Quantum-improved phase estimation with a displacement-assisted SU(1,1) interferometer.

By performing two local displacement operations (LDOs) inside an SU(1,1) interferometer, called as the displacement-assisted SU(1,1) [DSU(1,1)], both the phase sensitivity based on homodyne detection and quantum Fisher information (QFI) with and without photon losses are investigated in this paper. In this DSU(1,1) interferometer, we focus our attention on the extent to which the introduced LDO affects the phase sensitivity and the QFI, even in the realistic scenario. Our analyses show that the estimation performance of DSU(1,1) interferometer is always better than that of SU(1,1) interferometer without the LDO, especially for the phase precision of the former in the ideal scenario closer to the Heisenberg limit via the increase of the LDO strength. Different from the latter, the robustness of the former can be also enhanced markedly by regulating and controlling the LDO. Our findings would open an useful view for quantum-improved phase estimation of optical interferometers.

Diagnostic accuracy of extended HPV DNA genotyping and its application for risk-based cervical cancer screening strategy.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the consistency of 14 high-risk HPVs (hr-HPVs) detection between extended HPV DNA genotyping and a well-validated partial HPV genotyping kit, and to explore the diagnostic accuracy of risk stratification strategy based on extended HPV genotyping for cervical cancer (CC) screening. METHODS: Baseline data from a clinical trial of recombinant HPV 9-valent vaccine in China was analyzed. All enrolled women aged 20-45 years received cervical cytology, HPV detection by extended and partial HPV genotyping kits. Those who met the indications would further receive colposcopy. The primary endpoints were cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 2/3 or worse (CIN2+/CIN3+). RESULTS: A total of 8,000 women were enrolled between April 2020 and July 2020 and 83/33 cases were diagnosed as CIN2+/CIN3+. The overall agreement between the extended and partial HPV genotyping was 92.66 %. And the agreement further increased with the progression of lesions, which lead to similarly high sensitivity and negative predictive value of these kits. A stratified triage strategy of CC screening was constructed based on the immediate CIN2+/CIN3+ risk of specific HPV. Compared with the conventional HPV primary CC screening strategy, the risk-based strategy had higher specificity for CIN (CIN2+: 94.84 vs. 92.46 %, CIN3+: 96.05 vs. 91.92 %), and needed fewer colposcopies for detecting one cervical disease. CONCLUSIONS: Extended HPV genotyping had good agreement with a well-validated partial HPV genotyping CC primary screening kit in hr-HPV detection. Extended HPV genotyping could facilitate risk-based stratified management strategy and improve the diagnostic accuracy of primary CC screening.

Evaluating the quantum Ziv-Zakai bound for phase estimation in noisy environments.

In the highly non-Gaussian regime, the quantum Ziv-Zakai bound (QZZB) provides a lower bound on the available precision, demonstrating the better performance compared with the quantum Cramér-Rao bound. However, evaluating the impact of a noisy environment on the QZZB without applying certain approximations proposed by Tsang [Phys. Rev. Lett.108, 230401 (2012)10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.230401] remains a difficult challenge. In this paper, we not only derive the asymptotically tight QZZB for phase estimation with the photon loss and the phase diffusion by invoking the variational method and the technique of integration within an ordered product of operators, but also show its estimation performance for several different Gaussian resources, such as a coherent state (CS), a single-mode squeezed vacuum state (SMSVS) and a two-mode squeezed vacuum state (TMSVS). In this asymptotically tight situation, our results indicate that compared with the SMSVS and the TMSVS, the QZZB for the CS always shows the better estimation performance under the photon-loss environment. More interestingly, for the phase-diffusion environment, the estimation performance of the QZZB for the TMSVS can be better than that for the CS throughout a wide range of phase-diffusion strength. Our findings will provide an useful guidance for investigating the noisy quantum parameter estimation.

Involvement of microRNA/cystine/glutamate transporter in cold-stressed gastric mucosa injury.

