Power Of Spectacle Research Articles

Refractive Error of the Elderly Presenting to a University Eye Clinic

The prevalence of refractive errors varies by age and gender and is closely related to functional difficulties, ocular diseases, and decreased quality of life. The purpose of this study was to assess associations of age and gender with refractive errors of the elderly presenting at a university clinic. Retrospective review of medical records of elderly patients presenting for eye services in 2020-2021. Demographic, ocular disease and refractive data were collected and analyzed. The number of 1,452 patients aged 60 and over with a mean age of 69.6 ± 8.09 years (range 60 to 101 years) were included. The prevalence of myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, and anisometropia was 22.4%, 36.5%, 22.7%, and 19.4%, respectively. Compared to those aged 80 and above, myopia increased 5.171 times in those 60-69 yrs and 4.930 times among those 70-79 yrs. Men were significantly more likely to have myopia than women (p<0.001). Hyperopia was significantly less prevalent in those aged 70-79 and aged 80 and above compared to those aged 60-69 (p<0.001). Gender was not associated with hyperopia (p=0.066). The prevalence of astigmatism and anisometropia was higher in older subjects. Astigmatism shifted from with-the-rule (WTR) to against-the-rule (ATR) with age. Astigmatism had no gender difference, but anisometropia was more common in women. Most anisometropia was due to refractive error. Rates of myopia and hyperopia decreased with age while astigmatism increased with age. Thai optometrists need to be aware that refractive error in the elderly is not stationary and frequent changes in spectacle power may be needed.

Vision Impairment and Productivity Among Female Garment Workers in Bangladesh: A Cohort Study.

To assess the prevalence of near and correctable distance visual impairment among screened participants in the garment industry and to explore associations with income, age, and urban versus rural residence. Vision screenings were conducted at 4 garment factories, 2 urban and 2 rural locations during September and October 2019. Distance vision impairment was the presence of uncorrected vision of <6/12 in either eye, correctable to ≥6/7.5 with distance refraction. Near vision impairment was defined as 1 or more of the following: 1) either eye with presenting near vision <N8 at 40 cm with distance visual acuity >6/12 in the same eye; 2) having been prescribed near add spectacle power in examination records; and/or 3) clinical diagnosis of presbyopia at the time of screening. Demographic information and monthly income were self-reported by questionnaire completion. Among 915 participating workers (100% female, 18 to 70 years), 29.2% (n = 267) and 26.8% (n = 245) had correctable distance and near vision impairment respectively. Prevalence of near vision impairment was significantly higher among rural residents (34.2%, n = 160), compared to urban (19.0%, n = 85, P < 0.0001) with the largest differences in the 35 to 39 (68.2% vs 44.2%, P = 0.0019) and 40+ (85.9 vs 48.9%, P < 0.0001) year age ranges. Prevalence of near vision impairment was already high among urban (20.4%, n = 20) and rural (23.0%, n = 17) workers aged 30 to 34 years. In simple linear regression models, participants with near vision impairment earned $13.3 [standard error (SE) 2.44, P < 0.0001] less per month than those without, while urban residents earned $40.6 (SE 1.74, P < 0.0001) more than rural dwellers. In the final multivariate linear model, both near vision impairment ($6.51 lower monthly earnings, SE 1.84, P = 0.0004) and urban residence ($43.2 higher monthly earnings, SE 2.39, P < 0.0001) remained significantly associated with income. This study found high rates of near vision impairment among female garment workers, particularly rural dwellers, and at a younger age than expected. The high prevalence and association between near vision impairment and lower income suggest that focusing on industries with a high proportion of female workers, such as readymade garments, may be effective in addressing gender disparities in vision impairment and its economic impact.

