Increase In Clarity Research Articles

Enhancing the acid stability of the recombinant GH11 xylanase xynA through N-terminal substitution to facilitate its application in apple juice clarification

The utilization of xylanase in juice clarification is contingent upon its stability within acidic environments. We generated a mutant xynA-1 by substituting the N-terminal segment of the recombinant xylanase xynA to investigate the correlation between the N-terminal region of xylanase and its acid stability. The enzymatic activity of xynA-1 was found to be superior under acidic conditions (pH 5.0). It exhibited enhanced acid stability, surpassing the residual enzyme activity values of xynA at pH 4.0 (53.07 %), pH 4.5 (69.8 %), and pH 5.0 (82.4 %), with values of 60.16 %, 77.74 %, and 87.3 %, respectively. Additionally, the catalytic efficiency of xynA was concurrently improved. Through molecular dynamics simulation, we observed that N-terminal shortening induced a reduction in motility across most regions of the protein structure while enhancing its stability, particularly Lys131-Phe146 and Leu176-Gly206. Furthermore, the application of treated xynA-1 in the process of apple juice clarification led to a significant increase in clarity within a short duration of 20 min at 35 °C while ensuring the quality of the apple juice. This study not only enhances the understanding of the N-terminal region of xylanase but also establishes a theoretical basis for augmenting xylanase resources employed in fruit juice clarification.

Enhanced bio-extraction of medicinally important plants using xylano-pectinolytic enzymes produced concurrently by Bacillus pumilus AJK

Medicinal plant extracts obtained by chemical methods have drawbacks such as high chemical, time and energy consumption, byproduct formation, lower quality and efficiency, high toxicity and lead to degradation of thermo-sensitive bioactive compounds. The purpose of this study was to investigate the ability of crude xylano-pectinolytic enzymes concoction in bio-extraction of medicinally important plant extracts, in order to reduce the use of chemical solvents for extraction. In this regard, various conditions including material to liquid ratio (MLR), enzyme dose, treatment time and stirring speed were optimized and several physico-chemical parameters including pH, total soluble solid (TSS), total dissolved solid (TDS), clarity, reducing sugar, polyphenolic content, viscosity and filterability were studied. The bio-extraction efficiency was found to be best at material-to-liquid ratio (MLR) 1:5-1:6 (g/mL), enzyme dose range between 15:60 to 20:80 (IU/g), treatment time range between 180- 240 min and stirring speed range between 50-60 rpm. Enzymatic extraction of medicinal plants resulted in 7-17% increase in clarity, 27-50% increase in TSS, 3-42% increase in reducing sugars, 20-42% increase in polyphenolic content, 13-53% increase in TDS, 15-22% increase in filterability along with decrease of 3-5% in pH and 18-43% in viscosity. Hence, this eco-friendly bio-extraction strategy could reduce the chemical usage, along with improvement of the physico-chemical properties of medicinally important extracts. The technique also enables the application of greener chemistry in the pharmaceuticals to optimize cleaner methods of extraction. This is the first report manifesting bio-extraction of medicinally important plant extracts using crude xylano-pectinolytic enzymatic concoction produced by a single bacterial isolate.

Beyond human in neurosurgical exams: ChatGPT's success in the Turkish neurosurgical society proficiency board exams

Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer (ChatGPT) is a sophisticated natural language model that employs advanced deep learning techniques and is trained on extensive datasets to produce responses akin to human conversation for user inputs. In this study, ChatGPT's success in the Turkish Neurosurgical Society Proficiency Board Exams (TNSPBE) is compared to the actual candidates who took the exam, along with identifying the types of questions it answered incorrectly, assessing the quality of its responses, and evaluating its performance based on the difficulty level of the questions. Scores of all 260 candidates were recalculated according to the exams they took and included questions in those exams for ranking purposes of this study. The average score of the candidates for a total of 523 questions is 62.02 ± 0.61 compared to ChatGPT, which was 78.77. We have concluded that in addition to ChatGPT's higher response rate, there was also a correlation with the increase in clarity regardless of the difficulty level of the questions with Clarity 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0. In the participants, however, there is no such increase in parallel with the increase in clarity.

