The feature of cervical microbiota associated with the progression of cervical cancer among reproductive females.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to characterize cervical microbiome feature of reproductive-age women in the progression of squamous intraepithelial lesions (SIL) to cervical cancer. METHODS: We characterized the 16S rDNA cervical mucus microbiome in 94 participants (age from 18 to 52), including 13 cervical cancer (CA), 31 high-grade SIL (HSIL), 10 low-grade SIL (LSIL), 12 HPV-infected (NH) patients and 28 healthy controls (NN). Alpha (within sample) diversity was examined by Shannon and Simpson index, while Beta (between sample) diversity by principle coordinate analysis (PCoA) of weighted Unifrac distances. Relative abundance of microbial taxa was compared using Linear Discriminant Analysis Effect Size (LEfSe). Co-occurrence analysis was performed to identify correlation among marker genera, and Phylogenetic investigation of communities by reconstruction of unobserved states (PICRUSt) to explore functional features and pathways of cervical microbiota. RESULTS: Alpha diversity(p < 0.05) was higher in severer cervical pathology with lower relative abundance of Lactobacillus as well as higher of anaerobes. Beta diversity (p < 0.01) was significantly different. Marker genera were identified including Porphyromonas, Prevotella and Campylobacter of CA and Sneathia of HSIL. The correlation of differential functional pathways with Prevotella was opposite to that with Lactobacillus. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests differences in cervical microbiota diversity and relative abundance of reproductive-age females in different stages of cervical carcinogenesis. Marker genera might participate in the lesion progression and will be helpful for diagnosis, prevention and treatment. These findings may lead the way to further study of the cervical microbiome in development of cervical cancer.

Multifunctional optical correlator for picosecond ultraviolet laser pulse measurement.

A compact multifunctional optical correlator system for pulse width measurement of ultrashort ultraviolet (UV) pulses has been designed and experimentally demonstrated. Both autocorrelation and cross-correlation functions are measured using a single nonlinear crystal, and the switching between two measurements requires no adjustment of phase matching and detector. The system can measure UV pulse widths from sub-picoseconds to 100 ps, and it involves no auxiliary pulse in the measurement. The measurement results on a burst-mode picosecond UV laser show a high-quality performance on speed, accuracy, resolution, and dynamic range. The proposed correlator can be applied to measure any ultrashort UV pulses produced through sum-frequency generation or second-harmonic generation.

Fiber optic picosecond laser pulse transmission line for hydrogen ion beam longitudinal profile measurement.

We present a fiber optic laser pulse transmission line for nonintrusive longitudinal profile measurement of the hydrogen ion (H(-)) beam at the front-end of the Spallation Neutron Source accelerator. The 80.5 MHz, 2.5 ps, multikilowatt optical pulses are delivered to the accelerator beam line through a large-mode-area polarization-maintaining optical fiber to ensure high measurement stability. The transmission efficiency, output laser beam quality, pulse jitter, and pulse width broadening over a 30 m long fiber line are experimentally investigated. A successful measurement of the H(-) beam microbunch (~130 ps) profile is obtained. The experiment is the first demonstration to our knowledge of particle beam profile diagnostics using a fiber optic laser pulse transmission line.

Narrow linewidth picosecond UV pulsed laser with mega-watt peak power.

We demonstrate a master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) burst mode laser system that generates 66 ps/402.5 MHz pulses with mega-watt peak power at 355 nm. The seed laser consists of a single frequency fiber laser (linewidth < 5 KHz), a high bandwidth electro-optic modulator (EOM), a picosecond pulse generator, and a fiber based preamplifier. A very high extinction ratio (45 dB) has been achieved by using an adaptive bias control of the EOM. The multi-stage Nd:YAG amplifier system allows a uniformly temporal shaping of the macropulse with a tunable pulse duration. The light output from the amplifier is converted to 355 nm, and over 1 MW peak power is obtained when the laser is operating in a 5-µs/10-Hz macropulse mode. The laser output has a transform-limited spectrum with a very narrow linewidth of individual longitudinal modes. The immediate application of the laser system is the laser-assisted hydrogen ion beam stripping for the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS).

Development of a compression molding process for three-dimensional tailored free-form glass optics.

Because of the limitation of manufacturing capability, free-form glass optics cannot be produced in a large volume using traditional processes such as grinding, lapping, and polishing. Very recently compression molding of glass optics became a viable manufacturing process for the high-volume production of precision glass optical components. An ultraprecision diamond-turning machine retrofitted with a fast tool servo was used to fabricate a free-form optical mold on a nickel-plated surface. A nonuniform rational B-spline trajectory generator was developed to calculate the computer numerical control machine tool path. A specially formulated glass with low transition temperature (Tg) was used, since the nickel alloy mold cannot withstand the high temperatures required for regular optical glasses. We describe the details of this process, from optical surface geometry, mold making, molding experiment, to lens measurement.