Superficial macular vessel density in eyes with mild, moderate, and severe primary open-angle glaucoma.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to report changes in and associations of macular vessel density (VD) and perfusion density (PD) using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in mild, moderate, and severe open-angle glaucoma.

Methods: One hundred thirty-three patients with open-angle glaucoma (133 eyes: 47 mild, 33 moderate, and 53 severe glaucoma) and 73 normal subjects (right eyes) were included in this cross-sectional study. All subjects underwent Cirrus OCTA measurements.

Infant-ID: Fingerprints for Global Good.

In many of the least developed and developing countries, a multitude of infants continue to suffer and die from vaccine-preventable diseases and malnutrition. Lamentably, the lack of official identification documentation makes it exceedingly difficult to track which infants have been vaccinated and which infants have received nutritional supplements. Answering these questions could prevent this infant suffering and premature death around the world.

The relationship between microscopic tumor size and CT tumor size in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Objectives: To investigate the exact relationship between CT tumor size and the microscopic tumor size in PDAC.

Materials And Methods: We enrolled 310 patients with pathologically confirmed PDAC without preoperative adjuvant therapies who underwent CT examination from June 2016 and December 2018. Smooth curve fitting and a segmented regression model were used to analyze the threshold effect between CT tumor size and the microscopic tumor size.

The Association of Acute Cerebrospinal Fluid Pressure Reduction with Choroidal Thickness.

Purpose: To investigate the changes in choroidal thickness (CT) after acute cerebrospinal fluid pressure (CSFP) reduction in human subjects.

Methods: Before and 15 minutes after diagnostic lumbar puncture (LP), 44 patients underwent measurement of CT by swept-source optical coherence tomography. Thirty-two healthy volunteers imitated the body posture of LP procedure and underwent the same measurement before and 15 minutes after body posture change.

Clinical characteristics, rates of blindness, and geographic features of PACD in China.

Objective: To analyze the rates of blindness with the demographics and clinical characteristics of patients with primary angle-closure disease (PACD) to provide a comprehensive epidemiologic reference in China.

Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted in the Chinese Glaucoma Study Consortium database, which is a national multicenter glaucoma research alliance of 111 hospitals participating between December 21, 2015 and September 9, 2018. The diagnosis of PACD was made by qualified physicians through examination.

Ship fuel sulfur content prediction based on convolutional neural network and ultraviolet camera images.

Pollutant emissions in ship exhaust have been continually increasing. SO is one of the main gaseous pollutants in ship exhaust, resulting from the use of marine heavy fuel oil with high sulfur content. Therefore, it is necessary to detect the fuel sulfur content (FSC) to regulate ship exhaust emissions.

Intelligent Fault Diagnosis of Hydraulic Piston Pump Based on Wavelet Analysis and Improved AlexNet.

Hydraulic piston pump is the heart of hydraulic transmission system. On account of the limitations of traditional fault diagnosis in the dependence on expert experience knowledge and the extraction of fault features, it is of great meaning to explore the intelligent diagnosis methods of hydraulic piston pump. Motivated by deep learning theory, a novel intelligent fault diagnosis method for hydraulic piston pump is proposed via combining wavelet analysis with improved convolutional neural network (CNN).

The Effect of a Novel Strategy in Treating Primary Pterygium: A Prospective Randomized Clinical Study.

Objective: We sought to compare the efficacy and safety of conjunctival autograft (CAG), amniotic membrane transplantation (AMT) with postoperative interferon alfa-2b (IFN alfa-2b), and modified conjunctival autograft plus amniotic membrane transplantation (mCAG plus AMT) with postoperative IFN alfa-2b for primary pterygium.

Design: Randomized controlled clinical trial.

Methods: Eyes with nasal and primary pterygia were randomized in a 1:1:1 ratio to receive CAG, AMT with IFN alfa-2b, or mCAG plus AMT with IFN alfa-2b.

Probucol decreases homocysteine-stimulated CRP production in rat aortic smooth muscle cells via regulating HO-1/NADPH oxidase/ROS/p38 pathway.

