Characteristics of posterior precortical vitreous pockets visualized by swept-source OCT and en face OCT.

To determine the characteristics of posterior precortical vitreous pockets (PPVPs) and to observe vitreous changes in myopic eyes by swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) and en face imaging in a cohort of the Chinese Han population. This was a cross-sectional study. Volunteers (235 participants, 374 eyes) received an SS-OCT examination. The heights and widths of the PPVPs were measured by SS-OCT. The area of the PPVPs was measured on en face images. The relationships between PPVP size and sex, age, axial length (AL) and spherical equivalent (SE) were evaluated. The mean width and height were 6711.64 ± 1241.87 µm and 662.47 ± 326.39 µm, respectively. The area of the PPVPs was 30.296 ± 9.114 mm2. Boat-shaped, oval, and hook-shaped PPVPs were observed in 73.26%, 21.12%, and 5.62% of all eyes, respectively; 73.53% of all PPVPs had channels communicating with Cloquet's tubes. There was a significant difference in the PPVP width among the participates over and under 50 years old (t = -2.508, P = 0.031). Age had a positive correlation with the PPVP width (r = 0.53, P = 0.001). The PPVP height showed significant differences among the different myopia groups (F = 3.618, P = 0.013). SE had a negative correlation with the PPVP height (r = -0.176, P = 0.001). However, there were no correlations between the AL and the width, height or area of the PPVPs (P = 0.117; P = 0.334; P = 0.057, respectively). Age and myopia affect the size of PPVPs. SS-OCT greatly facilitates visualization of the complex structure of the vitreous.

Multicenter and multimodal imaging study reveals rare fundus lesions in patients after SARS-CoV-2 infection.

To define the characteristics of fundus manifestations in patients after SARS-CoV-2 infection with multimodal imaging techniques. This is a retrospective multicenter and multimodal imaging study including 90 patients. All patients with a visual complaint occurring immediately after SARS-CoV-2 infection were referred to six clinics between December 2022 and February 2023. Demographic information and the temporal relationship between SARS-CoV-2 infection and visual symptoms were documented. The characteristics of the fundus lesions were evaluated using multimodal imaging. Ninety patients from six hospitals were included in this study, including 24 males (26.67%) and 66 (73.33%) females. Seventy-eight patients (86.66%) (146 eyes) were diagnosed with Acute Macular Neuroretinopathy (AMN). The AMN patients were primarily young women (67.95%). Sixty-eight patients (87.18%) had AMN in both eyes. Thirty-eight eyes (24.36%) included Purtscher or Purtscher-like lesions. optical coherence tomography and infrared retinal photographs can show AMN lesions well. Eleven cases were diagnosed with simple Purtscher or Purtscher-like retinopathy (2 cases, 2.22%), Vogt‒Koyanagi‒Harada (VKH) syndrome or VKH-like uveitis (3 cases, 3.33%), multiple evanescent white-dot syndrome (MEWDS) (2 cases, 2.22%), and rhino-orbital-cerebral mucormycosis (ROCM) (5 cases, 5.56%). After SARS-CoV-2 infection, diversified fundus lesions were evident in patients with visual complaints. In this report, AMN was the dominant manifestation, followed by Purtscher or Purtscher-like retinopathy, MEWDS, VKH-like uveitis, and ROCM.

Correlation of TBX21 gene polymorphisms with ankylosing spondylitis in a Chinese population.

