Upright Ones Research Articles

No influence of emotional expression on size underestimation of upright faces.

Faces are a primary means of conveying social information between humans. One important factor modulating the perception of human faces is emotional expression. Face inversion also affects perception, including judgments of emotional expression, possibly through the disruption of configural processing. One intriguing inversion effect is an illusion whereby faces appear to be physically smaller when upright than when inverted. This illusion appears to be highly selective for faces. In this study, we investigated whether the emotional expression of a face (neutral, happy, afraid, and angry) modulates the magnitude of this size illusion. Results showed that for all four expressions, there was a clear bias for inverted stimuli to be judged as larger than upright ones. This demonstrates that there is no influence of emotional expression on the size underestimation of upright faces, a surprising result given that recognition of different emotional expressions is known to be affected unevenly by inversion. Results are discussed considering recent neuroimaging research which used population receptive field (pRF) mapping to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying face perception features and which may provide an explanation for how an upright face appears smaller than an inverted one. Elucidation of this effect would lead to a greater understanding of how humans communicate.

Восприятие естественной асимметричности знакомых и незнакомых лиц

Background. Despite the abundance of human face recognition models and research carried out in this area over the past half-century, there are still open questions about the uniqueness of the facial perception processes and about the oneness or difference of the mechanisms of perception of familiar and unfamiliar faces. Objective. Research into the mechanisms of perception of (a)symmetry of familiar and unfamiliar faces. Study Participants. 34 people participated in the study: 25 classmates (11 female and 14 male, Мage = 16, SD = 0,49) and 9 teachers (6 female and 3 male, Мage = 33, SD = 8,71). Methods. Methods of inversion and horizontal mirroring of face images were used to compare the mechanisms of perception of facial symmetry in familiar and unfamiliar faces. Mirroring allowed to change the face itself without violating its recognition and maintaining the overall degree of its (a)symmetry. The inversion impaired the perception of the facial configuration. Study participants assessed the degree of asymmetry in the images of familiar (photographs of classmates) and unfamiliar faces in four presentation conditions: original / mirrored faces presented upright / inverted. Results. The study results demonstrated that when presented upright, familiar mirrored faces are perceived as more asymmetrical than the original ones; no difference was revealed for unfamiliar faces. When inverting images, the ratings of the original and mirrored versions of the faces do not differ significantly for both familiar and unfamiliar faces. A small inversion effect was found in the ratings of original familiar faces: inverted familiar faces were rated as more asymmetrical than upright ones. Conclusions. The study results generally support the hypothesis that the mechanisms of perception of (a)symmetry in familiar and unfamiliar faces differ. Furthermore, there is reason to consider the assessment of a face (a)symmetry as involving not only configural, but also analytical mechanisms of its perception.

Improving the Performance of Direct Bonded Five-Junction Solar Cells by Optimization of AlInP Window Layer

It is well-known that the quantum efficiency (QE) of inverted AlGaInP solar cells is less than that of upright ones, and the mechanism has not been well-explained. In this paper, a Si-doped AlInP window layer, compared with an emitter layer, is revealed to be one more important factor that decreases QE. It is noted that the quality of a heavily Si-doped AlInP window layer would decrease and further deteriorate subsequent active layers. An optimization strategy of a Si-doped AlInP window layer is proposed, which proves effective through time-resolved photoluminescence measurements (TRPL) of double heterojunctions. Inverted 2.1 eV AlGaInP solar cells with an improved AlInP window layer are fabricated. A 60 mV Voc increment is achieved with a remarkable enhancement of the fill factor from 0.789 to 0.827. An enhanced QE of 10% to 20% is achieved at short-wavelength and the peak IQE rises from 83.3% to 88.2%, which presents a nearly identical IQE compared with the upright reference. Further optimization in GaAs homojunction sub-cells is performed by introducing an n-GaInP/p-GaAs heterojunction structure, which decreases the recombination loss in the emitter caused by a poor AlInP window layer. The optimized structure significantly improves the Voc of the inverted GaAs-based T-3J solar cells to 3830 mV, boosting the efficiency of SBT five-junction solar cells to 35.61% under AM0 illumination.

