1.
Ophthalmology
–
Ophthalmology is the branch of medicine that deals with the anatomy, physiology and diseases of the eyeball. An ophthalmologist is a specialist in medical and surgical eye problems, since ophthalmologists perform operations on eyes, they are both surgical and medical specialists. A multitude of diseases and conditions can be diagnosed from the eye, the Greek roots of the word ophthalmology are ὀφθαλμό and -λoγία, i. e. the study of eyes. The Indian surgeon Sushruta wrote Sushruta Samhita in Sanskrit in about 800 BC which describes 76 ocular diseases as well as several ophthalmological surgical instruments and his description of cataract surgery was more akin to extracapsular lens extraction than to couching. He has been described as the first cataract surgeon, the pre-Hippocratics largely based their anatomical conceptions of the eye on speculation, rather than empiricism. They recognized the sclera and transparent cornea running flushly as the coating of the eye, with an inner layer with pupil. It was believed, by Alcamaeon and others, that this fluid was the medium of vision, aristotle advanced such ideas with empiricism. He and his contemporaries further put forth the existence of three tubes leading from the eye, not one, one tube from each eye met within the skull. Rufus of Ephesus recognised a more modern eye, with conjunctiva, rufus was the first to recognise a two-chambered eye, with one chamber from cornea to lens, the other from lens to retina. The Greek physician Galen remedied some mistakes including the curvature of the cornea and lens, the nature of the nerve. Though this model was a roughly correct modern model of the eye, still, it was not advanced upon again until after Vesalius. A ciliary body was discovered and the sclera, retina, choroid. The two chambers were seen to hold the same fluid, as well as the lens being attached to the choroid, Galen continued the notion of a central canal, but he dissected the optic nerve and saw that it was solid. He mistakenly counted seven optical muscles, one too many and he also knew of the tear ducts. Hunain ibn Ishaq, and others beginning with the medieval Arabic period and this idea was propagated until the end of the 1500s. Ibn al-Haytham, an Arab scientist with Islamic beliefs, wrote extensively on optics and the anatomy of the eye in his Book of Optics. In the 17th and 18th centuries, hand lenses were used by Malpighi, and microscopes by van Leeuwenhoek, preparations for fixing the eye for study by Ruysch and this allowed for detailed study of the eye and an advanced model. Some mistakes persisted, such as, why the pupil changed size, the existence of the posterior chamber, in 1722, van Leeuwenhoek noted the existence of rods and cones, though they were not properly discovered until Gottfried Reinhold Treviranus in 1834 by use of a microscope
2.
Eyesight
–
Visual perception is the ability to interpret the surrounding environment using light in the visible spectrum reflected by the objects in the environment. The resulting perception is known as visual perception, eyesight, sight. The visual system in animals allows individuals to assimilate information from their surroundings, the act of seeing starts when the cornea and then the lens of the eye focuses light from its surroundings onto a light-sensitive membrane in the back of the eye, called the retina. The retina is actually part of the brain that is isolated to serve as a transducer for the conversion of light into neuronal signals. These signals are processed via complex feedforward and feedback processes by different parts of the brain, signals from the retina can also travel directly from the retina to the superior colliculus. The perception of objects and the totality of the scene is accomplished by the visual association cortex. The visual association cortex combines all sensory information perceived by the cortex which contains thousands of modules that are part of modular neural networks. The neurons in the cortex send axons to the extrastriate cortex. The major problem in perception is that what people see is not simply a translation of retinal stimuli. Thus people interested in perception have long struggled to explain what visual processing does to create what is actually seen, there were two major ancient Greek schools, providing a primitive explanation of how vision is carried out in the body. The first was the theory which maintained that vision occurs when rays emanate from the eyes and are intercepted by visual objects. If an object was seen directly it was by means of coming out of the eyes. This theory was championed by scholars like Euclid and Ptolemy and their followers, the second school advocated the so-called intro-mission approach which sees vision as coming from something entering the eyes representative of the object. Plato makes this assertion in his dialogue Timaeus, as does Aristotle, alhazen carried out many investigations and experiments on visual perception, extended the work of Ptolemy on binocular vision, and commented on the anatomical works of Galen. Leonardo da Vinci is believed to be the first to recognize the special qualities of the eye. He wrote The function of the human eye, was described by a large number of authors in a certain way. But I found it to be completely different and his main experimental finding was that there is only a distinct and clear vision at the line of sight—the optical line that ends at the fovea. Although he did not use these words literally he actually is the father of the distinction between foveal and peripheral vision
3.
Ocular prosthesis
–
An ocular prosthesis, artificial eye or glass eye is a type of craniofacial prosthesis that replaces an absent natural eye following an enucleation, evisceration, or orbital exenteration. The prosthesis fits over an orbital implant and under the eyelids, though often referred to as a glass eye, the ocular prosthesis roughly takes the shape of a convex shell and is made of medical grade plastic acrylic. A few ocular prostheses today are made of cryolite glass, a variant of the ocular prosthesis is a very thin hard shell known as a scleral shell which can be worn over a damaged or eviscerated eye. Makers of ocular prosthetics are known as ocularists, an ocular prosthesis does not provide vision, this would be a visual prosthesis. Someone with a prosthesis is totally blind on the affected side and has monocular vision. The earliest known evidence of the use of ocular prosthesis is that of a found in Shahr-I Sokhta. It has a form and a diameter of just over 2.5 cm. It consists of light material, probably bitumen paste. The surface of the eye is covered with a thin layer of gold, engraved with a central circle. On both sides of the eye are drilled tiny holes, through which a thread could hold the eyeball in place. Since microscopic research has shown that the eye socket showed clear imprints of the golden thread, in addition to this, an early Hebrew text references a woman who wore an artificial eye made of gold. Roman and Egyptian priests are known to have produced artificial eyes as early as the fifth century BCE constructed from painted clay attached to cloth and worn outside the socket. The first in-socket artificial eyes were made of gold with colored enamel, but the center shifted again, this time to Germany because of their superior glass blowing techniques. Shortly following the introduction of the art of glass eye-making to the United States, as a result, the US instead made artificial eyes from acrylic plastic. Production of modern ocular prosthetics has expanded from simply using glass into many different types of materials, ocularists and eye surgeons have always worked together to make artificial eyes look more realistic. For decades, all efforts and investments to improve the appearance of eyes have been dampened by the immobility of the pupil. One solution to this problem has been demonstrated recently in a device based on an LCD which simulates the pupil size as a function of the ambient light. There are many different types of implants, classification ranging from shape, stock vs custom, porous vs nonporous, specific chemical make-up, the most basic simplification can be to divide implant types into two main groups, non-integrated and integrated
4.
Contact lens
–
A contact lens, or simply contact, is a thin lens placed directly on the surface of the eye. Contact lenses are considered medical devices and can be worn to correct vision, in 2004, it was estimated that 125 million people use contact lenses worldwide, including 28 to 38 million in the United States. In 2010, worldwide market for contact lenses was estimated at $6.1 billion, multiple analysts estimated that the global market for contact lenses would reach $11.7 billion by 2015. As of 2010, the age of contact lens wearers globally was 31 years old. People choose to wear contact lenses for many reasons, aesthetics and cosmetics are the main motivating factors for people who want to avoid wearing glasses or to change the appearance of their eyes. Others wear contact lenses for functional or optical reasons, when compared with spectacles, contact lenses typically provide better peripheral vision, and do not collect moisture or perspiration, this makes them ideal for sports and other outdoor activities. Contact lens wearers can also wear sunglasses, goggles, or other eyewear of their choice without having to fit them with prescription lenses or worry about compatibility with glasses. Additionally, there are such as keratoconus and aniseikonia that are typically corrected better with contact lenses than with glasses. The size of the contact lens market is likely to due to the increasing occurrence of eye related conditions such as astigmatism. The other drivers are increasing population and the desire to make fashion statements, by the end of 2020, the value of the contact lens market is predicted to reach $13.5 billion. Neither idea was practically implementable in da Vincis time and he did not suggest his idea be used for correcting vision, as he was more interested in learning about the mechanisms of accommodation of the eye. Descartes proposed another idea in 1636, a tube filled with liquid placed in direct contact with the cornea. The protruding end was to be composed of glass, shaped to correct vision, however. In 1801, Thomas Young made a pair of contact lenses based on Descartes model. He used wax to affix water-filled lenses to his eyes, which neutralized its refractive power and he then corrected for it with another pair of lenses. However, like da Vincis, Youngs device was not intended to correct refraction errors and this enabled the manufacture of lenses that, for the first time, conformed to the actual shape of the eye. It was not until 1887 that German glassblower F. E. Muller produced the first eye covering to be seen through, in 1888, German ophthalmologist Adolf Gaston Eugen Fick constructed and fitted the first successful contact lens. These lenses were made from heavy blown glass and were 18–21 mm in diameter, Fick filled the empty space between cornea/callosity and glass with a dextrose solution
5.