Sustainable Production of Lignocellulolytic Enzymes in Solid-State Fermentation of Agro-Industrial Waste: Application in Pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima) Juice Clarification

Valorization of agro-industrial waste through greener and biotechnological processes are promising approaches to minimize the generation of agro-industrial waste. Therefore, the study aimed to produce lignocellulolytic enzymes from agro-industrial waste under solid-state fermentation (SSF) conditions and study their application in the clarification of pumpkin juice. The SSF was performed with three different combinations of wheat bran + rice bran (WBRB), wheat bran + wheat straw (WBWS), and rice bran + wheat straw (RBWS) as dry solid substrates (1:1) using Fusarium oxysporum (MTCC 7229). The protein, carboxymethyl cellulase (CMCase), and xylanase contents ranged from 0.98–3.90 mg/g, 5.89–6.84 U/g substrate, and 10.08–13.77 U/g substrate, respectively in different agro-industrial waste as substrates (WBRB, WBWS, RBWS, and control). The increase in enzyme concentration (0.50–2.40%) added to pumpkin juice exhibited an increased juice yield (16.30–55.60%), reduced browning index (1.03–0.70), and an increase in clarity (5.31–13.77 %T), which was further confirmed by a total variance of 84.83% by principal component analysis. Thus, the low-cost lignocellulolytic enzymes can be produced from agro-industrial waste that might have applications in food and beverage industries. Hence, this approach could be used as a long-term sustainable and circular source to valorize agro-industrial waste towards the greener future and the preservation of ecosystems.

Long-term plankton community dynamics and influencing factors in a man-made shallow lake, Lake Dishui, China

Understanding how long-term environmental variation and biotic interaction determine biological assemblages is critical for evaluating the response of biological communities to anthropogenic and climate changes. We sampled plankton and water quality from a man-made lake monthly from 2006 to 2015 for the period from after creation to 13-year old of the lake. We used correlation, variation partitioning, multivariate autoregressive state-space models, and dynamic factor analyses to disentangle interactions of biotic and abiotic factors in regulating the dynamics of plankton size groups. We found that annual average total abundances decreased 86% for phytoplankton and 78% for zooplankton, while concentrations increased 1.8 times for total nitrogen and 2.7 times for total phosphorus during the study period. We concluded that the decline of plankton abundance was largely attributed to the predation of zooplankton on phytoplankton, fish predation on both phytoplankton and zooplankton, and linkages with the decline of water salinity, pH, and the increase of clarity. The decline of plankton abundance was apparently not resulted from long-term change in nutrient concentrations. These conclusions were further supported by that abundances of nano-phytoplankton and micro-phytoplankton oscillated in opposite direction with extremely low density of Cladocera (< 1 individual/L) during the study period. Our conclusions were also supported by the strong interactions between Rotifera and macro-phytoplankton and between nano-phytoplankton and Copepoda, as well as by the describability of the six plankton size groups in a shared trend that was opposite to the trends of water clarity and planktivorous fish stock density.

Hierarchical Clustering with Spatial Constraints and Standardized Incidence Ratio in Tuberculosis Data

In this paper, we propose presenting a solution based on socio-epidemiological variables of tuberculosis, considering a clustering with spatial/geographical constraints; and, determine a value of alpha that increases spatial contiguity without significantly deteriorating the quality of the solution based on the variables of interest, i.e. those of the feature space. For the application of Ward’s hierarchical clustering method, two dissimilarity matrices were calculated, the first provides the dissimilarities in the feature space calculated from the socio-epidemiological variables D0 and the second provides the dissimilarities in the calculated constraints space from the geographical distances D1, together with an α mixing parameter and the non-uniform weight w assigned to the calculation of the dissimilarity matrix defined by the standardized incidence ratio (SIR) of TB and that contributed significantly to the increase in clarity, both from a spatial and socio-epidemiological point of view. The method is shown to be feasible in epidemiological studies in the joint understanding of factors of different dimensions, aggregated from a spatial perspective. It is analysis tool that allows making a better understanding of the socio-epidemiological reality of the municipality.

