Quantum ghost imaging of a vector field.

Quantum ghost image technique utilizing position or momentum correlations between entangled photons can realize nonlocal reconstruction of the image of an object. In this work, based on polarization entanglement, we experimentally demonstrate quantum ghost imaging of vector images by using a geometric phase object. We also provide a corresponding theoretical analysis. Additionally, we offer a geometrical optics path explanation of ghost imaging for vector fields. The proposed strategy offers new insights into the fundamental development of ghost imaging and also holds great promise for developing complex structured ghost imaging techniques. Our work expanding the principle of ghost imaging to spatially varying vector beams will lead to interesting developments of this field.

TLR2-hif1α-mediated glycolysis contributes to pyroptosis and oxidative stress in allergic airway inflammation.

As a pattern recognition receptor which activates innate immune system, toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) has been reportedly mediates allergic airway inflammation (AAI), yet the underlying mechanism remains elusive. Here, in a murine AAI model, TLR2-/- mice showed decreased airway inflammation, pyroptosis and oxidative stress. RNA-sequencing revealed that allergen-induced hif1 signaling pathway and glycolysis were significantly downregulated when TLR2 was deficient, which were confirmed by lung protein immunoblots. Glycolysis inhibitor 2-Deoxy-d-glucose (2-DG) inhibited allergen-induced airway inflammation, pyroptosis, oxidative stress and glycolysis in wild type (WT) mice, while hif1α stabilizer ethyl 3,4-dihydroxybenzoate (EDHB) restored theses allergen-induced changes in TLR2-/- mice, indicating TLR2-hif1α-mediated glycolysis contributes to pyroptosis and oxidative stress in AAI. Moreover, upon allergen challenge, lung macrophages were highly activated in WT mice but were less activated in TLR2-/- mice, 2-DG replicated while EDHB reversed such effect of TLR2 deficiency on lung macrophages. Likewise, both in vivo and ex vivo WT alveolar macrophages (AMs) exhibited higher TLR2/hif1α expression, glycolysis and polarization activation in response to ovalbumin (OVA), which were all inhibited in TLR2-/- AMs, suggesting AMs activation and metabolic switch are dependent on TLR2. Finally, depletion of resident AMs in TLR2-/- mice abolished while transfer of TLR2-/- resident AMs to WT mice replicated the protective effect of TLR2 deficiency on AAI when administered before allergen challenge. Collectively, we suggested that loss of TLR2-hif1α-mediated glycolysis in resident AMs ameliorates allergic airway inflammation that inhibits pyroptosis and oxidative stress, therefore the TLR2-hif1α-glycolysis axis in resident AMs may be a novel therapeutic target for AAI.

Itaconate Suppresses the Activation of Mitochondrial NLRP3 Inflammasome and Oxidative Stress in Allergic Airway Inflammation.

Itaconate has emerged as a novel anti-inflammatory and antioxidative endogenous metabolite, yet its role in allergic airway inflammation (AAI) and the underlying mechanism remains elusive. Here, the itaconate level in the lung was assessed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), and the effects of the Irg1/itaconate pathway on AAI and alveolar macrophage (AM) immune responses were evaluated using an ovalbumin (OVA)-induced AAI model established by wild type (WT) and Irg1-/- mice, while the mechanism of this process was investigated by metabolomics analysis, mitochondrial/cytosolic protein fractionation and transmission electron microscopy in the lung tissues. The results demonstrated that the Irg1 mRNA/protein expression and itaconate production in the lung were significantly induced by OVA. Itaconate ameliorated while Irg1 deficiency augmented AAI, and this may be attributed to the fact that itaconate suppressed mitochondrial events such as NLRP3 inflammasome activation, oxidative stress and metabolic dysfunction. Furthermore, we identified that the Irg1/itaconate pathway impacted the NLRP3 inflammasome activation and oxidative stress in AMs. Collectively, our findings provide evidence for the first time, supporting the conclusion that in the allergic lung, the itaconate level is markedly increased, which directly regulates AMs' immune responses. We therefore propose that the Irg1/itaconate pathway in AMs is a potential anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative therapeutic target for AAI.

