Prevalence and associated health and lifestyle factors of myopic maculopathy in northern China: the Kailuan eye study.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the prevalence and associated health and lifestyle factors of myopic maculopathy (MM) in a northern Chinese industrial city. METHODS: The cross-sectional Kailuan Eye Study included subjects who participated in the longitudinal Kailuan Study in 2016. Ophthalmologic and general examinations were performed on all the participants. MM was graded based on fundus photographs using the International Photographic Classification and Grading System. The prevalence of MM was evaluated. Univariate and multiple logistic regression were adopted to evaluated risk factors of MM. RESULTS: The study included 8330 participants with gradable fundus photographs for MM and ocular biometry data. The prevalence of MM was 1.11% (93/8330; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.89-1.33%). Diffuse chorioretinal atrophy, patchy chorioretinal atrophy, macular atrophy, and plus lesions were observed in 72 (0.9%), 15 (0.2%), 6 (0.007%), and 32 eyes (0.4%), respectively. MM was more common in eyes with longer axial length (OR 4.517; 95%CI 3.273 to 6.235) and in participants with hypertension (OR 3.460; 95%CI 1.152 to 10.391), and older age (OR 1.084; 95%CI 1.036 to 1.134). CONCLUSIONS: The MM was present in 1.11% of the northern Chinese individuals 21 years or older and the associate factors include longer axial length, older age, and hypertension.

Development and validation of a nomogram to predict the recurrence of eyelid sebaceous gland carcinoma.

PURPOSE: Eyelid sebaceous gland carcinoma (SGC) is a malignancy with fatal risk, high recurrence rate, and pagetoid spread. Thus, recurrence risk prediction and prompt treatment are extremely important. This study aimed to develop a nomogram to predict SGC recurrence based on potential risk factors. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study to train and test a nomogram based on the clinical data of 391 patients across our hospital (304) and other grass-roots hospitals (87). After Cox regression, predictors included in the nomogram were selected, and sensitivity, specificity, concordance index (C-index), etc., were calculated to test their discrimination ability. RESULTS: After a median follow-up period of 4.12 years, SGC recurred in 52 (17.11%) patients. The 1-, 2-, and 5-year recurrence-free survival rates were 88.3%, 85.4%, and 81.6%, respectively. We examined five risk factors, such as lymph node metastasis at initial diagnosis (hazard ratio [HR], 2.260; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.021-5.007), Ki67 (HR, 1.036; 95% CI, 1.020-1.052), histology differentiation degree (HR, 2.274; 95% CI, 1.063-4.865), conjunctival pagetoid infiltration (HR, 2.100; 95% CI, 1.0058-4.167), and orbital involvement (HR, 4.764; 95% CI, 1.436-15.803). The model had good discrimination in both internal and external test sets. The model had good discrimination in both internal and external test sets. The sensitivity of the internal test and external test set were 0.722 and 0.806, respectively, and specificity of the internal test and external test set were 0.886 and 0.893, respectively. CONCLUSION: We examined the potential risk factors for eyelid SGC recurrence and constructed a nomogram, which complements the TNM system in terms of prediction, indicating that our nomogram has the potential to reach clinical significance. This nomogram has the potential to assist healthcare practitioners in promptly detecting patients who are at an elevated risk and in tailoring clinical interventions to meet their individualized needs.

The Effects of Plasma-Activated Water Treatment on the Growth of Tartary Buckwheat Sprouts.

The aim was to investigate the effects of buckwheat sprout treated with plasma-activated water (PAW) and their quality, nutrients (protein, amino acids, fat, and carbohydrates), functional active ingredients (total flavonoids, total phenolic acids, γ-gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA), and polysaccharides), and antioxidant activity during germination. PAW had no negative effects on the germination rate, but promoted the stem growth instead, which indicated 1.12-fold higher germination rate compared with the control group. The results of sensory evaluation demonstrated that the obtained sprouts were bright green, shinning, crisp and smooth, with sufficient moisture, and easy to chew. During germination (1-9 days), the water content, amino acids, and reducing sugars of sprouts showed an increasing trend and were basically higher in the PAW group than in the control group, while protein, carbohydrate, and crude fat presented a decreasing trend. The results were that the flavonoid, phenolic acid, γ-GABA, polysaccharides content, and antioxidant activity during germination showed a gradual upward trend but with slight differences, and the antioxidant properties of buckwheat sprouts might be related to the phenolic acid and polysaccharides content. These data show that the PAW treatment on buckwheat sprout have great potential as a dietary source of antioxidant function with health benefits.

Biochemical Fulvic Acid Modification for Phosphate Crystal Inhibition in Water and Fertilizer Integration.

Biochemical fulvic acid (BFA), produced by organic wastes composting, is the complex organic matter with various functional groups. A novel modified biochemical fulvic acid (MBFA) which possessed stronger chelating ability had been synthesized by the grafting copolymerization of BFA and acrylic acid (AA). Results showed that MBFA effectively inhibited the crystallization of calcium phosphate and increased the concentration of phosphate in water solution. The optimum reaction conditions optimized by Box-Behnken design and response surface methodology were reaction temperature 69.24 °C, the mass of monomer to fulvic acid ratio 0.713, the initiator dosage 19.78%, and phosphate crystal-inhibition extent was 96.89%. IR spectra demonstrated AA was grafted onto BFA. XRD data and SEM images appeared the formation and growth of calcium phosphate crystals was effectively inhibited by MBFA.

Polymorphisms of four candidate genes and their correlations with growth traits in blue fox (Alopex lagopus).

To improve the accuracy and genetic progress of blue fox breeding, the relationships between genetic polymorphisms and growth and reproductive traits of the blue fox were investigated. MC4R, MC3R, INHA and INHBA were selected as candidate genes for molecular evolution and statistical analyses. Single-factor variance analyses showed that the MC4R (g.267C > T, g.423C > T, and g.731C > A) and MC3R (g.677C > T) genotypes had significant impacts on body weight, chest circumference, abdominal perimeter and body mass index (BMI) (P < 0.05) in blue fox. The MC4R and MC3R combined genotypes had significant effects on the body weight and abdominal circumference. The different genotypes of INHA g.75G > A had significant effects on female fecundity, whereas the different genotypes of INHBA g.404G > T and g.467G > T and the INHA and INHBA combined genotypes had significant effects on male fecundity. The proteins encoded by the open reading frames (ORFs) of different polymorphic loci were predicted and analysed. The aims of this study were to identify genetic markers related to growth and reproduction in the blue fox and to provide an efficient, economical and accurate theoretical approach for auxiliary fox breeding.