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AIM: To evaluate the relationship of overweight and obesity with retinal and choroidal thickness in adults without ocular symptoms by swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT). METHODS: According to the body mass index (BMI) results, the adults enrolled in the cross-sectional study were divided into the normal group (18.50≤BMI

AIM: To assess the retinal thickness and fundus blood flow density changes in chest pain patients with dyslipidemia using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). METHODS: All subjects with chest pain as the main symptom accepted a comprehensive ophthalmological examination. According to the serum lipid levels, the participants were divided into the control group and the dyslipidemia group. The retina thickness and fundus blood flow density were determined using OCTA. RESULTS: The study enrolled 87 left eyes from 87 adults with dyslipidemia and 87 left eyes from age- and sex-matched participants without dyslipidemia. The retina of dyslipidemia subjects was significantly thinner than that of the controls in the inferior (P=0.004 and P=0.014, respectively) and temporal (P=0.015 and P=0.019, respectively) regions, both inner and outer layers. In terms of blood flow density in the macula or optic disk, there was a decreasing trend in the dyslipidemia group compared with the control group, especially in the inferior and temporal regions. CONCLUSION: Dyslipidemia may contribute to the decrease in retinal thickness and fundus blood flow density. Further validation of the association between abnormal lipid metabolism and fundus microcirculation alterations needs to be carried out in chest pain patients.

Abstract Background mRNA became a promising therapeutic approach in many diseases. This study aimed to identify the tumor antigens specifically expressed in tumor cells for lower-grade glioma (LGG) and glioblastoma (GBM) patients. Methods In this work, the mRNA microarray expression profile and clinical data were obtained from 301 samples in the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA) database, the mRNA sequencing data and clinical data of 701 samples were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Genetic alterations profiles were extracted from CGGA and cBioPortal datasets. R language and GraphPad Prism software were applied for the statistical analysis and graph work. Results PTBP1 and SLC39A1, which were overexpressed and indicated poor prognosis in LGG patients, were selected as tumor-specific antigens for LGG patients. Meanwhile, MMP9 and SLC16A3, the negative prognostic factors overexpressed in GBM, were identified as tumor-specific antigens for GBM patients. Besides, three immune subtypes (LGG1-LGG3) and eight WGCNA modules were identified in LGG patients. Meanwhile, two immune subtypes (GBM1–GBM2) and 10 WGCNA modules were selected in GBM. The immune characteristics and potential functions between different subtypes were diversity. LGG2 and GBM1 immune subtype were associated with longer overall survival than other subtypes. Conclusion In this study, PTBP1 and SLC39A1 are promising antigens for mRNA vaccines development in LGG, and MMP9 and SLC16A3 were potential antigens in GBM. Our analyses indicated that mRNA vaccine immunotherapy was more suitable for LGG2 and GBM1 subtypes. This study was helpful for the development of glioma immunotherapies.

ObjectiveAstrocytes constitute approximately 30% of cells in gliomas and play important roles in synapse construction and survival. Recently, JAK/STAT pathway activation associated with a new type of astrocyte was reported. However, the implications of these tumor-associated reactive astrocytes (TARAs) in glioma are not known.MethodsWe comprehensively assessed TARAs in gliomas, both in single cells and at the bulk tumor level, by analyzing five independent datasets. First, we analyzed two single-cell RNA sequencing datasets of 35,563 cells from 23 patients to estimate the infiltration level of TARAs in gliomas. Second, we collected clinical information and genomic and transcriptomic data of 1,379 diffuse astrocytoma and glioblastoma samples from the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA) and The Cancer Genome Atlas datasets to evaluate the genomic, transcriptomic and clinical characteristics of TARA infiltration. Third, we downloaded expression profiles of recurrent glioblastoma samples from patients receiving PD-1 inhibitors to analyze the predictive value of TARAs for immune checkpoint inhibition.ResultsSingle-cell RNA sequencing data showed TARAs were abundant in the glioma micro-environment (15.7% in the CGGA dataset and 9.1% in the Gene Expression Omnibus GSE141383 dataset, respectively). Bulk tumor sequencing data showed that the extent of TARA infiltration was highly associated with major clinical and molecular features of astrocytic gliomas. Patients with more TARA infiltration were more likely to have MUC16, FLG, and PICK3A mutations, chromosome 9p21.3, 10q23.3, and 13q14.2 deletions and 7p11.2 amplification. Gene Ontology analysis revealed that the high level of astrocyte infiltration was characterized by immune and oncogenic pathways, such as the inflammatory response, positive regulation of the JAK–STAT cascade, positive regulation of NIK/NF-kappa B signaling and the tumor necrosis factor biosynthetic process. Patients with greater TARA infiltration showed inferior prognosis. Meanwhile, the extent of reactive astrocyte infiltration exhibited a predictive value for recurrent glioblastoma patients undergoing anti-PD-1 immune therapy.ConclusionTARA infiltration might promote glioma tumor progression and can be used as a diagnostic, predictive and prognostic marker in gliomas. Prevention of TARA infiltration might be a new therapeutic strategy for glioma.

