The Psychological Effects Cults Have on People

This paper will address the meaning of the word cult. While also touching briefly on why its difficult to describe what a cult is and how it could be compared to Christianity and Jews. I also give some examples of people who started groups/cults with the art of persuasion; Leading some of their member to even commit murders and suicide. Finally by the end paper one would fully understand the roles cults play in the physiological process of a person. For many years, cult leaders always had a psychological hold on their followers' minds. Whether it was to kill other people or to kill themselves, they did it without question. Some cult leaders used fear, violence and guilt as a means of a weapon to control the minds of their followers. Other cult leaders used persuasive and spiritual speeches that made their followers believe they were doing good and fulfilling God's plan. Because cult leaders are powerful through psychological offenses, the people that belong to their cults are brainwashed into doing things they wouldn't normally do in their right state of mind. For years, there have been problems surrounding the definition of the term ‘cult'. The literal and traditional meanings of the word cult, which are more fully explored at the entry Cult (religion), come from the Latin cultus, meaning â€Å"care† or â€Å"adoration,† as â€Å"a system of religious belief or ritual; or: the body of adherents to same. † In French or Spanish, culte or culto simply means â€Å"worship† or â€Å"religious attendance†; therefore an association cultuelle is an association whose goal is to organize religious worship and practices. The word for â€Å"cult† in the popular English meaning is secte (French) or ecta (Spanish). In formal English use, and in non-English European terms, the cognates of the English word â€Å"cult† are neutral, and refer mainly to divisions within a single faith, a case where English speakers might use the word â€Å"sect†. Hence Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Pro testantism are cults within Christianity. However, in common usage, â€Å"cult† has a very negative connotation, and is generally applied to a group in order to criticize it. Understandably, most groups, if not all, that are called â€Å"cults† deny this term. Some groups called â€Å"cults† by some critics may consider themselves not to be â€Å"cults†, but may consider some other groups to be â€Å"cults†. Although anti-cult activists and scholars did not agree on precise criteria that new religions should meet to be considered â€Å"cults,† two of the definitions formulated by anti-cult activists are: Cults are groups that often exploit members psychologically and/or financially, typically by making members comply with leadership's demands through certain types of psychological manipulation, popularly called mind control, and through the inculcation of deep-seated anxious dependency on the group and its leaders. Cult: A group or movement exhibiting a great or excessive devotion or dedication to some person, idea, or thing and employing unethically manipulative techniques of persuasion and control designed to advance the goals of the group's leaders to the actual or possible detriment of members, their families, or the community. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines cult as: â€Å"a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also: its body of adherents. Indeed, any religion involving unconditional worship and unquestioning obedience to God could be labeled as a cult (using the derogatory suggestion of the word), since such a religion would have that high level of dependency, obedience, and unwavering compliance ascribed to cults by definition. Many mainstream religions still require their members to believe in God unquestioningly, to have faith that he is good and that what he does is good, to consider one's own wants and needs as unimportant while accepting the will of God as par amount. All of these are certainly characteristics commonly attributed to cults, but while it would not be unreasonable to apply this definition of a cult to any dogmatic religion that requires strict compliance with God's word and will as a condition of membership, the notion of applying the word â€Å"cult† to Christianity, Islam, Judaism, or any other major world religion today is considered absurd. There are those who make this very claim: that those who worship God fit the classic depiction of cult members in their dogmatism, unswerving obedience, and denial of self. This highlights the problematic nature of defining what is and is not a cult. The problem with defining the word cult is that purported cult members generally resist being called a cult, and the word cult is often used to marginalize religious groups with which one does not agree or sympathize. Some serious researchers of religion and sociology prefer to use terms such as new religious movement (NRM) in their research on cults. Such usage may lead to confusion because some religious movements are â€Å"new† but not necessarily cults, and some purported cults are not religious or overtly religious. Where a cult practices physical or mental abuse, some psychologists and other mental health professionals use the terms cult, abusive cult, or destructive cult. The popular press also commonly uses these terms. However, not all cults function abusively or destructively, and among those that psychologists believe are abusive, few members would agree that they suffer abuse. Other researchers hold the view that classifying a religious movement as a cult is generally used as a subjective and negative label and has no added value; instead, they argue that one should investigate the beliefs and practices of the religious movement. The field of cults and new religious movements is studied by sociologists, religious scholars, and psychologists and psychiatrists. The debates about a certain purported cult and cults in general are often polarized with widely divergent opinions, not only among current followers of a purported cult and disaffected former members, but sometimes even among scholars and social scientists. Psychologists, among them those specialized in group psychology, studied what cognitive and emotional traits make people accept to join a cult and to stay loyal to it. Some groups, particularly those labeled by others as cults, view the designation as insensitive, and feel persecuted by their opponents whom they often believe to be part of the â€Å"anti-cult movement†. Such groups often defend their position by comparing themselves to more established, mainstream religious groups such as Catholicism and Judaism. The argument offered in this case can usually be simplified as, â€Å"Christianity and Judaism can also be defined as cults under some definitions of the term, and therefore the term cult is superfluous and useless. Members of groups referred to as cults have been known to engage in long discussions over the definition of the word â€Å"cult. † Critics of alleged cult groups state that by doing so, these persons have been known to waste large amounts of time and effort that would be better spent examining the actions of the groups in question, in order to reveal why these groups are referred to as cults. Another problem with writing about cults comes about because they generally hold belief systems that give answers to questions about the meaning of life and morality. This makes it difficult not to write in biased terms about a certain cult, because writers are rarely neutral about these questions. Some writers who deal with the subject choose to explicitly state their ethical values and belief systems to deal with this difficulty. For many scholars and professional commentators, the usage of the word â€Å"cult† applies to abusive behavior, and not to a belief system. For members of competing religions, use of the word remains pejorative and applies primarily to rival beliefs, and only incidentally to behavior. In the sociology of religion, the term cult is a part of the subdivision of religious groups into sects, cults, and denominations. In these terms, it is a neutral term, referring to a religious movement with novel beliefs and a high degree of tension with the surrounding society. Cults, in this sense, may or may not be dangerous, abusive, etc. By this definition, most of the groups which have been popularly labeled cults are indeed cults. In some cults people don't join them, they are recruited by the cults. Philip Zimbardo explains, â€Å"People join interesting groups that promise to fulfill their pressing needs. They become cults when they are seen as deceptive, defective, dangerous, or as opposing basic values of their society† (Zimbardo 212). The fact is, the recruitment techniques that cults employ are quite effective. Cults obviously want to be successful, so they seek to recruit the most capable people who can effectively serve them. Many cult members are doctors, lawyers, professors, and high profile celebrities responsible citizens. This is why some cults have survived for decades and functioned efficiently despite a high turnover rate, public disapproval and angry parents. People often believe cult members must have been neglected by their families. But this conclusion is in sharp contrast to the actions taken by many concerned families who will devote their money and time in intervention efforts to bring their children out of such groups and home again. Zimbardo urges people not to stereotype cult members. Rather than asking â€Å"What kind of people join cults? he suggests we should instead ask, â€Å"What was so appealing about this group that so many people were recruited/seduced into joining it voluntarily? What needs did the group fulfill that were not met by ‘traditional society? ‘† (Zimbardo 126). It is also important to note that cults make many promises to potential recruits in the initial phases of induction–it is often not until months or years later that the recruit reali zes that these promises were ploys to gain their compliance. However, by that time, the member is already submerged in the group and likely in submission to and under the undue influence of its leadership. Since at least the 1940s, the approach of orthodox or conservative or fundamentalist Christians was to apply the meaning of cult such that it included those religious groups who used (possibly exclusively) non-standard translations of the Bible, put additional revelation on a similar or higher level than the Bible or had practices deviant from those of traditional Christianity. These unorthodox groups can be rather large or small. Understandably, these groups deny that they are cults. By 1967, Charles Manson had spent most of his adult life in jail, mostly for such offenses as car theft and credit card fraud. He also worked some time as a pimp. He gathered a group of followers, which he referred to as the Family, a group bound together by fanatical loyalty to Manson, and an abolishment of all moral precepts. He soon afterwards moved to Los Angeles, at first basing himself and the Family in Pacific Palisades and then taking over an unused ranch in the western San Fernando Valley formerly used to make western movies, the Spahn Ranch. Inspired by the Beatles song â€Å"Helter Skelter† and other songs off the White Album he became convinced of an impending race war and nuclear attack, based on Biblical prophecy in the Book of Revelation. He implied to his followers that he was Jesus Christ, saying he had died before, some 2000 years ago. However when asked directly in court he said, â€Å"I may have implied on several occasions to several different people that I may have been Jesus Christ, but I haven't decided yet what I am or who I am. (Bugliosi 341) Around the time the family was formed, he is said to have begun calling himself by a slightly different name, Charles Milles Manson (his real name was â€Å"Charles Willis Manson†), allegedly because it could be read symbolically as â€Å"Charles Will Is Man's Son†. Although only a few members of the Family came to national attention, the Family itself seems to have been quite a significant size, estimates of up to 100 people (of varying degrees of involvement) associated with the Family have been quoted beyond the â€Å"hard core† of around 30. On the night of August 9, 1969, Manson directed some members of the Family to commit murder. These were Charles â€Å"Tex† Watson, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Susan Atkins, at or around midnight entered the home of actress Sharon Tate, wife of director Roman Polanski, who was eight months pregnant, and murdered her along with friend, Hollywood hairstylist Jay Sebring, and house guests Abigail Folger, the coffee heiress, and her lover Voytek Frykowski. Before entering the house, they had shot to death Steven Parent, an 18 year old youth who was leaving the property and had unwittingly seen the intruders. Linda Kasabian was the look-out and driver, and later received immunity for submitting evidence against the group. She told Manson, â€Å"I'm not like you, I can't kill anybody†(Bugliosi 312) and evinced shock and horror at finally seeing the pictures of the killings in court. The victims had been stabbed ferociously many dozens of times, and words were left on the walls in their blood. The following night in the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles, California, businessman Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary LaBianca were also murdered in their home, once again by members of the Family. On this occasion, Manson apparently went along to â€Å"show them how to do it† with less tumult, and pacified the victims, tying them up before returning to the car to tell his followers to commit the murders. There was no apparent connection between the victims of the murders, but the crimes were prosecuted by Los Angeles assistant district attorney Vincent Bugliosi in a single trial. Members of the Manson Family had previously been responsible for the murder of Gary Hinman, a music teacher, in Topanga and were suspected of other murders. They claimed a total of some 35 killings, not counting those after the trial, of which several were considered likely or plausible, but were not tried on most of these either for lack of evidence, or because the perpetrators were already sentenced to life for the Tate/La Bianca killings. It begins with the Beatles, and with the Beatles' celebrated White Album that came out in 1968. In it, while tripping on acid, Manson heard the message that put it all together for him. There would be a war between blacks and whites; whites would lose. Manson and his followers would hide out in the desert when the slaughter took place. When it was over they would emerge from their hiding places and somehow convince the blacks that they should be made the leaders of this new world. He got all this not just from the Beatles but also from the Bible. Perhaps his most fascinating connection was to put side by side the Beatles song â€Å"Revolution 9† with Revelations 9 from the Bible. Revelations, the final book of the New Testament, has always been the favorite of mystics because its wild apocalyptic imagery is so bluntly addressed not to the literal but to symbolic consciousness. For those who read scripture not as a moral code of social behavior nor as a literal history book but as a symbolic rendering of a reality out of time and out of mind, the book of Revelations is the proof text. In the book Helter Skelter, Susan Atkins is quoted in saying â€Å"The whole thing was done to instill fear in the establishment and cause paranoia. Also to show the black man how to takeover the white man. † When asked to describe the start of Helter Skelter, she defined it as â€Å"The last war on the face of the earth. It would be all the wars that have ever been fought built one on top of the other†(293). To Manson, Judgment Day, Armageddon, and Helter Skelter were one and the same, a racial holocaust which would see the black man emerge triumphant. David Berkowitz became known as the ‘Son of Sam' after taunting letters from him to police investigating the case were published in newspapers. At a court in Brooklyn, New York, Berkowitz admitted all the killings which in 1977 had residents of three New York boroughs living in fear. He also admitted wounding seven people before he was arrested in August 1977. Berkowitz, who acquired his proficiency with guns through a three-year stint in the US army, said he had no motive other than â€Å"excitement† for carrying out the shootings. However, the Son of Sam nickname was adopted after Berkowitz used the term to describe himself in an anonymous letter to police in April 1977. The first killing attributed to Son of Sam occurred in July 1976 when 18-year-old Donna Lauria was shot as she sat in a car with a friend in the Bronx district of New York. However police did not realize there was a serial killer on the loose until another two people had been murdered and several more injured. The link was not made until March 1977 when it was found the gun used to kill Ms Lauria had also been used in the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Virginia Voskerichian. The press initially dubbed Berkowitz â€Å"the . 44 Killer† after the calibre of gun he used. â€Å"Unlike a number of other high profile criminals, Berkowitz kept to him self†(Terry xiv) He was eventually captured after being linked to the scene of the final killing through a parking ticket issued when he left his car parked illegally. Berkowitz quickly confessed and claimed he was ordered to kill by a neighbor's dog. He also admitted to being behind the unsolved stabbings of several women, all of whom survived. In June 1978 David Berkowitz was sentenced to 365 years in jail. Over the years Berkowitz has hinted he did not work alone. Conspiracy theorists believe Berkowitz was part of a satanic cult and that others were involved in the shootings. â€Å"The group's main goals were power, greed and terrorism. It is the embodiment of organized evil†(Terry xii). They also believe that the members in this satanic cult did not also work with Berkowitz, but also worked with Charles Manson and had been part of ‘the Family. The Peoples Temple was a cult that is best known for a mass suicide at Jonestown, Guyana, on November 18, 1978. The Temple was founded in 1953, at Indianapolis, Indiana, by Reverend Jim Jones. In Indianapolis, and at the California cities of Ukiah, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, where Jones extended new branches of his church, they earned a good reputation for aiding the ci ties' poorest citizens, especially racial minorities, drug addicts, and the homeless. Soup kitchens, daycare centers, and medical clinics for elderly people were set up, along with counseling programs for prostitutes and drug addicts who wanted to change their lives. Then disturbing accounts began to spring up, told by a few people who had succeeded in leaving the cult. â€Å"Jones has a power that operates on fear, guilt and extreme fatigue. While we were in it we did many strange things. We signed over all of our property. We wrote and signed false, self-incriminating statements. We had to admit that we were homosexuals and that we molested our children. We had to participate in painful punishments for such minor things as forgetting to call Jones â€Å"Father,† forgetting to pay a bill, or for giving a piece of candy to a child. Some of the punishments were beatings, humiliations and medications that made people appear to die (later to be resurrected by Jones). The beatings were intensely brutal. Many times the beatings would be done on children four and five years old. The board they used was three-quarter of an inch thick and about two and a half feet long. Children were beaten the number of times decided by Pastor Jones, often as many as 150 times. During the beating, Jim Jones would demand that a microphone be held to the child's mouth so that the audience could hear the groans of pain. The microphone was unnecessary as the screams could be heard throughout the whole building. After the beating the child or adult would be held up and forced to say, â€Å"Thank You, Father. † If they didn't say this, they would be beaten again. We were so frightened of him and his power that we would have sworn to anything he asked. We believed that he would always take care of us and would never harm us, even though we witnessed daily atrocities that should have convinced us otherwise. It is impossible to explain the effect of his brainwashing. We do know that it took months after we left to be able to think and act as normal, reasonable people†(Mills 13). Jones was stealing from his followers, faked the miracle healings, was punishing the members severely, practicing sodomy with male members, and now considered himself the new Messiah. By now, journalists, law enforcement officials, and politicians were showing interest in Jones' group. Jim Jones reacted with frequent long and angry speeches, where he claimed that the defectors lied, and the outside world was trying to destroy them. At the time, more former members told of beatings and abuse within the People's Temple, and relatives of members insisted that members were being forced to remain there against their will. Jones reacted by moving his church, over 800 followers, to Guyana. The followers were promised a tropical paradise, free from the wickedness of the outside world, but when they arrived, they were forced to work by Jones' orders, and together they built Jonestown. In November 1978, the cult was visited by Leo Ryan, a United States Congressman, who was investigating claims of abuse. A number of Temple members expressed a desire to leave along with the Congressman, and the entire group went to the local airstrip. Temple security guards fired on the group, killing Congressman Ryan, three journalists, and a Temple member who wanted to leave. The shootings were captured on film by one of the journalists who died in the attack. Later that day, Jones ordered his congregation to drink a cyanide-laced soft drink in the Jonestown mass suicide. Those who resisted were shot, strangled or injected with cyanide. Jones was found with a shot wound in his head. Upon investigation his body contained high doses of drugs. In all, 914 people died. Mind control theories are based on the premise that an outside source can control an individual's thinking, behavior or consciousness. Such theories have ethical and legal implications. The mind control theories as applied to membership in new religious movents assumes that no one would join such a group if he knew what he was getting into. In Helter Skelter, Bugliosi states about Manson's control over his ‘family' â€Å"A domination so complete, that they would do anything he told them to do. Including murder. Getting this evidence was especially difficult because Manson rarely gave direct orders. Usually, he'd suggest, rather than command, though his suggestions had the force of commands†(287). The recruit is not to be held responsible for his actions, since he was â€Å"under control†. Neither scientists nor sociologists generally consider this model a viable theory. Theories vary as to the degree of control attained and the methods used to attain it (either direct or more subtle). When these methods are used forcibly on captives, most sources refer to it as â€Å"brainwashing† Although to their followers, Reverend Jim Jones and Charles Manson were all messianic and each possessed the uncommon ability to totally control and dominate the lives of those who believed in them. Clearly, many influences from the outside world influence people's minds, such as advertising, media manipulation, and propaganda. Politics plays a role in the forming of cults. Charles Manson had a hatred towards police. In Helter Skelter, Manson states â€Å"I have x'd myself from your world. You have created the monster. I am not of you, from you, nor do I condone your unjust attitude toward things, animals, and people that you do not try to understand. I stand opposed to what you do and have done in the past. You make fun of God and have murdered the world in the name of Jesus Christ. My faith in me is stronger than all of your armies, governments, gas chambers or anything you may want to do to me. I know what I have done. Your courtroom is man's game. Love is my judge†(Bugliosi 412). His hatred was directed towards them because he believed that they were the ones that created him into a monster. Therefore, cult leaders are powerful through psychological offenses, the people that belong to their cults are brainwashed into doing things they wouldn't normally do in their right state of mind. Cult leaders used various ways of molding a follower's mind and brainwashing them to do things for them. Some cult leaders used punishments as a way of breaking the follower's that were resistant to their demands. Others used and perfected the art of persuasion. Either way, the mind of their followers or ‘family' are in total control of the leader.

