A new solid polymer electrolyte based on semi‐interpenetrating polymer networks (semi‐IPN) of crosslinked poly(glycidyl methacrylate‐co‐acrylonitrile)/poly(ethylene oxide) (P(GMA‐co‐AN)/PEO) was synthesized with diethylenetriamine (DETA) as the crosslinking agent and characterized. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra suggested the formation of semi‐IPN structure by crosslinking and revealed the interactions of Li+ ions with both the ether oxygen in PEO chain and the nitrogen atom in AN segments. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X‐ray diffraction pattern (XRD) measurements showed that crystallization of the semi‐IPN polymer electrolyte was greatly impeded. Measurement of mechanical properties revealed that tensile strength of the polymer electrolyte was increased after crosslinking. Results of electrochemistry tests suggested that the new polymer electrolyte exhibited a high‐ionic conductivity (10−4 S/cm) at room temperature, and an Arrhenius‐like behavior of the conductivity was observed. And the semi‐IPN polymer electrolyte with less content of PEO exhibited lower ion conductivity. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008

Cervical glandular neoplasias (CGN) present a challenge for cervical cancer prevention due to their complex histopathology and difficulties in detecting preinvasive stages with current screening practices. Reports of human papillomavirus (HPV) prevalence and type‐distribution in CGN vary, providing uncertain evidence to support prophylactic vaccination and HPV screening. This study [108288/108290] assessed HPV prevalence and type‐distribution in women diagnosed with cervical adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS, N = 49), adenosquamous carcinoma (ASC, N = 104), and various adenocarcinoma subtypes (ADC, N = 461) from 17 European countries, using centralised pathology review and sensitive HPV testing. The highest HPV‐positivity rates were observed in AIS (93.9%), ASC (85.6%), and usual‐type ADC (90.4%), with much lower rates in rarer ADC subtypes (clear‐cell: 27.6%; serous: 30.4%; endometrioid: 12.9%; gastric‐type: 0%). The most common HPV types were restricted to HPV16/18/45, accounting for 98.3% of all HPV‐positive ADC. There were variations in HPV prevalence and ADC type‐distribution by country. Age at diagnosis differed by ADC subtype, with usual‐type diagnosed in younger women (median: 43 years) compared to rarer subtypes (medians between 57 and 66 years). Moreover, HPV‐positive ADC cases were younger than HPV‐negative ADC. The six years difference in median age for women with AIS compared to those with usual‐type ADC suggests that cytological screening for AIS may be suboptimal. Since the great majority of CGN are HPV16/18/45‐positive, the incorporation of prophylactic vaccination and HPV testing in cervical cancer screening are important prevention strategies. Our results suggest that special attention should be given to certain rarer ADC subtypes as most appear to be unrelated to HPV.

The ongoing Triage and Risk Assessment of Cervical Precancer by Epigenetic Biomarker (TRACE) prospective, multicenter study aimed to provide a clinical evaluation of the CONFIDENCE TM assay, which comprises a human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA and a human epigenetic biomarker test. Between 2013 and 2015 over 6,000 women aged 18 or older were recruited in Hungary. Liquid-based cytology (LBC), high-risk HPV (hrHPV) DNA detection and single target host gene methylation test of the promoter sequence of the POU4F3 gene by quantitative methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were performed from the same liquid-based cytology sample. The current analysis is focused on the baseline cross-sectional clinical results of 5,384 LBC samples collected from subjects aged 25 years or older. The performance of the CONFIDENCE HPV TM test was found to be comparable to the cobas V R HPV test with good agreement. When applying the CONFIDENCE Marker TM test alone in hrHPV positives, it showed significantly higher sensitivity with matching specificity compared to LBC-based triage. For CIN31 histological endpoint in the age group of 25-65 and 30-65, the methylation test of POU4F3 achieved relative sensitivities of 1.74 (95% CI: 1.25-2.33) and 1.64 (95% CI: 1.08-2.27), respectively, after verification bias adjustment. On the basis of our findings, POU4F3 methylation as a triage test of hrHPV positives appears to be a noteworthy method. We can reasonably assume that

Several immunochemistry tests are used for triaging human papilloma virus (HPV) and cytology positive cases in cervical cancer screening and as an adjunct test to diagnose cervical cancer. Claudin-1 (CLDN1) protein is a major component of the tight junction, shown to have altered expression in cervical cancer. In this study, value of CLDN1 was analysed as a screening and triage immunochemistry test compared to cytology and HPV testing. A population of 352 women attending colposcopic referral visits resulting in cervical conisation and a second population of 150 women attending routine gynaecological visits with negative cervical cytology were enrolled in a multi-centre clinical study in Hungary. Cytology and HPV (Genoid Full Spectrum HPVAmplification and Detection System) testing were carried out along with immunocytochemistry for CLDN1, and as a reference, using CINtec p16 Cytology Kit. Three different evaluation protocols were used which assessed immunostaining characteristics with or without cytological readings. High correlation observable between p16INK4a and CLDN1 established CLDN1 as a competing marker in cervical cancer. Concordance of CLDN1 immunostaining of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 2 and above (CIN2+) positives was 84.0 % (73.8–89.3); concordance of CIN2+ negatives was 69.0 % (59.6–75.8). In conclusion, CLDN1 has similar diagnostic potential as p16INK4a, our results established it as a histological and cytological biomarker with the potential to improve the clinical performance of cervical cytology and histology.

In the era of primary vaccination against HPV and at the beginning of the low prevalence of cervical lesions, introduction of screening methods that can distinguish between low- and high-grade lesions is necessary in order to maintain the positive predictive value of screening. This case-control study included 562 women who attended cervical screening or were referred for colposcopy and 140 disease free controls, confirmed by histology and/or cytology. The cases were stratified by age. Using routine exfoliated liquid based cytological samples RT-PCR measurements of biomarker genes, high-risk HPV testing and liquid based cytology were performed and used to evaluate different testing protocols including sets of genes/tests with different test cut-offs for the diagnostic panels. Three new panels of cellular biomarkers for improved triage of hrHPV positive women (diagnostic panel) and for prognostic assessment of CIN lesions were proposed. The diagnostic panel (PIK3AP1, TP63 and DSG3) has the potential to distinguish cytologically normal hrHPV+ women from hrHPV+ women with CIN2+. The prognostic gene panels (KRT78, MUC5AC, BPIFB1 and CXCL13, TP63, DSG3) have the ability to differentiate hrHPV+ CIN1 and carcinoma cases. The diagnostic triage panel showed good likelihood ratios for all age groups. The panel showed age-unrelated performance and even better diagnostic value under age 30, a unique feature among the established cervical triage tests. The prognostic gene-panels demonstrated good discriminatory power and oncogenic, anti-oncogenic grouping of genes. The study highlights the potential for the gene expression panels to be used for diagnostic triage and lesion prognostics in cervical cancer screening.