Self-improving generative foundation model for synthetic medical image generation and clinical applications.

In many clinical and research settings, the scarcity of high-quality medical imaging datasets has hampered the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) clinical applications. This issue is particularly pronounced in less common conditions, underrepresented populations and emerging imaging modalities, where the availability of diverse and comprehensive datasets is often inadequate. To address this challenge, we introduce a unified medical image-text generative model called MINIM that is capable of synthesizing medical images of various organs across various imaging modalities based on textual instructions.

Corneal asymmetry contributes decentration in both spherical and toric orthokeratology lenses.

Purpose: To discuss the characteristics of anterior corneal elevation asymmetry in myopic eyes and clarify which kind of asymmetry most influenced lens position.

Methods: In this retrospective study of 199 consecutive myopic participants, corneal topography was used to analyse asymmetry in anterior corneal elevation. Amongst them, 65 participants (65 eyes) who underwent orthokeratology (31 and 34 with spherical and toric lenses, respectively) were re-evaluated.

Screening and monitoring of diabetic retinopathy in community care: the effectiveness of single-field vs multi-field fundus photography.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of single-field fundus photography for diabetic retinopathy (DR) screening and monitoring versus six-field imaging in community settings.

Methods: Adults aged ≥30 years with type 2 diabetes from 15 communities in Northeast China were recruited for this prospective cohort study (n=2006 at baseline and n=1456 at follow-up). Participants underwent both single-field and six-field digital fundus photography at baseline and follow-up visits (mean duration of 21.

Identification of Shaker Potassium Channel Family Members and Functional Characterization of in Suggest That Contributes to Cold Resistance.

is an excellent shade-tolerant warm-season turfgrass. Its poor cold resistance severely limits its promotion and application in temperate regions. Mining cold resistance genes is highly important for the cultivation of cold-resistant .

Causal Relationships Between Retinal Diseases and Psychiatric Disorders Have Implications for Precision Psychiatry.

Observational studies and clinical trials have reported potential associations between retinal diseases and psychiatric disorders. However, the causal associations between them have remained elusive. In this study, we used bi-directional two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to explore unconfounded causal relationships between retinal diseases and psychiatric disorders using large-scale genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary statistics of over 500,000 participants of European ancestry from the FinnGen project, the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, the European Bioinformatics Institute, and the UK Biobank.

Prediction of Human Microbe-Drug Association based on Layer Attention Graph Convolutional Network.

Unlabelled: Human microbes are closely associated with a variety of complex diseases and have emerged as drug targets. Identification of microbe-related drugs is becoming a key issue in drug development and precision medicine. It can also provide guidance for solving the increasingly serious problem of drug resistance enhancement in viruses.

40 Hz light flickering facilitates the glymphatic flow via adenosine signaling in mice.

The glymphatic-lymphatic system is increasingly recognized as fundamental for the homeostasis of the brain milieu since it defines cerebral spinal fluid flow in the brain parenchyma and eliminates metabolic waste. Animal and human studies have uncovered several important physiological factors regulating the glymphatic system including sleep, aquaporin-4, and hemodynamic factors. Yet, our understanding of the modulation of the glymphatic system is limited, which has hindered the development of glymphatic-based treatment for aging and neurodegenerative disorders.

Three-layer heterogeneous network based on the integration of CircRNA information for MiRNA-disease association prediction.

Increasing research has shown that the abnormal expression of microRNA (miRNA) is associated with many complex diseases. However, biological experiments have many limitations in identifying the potential disease-miRNA associations. Therefore, we developed a computational model of Three-Layer Heterogeneous Network based on the Integration of CircRNA information for MiRNA-Disease Association prediction (TLHNICMDA).

Retinal ganglion cell type-specific expression of synuclein family members revealed by scRNA-sequencing.

Synuclein family members (Snca, Sncb, and Scng) are expressed in the retina, but their precise locations and roles are poorly understood. We performed an extensive analysis of the single-cell transcriptome in healthy and injured retinas to investigate their expression patterns and roles. We observed the expression of all synuclein family members in retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), which remained consistent across species (human, mouse, and chicken).

Screening of environmental stimuli for the positive regulation of stomatal aperture in centipedegrass.

Grasslands, the largest carbon pool in China, possess enormous potential for carbon sequestration. Increasing the stomatal aperture to increase the CO absorption capacity is a potential method to improve plant photosynthetic efficiency and ultimately enhance the carbon sequestration capacity of grass plants. Research on stomatal aperture regulation has focused mostly on Arabidopsis or crops, while research on grass plants in these areas is scarce, which seriously restricts the implementation of this grassland carbon sequestration strategy.

