Fractal Dimensions in Perceptual Color Space: A Comparison Study Using Jackson Pollock's Art

The fractal dimensions of color-specific paint patterns in various Jackson Pollock paintings are calculated using a filtering process which models perceptual response to color differences (\Lab color space). The advantage of the \Lab space filtering method over traditional RGB spaces is that the former is a perceptually-uniform (metric) space, leading to a more consistent definition of ``perceptually different'' colors. It is determined that the RGB filtering method underestimates the perceived fractal dimension of lighter colored patterns but not of darker ones, if the same selection criteria is applied to each. Implications of the findings to Fechner's 'Principle of the Aesthetic Middle' and Berlyne's work on perception of complexity are discussed.Comment: 21 pp LaTeX; two postscript figure

Phase transition in the genome evolution favours non-random distribution of genes on chromosomes

We have used the Monte Carlo based computer models to show that selection pressure could affect the distribution of recombination hotspots along the chromosome. Close to critical crossover rate, where genomes may switch between the Darwinian purifying selection or complementation of haplotypes, the distribution of recombination events and the force of selection exerted on genes affect the structure of chromosomes. The order of expression of gene s and their location on chromosome may decide about the extinction or survival of competing populations.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, publicatio

Triplet repeats form secondary structures that escape DNA repair in yeast

Several human neurodegenerative diseases result from expansion of CTG/CAG or CGG/CCG triplet repeats. The finding that single-stranded CNG repeats form hairpin-like structures in vitro has led to the hypothesis that DNA secondary structure formation is an important component of the expansion mechanism. We show that single-stranded DNA loops containing 10 CTG/CAG or CGG/CCG repeats are inefficiently repaired during meiotic recombination in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Comparisons of the repair of DNA loops with palindromic and nonpalindromic sequences suggest that this inefficient repair reflects the ability of these sequences to form hairpin structures in vivo

A window on reality: perceiving edited moving images

Edited moving images entertain, inform, and coerce us throughout our daily lives, yet until recently, the way people perceive movies has received little psychological attention. We review the history of empirical investigations into movie perception and the recent explosion of new research on the subject using methods such as behavioral experiments, functional magnetic resonance imagery (fMRI) eye tracking, and statistical corpus analysis. The Hollywood style of moviemaking, which permeates a wide range of visual media, has evolved formal conventions that are compatible with the natural dynamics of attention and humans’ assumptions about continuity of space, time, and action. Identifying how people overcome the sensory differences between movies and reality provides an insight into how the same cognitive processes are used to perceive continuity in the real world

Imagination and narrative : young people's experiences

Imagery generation in dramatized audio drama is still poorly understood with the majority of work having been done from a radio advertising perspective. This study sought to understand audio drama imagery generation by using teenage listeners. The study demonstrated that teenagers can follow purely auditory narrative with ease and can generate unique and vivid imagery through aural dramatic stimulation. The study also showed that listening in the dark and as a group are appealing for audiences

Researcher as Artist/Artist as Researcher

This is a postmodern article that is nontraditional in its form, content, and mode of representation. Upon recognizing that we share interests and common experiences as artists, we decided to collect life history information from each other about our artistic experiences. Thus we have become, simultaneously, "the researched" and "the re searcher." In these conversations, we explore the ways in which we were each guided by our past, very strong aesthetic and artistic experiences. We also include the voices of other researchers and artists in our conversations as we explore the influences of art in the formation of our worldviews.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68774/2/10.1177_107780049500100107.pd

Authenticity and the 'Authentic City'

In this paper, I argue that the benefits that smart cities purport to provide cohere poorly with a number of our shared phenomenological intuitions about the relationships(s) between authentic experience and technologised society. While many of these intuitions are, strictly speaking, pseudo-problems, they deserve our attention. These issues will only grow more pressing as our ‘dumb cities’, already so opaque to experience, give way to hyper-technologised ‘smart cities’. However, it is possible to design our way out of these pseudo-problems. Assuming we accept my argument that the distinction between authenticity and the device paradigm is premised upon a certain kind of category error, there is no categorical or definitional reason why it is not possible for urbanised, technologised spaces to feel authentic, whether by virtue of their aesthetic properties, or because they facilitate ‘authentic’ behaviour. Indeed, I argue that ‘inauthenticity’ is an aesthetic rather than an ontological category (much like ‘ugliness’, or ‘boring-ness’), with feelings of inauthenticity serving as evidence of a basic failure of design. Redressing these failures of design requires that we adopt a novel approach to the design and use of technical objects. Consequently, in the concluding analysis of the chapter I outline how the feeling of authenticity can be invoked in the smart city and, consequently, how these failures of design can be avoided.<br/