Production, thermodynamic characterization, and fruit juice quality improvement characteristics of an Exo-polygalacturonase from Penicillium janczewskii

Exo-polygalacturonase (Exo-PG), an extracellular pectinolytic enzyme with great potential in the food industry, was produced from Penicillium janczewskii under solid-state fermentation using wheat bran as a lignocellulosic substrate. Optimization of various fermentation process variables revealed that a moisture level of 70%, d-mannitol (carbon source), yeast extract (nitrogen source) and ZnSO4/NiCl2 as metal salt inducers generated the maximum yield of Exo-PG. After ammonium sulfate precipitation (70% saturation level), the enzyme was characterized in terms of various kinetic (i.e., temperature, pH, inhibitors, Michaelis-Menten constants) and thermodynamic parameters (i.e., Ea, ΔH*, ΔS* and ΔG*). The temperature and pH optima were 45 °C and 6.0, respectively, and the Exo-PG presented stability at a wider range of temperature and pH values. Metal ions Mn+2 markedly improved the enzyme activity, while exposure to urea and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid drastically inhibited the biocatalytic performance. The kinetic parameters i.e., km and Vmax were computed to be 10 mM and 41.67 U/mL, respectively. A profound increase in clarity, yield, and reduction in viscosity was achieved for different fruit juices (apple, mango, and peach) after treatment with Exo-PG. Total antioxidant and total phenolic contents were also ameliorated. In conclusion, the catalytic activity, thermal steadiness, and fruit juices clarification performance of Exo-PG manifests a great prospect for bio-industrial exploitation.

Consciousness: effect of coaching process and specifics through AI usage

The main purpose of the article is to investigate how coaching itself affects a person and evaluate it as an effective tool. The second goal is to find out what the features of coaching with use of an AI based assistant are. The problem of studying the effectiveness of coaching is indicated by the purpose of finding out, based on the results of the work in the session, to what extent the result obtained will lead the respondent to specific actions. To this end, the main measurable metrics were stress level, willingness to act, and clarity regarding the request. The study confirmed that the majority of sessions had a “positive” dynamic in at least one of the consciousness components (increase of clarity or willingness to act and decrease of stress). The key implication is that it is important to keep a coachee away from stress to create space for clarity and willingness to act. The research results show that an AI-based tool is more effective in new requests with high importance for a client regarding willingness to act and clarity, confidential requests in terms of privacy and sensitivity regarding clarity. A coach is perceived as overall stronger in usefulness, effectiveness and stress reduction. Analyzing the results of the coach-AI-assistant interaction, the study shows that AI broadens the vision of coaches. From the point of view of the threat of the coach-bot interaction, there is a bottleneck that emerged during the feedback process during the study. In several sessions, coaches were not able to develop an emotional connection well enough through written dialogue – due to the absence of face-to-face contact. One of the key outcomes regarding the “client-coach” interaction is the high importance of emotional contact.

