Algorithmic and sensor-based research on Chinese children's and adolescents' screen use behavior and light environment.

Background: Myopia poses a global health concern and is influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. The incidence of myopia tends to increase during infectious outbreaks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examined the screen-time behaviors among Chinese children and adolescents and investigated the efficacy of artificial intelligence (AI)-based alerts in modifying screen-time practices. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was performed using data from 6,716 children and adolescents with AI-enhanced tablets that monitored and recorded their behavior and environmental light during screen time. Results: The median daily screen time of all participants was 58.82 min. Among all age groups, elementary-school students had the longest median daily screen time, which was 87.25 min and exceeded 4 h per week. Children younger than 2 years engaged with tablets for a median of 41.84 min per day. Learning accounted for 54.88% of participants' screen time, and 51.03% (3,390/6,643) of the participants used tablets for 1 h at an average distance <50 cm. The distance and posture alarms were triggered 807,355 and 509,199 times, respectively. In the study, 70.65% of the participants used the tablet under an illuminance of <300 lux during the day and 61.11% under an illuminance of <100 lux at night. The ambient light of 85.19% of the participants exceeded 4,000 K color temperature during night. Most incorrect viewing habits (65.49% in viewing distance; 86.48% in viewing posture) were rectified swiftly following AI notifications (all p < 0.05). Conclusion: Young children are increasingly using digital screens, with school-age children and adolescents showing longer screen time than preschoolers. The study highlighted inadequate lighting conditions during screen use. AI alerts proved effective in prompting users to correct their screen-related behavior promptly.

Characterization the corneal transparency profile in SMILE-treated myopic patients with densitometry: A 7-year cohort study.

PURPOSE: To investigate 7-year changes in corneal densitometry (CD) and its influencing factors following small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) for moderate to high myopia. METHODS: A total of 32 patients (52 eyes) with a mean spherical equivalent (SE) refraction of -6.30 ± 1.30 D who underwent SMILE were recruited for this prospective study. Pre- and postoperative CD and corneal aberrations were measured by an oculus Pentacam system, and patients were followed up to 7 years. The CD evolution over time and its influencing factors were explored. RESULTS: No complications were observed after SMILE. There was a significant time effect on postoperative CD ( P < 0.05). The CD values at the 0-to-2 and 2-to-6 mm of the anterior layer increased at the first day ( P < 0.05) and declined to baselines at 1 year postoperatively; after that, CD values at any zone and any corneal layer presented a decreasing trend over time (all P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that postoperative CD was positively correlated with age and optical zone (OZ), whereas negatively correlated with SE, corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA), and corneal aberrations (higher-order aberrations, Coma0 and Coma90) (all P < 0.05). Generalized estimating equation revealed that age, SE, CDVA, OZ, and Coma0 were the main factors influencing postoperative CD values (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: CD manifested a long-term decreasing trend in moderate to high myopia treated with SMILE. Its main influencing factors are age, SE, CDVA, OZ, and Coma0.

Characteristics of disk halo size and its correlation with lenticule quality in small incision lenticule extraction for moderate to high myopia.

PURPOSE: To investigate changes in disk halo size after small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) and the correlation between halo size and lenticule quality in moderate to high myopia. METHODS: Thirty eyes of 30 consecutive patients (mean age, 24.9 ± 4.5 years; mean spherical equivalent, -6.85 ± 1.18 D) undergoing SMILE were included in this prospective study. Lenticule surface quality was accessed with a scanning electron microscopy by a scoring system. Halo size was measured preoperatively and at 1, 3, and 6 months postoperatively. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to explore associations between halo size and a range of factors, including lenticule quality. RESULTS: Disk halo size increased slightly at 1 month and then recovered continually from 3 to 6 months postoperatively, with no difference between halo size during the preoperative period and at 6 months postoperatively (P > 0.05). One month after SMILE, halo size (1 cd/m2, 5 cd/m2) was associated only with uncorrected distance visual acuity (P ≤ 0.004). A halo size of 5 cd/m2 at 3 months postoperatively correlated with the anterior surface quality of the lenticule (P = 0.046). At 6 months postoperatively, a halo size of 1 cd/m2 was associated only with the baseline, accounting for 11.9% of the variability (P = 0.041); no correlations were found for the halo size of 5 cd/m2. CONCLUSIONS: Disk halo size after SMILE was enlarged at an early stage postoperatively and subsequently declined to the baseline level during a 6-month follow-up. The quality of the lenticule surface influenced halo size changes in the early phase.

