New exploration of ions and fatty acids in hydrophilic acrylic intraocular lens calcification.

PURPOSE: To conduct a new exploration and analysis of the ion and fatty acid levels of a medium in which calcified hydrophilic intraocular lenses (IOLs) are present. SETTING: Qingdao Eye Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, Qingdao, China. DESIGN: Retrospective, laboratory observational case series. METHODS: 11 patients (11 eyes) who had implantation of foldable hydrophilic acrylic posterior IOLs were found to have opacification of the IOLs. In vivo and in vitro analyses included the evaluation of patients' clinical characteristics, microscopy, histological staining, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), the ion level of the aqueous humor (AH) and preserving fluid (PF), and the fatty acid content of AH. RESULTS: 10 of 11 cases were female with unilateral opacification, and 7 cases had both-eye cataract surgery, including 1 first eye and 6 second eyes with IOL opacification. 4 types of similar serial numbers were counted. The analysis of AH showed that the concentrations of phosphorus and silicon were elevated but that of calcium decreased, and an increased level of silicon was detected in 3 random PFs. The palmitic (C16:0) and stearic (C18:0) fatty acids were higher than the others in the AH. The EDS confirmed that the IOL surface deposits were composed of calcium, phosphate, and a small amount of silicon. CONCLUSIONS: More silicon and higher C16:0 and C18:0 were found in the AH of patients with IOL opacification. New ideas and avenues have been proposed in the study of IOL opacification.

Macular toxicity of low-concentration cefuroxime during cataract surgery in vitrectomized eyes.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine the toxic effect and clinical characteristics of 1 mg/ml cefuroxime sodium on retinas after phacoemulsification in vitrectomized eyes. METHODS: Cataract patients with vitrectomized eyes were studied retrospectively. Phacoemulsification combined with intraocular lens implantation was performed uneventfully. Best Corrected Visual Acuity（BCVA）, intraocular pressure（IOP）, fundus photography, macular central thickness, and angiography were collected and analyzed. They were studied in patients with macular edema to evaluate macular toxicity. RESULTS: 92 cases (92 eyes) were enrolled, including 44 eyes of males and 48 eyes of females with an average age of 55.35 ± 12.32 years. Univariate analysis showed that the intraoperative use of balanced salt solution (BSS) containing 1 mg/ml cefuroxime sodium compound electrolyte and macular involvement in primary vitrectomy were important risk factors for macular edema on the first day after cataract surgery (P < 0.05). In addition, the characteristics of this kind of macular edema were studied; the thickness of macular fovea was significantly high at 1-day follow-up (P < 0.05), but there was no difference between pre-operation and 1-week post-operation (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Low-concentration cefuroxime sodium can cause acute macular edema in vitrectomized eyes, which can heal within one week after surgery.

Distance correlation application to gene co-expression network analysis.

BACKGROUND: To construct gene co-expression networks, it is necessary to evaluate the correlation between different gene expression profiles. However, commonly used correlation metrics, including both linear (such as Pearson's correlation) and monotonic (such as Spearman's correlation) dependence metrics, are not enough to observe the nature of real biological systems. Hence, introducing a more informative correlation metric when constructing gene co-expression networks is still an interesting topic. RESULTS: In this paper, we test distance correlation, a correlation metric integrating both linear and non-linear dependence, with other three typical metrics (Pearson's correlation, Spearman's correlation, and maximal information coefficient) on four different arrays (macrophage and liver) and RNA-seq (cervical cancer and pancreatic cancer) datasets. Among all the metrics, distance correlation is distribution free and can provide better performance on complex relationships and anti-outlier. Furthermore, distance correlation is applied to Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis (WGCNA) for constructing a gene co-expression network analysis method which we named Distance Correlation-based Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis (DC-WGCNA). Compared with traditional WGCNA, DC-WGCNA can enhance the result of enrichment analysis and improve the module stability. CONCLUSIONS: Distance correlation is better at revealing complex biological relationships between gene profiles compared with other correlation metrics, which contribute to more meaningful modules when analyzing gene co-expression networks. However, due to the high time complexity of distance correlation, the implementation requires more computer memory.