Spectacles
–
Glasses are typically used for vision correction, such as with reading glasses and glasses used for nearsightedness. Safety glasses provide eye protection against flying debris for construction workers or lab technicians, some types of safety glasses are used to protect against visible and near-visible light or radiation. Glasses are worn for eye protection in some sports, such as squash, Glasses wearers may use a strap to prevent the glasses from falling off during movement or sports. Wearers of glasses that are used only part of the time may have the attached to a cord that goes around their neck. Sunglasses allow better vision in daylight, and may protect ones eyes against damage from high levels of ultraviolet light. Typical sunglasses are darkened for protection against bright light or glare, some specialized glasses are clear in dark or indoor conditions, most sunglasses do not have corrective power in the lenses, however, special prescription sunglasses can be ordered. Specialized glasses may be used for viewing specific visual information or 3D glasses for viewing three-dimensional movies, sometimes glasses with no corrective power in the lenses are worn simply for aesthetic or fashion purposes. Even with glasses used for correction, a wide range of designs are available for fashion purposes, using plastic, wire. The number of Americans who are nearsighted has doubled since the 1970s, people are more likely to need glasses the older they get with 93% of people between the age of 65-75 wearing corrective lenses. They can be classified by their function, but also appear in combinations such as prescription sunglasses or safety glasses with enhanced magnification. Corrective lenses are used to correct refractive errors by bending the light entering the eye in order to alleviate the effects of such as nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism. The ability of eyes to accommodate their focus to near. Also, few people have eyes that show exactly equal refractive characteristics, one may need a stronger, a common condition in people over forty years old is presbyopia, which is caused by the eyes crystalline lens losing elasticity, progressively reducing the ability of the lens to accommodate. Corrective lenses, to bring the back into focus on the retina, are made to conform to the prescription of an ophthalmologist or optometrist. A lensmeter can be used to verify the specifications of a pair of glasses. Corrective eyeglasses can significantly improve the quality of the wearer. Not only do they enhance the visual experience, but can also reduce problems that result from eye strain. Pinhole glasses are a type of glasses that do not use a lens
6.
Monocle
–
A monocle is a type of corrective lens used to correct or enhance the vision in only one eye. It consists of a lens, generally with a wire ring around the circumference that can be attached to a string or wire. The other end of the string is connected to the wearers clothing to avoid losing the monocle. It was introduced by the dandys quizzing glass of the 1790s, there are three styles of monocle. The first style consists of a loop of metal with a lens which was slotted into the eye orbit. These were the first monocles worn in England and could be found from the 1830s onwards, the second style, which was developed in the 1890s, was the most elaborate, consisting of a frame with a raised edge-like extension known as the gallery. The gallery was designed to secure the monocle in place by raising it out of the eyes orbit slightly. Monocles with galleries were often the most expensive, the very wealthy would have the frames custom-made to fit their eye sockets. A sub-category of the monocle was the sprung gallery, where the gallery was replaced by an incomplete circle of flattened, ridged wire supported by three posts. The ends were pulled together, the monocle was placed in the eye orbit, the third style of monocle was frameless. This consisted of a cut piece of glass, with an edge to provide a grip. Often the frameless monocle had no cord and would be worn freely and this style was popular at the beginning of the 20th century as the lens could be cut to fit any shape eye orbit inexpensively, without the cost of a customized frame. It is a myth that wearing a monocle is uncomfortable, if customised, monocles could be worn securely with little effort. However, periodic adjustment is a fact of life for monocle wearers to keep the monocle from popping, often only the rich could afford to have a monocle custom-fabricated, while the poor had to settle for ill-fitting monocles that were both less comfortable and less secure. The popular perception was that a monocle could easily fall off with the facial expression. This is true to an extent, as raising the eyebrow too far will allow the monocle to fall, in visual media, the monocle can also be illustrated, or visually captured mid-flight, with some slack to the string as the glass travels downward. The quizzing glass should not be confused with a monocle, since it is held to ones eye with a handle in a similar to a lorgnette. A quizzing glass is not held by the eye socket itself, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the monocle was generally associated with wealthy upper-class men
7.
Ophthalmologist
–
Ophthalmology is the branch of medicine that deals with the anatomy, physiology and diseases of the eyeball. An ophthalmologist is a specialist in medical and surgical eye problems, since ophthalmologists perform operations on eyes, they are both surgical and medical specialists. A multitude of diseases and conditions can be diagnosed from the eye, the Greek roots of the word ophthalmology are ὀφθαλμό and -λoγία, i. e. the study of eyes. The Indian surgeon Sushruta wrote Sushruta Samhita in Sanskrit in about 800 BC which describes 76 ocular diseases as well as several ophthalmological surgical instruments and his description of cataract surgery was more akin to extracapsular lens extraction than to couching. He has been described as the first cataract surgeon, the pre-Hippocratics largely based their anatomical conceptions of the eye on speculation, rather than empiricism. They recognized the sclera and transparent cornea running flushly as the coating of the eye, with an inner layer with pupil. It was believed, by Alcamaeon and others, that this fluid was the medium of vision, aristotle advanced such ideas with empiricism. He and his contemporaries further put forth the existence of three tubes leading from the eye, not one, one tube from each eye met within the skull. Rufus of Ephesus recognised a more modern eye, with conjunctiva, rufus was the first to recognise a two-chambered eye, with one chamber from cornea to lens, the other from lens to retina. The Greek physician Galen remedied some mistakes including the curvature of the cornea and lens, the nature of the nerve. Though this model was a roughly correct modern model of the eye, still, it was not advanced upon again until after Vesalius. A ciliary body was discovered and the sclera, retina, choroid. The two chambers were seen to hold the same fluid, as well as the lens being attached to the choroid, Galen continued the notion of a central canal, but he dissected the optic nerve and saw that it was solid. He mistakenly counted seven optical muscles, one too many and he also knew of the tear ducts. Hunain ibn Ishaq, and others beginning with the medieval Arabic period and this idea was propagated until the end of the 1500s. Ibn al-Haytham, an Arab scientist with Islamic beliefs, wrote extensively on optics and the anatomy of the eye in his Book of Optics. In the 17th and 18th centuries, hand lenses were used by Malpighi, and microscopes by van Leeuwenhoek, preparations for fixing the eye for study by Ruysch and this allowed for detailed study of the eye and an advanced model. Some mistakes persisted, such as, why the pupil changed size, the existence of the posterior chamber, in 1722, van Leeuwenhoek noted the existence of rods and cones, though they were not properly discovered until Gottfried Reinhold Treviranus in 1834 by use of a microscope
8.
