Enhanced associations with actions of the artist influence gaze behaviour

The aesthetic experience of the perceiver of art has been suggested to relate to the art-making process of the artist. The artist’s gestures during the creation process have been stated to influence the perceiver’s art-viewing experience. However, limited studies explore the art-viewing experience in relation to the creative process of the artist. We introduced eye-tracking measures to further establish how congruent actions with the artist influence perceiver’s gaze behaviour. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that simultaneous congruent and incongruent actions do not influence gaze behaviour. However, brushstroke paintings were found to be more pleasing than pointillism paintings. In Experiment 3, participants were trained to associate painting actions with hand primes to enhance visuomotor and visuovisual associations with the artist’s actions. A greater amount of time was spent fixating brushstroke paintings when presented with a congruent prime compared with an incongruent prime, and fewer fixations were made to these styles of paintings when presented with an incongruent prime. The results suggest that explicit links that allow perceivers to resonate with the artist’s actions lead to greater exploration of preferred artwork styles

The parallel programming of landing position in saccadic eye movement sequences

Saccadic eye movements occur in sequences, gathering new information about the visual environment to support successful task completion. Here we examine the control of these saccadic sequences and specifically the extent to which the spatial aspects of the saccadic responses are programmed in parallel. We asked participants to saccade to a series of visual targets and, while they shifted their gaze around the display, we displaced select targets. We found that saccade landing position was deviated towards the previous location of the target suggesting that partial parallel programming of target location information was occurring. The saccade landing position was also affected by the new target location which demonstrates that the saccade landing position was also partially updated following the shift. This pattern was present even for targets that were the subject of the next fixation. Having a greater preview about the sequence path influenced saccade accuracy with saccades being less affected by relocations when there is less preview information. The results demonstrate that landing positions from a saccade sequence are programmed in parallel and combined with more immediate visual signals

Shirt Futures

Anne McCloy curated an exhibition of work by students from the Central Saint Martins BA Fashion Course at The Shirt Factory Project gallery as part of Derry~Londonderry City of Culture 2013. “The inspiration for bringing this project to Derry was provided by the late Inez McCormack after hearing her speak in January 2012 about the history of the shirt industry in the city, the importance of the role of women in the economic and social fabric of the city and how she felt that contribution was now enormously overlooked and largely forgotten. City of Culture and The Shirt Factory Project by Rita Du!y gave us the framework to deliver the idea. Though the shirt industry in Derry is all but gone, the shirt as a garment lives on and we run a project every year at CSM which challenges the students to reconsider the perceived definition of the shirt through exploring their use of silhouette, proportion, fabric and colour. The only design parameters in place are that they use certain shirt features and finishes, such as collars, cuffs and plackets. How and where they use these is open to interpretation and the result must be a successfully resolved garment. We have selected the best shirt outcomes from across Womenswear, Menswear, Print and Marketing and from a truly international base with students represented from America, China, Ecuador, South Korea, Malaysia, Serbia and the UK. We hope it inspires and provokes thought and a recognition and development of skill, creativity and talent.” Anne McCloy - Curator, Associate Lecturer, Central Saint Martins. “This exhibition represents a celebration of Derry’s history of shirt making and the continuing importance of the shirt in contemporary dress through the work of young designers. Central Saint Martins BA Fashion is very proud to be involved.” Willie Walters - Programme Director of Fashion at Central Saint Martins

T Cell Therapy: Underlying Mechanisms and Current Advancements

As the second leading cause of death in 2016, cancer is one of the most serious diseases facing the world today. T cell therapy is a current area of research attempting to address the disease with two primary division: CAR-T and TCR-T cell therapy. The immune system naturally produces T lymphocytes to aid in the recognition and removal of cells infected with viruses or transformed into cancer. Under normal circumstances, T lymphocytes identify and destroy cancerous cells; however, some cancerous cell types can evade this system. With the use of genetic editing technology, T lymphocytes can gain the ability to recognize these evasive cancers. The editing process is known as T cell therapy

Towards a cross-cultural psychotherapeutic framework for Psychologists working with Western Australian Aboriginal people

This study explored non-Aboriginal therapists’ experience of providing psychological interventions to Aboriginal clients and Aboriginal clients’ experience of receiving psychological interventions. The qualitative methodology used was informed and guided by the Aboriginal community within which the research took place and included a Steering Committee. Key themes were the need to establish strong relationships with individuals and communities and address service delivery issues that adversely affect engagement and treatment

Blind Justice: Virginia’s Jury Sentencing Scheme and Impermissible Burdens on a Defendant’s Right to a Jury Trial

This Note argues that Virginia’s mandatory jury sentencing scheme, which bars juries from reviewing state sentencing guidelines, impermissibly burdens a defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial. By analyzing both judge and jury sentencing guidelines compliance rates from the past twenty-five years, this Note demonstrates that in Virginia, a defendant has a significantly higher chance of receiving a harsher sentence after a jury trial than after a bench trial or a guilty plea. Given that judges rarely modify jury sentences, the defendant is effectively left with a choice between two different sentences before plea negotiations can even begin. Because it creates this disparity, Virginia’s mandatory jury sentencing scheme is unconstitutional. Jury sentencing may serve a legitimate purpose by empowering a decision maker more in touch with the “conscience of the community” than a judge—the jury. But by limiting the jury’s ability to review sentencing guidelines and to make further modifications to sentences, this particular jury sentencing scheme fails to serve this legitimate purpose and is, therefore, unconstitutional. During the Virginia General Assembly’s 2020 Regular Session and a 2020 Special Session, lawmakers introduced a variety of bills to modify jury sentencing. Among other things, the bills would make jury sentencing optional for defendants. This Note assesses those bills and determines whether they adequately address the constitutional problem created by Virginia’s mandatory jury sentencing scheme. The Note cautions against a rosy impression of jury sentencing. Instead, both academic and political figures must reckon with the possibility that political actors could exploit the practice to threaten a defendant’s fundamental right to a jury trial