
p
= 0.015) or patients with distant (
p
= 0.018) or local (
p
= 0.023) recurrences.
Conclusions
The predictive value of preoperative CRP/PALB for the recurrence of GC is significantly better than traditional inflammatory indices. HCP significantly reduces the PRS, especially for pathological stage III patients or patients with distant or local recurrences.
Bacteria can act as a promising anti‐tumor platform due to their specific targeting capacity to the tumor microenvironment. In this study, it is discovered that intravenous administration of ...Escherichia coli TOP10 induces rapid and intense blood coagulation in tumor tissues instead of normal tissues. It is demonstrated that E. coli TOP10 can act as an activator of a coagulation cascade to trigger abnormal hemorrhage, blood coagulation, and inflammation with abundant macrophages recruitment in tumors. In addition, the recruited macrophages are principally polarized by lipopolysaccharide in the bacterial wall to the anti‐tumor M1‐like phenotype. Based on the above finding, coagulation‐tropism blood platelets decorated with CD47 antibodies (Anti‐CD47), which possess tropism for bacteria‐treated tumors are further prepared. As a result, Anti‐CD47 blocks the “don't eat me” signal from tumor cells, consequently promoting the phagocytosis of polarized M1‐like phenotype macrophages for tumor cells. This manipulation of local blood coagulation in tumors may find great potential for accurately delivering immune checkpoint inhibitors and facilitating tumor immunotherapy.
Living Escherichia coli TOP10 is demonstrated to induce rapid and intense blood coagulation specifically in tumors, along with macrophages recruitment and polarization. The coagulation‐tropism blood platelets decorated with CD47 antibodies (Anti‐CD47) are prepared for promoting the phagocytosis of polarized macrophages for tumor cells.
Distributed quantum metrology can enhance the sensitivity for sensing spatially distributed parameters beyond the classical limits. Here we demonstrate distributed quantum phase estimation with ...discrete variables to achieve Heisenberg limit phase measurements. Based on parallel entanglement in modes and particles, we demonstrate distributed quantum sensing for both individual phase shifts and an averaged phase shift, with an error reduction up to 1.4 dB and 2.7 dB below the shot-noise limit. Furthermore, we demonstrate a combined strategy with parallel mode entanglement and multiple passes of the phase shifter in each mode. In particular, our experiment uses six entangled photons with each photon passing the phase shifter up to six times, and achieves a total number of photon passes N = 21 at an error reduction up to 4.7 dB below the shot-noise limit. Our research provides a faithful verification of the benefit of entanglement and coherence for distributed quantum sensing in general quantum networks.Distributed quantum metrology is demonstrated for both individual and averaged phase shifts by using discrete-variable entangled photons. An error reduction of 4.7 dB below the shot-noise limit is achieved when a total number of photon passes is 21.
COVID-19 might have long-term mental health impacts. We aim to investigate the longitudinal changes in mental problems from initial COVID-19 peak to its aftermath among general public in China. ...Depression, anxiety and insomnia were assessed among a large-sample nationwide cohort of 10,492 adults during the initial COVID-19 peak (28 February 2020 to 11 March 2020) and its aftermath (8 July 2020 to 8 August 2020) using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, and Insomnia Severity Index. We used generalized estimating equations and linear mixed models to explore factors associated with long-term mental health symptoms during COVID-19. During the five months, mental health symptoms remained consistently elevated (baseline 46.4%; follow-up 45.1%). Long-term depression, anxiety and insomnia were associated with several personal and work-related factors including quarantine (adjusted OR for any mental health symptoms 1.31, 95%CI 1.22–1.41, p < 0.001), increases in work burden after resuming work (1.77, 1.65–1.90, p < 0.001), occupational exposure risk to COVID-19 (1.26, 1.14–1.40, p < 0.001) and living in places severely affected by initial COVID-19 peak (1.21, 1.04–1.41, p = 0.01) or by a COVID-19 resurgence (1.38, 1.26–1.50, p < 0.001). Compliance with self-protection measures, such as wearing face masks (0.74, 0.61–0.90, p = 0.003), was associated with lower long-term risk of mental problems. The findings reveal a pronounced and prolonged mental health burden from the initial COVID-19 peak through to its aftermath in China. We should regularly monitor the mental health status of vulnerable populations throughout COVID-19.
Single-photon light detection and ranging (LiDAR), offering single-photon sensitivity and picosecond time resolution, has been widely adopted for active imaging applications. Long-range active ...imaging is a great challenge, because the spatial resolution degrades significantly with the imaging range due to the diffraction limit of the optics, and only weak echo signal photons can return but mixed with a strong background noise. Here we propose and demonstrate a photon-efficient LiDAR approach that can achieve sub-Rayleigh resolution imaging over long ranges. This approach exploits fine sub-pixel scanning and a deconvolution algorithm tailored to this long-range application. Using this approach, we experimentally demonstrated active three-dimensional (3D) single-photon imaging by recognizing different postures of a mannequin model at a stand-off distance of 8.2 km in both daylight and night. The observed spatial (transversal) resolution is ∼5.5 cm at 8.2 km, which is about twice of the system's resolution. This also beats the optical system's Rayleigh criterion. The results are valuable for geosciences and target recognition over long ranges.
Background Application of indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence imaging is effective in guiding laparoscopic radical lymphadenectomy for gastric cancer. However, the optimal approach for indocyanine ...green injection is controversial. Therefore, the objective of this study was aimed to compare the efficacy and ICG injection between the preoperative submucosal and intraoperative subserosal approaches for lymph node (LN) tracing during laparoscopic gastrectomy. Method This randomized controlled trial (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04219332) included 266 patients with potentially resectable gastric cancer (cT1-T4a, N0/+, M0) enrolled from a tertiary teaching center between December 2019 and October 2020. The primary endpoint was total number of retrieved LNs. Results In total, 259 patients (n = 130 and n = 129 in the submucosal and subserosal groups, respectively) were included in the per-protocol analysis. There are no significant differences in total number of retrieved LNs between the two groups (49.8 vs. 49.2, P = 0.713). The rate of LN noncompliance in the submucosal group was comparable to that in the subserosal group (32.3% vs. 33.3%, P = 0.860). No significant difference was found between the submucosal and subserosal groups in terms of the incidence (17.7% vs. 16.3%; P = 0.762) or severity of postoperative complications. The mean fluorescence cost in the submucosal group was higher than that in the subserosal group ($335.3 vs. $182.4; P < 0.001). The overall treatment satisfaction score was lower in the submucosal group than in the subserosal group (70.5 vs. 76.1%, P = 0.048). Conclusion ICG administered by subserosal injection was comparable to that administered by submucosal injection for lymph node tracing in gastric cancer. However, the former approach imposed a lower economic and mental burden on patients undergoing laparoscopic D2 lymphadenectomy. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04219332. Keywords: Gastric cancer, Indocyanine green, Submucosal approach, Subserosal approach, Lymphadenectomy
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