Risk factors for primary open-angle glaucoma in Japanese subjects attending community health screenings

Makoto Ishikawa, Yu Sawada, Noriko Sato, Takeshi YoshitomiDepartment of Ophthalmology, Akita Graduate University School of Medicine, Akita, JapanBackground/aims: To describe risk factors associated with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) in Japanese subjects who participated in community health screenings.Methods: Residents of Akita, Japan, participating in a community health checkup were selected to undergo a comprehensive ophthalmic examination. Glaucoma was diagnosed based on optic disk appearance, perimetric results, and other ocular findings. Systemic blood pressure and intraocular pressure were measured and ocular perfusion pressure was calculated. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine risk factors for POAG patients.Results and conclusion: Of the 710 subjects examined, 26 had POAG. The estimated prevalence of POAG was 3.7%. After adjusting for age, the prevalence of POAG was similar to that found in the Tajimi Study of Japanese subjects. Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that older age (≥60 years, odds ratio [OR]: 3.49), lower diastolic blood pressure (≤58 mmHg, OR: 2.11), higher intraocular pressure (≥19 mmHg, OR: 4.12), and lower ocular perfusion pressure (≤34 mmHg, OR: 5.78) were associated with increased risk of having POAG. These findings may be relevant for identifying high risk groups.Keywords: glaucoma, community health screening, risk factor

Quantitative Tactile Examination Using Shape Memory Alloy Actuators for the Early Detection of Diabetic Neuropathy

Diabetic neuropathy (DPN) is asymptomatic in its early phases but can cause serious complications as it progresses. Most DPN tests are cumbersome and produce only qualitative assessments, and simpler approaches that yield quantitative results are needed. Techniques that allow patients to perform examinations themselves would be especially valuable. In this study, we focused on quantifying the decline in tactile sensation associated with DPN and developed a measurement device that used a thin shape memory alloy (SMA) wire as the actuator. An ON/OFF pulse current caused the wire to shrink and expand. This vibration was amplified by a round-headed pin, allowing even DPN patients with reduced tactile sensitivity to detect the stimuli generated when lightly touching the pin with their fingertips. The tactile stimuli were ranked into 30 levels of intensity. A key advantage of the device is that it can be used by patients themselves, returning quantified results within minutes. Although developed for DPN, the method can be applied to the detection of peripheral neuropathy in general

Lipschitz shadowing implies structural stability

We show that the Lipschitz shadowing property of a diffeomorphism is equivalent to structural stability. As a corollary, we show that an expansive diffeomorphism having the Lipschitz shadowing property is Anosov.Comment: 11 page

Pion PDFs confronted by Fixed-Target Charmonium Production

The pion, as the Goldstone boson of the strong interaction, is the lightest QCD bound state and responsible for the long-range nucleon-nucleon interaction inside the nucleus. Our knowledge on the pion partonic structure is limited by the existing Drell-Yan data which are primarily sensitive to the pion valence-quark distributions. The recent progress of global analysis of pion's parton distribution functions (PDFs) utilizing various experimental approaches are introduced. From comparisons between the pion-induced $J/\psi$ and $\psi(2S)$ production data with theoretical calculations using the CEM and NRQCD models, we show how these charmonium production data could provide useful constraints on the pion PDFs.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures; invited review. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2006.06947, arXiv:2209.0407

Giant geometry modulation on magnetic proximity effect observed in isomeric oxide heterostructures

Magnetic proximity effect (MPE) is generally considered to occur at the magnetic-nonmagnetic material interface within a short-range space domain, while the structural geometry modulation on such an interface effect has not been explored. Here, we fabricate isomeric paramagnetic metallic IrO2 with rutile and anatase structures, respectively, on a ferrimagnetic insulating CoFe2O4, and study the MPE-induced magnetism by anomalous Hall effect (AHE) measurements. The rutile phase with layered structure shows a conventional AHE and identical coercive-field with CoFe2O4, indicating a concomitant magnetic switching as a result of a strong magnetic coupling at the interface. In contrast, the anatase phase with tetrahedral structure exhibits an unconventional AHE with negative coercive-field at low temperatures. Further analyses indicate that in anatase, the contribution that strongly couples with CoFe2O4 is dramatically suppressed while a giant frustration-like response emerges. Our findings reveal that the MPE-induced spin orders can be pronouncedly modulated by structural geometry

Nasal displacement of retinal vessels on the optic disc in glaucoma associated with a nasally angled passage through lamina cribrosa

To investigate nasal displacement of central retinal vessel (CRV) on the optic nerve head (ONH) in glaucoma in association with its passage through lamina cribrosa (LC). This cross-sectional study included 113 eyes with glaucoma and 60 normal eyes. Horizontal spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) scans of the ONH were acquired, and point where CRV emerged on the ONH surface was defined as the position of the CRV. Next, radial scans of the ONH were acquired, and angle of the CRV passing through the LC was measured. These parameters were compared between glaucomatous and normal eyes by t-test, and their relationship with possible confounders was assessed by multiple regression analyses. In glaucoma, CRV was significantly more nasally displaced than it was in normal eyes (66.0 +/- 8.6 vs. 54.3 +/- 9.5, P<0.0001), and eyes with more vessel displacement exhibited significantly worse glaucomatous visual field defects (P=0.0004). Greater nasal displacement of the CRV was significantly associated with a more nasally angled path through the LC (rs=0.569, P<0.0001). By using SD-OCT, we confirmed that nasal displacement of the CRV on the ONH was associated with glaucoma and was induced by its nasally angled path through the LC

Association of Myopic Optic Disc Deformation with Visual Field Defects in Paired Eyes with Open-Angle Glaucoma: A Cross-Sectional Study

Purpose To examine the association of myopia with the visual field (VF) defects in open-angle glaucoma (OAG) using paired eyes to eliminate the effect of unknown confounding factors that are diverse among individuals. Methods One hundred eighteen eyes of 59 subjects with myopia (spherical equivalent [SE] >= -2 diopter [D] and axial length >= 24.0 mm) whose intra-ocular pressure between paired eyes was similar and the mean deviation (MD) of the Humphrey VF test differed by more than 6 dB were included. Refractive errors (SE, axial length) and parameters associated with the papillary and parapapillary myopic deformation (tilt ratio, torsion angle, and beta-zone parapapillary atrophy [PPA] area without Bruch\u27s membrane) were measured in each eye. The paired eyes were divided into worse and better eyes according to the MD of the VF, and parameters were compared between them. Further, multiple linear regression analysis was performed to examine the correlation of the difference in various parameters with the MD difference between paired eyes. Results The SE of all eyes was -6.39 +/- 2.15 D (mean +/- standard deviation) and axial length was 26.42 +/- 1.07 mm. MD of the worse and better VF eyes were -13.56 +/- 6.65 dB and -4.87 +/- 5.32 dB, respectively. Eyes with worse VFs had significantly greater SE, axial length, tilt ratio, and PPA area without Bruch\u27s membrane than those with better VFs (all P < 0.05). In multiple linear regression analysis, the difference of the MD between paired eyes was significantly correlated with the difference in the tilt ratio and PPA area without Bruch\u27s membrane. Conclusion The myopic papillary and parapapillary deformations, but not refractive error itself, were related to the worse VF in paired eyes with OAG. This suggests that myopia influences the severity of the glaucomatous VF defects via structural deformation