Diagnostic value of corneal higher-order aberrations in keratoconic eyes.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic value of corneal anterior, posterior, and total higher-order aberrations in keratoconic eyes. METHODS: We enrolled 94 patients (152 eyes) with mild keratoconus (Group 1), 64 patients (101 eyes) with moderate keratoconus (Group 2), and 32 patients (52 eyes) with advanced keratoconus (Group 3) according to the Amsler-Krumeich classification system; 99 healthy controls (197 normal eyes) were likewise enrolled. Anterior, posterior, and total corneal higher-order aberrations were assessed using a rotating Scheimpflug camera. The 3rd-order and 4th-order root-mean-square values were calculated for higher-order aberrations, including coma, spherical, and trefoil aberrations. Differences between keratoconic and normal eyes were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis tests. Receiver operating characteristic curves were evaluated for the keratoconus and control groups. RESULTS: The differences in coma 90, coma, trefoil, and spherical aberrations, as well as 3rd-order and 4th-order root-mean-square values, were statistically significant between the keratoconus and control groups for all anterior, posterior, and corneal aberrations. The absolute values of these higher-order aberrations were higher in the keratoconus groups than in the control group and increased with keratoconus severity in Groups 1-3. Coma and 3rd-order RMS values showed excellent sensitivity and specificity for discriminating between normal and keratoconus eyes for all anterior, posterior, and corneal aberrations. CONCLUSION: Coma aberrations and 3rd-order root-mean-square values may be valuable for diagnosing keratoconus. Combining these data with topography information may enable the effective and efficient detection of keratoconus in the future.

The utility of diffusion-weighted imaging and ADC values in the characterization of mumps orchitis and seminoma.

BACKGROUND: Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) can quantitatively reflect the diffusion characteristics of tissues, providing a theoretical basis for qualitative diagnosis and quantitative analysis of a disease. PURPOSE: To characterize testicular lesions that present as a hypointense signal on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) T2-weighted images using DWI. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Study participants were divided into three groups. Group A were healthy controls (n = 35), group B included patients with mumps orchitis (n = 20), and group C included patients with seminoma (n = 15). DWI sequences used b-values of 0, 1000, and 2000 s/mm2. Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values between 1000 and 2000 s/mm2 were calculated by MRI postprocessing software. The Kruskal-Wallis test and receiver operating characteristic analysis were performed to evaluate how well ADC values distinguished between mumps orchitis and seminoma. RESULTS: Normal testicular tissue showed a hyperintense signal on DWI and hypointensity on the ADC map: mean ADC value was 0.77 (0.69-0.85) ± 0.08 ×10-3 mm2/s. Mumps orchitis and seminoma showed slight hyperintensity on DWI: mean ADC values were 0.85 (0.71-0.99) ± 0.15 ×10-3 mm2/s and 0.43 (0.39-0.47) ± 0.04 × 10-3 mm2/s, respectively. There were statistically significant differences in mean ADC values between normal testicular tissue and seminoma and between mumps orchitis and seminoma. The cutoff ADC value for differentiating seminoma from mumps orchitis was 0.54 × 10-3 mm2/s. The sensitivity, specificity, and Youden Index for diagnosing seminoma were 99%, 31%, and 30%, respectively. CONCLUSION: High b-value DWI has potential utility for differentiating mumps orchitis from seminoma in the clinical setting.

Artificially constructing mixed bacteria system for bioaugmentation of nitrogen removal from saline wastewater at low temperature.

