Analysis of the anatomical distribution of HPV genotypes in head and neck squamous papillomas.

Squamous papillomas (SPs) of the head and neck are usually benign lesions associated with human papilloma virus (HPV) infection. However, the reported HPV detection rates vary widely, especially with respect to anatomical distribution. The etiology of SPs in the head and neck remains unclear; analyzing HPV genotypes of SPs based on anatomical sites could assist in clarifying the pathogenesis of SPs in the head and neck. Therefore, the aim of this study was to review the prevalence, subtypes, and anatomical distribution of HPV in head and neck SPs at a hospital in China; we also investigated whether p16, a marker of HPV infection in oropharyngeal carcinoma, could serve as a surrogate marker for HPV in head and neck SPs. The presence of HPV DNA of 23 types (5 low-risk HPV and 18 high-risk HPV types) was detected via real-time PCR. p16 immunohistochemistry was performed using SP sections. Age, sex, anatomical location, and HPV subtype were recorded for each case. In total, 105 SPs were identified, including 47 in the larynx, 42 in the pharynx, 6 in the external auditory canal (EAC), 5 in the oral cavity, and 5 in the nasal cavity. HPV was found in 57 (54.3%) cases, with the highest positivity rate in the larynx (46/47; 97.9%). Only 5/42 (11.9%) patients showed HPV positivity in the pharynx. HPV incidence was highly dependent on the anatomical site. SPs in the larynx and EAC were more likely to carry HPV than those in other anatomical sites. High-risk HPV infections were rarely associated with SPs in the head and neck region. The sensitivity and specificity of p16 immunohistochemistry for HPV infection were 88% and 96%, respectively. There may be an association between p16 and HPV infection in head and neck SPs, but further studies are needed to validate this assertion.

Prevalence and risk factors for acute posttraumatic stress disorder during the COVID-19 outbreak.

BACKGROUND: To examine the prevalence of and risk factors for acute posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) shortly after the massive outbreak of COVID-19 in China. METHODS: An online anonymous survey was conducted between 30 January and 3 February, 2020. The survey included two self-administered questionnaires: one collected personal information (gender, age, education background), current location, recent epidemic area contact history, the classification of population, and subjective sleep quality; the other was the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5). RESULTS: A total of 2091 Chinese participated in the current study. The prevalence of PTSD among the Chinese public one month after the COVID-19 outbreak was 4.6%. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that gender (p < 0.001), epidemic area contact history (p = 0.047), classification of population (p < 0.001), and subjective sleep quality (p < 0.001) could be regarded as predictors for PTSD. LIMITATIONS: First, the majority of participants in this study were the general public, with confirmed or suspected patients being a small part. Second, the measurement of PTSD in this study might be vulnerable to selection bias because of an online self-report study, such as participants' recruitment. Third, the prevalence of PTSD in this study was estimated by an online questionnaire rather than a clinical interview. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggested that some Chinese showed acute PTSD during the COVID-19 outbreak. Therefore, comprehensive psychological intervention needs further implementation. Furthermore, females, people who had recent epidemic area contact history, those at high risk of infection or with poor sleep quality deserve special attention.

Morphological analysis of zebrafish embryo tails.

Quantitative analysis of image-based phenotype is of significant importance in zebrafish image analysis and high-content screening. In this paper, an automatic analysis pipeline is proposed for quantification of the curvedness of zebrafish embryo tails. First, zebrafish embryos are extracted based on the active contour model, and then its skeleton line is generated by the principal graph algorithm. Several curvedness measures of tail skeleton are designed and compared, and experimental results show that joint consideration of the tail shape and its relative position relationship can result in better performance. The proposed pipeline has comparable performance to the manual analysis.