Remote preparation of continuous-variable qubits using loss-tolerant hybrid entanglement of light

Transferring quantum information between distant nodes of a network is a key capability. This transfer can be realized via remote state preparation where two parties share entanglement and the sender has full knowledge of the state to be communicated. Here we demonstrate such a process between heterogeneous nodes functioning with different information encodings, i.e., particle-like discrete-variable optical qubits and wave-like continuous-variable ones. Using hybrid entanglement of light as a shared resource, we prepare arbitrary coherent-state superpositions controlled by measurements on the distant discrete-encoded node. The remotely prepared states are fully characterized by quantum state tomography and negative Wigner functions are obtained. This work demonstrates a novel capability to bridge discrete- and continuous-variable platforms

Slowing Quantum Decoherence by Squeezing in Phase Space

Non-Gaussian states, and specifically the paradigmatic Schr\"odinger cat state, are well-known to be very sensitive to losses. When propagating through damping channels, these states quickly loose their non-classical features and the associated negative oscillations of their Wigner function. However, by squeezing the superposition states, the decoherence process can be qualitatively changed and substantially slowed down. Here, as a first example, we experimentally observe the reduced decoherence of squeezed optical coherent-state superpositions through a lossy channel. To quantify the robustness of states, we introduce a combination of a decaying value and a rate-of-decay of the Wigner function negativity. This work, which uses squeezing as an ancillary Gaussian resource, opens new possibilities to protect and manipulate quantum superpositions in phase space

High-efficiency WSi superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors for quantum state engineering in the near infrared

We report on high-efficiency superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors based on amorphous WSi and optimized at 1064 nm. At an operating temperature of 1.8 K, we demonstrated a 93% system detection efficiency at this wavelength with a dark noise of a few counts per second. Combined with cavity-enhanced spontaneous parametric down-conversion, this fiber-coupled detector enabled us to generate narrowband single photons with a heralding efficiency greater than 90% and a high spectral brightness of $0.6\times10^4$ photons/(s$\cdot$mW$\cdot$MHz). Beyond single-photon generation at large rate, such high-efficiency detectors open the path to efficient multiple-photon heralding and complex quantum state engineering

Demonstration of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Steering Using Hybrid Continuous- and Discrete-Variable Entanglement of Light

Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering is known to be a key resource for one-sided device-independent quantum information protocols. Here we demonstrate steering using hybrid entanglement between continuous- and discrete-variable optical qubits. To this end, we report on suitable steering inequalities and detail the implementation and requirements for this demonstration. Steering is experimentally certified by observing a violation by more than 5 standard deviations. Our results illustrate the potential of optical hybrid entanglement for applications in heterogeneous quantum networks that would interconnect disparate physical platforms and encodings

Selectivity of natural, synthetic and environmental estrogens for zebrafish estrogen receptors.

International audience: Zebrafish, Danio rerio, is increasingly used as an animal model to study the effects of pharmaceuticals and environmental estrogens. As most of these estrogens have only been tested on human estrogen receptors (ERs), it is necessary to measure their effects on zebrafish ERs. In humans there are two distinct nuclear ERs (hERα and hERβ), whereas the zebrafish genome encodes three ERs, zfERα and two zfERβs (zfERβ1 and zfERβ2). In this study, we established HeLa-based reporter cell lines stably expressing each of the three zfERs. We first reported that estrogens more efficiently activate the zfERs at 28°C as compared to 37°C, thus reflecting the physiological temperature of zebrafish in wildlife. We then showed significant differences in the ability of agonist and antagonist estrogens to modulate activation of the three zfER isotypes in comparison to hERs. Environmental compounds (bisphenol A, alkylphenols, mycoestrogens) which are hER panagonists and hERβ selective agonists displayed greater potency for zfERα as compared to zfERβs. Among hERα selective synthetic agonists, PPT did not activate zfERα while 16α-LE2 was the most zfERα selective compound. Altogether, these results confirm that all hER ligands control in a similar manner the transcriptional activity of zfERs although significant differences in selectivity were observed among subtypes. The zfER subtype selective ligands that we identified thus represent new valuable tools to dissect the physiological roles of the different zfERs. Finally, our work also points out that care has to be taken in transposing the results obtained using the zebrafish as a model for human physiopathology

