Object knowledge modulates colour appearance

We investigated the memory colour effect for colour diagnostic artificial objects. Since knowledge about these objects and their colours has been learned in everyday life, these stimuli allow the investigation of the influence of acquired object knowledge on colour appearance. These investigations are relevant for questions about how object and colour information in high-level vision interact as well as for research about the influence of learning and experience on perception in general. In order to identify suitable artificial objects, we developed a reaction time paradigm that measures (subjective) colour diagnosticity. In the main experiment, participants adjusted sixteen such objects to their typical colour as well as to grey. If the achromatic object appears in its typical colour, then participants should adjust it to the opponent colour in order to subjectively perceive it as grey. We found that knowledge about the typical colour influences the colour appearance of artificial objects. This effect was particularly strong along the daylight axis

Thermo-oxidative Stability and Flammability of Three-dimensional Polymers Based on Olygocarbonate-methacrylates

By the irreversible condensation reaction of the mono-methacrylic ester of ethylene glycol and chlorocarbonic esters of 2,2-dimethylpropandiol- 1,3 and 2,2-dimethylene chloride-propandiol-1,3, two olygocarbonate methacrylate (OCM-I and -II, respectively) containing unsaturated ends were synthesised. The polymerization of OCM-I and OCM-II in the presence of cumene hydro.peroxide and an accelerator gave two cross-liinked polymers Ln a yield of 70-750/o. The thermal and thermo-oxidative decompositions of the prepared polymers were studied by the thermogravimetric method and by characterization of the volatile pyrolysis products and the nonvolatile polymer residue. The influence of the polymer structure on the mechanism of the decomposition reactions in vacuo as well as iin the presence of oxygen was discussed. The temperature dependence of thermostabiLity was compared with some polymer flammability parameters

Arendt and political realism: towards a realist account of political judgement

This article argues that Hannah Arendt’s thought can offer significant insights on political judgement for realism in political theory. We identify a realist position which emphasises the need to account for how humans judge politically, contra moralist tendencies to limit its exercise to rational standards, but which fails to provide a sufficient conception of its structure and potential. Limited appeals to political judgement render the realist defence of the political elusive, and compromise the endeavour to offer a meaningful alternative to the moralist tendency to displace politics. The potential and limitations of realist discussions on judgement are made visible in relation to proto-realists Judith Shklar and Isaiah Berlin. In seeking to enrich the realist conception of the political, the article introduces the displacement critique found in the neglected Arendtian ‘realism’. It also provides the foundations for a distinctly realist account of political judgement which, we argue, requires elaboration along two dimensions: the social coding of political judgement and the political capacities that help judgement build a suitable political sphere

The 'Parekh Report' - national identities with nations and nationalism

‘Multiculturalists’ often advocate national identities. Yet few study the ways in which ‘multiculturalists’ do so and in this article I will help to fill this gap. I will show that the Commission for Multi-Ethnic Britain’s report reflects a previously unnoticed way of thinking about the nature and worth of national identities that the Commission’s chair, and prominent political theorist, Bhikhu Parekh, had been developing since the 1970s. This way of thinking will be shown to avoid the questionable ways in which conservative and liberal nationalists discuss the nature and worth of national identities while offering an alternative way to do so. I will thus show that a report that was once criticised for the way it discussed national identities reflects how ‘multiculturalists’ think about national identities in a distinct and valuable way that has gone unrecognised

Inductive learning spatial attention

This paper investigates the automatic induction of spatial attention from the visual observation of objects manipulated on a table top. In this work, space is represented in terms of a novel observer-object relative reference system, named Local Cardinal System, defined upon the local neighbourhood of objects on the table. We present results of applying the proposed methodology on five distinct scenarios involving the construction of spatial patterns of coloured blocks

The MIDAS experiment: A prototype for the microwave emission of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays

Recent measurements suggest that extensive air showers initiated by ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECR) emit signals in the microwave band of the electromagnetic spectrum caused by the collisions of the free-electrons with the atmospheric neutral molecules in the plasma produced by the passage of the shower. Such emission is isotropic and could allow the detection of air showers with 100% duty cycle and a calorimetric-like energy measurement, a significant improvement over current detection techniques. We have built MIDAS (MIcrowave Detection of Air Showers), a prototype of microwave detector, which consists of a 4.5 m diameter antenna with a cluster of 53 feed-horns in the 4 GHz range. The details of the prototype and first results will be presented.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of 12th Topical Seminar on Innovative Particle and Radiation Detectors (IPRD10), Siena, Italy, 7 - 10 June 201

