Impact of pupil and defocus ring intersection area on retinal defocus.

PURPOSE: With the rising prevalence of myopia, especially among the young, orthokeratology (Ortho-K) stands out as a promising approach, not only to reduce myopia but also to control the progression of axial length (AL). This study examined how the intersection area between the pupil and defocus ring influenced retinal defocus and axial growth after Ortho-K. METHODS: A case-control study was conducted with 100 participants (100 eyes). Both AL and the refraction difference value (RDV), that is, the peripheral refractive error measured with respect to the central value after wearing Ortho-K lenses, were determined. Subjects were categorised into two groups based on the size of the intersection area after 3 months of lens wear: Group A (<4.58 mm2 ) and Group B (≥4.58 mm2 ). RESULTS: Group B demonstrated significantly lower changes in AL and RDV at 30-40° and 40-53° compared with Group A after 3 months of lens wear (all p < 0.05). After 6 months of lens wear, Group B showed significantly lower changes in AL and RDV in the 40-53° region compared with Group A (all p < 0.05). Correlation analysis revealed that as the intersection area increased, the changes in AL and RDV at 0-53°, 30-40° and 40-53° eccentricity decreased after both 3 and 6 months of lens wear (all p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: A larger intersection area between the pupil and defocus ring within a certain time period can cause a greater amount of myopic defocus at 30-53° from the fovea. The results suggest that a larger intersection area might lead to more effective control of axial growth.

Characterization of extrachromosomal circular DNA in cattle using 676 whole genome sequencing datasets.

Extrachromosomal circular DNA (eccDNA) is an important fraction of the genome. Recent studies proved that eccDNA plays important roles in genetic variation, aging and environmental adaptation, which have drawn wide attention. However, the characteristics of eccDNA in cattle remain unclear. Here, we studied eccDNAs from 676 cattle of 58 breeds using whole genome sequencing datasets. In total, 47 355 high-confidence eccDNAs were identified and covered 4.6% of the cattle autosomes in length. Similarly to other species, the cattle eccDNA preferentially located in the genic and repeat sequences. Cattle eccDNAs contained complete sequences of 661 genes, which were significantly (p < 0.05) enriched in immunity-related functions. The eccDNA was further proved to have inverted repeats on the boundaries, which contained a high proportion of A/T and ranged from 4 to 17 bp. Interestingly, we successfully separated animals according to their geographical distributions and their tissues where DNA was isolated. This implied possible roles for eccDNA in cattle selection and tissue development. Our study supplies basic knowledges on eccDNAs in cattle, which will promote understanding of extrachromosomal DNA.

Deep neural network with self-attention based automated determination system for treatment zone and peripheral steepened zone in Orthokeratology for adolescent myopia.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to develop an automatic model based on deep learning techniques for determining the Treatment Zone (TZ) and Peripheral Steepened Zone (PSZ) following Orthokeratology (OK) treatment. METHODS: A total of 1346 corneal topography maps were included in the study. A deep neural network based on the Segformer architecture was constructed to automatically detect TZ and PSZ. The model was optimized and trained multiple times, and the areas of TZ, PSZ, and TZ decentration were calculated based on the segmentation results. RESULTS: The mean Intersection over Union (mIoU) of the overall segmentation results of the model reached over 97% after multiple training with different optimization methods, and the IoU for the TZ and PSZ segmentation tasks were 98.08% and 94.54% in test set, respectively. Moreover, the model demonstrated high consistency with the expert annotation for the TZ segmentation, while a significant difference was found in the PSZ segmentation and expert annotation due to several interference factors. CONCLUSION: This study presents an efficient and repeatable system for clinical research, based on a deep neural network that accurately determines TZ and PSZ after OK treatment using the Segformer architecture. However, further deployment validation may be necessary.

The effects of carbon trading on resident income: a theoretical and empirical study on the pilot carbon market in China.

Establishing an efficient carbon emissions trading market is a priority to achieve the goal of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. In the context of income inequality and emissions inequality, this study examined the efficiency of carbon trading in China from the perspective of resident income. First, this paper used the Cobb-Douglas (C-D) production function to incorporate carbon intensity into the production network model and obtained the expression of household income by solving the Walras equilibrium. Secondly, this study put forward a theory that Carbon trading affects the income level of individuals. Finally, in order to test the theory, the study used the differences-in-differences (DID) method, provincial panel data from 2005 to 2019, and the quasi-natural experiment of China's carbon emissions trading pilot. The results indicated that this policy could reduce the per capita disposable income level. Further heterogeneity research showed that although the emission reduction effect was significant, the pilot policy failed to save emission reduction costs and improve residents' welfare. The low efficiency of the carbon market was mainly attributed to the insufficient liquidity of the pilot carbon market. Therefore, it not only failed to achieve efficiency but also increased unnecessary costs, which had a negative impact on income. In addition, the consumption patterns of residents and the industrial-oriented economic structure exacerbated the decline in income.