Genome-wide association studies analysis has revealed associations between ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and loci on the TBX21 gene across various populations. This study aimed to investigate if there is a connection between a higher risk of AS in a Chinese population and two polymorphism loci on the TBX21 gene. To achieve this, we performed a case-control investigation involving 363 patients with AS and 907 healthy individuals. Genotyping was carried out using the iPLEX Gold genotyping assay. The analysis of genotypes and haplotypes was performed using SPSS 23.0 and SHEsis software. The results revealed no statistically significant correlation between the two specified single-nucleotide polymorphisms of TBX21 (rs11657479 C/T and rs4794067 C/T) and susceptibility to AS. However, upon conducting stratification analysis, our findings demonstrated a significant association between rs11657479 and susceptibility to human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-B27+ AS in allelic (C vs. T: odds ratio [OR] = 1.52, 95%CI = 1.09-2.11, corrected p [pc] = .028), heterozygous (CT vs. TT: OR = 1.63, 95%CI = 1.13-2.34, pc = .016) and dominant (CT + CC vs. TT: OR = 1.60, 95%CI = 1.12-2.28, pc = .018) models. Furthermore, the haplotype rs4794067/C-rs11657479/C of TBX21 was found to increase the risk of HLA-B27+ AS cases. In conclusion, our findings indicate a correlation between TBX21 gene polymorphism and HLA-B27+ AS patients within the Chinese population.

Significance of homogeneous operation in light-assisted fixed-bed bioprocess under ammonia stress: Optimization, long-term operation and metagenomic analysis.

Activating microbes with light is a promising strategy for addressing ammonia-stressed anaerobic digestion (AD). However, as a critical in-process parameter, homogenous operation, in light-assisted AD amended by bio-fixed bed has received limited attention. This research endeavors to establish a uniform-illuminated biosystem and assess its practical feasibility through a 90-day semi-continuous operation at pilot scale under solar light illumination. With optimal stirring mode (intermittent stirring for 3 min every 15 min), robust methane yields were achieved across various organic loads, reaching 88.7-94.3% of theoretical yield under high ammonium stress (3500 mg/L). The metagenomic analysis unveiled that uniform illumination triggered synergistic effects in AD, fostering a diversified microbial consortium, enhancing carbohydrate and methane metabolism, and facilitating the formation of an electroactive bio-cluster. This study underscores the significance of homogenous illumination in AD systems for efficient waste-to-energy conversion, highlighting the implementation of solar light as a greener approach for scale-up application.

Chronic Central Serous Chorioretinopathy in Elderly Subjects: Structure and Blood Flow Characteristics of Retina and Choroid.

INTRODUCTION: With advancements in imaging technology, researchers have been able to identify more distinctive imaging features of central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC). However, existing research primarily concentrates on young patients aged 50 years and below, leaving a dearth of studies on elderly CSC patients. Previous studies indicate that elderly CSC patients may exhibit unique imaging characteristics and have a clinical prognosis that significantly differs from younger patients. This study aimed to evaluate the characteristics of retina, choroid structure, and blood flow in elderly patients with chronic CSC (cCSC) examined multimode imaging and try to find new pathogenesis information of it. METHODS: Using a cut-off age of 50 years, patients with chronic central serous chorioretinopathy were divided into two groups: older and younger. The control group consisted of 40 healthy individuals, with their right eyes assigned. Various clinical features were recorded, including the incidence of ellipsoid zone rupture (EZ-), fibrin in the subretinal fluid (SRF), pachydrusen, subretinal drusenoid deposits (SDD), pigment epithelial detachment (PED), double-layer sign (DLS), and choroidal lipid globule cavern. Measurements were taken for the thickness of the outer nuclear layer (ONL), the length of the extended outer photoreceptor segment (POS), the height and width of SRF, the vascular density of each layer of the retinal capillary plexus, the central macular thickness (CMT), and the subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT). RESULTS: The proportion of females in the elderly group (43.75%) was significantly higher than that in the youth group (22.41%) (p = 0.034). The degree of hyperopia in the elderly group (1.03 ± 0.73) was higher than that in the youth group (0.26 ± 1.06), with a significant difference in BCVA (p = 0.05). The thickness of SFCT, CMT, ONL in the elderly group, and the length of photoreceptor outer segment in the elderly group were thinner than those in the youth group (p < 0.05). Choroidal capillary perfusion area (CCPA), macular area, and paramacular area were lower in the elderly group than those in the youth group in the full scan range (p < 0.05). The blood flow densities of deep capillary plexus (DCP), intermediate capillary plexus (ICP), and superficial capillary plexus (SCP) in the whole scan range, macular area, and paramacular area were lower in the elderly group than in the youth group, but the differences were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, our data suggest that elderly patients with cCSC may experience different disease outcomes. Elderly cCSC patients exhibit less gender bias, poorer vision, more severe structural damage and ischemia in the choroid and retina, and have a higher risk of developing choroidal neovascularization.

