Effects of flicker on reading comfort Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Effects of flicker on reading comfort - Essay Example Meares in 1980 and subsequently Irlen in 1983 described same set of symptoms induced by reading as visual perceptual disorder known as Meares-Irlen syndrome (MIS) or scotopic sensitivity syndrome (SSS)2,3. Jeanes et al4 reported that this syndrome can be found in 12 percent of general population and 65 percent of dyslexics. Furthermore, Wilkins5 identified these symptoms as ‘visual stress’ and categorised them into somatic such as tired eyes and visuo-perceptual like color, motion or shape illusions. Another name of this group of symptoms is ‘pattern glare’ that was used by Wilkins and Nimmo-Smith6 because they induced in normal people, who do not have photosensitive epilepsy, when they observed patterns of strips. There are number of parameters to characterise pattern of strips such as the total size, spatial frequency, duty cycle and contrast7. Wilkins et al8 found that the frequency of pattern glare depends on the characteristics of patterns. Similarly, reading text can induce same effects of discomfort because straight lines of text form a pattern of strips5. The same characteristics of pattern of strips can also determine the effects induced from text. The size of the page contains text excluding the margins corresponds to the size of pattern, the interline spacing represents the spatial frequency, the middle body of written letters excluding ascenders and descenders corresponds to duty cycle, and the contrast of the ink used on the paper besides the thickness and spacing of the words strokes determines the grating contrast7. Thus, text can induce the incidence of pattern glare, which depends on text characteristics. The book â€Å"Visual stress†, by Wilkins5 has a whole chapter to discuss photosensitive epilepsy and the visual stimulation of seizures. Wilkins states that visual stimulation may trigger seizures in 4 percent of patient with epilepsy. In addition, visual stimulation is the only factor to provoke seizures in many

The Greater Common Good by Arundhati Roy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Greater Common Good by Arundhati Roy - Essay Example The one conclusion that follows from these texts is that the natural wealth of the third world nations can only be saved by cleansing their political system. This will reduce their dependence on the developed nations and will allow them to use their natural wealth for supporting a long term and inclusive development. The excerpt â€Å"Deficits: Indebtedness and Unfair Trade† from Wangari Maathai’s book The Challenge for Africa and the open online essay The Greater Common Good by Arundhati Roy discuss the continual plundering of the natural wealth of the third world nations by both the exploitative developed nations and the greedy elements in power within these nations. These texts explain as to how the developed nations and the corrupt politicians and policy makers in the developing nations cooperate with each other to benefit from the corrupt exploitation of the natural resources in these countries. Wangari Maathai was a well known environmental activist from Kenya. Sh e started the Green Belt Movement that played an important role in the area of environment, conservation and women empowerment in Africa. Wangari Maathai work was recognized and she was awarded the Noble Peace Prize in 2004. Arundhati Roy is a reputed Indian author who is also associated with political and environmental activism in India. She has been closely associated with the Narmada Dam agitation. Hence, there is no doubt that the views expressed by both these writers regarding the plundering of natural resources.