Ultralow-power all-optical switching via a chiral Mach-Zehnder interferometer.

It is a challenge for all-optical switching to simultaneous achieve ultralow power consumption, broad bandwidth and high extinction ratio. We experimentally demonstrate an ultralow-power all-optical switching by exploiting chiral interaction between light and optically active material in a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. We achieve switching extinction ratio of 20.0 ± 3.8 and 14.7 ± 2.8 dB with power cost of 66.1 ± 0.7 and 1.3 ± 0.1 fJ/bit, respectively. The bandwidth of our all-optical switching is about 4.2 GHz. Moreover, our all-optical switching has the potential to be operated at few-photon level. Our scheme paves the way towards ultralow-power and ultrafast all-optical information processing.

[Effects of Trichoderma on nitrogen absorption and use efficiency in Lycium chinense roots under saline stress]. / æœ¨éœ‰å¯¹ç›æ¸é€†å¢ƒä¸‹æž¸æžæ ¹ç³»æ°®ç´ å¸æ”¶å’Œæ°®ç´ åˆ©ç”¨æ•ˆçŽ‡çš„å½±å“.

To clarify the mechanisms underlying the improvement of Trichoderma on Chinese wolfberry (Lycium chinense) growth under saline stress, we analyzed the effects of application of organic fertilizer, Trichoderma agent and fertilizer on nitrogen uptake, assimilation, accumulation and use efficiency in Chinese wolfberry, based on a pot experiment with coastal saline soil. The organic fertilizer was the sterilization substance of Trichoderma fertilizer without viable Trichoderma, without any difference in the content of nutrients (such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) between them. The results showed that the application of organic fertilizer, Trichoderma agent and ferti-lizer significantly increased NO3- and NH4+ influx rate in meristematic zone and NO3- influx rate in maturation zone of roots. The magnitude of such enhancement was greater in the application with Trichoderma fertilizer than organic fertilizer. Compared with the control, the application of Trichoderma agent and fertilizer significantly increased root, stem and leaf biomass and nitrogen content as well as plant nitrogen accumulation, strengthened root and leaf nitrate reductase, nitrite reductase and glutamine synthetase activities, and elevated nitrogen uptake efficiency, photosynthetic rate, stable carbon isotope abundance and photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency. For all those variables, the beneficial effect was obviously stronger in the application with Trichoderma fertilizer than organic fertilizer. Therefore, Trichoderma facilitated nitrogen uptake, assimilation and accumulation in Chinese wolfberry under saline stress, improved photosynthetic carbon fixation ability and nitrogen use efficiency, and ultimately promoted plant growth.

CpG Oligodeoxynucleotides Attenuate OVA-Induced Allergic Airway Inflammation via Suppressing JNK-Mediated Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress.

PURPOSE: CpG-ODN has been found to attenuate allergic airway inflammation in our previous study. Here, we aimed to further investigate whether CpG-ODN exerts such effect via regulating endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and revealed the underlying mechanism. METHODS: Five-week-old C57BL/6 mice were randomly grouped and treated with or without CpG-ODN or/and SP600125. Meantime, RAW264.7 cells were used to investigate the effect of CpG-ODN on OVA-induced ER stress in vitro. The cellularity of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was classified and counted after Wright-Giemsa staining. HE and PAS staining methods were applied to analyze airway inflammation. The protein levels of IL-4, IL-5, IL-13, p-JNK, JNK, CHOP, XBP1, ATF6α and GRP78 in lung tissues were detected by Western blotting. Correspondingly, the ER stress markers were detected by Western blotting and immunofluorescence in RAW264.7 cells. RESULTS: In OVA-induced allergic airway inflammation, CpG-ODN significantly suppressed inflammatory cells infiltration, goblet cell hyperplasia and the protein expression of Th2 cytokines. Moreover, OVA exposure strongly increased the activation of ER stress with higher protein expressions of CHOP, XBP1, ATF6α and GRP78. However, these OVA-induced increase of ER stress markers were markedly suppressed by CpG-ODN treatment. In addition, exposure to OVA significantly increased the phosphorylation of JNK, which was significantly reduced by CpG-ODN treatment. Remarkably, single treatment of SP600125, an antagonist of JNK, functioned similarly as CpG-ODN in mitigating allergic airway inflammation and suppressing OVA-induced activation of ER stress; however, no significant synergistic effect was evidenced by combined treatment of SP600125 and CpG-ODN. Furthermore, in OVA-stimulated RAW264.7 cells, we also found that OVA stimulation increased the expressions of ER stress markers, and CpG-ODN significantly reduced their expression levels via suppressing the phosphorylation of JNK. CONCLUSION: These results indicated that CpG-ODN mitigates allergic airway inflammation via suppressing the activation of JNK-medicated ER stress.