New Orleans
–
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The population of the city was 343,829 as of the 2010 U. S. Census, the New Orleans metropolitan area had a population of 1,167,764 in 2010 and was the 46th largest in the United States. The New Orleans–Metairie–Bogalusa Combined Statistical Area, a trading area, had a 2010 population of 1,452,502. The city is named after the Duke of Orleans, who reigned as Regent for Louis XV from 1715 to 1723, as it was established by French colonists and it is well known for its distinct French and Spanish Creole architecture, as well as its cross-cultural and multilingual heritage. New Orleans is also famous for its cuisine, music, and its celebrations and festivals, most notably Mardi Gras. The city is referred to as the most unique in the United States. New Orleans is located in southeastern Louisiana, straddling the Mississippi River, the city and Orleans Parish are coterminous. The city and parish are bounded by the parishes of St. Tammany to the north, St. Bernard to the east, Plaquemines to the south, and Jefferson to the south and west. Lake Pontchartrain, part of which is included in the city limits, lies to the north, before Hurricane Katrina, Orleans Parish was the most populous parish in Louisiana. As of 2015, it ranks third in population, trailing neighboring Jefferson Parish, La Nouvelle-Orléans was founded May 7,1718, by the French Mississippi Company, under the direction of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, on land inhabited by the Chitimacha. It was named for Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, who was Regent of the Kingdom of France at the time and his title came from the French city of Orléans. The French colony was ceded to the Spanish Empire in the Treaty of Paris, during the American Revolutionary War, New Orleans was an important port for smuggling aid to the rebels, transporting military equipment and supplies up the Mississippi River. Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, Count of Gálvez successfully launched a campaign against the British from the city in 1779. New Orleans remained under Spanish control until 1803, when it reverted briefly to French oversight, nearly all of the surviving 18th-century architecture of the Vieux Carré dates from the Spanish period, the most notable exception being the Old Ursuline Convent. Napoleon sold Louisiana to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, thereafter, the city grew rapidly with influxes of Americans, French, Creoles, and Africans. Later immigrants were Irish, Germans, and Italians, Major commodity crops of sugar and cotton were cultivated with slave labor on large plantations outside the city. The Haitian Revolution ended in 1804 and established the republic in the Western Hemisphere. It had occurred several years in what was then the French colony of Saint-Domingue
9.
Glasses
–
Glasses are typically used for vision correction, such as with reading glasses and glasses used for nearsightedness. Safety glasses provide eye protection against flying debris for construction workers or lab technicians, some types of safety glasses are used to protect against visible and near-visible light or radiation. Glasses are worn for eye protection in some sports, such as squash, Glasses wearers may use a strap to prevent the glasses from falling off during movement or sports. Wearers of glasses that are used only part of the time may have the attached to a cord that goes around their neck. Sunglasses allow better vision in daylight, and may protect ones eyes against damage from high levels of ultraviolet light. Typical sunglasses are darkened for protection against bright light or glare, some specialized glasses are clear in dark or indoor conditions, most sunglasses do not have corrective power in the lenses, however, special prescription sunglasses can be ordered. Specialized glasses may be used for viewing specific visual information or 3D glasses for viewing three-dimensional movies, sometimes glasses with no corrective power in the lenses are worn simply for aesthetic or fashion purposes. Even with glasses used for correction, a wide range of designs are available for fashion purposes, using plastic, wire. The number of Americans who are nearsighted has doubled since the 1970s, people are more likely to need glasses the older they get with 93% of people between the age of 65-75 wearing corrective lenses. They can be classified by their function, but also appear in combinations such as prescription sunglasses or safety glasses with enhanced magnification. Corrective lenses are used to correct refractive errors by bending the light entering the eye in order to alleviate the effects of such as nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism. The ability of eyes to accommodate their focus to near. Also, few people have eyes that show exactly equal refractive characteristics, one may need a stronger, a common condition in people over forty years old is presbyopia, which is caused by the eyes crystalline lens losing elasticity, progressively reducing the ability of the lens to accommodate. Corrective lenses, to bring the back into focus on the retina, are made to conform to the prescription of an ophthalmologist or optometrist. A lensmeter can be used to verify the specifications of a pair of glasses. Corrective eyeglasses can significantly improve the quality of the wearer. Not only do they enhance the visual experience, but can also reduce problems that result from eye strain. Pinhole glasses are a type of glasses that do not use a lens
10.
Pope Leo X
–
Pope Leo X, born Giovanni di Lorenzo de Medici, was Pope from 9 March 1513 to his death in 1521. The second son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, ruler of the Florentine Republic, following the death of Pope Julius II, Giovanni was elected pope after securing the backing of the younger members of the Sacred College. Early on in his rule he oversaw the sessions of the Fifth Council of the Lateran. In 1517 he led a war that succeeded in securing his nephew as duke of Urbino. He later only narrowly escaped a plot by some cardinals to poison him and he is probably best remembered for granting indulgences for those who donated to reconstruct St. Peters Basilica, which practice was challenged by Martin Luthers 95 Theses. He seems not to have taken seriously the array of demands for reform that would quickly grow into the Protestant Reformation. His Papal Bull of 1520, Exsurge Domine, simply condemned Luther on a number of areas and he did, however, grant establishment to the Oratory of Divine Love. A significant patron of the arts, upon election Leo is alleged to have said, Since God has given us the papacy, under his reign, progress was made on the rebuilding of Saint Peters Basilica and artists such as Raphael decorated the Vatican rooms. Leo also reorganised the Roman University, and promoted the study of literature, poetry and he died in 1521 and is buried in Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome. He is the last pope not to have been in priestly orders at the time of his election to the papacy. Giovanni di Lorenzo de Medici was born on December 11,1475 in the Republic of Florence, the son of Lorenzo the Magnificent. From an early age he was destined for an ecclesiastical career and he received the tonsure at the age of seven and was soon granted rich benefices and preferments. Meanwhile, he received an education at Lorenzos humanistic court under such men as Angelo Poliziano, Pico della Mirandola, Marsilio Ficino, from 1489 to 1491 he studied theology and canon law at Pisa. On 23 March 1492, he was admitted into the Sacred College of Cardinals and took up his residence at Rome. The death of Lorenzo on the following 8 April, however and he returned to Rome to participate in the conclave of 1492 which followed the death of Innocent VIII, and unsuccessfully opposed the election of Cardinal Borgia. While Piero found refuge at Venice and Urbino, Giovanni traveled in Germany, in the Netherlands, in May 1500, he returned to Rome, where he was received with outward cordiality by Pope Alexander VI, and where he lived for several years immersed in art and literature. In 1503 he welcomed the accession of Pope Julius II to the pontificate and this and other attempts to regain political control of Florence were frustrated until a bloodless revolution permitted the return of the Medici. Giovannis younger brother Giuliano was placed at the head of the republic, Giovanni was elected Pope on 9 March 1513, and this was proclaimed two days later
11.
Benjamin Franklin
–
Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Franklin was a polymath and a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, freemason, postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman. As a scientist, he was a figure in the American Enlightenment. As an inventor, he is known for the rod, bifocals. He facilitated many civic organizations, including Philadelphias fire department and the University of Pennsylvania, Franklin earned the title of The First American for his early and indefatigable campaigning for colonial unity, initially as an author and spokesman in London for several colonies. As the first United States Ambassador to France, he exemplified the emerging American nation, in the words of historian Henry Steele Commager, In a Franklin could be merged the virtues of Puritanism without its defects, the illumination of the Enlightenment without its heat. To Walter Isaacson, this makes Franklin the most accomplished American of his age, Franklin became a successful newspaper editor and printer in Philadelphia, the leading city in the colonies, publishing the Pennsylvania Gazette at the age of 23. He became wealthy publishing this and Poor Richards Almanack, which he authored under the pseudonym Richard Saunders, after 1767, he was associated with the Pennsylvania Chronicle, a newspaper that was known for its revolutionary sentiments and criticisms of the British policies. He pioneered and was first president of The Academy and College of Philadelphia which opened in 1751 and he organized and was the first secretary of the American Philosophical Society and was elected president in 1769. Franklin became a hero in America as an agent for several colonies when he spearheaded an effort in London to have the Parliament of Great Britain repeal the unpopular Stamp Act. An accomplished diplomat, he was widely admired among the French as American minister to Paris and was a figure in the development of positive Franco-American relations. His efforts proved vital for the American Revolution in securing shipments of crucial munitions from France, during the Revolution, he became the first US Postmaster General. He was active in community affairs and colonial and state politics, from 1785 to 1788, he served as governor of Pennsylvania. He initially owned and dealt in slaves but, by the 1750s, he argued against slavery from an economic perspective, Franklins father, Josiah Franklin, was a tallow chandler, a soap-maker and a candle-maker. Josiah was born at Ecton, Northamptonshire, England on December 23,1657, the son of Thomas Franklin, a blacksmith-farmer, and Jane White. His mother, Abiah Folger, was born in Nantucket, Massachusetts, on August 15,1667, to Peter Folger, a miller and schoolteacher, and his wife, Mary Morrill, Josiah Franklin had seventeen children with his two wives. He married his first wife, Anne Child, in about 1677 in Ecton and emigrated with her to Boston in 1683, after her death, Josiah was married to Abiah Folger on July 9,1689 in the Old South Meeting House by Samuel Willard. Benjamin, their child, was Josiah Franklins fifteenth child and tenth
12.
