[To ensure universal eye health coverage to accelerate progress towards the achievement of sustainable development goals]

The United Nations signed "Vision for Everyone-Accelerating Action to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (A/RES/75/310)" at the 75th UN sessions, committing to great efforts to improve eye health globally and address the increasing impact of vision loss on sustainable development. It is the first agreement designed to tackle preventable sight loss to be adopted at the United Nations and to enshrine eye health as an integral part of universal health coverage. The resolution summarized the lessons learned from previous global eye health practices, set a target of eye care for all by 2030-with countries set to ensure full access to eye care services for their populations, and, to support global efforts, to make eye care part of their nation's journey to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). This global initiative will also have a significant impact on eye health in China, and we should implement this United Nations General Assembly Resolution to promote the continued development of eye health in China.

[Using artificial intelligence as an initial triage strategy in diabetic retinopathy screening program in China]

Objective: To investigate the diagnostic accuracy and efficiency of an artificial intelligence (AI) triaging model in a diabetic retinopathy (DR) screening program. Methods: A DR screening program was conducted in Kashi City and Kizilsu Kirghiz Autonomous Prefecture of the Xinjiang Uyur Autonomous Region from May to July 2018, and 8 005 patients with diabetes mellitus were included. Fundus images, one centered at optic disc and one centered at macula, were taken for both eyes. A previously validated AI algorithm was applied as the first step to identify the patients with all 4 images. If the images were classified as gradable and negative DR, an AI-generated report was immediately provided without sending to manual grading, and 1/3 of these patients were randomly sampled for manual grading and quality control (group A). For the patients with at least one image classified as ungradable or positive for any DR, all images were sent for manual grading (group B). Finally, 300 patients were randomly selected from group A and group B respectively for accuracy assessment, where the patients and their images were classified by a specialist panel for referral DR (pre-proliferative DR, or proliferative DR, and/or diabetic macular edema). Results: Among 8 005 patients for DR screening [including 3 220 males and 4 785 females, aged (58.3±10.6) years], after AI triaging, 5 267 (65.8%) potentially received reports from AI system and 2 738 (34.2%) required manual grading. In group A, the accuracy and specificity of AI classification and manual grading on referral DR were all 100%. In group B, the accuracy of AI and manual grading were 75.8% and 90.3%, respectively, while the sensitivity of AI and manual grading was 100% and 79.1%, respectively. Conclusion: AI alleviates 60% of the workload of manual grading without missing any referral patients with the aid of the current AI triaging model.

[Prevention of blindness and ophthalmic epidemiology in China over the past 70 years]

Prevention of blindness is of paramount importance for eye care and health care in China. In the past 70 years, we have embraced a lot of advancements in practice, manpower and landmark studies for the prevention of blindness and development of ophthalmic epidemiology. This summary is dedicated to our predecessors and successors for their contributions to the progress of ophthalmology in China, particularly workers in the field of prevention of blindness and ophthalmic epidemiology. Congratulations on the 70th anniversary of Chinese Journal of Ophthalmology. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2020, 56: 561-566).

[Critical elements of cataract prevention work in China]

Surgical treatment of cataract is the emphasis of prevention of blindness in China. In the past ten years, cataract prevention work has made great strides. However, the cataract surgery rate (CSR) in one million people is still far away from the developed countries, and not enough to eliminate the blindness of cataract in our country. The CSR is related to many factors. In this article, the issue of the CSR increase is commented from four aspects, including improving the quantity and quality of cataract surgery, increasing the allocation of ophthalmic resources to primary hospitals, strengthening the cooperation between the urban and backward areas in ophthalmology, and the economic factors. It is hoped that our ophthalmic practitioners pay more attention to the prevention of blindness, and the quantity and quality of cataract surgery could be increased. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2017, 53: 801-804).

[From evidence to clinical practice: myopia control among children in refraction clinics]

Over the past decade, breakthrough has been made on myopia progression control with a lot of evidence from clinical trials, but the effective clinical application of many of them remained immature. Though refraction clinics have been set up in many specialized hospitals offering spectacles to correct refractive error, there was few protocol or standard of treatment for reducing myopia progression. This commentary reviews the latest and essential publications and presents critical advice on applying the research findings to clinical practice. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2019, 55: 89-92).

[Active screening and early intervention of diabetic retinopathy in community service]

In China, the number of diabetic retinopathy (DR) patients is increasing rapidly. Prevention is the most effective method to reduce blindness and visual impairment caused by DR. The ophthalmic professionals who are interested in the DR prevention and treatment should promptly go to the communities, work together with general practitioners and community health personnel, make full use of community residents health archives, and gradually establish community DR screening protocols. Thus the efficiency of screening and early intervention of DR will be improved, and finally the high incidence and high prevalence of blindness related to DR will be controlled. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2016, 52: 801-804).