Visual Rhetoric Research

Visual rhetoric is a sort of communication that happens in a test but its happen by the visual images or you can say visual rhetoric is the images you turn into an argument. The term visual rhetoric itself has a lot of things that determine it, when evaluated a visual rhetoric essay you must know the shape, the nature, the color, the architecture, the design, etc. of the image. The most accurate place that use visual rhetoric is the advertisement company and one of the causes is to attract customers. Visual Rhetoric does not necessary need an academic knowledge to understand or to evaluate an image because everyone can evaluate an image by there own understanding of the design. My research show that the term visual rhetoric is broader than I can imagine and to go inside that term, we need a visual literacy process. When I went to https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/691/01/. It is a page that is more focus on the academic world of visual rhetoric, that is why they explain that the term visual rhetoric comes under the words visual literacy and it brings into three categories: Visual Thinking, Visual Learning, and Visual Communication. Through the understanding of visual thinking is the metaphoric thinking, the visualization, the source of imagery, and the working brain, the visual learning is the reading, the design, and the research, the visual communication is the art, media, and aesthetics. When looking at an image, you think first about the image in front of you, then you start to learn about the source, the shape, and the value of what you see, and then you start your argument with the image in front of you. I also learned at the same OWL page section 04 that the visual rhetoric use of images has a lot of impact on the ethos (credibility), the design of an image can determine whether an audience will appreciate your work or take you seriously. That give us an understanding, when using visual rhetoric, we need to thing about our audience and make sure that the color, design, architecture, shape, and the nature of the image is well place in our design. Another source says that the more you know about your audience, the more effective you will be on your message. You must have a purpose and you need to inspire your audience through your visual design. When working to find the purpose, context, and your audience in a rhetorical situation, you need to ask yourself same question. According Kostelnick and Roberts, authors of Designing Visual Language, we need to ask those question; â€Å"Is the message call to action? Is the message intended to inform? Who the message directed to? And What is the purpose of the document and where it will be viewed?† When those questions have a clear answered then your visual rhetoric skills will be very meaningful. According to A Research Guide for Student, â€Å"the term visual rhetoric is closely linked to Semiotics, a science studying signs and meaning.† I learned that a can looking at a same image with someone else and it may mean something different for both of us. This is because we both can come from different culture or society, because of that situation, the author must choose his/her audience very carefully. This page show that visual rhetoric is become more significant everyday because society is contemporary increasing visual, and even if a text does not include any design or image, it still provides a visual image to the readers. Wikibooks see visual rhetoric as an intertextuality. Which work how an image has the same similarity with another image, that give visual a more important aspect to the world we are living in. That wikibooks page see objects in images represent something that we value in our society or something that have a meaning in our culture. They give an example of the American flag, how people see it as freedom in America. The term visual rhetoric varies culture to culture, you cannot judge someone prospective on a design. Red in an image can mean something in one country and mean something else in another country. The term visual rhetoric become more understandable to me because of all that I have learn throughout my research. How one image can have an infinite meaning because of the variation of culture and the way each person can examine the image. I also learn that when designing I need to know who my audience would be because that is one of the strength of visual rhetoric.

