The prevalence of myopia and biometric distribution in this urban Chinese cohort are similar to those observed in Singaporean Chinese but greater than in Mongolians and Europeans. Further studies are needed to clarify the role of environmental factors in the myopia rates.

Lack of knowledge about cataract and concerns about the quality of local services appear to be the principal barriers to cataract surgery in rural China.

No abstract

Half of the children in need of first-time or updated spectacles are without them, an unacceptably high proportion. Younger children with moderate visual impairment are at particular risk for uncorrected refractive error. Parental education and enhanced school-based screening programs may be necessary to address the unfilled need for refractive correction among school-aged children.

Many studies have investigated the association between hormonal and reproductive factors and thyroid cancer risk but provided contradictory and inconclusive findings. This review was aimed at precisely estimating this association by pooling all available epidemiological studies. 25 independent studies were retrieved after a comprehensive literature search in databases of PubMed and Embase. Overall, common hormonal factors including oral contraceptive and hormone replacement therapy did not alter the risk of thyroid cancer. Older age at menopause was associated with weakly increased risk of thyroid cancer in overall analysis (RR = 1.24, 95% CI 1.00–1.53, P = 0.049); however, longer duration of breast feeding was related to moderately reduced risk of thyroid cancer, suggested by pooled analysis in all cohort studies (RR = 0.7, 95% CI 0.51–0.95, P = 0.021). The pooled RR in hospital-based case-control studies implicated that parous women were more susceptible to thyroid cancer than nulliparous women (RR = 2.30, 95% CI 1.31–4.04, P = 0.004). The present meta-analysis suggests that older age at menopause and parity are risk factors for thyroid cancer, while longer duration of breast feeding plays a protective role against this cancer. Nevertheless, more relevant epidemiological studies are warranted to investigate roles of hormonal and reproductive factors in thyroid carcinogenesis.

ECCE or Phaco with IOL are the major surgical techniques used in urban southern China. More than half of the eyes with poor outcomes due to uncorrected aphakia, refractive error, or PCO are potentially treatable. This result suggests a pressing need for improved surgical training and postoperative care.

The ApoB/ApoA1 ratio was a good predictive marker of MS and pre-MS in Chinese adolescent women with PCOS. FAI could be involved in obesity-related metabolic abnormalities.

Homologous recombination repair (HRR), a crucial approach in DNA damage repair, is an attractive target in cancer therapy and drug design. The Bloom syndrome protein (BLM) is a 3′–5′ DNA helicase that performs an important role in HRR regulation. However, limited studies about BLM inhibitors and their biological effects have been reported. Here, we identified a class of isaindigotone derivatives as novel BLM inhibitors by synthesis, screening, and evaluating. Among them, compound 29 was found as an effective BLM inhibitor with a high binding affinity and good inhibitory effect on BLM. Cellular evaluation indicated that 29 effectively disrupted the recruitment of BLM at DNA double-strand break sites, promoted an accumulation of RAD51, and regulated the HRR process. Meanwhile, 29 significantly induced DNA damage responses, as well as apoptosis and proliferation arrest in cancer cells. Our finding provides a potential anticancer strategy based on interfering with BLM via small molecules.