cafecuriosity

Putting Surgical Innovation Under the Knife

Breaking news this week, as researchers declared, "Case closed." on the question of why eyelids sag with age. Now this isn't a topic that I normally find gripping, however it makes a compelling case for why professional practice needs to progress. The conventional surgical approach to sagging eyelids is to tighten either the muscle surrounding the eye or the ligament that holds the eyeball in place while spreading the fat present inside the eyelid around. Surgeons rarely actually remove fat during these procedures. Interestingly, there is no scientific evidence to show the muscle or ligament actually weakens with age! The culprit is increased fat deposits over time. To put this in context, 241,000 Americans sets of sagging eyelids went under the knife in 2007! Question is, how long will it take for this advance in theory to be reflected in surgical practice? It puts a new face on the old issue of dissemination of innovation.   http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/baggy-lower-eyelids-a-new-ucla-55830.aspx   Image: American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

Footprints From the Past

I've just spent a lovely few months working with a client in Athen developing the specification for their knowledge management system. This is an organization which has experienced tremendous growth, adding something like 90,000 workers to its roster across the Middle East. Yet, for all its dynamic approach, I've been fascinated to see that some elements remain firmly anchored in its roots. The culture and values of the organization remain close to their roots in a family business. No bad thing. Other aspects of the organization's culture conflict continuously with attempts by its leadership to adapt. As usual, this conflict occurs around the edges of the organization, where those faint echoes of the past resonate loudest.

I was reminded just how persistent the past can be when I read about the discovery of a footprint of a Roman legionnaire's sandal. Preserved in the mortar of the city wall of Hippos a Hellenistic-Roman city (leveled in an earthquake around 749), the imprint details every hobnail of the caliga - the standard sandal of the time. This is the same area where Christ worked his miracles and Rome asserted its military might. The simple footprint, unlike the empire endures. The dig, now in its 8th year also turned up a colonnaded street and marble paneled bathhouse. Typically, a remnant of a Greek statue turned up on the last day of the dig - the other bits will have to wait until the next season.   http://media.haifa.ac.il/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2595&Itemid=60

PS. Roman history buffs had more cause for celebration when a Roman fort including furnaces was discovered in South East Cornwall near an ancient silver mine. So much for bringing civilization to the barbarians and glory to Rome - it was all about the money after all! 

http://www.exeter.ac.uk/news/newsromanfort.shtml

Image: 1. Roman sandal print, University of Haifa, 2. Remains of Roman fort in South East Cornwall, Sarah Hoyle, University of Exeter

Virtual Fencing

As a little takker growing up on the family farm, one of my chores was to bring the milking cows up from the bottom paddock each evening. Luckily, the girls knew the way better than I did and wandered along at their own sweet pace, oblivious to my encouragement or the stick I brandished (which was usually bigger than I was). It was one of those virtual jobs you do when you're four and living on a farm. The CSIRO however have taken livestock control to a new level with their new virtual fencing system. The prototype uses software driven electronic collars linked to a GPS unit. The collars emit a sound (kind of like I did!) when the unit's program determines the cattle are approaching a designated boundary. In about an hour, the cattle learn where their virtual limits are, as cattle do and avoid the boundary line. Its an interesting example of how technology can transform the nature of work and shift the underlying economics in industries undergoing transition. You can also understand why the Bush wants decent comm links - bandwidth matters. Fencing paddocks is hard, tough work; it's expensive and requires maintenance and replacement over time - particularly after a bushfire. It will be interesting to see if the collars prove to be cost effective. Only downside is that a beeping collar lacks the aesthetics of Swiss cow bells!   http://www.csiro.au/news/VirtualFencingMediaRelease.html   Image: 1. Dr Caroline Lee and Dr Andrew Fisher with an electronic collar, The Land 2. CSIRO's satellite based 'virtual fencing' system, CSIRO