Jie Chen

Myopia, particularly high myopia (HM), represents a critical global public health issue due to its strong association with irreversible visual impairment. While past genetic studies have identified numerous myopia-associated loci, they explain only a modest proportion of its heritability. To address this gap, we established the Myopia Associated Genetics and Intervention Consortium (MAGIC) cohort, the first large-scale whole-exome sequencing (WES) cohort dedicated to the Chinese myopia population, which has already unveiled HM-associated genes, novel rare-variant mechanisms, and open-access analytic tools. The cohort was established in Wenzhou, China, in May 2019 and comprises three phases. Phase I (n = 9696) enrolled extreme, early-onset HM adolescents; Phases II (n = 9368) and III (n = 3544; ongoing recruitment) include young adults and elders, enabling comparison and replication of genetic findings. Longitudinal data from electronic medical records (EMRs) for 2566 individuals further support progression analysis. Here, we extend the MAGIC resource to dissect the genetic basis of myopia-related anisometropia. We discovered novel association signals for spherical-equivalent anisometropia in HM adolescents, including SNP rs61758755 in RAD23B (β = 0.72, P = 1.50 × 10−9) and SNP rs59002125 in ABCC6 (β = 0.69, P = 8.86 × 10−8). We also identified 26 suggestive variants linked to anisometropia and its progression. Together, these findings underscore the value of large-scale WES in detecting functional risk alleles and provide foundational insights into the genetic architecture of myopia and its relevant refractive error. The MAGIC cohort serves as a valuable foundation for future mechanistic studies.

UNSTRUCTURED In “Diagnostic Accuracy of Chest Computed Tomography Scans for Suspected Patients With COVID-19: Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve Analysis”(JMIR public health and surveillance. 2020 10 20; 6 (4) :e19424. doi:10.2196/19424),we noted one error. The affiliation for authors Lianpin Wu, QIke Jin and Jiawei He was incorrectly listed as: Department of Cardiology, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China The correct affiliation for these auhors was: Department of Cardiology, the Second Affiliated Hospital & Yuying Children’s Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou , China

Background: Computed tomography (CT) scans are increasingly available in clinical care globally. They enable a rapid and detailed assessment of tissue and organ involvement in disease processes that are relevant to diagnosis and management, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective: The aim of this paper is to identify differences in the CT scan findings of patients who were COVID-19 positive (confirmed via nucleic acid testing) to patients who were confirmed COVID-19 negative. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was proposed to compare patient clinical characteristics and CT scan findings in suspected COVID-19 cases. A multivariable logistic model with LASSO (least absolute shrinkage and selection operator) selection for variables was used to identify the good predictors from all available predictors. The area under the curve (AUC) with 95% CI was calculated for each of the selected predictors and the combined selected key predictors based on receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Results: A total of 94 (56%) patients were confirmed positive for COVID-19 from the suspected 167 patients. We found that elderly people were more likely to be infected with COVID-19. Among the 94 confirmed positive patients, 2 (2%) patients were admitted to an intensive care unit. No patients died during the study period. We found that the presence, distribution, and location of CT lesions were associated with the presence of COVID-19. White blood cell count, cough, and a travel history to Wuhan were also the top predictors for COVID-19. The overall AUC of these selected predictors is 0.97 (95% CI 0.93-1.00). Conclusions: Taken together with nucleic acid testing, we found that CT scans can allow for the rapid diagnosis of COVID-19. This study suggests that chest CT scans should be more broadly adopted along with nucleic acid testing in the initial assessment of suspected COVID-19 cases, especially for patients with nonspecific symptoms.

A multidisciplinary journal that focuses on public health and technology, public health informatics, mass media campaigns, surveillance, and innovation in public health practice and research. Also dedicated to rapid open data sharing during epidemics.

BACKGROUND Computed tomography (CT) scans are increasingly available in clinical care globally. They enable a rapid and detailed assessment of tissue and organ involvement in disease processes that are relevant to diagnosis and management, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. OBJECTIVE The aim of this paper is to identify differences in the CT scan findings of patients who were COVID-19 positive (confirmed via nucleic acid testing) to patients who were confirmed COVID-19 negative. METHODS A retrospective cohort study was proposed to compare patient clinical characteristics and CT scan findings in suspected COVID-19 cases. A multivariable logistic model with LASSO (least absolute shrinkage and selection operator) selection for variables was used to identify the good predictors from all available predictors. The area under the curve (AUC) with 95% CI was calculated for each of the selected predictors and the combined selected key predictors based on receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. RESULTS A total of 94 (56%) patients were confirmed positive for COVID-19 from the suspected 167 patients. We found that elderly people were more likely to be infected with COVID-19. Among the 94 confirmed positive patients, 2 (2%) patients were admitted to an intensive care unit. No patients died during the study period. We found that the presence, distribution, and location of CT lesions were associated with the presence of COVID-19. White blood cell count, cough, and a travel history to Wuhan were also the top predictors for COVID-19. The overall AUC of these selected predictors is 0.97 (95% CI 0.93-1.00). CONCLUSIONS Taken together with nucleic acid testing, we found that CT scans can allow for the rapid diagnosis of COVID-19. This study suggests that chest CT scans should be more broadly adopted along with nucleic acid testing in the initial assessment of suspected COVID-19 cases, especially for patients with nonspecific symptoms.

