THE ACHIEVER Retina Australia Victoria WINTER EDITION - JUNE 2009 ROSS HOUSE, 4TH FLOOR 247 - 251 FLINDERS LANE MELBOURNE VIC 3000 PHONE (03)9650 5088 FAX (03) 9639 0979 Email: support@retinavic.org.au Web site: www.retinavic.org.au INSIDE FROM THE PRESIDENT FEATURES: Water-Filled Spectacles Media Release-Vision Centre IRDR Website RESEARCH UPDATE: Emerging Treatment for Dry AMD Stem Cell Treatment for AMD Protein Might Prevent Blindness Regular Exercise Reduces Risk of MD and Cataracts Lots of Red Meat Can Harm Vision Ride for Sight Lutein and Computer Eye Strain Aging Eye Conference, Germany QUESTION TIME POSEIDON INTERNATIONAL LATEST PRODUCTS LAST WORD WONDERFUL WINTER NEWS * Novel feature article about water-filled spectacles! * Media release on how to preserve vision * Latest research developments, focussing on AMD in particular * Learn how to scuba dive in Italy! Beginning of article FROM THE PRESIDENT I would like to take this opportunity to officially welcome Lin Sun to Retina Australia (Vic). Lin commenced with us in her position as part time Administrative Officer on Tuesday 24 March. Lin currently works between 9am and 4pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays and is responsible for maintaining our database, managing the mail and telephone calls, completing regular financial and administrative duties, and assisting Graham Owen our Treasurer with the MYOB accounting package. Please do not hesitate to contact Lin during office hours, she will only be too pleased to help with your enquiry. I have recently sent out renewal notices for your membership for the financial year 2009/2010. As these fees are vital to ensure the smooth running of the office, we would appreciate it if you could send your annual membership form and remittance back to the office as soon as possible. If you would like to pay by credit card over the telephone, please contact Lin, as she can take all necessary details over the phone and save you some writing. Information about the forthcoming Congress, which will be held in Brisbane this year during October was also sent to all members, either via print post or email. The Congress program is interesting, bringing to us news of research from across Australia and around the world. The presenters are all well known in the field of eye research and many of them have been recipients of research funding from Retina Australia in recent years. It is extremely pleasing to note that our research donations, either raised through direct donations from our members and friends, or from our fundraising efforts, have been put to such good use and we are now beginning to see results. Earlier this year, all members were sent an invitation to participate in the research study to set up an Australian Inherited Retinal Disease Register and DNA Bank. Many members have already responded to this request, but if you have not, you are still able to register your interest by completing the form and sending it to the research team. If you have misplaced the original paperwork, simply telephone the office and Lin can either post it to you, or email it. I believe that the work of this team may be featured on an upcoming edition of “60 Minutes”. You may be interested to watch out for this. Congratulations to the following winners of our Easter Raffle which was drawn in our office on 7 April this year. We raised in excess of $3000 for research from the raffle. Thank you to all members who participated in this fundraising effort. 1st Carmel’s Easter Hamper 3837 David Friend Longford 2nd Cadbury Schweppes Hamper 4487 Marjorie Tomlinson Wahgunyah 3rd Easter Surprise Basket 4081 Margaret Lane Rosebud 4th Chillipadi $50 Dinner Voucher 5335 Brooke Milla r Croydon 5th Wine and Chocolates 5457 Janice Gladman Deer Park 6th Wild About You Chocolates 5495 Margaret Tomkins Pascoe Vale End of article Beginning of article Scientist Creates Adjustable, Water-Filled Spectacles Joshua Silver, a lifelong tinkerer, was fiddling around one day with a cheap water-filled lens he'd built as an optics experiment when he noticed something interesting. By adding or removing water he could not only change the power of the lens, he found, but he also could use it to very accurately correct his own nearsightedness when he looked through it. "I was struck by the quality of the vision I could get with a device I could make for pennies and I could adjust myself," remembers Silver, Oxford University atomic physicist. "My immediate thought was, 'If I can correct my own vision so easily, could other people?'" Yes, it turns out. Eyeglasses using Silver's simple, self-adjusting technology are now poised to revolutionize the way the world's poor - and quite possibly the rest of us - see, potentially coming to the aid of billions who struggle to squint enough to farm, study, drive or hold down any job. "With this technology, you can make your own prescription eyewear," said Silver, who has so far turned out about 30,000 pairs of the cheap glasses. He hopes to find funding to distribute a billion pairs to people around the world too poor to afford glasses or living in places like sub-Saharan Africa, where the ratio of opticians to residents is purportedly 1 to 1 million. Rich-world eyeglass firms also are snooping around Silver's idea, tantalized by the possibility of manufacturing glasses that could give wearers the ability to change their prescription with a twist. Goodbye bifocals! In a world where just about everybody older than 45 needs reading glasses, and just 5 percent of the world's poor get the vision correction they need, "the market is close