Insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-3 plays an important role in regulating pharyngeal skeleton and inner ear formation and differentiation

Insulin-like growth factor-binding protein (IGFBP)-3 is the major insulin-like growth factor (IGF) carrier protein in the bloodstream. IGFBP-3 prolongs the half-life of circulating IGFs and prevents their potential hypo-glycemic effect. IGFBP-3 is also expressed in many peripheral tissues in fetal and adult stages. In vitro, IGFBP-3 can inhibit or potentiate IGF actions and even possesses IGF-independent activities, suggesting that local IGFBP-3 may also have paracrine/autocrine function(s). The in vivo function of IGFBP-3, however, is unclear. In this study, we elucidate the developmental role of IGFBP-3 using the zebrafish model. IGFBP-3 mRNA expression is first detected in the migrating cranial neural crest cells and subsequently in pharyngeal arches in zebrafish embryos. IGFBP-3 mRNA is also persistently expressed in the developing inner ears. To determine the role of IGFBP-3 in these tissues, we ablated the IGFBP-3 gene product using morpholino-modified antisense oligonucleotides (MOs). The IGFBP-3 knocked down embryos had delayed pharyngeal skeleton morphogenesis and greatly reduced pharyngeal cartilage differentiation. Knockdown of IGFBP-3 also significantly decreased inner ear size and disrupted hair cell differentiation and semicircular canal formation. Furthermore, reintroduction of a MO-resistant form of IGFBP-3 "rescued" the MO-induced defects. These findings suggest that IGFBP-3 plays an important role in regulating pharyngeal cartilage and inner car development and growth in zebrafish.

Toward Unconstrained Ear Recognition From Two-Dimensional Images

Ear recognition, as a biometric, has several advantages. In particular, ears can be measured remotely and are also relatively static in size and structure for each individual. Unfortunately, at present, good recognition rates require controlled conditions. For commercial use, these systems need to be much more robust. In particular, ears have to be recognized from different angles ( poses), under different lighting conditions, and with different cameras. It must also be possible to distinguish ears from background clutter and identify them when partly occluded by hair, hats, or other objects. The purpose of this paper is to suggest how progress toward such robustness might be achieved through a technique that improves ear registration. The approach focuses on 2-D images, treating the ear as a planar surface that is registered to a gallery using a homography transform calculated from scale-invariant feature-transform feature matches. The feature matches reduce the gallery size and enable a precise ranking using a simple 2-D distance algorithm. Analysis on a range of data sets demonstrates the technique to be robust to background clutter, viewing angles up to +/- 13 degrees, and up to 18% occlusion. In addition, recognition remains accurate with masked ear images as small as 20 x 35 pixels.

3D Morphable Model Construction for Robust Ear and Face Recognition

Recent work suggests that the human ear varies significantly between different subjects and can be used for identification. In principle, therefore, using ears in addition to the face within a recognition system could improve accuracy and robustness, particularly for non-frontal views. The paper describes work that investigates this hypothesis using an approach based on the construction of a 3D morphable model of the head and ear. One issue with creating a model that includes the ear is that existing training datasets contain noise and partial occlusion. Rather than exclude these regions manually, a classifier has been developed which automates this process. When combined with a robust registration algorithm the resulting system enables full head morphable models to be constructed efficiently using less constrained datasets. The algorithm has been evaluated using registration consistency, model coverage and minimalism metrics, which together demonstrate the accuracy of the approach. To make it easier to build on this work, the source code has been made available online.

Robust 2D Ear Registration and Recognition Based on SIFT Point Matching

Significant recent progress has shown ear recognition to be a viable biometric. Good recognition rates have been demonstrated under controlled conditions, using manual registration or with specialised equipment. This paper describes a new technique which improves the robustness of ear registration and recognition, addressing issues of pose variation, background clutter and occlusion. By treating the ear as a planar surface and creating a homography transform using SIFT feature matches, ears can be registered accurately. The feature matches reduce the gallery size and enable a precise ranking using a simple 2D distance algorithm. When applied to the XM2VTS database it gives results comparable to PCA with manual registration. Further analysis on more challenging datasets demonstrates the technique to be robust to background clutter, viewing angles up to +/- 13 degrees and with over 20% occlusion.

