Facile Synthesis of Carbon-Coated Zn 2

Carbon-coated Zn2SnO4 nanomaterials have been synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method in which as-prepared Zn2SnO4 was used as the precursor and glucose as the carbon source. The structural, morphological, and electrochemical properties were investigated by means of X-ray (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and electrochemical measurement. The first discharge/charge capacity of carbon-coated Zn2SnO4 was about 1248.8 mAh/g and 873.2 mAh/g at a current density of 200 mA/g in the voltage range of 0.05 V–3.0 V, respectively, corresponding to Coulombic efficiency of 69.92%. After 40 cycles, the capacity retained 400 mAh/g, which is much better than bare Zn2SnO4

Single-Cell RNA Sequencing of hESC-Derived 3D Retinal Organoids Reveals Novel Genes Regulating RPC Commitment in Early Human Retinogenesis.

The development of the mammalian retina is a complicated process involving the generation of distinct types of neurons from retinal progenitor cells (RPCs) in a spatiotemporal-specific manner. The progression of RPCs during retinogenesis includes RPC proliferation, cell-fate commitment, and specific neuronal differentiation. In this study, by performing single-cell RNA sequencing of cells isolated from human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-derived 3D retinal organoids, we successfully deconstructed the temporal progression of RPCs during early human retinogenesis. We identified two distinctive subtypes of RPCs with unique molecular profiles, namely multipotent RPCs and neurogenic RPCs. We found that genes related to the Notch and Wnt signaling pathways, as well as chromatin remodeling, were dynamically regulated during RPC commitment. Interestingly, our analysis identified that CCND1, a G1-phase cell-cycle regulator, was coexpressed with ASCL1 in a cell-cycle-independent manner. Temporally controlled overexpression of CCND1 in retinal organoids demonstrated a role for CCND1 in promoting early retinal neurogenesis. Together, our results revealed critical pathways and novel genes in early retinogenesis of humans

High-precision, non-invasive anti-microvascular approach via concurrent ultrasound and laser irradiation

Antivascular therapy represents a proven strategy to treat angiogenesis. By applying synchronized ultrasound bursts and nanosecond laser irradiation, we developed a novel, selective, non-invasive, localized antivascular method, termed photo-mediated ultrasound therapy (PUT). PUT takes advantage of the high native optical contrast among biological tissues and can treat microvessels without causing collateral damage to the surrounding tissue. In a chicken yolk sac membrane model, under the same ultrasound parameters (1 MHz at 0.45 MPa and 10 Hz with 10% duty cycle), PUT with 4 mJ/cm2 and 6 mJ/cm2 laser fluence induced 51% (p = 0.001) and 37% (p = 0.018) vessel diameter reductions respectively. With 8 mJ/cm2 laser fluence, PUT would yield vessel disruption (90%, p < 0.01). Selectivity of PUT was demonstrated by utilizing laser wavelengths at 578 nm or 650 nm, where PUT selectively shrank veins or occluded arteries. In a rabbit ear model, PUT induced a 68.5% reduction in blood perfusion after 7 days (p < 0.001) without damaging the surrounding cells. In vitro experiments in human blood suggested that cavitation may play a role in PUT. In conclusion, PUT holds significant promise as a novel non-invasive antivascular method with the capability to precisely target blood vessels.R01AR060350R01CA1867694K12EY022299-4BL2014089

Optical Coherence Tomography Following Panretinal Photocoagulation Demonstrating Choroidal Detachment

Retinal laser therapy such as panretinal photocoagulation can be associated with complications, including rare cases of choroidal detachment. This report describes high-resolution optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging after retinal laser panretinal photocoagulation (PRP) in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) demonstrating choroidal detachment. A series of three sequential patients with high-risk proliferative diabetic retinopathy who were PRP laser naïve were examined with spectral-domain OCT immediately after green solid-state laser or PASCAL® PRP treatment. All three patients demonstrated a significant choroidal detachment immediately after PRP treatment. By one month after PRP, the choroidal detachment resolved spontaneously in all patients. OCT examinations were performed to detect and evaluate the severity and the change of choroidal detachment and thickness measurements were quantified and demonstrated a mean decrease in choroidal thickness of 122 µm (p ® laser both have the risk of developing complications such as choroidal detachment. While the rate of choroidal detachment has been reported to be quite low, this could be due to subclinical, self-limited, choroidal detachments. The risk could be larger than previously reported using modern high-resolution clinical optical imaging such as OCT

Tyrosine-mutated AAV2-mediated shRNA silencing of PTEN promotes axon regeneration of adult optic nerve.