Observation and assessment of the immediate use of a silicon hydrogel contact lens after transepithelial corneal cross linking: a prospective study.

BACKGROUND: Transepithelial corneal crosslinking (CXL) is a novel surgical approach for the treatment of keratoconus, which is a bilateral asymmetrical ophthalmological disease accompanied by progressive corneal ectasia. Silicon hydrogel (SiH) contact lenses have been extensively used in clinical ophthalmologic medicine, as a postoperative ophthalmological intervention. However, the ideal lens application duration after transepithelial CXL remains uncertain. Here, we aimed to investigate the effects and comfort of immediate corneal contact lens use after transepithelial CXL for keratoconus. METHODS: In this prospective study, 60 patients with keratoconus who underwent transepithelial CXL treatment were enrolled from September 2021 to January 2023 with a male:female ratio of 39:21, and an average age of 25.42 ± 5.47 years. The patients were divided randomly into two groups: group A contained 30 patients wearing silicone hydrogel contact lenses for 7 days postoperatively, and group B contained 30 patients wearing the same contact lenses for 3 days. Ten subjective ophthalmologic symptoms were surveyed by the patients, including pain, photophobia, foreign body sensation, tearing, burning, blurred vision, dry eyes, difficulty opening the eyes, astringency, and stinging. Ophthalmologic signs, including corneal edema and conjunctival congestion, were recorded by a single clinician on postoperative days 1, 3, and 7. RESULTS: Each surgical procedure was readily performed without complications, and both groups postoperative day 7 (P = 0.04), where group B scored (0.01 ± 0.41) lesser than group A (0.12 ± 0.29), whilst corneal edema in both groups recorded significantly different on postoperative days 5 and 7 (group A demonstrated the result of 0.17 ± 0.14 and 0.08 ± 0.11 for the respective days, whereas group B indicated 0.10 ± 0.13 and 0.03 ± 0.07 at the corresponding times). CONCLUSIONS: Immediate use of silicone hydrogel corneal lenses after transepithelial CXL effectively alleviates postoperative ocular distress, particularly with a three-day use period as the ideal duration.

A Novel Deep Learning Model for Medical Image Segmentation with Convolutional Neural Network and Transformer.

Accurate segmentation of medical images is essential for clinical decision-making, and deep learning techniques have shown remarkable results in this area. However, existing segmentation models that combine transformer and convolutional neural networks often use skip connections in U-shaped networks, which may limit their ability to capture contextual information in medical images. To address this limitation, we propose a coordinated mobile and residual transformer UNet (MRC-TransUNet) that combines the strengths of transformer and UNet architectures. Our approach uses a lightweight MR-ViT to address the semantic gap and a reciprocal attention module to compensate for the potential loss of details. To better explore long-range contextual information, we use skip connections only in the first layer and add MR-ViT and RPA modules in the subsequent downsampling layers. In our study, we evaluated the effectiveness of our proposed method on three different medical image segmentation datasets, namely, breast, brain, and lung. Our proposed method outperformed state-of-the-art methods in terms of various evaluation metrics, including the Dice coefficient and Hausdorff distance. These results demonstrate that our proposed method can significantly improve the accuracy of medical image segmentation and has the potential for clinical applications. Illustration of the proposed MRC-TransUNet. For the input medical images, we first subject them to an intrinsic downsampling operation and then replace the original jump connection structure using MR-ViT. The output feature representations at different scales are fused by the RPA module. Finally, an upsampling operation is performed to fuse the features to restore them to the same resolution as the input image.

