ObjectiveTo determine the clinical significance of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-reverse dot blot (RDB) human papillomavirus (HPV) genotyping assay in cervical cancer screening.MethodsA total of 10,442 women attending the Fujian Provincial Maternity and Children's Health Hospital were evaluated using the liquid-based cytology (thinprep cytologic test [TCT]) and the PCR-RDB HPV test. Women with HPV infection and/or abnormal cytology were referred for colposcopy and biopsy. For HPV DNA sequencing, 120 specimens were randomly selected. Pathological diagnosis was used as the gold standard.ResultsUsing the PCR-RDB HPV test, overall HPV prevalence was 20.57% (2,148/10,442) and that of high-risk (HR)-HPV infection was 18.68% (1,951/10,442). There was 99.2% concordance between HPV PCR-RDB testing and sequencing. In this studied population, the most common HR-HPV types were HPV-16, -52, -58, -18, -53, -33, and -51, rank from high to low. HPV-16, -18, -58, -59, and -33 were the top 5 prevalent genotypes in cervical cancer but HPV-16, -18, -59, -45, and -33 were the top 5 highest risk factors for cancer (odds ratio [OR]=34.964, 7.278, 6.728, 6.101, and 3.658; all p<0.05, respectively). Among 10,442 cases, 1,278 had abnormal cytology results, of which, the HR-HPV positivity rate was 83.02% (1,061/1,278). To screen for cervical cancer by PCR-RDB HPV testing, when using CIN2+, CIN3+, and cancer as observed endpoints, the sensitivity was 90.43%, 92.61%, and 94.78% and the negative predictive value (NPV) was 99.06%, 99.42%, and 99.78%, respectively. PCR-RDB HPV and TCT co-testing achieved the highest sensitivity and NPV.ConclusionFor cervical cancer screening, the PCR-RDB HPV test can provide a reliable and sensitive clinical reference.

The use of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine was recently approved in Mainland China. This study determined the knowledge and attitudes of young women aged 20 to 35 years in Fujian Province, China, with regard to HPV and vaccination and explored the potential factors influencing their attitudes toward HPV vaccination. This was a cross-sectional study that collected data regarding the knowledge on and attitudes toward HPV and vaccination using questionnaires. Furthermore, the prevalence of HPV was determined from the sampled participants. A total of 1001 young women were included in the survey. This study demonstrated that the HPV prevalence rate was 15.7% (157/1001). Among all patients, 44.9% (n = 449) had heard of HPV; however, detailed knowledge about HPV was lacking. The majority (83.7%) expressed a willingness to be vaccinated. Specifically, knowledge of the dangers of HPV infection was significantly associated with the willingness to be vaccinated. In this study, women cited some concerns and expressed high expectations for the HPV vaccine, but the costs of vaccination reduced their willingness to be vaccinated. This study found that most patients did not have a detailed knowledge of HPV. Thus, there is a need for continued HPV promotion and education efforts, especially on the dangers of HPV infection, among young women aged 20 to 35 years in Fujian Province, China. Furthermore, it is important to subsidize the costs of vaccination for promoting vaccination campaigns in China.

Assessment tools and body-composition measurements are useful in diagnosing malnutrition. Which one is better for lung disease patients is unclear. The objectives of the present study are: to assess relationships between different methods of nutritional measurements in lung diseases patients; to determine which one is better in diagnosing malnutrition for lung disease patients; and to determine whether lung cancer patients can be differentiated from benign lung disease patients using different measurements. A total of 96 newly diagnosed primary lung cancer patients in stage IIIB/IV and 52 benign lung disease patients nutritional status were assessed according to the SGA, the scored PG-SGA, and serum albumin, prealbumin, transferrin, hemoglobin, total lymphocyte count, body mass index (BMI), and weight. A total of 40% of lung cancer patients were severely malnourished, with men or elder having a higher rate of malnutrition. Significantly lower values of weight, BMI, total lymphocyte count, transferrin, prealbumin and serum albumin were found for them. Age, sex, weight, weight half year ago and prealbumin are in the regression equation to predict them. For benign lung disease patients, 21.2% were severely malnourished with significantly lower values of weight and transferrin. Age and prealbumin are in the equation to predict severely malnourished benign lung disease patients. The highest receiver operation characteristic area under the curve was found for the PG-SGA score, BMI and weight. PG-SGA global rating, age and iron-transferring protein are in the equation for predicting disease status. The SGA and PG-SGA are appropriate for identifying malnutrition in lung disease patients. Lung cancer patients can be differentiated from benign conditions by PG-SGA.

