Prediction of spherical equivalent refraction and axial length in children based on machine learning

Purpose: Recently, the proportion of patients with high myopia has shown a continuous growing trend, more toward the younger age groups. This study aimed to predict the changes in spherical equivalent refraction (SER) and axial length (AL) in children using machine learning methods. Methods: This study is a retrospective study. The cooperative ophthalmology hospital of this study collected data on 179 sets of childhood myopia examinations. The data collected included AL and SER from grades 1 to 6. This study used the six machine learning models to predict AL and SER based on the data. Six evaluation indicators were used to evaluate the prediction results of the models. Results: For predicting SER in grade 6, grade 5, grade 4, grade 3, and grade 2, the best results were obtained through the multilayer perceptron (MLP) algorithm, MLP algorithm, orthogonal matching pursuit (OMP) algorithm, OMP algorithm, and OMP algorithm, respectively. The R2 of the five models were 0.8997, 0.7839, 0.7177, 0.5118, and 0.1758, respectively. For predicting AL in grade 6, grade 5, grade 4, grade 3, and grade 2, the best results were obtained through the Extra Tree (ET) algorithm, MLP algorithm, kernel ridge (KR) algorithm, KR algorithm, and MLP algorithm, respectively. The R2 of the five models were 0.7546, 0.5456, 0.8755, 0.9072, and 0.8534, respectively. Conclusion: Therefore, in predicting SER, the OMP model performed better than the other models in most experiments. In predicting AL, the KR and MLP models were better than the other models in most experiments.

Serum levels of iron, zinc, copper and vitamin D in severe early childhood caries / 口腔疾病防治

Objective @#The serum levels of iron, zinc, copper and vitamin D in severe early childhood caries (S-ECC) patients were investigated and analyzed to provide reference for primary prevention and diagnosis of S-ECC children.@*Methods @#A total of 184 children were enrolled in the Children Health Department of Xinjiang Medical University Health Management Center from June 2018 to June 2019. They were divided into the caries-free (CF) group (n=89) and S-ECC group (n=95). The contents of iron, zinc, copper and vitamin D were detected.@* Results@# The serum iron content of the CF group and S-ECC group was (8.36 ± 0.42) mmol/L and (8.13 ± 0.44) mmol/L, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (t=3.50, P < 0.001); the serum content of zinc was (83.18 ± 7.28) μmol/L and (79.23 ± 6.38) μmol/L, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (t=3.92, P < 0.001); the serum content of 25-hydroxyvitamin D was (86.72 ± 15.83) nmol/L and (77.75 ± 11.38) nmol/L, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (t=4.42, P < 0.001). The serum copper content of CF group and S-ECC group was (20.18 ± 4.84) μmol/L and (19.49 ± 4.62) μmol/L, but the difference was not statistically significant (t=0.97, P=0.33).@*Conclusion@#The contents of iron, zinc and vitamin D in the serum of S-ECC patients are low, suggesting that iron, zinc and vitamin D supplementation should be emphasized in the prevention and treatment of S-ECC.

miR-214 inhibits the osteogenic differentiation of dental follicle cells in vitro / 口腔疾病防治

Objective @# To investigate the effect of miR-214 on the osteogenic differentiation of dental follicle cells (DFCs).@*Methods@#Purified DFCs were cultured in vitro by bidirectional differential passage, with the untransfected DFCs as the control group (DFCs group). The expression of miR-214-3p in DFCs was upregulated and downregulated by transfection of miR-214-3p(miR-214 mimics group) or miR-214-3p inhibitors(miR-214 inhibitor group) into DFCs. The expression levels of miR-214, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), osteonectin (OSN) and runt-related transcription factor-2(RUNX-2) were detected by qRT-PCR after 7 days of osteogenesis induction, the protein expression levels of RUNX-2 and β-catenin were detected by western blot, and the formation of mineralized nodules was observed with alizarin red staining after 14 days of osteogenesis induction. @*Results @# Compared with the DFCs group, in the miR-214 mimics group, the expression of miR-214 was upregulated after 7 days of osteogenesis induction. The mRNA expression of ALP, OSN and RUNX-2 in the miR-214 mimics group was lower than that in the DFCs group, but only ALP in the two groups was statistically significant (P > 0.05); the mRNA expression of ALP, OSN and RUNX-2 in the miR-214 inhibitor group was higher than that in the DFCs group, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The protein expression of RUNX-2 and β-catenin in the miR-214 mimics group was lower than that in the miR-214 inhibitor group. The number of calcified nodules in the miR-214 mimics group was significantly less than that in the DFCs group, while that in the miR-214 inhibitor group was significantly higher than that in the DFCs group. @*Conclusion@#The upregulation of miR-214 can downregulate the expression of β-catenin, can inhibit the expression of ALP, OSN and RUNX-2 related to osteogenesis, and can inhibit osteogenic differentiation. The downregulation of miR-214 demonstrated the opposite results; miR-214 may downregulate the expression of β-catenin and inhibit the osteogenic differentiation of DFCs.