The Economic Life of My Community Personal Statement

The Economic Life of My Community - Personal Statement Example The subjects in Terms 1 and 2 have stimulated me to think like a business manager, and now I can see how apparently irrelevant news items can have an economic or business impact. Charles Handy’s book, â€Å"Understanding organizations† introduces concepts key to business management: motivation, role, power and influence, group dynamics, leadership, organizational structure etc. He explains the necessity of thinking in terms of organizational context. Before attending this course though I had seen a lot of organizations like my school, my father’s company etc. But I had never considered how they are structured and organized. This course has trained me to look at organizations analytically, to consider questions like: â€Å"How should a company be structured?†; â€Å"How is authority delegated?†, â€Å"How can staff be motivated?†, â€Å"How salaries are to be decided ?† I am nowhere near to be answering these questions and that’s where I believe my final degree in business management will help. ... My course was just at the right time to benefit from these events. Understanding how an organization works are very important to understand how businesses operate, as I want to start my own business this learning was very crucial for me when I had joined this course. Has the course lived up to my needs? This is something I may not be able to answer but I can certainly mention that what I have learned is what I will surely need in my career. The course has certainly surpassed my expectations. Here are a few things that I have learned about how an organization works. Learning from specific seminars: Roles and interaction – In 1970 Dr. Meredith Belbin, working at Henley Management College defined the concept Team Role as â€Å"A tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with others in a particular way.† He also suggested nine different roles played by team members. I believe my role is that of a resource investigator; while my ambition to be an entrepreneur. Before un derstanding these concepts I had problems working as a group member, due to differing expectations of my role within the group. I believed my role to be that of a networker with outsiders, and a mobilizer of resources. However having studied these concepts and applying them during my foundation course I have improved my ability to work as a team member, and I now ensure to spell out clearly from the start what role I expect to play. Handy’s explanation of Role theory explains the concepts of â€Å"stereotyping† and â€Å"halo effect† which will also help me to work better in team endeavors.  

Managing Equality and Diversity- Case Study Jakob Roan Essay

Managing Equality and Diversity- Case Study Jakob Roan - Essay Example In 1999, the UK government introduced the Public Sector Duties in order to protect not only the women but also the men on work equality. The Equality Act 2006 was introduced to promote equality and diversity in relation to the importance of human rights. Because of some amendments necessary to strengthen the equality law in the United Kingdom, Equality Act 2010 was created and now in force in order to redefine the most recent employment-related claims at the Employment Tribunal office. Against who and Potential Legal Claims that Jakob Roan can bring to an Employment Tribunal Lucas and Tom Sexual harassment at work is not limited to the act of physically forcing an employee to have sex with an immediate boss or vice versa. Particularly in the case of Jakob Roan, verbal harassment like a constant regime of homophobic behaviour has been evident when Lucas and Tom were making funny faces while calling Jakob with the use of some offending names and remarks like: â€Å"a prude†, â€Å"a blooming gay boy†, suggesting that â€Å"he should be more macho†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , and spreading rumours to other employees that they should avoid working with Jakob alone in the office because they can get AIDS by being too close to him. This increases Jakob’s chances of winning a tribunal case . Regardless of whether it was intentional or unintentional, Jakob was able to witness Lucas spreading homophobic remarks about him where the company’s customers could hear.... Furthermore, forcing Jakob to join Lucas and Tom go through the pornographic magazine was already a violation of Jakob’s human right to avoid staring at some pornographic materials. Under Part 2 section 26(1)(b)(i)(ii) of the Equality Act 2010, it was clearly stated that â€Å"A person (A) harasses another (B) if the conduct has the purpose or effect of violating B’s dignity and creating intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for B†. It means that harassment within the workplace may occur when the dignity of another person is being violated and degraded as a result of unwanted work-related practices that are sexual by nature5. As an individual, Jakob has negative perception with regards to the use of pornographic materials. The fact that Lucas and Tom was forcing Jakob to join them as they browse the magazine was already a violation of Jakob’s dignity and human rights to refuse to participate. Based on the guidelines stated under Equality Act 2010, it is clear that Jakob has the option and privileges to file a tribunal case against Lucas and Tom for harassment on the grounds of sexual orientation. Specifically the case of Jakob Roan who emotionally, mentally, and psychologically suffered from the adverse consequences associated with sexual harassment on the grounds of sexual orientation is very much similar to the case of Morse v Future Reality Ltd [1996]6 wherein Ms. Morse felt sexually harassed when a group of her male co-workers started downloading â€Å"sexually explicit images from the Internet† even though the boys were not directly pointing at her. Dave Under Part 2 section 13(1) of the Equality Act 2010, direct discrimination

New York Activist - Debating Park 51 Research Paper

New York Activist - Debating Park 51 - Research Paper Example The significance of the first amendment to the Park 51 debate remains undeniable. The debate revolves around the construction of an Islamic Community Center on the 51 Park place in Lower Manhattan in New York. The major problem arising from this construction is its proximity to the World Trade Center site. The World Trade Center site is under construction to replace the building lost in the 9/11 terrorist attack. The Islamic extremists claimed responsibility of the 9/11 attack that killed over 2500 people. Therefore, the majority of American citizens dispute the construction of an Islamic center two blocks away from the terrorist scene. The Cordoba Initiative, responsible for the construction of the Islamic Community Center aims to create a place where all the religions interact. The 16 story building contains a 2 story prayer space open to anyone from any religion. People supporting the construction of the building argue using a constitutional point. They believe that the first amen dment of the constitution allows the Muslims to construct a mosque or a community center in America. The supporters also view the community center as an avenue for healing and reconciliation after the events of 9/11. However, the opponents of the construction of the Islamic Center argue appealing to an emotional point of view. The opponents feel that the building displays insensitivity and disrespect to 9/11 victims. They think that the surrounding territory around the World Trade Center should remain a sacred place of mourning for lives lost, without the irritating presence of a mosque. The spiritual leader of the Islamic community center, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, also raises controversy. While the leader professes to be a moderate Muslim, he appears to support Muslim extremists. His protection of Muslim extremist in public on many occasions raises questions about his good intentions. Imam Rauf attended a CNN interview conducted by Soledad O’Brien. In the interview he seemed evasive on the issue of the Hamas (Butler, Grant and Randall 24). He failed to clearly state whether he thought their acts were terrorist or not. Newt Gingrich commented on the issue of Park 51 saying, â€Å"Nazis don’t have a right to put up a sign next to the Holocaust Museum in Washington†. This comment found its way into an article by Timothy Garton Ash in the Guardian Newspaper. However, the proponents of the building responded by pointing out an incident of 1977. At the time, neo-Nazis peacefully demonstrated in a holocaust survivor’s occupied neighborhood. This happened with the authorization of the United States Supreme Court respecting the constitution’s first amendment. The opinion polls in America proved that 61% of Americans and 77% of New York residents opposed the construction of a mosque on the territory next to Park 51. Proponents insist the community center, which will also have a gym, culinary school, restaurant, swimming court, basketba ll court, child care facilities and a library among others, affirms America is a free country that respects its constitution. Meanwhile, the opponents of Park 51 like former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani doubt the goodness of constructing the center. He speculates that the construction of Park 51 creates further divisiveness between American and Muslims. More than a half of America takes offence of the proximity of Park 51 to the World Trade Center, hence constructing it might result not in reconciliation, but in divisiveness. Other opponents of the construction like Donald Trump think the Islamic center signifies victory of the 9/11 attack. RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY

CUltural propert - The Treasures of Priam Essay

CUltural propert - The Treasures of Priam - Essay Example As per the recorded modern critical history, Troy and the Trojan War were treated as legends. â€Å"In the 1870s (in two campaigns, 1871-73 and 1878-79) Schliemann excavated a hill called Hissarlik in the Ottoman Empire, near the town of Chanak (Çanakkale) in north-western Anatolia. Here he discovered the ruins of a series of ancient cities, dating from the Bronze Age to the Roman period. Schliemann declared one of these cities—at first Troy I, later Troy II—to be the city of Troy, and this identification was widely accepted at that time.† (Priams Treasure†¦.) Schliemann recounts what happened on the eventful day of May 31, 1873. When the excavation was in progress, he noticed a large copper article and saw gold behind it. With a flash of intuition, he understood importance of the delicate situation and with great presence of mind, announced the lunch break to the large posse of works involved in the job of excavation. He collected the treasure when the workers were lunching. With the help of his wife, he packed the findings in her shawl. The Treasure mainly consisted of A copper shield, a copper cauldron with handles, an unknown copper artifact, perhaps the hasp of a chest, a silver vase containing two gold diadems--the â€Å"Jewels of Helen† --8750 gold rings, buttons and other small objects, six gold bracelets, two gold goblets ,a copper vase, a wrought gold bottle, two gold cups, one wrought, one cast, a number of red terra cotta goblets, an electrum cup (mixture of gold and silver),six wrought silver knife blades (which Schliemann put forward as money), three silver vases with fused copper parts, more silver goblets and vases, thirteen copper lance head, fourteen copper axes, seven copper daggers, other copper artifacts with the key to a chest, The treasure as an art collection. Schliemann smuggled the Treasure out of Anatolia. The Ottoman government revoked the permission granted earlier to dig and put forth claims by suing him for the share of