Unravelling cancer subtype-specific driver genes in single-cell transcriptomics data with CSDGI.

Cancer is known as a heterogeneous disease. Cancer driver genes (CDGs) need to be inferred for understanding tumor heterogeneity in cancer. However, the existing computational methods have identified many common CDGs. A key challenge exploring cancer progression is to infer cancer subtype-specific driver genes (CSDGs), which provides guidane for the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of cancer. The significant advancements in single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) technologies have opened up new possibilities for studying human cancers at the individual cell level. In this study, we develop a novel unsupervised method, CSDGI (Cancer Subtype-specific Driver Gene Inference), which applies Encoder-Decoder-Framework consisting of low-rank residual neural networks to inferring driver genes corresponding to potential cancer subtypes at the single-cell level. To infer CSDGs, we apply CSDGI to the tumor single-cell transcriptomics data. To filter the redundant genes before driver gene inference, we perform the differential expression genes (DEGs). The experimental results demonstrate CSDGI is effective to infer driver genes that are cancer subtype-specific. Functional and disease enrichment analysis shows these inferred CSDGs indicate the key biological processes and disease pathways. CSDGI is the first method to explore cancer driver genes at the cancer subtype level. We believe that it can be a useful method to understand the mechanisms of cell transformation driving tumours.

Fe-curcumin nanozyme-mediated immunosuppression and anti-inflammation in experimental autoimmune uveitis.

BACKGROUND: EAU is an inflammatory disease usually characterized by autoinflammation and autoimmunity and is aggravated by excessive generation of ROS. Conventional hormone therapy often has more adverse effects. It is urgent to find a therapeutic drug with higher efficiency and fewer adverse effects. METHODS: We developed an Fe-curcumin nanozyme in which natural antioxidants coordinate with Fe3+ to form nanoparticles with excellent solubility for directing anti-inflammatory and ROS scavenging effects to treat EAU. Several experiments were used to detect the characteristics of nanozymes. EAU model rats were used to detect the abilities of decreasing autoinflammation and autoimmunity. PBMCs were used to detect the ability to inhibit cell proliferation. RESULTS: Free radical scavenging experiments showed that nanozymes decreased the level of free radicals at low concentrations. In vitro and in vivo experiments revealed that the group treated with Fe-curcumin nanozymes had lower inflammatory reactions and ROS levels than the control group, as reflected by the downregulated levels of several critical inflammatory cytokines, such as IFN-γ, IL-17, and TNF-α; decreased H2O2 release; inhibited proliferation of Th1 and Th17 cells; and alleviated pathological changes in the eye. Importantly, the Fe-curcumin nanozyme was detected in the retina using Prussian blue staining. Additionally, Fe-curcumin nanozyme is noncytotoxic when directing these biological activities. CONCLUSION: This study has demonstrated the feasibility of using the Fe-curcumin nanozyme as a nanodrug to inhibit inflammatory reactions and scavenge ROS in the treatment of EAU, indicating that it may serve as a promising therapeutic agent in clinical treatment.

Photocatalytic degradation of multiple-organic-pollutant under visible light by graphene oxide modified composite: degradation pathway, DFT calculation and mechanism.

