Insights into Salinity Stress-Induced Morpho-Physiological and Molecular Responses and Nanoparticle- and Nanobiochar-Mediated Tolerance Mechanisms During Seed Germination.

Incomplete retinal pigment epithelium and outer retinal atrophy (iRORA) and complete retinal pigment epithelium and outer retinal atrophy (cRORA) are morphological characteristics of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and other macular disorders After the description of its terminology by Guymer and colleagues, studies examined the associations between iRORA as risk factor for the incidence of geographic atrophy, the role of other morphological features of AMD as risk factors for the development of iRORA, and the relationships between iRORA and other morphological characteristics of AMD. These previous investigations had limitations as they had recruited their study participants in a hospital-based manner and thus had the inherent risk of a referral bias in the selection of the patients, that the number of patients involved was relatively small, that either no control group was included or if, then consisting of only relatively few individuals, and that only a small number of potentially associated and risk factors was examined without taking into account inter-dependencies between these parameters and without considering non-ocular systemic parameters. We therefore performed the present study with a population-based recruitment of a relatively large number of individuals including those of an unaffected control group, who underwent a multitude of ocular and systemic examinations to explore the presence of iRORAs and cRORAs and their associations with ocular and systemic parameters in a general population. The participants of the Beijing Eye Study were recruited in a population-based manner in an urban area of Central Beijing and in a rural region of Greater Beijing region. As described in detail previously, all individuals aged 50 + years and living in the study regions were eligible. The study consisted of 3468 (78.8%) participants (mean age: 64.6 ± 9.8 years; range: 50–93 years) out of 4403 eligible persons. The study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the Beijing Tongren Hospital (date: 20.12.2000; an identification number of the ethics committee approval was not given), with all study participants giving their written informed consent. It was confirmed that all methods were performed in accordance with the relevant guidelines and regulations. Out of the total cohort of the Beijing Eye Study, we included into the present investigation all eyes with available macula OCT images and without any retinal disorder other than AMD and polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV). The reason to exclude patients with retinal diseases other than AMD or PCV was to avoid confounding effects by these retinal disorders then concurrent with AMD or PCV. The recommendations of the Beckman Initiative for Macular Research Classification Committee were applied for the definition of AMD.