To alleviate the inhibition effects of multi-stresses, a multi-bacterial bioaugmentation based on stimulating cell-to-cell interactions was applied to improve the stress potential of salt-tolerant aerobic granular sludge (AGS). Results showed that the consortium formed by a combination of salt-tolerant ammonia-nitrogen utilizing bacteria, salt-tolerant nitrite-nitrogen utilizing bacteria and salt-tolerant nitrate-nitrogen utilizing bacteria with a whole biomass ratio of 1:2:1 achieved maximum nitrogen consumption rate (µNH4+-N, µNO2--N and µNO3--N of 1.03, 0.57 and 11.62 mgN/L·h, respectively) at 35 gNaCl/L salinity and 15 °C. The flocculent consortium was aggregated by Aspergillus tubingensis mycelium pellet, which was made into a compound bacterial agent (CBA), and the comprehensive nitrogen consumption capability of CBA was further improved to 2.47-4.36-fold of single functional bacteria. 5% CBA (m/m) was introduced into the seafood processing wastewater in batches, in winter (12-16 °C), the removal efficiencies of NH4+-N and total nitrogen increased from 66.89% to 52.77% of native AGS system to 79.02% and 69.97% of nascent bioaugmentation system, respectively. The analysis of key enzyme activities demonstrated that the ammonia monooxygenase and nitrate reductase activities of the bioaugmentation system were increased to 2.73-folds and 1.94-folds those of the native system. Moreover, due to an increase of 6.18 mg/gVSS and 0.11 in the secreted exopolysaccharide and tightly-bound/total extracellular polymeric substances, respectively, bioaugmentation boosted the cell bioflocculation ability by 13.53%, which enhanced the robustness. This work provided a detailed and feasible technical proposal for enhancing the biological treatment performance of saline wastewater in cold regions.

White and grey matter development in utero assessed using motion-corrected diffusion tensor imaging and its comparison to ex utero measures.

OBJECTIVE: Fetal brain diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) offers quantitative analysis of the developing brain. The objective was to 1) quantify DTI measures across gestation in a cohort of fetuses without brain abnormalities using full retrospective correction for fetal head motion 2) compare results obtained in utero to those in preterm infants. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Motion-corrected DTI analysis was performed on data sets obtained at 1.5T from 32 fetuses scanned between 21.29 and 37.57 (median 31.86) weeks. Results were compared to 32 preterm infants scanned at 3T between 27.43 and 37.14 (median 33.07) weeks. Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and fractional anisotropy (FA) were quantified by region of interest measurements and tractography was performed. RESULTS: Fetal DTI was successful in 84% of fetuses for whom there was sufficient data for DTI estimation, and at least one tract could be obtained in 25 cases. Fetal FA values increased and ADC values decreased with age at scan (PLIC FA: p = 0.001; R2 = 0.469; slope = 0.011; splenium FA: p < 0.001; R2 = 0.597; slope = 0.019; thalamus ADC: p = 0.001; R2 = 0.420; slope = - 0.023); similar trends were found in preterm infants. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that stable DTI is feasible on fetuses and provides evidence for normative values of diffusion properties that are consistent with aged matched preterm infants.

Effect of PVA coating on the electric field intensity distribution and laser damage performance of fused silica optics surfaces.

A facile method was proposed to enhance the laser damage performance of the fused silica optics by coating a PVA film on the rear surface of the optics. FDTD simulation result suggests that the PVA coating with suitable thickness can transfer the maximal electric field intensity from the rear surface to the interface between the coating and air, and reduce the electric field intensity of the rear surface remarkably. LIDT tests reveal that the LIDT of fused silica with PVA coating changed periodically with respect to the coating thickness, which agrees well with the tendency predicted by FDTD simulation. Finally, PVA coatings with a thickness of 60 nm and 300 nm can both improve the LIDT of AMP-treated fused silica by ~20%, which provide a potential to be applied in high power laser facility.

Low-loss polarization-maintaining THz photonic crystal fiber with a triple-hole core.