Berberine enhances autophagic flux by activating the Nrf2 signaling pathway in bovine endometrial epithelial cells to resist LPS-induced apoptosis.

Berberine exerts many beneficial effects on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced bovine endometrial epithelial cells (BEECs). Recently, we also found that berberine shows significant antiapoptotic and autophagy-promoting activities, but the underlying mechanism has not been elucidated. This research explored the association between the antiapoptotic and autophagy-promoting activities of berberine in LPS-treated BEECs. BEECs were first preconditioned with an inhibitor of autophagic flux (chloroquine [CQ]) for 1 h, treated with berberine for 2 h, and then incubated with LPS for 3 h. Cell apoptosis was assessed by flow cytometry, and autophagy activities were assessed by immunoblot analysis of LC3II and p62. The results indicated that the antiapoptotic activity of berberine was notably inhibited in LPS-treated BEECs after preconditioning with CQ for 1 h. Furthermore, to determine whether berberine promoted autophagy by activating the nuclear factor-erythroid 2 related factor 2 (Nrf2) signaling pathway, we assessed autophagy in LPS-treated BEECs after preconditioning with a signaling pathway inhibitor of Nrf2 (ML385). The results indicated that the enhanced autophagy activity induced by berberine was partially reversed in LPS-treated BEECs after the Nrf2 signaling pathway was disturbed by ML385. In conclusion, berberine enhances autophagic flux to allow resistance to LPS-induced apoptosis by activating the Nrf2 signaling pathway in BEECs. The present study may provide new insight into the antiapoptotic mechanism of berberine in LPS-induced BEECs.

Influencing Factors of Glare in Patients With Myopia After Small Incision Lenticule Extraction.

PURPOSE: To investigate influencing factors of glare in patients with myopia after small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE). METHODS: Thirty patients (60 eyes) aged 24.9 ± 4.5 years with spherical equivalent of -6.69 ± 1.10 diopters (D) and astigmatism of -1.25 ± 0.76 D who underwent SMILE were consecutively recruited in this prospective study. Visual acuity, subjective refraction, Pentacam corneal topography (Oculus Optikgeräte GmbH), pupillometry, and glare test (Monpack One; Metrovision) were measured preoperatively and postoperatively. All patients were followed up for 6 months. The generalized estimation equation was used to judge the determinants of glare after SMILE, and a P value less than .05 was statistically significant. RESULTS: Under mesopic conditions, the halo radii preoperatively and at 1, 3, and 6 months after SMILE were 207.72 ± 46.67, 216.17 ± 40.63, 200.67 ± 34.68, and 193.50 ± 40.75 minutes of arc (arcmin), respectively. Under photopic conditions, the glare radii were 79.10 ± 17.78, 87.00 ± 20.44, 78.00 ± 14.59, and 72.00 ± 15.27 arcmin, respectively. Compared with preoperative glare, no significant changes were detected in postoperative glare. However, glare at 6 months was statistically significantly improved compared to the values at 1 month (both P < .05). Under mesopic conditions, the main influencing factors of glare were sphere (P = .007), astigmatism (P = .032), uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA) (P < .001), and postoperative time (all P < .05). Under photopic conditions, the main influencing factors of glare were astigmatism, UDVA, and postoperative time (all P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Glare improved with time during the early stages after SMILE for myopia. Less glare was found to be associated with better UDVA, and greater residual astigmatism and sphere translated to more obvious glare. [J Refract Surg. 2023;39(6):398-404.].

Evaluating early-stage disk halo changes after small incision lenticule extraction.