Self-healing of a heralded single-photon Airy beam.

Self-healing of an Airy beam during propagation is of fundamental interest and also promises important applications. Despite many studies of Airy beams in the quantum regime, it is unclear whether an Airy beam only including a single photon can heal after passing an obstacle because the photon may be blocked. Here we experimentally observe self-healing of a heralded single-photon Airy beam. Our observation implies that an Airy wave packet is robust against obstacle caused distortion and can restore even at the single-photon level.

Fiber-Optic Point-Based Sensor Using Specklegram Measurement.

Here, we report a fiber-optic point-based sensor to measure temperature and weight based on correlated specklegrams induced by spatial multimode interference. The device is realized simply by splicing a multimode fiber (MMF) to a single-mode fiber (SMF) with a core offset. A series of experiments demonstrates the approximately linear relation between the correlation coefficient and variation. Furthermore, we show the potential applications of the refractive index sensing of our device by disconnecting the splicing point of MMF and SMF. A modification of the algorithm in order to improve the sensitivity of the sensor is also discussed at the end of the paper.

Versatile hybrid plasmonic microfiber knot resonator.

A planar, all-optical fiber polarizer-based device based on a hybrid plasmonic microfiber knot resonator (HPMKR) is demonstrated in this Letter. A microfiber knot resonator (MKR) can be flexibly attached to the gold film, which forms the hybrid plasmonic mode with high propagation loss. Therefore, the device can be used not only as a broadband polarizer, but also as a high-quality resonator by tuning the geometry of the MKR. The polarizer has an extinction ratio of more than 15 dB ranging from 1200 to 1600 nm, and the Q-factor is more than 52,000 for one polarization state. For a chosen polarization, the resonator has an extinction ratio of nearly 15 dB, even though the diameter of the microfiber is more than 5 µm, which is unattainable for a normal MKR. By further optimizing and packaging, the device can be utilized as a weight sensor, with a sensitivity of 18.28 pm/g (51.2 pm/kPa) for the cavity resonant wavelength. Further, a vibration sensor on a HPMKR structure for detecting vibration from tens of hertz to several kilohertz is demonstrated.

[Effects of elevated ozone concentrations on reactive oxygen metabolism and related gene expression in Ginkgo biloba leaves]. / å¤§æ°”è‡­æ°§æµ“åº¦å‡é«˜å¯¹é“¶æå¶ç‰‡æ´»æ€§æ°§ä»£è°¢åŠç›¸å ³åŸºå› è¡¨è¾¾çš„å½±å“.

