Hamiltonian of a flux qubit-LC oscillator circuit in the deep-strong-coupling regime.

We derive the Hamiltonian of a superconducting circuit that comprises a single-Josephson-junction flux qubit inductively coupled to an LC oscillator, and we compare the derived circuit Hamiltonian with the quantum Rabi Hamiltonian, which describes a two-level system coupled to a harmonic oscillator. We show that there is a simple, intuitive correspondence between the circuit Hamiltonian and the quantum Rabi Hamiltonian. While there is an overall shift of the entire spectrum, the energy level structure of the circuit Hamiltonian up to the seventh excited states can still be fitted well by the quantum Rabi Hamiltonian even in the case where the coupling strength is larger than the frequencies of the qubit and the oscillator, i.e., when the qubit-oscillator circuit is in the deep-strong-coupling regime. We also show that although the circuit Hamiltonian can be transformed via a unitary transformation to a Hamiltonian containing a capacitive coupling term, the resulting circuit Hamiltonian cannot be approximated by the variant of the quantum Rabi Hamiltonian that is obtained using an analogous procedure for mapping the circuit variables onto Pauli and harmonic oscillator operators, even for relatively weak coupling. This difference between the flux and charge gauges follows from the properties of the qubit Hamiltonian eigenstates.

Polariton-generated intensity squeezing in semiconductor micropillars.

The generation of squeezed and entangled light fields is a crucial ingredient for the implementation of quantum information protocols. In this context, semiconductor materials offer a strong potential for the implementation of on-chip devices operating at the quantum level. Here we demonstrate a novel source of continuous variable squeezed light in pillar-shaped semiconductor microcavities in the strong coupling regime. Degenerate polariton four-wave mixing is obtained by exciting the pillar at normal incidence. We observe a bistable behaviour and we demonstrate the generation of squeezing near the turning point of the bistability curve. The confined pillar geometry allows for a larger amount of squeezing than planar microcavities due to the discrete energy levels protected from excess noise. By analysing the noise of the emitted light, we obtain a measured intensity squeezing of 20.3%, inferred to be 35.8% after corrections.

Intratumoural heterogeneity of intestinal expression reflects environmental induction and progression-related loss of induction in undifferentiated-type gastric carcinomas.

AIMS: Gene expression in tumours is regulated by environmental as well as genetic/epigenetic factors. This study assessed the environmental factors in intestinal expression of gastric cancers. METHODS AND RESULTS: We immunohistochemically examined intratumoural heterogeneity in the expression of Cdx2, MUC2, MUC5AC and MUC6 in 39 intramucosal and 49 extramucosally invasive undifferentiated-type gastric carcinomas (UGCs), consisting of signet ring cell carcinomas showing a layered structure (LS) in the mucosa and dedifferentiated tubular adenocarcinomas without LS and with minor tubular components (TC). The LS retains mucosal vertical polarity with superficial MUC5AC expression. Loss of this polarity was independent of intestinal expression and associated with extramucosal invasion. In LS(+) UGCs, intestinal expression was enhanced as the size of mucosal spread increased and was significantly reduced with deeper extramucosal invasion, whereas, in LS(-)/TC(+) UGCs, intestinal expression was frequent and predominant in the mucosa and was insignificantly reduced with deeper extramucosal invasion. CONCLUSIONS: In LS(+) UGCs, intestinal expression showed dynamic alteration probably by environmental induction and progression-related loss of induction, whereas it was relatively stable in LS(-)/TC(+) UGCs. Thus, intestinal expression in UGCs is not useful as a marker of tumour progression because it is also affected by environmental factors and genetic lineage.

[Prevalence of rhino-pharyngeal disease in the presence of malocclusion in school children in the village of Abidjan]. / Prévalence des affections rhino-pharyngées en présence d'anomalie orthodontique chez les enfants scolarisés de la ville d'Abidjan.