Relationship Between Myopia and Other Risk Factors With Anxiety and Depression Among Chinese University Freshmen During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Purpose: To investigate the association of myopia and other risk factors with anxiety and depression among Chinese university freshmen during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Tianjin Medical University from October 2020 to December 2020. Ophthalmic examination of the eyes was performed by an experienced ophthalmologist. Detailed information on depression, anxiety, and other risk factors was collected via the Self-rating Anxiety Scale and Self-rating Depression Scale.Results: The overall prevalence of anxiety and depression in our study was 10.34 and 25.13%, respectively. The prevalence of myopia and high myopia as 92.02 and 26.7%, respectively. There were significant associations between anxiety and spectacle power [odds ratios (OR) = 0.89; 95% CI: 0.81–0.98, P = 0.019], sphere equivalent (OR = 0.89; 95% CI: 0.81– 0.98, P = 0.025), sleep time (OR = 0.53; 95% CI: 0.35–0.79, P = 0.002), and body mass index (OR = 0.93; 95% CI: 0.86–0.99, P = 0.047). In the multivariable linear regression models, spectacle power (β = −0.43; 95% CI: −0.68 to −0.19, P = 0.001) and sphere equivalent (β = −0.36; 95% CI: −0.60 to −0.11, P = 0.005) were negatively associated with anxiety scores, whereas axial length (β = 0.54; 95% CI: 0.02–1.07, P = 0.044) was positively correlated with anxiety scores. Every 1 h decrease in sleep time was associated with a 0.12-point increase in depression score.Conclusion: Myopia was associated with anxiety and anxiety scores. The greater the degree of myopia, the higher the anxiety score. However, myopia was not found to be associated with depression. The results highlight the importance of providing psychological support to students with myopia during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Optical Quality of Ready-Made Reading Spectacles and Symmetry during Manufacturing Process are Good Enough?

Purpose : This study aimed to assess whether the ready-made reading spectacles (RMS) in Korea comply with the required optical standard. In addition, symmetricity of RMS was also investigated. Methods : A total of 100 of RMS of power +1.00, +2.00, +3.00, and +4.00 D currently available in optical practice were collected. Optical quality of the RMS including refractive power, optical center distance (OCD) between right lens (RL) and left lens (LL), optical centre height (Oh) were measured. Optical quality tolerances was compared with the ISO standard (ISO 8980-1 and ISO 16034:2002) and the RAL-RG-915. Induced horizontal and vertical prism were calculated from discrepancy between OCD and average pupillary distance (PD) of male and female using the prentice rule. In addition, asymmetric RMS due to manufacturing error was measured by difference of monocular OCD and Oh. Results : Twenty-three percent of the 100 RMS did not meet the ISO 8980-1 in spectacle power. Average OCD of the RMS was 62.06±1.41 mm and induced horizontal prism due to discrepancy between OCD and PD were 0.53±0.54 △ BI (range of 0.18~1.06 △) for male and 0.98±0.68 △ BI (range of 0.37~1.78 △) for female. For monocular OCD from the centre of frame, 85% of RMS had more than 1 mm monocular OCD difference between RL and LL. Optical centre height difference between RL and LL was 1.26±0.83 mm and the range of induced vertical prism was 0.12~0.45 △. Conclusion : Large amount of RMS in the study did not meet the optical quality. As RMS cannot consider the wearer’s facial shape, there was a mismatch of OCD and PD which induced significant amount of horizontal prism. Therefore, wearing RMS with improper optical quality may not provide comfort vision rather than causing additional visual burden and intervention from professional to confirm the quality of RMS is strongly recommend.

The Power of Spectacle: The 2012 Quebec Student Strike and the Transformative Potential of Law

The Power of Spectacle: The 2012 Quebec Student Strike and the Transformative Potential of Law

Using incognito standardised patients to evaluate quality of eye care in China

Background/aimsFew studies have objectively examined the quality of eye care in China. We assessed refractive care using the incognito standardised patient (SP) approach, a gold standard for evaluating clinical practice.MethodsA...

Clear lens extraction for patients who are unfit for laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis and implantable contact lenses in central Indian population.

Purpose:The purpose of this study is to establish the safety of clear lens extraction (CLE) for the correction of high myopia in patients unfit for implantable contact lenses (ICLs) and laser in situ keratomileusis in the central Indian population.Methods:In this retrospective observational study performed at a tertiary care centre, medical records of the patients who had undergone CLE with implantation of intraocular lens (IOL) to treat high myopia were retrieved. Details of the demographic profile, surgical procedure, complications, power, and type of IOLs implanted were recorded.Results:The average postoperative follow-up period was 64.1 ± 4.2 months. The average postoperative spherical power was −1.4 ± 0.6 D, which was much lower than the preoperative spectacle power - 15 ± 4.4 D. There was improvement in the postoperative visual acuity (0.4 ± 0.2 logMAR) from the preoperative distant uncorrected visual acuity (0.8 ± 0.2 logMAR). No significant change in intraocular pressure (IOP) was observed. The postoperative average anterior chamber depth (ACD) (2.66 ± 0.1 mm) was significantly deeper than the preoperative ACD (2.61 ± 0.1 mm) P = 0.00. Barrage laser was required for lattice degeneration in one patient before CLE and in two patients during follow-up. Two patients (8.7%) required Nd:YAG capsulotomy for posterior capsular opacification. None of the patients had corneal decompensation, retinal detachment, or endophthalmitis.Conclusion:CLE with implantation of IOL is the safe procedure for correcting high myopia in patients who are unfit for ICL. None of the patient had eye loss in the follow-up period of 5 years. The low incidence of complications can be attributable to the closed chamber lens removal and implantation of IOL and prophylactic retinal treatment.