to 3 billion people," said the 62-year-old inventor, who took up studying optics to better view atomic structure and still considers himself a rookie at understanding vision. Silver's glasses, now in use in 15 African and East European nations, look as if they might pair well with a fake moustache. Thick Coke-bottle lenses sit in dark tortoise shell frames flanked with a pair of syringes on either temple. By turning dials, the wearer pushes more or less fluid into the lenses, protected between two hard polycarbonate covers, until the prescription is perfect. The syringes can then be removed or left in place to allow continuing changes. The reaction from new wearers "is universal," said Maj. Kevin White, a U.S. Marine Corps logistics expert who persuaded the U.S. Department of Defence to buy and hand out 20,000 pairs of the glasses as humanitarian aid in Angola, Georgia and other nations. Handed a pair, "people put them on, they look at a chart on the wall, you see them dialling and suddenly their smirk turns to a smile. They say, 'Wow! I can see!' It's mind-boggling," White said. Silver, who went along on the first field test of the glasses in Ghana, remembers how the first man to try a pair, a tailor forced to retire in his 40s when he could no longer see to work, grinned and immediately started up his sewing machine after being handed a pair. "Tears came to my eyes," Silver remembers. "I realised how really important it was for a guy like this to be able to see." He also realised he'd made a strategic error - no one wanted to give back the prototypes after trying them. White says he came across Silver's invention after watching a Lions Club handout of used eyeglasses in Morocco. While many people got help, few were able to find frames that gave them 20/20 vision, he said. He decided there must be an easier way. A Google search turned up the self-adjusting glasses. White flew to Oxford for a look and within days had persuaded his impressed superior to place a big order. "I've never seen the military move that fast," he said. "No one's a believer until they see them." The revolutionary glasses have a number of drawbacks. They don't correct astigmatism, though about 80 percent of potential users have such mild astigmatism that the glasses can still be very effective, Silver said. Critics also have argued that the self-adjusting feature could keep people with eye diseases like glaucoma from visiting eye doctors who could catch their problem. Silver dismisses that as a major concern because in the locations most likely to benefit from the technology "there are insufficient professionals and no infrastructure" anyway to catch such diseases. Perhaps most troubling, both the size and price of the glasses remain daunting: The current hefty model going for $19 a pair. Silver is working on streamlined versions, with hopes of getting the cost down to about $2 as manufacturing volume picks up. "I'm not in this to make money. I wouldn't mind making some money," he says. "But my motivation is to take this technology and get it to people who need it." Source: Laurie Goering, Chicago Tribune, 3 February 2009-03-24 End of article Beginning of article Media Release – The Vision Centre ARC Centre of Excellence in Vision Science STOP IT ... OR YOU’LL GO BLIND Australia should adopt an aggressive public health campaign to combat the growing epidemic of vision loss in later life, a leading scientist has urged. Don’t smoke, keep fit, eat a healthy diet rich in fish oils, low in fats and high in antioxidants are all ways to slow the degeneration of the macula, the eye’s most critical region for clear vision, says Professor Jan Provis of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Vision Science (The Vision Centre) and The Australian National University. “Thanks to the macula humans have remarkably acute vision. It’s the little spot on the inside back of the eyeball that does most of our useful seeing, such as reading, recognising faces and spatial resolution. It’s usually fine for the first 50 years of life but then it starts to degrade and this leads to partial and sometime total loss of sight,” she explains. Age related Macular Degeneration (AMD), Bests' Disease, Stargardts' Disease and Macular Telangiectstasis are just some of the conditions which can have devastating consequences for people still otherwise active. “Our research indicates that this is due to an evolutionary trade off which has occurred in humans and other primates over time. We have developed extremely acute vision, partly because the number of blood vessels in the macula – and its central region, the fovea, is quite low. Having too many blood vessels would obscure our vision, so we have settled for a compromise: sharp vision in youth but an unstable macula that deteriorates over time. “Our eyes consist of very large numbers of neurons which combine to enable us to see well, and these demand quite large amounts of oxygen. However having fewer blood vessels the neurons in the macula can easily be starved of oxygen causing them to die in large numbers and this contributes to the typical decline in vision from mid-life onwards that most of us experience.” While there is little that can be done at the present state of knowledge to reverse this degeneration, the good news is that there are things we can all do to slow or prevent it, she says. “These mainly consist of keeping our blood circulatory system in good order. We know that various lifestyle choices like smoking, eating a fatty diet and not enough fish and fresh fruit all tend to damage the health of capillaries – the