Purposive Pattern Recognition: The Nature of Visual Choice in Graphic Design

Every pamphlet, brochure, booklet, advert, package, poster, etc that has ever been produced involved a visual choice made by a human being - even if the choice were restricted to ‘doing it like the last time’ or ‘copy this one’. Whether graphic designer, information designer, advertising executive, programmer, printer or the Managing Director’s wife, someone decided this picture, this type face, this layout etc rather than some available alternative. How are visual choices made? And, in particular, how do professional graphic designers make choices between visual alternatives. It was decided to probe this question by interviewing professional designers and looking at their work. The initial plan involved some sophisticated analysis of variables but it soon became apparent that such an approach was not possible. Specific interview questions such as, “You decided to use a picture of an elephant. Why an elephant and why this particular one?” met with responses along the lines of, “It just felt right” or “It’s intuitive”. It became clear that although some designers can tell a story about their choices, most designers make use of their experience and the experience of others to arrive at a decision that is not the result of some carefully thought out decision tree or a calculus of competing requirements. It was felt by both of us that there ought to be a better way to describe this process of ‘just knowing its right’ than intuition. Eventually we came up with Purposive Pattern Recognition, abbreviated to PPR. One of us (M A-R) gathered the evidence from interviews, case studies and existing studies of Masters in Design (a title awarded by a US magazine, following a poll of its readership) The other one (J Z L) placed the notion of PPR in a conceptual framework using current thinking in neuroscience and in evolutionary memetics. Keywords: Graphic Design, Intuition, Neuroscience, Memetics.</p

A Sermon preached by the Rt Revd Michael Langrish, Bishop Of Exeter at a Eucharist to mark the Golden Jubilee of the Mary Harris Memorial Chapel in the University of Exeter,on Sunday 22nd June 2008

Readings: Proverbs 1/2-7; 1 Corinthians 2/6- 13; John 14/1-1

Acute cardiovascular effects of exposure to air pollution: components, vascular mechanisms and protecting the public

Exposure to air pollution, particularly fine and ultrafine particulate matter derived from combustion sources, has been consistently associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Recent controlled exposure studies demonstrate that short-term exposure to diesel exhaust, which can contribute up to 40% of urban particulate air pollution, results in impaired vascular endothelial and fibrinolytic function in healthy volunteers, and increased exercise-induced myocardial ischaemia in patients with coronary heart disease. These observations may, in part, explain the observed increase in cardiovascular events following exposure to air pollution. Despite these observations there remain uncertainties regarding the key constituents of the air pollution mixture that mediate these adverse effects, and the underlying physiological and biological pathways involved. In these studies, using two controlled exposure facilities, I explored the vascular effects of the most prevalent gaseous component of the air pollution mixture – nitrogen dioxide – and the mechanisms responsible for impaired vasomotor function following exposure to diesel exhaust. Furthermore, I investigated the effect of acute exposure to “real-world” urban air pollution in both healthy volunteers and patients with coronary heart disease, and the effect of reducing that exposure using a simple facemask. In total, 10 healthy volunteers were exposed to nitrogen dioxide, and 29 healthy volunteers exposed to dilute diesel exhaust in a series of doubleblind randomised crossover studies. Exposure to nitrogen dioxide had no effect on either vasomotor function or endogenous fibrinolysis, providing indirect evidence that the adverse vascular effects are predominantly driven by particulate components. Following exposure to diesel exhaust there was no up regulation of endothelin-1 production, although there was increased vasoconstriction to intra-arterial infusion of endothelin-1. Following endothelin A receptor antagonism, there was attenuated vasodilatation following exposure to diesel exhaust as compared to air, an effect abrogated by endothelin B receptor antagonism. My findings suggest that the endothelin system does not play a central role in the adverse vascular effects of air pollution, but given the tonic interaction between the endothelin and nitric oxide systems, these observations could be explained by reduced nitric oxide bioavailability. Following diesel exhaust inhalation, plasma nitrite concentrations (as a marker for nitric oxide generation) are markedly increased without changes in haemodynamics or basal blood flow consistent with increased nitric oxide consumption. In the presence of a nitric oxide clamp, and without endogenous nitric oxide release, the vascular responses to vasodilators are similar. This perturbation of nitric oxide consumption and release appears to underlie the observed vascular endothelial effects. Fifteen healthy volunteers and 98 patients with coronary artery disease were recruited in Beijing, China. Subjects walked along a predefined city centre route for 2 hours in the presence and absence of a highly efficient facemask to reduce personal particulate air pollution exposure in an open label randomised crossover study. When wearing a facemask, there was an attenuation of exercise-induced increases in blood pressure, an improvement in heart rate variability, reduced myocardial ischaemia and subjects reported fewer symptoms. My findings have identified the biological mechanisms underlying the adverse vascular effects of exposure to diesel exhaust, and have helped to clarify the components responsible for these effects. Moreover, I have identified important benefits of reducing personal exposure to particulate matter using a simple facemask that have the potential to reduce cardiovascular events in patients living in urban or industrialised areas. Ongoing research in this area will provide further insight into the underlying vascular mechanisms, and the potential benefits of reducing particulate air pollution exposure, and may result in important targeted interventions to reduce the impact of air pollution on cardiovascular health