The elevated homocysteine level is an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis, which is characterized as a chronic inflammatory disease associated with oxidative stress. We have confirmed that homocysteine can stimulate the production of C-reactive protein (CRP) in rat aortic smooth muscle cells (RASMCs). In the present study, we investigated the role of probucol in homocysteine-induced CRP expression in cultured RASMCs and high-methionine-diet-induced hyperhomocysteinemic rats.

CVD growth of rhenium sulfide on carbon nanotubes as an anode for improving the performance of lithium ion batteries.

Lithium ion batteries have widely been used for electronic devices and electric vehicles. However, commercial anodes, generally graphite, have not been improved a great deal. Thus, we successfully constructed ReS/carbon nanotube (CNT) composites by a chemical vapor deposition method, which exhibit excellent electrochemical performances when serving as anode materials for lithium ion batteries (LIBs).

Development and validation of a VHL-associated immune prognostic signature for clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

Background: VHL mutation is the most common mutation in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). Here, we developed and validated an immune-related signature to predict the prognosis of ccRCC with VHL mutations.

Methods: VHL mutation status and RNA expression were analysed in the TCGA datasets and our cohort.

Bibliometric analysis of glaucoma-related literature based on SCIE database: a 10-year literature analysis from 2009 to 2018.

Aim: To explore the global trends and focus of glaucoma research from 2009 to 2018.

Methods: Searching for glaucoma-related articles published in Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) database during 2009-2018, and describing the distribution of the published year, countries, authors, institutions, funding agencies, journals, impact factor, citation and hot research topic of articles by using bibliometric methods. Meanwhile, we compared some of these indicators over two five-year periods, from 2009 to 2013 and from 2014 to 2018.

Diagnostic Value of Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography for Choroidal Neovascularization in Age-Related Macular Degeneration: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Objective: This study aims to evaluate the diagnostic value of optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in detecting the choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed by searching Pubmed, Science Direct, Embase, and Web of Science. The pooled sensitivity and specificity with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), area under the summary receiver operator characteristic curve (sROC), and the total accurate classification rate were used to evaluate OCTA's diagnostic value of CNV in AMD patients.

Relationship between corneal stiffness parameters and lamina cribrosa curvature in normal tension glaucoma.

Purpose: To evaluate the relationship between corneal biomechanical parameters and lamina cribrosa (LC) curvature in normal tension glaucoma (NTG).

Methods: 95 eyes of 56 NTG patients were enrolled in this prospective, observational study. Corneal biomechanical parameters, including stiffness parameters at applanation 1 (SP-A1), deformation amplitude ratio (DA ratio), inverse concave radius and biomechanically corrected intraocular pressure estimate (bIOP), were captured using the Corneal Visualization Scheimpflug Technology instrument (Corvis-ST).

Distribution of ocular biometry in young Chinese eyes: The Anyang University Students Eye Study.

Purpose: To investigate the distribution of ocular biometric parameters and its association to refraction in university students in central China.

Methods: Ocular biometric parameters including axial length (AL), central corneal thickness (CCT), keratometry power (K), anterior chamber depth (AQD) and lens thickness (LT) were measured by an optical biometry in a cohort of university students. Corneal radius of curvature (CR), lens position (LP), lens power (P ), vitreous chamber depth (VCD) and AL to corneal radius ratio (AL/CR) were calculated.

Outcomes of gonioscopy-assisted transluminal trabeculotomy in juvenile-onset primary open-angle glaucoma.

Purpose: To report the outcomes of gonioscopy-assisted transluminal trabeculotomy (GATT) for juvenile-onset primary open-angle glaucoma (JOAG).

Methods: A consecutive case series of JOAG patients who underwent GATT was reviewed with follow-up period of up to 18 months. Intraocular pressure (IOP), number of glaucoma medications and success rate were compared between eyes with and without prior glaucoma surgery, and between mild-to-moderate and severe cases defined based on Humphrey Visual Field mean deviation.

Hydrogen peroxide mediates spermidine-induced autophagy to alleviate salt stress in cucumber.