fine blood vessels that deliver the oxygen to critical regions throughout our bodies. This applies equally to the capillaries that supply oxygen to the macula.” Professor Provis and her team have identified 25 genes that regulate blood vessel growth within the macula. They hope this may eventually lead to therapies for treating macular disease. And she is confident it will also yield better public health advice on how to avoid it. “In my view we now understand enough about this process of degeneration of our eyesight with age for Australia to mount an aggressive public health campaign to encourage people to keep their circulatory system in better order from a younger age. This would undoubtedly include advice such as don’t smoke, avoid fatty foods, keep fit and eat a diet that is rich in fresh fish, fruit and vegetables. For an ageing population, the loss of vision is major concern as it carries major public health and caring costs, limits people’s independence, their ability to support themselves and to enjoy their later years. It can be addressed in the same way that we are addressing conditions such as heart disease, skin cancer and diabetes – through education and changes in our behaviour.” February 9, 2009 More information: Professor Jan Provis, The Vision Centre and The Australian National University. Ph: (02) 6125 4242; Mob: 0412 022 464; Email: jan.provis@anu.edu.au End of article Beginning of article Inherited Retinal Diseases Website   Dr John De Roach, Principal Medical Physicist at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, has informed Retina Australia that the IRD website has been updated and now contains a list of in excess of 830 DNA samples from IRD sufferers or blood relatives. The register contains information from 1733 subjects. Disease causing mutations are listed for 96 of these individuals, sourced from 33 families. These are adRP, Stargardt's, Retinioschisis or LCA affected subjects.   As of April 2009 the list of DNA stored will lengthen rapidly, and will include subjects from all over Australia. Note that a new column has been added, indicating the origin of the DNA (usually an Australian state). The website may be reached by following the link at: http://www.scgh.health.wa.gov.au/Research/InheritedRetinal.html End of article Beginning of article Scott MacIntyre, a young talented musician who has severe vision loss from Leber Congenital Amaurosis (LCA), made it to the top 8 in American Idol, 2009. End of article Beginning of article Research Update BREAKING NEWS — Emerging Treatment Stabilizes Vision in People with Dry AMD An innovative technology, employing a tiny capsule implanted in the eye, is stabilizing vision in people suffering from dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Encapsulated Cell Technology (ECT), developed by Rhode Island-based Neurotech, preserved vision in a majority of the 51 people who participated in a Phase II clinical trial. There are currently no treatments for dry AMD, which is a leading cause of blindness for people 55 and older in developed countries. "These are very encouraging results for this treatment approach," said Stephen Rose, Ph.D., chief research officer, Foundation Fighting Blindness (FFB). "Neurotech's Encapsulated Cell Technology has the potential to preserve the vision of millions of people with dry AMD.  Finding treatment options for people with dry AMD is a key goal for FFB." "The Foundation has been a pivotal funding source for the development of ECT, and we are very pleased wit the success of this dry AMD clinical study," said William T. Schmidt, chief executive officer, Foundation Fighting Blindness. "This is great news for our members and the millions around the world affected with dry AMD." Neurotech reported that 96.3 percent of participants receiving the high dose treatment had stable vision over a 12-month period.  People with better visual acuity at the start of the treatment — 20/63 or better — appeared to benefit most. The company also noted that people with stabilised vision had increased thickening of their retinas — an indication that the treatment was increasing the health and population of photoreceptors, which are essential for vision. The Foundation Fighting Blindness funded preclinical studies of ECT, and is currently funding two Phase II/III clinical studies of the treatment for retinitis pigmentosa, Usher syndrome, and choroideremia. Results of these two trials will be announced at the annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology taking place May 3-7. The ECT implant is a tiny device — the size of a grain of rice — that contains cells which provide sustained delivery of a vision-preserving protein known as ciliary neurotrophic factor. Source: Owings Mills, MD - March 26, 2009 End of article Beginning of article The World's First Stem Cell Treatment for Most Common Form of Blindness Developed by British Scientists  Surgeons believe a one-hour procedure to tackle age-related macular degeneration (AMD) could now be available within seven years. Up to half a million Britons and 30 million others around the world are affected by AMD, in which the part of the retina responsible for central vision gradually thins, leaving one in 10 sufferers totally blind. One in four over-60s in the UK suffers from the condition, which is predicted to worsen with Britain's ageing population. The new treatment, pioneered by experts at the Institute of Ophthalmology at University College London and Moorfields Eye Hospital, involves replacing a layer of degenerated cells with new ones created from embryonic stem cells. It