Wastewater containing antibiotics, organic dyes, and waterborne bacteria is a severe threat to human health and the environment. Amoxicillin has a slow metabolism rate in humans. Methylene blue is mutagenic and carcinogenic. In addition, Salmonella causes serious diarrhea. In this study, an effective 2D/2D photocatalyst with excellent elimination of these pollutants was fabricated by combining graphene oxide (GO), Bi2WO6, BiPO4 and Ag species. GO was applied at varying loading contents (0.8, 1.6, 2.4, 3.2 wt%) to improve the properties of the photocatalyst toward the removal of representative pollutants. The chemical structures, morphology, light absorption and charge mobility were investigated by different GO loading samples. The results indicated that when the wt% of GO was 2.4%, the photocatalyst showed excellent photocatalytic properties and removal rates for typical pollutants. Amoxicillin and methylene blue were mineralized into CO2, H2O, and small molecules, while Salmonella was disinfected with excellent photocatalytic efficiency. Furthermore, the possible photodecomposition pathways of amoxicillin and methylene blue were proposed by DFT calculations and intermediates identified by LCMS. The mechanism of the photocatalytic process was investigated by radical trapping experiments, ESR spectroscopy, and Motty-Schottky plots. The free radicals could be produced constantly during the photocatalytic process, leading to mineralization of amoxicillin and methylene blue, and disinfection of Salmonella. In this work, a new perspective on GO modified Bi2WO6 with different loading contents and the degradation pathways of antibiotics and dyes was proposed.

Fabrication of optimal oxygen vacancy amount in P/Ag/Ag2O/Ag3PO4/TiO2 through a green photoreduction process for sustainable H2 evolution under solar light.

Defects engineering on photocatalysts such as oxygen vacancies (OVs) is an effective approach for improving photocatalytic hydrogen (H2) evolution efficiency. In this study, OVs modified P/Ag/Ag2O/Ag3PO4/TiO2 (PAgT) composite was successfully fabricated via a photoreduction process by controlling the ratio of PAgT to ethanol (16, 12, 8, 6 and 4 g·L-1) under simulated solar light irradiation for the first time. Characterization methods confirmed the presence of OVs in the modified catalysts. Meanwhile, the OVs amount and their effects on the light absorption ability, charge transfer rate, conduction band and H2 evolution efficiency of the catalysts were also investigated. The results indicated that the optimal OVs amount endowed OVs-PAgT-12 with the strongest light absorption, the fastest electron transfer rate and suitable band gap for H2 evolution, leading to the highest H2 yield (863 µmol·h-1·g-1) under solar light irradiation. Moreover, OVs-PAgT-12 exhibited a superior stability during cyclic experiment, indicating its great potential for practical application. Furthermore, a sustainable H2 evolution process was proposed based on a combination of sustainable bio-ethanol resource, stable OVs-PAgT, abundant solar energy and recyclable methanol. This study would provide new insights into the design of defects modified composite photocatalyst for enhanced solar-to-hydrogen conversion.

Evaluation of myopia-associated genes in a Han Chinese population with high myopia.

BACKGROUND: High myopia is a leading cause of blindness worldwide. However, the exact etiology and mechanism of high myopia remain unclear. Previous genome-wide association study has demonstrated that nine single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in East and Southeast Asian populations were associated with high myopia and proved that the nervous system was involved in the pathogenesis of high myopia. The present study was conducted to investigate whether these genetic variants retinal nervous system-related were associated with high myopia among Han Chinese. METHODS: Seven SNPs were genotyped by the MassARRAY iPLEX Gold method in a Han Chinese cohort with the majority from Henan region (central China), which included 361 patients with high myopia and 749 healthy controls. RESULTS: In terms of genotyped SNPs, the allele frequency of rs698047 locus of the HIVEP3 gene were statistically different between myopia and control groups initially, but the difference disappeared after Bonferroni method correction. When the genetic model analysis was performed, the rs698047 locus additive model 2 of the HIVEP3 gene was found to be different between the case and control groups in the Han Chinese population (Pc = 0. 049, OR = 1.64, 95% CI 1.14-2.36). CONCLUSIONS: There was no demonstrated association between the occurrence of high myopia in the Chinese Han population and polymorphisms in the following loci: HIVEP3 (rs698047), NFASC/CNTN2 (rs2246661), ZC3H11B (rs12032649), CNTN4/CNTN6 (rs17029206), FRMD4B (rs74633073), AKAP13 (rs72748160), and GJD2 (rs589135).

