EDITORIAL
available at www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/islsm
THROUGH TURBULENCE TO STABILITY Toshio Ohshiro MD PhD
Summertime, and the Living Could be Easier! Dear readers, welcome to issue 3 of Volume 20 of the journal. It is the height of summer here in Japan, with our usual heat and high humidity not helped by the restrictions on the use of electrical appliances (especially air conditioners) due to our continuing post 3-11 power shortages. However, seemingly unaffected by disasters, out in Tokyo’s many parks and gardens, indeed all over Japan, the cicadas (‘semi’ in Japanese) are joyfully chirping their paeon to life, having waited more than 3-5 years underground to emerge for their brief few days of flight and song. For we humans, 2011 will be remembered for a very long time as the year of political turbulence and extremely volatile global hot-spots, of the emergence of democracies, the suppression of dictatorships, of the unthinkable riots and looting in the UK, and last but by no means least, natural disasters, especially the earthquakes in Chile, New Zealand, of course the monster 3-11 Great Tohoku-Kanto Earthquake-Tsunami here in Japan, the aftershocks of which still linger on even as I write, Myanmar, and the magnitude 5.8 quake that occurred the other day in the east coast of the USA. However, I am happy to say that, like most of those affected by these disasters and upheavals world-wide, the journal soldiers on. Following a suggestion from Professor Kaplan regarding a ‘Focus on Israel’ issue, we decided to put some issues of Volume 20 of the journal together as a focus on clinical findings and research from selected geographical areas, thus hoping to bring some control to the journal in an unsettled environment. Thus 20:1 was a Focus on Israel, this issue is a Focus on Korea issue and 20:4 will offer a Focus on Taiwan. Looking forward to next year, Volume 21 will have issues focusing on other geographical regions. However, there can never be a journal without contributions from you, our faithful readers, so please, let us have the meat of the journal from you: we will gladly welcome review papers, original articles, brief communications, case reports and Letters to the Editor. Please remember, if the thought of writing a major sci-
EDITORIAL 20:3
entific treatise is too daunting, I have written before in various Editorials that we will also accept anecdotal articles provided the patient or study numbers are adequately large, and all relevant parameters for treatment or experimental protocol are included. We welcome papers from ALL medical or paramedical professionals working with laser or other light sources, encompassing all facets of phototherapy and photosurgery. While on that previous subject, as I announced in our last issue, Laser Therapy has taken the enormous step of providing not only a downloadable paper template based on which you can format your paper in the required journal style, but a complete example paper and a set of comprehensive Guidelines on putting a paper together once you have completed your clinical or experimental works (visit http://www.jmll.co.jp/lasertherapy/notes/notes.html, or http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/islsm, then Notes for Contributors, , finally Notes for Contributors, Guidelines and Article Template). So, you and your colleagues have no excuse: despite the chaos which has beset many of us this year, the journal has soldiered on, and your valued contributions will make it even more solid: please take a look at the projects you are working on or have recently completed, and put together an article for the journal, based on the Guidelines and template. The address to which to send your contributions is [email protected]. The editorial team and I look forward to hearing from you.
ILLiS News In the 25 th Issue of the joint WFSLMS/ISLSM Newsletter, I announced that the 3rd initiative of the International Laser License System (ILLiS) was to be held immediately after the 19 th ISLSM meeting in Seoul, South Korea. Unfortunately we have hit some snags regarding locating a suitable venue and fulfilling the very demanding course logistics, so we then hoped to hold the next ILLiS initiative along with Professor Longo’s 2011 Laser Florence meeting, which will be held in conjunction with the 4th IPTA meeting, but again the logistics defeated us. Basically, there was just
171
EDITORIAL not enough time for the respective congress president to prepare for the ILLiS course to ensure that it would be held as successfully and appropriately as its predecessors. The 3rd ILLiS will therefore be held next year at a venue to be announced. I hope for your kind understanding regarding the problems associated with holding a suitably serious initiative this year, and for your support for the 3rd ILLiS during 2012.
