StemCell Therapy

In an effort to prevent post-operative vision loss, Dr. David Anschel is on a mission to convince hospitals to adopt his invention.

Its not common for patients to lose their vision after surgery. But when it happens, its devastating. Of the 2 million spine, brain and cardiac surgeries performed each year, 3,500 result in whats known as post-operative vision loss, or POVL.

Thats according to research by Dr. David Anschel, who is board-certified in neurology, clinical neurophysiology and epilepsy and currently heads up the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center of Long Island at St. Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson. Through his company, Rocky Point-based Anschel Technology, he has invented SightSaver, an FDA-approved and patented device that monitors the visual system during surgery and helps reduce the risk of POVL. To hospitals across the country, Anschel is pitching SightSaver as an upgrade to the system they might already have in place, claiming his device is more comfortable, more hygienic and more reliable. And, he said, the device has already been used on hundreds of patients across the country. Anschel spoke with LIBN about the process and what compelled him to become an inventor.

Is there a direct connection between your medical specializations and your invention?

I have a sub-specialization in clinical neurophysiology including intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring. I was serving on the faculty of Stony Brook University Hospital as its director of intraoperative monitoring when I made the decision to develop a better solution for monitoring the visual system during surgery. This involves monitoring and preserving the integrity of the nervous system during surgery. In 2006, my patient went blind during spine surgery and I wanted to find a way to prevent this horrible complication.

That must have been terrible. What is the process of developing such an invention?

After my patient went blind, I tried using the various products on the market at that time for monitoring vision function during surgery, but they did not provide good results. I then began making modifications to some of the off-the-shelf products, which ultimately led to my inventing a new solution the SightSaver, to prevent blindness, which is nearly the worst possible surgical complication, second only to death.

Is there a specific problem that SightSaver addresses?

Post-operative visual loss, or POVL. Many people have no idea that the risk of vision loss during surgery exists. This is particularly true for the over 2 million higher risk operations performed in the U.S. each year. It is not fully understood why some patients become blind during non-intracranial surgeries, but we do know that most are due to optic nerve ischemia [damage of the optic nerve that caused by a blockage of its blood supply, according to Merck Manuals]. The SightSaver helps prevent potential vision loss through better detection and intervention using visual evoked potentials, which is a highly sensitive method for detecting optic nerve dysfunction such as ischemia.

Do certain surgeries pose a higher risk of potential vision loss?

Certain brain and ocular procedures are the highest risk. Additionally, cardiac and spine surgery each are associated with much higher rates of POVL than other non-ocular procedures. However, POVL can occur in a wide range of surgeries, from joint replacements and peripheral vascular to rhinoplasty and certain urological and gynecological procedures using robotics.

What do you tell hospitals as to why they should choose your device over what they are currently using in their surgical units?

SightSaver may help prevent the second worst possible surgical complication. The risks posed by SightSaver appear to be negligible, with a minimal additional cost, which should be recovered likely at a profit by the hospital. These would seem compelling enough reasons for hospitals to explore a better way to monitor the visual system during surgery. For the hospitals across the nation who have already been using the SightSaver on hundreds of patients, I think its value proposition has been demonstrated.

You mention profits, but would your device play a role in helping contain healthcare costs?

The costs of blindness are tremendous. Each case of prevented blindness represents an enormous savings to our healthcare system and allows that person to remain a more productive member of society.

Tell us about what its like to pitch your device in regions where there is a broad selection of high quality hospitals and other healthcare providers?

Competition encourages innovation and implementation of new treatments, so it is very important. Unfortunately, the trend in this country is towards a more centralized and less innovative environment. Thats why in presenting the SightSaver my first outreach within a hospital is to its surgeons, neurologists and anesthesiologists, because their primary focus is on their patients and not on maintaining the status quo.

Did you always want to be a doctor or do you believe there was always an inventor inside you that possibly could have taken you down another career path?

I have always been a curious person and interested in science. Over time, I eventually focused on medicine, but could see myself shifting paths at some point. Where that path may lead, I dont know yet.

What advice do you have for other inventors as they seek to secure FDA approval?

Be persistent and try to lead each step of the process, but dont be afraid to seek help. I did work with a design engineer on the product design and an electrical engineer on the circuitry. Once the device was produced, I subjected it to clinical trials leading to research abstracts attesting to its performance efficacy [and] presented at scientific conferences and ultimately peer-reviewed publications.

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Executive Profile: Dr. David Anschel - Long Island Business News

Benjamin Yerxa, chief executive of the Foundation Fighting Blindness, said results from a recent clinical trial represented a major step forward for sufferers of a degenerative disease called retinitis pigmentosa

A leading non-profit group funding research into treatments for retinal degenerative diseases has hailed as major step forward a potential therapy developed by ().

The comments from Benjamin Yerxa, chief executive of the Foundation Fighting Blindness, followed the presentation of data from a phase I/IIa clinical study by trial investigator Pravin Dugel.

He has been working on ReNeurons human retinal progenitor (hRPC) stem cell line, which has shown early promiseimproving, or stabilising clarity of vision in people with the degenerative disease retinitis pigmentosa.

Dugel's address to the American Academy of Ophthalmology Annual Meeting in San Francisco was based on the latest results from the clinical assessment of the drug candidate, published on October 2.

After the presentation, Yerxa said: "We're excited by the progress of ReNeuron's hRPC therapy.

From the Foundation's perspective, any gain in vision, or even stabilisation, is a major step forward for patients with RP as currently it is a condition where progressive loss of vision leads to blindness."

Earlier this month ReNeuron said it had seen rapid and profound results in the first three patients of the second phase of clinical studies of its human retinal progenitor cells.

The phase IIa trials saw noticeable improvements in visual acuity as measured by the number of letters that could be read on a standard eye chart.

Six months after treatment there was a mean improvement of 18.5 letters per treated eye, with a mean improvement of 12 letters per treated eye after nine months, whereas inexorable disease progression is the norm for this disease.

With total of 22 patients now treated and the study still ongoing, ReNeuron said the efficacy in subsequent patients was seen but at a lower rate and magnitude, with improvement in visual acuity ranging from +5 to +11 letters in the treated eye three months after treatment.

I believe that we are seeing a clear signal of efficacy in this patient population where any gain in vision, let alone the levels seen in some of these patients, is so hard to come by and so very much appreciated," said Dr Pravin Dugel, managing partner at Retinal Consultants of Arizona and clinical professor at the Roski Eye Institute in Los Angeles.

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ReNeuron cell-based treatment hailed by leading non-profit group funding research into treatments for retinal degenerative diseases - Proactive...

President of the St. Kitts Society for the Blind, Mr Rockliffe Bowen, has on behalf of the executive and members of the society thanked the St. Kitts (Basseterre) Lions Club for remembering and positively engaging persons with disabilities at a beach picnic celebration Saturday at the Anchorage in Frigate Bay.