COVID-19 pandemic impact on ocular trauma in a tertiary hospital.

AIM: To analyze the impact of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the presentation and characteristics of patients hospitalized for ocular trauma in a tertiary hospital in China between 2019 and 2020. METHODS: A retrospective case study was designed to collect information on all cases of ocular trauma in a tertiary hospital from 2019 to 2020 and compare differences in inpatients' data (age, sex, admission vision acuity, type of diagnosis, hospital stays, mechanism of injury and location of injury). RESULTS: The total number of patients admitted to the Ophthalmology Department was 883 (mean 73.58±11.25 patients per month) in 2019 and 714 (59.50±17.92 patients per month) in 2020. The injury number of in work was also the most within the four types of location in this two year (42.36% in 2019, 43.84% in 2020). The mean hospital stays were 12.66d in 2019 and 10.81d in 2020. The highest incidence of ocular trauma was the middle-aged (41-65y) groups in 2019 and 2020. The most common cause of ocular trauma was sharp object in 2019 (47.34%) and 2020 (47.58%). The mechanical ocular trauma reaches 98.98% in 2019 and 99.72% in 2020. CONCLUSION: The number of patients with ocular trauma decreased in 2020, but middle-aged (41-65y) are still high incident groups. Mechanical ocular trauma remains the leading cause of hospitalization for ocular trauma patients and the proportion of patients injured at home increases. It is necessary to arouse social attention and the public's awareness of eye trauma protection should be strengthened during the pandemic.

Elevated neutrophil counts, triglycerides, monocyte/high-density lipoprotein (HDL) ratios, and lower HDL in patients with retinal vein occlusion.

Introduction Aim to evaluate associations of peripheral blood immune cells and blood lipid profile levels with retinal vein occlusion (RVO). Methods This retrospective study included 127 patients with RVO and 108 controls. Patients with RVO were divided into branch RVO (BRVO), central RVO (CRVO), ischemic RVO, or non-ischemic RVO groups. Medical records were collected and analyzed. Results The RVO group had higher mean neutrophil, triglyceride (TG), and monocyte/high-density lipoprotein (HDL) ratio (MHR) levels and lower HDL levels (P=0.037, P<0.001, P=0.004, and P=0.002, respectively). TG and MHR levels were significantly higher in the BRVO and CRVO groups compared with the control group (P<0.001, P=0.016, respectively), but there was no difference in BRVO and CRVO group (P=0.972, P=0.916, respectively). Mean HDL levels were significantly lower in the BRVO and CRVO groups than in the control group (P=0.005), but the difference between the BRVO group and CRVO group was not significant (P=0.290). Neutrophils, TG, and MHR were independent risk factors for RVO. HDL was an independent protective factor for RVO. Age was an independent risk factor for ischemic RVO. Conclusions Lower HDL, and higher neutrophil, TG and MHR levels are associated with RVO. Age is an independent risk factor for ischemic RVO.

Nitrogen-dependent luteolin effect on Microcystis growth and microcystin-pollution risk - Novel mechanism insights unveiled by comparative proteomics and gene expression.