An epidemiological survey of randomly selected school children led to Abidjan in three public schools made it possible to determine the prevalence of the rhinopharyngeal diseases in presence of malocclusions. It is an exploratory study jointly undertaken by two teams of specialists in ORL and Orthodontics within a sample of African schoolchildren old of 5 to 21 years. The results showed the presence of malocclusions in 73.30% of the cases (N = 220). The rhinopharyngeal diseases account for 38.3% (N = 115). At the subjects carrying a malocclusion the rhinopharyngeal diseases are 48.30% and they are dominated by the allergic chronic rhinitis (40%) followed obstructive hypertrophic tonsillitis (16.5%). However, these states which cause certainly a nasal obstruction involving an oral breathing do not cause inevitably malocclusion. We cannot thus affirm unambiguous a bond between malocclusions and rhinopharyngeal diseases (p > 0.05). They are nevertheless as many indications to question the patient on other symptoms and to refer to an ORL specialist. Our investigation being limited to the occlusal study, it seems essential to us to continue these analyses to detect the possible predisposition of certain patients to develop dento-skeletal anomalies in the presence of rhinopharyngic diseases.

Cell kinetic study on histogenesis of Barrett's esophagus using rat reflux model.

BACKGROUND: To elucidate the histogenesis of Barrett's esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma, we designed a duodeno-gastric reflux model in which normal stomach function and normal nutritional status are retained. METHODS: Male Wistar rats were used in the experiment. The esophago-gastric junction was side-to-side anastomosed to a loop of jejunum about 3 cm distal to Treitz's ligament. The animals were not exposed to any known carcinogens during the experiment. Sequential morphological changes were studied for up to 50 weeks after surgery. Serial sections were made and stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E). In addition, immunohistochemical staining for bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) was performed along with histochemical staining for mucins using paradoxical concanavalin A (ConA), galactose oxidase Schiff (GOS), and high-iron diamine-alcian blue (HID-AB). RESULTS: Severe esophagitis with squamous cell hyperplasia was noted in all animals after surgery. At week 20 after surgery, glandular metaplastic cells positive for ConA first appeared within the basal cell layer of esophageal squamous cell epithelium, and then GOS-positive cells and HID-AB goblet cells appeared. This is a characteristic of the specialized columnar epithelium of Barrett's esophagus. We detected esophageal adenocarcinomas in 1 out of 8 subjects at week 40 and in 3 out of 8 subjects at week 50 after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Reflux of duodenal contents causes specialized columnar epithelium of Barrett's esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma. As part of the sequence of events leading to the development of Barrett's esophagus, pyloric-foveolar metaplasia was observed followed by the appearance of intestinal goblet cells. The pyloric-foveolar metaplasia appears to be associated with chronic mucosal damage and regeneration. This multiplastic cell lineage is referred to as 'gut-regenerative cell lineage' (GRCL).

Measles virus genome detected up to four months in a case of congenital measles.

UNLABELLED: To determine how long the measles virus genome was detected in a patient with congenital measles, the peripheral blood mononuclear cells were tested for 203 d. The measles virus genome was detected up to 140 d. CONCLUSION: The period for which the measles virus genome was detected in this patient with congenital measles was much longer than in normal children with measles.

[Oto-rhino-laryngology and geriatrics in the Ivory Coast]. / L'oto-rhino-laryngologie et la gériatrie en milieu ivoirien.

Geriatrics medicine develops more and more as a specialized branch of medicine. We report a prospective study of 69 cases of geriatric patients hospitalized in the ENT department of Treichville's teaching hospital from 1996 till 2001. The frequency of hospitalization was estimated at 6.5%. The cohort consisted of 48 males (69.5%) and 21 females (30.5%) with an overall average age of 66.5 years. The majority of the patients lived in the city of Abidjan (61%) with a low socio-economic level (54%). 50.7% were married and 75.4% lived in a house-bold of several persons. The main lesions were at the level of the larynx (36.2%) and nose and sinuses (21.7%) cancers (52%) were more frequent. The patients were little dependent (84%), however 11.6% presented with psychological troubles. Associated pathologies were identified in 18.8% of case. The age, dependence and pathology determined the average duration of stay and the mode of exit. Mortality, of tumoral cause (cancer of the larynx), was estimated at 11.6%. An improved service requires a mutli-disciplinary approach an ORL-based presentative programme and prospective multicentre studies.

[Sudden deafness in sickle cell anemia: a case report]. / La surdité brutale chez le drépanocytaire: à propos d'un cas.