I want to say on behalf of our executive how appreciative we are in the Lions Club remembering us, because too many times we feel left out and we feel that nobody is studying us, he said. But I must say that the Lions Club they have come forward and they have put on this wonderful beach picnic for us and we must give our sincere thanks to them.

I must say thanks on behalf of both organisations, to the St. Kitts Basseterre Lions Club for the invitation they have extended to us by providing this wonderful food and everything that we are partaking of, Bowen, who is also the Vice President of the McKnight Community Centre-based St. Kitts and Nevis Association for Persons with Disabilities, added.

October is observed as the Blindness Awareness Month and Lions Clubs worldwide celebrate the blind in the month according to the President of the St. Kitts (Basseterre) Lions Club, Ms. Charmaine Pemberton. World Sight Day was observed on Thursday and this years call to action was Vision First!

Today we are here with the members from the St. Kitts Society for the Blind having a picnic out for them, said Ms Pemberton. Every year we do this picnic, bring out the blind to socialise with us, and have some fun, play dominos, cards we do games, we do swimming. This morning went on a walk from the Cenotaph and we are now here at the beach having fun.

The walk, themed Journey for Sight, started at 6 a.m. from the Cenotaph at the War Memorial in Fortlands, down on the Bay Road, on to Sandown Road, left to Pond Road, straight up Cayon Street via Greenlands, left to Burden Street, and back to the Cenotaph. In the afternoon they assembled under a large tent on the beach at the Anchorage in Frigate Bay where they had a sumptuous meal, played dominos and others swam in the sea.

The St. Kitts (Basseterre) Lions Club will also make a presentation Tuesday to the St. Kitts Society for the Blind and the St. Kitts and Nevis Association for Persons with Disabilities at the McKnight Community Centre. According to Ms Pemberton the presentation will include dominos and cards in braille for their enjoyment, and braille books for their reading.

Members of the McKnight Community Centre-based St. Kitts and Nevis Association for Persons with Disabilities are sponsored by the government of St. Kitts and Nevis agency, Skills Training Empowerment Programme (STEP).

Also I want to say thanks to the persons who showed up here this afternoon to participate in this social event, members of both organisations, the St. Kitts Society for the Blind and the St. Kitts and Nevis Association for Persons with Disabilities which is located at the McKnight Community Centre, Bowen said.

Others present and who helped out included St. Kitts (Basseterre) Lions Clubs 2ndVice President Ms. Heather Grant; Secretary Ms. Toshie Davis; Past President Ms. Adora Warner; and members of the club.

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Lions Club honours visually impaired in celebration of Blindness Awareness Month - The St. Kitts-Nevis Observer

A phase I/II trial run by the Dutch company ProQR has found that its RNA therapy could significantly improve the vision of people with Lebers congenital amaurosis, a rare genetic disease for which there is no treatment.

The RNA drug, called sepofarsen, is designed to treat people with a specific mutation in a gene called CEP290. This mutation causes the RNA transcript of the gene to have the wrong three-dimensional structure, blocking its translation into a protein. This, in turn, causes vision loss in the first few years of life.

Sepofarsen is an RNA molecule that specifically binds to the faulty RNA transcript to stabilize its structure and allow the retinal cells to produce the protein.

In a phase I/II trial run in the US and Belgium, the RNA drug significantly improved the vision of children and adults with this condition over a 1-year period.

In some cases the patients vision improved to a level that could be deemed life-changing, said Stephen Russell, a professor at the University of Iowa and principal investigator of the study.

The effects of the drug were stronger on patients that had a certain level of visual acuity to start with. These are ultimately the target population of ProQR, which is already running a phase II/III study that will follow the response of 30 patients over the course of 2 years. Results from that trial are expected in 2021 and will inform whether the FDA and the EMA approve the drug or not.

The main goal of the phase I/II trial was to determine the safety of sepofarsen. While the treatment caused cataracts in eight out of 11 patients, all of those who underwent lens replacement surgery recovered their vision. Other side effects of the drug on the eye were manageable with additional treatments.

There are hundreds of different genetic mutations that cause blindness. The rarity of each of these conditions individually has meant that many of them have no treatment available. In recent years, gene therapy has become an option to treat some of these conditions; the first was Luxturna, approved in 2017. Another approach that has only entered the first clinical trial this year is CRISPR gene editing, which is being carried out by Editas Medicine and Allergan.

In contrast, ProQRs RNA drug could provide an alternative approach that does not involve a permanent change in the DNA of retinal cells. The drug is instead delivered to the eye via injection every 6 months.

Still, each of these new treatments can only address one specific mutation of the many causing blindness. As all these new technologies are developed, together they could eventually provide solutions covering a wide range of these mutations.

More:
RNA Therapy Improves Vision in Untreatable Genetic... - Labiotech.eu

Contact: Emily Damm

Starkville Mayor Lynn Spruill, center, signed a proclamation on Sept. 24 to designate Oct. 15 as White Cane Awareness Day, affirming the significant role that persons with disabilities have in the local community and recognizing the white cane as a tool of independence. Looking on were representatives from MSUs National Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision, Delta Gamma sorority, MSU Disability Support Services and local community members. The NRTC will host activities in honor of the occasion on MSUs Drill Field Oct. 15. (Photo by Emily Damm)

Mississippi States National Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision is celebrating White Cane Awareness Day Oct. 15 and is inviting members of the university and local community to a range of activities on the Drill Field.

An informational booth from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. will feature:

The MSU sorority Delta Gamma, which supports the philanthropy Service for Sight, has partnered with NRTC to lead the obstacle course, which participants will complete with simulator glasses or blindfolds. In case of rain, the event will move to the first floor of the Colvard Student Union.

In September, Starkville Mayor Lynn Spruill signed a proclamation to designate Oct. 15 as White Cane Awareness Day, affirming the significant role that persons with disabilities have in the local community and recognizing the white cane as a tool of independence.

This celebration started in 1964 when Congress adopted a joint resolution designating Oct. 15 as White Cane Safety Day. This day helped motorists and cyclists learn about the laws that affected people with blindnesslike stopping at crosswalks when they notice someone with a white cane. It has since been transformed from solely an awareness day to a celebration of the ways that people with disabilities contribute to society.

For more information, contact Emily Damm, NRTC Communications Specialist, at 662-325-6695.

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National Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision hosts White Cane Awareness Day at MSU - Mississippi State Newsroom

By Express News Service

HYDERABAD:Prevalence of blindness and visual impairment is one of the highest in Telangana, as inferred from the National blindness and visual impairment survey in India report, released by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday.

The survey was conducted by AIIMS, New Delhi. 31 districts from 24 States and Union Territories were selected and 3,000 people from each district 3,000 people were surveyed. From Telangana, the erstwhile Warangal district was selected.

The survey reports that the prevalence of blindness was second highest in Warangal among the 31 districts, with a prevalence rate of 3.47 per cent, whereas the prevalence of visual impairment was 20.31 pc. The district with highest prevalence of blindness and visual impairment was Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh (3.67 and 21.82 per cent) respectively.