Diverse assessment methods in group work settings

The assessment scheme and mid-course feedback play a central role in the student's learning experience. However, within the student population there are many different perceptions of teaching and learning, and to accommodate these a diverse range of assessment and feedback activites are required. This issue is particularly important when group-orientated problem-based learning is employed, since much of the learning occurs within the groups and away from the direct supervision of the unit coordinators. We have explored a range of assessment styles in a suite of units of study in second year chemical engineering, centred around group-based project work. Group written project reports, interviews, confidential self and peer-assessments, individual laboratory reports, quizzes and a final examination have been used so far. Alignment of these assessments and teaching & learning activities with the learning outcomes guided our development of this framework, and this alignment has been verified by the students' results. The projects themselves are open-ended and present realistic engineering scenarios, including recommending the best type of artificial heart, the overall design of a desalination plant, and the design of a soap and cosmetics factory. A high level of student engagement and enthusiasm for the project work has been observed, arising mainly from the real-world nature of the projects, coupled with the stimuli provided by the range of assessment activities used

Arrhythmias and particulate matter.

Jonathan Grigg is part-funded by the NIHR North Thames Collaboration of Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care

Case Series of Triathletes with Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy Presenting with Swimming-Induced Pulmonary Edema

OBJECTIVES: To report three cases of triathletes who presented with swimming-induced pulmonary edema (SIPE) following water immersion. They were subsequently diagnosed with Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TCM). DESIGN: Retrospective case series. METHOD: All cases were recreational athletes competing in mass participation triathlons between June 2018 and 2019. They were initially managed by the event medical team and subsequently at the local tertiary level hospital. Written consent was gained from all the subjects. RESULTS: The three triathletes were aged between 50 and 60 years, two were females, and all presented with acute dyspnoea on exiting the water. Two also presented with chest pain and haemoptysis. A diagnosis of SIPE was suspected by the medical event team on initial presentation of low oxygen saturations and clinical signs of pulmonary oedema. All were transferred to the local emergency department and had signs of pulmonary oedema on chest radiographs. Further investigations led to a diagnosis of TCM with findings of T wave inversion in anterolateral electrocardiogram leads and apical hypokinesia on transthoracic echocardiogram and unobstructed coronary arteries. CONCLUSIONS: This case series presents triathletes diagnosed with SIPE and TCM following the open water swim phase. It is unclear whether the myocardial dysfunction contributed to causation of SIPE or was the result of SIPE. Mass participation race organizers must be prepared that both SIPE and TCM can present in this population. Those presenting with an episode of SIPE require prompt evaluation of their cardiac and pulmonary physiology. Further research is required to ascertain the exact nature of the relationship between TCM and SIPE

From vocational training to education: the development of a no-frontiers education policy for Europe?

This article focuses on developments towards an EU educational policy. Education was not included as one of the Community competencies in the Treaty of Rome. The first half of the article analyses the way that the European Court of Justice and the Commission of the European Communities between them managed to develop a series of substantial Community programmes out of Article 128 on vocational training. The second half of the article discusses educational developments in the community following the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty of Amsterdam. Whilst the legal competence of the community now includes education, the author's argument is that the inclusion of an educational competence will not result in further developments to mirror those in the years before the Treaty on Europe</p

Wall deposition experiments in a new spray dryer

[EN] Wall deposition tests have been conducted on a new spray-drying sytem. Solutions of salt and skim milk powder have been dried with different inlet temperatures (170 °C and 230 °C) and solid contents (8.8 wt% and 30 wt%). The experiment showed that increasing the temperature caused an decrease in the amount of deposition for salt solution, but an increase for skim milk. The experiments also showed that a higher solid content caused an increase in deposition. The trends agreed with the studies using a conventional spray dryer, but the amount of deposition appeared to be lower in the new spray dryer at the same operating conditionsHuang, X.; Zhong, C.; Langrish, T. (2018). Wall deposition experiments in a new spray dryer. En IDS 2018. 21st International Drying Symposium Proceedings. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1919-1926. https://doi.org/10.4995/IDS2018.2018.8270OCS1919192