Quantum State Discrimination Using the Minimum Average Number of Copies.

In the task of discriminating between nonorthogonal quantum states from multiple copies, the key parameters are the error probability and the resources (number of copies) used. Previous studies have considered the task of minimizing the average error probability for fixed resources. Here we introduce a new state discrimination task: minimizing the average resources for a fixed admissible error probability. We show that this new task is not performed optimally by previously known strategies, and derive and experimentally test a detection scheme that performs better.

Erratum: Quantum State Discrimination Using the Minimum Average Number of Copies [Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 030502 (2017)].

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.030502.

The Gut Bacterial Community Composition of Wild Cervus albirostris (White-Lipped Deer) Detected by the 16S Ribosomal RNA Gene Sequencing.

Cervus albirostris (white-lipped deer) is an endemic species in China. As the name implies, C. albirostris has a characteristic pure white marking around their mouth and on the underside of the throat. The animal is a typical alpine species normally living at the height of 3500-4300 m. In this study, by pyrosequencing the 16S rRNA gene sequences, we for the first time analyzed the gut bacterial community composition in eight feces samples of wild C. albirostris. From a total of 243,634 high-quality sequences, we identified 186 genera, included in 17 prokaryotic phyla in the feces. The relative proportions of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were highly consistent in each individual sample. The most frequently detected genus was Ruminococcaceae UCG-005, ranging from 6.70 to 21.00%, displaying positively connections with the Rikenellaceae RC9 gut group. The bacterial communities associated with C. albirostris provide the basic knowledge for further microbiological studies and facilitates the conservation efforts of this vulnerable deer species.

Clostridium luticellarii sp. nov., isolated from a mud cellar used for producing strong aromatic liquors.

A strictly anaerobic, Gram-stain-positive bacterium, designated FW431T, was isolated from a mud cellar used for producing strong aromatic Chinese liquors. The strain was able to produce butanoic acid, an important component of the aroma style of Chinese liquors. Cells of strain FW431T were straight or slightly curved rods with a polar endospore and peritrichous flagella. The major cellular fatty acids (>10 % of the total) were C16 : 0, C18 : 1ω9c and C18 : 0. Biolog assays indicated that the strain preferably metabolizes palatinose, l-fucose, ß-hydroxybutyric acid, l-rhamnose and α-ketobutyric acid among 95 carbon sources tested. FW431T was related most closely to Clostridium ljungdahlii DSM 13528T and Clostridium kluyveri DSM 555T based on 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities of 95.0 and 94.2 %, respectively. The DNA G+C content of the genomic DNA was 44.4 mol%. Based on the evidence presented here, FW431T ( = CGMCC 1.5201T = KCTC 15519T) is proposed as the type strain of a novel species, Clostridium luticellarii sp. nov.

Porcine serum can be biofortified with selenium to inhibit proliferation of three types of human cancer cells.

Our objectives were to determine if porcine serum could be enriched with selenium (Se) by feeding pigs with high concentrations of dietary Se and if the Se-biofortified serum inhibited proliferation of 3 types of human cancer cells. In Expt. 1, growing pigs (8 wk old, n = 3) were fed 0.02 or 3.0 mg Se/kg (as sodium selenite) for 16 wk and produced serum with 0.5 and 5.4 µmol/L Se, respectively. In Expt. 2, growing pigs (5 wk old, n = 6) were fed 0.3 or 1.0 mg Se/kg (as Se-enriched yeast) for 6 wk and produced serum with 2.6 and 6.2 µmol/L Se, respectively. After the Se-biofortified porcine sera were added at 16% in RPMI 1640 to treat NCI-H446, DU145, and HTC116 cells for 144 h, they decreased (P < 0.05) the viability of the 3 types of human cancer cells by promoting apoptosis, compared with their controls. This effect was replicated only by adding the appropriate amount of methylseleninic acid to the control serum and was mediated by a downregulation of 8 cell cycle arrest genes and an upregulation of 7 apoptotic genes. Along with 6 previously reported selenoprotein genes, selenoprotein T (Selt), selenoprotein M (Selm), selenoprotein H (Selh), selenoprotein K (Selk), and selenoprotein N (Sepn1) were revealed to be strongly associated with the cell death-related signaling induced by the Se-enriched porcine serum. In conclusion, porcine serum could be biofortified with Se to effectively inhibit the proliferation of 3 types of human cancer cells and the action synchronized with a matrix of coordinated functional expression of multiple selenoprotein genes.

