Latest blog entries - Optcom

12,000 pieces of paper make up new Josh Ritter music video

waltmayo@gmail.com (Walt Mayo, OD) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 09:01:32 -0500

10 Tips for Using Evernote Effectively

waltmayo@gmail.com (Walt Mayo, OD) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:14:07 -0500

Source: readwriteweb .com

Evernote is a tool for keeping track of, well, everything. At least everything as far as digital information goes, or information that can be digitized. Evernote comprises a Web-based service and clients for Windows, Mac OS X, mobile devices, and extensions for Web browsers. It's a service I've been using for years, and over that time I've picked up a few tips and tricks for getting the most out of the tool.

http://rww.to/wPsKib

Egyptian firm in fake Avastin scam proves elusive

waltmayo@gmail.com (Walt Mayo, OD) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:13:02 -0500

Source: reuters .com

The trail of counterfeit copies of the multibillion-dollar cancer drug Avastin leads to an address in a crowded Cairo suburb, with no sign of the firm named by international suppliers as the source of the product.

http://reut.rs/ySfjgL

ABO review course offered at ASOA meeting

waltmayo@gmail.com (Walt Mayo, OD) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:11:58 -0500

Source: modernmedicine .com

The American Board of Opticianry (ABO) review course will be provided at the annual congress of the American Society of Ophthalmic Administrators (ASOA).

http://bit.ly/y7U3az

Google glasses coming to stores this year?

waltmayo@gmail.com (Walt Mayo, OD) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:11:03 -0500

Source: gizmag .com

A number of anonymous Google employees are reporting that the company is currently developing Android-powered glasses that can provide a heads-up display to the wearer and connect over wireless data services. The glasses will purportedly work like a wearable version of the Google Goggles app, providing real time information on a user's location via GPS and motion sensors. Even more surprising, the same sources are saying these "Google glasses" could be available to the public by the end of this year.

http://bit.ly/w1UnHq

MinION - $900 usb-powered DNA sequencer on sale this year

waltmayo@gmail.com (Walt Mayo, OD) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:28:11 -0500

Source: gizmag .com

Oxford Nanopore (ON) has been developing a disruptive nanopore-based technology for sequencing DNA, RNA, proteins, and other long-chain molecules since its birth in 2005. The company has just announced that within the next 6-9 months it will bring to market a fast, portable, and disposable protein sequencer that will democratize sequencing by eliminating large capital costs associated with equipment required to enter the field.

http://bit.ly/wb5ruR

Laser-Zapping Telescopes Have Never Looked So Amazing

waltmayo@gmail.com (Walt Mayo, OD) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:27:06 -0500

Source: gizmodo .com

We've showed you the Paranal Observatory's laser-guided telescopes before, but never in gorgeous HD motion, replete with clear stars and deftly swiveling machinery. This is definitely one you're going to want to watch fullscreen.

http://gizmo.do/zzVr2F

Georgia Tech iPhone App Could Help Blind Users Text

waltmayo@gmail.com (Walt Mayo, OD) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:26:13 -0500

Source: tech.slashdot .org

Researchers at Georgia Tech university have built a prototype app for touch-screen mobile devices that is vying to be a complete solution for texting without the need to look at a mobile gadget's screen. In theory, it should greatly help the blind interact with mobile phones, but it could help just about anyone looking for a more efficient way to interact. Research has shown that gesture-based texting is a viable solution for eyes-free written communication in the future, making obsolete the need for users to look at their devices while inputting text. The free open-source app, called BrailleTouch, incorporates the Braille writing system used by the visually impaired. Early studies with visually impaired participants proficient in Braille typing have demonstrated that users can input up to 32 words per minute with 92 percent accuracy with the prototype app for the iPhone.

http://bit.ly/AcklgI

Adjunctive corticosteroid therapy is safe for bacterial corneal ulcers

waltmayo@gmail.com (Walt Mayo, OD) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:23:54 -0500

Source: oteurope .com

Using adjunctive corticosteroid therapy is safe on bacterial corneal ulcers and does not alter best spectacle-corrected visual acuity (BSCVA), claims a study in the Archives of Ophthalmology.

http://bit.ly/yAY6wc

Kiwis Warned Against Buying Specs Online

waltmayo@gmail.com (Walt Mayo, OD) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:23:02 -0500

Source: scoop .co .nz

Kiwis tempted by cheap prescription glasses online are being warned almost half of such specs have been found to be unsafe or incorrect.

