Retinal and Choriocapillaris Thickness Changes in Spontaneously Diabetic Macaques.

Purpose: Beyond the clinically apparent damage to the retinal vasculature, diabetes affects the neuroretina and choroid. Nonhuman primates (NHPs) serve as valuable models for human retinal diseases, including diabetic retinopathy. This study aimed to investigate changes in the thickness of the retina, RPE, and choriocapillaris in spontaneously diabetic cynomolgus macaques.

Characterization of Vortex Vein Drainage System in Healthy Individuals Imaged by Ultra-Widefield Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the choroidal characteristics of vortex vein (VV) drainage systems in healthy individuals using ultra-widefield optical coherence tomography angiography.

Methods: The mean choroidal thickness (ChT) and choroidal vascularity index (CVI) of each VV quadrant (24 × 20 mm2 scan mode; superotemporal [ST], superonasal [SN], inferonasal [IN], and inferotemporal [IT] quadrants) were calculated. Furthermore, intervortex venous anastomosis (IVA) was classified into temporal, superior, inferior, and nasal types.

Objective quantification of posterior capsule opacification using swept-source AS-OCT.

Purpose: To objectively quantify posterior capsule opacification (PCO) using swept-source anterior segment optical coherence tomography (SS-AS-OCT) in pseudophakic eyes.

Setting: Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Guangzhou, China.

Design: Prospective cross-sectional study.

Response of spontaneous plant communities to microhabitats in a riparian corridor in Beijing, China.

With the increasing urban environmental problems, spontaneous vegetation has been gradually emphasized for high ecological value, whose distribution has been reported as strongly influenced by fine-scale environmental factors. As one of the major zones for urban spontaneous vegetation distribution, urban riparian corridors are well suited for research on the response of spontaneous plants to microhabitats. Taking the Wenyu River-North Canal in Beijing as the study site, we measured six microhabitat factors, including the level of maintenance and visitor activity, canopy density, litter thickness, and distance to water and road, to investigate their effects on spontaneous plant assemblages.

Nanoparticles for inducing Gaucher disease-like damage in cancer cells.

Nutrient avidity is one of the most distinctive features of tumours. However, nutrient deprivation has yielded limited clinical benefits. In Gaucher disease, an inherited metabolic disorder, cells produce cholesteryl-glucoside which accumulates in lysosomes and causes cell damage.

Supporting function of vegetation in urban riparian ecological corridors for ground-dwelling faunal diversity in Beijing, China.

Rapid global urbanization has resulted in increased biodiversity problems, particularly the loss of ground-dwelling fauna in urban areas. Urban riparian corridors are an important green infrastructure for biodiversity conservation, in which urban vegetation plays an essential role. The influence of urban vegetation on ground-dwelling faunal diversity is poorly understood.

Refractive stability and timing of spectacle prescription following cataract surgery in myopic eyes.

Purpose: To investigate the post-operative refractive stabilisation time and provide evidence for the optimal timing of a spectacle prescription in myopic post-cataract surgery patients.

Methods: A total of 116 consecutive myopic cataract patients were recruited from the Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center in this prospective study. Post-operative subjective refraction was assessed after 1 week and 1 month (4-6 weeks), with the interval for the new spectacle acquisition being recorded.

Long-term and liver-selected ginsenoside C-K nanoparticles retard NAFLD progression by restoring lipid homeostasis.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most prevalent hepatic disease characterized as lipid accumulation, yet without any approved drug. And development of therapeutic molecules is obstructed by low efficiency and organ toxicity. Herein, we develop a long-term, low-toxic and liver-selected nano candidate, nabCK, to alleviate NAFLD.

Nonhuman Primate Eyes Display Variable Growth and Aging Rates in Alignment With Human Eyes.

Purpose: To assess age-related biometric changes of the eye in nonhuman primates (NHPs), to and decipher the growth and aging rates and their comparability with humans.

Methods: Ocular anatomic measurements were performed on 341 macaca fascicularis aged 0.5 to 23 years via multimodal approaches including IOLMaster 700.

Objective Quantification of Lens Opacity in Posterior Subcapsular Cataracts Using IOL Master 700 and CASIA-2.

Purpose: To objectively quantify the lens opacity of posterior subcapsular cataracts (PSCs) using the swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT)-based devices including IOL Master 700 and CASIA-2.

Design: Prospective cross-sectional study.

Methods: A total of 101 eyes of 101 patients with PSCs were enrolled in Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center from 2021 to 2022.

Substitution engineering of lead-free halide perovskites for photocatalytic applications assisted by machine learning.

Lead-free perovskites (ABX) have drawn much attention in recent years. However, a thorough understanding of these materials is still in its early stages. This is because ABX perovskites have large-scale component tunability, in which the A, B, and X ions can be replaced or partially substituted with other elements.

Exploration of NPC2 as a Potential Biomarker for Immunotherapy Using RNA-seq and Protein Data - A New Hypothesis.

Introduction: NPC2 is well known as a player for cholesterol transport. However, the biological role of NPC2 in cancer development and therapy is far from clear.

Methods: Here, we explore the potential role of NPC2 in prognosis and immunotherapy across multiple cancer types by integrating RNA-seq data from TCGA and GTEx, protein data from CPTAC, and multiple web analysis databases.