In this paper, we report a novel low-loss and polarization-maintaining terahertz (THz) photonic crystal fiber with a triple-hole unit inside the core. The properties of birefringence, effective material loss, confinement loss, bending loss, power fraction, dispersion, and single-mode condition are analyzed in detail by using the finite element methods. Simulation results show that high birefringence at a level of 10-2 can be achieved by simply reducing the diameter of one air hole of the triple-hole core. And low effective material loss down to 30% of its bulk material loss can be achieved in our interested band around 3 THz, due to the high core porosity of the designed triple-hole core. Moreover, this design dramatically facilitates the fabrication process, because of the typical hexagonal structure with all circular air holes and avoiding the troublesome multiple sub-wavelength air holes in the core area. The results reveal that this proposal has potential for efficient THz transmission and other functional applications.

Palladium-catalyzed direct arylation of phenols with aryl iodides.

An efficient protocol of palladium-catalyzed direct para-arylation of unfunctionalized phenols with aryl iodides under mild conditions was reported. A variety of substrates were applied in this reaction with yields up to 87%.

[Wavefront analysis and comparison between small incision lenticule extraction and femtosecond laser in situ keratomilensis].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate and analyze the characteristic changes of high order aberrations before and after small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) and femtosecond laser in situ keratomileusis (FS-LASIK). METHODS: Prospective study. Thirty-four patients (16 men and 18 women) underwent SMILE, and 28 cases (15 men and 13 women) underwent FS-LASIK, aged 18 to 39 years. Only the right eye was selected to be analyzed from each patient. All patients had conventional and Pentacam examinations preoperatively, and the ocular higher order aberrations were measured with the Hartman-Shack wavefront analyzer before surgery and at 1 month and 3 months postoperatively. The paired t test, independent t test, and Pearson correlation analysis were used to analyze the collected data. RESULTS: At the 1 month after SMILE group, C3(-1), C3(3) (-0.205 +/- 0.199, 0.027 +/- 0.071) were higher than the FS-LASIK group (0.004 +/- 0.316, -0.022 +/- 0.104) (t = -3.141, 2.216, P < 0.05), for FS-LASIK group Sh, S4 S5, S6, C4(0) (0.609 +/- 0.199, 0.403 +/- 0.196, 0.117 +/- 0.065, 0.092 +/- 0.038, 0.343 +/- 0.253) were higher than the SMILE group (0.461 +/- 0.130, 0.271 +/- 0.096, 0.074 +/- 0.028, 0.053 +/- 0.018, 0.239 +/- 0.121) (t = - 3.492, -3.461, -3.449, -5.301, -2.103, P < 0.05); At the 3rd month of SMILE group, C3(-1) (-0.177 +/- 0.175) was higher than the FS-LASIK group (-0.012 +/- 0.337) (t = -2.476, P < 0.05), In FS- LASIK group , however, the data for Sh, S4, S5, S6, C4(0) (0.626 +/- 0.215, 0.421 +/- 0.200, 0.108 +/- 0.066, 0.082 +/- 0.036, 0.393 +/- 0.207) were higher than the SMILE group (0.457 +/- 0.113, 0.270 +/- 0.106,0. 082 +/- 0.031, 0.051 +/- 0.017, 0.243 +/- 0.115 ) (t = -3.935, -3.788, -2.049, -4.405, -3.576, P < 0.05). With the correlation analysis, at the postoperative 1st and 3rd month of FS-LASIK group, Sh, C4(0) had negative relationship with the attempted myopic corrections (1 month post-op: r = - 0.433, -0.476, P < 0.05; 3 month post-op:r = -0.418, -0.447, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: SMILE resulted in good optical quality early after operation. Compared with FS-LASIK, SMILE caused smaller change of ocular higher order aberrations, and each of them had its own particularity. Maybe it was associated with the surgery procedure and corneal wound healing after surgery.

Synthesis of dibenzothiophenes by Pd-catalyzed dual C-H activation from diaryl sulfides.

Palladium-catalyzed dual C-H functionalization of diaryl sulfides to form dibenzothiophenes (DBTs) by oxidative dehydrogenative cyclization is reported. This protocol afforded various DBTs in moderate to good yields with tolerance of a wide variety of substrates. Benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']bis[b]benzothiophene was successfully synthesized by this method, which was used as an organic semiconductor for field-effect transistors.