Reliability of nasal auscultation and their relation to middle ear condition – a clinical interest to pediatrics respiratory physiotherapy

Background: Acute respiratory infections are usual in children under three years old occurring in upper respiratory tract, having an impact on child and caregiver’s quality of life predisposing to otitis media or bronchiolitis. There are few valid and reliable measures to determine the child’s respiratory condition and to guide the physiotherapy intervention. Aim: To assess the intra and inter rater reliability of nasal auscultation, to analyze the relation between sounds’ classification and middle ear’s pressure and compliance as well as with the Clinical Severity Score. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was composed by 125 nursery children aged up to three years old. Tympanometry, pulmonary and nasal auscultation and application of Clinical Severity Score were performed to each child. Nasal auscultation sounds’ were recorded and sent to 3 blinded experts, that classified, as “obstructed” and “unobstructed”, with a 48 hours interval, in order to analyze inter and intra rater reliability. Results: Nasal auscultation revealed a substantial inter and intra rater reliability (=0,749 and evaluator A - K= 0,691; evaluator B - K= 0,605 and evaluator C - K= 0,724, respectively). Both ears’ pressure was significantly lower in children with an "unobstructed" nasal sound when compared with an “obstructed” nasal sound (t=-3,599, p<0,001 in left ear; t=-2,258, p=0,026 in right ear). Compliance in both ears was significantly lower in children with an "obstructed" nasal sound when compared with “unobstructed” nasal sound (t=-2,728, p=0,007 in left ear; t=-3,830, p<0,001 in right ear). There was a statistically significant association between sounds’ classification and tympanograms types in both ear’s (=11,437, p=0,003 in left ear; =13,535, p=0,001 in right ear). There was a trend to children with an "unobstructed" nasal sound that had a lower clinical severity score when compared with “obstructed” children. Conclusion: It was observed a good intra and substantial inter reliability for nasal auscultation. Nasal auscultation sounds’ classification was related to middle ears’ pressure and compliance.

Ear acupuncture and fMRI: a pilot study for assessing the specificity of auricular points.

In recent years research explored different acupuncture stimulation techniques but interest has focused primarily on somatic acupuncture and on a limited number of acupoints. As regards ear Acupuncture (EA) there is still some criticism about the clinical specificity of auricular points/areas representing organs or structures of the body. The aim of this study was to verify through (Functional magnetic resonance imaging) fMRI the hypothesis of EA point specificity using two auricular points having different topographical locations and clinical significance. Six healthy volunteers underwent two experimental fMRI sessions: the first was dedicated to the stimulation of Thumb Auricular Acupoint (TAA) and the second to the stimulation of Brain Stem Auricular Acupoint (BSAA). The stimulation of the needle placed in the TAA of the left ear produced an increase in activation bilaterally in the parietal operculum, region of the secondary somatosensory area SII. Stimulation of the needle placed in the BSAA of the left ear showed a pattern that largely overlapped regions belonging to the pain matrix, as shown to be involved in previous somatic acupuncture studies but with local differences in the left amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex, and cerebellum. The differences in activation patterns between TAA and BSAA stimulation support the specificity of the two acupoints. Moreover, the peculiarity of the regions involved in BSAA stimulation compared to those involved in the pain matrix, is in accordance with the therapeutic indications of this acupoint that include head pain, dizziness and vertigo. Our results provide preliminary evidence on the specificity of two auricular acupoints; further research is warranted by means of fMRI both in healthy volunteers and in patients carrying neurological/psychiatric syndromes.

Receipt from Lucien Howe, M.D., Buffalo, New York for ear examination

Receipt from Lucien Howe, M.D., Buffalo, New York for ear examination, Sept. 24, 1887.