Introduction: This paper sought to investigate the clinical characteristic differences between suspected and confirmed patients with COVID-19 from CT scan to prevent and treat this infectious disease, since the coronavirus outbreak in the world has seriously affected the quality of life.Methods: We proposed to use a retrospective case-control study to give a comparison between suspected patients and confirmed patients in the clinical characteristics.Results: (56%) patients were confirmed for COVID-19 from suspected 167 patients. We find that elder people were more likely to be infected by COVID-19. Among the confirmed 94 patients, 2 (2%) patients were admitted to an intensive care unit, and 0 (0%) patients died during the study period. We find that images of CT scan of patients with a COVID-19 are significantly different from patients without a COVID-19.Conclusions: To our best knowledge, it is the first time to use the case-control design to study the coronavirus disease, since it is particularly appropriate for investigating infectious disease outbreaks. The clinical treatment experience in this study can supply a guideline for treating COVID-19 as the number of the infected patients is increasing in the world. Compared with other studies, we find that the mortality rate and the intensive care unit rate can be reduced if patients can be treated timely in the right identification and detection with nucleic acid testing and chest CT scan. Therefore, we recommend nucleic acid testing and chest CT scan for the clinical treatment practice from this successful clinical treatment study.

Background: Exercise is widely known to lower intraocular pressure and increase ocular blood flow, which may be beneficial for glaucoma management. However, there are few studies that have reported on the relationship between exercise and glaucoma progression. The aim of our study was to investigate the exercise habits of those with primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) and its association with the progression of visual field (VF) loss. Methods: Daily physical activity (PA) was monitored by an accelerometer (ActiGraph wGT3x-BT) which patients wore for more than 10 h of being awake on their right wrists for 1 week. Results: Seventy-one non-progressive and 27 progressive patients were enrolled in the study. 24-h moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) exercise showed that POAG patients had similar variation trends consisting of 3 wave peaks and 2 wave hollows. Minutes spent in MVPA was 19.89 ± 15.81 and 21.62 ± 15.10 during 07:00–09:00 h (p = 0.204), 15.40 ± 14.49 and 15.67 ± 12.43 during 15:00–17:00 h (p = 0.822) and 17.26 ± 21.11 and 11.42 ± 11.58 during 18:00–20:00 h (p = 0.001) in the non-progressive and progressive group, respectively. Univariate analysis indicated that 10 min of MVPA (18:00–20:00 h) [odds ratio, OR (95% CI) = 0.82 (0.73, 0.92)], average mean arterial pressure [OR (95% CI) = 0.96 (0.94, 0.98)], age [OR (95% CI) = 1.06 (1.03, 1.08)], male [OR (95% CI) = 0.67 (0.48, 0.96)], spherical equivalent [OR (95% CI) = 1.14 (1.07, 1.22)] and IOP-lowering medications [OR (95% CI) = 1.54 (1.16, 2.05)] were significantly correlated with having progressive VF damage. Multivariable analysis showed that 10 min of MVPA (18:00–20:00 h) [OR (95% CI) = 0.85 (0.75, 0.97)] was associated with progressive VF loss even after adjusting for other risk factors. Conclusions: Evening exercise may lower the odds of VF progression, suggesting that exercise habits possibly play an important role in glaucoma progression.

Purpose. To characterize the needs for visual improvement of new-visit patients with low vision.Methods. This cross-sectional study collected detailed information of patients presented at low-vision center of the Eye Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University between January 2015 and January 2017. A questionnaire interview, including demographic information and needs for visual improvement, was conducted before ophthalmology examinations.Results. The main need for visual improvement was engagement in hobbies (68.9%), followed by reading (20.9%), engaging in occupation (20.1%), and watching TV or movies (17.1%). Less than 10% of patients mentioned the demand of using public transportation (5.8%), doing housework (3.7%), writing (1.9%), walking on irregular surfaces (1.5%), driving (1.1%), and others (2.4%). Women were significantly associated with a concern for performing hobbies (OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.0–2.0) but associated with lower odds of reading (OR 0.46, 95% CI 0.3–0.7). Older subjects were more willing to choose hobbies (OR 1.35 (per 10-year increase), 95% CI 1.3–1.4), reading (OR 1.11 (per 10-year increase), 95% CI 1.0–1.2), watching TV or movies (OR 1.4 (per 10-year increase), 95% CI 1.3–1.6), and housework (OR 1.21 (per 10-year increase), 95% CI 1.0–1.5) than younger individuals. In comparison with younger participants, older individuals were less likely to choose occupation (OR 0.53 (per 10-year increase), 95% CI 0.5–0.6). No significant association was found between visual acuity and needs for visual improvement.Conclusion. Hobbies, reading, engaging in occupation, and watching TV were the most common needs for visual rehabilitation in patients with visual impairment. Gender and age showed a modest influence on the choice of different needs.