Transcriptomic data derived from bulk sequencing have been applied to delineate the tumor microenvironment (TME) and define immune subtypes in various cancers, which may facilitate the design of immunotherapy treatment strategies. We herein gathered published gene expression data from diffuse lower‐grade glioma (LGG) patients to identify immune subtypes. Based on the immune gene profiles of 402 LGG patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas, we performed consensus clustering to determine robust clusters of patients, and evaluated their reproducibility in three Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas cohorts. We further integrated immunogenomics methods to characterize the immune environment of each subtype. Our analysis identified and validated three immune subtypes—Im1, Im2, and Im3—characterized by differences in lymphocyte signatures, somatic DNA alterations, and clinical outcomes. Im1 had a higher infiltration of CD8+ T cells, Th17, and mast cells. Im2 was defined by elevated cytolytic activity, exhausted CD8+ T cells, macrophages, higher levels of aneuploidy, and tumor mutation burden, and these patients had worst outcome. Im3 displayed more prominent T helper cell and APC coinhibition signatures, with elevated pDCs and macrophages. Each subtype was associated with distinct somatic alterations. Moreover, we applied graph structure learning‐based dimensionality reduction to the immune landscape and revealed significant intracluster heterogeneity with Im2 subtype. Finally, we developed and validated an immune signature with better performance of prognosis prediction. Our results demonstrated the immunological heterogeneity within diffuse LGG and provided valuable stratification for the design of future immunotherapy.

AIM: To explore the clinical efficacy of the T-hook pre-chopping combined with capsule fine treatment technology for patients with high myopia and cataract.METHODS: From March 2016 to February 2019, 56 cases(80 eyes)of cataract patients with high myopia were treated in cataract department of Hebei Province Eye Hospital. They were randomly divided into A and B groups, 40 eyes in each group. Group A underwent T-hook pre-chopping combined with fine capsular treatment. Cataract phacoemulsification combined with intraocular lens implantation was purely performed in group B. We compared the cumulative release energy of ultrasound during operation between the two groups. We also observed the best corrected visual acuity(BCVA), the amount of contraction of the anterior capsule, the degree of posterior capsule opacification, intraocular lens neutrality and complications for more than 6mo.RESULTS: The cumulative release energy of ultrasound in group A was less than that in group B(12.23±3.61 vs 20.46±4.61, PZ=5.328, P=0.002). The changes of anterior capsular contraction and intraocular lens decentration(0.18±0.14, 0.02±0.007mm)were less than those of group B(0.82±0.23, 0.65±0.240mm)(PCONCLUSION: We used T-hook pre-chopping combined with capsule fine treatment technology to treat cataract with high myopia, which could reduce the use of ultrasound energy during operation, reduce the risk of posterior capsule rupture, effectively avoid the occurrence of posterior cataract, and achieve satisfactory clinical effect.