IPTA Meetings: Venues decided As you will remember, the fourth meeting of the International Phototherapy Association (IPTA) was scheduled to be held in Egypt this March, but was the first of our meetings to suffer from political upheavals and unrest as the Egyptian people embraced democracy, and for the safety of attendees the meeting was postponed. I am happy to announce that the 4th IPTA will now be held concurrently with Laser Florence 2011, Professor Leonardo Longo’s very successful annual meeting under the auspices of the International Academy for Laser Medicine and Science (IALMS). The dates are November 4 th and 5 th , and the IPTA President-Elect and congress president is Professor Carlo Fornaini. Prof Fornaini is currently the Treasurer of the World Federation for Laser Dentistry (for information on the WFLD and Prof Fornaini, see http://www.wfld-org.info/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=50&Itemid=57. Please visit the Laser Florence 2011 site for details of that meeting, registration, accommodation and so on (http://www.laserflorence.eu/). As for future meetings, the 5th IPTA will be held in 2013 in the beautiful Baltic city of Lithuania under the presidency of Professor Aurelija Vaitkuvience, and the 6th IPTA will finally take place in a newly democratic Egypt, in 2015, under the presidency of Professor Sherif Awad. Watch the journal for information on these meetings, and please support the IPTA by actively participating.
172
available at www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/islsm
Meeting Calendar Many readers have suggested that the journal should resume publishing a Meeting Calendar which was a feature in earlier volumes, and from this volume, we have started again to do just that. At the end of this issue there is a tentative list of meetings which should be of interest to our readers. This is not yet by any means a comprehensive list, and for that we need your active assistance. Please let us know of any forthcoming meetings of your local/national/international society or organization. Remember that the journal is published at the end of each quarter, and bear this in mind when sending meeting information so we are not announcing meetings which have already taken place! Kindly send the information, as comprehensive as possible including the dates and venue, a synopsis of the meeting and where possible the meeting URL, to [email protected].
Endnote: Come and Join us in KOREA!! Last but not least, may I remind you again that the 19th meeting of the International Society for Laser Surgery and Medicine will take place in Seoul, South Korea under the presidency of Professor Jin-Wang Kim. The venue is Kim Koo museum and KOFST building, for three days from Saturday November 26th through Monday November 28th, 2011. Please support this meeting. It promises both an outstanding and comprehensive scientific program backed up by an excellent social program, against the backdrop of Korea’s wonderfully historical and cultural background, and culinary delights. Please visit http://www.islsm.kr/ for full details, and join Professor Kim, and us all, us in beautiful Korea for a memorable event in the ISLSM history ….. See you there!! Tokyo, August 2011
Ohshiro T
available at www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/islsm
THROUGH TURBULENCE TO STABILITY Toshio Ohshiro MD PhD
Summertime, and the Living Could be Easier! Dear readers, welcome to issue 3 of Volume 20 of the journal. It is the height of summer here in Japan, with our usual heat and high humidity not helped by the restrictions on the use of electrical appliances (especially air conditioners) due to our continuing post 3-11 power shortages. However, seemingly unaffected by disasters, out in Tokyo’s many parks and gardens, indeed all over Japan, the cicadas (‘semi’ in Japanese) are joyfully chirping their paeon to life, having waited more than 3-5 years underground to emerge for their brief few days of flight and song. For we humans, 2011 will be remembered for a very long time as the year of political turbulence and extremely volatile global hot-spots, of the emergence of democracies, the suppression of dictatorships, of the unthinkable riots and looting in the UK, and last but by no means least, natural disasters, especially the earthquakes in Chile, New Zealand, of course the monster 3-11 Great Tohoku-Kanto Earthquake-Tsunami here in Japan, the aftershocks of which still linger on even as I write, Myanmar, and the magnitude 5.8 quake that occurred the other day in the east coast of the USA. However, I am happy to say that, like most of those affected by these disasters and upheavals world-wide, the journal soldiers on. Following a suggestion from Professor Kaplan regarding a ‘Focus on Israel’ issue, we decided to put some issues of Volume 20 of the journal together as a focus on clinical findings and research from selected geographical areas, thus hoping to bring some control to the journal in an unsettled environment. Thus 20:1 was a Focus on Israel, this issue is a Focus on Korea issue and 20:4 will offer a Focus on Taiwan. Looking forward to next year, Volume 21 will have issues focusing on other geographical regions. However, there can never be a journal without contributions from you, our faithful readers, so please, let us have the meat of the journal from you: we will gladly welcome review papers, original articles, brief communications, case reports and Letters to the Editor. Please remember, if the thought of writing a major sci-
EDITORIAL 20:3
entific treatise is too daunting, I have written before in various Editorials that we will also accept anecdotal articles provided the patient or study numbers are adequately large, and all relevant parameters for treatment or experimental protocol are included. We welcome papers from ALL medical or paramedical professionals working with laser or other light sources, encompassing all facets of phototherapy and photosurgery. While on that previous subject, as I announced in our last issue, Laser Therapy has taken the enormous step of providing not only a downloadable paper template based on which you can format your paper in the required journal style, but a complete example paper and a set of comprehensive Guidelines on putting a paper together once you have completed your clinical or experimental works (visit http://www.jmll.co.jp/lasertherapy/notes/notes.html, or http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/islsm, then Notes for Contributors, , finally Notes for Contributors, Guidelines and Article Template). So, you and your colleagues have no excuse: despite the chaos which has beset many of us this year, the journal has soldiered on, and your valued contributions will make it even more solid: please take a look at the projects you are working on or have recently completed, and put together an article for the journal, based on the Guidelines and template. The address to which to send your contributions is [email protected]. The editorial team and I look forward to hearing from you.
