Protecting Sight #103: The rapid growth of the Chinese internet. Concussions, pupillary light reflex metrics, and Leaves of Grass.

Welcome to my daily learning journal. My daily goal is to watch one Ted Talk and one cataract surgery. I also plan to read one journal article and read/listen to a book chapter, short story or significant work.

Here’s today’s list:

1. Ted Talk – Gary Liu – The rapid growth of the Chinese internet — and where it’s headed. “The Chinese internet has grown at a staggering pace — it now has more users than the combined populations of the US, UK, Russia, Germany, France and Canada. Even with its imperfections, the lives of once-forgotten populations have been irrevocably elevated because of it, says South China Morning Post CEO Gary Liu. In a fascinating talk, Liu details how the tech industry in China has developed — from the innovative, like AI-optimized train travel, to the dystopian, like a social credit rating that both rewards and restricts citizens.” (ted.com).

Superlatives aside, this is a superb talk. I see a similar movement underway in India. I remember once reading that in the 1970s, the Indian government’s goal was to have at least one telephone in every village. Now, a villager may go from no phone access to an iPhone or Android.

2. Cataract Surgery – Uday Devgan MD – Cataract Quiz: many small opacities. Dr. Devgan writes, “Quiz time! You are doing what seemed like a routine cataract case and then you see many small opacities in the center of the red reflex. These are small and tend to move around a bit, close to the plane of the posterior capsule. What are these opacities and how do we handle them?”

macro photography of human eye

3. Journal – Pupil light reflex metrics and concussions:

  1. Utility of Pupillary Light Reflex Metrics as a Physiologic Biomarker for Adolescent Sport-Related Concussion Christina L. Master, MD; Olivia E. Podolak, MD; Kenneth J. Ciuffreda, PhD; et al. (JAMA Ophthalmology online September 2020)
  2. Audio Author Interview: The Utility of Pupillary Light Reflex Metrics as a Physiologic Biomarker for Adolescent Sport-Related Concussion
  3. Invited Commentary: Interpreting Multiple Outcomes of Pupillary Light Reflex in Sport-Related Concussion in Adolescents ; Wesley T. Beaulieu, PhD; Adam R. Glassman, MS

I look forward to seeing how pupillary light reflect metrics are used in concussion management in the future.

Walt Whitman, steel engraving, July 1854.jpg

4. Book Chapter – Walt Whitman – Leaves of GrassSparknotesWikipedia, and Gutenberg. Book 21 (Part 2).

5. “Harvard’s Chetty Finds Economic Carnage in Wealthiest ZIP Codes: The celebrated economist has built a data tool with a God’s-eye view of the pandemic’s damage—and soaring inequality.” (Bloomberg Businessweek 9/24/2020). Fascinating data aggregation.

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