Corneal endothelial cell density and morphology and central corneal thickness in Guangxi Maonan and Han adolescent students of China

AIM: To investigate the corneal endothelial cell density and morphology and central corneal thickness in the Guangxi Maonan and Han adolescent students of China.METHODS: Noncontact specular microscope(Topcon SP3000 P, Tokyo, Japan) was performed in 133 adolescent students of Maonan nationality(M:F 54:79)and 105 adolescent students of Han nationality(M:F 50:55),5 to 20 y of age, who were randomly selected from 3schools in Huanjiang Maonan Autonomous County of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China.Parameters studied included endothelial cell density,mean cell area, coefficient of variation in cell size,percentage hexagonality and central corneal thickness. RESULTS: Endothelial cell density, mean cell area,coefficient of variation in cell size, percentage hexagonality and central corneal thickness in the study population were(2969.50 ±253.93) cells/mm2,(339.23 ±29.44) μm2,(29.96 ±4.07) %,(64.58 ±9.41) % and(523.71 ±32.82) μm in Maonan and(2998.26 ±262.65) cells/mm2,(336.11±30.07) μm2,(29.89±5.03) %,(64.91±11.64) % and(524.39 ±33.15) μm in Han, respectively. No significant differences were observed in endothelial cell density,mean cell area, coefficient of variation in cell size,percentage hexagonality and central corneal thickness between Maonan and Han(P =0.615, 0.659, 0.528, 0.551,0.999). In Maonan and Han, we found age was negatively correlated with endothelial cell density and percentagehexagonality and positively correlated with mean cell area and coefficient of variation in cell size. Negative correlation was also found between central corneal thickness and age in Han, whereas no correlation was found in Maonan. CONCLUSION: There were no differences between Maonan and Han in corneal endothelial cell density and morphology and central corneal thickness. In these two nationalities, there were statistically significant decrease in endothelial cell density and percentage hexagonality with increasing age and statistically significant increase in cell area and coefficient of variation in cell size with increasing age. Central corneal thinned with increasing age in Han, whereas difference did not attain statistical significance in Maonan.

Identification and characterization of odorant binding proteins in the diamondback moth,Plutella xylostella

Odorant binding proteins(OBPs)are a group of soluble proteins functioning as odorant carriers in insect antennae,mouth parts and other chemosensory organs.However,multiple insect OBPs have been detected in other tissues and various functions have been proposed.Therefore,a detailed expression profile including stages,tissues and sexes where OBPs are expressed will assist in building the links to their potential functions,enhancing the functional studies of insect OBPs.Here,we identified 39 putative OBP genes from its genome and transcriptome sequences of diamondback moth(DBM),Plutella xylostella.The expression patterns of identified PxylOBPs were further investigated from eggs,larvae,pupae,virgin adults,mated adults,larval midgut,larval heads,adult antennae,adult heads and adult tarsi.Moreover,P.xylostella larvae and adults with and without host plants for 5 h were utilized to study the interactions between OBP expression and host plants.The results showed that most PxylOBPs were highly expressed in male and female adult antennae.The expression levels of certain PxyOBPs could be regulated by mating activities and feeding host plants.This study advances our knowledge of P.xylostella OBPs,which may help develop new strategies for more environmentally sustainable management of P.xylostella.

Near-infrared 3D imaging with upconversion detection

We demonstrate a photon-sensitive,three-dimensional(3D)camera by active near-infrared illumination and fast time-of-flight gating.It uses picosecond pump pulses to selectively upconvert the backscattered photons according to their spatiotemporal modes via sum-frequency generation in a χ^(2) nonlinear crystal,which are then detected by an electron-multiplying CCD with photon sensitive detection.As such,it achieves sub-millimeter depth resolution,exceptional noise suppression,and high detection sensitivity.Our results show that it can accurately reconstruct the surface profiles of occluded targets placed behind highly scattering and lossy obscurants of14 optical depth(round trip),using only milliwatt illumination power.This technique may find applications in biomedical imaging,environmental monitoring,and wide-field light detection and ranging.