Complete genome sequences of three novel human papillomavirus types, 175, 178, and 180.

We report the characterization of three novel human papillomavirus (HPV) types of the genus Gammapapillomavirus. HPV175 and HPV180 were isolated from a condyloma. HPV178 was isolated from healthy skin adjacent to an actinic keratosis

Characterization of human papillomavirus subtype 72b.

We report the characterization of human papillomavirus (HPV) subtype 72b of the genus Alphapapillomavirus isolated from an oral rinse sample of a healthy woman. The HPV72b L1 open reading frame (ORF) was 90.2% identical to that of HPV72, indicating a subtype close to the border of a novel HPV type

Human papillomavirus subtypes are not uncommon

AbstractWhile both variants and types of human papillomavirus (HPV) are common, subtypes (2–10% sequence divergence in the L1 gene) have been considered to be rare. We searched GenBank and in-house databases using a 440 nt L1 fragment and identified 7, 30 and 10 subtypes/putative subtypes in the HPV genera Alpha, Beta and Gamma, respectively. The number of types/putative types in each genus was 54, 58 and 103. Thus, there appears to exist at least 47 different subtypes/putative subtypes of HPV and they seem to be particularly common in the genus Beta-papillomavirus

Pseudovirion-binding and neutralizing antibodies to cutaneous Human Papillomaviruses correlated to presence of HPV DNA in skin.

We compared seroreactivity to Human papillomavirus (HPV) antigens measured with two different high-throughput assays. One method used GST-L1 fusion proteins and the other heparin-bound HPV pseudovirions as antigens and both methods used multiplexed fluorescent beads for detection. For six HPV types (5, 6, 15, 16, 32 and 38), seroreactivity could be measured in parallel for 434 serum samples from non-immunosuppressed patients with skin lesions (squamous cell carcinoma of the skin, basal cell carcinoma of the skin, actinic keratosis and benign skin lesions). Biopsies from the skin lesions were tested for presence of HPV DNA using three different PCR methods, with typing by sequencing. Among the types included in the serological tests, HPV DNA of types HPV5, 15, 38 and 76 were most frequently detected in the tumours. Serum samples from subjects with HPV DNA positive biopsies and randomly selected serum samples from subjects with HPV DNA negative biopsies were also tested with neutralization assays with HPV5, 38 and 76 pseudovirions. Agreement of the three serological methods varied from poor to moderate and showed limited consistency. Type-specific seroprevalences among patients positive for the same type of HPV DNA (sensitivity of serology) was improved with the pseudovirion-based method (average of 40%, maximum 63%) compared to the GST-L1 method (average of 20%, maximum of 25%). Neutralization was the most sensitive assay for HPV38 (50%). In summary, the pseudovirion-based methods appeared to have an improved sensitivity

Negative muon spin rotation and relaxation on superconducting MgB2

The internal nuclear magnetic field in a superconducting MgB2 powder sample was studied with a μ- SR technique. Although the past μ +SR study on MgB2 reported the appearance of a dynamic behavior even below Tc due to μ + diffusion, μ- SR shows a static behavior in the whole temperature range measured, as expected. The ZF-μ- SR spectra do not suggest any appearance of additional magnetic field below Tc within the experimental accuracy. Considering the small asymmetry of the μ- SR signal, it is a challenge to detect the appearance of an internal magnetic field below Tc caused by the time reversal symmetry breaking

Confirming the high pressure phase diagram of the Shastry-Sutherland model

A Muon Spin Rotation ($\mu$+SR) study was conducted to investigate the magnetic properties of SrCu2(BO3)2 (SCBO) as a function of temperature/pressure. Measurements in zero field and transverse field confirm the absence of long range magnetic order at high pressures and low temperatures. These measurements suggest changes in the Cu spin fluctuations characteristics above 21 kbar, consistent with the formation of a plaquette phase as previously suggested by inelastic neutron scattering measurements. SCBO is the only known realisation of the Shatry-Sutherland model, thus the ground state mediating the dimer and antiferromagnetic phase is likekly to be a plaquette state

Prospective Study of Human Papillomavirus Seropositivity and Risk of Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer

Cutaneous human papillomaviruses (HPVs) have been associated with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in case-control studies, but there are limited data from prospective studies assessing whether virus exposure predicts risk of future cancer development. Two major biobanks, the Southern Sweden Microbiology Biobank (1971-2003) and the Janus Biobank (1973-2003) in Norway, containing samples from 850,000 donors, were searched for incident skin cancer for up to 30 years using registry linkages. Altogether, 2,623 donors with samples taken before diagnosis of SCC or basal cell carcinoma (BCC) of the skin were identified. Prediagnostic samples and samples from 2,623 matched controls were tested for antibodies against 33 types of HPV. Baseline seropositivity to HPV types in genus beta species 2 was associated with SCC risk (odds ratio = 1.3, 95% confidence interval: 1.1, 1.7); this was also the case for samples taken more than 18 years before diagnosis (odds ratio = 1.8, 95% confidence interval: 1.1, 2.8). Type-specific persistent seropositivity entailed elevated point estimates for SCC risk for 29 HPV types and decreased point estimates for only 3 types. After multiple hypothesis adjustment, HPV 76 was significantly associated with SCC risk and HPV 9 with BCC risk. In summary, seropositivity for certain HPV types was associated with an increased risk for future development of SCC and BCC

TRIM Simulations Tool for μ+\mu^+ Stopping Fraction in Hydrostatic Pressure Cells

For quantum systems or materials, a common procedure for probing their behaviour is to tune electronic/magnetic properties using external parameters, e.g. temperature, magnetic field or pressure. Pressure application as an external stimuli is a widely used tool, where the sample in question is inserted into a pressure cell providing a hydrostatic pressure condition. Such device causes some practical problems when using in Muon Spin Rotation/Relaxation ($\mu^+$SR) experiments as a large proportion of the muons will be implanted in the pressure cell rather than in the sample, resulting in a higher background signal. This issue gets further amplified when the temperature dependent response from the sample is much smaller than that of the pressure cell,which may cause the sample response to be lost in the background and cause difficulties in aligning the sample within the beam. To tackle this issue, we have used pySRIM to construct a practical and helpful simulation tool for calculating muon stopping fractions, specifically for the pressure cell setup at the $\mu$E1 beamline using the GPD spectrometer at the Paul Scherrer Institute, with the use of TRIM simulations. The program is used to estimate the number of muon stopping in both the sample and the pressure cell at a given momentum. The simulation tool is programmed into a GUI, making it accessible to user to approximate prior to their experiments at GPD what fractions will belong to the sample and the pressure cell in their fitting procedure.Comment: 8 Pages, 3 Figures, Conference proceedings for 15th international conference on muon spin rotation, relaxation and resonanc

Search for a space charge layer in thin film battery materials with low-energy muons

In an all solid state Li-ion battery, it is crucial to reduce ionic resistivity at the interface between the electrode and the electrolyte in order to enhance Li+ mobility across the interface. Recent first principles calculations predict the presence of a space-charge layer (SCL) at the interface due to the difference in the Li+ chemical potential at the interface between two different materials, as in the metal-semiconductor junction in electronic devices. However, the presence of SCL has never been experimentally observed. Our first attempt in a fresh multilayer sample, Cu(10 nm)/Li3PO4(50 nm)/LiCoO2(100 nm) on a sapphire substrate, with low-energy μ +SR (LE μ +SR) revealed a gradual change in the nuclear magnetic field distribution width as a function of implantation depth even across the interface between Li3PO4 and LiCoO2. This implies that the change in the field distribution width at SCL of the sample is too small to be detected by LE μ +SR