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PURPOSE: To examine if myopia is a risk factor for agerelated cataract. DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS: A systematic review of the literature was performed using PubMed and Embase from their inception to March 2013 for population-based studies with data on myopia and age-related cataract, including nuclear, cortical, and posterior subcapsular (PSC) cataract. Separate meta-analyses for case-control/crosssectional studies and cohort studies were conducted using random-effects models, with results reported as adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and relative risks (RRs), respectively. RESULTS: A total of 38 007 subjects aged 30-97 years from 12 population-based studies were included in the meta-analysis. Meta-analysis of the 7 cross-sectional studies and 1 case-control study confirmed that myopia was associated with increasingly prevalent nuclear (pooled OR 2.81, 95% CI 1.94-4.06) and PSC cataract (pooled OR 1.93, 95% CI 1.49-2.49) but not with cortical cataract (pooled OR 1.08, 95% CI 0.90-1.30). Meta-analysis from 3 or 4 cohort studies showed nonsignificant associations of myopia with incident nuclear (pooled RR 1.25, 95% CI 0.71-2.21), cortical (pooled RR 1.21, 95% CI 0.67-2.19), and PSC cataract (pooled RR 1.26, 95% CI 0.92-1.74). CONCLUSIONS: The associations of myopia with prevalent nuclear and PSC cataract are confirmed in metaanalysis of 8 study findings. The association of myopia with incidence of age-related cataract could not be confirmed in meta-analysis of 4 study findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For improving the comprehensive performance of the cadmium coating, titanium ions were added into the pure cadmium plating solution, and the electrodeposition method was adopted to prepare the coating to improve the compactness and corrosion resistance of the non - cyanide electroplated cadmium coating. Field emission electron scanning microscope (FESEM) was utilized to observe the surface and cross - sectional microstructure of the coating and analyze the internal stress of the coating. X - ray diffractometer (XRD) was employed to investigate the phase composition and grain size of the coating. Moreover, an electrochemical workstation was used to study the corrosion resistance of the coating. Results showed that after adding titanium ions into the non - cyanide cadmium plating solution, the grain size of the coating decreased from 44.6 nm to 16.5 nm; the self - corrosion potential increased from -0.232 V to 0.089 V; the self - corrosion current density decreased from 3.56 mA/dm2 to 2.58 mA/dm2; within 5 000 s, the hydrogen permeation current density decreased to 8.6 μA/cm2 in case of a pure cadmium coating, while such value was only 3.2 μA/cm2 in case of a cadmium coating containing titanium ions, which indicated a much larger reduction rate. In general, the addition of titanium ions made the crystallization of the coating more detailed, enhanced the corrosion resistance of the coating, and improved the hydrogen - blocking ability of the coating.

Objectives: Tea has long been hypothesized to possess hypotensive effects. However, there is uncertainty regarding the association of tea consumption with arterial blood pressure (BP). We aimed to examine the association between tea consumption and BP components including systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP)., Design: Community-based, cross-sectional study of Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China., Setting: Tea consumption has protective influence on BP and presence of hypertension., Participants: 4579 older adults aged 60 years or older from the Weitang Geriatric Diseases study., Measurements: Detailed information regarding tea consumption was collected using a pre-designed questionnaire. BP components were measured at least 3 times with a minimum 5-minute interval, by well-trained research nurses., Methods: Data of 4579 older adults (response rate: 82%) aged 60 years or older from the Weitang Geriatric Diseases study were included in the analysis and we estimated the relationship of tea consumption and BP using linear regression models and the association between tea consumption and risk of hypertension using logistic regression models., Results: In linear regression models, higher tea consumption frequency was found to be associated with lower systolic BP values, after adjusting for the effect of age, sex, education level, lifestyle-related factors, and cardiometabolic confounding factors in overall (coefficient =-1.49, P=0.0003), normotensive (coefficient =-0.91, P=0.017) and participants without anti-hypertensive treatment (coefficient =-1.26, P=0.027). Significant inverse association between diastolic BP and frequency of tea consumption was also observed in the overall subjects (coefficient =-0.74, P=0.003). In multivariate logistic analyses, habitual tea drinking was inversely associated with presence of hypertension [odds ratio (OR)=0.79, P=0.011] , and there was a progressive reduction in risk associated with higher frequency of tea consumption (P for trend=0.011)., Conclusion: Habitual tea consumption was found to be associated with lower values of components of BP and a reduced likelihood of having hypertension in older adults. Given the widespread consumption of tea throughout China and the world, together with the major cardiovascular disease risk, our findings have important implications for human health., Competing Interests: No