Advantages of LASIK Surgery

There are now various ways to correct vision problems, LASIK being one of the most popular. LASIK, also known as in situ keratomileusis, is an eye surgery that uses laser to reshape the cornea under the corneal flap. Some of the vision problems that it can correct are astigmatism, nearsightedness, and farsightedness. It is also known to correct refractive errors, minimize or totally eradicate the need for glasses or contact lenses, and improve a person's overall vision. It was believed to have been developed around 1991 by the Greek Ioannis Pallikaris.

google images

In order to perform a LASIK surgery, a specially trained eye surgeon is needed. Like Dr. Marc Tay. Dr Tay comes with a wealth of experience having worked at the Eye Department of the Singapore General Hospital, the Tan Tock Seng Hospital, the Toa Payoh Hospital and the Singapore National Eye Centre. He was a member of the Founding Group of Refractive Laser Surgeons when LASIK was first introduced at the Singapore National Eye Centre.

The process starts by the surgeon creating a flap in the cornea using a microkeratome. The surgeon then pulls back the flap and uses the laser to reshape the cornea in the corneal tissue underneath. The reshaping of the cornea varies depending on the need of the patients. The corneal flap is positioned back to its place, no sutures needed. Surgery usually just lasts for 10 minutes, more or less.

After the surgery, the doctor will prescribe eye drops in order to prevent inflammation and infection. The eyes can also get very dry at this time, so the drops are necessary to keep it moist. The drops might cause a blurry or burning sensation in the eyes, but it will be gone immediately. Never ever use eye drops that are not prescribed by a professional eye doctor. After the LASIK surgery, there will be a few more trips back to the doctor for follow up checkups.

Included in the advantages of going through LASIK surgery are the following—it works and the improvements can be noticed right away, enhancements can be done to increase the improvement, the surgery is almost painless because of the numbing drops, there are no bandages or sutures, and there are even a lot of cases wherein the need for glasses or contact lenses among patients are totally eliminated or significantly reduced.

Read More

Different Types of Liposuction

google images

Liposuction, also known as lipoplasty or liposculpture suction lipectomy (“suction-assisted fat removal”), is a cosmetic surgery operation that removes fat in any part of the body. According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, liposuction is the most famous surgery operation in America performed in 2006 with 403,684 patients. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons defines “large” in this context as being more than 5 liters (around 10½ pints). Liposuction is frequently done on the abdomen and thighs in women and the abdomen and flanks in men. The main goal of liposuction is not to reduce body weight but to reshape one or more areas of the body. Liposuction is typically used on “problem” areas that have not responded well to diet and exercise due to some circumstances. There are also other areas of the body that are treated by liposuction rather than the abdomen and the thigh. The commonly treated areas are the face, neck, abdomen, back, buttocks, legs, and upper arms.

There are several types of liposuction. According to LipoSite.com, the types include laser-assisted liposuction, PAL (power-assisted liposuction), SAL (suction-assisted liposuction), TCAL (twin cannula-assisted liposuction), tumescent liposuction, and UAL (ultrasonic-assisted liposuction).

In laser-assisted liposuction, fat melts using a concentrated laser beam light, which starts to break down your fatty tissue with less inflammation, less bruising, and less bleeding. PAL uses a mechanical cannula that extracts fat with smaller incisions and a more precise and shorter surgical experience. SAL is a traditional liposuction method using a small cannula attached to a pressurized vacuum. With TCAL, a twin cannula is used in this mechanical method that removes most of the labor on your plastic surgeon's part. There is no burning and less scarring when using the twin cannula. Tumescent liposuction uses tumescent fluid injected into the fatty tissue; the plastic surgeon uses a cannula to suction out the fat while your blood vessels contract, resulting in less blood loss and less bruising. Unlike lasers and suction, UAL stimulates the fatty tissue's cells causing them to rupture and liquefy and then get extracted.

About the Author:
Dr. Kevin Teh is an experienced general practitioner with a special interest in Aesthetic Medicine and subsequently built up years of experience with rigorous training in various disciplines.

Read More

Using Active Vibration Control Systems to Stabilize DIC Microscopy Systems

google images

Differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy is a specialized technique used in the study of live and unstained animal and human tissue samples in medical science. The accuracy of the system relies on the spatial uniformity of its many parts. Due to this, active vibration control is necessary to ensure image accuracy. 

DIC microscopy is a method of optical microscopy illumination that enhances contrast in transparent specimens. Polarized light is directed into a modified Wollaston prism to split the light into two separate beams. One of the beams is directed towards the specimen, while the other only passes through the background. Both beams are recombined through another Wollaston prism, located above the microscope's objective lens.

This technique is able to produce contrast that visually displays the gradient of optical paths in every part of the specimen. The resulting image is monochromatic and has a three-dimensional appearance. 

The components of a DIC microscopy system, including the light source, stage, and prisms, must maintain uniform distance to ensure the clarity of the image. Subtle vibrations coming from the central HVAC unit, equipment in adjacent rooms, and traffic along the hallway can affect the system and decrease the quality of results. Noise from outside the building and the equipment present in the lab also produce vibrations.