Stress ulcers are complicated by severe trauma and other critical diseases, the mechanism of which remains unclear. An increasing number of studies have shown that microRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators of stress responses such as hypoxia, abnormal temperature, and inflammation. The evidence indicates that miRNAs are also involved in regulating stress-induced ulcers. Recently, we demonstrated that gastric mucosal injury induced by aspirin is related to the reduction of glutamate levels by inhibition of cystine/glutamate transporter (xCT) activity. In the present study, the effect of a miRNA/xCT on gastric mucosal injury induced by cold stimulation was investigated. We found that cold stimulation induced gastric mucosa injury with a reduction in glutamate levels and xCT activity and upregulation of miR-143, miR-152, and miR-181 expression. Exogenous glutamate significantly alleviated gastric mucosa injury by cold stimulation. In vitro experiments demonstrated that treatment with miR-143, miR-152, or miR-181 mimics directly induced cell damage. The effects of these mimics were alleviated by exogenous glutamate. The present study suggests that miR-143, miR-152, and miR-181 are involved in cold stimulation-induced acute gastric mucosal injury. Furthermore, the regulatory effect of miRNAs on gastric mucosa injury induced by cold stimulation is related to a decrease in glutamate release by reduction of cystine/glutamate transporter activity.

Extended HPV Genotyping for Risk Assessment of Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia Grade 2/3 or Worse in a Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: We sought to identify the absolute risk of specific HPV genotype for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2/3 or worse (CIN2+/3+) and to develop a risk-based management strategy in an HPV-positive population. METHODS: HPV genotyping was performed based on a 3-year cervical cancer screening cohort. The study endpoints were histologic CIN2+/3+. The prevalence of specific HPV genotype was calculated by minimum, any type, and hierarchical attribution estimate. The absolute CIN2+/3+ risks of specific HPV genotype were estimated and risk-based management strategy was established according to the American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology guideline. The efficacy of conventional and risk-based management strategies for non-16/18 HPVs were further evaluated. RESULTS: Eligible data were available for 8,370 women with a median age of 48 years (interquartile range, 42-53 years). At baseline, there were 1,062 women with HPV-positive disease, including 424 with multiple and 639 with single infections. CIN2+/3+ cases represented 113/74, 23/8, 20/7, and 52/31 patients at baseline and first-, second-, and third-year visits, respectively. Women with multiple HPV infections at baseline were more prone to persistent infection than those with single infection (P<.0001). HPV16 and HPV52 were the top 2 ranking among baseline and 3-year cumulative CIN2+/3+ cases. Based on the absolute risk of specific HPV genotype combined with cytology for CIN2+/3+, all non-16/18 HPVs were divided into 4 risk-stratified groups. Compared with conventional strategy, the risk-based strategy had higher specificity (P=.0000) and positive predictive value (P=.0322) to detect CIN3+ and needed fewer colposcopies for each CIN3+ case. CONCLUSIONS: Based on our study findings, we propose a new extended HPV genotyping protocol, which would provide a better strategy for achieving precise risk-based management of HPV-positive populations.

Noninvasive Predictor for Premalignant and Cancerous Lesions in Endometrial Polyps Diagnosed by Ultrasound.

