Glaucoma Rehabilitation using ElectricAI Transcranial Stimulation (GREAT)-study protocol for randomized controlled trial using combined perceptual learning and transcranial electrical stimulation for vision enhancement.

Background: Glaucoma patients with irreversible visual field loss often experience decreased quality of life, impaired mobility, and mental health challenges. Perceptual learning (PL) and transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) have emerged as promising interventions for vision rehabilitation, showing potential in restoring residual visual functions. The Glaucoma Rehabilitation using ElectricAI Transcranial stimulation (GREAT) project aims to investigate whether combining PL and tES is more effective than using either method alone in maximizing the visual function of glaucoma patients.

Blood Biomarkers as Prognostic Indicators for Neurological Injury in COVID-19 Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been linked to various neurological complications. This meta-analysis assessed the relationship between glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and neurofilament light chain (NfL) levels in the blood and neurological injury in COVID-19 patients. A comprehensive search of various databases was conducted until 18 August 2023, to find studies reporting GFAP and NfL blood levels in COVID-19 patients with neurological complications.

Establishing Functional Retina in a Dish: Progress and Promises of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Based Retinal Neuron Differentiation.

The human eye plays a critical role in vision perception, but various retinal degenerative diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa (RP), glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) can lead to vision loss or blindness. Although progress has been made in understanding retinal development and in clinical research, current treatments remain inadequate for curing or reversing these degenerative conditions. Animal models have limited relevance to humans, and obtaining human eye tissue samples is challenging due to ethical and legal considerations.

Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Diagnostic Cytology and Genomic Testing for Hematologic Disorders.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a rapidly evolving field of computer science that involves the development of computational programs that can mimic human intelligence. In particular, machine learning and deep learning models have enabled the identification and grouping of patterns within data, leading to the development of AI systems that have been applied in various areas of hematology, including digital pathology, alpha thalassemia patient screening, cytogenetics, immunophenotyping, and sequencing. These AI-assisted methods have shown promise in improving diagnostic accuracy and efficiency, identifying novel biomarkers, and predicting treatment outcomes.

Amine-Functionalized Quantum Dots as a Universal Fluorescent Nanoprobe for a One-Step Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Assay with Single-Copy Sensitivity.

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) has received considerable attention for decentralized (point-of-care and on-site) nucleic acid testing in view of its simple temperature control (60-65 °C) and short assay time (15-60 min). There remains a challenge in its wide adoption and acceptance due to the limitations of the existing amplification result reporter probes, e.g.

Transcriptional profiling of the chick retina identifies down-regulation of and genes during early lens-induced myopia.

Gene expression of the chick retina was examined during the early development of lens-induced myopia (LIM) using whole transcriptome sequencing. Monocular treatment of the right eyes with -10 diopter (D) lenses was performed on newly born chicks for one day (LIM-24) or two days (LIM-48), while the contralateral eyes without lenses served as controls. Myopia development was confirmed by demonstrating significant elongation of the optical axis in lens-treated eyes compared to untreated control eyes.

Targeting Inflammasome Activation in COVID-19: Delivery of RNA Interference-Based Therapeutic Molecules.

Mortality and morbidity associated with COVID-19 continue to be significantly high worldwide, owing to the absence of effective treatment strategies. The emergence of different variants of SARS-CoV-2 is also a considerable source of concern and has led to challenges in the development of better prevention and treatment strategies, including vaccines. Immune dysregulation due to pro-inflammatory mediators has worsened the situation in COVID-19 patients.

The Tyrosine Kinase-Driven Networks of Novel Long Non-coding RNAs and Their Molecular Targets in Myeloproliferative Neoplasms.

Recent research has focused on the mechanisms by which long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) modulate diverse cellular processes such as tumorigenesis. However, the functional characteristics of these non-coding elements in the genome are poorly understood at present. In this study, we have explored several mechanisms that involve the novel lncRNA and microRNA (miRNA) axis participating in modulation of drug response and the tumor microenvironment of myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs).

