Abstract Purpose Conjunctival ultraviolet autofluorescence (CUVAF) is a marker for ocular sun damage. While its potential is recognised in research, factors influencing its development and temporal dynamics remain poorly documented. This systematic review evaluates whether the size of CUVAF reflects recent ultraviolet (UV) exposure, lifetime cumulative damage or both. Recent findings Google Scholar, PubMed, Embase, Scopus and ProQuest Global databases were searched for papers using defined search terms. Ninety-one articles were assessed and 35 studies using CUVAF as an indicator of sun exposure were analysed. Extracted data included study location, CUVAF area (mean/median, mm²)/presence or pattern, participant’s age, skin type, occupation, time spent outdoors, UV protection behaviour, the presence of UV eye disease and seasonal variations if assessed. Study quality was evaluated using the Newcastle–Ottawa-Scale. A locally weighted scatterplot smoothing (LOWESS) and polynomial curve were generated to visualise age-related trends. CUVAF area peaked in young adults and followed nonlinear, oscillating pattern with age. High ambient UV regions like Australia showed greater weighted average CUVAF (28.8 mm², range: 0.6–45.4 mm 2 ) compared to moderate or lower UV regions such as India (6.8 mm², range: 4.3–11.1 mm 2 ), the USA (7.5 mm², range: 5.5–9.2 mm 2 ) and Europe (5.3 mm², range 0.4–6.4 mm 2 ). Outdoor work and fair pigmentation were associated with larger CUVAF area. CUVAF size did not vary with season. Myopes had smaller average CUVAF areas than non-myopes (14.5 vs. 21.5 mm²). Eyes with UV-related eye disease exhibited larger average areas (43.4 vs. 20.7 mm 2 ) compared to healthy eyes. There was no reported correlation between sunglass use and CUVAF. Artificial UV irradiation temporarily increased CUVAF area. Summary Age-related oscillations in CUVAF, larger values in high-UV regions and transient increases following artificial UV exposure suggest that CUVAF may reflect both acute conjunctival responses and cumulative UV exposure. However, its ability to capture dynamic changes under natural environmental UV remains uncertain without longitudinal data.

Abstract Purpose Previous studies showed that dioptric blur degrades visual acuity and the critical print size for text reading. This study investigated whether dioptric blur affects sight-reading music, hypothesising that its effect on pitch and rhythm accuracy might differ. Methods Eighteen young piano-players with normal vision played a Yamaha keyboard using the right hand while sight-reading short music pieces. Testing was conducted monocularly with dioptric blur (no lens, +1.00D, +2.00D, +3.00D and +4.00D) using convex trial lenses placed on the dilated right eye and with a 3 mm artificial pupil. Stimuli were 12-measure pieces (4 measures per line) with similar spatial complexity, printed in 11 note sizes ranging from –0.40 to 0.80 logMAR (defined as notehead height). A function of accuracy versus note size was obtained at each blur level. The threshold note size (TNS), defined as the note size corresponding to 80% maximum accuracy, was derived for each blur level for pitch and rhythm. Results Visual acuity, pitch perception and rhythm perception were all susceptible to dioptric blur; however, this degrading effect can be compensated for by magnification. TNS was higher for pitch than rhythm across blur levels and remained unaffected until surpassing the critical blur level (CBL). Beyond the CBL (+1.49 D for pitch and +1.00 D for rhythm), TNS increased with blur, rising faster for pitch (0.19 logMAR per blur level) than rhythm (0.14 logMAR per blur level). The variation of TNS can be predicted partially by the change of visual acuity with increasing dioptric blur ( r = 0.68 for pitch, 0.60 for rhythm). Conclusions These findings highlight the importance of visual perception in music reading, with implications for music education and performance, particularly for individuals with visual impairments or in situations where visual clarity is compromised.