Bifocals
–
Bifocals are eyeglasses with two distinct optical powers. Bifocals are commonly prescribed to people with presbyopia who also require a correction for myopia, hyperopia, benjamin Franklin is generally credited with the invention of bifocals. Since many inventions are developed independently by more than one person, John Isaac Hawkins, the inventor of trifocal lenses, coined the term bifocals in 1824 and credited Dr. Franklin. In 1955, Irving Rips of Younger Optics created the first seamless or invisible bifocal, construction Original bifocals were designed with the most convex lenses in the lower half of the frame and the least convex lenses on the upper. Up until the beginning of the 20th century two separate lenses were cut in half and combined together in the rim of the frame, the mounting of two half lenses into a single frame led to a number of early complications and rendered such spectacles quite fragile. A method for fusing the sections of the lenses together was developed by Louis de Wecker at the end of the 19th century and patented by Dr. John L. Borsch, while the D-segment bifocal offers superior optics, an increasing number of people opt for progressive bifocal lenses. Bifocals can cause headaches and even dizziness in some users, acclimation to the small field of view offered by the reading segment of bifocals can take some time, as the user learns to move either the head or the reading material rather than the eyes. Computer monitors are placed directly in front of users and can lead to muscle fatigue due to the unusual straight. This trouble is mitigated by the use of lenses or by the use of monofocal lenses for computer users. In an interesting legal case reported in the UK in 1969, research continues in an attempt to eliminate the limited field of vision in current bifocals. New materials and technologies may provide a method which can selectively adjust the power of a lens. Researchers have constructed such a lens using a liquid crystal sandwiched between two glass substrates. This is the first ever recorded use of technology in the animal world. The Invention and Early Manufacture of Bifocals, switchable electro-optic diffractive lens with high efficiency for ophthalmic applications. Franklins letters to Whatley concerning double spectacles
13.
Lorgnette
–
A lorgnette is a pair of spectacles with a handle, used to hold them in place, rather than fitting over the ears or nose. The word lorgnette is derived from the French lorgner, to take a look at. They were invented by Englishman George Adams, the lorgnette was usually used as a piece of jewelry, rather than to enhance vision. Fashionable ladies usually preferred them to spectacles and these were very popular at masquerade parties and used often at the opera. They were worn popularly in the 19th century, musée des Lunettes et Lorgnettes Pierre Marly
14.
Lensometer
–
A lensmeter or lensometer, also known as a focimeter or vertometer, is an ophthalmic instrument. Lensmeters can also verify the power of lenses, if a special lens support is used. The parameters appraised by a lensmeter are the values specified by an ophthalmologist or optometrist on the prescription, sphere, cylinder, axis, add. The lensmeter is also used to check the accuracy of progressive lenses and it may also be used prior to an eye examination to obtain the last prescription the patient was given, in order to expedite the subsequent examination. In 1876, Hermann Snellen introduced a phakometer which was a set up to an optical bench which could measure the power. Troppman went a step further in 1912, introducing the first direct measuring instrument, despite these advantages the above design is still predominant in the optical world. Lens clock Optical power Diopter Prism dioptre Corrective lens components Abbe refractometer Lensometry basics The lensmeter
15.
Eyeglass prescription
–
If an examination indicates that corrective lenses are appropriate, the prescriber generally provides the patient with an eyewear prescription at the conclusion of the exam. It is typically determined using a phoropter and asking the patient which of two lenses is better, or by computer automated refractor, or through the technique of retinoscopy. A dispensing optician will take a written by an optometrist or ophthalmologist and order and/or assemble the frames and lenses to then be dispensed. Similar to medical prescriptions, eyeglass prescriptions are written on paper pads that contain a number of different abbreviations and terms. This specifies the part of the prescription designed primarily to improve far vision, in a bifocal lens, this generally indicates what is to be placed in the top segment. NV is an abbreviation for near vision and this may represent a single-vision lens prescription to improve near work, or the reading portion of a bifocal lens. Some prescription forms use ADD in place of NV with a box to indicate the additional refractive power to be added to the spherical power of each eye. OD is an abbreviation for oculus dexter, Latin for right eye from the point of view. OS is an abbreviation for oculus sinister, Latin for left eye from the point of view. OU is an abbreviation for oculi uterque, Latin for both eyes, in some countries, such as the United Kingdom RE, LE, and BE are used. Sometimes, just right and left are used, SPH is an abbreviation for spherical correction. This corrects refractive error of the eye with a single convergent or divergent refractive power in all meridians, CYL is an abbreviation for cylindrical correction. This corrects astigmatic refractive error of the eye by adding or subtracting power cylindrically in a meridian specified by the prescribed axis, AXIS is present only if there is a value for CYL. This indicates the angle in degrees of one of two major meridians the prescribed cylindrical power is in, which major meridian is referenced is indicated by the cylindrical correction being in plus or minus notation. The axis is measured on a semicircle with a horizontal baseline that starts with zero degrees in the 3 oclock direction. ADD is an abbreviation for Near Addition and this is the additional correction required for reading. Most eyeglass prescriptions will contain values here, the spherical and cylindrical columns contain lens powers in diopters. Prism and Base are usually empty, as they are not seen in most prescriptions
16.
Pupillary distance
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Pupillary distance or interpupillary distance is the distance between the centers of the pupils in each eye. This measurement is used when preparing to make prescription eyeglasses, positioning lenses correctly in relation to the centre of the pupils is especially important for higher powered lenses due to the location of the optical centre of the lenses. It can also be relevant to binoculars, they must be adjusted to suit the users IPD, someone with training in the field of optics can accurately measure a persons pupillary distance. There are also mobile phone and web apps that can measure ones pupillary distance, in very young children and babies, where the patient is unlikely to stay still, the optical professional will typically measure from one medial canthus to the other lateral canthus. The typical pupillary distance for adults is around 54–68 mm, while measurements generally fall between 48 and 73 mm, for children the measurement usually ranges from 41 to 55 mm. The 95 percentile adult male in the USA has an IPD of 68 mm and those are each the 5% of USA men at the far range and short range, respectively. For adult females in the USA the figures are 64 and 53 mm, for Europeans the figures are 1 mm less than the above. The IPD is one of the measurements used in anthropometry. The statistical spread of these measurements, usually expressed as percentiles, is used for many purposes, in the case of IPD, it is used in specifying the size range for eyeglasses, binoculars and other optics such as head-mounted display systems. Pupilometer Eyeglass prescription Variation and extrema of human interpupillary distance Optical Abbreviations and Glossary
17.