Phytogenic allelochemical luteolin has potential to mitigate Microcystis-dominated cyanobacterial blooms (MCBs), but its algicidal effect against toxigenic Microcystis may be impacted by natural factors, especially nitrogen (N) level in waters. This study innovatively explored N-dependent effect of luteolin on Microcystis growth and its microcystins (MCs) production/release, and elucidated underlying mechanisms from proteomics and gene expression views. Generally, at each N level, rising luteolin dose progressively inhibited Microcystis growth by inhibiting proteins syntheses and genes expression involving light-capturing, photosynthetic electron transfer, Calvin cycle and phosphorus (P) acquisition, according to comparative proteomics and gene expression. At higher luteolin dose and lower N level, Microcystis cell tended to increase microcystins (MCs) production and conservation ability, with the highest increase degree observed at 12 mg/L luteolin and 0.5 mg/L N on day 10, reaching 1.96 and 2.68 folds of luteolin-free control, respectively, but decrease MC-release as extracellular MCs content (EMC), with inhibition ratio of 72.86%, 73.57%, 74.45% and 40.58%, 45.28%, 60.00% at rising N level under 12 mg/L luteolin stress on day 10 and 16, respectively. These enabled cellular defensive response of Microcystis to stronger stress and N limitation. Under luteolin stress, higher N level more strongly up-regulated numerous processes (e.g., oxidoreductase activity, ATP binding and transmembrane transport, oxidative phosphorylation, tricarboxylic acid cycle, fatty acid biosynthesis, glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, pyruvate, amino acids metabolism, metal ion-binding, P acquisition) as compensative protective responses to progressively down-regulated photosynthetic and ribosomal processes at higher N level, thus causing faster Microcystis growth than lower N level. This study provided novel insights for N-dependent effect and mechanisms of luteolin on MCBs mitigation and MCs risk control, and guided algicidal application of luteolin in different eutrophic-degree waters.

The Aflibercept-Induced MicroRNA Profile in the Vitreous of Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy Patients Detected by Next-Generation Sequencing.

Purpose: Vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) is an important pathogenic factor in proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR), and aflibercept (Eylea) is one of the widely used anti-VEGF agents. This study investigated the microRNA (miRNA) profiles in the vitreous of 5 idiopathic macular hole patients (non-diabetic controls), 5 untreated PDR patients (no-treatment group), and 5 PDR patients treated with intravitreal aflibercept injection (treatment group). Methods: Next-generation sequencing was performed to determine the miRNA profiles. Deregulated miRNAs were validated with quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) in another cohort. The mRNA profile data (GSE160310) of PDR patients were retrieved from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. The function of differentially expressed miRNAs and mRNAs was annotated by bioinformatic analysis and literature study. Results: Twenty-nine miRNAs were significantly dysregulated in the three groups, of which 19,984 target mRNAs were predicted. Hsa-miR-3184-3p, hsa-miR-24-3p, and hsa-miR-197-3p were validated to be remarkably upregulated in no-treatment group versus controls, and significantly downregulated in treatment group versus no-treatment group. In the GSE160310 profile, 204 deregulated protein-coding mRNAs were identified, and finally 179 overlapped mRNAs between the 19,984 target mRNAs and 204 deregulated mRNAs were included for further analysis. Function analysis provided several roles of aflibercept-induced miRNAs, promoting the alternation of drug sensitivity or resistance-related mRNAs, and regulating critical mRNAs involved in angiogenesis and retinal fibrosis. Conclusion: Hsa-miR-3184-3p, hsa-miR-24-3p, and hsa-miR-197-3p were highly expressed in PDR patients, and intravitreal aflibercept injection could reverse this alteration. Intravitreal aflibercept injection may involve in regulating cell sensitivity or resistance to drug, angiogenesis, and retinal fibrosis.

Long-term and strong suppression against Microcystis growth and microcystin-release by luteolin continuous-release microsphere: Optimal construction, characterization, effects and proteomic mechanisms.

