Emotional response to images of wind turbines: A psychophysiological study of their visual impact on the landscape

Social acceptance for wind turbines is variable, providing a challenge to the implementation of this energy source. Psychological research could contribute to the science of climate change. Here we focus on the emotional responses to the visual impact of wind turbines on the landscape, a factor which dominates attitudes towards this technology. Participants in the laboratory viewed images of turbines and other constructions (churches, pylons and power-plants) against rural scenes, and provided psychophysiological and self-report measures of their emotional reactions. We hypothesised that the emotional response to wind turbines would be more negative and intense than to control objects, and that this difference would be accentuated for turbine opponents. As predicted, the psychophysiological response to turbines was stronger than the response to churches, but did not differ from that of other industrial constructions. In contrast with predictions, turbines were rated as less aversive and more calming compared with other industrial constructions, and equivalent to churches. Supporters and non-supporters did not differ significantly from each other. We discuss how a methodology using photo manipulations and emotional self-assessments can help estimate the emotional reaction to the visual impact on the landscape at the planning stage for new wind turbine applications.

A role for local mechanisms in perceived duration of brief visual events

Background: Spatially localized duration compression of a briefly presented moving stimulus following adaptation in the same location is taken as evidence for modality-specific neural timing mechanisms.

Aims: The present study used random dot motion stimuli to investigate where these mechanisms may be located.

Method: Experiment 1 measured duration compression of the test stimulus as a function of adaptor speed and revealed that duration compression is speed tuned. These data were then used to make predictions of duration compression responses for various models which were tested in experiment 2. Here a mixed-speed adaptor stimulus was used with duration compression being measured as a function of the adaptor’s ‘speed notch’ (the removal of a central band from the speed range).

Results: The results were consistent with a local-mean model.

Conclusions: Local-motion mechanisms are involved in duration perception of brief events.

Using Audio-visual Presentation to Teach Global Mindedness in Social Work Education

Direct experience of social work in another country is making an increasingly important contribution to internationalising the social work academic curriculum together with the cultural competency of students. However at present this opportunity is still restricted to a limited number of students. The aim of this paper is to describe and reflect on the production of an audio-visual presentation as representing the experience of three students who participated in an exchange with a social work programme in Pune, India. It describes and assesses the rationale, production and use of video to capture student learning from the Belfast/Pune exchange. We also describe the use of the video in a classroom setting with a year group of 53 students from a younger cohort. This exercise aimed to stimulate students’ curiosity about international dimensions of social work and add to their awareness of poverty, social justice, cultural competence and community social work as global issues. Written classroom feedback informs our discussion of the technical as well as the pedagogical benefits and challenges of this approach. We conclude that some benefit of audio-visual presentation in helping students connect with diverse cultural contexts, but that a complementary discussion challenging stereotyped viewpoints and unconscious professional imperialism is also crucial.

Investigation into DCT Feature Selection for Visual Lip-Based Biometric Authentication

This paper investigated using lip movements as a behavioural biometric for person authentication. The system was trained, evaluated and tested using the XM2VTS dataset, following the Lausanne Protocol configuration II. Features were selected from the DCT coefficients of the greyscale lip image. This paper investigated the number of DCT coefficients selected, the selection process, and static and dynamic feature combinations. Using a Gaussian Mixture Model - Universal Background Model framework an Equal Error Rate of 2.20% was achieved during evaluation and on an unseen test set a False Acceptance Rate of 1.7% and False Rejection Rate of 3.0% was achieved. This compares favourably with face authentication results on the same dataset whilst not being susceptible to spoofing attacks.