Increased Axial Length Corresponds to Decreased Retinal Light Dose: A Parsimonious Explanation for Decreasing AMD Risk in Myopia.

A recent systematic review indicated that higher sunlight exposure increased risk of AMD. The Beaver Dam study and the Pathologies Oculaires Liées à L'âge study both noted that wearing hats and/or sunglasses significantly decrease some AMD lesions, suggesting that reduced retinal light dose (RLD) may be related to reduced AMD risk. Given that myopes also have reduced AMD risk, we hypothesize its link to decreased RLD. Using a one-surface schematic eye and ray-tracing, spectacle power, vertex distance, corneal power, anterior chamber depth, and axial length to calculate relative light flux through the pupil and resultant image size on the retina in a randomly selected group of 71 eyes from the Reykjavik Eye Study. Pupil size is unaffected by refractive error; thus, RLD can be calculated. We verified this using a more complete set of ocular biometric variables and ray-tracing included in an optical design software (Opticsoft II). RLD is inversely proportional to axial length. Comparing the two methods for calculating RLD using a Bland-Altman plot demonstrated equivalence. The ray-tracing method indicated that the retina of a hyperope with a 21-mm axial length would always be receiving 1.8× more photons per square millimeter than the retina of a myope with a 27-mm axial length. RLD is inversely proportional to axial length, as is AMD risk. The RLD for our 21-mm axial length wearing a pair of inexpensive commercial sunglasses would be equivalent to the RLD for a 27-mm myope. This may explain the decreased AMD risk in highly myopic individuals.

Seduction and Desire: The Power of Spectacle

In this article, I explore the implications of the current political situation for qualitative inquiry. I look at some of the historical roots of neoliberalism, and of qualitative inquiry, and at the clash between them that is evidenced in the Trilateral Commission’s governability report. That report found, in the mid-1970s, that the citizens had become too radical, thus making democracy unaffordable. Their protests, the report claimed, were interfering with the flow of global capital. Within that broader historical and political framework I look at the advent of the Trump Presidency and analyze it as spectacle and as seduction, and I look at the implications of his presidency for our work as qualitative researchers.

Heritage as theatre: Reconceptualizing heritage-making in urban China

Since China’s signing of UNESCO’s World Heritage Convention in 1985, cultural heritage in China has become a booming industry and a key area of scholarly investigation. The mainstream literature on China’s heritage and urbanization tends to view heritage as a civilizing agent to regulate and improve the urban population. Drawing on Clifford Geertz’s notion of ‘theatre state’ and through a case study of Jiangmen, this article reconceptualizes China’s urban heritage industry as ‘theatre’. It shifts the focus away from neat political rationalities to messy ‘magical assemblages’, such as dramatic museum representation, monumental architecture and expressive ceremonies, in state-led heritage-making processes. It argues that the Chinese government makes heritage by using not only the means of political rationalities but also, and perhaps more importantly, the power of spectacle, sensation and awe. China’s heritage industry is thus as much ‘a technique of enchantment’ as ‘a technique of government’, revealing complicated processes of China’s negotiation with the Western-centred conceptualization of modernity and cultural heritage. Additionally, it draws attention to diasporic resources in urban heritage-making, broadening the existing research that has predominantly focused on the employment of nostalgic and/or exotic appeal for city branding and development.