Leadership Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 16

Leadership - Assignment Example Transformational leadership provides a functional ground upon which democratic leadership could be practiced. On the other hand, team building enhances collaboration between all parties bound to the democratic style of leadership. Finally, communication provides a platform for effective and efficient flow of information. A combination of the three activities is a strategic approach towards improving democratic leadership. The above discussed activities are highly likely to foster personal and professional growth and development of all persons involved in democratic leadership. My vision, skills, traits, and background can essentially redesign and revolutionize future leadership. Whilst, democratic leadership entails active participation of group members or employees in decision making, the final say rests with the leader. In this respect, my vision, skills, traits, and background will play a vital role in coaching, mentoring, and supervising the people I will lead in

Persuasive Presentations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Persuasive Presentations - Essay Example For most writers, that's presenting information, usually to an audience that's about as knowledgeable on the subject as we are. (Anthony 45-57) For presentations, that's a lethal combination. Factual information presented at a high level of technical expertise not only doesn't persuade, but may actually alienate the reader. For thousands of years, people have tried to figure out the best way to persuade other people to do things. We know that persuasion has been the subject of serious study since the days of classical Greece. Plato worried about the rhapsodes' ability to appeal to citizens' emotions and persuade them to do things that were not in the best of interest of the city or themselves. And Aristotle wrote one of the great treatises on persuasion. (Rasmussen 23-36) Among the Romans the ability to persuade was considered a hallmark of responsible citizenship. Since World War II, researchers have worked particularly hard to identify the elements of persuasion. Why They have some practical motives: improving advertising and marketing campaigns, motivating audiences, influencing the electorate, girding consumers and voters against propaganda, understanding the dynamics of brainwashing, and- yes- writing better presentations. From all this speculation and research, four elements have consistently bee n a vital part of nearly every theory of persuasion: the message, the receiver, the channel, and the source. (Daley 79-83) Giving them some consideration will give us a deeper understanding of the process of persuasion. Message The impact of your message depends in part on whether the receiver is receptive to it to begin with. If the evidence or logic in a particular persuasive message is in line with the audience's basic values, beliefs, or biases, the receiver is more likely to accept it and modify his or her attitudes accordingly. If the evidence runs counter to the receiver's basic beliefs, persuasion is far less likely to occur. Thus, the way you frame your message with regard to your audience's preferences is critical. That may seem circular: You can persuade people to accept only the things they already accept or to do the things they already want to do. But that's not quite what's going on here. (Holcombe 112-24) There is a difference between a belief and an attitude. Someone may issue an RFP for new equipment because he or she believes that production efficiency can be improved by using more modern technology. If you can base your presentation on the same belief and then demonstrate how your equipm ent will introduce labor-saving enhancements, the receiver's attitude toward you as the most suitable vendor will change in a positive way. However, if you send out a canned presentation, one that emphasizes the ruggedness and durability of your machines, instead of their impact on production efficiency, you will be not be addressing the client's basic belief. (Anthony 45-57) As a result, you may not persuade him or her to choose you. This is the fundamental problem in submitting boilerplate presentations. Because customers vary widely in their beliefs and values, using the same text for everybody guarantees that a large percentage of them will find your message irrelevant or unconvincing. Receiver The receiver is a vital component of

Ownership and Control as Important Aspect of the Media Essay Example for Free

Ownership and Control as Important Aspect of the Media Essay Discuss two contrasting theories and relevant studies to explain the extent to which ownership and control is an important aspect of the media. The term mass media is essentially information which is targeted at a large audience. The Mass media is a global industry which has played a major role in shaping society over the 20th century. As technology has developed and created the opportunity to communicate with huge numbers of people, the mass media has developed and with it the media’s impact on society. Over the last fifty years the media has changed its shape yet again to fit in with our increasingly technological society; various forms of new media have appeared: smartphones, laptops, internet and ipods. The general aim of these new mediums is to allow greater flexibility to the user and access media while mobile, also they are not physical forms of media but electronic, which has its own advantages and disadvantages. There have also been major changes in ownership and control of the media; it has become both increasingly concentrated and transnational. An example would be the controversial Mr. Murdoch. His News International group owns over one third of newspapers in Britain, Two other companies, Mirror Group Newspapers and United Newspapers own another 40 per cent between them. This clearly shows that the bulk of the power is held by only a few individuals, this creates very serious political and economical implications. Murdoch’s paper has been partially responsible for getting each government elected over the past fifty years; every party he has supported over the years has won. Two main sociological theories are used to explain ownership and control of the mass media: Pluralist theory and Marxist theory. Each have there own interpretations of the issues and subsequent strengths and weaknesses which I shall now discuss. Pluralist theory is all about power in society. They believe that no one group or elite dominates society. It is essentially a functionalist view. Instead Pluralists believe that there is a range of interest groups who share power. Pluralists argue that the mass media reflect such a range of interests. They argue that the mass media simply reflect what we, the public, want. If it is biased it is because that is the view people want to hear, it simply reflects the publics opinion rather than trying to make people think a particular way. For example the British press is generally conservative; Pluralists argue this is because British society is generally conservative. Pluralists would also say that the mass media provides a wide and diverse choice for the consumer. Therefore there is no single dominant ideology but a genuine choice for the consumer. Minority views are expressed just the same as the dominant views. Because of this Pluralists argue that the mass media has little or no influence on the views of the masses. At most it simply reinforces what people already believe. Pluralism recognizes the ability of the individuals to make up there own mind about key issues. For example, in the general elections of 1997 and 2001 viweing figures dropped sharply during the campaign, suggesting most people had decided who to support before the campaign even started. Furthermore in the 1992 elections the swing to the conservatives was just as great from the neutral Independent as is was from those who read pro-conservative tabloids. Even readers of The Sun, which was strongly against a conservative government, indicated in election polls that they had voted conservative. The Pluralist perspective is criticized for ignoring clear evidence of bias, mainly political bias and the influence it can have on society. For example, the political party supported by Rupert Murdoch’s papers has won every election since 1979. When he decided to switch from Labour to Conservative in 1997, there was a 15 per cent swing to Labour amongst readers of The Sun. This clear evidence of bias due to the views of a single man is ignored by the Pluralist perspective. The impact of the mass media is obviously key to election campaigns and has a massive impact on society as a whole. Arguably Rupert Murdoch alone has been responsible, in part, for getting each government elected since 1979. This clearly is very undemocratic and bad for the country. The Marxist conflict theory views the mass media as a means of not only influencing people, but also controlling them. It is used as a tool by the ruling class to maintain control and power through transmitting a conformist conservative view of the world. Sociologist have created two general views within Marxism, Manipulative Marxism – which places emphasis on the mass media as a form of economic capitalism and Hegemonic Marxism – which emphasises the mass media as a means whereby the ruling class project a culture which reflects their own norms and values, to the exclusion of all others. The concentration of ownership increases such control. Marxists also argue that the ruling class use the media as a filter through which information is passed to the mass of the population. In emphasizing the acceptance of the status quo, the media resists change and therefore works against the interests of the working class. The media therefore will project capitalism positively, creating a false class consciousness to the proletariat to prevent them realizing their exploitation and thus overthrow capitalism. Because of the established media moguls such as Rupert Murdoch it is difficult for small firms and individuals to gain much credit and fame. The Marxist perspective is seen as strong in analyzing the mass media from a conflict perspective. In doing so it helps to explain the mass media as a source of inequality within capitalist society. It also helps to explain the perceived bias within the media. For Marxists this is particularly important in a political and economical context. Marxism identifies and analyses political bias within the media, for example the consumerism culture that the newspapers promote. However, the Marxist theory is criticized for underestimating the ability of individuals to absorb information and make up there own minds about what they agree with or disagree with. Critics argue that people are not like robots who passively accept what they are told, rather they critically judge a variety of issues and make up there own mind using what they have been told and their own individual experience with the issue. James Curran, in Mass Media and Democracy: A reppraisal (1991), argues that the growth of commercial radio and television re-affirms the view that there is a widespread choice with a core public sector combined with an expanding private sector. Thus, the impact of ownership and control is negligible given the real and diverse choice that exists. Currans study supports the Pluralist perspective. Studies such as Curran’s are strong in recognizing the changing nature of British industry and how it applies to the mass media. Such conclusions are supported by the reality of the mass media that, despite a concentration of ownership, is run by a diverse range of individuals from different social backgrounds, through joint stock companies. However, this tends to ignore the fact that the largest proportion of shares in any public liability company is owned by either wealthy individuals or large institutional shareholders. From a Marxist perspective the ruling class is seen as an agent of ideological control in modern society, used by the ruling class to establish and impose its values on the working class. This is a view taking by Miliband in The State in Capitalist Society (1973). Miliband argues that the mass media is an agent of capitalist control, rejecting the pluralist theory that there is genuine choice.