Subjective well‐being and gender‐typed attributes in adolescents: The relevance of emotional intelligence

Background: The link between subjective well‐being (SWB), gender and emotional intelligence (EI) has been studied; however, it is not clear what kind of relationship has been established between these variables. The objective of this study was to examine the direct and indirect effects of EI in the relationship between gender‐typed attributes and SWB. Method: The participants were 365 Spanish schoolchildren with a mean age of 13.9. The instruments used were the Spanish version of GRI‐JUG (GRI‐JUG‐SP15) for gender‐typed attributes, TMMS‐24 for EI, PANASN for positive and negative affects, and SWLS for satisfaction with life. A mediational analysis was carried out using EI (attention, repair and clarity) as mediator in order to find out the effects on well‐being. Results: The findings yielded that EI significantly mediated the relationship between gender‐typed attributes and SWB. Particularly, clarity and repair are positively associated with SWB, whereas attention is negatively associated with SWB. Also, clarity and repair can be considered more important than attention in promoting SWB, according to the models of mediation and their effect size. Moreover, clarity and repair were mediators in feminine and masculine attributes while attention only was mediator for positive feminine attributes. Conclusion: For adolescents who claim to have positive feminine attributes, an aspect that would improve SWB is through the increase of clarity and repair and the decrease in attention. Further research is needed to examine the extent to which the pattern of results generalises in other contexts, and to explore the relevance of negative emotions in the development of affective‐related issues.

Detection by sputtering of deformed areas hidden under a surface

A sensitive method of visualization by sputtering of deformed areas buried under a surface is developed. The effect of varying the lattice constant and binding-energy of surface atoms of binary disordered alloys on the sputtering of areas deformed by a concentrated load was examined using molecular dynamics. The calculation was carried out for Cu87Sn13, Ni97Fe3 and Fe97Ni3 alloys, which are used for manufacturing of coins and items with marking signs. Experimentally and by MD simulations of energy and angular distributions of sputtered particles, we have shown that the best conditions for detection of deformed areas, buried under a surface, occur in the case of irradiation by inert gas ions of sufficiently large mass (Ar+, Kr+) with energy of 7–10 keV, when the sputtering yield is close to its maximum value. We suggest using an inclined ion beam, near the maximum of the angular dependence of the sputtering coefficient. This leads to reduction of the time necessary for ion irradiation, and to an increase in clarity of the obtained image due to a cumulative effect in the narrow near-surface layers of the target. Using the recommended parameters of sputtering has allowed us to reveal a destroyed image on a bronze coin and images of completely ground off marking numbers on steel objects.

Monitoring Error Rates In Illumina Sequencing.

Guaranteeing high-quality next-generation sequencing data in a rapidly changing environment is an ongoing challenge. The introduction of the Illumina NextSeq 500 and the depreciation of specific metrics from Illumina's Sequencing Analysis Viewer (SAV; Illumina, San Diego, CA, USA) have made it more difficult to determine directly the baseline error rate of sequencing runs. To improve our ability to measure base quality, we have created an open-source tool to construct the Percent Perfect Reads (PPR) plot, previously provided by the Illumina sequencers. The PPR program is compatible with HiSeq 2000/2500, MiSeq, and NextSeq 500 instruments and provides an alternative to Illumina's quality value (Q) scores for determining run quality. Whereas Q scores are representative of run quality, they are often overestimated and are sourced from different look-up tables for each platform. The PPR's unique capabilities as a cross-instrument comparison device, as a troubleshooting tool, and as a tool for monitoring instrument performance can provide an increase in clarity over SAV metrics that is often crucial for maintaining instrument health. These capabilities are highlighted.

SUPPLEMENTATION OF FRUIT PROCESSING WASTE FOR ENDOXYLANASE PRODUCTION BY TRICHODERMA KOENINGI ISOLATE AND ITS OPTIMIZATION USING CENTRAL COMPOSITE DESIGN: APPLICATION OF PRODUCED ENDOXYLANASE IN MANGO JUICE CLARIFICATION