Consent and Consumption of Spectacle Power and Violence

This article focuses on the facilitation, consent and consumption of state violence, as an aspect of the state’s hegemonic control in the current stage of neoliberal capitalism. We suggest that the commoditized symbols of state violence are a part of everyday life for millions within the United States and are embedded within ideologies of nationalism–national security, supported and reinforced through consumerism. The consumption (figuratively and literally) within the confines of neoliberalism is disconnected from the actual course of state violence, facilitating their own pacification while giving consent to hegemonic control. In this sense, the population’s consumption becomes more than pacification and consent, but rather an active constituent in the production and reproduction of state violence: making it the accepted and banal violence of the spectacle.

Do recycled spectacles meet the refractive needs of a developing country?

PurposeThe aim was to compare the power of spectacles donated to a recycled spectacle program to the custom‐made spectacle refractive prescriptions dispensed in a developing country.MethodsTwo hundred consecutive prescriptions were audited in an optical dispensary in Timor‐Leste, a developing nation. These refractions were compared against measurements of 2,075 wearable donated spectacles. We determined how many of the 200 prescriptions could be matched to a donated spectacle measurement, how many donated spectacles could be tried for each prescription and how long it would take to find the matched spectacles.ResultsThere were 1,854 donated spectacles identified as being suitable for comparison with the 200 refractive prescriptions. Twenty‐nine out of 200 prescriptions (14.5 per cent) were matched to at least one pair of donated spectacles.ConclusionRecycling all spectacles is not cost‐effective in a developing country that has the ability to make custom‐made spectacles and dispense ready‐made spectacles.

동화 "백설 공주"를 영화화한 작품들의 비교분석

영화라는 매체는 크게 내러티브와 스펙터클로 이루어진다. 비슷한 내러티브라도 스펙터클이 달라지거나 혹은 비슷한 스펙터클이라도 내러티브가 달라지면 총체로서의 영화가 관객에게 주는 경험은 완전히 달라진다. 본 논문은 비슷한 내러티브의 영화들이 관객에게 주는 경험의 차이를 논하기 위해 그림 형제의 "백설 공주"이야기에 기반 하여 만들어진 디즈니의 <백설 공주와 일곱 난쟁이>, 타셈 싱의 <거울아 거울아>, 루퍼트 샌더스의 <스노우 화이트 앤 더 헌트맨>, 세 편의 영화들을 내러티브와 스펙터클로 나누어 비교분석하였다. 그 결과 디즈니의 <백설 공주>가 내러티브적인 면과 스펙터클적인 면에서 모두 이후에 만들어진 영화들의 원형으로 작용했다는 사실을 알 수 있었다. 디즈니의 <백설 공주>가 "잠자는 숲 속의 공주" 이야기에서 차용한 키스신이나 백설 공주가 동물들과 교감한다는 설정, 일곱 난쟁이 각각의 이름과 성격묘사 등은 그림 형제의 원작에는 없는 부분인데 이후의 영화들은 모두 이 변화를 채택했다. 특히 <스노우 화이트 앤 더 헌트맨>의 경우 백설 공주의 의상도 디즈니 버전과 흡사하고, 일부 샷들은 설정과 구도까지도 거의 동일하다. 그럼에도 불구하고 이 영화들은 확연하게 다른 스타일의 스펙터클로 자신의 정체성을 보여준다. 디즈니의 <백설 공주>가 이후 많은 영화들의 원형이된 마녀의 전형적인 모습을 보여준다면 <거울아 거울아>는 타셈 싱만이 가능한 눈속임 그림과도 같은 독특한 마법의 세계를 보여주고 있으며 <스노우 화이트 앤 더 헌트맨>는 친숙한 것 사이의 섬뜩함이라는 언캐니의 스펙터클로 관객을 압도한다. 즉 비교적 예측 가능한 단순한 내러티브에도 불구하고 세 영화가 박스 오피스에서 비교적 성공을 거둔 것은 많은 부분 스펙터클의 힘이다. This paper analyzes three feature films that are based on Brothers Grimm's "Snow White": Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Tarsem Singh's Mirror Mirror (2012), and Rupert Sanders' Snow White and the Huntsman (2012). Disney's animation, not the original literature, is the archetype of the later films. Grimm's fairy tail does not include the kiss of Prince Charming that saved Snow White which is, in fact, borrowed from "Sleeping Beauty", nor Snow White's rapport with animals. In Snow White and the Huntsman 's case, the costume of protagonist is similar with Disney's film and some shots are almost identical with Disney's version in terms of composition and angles. Nevertheless, these films show their originality with markedly different visual styles. Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman have achieved reasonable success at the box office despite of relatively simple and predictable narratives due to the power of spectacle. While Disney's Snow White displays the model of witch that later becomes prototype of many movies, Mirror Mirror represents the unique magical world, a trompe-l'oell that can only done by director Tarsem, and Snow White and the Huntsman successfully visualizes Freudian concept of 'the uncanny' itself.

