Association of Diabetes With Central Corneal Thickness Among a Multiethnic Asian Population.

Importance: Thicker or thinner central corneas may lead to either overestimation or underestimation of intraocular pressure, which is the most important causal and treatable risk factor for glaucoma. However, the findings on the associations between diabetes, random glucose, and glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) with central corneal thickness (CCT) are conflicting.

Objective: To evaluate the associations between diabetes, random glucose, and HbA1c with CCT in a multiethnic Asian population.

Direct and Indirect Associations Between Diabetes and Intraocular Pressure: The Singapore Epidemiology of Eye Diseases Study.

Purpose: The association between diabetes and IOP is controversial; diabetes is associated with thicker central corneal thickness (CCT), and thicker CCT is associated with higher IOP. We therefore aimed to clarify the diabetes-IOP association, considering CCT as a potential mediator.

Methods: We included 8636 participants from the Singapore Epidemiology of Eye Diseases (SEED) Study.

[Evaluation of the value of EBUS-TBNA in diagnosis of mediastinal lesions].

Objective: To evaluate the value of endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) in diagnosis of mediastinal lesions and to discuss its optimal indication.

Methods: One hundred and twenty three patients with mediastinal lesions who underwent EBUS-TBNA were included in this study. The accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value of EBUS-TBNA in diagnosis of mediastinal lesions were analyzed according to the final diagnosis and evaluate its value and the optimal indication.

[CT-guided hookwire localization of small solitary pulmonary nodules in video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery].

Objective: Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) provides a minimally invasive approach to resect small solitary pulmonary nodules (SSPN). The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of preoperative CT-guided hookwire localization for SSPN in VATS.

Methods: Hookwire was used to localize 26 SSPN under CT guidance in 24 patients (14 male, 10 female, age range 21-61 years, mean 52.

[Effects of anti-CD25 monoclonal antibody on the level of cytokines in aqueous humour after rat penetrating keratoplasty].

Objective: To investigate the toxicity of anti-CD25 monoclonal antibody (mAb) to rat cornea and its effects on the cytokines in the aqueous humour after penetrating keratoplasty (PKP), thereby evaluating the effect of anti-CD25 mAb in preventing corneal allograft rejection.

Methods: The corneal toxicity of anti-CD25 mAb at 50, 100 and 200 microg administered via subconjunctival injection was evaluated in 12 SD rats by histological examination and transmission electron microscopy. Another 93 SD rats were randomized into 5 groups, and transplantation of corneal allograft from Wistar rats was performed in 4 groups with the other group as the normal control.

Comparative proteomic analysis of non-small-cell lung cancer and normal controls using serum label-free quantitative shotgun technology.

The aim of this study was to distinguish non-small-cell lung cancer from normal controls and explore the new potential biomarkers of lung cancer by serum proteomics technology. Label-free quantitative liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (1D-LC/MS/MS) analysis was performed on eight non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) serum samples and eight normal controls. The proteomic data we obtained was analyzed by normalized, randomly paired t test and integrated bioinformatic methods, including hierarchical clustering analysis, principal-component analysis, and support vector machine.

Peripheral myelin of Xenopus laevis: role of electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions in membrane compaction.

P0 glycoprotein is the major structural protein of peripheral nerve myelin where it is thought to modulate inter-membrane adhesion at both the extracellular apposition, which is labile upon changes in pH and ionic strength, and the cytoplasmic apposition, which is resistant to such changes. Most studies on P0 have focused on structure-function correlates in higher vertebrates. Here, we focused on its role in the structure and interactions of frog (Xenopus laevis) myelin, where it exists primarily in a dimeric form.

Cytoplasmic domain of zebrafish myelin protein zero: adhesive role depends on beta-conformation.

Solution spectroscopy studies on the cytoplasmic domain of human myelin protein zero (P0) (hP0-cyt) suggest that H-bonding between beta-strands from apposed molecules is likely responsible for the tight cytoplasmic apposition in compact myelin. As a follow-up to these findings, in the current study we used circular dichroism and x-ray diffraction to analyze the same type of model membranes previously used for hP0-cyt to investigate the molecular mechanism underlying the zebrafish cytoplasmic apposition. This space is significantly narrower in teleosts compared with that in higher vertebrates, and can be accounted for in part by the much shorter cytoplasmic domain in the zebrafish protein (zP0-cyt).

[Serum proteomic patterns may assist the diagnosis of solitary pulmonary nodules].

Objective: To screen relatively specific biomarkers in serum from lung adenocarcinoma patients by surface-enhanced laser desorption and ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOFMS), and to investigate the clinical value of SELDI-TOF-MS in differentiation of benign from malignant solitary pulmonary nodules (SPN).

Methods: Serum samples from 71 lung adenocarcinoma patients and 71 healthy volunteers with matched gender, age and history of smoking were analyzed using WCX2 ProteinChip to screen potential biomarkers. 28 patients received surgical treatment among total 53 patients with SPN.

[Dry eye in graft-versus-host disease].

Objective: To investigate patients who had ocular presentations after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Methods: The eyes of 20 patients of leukemia who had undergone allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation were examined. The ocular surface of these patients was examined by slit-lamp.