[Distribution of corneal densitometry and its correlation with ocular stray light in healthy eyes].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate and investigate the distribution of corneal density and its Correlation with stray-light value in adult and healthy eyes. METHODS: A prospective study. Human corneal specimens ranging in age between 20 and 49 years, 116 patients (232 eyes) in total, divided into three groups: 20-29, 30-39, 40-49. Pentacam was used to evaluate total corneal average density and corneal thickness at different diameter around the corneal apex, for corneal density were ≤ 2 mm, >2 mm and ≤ 6 mm, >6 mm and ≤ 10 mm, for corneal thickness were 2 mm, 6 mm and 10 mm, C-quant was used for the stray-light value. Software SPSS 17.0 was used for statistical analysis. Independent samples t testing method was applied to compare the corneal densitometry in different gender and between left eyes and right ones, One-way ANOVA was applied to analyze the differences of corneal density in different age groups and diameters. Pearson correlation analysis was applied to assess the correlation in corneal densitometry values of different diameters, between corneal density of different diameters and age, corneal density of different diameters and corneal thickness of different diameters, corneal density of different diameters and stray-light values. RESULTS: Corneal density for ≤ 2 mm, >2 mm and ≤ 6 mm, >6 mm and ≤ 10 mm diameter are 10.1 ± 1.5(8.2-16.7), 9.3 ± 1.3(7.9-14.2), 9.6 ± 1.7(7.3-16.2). Corneal density of >6 mm and ≤ 10 mm diameter in different age groups were 8.9 ± 1.1, 9.3 ± 1.2, 10.7 ± 2.1, there was a statistical difference in these values (F = 28.939, P = 0.000), and there was a positive correlation between corneal density of >6 mm and ≤ 10 mm diameter and age (r = 0.417, P = 0.000), There were no statistical differences in corneal density values of ≤ 2 mm and >2 mm and ≤ 6 mm in different age groups (F = 1.575, 1.436; P > 0.05), and they had no correlation with age (r = 0.002, 0.048; P > 0.05). There was no statistical difference in corneal density in different gender (t = 1.744, 1.647, -1.181; P > 0.05). Corneal density values of left eyes and right ones had positive relationships at the same diameter (r = 0.977, P = 0.000; r = 0.992, P = 0.000; r = 0.933, P = 0.000), and there were no statistical differences (t = 0.124, 0.199, -0.020;P > 0.05). Between corneal density values of different diameter, there are also some positive relationships, >6 mm and ≤ 10 mm and ≤ 2 mm (r = 0.710, P = 0.000), >6 mm and ≤ 10 mm and >2 mm and ≤ 6 mm (r = 0.748, P = 0.000), ≤ 2 mm and >2 mm and ≤ 6 mm (r = 0.973, P = 0.000), relationship between ≤ 2 mm and >2 mm and ≤ 6 mm, >2 mm and ≤ 6 mm and >6 mm and ≤ 10 mm was obvious, and there was statistical difference in them (F = 17.057, P = 0.000) . The ocular stray light value was 0.95 ± 0.19(0.48-1.38), Corneal density values of ≤ 2 mm, >2 mm and ≤ 6 mm and >6 mm and ≤ 10 mm diameter had positive relationships with the stray light value (r = 0.134,0.146,0.159, P = 0.042,0.026,0.016). CONCLUSIONS: Corneal density can be influenced by age, the influence from age infected the corneal density of peripheral more. There was no correlation between corneal density and corneal thickness. There were some influences of corneal density of healthy eyes to the ocular stray light.

[Two millimeter micro incision lenticule extraction surgery with minimal invasion: a preliminary clinical report].

