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More patients experience phantom eye symptoms every day, say University of Liverpool researchers

Researchers from the University of Liverpool have found that approximately half of patients who have an eye removed because of a form of eye cancer experience 'phantom eye syndrome.'

2 Jun 2015

Dopamine-producing neurons affect crucial brain functions

Nerve cells that produce dopamine for the purpose of transmitting signals to other cells affect numerous crucial brain functions.

14 May 2015

Applying eyeliner can cause vision problems

People who apply eyeliner on the inner eyelid run the risk of contaminating the eye and causing vision trouble, according to research by a scientist at the University of Waterloo. This is the first study to prove that particles from pencil eyeliner move into the eye.

2 Apr 2015

Careful blink assessment essential to preserve vision in face transplant procedures

Face transplantation can dramatically enhance a patient's quality of life after severe facial trauma, but lack of attention to eyelid function and vision can leave patients with impaired vision, corneal exposure, eyelid retraction that occurs when the upper or lower eyelid pulls away from the eyeball, and other eyelid-related complications.

31 Dec 2014

Methamphetamine use may increase Parkinson's disease risk

In addition to incurring serious dental problems, memory loss and other physical and mental issues, methamphetamine users are three times more at risk for getting Parkinson's disease than non-illicit drug users, new research from the University of Utah and Intermountain Healthcare shows.

17 Dec 2014

Controlling neural excitations may help prevent detrimental effects like those in stroke, say scientists

What do lasers, neural networks, and spreading epidemics have in common? They share a most basic feature whereby an initial pulse can propagate through a medium - be it physical, biological or socio-economic, respectively. The challenge is to gain a better understanding - and eventually control - of such systems, allowing them to be applied, for instance to real neural systems. This is the objective of a new theoretical study published in EPJ B by Clemens Bachmair and Eckehard Schöll from the Berlin University of Technology in Germany.

4 Dec 2014

Changes in lipid layer of tear film may contribute to contact lens discomfort

Changes in the lipid layer of the eyes' natural tear film may contribute to the common problem of contact lens discomfort, reports a study in the December issue of Optometry and Vision Science, official journal of the American Academy of Optometry.

21 Nov 2014

Researchers explore new ways to treat, prevent Streptococcus pneumoniae

Scientists from Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Harvard Medical School Department of Ophthalmology have used the power of new genomic technology to discover that microbes that commonly infect the eye have special, previously unknown properties. These properties are predicted to allow the bacterium -- Streptococcus pneumoniae -- to specifically stick to the surface of the eye, grow, and cause damage and inflammation.

13 Nov 2014

Prosthetic arm controlled by imagining different movements

This design hopes to identify the memory of movement in the amputee's brain to translate to an order allowing manipulation of the device.

6 Aug 2014

Parents severely underestimate time children spend on digital devices

According to the American Optometric Association (AOA), parents severely underestimate the time their children spend on digital devices. An AOA survey reports that 83 percent of children between the ages of 10 and 17 estimate they use an electronic device for three or more hours each day.

22 Jul 2014

Computer simulations offer potential treatment option for dry eye syndrome

A treatment for dry eye-a burning, gritty condition that can impair vision and damage the cornea-could some day result from computer simulations that map the way tears move across the surface of the eye.

29 May 2014

Using brain during adolescence could help brain cells survive, says study

Using your brain - particularly during adolescence - may help brain cells survive and could impact how it functions after puberty.

28 May 2014

Children with Tourette syndrome may unconsciously train brain to effectively control tics

Children with Tourette Syndrome (TS) may unconsciously train their brain to more effectively control their tics.

17 Apr 2014

Va. GOP not backing down in Medicaid stalemate

Despite appeals from traditional allies such as local hospitals, chambers of commerce and business leaders, Republicans in Virginia's House of Delegates remain firm in their stand against expansion. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania's request to set up a modified expansion is moving into a negotiation phase with federal officials, and union members take the fight to voters in Florida.

15 Apr 2014

Self-assembling DNA cages hold potential promise in drug delivery

Move over, nanotechnologists, and make room for the biggest of the small. Scientists at the Harvard's Wyss Institute have built a set of self-assembling DNA cages one-tenth as wide as a bacterium.

17 Mar 2014

Scientists develop stem cell based method for restoring strength to damaged skeletal muscles in elderly

A study co-published in Nature Medicine this week by University of Toronto researcher Penney Gilbert has determined a stem cell based method for restoring strength to damaged skeletal muscles of the elderly.

24 Feb 2014

New super-resolution microscopy method could spot dozens of distinct types of biomolecules

A new microscopy method could enable scientists to generate snapshots of dozens of different biomolecules at once in a single human cell, a team from the Wyss Institute of Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University reported Sunday in Nature Methods.

4 Feb 2014

Study quantifies photoactivation efficiency of fluorescent proteins

To know how many proteins assemble together at the nanoscale is fundamental for understanding protein function. Sometimes, proteins must be in an "oligomeric" state to be functional, although "oligomerization" of certain proteins can also lead to diseases. The ability to determine protein stoichiometry and monitor changes in the balance between monomeric, dimeric and multi-meric proteins can allow scientists to see the differences between a properly functioning cell and a diseased cell. Therefore, there is a great interest in being able to count proteins and determine their stoichiometry.

7 Jan 2014

Harvard University receives $3.5M grant to develop super-resolution microscopy technique

A team at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University has been awarded a special $3.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop an inexpensive and easy-to-use new microscopy method to simultaneously spot many tiny components of cells.

4 Oct 2013

Research: Visual representation of heart contributes to self-consciousness

While we're not necessarily aware of our heartbeat, this inner rhythm actually contributes to how we experience the body, and what belongs to it, according to research recently conducted at EPFL.

16 Aug 2013