The non-expected deafness is quite obvious or easily diagnosed cause. The sickle cell disease is one of the aetiologies of this one. We present one case observed on a 30 years old patient. There is a close connection between the vascular factor of the non-expect deafness and the erythrocytic falciformation of sickle cell anaemia causing the obliteration of the terminal auditory internal artery and generating the ischaemia of the cochlea anoxia. The high sensitivity of the cochlea to anoxia and its great fragility require an early therapy in order to recover auditory capacity. Patients suffering from sickle cell disease should be encouraged to have a regular assessment of audition.

[Necrotizing external otitis in children in Abidjan (Ivory Coast)]. / L'otite nécrosante chez l'enfant à Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire).

Necrotizing external otitis (NEO) is a fulminant Pseudomonas infection of the external auditory canal affecting mainly elderly diabetic patients. Since the early descriptions, many authors have related cases of NEO in non diabetic patients. We report eight cases of NEO in young children. They are less than two years old, they are undernourished and non diabetics. We get a good evolution in spite of our modest therapeutic ways. Emphasis is placed on efficiency of local remedy with colistine.

MUC gene expression and histogenesis of adenocarcinoma of the stomach.

To elucidate the histogenesis of adenocarcinomas of the stomach, we examined MUC gene expression in gland-forming intramucosal neoplastic lesions. Eighty tumors were histopathologically assigned to 1 of the following 3 groups based upon the Vienna classification: group A (low-grade adenoma/dysplasia), group B (high-grade adenoma/dysplasia) and group C (intramucosal carcinoma). Immunohistochemic staining was performed with monoclonal antibodies against MUC2 (goblet cell mucin), MUC5AC (gastric-foveolar mucin), MUC6 (pyloric-gland mucin) and CD10 (brush border). Ki-67 staining was also carried out. An obvious difference existed in MUC gene expression between lesions in group A and those in groups B and C. The majority of group A lesions strongly expressed intestinal markers in which proliferating cell zones were formed but generally expressed no gastric markers, whereas more than 50% of groups B and C tumors expressed gastric markers. These findings suggest that group A lesions are of a stable intestinal phenotype, whereas those in groups B and C are phenotypically and genotypically unstable, indicating that the adenoma-carcinoma sequence is not a major pathway, but instead that adenocarcinomas arise de novo.

A case of toxic shock-like syndrome presenting with serious hypoproteinaemia because of a protein-losing gastroenteropathy.

A 37-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of toxic shock-like syndrome (TSLS) induced by Streptococcus pyogenes. After the pathogenic bacteria had been eradicated, serious diarrhoea appeared and a protein-losing gastroenteropathy developed. An immunohistochemical study of the biopsy specimens of both small and large intestines revealed the infiltration of T-lymphocytes, predominantly CD8+ cells, into the lamina propria of affected mucosa, villus atrophy and crypt hyperplasia. Considering these histological findings, some immunological mechanism which lead the activation of cytotoxic T-lymphocytes may play an important role in the pathogenesis of this rare intestinal manifestation of TSLS.

Time-dependent expression of intestinal phenotype in signet ring cell carcinomas of the human stomach.

Signet ring cell carcinomas of the stomach are thought to arise from the proper gastric mucosa without intestinal metaplasia. It was recently reported that intestinal phenotypes appear along with tumor progression. In this study, we performed several experiments to reconsider the significance of this intestinalization in the growth of signet ring cell carcinoma. We applied mucin histochemistry with monoclonal antibodies MUC2 (Ccp58) and M1 (45M1), and paradoxical concanavalin A staining for class III mucin [PCS(III)] reaction to 29 intramucosal and 25 deeply invasive carcinomas of this type and correlated the phenotypic expression with the size of the mucosal spread and the depth of tumor invasion. It was found that the larger the size of the mucosal lesion, the more frequently the intestinal phenotypes were demonstrated. There was no significant increase in the expression of the intestinal phenotype as the tumor invaded the deeper part of the mucosa or as the intestinal metaplasia increased in the background mucosa. The intestinal expression appeared to be suppressed in the earlier phase of deep invasion. In the mucosal part of the tumor, the intestinal phenotype was often expressed regionally and incompletely, coexisting with gastric phenotypes at the cellular and the tissue levels. These findings indicate that the expression of the intestinal phenotype is a time-dependent and unstable phenomenon probably based on the accumulation of genetic changes and plays a neutral role in progression of signet ring cell carcinomas.

Clonal analysis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma with intraepithelial components.