The survey was undertaken in Telangana in 2016, before the start of the States Kanti Velugu programme. The major reason behind people losing vision was found to be untreated cataract in 66.2 percent cases, and refractive error in 70.6 percent cases.

See the article here:
Prevalence of blindness, visual impairment high in Telangana - The New Indian Express

Last Updated On 10 October,201906:48 pm

In Pakistan, 2.2 million people are affected by blindness.

LAHORE (Web Desk) - World Sight Day is being observed across the world today to create awareness about the need to pay attention on vision impairment and blindness. This years theme is - Vision First.

In Pakistan 2.2 million people are affected by blindness while 20 million people are facing weakness of eyesight. Pakistan has also fallen on number three in the list of countries having more blind people.

Medical experts opine that the garbage in the metropolis city of Karachi is the main reason behind the vision impairment problems in the city.An eye expert said unnecessary use of electronic instruments can affect eyesight and only way to protect our self from such disease is to take care of our self by having healthy food.

Every year this day strives to create awareness about the need to give the necessary attention to eye care. International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness plans the world sight day each year. World Sight Day 2019 motivates people to pledge to take an eye exam and encourage others for the same. The theme for this year is - "vision first". This theme highlights the importance of an eye exam to prevent any possible eye disorder.

The target set by this year is to end eye disease by 2020.

Initially started by the Lions Club International Foundation as part of the Sight First campaign in the year 2000, World Sight Day is now coordinated by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) under the VISION 2020 global initiative which aims to promote a world in which nobody is needlessly visually impaired.

The main aims of World Sight Day include:

To Raise public awareness of issues surrounding blindness and visual impairment.

To influence Governments, and in particular Health Ministers to participate in and donate funds to blindness prevention programmes.

To educate about blindness prevention.

To generate support for Vision 2020 programme and activities.

Across the world, events include seminars, donation drives rallies and online events. There is also an annual World Sight Day photography competition which is open to photographers both amateur and professional, anywhere in the world.

The rest is here:
World Sight Day observed to create awareness about vision impairment, blindness - Dunya News

The World Health Organisation report was published ahead of Christian Blind Mission Sunday on 13 October Photo: CBM

The first ever World Report on Vision, published by the World Health Organisation this week, highlights that more than a billion people are living with sight loss that could have been prevented or treated. Published ahead of World Sight Day on 10 October, the report provides a comprehensive review of the global evidence on blindness, visual impairment and access to eye health services worldwide.

The gaps highlighted in the report come as no surprise to us at Christian Blind Mission. For decades, we have been working in the worlds poorest places to strengthen sight-saving eye health services, working in partnership with local hospitals and health authorities to deliver more treatments for blinding diseases, train eye health workers and improve access to sight-restoring surgeries. A shocking 75 per cent of the worlds blindness is avoidable. That means every day, people are losing their sight because of diseases or conditions that could be prevented or treated.

The burden of needless blindness falls most heavily on the worlds poorest, where poor living conditions leave people at higher risk of disease and sight-saving treatment is often out of reach. The new report finds that rates of blindness in low- and middle-income countries are eight times higher than in high-income countries.

Too often, for people living in poverty, losing your sight also means losing the chance to go to school, earn a living or participate in your community. In many places, stigma against people with disabilities such as blindness for example the belief they cannot contribute to society results in discrimination and exclusion. We need an approach that both delivers eye health services and also tackles the wider barriers people face to inclusion everything from providing white canes and clear signage to training health workers to address the needs of patients with disabilities.

This week, churches across the UK are joining the fight against avoidable blindness by taking part in Christian Blind Mission Sunday. On or around 13 October, more than 140 churches are getting involved, inspired by Jesus radical example of solidarity with, and compassion for, marginalised people, to learn, pray and fundraise, to help reach people living with avoidable blindness.

In many churches, Christian Blind Mission Sunday will include the story of Jesus healing of a man born blind in Johns gospel (9:1-9). But stories of children, men and women living with avoidable blindness today will also feature people like Shalom, from Uganda, East Africa.

Shalom was three years old when her mother, Fridah, noticed she was blinking and squinting a lot in the sun. Now aged five, Shalom can barely see and had to stop going to school. Other children have been cruel to her, calling her names and throwing her toy doll, knowing that she will struggle to find it and pick it up.

Pic: CBM

Her mother told us: Shalom also wakes up and asks me: 'Mummy, am I also going to school today?' I tell her that she will go back to school when her sight is better.

Shaloms sight loss was caused by cataracts, a condition that clouds the lens of the eye. Cataracts cause half of all blindness and can be treated with straightforward surgery. While they mostly affect older people, some children are born with cataracts. For them, treatment is vital within a few years, or their blindness will be life-long. A cataract operation costs less than 100 for a child, just 24 for an adult, as they dont need general anaesthetic. But for families like Shalom, living in poverty, the cost of treatment or even transport to reach it is simply out of reach.

Thanks to initiatives like Christian Blind Mission Sunday and the vital funds they raise, CBM is working with hospitals, health authorities and other partners in Uganda and many other low-income countries to ensure that children like Shalom can access treatment, so they dont face a lifetime of needless blindness simply because they are poor. In the areas where we work, weve seen major progress, with stronger, more accessible and affordable eye-health services delivering hundreds of thousands of eye examinations, pairs of glasses and sight-restoring surgeries every year. But, as the WHO report finds, global efforts need to be dramatically scaled up if were to eliminate avoidable blindness and visual impairment.

The theme for this years Christian Blind Mission Sunday is Out of sight, out of mind, because too often, the needs of people with blindness or visual impairment have been ignored or overlooked, within their own communities and also on a global stage. We hope that the WHOs World Vision Report marks a pivotal moment, galvanising global action to improve eye health services, especially for the worlds poorest.

Kirsty Smith is Chief Executive CBM UK

Christian Blind Mission (CBM) is an international organisation working in the worlds poorest places to prevent blindness, improve health and transform the lives of people with disabilities. http://www.cbmuk.org.uk

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Out of sight, out of mind: Why we must open our eyes to avoidable sight loss - The Tablet

Most people like their Halloween costumes to be as accurate as possible, but changing your eye color to match it is potentially more dangerous that most aspects of costuming.

An FDA report from July 31st details the dangers of decorative contact lenses and how to avoid damage when looking for the right non-corrective lenses.

First of all, FDA warns against purchasing contact lenses over-the-counter or as cosmetics, as they are a regulated medical device, which means it is against the law to sell them in this manner.

Secondly, contact lenses are not one size fits all. An eye doctor must measure your eye to properly fit the lens in your eye and judge how your eye reacts to it. Poor contact lens fitting can cause serious damage, including cornea scratches, corneal infection, conjunctivitis, decreased vision, and blindness.

In addition, sellers of non-prescription lenses may give inadequate instruction of how to clean and care for contacts. Failure to do so can lead to infection, which causes further eye problems.