“Ordering prescription glasses online may seem like an easy way to save money but it can impact on your eye health,” says Visique optometrist Melissa Hay. “Our advice to consumers is to be cautious when ordering any medical devices online.”

http://bit.ly/xVWmJ4

Doctors cannot be expected to be financial engineers

waltmayo@gmail.com (Walt Mayo, OD) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:21:43 -0500

Source: kevinmd .com

Peggy was in her early 70s and suffered from a terrible lung disease known as pulmonary hypertension. So bad in fact, that she had a pump infusing a medicine under her skin 24 hours a day to keep the blood supply to her lungs open. Once started, this medicine, treprostinil, was known to improve life in those with pulmonary hypertension. Unfortunately, like all continuous infusion medicines of this type, it has the unfortunate side effect of sudden death if stopped for more than 4 hours. Starting it was a difficult choice for Peggy and her expert team of physicians, but her disease had progressed to a point where it was the right decision. As you can imagine, this drug was mighty expensive. We would only find out how expensive later.

http://bit.ly/zUEqij

The times they are a-changin’: time to change glaucoma

waltmayo@gmail.com (Walt Mayo, OD) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:20:48 -0500

Source: wiley .com

We live in a time with vastly increased and clinically important knowledge of glaucoma.

For a long time, glaucoma was somewhat of a stepchild in ophthalmology. Critics stated that glaucoma experts could not agree on how to define the disease, how to treat it, how to follow it and - by the way - maybe treatment made no difference.

http://bit.ly/zXgTsS

Protein deposition on contact lenses: The past, the present, and the future

waltmayo@gmail.com (Walt Mayo, OD) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:39:28 -0500

Source: contactlensjournal .com

Abstract
Proteins are a key component in body fluids and adhere to most biomaterials within seconds of their exposure. The tear film consists of more than >400 different proteins, ranging in size from 10 to 2360kDa, with a net charge of pH 1–11. Protein deposition rates on poly-2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (pHEMA) and silicone hydrogel soft contact lenses have been determined using a number of ex vivo and in vitro experiments. Ionic, high water pHEMA-based lenses attract the highest amount of tear film protein (1300μg/lens), due to an electrostatic attraction between the material and positively charged lysozyme.

http://bit.ly/zp3r86

Video Games Improve Eyesight

waltmayo@gmail.com (Walt Mayo, OD) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:25:38 -0500

Source: medicalnewstoday .com

How we perceive the world tells us a lot about how the brain processes sensory information.

At the meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Vancouver, McMaster University psychologist Daphne Maurer reported on how vision develops in individuals born with cataracts in both eyes. Although such persons have their vision "corrected" by surgery and contact lenses, Maurer's study shows that they experience specific visual processing deficiencies into adulthood.

http://bit.ly/xb8RBZ

HIMSS CEO: Mobile health to become much more significant

waltmayo@gmail.com (Walt Mayo, OD) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:24:46 -0500

Source: mobihealthnews .com

The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) is wholeheartedly embracing mobile. Last week, HIMSS announced that it has taken over the annual mHealth Summit from the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health. At the 2011 mHealth Summit just two months ago, the health IT advocacy group officially launched mHIMSS, a subgroup first reported by MobiHealthNews in November.

http://bit.ly/ziCNQz

Extraordinary 298-Million-Year-Old Forest Discovered Under Chinese Coal Mine

waltmayo@gmail.com (Walt Mayo, OD) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:23:55 -0500

Source: gizmodo .com

American and Chinese scientists are flabbergasted after discovering a giant 298-million-year-old forest buried intact under a coal mine near Wuda, in Inner Mongolia, China.

http://gizmo.do/wUjCK3

Cross-linking in thin corneas may decrease endothelial cell density

waltmayo@gmail.com (Walt Mayo, OD) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 15:28:32 -0500

Source: osnsupersite .com

Corneal collagen cross-linking with riboflavin and ultraviolet A irradiation in thin corneas seems to lead to a decrease in endothelial cell density postoperatively, according to a study.

http://bit.ly/xt3Its

Refractive correction alone may resolve strabismic and combined-mechanism amblyopia

waltmayo@gmail.com (Walt Mayo, OD) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 15:27:34 -0500

Source: osnsupersite .com

Treatment of strabismic and combined-mechanism amblyopia with spectacles alone yielded significant improvement in visual acuity without additional treatment in a vast majority of patients, a study found.

http://bit.ly/Ajsz4P

Long-term silicone hydrogel lens use alters tear film

waltmayo@gmail.com (Walt Mayo, OD) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 15:26:44 -0500

Source: osnsupersite .com

Silicone hydrogel contact lenses tend to modify the tear film and impression cytology of the ocular surface significantly after long-term use, a study found.

http://bit.ly/xvZDAH

Recent clinical pearls from clinical trials in glaucoma

waltmayo@gmail.com (Walt Mayo, OD) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 15:25:42 -0500

Source: lww .com

Purpose of review: Over the past several years, numerous clinical trials in glaucoma have contributed to our understanding of the medical and surgical treatment of the disease. The goal of this review is to summarize the findings and conclusions of what the authors feel are the key clinical trials in glaucoma.

http://bit.ly/zeQlOQ