Microcystis-dominated cyanobacterial blooms (MCBs) severely threaten ecological health by causing hypoxia and releasing microcystins (MCs). Luteolin has potential as low-cost eco-safe algaecide against Microcystis, but to enhance sustainability of its algicidal effect and elucidate underlying mechanisms at proteomic level are urgently desirable. This study optimally constructed continuous-release microsphere (CRM) of luteolin with strong solidity and durability even after long-term immersion. Applying luteolin CRM, this study developed a long-term algicidal option to strongly inhibit Microcystis growth and MC-release until 49 days, with inhibition ratios of growth and MC-release (both ≥ 98%) and inhibitory effect-lasting time (nearly 50 days) of CRM superior to most former reports, and long-term strong inhibitory effects of CRM on Microcystis growth and MC-release kept stable at various nitrogen levels. Also, luteolin CRM rendered extracellular MCs content decrease to nearby acceptable threshold for drinking water. These signified a promising prospect of luteolin CRM in sustained effective control against toxigenic MCBs in waters of different eutrophic states. Comparative proteomic analysis showed that luteolin CRM significantly up-regulated photosynthesis and protein homestasis, but down-regulated other processes including stress response, MC-synthesis/release, glycolysis, amino acid synthesis, fatty acid synthesis/ß-oxidation, tricarboxylic acid cycle, transcription, translation, transport, cell shaping and cell division. These implied that continuous stress of luteolin released from CRM induced Microcystis proteome towards a shift of higher energy storage but lower energy release/consumption, which largely disturbed its physiological metabolic processes and thus negatively impact its growth. Proteomics results shed newly deep insights on algicidal mechanisms of flavonoid in the form of CRM.

Relationship between elevated microRNAs and growth factors levels in the vitreous of patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy.

AIM: The aim of this study was to identify differentially expressed microRNAs (miRNAs) in the vitreous of patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and correlate some of them with growth factors. METHODS: Vitreous samples were collected from 5 PDR eyes and 5 control eyes, and then miRNAs were assayed with next-generation sequencing (NGS). Three differentially expressed miRNAs were validated in vitreous of another cohort using reverse transcriptase quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). RESULTS: Transforming growth factor ß (TGF-ß) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling pathway were excavated out through bioinformatic analysis of deregulated miRNAs. The expression of hsa-miR-24-3p, hsa-miR-197-3p and hsa-miR-3184-3p, VEGF-A and TGF-ß were confirmed to be significantly higher in the vitreous of PDR eyes than controls(P < 0.05). Furthermore, Pearson's correlation analysis showed significantly positive correlations between these elevated miRNAs and growth factors (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Elevated vitreous levels of hsa-miR-24-3p, hsa-miR-197-3p, hsa-miR-3184-3p in PDR patients may play roles in pathophysiology of PDR, the target mRNAs of which significantly enriched in VEGF and TGF-ß signaling pathways. Positive correlations between elevated vitreous levels of the three miRNAs and VEGF-A, TGF-ß in PDR patients could provide a novel research direction for PDR.

Time- and dose-dependent allelopathic effects and mechanisms of kaempferol on toxigenic Microcystis growth.

This study determined time-dependent IC50 and confirmed 3.5 mg/L as IC50 value for kaempferol inhibiting toxigenic Microcystis growth, based on which algicidal effects and mechanisms against toxigenic Microcystis exposed to various kaempferol doses (0.5-2 × IC50) were explored along 14 day-test. Results showed that growth inhibition ratio (GIR) almost elevated with increasing kaempferol dose, and at each dose GIR elevated firstly and fluctuated around 17.8%- > 40%, 53.6%-65.6% and 84.8%-89.3% at 1.75, 3.5 and 7 mg/L kaempferol during mid-late stage, respectively. With rising kaempferol dose, photosynthetic pigments contents (chlorophyll-a, phycobiliproteins), antioxidant response (superoxide dismutase and catalase (CAT) activities, glutathione (GSH) contents) and microcystins (MCs) production were almost increasingly stimulated as cellular protective responses during early-mid stage. However, these parameters (excluding CAT and GSH) were almost increasingly inhibited at late stage by prolonged stress and Microcystis cell was still more severely damaged as dose elevated along test, which could be reasons for increasing GIR with rising kamepferol dose. Persistent stimulation of CAT and GSH at each dose could alleviate cell damage until late stage, thus GIR no longer increased at late stage at each kaempferol dose. Moreover, fewer MCs release under kaempferol stress than control suggested kaempferol as eco-safe algaecide for migrating toxigenic Microcystis-dominated blooms (MCBs) and decreasing MCs risks. Compared with our previous data for luteolin inhibiting toxigenic Microcystis, this study supported formerly-proposed 'flavonoids structure - algicidal activity' relationship that the only OH-location difference between kaempferol and luteolin could affect algicidal activity and mechanisms against toxigenic Microcystis. Also, kaempferol and luteolin was revealed to exert additive effect on toxigenic Microcystis growth at equitoxic ratio. Our findings gave novel algicidal scenario of flavonoids and were greatly implicated in eco-friendly migrating toxigenic MCBs.