is thought the therapy could help those both the 'dry' form of the condition, which is currently untreatable, and the 'wet' form which can be mitigated with injections. The RNIB welcomed the announcement, which a spokesman said would "give hope to tens of thousands across the UK" with the dry form of the condition. Tom Bremridge, chief executive of the Macular Disease Society, said: "This is a huge step forward for patients. We are extremely pleased that the big guns have become involved, because, once this treatment is validated, it will be made available to a huge volume of patients." Pharmaceutical research firm Pfizer is expected to announce financial backing for the therapy this week. Under the treatment, embryonic stem cells are transformed into replicas of the cells in the thinning part of the retina and inserted in the affected area. The use of embryonic stem cells is controversial because it involves the destruction of human embryos. The research team is seeking permission for clinical trials from the Medicines and Health care products Regulatory Agency, the Human Tissue Authority and the gene therapy advisory committee. If given the go-ahead, the trials would be the second in the world to use embryonic stem cells on humans. The first, on patients with spinal cord injuries, will start this year in the United States. Professor Peng Khaw, director of the Biomedical Research Centre at Moorfields and the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, added: "This shows that stem cell therapy is coming of age. It offers great hope for many sufferers around the world who cannot be treated with conventional treatment." He added: "All my patients say to me is, 'When will this stem cell treatment be ready? I want it now'." Therapy already available for the treatable 'wet' form of AMD includes a series of injections that can halt the degeneration of the affected cells ain the retina, which lies at the back of the eye. Some patients with AMD are able to adapt by using their peripheral vision. Among them was the late American painter Georgia O'Keefe who contracted the disease in the 1970s and whose later work sometimes featured black disc-like masses in the centre of the canvas. Risk factors in the development of the condition include genetics, farsightedness and a diet low in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. More than one third of a million Britons are registered blind or partially sighted and, overall, the RNIB estimates two million have significant sight loss. Source: Alastair Jamieson, Telegraph Media Group, 19 April 2009 End of article Beginning of article Protein Might One Day Prevent Blindness Researchers working with mice have identified a protein that appears to prolong the lives of retinal cells in both healthy and diseased eyes. The discovery could one day lead to treatments that would prevent blindness among people genetically predisposed to develop retinal disease, the scientists said. The protein, known as histone deacetylase 4 (HDAC4), is naturally produced by both mice and humans and is typically involved in the regulation of bone and muscle development. Reducing the amount of HDAC4 to below-normal levels appears to lead to premature photoreceptor cell death in healthy eyes, the study revealed. In contrast, increasing quantities of this protein to above-normal levels appears to protect the lifespan of these critical vision cells - both in healthy mouse eyes and in those mice suffering from a genetic flaw, also present in humans, that gives rise to degenerative retinal disease. The finding - if replicated in people - could ultimately lead to new interventions to prevent such disease-driven blindness, or even to the development of methods to restore lost sight to diseased retinas. "There are some inherited genetic defects that lead to the death of the two types of photoreceptor cells in the eye that capture light, first directly killing the rod cells and then the cone cells which depend on rod cell survival," explained study author Bo Chen, a postdoctoral research fellow with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Harvard Medical School in Boston. "So, this mutation eventually leads to complete blindness." "But what we found," Chen noted, "is that we could actually promote the survival of these genetically affected photoreceptors by introducing more of this particular protein, even though the photoreceptors themselves continue to remain genetically defective." SOURCES: Bo Chen, Ph.D., postdoctoral research fellow, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston; Robert Cykiert, M.D., ophthalmologist and clinical associate professor, ophthalmology, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York City; Rando Allikmets, Ph.D., associate professor, ophthalmology, pathology and cell biology, Columbia University, New York City; Jan. 9, 2009, Science. End of article Beginning of article Regular Exercise Reduces Risk of Macular Degeneration and Cataracts A recent study published on February 10, 2009 in Health & Medicine showed that vigorous exercise may help prevent vision loss, according to a pair of studies from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The studies tracked approximately 31,000 runners for more than seven years, and found that running reduced the risk of both cataracts and age-related macular degeneration. The research, which is among the first to suggest that vigorous exercise may help prevent vision loss, offers hope for people seeking to fend off the onset of eye disease. End of article Beginning of article Lots of Red Mean can