Visual outcomes of cataract surgery performed by supervised novice surgeons during training in rural China

To assess the outcomes of cataract surgery performed by novice surgeons during training in a rural programme. Design: Retrospective study. Participants: Three hundred thirty-four patients operated by two trainees under supervision at rural Chinese county hospitals. Methods: Two trainees performed surgeries under supervision. Visual acuity, refraction and examinations were carried out 3 months postoperatively. Main Outcome Measures: Postoperative uncorrected visual acuity, pinhole visual acuity, causes of visual impairment (postoperative uncorrected visual acuity<6/18) Results: Among 518 operated patients, 426 (82.2%) could be contacted and 334 (64.4% of operated patients) completed the examinations. The mean age was 74.1±8.8 years and 62.9% were women. Postoperative uncorrected visual acuity was available in 372 eyes. Among them, uncorrected visual acuity was ≥6/18 in 278 eyes (74.7%) and <6/60 in 60 eyes (16.1%), and 323 eyes (86.8%) had pinhole visual acuity≥6/18 and 38 eyes (10.2%) had pinhole visual acuity<6/60. Main causes of visual impairment were uncorrected refractive error (63.9%) and comorbid eye disease (24.5%). Comorbid eye diseases associated with pinhole visual acuity<6/60 (n=23, 6.2%) included glaucoma, other optic nerve atrophy, vitreous haemorrhage and retinal detachment. Conclusions: The findings suggest that hands-on training remains safe and effective even when not implemented in centralized training centres. Further refinement of the training protocol, providing postoperative refractive services and more accurate preoperative intraocular lens calculations, can help optimize outcomes. © 2012 The Authors Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology © 2012 Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists.

Causes and five-year incidence of blindness and visual impairment in urban southern China:The Liwan Eye Study

PURPOSE. We determined the causes and five-year incidence of blindness and visual impairment (VI) in an adult, urban Chinese population. METHODS. Participants underwent a comprehensive eye examination at baseline in 2003 and then five years later. The World Health Organization (WHO) and United States (US) definitions were used to define incident blindness (WHO visual acuity [VA] < 20/400 in the better-seeing eye, US VA ≤ 20/200) and incident VI (WHO VA < 20/60-20/400, US VA < 20/40->20/200). RESULTS. Among 1405 baseline participants, 924 (75%) of 1232 survivors (87.7%) participated in the 5-year follow-up. The incidences of VI and blindness were 5.38% (95% confidence interval [CI] 3.99% ~ 7.07%) and 0.33% (95% CI 0.07% ~ 0.95%), respectively, based on the WHO definition, and 9.85% (95% CI 7.96% ~ 12.0%) and 1.42% (95% CI 0.76% ~ 2.41%), respectively, based on the US definition. Incidence of blindness and VI (WHO definition) increased significantly with older age (P < 0.001) and poorer baseline presenting VA in the worse-seeing eye (P < 0.001). The leading cause of best-corrected VI (WHO definition) was cataract (64.6%), whereas the main causes of presenting VI were refractive error (40.4%) and cataract (38.4%). CONCLUSIONS. The incidence of VI in urban Southern China is high. The major causes are unoperated cataract and undercorrected refractive error, reflecting the need for better surgical and refractive care, even in this urban setting. © 2013 The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Inc.

Five-year incidence and postoperative visual outcome of cataract surgery in urban southern China:The liwan eye study

Purpose. To determine the 5-year incidence and visual outcome of cataract surgery in an adult urban Chinese population. Methods. A comprehensive eye examination was performed at baseline and 5 years later on subjects participating in a population-based study. Incident cataract surgery was defined as having undergone surgery in either eye during the 5-year period. Postoperative visual impairment (PVI) was defined as visual acuity (VA) <6/18 based on both presenting VA (PVA) and best corrected VA (BCVA) in the operated eye. Results. Among the 1405 baseline participants, 75% (924) of survivors were seen at the 5-year follow-up visit. Forty-four returning participants (62 eyes) had undergone incident cataract surgery, an incidence of 4.84% (95% confidence interval [CI] - [3.53, 6.44]). Detailed medical and surgical records were available for 54/62 (87.1%) eyes, and of these, 5/ 54 (24.1%) had an immediate preoperative visual acuity <6/ 120. All recorded surgeries were performed at tertiary-level hospitals with phacoemulsification and foldable intraocular lens implantation. Those undergoing cataract surgery were more educated (P < 0.05) and had poorer baseline PVA in the worse-seeing eye (P < 0.001) than 54 persons with baseline PVA <6/18 due to cataract who had not had surgery. Among the 62 operated eyes, 22.6% (14/62) had PVI based on PVA and 9.6% (6/62) based on BCVA. Conclusions. Despite somewhat lower incidence, outcomes of cataract surgery in urban southern China are comparable with developed countries and better than for rural China. In urban China, emphasis should be on improving access to surgery. (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2012;53:7936-7942) © 2012 The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Inc.

