Nanophthalmos: An Update on the Biological Parameters and Fundus Abnormalities

Nanophthalmos is a clinical phenotype of simple microphthalmos, in which the anterior and posterior segments of the eyeball do not develop into a normal size without other major ocular or systemic anomalies. Typical clinical manifestations of nanophthalmos include short axial length, thickened sclera, small cornea, shallow anterior chamber, and increased lens-to-eye volume ratio. Currently, there is a lack of recognized diagnostic criteria for nanophthalmos. With the development of eye examination technologies, such as biological measurement and imaging examination, visualization and quantification of the eyeball’s shape and structure in nanophthalmos can be realized. New clinical features have been reported, which are of great significance for diagnosing and treating nanophthalmos. This review introduces the related concepts of nanophthalmos and the new developments in its clinical characterization.

Why Do Hills Look So Steep?

This chapter discusses the visual perception of hills. Hills look much steeper than they are. This chapter reviews current knowledge of the phenomenology of slant perception in relation to both functionalist and mechanistic accounts of this perceptual bias. Recent discoveries suggest that this misperception of the geometry of our environment may be related to useful biological information coding strategies with respect to not only slant but also other angular variables relevant to the biological measurement of surface layout. Even in the absence of hills, people misperceive the angular declination of their gaze systematically in ways that seem to contribute to the vertical expansion of the perceived environment.

Sports Biomechanical Research and Exploration on the Tennis Injuries

Tennis is very popular, but the incorrect action produces sports injuries. The knowledge of sports biomechanics is used in sports injury research on tennis. Two mainly classical research methods on tennis sports biomechanics are theoretical research and experimental study. This paper introduces the technical features of two research methods, theoretical research is mainly based on the model. The experimental study is mainly based on three systems of the kinematics, dynamics and biological measurement. The differences among them are compared in order to provide the overall ideas for study on sports injury of tennis.

Investigation of genetic variants in ubiquitin enzyme genes involved in the modulation of neurodevelopmental processes: a role in schizophrenia susceptibility?

SummaryDespite extensive research during the last few decades, the etiology of schizophrenia remains unclear. Evidence of both genetic and environmental influences in the developmental profile of schizophrenia has grown, and due to the complexity of this disorder, a polygenic aspect has been associated with this neuropsychiatric pathology. Unfortunately, no diagnostic strategies based on biological measurement or genetic testing is currently available for schizophrenia. Gene-expression profiling and recent protein studies have shown a decrease in the expression of ubiquitin pathway proteins in the prefrontal cortex of schizophrenia patients. We have examined single nucleotide polymorphisms (or SNPs) within three genes from the ubiquitin protein system: the ubiquitin conjugating enzyme E2D1 (UBE2D1) gene, the E3 SUMO-protein ligase protein inhibitor of activated STAT 2 (PIAS2) gene, and the E3 ubiquitin ligase F-box and leucine-rich repeat protein 21 (FBXL21) gene, in a Caucasian case–control population for schizophrenia. After Bonferroni correction for multiple testing was applied, no significant associations were reported for any of the tested SNPs. Additional genetic analyses will be necessary to fully explore the role of these three genes in schizophrenia. Regarding the rising interest in ubiquitin-related proteins as a therapeutic target in other pathologies such as cancer, further research into the role of ubiquitin pathways in schizophrenia seems topical and timely.