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Summary Intracranial pressure is one of the determinants of sympathetic activities, and sleep bruxism is associated with increased sympathetic activities. This study aimed to investigate effects of the low Fowler's sleep position and methazolamide treatment on the occurrence of rhythmic masticatory muscle activities/sleep bruxism episodes in patients with sleep bruxism in a randomized controlled trial. Polysomnographic recordings were performed on the patients with sleep bruxism sleeping in the low Fowler's (15°–30°) or supine position (n = 11), and with methazolamide or placebo treatment (100 mg, 3–4 hr before bedtime, P.O., n = 9), and changes in sleep variables and heart rate variance during sleep in the low Fowler's position or with methazolamide treatment were determined. Sleep bruxism index, number of masseter muscle electromyographic bursts per hour of sleep, ratio of rhythmic masticatory muscle activities/sleep bruxism duration to the total sleep duration, index of total limb movements, index of limb movements with rhythmic masticatory muscle activities, and number of sleep bruxism clusters per hour of sleep in the low Fowler's position and after methazolamide intake were significantly smaller (p < 0.05–0.001) than those in the supine position and after placebo intake, respectively. The low‐frequency heart rate variance powers during non‐rapid eye movement sleep stage 2 (N2) in the low Fowler's position and with methazolamide treatment were significantly lower (p < 0.05) than those during sleep in the supine position and with placebo treatment, respectively. In conclusion, sleep in the low Fowler's position and methazolamide treatment were associated with significant decreases in the occurrence of rhythmic masticatory muscle activities/sleep bruxism episodes, which might be due to a reduction in intracranial pressure and sympathetic activities mainly during non‐rapid eye movement sleep stage 2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Manufactured sand concrete (MSC) has increasingly applied in engineering. However, how to enhance the thermal crack resistance of MSC has not clearly studied yet, which limits the wide applications of manufactured sand in engineering. We have adopted the method of mixing limestone powder (LP) to make MSC with four mass fractions (wt.%) of 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20% of LP content, designed the mix proportion of concrete, tested their mechanical properties, observed their microstructure by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and investigated the effect of LP on anti-cracking performance using temperature stress testing machine (TSTM). These findings reveal that the mechanical properties and thermal crack resistance of 15% LP MSC are the best. Our results also provide a research basis for the MSC to be widely used in engineering., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Liu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Purpose: To investigate the dynamic changes of choroidal vasculature and its association in mediating ocular elongation over 1 year of orthokeratology (ortho-k) treatment., Methods: This observational study included 8-14 year old myopic children who were willing to receive ortho-k treatment or wear single vision spectacle lenses (SVL). Axial length (AL) and choroidal characteristics, including submacular luminal area (LA), stromal area (SA), total choroidal area (TCA), choroidal vascularity index (CVI), subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) and choriocapillaris flow deficits (CcFD) from OCT/OCTA images, were evaluated at baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months., Results: After 1 year, AL elongation was significantly less in 25 children treated with ortho-k than in 29 children wearing SVL (0.17 ± 0.14 v.s. 0.28 ± 0.16 mm, P<0.01). In the ortho-k group, LA, SA, TCA and SFCT were significantly increased by 0.033 ± 0.059 mm 2 , 0.024 ± 0.035 mm 2 , 0.058 ± 0.087 mm 2 , 8.9 ± 17.4 μm, respectively, at 3 months (all P<0.05). These parameters returned to near baseline levels over the following 9 months. Meanwhile, CcFD decreased by 0.83 ± 1.09 % over 12 months, but CVI remained steady during this period. No significant changes in these choroidal parameters (except for CcFD, decreased by -0.56 ± 1.23 %) were observed in the SVL group over 12 months. Increases in SFCT, LA, SA and TCA over 12 months were significantly greater in the ortho-k group than in the SVL group. Mediation analyses showed that 44.8 % of effect on inhibiting AL elongation through ortho-k was mediated via TCA (in particular LA)., Conclusions: The decelerated ocular elongation during ortho-k treatment is accompanied by increases in content of choroidal vascular lumen and stromal component. Dynamic changes of choroidal vasculature provide a possible mechanism underlying myopia control efficacy via ortho-k., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 British Contact Lens Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Bioactive NAD + mediated multiple biocatalytic pathways in metabolic networks. Refining the structure of NADH oxidase-like (NOX) mimics to efficiently replenish NAD + has been promising but challenging in NAD + -dependent dehydrogenase electrochemical cascade biosensing. Herein, we discovered that PtO x structures, formed via lattice oxygen translocation from WO 3 to Pt NPs at the interface, potentially activate and modulate the NOX-like functionality in Pt@WO 3 nanosheets. Incorporating PtO x leads to a more positive valence of Pt species within Pt/PtO x @WO 3- x , where the PtO 2 species serve as preeminent reaction sites for NADH coordination, activation, and dehydrogenation. Consequently, such nanozymes display enhanced NOX-like activity towards NADH oxidation in comparison to Pt@WO 3 . Ultimately, the 650-Pt/PtO x @WO 3- x nanozyme is employed in an electrochemical cascade biosensor for β-hydroxybutyrate (HB) detection, achieving a calculated detection limit of 25 μM. This study offers insights into PtO x activation in Pt-based NOX mimics and supports the future development of NAD + /NADH-dependent electrochemical biosensors.

