reading entry 5

Women tend to face more vision problems.

JUST as how men and women are still not equal in various aspects, eyesight problems also hit women harder in many ways.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), nearly two-thirds of blind people worldwide are women and girls. However, 80% of all blindness can be treated, cured or prevented. In many countries, men have twice the access to eye care as women.

This year, World Sight Day (which is always held on the second Thursday of October) is observed tomorrow and themed Gender And Eye Health.

“When we talk about eye problems that affect women more than men, it’s usually due to the longer life expectancy of women and age-related eye problems such as cataract, glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration,” said Dr Norazlina Bachik, consultant ophthalmologist with a private eye specialist centre.

Eyeing the problem: ‘When we talk about eye problems that affect women more than men, it’s usually due to the longer life expectancy of women and age-related eye problems,’ says Dr Azlina Bachik.

In addition, she said, women’s eyeball structures are usually smaller, which can affect refractive errors like myopia or nearsightedness, hyperopia or farsightedness, astigmatism and presbyopia, an age-related condition involving the gradual loss of one’s ability to focus on nearby objects.

Smaller eyeballs tend to worsen farsightedness or hyperopia. Hyperopia is a common vision condition in which one can see objects in the distance clearly, but objects nearby may be blurry. It is not age-related. People with severe farsightedness can only see clearly objects a great distance away, while those with mild farsightedness may see clearly objects that are closer.

Cataract is the leading cause of blindness in the world. Symptoms of cataract are smoky or hazy vision, dull colours and blur night vision. However, cataract is reversible and besides being age-related, is also common in people with diabetes. The risk of developing diabetes increases with age. Diabetic retinopathy, a complication of diabetes, affects the retina and can cause blindness.

Glaucoma, on the other hand, is hereditary, irreversible and usually asymptomatic. Available treatment only slows down its progression. Called the “silent thief of sight”, it affects the peripheral vision first, followed by central vision.

The main reason glaucoma happens is due to high intraocular pressure (or pressure within the eyeball) which over time, damages the optic nerve, which is located at the back of the eye.

There are two main types of glaucoma – open angle glaucoma and angle-closure glaucoma.

Open-angle glaucoma occurrences are quite equal between men and women but angle-closure glaucoma is more common in women due to their smaller eyeball structure.

The term “open angle” refers to the angle between the iris and sclera which is normal, in contrast to angle closure glaucoma where the angle is narrowed. In this condition, there is a sudden increase in the pressure within one eye.

The third eye problem associated with age is age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a disease that gradually destroys sharp, central vision, needed for seeing objects clearly and for tasks such as reading and driving. AMD affects the macular, the part of the eye that allows you to see fine detail, and is not painful. In some cases, AMD progression is slow and people do not notice a change in their vision. In others, the disease progresses faster and may lead to a loss of vision in both eyes.

Hormonal imbalance also plays a big part in women’s eyesight. “Anything hormone-related, including hormone replacement therapy and fertility treatments, affect refractive errors,” said Dr Norazlina.

During pregnancy and after, if the mother is breast-feeding, the body experiences hormonal changes which may increase refractive errors, especially presbyopia, and also cause dry eyes.

Lack of estrogen is one of the reasons for dry eyes in women, who form the majority of sufferers. According to Dr Norazlina, about 90% of her patients with dry eye problems are women.

Lifestyle factors also contribute to eye problems in women. Generally, more women than men wear contact lenses. When there is poor hygiene or extended wear of contact lenses, infections may arise. In some severe cases, the cornea is scarred. Improper removal of eye make-up causes dirt to be trapped at the base of the eyelash, which can cause infections as well.

Eye check-ups are important in preventing eye and vision problems. To help prevent cataract, wear sunglasses that filter out ultraviolet rays (A and B), which can also cause damage to the macular. Smoking is also a risk factor for cataract and AMD. Some studies have also shown that high omega-3 fatty acids intake can reduce the occurrences of cataract and AMD.

“The most effective preventive measure for all eye problems is a yearly screening,” stressed Dr Norazlina.
http://thestar.com.my/health/story.asp?file=/2009/10/7/health/4825052&sec=health

reading entry 4

Smiling Improves Women's Self Esteem and Appearance, Scientists Say

Recent study claims that a woman can significantly improve their appearance by simply smiling. Researchers discovered that the smile improves the appearance of women who feel unhappy about their look.