Activating PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway via deleting phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) has been confirmed to enhance intrinsic growth capacity of neurons to facilitate the axons regeneration of central nervous system after injury. Considering conditional gene deletion is currently not available in clinical practice, we exploited capsid residue tyrosine 444 to phenylalanine mutated single-stranded adeno-associated virus serotype 2 (AAV2) as a vector delivering short hairpin RNA to silence PTEN to promote retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) survival and axons regeneration in adult rat optic nerve axotomy paradigm. We found that mutant AAV2 displayed higher infection efficiency to RGCs and Müller cells by intravitreal injection, mediated PTEN suppression, resulted in much more RGCs survival and more robust axons regeneration compared with wild type AAV2, due to the different extent of the mTOR complex-1 activation and glutamate aspartate transporter (GLAST) regulation. These results suggest that high efficiency AAV2-mediated PTEN knockdown represents a practicable therapeutic strategy for optic neuropathy

Role of the APOE ε2/ε3/ε4 Polymorphism in the Development of Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma: Evidence from a Comprehensive Meta-Analysis

<div><p>Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide. The association between the APOE ε2/ε3/ε4 polymorphism and the risk of POAG has been widely reported, but the results of previous studies remain controversial. To comprehensively evaluate the APOE ɛ2/ɛ3/ε4 polymorphism on the genetic risk for POAG, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of previously published studies. The PubMed and Web of Science databases were systematically searched to identify relevant studies. Data were extracted from these studies and odds ratios with corresponding 95% confidence intervals were computed to estimate the strength of the association. Stratified analyses according to ethnicity and sensitivity analyses were also conducted for further confirmation. A total of nine studies were eligible for the meta-analysis, and these studies included data on 1928 POAG cases and 1793 unrelated match controls. The combined results showed that there were no associations between the APOE ε2/ε3/ε4 polymorphism and POAG risk in any of the 10 comparison models. The analysis that was stratified by ethnicity subgroups also failed to reveal a significant association. The sensitivity analysis confirmed the stability and reliability of the findings. There was no risk of publication bias. Our meta-analysis provides strong evidence that the APOE ε2/ε3/ε4 polymorphism is not associated with POAG susceptibility in any populations.</p> </div

Flow diagram of the identification of relevant studies.

<p>Flow diagram of the identification of relevant studies.</p

Sensitivity analyses through deletion of one study at a time to reflect the influence of the individual dataset to the pooled ORs.

<p>Sensitivity analyses through deletion of one study at a time to reflect the influence of the individual dataset to the pooled ORs.</p

Forest plot of the association between the APOE ε2/ε3/ε4 polymorphism and POAG risk.

<p>Each study is shown by the point estimate of the OR with the 95% CI. (A) ε2 vs ε3, fixed-effects model. (B) ε4 versus ε3, random-effects model.</p

Using a vision cognitive algorithm to schedule virtual machines

Scheduling virtual machines is a major research topic for cloud computing, because it directly influences the performance, the operation cost and the quality of services. A large cloud center is normally equipped with several hundred thousand physical machines. The mission of the scheduler is to select the best one to host a virtual machine. This is an NPhard global optimization problem with grand challenges for researchers. This work studies the Virtual Machine (VM) scheduling problem on the cloud. Our primary concern with VM scheduling is the energy consumption, because the largest part of a cloud center operation cost goes to the kilowatts used. We designed a scheduling algorithm that allocates an incoming virtual machine instance on the host machine, which results in the lowest energy consumption of the entire system. More specifically, we developed a new algorithm, called vision cognition, to solve the global optimization problem. This algorithm is inspired by the observation of how human eyes see directly the smallest/largest item without comparing them pairwisely. We theoretically proved that the algorithm works correctly and converges fast. Practically, we validated the novel algorithm, together with the scheduling concept, using a simulation approach. The adopted cloud simulator models different cloud infrastructures with various properties and detailed runtime information that can usually not be acquired from real clouds. The experimental results demonstrate the benefit of our approach in terms of reducing the cloud center energy consumptio