The Power of Spectacle

When people say Shanghai looks like the future the setting is almost always the same. Evening descends and the skyscrapers clustered on the eastern shore of the Huangpu light up. Super towers are transformed into giant screens. The spectacular skyline, all neon and lasers and LED, looms as a science fiction backdrop. Staring out from the Bund, across to Pudong, one senses the reemergence of what JG Ballard once described as an “electric and lurid city, more exciting than any other in the world.” The high-speed development of Pudong – in particular the financial district of Lujiazui – is the symbol of contemporary Shanghai and of China’s miraculous rise.&#x0D; Yet, Pudong is also taken as a sign of much that is wrong with China’s new urbanism. To critics the sci-fi skyline is an emblem of the city’s shallowness, which focuses all attention on its glossy facade. Many share the sentiment of free market economist Milton Friedman who, when visiting Pudong famously derided the brand new spectacle as a giant Potemkin village. Nothing but “the statist monument for a dead pharaoh,” he is quoted as saying.&#x0D; This article explores Pudong in order to investigate the way spectacle functions in China’s most dynamic metropolis. It argues that the skeptical hostility towards spectacle is rooted in the particularities of a Western philosophical tradition that insists on penetrating the surface, associating falsity with darkness and truth with light.&#x0D; In contrast, China has long recognized the power of spectacle (most famously inventing gunpowder but using it only for fireworks). Alongside this comes an acceptance of a shadowy world that belongs to the dark. This acknowledgment of both darkness and light found in traditional Chinese culture (expressed by the constant revolutions of the yin/yang symbol) may provide an alternative method for thinking about the tension between the spectacular visions of planners and the unexpected and shadowy disruptions from the street.

Interrogating America through Theatre and Performance (review)

{ 226 } BOOK REV IEWS vites all the elements of the production, including the audience, into one living space, drawn together by the power of spectacle. Part manifesto, part eulogy, American Drama in the Age of Film makes an impassioned case for the persistent significance of live, embodied performance that can never really be satisfied by cinema or fully captured on screen. —KURT EISEN Tennessee Technological University \ Interrogating America through Theatre and Performance. Edited by William W. Demastes and Iris Smith Fischer. New York: Palgrave-McMillan, 2006. 312 pp. $69.95 cloth. In his introduction to Interrogating America through Theatre and Performance, William W. Demastes posits that historically America and the notion of American identity have been continually marked by a spirit of optimism as well as by a corresponding sense of disillusionment. With this proposition as a starting point, Demastes and the authors within this collection set to the challenge of considering how theatre and performance enter into this debate and inform our understanding of American identity. This book project grew out of a 2005 conference for the American Theatre and Drama Society and the University of Kansas titled “Writing, Teaching, Performing America.” Juxtaposing the work of performance scholars and theatre historians as well as senior Americanists and emerging junior voices, this book imagines American identity as not fixed, but made and remade over time. The editors structure the articles chronologically , moving from considerations of nineteenth-century texts and performances up to examinations of post-9/11 American theatre and performance. Critical to all seventeen essays is the notion that performance can be an affective and effective arena for negotiating and defining American identity. This study foregrounds the dynamic power of performance to inform and even have an impact on the historical constitution of America. Accordingly , the articles focus on the intersection of art and politics. Articles take on the canonical figures—Susan Glaspell, Eugene O’Neill, Arthur Miller, and Tennessee Williams—not in relation to their aesthetic achievement but in terms of how their dramaturgy reflects on the particular social context. Noelia Hernando-Real explores Glaspell’s feminism and challenge to a unifying vision of American identity. Jeffrey Eric Jenkins effectively argues that, when first produced on Broadway, O’Neill’s Beyond the Horizon spoke to and capitalized on a { 227 } BOOK REV IEWS specific cultural moment. Christopher Bigsby’s “Arthur Miller: In Memoriam” points to Miller’s belief in the ability of the theatre to effect change. Bigsby goes on to outline the interrelations among Miller’s personal convictions, his social circumstances, and his theatrical work. Eschewing established critical labels of Williams as solely a “southern” or “apolitical” playwright, Janet V. Haedicke examines how Williams and The Glass Menagerie negotiate the concept of the American dream. Haedicke argues that Williams attempts to critique the borders of race, class, and gender that disprove the idealism inherent in the mythic American dream. Rightly, race and ethnicity are important considerations throughout the anthology. The book opens with Rosemarie K. Bank’s careful consideration in “The Savage Other” of how cultural performances by and about Native Americans at the 1893 Columbian Exhibition in Chicago informed concepts of American civilization and nationalism at that time. Banks frames her argument by making the case for how American cultural historiography has been deeply invested in processes of identifying and repositioning the discourse of the“Other.”Amy E. Hughes, in“Defining Faith: Reactions to Pro-Slavery Christianity in Antebellum America,” maintains that the abolitionist drama of the antebellum period “Othered” supposedly Christian slaveholders by ridiculing the hypocrisy of their faith. Jacqueline O’Connor and Ladrica Menson-Furr examine significant contemporary Chicano and African-American authors, respectively. What makes both articles interesting is that the authors examine the ways in which form informs the content. For O’Connor in “Facts on Trial: Documentary and Zoot Suit”it is Luis Valdez, the founder of El Teatro Campesino, and his seminal play Zoot Suit, which considers the Zoot Suit riots and the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial in Los Angeles 1942. O’Connor explores and analyzes how the play shapes, condenses, and reimagines the facts within its plotline.As O’Connor maintains, Valdez uses the documentary form to serve his...