Comparison of Formula-Specific Factors and Artificial Intelligence Formulas with Axial Length Adjustments in Bilateral Cataract Patients with Long Axial Length.

Introduction: To evaluate and compare the effectiveness for reducing the prediction error (PE) of the second eye using formula-specific factors, artificial intelligence (AI) formulas (PEARL-DGS and Kane), and the Cooke-modified axial length (CMAL) methods in bilateral cataract patients with long axial length (AL).

Methods: A total of 98 patients with long AL who underwent sequential bilateral cataract surgeries were retrospectively enrolled. The second-eye IOL power was calculated by the formula-specific factors, AI formulas, and CMAL methods when the first eye suffered from refraction surprise.

Spatial differentiation of neighborhood climates and their response to surrounding land cover composition: A case study in Beijing, China.

Heterogeneous land cover affects near-surface heat and humidity distribution in urban areas. Effective land cover arrangements can create a more sustainable local thermal environment. However, spatial differentiation in neighborhood climates and their spatial response range to the surrounding land cover composition (LCC) in high-density urban environments remains unclear.

Single-Cell Transcriptome Profiling Reveals the Suppressive Role of Retinal Neurons in Microglia Activation Under Diabetes Mellitus.

Diabetic retinopathy, as one of the common complications of diabetes mellitus, is the leading cause of blindness in the working-age population worldwide. The disease is characterized by damage to retinal vasculature, which is associated with the activation of retina microglial and induces chronic neurodegeneration. Previous studies have identified the effects of activated microglial on the retinal neurons, but the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying microglial activation is largely unknown.

Extensive Sub-RPE Complement Deposition in a Nonhuman Primate Model of Early-Stage Diabetic Retinopathy.

Purpose: This study aims to reveal retinal abnormities in a spontaneous diabetic nonhuman primate model and explore the mechanism of featured injuries.

Methods: Twenty-eight cynomolgus monkeys were identified to suffer from spontaneous type 2 diabetes from a colony of more than eight-hundred aged monkeys, and twenty-six age-matched ones were chosen as controls. Their blood biochemistry profiles were determined and retinal changes were examined by multimodal imaging, hematoxylin and eosin staining, and immunofluorescence.

Single-cell RNA cap and tail sequencing (scRCAT-seq) reveals subtype-specific isoforms differing in transcript demarcation.

The differences in transcription start sites (TSS) and transcription end sites (TES) among gene isoforms can affect the stability, localization, and translation efficiency of mRNA. Gene isoforms allow a single gene diverse functions across different cell types, and isoform dynamics allow different functions over time. However, methods to efficiently identify and quantify RNA isoforms genome-wide in single cells are still lacking.

A Atractylodes lancea polysaccharide inhibits metastasis of human osteosarcoma U-2 OS cells by blocking sialyl Lewis X (sLe )/E-selectin binding.

In this study, a new water and alkaline-soluble polysaccharide (ALP), with an average molecular weight of 6.63 × 10  Da, was successfully purified from the rhizomes of Atractylodes lancea. GC analysis demonstrated that ALP was a kind of glucan.

Single-Cell Multi-Omics and Its Prospective Application in Cancer Biology.

In recent years, the emergence of single-cell omics technologies, which can profile genomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics, and proteomics, has provided unprecedented insights into characteristics of cancer, enabling higher resolution and accuracy to decipher the cellular and molecular mechanisms relating to tumorigenesis, evolution, metastasis, and immune responses. Single-cell multi-omics technologies, which are developed based on the combination of multiple single-cell mono-omics technologies, can simultaneously analyze RNA expression, single nucleotide polymorphism, epigenetic modification, or protein abundance, enabling the in-depth understanding of gene expression regulatory mechanisms. In this review, the state-of-the-art single-cell multi-omics technologies are summarized and the prospects of their application in cancer biology are discussed.

Simultaneous Profiling of mRNA Transcriptome and DNA Methylome from a Single Cell.

Single-cell transcriptome and single-cell methylome analysis have successfully revealed the heterogeneity in transcriptome and DNA methylome between single cells, and have become powerful tools to understand the dynamics of transcriptome and DNA methylome during the complicated biological processes, such as differentiation and carcinogenesis.Inspired by the success of using these single-cell -omics methods to understand the regulation of a particular "-ome," more interests have been put on elucidating the regulatory relationship among multiple-omics at single-cell resolution. The simultaneous profiling of multiple-omics from the same single cell would provide us the ultimate power to understand the relationship among different "-omes," but this idea is not materialized for decades due to difficulties to assay extremely tiny amount of DNA or RNA in a single cell.

Toll-like receptor 4 promotes high glucose-induced catabolic and inflammatory responses in chondrocytes in an NF-κB-dependent manner.

Diabetes is an independent risk factor for knee osteoarthritis (OA), and hyperglycaemia-induced inflammation is considered to play an important role in their connection. The Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) regulates inflammatory responses in several pathological conditions including diabetes and OA. However, its role in diabetes-associated OA is poorly understood.

Multimodal imaging of the retina and choroid in healthy Macaca fascicularis at different ages.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to identify the morphological features of the retina and choroid in Macaca fascicularis of different ages using multimodal imaging.

Methods: A total of 27 Macaca fascicularis with no ocular diseases were studied (mean age, 104.2 months; range, 1.