AIM: To investigate the effect of fine capsule treatment on the visual quality of diffractive multifocal intraocular lens.METHODS: Ninety-eight patients(120 eyes)with DMIOL implanted in cataract Department of Hebei Eye Hospital from March 2017 to April 2018. They were randomly divided into A group and B group. 60 eyes in each group. Group A patients were treated with anterior and posterior capsular polishing and posterior continuous circular capsulorhexis, while in B group the fine capsule treatment was not performed. The UCDVA, UCIVA, UCNVA, visual quality, intraocular lens neutrality and PCO incidence were compared 6mo after operation.RESULTS: At 6mo after operation, UCDVA, UCIVA and UCNVA in group A were superior to those in group B. The difference was statistically significant(PPCONCLUSION: In order to enhance the stability of IOL and maintain the long-term transparency of the optic axis, we performed fine polishing of the anterior and posterior capsule and continuous circular capsulorhexis of the posterior capsule. These could improve the visual quality and satisfaction of patients after surgery.

AIM: To investigate the effect of LECs removal on the stability of lens capsule bag in patients with high myopia.METHODS: From March 2018 to April 2019, 98 cases(120 eyes)of cataract patients with high myopia were treated in Cataract Department of Hebei Province Eye Hospital. They were divided into two groups according to whether the LECs were removed during the operation. In group A, the anterior and posterior capsule were polished in 50 cases(60 eyes), while in group B, 48 cases(60 eyes)were not polished. During the follow-up period we used anterior segment OCT to detect the change of effective intraocular lens position(ELP), the eccentricity of intraocular lens(IOL)and the reduction of anterior capsule opening in the two groups, and used slit lamp to observe the occurrence and degree of PCO.RESULTS: We compared the changes of ELP(0.16±0.06mm vs 0.55±0.07mm)and the changes of contraction of anterior capsule(0.18 ± 0.16mm vs 0.92 ± 0.13mm)on the first day and three months after operation. Three months after operation, we compared the IOL eccentricity of the two groups(0.02±0.005mm vs 0.69±0.23mm). There were differences between the two groups(PZ=-4.765, PCONCLUSION: The removal of LECs could reduce the contraction of anterior capsule, decrease the change of ELP and enhance the stability of bag IOL complex, which played a good role in reducing PCO.

Idiopathic macular hole(IMH)refers to full thickness defect of retinal neurepithelium layer in macular area with unclear reasons. Early IMH can be observed. Vitrectomy combined with internal limiting membrane(ILM)peeling is a conventional method for treating IMH. The continuous improvement and innovation of ILM surgery contribute greatly to the diversity and maturation of IMH treatment. At present, the pharmacological vitreolysis and pneumatic vitreplysis have gradual progress in the prevention and treatment of IMH. In this article we review the current management of IMH.

(1) Background: Microwave ablation (MWA) is a common tumor ablation surgery. Because of the high temperature of the ablation antenna, it is strongly destructive to surrounding vital tissues, resulting in high professional requirements for clinicians. The method used to carry out temperature observation and damage prediction in MWA is significant; (2) Methods: This work employs numerical study to explore temperature distribution of typical tissues in MWA. Firstly, clinical MWA based on isolated biological tissue is implemented. Then, the Pennes models and microwave radiation physics are established based on experimental parameters and existing related research. Initial values and boundary conditions are adjusted to better meet the real clinical materials and experimental conditions. Finally, clinical MWA data test this model. On the premise that the model is matched with clinical MWA, fat and bone are deduced for further heat transfer analysis. (3) Results: Numerical study obtains the temperature distribution of biological tissue in MWA. It observes the heat transfer law of ablation antenna in biological tissue. Additionally, combined with temperature threshold, it generates thermal damage of biological tissues and predicts the possible risks in MWA; (4) Conclusions: This work proposes a numerical study of typical biological tissues. It provides a new theoretical basis for clinically thermal ablation surgery.