OBJECTIVE: To report the clinical results of micro incision lenticule extraction (MILE) to correct myopia or myopia with astigmatism, and enlighten its viability and mechanism. METHODS: Prospective case-control study. All patients enrolled were treated by the VisuMax femtosecond laser system to correct refractive errors. Sixty-one patients underwent MILE with an incision of 2 mm. Another 53 patients underwent small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) with a 3-5 mm incision as the control group. All patients took measurements of uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA), best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), refractive power and intraocular pressure, slit-lamp microscopy, and corneal topography preoperatively and at 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 6 months postoperatively. The visual acuity was presented as median. To compare the visual acuity and astigmatism between the MILE group and the SMILE group, as well as before surgery and at each time point after surgery, non-parametric tests were applied in this study. The repeated measures analysis of variance was used to compare the differences between these two surgeries and between pre- and post-operation in diopters and morphological parameters. The paired-sample t test was used to compare the diopters and morphological parameters at each time point postoperatively and preoperatively. The independent-sample t test was applied to compare the basic characteristics preoperatively and the diopters, morphological parameters at each time point between these two groups. RESULTS: Forty-one eyes (24 patients) in the MILE group and fifty-one eyes (29 patients) in the SMILE group had complete follow-up data. Before surgery and at 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 6 months after surgery, the spherical diopters in the MILE group were (-5.09 ± 1.04), (0.12 ± 0.32), (0.11 ± 0.29), (0.02 ± 0.33) and (0.02 ± 0.23) D; the cylinder diopters were (-0.90 ± 0.83), (-0.25 ± 0.27), (-0.23 ± 0.30), (-0.20 ± 0.25) and (-0.16 ± 0.21) D. In the SMILE group, the spherical diopters were (-5.37 ± 1.26), (-0.04 ± 0.49), (0.12 ± 0.38), (0.10 ± 0.34) and (0.02 ± 0.33) D; the cylinder diopters were (-0.76 ± 0.65), (-0.22 ± 0.26), (-0.25 ± 0.30), (-0.26 ± 0.29) and (-0.21 ± 0.28) D. No significant difference was found between the two groups (F = 1.042, 0.941, 0.018; P = 0.310, 0.335, 0.894). In the vector analysis of astigmatism, at 1 month and 6 months after surgery, the values on Y axis were -0.06 ± 0.11 and -0.04 ± 0.10 in the MILE group, smaller than -0.14 ± 0.18 and -0.11 ± 0.16 in the SMILE group (Z = -2.076, -2.149; P = 0.038, 0.032). All full-correction patients had UCVA of 20/20 or better, and no BCVA decreased after 6 month follow-up postoperatively. Refractive stability was achieved within 1 month postoperatively, and less volatility appeared in the MILE group than the SMILE group. Before surgery and at 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 6 months after surgery, no significant difference in the index of surface variance (ISV) and the index of vertical asymmetry (IVA) was found between the MILE group and the SMILE group (F = 0.902, 0.744; P = 0.345, 0.391), whereas the values of ISV and IVA were smaller in the MILE group than the SMILE group at each time point after surgery, and the D-value between the two groups increased with time. Six cases (9 eyes) had an opaque bubble layer while femtosecond laser passed in the procedure, 2 eyes had a small tear at the incision edge, 1 eye had local diffuse inflammatory exudates at 1 day postoperatively, and no eye had transient light-sensitivity syndrome, decrease of corneal transparency or infection. CONCLUSIONS: MILE surgery (1.5-2.0 mm) is safe, predictable, effective and stable to treat refractive errors. It can reduce astigmatism values on oblique axis and maintain the integrality and stability of the structure of the cornea.

Washed microbiota transplantation improves sleep quality in patients with sleep disorder by the gut-brain axis.