The aim of this study was to optimize the supplementation of custard apple, pomegranate peel along with KH2PO4, (NH4)2SO4 and MgSO4 for maximum endoxylanase production by Trichoderma koeningi isolate on pretreated corn cobs using CCD. Predicted endoxylanase yield was highest (3242.43 U/g) with the actual yield of (3107.58U/g) from 2% NaOH pretreated corn cobs. The model predicted R2 value of 0.9147% indicating that it was appropriate to predict the levels of variables to achieve maximum endoxylanase yield. The produced endoxylanase clarified mango juice of Baneshan and Totapuri varieties at 40°C and 56 h. The endoxylanase treatment enhanced the clarity of Baneshan juice by 51.7% with a release of 121.1 mg/ml of reducing sugars at an optimized enzyme dose of 9.6 U that led to maximum flow rate of 8 ml/min. In the case of Totapuri juice, there was 43.4% increase in clarity and release of 102.6 mg/ml reducing sugars at an optimized enzyme dose of 12.8 U that lead to a maximum juice flow rate of 6 ml/min. The HPLC analysis showed that the hydrolysed products of mango juice were xylose and xylo-oligosacharides. An optimized xylanase production was achieved from low cost agro residues, which results in the reduction of enzyme cost.

The Use of Statistical Analysis To Optimize Pioneer Natural Resources' Vertical Spraberry-Trend Portfolio

Summary Prompted by the need to fully characterize a 10,000-plus undrilled vertical-well inventory, Pioneer Natural Resources began using a statistical system to evaluate its Spraberry-trend portfolio. The system incorporated methods advocated in the recently published Society of Petroleum Evaluation Engineers (SPEE) Monograph 3, "Guidelines for the Practical Evaluation of Undeveloped Reserves in Resource Plays." This paper reviews the tools and processes used to statistically value Pioneer's undeveloped potential across its Spraberry-trend acreage. Clearly defining the entire well inventory enabled Pioneer to economically optimize the development of its entire Spraberry-trend portfolio. Evaluating opportunities with a statistical process enables the historical production performance to be analyzed over a broad test area as opposed to being confined to a location's "direct offsets." The Spraberry trend has a large existing well count that can be used for statistical analysis. However, its complex development history and variability in vertical-well production horizons can make this difficult. To adjust for these impedances, analog well sets were defined by generating standardized multizone production groups and categorizing the increased-density drilling by well vintage. Several unique tools and an extensive individually forecasted well data set were created to increase the efficiency of the process. A robust statistical definition of Pioneer's entire Spraberry asset facilitated the optimization of the entire Pioneer portfolio through the allocation of the 36-rig program on the basis of economics and land requirements, comparison of potential acquisitions to the current portfolio, and increase in clarity of the net asset value of the Spraberry. Methods reviewed in this paper have applications beyond vertical portfolio optimization; Pioneer has already modified these statistical evaluation methods to book proved vertical reserves across its acreage position in the Spraberry Trend and is currently using similar techniques to evaluate its active Horizontal portfolio in the Permian Basin. Additionally, other operators could employ similar techniques for economic assessments of their portfolios in other resource plays.

Evaluating coagulation pretreatment on poultry processing wastewater for dissolved air flotation

Eleven metal coagulants and one polyelectrolyte were assessed for their suitability in assisting a dissolved air flotation (DAF) system aimed at treating poultry processing wastewater. Preliminary jar tests determined that a combination of 800 mg/L of FeCl3 (ferric chloride) and 900 mg/L of Floccin 1115 would provide the best treatment by removing at least 98% of the total suspended solids (TSS) and 97% of the volatile suspended solids (VSS), while providing a 97% increase in water clarity. Final flotation tests suggested that the flocculated particles could be carried to the surface with 40% recycle ratio of the DAF. The resulting supernatant indicated 94.7% increase in clarity (± 1.4%), 97.3% reduction in TSS (± 0.5%), 96.6% reduction in VSS (±1.1%), 91% reduction in chemical oxygen demand (COD), and nearly 100% removal of fats, oils, and greases (FOGs). Despite the high removal efficiencies, flotation was found not to be critically necessary for treatment because the high concentration of coagulants caused settling of the flocs to occur just as rapidly. Potential coagulant overdosing is suspected at the higher end of the tested coagulant concentrations due to limited alkalinity in the wastewater. However, lack of residual metal (coagulant) ions in water may be linked to reactions leading to phosphate precipitation. The exact effect of the competing phosphate reaction on treatment efficiency is not clearly evident from this present study.