Dramatic Importance of Similar Themes Essay Example for Free

Dramatic Importance of Similar Themes Essay A distinct art form like a poem, novel or play, a short story is a short piece of writing, having few characters, conflicts, a theme, a setting and a point of view, usually fewer than 10,000 words. Every detail contributes to the unity of effect. Most short stories can connect if they include similar elements, characteristics or qualities including character development and themes. In the short stories: A Deal in Ostriches, The Beautiful Suit, and The Triumphs of a Taxidermist, all written by H. G. Wells, there are similar features in the way the author writes about the theme of humans going through major changes in their lifetime, which shows how important this fundamental is in the plot development of a short story. Whether the change is positive or negative; all humans go through many changes that could as well be life altering. In A Deal in Ostriches, this theme is situated to play out a role, so the main character goes through a dramatic change from start to finish, ending with a twist to show the main characters true side. In The Beautiful suit, the main character goes through his major change at the end as well, starting off as a man boy, but dying happily in the end. In The triumphs of a Taxidermist, the taxidermist starts off as a man of an unintelligent nature, but concludes in the founding of an extinct species of a New Zealand bird, showing his true identity. These factors help prove that the consistency of having the same theme, helps plot development and structure greatly in short stories. In A Deal in Ostriches, the theme is showing that the main character goes through a vivid change in his life and role as the story progress to the finish. The main character Padishah, tends to be a loyal character who needs help finding his jewel. We believe he is against Potter, who is trying to steal his jewel for his own contentment. In the end we consider the fact that Padishah changes throughout the story and turns against everyone to be on Potters side. This story concludes with a bit of a twist, â€Å"A week or so after landing I was down Regent-street doing a bit of shopping, and who should I see arm-in-arm and having a purple time of it but Padishah and Potter. †(Wells 4) This shows that even if someone is reliable or trustworthy at the start, it does not mean they will never change. Padishah is a perfect example of how life situations will always change over time. In The Beautiful Suit, the main character is a little man, who goes through a major change at the end of the story, showing the theme of how life changes can occur in very little periods of time. He starts off as a sad man because his mother would never let him wear his favourite suit, but dies happily in the end. â€Å"But his face was a face of such happiness that, had you seen it, you would have understood indeed how that he had died happy. †(Wells 4) He is the one who changes his feelings; he decides to go out and live his life the way he wanted to. One night he decided he was going to do everything he ever wished to do, including wearing his suit. We find out that his negative attitude turned into a positive one just by changing the way he felt he should be doing things. This little man starts his life in a way he did not feel was right, so he took a chance to turn his life around, and he did. He died happily, just as he wished he would. This shows the theme of human life changing noticeably, and how it can also change in an encouraging way. In The triumphs of a Taxidermist, the main character who is a taxidermist starts off hiding who he truly is, but ends up showing how truly smart and sneaky he is in the end. The taxidermist does not tell or show anyone his uniqueness until the end of the story when he reveals that he found a species of a New Zealand bird which is extinct. One man questioned â€Å"Is it one of those big birds recently extinct in New Zealand? †(Wells 2) No one truly believed that the taxidermist actually founded this spices, but life is full of unexpected surprises. If you are gentle and composed, you can always change your ways in life and become a man of great power. The taxidermist showed that humans go through major changes or chose to make those changes themselves, sometime throughout their lifetime. In conclusion all three of these well written short stories by H. G Wells, brought me to the attention that similar themes, such as the theme of humans going through major changes, is very important in plot development of a short story. These short stories all include a main character that goes through dramatic changes from start to finish presenting its similarities. Everything has something in common; you just need to be imaginative to find it out.

Risk Factors of Sleep Disorder After Stroke:

