User-Centred Design and Development of a Smartphone Application () for Digital Phenotyping in Ophthalmology.

Background: Visual impairment can significantly impact an individual's daily activities. Patients require regular monitoring, typically occurring within hospital eye services. Capacity constraints have necessitated innovative solutions to improve patient care.

Mitochondrial DNA mutations in human oocytes undergo frequency-dependent selection but do not increase with age.

Mitochondria, cellular powerhouses, harbor DNA (mtDNA) inherited from the mothers. MtDNA mutations can cause diseases, yet whether they increase with age in human germline cells-oocytes-remains understudied. Here, using highly accurate duplex sequencing of full-length mtDNA, we detected mutations in single oocytes, blood, and saliva in women between 20 and 42 years of age.

Assessing Contrast Sensitivity Function in CRB1-Retinopathies: Exploring Child-Friendly Measures of Visual Function.

Purpose: Mutations affecting the CRB1 gene can result in a range of retinal phenotypes, including early onset severe retinal dystrophy/Leber congenital amaurosis (EOSRD/LCA), retinitis pigmentosa, cone-rod dystrophy (CORD), and macular dystrophy (MD). As research into treatment strategies advances towards clinical translation, there is a need to establish reliable outcome metrics. This study explores the contrast sensitivity function (CSF) across different spatial frequencies in individuals with CRB1-retinopathies using the child-friendly PopCSF test, an iPad-based "gamified" assessment.

Improvements in large-scale production of tobacco etch virus protease.

Tobacco-etch-virus (TEV) protease is the workhorse of many laboratories in which protein expression is the linchpin of downstream experiments. TEV protease is remarkable in its sequence specificity as the cleavage sequence rarely appears in higher organisms and its ability to cleave fusion tag proteins from proteins of interest. Herein we report work done on large-scale production of TEV protease using different promotors, media, fusion tags, and expression platforms.

Validating and Updating the OHTS-EGPS Model Predicting 5-year Glaucoma Risk among Ocular Hypertension Patients Using Electronic Records.

Objective: To validate and update the Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study-European Glaucoma Prevention Study (OHTS-EGPS) model predicting risk of conversion from ocular hypertension (OHT) to glaucoma using electronic medical records (EMR).

Design: Evaluation and update of a risk prediction algorithm using EMRs and linked visual field (VF) tests.

Participants: Newly diagnosed OHT patients attending hospital glaucoma services in England.