Quantum Induced Coherence Light Detection and Ranging.

Quantum illumination has been proposed and demonstrated to improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in light detection and ranging (LiDAR). When relying on coincidence detection alone, such a quantum LiDAR is limited by the timing jitter of the detector and suffers from jamming noise. Inspired by the Zou-Wang-Mandel experiment, we design, construct, and validate a quantum induced coherence (QuIC) LiDAR which is inherently immune to ambient and jamming noises. In traditional LiDAR the direct detection of the reflected probe photons suffers from deteriorating SNR for increasing background noise. In QuIC LiDAR we circumvent this obstacle by only detecting the entangled reference photons, whose single-photon interference fringes are used to obtain the distance of the object, while the reflected probe photons are used to erase path information of the reference photons. In consequence, the noise accompanying the reflected probe light has no effect on the detected signal. We demonstrate such noise resilience with both LED and laser light to mimic the background and jamming noise. The proposed method paves a new way of battling noise in precise quantum electromagnetic sensing and ranging.

CK2 blockade alleviates liver fibrosis by suppressing activation of hepatic stellate cells via the Hedgehog pathway.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Liver fibrosis is a serious cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide characterized by accumulation of extracellular matrix produced by hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). The protein kinase CK2 is a pro-survival kinase overexpressed in human tumours. However, the biological role of CK2 in liver fibrosis is largely unknown. We aimed to investigate the mechanism by which CK2 promotes liver fibrosis. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: In vitro, LX-2 cells were stimulated with transforming growth factor-ß (TGF-ß). HSCs were also isolated for research. In vivo, the adeno-associated virus AAV-sh-csnk2a1 was used to knockdown CK2α specifically in HSCs, and CX-4945 was used to pharmacologically inhibit the enzymatic activity of CK2 in murine models of fibrosis induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4 ) and a 3,5-diethoxycarbonyl-1,4-dihydrocollidine (DDC) diet. Histological and biochemical analyses were performed to study the involvement of CK2 in regulation of fibrogenic and fibrolytic factors as well as activation properties of HSCs. KEY RESULTS: HSC-specific genetic invalidation of CK2α or pharmacological inhibition of CK2 protected mice treated with CCl4 or fed a DDC diet against liver fibrosis and HSC accumulation. Mechanistically, CK2α, which bound to Smoothened (SMO), was a positive regulator of the Hedgehog signal transduction pathway. CK2 prevented ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation of SMO, which was abolished by knockdown of CK2α or pharmacological inhibition of CK2. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: CK2 activation is critical to sustain the activated and fibrogenic phenotype of HSCs via SMO stabilization. Therefore, inactivation of CK2 by CX-4945 may be of therapeutic interest for liver fibrotic diseases.

Photocatalyst-coated carbon microtube electrodes: Preparation and characterization of their properties and photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue.

Photocatalysis is a potential technology for removing pollutants from water. As the recombination of the photogenerated electron-hole pairs can hinder the photocatalytic efficiency in the treatment of wastewater, the surface of the carrier is usually coated with a semiconductor. In this study, carbon microtube electrode prepared from corncob was coated with either titanium oxide (TiO2) or bismuth phosphate (BiPO4) and then used as a photocatalyst (C-TiO2 or C-BiPO4) to investigate the photodegradation of methylene blue (MB). The two photocatalysts, C-TiO2 and C-BiPO4, were characterized by phase determination, microstructure observation, water contact angle measurement, and base site analysis. The influences of reaction time, stability, MB concentration, initial pH, and OH radicals quenching on the degradation of MB were also evaluated. The degradation of MB by C-TiO2 and C-BiPO4 was mainly dominated by OH radical oxidation. The carbon microtube increased both the mass transfer rate and the photogenerated electron-hole pairs separation rate, thereby increasing the photocatalysis of both C-TiO2 and C-BiPO4 as revealed by an increase in the rate of MB degradation. The rate constants obtained for the degradation of MB by C-TiO2 and C-BiPO4 at 20 °C were 9.739 × 10-7 mM min-1 and 1.111 × 10-7 mM min-1, respectively. The coating of TiO2 and BiPO4 on the surface of the carbon microtube electrode enhanced their photocatalytic performance, and therefore, C-TiO2 and C-BiPO4 could be developed into a novel material to be used in the photodegradation of dye pollutants.