Risk Factors of Sleep Disorder After Stroke: Risk factors of sleep disorder after stroke: A Meta analysis Running title: Risk factors of sleep disorder after stroke Highlights: Diabetes mellitus has a 41% increased risk of sleep disorder in stroke patients Alcohol use has a 59% increased risk of sleep disorder in stroke patients Habitual snoring has a 1377% increased risk of sleep disorder in stroke patients Body-mass index has a 17% decreased risk of sleep disorder in stroke patients Abstract Objectives: To explore the related risk factors of sleep disorder in stroke patients by conducting a meta-analysis Methods: PubMed, Medline, Springer, Elsevier Science Direct, Cochrane Library and Google scholar database were searched from inception up to May 2014. Studies investigating risk factors for sleep disorder after stroke were included. Characteristics including author’s name, year of publication, country, sample size, age of participants and gender were extracted independently by two reviewers. Results: A total of 8 studies, involving 1381 patients (578 experimental groups and 803 control groups) were eligible for the meta-analysis. The meta-analysis showed that there were significant association between risk of sleep disorder after stoke between diabetes mellitus (OR = 1.41, 95% CI = 1.09 to 1.84, P OR = 1.59, 95% CI = 1.19 to 2.12, P OR = 14.77, 95% CI = 5.52 to 39.53, P WMD = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.63 to 1.03, P OR = 1.23, 95% CI = 0.72 to 2.1, P > 0.05), hypertension (OR = 1.22, 95% CI = 0.83 to 1.80, P > 0.05), dyslipidemia (OR = 0.96, 95% CI = 0.70 to 1.33, P > 0.05), smoking (OR = 1.27, 95% CI = 0.73 to 2.20, P > 0.05), previous stroke (OR = 1.05, 95% CI = 0.74 to 1.49, P > 0.05), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (OR = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.40 to 1.57, P > 0.05) when compared with control groups. Furthermore, the results of Egger test showed no statistical publication bias. Conclusions: Diabetes mellitus, alcohol use, habitual snoring and body-mass index are associated with risk of sleep disorder in patients with stroke. Key words: Sleep disorder; Risk factors; Meta-analysis; Stroke Introduction Stroke is a serious global health problem, and considered as the fourth leading cause of death and the primary cause of adult disability in all around the world [1-3]. Sleep-related breathing disorders (SDB) is a frequent clinical phenomena, and characterized by repetitive apneas and hypopneas during sleep [4, 5]. The relationship of SDB with stroke has been investigated in the recent years. Many researches have reported increased incidence of SDB in stroke patients, which could lead to progression of the stroke [6, 7]. Furthermore, SDB following stroke may result in high mortality and morbidity [4]. Although SDB and stroke have common established risk factors including age, gender, elevated body-mass index (BMI), hypercholesterolemia, hypertension and habitual snoring [8-10], risk factors leading to SDB in stroke patients remains unclear. Thus, it is important to identify contributing risk factors or associated conditions that can impact on outcome of SDB following stroke. Previously existing literature and primary analyses on risk factors of sleep disorder after stroke only involved in research of certain factor, and statistical power was deficient and insufficient in these studies [4, 11]. In this study, to investigate the risk factors for SDB after stroke and obtain a quantitative estimate of the risk, we systematically review the literature that have studied patients with stroke for SDB risk factors, (namely gender, Hypertension, Diabetes mellitus, Dyslipidemia, Smoking, alcohol use, Previous stroke history, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Habitual snoring and Body-mass index)by conducting a meta-analysis. Methods Search strategy and study selection We retrieved the relevant studies up to May 2014 in several public databases, mainly including PubMed, Medline, Springer, Elsevier Science Direct, Cochrane Library and Google scholar. The main search words were â€Å"factor† or â€Å"influence†, â€Å"affect† or â€Å"element† or â€Å"determinant† or â€Å"cause† or â€Å"reason† and â€Å"sleep disorder†, â€Å"apnoea† or â€Å"obstacle† or â€Å"impediment† or â€Å"barrier† or â€Å"obstruction† or â€Å"balk† and â€Å"stroke† or â€Å"cerebral apoplexy† or â€Å"acute cerebral accident† and â€Å"research† or â€Å"survey† or â€Å"study† or â€Å"trial†. Meanwhile, references from retrieved papers were checked for more relevant studies not identified in database search. Eligibility of relevant studies For relevant abstracts, full publications were retrieved for evaluation on the basis of criteria that were established a priori. All selected research articles were considered except case reports. We sought to include studies of any design that reported risk factors in sleep disorders, and relationships between sleep-disordered breathing, sleep apnea or insomnia symptoms and stroke without the limitation of sample size and range of age. Studies were excluded from the systematic reviews and reports that only described sleep disorder after stroke. Studies with no control group were also excluded. Reviews, reduplicated studies and studies published in language other than English were excluded as well. Data extraction Information from each study was extracted independently by two reviewers using a data extraction form. Study general characteristics (e.g., author, year of publication, location of participants, design of studies, ethnicity and number of cases), and characteristics of participants (e.g., age, gender and sample size) were recorded (where available) and doubled-checked. Meanwhile, the effect size of risk factors of sleep disorder in stroke patients compared with stroke patients without sleep disorder with corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) were extracted as reported by authors. The effect size of gender, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, smoking, alcohol use, previous stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and habitual snoring were measured by, and body-mass index (BMI) by weighted mean difference (WMD). In addition, we contacted authors of incorporated studies to obtain further information for data items that needed clarification. Discrepancies were resolved by discussing within our research team or contracting with the original investigators via e-mail. Statistical analysis The meta-analysis was focused on the risk factors of sleep disorder in stroke patients versus stroke patients without sleep disorder. The pooled estimates of effect size of risk factors were calculated by averaging OR or WMD based on a fixed or random effects model depending on the overall heterogeneity. Then, heterogeneity of effect size across studies was evaluated by applying Cochran’s Q-statistic and and the I2 statistic [12, 13]. P value I2 value > 50% was considered to heterogenous across the studies. When substantial heterogeneity was detected, we calculated the overall estimate of ORs or WMDs using Mantel–Haenszel method in the fixed effect model [14]. If not, the pooled estimates were presented based on the random effect model by using DerSimonian and Laid method [15]. In addition, the publication bias were evaluated using Egger’s linear regression test [16], which measures funnel plot asymmetry by the natural logarithm scale of the effect size. Meta-analysis was performed using the software of the STATA package v.11.0 (Stata Corporation, College Station, TX, USA). P value Results Literature research and study characteristics The details of the literature search were shown in a flow diagram (Figure 1). We obtained 972 citations (131 from Medline, 341 from Pubmed, 164 from Springer, 103 from Elsevier Science Direct, 16 from Cochrane Library and 217 from Google Scholar) with our electronic literature search. We obtain 84 citations after removing duplicates or irrelevant studies. In addition, 47 citations were excluded after screening based on the abstracts. Then 37 remained citations were full-text reviewed for detailed assessment. Finally, 8 citations satisfied the inclusion criteria and were eligible for the meta-analysis. The characteristics and information of the included studies were presented in Table 1. The 8 selected studies contained 1381 patients with average age (ranging from 43.0 to 75.2 years old), including 578 experimental groups (stroke patients with sleep disorder) and 803 control groups(stroke patients without sleep disorder) [17-24]. Overall analysis of gender As shown in Table 2, a total of 7 separate studies [17-20, 22-24], involving 1321 stroke patients (539 experimental groups and 782 control groups), were eligible for the meta-analysis. Meta-analysis showed no association between gender and sleep disorder after stroke was found (OR = 1.23, 95% CI = 0.72 to 2.1, P > 0.05), yet with significant heterogeneity between studies (Q2 = 22.73, I2 = 73.6%, P the result of Egger’s test showed no evidence of publication bias (P = 0.91) Overall analysis of hypertension As presented in table 2, a total of 8 studies [17-24], including 1381 stroke patients (578 experimental groups and 803 control groups ), were finally eligible for the meta-analysis. Meta-analysis showed no association between hypertension and sleep disorder after stroke compared with control groups (OR = 1.22, 95% CI = 0.83 to 1.80, P > 0.05), yet with significant between-study heterogeneity was found (Q2 = 14.13, I2 = 50.5%, P In addition, the result of Egger’s test showed no evidence of publication bias (P = 0.43). Overall analysis of diabetes mellitus As shown in Table 2, a total of 7 studies [17, 19-24], involving 1326 stroke patients (549 experimental groups and 777 control groups), were eligible for the meta-analysis. Meta-analysis showed diabetes mellitus had a 41% increased risk of sleep disorder in stroke patients compared with control groups (OR = 1.41, 95% CI = 1.09 to 1.84, P Q2 = 1.59, I2 = 0%, P > 0.1). In addition, the result of Egger’s test showed no evidence of publication bias (P = 0.72) Overall analysis of dyslipidemia As shown in Table 2, a total of 4 studies [17, 19, 22, 24], involving 832 stroke patients (373 experimental groups and 459 control groups), were eligible for the meta-analysis. Meta-analysis showed no association between dyslipidemia and sleep disorder after stroke compared with control groups (OR = 0.96, 95% CI = 0.70 to 1.33, P > 0.05), yet with significant between-study heterogeneity (Q2 = 4.78, I2 = 37.3%, P > 0.1). In addition, the result of Egger’s test showed no evidence of publication bias (P = 0.68) Overall analysis of smoking As presented in Table 2, a total of 5 studies [17, 19, 20, 22, 23], containing 1234 stroke patients (495 experimental groups and 739 control groups), were eligible for the meta-analysis. Meta-analysis showed no association between smoking and sleep disorder after stroke compared with control groups (OR = 1.22, 95% CI = 0.83 to 1.80, P > 0.05), yet with significant between-study heterogeneity (Q2 = 13.82, I2 = 71.0%, P the result of Egger’s test showed no evidence of publication bias (P = 0.43). Overall analysis of alcohol use As shown in Table 2, a total of 5 studies [17, 19, 20, 22, 23], involving consisting of 1234 stroke patients (495 experimental groups and 739 control groups), were eligible for the meta-analysis. Meta-analysis showed alcohol use had a 41% increased risk of sleep disorder in stroke patients compared with control groups (OR = 1.59, 95% CI = 1.19 to 2.12, P no significant between-study heterogeneity (Q2 = 4.49, I2 = 10.9%, P > 0.1). In addition, the result of Egger’s test showed no evidence of publication bias (P = 0.65). Overall analysis of previous stroke As shown in Table 2, a total of 5 studies [17, 19, 21, 22, 24], involving 892 stroke patients (412 experimental groups and 480 control groups), were eligible for the meta-analysis. Meta-analysis showed no association between previous stroke and sleep disorder after stroke compared with control groups (OR = 1.05, 95% CI = 0.74 to 1.49, P > 0.05), and with no significant between-study heterogeneity was found (Q2 =2.31, I2 =0%, P > 0.1). In addition, the result of Egger’s test showed no evidence of publication bias (P = 0.24). Overall effects of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) As shown in Table 2, a total of 2 studies[19, 22], containing 623 stroke patients (280 experimental groups and 343 control groups), were eligible for the meta-analysis. Meta-analysis showed no association between COPD and sleep disorder after stroke compared with control groups (OR = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.40 to 1.57, P > 0.05), yet with no significant between-study heterogeneity was found (Q2 = 0.24, I2 = 0%, P > 0.1). Overall effects of habitual snoring As shown in Table 2, a total of 2 studies [20, 21], involving 422 stroke patients (138 experimental groups and 284 control groups), were eligible for the meta-analysis. Meta-analysis showed habitual snoring had a 1377% increased risk of sleep disorder in stroke patients compared with control groups (OR = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.40 to 1.57, P > 0.05), yet with no significant between-study heterogeneity was found (Q2 = 1.29, I2 = 22.6%, P > 0.1). Overall effects of Body-mass index (BMI) As shown in Table 2, a total of 3 studies [20, 21, 23], involving 494 stroke patients (176 experimental groups and 318 control groups), were eligible for the meta-analysis. Meta-analysis showed BMI had a 17% decreased risk of sleep disorder in stroke patients compared with control groups (WMD = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.63 to 1.03, P Q2 = 0.95, I2 = 0%, P > 0.1). In addition, the result of Egger’s test showed no evidence of publication bias (P = 0.998). Discussion In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis for investigating risk factors of sleep disorder in stroke patients. Based on the data from 8 studies including 1381 patients, the factors (Diabetes mellitus, alcohol use, habitual snoring and BMI) were associated with risk of sleep disorder in stroke patients when compared with control groups, yet with no significant between-study heterogeneity. The magnitude of this association was greatest for habitual snoring with stroke patients experiencing a 1377% increase in risk of sleep disorder compared with stroke patients without sleep disorder. However, there were no association between risk of sleep disorder after stroke and other factors (gender, Hypertension, Dyslipidemia, Smoking, Previous stroke history and COPD). In addition, there was no indication of publication bias from the result of Egger’s test. Researchers have shown increased incidence of SDB in stroke patients, which may lead to a poor outcome and recurrence [25, 26]. SDB progresses from habitual snoring to the increased upper airway resistance syndrome to sleep apnea [27], and it is biologically plausible that habitual snoring could increase the risk of sleep disorder in stroke patients. Habitual snoring is significantly associated with daytime sleepiness, restless sleep, and hyperactivity, which could lead to sleep disorder [28, 29]. In our literature search we did not identify results of any randomized clinical trials evaluating the effect of risk factors on sleep disorder after stroke. However, it is reasonable to infer that habitual snoring may contribute to incidence and development of sleep disorder in stroke patients. The previous studies have shown significant gender-related differences in presenting symptoms of patients with SDB [30], and the risk for the development of sleep disorder was significantly lower in women [31]. However, in our study, we found no association between gender and risk of sleep disorder after stroke, yet with the most significant between-study heterogeneities. This might result from unavoidable difference in study sample sizes and distinct adjustments across studies. Thus, we suggest that the present analyses might have underestimated the true effects of gender on risk of sleep disorder after stroke, and further studies are needed to be demonstrated this. The present meta-analysis has a series of limitations, such as lack of uniformity (e.g. sleep disorder diagnostic criteria, the duration of patients with stroke) and exclusion of studies written in languages other than English. Furthermore, another limitation was the narrow coverage of information of the present analysis. After all, the results in this analysis were only obtained data from Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania, and the majority of the included studies did not state if there were any racial differences among participants. The differences in regions and races among studies might have an influence on pooled risk estimates of sleep disorder after stroke. In summary, the present meta-analysis suggest that the factors (Diabetes mellitus, alcohol use, habitual snoring and BMI) is associated with risk of metabolic syndrome. The conclusion has a great significance for public health, especially in countries of high incidence of stroke. In addition, further investigations, both epidemiological and mechanistic, are needed to investigate whether regulating these factors can prevent occurrence and development of metabolic syndrome. 