Comorbidities of COPD

International audienceBy 2020, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) will be the third cause of mortality. Extrapulmonary comorbidities influence the prognosis of patients with COPD. Tobacco smoking is a common risk factor for many comorbidities, including coronary heart disease, heart failure and lung cancer. Comorbidities such as pulmonary artery disease and malnutrition are directly caused by COPD, whereas others, such as systemic venous thromboembolism, anxiety, depression, osteoporosis, obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, sleep disturbance and anaemia, have no evident physiopathological relationship with COPD. The common ground between most of these extrapulmonary manifestations is chronic systemic inflammation. All of these diseases potentiate the morbidity of COPD, leading to increased hospitalisations and healthcare costs. They can frequently cause death, independently of respiratory failure. Comorbidities make the management of COPD difficult and need to be evaluated and treated adequately. Extrapulmonary comorbidities are common in COPD and influence prognosis; we propose an exhaustive comorbidities revie

Transcriptional Regulation of the Intestinal Cancer Stem Cell Phenotype

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most frequent cancers worldwide. Current treatments include surgery and chemotherapy, but disease recurrence occurs frequently. The continuous renewal of intestinal epithelium relies on the presence of intestinal stem cells that are also at the origin of CRC and contribute to therapy resistance and metastatic dissemination. Several nuclear signaling pathways and transcription factors regulate both intestinal cell homeostasis and tumorigenesis. However, the transcriptional events that govern the emergence of aggressive therapy-resistant cancer stem cells are still poorly defined. This review summarizes the relevance of transcription factors in intestinal stem cell biology and their involvement in colon cancer development and drug resistance

L’Hétérotopie kurdistanî : défense et illustration d’un territoire littéraire

Depuis que Murathan Mungan, dès le début des années 1980, a placé sa ville de Mardin au centre de son œuvre littéraire, de nombreux écrivains originaires du Kurdistan turc ont à leur tour, de manière très visible ces dernières années, intégré cette région à leur travail. Ce territoire sans existence légale, ce « lieu absent » comme le dénomme Şener Özmen, a ainsi construit sa présence dans l’espace littéraire en dépit de réalités historiques contraignantes telles que l’interdiction décennaire sur la langue et la culture kurdes et la négation du génocide arménien. Cet article aborde les liens entre langue et territoire chez des écrivains comme Murat Özyaşar ou Ayhan Geçgin, l’entreprise de mythographie du lieu chez des auteurs comme Mungan, Özyaşar, Özmen ou Kemal Varol, et le traitement des géographèmes de la frontière, de la ville et de la montagne.Ever since Murathan Mungan placed his hometown of Mardin at the heart of his literary works at the beginning of the 1980s, many writers from Turkey Kurdistan have in turn, and in a manner that has become increasingly evident in the last few years, integrated the region into their works. Denied legal existence, this “absent place” so described by Şener Özmen, has claimed a presence in literary space despite stringent historical realities, including the ban on the Kurdish language and culture and the negation of the Armenian genocide. This article discusses the relationships between language and territory in the works of writers such as Murat Özyaşar or Ayhan Geçgin, the venture on mythography of space in the works of authors such as Mungan, Özyaşar, Özmen or Kemal Varol, and treatment of borders, cities and mountains as geographemes