Active vibration cancellation systems are necessary to ensure the stability of DIC microscopy systems. These advanced systems utilize piezoelectric sensors and actuators to detect incoming vibrations and react by either tuning isolators to minimize vibrations or sending a signal to cancel them out. The system also creates a feedback loop that dampens inherent resonances in mechanical structures. Active systems can be combined with passive isolation systems, such as stiff metal springs for load support, to isolate a broad range of frequencies. 

To find environmental solutions that can ensure the accuracy of DIC microscopy systems visit Herzan.com. 

Read More

Guest Post: Age Is Not a Factor When Considering College Credit for Life Experience

 

As an adult, your ability to engage in vigorous academic activities will be strongly impeded by social as well as psychological factors. Even if the person has the money to fund the high cost of higher education, reduced mental alertness as a result of old age may contribute to poor academic performance on the part of the student. Most adult students tend to drop out of school once the demands of academic work puts a lot of pressure on them. In addition, adult students are usually in a hurry to complete their training program in order to benefit from the degree they are working for. Most of these people have time working against them as they seek to get hold of their degrees before they hit the mandatory retiring age. It will be economically bad for an adult student to spend a lot of money on higher education with the hope of getting an increase salary only to end up being pushed out of the job market due to the age factor.

People who have very much passed their prime but intend to work for higher academic recognition have to look at alternative programs that will allow them to achieve their aim at a very fast rate. Online universities have the academic programs that will help these people. Amongst the educational programs that are administered by online universities is the all important college credit for life experience degree program. Adults who are close to the retiring age and might not be able to cope with the stress associated with traditional education can fall back on their previous knowledge and work experience to gain college credit for life experience degrees.

What makes up life experience?

In order to gain college credits for life experience, one has to demonstrate a substantial amount of life experience to an academic institution. Most people tend to be confused as they do not know what experiences they need to quote on the application forms in order to better their chances of getting the experienced based degree. The main advantage of the college credit for life experience program is the fact that almost any experience gathered in real life can be converted into academic credits. From the activities one likes to engage in for the purposes of recreation right down to tasks at work to volunteer services, the individual who is very active in real life can obtain enough evidence to support his or her application for a life experienced degree. Courses taken at colleges and institutions that do not run the course-credit system can all find their equivalent value in the college credit for life experience system. In order to ease the process, individuals who intend on getting the life experience degree may decide to keep a portfolio in which they would document details of prior learning programs attended as well as seminars and any other activity that would prove vital in the assessment of the person’s request for an experienced based degree. Such individuals may consult the accredited online university for more information concerning the application process.

This article was put together by a retired educationalist who has over the years given valuable advice to adults who want to go back to school but has age going against them.

Read More

Guest Post: Microsoft Launches the All New Windows 8

The final and fully finished version of the much talked about operating system Windows 8 is out now. On Friday, Microsoft also surfaced Windows 8 based devices in the retail markets. Though there have been several add-on and up gradations in this new version of Windows, but you need not like all these additions. There are, however, certain features in the new OS by ASP.Net application development giant that ought to be celebrated. These features will make you rejoice and help you in welcoming this new kid with open arms. 

Here are 8 superb features of Windows 8 that are worth a mention:

1. Storage Spaces: If you have been worried about losing your data in the mid of an important presentation, then worry no more. Windows 8 is here with its storage space feature. This feature allows you to pool multiple drives. This means even if one of your drives fails, your data is still secure.
2. File History: Very similar to the Time Machine utility of OS X, this feature of Windows 8 lets save multiple copies of your file. So, in case the current version of your file is lost, the other versions can be easily restored.
3. Charms Bar: If you have used Windows 8 as of now, you will be aware of the newly added Charms bar feature. It appears on the right hand side of the screen, if you swipe or click there. This feature is much more effective and resourceful than it seemed to be in the earlier versions of the OS. The charms bar icon provides the user with several icons for tasks such as sharing, searching, switching between Windows 7 desktop and metro environment and setting preferences.
4. Live Syncing: The live syncing feature is very resourceful. It lets you log into your Windows Live account just as you log onto your PC. Moreover, your Windows Live personalized settings can be traced down on any device that you use, provided you are using the same Live account.
5. Windows Reader: This is a built-in app in Windows 8 that lets you open a PDF file and take notes or highlight specific areas in it. Furthermore, you can also import PDFs in Word 2013 and edit them in their text form.
6. New and Improved Task Manager: This is one feature of the new OS that webmasters and admins would love in person. The revamped task manager gives a more specific and detailed view of the processes that are currently running.
7. Microsoft Store: Just like you get apps on your Windows phone, you can get Metro apps for your PC from the Microsoft Store. It is easy and quick.
8. Windows to Go: You can have the Enterprise Edition of Windows 8 with you on the go. Users can easily download the Windows environment on an external drive and then it can be used on any device that is compatible with Windows 7 and Windows 8.

The thought of a new operating system is overwhelming for any web application development company. If you are also super excited about the release of this new operating system, try it today!

Read More