Background: The clinical impact of washed microbiota transplantation (WMT) from healthy donors in sleep disorder (SD) patients is unclear. This study aimed to investigate the effect of WMT in SD patients. Methods: The clinical data were collected from patients with different indications receiving 1-3 courses of WMT, divided into two groups by 7 points of PSQI scale. The score of PQSI and SF-36 scale was used to assess the improvement in sleep quality and life quality among patients with sleep disorders following WMT. Finally, 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing was performed on fecal samples of patients with sleep disorders before and after WMT. Results: WMT significantly improved sleep quality in patients with sleep disorder in the short and medium term. WMT significantly improved sleep latency, sleep time and total score in the short term. WMT significantly improved sleep quality and total score in the medium term. In terms of sleep quality and sleep latency, the improvement value also increased with the increase of treatment course, and the improvement effect of multiple treatment course was better than that of single and double treatment course. In the total score, the improvement effect of double and multiple treatment was better than that of single treatment. WMT also improved quality of life in the sleep disorder group. WMT significantly improved general health, vitality, social function and mental health in the short term. WMT significantly improved role-physical, general health, vitality, and mental health in the medium term. WMT regulated the disturbed gut microbiota in patients with sleep disorders. In the normal sleep group, WMT had no effect on the decline of sleep quality in the short, medium and long term, and had an improving effect on the quality of life. Conclusion: WMT could significantly improve sleep quality and life quality in patients with sleep disorders with no adverse events. The improvement in sleep quality resulting from WMT could lead to an overall enhancement in life quality. WMT could be a potentially effective treatment for patients with sleep disorders by regulating the gut microbiota.

Enhancing surgical decision-making in NEC with ResNet18: a deep learning approach to predict the need for surgery through x-ray image analysis.

Background: Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a severe neonatal intestinal disease, often occurring in preterm infants following the administration of hyperosmolar formula. It is one of the leading causes of neonatal mortality in the NICU, and currently, there are no clear standards for surgical intervention, which typically depends on the joint discretion of surgeons and neonatologists. In recent years, deep learning has been extensively applied in areas such as image segmentation, fracture and pneumonia classification, drug development, and pathological diagnosis. Objective: Investigating deep learning applications using bedside x-rays to help optimizing surgical decision-making in neonatal NEC. Methods: Through a retrospective analysis of anteroposterior bedside chest and abdominal x-rays from 263 infants diagnosed with NEC between January 2015 and April 2023, including a surgery group (94 cases) and a non-surgery group (169 cases), the infants were divided into a training set and a validation set in a 7:3 ratio. Models were built based on Resnet18, Densenet121, and SimpleViT to predict whether NEC patients required surgical intervention. Finally, the model's performance was tested using an additional 40 cases, including both surgical and non-surgical NEC cases, as a test group. To enhance the interpretability of the models, the study employed 2D-Grad-CAM technology to describe the models' focus on significant areas within the x-ray images. Results: Resnet18 demonstrated outstanding performance in binary diagnostic capability, achieving an accuracy of 0.919 with its precise lesion imaging and interpretability particularly highlighted. Its precision, specificity, sensitivity, and F1 score were significantly high, proving its advantages in optimizing surgical decision-making for neonatal NEC. Conclusion: The Resnet18 deep learning model, constructed using bedside chest and abdominal imaging, effectively assists clinical physicians in determining whether infants with NEC require surgical intervention.

Enhancing nitrogen removal performance using immobilized aerobic denitrifying bacteria by modified polyvinyl alcohol/sodium alginate (PVA/SA).

Aerobic denitrification has emerged as a promising and efficient method for nitrogen removal from wastewater. However, the direct application of aerobic denitrifying bacteria has faced challenges such as low nitrogen removal efficiency, bacterial loss, and poor stability. To address these issues, this study developed a novel microbial particle carrier using NaHCO3-modified polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/sodium alginate (SA) gel (NaHCO3-PVA/SA). This carrier exhibits several advantageous properties, including excellent mass transfer efficiency, favorable biocompatibility, convenient film formation, abundant biomass, and exceptional pollutant treatment capacity. The carrier was modified with 0.3% NaHCO3, 8.0% PVA, and 1.0% SA, resulting in a remarkable 3.4-fold increase in the average pore diameter and a 12.8% improvement in mass transfer efficiency. This carrier was utilized to immobilize the aerobic denitrifying bacterium Stutzerimonas stutzeri W-2 to enhance nitrogen removal (NaHCO3-PVA/SA@W-2), resulting in a NO3--N removal efficiency of 99.06%, which was 21.39% higher than that without modification. Compared with the non-immobilized W-2, the degradation efficiency was improved by 43.70%. After five reuses, the NO3--N and TN removal rates remained at 99% and 93.01%, respectively. These results provide a solid foundation for the industrial application of the modified carrier as an effective tool for nitrogen removal in large-scale wastewater treatment processes.