3D Technology: Types and Uses 3D Technology: Types and Uses CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This report will focus on how different 3D technologies work, it will include the entire work flow, from recording the action, encoding the footage, playing back the media via a cinema projector or television and finally how the audience views the 3D film or video, whether it be through specially designed glasses or an auto-stereoscopic television. At present the most popular way to view 3D media is with the use of specialised glasses, the most popular being, active shutter glasses, passive polarised glasses and colour separationbased glasses. Wearing glasses to watch a movie is often mentioned as a negative aspect of 3D. There is a technology available that allows you to watch 3D on screens without wearing any additional glasses, it is called autostereoscopy, this will also be looked at. The health impacts that result from watching 3D will also be examined, along with factors that will prevent a person from being able to correctly view 3D images. There will be impacts on the entire industry from studios and cinemas to smaller production companies and independent producers if 3D films become the norm and these will be examined. A good place to start this report is to examine how two of the highest profile media companies around at present are currently viewing 3D technology. Phil McNally stereoscopic supervisor at Disney-3D and Dreamworks was quoted as saying, consider that all technical progress in the cinema industry brought us closer to the ultimate entertainment experience: the dream. We dream in colour, with sound, in an incoherent world with no time reference. The cinema offers us a chance to dream awake for an hour. And because we dream in 3D, we ultimately want the cinema to be a 3D experience not a flat one.'(Mendiburu, 2009) In the BBC Research White Paper: The Challenges of Three-Dimensional Television, 3D technology is referred to as a continuing long-term evolution of television standards towards a means of recording, transmitting and displaying images that are indistinguishable from reality'(Armstrong, Salmon, Jolly, 2009) It is clear from both of these high profile sources that the industry is taking the evolution of 3D very seriously, as a result this is a topic that is not only very interesting but will be at the cutting edge of technological advances for the next couple of years. This report will be covering the following things: What does the term 3D mean with reference to film and video A look at the history of 3D in film How does 3D technology work The implications of 3D on the film business and on cinemas The methods used to create the media and also the ways in which the 3D image is recreated for the viewer The reasons I have chosen to do my project on this topic is that I am very interested in the new media field. 3D video when accompanied with high definition film and video is a field that is growing rapidly. Earlier this year, on 02 April 2009, Sky broadcast the UKs first live event in the 3D TV format, it featured a live music concert by the pop group Keane, it was sent via the companys satellite network using polarisation technology. Traditionally we view films and television in two dimensions, this in essence means we view the media as a flat image. In real life we view everything in three dimensions, this is because we get a slightly different image received in each eye, the brain then combines these and we can work out depth of vision and create a 3D image. (this will be explained further in Chapter 3) There is a high level of industrial relevance with this topic, as 3D technology coupled with high definition digital signal is at the cutting edge of mainstream digital media consumption. Further evidence of this is that the sports company ESPN will be launching their new TV channel, ESPN-3D in North America in time for this years Summer Football World Cup. In January 2009 the BBC produced a Research White Paper entitled The Challenges of Three-Dimensional Television on this subject and over the next couple of years they predict that it will start to be introduced in the same way that HD (High Definition) digital television signal is currently being phased in, with pay-per-view movies and sports being the first take advantage of it. Sky have announced that their existing Sky+HD boxes will be able to broadcast the 3D signals so customers will not even need to update their equipment to be able to receive the 3D Channel that they are starting to broadcast later this year. On Sunday January 31st 2010, Sky broadcast a live Premier League football match between Arsenal and Manchester United for the first time in 3D to selected pubs across the country, Sky equipped the selected pubs with LGs new 47-inch LD920 3D TVs. These televisions use the passive glasses, similar to the ones uses in cinemas as opposed to the more expensive Active glasses which are also an option. (The differences between Active and Passive technologies will be explained in Chapter 8) It is also worth noting that at the 2010 Golden Globe awards, on acceptance of his award for Best Picture for the 3D Box Office Hit Avatar, the Canadian director James Cameron pronounced 3D as the future. At the time of writing this report (27/01/2010) the 3D film Avatar has just taken over from Titanic (also a James Cameron film) to become the highest grossing movie of all time, with worldwide takings of $1.859 billion. This is being accredited to the films outstanding takings in the 3D version of its release, in America 80% of the films box office revenue has been received from the 3D version of its release. In an industry where money talks, these figures will surely lead to an dramatic increase in production of 3D films and as a result Avatar could potentially be one of the most influential films of all time. After completing this dissertation I hope to be able to have a wide knowledge base on the subject and hopefully this will appeal to companies that I approach about employment once I have graduated. In the summer of 2010 when I will be looking for jobs, I believe that a lot of production companies will have some knowledge of 3D technology and be aware of how in the near future it may be something that they will have to consider adopting in the way that many production companies are already or soon will be adopting HD into their workflow. In order to ensure that I complete this project to a high standard it is important that I gain a complete understanding of the topic and study a variety of different sources when compiling my research. 3D media itself is not a new concept so there are a wide range of books and articles on the theory of 3D and stereoscopy along with anaglyphs. However in recent years there has been a resurgence in 3D with relation to film and TV. This is due mainly to digital video and film production making it easier and cheaper to create and manage the two channels needed for three-dimensional video production. It has proved more difficult to study books and papers on this most recent resurgence of 3D because it is still happening and evolving all the time. I have read various research white papers on the subject, which have been cited in the Bibliography, I have also used websites and blogs along with some recently published books, one of the problems with such a fast moving technological field such as 3D though, is that these books quickly become outdated. CHAPTER 2: HUMAN VISION In the real world we see in three dimensions as opposed to the two dimensions that we have become accustomed to when watching TV or at the cinema. Human vision appears in three dimensions because it is normal for people to have two eyes that both focus on the object, in the brain these two images are then fused into one, from this we can work out depth of vision, this process is called stereopsis. All of these calculations happen in the brain without the person ever even noticing, as a result we see the world in three dimensions very naturally. The reason that we see in 3D is because of stereoscopic depth perception. There are various complex calculations going on in our brains, this coupled with real experience allows our brain to work out the depth of vision. If it wasnt for this it would be impossible to tell if something was very small or just very far away. As humans, we have learnt to judge depth even with only one view point. This is why, if a person has one eye they can still manage to do most things that a person with two eyes can do. This is also why when watching a 2-D film you can still get a good judge of depth. The term for depth cues based on only one viewpoint is monoscopic depth cues. One of the most important of these is our own experience, it relates to perspective and relative size of objects. In simple terms, we have become accustomed to object being certain sizes. An example of this is that we expect buildings to be very big, humans are smaller and insects are smaller still. So this means that if we can see all three of these objects next to each other and they appear to be the same size then the insect must be much closer than the person, and both the insect and the person must be much closer that the building (see figure 1). The perspective depth cue (shown in figure1) was backed up when an experiment was carried out by Ittelson in 1951. He got volunteers to look through a peep hole at some playing cards, the only thing they could see were the cards and so there were no other types of depth cue available. There were actually three different-sized playing cards (normal size, half-size, and double size), and they were presented one at a time at a distance of 2.3metres away. The half-sized playing card was judged to be 4.6 metres away from the observer, whereas the double-sized card was thought to be 1.3 metres away. Thus, familiar size had a large effect on distance judgement'(Eysenck, 2002). Another monoscopic depth cue that is very effective is referred to as occlusion or interposition. This is where an object overlaps another object. If a person is standing behind a tree then you will be able to see all of the tree but only part of the person. This tells us that the tree is nearer to us that the person. One of the most important single view depth cues in called motion parallax, it works on the basis that if a person moves their head, and therefore eyes, then objects nearer to them, whilst not physically moving, will appear to move more than the objects in the distance. This is the method that astronomers use to measure distances of stars and planets. It is in extremely important method of judging depth and is used extensively in 3D filmmaking. In filmmaking, lighting is often talked about as being one of the key elements to giving the picture depth, and this is because it is a monoscopic depth cue. In real life the main light source for millennia has been the sun. Humans have worked out how to judge depth based on the shadows that are portrayed from an object. In 2D films shadows are often used to display depth by casting them across actors faces it allows the viewers to see the recesses and expressions trying to be portrayed. So far all of the methods that have been described for determining depth have been monoscopic, these work independently within each eye. If these were the only methods for determining depth there would be no need for 3D films as it would not add anything because all of these methods could be recreated using a single camera lens. This is not the case however, a lot of the more advanced methods used in human vision for judging depth need the use of both eyes, these are called stereoscopic depth cues. A great deal of stereoscopic depth cues are based around the feedback that your brain gets when the muscles in the eye are manipulated to concentrate your vision on a particular point. One of the main stereoscopic depth cues is called convergence, this referrers to the way that the eyes rotate in order to focus on an object (see figure 2). If the focus is on a near object, the eyes rotate around the Y axis and converge on a tighter angle , similarly if the focus is on a distant object the rotation means the eyes have a wider angle of convergence. It is a lot less stressful on the muscles in the eye to have a wide angle of convergence and look at objects far away, in comparison looking at very close object for any amount of time causes the muscles in the eye to ache. This is a very important factor that should be considered when creating 3D films, as it doesnt matter how good the film is, if it is going to hurt the audience it will not go down well. A second stereoscopic depth cue that we use is called accommodation, this is the way that our eyes changes focus when we look at an object at different distances, it is very closely linked with convergence. Usually when we look at an object very close up, our eyes will change rotation and point towards the object (convergence) allowing us to look at the item, our eyes will at the same time change focus (accommodation). Using the ciliarybody muscles in the eye, the lens will change shape to let more or less light in the same way a camera does, thus changing focus. In everyday life convergence and accommodation usually happen in parallel. The fact that we can, if we wish choose to converge our eyes without changing the focus means that 3D films are possible. When you are sat in the cinema all of the action is projected onto the screen in front of you, so this is where your eyes need to focus. With 2D films the screen is also where your eyes need to converge, but with 3D films this is not the case. When watching a 3D film the focus never changes from the screen, else the whole picture would go out of focus, but objects appear to be in front and behind the screen, so your eyes need to change their convergence to look at these objects without altering their focus from the screen. It has been suggested that this independence of accommodation and convergence is the reason for eye strain when watching a 3D picture as your eyes are doing something that they are not in the habit of doing (see chapter 12: Is 3D bad for you). It is also worth noting that our monoscopic depth cues work at almost any range, this is not the case with stereoscopic depth cues. As objects become further away they no longer appear differently in each eye, so there is no way the brain can calculate a difference and work out depth. The limit occurs in the 100 to 200-yard range, as our discernment asymptomatically tends to zero. In a theatre, we will hit the same limitation, and this will define the depth resolution and the depth range of the screen.