harm vision-Report Feed the man meat, but don't overdo it or he could go blind - that's the finding of a study carried out by the Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital. Researchers from the hospital and the Centre for Eye Research Australia have found a link between red meat consumption and an increased risk of early vision loss. The report's author Dr Elaine Chong said there was an association between people who ate red meat more than 10 times a week and early Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD). She said it's the first detailed study in the world to look at the link between meat consumption and early Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD). The study, which spanned two decades, examined the diets of 6,734 people aged between 58 and 69 in Melbourne between 1990-1994 and followed up with examination of their macular degeneration between 2003-2006. It also found a decreased association of vision loss for people who ate more than three and a half serves of chicken a week. "Interestingly, about one quarter of our study population ate red meat at least 10 times a week, and the association with both early and late AMD was stronger for salami and continental sausage consumption than for fresh red meat," Dr Chong said. AMD is the leading cause of severe vision loss in Australia and it's estimated one in seven people over the age of 50 are affected by the condition. Source: Australian Associated Press, March 18 2009. End of article Beginning of article Ride for Sight Nearly 5000 cyclists participated in Retina South Africa’s 21st annual Ride for Sight on 15 February 2009 to help raise funds for research to fight retinal blindness. The hugely successful event was sponsored by Dis-Chem. End of article Beginning of article Lutein and Computer Eye Strain A new study from Beijing-based researchers, published in the British Journal of Nutrition, has noted improvements in the sensitivity to contrast on a computer screen in subjects taking lutein. Thirty-seven healthy subjects between the ages of 22 and 30 with long-term computer display light exposure were studied.  The subjects were observed following 12 weeks of lutein supplementation. There was a trend towards improved visual acuity and measures of contrast sensitivity in the subjects taking lutein verse the placebo group. The study concluded that “a higher intake of lutein may have beneficial effects on the visual performance. End of article Beginning of article Ageing Eye Conference Germany The Ageing Eye Conference held on 20-21 March 2009 at the Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany (pictured below), brought together world-leading experts in the fields of epidemiology, health economics, age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, mechanisms of ageing and stem cell research, to discuss worldwide causes of blindness, state-of-the-art research of the pathogenesis of the major age-related eye diseases and their socioeconomic impact. The current options for treatment and rehabilitation were also discussed and future treatment strategies were envisaged. The meeting was a great success in stimulating a multidisciplinary discussion. It underscored the enormous impact on societies and patients. The Ageing Eye Conference was organized by Hendrik Scholl and hosted by him together with Frank Holz from the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Bonn and implemented by EuroVisionNet and the European Vision Institute. Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany Age predisposes to diseases affecting virtually all parts of our body. This is especially true for the eye where the two major eye diseases, age related macular degeneration and glaucoma, account for two thirds of all cases of blindness in Europe. With the ageing population in all Western societies and the limitations of current therapies we face a dramatic increase of blindness due to diseases of the ageing eye. The impact on the individuals affected, on the societies and their economy will be challenging. We have chosen here to include a summary of just one of the sessions covered in the conference program, relating to AMD: Session III - AMD – Age-Related Macular Degeneration Frank Holz Caroline Klaver Philip Luthert Victor Chong Frank Holz chaired the third session on age-related macular degeneration (AMD). He presented recent advances that have improved the understanding of pathogenetic factors especially of late atrophic AMD including the role of accumulation of toxic byproducts of the visual cycle in the retinal pigment epithelium with age, drusen biogenesis, aberrant systemic and local  complement activation, nutritional risk factors as well as predictive clinical biomarkers. Based on these developments, therapeutic targets have been identified, and dry AMD clinical trials are currently underway. Caroline Klaver asked the question if dietary antioxidants reduce the genetic risk of AMD and presented data derived from the Rotterdam study. She provided evidence that a high dietary intake of antioxidants may indeed reduce the risk early AMD among those at high genetic risk. Hence, it may be warranted to provide advice on diet in young  susceptible individuals to postpone or prohibit the onset of late AMD. Philip Luthert pointed out that that no disease model is a perfect replica of the condition it seeks to mirror – which is especially true for rodent models of AMD, because these animals lack a macula, but he also showed that these models provide a critical set of tools for understanding the human disease. He underscored the importance of integrating human models of AMD such as Sorsby’s fundus dystrophy and suggested that all models should always be seen in the context of the gold standard of the disease itself. Victor Chong showed data collected over the last decade on serum proteins as biomarkers of AMD including matrix proteins, complement factors, and cytokines. The conceptual idea that the Bruch’s membrane is a modified arterial wall allows to investigate cytokines in a protein microarray system which was initially developed for atherosclerosis. Source: www.vision-research.eu End of article Beginning of article Question Time with Mary Bourke In this edition, member Mary Bourke has kindly agreed to volunteer for Question Time. Please contact Rick through the office to volunteer your answers for future editions. 