Immunological tolerance of human hepatocyte xenograft induced by adenovirus vector-mediated CTLA4Ig gene transfer.

BACKGROUND: Systemic administration of CTLA4Ig has been applied in inducing immunological tolerance of hepatocyte implants, but has potential for systemic immune inhibition. This study was designed to induce hepatocyte immunological tolerance by locally expressing CTLA4Ig in an attempt to improve the effectiveness of cell transplantation. METHODS: A normal human liver cell line (L02) was transfected with adenovirus vector containing the CTLA4Ig gene (Ad-CTLA4Ig-EGFP) in vitro, and the expression of CTLA4Ig by transfected cells was assessed by fluorescent imaging and immunocytochemical staining. Transfected cells then were injected into the spleen of Sprague-Dawley rats, the survival of cells was determined by immunohistochemistry, and the immune status was examined through CD4+ and CD69+ T cell-counts and ELISA detection of IL-2 in peripheral blood. RESULTS: L02 cells expressed CTLA4Ig in the cytoplasm for >4 weeks. Surviving L02 cells were observed in the experimental group at 3 and 4 weeks post-transplantation, while none was detected in the control group. Furthermore, the percentages of CD4+ and CD4+CD69+ T cells in the CTLA4-transfected group were 24.5% and 45.1%, markedly lower than those in the control group at 4 weeks post-transplantation (P<0.01). Furthermore, the IL-2 level was also lower in the CTLA4-transfected group than in the control group. CONCLUSION: Adenovirus-mediated CTLA4Ig gene transfer into human hepatocytes has the potential to become an effective method of inducing immunological tolerance in hepatocyte transplantation.

The acute pulmonary toxicity in mice induced by multiwall carbon nanotubes, benzene, and their combination.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been synthesized and produced on large scale for their wide application. They have high absorption ability to organic contaminants (such as benzene) and can form CNTs-benzene combination with benzene. In this article, the acute pulmonary toxicity, induced by multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), benzene, and their combination, was studied by administrating the three test materials into mice lungs via intratracheal instillation. The biochemical parameters in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and pathological lesions in lungs were used as endpoints to evaluate the pulmonary toxicity of the three test materials at 3-day and 7-day postexposure, respectively. After the mice were intratracheally instilled with MWCNTs, benzene and MWCNTs-benzene combination at doses of 6.67 mg/kg, 2.67 mg/kg, and 9.34 mg/kg (containing 6.67 mg/kg MWCNTs and 2.67 mg/kg benzene), the total protein, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), acid phosphatase (ACP), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in BALF and pathological lesions in lungs were examined. At 3-day postexposure, MWCNTs induced obvious pulmonary toxicity and benzene only induced slight pulmonary toxicity, whereas their combination induced very severe pulmonary toxicity. At 7-day postexposure, MWCNTs and benzene did not induce pulmonary toxicity individually, whereas their combination still induced severe pulmonary toxicity. These data indicated that, at the instilled doses in this experiment, the MWCNTs can alone induce acute pulmonary toxicity in mice and the benzene does not induce pulmonary toxicity, but the pulmonary toxicity of MWCNTs is enhanced after they form MWCNTs-benzene combination with low dose of benzene. The enhanced pulmonary toxicity may be due to the change of MWCNTs aggregation ability after benzene is adsorbed on them.

[Evolution of hepatitis B virus quasispecies during lamivudine-entecavir sequential therapy].