Sightline
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A sightline, sight line or visual axis, is a normally unobstructed line-of-sight between an intended observer and a stage, arena, or monument, for example. Sightlines are an important consideration in theatre and stadium design, road junction layout. In cities such as London, construction within sightlines is restricted to protect the key views of famous landmarks, objects that have a direct line of sight with one another are said to be intervisible. Good sightlines allow spectators to see all areas of a stage or field of play. To ensure this designers utilize the C-value, the vertical distance from a spectators eyes to sightline of the spectator directly behind is called a C-value. The C-value is a value that helps produce a rake, the stadium bowl rake if based on consistent C-values will follow half of a parabola in section. The curvature will be greatest closest to the pitch and will become an increasingly flatter curve as it moves to the upper rows. As a general rule the rake or curve of the bowl will flatten as the first row of seats move away from the side-line for a constant C-value. It is impractical to make different step heights for every single row, in practice the riser height is the same for a set of 4 or 5 rows at the bottom of the bowl with the number of rows in each same height set increasing for higher up rows. The uppermost tier could have only 2 or even 1 different step heights, the higher seats can have a reduced C-value without impacting as seriously on the clear view of the field of play. The design of sightlines includes considerations of how much of the stage, for example, can each patron see the top of the scenery or not, and can each patron see the whole stage floor or not. Design of sightlines is divided into two related exercises, vertical sightlines and horizontal sightlines, design of proper sightlines includes resolving both technical and aesthetic issues. Books on theater planning that discuss the design of sightlines and it is recommended that a spectators eye height must not be lower than 800 mm above the stage. However, in larger theatres it is acceptable to locate the eye height of the first row on the level of the stage and this is done with careful modelling utilizing the C-Value to ensure the ideal rake or curvature of the seating bowl. C-values are improved with a slope or moving the seating rows away from the focus point. Inadequate views result in spectators jumping up for a better view during exciting play and this is an annoyance to others and can lead to fights and in the context of large crowds this can be a serious safety threat. The maximum step height between terraces or rows is usually limited to 540mm, if this is exceeded then a continuous guardrail is required as protection against falling. Even with a 540mm terrace step many spectators become uncomfortable and start to feel the impact of vertigo, an ideal maximum terrace step height that will avoid most people feeling insecure is 450mm
18.
Smartphone
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A smartphone is a mobile phone with an advanced mobile operating system that combines features of a personal computer operating system with other features useful for mobile or handheld use. Smartphones can access the Internet and can run a variety of third-party software components and they typically have a color display with a graphical user interface that covers more than 76% of the front surface. In 1999, the Japanese firm NTT DoCoMo released the first smartphones to achieve mass adoption within a country, smartphones became widespread in the late 2000s. Most of those produced from 2012 onward have high-speed mobile broadband 4G LTE, motion sensors, in the third quarter of 2012, one billion smartphones were in use worldwide. Global smartphone sales surpassed the sales figures for regular cell phones in early 2013, devices that combined telephony and computing were first conceptualized by Nikola Tesla in 1909 and Theodore Paraskevakos in 1971 and patented in 1974, and were offered for sale beginning in 1993. Paraskevakos was the first to introduce the concepts of intelligence, data processing and they were installed at Peoples Telephone Company in Leesburg, Alabama and were demonstrated to several telephone companies. The original and historic working models are still in the possession of Paraskevakos, the first mobile phone to incorporate PDA features was a prototype developed by Frank Canova in 1992 while at IBM and demonstrated that year at the COMDEX computer industry trade show. It included PDA features and other mobile applications such as maps, stock reports. A refined version was marketed to consumers in 1994 by BellSouth under the name Simon Personal Communicator, the Simon was the first commercially available device that could be properly referred to as a smartphone, although it was not called that in 1994. The term smart phone appeared in print as early as 1995, in the mid-late 1990s, many mobile phone users carried a separate dedicated PDA device, running early versions of operating systems such as Palm OS, BlackBerry OS or Windows CE/Pocket PC. These operating systems would later evolve into mobile operating systems, in March 1996, Hewlett-Packard released the OmniGo 700LX, a modified HP 200LX palmtop PC that supported a Nokia 2110 phone with ROM-based software to support it. It had a 640×200 resolution CGA compatible four-shade gray-scale LCD screen and could be used to place and receive calls and it was also 100% DOS5.0 compatible, allowing it to run thousands of existing software titles, including early versions of Windows. In August 1996, Nokia released the Nokia 9000 Communicator, a cellular phone based on the Nokia 2110 with an integrated PDA based on the PEN/GEOS3.0 operating system from Geoworks. The two components were attached by a hinge in what known as a clamshell design, with the display above. The PDA provided e-mail, calendar, address book, calculator and notebook applications, text-based Web browsing, when closed, the device could be used as a digital cellular phone. In June 1999 Qualcomm released the pdQ Smartphone, a CDMA digital PCS Smartphone with an integrated Palm PDA, subsequent landmark devices included, The Ericsson R380 by Ericsson Mobile Communications. The first device marketed as a smartphone, it combined the functions of a phone and PDA. The Kyocera 6035 introduced by Palm, Inc, combining a PDA with a mobile phone, it operated on the Verizon network, and supported limited Web browsing
19.
Tablet computer
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Tablets often come equipped with sensors, including digital cameras, a microphone, and an accelerometer so images on screens are always displayed upright. The touchscreen display uses the recognition of finger or stylus gestures to replace the mouse, trackpad, tablets are typically larger than smartphones or personal digital assistants with screens 7 inches or larger, measured diagonally. However much of a tablets functionality resembles that of a modern smartphone, tablets can be classified according to the presence and physical appearance of keyboards. Slates and booklets do not have a keyboard, and usually accept text. Hybrids, convertibles, and 2-in-1s do have physical keyboards, yet they also make use of virtual keyboards. Some 2-in-1s have processors and operating systems like a full laptop, most tablets can use separate keyboards connected using Bluetooth. The format was conceptualized in the century and prototyped and developed in the last two decades of that century. In April 2010, Apple released the iPad, the first mass-market tablet to achieve widespread popularity, thereafter in the 2010s, tablets rapidly rose in ubiquity and became a large product category used for both personal and workplace applications. The tablet computer and its operating system began with the development of pen computing. Throughout the 20th century devices with these characteristics have been imagined and created whether as blueprints, prototypes, a device more powerful than todays tablets appeared briefly in Jerry Pournelle and Larry Nivens The Mote in Gods Eye. Adults could also use a Dynabook, but the audience was children. In 1992, Atari showed developers the Stylus, later renamed ST-Pad, the ST-Pad was based on the TOS/GEM Atari ST Platform and prototyped early handwriting recognition. Shiraz Shivjis company Momentus demonstrated in the time a failed x86 MS-DOS based Pen Computer with its own GUI. In 1994, the European Union initiated the NewsPad project, inspired by Clarke, Acorn Computers developed and delivered an ARM-based touch screen tablet computer for this program, branding it the NewsPad, the project ended in 1997. During the November 2000 COMDEX, Microsoft used the term Tablet PC to describe a prototype handheld device they were demonstrating, all three products were based on extended versions of the MS-DOS operating system. In 1992, IBM announced and shipped to developers the 2521 ThinkPad, also based on PenPoint was AT&Ts EO Personal Communicator from 1993, which ran on AT&Ts own hardware, including their own AT&T Hobbit CPU. Apple Computer launched the Apple Newton personal digital assistant in 1993 and it utilised Apples own new Newton OS, initially running on hardware manufactured by Motorola and incorporating an ARM CPU, that Apple had specifically co-developed with Acorn Computers. The operating system and platform design were later licensed to Sharp and Digital Ocean, in 1996, Palm, Inc. released the first of the Palm OS based PalmPilot touch and stylus based PDA, the touch based devices initially incorporating a Motorola Dragonball CPU
20.
Keratometer
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It was invented by the German physiologist Hermann von Helmholtz in 1851, although an earlier model was developed in 1796 by Jesse Ramsden and Everard Home. A keratometer uses the relationship between size, image size, the distance between the reflective surface and the object, and the radius of the reflective surface. The Javal-Schiotz keratometer is a two position instrument which uses an image and doubling size and adjustable object size to determine the radius of curvature of the reflective surface. It uses two self illuminated mires, one a red square, the other a green staircase design, in order to get repeatable, accurate measurements, it is important that the instrument stays focused. It uses the Scheiner principle, common in devices, in which the converging reflected rays coming towards the eyepiece are viewed through two separate symmetrical apertures. The Bausch and Lomb Keratometer is a one position keratometer that gives readings in dioptric form and it differs from the Javal-Schiotz in that object size is fixed, image size is the manipulable variable. In converting the measurements obtained from the surface into a dioptric value. This is a value, which includes an allowance for the small, yet significant. This allows for a readout in both power and radius of curvature. Origins of the Keratometer and its Evolving Role in Ophthalmology, survey of Ophthalmology 2010,55, 481-497 Javal L, Schiötz H. Un opthalmomètre pratique. Annales d’oculistique, Paris,1881,86, 5-21
21.
