196,090 research outputs found
Coherent storage of temporally multimode light using a spin-wave atomic frequency comb memory
No full textWe report on the coherent and multi-temporal mode storage of light using the full atomic frequency comb memory scheme. The scheme involves the transfer of optical atomic excitations in Pr3+:Y2SiO5 to spin waves in hyperfine levels using strong single-frequency transfer pulses. Using this scheme, a total of five temporal modes are stored and recalled on-demand from the memory. The coherence of the storage and retrieval is characterized using a time-bin interference measurement resulting in visibilities higher than 80%, independent of the storage time. This coherent and multimode spin-wave memory is promising as a quantum memory for light.</p
High resolution absorption spectroscopy of rare earth doped insulating materials: BaY2F8 and YAl3(BO3)4 single crystals and sol-gel silica glasses
No full textBlockade of Aurora kinases activity enhances APO2L/TRAIL sensitivity in multiple myeloma
No full textThe Pharmacological Blockade of Phosphodiesterase IV Potentiates the Anti-Tumor Effects of Arsenic Trioxide (ATO) in Acute Myelogenous Leukemia Cells through Multiple Signaling Pathways
No full textPreclinical in vitro and in vivo studies showed that Arsenic Trioxide (ATO) has antileukemic effects both as a single agent and in combination with conventional therapies or with other molecularly targeted agents . Furthermore, analogs of cAMP have been shown to enhance the therapeutic effects of ATRA and ATO in APL cells. Because cAMP pathway is modulated by various Inhibitiors of phosphodiesterase IV (PDEIV), some of which are already in the clinics for the treatment of asthma, the aim of this study was to investigate whether the pharmacological inhibition of PDEIV potentiates the cytodifferentiating and/or proapoptotic activities of ATO in acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) cells. We found that PDEIV inhibitors induced the upregulation of the myeloid markers (CD38 and CD11b), and potentiated the cytodifferentiating action of ATO in APL cells via induction of cAMP; the cytodifferentiating effects of the PDEIV inhibitors /ATO combination in leukemic cells was also confirmed by nitro blue tetrazolium reductase activity assay. Accordingly, we also found that the inhibition of PDEIV accelerated the ATO-induced degradation of PML-retinoic acid receptor α (PML-RARα) oncoprotein in NB4 cells, thus removing the PML-RARα-induced maturation blocks. Furthermore we also demonstrated that PDEIV inhibitors synergized with ATO to induce apoptosis in both APL NB4 and non-APL HL-60, MOLM-13 and OCI-AML-3 AML cell lines and significantly (P<.01) potentiated the ATO-induced cell death of fresh purified leukemic blasts in 8 out of 10 AML patients analyzed with different genetic abnormalities; in contrast, no significant cytotoxicity in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 3 healthy volunteers was observed after PDEIV inhibitors/ATO treatment. We consistently found that the inhibition of PDEIV strongly potentiated the ATO-induced activation of caspase-3 and PARP fragmentation in all the tested cell lines as well as in primary AML blasts from patients, and, by using a peptide inhibitor approach, we demonstrated that caspase activity was indispensable for PDEIV inhibitors / ATO-induced apoptosis. Furthermore, siRNA knockdown of endogenous PDE4A and PDE4B gene expression recapitulated the ability of PDEIV inhibitors to sensitize leukemic cells to ATO, thereby confirming the significant role of these enzymes in mediating ATO sensitization of leukemic cells to PDEIV inhibitors /ATO-induced apoptosis. Interestingly, by using cAMP analogs and cAMP competitors we demonstrated that PDEIV inhibitors /ATO -induced apoptosis was cAMP independent. In order to investigate the molecular effectors involved in PDEIV inhibitors /ATO-induced apoptosis we first evaluated the effects of the combined treatment on Bcl-2 and p53 family proteins and their biologic relevance in the synergism observed between PDEIV inhibitors and ATO. By western blot analysis we demonstrated that co-treatment with PDEIV inhibitors and ATO increased protein expression of pro-apoptotic of Bax, Bak and/or Puma and decrease anti-apoptotic Mcl-1, A1/Bfl1 and/or Bcl-2; in agreement with the biochemical findings indicating the activation of the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway, we found that combined treatment with PDEIV inhibitors and ATO strongly potentiated mitochondrial depolarization induced by ATO alone in all the tested cell lines. Preliminary data indicate the involvement of p73 pathway which is consistent with the observed upregulation of Bax, Bak and/or Puma in AML cells; ongoing experiment are in progress to evaluate whether p53 pathway is activated by the combined treatment in MOLM-13 and OCI-AML-3 AML cell lines as well as in fresh purified leukemic blasts. Additionally, we found that co-treatment with PDEIV inhibitors and ATO also induced prosurvival signals by increasing ERK and Bad phosphorylation and the expression of anti-apoptotic Bcl-xL, and the pharmacological or genetic disruption of ERK or Bcl-xL consistently and significantly potentiated the cytotoxic effects of the combination PDEIV inhibitors /ATO. Altogether these findings suggest to extend the study to more patients and strongly support the rationale for testing these promising combinations in clinically relevant in vivo mouse models of drug-resistant leukemia