Viral MicroRNAs Encoded by Nucleocapsid Gene of SARS-CoV-2 Are Detected during Infection, and Targeting Metabolic Pathways in Host Cells.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are critical regulators of gene expression that may be used to identify the pathological pathways influenced by disease and cellular interactions. Viral miRNAs (v-miRNAs) encoded by both DNA and RNA viruses induce immune dysregulation, virus production, and disease pathogenesis. Given the absence of effective treatment and the prevalence of highly infective SARS-CoV-2 strains, improved understanding of viral-associated miRNAs could provide novel mechanistic insights into the pathogenesis of COVID-19.

Computer-assisted ultrasound assessment of plaque characteristics in radiation-induced and non-radiation-induced carotid atherosclerosis.

Background: This study investigated the feasibility of using a computer-assisted method to evaluate and differentiate the carotid plaque characteristics in radiation-induced and non-radiation-induced carotid atherosclerosis.

Methods: This study included 107 post-radiotherapy (post-RT) nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients and 110 subjects with cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs). Each participant had a carotid ultrasound examination, and carotid plaques and carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) were evaluated with grey scale ultrasound.

Inflammasome Activation-Induced Hypercoagulopathy: Impact on Cardiovascular Dysfunction Triggered in COVID-19 Patients.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the most devastating infectious disease in the 21st century with more than 2 million lives lost in less than a year. The activation of inflammasome in the host infected by SARS-CoV-2 is highly related to cytokine storm and hypercoagulopathy, which significantly contribute to the poor prognosis of COVID-19 patients. Even though many studies have shown the host defense mechanism induced by inflammasome against various viral infections, mechanistic interactions leading to downstream cellular responses and pathogenesis in COVID-19 remain unclear.

Territorywide Study of Early Coronavirus Disease Outbreak, Hong Kong, China.

Initial cases of coronavirus disease in Hong Kong were imported from mainland China. A dramatic increase in case numbers was seen in February 2020. Most case-patients had no recent travel history, suggesting the presence of transmission chains in the local community.

Vascular Tissue Engineering: Advanced Techniques and Gene Editing in Stem Cells for Graft Generation.

The common occurrence of cardiovascular diseases and the lack of proper autologous tissues prompt and promote the pressing development of tissue-engineered vascular grafts (TEVGs). Current progress on scaffold production, genetically modified cells, and use of nanotechnology-based monitoring has considerably improved the long-term patency of engineered tissue grafts. However, challenges abound in the autologous materials and manipulation of genes and cells for tissue engineering.

The myopia susceptibility locus vasoactive intestinal peptide receptor 2 (VIPR2) contains variants with opposite effects.

Myopia is the commonest eye disorder in the world. High myopes are predisposed to ocular pathologies. The vasoactive intestinal peptide receptor 2 (VIPR2) gene was identified as a myopia susceptibility locus by our group and another group.

A Genome-Wide Association Study for Susceptibility to Visual Experience-Induced Myopia.

Purpose: The rapid rise in prevalence over recent decades and high heritability of myopia suggest a role for gene-environment (G × E) interactions in myopia susceptibility. Few such G × E interactions have been discovered to date. We aimed to test the hypothesis that genetic analysis of susceptibility to visual experience-induced myopia in an animal model would identify novel G × E interaction loci.

Long non-coding RNAs in hematological malignancies: translating basic techniques into diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.

Recent studies have revealed that non-coding regions comprise the vast majority of the human genome and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a diverse class of non-coding RNAs that has been implicated in a variety of biological processes. Abnormal expression of lncRNAs has also been linked to different human diseases including cancers, yet the regulatory mechanisms and functional effects of lncRNAs are still ambiguous, and the molecular details also need to be confirmed. Unlike protein-coding gene, it is much more challenging to unravel the roles of lncRNAs owing to their unique and complex features such as functional diversity and low conservation among species, which greatly hamper their experimental characterization.