Purpose: To investigate the contrast sensitivity function (CSF) changes in simple high myopia (SHM) and evaluate the correlations between these changes with the early changes in the retinal microstructure., Methods: This prospective study comprised 81 subjects, 20 with emmetropia (EM), 26 with low myopia and moderate myopia (LM/MM), and 35 with SHM. The area under the log CSF curve (AULCSF) and the cut-off spatial frequency (Cut-off SF) were employed as measures of CSF. Adaptive optics (AO) was employed to quantify the cone density, spacing, and regularity. The thickness and blood flow of the retinal sublayers were determined from vertical and horizontal optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) A-scans. Swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) was employed to analyze the choroidal thickness (CT) and choroidal vascularity using a custom algorithm. Differences in the retinal and choroidal parameters, cone distribution, AULCSF, and Cut-off SF were compared among the three groups. Multivariate linear mixed models were used to elucidate the associations between photoreceptor morphological alterations, retinal and choroidal parameters, and AULCSF., Results: The AULCSF and Cut-off SF were significantly lower in the SHM group compared to the EM and LM groups ( p  < 0.05). The SHM group had less cone density, larger cone spacing, and lower cone regularity than the EM and LM/MM groups ( p  < 0.05). Moreover, the thickness of the inner segment of photoreceptors (IS), retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) layer and choroid were reduced, and the outer segment of photoreceptors (OS) was thicker in the SHM group compared to the EM and LM/MM groups (all p  < 0.05). A longer axial length (AL) was correlated with decreased AULCSF, cone density, and cone spacing ( r  = -0.800 to 0.752, all p  < 0.050). Additionally, decreased CSF was correlated with lower cone density ( r  = 0.338, p  = 0.035)., Conclusion: Decreased contrast sensitivity was observed in patients with SHM and cone density was significantly correlated with reduced AUCSF., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Wang, Liu, Huang, Deng, Zhao, Chen, Chen, Wang, Rong, Liu, Qu and Mao.)

Clinical Relevance: It is particularly important to perform reasonable and effective optical correction to enable visual development after primary lens removal surgery for congenital cataracts. Aphakic infants need a suitable addition power of prescription (ADD) to help them focus on close visual objects., Background: It is challenging to obtain appropriate ADD power for infants due to poor cooperation and lack of subjective feedback. We aimed to determine the appropriate ADD for aphakic infants using a recently developed smart wearable device called Clouclip., Methods: The study was a cross-sectional, observational pilot study. Twenty-three aphakic infants (aged from 6 months to 3.5 years) were invited to wear a smart wearable device for 7 days consecutively to monitor the near viewing distance in real life. Viewing habits and its associations with the possible influencing factors were investigated based on the data obtained from the device., Results: The average proportion of near viewing time was 77.9% (95% confidence interval (CI) 72.1-83.7%). The average of the median near viewing distance was 23.8 cm (95% CI 20.6 cm-27.0 cm), which corresponded to an ADD of +4.25 D (95% CI + 3.75 D - +4.75 D) spectacle prescription. The height of the child was found to be positively correlated with the median of near viewing distance ( r  = 0.646, p  = 0.001). Age, current ADD, age of cataract extraction surgery and bilaterality or monocularity of the aphakic eyes showed no significant correlation with the aforementioned viewing habits (all p  > 0.05)., Conclusion: By using the novel wearable device, we found the suitable ADD of spectacle prescription for aphakic infants is about +4.25 D. The height of the child was an influencing factor for ADD.

Objective: To the literature, variants in the ATP6AP2 gene may cause abnormal nervous system development and associated neurological symptoms., Methods: We report a patient with developmental and epileptic encephalopathy (DEE) carrying an ATP6AP2 c.858G > A (p.Ala286=) synonymous variant. In addition, an overview of reported patients with the same variant were collected and summarized to compare our findings., Results: The patient started experiencing tonic seizures at 3.5 months of age, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) indicated impaired brain white matter development and reduced left hippocampal volume. Furthermore, electroencephalography showed multifocal interictal epileptiform discharges. Treatment with various anti-seizure medications yielded unsatisfactory results, and the disorder eventually developed into epileptic spasms. An in vitro splicing assay for the ATP6AP2 gene mRNA revealed that the variant caused a deletion in exon 8 and a corresponding protein truncation. A review of previously reported ATP6AP2 -related DEE patients found that synonymous variants in the ATP6AP2 gene can cause early DEE onset, progressive changes in early-life MRI, and exon skipping in all ATP6AP2 -related DEE patients., Significance: We found that synonymous variants in ATP6AP2 may have significant pathogenicity and are highly correlated with DEE. Due to increased isoform production, ATP6AP2 synonymous variants may cause nervous system developmental disorders by competitively reducing the generation of full-length transcripts, resulting in defects in ATP6AP2 -related physiological processes., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Liang, Wan, Yan, Liu, Zhang, Zhu and Yang.)

Triterpenoids are a class of natural products of great commercial value that are widely used in pharmaceutical, health care and cosmetic industries. The biosynthesis of triterpenoids relies on the efficient synthesis of squalene epoxide, which is synthesized from the NADPH dependent oxidation of squalene catalyzed by squalene epoxidase. We screened squalene epoxidases derived from different species, and found the truncated squalene epoxidase from Rattus norvegicus (RnSETC) showed the highest activity in engineered Escherichia coli. Further examination of the effect of endogenous cytochrome P450 reductase like (CPRL) proteins showed that overexpression of NADH: quinone oxidoreductase (WrbA) under Lac promoter in a medium-copy number plasmid increased the production of squalene epoxide by nearly 2.5 folds. These results demonstrated that the constructed pathway led to the production of squalene epoxide, an important precursor for the biosynthesis of triterpenoids.