Long-term outcomes of "open iridectomy" for secondary anterior chamber epithelial iris cysts.

Epithelial cysts run a high risk of recurrence and conversion to sheet-like ingrowth after surgical intervention. In this retrospective study, we introduced a modified iridectomy for treatment of secondary epithelial iris cysts (EICs) in the anterior chamber. Twenty-nine patients (29 eyes) aged 2-61 years received "open iridectomy" for EICs between April 1995 and July 2019. After viscodissection, most of the cyst wall was cut using a 20-gauge aspiration cutter via a 2.5-mm clear corneal incision. The residue closely adhering to the iris stroma was remained to avoid photophobia and diplopia. At 3 months, best corrected visual acuity was ≥ 20/100 in 55.5% (15/27, except two pediatric patients with poor cooperation) of patients. Among the eight patients suffering partial corneal edema preoperatively, six patients received surgery treatment at 3-6.5 months, and the cornea in the other two patients became transparent after medication. In a mean follow-up of 47.4 months, recurrence occurred in 3 patients at 7, 37, and 118 months, respectively. The percentage of treatment success was 96%, 87%, and 65% at 1, 5, and 10 years, respectively. "Open iridectomy" was effective for EICs, with a minimal invasion, less damage to the corneal endothelium, and a low recurrence rate.

S-1 plus cisplatin as first-line treatment of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer in Taiwan.

AIM: S-1 combined with cisplatin is known to be noninferior to taxanes plus platinum as the first-line treatment for patients with advanced nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the Japanese population. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety profiles of oral S-1 plus cisplatin (SP) in Taiwanese patients. METHODS: Patients with previously untreated stage IIIB or IV NSCLC were prospectively recruited to receive 40-60 mg of S-1 twice daily on days 1-21 plus 60 mg/m2 of cisplatin on day 8 in a 5-week cycle for up to six cycles. RESULTS: A total of 55 patients from five cancer centers in Taiwan were enrolled. Among the 46 evaluable patients, those administered with SP achieved disease control rate of 69.6% (partial response, 19.6%; stable disease, 50.0%), with median overall survival and progression-free survival (PFS) of 15.1 and 5.7 months, respectively. Moreover, a better survival trend was observed in epidermal growth factor receptor mutation-positive patients versus mutation-negative patients treated with SP (PFS, 8.6 vs 5.6 months). The most commonly observed treatment-related adverse events (AEs) were nausea (41.8%), followed by decreased appetite, anemia, and diarrhea. Grade of ≥3 AEs related to the study treatment occurred in 11 patients (20.0%). No febrile neutropenia or treatment-related death was found in this study. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that SP is an effective and safe first-line regimen for Taiwanese patients with advanced NSCLC.

Aging effects on the stabilisation and reactivity of iron-based nanoparticles green synthesised using aqueous extracts of Eichhornia crassipes.

Aging effects play a crucial role in determining applications of green-synthesised iron-based nanoparticles in wastewater treatment from laboratory scale to practical applications. In this study, iron-based nanoparticles (Ec-Fe-NPs) were synthesised using the extract of Eichhornia crassipes and ferric chloride. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that the fresh Ec-Fe-NPs were spherical and had a narrow particle size range (50 to 80 nm). X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) demonstrated that the Ec-Fe-NPs were mainly amorphous in nature and consisted of Fe0, FeO, Fe2O3 and Fe3O4. As they aged, the particle size of the liquid Ec-Fe-NPs gradually increased and then tended to stabilise. Ec-Fe-NPs that were aged for 28 days were only 19% less efficient than fresh material at removing Cr(VI). Extracts aged up to 28 days were also tested, and their antioxidant capacity was found to be 15.4% lower than that of the fresh extracts. Furthermore, the removal efficiency of Cr(VI) using iron-based nanoparticles synthesised with the aged extracts was 67.2%. Finally, the active components of the extracts, which were responsible for the reactivity and stability of the iron-based nanoparticles, were identified by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Overall, green-synthesised iron-based nanoparticles show promise for Cr(VI) removal from wastewater in practical applications.