Prevalence of myopia in Danish conscripts

This study aimed to determine the prevalence of myopia among Danish conscripts and compare the results with those from similar Danish studies carried out in 1882 and 1964. Furthermore, the relationships between myopia and educational level, ethnicity, intelligence (IQ), body mass index (BMI) and height were analysed. We carried out a cross-sectional study based on medical reports for 4681 male conscripts. The following data were collected from September to December 2004: age; place of birth; weight; height; power of spectacles or contact lenses; visual acuity; number of years at school (8-13 years); occupation; intelligence test (IQ test) score, and ethnicity. The prevalence of myopia (<or= - 0.5 D, spherical equivalent) was 12.8% (95% confidence interval [CI]+/- 0.96); the prevalence of high myopia (< - 6.5 D) was 0.3% (95% CI +/- 0.15). Myopes scored higher (45.3 [SD 9.4]) on IQ tests than emmetropes (41.4 [SD 10.4]) (p < 0.001) and had a higher educational level. No relationship was found between myopia and BMI, height or ethnicity. The study reports a significantly decreasing prevalence of low myopia among Danish conscripts in 2004 compared with 1964. Compared with the results from the 1882 study, the prevalence of low myopia seems stable. The prevalence of high myopia has decreased significantly since 1882 and has also tended to decrease from 1964. Number of years in education and IQ test score were related to myopia.

A theoretical study of intraocular lens tilt and decentration on perceptual image quality

Maps of perceptual image quality were generated for a range of intraocular (IOL) tilts and decentrations, using a perceptually based metric i.e. the square integral (SQRI) metric. Maps were generated for a well-corrected eye, and for hyperopic (-0.1 mm) and myopic (+0.1 mm) image planes (for 2 and 4 mm pupils). These perceptually based results were compared with a standard optical measure (i.e. the equivalent SQRI for given spectacle power added at the cornea). The image quality changes in maps were small, but detectable (exceeding the perceptual just noticeable difference (jnd) or 1 jnd threshold). Clockwise (negative) tilt combined with decenter fell below the 'contrast reserve' modulation transfer functions (MTFs) for 0.25 and 0.5 D defocus, 4 mm pupil. These errors were larger than those found previously, probably because of the shape-factor of the IOL used. Pupil size contributed the largest drop in SQRI value, followed by clockwise tilt combined with decenter. Anticlockwise tilt with decenter produced image quality improvements for the hyperopic eye. Spot diagrams confirmed defocus and the balance of coma-like aberration and astigmatism as causes of the changes in SQRI values. The SQRI maps conveniently summarize imaging, and may be a useful tool in assessing image quality in eye modelling applications.

