Enjoying Wonderful World

August 9, 2012

UNIQLO to Donate 3 Million Yen to Flood Victims of Philippine Monsoon Relief

The FAST RETAILING Group today announces that it will donate, thru its brand UNIQLO Philippines, 3 million yen (1.5M Pesos) to aid flood victims in metro Manila and the surrounding areas where heavy monsoon rains have recently caused serious flooding damage.

The donation will be made to the SM Foundation, the socio civic arm of the SM Group of Companies, which is the parent company of SM Retail, Fast Retailing’s joint venture partner in the Philippines.

Commenting on today’s announcement, Katsumi Kubota, Chief Operating Officer of Fast Retailing Philippines, Inc., said, “UNIQLO is saddened by the current natural occurrences in the Philippines, and we would like to express our deep sympathy to all Filipinos who were affected by this calamity. We stand together with our Filipino friends in providing a helping hand.”

London 2012 Basketball (Google Doodle)

The basketball tournaments at the 2012 Olympic Games in London are being held from 28 July to 12 August. Preliminary matches and women's quarterfinal matches are played at the newly built Basketball Arena within the Olympic Park, which will seat up to 12,000 spectators. Men's knockout games and women's games from semifinals onward will be played at The O2 Arena.

Google presents an outstanding Doodle-Game: Basketball. The goal is to shot as many baskets as possible , in 24 seconds. To shot you have to press the space-key. just don’t look at the basketball – concentrate on your player. If you win the game with the 3 pointers , congratulations!

Here's link to play , the London 2012 Basketball Doodle as a video.

Source: London 2012 Basketball Doodle

Asians at risk of blindness: Glaucoma and race

Asian countries, which are a ménage of diverse cultures, races and rich history, have a common dreadful trait – the existence of the incurable glaucoma.

“Among races, Asians are probably the most exposed to glaucoma. Because Asians have a narrower fluid drainage system, many major studies on the disease shows higher incidences of angle closure glaucoma – the deadlier type of glaucoma – on Asians,” said Dr. Biboy Martinez, vice-president of the Philippine Glaucoma Society, the recognized association of glaucoma specialists in the country.

Asians have an anatomic predisposition to Angle closure glaucoma. Fluid produced inside the eye passes thru a drainage channel. In Asians the entrance to this drainage channel tends to be narrower and can close altogether causing a sharp increase in pressure. High eye pressure damages the optic nerve initiating glaucoma damage which can lead to blindness.

In a study by Quigley et al, by the year 2020 an estimated 21 million people will have Angle Closure Glaucoma, 87% of which will reside in Asia. A local study by Dr. Patricia Khu et al in 2001 conducted in 2 eye centers in Manila showed that Angle closure Glaucoma patients present with more severe visual damage, higher pressures and requires more interventional measures compared to filipinos with open angle glaucoma.

The most common types of glaucoma are Primary open-angle glaucoma and Primary angle closure glaucoma. Open angle glaucoma is the more common type in Caucasians and Europeans. There is a high prevalence of both glaucoma types in Asians so by ethnicity we carry a greater burden of glaucoma in this part of the world.

Angle Closure Glaucoma, which is considered deadlier, progresses quickly and painfully. It is a major cause of world blindness today and is expected to become an even more serious problem as the world population and life span increases.

Symptoms of Angle Closure Glaucoma can include headaches, eye pain, nausea, rainbows around lights and blurred vision. These symptoms may not be present in all cases. An eye doctor can view the drainage channels of the eye thru a contact lens and a microscope. This procedure called gonioscopy can help the eye doctor assess your risk for developing angle closure. If the angle is judged to be capable of closure a laser procedure (iridotomy) can modify the angle configuration and effectively decrease the risk of closure.

“It is still best to visit your eye doctor for early detection. Our ethnicity makes us more at risk for blindness from angle closure glaucoma. Filipinos should be very wary of this,” added Dr. Biboy Martinez.

Philippine Glaucoma Society is the leading institution for glaucoma care and detection in the country. It vision can be summarized in nine words: That no Filipino will ever go blind from Glaucoma.

Philippine Glaucoma Society along with globally recognized multi-specialty care company Allergan brings scientific excellence and rigor in delivering leading products that addresses glaucoma. Allergan goes beyond providing education and information. With the highest level of integrity, Allergan helps patients understand the choices available to them and make well-informed treatment decisions with their doctors.

As the world’s melting pot of the richest cultures, Asia’s fight against incurable blindness will bring to light a better and brighter tomorrow for its people.

London 2012 slalom canoe (Google Doodle)

London 2012 slalom canoe is the 14th London Olympics doodle, carrying on the tradition of a Google doodle every day of the Olympics.

This water sport is a part of the ongoing 2012 Olympics.

Today, you can pump up your adrenaline by playing the Slalom Canoe. The playable doodle features a paddler with a yellow-coloured canoe which allows you paddle a canoe down a water course on your computers that has 10 downstream gates, marked with green striped poles.

To adjust the speed of their canoes, users can use left and right arrow keys. The game goes like this- the speed of the canoe slows down on hitting the banks, water animals and sedimentary rocks, and you will score more if you paddle faster.

August 7, 2012

Ideal No Calorie Sweetener spurred a sweet revolution

Finally, the sweetener that delivers on the promise that sugar substitutes have been making for decades! Ideal No Calorie Sweetener really does LOOK, TASTE, COOK and BAKE like real sugar. In fact, people who have tried it actually prefer it over sugar.

The key ingredient of Ideal No Calorie Sweetener is XYLITOL. It is a natural sugar found in fruits and vegetables. Xylitol is an FDA-approved sweetener, and has been used in foods and nutraceutical products worldwide since the 1960’s.It is often used as ingredient in sugar-free gums, lozenges and puddings. With this, Ideal No Calorie Sweeteneris able to maintain its sweetness in different temperatures of baking and cooking, and still manages to deliver volume and texture that other sweeteners do not,plus there is no bitter aftertaste!

For the health-conscious and nutrition buffs, Ideal Ideal No Calorie Sweetener is great because it contains less than five calories per serving (US FDA allows any food product with less than five calories to be labeled as a no calorie product) and less than 1 gram of carbohydrates per serving. It is alsosuitable for people with diabetes because of its low glycemic index (valued at 7).And not only that, Ideal No Calorie Sweetener even has dental benefits because Xylitol inhibits the growth of bacteria, which causes cavities. Many research organizations (including the Calorie Control Council and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry) have identified considerable health benefits of Xylitol as well.

Ideal No Calorie Sweetener is a quality product of USA and exclusively distributed in the Philippines by Global Strategic Partners Distribution Inc. (GSPDI). For more information, you can log onto http://www.idealsweet.com.

Ideal No Calorie Sweetener. It’s a sweet revolution.

Ideal® No Calorie Sweeteners come in packets and pouches for sprinkling and baking.

Ideal® Brown No Calorie Sweetener and Ideal® Confectionery Low Calorie Sweetener,

both made with absolutely no sugar, are also available for use in baking, frosting,

swirling and much more!