Inhibition of the rapamycin-insensitive mTORC1 /4E-BP1 axis attenuates TGF-β1-induced fibrotic response in human Tenon's fibroblasts.

Subconjunctival fibrosis is the major cause of failure in both conventional and modern minimally invasive glaucoma surgeries (MIGSs) with subconjunctival filtration. The search for safe and effective anti-fibrotic agents is critical for improving long-term surgical outcomes. In this study, we investigated the effect of inhibiting the rapamycin-insensitive mTORC1/4E-BP1 axis on the transforming growth factor-beta 1(TGF-β1)-induced fibrotic responses in human Tenon's fibroblasts (HTFs), as well as in a rat model of glaucoma filtration surgery (GFS).

Reduced contrast sensitivity function is correlated with changes to cone photoreceptors in simple high myopia.

Purpose: To investigate the contrast sensitivity function (CSF) changes in simple high myopia (SHM) and evaluate the correlations between these changes with the early changes in the retinal microstructure.

Methods: This prospective study comprised 81 subjects, 20 with emmetropia (EM), 26 with low myopia and moderate myopia (LM/MM), and 35 with SHM. The area under the log CSF curve (AULCSF) and the cut-off spatial frequency (Cut-off SF) were employed as measures of CSF.

Degradation of Photopic and Mesopic Contrast Sensitivity Function in High Myopes With Partial Posterior Vitreous Detachment.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) on visual quality in patients with high myopia, as well as investigate the associated factors of photopic and mesopic contrast sensitivity function (CSF) in high myopia.

Methods: Visual quality was comprehensively assessed in patients with high myopia. Visual acuity, contrast sensitivity (CS) at four spatial frequencies (3, 6, 12, and 18 cycles per degree [c.

Genetic control of DNA methylation is largely shared across European and East Asian populations.

DNA methylation is an ideal trait to study the extent of the shared genetic control across ancestries, effectively providing hundreds of thousands of model molecular traits with large QTL effect sizes. We investigate cis DNAm QTLs in three European (n = 3701) and two East Asian (n = 2099) cohorts to quantify the similarities and differences in the genetic architecture across populations. We observe 80,394 associated mQTLs (62.

Effects of Monocular Flicker on Binocular Imbalance in Amblyopic and Nonamblyopic Adults.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of monocular flicker stimulation on binocular imbalance in both amblyopic and nonamblyopic adults.

Methods: Seven amblyopic patients (28.3 ± 3.

Social Bonding, Risky Lifestyle, and Polyvictimization Among a Sample of Chinese Adolescents.

Polyvictimization has received substantial scholarly attention globally since it has been put forward two decades ago. However, the current lack of understanding of the causes of polyvictimization hinders the design of intervention programs. This study aims to integrate social bonding theory and lifestyle-routine activity theory to understand the etiology of polyvictimization in the Chinese context.

Smart Contact Lenses for Healthcare Monitoring and Therapy.

The eye contains a wealth of physiological information and offers a suitable environment for noninvasive monitoring of diseases via smart contact lens sensors. Although extensive research efforts recently have been undertaken to develop smart contact lens sensors, they are still in an early stage of being utilized as an intelligent wearable sensing platform for monitoring various biophysical/chemical conditions. In this review, we provide a general introduction to smart contact lenses that have been developed for disease monitoring and therapy.

Abnormal α-Synuclein Aggregates Cause Synaptic- and Microcircuit-Specific Deficits in the Retinal Rod Pathway.

α-Synuclein (α-Syn) is a key determinator of Parkinson disease (PD) pathology, but synapse and microcircuit pathologies in the retina underlying visual dysfunction are poorly understood. Herein, histochemical and ultrastructural analyses and ophthalmologic measurements in old transgenic M83 PD model (mice aged 16 to 18 months) indicated that abnormal α-Syn aggregation in the outer plexiform layer (OPL) was associated with degeneration in the C-terminal binding protein 2 (CtBP2) ribbon synapses of photoreceptor terminals and protein kinase C alpha (PKCα) rod bipolar cell terminals, whereas α-Syn aggregates in the inner retina correlated with the reduction and degeneration of tyrosine hydroxylase- and parvalbumin-positive amacrine cells. Phosphorylated Ser129 α-synuclein expression was strikingly restricted in the OPL, with the most severe degenerations in the entire retina, including mitochondrial degeneration and loss of ribbon synapses in 16- to 18-month-old mice.