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Project Summary Atrophic dry age related macular degeneration AMD is the leading cause of severe loss of vision for those over age Dietary supplements containing lutein and zeaxanthin are recommended by the NEI for those at risk of late AMD There has been a corresponding growth in demand for these two xanthophylls Lutein and zeaxanthin are currently sourced from marigolds grown mostl ...

SummaryMacular edemaMEand diabetic macular edemaDMEwhich affects at leastmillion people in theUSare leading causes of blindness in people between the ages ofThe major problem in thesediseases is a leaky vasculaturewhich results in pooling of blood around the retinaThis blood can causeocclusion of vision as well as swelling and increased ocular pressure and detachment of the retinaThe effective the ...

Abstract Diabetic Macular Edema DME is a vision threatening stage in Diabetic Retinopathy DR that can result in legal blindness The biochemical mechanisms that drive DME progression are not well understood and treatments address only portions of the disease pathology The available treatment options vary widely from injectable anti VEGF to injectable steroids to laser treatments and carry a ...

Abstract MetaMedia and partner Healthy Teen Network will develop a mobile application aimed at reducing teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections STIs among Latino and African American men aged In the U S teen pregnancy teen births and STIs affect African American and Latino youth in greater proportion compared to other youth A comprehensive literature search revealed that ...

This project develops smoke detector hardware and an associated smartphone application which, upon detection of an environmental threat (e.g., a fire), automatically pushes alert notifications directly to individuals who are Deaf or hard of hearing via a cellular telephone or smart device application. The alert notifications are transmitted to telephones or smart devices within proximity of the sm ...

This project evaluates the effectiveness of Universal Crosswalk Diagrams (UCD), a new kind of street sign to aid pedestrians who are blind or have low vision. These small signs are mounted directly above existing Accessible Pedestrian Signals (APS), the pole-mounted buttons at street corners that pedestrians press to request information about the current status of the Walk/Don’t Walk indicator. ...

This project develops the T3 Platform, a system for creating, distributing, and displaying interactive, audio-tactile maps, graphs, games, and braille lessons. Built on the successful but outdated Talking Tactile Tablet (TTT) paradigm, this new approach makes some images accessible to those who can’t see well enough to use standard print graphics. T3 Platform includes four components: T3 Tablet, ...

This project develops new methods for fabricating replicas of museum artifacts and other 3D objects that describe themselves when touched, so that museums can create exhibits that are accessible to everyone, including visitors with visual impairments. Phase I demonstrated how ordinary capacitive touchscreens could be repurposed as sensors for determining locations of finger touches on 3D surfaces ...

PROJECT SUMMARY Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease affecting approximatelymillion Americans that can become debilitating and severely impact quality of lifeWhile an estimatedof patients suffer moderate to severe disease forms that require systemic therapy with immune suppressants and ultraviolet phototherapythe majorityof patients exhibit milder symptomsFor these patientstopical agen ...

PROJECT SUMMARY. The skeletal muscle wasting that occurs with cancer cachexia compromises quality of life and is both directly and indirectly responsible for cancer mortalities. Tumor-derived and tumor-responsive factors as well as many therapeutics themselves contribute to the cachectic state, although nutritional support has little if any positive effect on restoring striated muscle mass or func ...