Inflammation-Induced Claudin-2 Upregulation Limits Pancreatitis Progression by Enhancing Tight Junction-Controlled Pancreatic Ductal Transport.

Pancreatitis is an inflammatory disease of the pancreas that can arise due to various factors, including environmental risks such as diet, alcohol, and smoking, as well as genetic predispositions. In some cases, pancreatitis may progress and become chronic, leading to irreversible damage and impaired pancreatic function. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified polymorphisms at the X-linked locus as risk factors for both sporadic and alcohol-related chronic pancreatitis.

A Bi-CMOS electronic photonic integrated circuit quantum light detector.

Complimentary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) integration of quantum technology provides a route to manufacture at volume, simplify assembly, reduce footprint, and increase performance. Quantum noise-limited homodyne detectors have applications across quantum technologies, and they comprise photonics and electronics. Here, we report a quantum noise-limited monolithic electronic-photonic integrated homodyne detector, with a footprint of 80 micrometers by 220 micrometers, fabricated in a 250-nanometer lithography bipolar CMOS process.

Heterogeneous Integration of Solid-State Quantum Systems with a Foundry Photonics Platform.

Diamond color centers are promising optically addressable solid-state spins that can be matter-qubits, mediate deterministic interaction between photons, and act as single photon emitters. Useful quantum computers will comprise millions of logical qubits. To become useful in constructing quantum computers, spin-photon interfaces must, therefore, become scalable and be compatible with mass-manufacturable photonics and electronics.

OrganoID: A versatile deep learning platform for tracking and analysis of single-organoid dynamics.

Organoids have immense potential as ex vivo disease models for drug discovery and personalized drug screening. Dynamic changes in individual organoid morphology, number, and size can indicate important drug responses. However, these metrics are difficult and labor-intensive to obtain for high-throughput image datasets.

Advantage of Coherent States in Ring Resonators over Any Quantum Probe Single-Pass Absorption Estimation Strategy.

Quantum states of light have been shown to enhance precision in absorption estimation over classical strategies. By exploiting interference and resonant enhancement effects, we show that coherent-state probes in all-pass ring resonators can outperform any quantum probe single-pass strategy even when normalized by the mean input photon number. We also find that under optimal conditions coherent-state probes equal the performance of arbitrarily bright pure single-mode squeezed probes in all-pass ring resonators.

Shot-noise limited homodyne detection for MHz quantum light characterisation in the 2 µm band.

Characterising quantum states of light in the 2 µm band requires high-performance shot-noise limited detectors. Here, we present the characterisation of a homodyne detector that we use to observe vacuum shot-noise via homodyne measurement with a 2.07 µm pulsed mode-locked laser.

Implementing graph-theoretic quantum algorithms on a silicon photonic quantum walk processor.

Applications of quantum walks can depend on the number, exchange symmetry and indistinguishability of the particles involved, and the underlying graph structures where they move. Here, we show that silicon photonics, by exploiting an entanglement-driven scheme, can realize quantum walks with full control over all these properties in one device. The device we realize implements entangled two-photon quantum walks on any five-vertex graph, with continuously tunable particle exchange symmetry and indistinguishability.

Quantum Optical Metrology of Correlated Phase and Loss.

Optical absorption measurements characterize a wide variety of systems from atomic gases to in vivo diagnostics of living organisms. Here we study the potential of nonclassical techniques to reduce statistical noise below the shot-noise limit in absorption measurements with concomitant phase shifts imparted by a sample. We consider both cases where there is a known relationship between absorption and a phase shift, and where this relationship is unknown.

Widely-tunable mid-infrared ring cavity pump-enhanced OPO and application in photo-thermal interferometric trace ethane detection.

The development of a broadly and accurately tunable single-frequency mid-infrared laser source and its application to a sensitive laser absorption detection method are described. Photo-thermal interferometric spectroscopy is employed as a phase-sensitive method to detect the minute refractive index change caused by the heating of a gas under laser radiation. A separate probe beam allows for the spectrally-interesting mid-infrared region to be examined whilst utilizing low cost, high detectivity photodetectors in the visible/near-infrared region.

Observation of nonlinear interference on a silicon photonic chip.

Photonic integrated circuits represent a promising platform for applying quantum information science to areas such as quantum computation, quantum communication, and quantum metrology. While the linear optical approach has greatly contributed to this field, it is often possible to improve the functionality and scalability by making use of nonlinear processes. One interesting phenomenon is the interference between two nonlinear optical processes, where the interference occurs by removing the information as to which of two processes have occurred.

Generation of random numbers by measuring phase fluctuations from a laser diode with a silicon-on-insulator chip.

Random numbers are a fundamental resource in science and technology. Among the different approaches to generating them, random numbers created by exploiting the laws of quantum mechanics have proven to be reliable and can be produced at enough rates for their practical use. While these demonstrations have shown very good performance, most of the implementations using free-space and fibre optics suffer from limitations due to their size, which strongly limits their practical use.

An Embedded Device for Real-Time Noninvasive Intracranial Pressure Estimation.

Objective: The monitoring of intracranial pressure (ICP) is indicated for diagnosing and guiding therapy in many neurological conditions. Current monitoring methods, however, are highly invasive, limiting their use to the most critically ill patients only. Our goal is to develop and test an embedded device that performs all necessary mathematical operations in real-time for noninvasive ICP (nICP) estimation based on a previously developed model-based approach that uses cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV) and arterial blood pressure (ABP) waveforms.

Demonstrating an absolute quantum advantage in direct absorption measurement.