PURPOSE: To investigate early changes in the disk halo under different light conditions after myopic small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE). METHODS: This prospective study included 70 eyes of 70 myopic patients aged 18-33 years, with a spherical equivalent (SE) of -5.87 ± 1.86 D, who underwent SMILE. The subjective refraction, higher-order aberrations (HOAs), pupillometry, and halo were measured preoperatively and postoperatively to analyse disk halo variations and correlated factors. RESULTS: At 5 cd/m2 and 1 cd/m2 luminance, the halo radius in the high myopia (HM) group reached a postoperative peak after 1 week (p = 0.000 and 0.019, respectively), and recovered to baseline after 3 months. In the low-to-moderate (LM) myopia group, the halo radius did not differ 1 week postoperatively compared to the preoperative level (p = 0.015), but significantly improved after 3 months (p = 0.000). The halo radius correlated with SE, uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA), ocular HOAs, coma, and the pupillary light reflex in the LM group at all time points, but there were no correlations in the HM group. CONCLUSIONS: Halo symptoms occurred early after SMILE, but recovered within 3 months. The recovery process was slower in the HM group than in the LM group, and the halo radius correlated with SE, UDVA, ocular HOAs, coma, and the pupillary light reflex.

A Comprehensive Investigation of Contrast Sensitivity and Disk Halo in High Myopia Treated With SMILE and EVO Implantable Collamer Lens Implantation.

Purpose: To investigate the clinical outcomes in small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) and EVO implantable Collamer lens (ICL)-treated high myopia. Methods: Thirty-three SMILE-treated and 32 EVO ICL-treated patients were included and followed up for 6 months. Subjective refraction, contrast sensitivity, and disk halo size were measured preoperatively and postoperatively. Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) were obtained at the final visit. Results: Significant differences in efficacy and safety indices were observed between the SMILE and EVO ICL groups at 6 months postoperatively (P < 0.05). In the SMILE group, the mesopic contrast sensitivity at 2.2 cycles per degree (cpd) and photopic contrast sensitivity at 0.5, 3.4, and 7.1 cpd were significantly improved. In the EVO ICL group, the mesopic contrast sensitivity at 7.1 cpd and photopic contrast sensitivity at 0.5, 7.1, and 14.6 cpd were significantly improved. The halo radii after SMILE were significantly increased at 1 week, showed a decreasing trend at 1 month, returned to baseline at 3 months, and progressed stably at 6 months. However, it was unchanged in the EVO ICL group. Regarding subjective experience, haloes were the most common disturbance with mild and little bothersomeness after EVO ICL in contrast to starbursts after SMILE. Conclusions: EVO ICL implantation yielded better visual outcomes, improved contrast sensitivity particularly at high spatial frequencies, had a stabler disk halo size, and increased incidence of haloes, with less influence than that of SMILE. Translational Relevance: The disk halo and PRO findings will be of benefit for consultations and evaluations in visual performance and disturbances.

The Impact of Antibiotic Usage Guidelines, Developed and Disseminated through Internet, on the Knowledge, Attitude and Prescribing Habits of Orthokeratology Contact Lens Practitioners in China.

It has been previously reported that the improper prescribing of antibiotic eye drops is common among orthokeratology (ortho-k) practitioners. Guidelines have since been developed and disseminated to improve their understanding and implementation of antibiotic prescriptions. This study aimed to investigate the influence of these guidelines on the knowledge, attitude, and prescribing habits of ortho-k practitioners by means of a questionnaire, which was administered nationwide via an official online account to eye care practitioners (ECPs) involved in ortho-k lens fitting, 548 of whom completed the survey. Differences in characteristics before and after the dissemination of the guidelines and between the groups were explored using χ2 tests. The relationship between prescribing habits and demographics was analyzed using stepwise logistic regression models. The implementation of the guidelines significantly improved the overall prescribing habits of ECPs (p < 0.001), especially for prophylactic antibiotic use before and after ortho-k lens wear (p < 0.001). Most ECPs who prescribed antibiotics properly displayed significantly better knowledge of correct antibiotic use, which in turn affected the compliance in their ortho-k patients (p < 0.001). The ECPs' occupations (professionals other than ophthalmologists and optometrists, including nurses and opticians), clinical setting (distributor fitting centers), and age (younger than 25 years) were risk factors for the misuse of antibiotics. Although the implementation of the antibiotic guidelines significantly improved overall prescribing habits, some practitioners' prescribing behavior still needs improvement. A limitation of this study was that all questions were mandatory, requiring ECPs to recall information, and therefore was subjected to selection and recall bias.

