Improving cone identification using merged non-confocal quadrant-detection adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscope images.

Cone photoreceptor inner segments visualized in non-confocal split-detection adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscope (AOSLO) images appear as obliquely illuminated domes with bright and dark opposing regions. Previously, the pairing of these bright and dark regions for automated photoreceptor identification has necessitated complex algorithms. Here we demonstrate how the merging of split-detection images captured with a non-confocal quadrant light detection scheme allows automated cone identification using simple, open-source image processing tools, while also improving accuracy in both normal and pathologic retinas.

The multifaceted role of vitreous hyalocytes: Orchestrating inflammation, angiomodulation and erythrophagocytosis in proliferative diabetic retinopathy.

Background: Despite great advances in proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) therapy over the last decades, one third of treated patients continue to lose vision. While resident vitreous macrophages called hyalocytes have been implicated in the pathophysiology of vitreoretinal proliferative disease previously, little is known about their exact role in PDR. In this study, we address molecular and cellular alterations in the vitreous of PDR patients as a means towards assessing the potential contribution of hyalocytes to disease pathogenesis.

A Novel and Comprehensive Wellness Assessment for Lifestyle-Based Interventions.

Objective: While weight status and clinical laboratory measures are important in assessing obesity-related disease severity and chronic disease risk, including a broader range of emotional, psychosocial, and behavioral factors would provide greater context of an individual's overall state of wellness and could be used to better guide treatment decisions. The purpose of this research was to develop a comprehensive Lifestyle Wellness assessment for use in lifestyle-based wellness interventions and programs.

Methods: A cross-sectional exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted using baseline data from  = 138 adults participating in behavioral weight loss trials.

Body Size Measurements Grouped Independently of Common Clinical Measures of Metabolic Health: An Exploratory Factor Analysis.

Background: Obesity is commonly aggregated with indices of metabolic health. Proponents of body positivity approaches question whether body size is a determinant of health and well-being. Our objective was to conduct an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to determine if body size measurements factor load with or independent of metabolic health measures.

Evaluation of socioecological factors on health behaviors and weight change during major life event: A cross-sectional study using data collected during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Socioecological factors are associated with key health behaviors that are critical for weight management, and major life events may disrupt engagement in these behaviors. However, the influence of socioecological factors on health behaviors in the midst of major life events is not clear and is difficult to study due to the random and sporadic nature of their occurrence. The COVID-19 pandemic provided a unique opportunity to study a major life event and its impacts on diet, physical activity, and body weight.