Electron-phonon interaction in Tm(3+), Ho(3+), and Dy(3+) doped BaY(2)F(8) single crystals
No full textHigh resolution Fourier transform spectroscopy is applied in a wide wave number range (500-24,000 cm(-1)) to investigate the electron-phonon interaction in Dy(3+), Tm(3+), and Ho(3+) doped BaY(2)F(8) single crystals. The shape, position, and width of the zero phonon (ZP) absorption lines induced by RE(3+) ions are carefully analyzed in the 9-300 K range. The line shift and broadening are discussed in the framework of a two phonon Raman scattering model and the electron-phonon coupling constants are obtained as fitting parameters. The interaction between the RE(3+) ion and the surrounding matrix is unveiled also by weak vibronic lines accompanying the ZP ones. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
A solid state spin-wave quantum memory for photonic time-Bin qubits
No full textRare-earth (RE) doped crystals are promising candidates as quantum memories as they offer coherence properties comparable to those of atomic systems, but free of the drawbacks deriving from the atomic motion. The research on RE doped crystals quantum memories has been so far mostly focused on the mapping of quantum bits to optical collective excitations using the atomic frequency comb (AFC) or the gradient echo memory protocols [1-3]. However, this leads to short lived and mostly pre-determined storage. In this contribution, we report the first solid state spin-wave optical quantum memory with on-demand read-out. We also demonstrate the first spin-wave storage of time-bin qubits with conditional fidelities higher than for classical memories [4]
Hyperfine structure of Ho3+ levels and electron-phonon coupling in YPO4 single crystals
No full textHigh resolution spectroscopy (the finest being 0.01 cm(-1)) was applied in the 75-25 000 cm(-1) and 9-300 K ranges to a 1 mol% holmium doped YPO4 single crystal with two purposes: (1) to study the hyperfine splitting of Ho3+ energy levels of interest for possible quantum manipulation media and (2) to analyze the electron-phonon interaction. The hyperfine structure was clearly revealed for a high number of lines in a wide wavenumber range (up to similar to 21 500 cm(-1)) and for a large number of multiplets. Several hyperfine patterns were monitored, differing in the number of components (a maximum of 16 could be easily distinguished in a single beautiful pattern), in their separation, and in their relative statistical weight. These features were all understood in terms of a crystal-field model, whose results are in good agreement with experiments and account for the involved level symmetry, the type of transitions (electric and magnetic dipole allowed), and the contribution of a second-order (pseudoquadrupolar) hyperfine coupling between close levels. The electron-phonon interaction, investigated through the thermally induced line shift, was critically discussed in the framework of single phonon coupling and of two phonon Raman scattering models
Storage of up-converted telecom photons in a doped crystal
No full textWe report on an experiment that demonstrates the frequency up-conversion of telecommunication wavelength single-photon-level pulses to be resonant with a Pr3+:Y2SiO5 crystal. We convert the telecom photons at 1570 nm to 606 nm using a periodically-poled potassium titanyl phosphate nonlinear waveguide. The maximum device efficiency (which includes all optical loss) is inferred to be ηmaxdev = 22 ± 1% (internal efficiency ηint = 75 ± 8%) with a signal to noise ratio exceeding 1 for single-photon-level pulses with durations of up to 560 ns. The converted light is then stored in the crystal using the atomic frequency comb scheme with storage and retrieval efficiencies exceeding ηAFC = 20% for predetermined storage times of up to 5 μs. The retrieved light is time delayed from the noisy conversion process allowing us to measure a signal to noise ratio exceeding 100 with telecom single-photon-level inputs. These results represent the first demonstration of single-photon-level optical storage interfaced with frequency up-conversion.</p
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