Evaluation of Disk Halo Size and Identification of Correlated Factors in Myopic Adults.

This study aimed to evaluate glare source-induced disk halo size and assess its correlation with higher-order aberrations (HOAs), pupillometry findings, and contrast sensitivity in myopic adults (aged 23.8 ± 4.4 years). In this cross-sectional study, 150 eyes of 150 patients were assessed. All patients underwent routine ophthalmic examinations, wavefront aberrometry, halo size measurement, dynamic pupillometry, and contrast sensitivity tests. Spearman's correlation analysis and independent sample t-tests were performed for data analysis. The mean halo radius was 82.5 ± 21.8 and 236.7 ± 52.2 arc min at 5 and 1 cd/m2 luminance levels, respectively. The values were inversely correlated with internal spherical aberration (SA) (r = -0.175, p = 0.032 and r = -0.241, p = 0.003, respectively), but not correlated with spherical equivalent (SE, both p > 0.05). Positive correlations were observed between halo radius and pupil size, contraction amplitude, and dilation speed during pupillary light reflex. Halo radii at 5 and 1 cd/m2 luminance levels were not significantly correlated with the area under the log contrast sensitivity function (r = -0.093, p = 0.258 and r = -0.149, p = 0.069, respectively). The mean halo radius was not clinically different between myopic and healthy eyes at 5 cd/m2 luminance level and did not differ significantly between the high and low-to-moderate myopia at 5 and 1 cd/m2 luminance levels (all p > 0.05). According to a stepwise linear regression model, the internal SA had a negative effect on the halo radius under low photpic condition; the average pupil diameter, internal SA and corneal HOAs played a large role in determining the halo radius under mesopic condition.

The development and validation of the perceived safety of intelligent connected vehicles scale.

Whether the public feels psychologically safe about intelligent connected vehicles (ICVs) is crucial for this new technology to prevail. While researchers have realized the importance of perceived safety, a direct and psychometrically sound measure is still needed. This paper aimed to develop and validate a scale to measure the perceived safety of ICVs. In Study 1, an 8-item scale of the perceived safety was developed based on a literature review and used with a sample from Beijing (n = 373), among the people who are very likely to be the first wave of users. Exploratory factor analysis retained six items and found that a two-dimensional model (three items for cognitive safety and three items for emotional safety) best suited the data. Correlational analyses suggested that the two components may have unique causes and consequences. In Study 2, using a different sample from Shenzhen (n = 352), confirmatory factor analysis consolidated the two-factor model. Further correlational analyses showed that the scale had good criterion-related validity. Across two studies, cognitive safety was related to perceived controllability, the tendency to seek new technologies, ICV driving experience, perceived government support, drive intention and intention to be other road users. Emotional safety was correlated with social support, familiarity, benefit perception, purchase and recommend intention. These results suggest that the scale developed in this study is a useful and reliable tool to measure perceived safety. Implications for future studies and relevant policies are discussed.

SP1-induced overexpression of LINC00520 facilitates non-small cell lung cancer progression through miR-577/CCNE2 pathway and predicts poor prognosis.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have gained much attention in the past few years. Long intergenic non-protein coding RNA 520 (LINC00520) was one of the newly discovered lncRNA which has been demonstrated to be dysregulated in several cancers. So far, the function and mechanism of LINC00520 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are unclear. In this paper, our group first showed that LINC00520 level was elevated in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tissue and cells. In addition, SP1 could bind directly to the promoter region of LINC00520 and thus promote its transcription. Increased LINC00520 was distinctly correlated with advanced tumor stage and shorter survival time in NSCLC patients. Further functional investigations provided evidences that forced down regulation of LINC00520 inhibited NSCLC cell proliferation, invasion, metastasis and EMT, while contributing to cells apoptosis. Mechanistically, we found that LINC00520 serving as a competing endogenous RNA to be involved in the modulation of miR-577 expressions, and thus affected the expression of CCNE2 which was a target gene of miR-577. Moreover, in NSCLC cells with si-LINC00520, up regulation of CCNE2 led to an increase of cell growth and invasion. Taken together, LINC00520 displayed its tumor-promotive roles through modulating the miR-577/CCNE2 axis, highlighting a potential therapeutic strategy for NSCLC patients.