Visual symptoms and retinal straylight after laser peripheral iridotomy: the Zhongshan Angle-Closure Prevention Trial.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of laser peripheral iridotomy (LPI) on forward-scatter of light and subjective visual symptoms and to identify LPI parameters influencing these phenomena. DESIGN: Cohort study derived from a randomized trial, using an external control group. PARTICIPANTS: Chinese subjects initially aged 50 or older and 70 years or younger with bilateral narrow angles undergoing LPI in 1 eye selected at random, and age- and gender-matched controls. METHODS: Eighteen months after laser, LPI-treated subjects underwent digital iris photography and photogrammetry to characterize the size and location of the LPI, Lens Opacity Classification System III cataract grading, and measurement of retinal straylight (C-Quant; OCULUS, Wetzlar, Germany) in the treated and untreated eyes and completed a visual symptoms questionnaire. Controls answered the questionnaire and underwent straylight measurement and (in a random one-sixth sample) cataract grading. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Retinal straylight levels and subjective visual symptoms. RESULTS: Among 230 LPI-treated subjects (121 [58.8%] with LPI totally covered by the lid, 43 [19.8%] with LPI partly covered by the lid, 53 [24.4%] with LPI uncovered by the lid), 217 (94.3%) completed all testing, as did 250 (93.3%) of 268 controls. Age, gender, and prevalence of visual symptoms did not differ between treated subjects and controls, although nuclear (P<0.01) and cortical (P = 0.03) cataract were less common among controls. Neither presenting visual acuity nor straylight score differed between the treated and untreated eyes among all treated persons, nor among those (n = 96) with LPI partially or totally uncovered. Prevalence of subjective glare did not differ significantly between participants with totally covered LPI (6.61%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.39%-12.5%), partially covered LPI (11.6%; 95% CI, 5.07%-24.5%), or totally uncovered LPI (9.43%; 95% CI, 4.10%-10.3%). In regression models, only worse cortical cataract grade (P = 0.01) was associated significantly with straylight score, and no predictors were associated with subjective glare. None of the LPI size or location parameters were associated with straylight or subjective symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggests that LPI is safe regarding measures of straylight and visual symptoms. This randomized design provides strong evidence that treatment programs for narrow angles would be unlikely to result in important medium-term visual disability.

Pupillary and visual thresholds in young children as an index of population vitamin A status

A prototype scotopic sensitivity machine was used to evaluate pupillary and visual thresholds for 295 Indonesian children aged 1-5 y, most of whom were initially vitamin A-deficient. Subjects were tested 6 and 9 mo after receiving a high dose of vitamin A. A group of 136 older children was tested at 6 mo after dosing; all subjects underwent testing at 9 mo. After testing at 9 mo, children randomly received either a second high dose of vitamin A or placebo and were tested a final time 2 wk later. Children with abnormal pupillary thresholds had significantly higher relative dose responses (RDRs) (P < 0.01) and significantly lower serum retinol values (P = 0.05) than did normal children. The mean pupillary threshold rose (eg, retinal sensitivity fell) as vitamin A status deteriorated between 6 and 9 mo after initial dosing, and was significantly different from a group of normal American children tested previously (P < 0.001). After placebo-controlled dosing, the decline in pupillary and visual thresholds (rise in retinal sensitivity) was significant for children receiving vitamin A but not for children receiving placebo.