Slit lamp
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The slit lamp is an instrument consisting of a high-intensity light source that can be focused to shine a thin sheet of light into the eye. It is used in conjunction with a biomicroscope, the lamp facilitates an examination of the anterior segment and posterior segment of the human eye, which includes the eyelid, sclera, conjunctiva, iris, natural crystalline lens, and cornea. The binocular slit-lamp examination provides a magnified view of the eye structures in detail. A second, hand-held lens is used to examine the retina, two conflicting trends emerged in the development of the slit lamp. One trend originated from research and aimed to apply the increasingly complex. The second trend originated from ophthalmologic practice and aimed at technical perfection, the first man credited with developments in this field was Hermann von Helmholtz when he invented the ophthalmoscope. In ophthalmology and optometry, the instrument is called a “slit lamp, today’s instrument is a combination of two separate developments, the corneal microscope and the slit lamp itself. The first concept of a slit lamp dates back to 1911 credited to Alvar Gullstrand and his “large reflection-free ophthalmoscope. ”The instrument was manufactured by Zeiss, the base was able to move freely on a glass plate. The illuminator employed a Nernst glower which was converted into a slit through a simple optical system. However, the instrument never received attention and the term “slit lamp” did not appear in any literature again until 1914. It wasn’t until 1919 that several improvements were made to the Gullstrand slit lamp made by Vogt Henker, first, a mechanical connection was made between lamp and ophthalmoscopic lens. This illumination unit was mounted to the column with a double articulated arm. The binocular microscope was supported on a stand and could be moved freely across the tabletop. Later, a cross slide stage was used for this purpose, Vogt introduced Koehler illumination, and the reddish Nernst glower was replaced with the brighter and whiter incandescent lamp. Special mention should be paid to the experiments that followed Henker’s improvements in 1919, on his improvements the Nitra lamp was replaced with a carbon arc lamp with a liquid filter. At this time the importance of color temperature and the luminance of the light source for slit lamp examinations were recognized. In the year 1926, the slit lamp instrument was redesigned, the vertical arrangement of the projector made it easy to handle. For the first time, the axis through the eye was fixed along a common swiveling axis
22.
Canada
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Canada is a country in the northern half of North America. Canadas border with the United States is the worlds longest binational land border, the majority of the country has a cold or severely cold winter climate, but southerly areas are warm in summer. Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its territory being dominated by forest and tundra. It is highly urbanized with 82 per cent of the 35.15 million people concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, One third of the population lives in the three largest cities, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Its capital is Ottawa, and other urban areas include Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec City, Winnipeg. Various aboriginal peoples had inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years prior to European colonization. Pursuant to the British North America Act, on July 1,1867, the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick and this began an accretion of provinces and territories to the mostly self-governing Dominion to the present ten provinces and three territories forming modern Canada. With the Constitution Act 1982, Canada took over authority, removing the last remaining ties of legal dependence on the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II being the head of state. The country is officially bilingual at the federal level and it is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries. Its advanced economy is the eleventh largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources, Canadas long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture. Canada is a country and has the tenth highest nominal per capita income globally as well as the ninth highest ranking in the Human Development Index. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, Canada is an influential nation in the world, primarily due to its inclusive values, years of prosperity and stability, stable economy, and efficient military. While a variety of theories have been postulated for the origins of Canada. In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona, from the 16th to the early 18th century Canada referred to the part of New France that lay along the St. Lawrence River. In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada collectively named The Canadas, until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the name for the new country at the London Conference. The transition away from the use of Dominion was formally reflected in 1982 with the passage of the Canada Act, later that year, the name of national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day
23.
Ontario
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Ontario, one of the 13 provinces and territories of Canada, is located in east-central Canada. It is Canadas most populous province by a margin, accounting for nearly 40 percent of all Canadians. Ontario is fourth-largest in total area when the territories of the Northwest Territories and it is home to the nations capital city, Ottawa, and the nations most populous city, Toronto. There is only about 1 km of land made up of portages including Height of Land Portage on the Minnesota border. Ontario is sometimes divided into two regions, Northern Ontario and Southern Ontario. The great majority of Ontarios population and arable land is located in the south, in contrast, the larger, northern part of Ontario is sparsely populated with cold winters and is heavily forested. The province is named after Lake Ontario, a thought to be derived from Ontarí, io, a Huron word meaning great lake, or possibly skanadario. Ontario has about 250,000 freshwater lakes, the province consists of three main geographical regions, The thinly populated Canadian Shield in the northwestern and central portions, which comprises over half the land area of Ontario. Although this area mostly does not support agriculture, it is rich in minerals and in part covered by the Central and Midwestern Canadian Shield forests, studded with lakes, Northern Ontario is subdivided into two sub-regions, Northwestern Ontario and Northeastern Ontario. The virtually unpopulated Hudson Bay Lowlands in the north and northeast, mainly swampy. Southern Ontario which is further sub-divided into four regions, Central Ontario, Eastern Ontario, Golden Horseshoe, the highest point is Ishpatina Ridge at 693 metres above sea level located in Temagami, Northeastern Ontario. In the south, elevations of over 500 m are surpassed near Collingwood, above the Blue Mountains in the Dundalk Highlands, the Carolinian forest zone covers most of the southwestern region of the province. A well-known geographic feature is Niagara Falls, part of the Niagara Escarpment, the Saint Lawrence Seaway allows navigation to and from the Atlantic Ocean as far inland as Thunder Bay in Northwestern Ontario. Northern Ontario occupies roughly 87 percent of the area of the province. Point Pelee is a peninsula of Lake Erie in southwestern Ontario that is the southernmost extent of Canadas mainland, Pelee Island and Middle Island in Lake Erie extend slightly farther. All are south of 42°N – slightly farther south than the border of California. The climate of Ontario varies by season and location, the effects of these major air masses on temperature and precipitation depend mainly on latitude, proximity to major bodies of water and to a small extent, terrain relief. In general, most of Ontarios climate is classified as humid continental, Ontario has three main climatic regions
24.
Quebec
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Quebec is the second-most populous province of Canada and the only one to have a predominantly French-speaking population, with French as the sole provincial official language. Quebec is Canadas largest province by area and its second-largest administrative division and it also shares maritime borders with Nunavut, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia. Quebec is Canadas second-most populous province, after Ontario, most inhabitants live in urban areas near the Saint Lawrence River between Montreal and Quebec City, the capital. Approximately half of Quebec residents live in the Greater Montreal Area, the Nord-du-Québec region, occupying the northern half of the province, is sparsely populated and inhabited primarily by Aboriginal peoples. Even in central Quebec at comparatively southerly latitudes winters are severe in inland areas, Quebec independence debates have played a large role in the politics of the province. Parti Québécois governments held referendums on sovereignty in 1980 and 1995, in 2006, the House of Commons of Canada passed a symbolic motion recognizing the Québécois as a nation within a united Canada. These many industries have all contributed to helping Quebec become an economically influential province within Canada, early variations in the spelling of the name included Québecq and Kébec. French explorer Samuel de Champlain chose the name Québec in 1608 for the colonial outpost he would use as the seat for the French colony of New France. The province is sometimes referred to as La belle province, the Province of Quebec was founded in the Royal Proclamation of 1763 after the Treaty of Paris formally transferred the French colony of Canada to Britain after the Seven Years War. The proclamation restricted the province to an area along the banks of the Saint Lawrence River, the Treaty of Versailles ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the United States. After the Constitutional Act of 1791, the territory was divided between Lower Canada and Upper Canada, with each being granted an elected legislative assembly, in 1840, these become Canada East and Canada West after the British Parliament unified Upper and Lower Canada into the Province of Canada. This territory was redivided into the Provinces of Quebec and Ontario at Confederation in 1867, each became one of the first four provinces. In 1898, the Canadian Parliament passed the first Quebec Boundary Extension Act that expanded the provincial boundaries northward to include the lands of the aboriginal peoples. This was followed by the addition of the District of Ungava through the Quebec Boundaries Extension Act of 1912 that added the northernmost lands of the Inuit to create the modern Province of Quebec. In 1927, the border between Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador was established by the British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Located in the part of Canada, and part of Central Canada. Its topography is very different from one region to another due to the composition of the ground, the climate. The Saint Lawrence Lowland and the Canadian Shield are the two main regions, and are radically different
25.