Regarding where non-prescription lenses are commonly sold, the FDA recommends to avoid purchasing contacts from street vendors, salons, beauty stores, boutiques, flea markets, novelty stores, Halloween stores, record or video stores, convenience stores, beach shops, and Internet shops that do not require a prescription. Places like these are not authorized to distribute contact lenses. In addition, the FDA also says that some lenses sold in this manner may be counterfeit products not approved by the administration. You can talk with your eye care provider if you have questions. If you find a website you think is illegally selling contact lenses over the internet, you should report it to FDA.

To safely wear decorative contacts, the FDA says to take these steps:

Link:
FDA report warns of danger involving decorative contacts and how to avoid it - WQAD Moline

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--On World Sight Day, the Tej Kohli Foundation says that a focus on new technologies is needed to accelerate the global mission to end curable corneal blindness worldwide. The Foundation is currently funding the clinical trials and development of a liquid biosynthetic solution that could offer an accessible, scalable and affordable solution to corneal blindness that would be relevant to many of the 12 million people worldwide who suffer from this type of blindness.

The thesis of the Tej Kohli Foundation is that humanitarian efforts the world over will be greatly advanced by exponential growth technologies such as AI, robotics and genomics. The Foundation behaves like a venture fund by backing, incubating, acquiring and accelerating the development of technology solutions. Only successful projects secure further funding support, leaving the Foundation agile to back the projects that will have the greatest impact.

Blindness is heavily impacted by poverty. According to the WHO, 14 million of the 39 million people who are blind live in India. 12.7 million people are currently waiting for a cornea transplant, including 6 million in India. The Tej Kohli Foundations Cornea Institute at the LV Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad already conducts thousands of corneal transplants every year using donor cornea, largely for free. The Foundation recently cured five brothers and sisters in the same family from Rajasthan who had all been suffering with long-term visual impairment.

But the limited supply of donor cornea and the need for invasive surgery means that worldwide less than 1 in 70 will receive a cornea transplant each year. Artificial cornea or keratoprotheses are expensive and can cost up to US$20,000. The Tej Kohli Foundation is backing the development of technological solutions, because ending corneal blindness will require an affordable, accessible and scalable solution that does not rely on transplantation.

The Tej Kohli Foundation previously backed methods of synthesising artificial cornea from yeast and peptides, but new advances mean it has switched this funding to the development of the liquid biosynthetic, which aims to work by causing the regeneration of corneal tissue. The pro-regeneration tissue replacement could avoid the need for expensive corneal grafting and be applied in less than thirty minutes to fill a perforation or to repair a corneal ulcer.

In July 2018 the Tej Kohli Foundation also made a $2m gift to Massachusetts Ear and Eye, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, to fund innovation in research into nano-string and DNA-sequencing technologies for early diagnostics and prevention, as well as GelCORE, an adhesive biomaterial for replacing corneal tissue.

Michael Macfarlane, spokesperson for the Tej Kohli Foundation:

There are limits to the number of corneal transplants that can take place each year, especially in poor and remote rural areas. The Tej Kohli Foundation is a global focal point for scientists and others who are developing pioneering treatments in this field. Our mission is to work with a range of partners in our goal to eliminate corneal blindness by 2035.

Tej Kohli, co-Founder of the Tej Kohli Foundation:

Eliminating corneal blindness is what I am most passionate about. I favour a venture-led approach to philanthropy whereby we bring people together and provide the funding to accelerate the development of solutions that might bring us a step closer to ending corneal blindness. The way that we run our Foundation is directly aligned with how we manage our commercial ventures and investments, and this approach means we can drive greater progress from every pound or dollar or rupee that we spend on achieving our mission.

Find out more about the Tej Kohli Foundation at: http://www.tejkohlifoundation.com

A video about a family of five siblings having their long-term visual impairment cured by the Tej Kohli Foundation is available to embed using this link: https://youtu.be/Pmcb9pRxOSs

A video interview with Wendy and Tej Kohli in which they talk about the work of the Tej Kohli Foundation is available to embed using this link: https://youtu.be/JgOO4Cs-jnw

A video about the Tej Kohli Cornea Program is available to embed using this link: https://youtu.be/2zUBtj6H7GM

A video about the Tej Kohli Cornea Institute is available to embed using this link: https://youtu.be/lkZmI8lkpm8

About The Tej Kohli Foundation

The Tej Kohli Foundation was launched by Wendy and Tej Kohli in 2005 as a focal point for their global philanthropic endeavours. The Foundation includes:

http://www.tejkohlifoundation.com

About Tej Kohli

Tej Kohli is a London-based investor and entrepreneur with a well-publicized mission to cure corneal blindness worldwide by 2035. He first rose to success during the dotcom boom selling technology solutions and e-commerce payments software before becoming a real estate investor in technology hubs. He now focuses on high-impact investments into AI, robotics, biotech and genomics ventures. Tej Kohli is a Distinguished Alumni of the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur (IITK) where he completed a degree in Electrical Engineering.

http://www.tejkohli.com

END

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Tej Kohli Foundation advocates a scalable, accessible and affordable technology solution to end corneal blindness worldwide. - Business Wire

Kankakee County States Attorney Jim Rowe says when domestic violence happens, people often ask, Why doesnt she just leave?

Its pretty clear why victims dont just leave, said Rowe, a member of the Harbor House board, which provides emergency shelter for domestic violence victims. They are 70 times more likely to be killed within weeks of leaving a domestic violence relationship.

Speaking to the county board this week, Rowe said domestic violence is the leading cause of homelessness among women and children.

When your choice is being homeless or to remain in a violent environment, you can imagine that its not as easy of a choice as why doesnt she just leave? he said. When you hear that in the community, respond with the question, Why doesnt the abuser just stop abusing? Run those words by them. Instead of investing their time in questioning victims, they can do a lot to empower survivors in our community by supporting Harbor House.

This is a particularly good message in October, which is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Many of us, including me, have been guilty of asking the wrong question, implicitly blaming the victim. We should blame the perpetrator.

Often when someone is avoiding you, you cannot help but wonder, Was it something I said?

In the case of a reporter, the question becomes, Is it something I wrote?

This week, the city of Kankakee finally released the list of names of people it has blocked from access to its Facebook pages. As it happens, my Facebook account was one of 20 on the banned list for Mayor Chasity Wells-Armstrongs official page, which is considered a public record.

I was banned on July 31, 2018, three days after my story on then-Police Chief Price Dumas appeared. It was about documents we obtained showing that Dumas searched the names of two mayoral critics in the state criminal database, which is only supposed to be used for legitimate law enforcement purposes. The chief abruptly resigned three weeks later.

Im guessing my story is what upset Wells-Armstrong. It certainly wasnt because of my interaction with the page. There was none.

Its not unusual for reporters to get the cold shoulder from sources unhappy with news coverage. But we strive to be fair with every source, whether were blocked or not.

For many partisan Democrats and Republicans, it can be difficult to see beyond party labels. They have trouble calling out whats wrong on their side a malady I like to call partisan blindness. This problem has become particularly acute with the Ukraine scandal.