OBJECTIVES: To study the evolution of HBV quasispecies under the pressures of lamivudine (LAM) - entecavir (ETV) sequential therapy and its clinical significance. METHODS: Consecutive serum samples from 2 patients underwent LAM-ETV sequential therapy were extensively studied for HBV quasispecies composition and evolution, using PCR-cloning-sequencing method. Maximum likelihood trees were built to analyze the genetic relationship between representative sequences. Correlation between HBV quasispecies evolution and serological/virological data was analyzed to determined the clinical significance of the evolution of HBV quasispecies during prolonged nucleotide analog therapy. RESULTS: Virological breakthrough was observed in both patients. Patient I acquired sustained virological response after switching to ETV rescue therapy, whereas Patient II suffered from virological breakthrough after 72 weeks of ETV therapy. Each virological breakthrough was accompanied with the replacement of previous drug susceptible dominant quasispecies with a drug resistant variant, indicating a close correlation between quasispecies composition and drug susceptibility. The rtL180M+S202G+M204V triple mutant, which was most likely a descendant of the LAM resistant rtL180M+M204V variant, was closely correlated with ETV resistant in Patient II. CONCLUSION: Quasispecies composition of HBV is closely correlated with nucleotide analog susceptibility. ETV resistant variant can emerge from a LAM resistant viral population. Dynamic monitoring of HBV quasispecies composition is of great importance during nucleotide analog therapy.

Selenoprotein gene expression in thyroid and pituitary of young pigs is not affected by dietary selenium deficiency or excess.

Expression and function of selenoproteins in endocrine tissues remain unclear, largely due to limited sample availability. Pigs have a greater metabolic similarity and tissue size than rodents as a model of humans for that purpose. We conducted 2 experiments: 1) we cloned 5 novel porcine selenoprotein genes; and 2) we compared the effects of dietary selenium (Se) on mRNA levels of 12 selenoproteins, activities of 4 antioxidant enzymes, and Se concentrations in testis, thyroid, and pituitary with those in liver of pigs. In Experiment 1, porcine Gpx2, Sephs2, Sep15, Sepn1, and Sepp1 were cloned and demonstrated 84-94% of coding sequence homology to human genes. In Experiment 2, weanling male pigs (n = 30) were fed a Se-deficient (0.02 mg Se/kg) diet added with 0, 0.3, or 3.0 mg Se/kg as Se-enriched yeast for 8 wk. Although dietary Se resulted in dose-dependent increases (P < 0.05) in Se concentrations and GPX activities in all 4 tissues, it did not affect the mRNA levels of any selenoprotein gene in thyroid or pituitary. Testis mRNA levels of Txnrd1 and Sep15 were decreased (P < 0.05) by increasing dietary Se from 0.3 to 3.0 mg/kg. Comparatively, expressions of Gpx2, Gpx4, Dio3, and Sep15 were high in pituitary and Dio1, Sepp1, Sephs2, and Gpx1 were high in liver. In conclusion, the mRNA abundances of the 12 selenoprotein genes in thyroid and pituitary of young pigs were resistant to dietary Se deficiency or excess.

[Selective adsorption of multi-walled carbon nanotubes with liquiritin and isoliquiritin].

Selective adsorption of active ingredients liquiritin and isoliquiritin from Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) has been studied. Distribution coefficients of liquiritin between ethanol solvent and r-MWNTs or o-MWNTs in 293K is 37.5 and 43.3, while the distribution coefficients of isoliquiritin between ethanol solvent and r-MWNTs or o-MWNTs is 717 and 1080, respectively. It was indicated that the distribution coefficient of isoliquiritin adsorbed by MWNTs was much larger than that of liquiritin, and oxidation treatment of MWNTs could obviously enhance their adsorption ability. The possible reasons that MWNTs can selectively adsorb isoliquiritin other than liquiritin were discussed on the bases of molecular structure of the active ingredients and their interaction with nanotubes.

Ductular proliferation in liver tissues with severe chronic hepatitis B: an immunohistochemical study.

