Reading and writing direction effects on the aesthetic appreciation of photographs

Does reading and writing direction (RWD) influence the aesthetic appreciation of photography? Pérez González showed that nineteenth-century Iranian and Spanish professional photographers manifest lateral biases linked to RWD in their compositions. The present study aimed to test whether a population sample showed similar biases. Photographs with left-to-right (L-R) and right-to-left (R-L) directionality were selected from Pérez González's collections and presented in both original and mirror-reversed forms to Spanish (L-R readers) and Moroccan (R-L readers) participants. In Experiment 1, participants rated each picture for its aesthetic pleasingness. The results showed neither effects of lateral organization nor interactions with RWD. In Experiment 2, each picture and its mirror version were presented together and participants chose the one they liked better. Spaniards preferred rightward versions and Moroccans preferred leftward versions. RWD therefore affects aesthetic impressions of photography in our participants when people pay attention to the lateral spatial dimension of pictures. The observed directional aesthetic preferences were not sensitive to the sex of the model in the photographs, failing to support expectations from the hypotheses of emotionality and agency. Preferences were attributable to the interaction between general scanning strategies and scanning habits linked to RWD

A compiler framework to derive microfluidic platforms for manufacturing hierarchical, compartmentalized structures that maximize yield of chemical reactions

In this work, we propose a framework that derives the configuration of an artificial, compartmentalized, cell-like structure in order to maximize the yield of a desired output reactant given a formal description of the chemistry. The configuration of the structure is then used to compile G-code for 3D printing of a microfluidic platform able to manufacture the aforementioned structure. Furthermore, the compiler output includes a set of pressure profiles to actuate the valves at the input of the microfluidic platform. The work includes an outline of the steps involved in the compilation process and a discussion of the algorithms needed for each step. Finally, we provide formal, declarative languages for the input and output interfaces of each of these steps

FOOD SAFETY AND PROCESS HYGIENE CRITERIONS ON SHEEP CARCASSES

The hygienic status and the presence of some pathogens (Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes e Salmonella spp.) at slaughterhouses was evaluated in different matrix of sheep and lambs (carcass surface, faeces, fleeces and mesenteric lymph nodes) according to the Com. Reg. (EC) No 2073/2005. The 48% of sheep and 68.9% of lamb sampled carcasses resulted allocated into the marginal category for Aerobic colony count, while the 28% and 42.2% respectively were allocated into unacceptable category for Enterobacteriaceae. S.aureus was isolated more frequently in fleeces (11.5%), carcasses (12.6%) of lambs than sheep. L. monocytogenes was found in fleeces and carcass of two sheep and in faeces of four lambs, while Salmonella spp. was detected only in sheep carcasses of a single plant

A chemical compiler for the synthesis of branched oligomers on standardized chemical reaction structures

This research paper presents a chemical compiler developed to find optimal configurations of a platform for synthesizing specific branched oligomers in an artificial chemistry, along with exemplary compiler output and benchmarks where the platform configuration suggested by the compiler is compared to other configurations in simulation. The compiler operates as a pipeline with two stages: labelling and optimization. The report explains the structure of the compiler target and its interpretation, followed by a code walk-through of the compiler stages with code snippets and examples. The compiler can be used as a code generator for reactions in a chemical simulator and to derive loading schemes for multilevel droplets. The results obtained in simulations suggest that the container system can efficiently optimize the yield of coupled reaction networks and that multi-level droplets can lead to significant improvements

Visual context modulates potentiation of grasp types during semantic object categorization.

Substantial evidence suggests that conceptual processing of manipulable objects is associated with potentiation of action. Such data have been viewed as evidence that objects are recognized via access to action features. Many objects, however, are associated with multiple actions. For example, a kitchen timer may be clenched with a power grip to move it but pinched with a precision grip to use it. The present study tested the hypothesis that action evocation during conceptual object processing is responsive to the visual scene in which objects are presented. Twenty-five healthy adults were asked to categorize object pictures presented in different naturalistic visual contexts that evoke either move- or use-related actions. Categorization judgments (natural vs. artifact) were performed by executing a move- or use-related action (clench vs. pinch) on a response device, and response times were assessed as a function of contextual congruence. Although the actions performed were irrelevant to the categorization judgment, responses were significantly faster when actions were compatible with the visual context. This compatibility effect was largely driven by faster pinch responses when objects were presented in use-compatible, as compared with move-compatible, contexts. The present study is the first to highlight the influence of visual scene on stimulus-response compatibility effects during semantic object processing. These data support the hypothesis that action evocation during conceptual object processing is biased toward context-relevant actions

Visual context modulates potentiation of grasp types during semantic object categorization.

Substantial evidence suggests that conceptual processing of manipulable objects is associated with potentiation of action. Such data have been viewed as evidence that objects are recognized via access to action features. Many objects, however, are associated with multiple actions. For example, a kitchen timer may be clenched with a power grip to move it but pinched with a precision grip to use it. The present study tested the hypothesis that action evocation during conceptual object processing is responsive to the visual scene in which objects are presented. Twenty-five healthy adults were asked to categorize object pictures presented in different naturalistic visual contexts that evoke either move- or use-related actions. Categorization judgments (natural vs. artifact) were performed by executing a move- or use-related action (clench vs. pinch) on a response device, and response times were assessed as a function of contextual congruence. Although the actions performed were irrelevant to the categorization judgment, responses were significantly faster when actions were compatible with the visual context. This compatibility effect was largely driven by faster pinch responses when objects were presented in use-compatible, as compared with move-compatible, contexts. The present study is the first to highlight the influence of visual scene on stimulus-response compatibility effects during semantic object processing. These data support the hypothesis that action evocation during conceptual object processing is biased toward context-relevant actions

FOOD SAFETY AND PROCESS HYGIENE CRITERIONS ON SHEEP CARCASSES

The hygienic status and the presence of some pathogens (Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes e Salmonella spp.) at slaughterhouses was evaluated in different matrix of sheep and lambs (carcass surface, faeces, fleeces and mesenteric lymph nodes) according to the Com. Reg. (EC) No 2073/2005. The 48% of sheep and 68.9% of lamb sampled carcasses resulted allocated into the marginal category for Aerobic colony count, while the 28% and 42.2% respectively were allocated into unacceptable category for Enterobacteriaceae. S.aureus was isolated more frequently in fleeces (11.5%), carcasses (12.6%) of lambs than sheep. L. monocytogenes was found in fleeces and carcass of two sheep and in faeces of four lambs, while Salmonella spp. was detected only in sheep carcasses of a single plant

Morphological computation and morphological control: Steps towards a formal theory and applications

Morphological computation can be loosely defined as the exploitation of the shape, material properties, and physical dynamics of a physical system to improve the efficiency of a computation. Morphological control is the application of morphological computing to a control task. In its theoretical part, this article sharpens and extends these definitions by suggesting new formalized definitions and identifying areas in which the definitions we propose are still inadequate. We go on to describe three ongoing studies, in which we are applying morphological control to problems in medicine and in chemistry. The first involves an inflatable support system for patients with impaired movement, and is based on macroscopic physics and concepts already tested in robotics. The two other case studies (self-assembly of chemical micro-reactors; models of induced cell repair in radio-oncology) describe processes and devices on the micrometer scale, in which the emergent dynamics of the underlying physical system (e.g., phase transitions) are dominated by stochastic processes such as diffusion