Forward trunk lean with arm support affects the activity of accessory respiratory muscles and thoracoabdominal movement in healthy individuals

Despite the reported benefits of postures involving leaning the trunk forward with arm support for relieving dyspnea, how those postures influence the mechanics of breathing remains unclear. In response, the aim of the study reported here was to evaluate how posture (i.e., standing and sitting) and leaning the trunk forward with arm support affect the activity of accessory respiratory muscles and thoracoabdominal movement in healthy individuals. Thirty-five volunteers (15 males and 20 females) aged 18–29 years breathed with the same rhythm in standing and sitting positions while upright and while leaning the trunk forward with arm support. Surface electromyography was performed to assess the activity of accessory inspiratory (i.e., during inspiration) and abdominal (i.e., during inspiration and expiration) muscles, and a motion capture system was used to assess thoracoabdominal movement. Results revealed that upper trapezius activity was significantly lower in forward-leaning postures than in upright ones (P = 005; ηp2 = 0.311), although the activity of the sternocleidomastoideus and scalenus (P < 0.001; ηp2 = 0.427–0.529), along with the anterior-to-posterior movement of the upper ribcage (P < 0.001; ηp2 = 0.546), were significantly greater in forward-leaning postures than in upright ones. The activity of the external oblique and transversus abdominis/internal oblique was significantly lower in sitting than in standing postures (P < 0.050; ηp2 = 0.206–0.641), and though the activity of the transversus abdominis/internal oblique was significantly lower in forward-leaning than in upright postures (P ≤ 0.001; ηp2 = 0.330–0.541), a significantly greater anterior-to-posterior movement of the abdomen was observed (P < 0.001; ηp2 = 0.662). However, the magnitude of the lower ribcage’s medial-to-lateral movement was significantly lower in forward-leaning than in upright postures (P = 0.039; ηp2 = 0.149). Leaning the trunk forward with arm support not only increased the use of accessory inspiratory muscles but also decreased the use of the transversus abdominis/internal oblique, which improved thoracoabdominal movement.

The Idea Is Good, but…: Failure to Replicate Associations of Oxytocinergic Polymorphisms with Face-Inversion in the N170.

BackgroundIn event-related potentials, the N170 manifests itself especially in reaction to faces. In the healthy population, face-inversion leads to stronger negative amplitudes and prolonged latencies of the N170, effects not being present in patients with autism-spectrum-disorder (ASD). ASD has frequently been associated with differences in oxytocinergic neurotransmission. This ERP-study aimed to investigate the face-inversion effect in association with oxytocinergic candidate genes. It was expected that risk-allele-carriers of the oxytocin-receptor-gene-polymorphism (rs53576) and of CD38 (rs379863) responded similar to upright and inverted faces as persons with ASD. Additionally, reactions to different facial emotional expressions were studied. As there have been difficulties with replications of those molecular genetic association studies, we aimed to replicate our findings in a second study.MethodSeventy-two male subjects in the first-, and seventy-eight young male subjects in the replication-study conducted a face-inversion-paradigm, while recording EEG. DNA was extracted from buccal cells.ResultsResults revealed stronger N170-amplitudes and longer latencies in reaction to inverted faces in comparison to upright ones. Furthermore, effects of emotion on N170 were evident. Those effects were present in the first and in the second study. Whereas we found molecular-genetic associations of oxytocinergic polymorphisms with the N170 in the first study, we failed to do so in the replication sample.ConclusionResults indicate that a deeper theoretical understanding of this research-field is needed, in order to generate possible explanations for these findings. Results, furthermore, support the hypotheses that success of reproducibility is correlated with strength of lower original p-values and larger effect sizes in the original study.

