roll a lucky six

roll a lucky six

you'll find an assortment of my fandoms and sushi reblogs here.

+ something nerdy every once in a while! :)

neurosciencestuff:

Scientists discover new layer of the human cornea
Scientists at The University of Nottingham have discovered a previously undetected layer in the cornea, the clear window at the front of the human eye.
The breakthrough, announced in a study published in the academic journal Ophthalmology, could help surgeons to dramatically improve outcomes for patients undergoing corneal grafts and transplants.
The new layer has been dubbed the Dua’s Layer after the academic Professor Harminder Dua who discovered it.
Professor Dua, Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, said: “This is a major discovery that will mean that ophthalmology textbooks will literally need to be re-written. Having identified this new and distinct layer deep in the tissue of the cornea, we can now exploit its presence to make operations much safer and simpler for patients.
“From a clinical perspective, there are many diseases that affect the back of the cornea which clinicians across the world are already beginning to relate to the presence, absence or tear in this layer.”
Tough and strong
The human cornea is the clear protective lens on the front of the eye through which light enters the eye. Scientists previously believed the cornea to be comprised of five layers, from front to back, the corneal epithelium, Bowman’s layer, the corneal stroma, Descemet’s membrane and the corneal endothelium.
The new layer that has been discovered is located at the back of the cornea between the corneal stroma and Descemet’s membrane. Although it is just 15 microns thick — the entire cornea is around 550 microns thick or 0.5mm — it is incredibly tough and is strong enough to be able to withstand one and a half to two bars of pressure.
The scientists proved the existence of the layer by simulating human corneal transplants and grafts on eyes donated for research purposes to eye banks located in Bristol and Manchester.
During this surgery, tiny bubbles of air were injected into the cornea to gently separate the different layers. The scientists then subjected the separated layers to electron microscopy, allowing them to study them at many thousand times their actual size.
Better outcomes
Understanding the properties and location of the new Dua’s layer could help surgeons to better identify where in the cornea these bubbles are occurring and take appropriate measures during the operation. If they are able to inject a bubble next to the Dua’s layer, its strength means that it is less prone to tearing, meaning a better outcome for the patient.
The discovery will have an impact on advancing understanding of a number of diseases of the cornea, including acute hydrops, Descematocele and pre-Descemet’s dystrophies.
The scientists now believe that corneal hydrops, a bulging of the cornea caused by fluid build up that occurs in patients with keratoconus (conical deformity of the cornea), is caused by a tear in the Dua layer, through which water from inside the eye rushes in and causes waterlogging.

my favourite kind of friendship is one where there’s a mutual understanding of the fact that we both have our own lives so we won’t be able to talk or hang out all the time but when we do talk or hang out it’s like picking up right where we left off

(via new-yevon)

Given the chance, you would deny me my life, wouldn’t you?

Robert Downey Jr in ‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’.
screencaps part [3/6]

neurosciencestuff:

Bionic eye prototype unveiled by Victorian scientists and designers
A team of Australian industrial designers and scientists have unveiled their prototype for the world’s first bionic eye.
It is hoped the device, which involves a microchip implanted in the skull and a digital camera attached to a pair of glasses, will allow recipients to see the outlines of their surroundings.
If successful, the bionic eye has the potential to help over 85 per cent of those people classified as legally blind. With trials beginning next year, Monash University’s Professor Mark Armstrong says the bionic eye should give recipients a degree of extra mobility.
“There’s a camera at the front and the camera is actually very similar to an iPhone camera, so it takes live action for colour,” he told PM. “And then that imagery is then distilled via a very sophisticated processor down to, let’s say, a distilled signal.
“That signal is then transmitted wirelessly from what’s called a coil, which is mounted at the back of the head and inside the brain there is an implant which consists of a series of little ceramic tiles and in each tile are microscopic electrodes which actually are embedded in the visual cortex of the brain.”
Professor Armstrong says is it is hoped the technology will help those who completely blind, enabling them to navigate their way around.
“What we believe the recipient will see is a sort of a low resolution dot image, but enough… [to] see, for example, the edge of a table or the silhouette of a loved one or a step into the gutter or something like that,” he said.
“So the wonderful thing, if our interpretation of this is correct - because we don’t know until the first human trial - [is] it’ll of course enable people that are blind to be reconnected with their world in a way.
“There’s a number of different settings … so you could set it to floor mapping for example and it creates a silhouette around objects on the floor so that you can see where you’re going.”
A challenge the designers have had to overcome is ensuring the product was lightweight, adjustable and enabled users to feel good about themselves.
“We want to make it comfortable and light weight and adjustable so that different sized heads and shapes will still manage it well and have those sort of nice aspects,” Professor Armstrong said.
“We don’t want a Heath Robinson wire springs affair on somebody’s head.
“It needs to look sophisticated and appropriate, probably less like a prosthetic and more like a cool Bluetooth device.”
The first implant is scheduled to go ahead next year which is expected to be followed by clinical trials, research and user feedback to the team.
The development of a bionic eye was one of the key aspirations out of the 2020 summit that was held in 2008.
Professor Armstrong says it is “amazing” that a prototype for the technology has already been achieved.
“To be honest when I heard about that 2020 conference and all of the people there, I thought it was a little bit of a hot air fest if you know what I mean,” he said.
“But I’ve been proven completely wrong.
“Some of the initiatives from that, this is a major one for sure, have been brought to fruition and it’s wonderful for Australia and equally wonderful for Monash University.”

An empire’s falling just one day…

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