Characterization and Regulation of Gap Junctions in Porcine Ciliary Epithelium.

Purpose: Gap junctions provide a conduit between the intracellular fluids of the pigmented (PE) and non-pigmented (NPE) ciliary epithelial cells, and are therefore critical in the secretion of the aqueous humor (AH). However, opinions differ concerning the connexin (Cx) composition of the gap junctions. Therefore, we aimed to characterize the expression of Cx in the porcine ciliary epithelium (CE), a favorable model for humans; and determine the contribution of the highest expressed Cx to AH secretion.

Computer-aided assessment of regional vascularity of thyroid nodules for prediction of malignancy.

Color Doppler vascular index (VI) was assessed alone and in combination with grey-scale ultrasound (GSU) in regionally subdivided thyroid nodules in diagnosing thyroid cancer. Color Doppler sonograms of 111 thyroid nodules were evaluated by a home-developed algorithm that performed "offsetting" (algorithm for changing the area of a region of interest, ROI, without distorting the ROI's contour) and assessed peripheral, central and overall VI of thyroid nodules. Results showed that the optimum offset for dividing peripheral and central regions of nodule was 22%.

Region-specific differential corneal and scleral mRNA expressions of MMP2, TIMP2, and TGFB2 in highly myopic-astigmatic chicks.

Myopia and astigmatism, two common refractive errors frequently co-exist, are affecting vision at all working distances in the affected populations worldwide. Eyeballs having these refractive errors are known to exhibit abnormal eye shape at the anterior and posterior eye segments, but whether the outer coats of these abnormal eyeballs, cornea anteriorly and sclera posteriorly, are regulated by region-specific molecular mechanism remains unclear. Here we presented the changes in mRNA expression levels of three genes (MMP2, TIMP2, and TGFB2), all known to participate in extracellular matrix organization, at five regions of the cornea and sclera in chickens developing high myopia and astigmatism induced by form deprivation.

Genetic Association Study of Polymorphisms with High Myopia.

Identification of genetic variations related to high myopia may advance our knowledge of the etiopathogenesis of refractive error. This study investigated the role of potassium channel gene polymorphisms in high myopia. We performed a case-control study of 1563 unrelated Han Chinese subjects (809 cases of high myopia and 754 emmetropic controls).

Precipitation of PEG/Carboxyl-Modified Gold Nanoparticles with Magnesium Pyrophosphate: A New Platform for Real-Time Monitoring of Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification.

Gold nanoparticles have proven to be promising for decentralized nucleic acid testing by virtue of their simple visual readout and absorbance-based quantification. A major challenge toward their practical application is to achieve ultrasensitive detection without compromising simplicity. The conventional strategy of thermocycling amplification is unfavorable (because of both instrumentation and preparation of thermostable oligonucleotide-modified gold nanoparticle probes).

Pathway analysis of complex diseases for GWAS, extending to consider rare variants, multi-omics and interactions.

Background: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) is a major method for studying the genetics of complex diseases. Finding all sequence variants to explain fully the aetiology of a disease is difficult because of their small effect sizes. To better explain disease mechanisms, pathway analysis is used to consolidate the effects of multiple variants, and hence increase the power of the study.

Platinum nanoparticles on reduced graphene oxide as peroxidase mimetics for the colorimetric detection of specific DNA sequence.

In this work, we developed a simple and sensitive colorimetric detection platform for specific DNA sequences by using peroxidase mimetics of platinum nanoparticles supported on reduced graphene oxide. This nanocomposite possessed the combined advantages of platinum nanoparticles (superior peroxidase-like activity) and reduced graphene oxide (π-stacking interaction with single-stranded but not double-stranded DNA). The catalytic activity was strongly dependent on the chloroplatinic acid-to-graphene oxide mass ratio during the synthesis step, with an optimum ratio of 7 : 1.