How can anyone deny that Joe Bidens son, Hunter Biden, is cashing in on the family name? When his father was involved in Ukraine as vice president, Hunter was receiving $50,000 per month serving as a board member for a Ukrainian natural gas company, an industry in which he had no experience. This type of deal might be legal, but its unethical, although it happens far too often in our politics.

On the flip side, it was wrong for President Donald Trump to pressure Ukraine to investigate Biden and his son in apparent exchange for nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine. Not coincidentally, Biden is the front runner for the Democratic presidential nomination and leading Trump in polls. No president should use his official powers to get another country to dig up dirt on a rival.

If something is wrong, it is wrong. It should not matter whether it involves a Democrat or a Republican.

David Giuliani is a reporter for the Daily Journal. His column As It Is expands upon regular news coverage. He can be reached at 815-802-5144 or dgiuliani@daily-journal.com. Follow him on Twitter at @TDJ_dgiuliani.

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David Giuliani: The wrong question to ask - Kankakee Daily Journal

ILLUSTRATION BY NICK TAYLOR

What is the first news event you can recall?

I remember the Silver Jubilee clearly because we had a fancy dress street party in Sheffield. I dressed up as a Japanese girl with a too-big red kimonocultural appropriation hadnt been invented in 1977. I was six. Three years later, there was the bombing of Bologna train station by Italian neo-fascists. I remember hearing that one of the dead was a three-year-old girl and being unable to process how someone that young could become a victim of terrorism.

What is the biggest problem of all?

High humidity leading to rain and/or frizzy hair on a live broadcast. Alternatively, the idea that expertise doesnt matter, wisdom and experience count for little.

If you could spend a day in one place at one moment in history, when and where would that be?

I would choose Bucharest, outside the presidential palace in December 1989, watching Ceau sescu appear on the balcony and seeing how the mood of the crowd suddenly changes and sours about 10 minutes into his speech. You can actually see his expression change from dominance, to pure incomprehension until he realises hes reached his end. He was executed by firing squad four days later. I took my son to that spot a few years ago and in baking heat we played the old film footage as we sat on the ground underneath that very balcony.

What is your favourite quotation?

Time held me green and dying,/though I sang in my chains like the sea. Dylan Thomas. Ive had 30 years to think about what it means and I still dont know. But it makes me feel very mortal, and urgentas if there is still so much to do.

What would people be surprised to learn about you?

I have facial blindness. Its hugely embarrassing as it makes me seem supercilious or snobbish. You learn to create ambiguous greetings like Really nice to see you, which could cover an old acquaintance or someone youre meeting for the first time. My husband often stands behind me muttering she works in antiques, they gave us the fish kettle for our wedding, or you interviewed him for Newsnight last year, used to go out with Liz Hurley.

What frightens you most?

Miscarriages of justice. Sally Clark, for example, who lost her babies and was then accused of their murder. Cases like Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe show the collateral damage of political spats between governments which could happen to anyone.

Who would you like to spend a day in the shoes of?

A person of deep religious faith. A monk, priest or a rabbi maybeIm curious to see how you would make the intellectual leap to just believing in something without constantly seeking rational evidence.

What has been your most awkward on-air moment?

When I interviewed a bloke wearing a balaclava on Newsnight. He refused to remove it and halfway through our interview he forgot he was wearing it, took a sip of water and couldnt find his mouth. Its quite hard to hold it together when that happens.

Emily Maitliss new book is Airhead: The Imperfect Art of Making News(Michael Joseph, 18.99). She will be at the Wimbledon Book Festival on 10th October

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What would people be surprised to learn about Emily Maitlis? "I have facial blindness" - Prospect

Alcon, a global leader in eye care, as a part of its public service initiative, has rolled out a cinema campaign to create awareness about the role of a timely cataract surgery in avoiding blindness in view of World Sight Day observed on October10.

Alcon teamed up with Khushi Advertising Ideas Pvt. Ltd., a cinema advertising agency, and created an ad that has compelled people to sit up and take notice. The 30-second ad starts with nothing but a blank screen with only sounds of birds chirping and a baby laughing. This continues for about 12-13 seconds and leaves the audience visibly perplexed. Some even wonder whether there is a projector malfunction, until the first visual comes up, which is only the text that reads 1,20,00,000* people in India see the world like this.

Through the remaining ad, this number goes up by one every three seconds and the copy below it reads Every three seconds someone is getting blind due to cataract. This is followed by the logos of Alcon and World Sight Day in the last two seconds of the ad.

Vishnu Telang

Such strong messaging has left the audience shaken and I am sure, also awakened, said Vishnu Telang, CEO, Khushi Advertising. The ad is a true example of how powerful, something so simple can be. No influencers, no flashy design, no product display and no logo presence through 98% of the ad. The simple yet impactful communication did the job brilliantly. I am certain that people will recall this ad and the effort of Alcon for a long time.

Shourav Das

Shourav Das, Senior Manager, Practice Development, Alcon India, said, We wanted to bring the focus of both patients and care-givers on how cataract potentially lessens the quality of life. Following an eye surgeons advice and not procrastinating a simple cataract surgery can help one get back to life and light. With World Sight Day, we were planning a series of activities to spread awareness on this subject, which actually is the largest cause of blindness in India and when Khushi came to us with the concept, we loved the idea and went ahead with it. We at Alcon are positive that this campaign will touch a lot of people and raise even more awareness about cataract and dispel the myths woven around it.

Gautam Dutta

Gautam Dutta, CEO, PVR, said, This campaign is a perfect example of how cinema as a medium can be effectively used to spread awareness about health and social issues. Cinemas offer a captive and receptive audience who is more likely to absorb advertising communication and when the message is as powerful and relevant as this, the impact is massive. I am glad that Alcon and Khushi have made optimum use of this excellent advertising medium and created a campaign that is sure to open people's eyes to this grave issue."

The Video:

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

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On World Sight Day, Alcon India and Khushi create awareness about timely cataract surgery to avoid blindness - Best Media Info

Google Maps has up to date its voice steerage system particularly so that folks with lowered blindness or visibility can transfer extra independently. That is the brand new operate.

Among the finest makes use of of expertise is when its positioned on the service of accessibility. Accessibility permits to compensate for the absences of these much less lucky, serving to them to be extra unbiased each day.

Right this moment is the flip of Google Maps, an software that everyone knows and that helps us transfer round daily. Within the newest replace you obtain a brand new voice steerage software, designed particularly for individuals with lowered visibility or blindness.

One of many biggest difficulties for an individual with blindness is to find new locations. Its simple to recollect the best way to these locations that youre used to go each day, however going to new locations is extraordinarily difficult with out eyes to information you.

Functions corresponding to Google Maps assist information us, and with the brand new characteristic they may also assist individuals who have imaginative and prescient issues. That is doable due to a operate that Google is beginning to show name Voice steerage .