Disparity in Optical Charge Generation and Recombination Processes in Upright and Inverted PbS Quantum-Dot Solar Cells

The role of optical charge generation and nongeminate recombination on the photocurrent of upright and inverted colloidal-PbS quantum-dot solar cells is investigated. With a controlled active layer thickness, upright (PbS/fullerene) devices are found to present overall better photovoltaic performance relative to inverted devices, notwithstanding the better NIR photoconversion efficiency in the latter. Through detailed analysis and numerical optoelectronic simulations, we show that beyond incidental differences, these two device architectures have fundamentally dissimilar properties that stem from their particular optical generation characteristics and the nature of the recombination processes at play, with the inverted devices affected only by trap-assisted losses and the upright ones suffering from enhanced bimolecular recombination. This study unveils the role of device geometry and inherent material properties on the carrier generation and collection efficiency of the light-generated photocurrent in co...

Integrating Sexual Objectification With Object Versus Person Recognition

Objectification refers to treating people as objects rather than persons. When people are sexually objectified, they are reduced to their sexualized bodies or body parts, available for satisfying the desires of others. At the same time, research on object and person recognition suggests that people are perceived configurally, whereas objects are perceived analytically. For example, the inversion effect (i.e, inverted stimuli are more difficult to recognize than upright ones) occurs for person recognition and not object recognition. Based on our suggestion that sexualized women are perceived similarly to objects, we hypothesized that an inversion effect would emerge for the recognition of sexualized men, but not women. Consistently, an inversion effect only occurred for sexualized men, but not women. Implications for objectification theory are discussed.

The Frozen Face Effect: Why Static Photographs May Not Do You Justice

When a video of someone speaking is paused, the stationary image of the speaker typically appears less flattering than the video, which contained motion. We call this the frozen face effect (FFE). Here we report six experiments intended to quantify this effect and determine its cause. In Experiment 1, video clips of people speaking in naturalistic settings as well as all of the static frames that composed each video were presented, and subjects rated how flattering each stimulus was. The videos were rated to be significantly more flattering than the static images, confirming the FFE. In Experiment 2, videos and static images were inverted, and the videos were again rated as more flattering than the static images. In Experiment 3, a discrimination task measured recognition of the static images that composed each video. Recognition did not correlate with flattery ratings, suggesting that the FFE is not due to better memory for particularly distinct images. In Experiment 4, flattery ratings for groups of static images were compared with those for videos and static images. Ratings for the video stimuli were higher than those for either the group or individual static stimuli, suggesting that the amount of information available is not what produces the FFE. In Experiment 5, videos were presented under four conditions: forward motion, inverted forward motion, reversed motion, and scrambled frame sequence. Flattery ratings for the scrambled videos were significantly lower than those for the other three conditions. In Experiment 6, as in Experiment 2, inverted videos and static images were compared with upright ones, and the response measure was changed to perceived attractiveness. Videos were rated as more attractive than the static images for both upright and inverted stimuli. Overall, the results suggest that the FFE requires continuous, natural motion of faces, is not sensitive to inversion, and is not due to a memory effect.

Recognition and Eye Movements with Partially Hidden Pictures of Faces and Cars in Different Orientations

Inverted faces are more difficult to identify than upright ones. This even applies when pictures of faces are partially hidden in geometrical designs so that it takes some seconds to recognise them. Similar, though not as pronounced, orientation preferences apply to familiar objects. We compared the recognition times and patterns of eye movements for two sets of familiar symmetrical objects. Pictures of faces and of cars were embedded in patterns of concentric circles in order to render them difficult to recognise. They were presented in four orientations, at 90° intervals from upright. Two experiments were conducted with the same set of stimuli; experiment 1 required participants to respond in terms of faces or cars, and in experiment 2 responses were made to the orientation of the embedded image independently of its class. Upright faces were recognised more accurately and faster than those in other orientations; fixation durations were longer for upright faces even before recognition. These results applied to both experiments. Orientation effects for cars were not pronounced and distinctions between 90°, 180°, and 270° embedded images were not consistent; this was the case in both experiments.