AIM: To clarify the pathogenesis of ductular proliferation and its possible association with oval cell activation and hepatocyte regeneration. METHODS: Immunohistochemical staining and image analysis of the ductular structures in the liver tissues from 11 patients with severe chronic hepatitis B and 2 healthy individuals were performed. The liver specimens were sectioned serially, and then cytokeratin 8(CK8),CK19,OV6,proliferating cell nuclear antigens(PCNA), glutathione-S-transferase (GST), alpha-fetal protein (AFP) and albumin were stained immunohistochemically. RESULTS: Typical and atypical types of ductular proliferation were observed in the portal tracts of the liver tissues in all 11 patients. The proliferating ductular cells were positive for CK8, CK19, OV6 and PCNA staining. Some atypical ductular cells displayed the morphological and immunohistochemical characteristics of hepatic oval cells. Some small hepatocyte-like cells were between hepatic oval cells and mature hepatocytes morphometrically and immunohistochemically. CONCLUSION: The proliferating ductules in the liver of patients with severe chronic liver disease may have different origins. Some atypical ductular cells are actually activated hepatic oval cells. Atypical ductular proliferation is related to hepatocyte regeneration and small hepatocyte-like cells may be intermediate transient cells between hepatic oval cells and mature hepatocytes.

[Study of the quasispecies dynamics of serum hepatitis B virus in a patient with acute exacerbations of chronic hepatitis B].

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the quasispecies dynamics of hepatitis B virus (HBV) during the course of exacerbation and resolution of chronic hepatitis B in a patients. METHODS: Five serum samples were collected from a patient with two episodes of exacerbation and resolution of chronic hepatitis B. A method of PCR-TA cloning-conformation sensitive gel electrophoresis (CSGE)-sequencing was performed to study the dynamic changes of HBV quasispecies in basal core promoter (BCP), precore and core regions of HBV genome. RESULTS: Quasispecies complexity was 10 and 12 at the points of exacerbations, and 14 and 17 at the points of resolutions (t = 3.133, P < 0.05). Ratio of dominant quasispecies in HBV population was high (42.4% and 51.5%) during exacerbations and low (30.3% and 21.2%) during resolutions (t = 3.295, P < 0.05). All dominant quasispecies, except the one during the second resolution, carried core P5T, L60V, S155T, and precore G1896A mutations. CONCLUSION: The composition of HBV quasispecies changes due to the change of host immune status, and immune pressure might lead to the selection of immune escape mutants.

[Isolation, culture and intraspleenic transplantation of rat hepatic oval cells].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the evolution and differentiation of hepatic oval cells after transplanted into the spleens of homogenous rats, providing experimental data for treating hepatic failure with hepatic stem cells. METHODS: A two-step perfusion procedure was used to separate hepatic parenchymal cells from nonparenchymal cells. Then the suspension of nonparenchymal cells was centrifuged in Percoll gradients. The isolated cells were cultured, identified, and then transplanted into the spleens of homogenous rats undergone 2/3 hepatectomy. RESULTS: The obtained cells were various in size with ovoid nuclei and inadequate cytoplasm. After 12 hours' culture, they revealed the characteristics of epithelial cells. Both the freshly isolated and cultured cells showed positive staining for cytokeratin 19 (CK19), OV6, alpha fetal protein (AFP), but negative for leucocyte common antigen (LCA). After intraspleenic transplantation into homogenous rats undergone partial hepatectomy, hepatic oval cells were differentiated into liver tissue-like structure including hepatocyte cords and bile ducts, and formed hepaticized spleen. But this kind of structure was not observed in the controls. CONCLUSION: The isolated rat hepatic oval cells show the biological characteristics of hepatic stem cells and can differentiate into hepatocytes and biliary epithelial cells under appropriate circumstances.

Effect of radio frequency fields on the radical pair magnetoreception model.

Although the radical pair (RP) model is widely accepted for birds' orientation, the physical mechanism of it is still not fully understood. In this paper we consider the RP model in the total angular-momentum representation and clearly show a detailed mechanism for orientation. When only the vertical hyperfine (HF) coupling component is considered, analytical expressions of singlet yield angular profiles are obtained with and without considering the radio frequency field, and when the horizontal HF coupling components are considered, a numerical calculation of the singlet yield is given. Based on these analytical and numerical results we present a detailed account of the following issues: how the HF coupling induces the singlet-triplet conversion; why the vertical radio frequency field can disorient the birds, while the parallel one cannot; and why the birds are able to "train" to different field strengths. Finally, we consider a multinuclei RP model.