This new operate goes a step past the small print that Google Maps leaves us once we use the navigation on foot, a operate that for the standard person is greater than full due to the knowledge we see on the display, however which resulted inadequate for customers with lowered imaginative and prescient.

As defined by Wakana Sugiyama, protagonist of the video, these skills make her, as a blind individual dwelling in Tokyo, really feel extra included in society by with the ability to transfer with higher independence.

This new characteristic needs to be deployed over the following few hours, so be sure to have the Google Maps software up to date.

Excerpt from:
Google Maps for blind people improves thanks to the new voice guidance - Herald Publicist

Astrophysics is not typically considered to be part of the humanities. Yet one class I took as a senior at university suggested otherwise. It left me in awe of the human mind.

With my own background rooted in the humanities, I found myself focusing on the way my professors described the cosmos. While the fantastical environments of black holes, white dwarfs and dark matter often took center stage, at the heart of each discovery was the human mind seeking to understand the unfamiliar.

Their tales of discovery made it clear that we often take our knowledge of the universe for granted. After all, the universe was not built for the human mind to understand. When we look up at the night sky, we see only a tiny fraction of what is out there. It is the task of the astrophysicist to develop a picture of the universe despite our overwhelming blindness.

I wanted to better understand how being human shapes our understanding of the universe. After talking to some of Princetons leading astrophysicists, one thing became clear: the discipline requires the human mind to be conscious not only of the universe but of itself (unless otherwise identified, all quotes are from these scientists).

Only 5 percent of the universe is normal, observable matter. Within this small fraction, the human eye can only perceive matter that emits light within a certain frequency on the electromagnetic spectrum. While birds can perceive magnetic fields and snakes can image in the infrared, we can detect only visible light. This range determines our picture of space, Adam Burrows explains. Our picture of space is, in that sense, a direct product of the human mind.

Rather than assume our picture wholly captured the universe, Jo Dunkley says that astrophysicists started wondering whether there might be other things filling our galaxies and universe that we cannot see. They designed telescopes to detect frequencies of light that lie beyond human perception, such as those of x-rays and radio waves. With these instruments, our picture of the universe became 5 percent complete.

The astrophysicists task then became one of using the visible to detect the remaining 95 percent. Einsteins laws of gravity provided a means of navigating the obscure. Because gravity depends solely upon mass, its effects can be seen irrespective of light production. As Dunkley explains, a massive, invisible object, such as a black hole, will attract a visible object, like a star.

While the Event Horizon Telescopes image of a black hole is one recent example, the strategy dates back as early as 1933. It was Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky who unwittingly first employed the technique when examining the behavior of galaxy clusters. He found the clusters to be far more massive than anticipated based on what was visible. He called the missing mass dark matter. Nearly 40 years later, American astronomer Vera Rubin confirmed its existence. While measuring the radial velocity of galaxies, she observed velocities incompatible with those predicted by the laws of gravity. The expectation had been that objects farther from the center of the galaxy orbited more slowly than those near the center. Rubin instead observed a constant velocity, meaning that there was no decrease at the fringe of the galaxies. In order for this to be possible within the laws of physics, there must be more to space than meets the eye, Dunkley explains. The mass existed, it just had yet to be detected.

Neta Bahcall explains that its the laws of gravity that render this dark matter indirectly observable. They allow astrophysicists to determine how much of the universe is invisible without knowing exactly what the darkness is. James Jeans once likened the situation to Platos well-known allegory, where imprisoned in our cave, with our backs to the light, we can only watch the shadows on the wall. The comparison is apt. Counterintuitively, the shadows here represent what is visible, and the light represents what we cannot see or even imagine. With this technique, dark matter came to contribute 27 percent to our cave drawing of the universe.

The 68 percent of the universe absent from our drawing is still unknown. But, in 1998, that unknown was given a name: dark energy. It emerged as a means of explaining the universes anomalous expansion. In the 1990s, astrophysicists thought that the universes rate of expansion would gradually decrease. The laws of gravity predicted that the matter filling the universe would begin to pull itself together as time went on, thus slowing the universes expansion. Yet this turned out not to be the case. The expansion was accelerating. Very little is known about dark energy, and so our picture of the universe remains far from complete.

The problems facing our picture of the universe are not limited to what we can perceive. As Ed Turner explains, our mind and the culture in which it was formed condition the way we explore the universe. Because of this particular conditioning, we have mental blind spots for the cosmic phenomena that run counter to human intuition and understanding. For instance, Turner claims that the mind is predisposed to see things as statistically significant when they might not be. We erroneously perceive patterns in the spacing of stars and of the planets in the solar system, seeing them as though they were arranged.

There are other properties of the mind that get in the way of seeing the truth, according to Turner. Consider, for instance, our belief that massive objects must take up space. It is not a direct relationship: we accept that a piece of lead is more massive than a pillow, even though the latter is larger. At the extremes, however, we expect some positive correlation between the two. The extreme physical environment of a neutron star then poses problems. As Michael Strauss suggests, the star is so dense that a thimbleful of neutron star material has the mass of 70 million elephants. We cannot help but wonder: where is all the mass?

We are blinded by being human when we look at something larger than the human experience, Robert Lupton explains. It becomes further apparent when we are confronted with counterintuitive phenomena like white dwarfs and black holes. White dwarfs decrease in size as they become more massive, says Joshua Winn, and for black holes, all mass is compressed to zero size. While we cannot see the black hole, giving the phenomena a name allows us to imagine it. The same could be said of dark matter and dark energy, explains Dunkley. As with the previous analogy, language provides a means of overcoming our initial blindness to interact with these cosmic phenomena.

Astrophysicists encounter another blinding property of the mind when considering the nature of space: we can only visualize in three dimensions. In order to imagine the geometry of space namely whether it is flat or curvedwe would need to be able to think in four dimensions, says Dunkley. For instance, to determine the curvature of a ball, we first picture the ball in three dimensions. Therefore, to determine a three-dimensional curve, the mind would need to picture the four-dimensional object.

This need arises when astrophysicists contemplate the expanding universe and relativity. For the former, the task is to conceptualize a three-dimensional universe that exists in a loopan impossible visualization, for connecting every dimension would create a four-dimensional object. For the latter, in order to explore the relativistic behavior of spacetime, the task is to imagine a three-dimensional space deformed by gravityanother impossibility.

In both cases, two-dimensional analogies facilitate understanding. Dunkley likens the universe to a piece of string attached at both ends to create a loop, and then relies upon language to bridge the-dimensional gap. We would connect every side of space, such that no matter the direction we traveled in, we would always return to our starting point, she explains. Similarly, in his 1915 paper on general relativity, Einstein used a trampoline as a two-dimensional analogue for space. He then turned to language to illustrate how placing a massive object upon the stretchy surface creates a third, vertical dimension. The same principle applied in more dimensions, he argued: massive objects bend space. While we are still unable to visualize the four-dimensional phenomena, Dunkley says that through these linguistic analogies, we can imagine the consequences.

