Maxwell's demon was born in 1867 and still thrives in modern physics. He plays important roles in clarifying the connections between two theories: thermodynamics and information. Here, we present the history of the demon and a variety of interesting consequences of the second law of thermodynamics, mainly in quantum mechanics, but also in the theory of gravity. We also highlight some of the recent work that explores the role of information, illuminated by Maxwell's demon, in the arena of quantum information theory.
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Mutant isoforms of the KIT or PDGF receptors expressed by gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are considered the therapeutic targets for STI571 (imatinib mesylate; Gleevec), a specific inhibitor of these tyrosine kinase receptors. Case reports of clinical efficacy of Gleevec in GISTs lacking the typical receptor mutations prompted a search for an alternate mode of action. Here we show that Gleevec can act on host DCs to promote NK cell activation. DC-mediated NK cell activation was triggered in vitro and in vivo by treatment of DCs with Gleevec as well as by a loss-of-function mutation of KIT. Therefore, tumors that are refractory to the antiproliferative effects of Gleevec in vitro responded to Gleevec in vivo in an NK cell-dependent manner. Longitudinal studies of Gleevec-treated GIST patients revealed a therapy-induced increase in IFN-gamma production by NK cells, correlating with an enhanced antitumor response. These data point to a novel mode of antitumor action for Gleevec.
D. Burgarth, K. Maruyama and F. Nori, Coupling strength estimation for spin chains despite restricted access Phys. Rev. A 79, 020305(R) (2009).Quantum control requires full knowledge of the system many-body Hamiltonian. In many cases this information is not directly available due to restricted access to the system. Here we show how to indirectly estimate all the coupling strengths in a spin chain by measuring one spin at the end of the chain. We also discuss the efficiency of this ?quantum inverse problem? and give a numerical example.Peer reviewe
Identifying the nature of interactions in a quantum system is essential in understanding any physical phenomena. Acquiring information on the Hamiltonian can be a tough challenge in many-body systems because it generally requires access to all parts of the system. We show that if the coupling topology is known, the Hamiltonian identification is indeed possible indirectly even though only a small gateway to the system is used. Surprisingly, even a degenerate Hamiltonian can be estimated by applying an extra field to the gateway.
D. Burgarth, K. Maruyama, M. Murphy, S. Montangero, T. Calarco, F. Nori and M. B. Plenio, Scalable quantum computation via local control of only two qubits, Phys. Rev. A 81, 040303(R) (2010).We apply quantum control techniques to a long spin chain by acting only on two qubits at one of its ends, thereby implementing universal quantum computation by a combination of quantum gates on these qubits and indirect swap operations across the chain. It is shown that the control sequences can be computed and implemented efficiently. We discuss the application of these ideas to physical systems such as superconducting qubits in which full control of long chains is challenging.Peer reviewe
Identification of driver genes contributes to the understanding of cancer etiology and is imperative for the development of individualized therapies. Gene amplification is a major event in oncogenesis. Driver genes with tumor-specific amplification-dependent overexpression can be therapeutic targets. In this study, we aimed to identify amplification-dependent driver genes in 1,454 solid tumors, across more than 15 cancer types, by integrative analysis of gene expression and copy number. Amplification-dependent overexpression of 64 known driver oncogenes were found in 587 tumors (40%); genes frequently observed were MYC (25%) and MET (18%) in colorectal cancer; SKP2 (21%) in lung squamous cell carcinoma; HIST1H3B (19%) and MYCN (13%) in liver cancer; KIT (57%) in gastrointestinal stromal tumors; and FOXL2 (12%) in squamous cell carcinoma across tissues. Genomic aberrations in 138 known cancer driver genes and 491 established fusion genes were found in 1,127 tumors (78%). Further analyses of 820 cancer-related genes revealed 16 as potential driver genes, with amplification-dependent overexpression restricted to the remaining 22% of samples (327 tumors) initially undetermined genetic drivers. Among them, AXL, which encodes a receptor tyrosine kinase, was recurrently overexpressed and amplified in sarcomas. Our studies of amplification-dependent overexpression identified potential drug targets in individual tumors.
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