OBJECTIVE: In tumors of the upper aerodigestive tract, field carcinogenesis is a prevailing concept which suggests that such tumors are commonly of multiclonal origin. METHODS: To test this possibility, we applied a PCR-based clonality assay utilizing the polymorphic locus of the human androgen receptor gene (HUMARA) in female patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs). DNA was extracted from small pieces of tissues microdissected from multiple points of intraepithelial and invasive parts of each tumor and the adjacent epithelia in 12 cases. The HUMARA locus was PCR amplified with or without prior digestion with Hpa II. PCR products were analyzed by a genetic analyzer and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by silver staining. RESULTS: In each of 8 informative cases, the pattern of X chromosome inactivation of the major cell population in each sample was common among the samples from the invasive part and among those samples, if any, from the intraepithelial part, and was concordant between the intraepithelial and invasive parts in 5 cases and discordant in 1 case. Out of the samples of adjacent epithelia, a monoclonal pattern was demonstrated in 8 basal cell hyperplasias and 3 dysplasias, of which 2 and 1, respectively, showed inactivation patterns discordant with those of the concomitant cancers. CONCLUSION: Esophageal SCCs may often be preceded or accompanied by multiclonal precancerous lesions, and may develop through the outgrowth of single or less commonly multiple dominant clones.

Influenza A-associated encephalopathy with bilateral thalamic necrosis in Japan.

Two cases of acute encephalopathy in young children clearly showed evidence of influenza A virus infection and bilateral thalamic lesions. Influenza-associated encephalopathy with bilateral thalamic lesions has mostly been reported in Japan; it differs from Reye's syndrome in several respects. Other factors in addition to influenza virus infection may have contributed to the etiology of encephalopathy in our case patients.

Sequential numerical changes of chromosomes 7 and 18 in diffuse-type stomach cancer cell lines: combined comparative genomic hybridization, fluorescence in situ hybridization, and ploidy analyses.

Sequential changes of chromosomal copy number were analyzed retrospectively in five diffuse-type gastric cancer cell lines by comparative genomic hybridization (CGH), DNA cytometry, and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with centromeric and painting probes. By CGH, we found loss of 18q21 in all of the cell lines and gains of 7p11-q31, 20q, and 22 in four of the five cell lines. Actual copy numbers of chromosomes 7 and 18 were determined by FISH: disomy 18 with (partial) loss of 18q in the two DNA-diploid cell lines (AGS and MKN-45), trisomy 7 in MKN-45, disomy 18 and tetrasomy 7 with one-copy loss of 7p and one-copy gain of 7q tip in DNA-triploid HSC-39/40A, and trisomy 18 and hexasomy 7 with one-copy loss of 7q in DNA-tetraploid KATO-III. Because the DNA aneuploidy is thought to result through tetraploidization, and the duplicated chromosomal changes in DNA aneuploid tumors seem to precede tetraploidization, the duplicated gain of chromosome 7 and one-copy loss of 7q in KATO-III were inferred to have occurred before and after tetraploidization, respectively. Similarly, HSC-39/40A were inferred to be preceded by the DNA-diploid stage with disomy 7 and monosomy 18. As the loss of 18q21 and the gain of 7p11-q31 were inferred to have occurred already in the DNA diploid stage in at least four and two of the cell lines, respectively, the 18q21 loss may be more important than the 7q gain as an earlier event in the genesis of diffuse-type stomach cancer. The combined CGH, FISH, and ploidy analyses thus give us a clue to extract important earlier events from the chromosomal changes that were screened by CGH alone.

'Pyloric gland-type adenoma' arising in heterotopic gastric mucosa of the duodenum, with dysplastic progression of the gastric type.

'Pyloric gland-type adenoma' is a recently described and very rare entity. We report a case of a pedunculated polyp of the duodenal bulb showing the features of pyloric gland-type adenoma. Heterotopic gastric mucosa was found adjacent to the tumour. Immunohistochemically, the tumour cells at the surface of the polyp showed foveolar-type mucin (M1) while most other tumour cells showed deep gastric mucin (M2), displaying a pattern of differentiation similar to the normal gastric mucosa. The polyp also showed villous or papillary structures with disorganization of gastric differentiation and marked increase of proliferating in foci cells. This is the first case of pyloric gland-type adenoma found to arise in heterotopic gastric mucosa of the duodenum, showing dysplastic progression of the gastric type.