(Mendiburu, 2009) This means that when producing a 3D film you have to be aware that the range of 3D that you have to use is not infinite and is limited to 100-200 yards. CHAPTER 3: Early Stereoscopic History (1838 1920) Three dimensional films are not a new phenomenon, Charles Wheatstone discovered, in 1838, that the mechanism responsible for human depth perception is the distance separating the retinas of our eyes . (Autodesk, 2008) In a 12,000 word research paper that Wheatstone presented to the Royal Society of Great Britain he described the stereoscope and claimed as a new fact in his theory if vision the observation that two different pictures are projected on the retinas of the eyes when a single object is seen.(Zone, 2007) Included in the paper were a range of line drawings presented as stereoscopic pairs, these were designed to be viewed in 3D using Wheatstones invention, the stereoscope. Wheatstone was not the first person to look at the possibility of receiving separate views in each eye, In the third century B.C, Euclid in his treatise on Optics observed that the left and right eyes see slightly different views of a sphere'(Zone, 2007). However, Wheatstone was the first person to create a device to be able to re-create 3D images. Between 1835 and 1839 photography was starting to be developed thanks to work from William Fox Talbot, Nicephore Niepce and Louise Daguerre. Once Wheatstone became aware of the photographic pictures that were available he requested some stereoscopic photographs to be made for him. Wheatstone observed that it has been found advantageous to employ, simultaneously, two cameras fixed at the proper angular positions'(Zone, 2007). This was the start of stereoscopic photography. Between 1850 and 1860 work was starting to be done by various people to try and combine stereoscopic photography with machines that would display a series of images very quickly and therefore using persistence of vision to create a moving 3D image. These were the first glimpses of 3D motion. In 1891 a French scientist, Louis Ducos du Hauron patented the anaglyph, a method for separating an image into two separate colour channels and then by wearing glassing with the same colours but on opposite eyes thereby cancelling out the image, thus reproducing one image, but in 3D. Another method used at this time to create 3D was proposed by John Anderton, also in 1891. Andertons system was to use polarisation techniques to split the image into two separate light paths and then employ a similar polarisation technique to divert a separate image to each eye on viewing. One of the main advantages of polarisation over anaglyphs is that they do not lose any colour information, this is due to the fact that both images retain the original colour spectrums. They do however loose luminance. It is common for a silver screen to be necessary, it serves two purposes, firstly the specially designed screen maintains the separate polarisation required for each image. It also reflects more light than conventional screens, this compensates for the loss of luminance. During 1896 and 1897 2D motion pictures started to take off, and by 1910 after a lot of initial experimenting the creative formats of film that we recognise today such as cuts and framing had started to become evident. In 1920 Jenkins, an inventor that worked hard to try and create a method for recreating stereoscopic motion picture was quoted as saying Stereoscopic motion pictures have been the subject of considerable thought and have been attained in several waysbut never yet have they been accomplished in a practical way. By practical, I mean, for example without some device to wear over the eyes of the observer.'(Zone, 2007) It is worth noting that this problem of finding a practical method of viewing 3D has still to a large extent not been solved. Chapter 4: Early 3D Feature Films (1922 1950) 4.1 The first 3D feature film The first 3D feature film, The Power of Love was released in 1922, it was exhibited at the Ambassador Hotel Theatre in Los Angeles. Popular Mechanics magazine described how the characters in the film did not appear flat on the screen, but seemed to be moving about in locations which had depth exactly like the real spots where the pictures were taken(Zone, 2007). The Power of Love was exhibited using red/green glasses using a dual strip anaglyph method of 3D projection. (Anaglyphs are explained in chapter 8.3) The film was shot on a custom made camera invented by Harry K.Fairall, he was also the director on the film. The camera incorporated two films in one camera body.(Symmes, 2006) Power of Love was the first film to be viewed using anaglyph glasses, also the first to use dual-strip projection. Also in 1922, William Van Doren Kelley designed his own camera rig, based on the Prizma colour system which he had invented in 1913. The Prizma 3D colour method worked by capturing two different colour channels by placing filters over the lenses. This way he made his own version of the red/blue anaglyphic print. Kelleys Movies of the Future was shown at Rivoli Theatre in New York City. 4.2 The first active-shutter 3D film A year later in 1923 the first alternate-frame 3D projection system was unveiled. It used a technology called Teleview. Which blocked the left and right eyes periodically in sync with the projector, thereby allowing you to see too separate images. Teleview was not an original idea, but up to this point no one had been able to get the theory to actually work in a practical way that would allow for films to be viewed in a cinema. This is where Laurens Hammond comes in. Hammons designed a system where two standard projectors would be hooked up to their own AC generators, running at 60Hz this meant that adjusting the AC frequency would increase or decrease the speed of the projectors. The left film was in the left projector and right film in the right. The projectors were in frame sync, but the shutters were out of phase sync.'(Symmes, 2006) This meant that the left image was shown, then the right image. The viewing device was attached to the seats in the theatre. It was mounted on a flexible neck, similar to some adjustable gooseneck desk lamps. You twisted it around and centred it in front of your face, kind of like a mask floating just in front of your face. (Symmes, 2006) The viewing device consisted of a circular mask with a view piece for each eye plus a small motor that moved a shutter across in front of either the left or right eye piece depending on the cycle of current running through it. All of the viewing devices were powered by the same AC generator as the projectors meaning that they were all exactly in sync. One of the major problems Hammond had to overcome was the fact that at the time film was displayed at 16 frames per second. With this method of viewing you are effectively halving the frame rate. 8 frames per second resulted in a very noticeable flicker. To overcome this Hammond cut each frame up in to three flashes so the new sequence was: 1L-1R-1L-1R-1L-1-R 2L-2R-2L-2R-2L-2R and so on. Three alternate flashes per eye on the screen. (Symmes, 2006) This method of separating and duplicating certain frames effectively resulted in increasing the overall frame rate thereby eradicating the flicker. There was only one film produced using this method, it was called M.A.R.S and displayed at the Selwyn Theatre in New York City in December 1922. The reason the technology didnt catch on was not due to the image, as the actual theory for producing the image has changed very little from the Teleview method to the current active-shutter methods which will be explained later. As with a lot of 3D methods the reason this one did not become mainstream was due the viewing apparatus that was needed. Although existing projectors could be modified by linking them up to separate AC generator, meaning no extra equipment was needed, the headsets that were required did need a lot of investment and time to install. All of the seats in the theatre needed to be fitted with headsets, these were adjusted in front of the audience members. These also had to be linked up to the AC generator so as they were perfectly in sync, this meant that they had to be wired in to the seats. These problems have since been overcome with wireless technologies such as Bluetooth as will be explained later. 4.3 The first polarised 3D film The next and arguably one of the most important advancements in 3D technology came in 1929 when Edwin H. Land worked out a way of using polarised lenses (Polaroid) together with images to create stereo vision. (Find more on polarisation in chapter 8.6) Lands polarizing material was first used for projection of still stereoscopic images at the behest of Clarence Kennedy, an art history instructor at Smith College who wanted to project photo images of sculptures in stereo to his students. (Zone, 2007) In 1936 Beggars Wedding was released in Italy, it was the first stereoscopic feature to include sound, it was exhibited using Polaroid filters. This was filmed using polarised technology. The first American film to use polarising filters was shot in 1939 and entitled In Tune With Tomorrow, it was a 15 minute short film which shows through stop motion, a car being built piece-by-piece in 3D with the added enhancement of music and sound effects. (Internet Movie Database, 2005) Between 1939 and 1952 3D films continued to me made but with the Great Depression and the onset of the Second World War, the cinema industry was restricted with its output because of finances and as 3D films were more expensive to make their output started to be reduced. Chapter 5: Golden Age of 3D (1952 1955) With cinema ticket sales plummeting from 90 million in 1948 to 40 million in 1951 (Sung, 2009) largely being put down to the television becoming coming in peoples front rooms the cinema industry needed to find a way to encourage the viewers back the big screen, 3D was seen as a way to offer something extra to make viewers return. In 1952 the first colour 3D film was released called Bwana Devil,it was the first of many stereoscopic films to follow in the next few years. The process of combining 3D and colour attracted a new audience to 3D films. Between 1950 and 1955 there were far more 3D films produced that at any other time before or since, apart from possibly in the next couple of years from 2009 onwards, as the cinema industry tries to fight back again against falling figures, this time though because of home entertainment systems, video-on-demand, and legal and illegal movie downloads. Towards the end of the Golden Age, around 1955, the fascination with 3D was starting to be lost. There were a number of reasons for this, one of the main factors was that in order for the film to be seen in 3D it had to be shown on two reels at the same time, which meant that the two reels had to be exactly in time else the effect would be lost and it would cause the audience headaches. Chapter 6: Occasional 3D films (1960 2000) Between 1960 and 2000 there were sporadic resurgences in 3D. These were down to new technologies becoming available. In the late 1960s the invention of a single strip 3D format initiated a revival as it meant that the dual projectors would no longer go out of sync and cause eye-strain. The first version of this single strip 3D format to be used was called Space-Vision 3D, it worked on an over and under basis. This meant that the frame was horizontally split into two, during playback it was then separate in two using a prism and polarised glasses. However, there were major drawbacks with Space-Vision 3D. Due to the design of the cameras required to film in this format, the only major lens that was compatible was the Bernier lens. The focal length of the Bernier optic is fixed at 35mm and the interaxial at 65mm. Neither may be varied, but convergence may be altered'(Lipton, 1982).This obviously restricted the creative filmmaking options and as a result was soon superseded by a new format called Stereovision. Stereovision was similar to Space-Vision 3D in that is split the frame in two, unlike Space-Vision though, the frame was split vertically, and they were placed side-by-side. During projection these frames were then put through an anamorphic lens, thereby stretching them back to their original size. These also made use of the polarising method introduced by Land in 1929. A film made using this process was called The Stewardess, released in 1969, it cost only $100,000 to make but at the cinema it grossed $26,000,000 (Lipton, 1982). Understandably the studios were very interested in the profit margin that arose from this film. As a result 3D once again became an interesting prospect for studios. Up until fairly recently films were still shot and edited using old film techniques (i.e. not digitally). This made manipulating 3D films quite difficult, this lack of control over the full process made 3D less appealing to film makers. The digitisation of post-processing and visual effects gave us another surge in the 1990s. But only full digitisation, from glass to glass from the cameras to projector lenses gives 3D the technological biotope it needs to thrive (Mendiburu, 2009). Chapter 7: The Second Golden Age of 3D (2004 present) In 2003 James Cameron released Ghost of the Abyss, it was the first full length 3D feature film that used the Reality Camera System, which was specially designed to use new high definition digital cameras. These digital cameras meant that the old techniques used with 3D film no longer restricted the work-flow, and the whole process can be done digitally, from start to finish. The next groundbreaking film was Robert Semeckis 2004 animated film Polar Express which was also shown in IMAX theatres. It was released at the same time in 2D and 3D, the 3D cinemas took on average 14 times more money that the 2D cinemas. The cinemas once again took note, and since Polar Express was released in 2004, 3D digital films have become more and more prominent. IMAX are no longer the only cinemas capable of displaying digital 3D films. A large proportion of conventional cinemas have made the switch to digital, this switch has enabled 3D films to be exhibited in a large range of cinemas. CHAPTER 8: 3D TECHNOLOGIES 8.1 3D capture and display methods Each different type of stereoscopic display projects the combined left and right images together onto a flat surface, usually a television or cinema screen. The viewer then must have a method of decoding this image and separating the combined image into left and right images and relaying these to the correct eye. The method that is used to split this image is, in the majority of cases, a pair of glasses. There are two brackets of encoding method, passive and active. Passive means that the images are combined into one and then the glasses split this image in to two separate images for left and right eye. In this method the glasses are cheaper to produce and the expense usually comes in the equipment used to project the image. The second method is active display. This method works by sending the alternative images in a very quick succession (L-R-L-R-L-R), the glasses then periodically block the appropriate eye piece, this is done at such a fast rate that it appears to be continuous in both eyes. There are various different types of encoding encapsulated within each of the two methods mentioned above. The encoding can use either colour separation (anaglyph, Dolby 3D), time separation (active glasses) or polarisation (RealD). A separate method, which does not require the use of glasses is done by using a virtual space in front of the screen and is called autosterescopic. In cinemas across the world at the moment there are several formats that are used to display 3D films. Three of the main distributors are Real-D, iMAX and Dolby-3D. Once a 3D film has been finished by the studios, it then needs to be prepared for exhibition in various different formats, this can include amongst other things colour grading and anti ghosting processes. At present there is not a universally agreed format for capturing or playing back 3D films, as a result there are several different versions, these are explained below. A large majority of the latest wave of 3D technology options send the image using one projector, so removing the old problem of out sync left and right images. The methods that do use dual projectors are much more sophisticated that the older versions used in anaglyphic films so have eradicated the old problems of out of sync projectors. 8.2 Gho