Human auditory cortex is sensitive to the perceived clarity of speech

Feedback connections among auditory cortical regions may play an important functional role in processing naturalistic speech, which is typically considered a problem solved through serial feed-forward processing stages. Here, we used fMRI to investigate whether activity within primary auditory cortex (PAC) is sensitive to the perceived clarity of degraded sentences. A region-of-interest analysis using probabilistic cytoarchitectonic maps of PAC revealed a modulation of activity, in the most primary-like subregion (area Te1.0), related to the intelligibility of naturalistic speech stimuli that cannot be driven by stimulus differences. Importantly, this effect was unique to those conditions accompanied by a perceptual increase in clarity. Connectivity analyses suggested sources of input to PAC are higher-order temporal, frontal and motor regions. These findings are incompatible with feed-forward models of speech perception, and suggest that this problem belongs amongst modern perceptual frameworks in which the brain actively predicts sensory input, rather than just passively receiving it.

Effect of ohmic heating and vacuum impregnation on the osmodehydration kinetics and microstructure of strawberries (cv. Camarosa)

The influence of ohmic heating (OH) and vacuum impregnation (VI) on the osmotic dehydration (OD) kinetics and microstructure of strawberries were studied. Samples were immersed in a 65 °Brix sucrose solution and treated with OH (100 V) and VI (5 kPa). Osmotic treatments were carried out at 30, 40 and 50 °C for 300 min. Water loss, solid gain, color and firmness of the strawberries were measured. In addition, the microstructure was analyzed using electron microscopy (SEM) and (TEM). The results showed that applying OH during osmotic dehydration had significant effects on the mass transference kinetics and the microstructure of the treated samples. The greatest water loss was observed for the OD–OH treatment. The largest amount of solute gain was obtained for the VI–OH treatment. A loss in firmness was observed in the OD–OH samples at 50 °C. Color differences were related to an increase in clarity and a decrease in color chrome, and the least significant differences were observed for the samples treated at 30 °C. SEM observations showed that cell rupturing were more significant in the OD–OH than in the VI–OH samples. The application of OH and VI had beneficial effects on the acceleration of mass transference.

Interprofessional education and working in mental health: in search of the evidence base

To explore interprofessional attitudes arising from shared learning in mental health. Inter-professional education in healthcare is a priority area for improving team-working and communication. Many studies have attempted to evaluate its benefits and challenges, although few emanate from the mental health arena. However, producing evidence to link educational input with clinical outcomes is notoriously difficult. This project attempted to produce evidence for changes in interprofessional attitudes and stereotypes. Mental health nursing students and clinical psychology trainees participated in inter-professional education. An evaluation tool was designed to evaluate the experience and outcomes, and to consider implications for interprofessional working. There was an increase in clarity regarding roles, approaches and resources, and how to collaborate in practice. There was no significant change in professional identity. Many challenges were identified, including differences in academic level, previous experience, expectations, assessment, motivation and effort. Despite the challenges, it remains important to offer collaboration with future mental health colleagues as a foundation for effective team-working. Recommendations are made for creating inter-professional education opportunities for diverse student groups. Mental health professionals need to work effectively in multidisciplinary teams. Drawing on available guidance, managers should encourage and support team members to undertake shared learning where possible, both within clinical settings and through more formal educational provision. In this way, managers can facilitate collaborative relationships which will pay dividends for the provision of effective mental health care. This project adds to the limited knowledge currently available on interprofessional learning and attitudes within a mental health context.