Making Death a Miracle: Audience and the Genres of Martyrdom in Dekker and Massinger's &lt;em&gt;The Virgin Martyr&lt;/em&gt;

Thomas Dekker and Philip Massinger's protestant saint’s play, The Virgin Martyr (1620), represents the competition over the significance of the execution of the title character not only in terms of pagan vs. Christian understandings of the world but also in terms of theatrical vs. doctrinal understandings of spectacle. In presenting signs of spiritual authenticity in explicitly theatrical terms, The Virgin Martyr puts its audience in the position of recognizing the truth of both the pagan characters who argue that the seemingly miraculous events surrounding Dorothea’s torture and execution are counterfeits and the Christian characters who claim that her death is true martyrdom. This understanding of interpretation as a product of the conventions of genre rather than the transparent significance of the spectacle raises important questions about the nature of the relationship between spectator and spectacle on both the public stage and the public scaffold: an issue the article considers in the context of antitheatrical assumptions about the power of spectacle, the discourses of treason and martyrdom surrounding the executions of protestant and catholic divines in the reigns of Mary and Elizabeth respectively, and the changing expectations of the audiences at the Red Bull in 1619-20.

Mechanisms of human vertical visual-vestibular interaction.

1. The purpose of this study was to infer the properties of the mechanisms contributing to visual-vestibular interaction (VVI) of human beings during vertical motion. Predictable trains of single-frequency sinusoids; poorly predictable sums of sinusoidal harmonics; and unpredictable random impulses of passive, whole-body rotation about a horizontal, interaural axis were produced by the use of a servo-driven chair at frequencies from 0.4 to 3.2 Hz. The vestibuloocular reflex (VOR) was studied in darkness with the use of the magnetic search coil technique to record eye movements during head rotation. Telescopic spectacles of varying magnifications and visual field areas were used as a challenging stimulus to induce substantial gain enhancement by VVI. Real and imagined targets moving with the head were used to induce gain reduction. VVI was compared with vertical smooth pursuit and small field optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) for similar stimulus motion. 2. The vertical VOR and visually enhanced VOR (VVOR) were directionally symmetrical. Viewing with telescopic spectacles of powers from x1.9-4 was associated with significantly increased gain at frequencies up to 2.0 Hz as compared with the VOR (P < 0.01). Gain enhancement was not strongly influenced by stimulus velocity for either predictable or poorly predictable head motion, and there was a trend toward greater VVOR gain at higher head velocities. Phase was compensatory at all frequencies for predictable sinusoids. For poorly predictable and unpredictable head motion, gain enhancement with telescopic spectacles was significantly less than during predictable head motion. During poorly predictable head motion, phase lags were observed that increased with frequency and telescopic spectacle power. 3. The perseverance of VVI during disappearance of the visual environment was evaluated by blanking it during various proportions of the cycle of predictable head rotation at frequencies from 0.8 to 2.4 Hz. Below 2.0 Hz, a trend toward gain enhancement was observed with x1.9 telescopic spectacles when the visual environment was present for as little as 6% of the sinusoidal cycle. This effect was statistically significant (P < 0.01) at 0.8 and 1.2 Hz when the visual environment was present for 50% of the cycle. 4. Suppression of the VOR was evaluated for visual fixation of real and imaginary head-fixed targets during predictable, poorly predictable, and unpredictable rotations. Fixation of a real target was most effective at low frequencies of predictable rotation and was significantly effective in reducing gain relative to the VOR at frequencies of < or = 2.4 Hz.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Theatre in the Round: The Politics of Space in the Films of Jean Renoir

Discussions of the political valence of cinematic space often turn on the degree to which the spectator is permitted to become aware of his or her immersion in film narrative. Films that alert the spectator to their own rhetorical practices, often through the Brechtian strategy of emphasizing theatricality at the expense of mimesis, are generally understood to have the demystifying political effect of exposing to the viewer's gaze his or her subjection to the power of spectacle. Such an effect is most often recognized as a virtue of film styles that foreground editing in such a way as to reject any claim to naturalized representation. But the work of Jean Renoir, who in his films of the 1930s pursued his socialist commitments by means of a deep-space, longtake style that at crucial moments is surprisingly brought to bear on theatrical figures, complicates this account sufficiently to prompt a re-examination of the politics of deep space.