Ghana
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Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a unitary presidential constitutional democracy, located along the Gulf of Guinea and Atlantic Ocean, in the subregion of West Africa. Spanning a land mass of 238,535 km², Ghana is bordered by the Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, Togo in the east, Ghana means Warrior King in the Soninke language. The territory of present-day Ghana has been inhabited for a millennium, numerous kingdoms and empires emerged over the centuries, of which the most powerful was the Kingdom of Ashanti. Beginning in the 15th century, numerous European powers contested the area for trading rights, following over a century of native resistance, Ghanas current borders were established by the 1900s as the British Gold Coast. On 6 March 1957, it became the first sub-Saharan African nation to become independent of European colonisation, a multicultural nation, Ghana has a population of approximately 27 million, spanning a variety of ethnic, linguistic and religious groups. Five percent of the population practices traditional faiths,71. 2% adhere to Christianity and 17. 6% are Muslim and its diverse geography and ecology ranges from coastal savannahs to tropical jungles. Ghana is a country led by a president who is both head of state and head of the government. Ghanas economy is one of the strongest and most diversified in Africa, following a century of relative stability. Ghanas growing economic prosperity and democratic political system have made it a power in West Africa. It is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States, Group of 24, Ghana was already recognized as one of the great kingdoms in Bilad el-Sudan by the ninth century. Ghana was inhabited in the Middle Ages and the Age of Discovery by a number of ancient predominantly Akan kingdoms in the Southern and this included the Ashanti Empire, the Akwamu, the Bonoman, the Denkyira, and the Mankessim Kingdom. Until the 11th century, the majority of modern Ghanas territorial area was unoccupied and uninhabited by humans. Although the area of present-day Ghana in West Africa has experienced many population movements, by the early 11th century, the Akans were firmly established in the Akan state called Bonoman, for which the Brong-Ahafo Region is named. From the 13th century, Akans emerged from what is believed to have been the Bonoman area, to create several Akan states of Ghana and these states included Bonoman, Ashanti, Denkyira, Mankessim Kingdom, and Akwamu Eastern region. By the 19th century, the territory of the part of Ghana was included in the Kingdom of Ashanti. The Kingdom of Ashanti government operated first as a loose network, prior to Akan contact with Europeans, the Akan Ashanti people created an advanced economy based on principally gold and gold bar commodities then traded with the states of Africa. The earliest known kingdoms to emerge in modern Ghana were the Mole-Dagbani states, the Mole-Dagombas came on horseback from present-day Burkina Faso under a single leader, Naa Gbewaa. The death of Naa Gbewaa caused civil war among his children, some of whom broke off and founded separate states including Dagbon, Mamprugu, Mossi, Nanumba, Akan trade with European states began after contact with Portuguese in the 15th century
26.
Optical
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Optics is the branch of physics which involves the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultraviolet, and infrared light, because light is an electromagnetic wave, other forms of electromagnetic radiation such as X-rays, microwaves, and radio waves exhibit similar properties. Most optical phenomena can be accounted for using the classical description of light. Complete electromagnetic descriptions of light are, however, often difficult to apply in practice, practical optics is usually done using simplified models. The most common of these, geometric optics, treats light as a collection of rays that travel in straight lines, physical optics is a more comprehensive model of light, which includes wave effects such as diffraction and interference that cannot be accounted for in geometric optics. Historically, the model of light was developed first, followed by the wave model of light. Progress in electromagnetic theory in the 19th century led to the discovery that waves were in fact electromagnetic radiation. Some phenomena depend on the fact that light has both wave-like and particle-like properties, explanation of these effects requires quantum mechanics. When considering lights particle-like properties, the light is modelled as a collection of particles called photons, quantum optics deals with the application of quantum mechanics to optical systems. Optical science is relevant to and studied in many related disciplines including astronomy, various engineering fields, photography, practical applications of optics are found in a variety of technologies and everyday objects, including mirrors, lenses, telescopes, microscopes, lasers, and fibre optics. Optics began with the development of lenses by the ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians, the earliest known lenses, made from polished crystal, often quartz, date from as early as 700 BC for Assyrian lenses such as the Layard/Nimrud lens. The ancient Romans and Greeks filled glass spheres with water to make lenses, the word optics comes from the ancient Greek word ὀπτική, meaning appearance, look. Greek philosophy on optics broke down into two opposing theories on how vision worked, the theory and the emission theory. The intro-mission approach saw vision as coming from objects casting off copies of themselves that were captured by the eye, plato first articulated the emission theory, the idea that visual perception is accomplished by rays emitted by the eyes. He also commented on the parity reversal of mirrors in Timaeus, some hundred years later, Euclid wrote a treatise entitled Optics where he linked vision to geometry, creating geometrical optics. Ptolemy, in his treatise Optics, held a theory of vision, the rays from the eye formed a cone, the vertex being within the eye. The rays were sensitive, and conveyed back to the observer’s intellect about the distance. He summarised much of Euclid and went on to describe a way to measure the angle of refraction, during the Middle Ages, Greek ideas about optics were resurrected and extended by writers in the Muslim world
27.
Technician
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A technician is a worker in a field of technology who is proficient in the relevant skills and techniques, with a relatively practical understanding of the theoretical principles. Though less socially prestigious than a white collar professional, technicians play as major support roles in such as engineering, accountancy, nursing, medicine, architecture. For instance, a technician is viewed of lower social status. Experienced technicians in a specific tool domain typically have intermediate understanding of theory, as such, technicians are generally better versed in technique compared to average laymen and even general professionals in that field of technology. Technicians may be classified as highly skilled workers or at times semi-skilled workers. They may be working in a variety of fields. An engineering technician in the UK is a skilled, highly educated occupation requiring 5–8 years post high school training in a formal apprenticeship. Grey-collar worker Technical school Tradesperson Vocational education
28.
Ashanti Region
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The Ashanti Region is located in south Ghana and is third largest of 10 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of 24,389 km2 or 10.2 per cent of the total land area of Ghana. In terms of population, however, it is the most populated region with a population of 3,612,950 in 2000, accounting for 19.1 per cent of Ghana’s total population. The Ashanti Region and Kingdom of Ashanti and Ashantiland is known for its major gold bar and cocoa production, the Ashanti Region is in Asanteman and centrally located in the middle belt of Ghana. It lies between longitudes 0. 15W and 2. 25W, and latitudes 5. 50N and 7. 46N. The region shares boundaries with four of the ten regions, Brong-Ahafo Region in the north, Eastern region in the east, Central region in the south. The region is divided into 27 districts, each headed by a District Chief Executive and these are religious festivals celebrated by some members of the Akan ethnic group of which the Ashanti belong. The festivals are celebrated to remember past leaders and heroes, though they are dead, their spirits are believed to be alive and taking interest in the affairs of the living, watching their actions, and consulting with them during the Adae festival. According to the 2000 census, the region had a population of 3,612,950, making it the most populous region, however, majority of Ashanti region’s population are Ethnic Akans and citizens by birth with five per cent naturalized Ghanaians. The non-African population living in the region is 1.8 per cent of the total population, Akans are the predominant ethnic group in the region, representing 94. 2% of citizens by birth. A high proportion of the Akan population is Ashanti, the Ashanti region is served by the Kumasi Airport, which handles domestic flights. Five national highways – N4, N6, N8, N10 and N6 –, the N6 connects Kumasi via Kwame Nkrumah Circle and through Nsawam and N4 to Accra. The region is connected to the Central Region by the N8 and N10. The N10, however, connects the capital of Kumasi. The Ashanti region has one university, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. In addition, there are a number of universities and university colleges spread throughout the region. The political administration of the region is through the government system. Under this administration system, the region is divided into 27 districts
29.