Association between ERCC1 and ERCC2 gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to pancreatic cancer

We conducted a study to investigate the association between ERCC1 (rs3212986) and ERCC2 (rs13181) gene polymorphisms and the risk of pancreatic cancer in a Chinese population. A total of 217 pancreatic cancer patients and 244 control subjects were recruited from the Nuclear Industry 215 Hospital of Shaanxi Province between February 2013 and December 2014. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood samples using a TIANamp Blood DNA Kit (Tiangen, Beijing, China) according to the manufacturer's instructions. The ERCC1 rs3212986 and ERCC2 rs13181 polymorphisms were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length of polymorphism. Unconditional logistic regression analyses showed that subjects with the CC genotype of ERCC1 rs3212986 were susceptible to the development of pancreatic cancer when compared with subjects with the AA genotype (OR = 2.57, 95%CI = 1.34-5.02). The ERCC1 rs3212986 gene polymorphism was associated with increased risk of pancreatic cancer in the dominant (OR = 1.54, 95%CI = 1.05-2.28) and recessive (OR = 2.22, 95%CI = 1.20-4.19) models. However, no significant difference was found between the ERCC2 rs13181 polymorphism and the risk of pancreatic cancer in the codominant, dominant, and recessive models. We suggest that the ERCC1 rs3212986 polymorphism increases susceptibility to pancreatic cancer in the codominant, dominant, and recessive models, although further studies are needed to confirm our findings.

Heritability and familiality of neurological soft signs: evidence from healthy twins, patients with schizophrenia and non-psychotic first-degree relatives

BACKGROUND

Neurological soft signs (NSS) have long been considered potential endophenotypes for schizophrenia. However, few studies have investigated the heritability and familiality of NSS. The present study examined the heritability and familiality of NSS in healthy twins and patient-relative pairs.

METHOD

The abridged version of the Cambridge Neurological Inventory was administered to 267 pairs of monozygotic twins, 124 pairs of dizygotic twins, and 75 pairs of patients with schizophrenia and their non-psychotic first-degree relatives.

RESULTS

NSS were found to have moderate but significant heritability in the healthy twin sample. Moreover, patients with schizophrenia correlated closely with their first-degree relatives on NSS.

CONCLUSIONS

Taken together, the findings provide evidence on the heritability and familiality of NSS in the Han Chinese population.

Development of measuring diffusion coefficients by digital holographic interferometry in transparent liquid mixtures

As for the measurement of diffusion coefficient in transparent liquids by digital holographic interferometry, there are many kinds depending on the mathematical model and experimental setup. The method of using the distance of the peaks in concentration difference profile to determine diffusion coefficient by Mach-Zehnder interferometric experimental setup, is easy to handle. In order to improve the accuracy and convenience of measurement in this method, we combine procedures of hologram analysis used by Mialdun et al (2011) and those by He et al (2009). By using polynomial to fit the continuous phase difference (interference phase) of object beam, it can be more convenient and accurate to determine the distance between the two peaks. Besides, the shift of initial time has been discussed as a separated topic at the first time and two functions for minimization have been given for determination of the initial time in this paper. With the development, diffusion coefficient of KCl in water at 0.33mol/L and 25 °C has been measured. The diffusion coefficient is 1.844 × 10(-9) m2/s with the uncertainty of ± 0.012 × 10(-9) m2/s. Our measurement has more similar result with other methods than holographic interferometry. The relative uncertainty of diffusion coefficient in our experiment is less than 1% and total uncertainty of temperature is within ± 0.04 K.

Greater intake of fruit and vegetables is associated with a lower risk of osteoporotic hip fractures in elderly Chinese: a 1:1 matched case-control study

In this case-control study, we examined the relationship between the consumption of fruit and vegetables and risk of hip fractures in 646 pairs of incident cases and controls in elderly Chinese. We found that greater consumption of both fruit and vegetables in men and vegetables in women was associated with a lower risk of osteoporotic hip fractures in elderly Chinese.

INTRODUCTION

The association between fruit and vegetable consumption and the risk of osteoporotic fractures remains controversial due to limited published evidence. The purpose of this study was to determine whether consuming fruits and vegetables has a protective effect against hip fractures.

METHODS

Between January 2008 and December 2012, 646 (162 males, 484 females) incident cases (70.9 ± 6.8 years) of hip fractures were enrolled from five hospitals, with 646 sex- and age-matched (±3 years) controls (70.7 ± 6.8 years) from hospitals or the community. Face-to-face interviews were conducted to assess habitual dietary intakes using a 79-item food frequency questionnaire and various covariates by structured questionnaires.

RESULTS

Multivariate conditional logistic regression analyses showed dose-dependent inverse correlations between the intake of total fruit (p-trend = 0.014), total vegetables (p-trend <0.001), fruits and vegetables combined (p-trend < 0.001) and the risk of hip fractures after adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics, dietary factors and other potential confounders. The adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval) for hip fractures in the top quartiles (vs. the lowest quartiles) for the intake of fruits, vegetables and the combination of fruits and vegetables were 0.53 (0.32-0.87), 0.37 (0.23-0.60) and 0.25 (0.15-0.41), respectively. Stratified analyses showed that the benefits remained significant in males (p = 0.001) but not in females (p = 0.210) (p-interaction 0.045). Among the subcategories of fruits and vegetables, similar associations were observed for all subgroups except light-coloured fruits.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that greater consumption of both fruits and vegetables in men and vegetables in women may decrease the risk of osteoporotic hip fractures in elderly Chinese.