Efficacy and safety of small-incision corneal intrastromal lenticule implantation for hyperopia correction: a systematic review and meta-analysis

PurposeTo assess the efficacy and safety of intrastromal lenticule implantation for the treatment of hyperopia.MethodsA systematic search of PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Internet, and Wan Fang Database identified studies on small-incision intrastromal lenticule implantation for hyperopia correction until January 2023. The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) critical appraisal tool was used to assess the quality of the retrospective research, and the Methodological Index for Non-randomized Studies (MINORS) was used to assess the quality of the prospective research. This study included postoperative visual outcomes, corneal morphology, and biomechanical outcomes.ResultsA total of 456 articles were identified, of which 10 were included in the meta-analysis. Ten single-arm studies involving 190 eyes were included. A meta-analysis demonstrated that corneal intrastromal lenticule implantation treatment significantly improved hyperopia. Uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA) significantly improved compared to the preoperative value (p = 0.027), corrected distance visual acuity showed no difference compared to the preoperative value (p = 0.27), and 87% eyes have no loss of one or more lines in the Snellen lines of CDVA (p < 0.00001). There was a significant difference between the spherical equivalent refractive (SE) and preoperative examination (p < 0.00001), 52% of eyes had ±0.5 diopters (D) postoperative SE (p < 0.00001), and 74% eyes had ±1.0 D postoperative SE (p < 0.00001). The central corneal thickness (CCT) increased by 72.68 μm compared to that preoperatively (p < 0.00001), and corneal curvature increased by 4.18D (p < 0.00001). The Q-value decreased by 0.82 (p < 0.00001), and higher-order aberration (HOA) decreased by 0.66 (p < 0.00001).ConclusionSmall-incision intrastromal lenticule implantation may be an effective solution for correcting hyperopia. The effect of improved vision is significant, but further exploration is needed for changes in corneal biomechanics and long-term safety.Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/, identifier: CRD42023432343

The Effect of FRAX on the Prediction of Osteoporotic Fractures in Urban Middle-aged and Elderly Healthy Chinese Adults

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to analyze the applicability of a fracture risk assessment tool for the prediction of osteoporotic fractures in middle-aged and elderly healthy Chinese adults. METHODS: A standard questionnaire was administered, and bone mineral density was measured in residents visiting the Dongliu Street Community Health Service Center. Paired t-tests were used to compare the FRAX-based probabilities of fractures estimated with and without consideration of bone mineral density. Risk stratification and partial correlation analyses were applied to analyze the associations between FRAX-based probabilities and body mass index or bone mineral density at different sites. RESULTS: A total of 444 subjects were included in this study. Of these subjects, 175 (39.59%) were diagnosed as osteoporotic, and 208 (47.06%) were diagnosed as osteopenic. The Kappa value for the detection of osteoporosis at the L1-L4 lumbar spine and femoral neck was 0.314. The FRAX-based 10-year major osteoporotic fracture probability and hip osteoporotic fracture probability estimated without considering bone mineral density were 4.93% and 1.64%, respectively; when estimated while considering bone mineral density, these probabilities were 4.97% and 1.54%, respectively. A significant positive association was observed between the FRAX-based fracture probabilities estimated with and without consideration of bone mineral density, while significant negative associations between body mass index and the estimated FRAX-based fracture probabilities after adjustment for age and the estimated FRAX-based fracture probabilities and femoral neck bone mineral density were identified. These results remained the same after controlling for lumbar spine bone mineral density. CONCLUSIONS: The Chinese FRAX model could predict osteoporotic fracture risk regardless of whether bone mineral density was considered and was especially appropriate for predicting osteoporotic fractures of the femoral neck

Multichannel time-spread scheduling: a new approach to handling heavy traffic loads in ad hoc networks

Abstract — Wireless mobile networks that do not have infras-tructure or centralized administration, known as the ad hoc networks, have received considerable attention in the last few years. The salient characteristics of such networks –time-varying topology and lack of centralized control design – have made medium access control design more complicated and challenging, which is particularly when multiple channels are employed. Recently, many multichannel transmission protocols, such as Collision-Avoidance Transmission Scheduling (CATS), have been investigated for their higher efficiency although their problems are abundant. In this paper, we propose a new protocol, namely, MultichAnnel Time-spread Scheduling (MATS), to improve the throughput performance under heavy traffic loads. In MATS, nodes with transmission requests are divided into three groups, and carry out channel reservations in parallel with a short overhead. We carry out simulation study and the results show that the performance of this protocol under high traffic loads is significantly improved. I

CRISPR-cas technology: A key approach for SARS-CoV-2 detection

The CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Spaced Short Palindromic Repeats) system was first discovered in prokaryotes as a unique immune mechanism to clear foreign nucleic acids. It has been rapidly and extensively used in basic and applied research owing to its strong ability of gene editing, regulation and detection in eukaryotes. Hererin in this article, we reviewed the biology, mechanisms and relevance of CRISPR-Cas technology and its applications in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) diagnosis. CRISPR-Cas nucleic acid detection tools include CRISPR-Cas9, CRISPR-Cas12, CRISPR-Cas13, CRISPR-Cas14, CRISPR nucleic acid amplification detection technology, and CRISPR colorimetric readout detection system. The above CRISPR technologies have been applied to the nucleic acid detection, including SARS-CoV-2 detection. Common nucleic acid detection based on CRISPR derivation technology include SHERLOCK, DETECTR, and STOPCovid. CRISPR-Cas biosensing technology has been widely applied to point-of-care testing (POCT) by targeting recognition of both DNA molecules and RNA Molecules