Changes in relative peripheral refraction and optical quality in Chinese myopic patients after small incision lenticule extraction surgery.

PURPOSE: To observe changes in retinal refraction difference values (RDV) and aberrations after small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) surgery and evaluate their correlations. METHODS: This study recruited 112 patients (112 eyes) who underwent SMILE for myopia. Participants were classified into the Low and Moderate Myopia group (LM, -0.50 to -6.0 D) and High Myopia group (HM, >-6.0 D) according to the central spherical equivalent (SE). RDVs in the five retinal eccentricities from 0° to 10°, 10° to 20°, 20° to 30°, 30° to 40°, and 40° to 53° are recorded as RDV-(0-10), RDV-(10-20), RDV-(20-30), RDV-(30-40), and RDV-(40-53), respectively; additionally, RDVs have four sectors, i.e., RDV-Superior (RDV-S), RDV-Inferior (RDV-I), RDV-Temporal (RDV-T), and RDV-Nasal (RDV-N). With a 3-month follow-up, changes in RDV (ΔRDV) and changes in aberrations [Δtrefoil, Δcoma, Δspherical aberration (SA), and Δtotal higher-order aberrations (HOA)] after surgery were recorded. RESULTS: No significant differences were observed in total RDV (TRDV), RDV-(0-53), RDV-S, RDV-I, RDV-N, trefoil, coma, and SA between the two groups before SMILE surgery. However, after SMILE, hyperopic defocus values [TRDV, RDV-(20-53), RDV-S, RDV-T, and RDV-N] in the LM group and hyperopic defocus values [TRDV, RDV-(20-53), RDV-S, and RDV-N] in the HM group were significantly lower at 3 months postoperatively than preoperatively, and the RDV-(40-53), RDV-S, and RDV-N were lower in the HM group than in the LM group. Aberrations [trefoil (vertical), coma, and HOA] in the LM group and aberrations (trefoil, coma, SA, and HOA) in the HM group were significantly higher at 3 months postoperatively than preoperatively, and the coma, trefoil(horizontal), SA, and HOA were higher in the HM group than in the LM group. In the multivariate analysis, ΔRDV-(40-53) was significantly correlated with ΔSA, and ΔRDV-T and ΔRDV-N were significantly correlated with Δcoma (horizontal). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that SMILE reduces retinal peripheral hyperopic defocus but introduces some higher-order aberrations, especially in people with high myopia refractive errors.

New insights into transcriptome variation during cattle adipocyte adipogenesis by direct RNA sequencing.

We performed direct RNA sequencing (DRS) together with PCR-amplified cDNA long and short read sequencing for cattle adipocyte at different stages. We proved that the DRS was with advantages to avoid artificial transcripts and questionable exitrons. Totally, we obtained 68,124 transcripts with information of alternative splicing, poly (A) length and mRNA modification. The number of transcripts for adipogenesis was expanded by alternative splicing, which lead regulation mechanisms far more complex than ever known. We detected 891 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). However, 62.78% transcripts of DEGs were not significantly differentially expressed, and 248 transcripts showed opposite changing directions with their genes. The poly (A) tail became globally shorter in differentiated adipocyte than in primary adipocyte, and had a weak negative correlation with gene/transcript expression. Moreover, the study of different mRNA modifications implied their potential roles in gene expression and alternative splicing. Overall, our study promoted better understanding of adipogenesis mechanisms in cattle adipocytes.

Observation of peripheral refraction in myopic anisometropia in young adults.