Pentacam Scheimpflug Tomography Findings in Chinese Patients With Different Corneal Diameters.

PURPOSE: To investigate the Pentacam (Oculus Optikgeräte) Scheimpflug tomography findings in Chinese patients with different corneal diameters. METHODS: This prospective cross-sectional study included candidates for correction of myopia with normal tomography (ABCD keratoconus grading system, stage 0). The participants were grouped according to their horizontal corneal diameters. Pentacam ectasia detection indices were compared between different corneal diameter-based groups. RESULTS: A total of 643 eyes were included (corneal diameter ⩽ 11 mm, n = 206; 11 to 12 mm, n = 219; ⩾ 12 mm, n = 218). The corneal powers and the thinnest pachymetry were negatively correlated with corneal diameter (linear regression analysis, P < .001). However, the corneal astigmatism was positively correlated with corneal diameter (R2 = 0.03, P < .001). Both the front (FE) and back (BE) elevations were negatively correlated with corneal diameter (FE: R2 = 0.027, P < .001; BE: R2 = 0.274, P < .001). The three pachymetric progression indices (PPI) (minimum, maximum, and average) were negatively correlated with corneal diameter (PPImin: R2 = 0.164, P < .001; PPImax: R2 = 0.06, P < .001; PPIavg: R2 = 0.158, P < .001). The maximum Ambrósio's relational thickness (ARTmax) also was positively correlated with corneal diameter (R2 = 0.031, P < .001). Five normalized indices were negatively correlated with corneal diameter (deviation of normality of the front elevation [Df]: R2 = 0.122, P < .001; deviation of normality of the back elevation [Db]: R2 = 0.47, P < .001; deviation of normality of pachymetric progression [Dp]: R2 = 0.159, P < .001; deviation of normality of relational thickness [Da]: R2 = .031, P < .001; Belin/Ambrósio Enhanced Ectasia display: R2 = 0.32, P < .001) and Dt was positively correlated with corneal diameter (R2 = 0.015, P = .002). Additionally, it was noted that corneal diameter had the greatest influence on Db, Belin/Ambrósio Enhanced Ectasia display (BAD-D), and BE. CONCLUSIONS: Corneal diameter has an influence on the BAD parameters, especially Db, BAD-D, and BE, and therefore should be incorporated as an additional variable in BAD analysis. The analytical dimensions should be individualized for eyes with individual corneal diameter. [J Refract Surg. 2020;36(10):688-695.].

Clinical Observation of Silicon Hydrogel Contact Lens Fitted Immediately after Small Incision Lenticule Extraction (SMILE).

PURPOSE: To examine the immediate use of bandage contact lenses (BCLs) for improving patient comfort after small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) surgery. METHODS: This is a prospective randomized controlled study in which one hundred and seventy-eight patients undergoing SMILE were randomly allocated to three groups: group A wore BCLs for 8 hours postsurgery, group B wore BCLs for 24 hours postsurgery, and group C did not wear any BCLs postsurgery. Eight subjective symptoms including photophobia, tearing, pain, foreign body sensation, burning, blurred vision, sting, and dry eyes were prospectively evaluated at 2 hours, 4 hours, 8 hours, and 24 hours, using a questionnaire with a total score of 24. The scores of symptoms and signs were compared between the three groups. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant time effect on scoring, which implicated a decline in symptoms over time after surgery (P < 0.001). There was also a significant interaction between time and the treatment group (P < 0.01). The total symptom score of groups A and B (5.85 ± 3.97 and 5.99 ± 4.67, respectively) was significantly lower than that of group C at 2 hours postsurgery (7.35 ± 4.86, P < 0.05), especially in tearing and pain (P < 0.05). The level of corneal oedema at 24 hours postsurgery was also statistically significantly different between the three groups (P < 0.001), and the post hoc test showed that groups A and B were lower than group C (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Silicon hydrogel BCLs applied immediately after SMILE surgery can relieve postsurgical symptoms of tearing and pain, improving overall patient comfort, and reduce corneal oedema. This trial is registered with ChiCTR-ONRC-13003114. Precis. The application of silicone hydrogel bandage contact lenses immediately after SMILE surgery has the potential to improve patient comfort, corneal healing, and patient satisfaction following SMILE.