Quantum coherence rather than quantum correlations reflect the effects of a reservoir on a system's work capability.

We consider a model of an optical cavity with a nonequilibrium reservoir consisting of a beam of identical two-level atom pairs (TLAPs) in the general X state. We find that coherence of multiparticle nonequilibrium reservoir plays a central role on the potential work capability of the cavity. We show that no matter whether there are quantum correlations in each TLAP (including quantum entanglement and quantum discord) or not, the coherence of the TLAPs has an effect on the work capability of the cavity. Additionally, constructive and destructive interferences could be induced to influence the work capability of the cavity by adjusting only the relative phase, with which quantum correlations have nothing to do. In this paper, the coherence of the reservoir, rather than the quantum correlations, effectively reflecting the effects of the reservoir on the system's work capability is demonstrated clearly.

Estimating the hyperfine coupling parameters of the avian compass by comprehensively considering the available experimental results.

Migratory birds can utilize the geomagnetic field for orientation and navigation through a widely accepted radical-pair mechanism. Although many theoretical works have been done, the available experimental results have not been fully considered, especially the temporary disorientation induced by the field which is increased by 30% of the geomagnetic field and the disorientation of the very weak resonant field of 15 nT. In this paper, we consider the monotonicity of the singlet yield angular profile as the prerequisite of direction sensitivity, and find that for some optimal values of the hyperfine coupling parameters (that is, the order of 10^{-7}∼10^{-6} meV) the experimental results available so far can be satisfied. We also investigate the effects of two decoherence environments and demonstrate that, in order to satisfy the available experimental results, the decoherence rate should be lower than the recombination rate. Finally, we investigate the effects of the fluctuating magnetic noises and find that the vertical noise destroys the monotonicity of the profile completely, but the parallel noise preserves the monotonicity perfectly and even can enhance the direction sensitivity.

Enhanced water-holding capacity of meat was associated with increased Sepw1 gene expression in pigs fed selenium-enriched yeast.

To study the effect of selenium-enriched yeast (SeY) level on selenoprotein genes expression and the relation between gene expression and antioxidant status and meat quality, 30 selenium (Se)-depleted pigs (7-week old, 10.30±0.68 kg) were randomly divided into 3 groups and fed a basal diet plus 0, 0.3 and 3.0 mg Se/kg as SeY for 8 weeks. Results showed that dietary SeY supplementation improved the antioxidant status in muscle. The increased levels of SeY decreased (P<0.05) the drip loss and the concentration of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances in the muscle and meat. However, increased dietary SeY intake quadratically increased (P<0.01) the mRNA level of Sepw1 gene among the 12 selenoprotein genes examined in muscle. Statistical analysis showed drip loss was negatively correlated with the mRNA level of Sepw1 gene. These suggested that the enhanced water-holding capacity of meat was associated with the increased expression of Sepw1 gene.

Reversible immortalization of rat pancreatic ß cells with a novel immortalizing and tamoxifen-mediated self-recombination tricistronic vector.

Although the strategy of "Cre/LoxP-based reversible immortalization" holds great promise to overcome the cellular senescence of primary cell cultures for their further use, a secondary gene transfer for Cre expression is usually utilized to trigger the excision of the immortalizing genes in a large number of cells, thus presenting a formidable hurdle for large-scale application. We modified the strategy by utilizing a tricistronic retroviral vector pLCRSTP, in which Cre-ER, simian virus 40 large T antigen (SV40LTAg) oncogene, and a reporter gene were flanked by the same pair of LoxA sites. Five immortalized rat pancreatic ß cell clones transduced with pLCRSTP, and six immortalized rat pancreatic ß cell clones co-transduced with pLCRSTP and another vector encoding the human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) gene, were obtained, respectively. The Cre-ER protein could be induced to translocate from the cytoplasm to the nucleus by 4-hydroxytamoxifen to make SV40LTAg, hTERT and the Cre-ER gene itself excise without a secondary gene transfer. Our studies suggest that this system is useful to expand rat ß cells and may allow for large-scale production due to its simpler manipulation.