With safety being one of the primary motivations for developing automated vehicles (AVs), extensive field and simulation tests are being carried out to ensure AVs can operate safely on roadways. Since 2014, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has been collecting AV collision and disengagement reports, which are valuable data sources for studying AV crash patterns. A crash sequence of events describes the AV's interactions with other road users before a collision in a temporal manner. In this study, sequence of events data extracted from California AV collision reports were used to investigate patterns and how they may be used to develop AV test scenarios. Employing sequence analysis methods and clustering, this study evaluated 168 AV crashes (with AV in automatic driving mode before disengagement or collision) reported to the California DMV from 2015 to 2019. Analysis of subsequences showed that the most representative pattern in AV crashes was "collision following AV stop". Analysis of event transition showed that disengagement, as an event in 24% of all studied AV crash sequences, had a transition probability of 68% to an immediate collision. Cluster analysis characterized AV crash sequences into seven groups with distinctive crash dynamic features. Cross-tabulation analysis showed that sequence groups were significantly associated with variables measuring crash outcomes and describing environmental conditions. Crash sequences are useful for developing AV test scenarios. Based on the findings, a scenario-based AV safety testing framework was proposed with sequence of events embedded as a core component.

Tumor invasion and metastasis are complex biological processes. Matriptase and its endogenous inhibitor, hepatocyte growth factor activator inhibitor-1 (HAI-1) are involved in invasion and metastasis. To evaluate the ratio of matriptase/HAI-1 and their potential therapeutic value in ovarian cancer, HO-8910 human ovarian cancer cells and the homologous high-metastatic HO-8910PM cells were used as in vitro cellular models ovarian cancer. The invasive and metastatic abilities, and the expression of matriptase and HAI-1 in these cells were detected using scratch assays, Transwell chamber assays, reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction, western blotting and fluorescent immunocytochemistry. Following infection with lentivirus-mediated matriptase-targeting small interfering RNA (siRNA), cell cycle progression and apoptosis were also analyzed. The migration distance and number of invading HO-8910PM cells were significantly increased compared with HO-8910 cells. HO-8910PM cells exhibited a significantly higher ratio of matriptase/HAI-1 mRNA levels compared with HO-8910 cells (0.51 vs. 0.24, ~2.2 fold increase). Compared with HO-8910 cells, the matriptase mRNA level was increased by ~3.6 fold in HO-8910PM cells, whereas the HAI-1 mRNA level was increased by ~1.7 fold. Similar increases in protein expression levels were also observed in HO-8910PM cells compared with HO-8910 cells. Migration and invasiveness were positively correlated with matriptase expression level (r=0.994, P<0.01) and the ratio of matriptase/HAI-1 (r=0.929, P<0.01). Downregulation of matriptase using siRNA resulted in inhibition of the invasive and metastatic abilities of HO-8910PM cells, cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase and increased apoptosis. The present study demonstrated that ovarian cancer cell metastasis and invasion were more dependent on upregulation of matriptase levels than downregulation of HAI-1. Matriptase may be a potential adjuvant therapeutic target for inhibiting ovarian cancer invasion and metastasis.

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Few studies have examined the potential transcription factor (TF) simultaneously associated with cisplatin resistance and metastasis in ovarian cancer. To assess a related mechanism, a 345-channel protein/DNA array and transcriptional activity ELISA were performed to compare the TF activities in the cisplatin-sensitive SKOV3 and cisplatin-resistant SKOV3-DDP cells and in HO-8910 and the homologous highly metastatic HO-8910PM cells. In SKOV3-DDP vs. SKOV3 cells, 43 TFs were up-regulated, while 31 were down-regulated. In HO-8910PM vs. HO-8910 cells, 13 TFs were up-regulated, while 18 were down-regulated. In these two models, 4 TFs (HOXD8(1), HOXD8(2), RB, RFX1/2/3) were simultaneously up-regulated, and 9 TFs (SRE, FKHR, Angiotensinogen ANG-IRE, Pax2, CD28RC/NF-IL2B, HLF, CPE, CBFB and c-Ets-1) were down-regulated. HOXD8 mRNA and protein expression levels measured by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and ELISA, respectively, were significantly higher in SKOV3-DDP and HO-8910PM than in their corresponding cell lines (both p < 0.05). In 52 cases of different ovarian disease, the patients with recurrent and cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer had higher expression levels of HOXD8 than patients with primary malignant tumours (p = 0.018, p = 0.001) or benign tumours (p = 0.001, p < 0.001). Taken together, these results suggest that HOXD8 is potentially associated with both cisplatin resistance and metastasis in advanced ovarian cancer.