A considerable improvement in self esteem brought psychologists to the idea that feeling confident about your appearance is associated with social acceptance. Scientists performed their study, led by psychologist Carolien Martijn, with women of normal body weight, who showed different degrees of satisfaction with their appearance.

"The positive effect we witnessed for women with a high level of body concern supports the idea that body satisfaction may be linked to the idea of social approval," said Carolien Martijn. She added that by simply showing women pictures of themselves followed by a happy face, considerably improved their self esteem. Scientists mentioned that the experiment is worth carrying out on people, who were clinically diagnosed with eating disorders.

In their research, scientists analyzed the degree of body satisfaction and self-esteem of 57 women with normal body weight index. They also took pictures of each study participant. Then women were shown photographs of themselves among pictures of other women and each picture was followed by a photograph of either by a smiling, frowning or neutral face.

The participants were then divided into two groups. Women from the first group were shown pictures followed by a smiling face, while those from the second group were shown pictures followed randomly by neutral, frowning of smiling faces. Afterwards women were once again examined for body satisfaction and self esteem.

Those who were shown a smiling face after their photograph, showed an increased body satisfaction. According to Miss Martijn, women with high concerns about their body showed a significant improvement in body satisfaction. In addition, these women had the level of their self esteem considerably increased as well. The same results were reported in the second group.

According to researchers, they will carry on with their experiments together with experts from the University of Sheffield and develop specific strategies to improve body image.

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reading entry 3

Plants Enjoy Women's Voices More than Men's

Plants grow faster if you talk to them and the effect is even better if you're a woman. Researchers at Royal Horticultural Society carried out an experiment to find that the voice of a woman gardener makes plants grow faster.

The experiment lasted a month and by the end of the study scientists managed to discover that tomato plants grew up 2 inch taller when women gardeners talked to them instead of male.

Sarah Darwin was the one of make the plants registered the best growth. Her voice was the most "inspiring" for plants than the voices of nine other gardeners when reading a passage from the On the Origin of Species. The great-great daughter of the famous botanist Charles Darwin found that her plant grew about two inches taller than the plant of the best male gardener.

Colin Crosbie, Garden Superintendent at RHS, said that the findings cannot yet be explained. He presumes that women have a greater range of pitch and tone which might have a certain effect on the sound waves that reach the plant. "Sound waves are an environmental effect just like rain or light," said Mr. Crosbie.

The study began in April at RHS Garden Wisley in Surrey. Scientists started with open auditions for the people who were asked to record passages from John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids, Shakespeare's A Midsummer's Night Dream and Darwin's On the Origin of Species.

Afterwards researchers selected a number of different voices and played them to 10 tomato plants during a period of a month. Each plant had headphones connected to it. Through the headphones the sound waves could hit the plants. Scientists decided to leave two plants in silence, thus to be positive that the experiment is fair. It was discovered that plants that "listened" to female voices in average grew taller by an inch in comparison to plants that heard male voices.

Miss Darwin said: "I think it is an honor to have a voice that can make tomatoes grow, and especially fitting because for a number of years I have been studying wild tomatoes from the Galapagos Islands at the Natural History Museum in London."
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BitDefender Antivirus

The BitDefender antivirus has always been considered as a good one, being able to effectively capture and delete malware. It shows great protection especially against spyware. The results of independent tests showed that the latest BitDefender Antivirus 2010 can block effectively serious threats. It features an improved antiphishing and ID theft protection. It blocks websites that try to steal personal information such as details of your credit card. It runs without slowing down the system and has an improved IM encryption, being able to protect your chats over instant messaging.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus

Everybody knows Kaspersky, which for many years has been considered one of the best anti-viruses on the market. The latest Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010 once again proves that it can effectively deal against computer viruses, spyware, adware, and more. The latest version of the anti-virus there's one interesting feature - a "virtual keyboard" - meant to protect the user from keyloggers and phishing websites. The virtual keyboard makes it possible for the user to introduce sensitive passwords without using the physical keyboard. In addition, the virtual keyboard is able to block programs that attempt to make a screenshot of the virtual keyboard.