Ethylene Evolution Changes in Tilted Fraxinus mandshurica Rupr. var. japonica Maxim. Seedlings in Relation to Tension Wood Formation

The effects of ethylene on tension wood formation were studied in 3-year-old Fraxinus mandshurica Rupr. var. japonica Maxim. seedlings in two separate experiments. In experiment 1, ethylene evolution of buds and stems was measured using gas chromatography after 0, 2, 4, 7, 14, and 21 d of treatment; in experiment 2, both aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG) and AgNO3 were applied to the horizontally-placed stems, and the cell numbers on sites of applications were measured after 40 d. Ethylene evolution from buds was found to be much greater in tilted seedlings than in upright ones. The cell numbers of wood fibers in shoots and 1-year-old stems were reduced in treatments with 12.5 x 10(-7)micromol/L AVG, 12.5 x 10(-8)micromol/L AVG, and 11.8 x 10(-8)micromol/L AgNO3; whereas the horizontal and vertical diameters were reduced by treatment of 12.5 x 10(-7)micromol/L AVG. Ethylene evolutions of shoots and 1-year-old stems were inhibited greatly in comparison with the control by applying 12.5 x 10(-7)micromol/L AVG. The formation of a gelatinous layer of wood fibers was affected by neither AVG nor AgNO3 application. These results suggest that ethylene regulates the quantity of wood production, but does not affect G-layer formation in F. mandshurica Rupr. var. japonica Maxim. seedlings.

Effects of posture on peripheral vascular responses to lower body positive pressure

We tested the hypothesis that peripheral vascular responses (in the lower and upper limbs) to application of lower body positive pressure (LBPP) are dependent on the posture of the subjects. We measured heart rate, stroke volume, mean arterial pressure, leg and forearm blood flow (using the Doppler ultrasound technique), and leg (LVC) and forearm (FVC) vascular conductance in 11 subjects (9 men, 2 women) without and with LBPP (25 and 50 mmHg) in supine and upright postures. Mean arterial pressure increased in proportion to increases in LBPP and was greater in supine than in upright subjects. Heart rate was unchanged when LBPP was applied to supine subjects but was reduced in upright ones. Leg blood flow and LVC were both reduced by LBPP in supine subjects [LVC: 4.8 (SD 4.0), 3.6 (SD 3.5), and 1.4 (SD 1.8) ml.min(-1).mmHg(-1) before LBPP and during 25 and 50 mmHg LBPP, respectively; P < 0.05] but were increased in upright ones [LVC: 2.0 (SD 1.2), 3.4 (SD 3.4), and 3.0 (SD 2.0) ml.min(-1).mmHg(-1), respectively; P < 0.05]. Forearm blood flow and FVC both declined when LBPP was applied to supine subjects [FVC: 1.3 (SD 0.6), 1.0 (SD 0.4), and 0.9 (SD 0.6) ml. min(-1).mmHg(-1), respectively; P < 0.05] but remained unchanged in upright ones [FVC: 0.7 (SD 0.4), 0.7 (SD 0.4), and 0.6 (SD 0.5) ml.min(-1).mmHg(-1), respectively]. Together, these findings indicate that the leg vascular response to application of LBPP is posture dependent and that the response differs in the lower and upper limbs when subjects assume an upright posture.

First report of anthracnose of common snowberry caused by Sphaceloma symphoricarpi in the Czech Republic

During the first part of July, 2006, a severe outbreak of disease on common snowberry shrubs, &lt;I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"&gt;Symhoricarpos albus&lt;/I&gt; var. &lt;I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"&gt;laevigata&lt;/I&gt;, was observed in some city ornamental parks and small gardens in Prague and its environs. Based on disease symptoms and pathogen characteristics both on leaves, shoots, fruits and in culture, it can be concluded that the outbreak of anthracnose on common snowberry was caused by &lt;I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"&gt;Sphaceloma symphoricarpi&lt;/I&gt; Barus &amp;amp; Horsfall 1928. This is probably the first record of &lt;I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"&gt;S. symphoricarpi&lt;/I&gt; in the Czech Republic. Of the surveyed &lt;I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"&gt;Symphoricarpos&lt;/I&gt; species and varieties, i.e. &lt;I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"&gt;S. albus &lt;/I&gt;var&lt;I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"&gt;. albus&lt;/I&gt;, &lt;I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"&gt;S. albus&lt;/I&gt; var. &lt;I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"&gt;laevigata,&lt;/I&gt; &lt;I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"&gt;S. orbiculatus&lt;/I&gt;, &lt;I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"&gt;S. doorenbosii, &lt;/I&gt;and S. chenaultii&lt;/I&gt;, only &lt;I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"&gt;S. albus&lt;/I&gt; var. &lt;I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"&gt;laevigata &lt;/I&gt;was attacked by the pathogen. Common snowberry shrubs having semipendent branches appeared to be more susceptible than shrubs with upright ones. Disease symptoms and pathogen characteristics are described and illustrated. The analysis of meteorological data indicated that the outbreak of anthracnose of common snowberry might have been related with rainy and mild weather during May, and especially with a rainy period of 7 days at the end of May and beginning of June.