Optometry, KNUST, Ghana
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The Department of Optometry at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, is based in Kumasi, Ghana. Its placement is under the College of Science of the university, the first class had just five students and were under the tutelage of Ghanas first Optometrist, Dr. Kofivi Monny. It was opened to only to those who had had their first degrees in either Biochemistry, graduates from the school were awarded the Postgraduate Diploma in Optometry. In 2000, the department moved from the Physics block to the Biology block and that year, a four-year Bachelor of Science Degree program, to be followed by a two-year doctoral program, was started to replace the earlier program. In 2004, just as the first batch of Optometrists with the BSc, Degree had graduated, they were enrolled for the two-year Doctor of Optometry program. They went on to finish with their degrees in 2007. More than eighty percent of Ghanaian Optometrists have had their training from the KNUST, in August 2010, the Department finally received its own permanent address as it moved into the multi-million cedi Science Complex Block. The department was allotted permanent classrooms and offices for students and staff members respectively, the 2011 batch who have yet to graduate have are fifty-three. Dr. Dr. Angela O. Amedo, a member of the first batch of Optometrists produced in Ghana, is the Head of Department for Optometry at KNUST, today, there are about two hundred Optometrist in Ghana working hand-in-hand with other eyecare professionals to save sight. As of January 2011, the Department had twelve members of staff overall, with 8 teachers,2 secretaries, a custodian. All members of teaching staff possess a Doctorate of Optometry, currently four are pursuing other programs at the Masters level and one is pursuing a Doctorate of Philosophy. The Department in collaboration with the International Centre for Eyecare Education in May,2010 established an eye clinic at Ayeduase as a suburb of Kumasi, the center—called the Ashanti Vision Centre is to serve the community as well as the satellite towns that surround the university. Students go there regularly to build up their skills as well as offer their services to the people who come for eyecare services. In November 2010 the whole sixth year class of the Department undertook a two-day intensive vision outreach program in the Atebubu district of the Brong-Ahafo Region of Ghana. In March 2011, volunteers from Vision Aid Overseas visited the Department to teach its students as well as embark on Outreaches to cocoa growing areas of the Ashanti Region, Optometry, UCC, Ghana Ghanaian Optician Eyecare in Ghana
30.
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
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Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology is a university in Kumasi, Ashanti, Ghana. The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology is the university established in the country, as well as the largest university in Kumasi Metropolis. KNUST has its roots in the plans of the King Asantehene Agyeman Prempeh I to establish a university in Kumasi as part of his drive towards modernization of his Ashanti kingdom. This plan never came to fruition due to the clash between British empire expansion and the desire for King Prempeh I to preserve his Ashanti kingdoms independence. However, his brother and successor, King Asantehene Agyeman Prempeh II, upon ascending to the Golden Stool in 1935. Events in the Gold Coast in the 1940s played into his hands, first there was the establishment of the University College of the Gold Coast. Second there were the 1948 riots and the consequent Watson Commission report which recommended that a university of sciences be established in Kumasi, thus, in 1949, the dream of the Prempehs became a reality when building started on what was to be called the Kumasi College of Technology. The nucleus of the college was formed from 200 teacher training students transferred from Achimota in the Greater Accra Region, the college was affiliated to the University of London. In 1961, the college was granted university status. The main university campus, which is about seven miles in area, is about eight miles to the east of Kumasi. The Kumasi College of Technology opened officially on 22 January 1952 with 200 teacher training students transferred from Achimota, in October 1952, the School of Engineering and the Department of Commerce were established and the first students were admitted. A Pharmacy Department was established in January 1953, with the transfer of the former School of Pharmacy from Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, the department ran a two-year comprehensive course in Pharmacy leading to the award of the Pharmacy Board Certificate. A Department of Agriculture was opened in the year to provide ad hoc courses of varying duration. From 1952 to 1955, the School of Engineering prepared students for professional qualifications only, in 1955, the school embarked on courses leading to the University of London Bachelor of Engineering External Degree Examinations. In 1957, the School of Architecture, Town Planning and Building was inaugurated and its first students were admitted in January 1958, for professional courses. As the college expanded, it was decided to make the Kumasi College of Technology a purely science, following the report of the commission which came out early 1961, the government decided to establish two independent universities in Kumasi and Legon, Accra. The name honors Kwame Nkrumah, the first prime minister and later president of Ghana, the name was changed to University of Science and Technology after the Revolution of 24 February 1966. The University of Science and Technology was officially inaugurated on Wednesday,20 November 1961, however, another act of Parliament changed the name back to its original version, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi
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Ofqual
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Colloquially and publicly, Ofqual is often referred to as the exam watchdog. Ofquals role is to maintain standards and confidence in qualifications and it regulates exams, qualifications and tests in England. Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland are regulated by each national government. However, the Scottish Qualifications Authority SQA is also accredited by Ofqual, the Conservative Party under Prime Minister David Cameron initiated reforms for A Levels to change from the current modular to a linear structure. British Examination Boards regulated and accredited by Ofqual responded to the governments reform announcements by modifying syllabi of several A Level subjects. However, the Labour Party and in particular the Member of Parliament Tristram Hunt announced that it will halt and reverse the reforms, the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge have expressed support for the modular system. Rising numbers of students taking GCSEs and GCE A Levels over the past decades has led to an increase in the quantity of examination results being enquired for re-marking and reported to Ofqual. Ofquals remit and responsibilities are established in law by the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009, as a Non-ministerial department Ofqual is accountable to Parliament, through the Education Select Committee. It is not accountable to Government ministers and as such is independent from Ministerial Government, therefore, although CIE qualifications are accredited by Ofqual, they are not regulated by it and thus may differ significantly in subject content and exam structure from UK GCSEs and GCE A-Levels. She was appointed in 2011 and was reappointed in 2014 for a further 5 years, sally Collier was appointed Chief Regulator and CEO from April 2016. Other members of the Board include Professor Julius Weinberg and Dr. Mike Cresswell and it has four directorates, Strategy, risk and research Vocational qualifications General qualifications Operations Official website Ofqual consultations The Register of Regulated Qualifications
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United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
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Apprenticeship
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An apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeship also enables practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulated profession, Apprenticeships typically last 3 to 7 years. People who successfully complete an apprenticeship reach the journeyman or professional level of competence. In early modern usage, the clipped form prentice was common, the system of apprenticeship first developed in the later Middle Ages and came to be supervised by craft guilds and town governments. A master craftsman was entitled to employ young people as a form of labour in exchange for providing food, lodging. Most apprentices were males, but female apprentices were found in such as seamstress, tailor. Apprentices usually began at ten to fifteen years of age, in Coventry those completing seven-year apprenticeships with stuff merchants were entitled to become freemen of the city. Subsequently, governmental regulation and the licensing of technical colleges and vocational education formalized and bureaucratized the details of apprenticeship, Australian Apprenticeships encompass all apprenticeships and traineeships. They cover all sectors in Australia and are used to achieve both entry-level and career upskilling objectives. There were 470,000 Australian Apprentices in-training as at 31 March 2012, Australian Government employer and employee incentives may be applicable, while State and Territory Governments may provide public funding support for the training element of the initiative. Australian Apprenticeships combine time at work with formal training and can be full-time, part-time or school-based, Australian Apprentice and Traineeship services are dedicated to promoting retention, therefore much effort is made to match applicants with the right apprenticeship or traineeship. This is done with the aid of aptitude tests, tips, information and resources on potential apprenticeship and traineeship occupations are available in over sixty industries. The distinction between the terms apprentices and trainees lies mainly around traditional trades and the time it takes to gain a qualification, Australia also has a fairly unusual safety net in place for businesses and Australian Apprentices with its Group Training scheme. It is a safety net, because the Group Training Organisation is the employer and provides continuity of employment and it lasts two to four years – the duration varies among the 250 legally recognized apprenticeship trades. About 40 percent of all Austrian teenagers enter apprenticeship training upon completion of compulsory education and this number has been stable since the 1950s. The five most popular trades are, Retail Salesperson, Clerk, Car Mechanic, Hairdresser, there are many smaller trades with small numbers of apprentices, like EDV-Systemtechniker which is completed by fewer than 100 people a year. The Apprenticeship Leave Certificate provides the apprentice with access to two different vocational careers, the person responsible for overseeing the training inside the company is called Lehrherr or Ausbilder. An Ausbilder must prove he has the qualifications needed to educate another person