Génétique et dialogisme

Rapprocher la critique génétique et la théorie du dialogisme de Mikhaïl Bakhtine, c’est envisager à la fois l’écriture du dialogisme (la genèse d’un texte dialogique) et le dialogisme de l’écriture (le dialogue des différentes versions d’un texte). Mais au gré de leur commune manifestation d’une même temporalité ouverte, marquée par la scission perpétuelle du sujet d’avec lui-même, ces deux objets d’étude sont, à l’instar des pluralités auctoriale et énonciative, intimement entremêlés. Aussi proposons-nous de les rassembler sous un syntagme unique, l’écriture suicidaire, pour en mieux souligner la négativité processuelle, et l’intense et féconde irrésolution. On verra ainsi à quel point Bakhtine comme le généticien s’écartent d’une herméneutique des textes dont on a tué l’auteur, et œuvrent au contraire à une heuristique de l’immense dialogue solitaire de l’écriture avec l’écrivain.Comparing genetic criticism and Mikhail Bakhtin’s dialogism theory, means considering at once dialogism writing (the genesis of a dialogic text) and writing dialogism (the dialog between different versions of a text). But, according to their shared display of an open temporality, marked by the subject’s perpetual division, these two objects under examination, similarly to the auctorial and enunciative pluralities, are closely interlinked. We thus suggest bringing them together under a unique syntagm, suicidal writing, in order to emphasize their negative process as well as their intense and fruitful indecisiveness. This will show how far Bakhtin and the genetician are from a hermeneutic of writings whose author has been killed, conversely striving for a heuristics of the writing’s interminable solitary dialog with the writer.Sucht man die „critique génétique“ mit Bachtin’s Dialogtheorie in Verbindung zu bringen, so muss man den Schreibprozess eines Dialogs und gleichzeitig den Dialog zwischen verschiedenen Stufen einer Textgenese erfassen. In beiden Fällen äußert sich die implizierte Zeit als offene Zeit, die ihrerseits durch das dauernd sich spaltende Subjekt geprägt ist. So sind „critique génétique“ und Dialogtheorie, ebenso wie Autor und Schreiber, unauflösbar miteinander verbunden. Hier wird versucht, unter ein und demselben Syntagma, nämlich dem „suizidären Schreiben“ beide Phänomene zu erfassen und so ihre prozessuelle Negativität wie auch ihre intensive und fruchtbare Unentschiedenheit zu unterstreichen. Dadurch wird klar, wie weit Bachtin wie auch der Textgenetiker entfernt sind von einer Hermeneutik, die den Autor abgeschafft hat, und wie sehr sie alle beide an einer Heuristik des großen, einsamen Dialogs zwischen Schreiben und Schreiber arbeiten.Relacionar la crítica genética y la teoría del dialogismo de Mijaíl Bajtín implica considerar, al mismo tiempo, la escritura del dialogismo (la génesis de un texto dialógico) y el dialogismo de la escritura (el diálogo entre las diferentes versiones de un texto). Sin embargo, dada su manifestación común de una misma temporalidad abierta, signada por la escisión perpetua del sujeto con respecto a sí mismo, esos dos objetos de estudio, al igual que las pluralidades autoral y enunciativa, están íntimamente entremezcladas. Proponemos, en consecuencia, reunirlos en un sistema único, la escritura suicida, para subrayar mejor la negatividad procesuaria y la intensa y fecunda irresolución. Se verá así hasta que punto tanto Bajtín como los geneticistas se alejan de una hermenéutica de los textos en la cual el autor ha sido eliminado, para obrar, por el contrario, en una heurística del inmenso diálogo solitario entre la escritura y el escritor.Para correlacionar a crítica genética com a teoria do dialogismo de Mikhaïl Bakhtine, é preciso encarar ao mesmo tempo a escrita do dialogismo (a génese de um texto dialógico) e o dialogisme da escrita (o diálogo das diferentes versões de um texto). Mas ao sabor da comum manifestação de uma mesma temporalidade aberta, marcada pela perpétua cisão do sujeito consigo mesmo, estes dois objectos de estudo, à semelhança das pluralidades auctoral e enunciativa, acham-se intimamente misturados. Por isso propomos reuni-los num único sintagma, a escrita suicida, para melhor sublinhar a sua negatividade processual e a sua intensa e fértil irresolução. Assim se verá a que ponto Bakhtine e o geneticista se afastam de uma hermenêutica dos textos a que mataram o autor e se empenham, pelo contrário, numa heurística do imenso diálogo solitário da escrita com o escritor.Accostare la critica genetica alla teoria dialogica di Mikhaïl Bakhtine significa allo stesso tempo prendere in esame la scrittura del dialogismo (la genesi di un testo dialogico) e il dialogismo della scrittura (il dialogo nelle diverse versioni di un testo). Ma sulla base della loro comune manifestazione di una temporalità aperta, segnata dalla scissione perpetua del soggetto da se stesso, tali materie di studio risultano, così come le pluralità autoriale ed enunciativa, intimamente intrecciate. Si propone qui di accorpare i due elementi nel sintagma unico la scrittura suicidaria: per meglio sottolinearne la negatività procedurale, insieme all’intensa e feconda sua irrisoluzione. Emergerà in tal modo a che punto Backhtine, e, con lui, lo studioso di critica genetica, si discostano da una ermeneutica dei testi implicita alla morte dell’autore, contribuendo invece a una euristica dell’immenso dialogo solitario tra la scrittura e il suo artefice