Impact of age, various forms of cataract, and visual acuity on whole-field scotopic sensitivity screening for glaucoma in rural Taiwan.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of age, various forms of cataract, and visual acuity on whole-field scotopic sensitivity screening for glaucoma in a rural population. DESIGN: Clinic-based study with population-based recruitment. SETTING: Jin Shan Township near Taipei, Taiwan. SUBJECTS: Three hundred forty-six residents (ages, > or = 40 years) of Jin Shan Township. INTERVENTIONS: Whole-field scotopic testing, ophthalmoscopy with dilation of the pupils, cataract grading against photographic standards, and screening visual field testing in a random one-third subsample. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Whole-field scotopic sensitivity (in decibels) and diagnostic status as a case of glaucoma, glaucoma suspect, or normal. RESULTS: Participants in Jin Shan Township did not differ significantly in the rate of blindness, low visual acuity, or family history of glaucoma from a random sample of nonrespondents. Scotopic sensitivity testing detected 100% (6/6) of subjects with open-angle glaucoma at a specificity of 80.2%. The mean +/- SE scotopic sensitivity for six subjects with open-angle glaucoma (32.78 +/- 1.51 dB) differed significantly from that of 315 normal individuals (38.51 +/- 0.22 dB), when adjusted for age and visual acuity (P = .05, t test). With linear regression modeling, factors that correlated significantly with scotopic sensitivity were intraocular pressure, screening visual field, best corrected visual acuity, presence of cortical cataract, and increasing age. CONCLUSIONS: Although cataract affects the whole-field scotopic threshold, it appears that scotopic testing may be of value in field-based screening for glaucoma.

Methodological variations in estimating apparent progressive visual field loss in clinical trials of glaucoma treatment.

OBJECTIVES:

To compare methods to estimate the incidence of visual field progression used by 3 large randomized trials of glaucoma treatment by applying these methods to a common data set of annually obtained visual field measurements of patients with glaucoma followed up for an average of 6 years.

METHODS:

The methods used by the Advanced Glaucoma Intervention Study (AGIS), the Collaborative Initial Glaucoma Treatment Study (CIGTS), and the Early Manifest Glaucoma Treatment study (EMGT) were applied to 67 eyes of 56 patients with glaucoma enrolled in a 10-year natural history study of glaucoma using Program 30-2 of the Humphrey Field Analyzer (Humphrey Instruments, San Leandro, Calif). The incidence of apparent visual field progression was estimated for each method. Extent of agreement between the methods was calculated, and time to apparent progression was compared.

RESULTS:

The proportion of patients progressing was 11%, 22%, and 23% with AGIS, CIGTS, and EMGT methods, respectively. Clinical assessment identified 23% of patients who progressed, but only half of these were also identified by CIGTS or EMGT methods. The CIGTS and the EMGT had comparable incidence rates, but only half of those identified by 1 method were also identified by the other.

CONCLUSIONS:

The EMGT and CIGTS methods produced rates of apparent progression that were twice those of the AGIS method. Although EMGT, CIGTS, and clinical assessment rates were comparable, they did not identify the same patients as having had field progression.

Causes and prevalence of visual impairment among adults in the United States.

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the cause-specific prevalence and distribution of blindness and low vision in the United States by age, race/ethnicity, and gender, and to estimate the change in these prevalence figures over the next 20 years. METHODS: Summary prevalence estimates of blindness (both according to the US definition of < or =6/60 [< or =20/200] best-corrected visual acuity in the better-seeing eye and the World Health Organization standard of < 6/120 [< 20/400]) and low vision (< 6/12 [< 20/40] best-corrected vision in the better-seeing eye) were prepared separately for black, Hispanic, and white persons in 5-year age intervals starting at 40 years. The estimated prevalences were based on recent population-based studies in the United States, Australia, and Europe. These estimates were applied to 2000 US Census data, and to projected US population figures for 2020, to estimate the number of Americans with visual impairment. Cause-specific prevalences of blindness and low vision were also estimated for the different racial/ethnic groups. RESULTS: Based on demographics from the 2000 US Census, an estimated 937 000 (0.78%) Americans older than 40 years were blind (US definition). An additional 2.4 million Americans (1.98%) had low vision. The leading cause of blindness among white persons was age-related macular degeneration (54.4% of the cases), while among black persons, cataract and glaucoma accounted for more than 60% of blindness. Cataract was the leading cause of low vision, responsible for approximately 50% of bilateral vision worse than 6/12 (20/40) among white, black, and Hispanic persons. The number of blind persons in the US is projected to increase by 70% to 1.6 million by 2020, with a similar rise projected for low vision. CONCLUSIONS: Blindness or low vision affects approximately 1 in 28 Americans older than 40 years. The specific causes of visual impairment, and especially blindness, vary greatly by race/ethnicity. The prevalence of visual disabilities will increase markedly during the next 20 years, owing largely to the aging of the US population.