Significance: Diapause is an alternative developmental pathway exploited by insects and other invertebrates to survive inimical seasons. Like many insects that enter an adult diapause, the mosquito Culex pipiens responds to the short day lengths of autumn by feeding extensively on sugar, stockpiling huge fat reserves, halting reproduction, suppressing metabolism, boosting defense responses, and migrating to protected sites where it can safely bridge the winter months. In the experiments presented here, we propose that many of the diverse features of the diapause phenotype are the consequence of activating forkhead transcription factor (FOXO), a transcription factor downstream of insulin and juvenile hormone signaling. Our experimental results reveal how these upstream hormonal signaling pathways act through FOXO to generate the complex phenotype known as diapause.

To evaluate the changes in biomechanically corrected intraocular pressure (IOP) and new dynamic corneal response parameters measured by a dynamic Scheimpflug analyzer before and after transepithelial photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) and femtosecond laser-assisted laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK). Yonsei University College of Medicine and Eyereum Eye Clinic, Seoul, South Korea. Retrospective case series. Medical records of patients having transepithelial PRK or femtosecond-assisted LASIK were examined. The primary outcome variables were biomechanically corrected IOP and dynamic corneal response parameters, including deformation amplitude ratio 2.0 mm, stiffness parameter at first applanation, Ambrósio relational thickness through the horizontal meridian, and integrated inverse radius before the procedure and 6 months postoperatively. Of the 129 patients (129 eyes) in the study, 65 had transepithelial PRK and 64 had femtosecond-assisted LASIK. No significant differences in biomechanically corrected IOP were noted before and after surgery. The deformation amplitude ratio 2.0 mm and integrated inverse radius increased, whereas the stiffness parameter at first applanation and the Ambrósio relational thickness through the horizontal meridian decreased after surgery (P < .001). The changes in deformation amplitude ratio 2.0 mm and integrated inverse radius were smaller in transepithelial PRK than femtosecond-assisted LASIK (P < .001). Using analysis of covariance, with refractive error change or corneal thickness change as a covariate, the changes in deformation amplitude ratio 2.0 mm and integrated inverse radius were smaller in transepithelial PRK than femtosecond-assisted LASIK (P < .001). The dynamic Scheimpflug analyzer showed stable biomechanically corrected IOP measurement before and after surgery. The changes in dynamic corneal response parameters were smaller with transepithelial PRK than with femtosecond-assisted LASIK, indicating less of a biomechanical effect with transepithelial PRK.

To evaluate clinical factors affecting postoperative vaulting in eyes that had achieved optimal vaulting within the range of 250–750 μm following implantation of 12.6-mm V4c implantable collamer lenses (ICL). A total of 236 eyes of 236 patients that had achieved optimal vaulting following implantation of a 12.6-mm V4c ICL were retrospectively analyzed. Associations between postoperative vaulting and age, preoperative anterior chamber depth (ACD), preoperative axial length (AL), preoperative white-to-white diameter, preoperative pupil size, preoperative sulcus-to-sulcus diameter, and preoperative manifest refraction spherical equivalent were investigated using simple regression, stepwise multiple regression, and multinomial logistic regression analyses. Mean central vaulting at the 6-month follow-up was 519.0 ± 112.8 μm. Variables relevant to postoperative vaulting were, in order of influence, preoperative ACD (β = 0.305, p < 0.001), preoperative pupil size (β = 0.218, p < 0.001), and preoperative AL (β = 0.171, p = 0.006). Low preoperative pupil size was associated with low optimal vaulting (250 to 450 μm), relative to that observed in the mid optimal vaulting group (451 to 550 μm) (odds ratio = 0.532, P = 0.021). Increasing preoperative ACD was associated with high optimal vaulting (551 and 750 μm), relative to that observed the mid optimal vaulting group (odds ratio = 6.340, P = 0.034). Myopic eyes with greater preoperative ACD, larger pupil size, and longer AL are predisposed to higher postoperative vaulting following 12.6-mm V4c ICL implantation. Therefore, the extremes of these parameters should be considered when choosing V4c ICL size.

Diapause is a critical eco-physiological adaptation for winter survival in the West Nile Virus vector, Culex pipiens, but little is known about the molecular mechanisms that distinguish diapause from non-diapause in this important mosquito species. We used Illumina RNA-seq to simultaneously identify and quantify relative transcript levels in diapausing and non-diapausing adult females. Among 65,623,095 read pairs, we identified 41 genes with significantly different transcript abundances between these two groups. Transcriptome divergences between these two phenotypes include genes related to juvenile hormone synthesis, anaerobic metabolism, innate immunity and cold tolerance.