Panda Antivirus

This anti-virus software can boast an ultra fast scan engine. Panda Antivirus Pro has voted as one of the best protection tools for Windows OS. It automatically and quickly gets rid of malware and automatically updates. The anti-rootkit technology (featured in the latest Panda Antivirus Pro 2010 program) is able to identify and delete silently-installed rootkits that are usually used to dodge common antivirus products. In addition, the anti-virus protects user's identity using its anti-phishing filter and anti-banking Trojans engine. The program's Web filter allows you to surf the Internet without worrying about your system being infected.

Norton AntiVirus

Besides boasting a nice design, this anti-virus software shows some high speeds in scanning for malware. This anti-virus software is rather expensive and it would probably be better for the company to make something about this drawback. The 2010 version features an improved anti-spyware function and fast pulse updates that last between 5 and 15 minutes. The program also offers a great protection against malware that attempts to steal personal information. It allows the users to safely connect to Wi-Fi and protects against websites that try to install malware on your system. The latest version features Internet Worm Protection function that is able to block sophisticated worms like Blaster and Sasser (you can read about these viruses here at www.InfoNIAC.com - check the links at the bottom of the article) before these worms infect your computer.

Trend Micro Antivirus

This anti-virus is considered to be one of the best for the same reasons as all viruses described here: great protection against computer viruses, worms, Trojan horse programs, phishing, spam, bots, spyware, adware and more. The program is easy to use and is rather inexpensive. Based on specific categories the anti-virus can block websites that feature inappropriate content. It automatically updates and boasts real-time protection. In addition, the latest version of Trend Micro Antivirus features Remote File Lock that keeps the information on your laptop locked for intruders if the computer is lost or stolen.

ESET NOD32

ESET NOD32 Antivirus instantly detects and deletes computer viruses, Trojan horse programs, worms, adware, spyware, phishing, rootkits and more. This anti-virus software uses a mix of filtration methods and can detect both known and unknown malware. One of its drawbacks is that the program can take some resources when scanning the computer for viruses. ESET NOD32 Antivirus effectively blocks programs that try to steal personal data. In addition, it can perform real-time scan of emails. For laptop users the anti-virus has one more feature - it includes an automatic energy-conserving battery mode.

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READING ENTRY 1

A slideshow is a series of single images, or slides, displayed in order. Traditionally, a slideshow was a literal show of slide reversal film, usually operated via carousel, or an overhead projector. In modern times, a slideshow is more likely to be operated by a computer, with prepared slide images that might consist of text and images created in a software application such as Powerpoint.
Early slideshows were operated using a slide projector, a special device intended especially for the slideshow. A slide projector has some sort of high-powered light bulb, usually kept cool with a fan, some sort of holder for the slide itself, a condensing lens to focus the light on the slide, and a focusing lens to make the image appear in focus at different distances. These slide projectors had a simple slot for the slide to be fitted into, and after each slide it would have to be removed so the next could be shown. The carousel slide system changed this, by allowing many slides to be placed into a single carousel, which could then be advanced with the click of a single button. This led to an explosion in the popularity of the slideshow, both for home and business purposes in the 1950s and 1960s.
The slideshow is a popular device for showing vacation trips, and especially during the 1950s and 1960s it was a common occurrence after a trip to return home and invite friends over to see photos of the trip. A carousel slide projector allowed for an entire trip’s worth of photos to be cued up, and friends could watch as photo after photo was blown up larger than life on to a projector screen. In modern times it is more common for people to create home movies, or digital photo albums which can be sent to friends online, rather than engaging in a literal slideshow.
In business, too, the slideshow has long been popular as a way of conveying information to groups of people. Even when slides had to be individually prepared, the ability to merge images and text easily and show it in business meetings or auditoriums made the slideshow an ideal way to communicate with clients or business partners. With the proliferation of the personal computer, business slideshows have become even more commonplace, as software makes it easy to put together a comprehensive slideshow in very little time, even integrating multimedia like videos and sounds to make a more dynamic experience.
The term slideshow is also used in a more general sense to refer to any sequential display of images. Many photo viewing programs, for example, feature a slideshow feature, where a range of photos can be viewed in order, with brief pauses between each, and often accompanying transition effects and music. This mimics the earlier consumer slideshows of the 1950s through 1980s. A type of screensaver is also known as a slideshow, where images are displayed at random or in a set order when the computer remains dormant for a period of time.
(http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-slideshow.htm)