In this manner, astrophysicists stretch the mind to see the universe from an external perspective, says Turner. Burrows speaks of retraining the brain by developing a new language better suited for the conversation between the cosmos and the individual. The environment of the universe is so different from our daily environment that often we cannot imagine it, according to Joel Hartman. Take, for instance, the size of the universe and the number of stars within it. The language of mathematics, grounded in scientific notation, logarithms and orders of magnitude, allows us to grapple with the cosmos where words fall short, explains Burrows.

Similarly, when considering the four-dimensional universe, mathematical measurements provide astrophysicists with an invaluable means of navigating the obscure. Just like in two dimensions, explains Dunkley, if the geometry of space is flat, then parallel lines, like light rays, stay parallel always. If the space is curved, then they will either come towards each other in a positively curved universe or splay apart in a negatively curved one. To return to the language of Platos cave, it seems that by measuring the shadows before us, we are able to conceptualize, in part, the nature of what remains out of sight and out of mind.

Even with this universal language of mathematics, astrophysicists still resort to biological terms to describe certain cosmic phenomena. Turner describes how astrophysicists speak of the birth and death of stars, as though they were alive. More extreme is the twin paradox devised to facilitate a correct conception of time. We are accustomed to thinking of time as strictly linear and independent, but Einsteins theory of relativity says that probably is not the case. Time passes more slowly when close to massive objects.

To overcome our intuition, astrophysicists imagine taking two twins and somehow sending one of them to spend time near a black hole, [so that] she would actually age more slowly than [her] Earth-dwelling partner, explains Dunkley. The physical manifestation of aging allows the mind to grapple with the nonuniformity of time, for we are able to envision two differently aged twins despite the semblance of a paradox.

While there are certainly properties of the mind that get in the way of seeing the truth, as Turner says, the fact that it is human allows us to engage with the universe. The lives of stars and the twin paradox are just two examples of astrophysicists making sense of the unfamiliar through our own biology. After all, it is the mind of the astrophysicist that must first identify its blind spots and then devise techniques to overcome them. In that sense, astrophysics and humanism go together in a wonderfully unexpected way. As the literary critic Leo Spitzer once wrote, the humanist believes in the power of the human mind of investigating the human mind.

So often the predominant reaction to astrophysics focuses on how vast the universe is and how insignificant a place we hold in it. It would be far better to flip the narrative to see the marvel of the mind exploring the cosmos, human lens and all.

Here is the original post:
How Mere Humans Manage to Comprehend the Vastness of the Universe - Scientific American

Medics recommend that all children have an initial eye exam before the age of four.

It is important to make sure children's eyes are checked for better school performance and to avoid preventable blindness that can only be treated during childhood, Abu Dhabi parents have been told.

On the occasion of World Sight Day (October 10), experts from the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi's pioneering Eye Institute urged parents to arrange eye examinations for their children. Left uncorrected, impaired vision in children impacts quality of life, including lower academic achievement, and can result in permanent visual loss that is not treatable after childhood, an expert said as part of the 'Vision First!' programme.

The medics recommend that all children have an initial eye exam before the age of four. If parents suspect a child has an eye problem, they should be examined, whatever their age is. This allows causes of preventable blindness to be treated during childhood.

Dr Arif Khan, a paediatric ophthalmologist at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, has explained that a child's visual system is not set at birth. "It depends upon visual experience and continues to develop until the age of around seven or eight, with the first few years of life being a particularly critical period," he said. "At least four per cent of children have visual impairment that is only treatable during childhood. Detecting visual problems during childhood, when they are most amenable to treatment, can have a tremendously positive impact on the child's future."

While some paediatric eye conditions can be relatively easy for parents to spot, the majority can only be detected with an eye exam, particularly if the condition affects just one eye. There is a clear link between poor vision and lower academic performance in children. While most schools in the UAE provide eye exams for students, doctors are keen to highlight that waiting until a child has started school to correct some problems can be too late.

"It's important that people think about putting vision first. Children are never too young for an eye exam," said Dr Khan.

He said that he recently saw a child referred for a second opinion. The child was suffering from frequent headaches and blurred vision and had been diagnosed with neurological disease as the cause. A specialised eye examination revealed that the source of his symptoms was an undiagnosed need for glasses. After receiving the proper prescription glasses, the headaches stopped.

ismail@khaleejtimes.com

Ismail Sebugwaawo

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Parents in UAE urged to check kids' eyes to avoid preventable blindness - Khaleej Times

One in eight persons above 50 years in India is a diabetic; One in every 46 diabetics is blind; and one in seven has some form of impairment in their vision due to high blood sugar levels, according to a diabetes and diabetic retinopathy survey by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in collaboration with Ministry of Health and Family Welfare carried out between 2015 to 2019.

Of 56,771 persons over 50 years of age assessed in 21 districts, up to 11.8 per cent (6,717) were found to be diabetic. The highest prevalence of diabetes (over 20 per cent) was observed in Thrissur, Kerala (29.4 per cent), North Goa (24.7 per cent), Kapurthala in Punjab (22 per cent) and Virudhunagar in Tamilnadu (21.2 per cent).

Of the total diabetic population of 6,717 persons, 144 persons were blind and 923 persons were visually impaired. Prevalence of blindness among diabetics was 2.1 per cent and visual impairment 13.7 per cent, states the report.

In all the diabetics, 16.9 per cent had diabetic retinopathy or damage to retina, 7 per cent had diabetic maculopathy or damage to macula, a part of the eye which provides central vision, and 3.6 per cent had sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy, the report estimated. Globally, diabetic retinopathy is responsible for 1.06 per cent of blindness and 1.16 per cent of visual impairment, according to 2015 estimates.

The reason for diabetes leading to blindness and visual impairment was linked to poor blood sugar control among patients. While most of patients surveyed (85.7 per cent) were on oral tablets for diabetic management, only 39.5 per cent of known diabetics had controlled their random blood glucose to less than 200 mg per dL.

Up to 60.5 per cent had poor control of sugar. And a majority of the diabetics had never sought an eye check-up. Poor awareness regarding the health, 90 per cent of known diabetics had never gone for fundus evaluation for diabetic retinopathy, states the report.

In India, there are an estimated 7.296 crore cases of diabetes in adults. While urban prevalence is between 10.9 to 14.2 per cent, rural prevalence is between 3 to 7.8 per cent among population which is over 20 years and there is much higher prevalence in population over 50 years.

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One in 7 diabetics is visually impaired: Survey - BusinessLine

- Leticia Vidza, a 16-year-old girl from Cape Coast has had her eyesight restored after 4 years of blindness

- This followed a 30-minute surgery by a joint team of American and Ghanaian eye specialists

- Vidza benefited from a free cataract surgery project between the Himataya Cataract Project (HCP) and the Ghana Health Service (GHS)

Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in - Our Manifesto

A 16-year-old girl identified as Leticia Vidza from Cape Coast, Central region, who was compelled to curtail her education after she lost her sight four years ago has had her vision restored.