Effects of total laryngectomy on olfactory function, health-related quality of life, and communication: a 3-year follow-up study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>As total laryngectomy results in loss of airflow through the nose, one of the adverse effects for a majority of patients is the reduced or complete loss of olfactory function. However, with the introduction of a new method, the Nasal Airflow-Inducing Maneuver (NAIM), an important technique is available for laryngectomized patients to regain the ability to smell. The purpose of the present study was to assess changes in olfaction, health-related quality of life (HRQL) and communication 3 years after NAIM rehabilitation.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>18 patients (15 men and 3 women; mean age, 71 years) who had undergone laryngectomy and NAIM rehabilitation were followed longitudinally for 3 years. For comparison an age and gender matched control group with laryngeal cancer treated with radical radiotherapy was included. Olfactory function was assessed using the Questionnaire on Odor, Taste and Appetite and the Scandinavian Odor Identification Test. HRQL was assessed by: 1) the European Organization for Research and Treatment for cancer quality of life questionnaires; and 2) the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Communication was assessed by the Swedish Self-Evaluation of Communication Experiences after Laryngeal Cancer. Descriptive statistics with 95% confidence interval were calculated according to standard procedure. Changes over time as well as tests between pairs of study patients and control patients were analyzed with the Fisher nonparametric permutation test for matched pairs.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Thirty-six months after rehabilitation 14 of 18 laryngectomized patients (78%) were smellers. There were, with one exception (sleep disturbances), no clinically or statistically significant differences between the study and the control group considering HRQL and mental distress. However, statistical differences (p < 0.001) were found between the study and the control group concerning changes in communication.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Olfactory training with NAIM should be integrated into the multidisciplinary rehabilitation program after total laryngectomy. Our study shows that patients who were successfully rehabilitated concerning olfaction and communication had an overall good HRQL and no mental distress. Moreover, the EORTC questionnaires should be complemented with more specific questionnaires when evaluating olfaction and communication in laryngectomized patients.</p

Chapter 3: Choosing the Important Outcomes for a Systematic Review of a Medical Test

In this chapter of the Evidence-based Practice Centers Methods Guide for Medical Tests, we describe how the decision to use a medical test generates a broad range of outcomes and that each of these outcomes should be considered for inclusion in a systematic review. Awareness of these varied outcomes affects how a decision maker balances the benefits and risks of the test; therefore, a systematic review should present the evidence on these diverse outcomes. The key outcome categories include clinical management outcomes and direct health effects; emotional, social, cognitive, and behavioral responses to testing; legal and ethical outcomes, and costs. We describe the challenges of incorporating these outcomes in a systematic review, suggest a framework for generating potential outcomes for inclusion, and describe the role of stakeholders in choosing the outcomes for study. Finally, we give examples of systematic reviews that either included a range of outcomes or that might have done so. The following are the key messages in this chapter: Consider both the outcomes that are relevant to the process of testing and those that are relevant to the results of the test.Consider inclusion of outcomes in all five domains: clinical management effects, direct test effects; emotional, social, cognitive and behavioral effects; legal and ethical effects, and costs.Consider to which group the outcomes of testing are most relevant.Given resource limitations, prioritize which outcomes to include. This decision depends on the needs of the stakeholder(s), who should be assisted in prioritizing the outcomes for inclusion

Avoided Critical Behavior in O(n) Systems

Long-range frustrating interactions, even if their strength is infinitesimal, can give rise to a dramatic proliferations of ground or near-ground states. As a consequence, the ordering temperature can exhibit a discontinuous drop as a function of the frustration. A simple model of the doped Mott insulator, where the short-range tendency of the holes to phase separate competes with long-range Coulomb effects, exhibits this "avoided critical" behavior. This model may serve as a paradigm for many other systems.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Effective one-dimensionality of AC hopping conduction in the extreme disorder limit

It is argued that in the limit of extreme disorder AC hopping is dominated by "percolation paths". Modelling a percolation path as a one-dimensional path with a sharp jump rate cut-off leads to an expression for the universal AC conductivity, that fits computer simulations in two and three dimensions better than the effective medium approximation.Comment: 6 postscript figure