BACKGROUND: There was no consensus for management of asymptomatic endometrial polyps (EPs) up to date. OBJECTIVE: The aim of present study was to determine the risk factors of malignant lesions in EPs diagnosed by ultrasound and establish a noninvasive predictor to decrease unnecessary hysteroscopy for EPs. STUDY DESIGN: We reviewed the records of all consecutive patients who underwent hysteroscopy for EPs in the Women's Hospital School of Medicine Zhejiang University between January 1, 2001 and December 31, 2018. The patients with histological diagnoses of atypical hyperplasia or cancer were defined as malignancy, while the patients with histological diagnoses of benign lesions were randomly selected as benign group according to the ratio of 1:4 (malignancy:benign), matching by age and year of hospitalization. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the clinical parameters for predicting malignancy of EPs. A Chi-squared automatic interaction detection (CHAID) decision tree analysis was performed to find a noninvasive predictor. The sensitivity, specificity, and the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) were used for assess the efficacy of the noninvasive predictor. New diagnosed EPs patients received in 2019 were used for verifying the accuracy of the noninvasive predictor. RESULTS: The age in 15,790 cases of benign lesions was significantly younger than that in 230 malignancy cases (41.97 ± 11.53 year vs 53.31 ± 11.61 years, p <0.001). AUB (OR 7.306, 95%CI 4.927-10.835), large EPs (OR 2.595, 95%CI 1.662-4.052), and blood flow signal in EPs (OR 2.690, 95%CI 1.872-3.866) were independent predictive factors of malignancy in all enrolled patients. A noninvasive predictor for malignancy of EPs was established, through combining with AUB, large polyps and blood flow signal. This predictor presented excellent sensitivity and NPV (91.3 and 95.8%), with acceptable specificity and AUC (0.801). Further validation in new diagnosed EPs also suggested excellent sensitivity and reasonable specificity (100 and 58.5%) of the predictor. Factors such as thickened endometrial thickness, menopause shorter than 10 years, hypertension, obesity and nulliparous were also validated as independent predictors of malignancy in different subgroup analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The noninvasive predictor combined with other risk factors from subgroup analysis would be reliable to distinguish the benign lesions from malignancy for EPs diagnosed by ultrasound.

Baicalein induces the apoptosis of HCT116 human colon cancer cells via the upregulation of DEPP/Gadd45a and activation of MAPKs.

Baicalein has efficient antitumor properties and has been reported to promote the apoptosis of several human cancer cell lines. Decidual protein induced by progesterone (DEPP), a transcriptional target of Forkhead Box O, was originally identified from the human endometrial stromal cell cDNA library. However, the expression and physiological functions of DEPP in human colon cancer cells remain to be fully elucidated. In the present study, it was reported that baicalein stimulated apoptosis and morphological changes of HCT116, A549 and Panc­1 cells in a dose-dependent manner. It also upregulated the mRNA and protein levels of DEPP and growth arrest and DNA damage-inducible 45α (Gadd45a). In addition, the overexpression of DEPP promoted mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) phosphorylation. To further investigate the role of DEPP and Gadd45a in baicalein-induced apoptosis, HCT116 cells were transfected with small interfering RNA against either DEPP or Gadd45a as in vitro models. Through an Annexin V/PI double staining assay, it was observed that baicalein-induced apoptosis was impaired by the inactivation of either DEPP or Gadd45a, which in turn restricted the baicalein-induced activation of caspase­3 and caspase­9 and phosphorylation of MAPKs. In addition, the inhibition of c­Jun N­terminal kinase (JNK)/p38 activity with SP600125/SB203580 decreased the expression of Gadd45a, whereas the inactivation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase with SCH772984 had no effect on the expression of Gadd45a. Taken together, these results demonstrated that baicalein induced the upregulation of DEPP and Gadd45a, which promoted the activation of MAPKs with a positive feedback loop between Gadd45a and JNK/p38, resulting in a marked apoptotic response in human colon cancer cells. These results indicated that baicalein is a potential antitumor drug for the treatment of colon cancer.

Passive localization of mixed far-field and near-field sources without estimating the number of sources.

This paper presents a novel algorithm for the localization of mixed far-field sources (FFSs) and near-field sources (NFSs) without estimating the source number. Firstly, the algorithm decouples the direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation from the range estimation by exploiting fourth-order spatial-temporal cumulants of the observed data. Based on the joint diagonalization structure of multiple spatial-temporal cumulant matrices, a new one-dimensional (1-D) spatial spectrum function is derived to generate the DOA estimates of both FFSs and NFSs. Then, the FFSs and NFSs are identified and the range parameters of NFSs are determined via beamforming technique. Compared with traditional mixed sources localization algorithms, the proposed algorithm avoids the performance deterioration induced by erroneous source number estimation. Furthermore, it has a higher resolution capability and improves the estimation accuracy. Computer simulations are implemented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.