The principal purpose of the present invention is to provide a biomarker that makes it possible to conveniently and accurately assess corneal or conjunctival disease, and can use lacrimal fluid as the sample thereof. In addition, a main object of the present invention is to provide a biomarker that makes it possible to conveniently and accurately evaluate central serous chorioretinopathy. The present invention also provides a diagnostic kit containing a reagent capable of detecting the biomarker, and a diagnosis method that uses the biomarker. It is possible to use mitochondrial DNA included in lacrimal fluid as the biomarker for corneal or conjunctival disease.

Described herein are methods for determining a Caucasian subject's susceptibility to having or developing a complement-mediated disease comprising determining in the Caucasian subject the identity of one or more haplotypes, wherein the presence of one or more of the haplotypes indicates the subject's susceptibility for having or developing a complement-mediated disease.

A system and method of classifying images of pathology. An image is received, normalized, and segmented normalizing the image; into a plurality of regions; A disease vector is automatically determining for the plurality of regions with at least one classifier comprising a neural network. Each of the respective plurality of regions is automatically annotated, based on the determined disease vectors. The received image is automatically graded based on at least the annotations. The neural network is trained based on at least an expert annotation of respective regions of images, according to at least one objective classification criterion. The images may be eye images, vascular images, or funduscopic images. The disease may be a vascular disease, vasculopathy, or diabetic retinopathy, for example.

The present disclosure provides a method for detection of an analyte in a sample, comprising contacting a biological sample with a biosensor comprising a container or substrate and a gold (III) chloride gel comprising a plurality of gold chloride nanoparticles, determining an optical condition for the sample, and detecting a concentration of the analyte in the sample based on the optical condition. The method can be used for diagnosing an eye condition in a subject. The present disclosure also provides biosensors and kits for the detection of an analyte.

The present disclosure relates to compounds and methods for labeling and/or detecting proteins in vivo, and methods for probing mitochondrial structure and/or dynamics.

Systems and methods for detecting single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with keratoconus (KC) in a sample from a subject are described.

Optical sensors, systems and methods of use thereof are provided. Aspects of the subject systems include a sensor having a sensing surface and a configuration that directs a first optical signal to interact with the sensing surface at a first incident angle, and directs a second optical signal to interact with the sensing surface at a second incident angle. The subject sensors, systems and methods find use, e.g., in the diagnosis of dry eye disease.

The present invention provides compositions and methods for identifying subjects suffering from dry eye that can be treated by topical administration of a composition comprising lacritin or a bioactive fragment thereof. The application discloses in part that a 90 KDa deglycanated form of syndecan-1 is abundant in tears of normal individuals but not individuals suffering from dry eye, whereas a 25 kDa syndecan-1 fragment is detectable in dry, but not normal tears.

In preferred embodiments the invention is directed to ocular compositions for the treatment of dry eye, methods for making such compositions, and suites comprising a plurality of different ocular compositions each having a defined composition. In preferred examples, the invention is directed to compositions comprising at least one natural oil, wherein a first member of the suite of compositions is effective in treating dry in in a first patient having a particular set of symptoms and a different second member of the suite of compositions is effective in treating dry in in a second patient having a different set of symptoms. The invention is also directed to methods of making and using the compositions, and to skin care compositions for use around the eye, such as the upper and lower eyelids having a lubricating, non-irritating base composition comprising at least one natural oil.

Systems and methods for determining the osmolarity of a sample are provided. Aspects of the subject methods include contacting a sensing surface of a surface plasmon resonance based sensor with a sample, and generating one or more data sets at at least two wavelengths over a time interval, wherein the data sets are used to determine the osmolarity of the sample. The subject methods find use in determining the osmolarity of a sample, such as a biological sample (e.g., a tear fluid), and in the diagnosis and/or monitoring of various diseases and disorders, such as, e.g., dry eye disease.