ILLiS News In the 25 th Issue of the joint WFSLMS/ISLSM Newsletter, I announced that the 3rd initiative of the International Laser License System (ILLiS) was to be held immediately after the 19 th ISLSM meeting in Seoul, South Korea. Unfortunately we have hit some snags regarding locating a suitable venue and fulfilling the very demanding course logistics, so we then hoped to hold the next ILLiS initiative along with Professor Longo’s 2011 Laser Florence meeting, which will be held in conjunction with the 4th IPTA meeting, but again the logistics defeated us. Basically, there was just
171
EDITORIAL not enough time for the respective congress president to prepare for the ILLiS course to ensure that it would be held as successfully and appropriately as its predecessors. The 3rd ILLiS will therefore be held next year at a venue to be announced. I hope for your kind understanding regarding the problems associated with holding a suitably serious initiative this year, and for your support for the 3rd ILLiS during 2012.
IPTA Meetings: Venues decided As you will remember, the fourth meeting of the International Phototherapy Association (IPTA) was scheduled to be held in Egypt this March, but was the first of our meetings to suffer from political upheavals and unrest as the Egyptian people embraced democracy, and for the safety of attendees the meeting was postponed. I am happy to announce that the 4th IPTA will now be held concurrently with Laser Florence 2011, Professor Leonardo Longo’s very successful annual meeting under the auspices of the International Academy for Laser Medicine and Science (IALMS). The dates are November 4 th and 5 th , and the IPTA President-Elect and congress president is Professor Carlo Fornaini. Prof Fornaini is currently the Treasurer of the World Federation for Laser Dentistry (for information on the WFLD and Prof Fornaini, see http://www.wfld-org.info/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=50&Itemid=57. Please visit the Laser Florence 2011 site for details of that meeting, registration, accommodation and so on (http://www.laserflorence.eu/). As for future meetings, the 5th IPTA will be held in 2013 in the beautiful Baltic city of Lithuania under the presidency of Professor Aurelija Vaitkuvience, and the 6th IPTA will finally take place in a newly democratic Egypt, in 2015, under the presidency of Professor Sherif Awad. Watch the journal for information on these meetings, and please support the IPTA by actively participating.
172
available at www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/islsm
Meeting Calendar Many readers have suggested that the journal should resume publishing a Meeting Calendar which was a feature in earlier volumes, and from this volume, we have started again to do just that. At the end of this issue there is a tentative list of meetings which should be of interest to our readers. This is not yet by any means a comprehensive list, and for that we need your active assistance. Please let us know of any forthcoming meetings of your local/national/international society or organization. Remember that the journal is published at the end of each quarter, and bear this in mind when sending meeting information so we are not announcing meetings which have already taken place! Kindly send the information, as comprehensive as possible including the dates and venue, a synopsis of the meeting and where possible the meeting URL, to [email protected].
Endnote: Come and Join us in KOREA!! Last but not least, may I remind you again that the 19th meeting of the International Society for Laser Surgery and Medicine will take place in Seoul, South Korea under the presidency of Professor Jin-Wang Kim. The venue is Kim Koo museum and KOFST building, for three days from Saturday November 26th through Monday November 28th, 2011. Please support this meeting. It promises both an outstanding and comprehensive scientific program backed up by an excellent social program, against the backdrop of Korea’s wonderfully historical and cultural background, and culinary delights. Please visit http://www.islsm.kr/ for full details, and join Professor Kim, and us all, us in beautiful Korea for a memorable event in the ISLSM history ….. See you there!! Tokyo, August 2011
Ohshiro T