Correlation between Corneal Volume and Corneal Biomechanics and Corneal Volume Significance in Staging and Diagnosing Keratoconus.

Purpose: To investigate the relationship between corneal volume (CV) at different zones and corneal biomechanics in keratoconus (KC) along with the significance of CV in diagnosing and staging KC. Methods: This prospective clinical study included 456 keratoconic eyes (Group B) and 198 normal eyes (Group A). Using the topographic KC classification method, Group B was divided into subgroups based on severity (mild, moderate, and severe). The CVs of the 3 mm, 5 mm, and 7 mm zones and biomechanical parameters were obtained by Pentacam and Corvis ST. The diagnostic utility of multirange CVs at different disease stages and severity was determined using a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Results: The CV of the 7-mm zone had the strongest correlation with A1V, A2T, PD, DA ratio max (2 mm), DA ratio max (1 mm), ARTh, integrated radius, SPA1, and CBI (p < 0.01). The CVs of the Group B subgroups were significantly lower than those of Group A for each diameter range (p < 0.05). There were significant differences between the severe, mild, and moderate subgroups for the 3 mm zone (p < 0.05, all). The 3 mm zone CV exhibited better diagnostic ability in each group for distinguishing KC from the normal cornea (Groups A vs. B: area under the ROC curve (AUC) = 0.926, Groups A vs. B1: AUC = 0.894, Groups A vs. B2: AUC = 0.925, Groups A vs. B3: AUC = 0.953). Conclusion: The CV significantly decreased in keratoconic eyes. Progressive thinning in the 3 mm zone may be a valuable measurement for detecting and staging KC. Combining the CV examination with corneal biomechanical information may effectively enhance the ability to detect KC.

The individual difference of motor imagery ability evoked by visual stimulus and its personality manifestation.

Motor imagery has been commonly studied as a means of motor rehabilitation but, the individual differences limit its practical application. Visually evoked motor imagery has been widely highlighted by researchers because of its vivid stimulus. However, this modality is still not applicable to all persons. In this study, we studied the different performances of the visually evoked motor imagery between subjects and tried to explore the personality manifestation which can result in this performance. We found that conscientiousness and openness have negative connections with the performance of visually evoked motor imagery. To compare with spontaneous motor imagery, the visually evoked motor imagery reflects less personality difference between subjects with good and bad performances on motor imagery. This indicate that visually stimulus may increase the pervasive application of motor imagery. This study may provide benefits to predict the rehabilitation effect and to rapidly select the suitable motor rehabilitation methods.

Insights into nitrogen and phosphorus metabolic mechanisms of algal-bacterial aerobic granular sludge via metagenomics: Performance, microbial community and functional genes.

Aiming to propose the potential mechanism for the enhancement of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) removal of algal-bacterial aerobic granular sludge (A-AGS), metagenomic analysis was applied to identify the metabolic pathways. The results showed that chemical oxygen demand, ammonia nitrogen, total N, and total P removal of A-AGS could reach to 94.5%, 97.5%, 78.1%, and 88.5%, respectively. Algae enriched the content of extracellular polymeric substance, which significantly promoted the formation of A-AGS. Further investigations in functional genes suggested that nitrification process (amo, nxr, hao, etc.), denitrification process (nir, nap, nor, etc.), and polyphosphate accumulation (ppk, ppk2, etc.) were enhanced greatly in A-AGS. Notably, genus Thauera was the dominant source of functional genes, which penetrated both in N and P metabolism. The higher N and P removal performance in A-AGS could be attributed to synergistic effect between bacteria and microalgae, which may provide the basic for the application in wastewater treatment.