Leticia Vidza underwent a 30-minute surgery performed by a combined team of American and Ghanaian doctors to remove a cataract from both eyes at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital (CCTH).

The 16-year-old girl benefited from eye specialists performing free eye operations on some 600 patients with eye defects.

Vidza could not hide her joy with tears running down her cheeks at seeing once again after the plasters were taken off.

The elated girl told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) she would immediately resume school to continue with her education.

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Photo credit: myjoyonline.comSource: UGC

Vidza recounted her predicament while revealing it all started in school when suddenly she could not see from afar.

She revealed that her ''parents did their best, sending me to hospitals but my condition worsened until I went totally blind. I am very excited and I cant wait to see my friends.''

The free cataract surgery initiative, is a joint programme between the Himataya Cataract Project (HCP), an American Non-Governmental Organisation, Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the CCTH is expected to benefit nearly 600 cataract patients in Cape Coast.

Dr Oscar Debrah, Country Representative of HCP, revealed more than 1,000 patients were screened in Cape Coast and its surrounding communities.

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Meanwhile, the resilience of Berdanette Adams, the wife of a former French footballer, Jean-Pierre Adams, has given meaning to staying true to one's vows which has resonated with many globally. Berdanette has reinforced what it means to stay with ones partner, for better or for worse.

Despite the current state of her husband, Jean-Pierre Adams, who is still in coma for nearly 40 years now, Berdanette continues to stay true to her love and has many marvelled.

READ ALSO: Fine man causes stir with lavish marriage to pretty fiance in wheelchair (video, photos)

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Tears flow as 16-year-old girl sees light for the first time after 4 years of blindness - YEN.COM.GH

Love Island contestants Theo Campbell and Idris Virgo have been beefing online after Idris accused Theo of faking his blindness in one eye.

Idris posted a screenshot of an argument he was having with Theo on Instagram DM on Twitter.

Theo replied to him with a screenshot of a group chat Idris was allegedly a part of. In this group chat, Idris writes: "Think it's fake tbh" when talking about Theo's partial blindness.

Theo wrote on Twitter: "You missed out the part where youre telling youre little people Im lying about my eye.. only a idiot like yourself would lie about such a thing. And that fact youre putting our convo on Twitter just proves once again what a BEG you are. BEG BEG BEG such a loser."

Theo then also added: "Youre boring. You didnt get an invite to the reunion because you had 0 personality on the show. Everyone else should, only you shouldnt. And because your a puppet thats why you wont get casted again. I duno [sic.] why you try so hard online to make noise. But carry on its laughable. [sic.]"

Idris then replied: "Who are you again? People only know who you are because of your girlfriend other than that youre irrelevant. Man had to shoot him self with a cork to get clout."

Idris Virgo was part of Love Island 2019

Theo went blind in one eye in August, after being hit by a champagne cork at a party in Ibiza.

The accident left him blind in one eye, undergoing surgery and holding out hope of restoring his sight in the eye.

In the aftermath, Kaz, Theo's girlfriend, has been at his side and Josh Denzel was accused of mocking him.

Josh Denzel posted a picture of the "and I ooop" meme with no caption, hours after news broke of Theo's accident, which left him permanently blind in one eye.

Josh later deleted the tweet, however users have been quick to repost screenshots accusing him of making fun of Theo's injury. Kaz has since weighed in on the drama to say Josh has privately messaged them with a "sob story", adding: "Theo couldn't care less."

Watch the moment Theo Campbell got blinded by a champagne cork

Love Islands Theo left blinded in one eye by flying champagne cork

Josh Denzel accused of mocking Theo Campbells blindness on Twitter

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Theo Campbell accused of faking blindness by fellow Love Island contestant - The Tab

Mississippi State Universitys National Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision is hosting an informational event in honor of White Cane Awareness Day Oct. 15. The event is taking place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the Drill Field and will include booths, an obstacle course and games.

White Cane Awareness Day occurs annually on Oct. 15. According to Kendra Farrow, the NRTCs Research and Training associate, this day is designed to bring awareness to people with blindness and low vision and to teach people about white canes.

While gesturing to her white cane, Farrow explained its significance.

It is a mobility tool that helps the individual who cannot see to know what is in front of them, Farrow said. They can detect surface changes, drop-offs and stairs.

The informational booths will allow people to experience what it is like to have blindness or low vision. According to Emily Damm, the NRTCs communications specialist, visitors can go to the welcome booth to learn about interacting with a person who uses a white cane, the laws regarding white canes and blindness-related professions.

At another booth, visitors can braille their name and interact with an off-duty guide dog. A representative will talk about the importance of braille and how those with blindness and low vision use it to read, Damm said.

Visitors can also put on simulator glasses at the booth. Damm said people can wear glasses or a bandanna while participating in a smell test with different spices. The smell test allows people to see what it would be like to cook in the kitchen with a visual impairment.

We have simulator glasses that show what it would be like to see with Glaucoma or a diabetes condition, Damm said. They can pick out one of these eye conditions to wear or use a bandanna to have complete blindness.

While wearing glasses or a bandanna, visitors can go through an obstacle course that is run by MSU sorority, Delta Gamma. According to Andrea Black, a senior studying biological sciences and the Delta Gamma vice president of Foundation, participants can navigate through a path that contains boxes and other objects.

The course brings an educational opportunity about the world of blindness, but it is still in a fun way, Black said. It allows people to really understand what is going on, but it is not a presentation. People are still having fun while promoting awareness and understanding.

According to Clare Baumhauer, a senior marketing major and the president of Delta Gamma, the sororitys philanthropy is Service for Sight, and they share the same mission as the NRTC. The sorority wants to help educate students on this campus about blindness and visual impairment.

Visitors can also participate in games designed for people with blindness and low vision. According to Damm, participants can play goalball and beep baseball while wearing simulator glasses or a blindfold.

Goalball is a game of goalies versus goalies. The ball has bells attached to it, so the players can locate the ball. In beep baseball, players run between two bases and play with a ball that beeps.

Damm expressed that the NRTC typically works to help individuals who are blind and visually impaired through research, programs and other service providers. She said she is excited to do something different and work with the community through this event.

This is new for us to go directly into the community and have this awareness event, but we felt like the celebration of the white cane aligns perfectly with our mission of providing education to the community, Damm said.

Speaking as a person with blindness, Farrow notices the lack of understanding about blindness and low vision. She experiences people who do not understand her condition and treat her like she is not capable.

Farrow believes this event can allow people to change their mindset and appropriately interact with those who are blind and visually impaired.

If someone loses their vision, it is not the end. There are plenty of activities that a person can do. There are plenty of jobs that a person can do, Farrow said. If someone loses their vision, it is important to have the idea planted in your mind that they can still be a successful person.

Farrow said she hopes NRTC's activities in honor of White Cane Awareness Day serve as an educational opportunity that the community can enjoy.

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MSU's NRTC to host games, obstacle course in honor of White Cane Awareness Day - The Reflector online