Autophagy, an evolutionally conserved cellular degradation process, plays critical roles in plant development and stress response. Despite the wealth of information on the vital role of autophagy in responses to environmental stresses, little is known about the regulation of autophagy. In this study, we demonstrated that spermidine (Spd), a kind of polyamine, was involved in the regulation of salt tolerance through activating the expression of (autophagy-related) genes and the formation of autophagosomes in cucumber under salt stress.

Intereye Comparison of Focal Lamina Cribrosa Defect in Normal-Tension Glaucoma Patients with Asymmetric Visual Field Loss.

Introduction: To evaluate the association of focal lamina cribrosa (LC) defect with asymmetric visual field (VF) loss in normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) through intereye comparisons.

Methods: Paired eyes were divided into better and worse eyes according to the mean deviation (MD), and ocular parameters were compared between them. Furthermore, patients in the asymmetric group were classified as subgroup A (one eye with LC defect and the fellow one without), subgroup B (both eyes without LC defect), and subgroup C (both eyes with LC defect).

Current Evidence of 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Ocular Transmission: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Objective: To estimate the prevalence rate of ocular symptoms and the positive rate of conjunctival swab samples of patients diagnosed with 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19).

Methods: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis. A comprehensive literature search was done based on PubMed, Embase, MedRxiv, and the Cochrane Library.

The Anti-inflammatory Effects of HMGB1 Blockades in a Mouse Model of Cutaneous Vasculitis.

In our previous study, we have found increased serum levels of HMGB1 in patients with Henoch- Schonlein purpura (HSP), allergic vasculitis (AV), and urticarial vasculitis (UV) and altered HMGB1 distribution in lesional skin in patients with HSP. HMGB1 plays a pro-inflammatory role in the pathogenesis of HSP. To further investigate the role of HMGB1 in the pathogenic mechanism of vasculitis, we investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of HMGB1 blockades (including anti-HMGB1 mAb and glycyrrhizin) in a mouse model of a cutaneous reverse passive Arthus (RPA) reaction.

Diabetic Retinopathy, Visual Impairment, and the Risk of Six-Year Death: A Cohort Study of a Rural Population in China.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore the association between diabetic retinopathy (DR) and the risk of 6-year death, as well as the association between visual impairment (VI) and the risk of 6-year death in a rural Chinese population of age ≥30 years.

Methods: This was a population-based cohort study. In 2006-2007, 6,830 subjects aged ≥30 years were recruited from 13 villages in Northern China through clustered randomization.

The three-dimensional printed template guided technique for S2 alar iliac screw placement and a comparison with freehand technique.

Purpose: Sacropelvic fixation continues to present challenges when involved in the adult spinal deformity correction. The S2 alar iliac (S2AI) fixation is commonly used in sacropelvic fixation. Several techniques, including intraoperative navigation and freehand technique, were used for S2AI screws placement.

Multi-Frame Star Image Denoising Algorithm Based on Deep Reinforcement Learning and Mixed Poisson-Gaussian Likelihood.

Mixed Poisson-Gaussian noise exists in the star images and is difficult to be effectively suppressed via maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) method due to its complicated likelihood function. In this article, the MLE method is incorporated with a state-of-the-art machine learning algorithm in order to achieve accurate restoration results. By applying the mixed Poisson-Gaussian likelihood function as the reward function of a reinforcement learning algorithm, an agent is able to form the restored image that achieves the maximum value of the complex likelihood function through the Markov Decision Process (MDP).

Ab interno vs ab externo microcatheter-assisted trabeculotomy for primary congenital glaucoma with clear cornea.

Importance: This is the first comprehensive comparison between ab interno approach and ab externo approach for microcatheter-assisted trabeculotomy in primary congenital glaucoma with clear cornea.

Background: Ab externo microcatheter-assisted trabeculotomy is considered to be the gold standard for primary congenital glaucoma. The novel ab interno approach would intuitively be similar to ab externo approach for microcatheter-assisted trabeculotomy in eyes with clear cornea; however, there is no evidence yet.