Imagined transformations of bodies: an fMRI investigation

A number of spatial reasoning problems can be solved by performing an imagined transformation of one’s egocentric perspective. A series of experiments were carried out to characterize this process behaviorally and in terms of its brain basis, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In a task contrast designed to isolate egocentric perspective transformations, participants were slower to make left-right judgments about a human figure from the figure’s perspective than from their own. This transformation led to increased cortical activity around the left parietal-temporal-occipital junction, as well as in other areas including left frontal cortex. In a second task contrast comparing judgments about inverted figures to judgments about upright figures (always from the figure’s perspective), participants were slower to make left-right judgments about inverted figures than upright ones. This transformation led to activation in posterior areas near those active in the first experiment, but weaker in the left hemisphere and stronger in the right, and also to substantial left frontal activation. Together, the data support the specialization of areas near the parietal-temporal-occipital junction for egocentric perspective transformations. These results are also suggestive of a dissociation between egocentric perspective transformations and object-based spatial transformations such as mental rotation.

Generalization to novel images in upright and inverted faces.

An image of a face depends not only on its shape, but also on the viewpoint, illumination conditions, and facial expression. A face recognition system must overcome the changes in face appearance induced by these factors. Two related questions were investigated: the capacity of the human visual system to generalize the recognition of faces to novel images, and the level at which this generalization occurs. This problem was approached by comparing the identification and generalization capacity for upright and inverted faces. For upright faces, remarkably good generalization to novel conditions was found. For inverted faces, the generalization to novel views was significantly worse for both new illumination and viewpoint, although the performance on the training images was similar to that on the upright condition. The results indicate that at least some of the processes that support generalization across viewpoint and illumination are neither universal (because subjects did not generalize as easily for inverted faces as for upright ones) nor strictly object specific (because in upright faces nearly perfect generalization was possible from a single view, by itself insufficient for building a complete object-specific model). It is proposed that generalization in face recognition occurs at an intermediate level that is applicable to a class of objects, and that at this level upright and inverted faces initially constitute distinct object classes.

Effect of gravity on senescence and polyamine content of Helianthus annuus cotyledons

When 19-day-old Helianthus annuus plants were placed horizontally with one cotyledon oriented downward and the other upward, the senescence of these cotyledons, especially of the former one, was greatly accelerated compared with that of upright ones. Losses of fresh weight, chlorophyll and free polyamines, and increased activity of proteases, appears in the cotyledons of horizontal plants much earlier than in upright ones. Necrosis of the control, upward and downward oriented cotyledons occurred 33, 28 and 23 days, respectively, after the beginning of the experiment. The differences in the rates of senescence of the cotyledons are discussed in relation with the negative geotropism of the horizontally placed plants.

Internal geometry of a thrust sheet, eastern Proterozoic belt, Godavari Valley, South India

A small thrust sheet, named Pedda Gutta thrust sheet, consisting of calcareous to cherty argillites and cherts, and juxtaposed against tidal-intertidal cross-bedded quartzites and stromatolitic and sileceous limestone in the eastern Proterozoic belt, Godavari Valley, exhibits structures comparable in style to those of the external zone of a fold-thrust mountain belt. A wide spectrum of periodic and aperiodic mesoscopic folds varying from upright ones with rounded hinges and attenuated limbs, through noncylindrical kinks to whalebacks and sheath-like forms have developed within the small volume of the thrust sheet, the preserved thickness of which is of the order of 50 metres (comparable in scale to cleavage duplexes). Cleavage development is also heterogeneous across the width of the sheet. Displacement transfer from faults to folds and vice-versa is a common feature.