AIM: To investigate the differences in retinal refraction difference values (RDVs) of adult patients with myopic anisometropia compared with those without myopic anisometropia, and to investigate the relationship between ocular biometric measurements and relative peripheral refraction. METHODS: This clinical observation study included 130 patients with myopia (-0.25 to -10.00 D) between October 2022 and January 2023 aged between 18 and 40y. The patients were divided into anisometropia (n=63; difference in binocular anisometropia ≥1.00 D) and non-anisometropia (n=67; difference in binocular anisometropia <1.00 D) groups accordingly. Ocular biometric measurements were performed by optical biometrics and corneal topography to assess the steep keratometry (Ks), flap keratometry (Kf), axial length (AL), corneal astigmatism (CYL; Ks-Kf), surface regularity index (SRI), surface asymmetry index (SAI), and central corneal thickness (CCT). The RDV was measured at five retinal areas from the fovea to 53 degrees (RDV-0-10, RDV-10-20, RDV-20-30, RDV-30-40, and RDV-40-53), the total RDV (TRDV) of 53 degrees, and four regions, including RDV-superior, RDV-inferior, RDV-temporal, and RDV-nasal. An analysis of Spearman correlation was carried out to examine the correlation between RDV and the spherical equivalent (SE) and ocular biological parameters. RESULTS: Within RDV-20-53, both groups showed relative hyperopic defocus, and the increase in RDV corresponds to the increase in eccentricity. In the myopic anisometropia group, the TRDV, RDV-20-53, RDV-superior, and more myopic eyes had significantly higher RDV-temporal values than less myopic eyes. (P<0.05). In the non-anisometropia group, there was no significant difference in the RDV between the more and less myopic eyes at different eccentricities (P>0.05). There was a negative correlation between SE and TRDV (r=-0.205, P=0.001), RDV-20-53 (r=-0.281, -0.183, -0.176, P<0.05), RDV-superior (r=-0.251, P<0.001), and RDV-temporal (r=-0.230, P<0.001), a negative correlation between CYL and RDV-10-30 (r=-0.147, -0.180, P<0.05), and a negative correlation between SRI and RDV-0-20 (r=-0.190, -0.170, P<0.05). AL had a positive correlation with RDV-20-30 (r=0.164, P=0.008) and RDV-temporal (r=0.160, P=0.010). CONCLUSION: More myopic eyes in patients with myopic anisometropia show more peripheral hyperopic defocus. Diopter and corneal morphology may affect peripheral retinal defocus.

Complex q-rung orthopair fuzzy Frank aggregation operators and their application to multi-attribute decision making.

The complex q-rung orthopair fuzzy sets (Cq-ROFSs) can serve as a generalization of q-rung orthopair fuzzy sets (q-ROFSs) and complex fuzzy sets FS (CFSs). Cq-ROFSs provide more freedom for people handling uncertainty and vagueness by the truth and falsity grades on the condition that the sum of the q-powers of the real part and imaginary part is within the unit interval. Further, Frank operational laws are an extended form of Archimedes' T mode and Archimedes' S mode and Frank aggregation operators have a certain parameter which makes them more flexible and more generalized than many other aggregation operators in the process of information fusion. The objectives of this paper are to extend the Frank operations to the complex q-rung orthopair fuzzy environment and to introduce their score function and accuracy function. Meanwhile, some complex q-rung fuzzy Frank aggregation operators are developed, such as the complex q-rung orthopair fuzzy Frank weighted averaging (Cq-ROFFWA) operator, the complex q-rung orthopair fuzzy Frank weighted geometric (Cq-ROFFWG) operator, and the complex q-rung orthopair fuzzy Frank ordered weighted averaging (Cq-ROFFOWA) operator, and their special cases are discussed. In addition, an innovative MADM method is introduced according to the propounded operators to deal with multi-attribute decision-making problems under the complex q-rung orthopair fuzzy environment. Consequently, the practicability and effectiveness of the created methods are proposed by parameter exploration and comparative analysis.

Over-Expression of Two Different Isoforms of Cattle TUSC5 Showed Opposite Effects on Adipogenesis.

(1) Background: Adipogenesis is an important issue in human health and livestock meat quality that has received widespread attention and extensive study. However, alternative splicing events may generate multiple isoforms with different functions. This will lead to known knowledge being far more complex than before. (2) Methods: We studied the effects of two different TUSC5 isoforms (TUSC5A and TUSC5B) in cattle on adipogenesis by constructing over-expression cell models and RNA-sequencing methods. (3) Results: We discovered that over-expression of TUSC5A promotes the process of adipogenesis while over-expression of TUSC5B suppresses it. Eight important genes (PPARG, ACC1, FASN, SCD1, LPL, FABP4, GPDH, and GLUT4) during adipogenesis were significantly promoted (student's t-test, p < 0.05) by TUSC5A and suppressed by TUSC5B both before and after cell differentiation. By performing a comprehensive analysis using a RNA-seq strategy, we found that both up-regulated differentially expressed genes (DEGs, |log2FoldChange| ≥ 1, p ≤ 0.05) of TUSC5A and down-regulated DEGs of TUSC5B were significantly enriched in the adipogenesis related GO terms, and the PPAR signaling pathway may play important role in those differences. (4) Conclusions: Our study proved that over-expression of two TUSC5 isoforms would regulate adipogenesis in the opposite direction. It is important to understand the function of the TUSC5 gene correctly.