Determination of uterine bacterial community in postpartum dairy cows with metritis based on 16S rDNA sequencing.

Metritis is a frequently occurring diseases in postpartum cows and is one of the important reasons for the infertility of dairy cows, accounting for 20-30% of dairy cow diseases and has serious implications for the dairy industry. It has been reported in the literature that the bacterial balance of genital tracts is directly related to the maintenance of physiological function and the development of various diseases of the reproductive system. By analyzing the changes in abundance and diversity of bacteria in the cow uterus from 1 to 35 days postpartum, the objective was to reveal the mechanism of metritis in cows and provide the basis for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of metritis in postpartum dairy cows. Uterine contents were taken from six cows (three healthy and three with metritis) on 1, 7, 14, 21 and 35 days after parturition. DNA genomes extracted from the samples were primed with 515F5'-GTGCCAGCMGCCGCGG-3' and 907R5'-CCGTCAATTCMTTRAGTTT-3' for PCR amplification of the V4+V5 regions of the 16S rDNA genes and construction of a gene library. The sequence of the bacterial structure of the cow uterine contents was analyzed using 16S rDNA high-throughput sequencing technology. A total of 30 samples were tested by PCR, and 29 samples qualified. The results of cluster analysis showed that except for one sample, the number of OTUs in the healthy cows was above 200, while in the cows with metritis, except for three samples, OTUs were below 200. The Chao1 and Shannon indices showed that the abundance of bacteria in the cow uterus was lower than that of healthy cows. Analysis of the relative abundance of bacteria in the cow uterus showed that there were six phyla present, including Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Fusobacteria, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Tenericutes. There were 10 dominant genera in healthy cows, including Bacteroides, Clostridium sensu stricto 1, Escherichia-Shigella, Fusobacterium, Halomonas, Helcococcus, Porphyromonas, Prevotella 6, Rikenellaceae RC9 gut group and Streptococcus. There were nine dominant genera in cows with metritis, including Bacteroides, Caviibacter, Clostridium sensu stricto 1, Falsiporphyromonas, Fusobacterium, Halomonas, Helcococcus, Porphyromonas and Prevotella 7. Phylogenetic tree analysis showed that uterine contents from 29 samples could be separated into two clusters. Eleven samples from the cows with metritis were clustered with one sample from the healthy group, and 13 samples from the healthy cows were clustered together with four samples from the metritis group. Principal co-ordinate analysis showed that the points representing healthy cows and those representing the metritis group were concentrated in two distinct regions, which shows that there were significant differences in the structure evolution between healthy cows and cows with metritis. The above results indicate that bacterial diversity declines with time postpartum in healthy cows and is lower in cows with metritis, with characteristic changes in the relative abundances, including increases in Bacteroidetes and Fusobacteria, decreases in Firmicutes and Proteobacteria, increases in Porphyromonas, Bacteroides and Fusobacterium, and a decrease in Clostridium sensu stricto 1.

Correction to: A combination of omega-3 and plant sterols regulate glucose and lipid metabolism in individuals with impaired glucose regulation: a randomized and controlled clinical trial.

Following publication of the original article [1], the Authors' Contributions statement need to be changed.

The Impact of High-mobility Group Box Mutation of T-cell Factor 4 on Its Genomic Binding Pattern in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer.