Patients' expectation and experience of visual sensations during phacoemulsification under topical anaesthesia

To describe what patients expect to see and the visual sensations they actually experience during phacoemulsification under topical anaesthesia. We also sought to determine if patients find their intraoperative visual experience frightening and the factors associated with this. Ninety-eight patients who underwent phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation under topical anaesthesia were interviewed preoperatively on what they expected to see with their operated eye during surgery and again postoperatively on what they actually saw. No patient received counselling about possible intraoperative visual sensations. A logistic (multivariate) regression model was used for statistical analysis. Preoperatively, 36 patients (36.7%) expected at least light perception, 38 (38.8%) expected no light perception, and 24 (24.5%) were unsure what to expect. Some patients also expected a variety of different visual sensations. Postoperatively, all patients (100%) reported seeing light intraoperatively and many experienced various other visual sensations. Nineteen patients (19.4%) found their visual experience frightening. The following factors were statistically associated with a frightening visual experience: preoperative anxiety, previous cataract surgery in the fellow eye, experiencing an intraoperative increase in clarity, not seeing movement intraoperatively, and not knowing what to expect. The majority of patients in this study either expected that they would see nothing at all during the surgery or were unsure of what to expect. All patients subsequently saw at least some light, and many perceived various other visual sensations that were frightening to nearly one in five patients. Preoperative counselling should inform about possible intraoperative visual experience.

Single Fiber-Optic pH Sensor Based on Changes in Reflection Accompanying Polymer Swelling

We have prepared fiber-optic pH sensors consisting of a small drop of aminated polystyrene on the tip of a single optical fiber with a core diameter of 100 microns. The sensor is prepared by dipcoating a partially polymerized solution and then completing the polymerization on the fiber. This is followed by amination with diethanolamine. The polymer formulation includes xylene/dodecane to introduce porosity and Kraton G1652, a styrene-ethylene, butylene-styrene, triblock copolymer as a toughening agent. The polymer swells as the amine groups are protonated. This is accompanied by an increase in clarity of the polymer and a decrease in the intensity of light reflected back into the optical fiber. Intensity decreases by over a factor of 2 as the pH is decreased from 8.0 to 6.5. The resulting sensor is small and mechanically stable with a response time of several minutes.

Comments on Deregowski's Analysis of Seeing a Picture for the First Time

J. B. Deregowski [1] has considered the question: What happens when persons see a picture for the first time and it is their first time to see that kind of picture ? He presents three possible answers: (1) A kind of gradual increase in clarity precedes recognition, the time taken depending on the viewer's familiarity with pictures in general. (2) The process requires integrating widely scattered but clearly perceived items into a coherent whole. (3) The answer he prefers is the hypothesis that the viewer makes a hypothesis on the basis of a sample of the picture, tests it against another sample, revises if necessary, samples again, and continues this process till no further modification is necessary. Why does he reject answers (1) and (2)? The reason is that both postulate units, either the entire picture (1) or individual items (2). He claims that one does not perceive all the units with equal clarity (an objection to (1)), and the individual items answer (2) leads to an infinite regress, for the larger items must depend on smaller items, those on still smaller items, etc. His analysis comes at a time when a good deal of research on picture perception has been gathered together from a wide variety of disciplines-crosscultural studies, animal learning, child development and psychophysics, to name but the main ones [2]. His article deserves a careful reading, because it addresses one of the issues on which research has begun to focus. Instead of asking do untrained viewers .understand pictures? the question is being posed in the form how do they begin to cope with the different elements [3] ofpictures? The first point, one should note, is that while Deregowski quotes many reports on people in low-technology societies, none of the reports unequivocally supports any of the answers that he offers to his basic question. He says that some of the things said by these informants are noteworthy and striking and their similarity from one tribe to another, at times, is startling. But it is also evident that the various hypotheses offered can garner some support from the available evidence. Consider his work with the Me'en Ethiopians. One of them mentioned the overall shape before the parts: 'It looks like a cow. [These are] its horns, legs, tail, ear. It is a cow'. Another seems to see the parts before the whole: 'That is a tail. This is a foot. That is a leg joint. Those are horns .... Let