Responses of straw foam-based aerobic granular sludge to atrazine: Insights from metagenomics and microbial community variations.

Atrazine (ATZ) has caused serious environmental pollution, but the biodegradation of ATZ is relatively slow and inefficient. Herein, a straw foam-based aerobic granular sludge (SF-AGS) was developed, the spatially ordered architectures of which could greatly improve the drug tolerance and biodegradation efficiency of ATZ. The results showed that, in the presence of ATZ, chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N), total phosphorus (TP), and total nitrogen (TN) were effectively removed within 6 h, and the removal efficiencies were as high as 93.37%, 85.33%, 84.7%, and 70%, respectively. Furthermore, ATZ stimulated microbial consortia to secrete three times more extracellular polymers compared to without ATZ. Illumina MiSeq sequencing results showed that bacterial diversity and richness decreased, leading to significant changes in microbial population structure and composition. ATZ-resistant bacteria including Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Burkholderia laid the biological basis for the stability of aerobic particles, efficient removal of pollutants, and degradation of ATZ. The study demonstrated that SF-AGS is feasible for ATZ-laden low-strength wastewater treatment.

The EEG Oscillations and Psychology Propensities of Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response.

Autonomous sensory meridian response is believed as a perceptual phenomenon to specific sensory stimuli. To explore the underlying mechanism and emotional effect, the EEG under video and audio triggers of autonomous sensory meridian response was analyzed. The differential entropy and power spectral density by Burg method on δ, θ, α, ß, γ and high γ frequencies were employed as quantitative features. The results indicate that the modulation of autonomous sensory meridian response on brain activities is broadband. Video trigger owns better performance of autonomous sensory meridian response than other triggers. Moreover, the results also reveal that autonomous sensory meridian response has a close relationship with neuroticism and its three sub-dimensions, anxiety, self-consciousness and vulnerability, with the scores of self-rating depression scale, but without emotions, happiness, sadness, or fear. This suggests that the responders of autonomous sensory meridian response may have the tendencies of neuroticism and depressive disorder.

A longitudinal MRI study of muscle atrophy during lower leg immobilization following ankle fracture.

PURPOSE: To investigate MRI biomarkers of muscle atrophy during cast immobilization of the lower leg. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighteen patients (8 male, 10 female), who had one lower leg immobilized in a cast, underwent 3.0 Tesla (T) MR imaging 5, 8, 15, 29, and 43 days after casting. Measurements were made on both lower legs of total muscle volume. Cross-sectional area (CSA), fractional water content, and T(2) were measured in tibialis anterior (TA), gastrocnemius medialis (GM) and lateralis (GL) and soleus (SOL). Fiber pennation angle was measured in GM. RESULTS: Total muscle volume decreased by 17% (P < 0.001) over the 6 weeks of immobilization. The greatest loss in CSA (mean[SD]) was seen in GM (-23.3(8.7)%), followed by SOL (-19.0(9.8)%), GL (-17.1(6.5)%), and TA (-10.7(5.9)%). Significant reductions of CSA were also detectable in the contra-lateral leg. T(2) increased in all muscles: TA 27.0(2.5) ms to 29.6(2.8) ms (P < 0.001), GM 34.6(2.9) ms to 39.8(5.4) ms (P < 0.001) and SOL 34.4 (2.9) ms to 44.9(5.9) ms (P < 0.001). Small reductions were found in fractional water content. Pennation angle decreased in the cast leg (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Quantitative MR imaging can detect and monitor progressive biochemical and biophysical changes in muscle during immobilization.