Contrasting microcystin-LR sorption and desorption capability of different farmland soils amended with biochar: Effects of biochar dose and aging time.

This study explored biochar (BC) amendment effects on microcystin-LR (MCLR) concentration-dependent sorption and sequential desorption (SDE) by diverse soils to assess MCLR-trapping by BC-amended soils. Soil properties varied with rising BC dose and aging time. As aging proceeded, BC-amended soils shared a generally similar 'firstly increase and then decrease' trend of MCLR sorption and 'firstly decrease and then increase' trend of desorption at most cases. It appeared that MCLR sorption by BC-amended soils was most positively correlated with mesoporosity and surface basic functionality. BC-amendment increased MCLR-trapping for most soils, especially 4% BC at 3 month-aging maximized trapping ratio of GZ, SY and SX to 86.59%-95.43%, 80.01%-87.20% and 78.73%-90.85%, respectively, at 50-500 µg/L MCLR by largely increasing sorption and decreasing desorption. BC-amendment best matched GZ soil because MCLR-trapping of BC-amended GZ exceeded other amended soils at the same BC dose and aging time, but failed to obviously increase MCLR-trapping of HS soil at most cases, except only case with 2% BC at 3 month-aging. Site energy distribution verified that maximally enhanced MCLR-trapping of most soils was due to greatly enhanced sorption affinity during sorption and 1st desorption cycle, making closer MCLR-binding that more resistant to desorption. Contrarily, BC-amendment did not enhance sorption affinity of HS along sorption-SDE to compromise MCLR-trapping increase at most cases. This study validated 3 months as suitable BC-aging time to maximize MCLR-trapping in diverse soils, and elucidated influencing factors and mechanisms from view of site energy distribution, which shed novel insights on MCLR sorption-desorption by BC-amended soils, and guided to optimize BC-amendment strategy for efficient MCLR-immobilization and eco-risk elimination in diverse soils.

Association Between the Types of Posterior Staphyloma and Their Risk Factors in Pathological Myopia.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of posterior staphyloma (PS) types in pathological myopia (PM) with age, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), spherical equivalent (SE), axial length (AL), and myopic retinoschisis (MRS) using three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging (3D-MRI) and optical coherence tomography (OCT). Methods: This retrospective, cross-sectional study included 108 eyes of 59 patients with PM from the Henan Eye Institute, China. We classified the PS types based on current international classification criteria and analyzed the risk factors (age, AL, MRS, and BCVA). Results: Most of the patients with bilateral PM had the same PS type (80.43%) in both eyes. Complex PS was more common in elderly patients than in younger patients (P < 0.05). Eyes with wide macular PS had a longer AL (P = 0.012) and worse BCVA (P = 0.049) than those with other PS types. MRS was always comorbid with PS (93.33%), and macular PS was the most common (82.14%). Conclusions: Complex PS is associated with patient age. PS is related to MRS, and these changes observed by 3D-MRI and OCT affect the prognosis of visual acuity. The 3D-MRI scans shows changes in the eye shape and PS efficiently. Translational Relevance: In patients with PM, 3D-MRI can guide the planning of posterior scleral reinforcement.