Engineering apparatus that harness quantum theory promises to offer practical advantages over current technology. A fundamentally more powerful prospect is that such quantum technologies could out-perform any future iteration of their classical counterparts, no matter how well the attributes of those classical strategies can be improved. Here, for optical direct absorption measurement, we experimentally demonstrate such an instance of an absolute advantage per photon probe that is exposed to the absorbative sample.

Noninvasive and continuous blood pressure measurement via superficial temporal artery tonometry.

The measurement of blood pressure is an important cardiovascular health assessment, yet the current set of methodologies is limited in resolution, repeatability, accuracy, simplicity, and safety. This paper presents the design and prototype implementation of a novel and easy-to-use medical device for noninvasive and continuous blood pressure monitoring through tonometry at the superficial temporal artery (STA). The device features a stable form factor inspired by over-ear headphones that adjusts easily from person to person using a combination prismatic and rotational joint.

Quality of Life in Long-term Survivors of Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer.

Purpose: Health-related quality of life (QOL) has not been well-studied in survivors of muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). The present study compared long-term QOL in MIBC patients treated with radical cystectomy (RC) versus bladder-sparing trimodality therapy (TMT).

Methods And Materials: This cross-sectional bi-institutional study identified 226 patients with nonmetastatic cT2-cT4 MIBC, diagnosed in 1990 to 2011, who were eligible for RC and were disease free for ≥2 years.

Quantum Logic with Cavity Photons From Single Atoms.

We demonstrate quantum logic using narrow linewidth photons that are produced with an a priori nonprobabilistic scheme from a single ^{87}Rb atom strongly coupled to a high-finesse cavity. We use a controlled-not gate integrated into a photonic chip to entangle these photons, and we observe nonclassical correlations between photon detection events separated by periods exceeding the travel time across the chip by 3 orders of magnitude. This enables quantum technology that will use the properties of both narrow-band single photon sources and integrated quantum photonics.

Efficient quantum walk on a quantum processor.

The random walk formalism is used across a wide range of applications, from modelling share prices to predicting population genetics. Likewise, quantum walks have shown much potential as a framework for developing new quantum algorithms. Here we present explicit efficient quantum circuits for implementing continuous-time quantum walks on the circulant class of graphs.

QUANTUM OPTICS. Universal linear optics.

Linear optics underpins fundamental tests of quantum mechanics and quantum technologies. We demonstrate a single reprogrammable optical circuit that is sufficient to implement all possible linear optical protocols up to the size of that circuit. Our six-mode universal system consists of a cascade of 15 Mach-Zehnder interferometers with 30 thermo-optic phase shifters integrated into a single photonic chip that is electrically and optically interfaced for arbitrary setting of all phase shifters, input of up to six photons, and their measurement with a 12-single-photon detector system.

A dominance shift from the zebra mussel to the invasive quagga mussel may alter the trophic transfer of metals.

Bioinvasions are a major cause of biodiversity and ecosystem changes. The rapid range expansion of the invasive quagga mussel (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis) causing a dominance shift from zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) to quagga mussels, may alter the risk of secondary poisoning to predators. Mussel samples were collected from various water bodies in the Netherlands, divided into size classes, and analysed for metal concentrations.

Low testosterone has a similar prevalence among men with sexual dysfunction due to either Peyronie's disease or erectile dysfunction and does not correlate with Peyronie's disease severity.

Introduction: Low testosterone (T) has been suggested as a risk factor for Peyronie's disease (PD) that may correlate with disease severity. Low T is common in men with sexual dysfunction but its role in the pathogenesis of PD remains unclear.

Aim: The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence of low T (<300 ng/dL) in patients presenting with PD or erectile dysfunction (ED), as well as disease severity between men with PD and either low T or normal T (≥300 ng/dL).

Nutritional predictors of complications following radical cystectomy.

Purpose: To determine the impact of preoperative nutritional status on the development of surgical complications following cystectomy using the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP).

Methods: We performed a retrospective review of the NSQIP 2005-2012 Participant Use Data Files. ACS-NSQIP collects data on 135 variables, including pre- and intraoperative data and 30-day postoperative complications and mortality on all major surgical procedures at participating institutions.

Resident involvement and experience do not affect perioperative complications following robotic prostatectomy.

Purpose: Most urologic training programs use robotic prostatectomy (RP) as an introduction to teach residents appropriate robotic technique. However, concerns may exist regarding differences in RP outcomes with resident involvement. Our objective was therefore to evaluate whether resident involvement affects complications, operative time, or length of stay (LOS) following RP.

Degradable lipid nanoparticles with predictable in vivo siRNA delivery activity.

One of the most significant challenges in the development of clinically viable delivery systems for RNA interference therapeutics is to understand how molecular structures influence delivery efficacy. Here, we have synthesized 1,400 degradable lipidoids and evaluate their transfection ability and structure-function activity. We show that lipidoid nanoparticles mediate potent gene knockdown in hepatocytes and immune cell populations on IV administration to mice (siRNA EC50 values as low as 0.

Quantum walks of correlated photon pairs in two-dimensional waveguide arrays.

We demonstrate quantum walks of correlated photons in a two-dimensional network of directly laser written waveguides coupled in a "swiss cross" arrangement. The correlated detection events show high-visibility quantum interference and unique composite behavior: strong correlation and independence of the quantum walkers, between and within the planes of the cross. Violations of a classically defined inequality, for photons injected in the same plane and in orthogonal planes, reveal nonclassical behavior in a nonplanar structure.