Background: Immunotherapy provided unprecedented advances in the treatment of several previously untreated cancers. However, these immunomodulatory maneuvers showed limited response to patients with glioma in clinical trials. Our aim was to depict the immune characteristics of glioma with immune cytolytic activity at genetic and transcriptome levels.Methods: In total, 325 gliomas from CGGA dataset as training cohort and 699 gliomas from TCGA dataset as validation cohort were enrolled in our analysis. We calculated the immune cytolytic activity for 1,000 of gliomas. The characteristics of immune cytolytic activity in gliomas were interpreted by the corresponding clinical, molecular genetics and radiological information.Results: We found that immune cytolytic activity was highly associated with molecular, clinical, and edema extent. High cytolytic activity gliomas were more likely to be diagnosed as glioblastoma and might be a potential marker of mesenchymal subtype. Moreover, those gliomas exhibited significantly increased copy number alterations including recurrent focal amplifications of PDGFA and EGFR, as well as recurrent deletions of CDKN2A/B. Subsequent biological function analysis revealed that the immune response and immune checkpoints expression were significantly correlated with the cytolytic activity of gliomas. Immune cytolytic activity was significantly positively associated with the extent of peri-tumor edema and was independently correlated with reduced survival time.Conclusion: Our results highlighted the immunoregulatory mechanism heterogeneity of gliomas. Cytolytic activity, indirectly reflected by the extent of peri-tumor edema, may provide a potential index to evaluate the status of immune microenvironment and immune checkpoints in glioma, which should be fully valued for precision classification and immunotherapy.

Background: Gliomas are aggressive tumors with various molecular and clinical characteristics and exhibit strongly resistance to radio-chemotherapy. Programmed cell death 1 ligand 2 (PD-L2) is a cell surface protein, which was reported in many cancers, modulating cancer-associated immune responses, while the role of PD-L2 in gliomas remained unclear. Herein, we aimed to investigate the biological behaviors and clinical prognostic values of PD-L2 in gliomas. Methods: Totally, we enrolled RNA sequencing data of 325 glioma samples from Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA) as training cohort and RNA expression data of 1032 samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset as validation cohort in this research. Then, the clinical and molecular characteristics, and the prognostic value of PD-L2 were analyzed. Results: We found that PD-L2 expression level was significantly upregulated in higher grade glioma and IDH wild-type glioma. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis revealed that PD-L2 was a potential indicator of mesenchymal subtype. PD-L2 exhibited tight relationship with immune response and immune-modulating process in glioma. Moreover, PD-L2 expression level could predict unfavorable prognoses of patients independent of age, grade, IDH status and 1p/19q status. Conclusions: Our study revealed that PD-L2 was closely related with inflammation and immune response. Patients with lower PD-L2 expression level tended to experience improved survival. Targeting PD-L2 may become a valuable approach for the treatment of gliomas in clinical practice.

Objective: Aerobic vaginitis (AV) is a recently proposed term for genital tract infection in women. The diagnosis of AV is mainly based on descriptive diagnostic criteria proposed by Donders and co-workers. The objective of this study is to report AV prevalence in southwest China using an objective assay kit based on preformed enzymes and also to determine its characteristics. Materials and methods: A total of 1948 outpatients were enrolled and tested by a commercial diagnostic kit to investigate the AV prevalence and characteristics in southwestern China. The study mainly examined the vaginal ecosystem, age distribution, Lactobacillus amount, and changes in pH. Differences within groups were analyzed by Wilcoxon two-sample test. Results: The AV detection rate is 15.40%. The AV patients were usually seen in the sexually active age group of 20–30 years, followed by those in the age group of 30–40 years. The vaginal ecosystems of all the patients studied were absolutely abnormal, and diagnosed to have a combined infection [aerobic vaginitis (AV) + bacterial vaginitis (BV) 61.33%; 184/300]. Aerobic bacteria, especially Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, were predominantly found in the vaginal samples of these women. Conclusion: AV is a common type of genital infection in southwestern China and is characterized by sexually active age and combined infection predominated by the AV and BV type.

A real-time RT-PCR assay using TaqMan-MGB probes was developed to detect and type the bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) in cattle. Universal primers and TaqMan-MGB probes were designed from the 5′-untranslated region of known pestiviral sequences. Prior to optimizing the assay, cRNAs were transcribed in vitro from the BVDV 1 and BVDV 2 RT-PCR products to make standard curves. The detection limit of the assay was 1.72×102 copies for BVDV 1 and 2.14×102 copies for BVDV 2. The specificity of the assay evaluated on several BVDV strains including bovine herpesvirus 1 (BHV 1), foot and mouth disease virus (FMDV) and several classical swine fever virus (CSFV) strains showed specific detection of the positive virus over 40 cycles. The assay was highly reproducible with the coefficient of variance ranging from 1.04 to 1.33% for BVDV 1 and from 0.83 to 1.48% for BVDV 2, respectively. Using this method, we tested a total of 2 327 cattle from three dairy farms for the presence of BVDV persistently infected (PI) animals. In this assay, each RT-PCR template contained a mixture of ten samples from different animals. The occurrence rate of PI cattle in three farms ranging from 0.9 to 2.54% could represent partly the PI rates in cattle farm in China. In conclusion, using our real-time PCR assay, we could effectively detect and type BVDV and identify PI cattle in a rapid and cost-effective manner.