By using the open top chambers (OTCs) fumigation method, this paper investigated the changes of foliar injury, level of reactive oxygen species (ROS), activities and gene expression of antioxidant enzymes in Ginkgo biloba leaves under different ozone (ambient ozone≈40, 80, 160, 200 nmol·mol-1) concentrations, in order to study the effects of elevated ozone (O3) concentrations on reactive metabolism. The results showed that the obvious foliar injuries were observed in 160 and 200 nmol·mol-1 O3 treatments, while no visible injury was observed in 80 nmol·mol-1 O3 and ambient O3 treatments. After 20 d, a significant increase in O2-· generation rate was observed in G. biloba leaves exposed to 160, 200 nmol·mol-1 O3, compared with ambient ozone and 80 nmol·mol-1 O3, and there were no significant differences between ambient O3 and 80 nmol·mol-1 treatments. After 40 d, H2O2 content of G. biloba leaves in 160 and 200 nmol·mol-1 O3 was significantly higher than that in 80 nmol·mol-1 and ambient ozone, respectively. The activities of catalase (CAT) in 160 and 200 nmol·mol-1 treatments were also significantly higher than that in 80 nmol·mol-1 and ambient O3 treatments. The ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activity of leaves for each elevated O3 treatment was lower than that of ambient ozone. The level of CAT and APX expression increased progressively after 40 d O3 treatment. The expression intensity of GbD was conspicuously strengthened along with the increase of ozone concentration and fumigation time. Le-vel of reactive oxygen increased, activities of antioxidant enzyme decreased, level of gene expression down-regulated, and foliar visible injury was observed in leaves of G. biloba in elevated ozone stress.

[Effects of elevated Cd, Zn and their combined effects on antioxidant system of tobacco]. / é«˜æµ“åº¦é•‰ã€é”ŒåŠå ¶å¤åˆä½œç”¨å¯¹çƒŸè‰æŠ—æ°§åŒ–ç³»ç»Ÿçš„å½±å“.

A solution culture was conducted to study the effects of elevated Cd and/or Zn ions (0.1 mmol·L-1 Cd2+, 0.15 mmol·L-1 Zn2+, 0.1 mmol·L-1 Cd2++0.15 mmol·L-1Zn2+) on seed germination rate and reactive oxygen species (ROS) level, antioxidants contents, antioxidant enzyme activities and product of membrane lipid peroxidation in tobacco seedling leaves. The results showed that compared to control, the seed germination rate decreased under elevated level of Cd2+or Zn2+, the superoxide radical (O2-· ) generation rate and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) content in tobacco seedlings increased, the activities of catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR), monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDAR), and glutathione reductase (GR) increased, content of glutathione (GSH) and GSH/GSSG (oxidized glutathione) ratio decreased, and malondialdehyde (MDA) content increased. Compared to elevation of the level of only Cd2+ or Zn2+, the seed germination rate under elevation of both Cd2+ and Zn2+ levels was enhanced significantly; O2-· generation rate, contents of H2O2 and MDA decreased; CAT, APX and MDAR activities increased in the last stage of Cd2+ and Zn2+ exposure. Heavy metal Cd2+ or Zn2+ could induce the physiological injury to tobacco seedlings, and the toxic effects increased with prolonged stress time. The combined treatment of Cd and Zn could alleviate the toxicity of single stress on tobacco seedlings.

[Effects of elevated ozone on Pinus armandii growth: a simulation study with open-top chamber].

By using open-top chamber (OTC) and the techniques of dendrochronology, this paper studied the growth of Pinus armandii under elevated ozone, and explored the evolution dynamics and adaptation mechanisms of typical forest ecosystems to ozone enrichment. Elevated ozone inhibited the stem growth of P. armandii significantly, with the annual growth of the stem length and diameter reduced by 35.0% and 12.9%, respectively. The annual growth of tree-ring width and the annual ring cells number decreased by 11.5% and 54.1%, respectively, but no significant change was observed in the diameter of tracheid. At regional scale, the fluctuation of ozone concentration showed significant correlation with the variation of local vegetation growth (NDVI).

[Effects of elevated O3 concentration on anti-oxidative enzyme activities in Pinus tabulaeformis].

An open-top chamber experiment was conducted to study the effects of high concentration O3 (80 nmol x mol(-1)) on the superoxide anion radical (O2*-) generation rate, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) content, activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR), monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR) and glutathione reductase (GR), and ascorbic acid content in Pinus tabulaeformis leaves. Under high concentration O3 exposure, the superoxide anion radical generation rate and H2O2 and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents increased, while the ascorbic acid content and the activities of SOD, APX, DHAR, MDHAR, and GR increased in early growth season but decreased then to a level lower than the control, which illustrated that the antioxidant system of P. tabulaeformis did respond in an acclimation way in the early growth season, but could not bear the damage of long-term elevated O3 exposure.