#14 - Investigating the Mechanisms of Aniridic Cataract

Investigating the Mechanisms of Aniridic Cataract Katie A. Coscia, Samuel G. Novo, Mahbubul H. Shihan, Yan Wang, Paige Faasuamalie, Adam Pater-Faranda, and Melinda K. Duncan Aniridia is a congenital eye disorder hallmarked by an absent or malformed iris and underdevelopment of the fovea and optic nerve. These structural deformities are associated with many complications like photophobia, decreased quality of vision, and an increased predisposition to the premature onset of vision-threatening diseases such as glaucoma, keratopathy, and cataracts. Patients with aniridia often require lifelong ophthalmological care, including many costly, invasive surgeries. Aniridia is caused by heterozygous inheritance of a mutation in the PAX6 gene, a key regulatory transcription factor crucial for the proper formation and maintenance of the tissues of the eye. This haploinsufficiency of the PAX6 gene is implicated in the eye’s failure to maintain lens clarity and premature development of cataracts in aniridic patients. To explore the molecular mechanisms behind cataract development, several fibrotic markers with altered levels of transcription were identified via mRNA sequencing of wild type and PAX6 mutant lens epithelial cells. Immunohistochemical staining was performed to investigate the role that four indicators of potential fibrosis play in the manifestation of the aniridic phenotype. There was a noticeable upregulation in the expression of α-smooth muscle actin protein in the lens cells that correlated with the upregulation shown in the RNAseq data. In contrast, while fibronectin 1 and collagen I mRNA levels are also upregulated by RNAseq, no discernible changes in their protein expression levels were detected. Further, while the mRNA levels of extracellular matrix protein 1 are upregulated, the levels of this protein appear to be downregulated. Such discordant results suggest that the protein levels of ECM1, fibronectin 1 and Collagen I may be controlled via post-transcriptional mechanisms such as translational control. Overall, these results suggest that the PAX6 heterozygous lens is sensitized to undergo fibrosis, which may explain the propensity of the aniridic lens to develop early-onset cataract

3-D Hand Pose Estimation from Kinect's Point Cloud Using Appearance Matching

We present a novel appearance-based approach for pose estimation of a human hand using the point clouds provided by the low-cost Microsoft Kinect sensor. Both the free-hand case, in which the hand is isolated from the surrounding environment, and the hand-object case, in which the different types of interactions are classified, have been considered. The hand-object case is clearly the most challenging task having to deal with multiple tracks. The approach proposed here belongs to the class of partial pose estimation where the estimated pose in a frame is used for the initialization of the next one. The pose estimation is obtained by applying a modified version of the Iterative Closest Point (ICP) algorithm to synthetic models to obtain the rigid transformation that aligns each model with respect to the input data. The proposed framework uses a "pure" point cloud as provided by the Kinect sensor without any other information such as RGB values or normal vector components. For this reason, the proposed method can also be applied to data obtained from other types of depth sensor, or RGB-D camera

The Structure and Dynamics of International Development Assistance

We study the structure of international aid coordination by creating and analyzing a tripartite network of donor organizations, recipient countries and development issues using web-based information. We develop a measure of coordination and find that it is moderate, achieving about 60% of its theoretical maximum. Many countries are strongly connected to organizations that are related to the issues that are salient there. Nevertheless, we identify many countries that are poorly served, issues that are inadequately attended to, and organizations that focus on the wrong combination of places and issues. Our approach may be used to improve decentralized coordination

La tecnología en la agricultura del siglo XXI

En la presente comunicación se exponen, los cambios poblaciones acaecidos en el último siglo, las respuestas de la agricultura y las nuevas tecnologías y avances para el desarrollo de la actividad rural.Academia Nacional de Agronomía y Veterinari

El punto de vista del INTA

Se aborda el tema del INTA a través de dos enfoques distintos: en primer lugar, sobre la comunidad tecnológica agropecuaria y su aporte al desarrollo de nuestra agricultura y, en segundo lugar, me referiré al INTA a través de sus rasgos institucionales más salientes y del proceso de reestructuración en que se encuentra actualmente.Conferencia en homenaje al Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria en su 30º aniversario.Academia Nacional de Agronomía y Veterinari

Systemisation of knowledge for the conservation and cultural development uf piedmont's mosaic heritage

Mosaics, in all their possible variants of form, material and location, can and must be recognised within the definition of Architectural Heritage. A further examination also reveals that mosaics are fully included within the definition of Cultural Heritage and, so, constitute part of the CH of a territorial area. In the absence of specific regulations, studies have been carried out in relation to source data and scheduling instruments at national and regional level with a view to devising a schedule model specifically for the mosaic, so that it is no longer regarded as an archaeological finding in its own right, but as a systematic element. These have been compared with other local situations, in Italy and abroad, which need unambiguous parameters for standardisation. These operations pass unavoidably through the identification of parameters, metadata, final users and methods through which the project could be developed in the future. Of no small importance is the diversified input of specific and inter-disciplinary skills, which are necessary for a correct cataloguing of resources; that means determining the obligatory fields and structuring the various headings, devising also appropriate key words. The cataloguing procedure is fundamental in the process for an effective cultural development of Piedmont's mosaic heritage. More precisely, it becomes an element in a structure for multi-level querying of the Territorial Information System, devised in particular for visualising data relating to files on interactive support, but also for a web-GIS configuration

La segunda revolución agrícola de la revolución pampeana

El proceso de tecnificación de nuestra producción agrícola, que comenzara con serias restricciones hace unos treinta años o poco más, en momentos que nuestra agricultura salía de una larga y dura crisis que fue de 1930 a 1950, dio origen a una gama de cambios profundos que yo no titubeo en calificarlos de revolucionarios y que nos ubica a la par, o muy cerca, de los países más avanzados en muchos aspectos.Trabajo galardonado con el Premio José María Bustillo, versión 1982.Academia Nacional de Agronomía y Veterinari

El punto de vista del INTA

Se aborda el tema del INTA a través de dos enfoques distintos: en primer lugar, sobre la comunidad tecnológica agropecuaria y su aporte al desarrollo de nuestra agricultura y, en segundo lugar, me referiré al INTA a través de sus rasgos institucionales más salientes y del proceso de reestructuración en que se encuentra actualmente.Conferencia en homenaje al Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria en su 30º aniversario.Academia Nacional de Agronomía y Veterinari