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Abstract Insulin has been shown to modulate neuronal processes through insulin receptors. The ion channels located on neurons may be important targets for insulin/insulin receptor signaling. Both insulin receptors and acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) are expressed in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons. However, it is still unclear whether there is an interaction between them. Therefore, the purpose of this investigation was to determine the effects of insulin on the functional activity of ASICs. A 5 min application of insulin rapidly enhanced acid-evoked ASIC currents in rat DRG neurons in a concentration-dependent manner. Insulin shifted the concentration–response plot for ASIC currents upward, with an increase of 46.2 ± 7.6% in the maximal current response. The insulin-induced increase in ASIC currents was eliminated by the insulin receptor antagonist GSK1838705, the tyrosine kinase inhibitor lavendustin A, and the phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase antagonist wortmannin. Moreover, insulin increased the number of acid-triggered action potentials by activating insulin receptors. Finally, local administration of insulin exacerbated the spontaneous nociceptive behaviors induced by intraplantar acid injection and the mechanical hyperalgesia induced by intramuscular acid injections through peripheral insulin receptors. These results suggested that insulin/insulin receptor signaling enhanced the functional activity of ASICs via tyrosine kinase and phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase pathways. Our findings revealed that ASICs were targets in primary sensory neurons for insulin receptor signaling, which may underlie insulin modulation of pain.

IntroductionThe pattern of extraocular muscle involvement in ocular myasthenia gravis varies across different reports, diverging from our own observations. Thus, we employed two novel tools to discern this pattern.MethodsA retrospective analysis was conducted to collect and organize clinical data from 43 patients diagnosed with ocular myasthenia gravis. Each patient underwent both the computerized diplopia test and the Ocular Motor Nerve Palsy Scale assessment to evaluate the involvement of extraocular muscles.ResultsAmong the patients, there were 30 male and 13 female individuals, with a total of 113 affected extraocular muscles identified. Among all the affected extraocular muscles, the involvement of the levator palpebrae superioris muscle accounted for 35.40%, medial rectus muscle 7.7%, lateral rectus muscle 16.81%, superior rectus muscle 13.27%, inferior rectus muscle 12.39%, superior oblique muscle 1.77%, and inferior oblique muscle 2.65% of the total affected extraocular muscles. The positivity rates of the Neostigmine test were 89.19%, AChR antibody detection was 59.38%, and repetitive nerve stimulation was 34.38%. The AChR antibody positive rate among patients with only diplopia was 100%; among those with only ptosis, it was 80%; and among those with both diplopia and ptosis, it was 86.67%.ConclusionThe involvement of the extraocular muscles is not uniform. The levator palpebrae superioris exhibits the highest incidence rate, followed by the four rectus muscles and two oblique muscles. The inferior oblique involvement typically occurs when four or more EOMs are affected. Moreover, the levator palpebrae superioris and medial rectus show a higher tendency for bilateral involvement compared with other extraocular muscles.

Among refractive errors, astigmatism is the most common optical aberration, where refraction changes in different meridians of the eye. It causes blurred vision at any distance and includes corneal, lenticular, and retinal astigmatism. Cataract surgery used to cause a progressive increase in the pre-exisiting corneal astigmatism because of creating a surgically induced astigmatism, for example, a large size surgery incision. The development of surgical techniques during last decades has made cataract surgery interchange to treat preoperative corneal astigmatism at time of surgery. Nowadays, three surgical approaches can be used. By placing a sutureless clear corneal incision on the steep meridian of the cornea, a preoperative corneal astigmatism less than 1.0 D can be corrected. Single or paired peripheral corneal relaxing incisions (PCRIs) provide 1.0-3.0 D corneal astigmatism correction. PCRIs are typically used for treating 1.0-1.5 D of regular corneal astigmatism, if more than 2.0 D, the risk of overcorrection and irregular astigmatism is increased. When toric intraocular lenses (IOLs) are unavailable in markets, PCRIs are still a reasonable option for patients with up to 3.0 D of pre-existing corneal astigmatism. Toric IOLs implantation can correct 1.0-4.5 D of corneal astigmatism. Several IOLs are approved to correct a high degree of corneal astigmatism with cylinder power up to 12.0 D. These approaches can be used alone or in combination.

Abstract The development of stimuli‐responsive circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) materials is quite attractive but challenging. Here, a pair of atomically precise enantiomers R/S‐Ag20 nanoclusters has been synthesized using chiral acid ligands. And then, stimuli‐responsive CPL materials were developed by assembling the chiral silver nanoclusters with an achiral bridging ligand. The atomically precise silver cluster‐assembled materials produce CPL with a dissymmetry factor (|glum|) of 1 × 10−3, through the high‐efficiency chiral induction process. More interestingly, the single CPL band at room temperature could quickly transform into highly separated dual CPL emissions at low temperature. This study provides a new strategy for the rational functionalization of chiral silver clusters in preparing cluster‐based CPL emitters and enriches the types of stimuli‐responsive CPL materials.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the most important food crops in China, and saline-alkali stress significantly affects the growth and development of rice. In this study, growth parameters were measured, and a metabolomics analysis technique was used to analyze differentially expressed metabolites in rice seedlings in response to saline-alkali stress. The results showed that growth, relative growth rate, and biomass of rice seedlings significantly decreased under saline-alkali stress. A total of 41 metabolites (16 up-regulated and 25 down-regulated) were significantly changed in leaves of rice seedlings under saline-alkali stress. There were 36 metabolic pathways associated with saline-alkali stress, of which starch and sucrose metabolism, glyoxylate and dicarboxylic metabolism, tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA cycle), alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism, and pentose phosphate pathway were the most highly correlated. This study found that saline-alkali stress significantly reduced carbohydrate metabolism, respiratory metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and organic acid synthesis, while the increased amino acids may be the key metabolites for rice seedlings to adapt to saline-alkali stress. Our results provide new ideas for studying the metabolic mechanism of saline-alkali tolerance of rice seedlings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]