To investigate the dynamic change of heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) in the genesis and development of tumor, we successfully established tumor animal model using Marek's disease and then determined the location of Hsp90 in the tumor tissue using immunohistochemistry method, the antibody titer level of Hsp90 in the serum and the expression level in the tissue using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. Our result showed that Hsp90 location in the tumor tissue was significantly associated with the tumor cell and most in the cytoplasm of the tumor cell, and Hsp90 expression level in the tissue and the antibody titer level in the serum was most significantly increased with the development of tumor. This is the first report to show the presence of Hsp90 in tumor tissues induced by the Marek's disease, with its expression correlated to the tumoral grading. These data may also be valuable for developing new molecular anti-cancer therapies.

As the air flow control system has the characteristics of delay and uncertainty, this research designed and achieved a practical air flow control system by using the hydrodynamic theory and the modern control theory. Firstly, the mathematical model of the air flow distribution of the system is analyzed from the hydrodynamics perspective. Then the model of the system is transformed into a lumped parameter state space expression by using the Galerkin method. Finally, the air flow is distributed more evenly through the estimation of the system state and optimal control. The simulation results show that this algorithm has good robustness and anti-interference ability

Modern grylloblattids are one of the least diverse of the modern insect orders. The thorax changes in morphology might be associated with the changes of the function of the forelegs, wing loss, changes in behavior and adaptation to habitat. As temperature is the main barrier for migration of modern grylloblattids, the range of each species is extremely limited. The potential distribution areas of grylloblattids remain unclear. A second new species of ice crawlers (Insecta: Grylloblattodea), Grylloblattella cheni Bai, Wang et Yang sp. nov., is described from China. The distribution map and key to species of Grylloblattella are given. A comparison of the thorax of extant and extinct Grylloblattodea is presented, with an emphasis on the pronotum using geometric morphometric analysis, which may reflect thorax adaptation and the evolution of Grylloblattodea. Potential global distribution of grylloblattids is inferred. Highly diversified pronota of extinct Grylloblattodea may reflect diverse habitats and niches. The relatively homogeneous pronota of modern grylloblattids might be explained by two hypotheses: synapomorphy or convergent evolution. Most fossils of Grylloblattodea contain an obviously longer meso- and metathorax than prothorax. The length of the meso- and metathorax of modern grylloblattids is normally shorter than the prothorax. This may be associated with the wing loss, which is accompanied by muscle reduction and changes to the thoracic skeleton system. Threats to grylloblattids and several conservation comments are also provided.

The electro-optic effect of periodically poled optical superlattice LiNbO[sub 3] (PPLN) was studied. Because of the periodic electro-optic (EO) coefficient, the reciprocal vector of the periodic structure can be used to compensate for the phase mismatch between the ordinary and extraordinary waves, which is similar to the nonlinear optical frequency conversion process. If the quasi-phase-matching condition is satisfied, polarization of a light propagated in PPLN can rotate linearly with the applied electric field, which shows that PPLN may be used as a precise spectral filter or an EO switch. © 2000 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An acoustic superlattice LiNbO[sub 3] crystal with periodic ferroelectric domain structure was fabricated by introducing a periodic electric current through the solid-liquid interface during the crystal growing process. The domain morphology of an as-grown crystal was observed with a scanning electron microscope, and was found to be of good periodicity. A light diffraction experiment indicated that there was a periodic fluctuation of the dielectric constant along the crystal's growing direction. Using the "crossed field" scheme, a 340 MHz ultrasonic was excited in the crystal, which means that the acoustic superlattice is suitable for constructing high-frequency bulk-wave acoustic devices. © 2000 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]