T-cell factor 4 (TCF-4) is determined to play a crucial role in Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway activation. The mutations and alternative splice isoforms of TCF-4 can cause cancers and other diseases. The high-mobility group (HMG) box domain of TCF-4 contributes to interacting with DNA motif for transcriptional regulation. However, the impact of the mutations within HMG box of TCF-4 on the genomic binding pattern is poorly investigated. Herein, we generated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell line A549 with stably overexpressed TCF-4 with HMG box hot spot mutation (10th exon partial deletion), and conducted TCF-4 and ß-catenin chromatin immunoprecipitation sequence to explore the differential genomic binding patterns. Our results revealed that TCF-4 lost 19365 but gained 1724 peaks, and ß-catenin lost 4035 but gained 5287 peaks upon mutant TCF-4 compared with the wild type (log2FC > 1 or < -1, FDR<0.01). The transcriptional levels of the genes associated with these differential peaks such as H3F3C, KRT1, KRT14, MMp1, and MMP15 were all found to strongly change responding to TCF-4 binding (P < 0.05). Furthermore, A549 cells with TCF-4 mutation displayed a more compromising tumor characterization on cell proliferation and invasion. Our data determined the important role of TCF-4 in gene transcription controlling and provided the gain function evidence of TCF-4 caused by the TCF-4 mutation in NSCLC.

Gastrodin relieves inflammation injury induced by lipopolysaccharides in MRC-5 cells by up-regulation of miR-103.

The beneficial function of gastrodin towards many inflammatory diseases has been identified. This study designed to see the influence of gastrodin in a cell model of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). MRC-5 cells were treated by LPS, before which gastrodin was administrated. The effects of gastrodin were evaluated by conducting CCK-8, FITC-PI double staining, Western blot, qRT-PCR and ELISA. Besides this, the downstream effector and signalling were studied to decode how gastrodin exerted its function. And dual-luciferase assay was used to detect the targeting link between miR-103 and lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 (LRP1). LPS induced apoptosis and the release of MCP-1, IL-6 and TNF-α in MRC-5 cells. Pre-treating MRC-5 cells with gastrodin attenuated LPS-induced cell damage. Meanwhile, p38/JNK and NF-κB pathways induced by LPS were repressed by gastrodin. miR-103 expression was elevated by gastrodin. Further, the protective functions of gastrodin were attenuated by miR-103 silencing. And LRP1 was a target of miR-103 and negatively regulated by miR-103. The in vitro data illustrated the protective function of gastrodin in LPS-injured MRC-5 cells. Gastrodin exerted its function possibly by up-regulating miR-103 and modulating p38/JNK and NF-κB pathways.

Apolipoprotein A-I mimetics mitigate intestinal inflammation in COX2-dependent inflammatory bowel disease model.

Cyclooxygenase 2 (Cox2) total knockout and myeloid knockout (MKO) mice develop Crohn's-like intestinal inflammation when fed cholate-containing high fat diet (CCHF). We demonstrated that CCHF impaired intestinal barrier function and increased translocation of endotoxin, initiating TLR/MyD88-dependent inflammation in Cox2 KO but not WT mice. Cox2 MKO increased pro-inflammatory mediators in LPS-activated macrophages, and in the intestinal tissue and plasma upon CCHF challenge. Cox2 MKO also reduced inflammation resolving lipoxin A4 (LXA4) in intestinal tissue, while administration of an LXA4 analog rescued disease in Cox2 MKO mice fed CCHF. The apolipoprotein A-I (APOA1) mimetic 4F mitigated disease in both the Cox2 MKO/CCHF and piroxicam-accelerated Il10-/- models of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and reduced elevated levels of pro-inflammatory mediators in tissue and plasma. APOA1 mimetic Tg6F therapy was also effective in reducing intestinal inflammation in the Cox2 MKO/CCHF model. We further demonstrated that APOA1 mimetic peptides: i) inhibited LPS and oxidized 1-palmitoyl-2-arachidonoyl-sn-phosphatidylcholine (oxPAPC) dependent pro-inflammatory responses in human macrophages and intestinal epithelium; and ii) directly cleared pro-inflammatory lipids from mouse intestinal tissue and plasma. Our results support a causal role for pro-inflammatory and inflammation resolving lipids in IBD pathology and a translational potential for APOA1 mimetic peptides for the treatment of IBD.