1. What’s your earliest memory? About 6 years old when I fell in a flour bin that I was using as a stage to perform to my parents. 2. What’s your idea of a good time? Having a tasty cup of coffee while sitting in a coffee shop that has a view so that I can people watch. 3. What’s your ideal holiday destination? Anywhere in the United States. 4. Who inspires you? Christine Nixon – Former Victorian Police Commissioner. 5. What makes you angry? Public transport fare evaders. 6. What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever done? Dismiss an employee due to poor performance. 7. What’s the best thing you’ve ever done? Getting married at 53 years of age for the first time. 8. What do you like about Retina Australia (Vic)? The friendships and observing the valuable support it provides its members. 9. If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be? The imbalance of poverty and prosperity. 10. What’s the most important thing you’ve learnt about life? To ensure that you care about yourself and enjoy the moment. End of article Beginning of article Poseidon International Scuba Diving Courses in Paola, Italy, 27 July - 02 August 2009 For many years now, IRIFOR (the Italian Institute for Research, Training and Rehabilitation created by the Italian Union of the Blind and Partially Sighted), in particular its local office in Cosenza, has been organising scuba diving courses for blind and partially sighted people, providing the opportunity to learn scuba diving techniques and enjoy new experiences in the sea world. As in the past, IRIFOR, in cooperation with the Italian Union of the Blind and Partially Sighted, will accept a limited number of visually impaired persons from European countries in the scuba diving camp to be held in July - August 2009. Participants have to meet the following requirements: 1. Be between 18 and 40 years of age 2. Have good swimming skills 3. Be able to speak either Italian, English or Spanish 4. Be in a good state of health No previous scuba diving experience is required. All the necessary technical equipment will be provided by IRIFOR. Participants must have a medical insurance valid in Italy. Participants will have to pay a fee of 200 euros for their board and Lodging expenses (accommodation in double room), the scuba diving course and the technical equipment. In addition to that they will have to cover their travel expenses from their country to Paola railway station or Lamezia Terme airport and back. IRIFOR will provide for the transfer to the venue of the summer camp. Participants in the course should arrive on Monday 27 July in the morning or, if necessary, on Sunday 26 July and they should leave on Sunday 02 August in the afternoon or, if necessary, on Monday 03 August. Pre-applications, including applicant's personal details, telephone number, e-mail address and a declaration of good health, have to be sent to the International Relations Office of the Italian Union of the Blind and Partially Sighted, 38 via Borgognona, Rome, Italy, tel: +39 06 69988375/388, fax: +39 06 69988328, e-mail: inter@uiciechi.it (copy to favolamt@infinito.it ). The deadline for pre-registration is 15th June 2009. Anyone interested in taking part should contact the office if you require an electronic copy to return the form by email. End of article Beginning of article Latest Products Apple has released a new, much smaller iPod, just 1.8” x 0.3” in size. It’s most significant new feature is its VoiceOver function, which allows the names of songs and artists, and the names of playlists to be announced by pressing a button. It also announces when the batteries need recharging. The controls are located on the right earbud cord and has three positions – the left switch plays music at random, the middle switch plays music in order and the right switch turns it off. It has 4 GB of storage and holds up to 1000 songs. Perhaps in the future this iPod could be a useful tool, not only for listening to music, but also for audio books and the like. New iHear Dialer KayZee Solutions, a software development company located in Hamilton, Ontorio, Canada, has released the iHear Dialer which allows users to dial phone numbers without looking at the keypad. As you move your hand around on the keypad, the dialer tells you what number your finger is on, and numbers are selected by releasing your finger. This application attempts to increase the accessibility of Apple’s iPhone, and was created with blind and visually impaired users in mind. End of article Beginning of article Last Word Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Self-trust is the first secret of success. A man is what he thinks about all day long. The world belongs to the energetic. Make the most of yourself for that is all there is to you. RALPH WALDO EMERSON (1803-1882)