Thermoregulatory Behavior of the Butterfly Calisto nubila (Satyridae) in a Puerto Rican Forest

Flight activity and thoracic temperature (T,,) were recorded during varying conditions of ambient light for male Calisto nubila Lathy in a tropical forest. Flight activity was much reduced during cloudy conditions. Since ambient temperature (Ta) was similar during cloudy and sunny conditions, this reduction apparently reflects the importance of basking in elevating Th to levels permitting frequent flight. During sunny conditions, Tth for basking and flying butterflies were approximately 4.50C and 2.50C above Ta, respectively. These values suggest that basking and flying represent alternating periods of heating and cooling, respectively. Males were occasionally observed to tilt their body to increase exposure to solar radiation. Experiments with freshly killed specimens revealed that tilting butterflies heated more rapidly than upright ones. The present findings are briefly compared with those reported for another tropical satyrid.

Functional differences between upright and rotated images.

In Experiment I subjects imaged an alphanumeric character either upright or upside-down, and triggered a test display character. Their task was to decide as quickly as possible whether the test character was NORMAL or MIRRORED. On 72% of the trials the test was at the orientation imaged. Reaction time (RT) was then about 200 ms longer in the upside-down image condition. This difference reduced with practice. On the remaining trials the orientation of the test character differed from that of the prepared image. For upright images RT increased monotonically with the angular difference in orientation between test and image. For upside-down images RT did not increase monotonically with angular difference as there was a wide dip around the upright. Further experiments suggested that upside-down images can be rotated, but at considerably slower rates than upright ones, and that the apparent rates of rotation for upside-down images are dependent upon the width of the sector tested. These results indicate that visual short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM) are distinct; that the process of mental rotation does not operate directly upon LTM; and that functionally, upright and rotated images may differ in important ways.

Evaluation of the performance of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) when grown from inverted stem cuttings

SUMMARYIn order to investigate the characteristics of inverted cassava plantings, seven-node cuttings were planted upright or inverted, and such that four nodes of each cutting were within the soil in a glasshouse. They were observed for 7 weeks. The inverted cuttings sprouted less rapidly, but the percentage of the cuttings which eventually sprouted was not decreased. The inverted cuttings produced more sprouts than the upright ones, and a greater percentage of their sprouts were produced below ground than for the upright cuttings. At 5 and 7 weeks, the total leaf area per cutting was less for the inverted cuttings. The number of leaves per cutting did not differ between the treatments.In a field experiment comparing upright and inverted stem pieces, field emergence and tubering were slower in the inverted cuttings. Yield per plant and per unit area was significantly lower for the inverted cuttings. In the upright planting, most of the tubers originated at the lowest extremity of the cutting and formed a compact bunch there. For the inverted planting, most of the tubers arose from the shallower-lying submerged nodes, but the tubers did not form a compact bunch. The inverted planting had a lower percentage of its tubers lying along the ridge. In a few of the inverted plantings, but not in the upright, the bases of some stems became tuberous. The treatments did not differ with respect to mean tuber length, radius of spread of the tuber tip, and the number of major stems per plant.

Models for the processing and identification of faces

Representations of human faces were constructed from Identi-Kit in a comparison of several possible models of information processing relating to facial recognition. There was no experimental evidence that faces were treated as unitary Gestalten, or that the component features were processed to any significant extent in parallel, even when the stimuli were presented as photographic positives in the normal upright mode. Instead, the best theoretical model to fit the data involved serial self-terminating processing, without replacement. Task difficulty, determining both processing time and number of errors made, was found to be a function both of the number of critical features present and the orientation (upright or inverted). Photographic negatives were handled in every way the same as positives. The more difficult the task, the stronger the evidence for a serial model and the greater the effects of practice. The latter suggests that, given time, Ss could handle inverted presentations as readily as upright ones, and that inversion may merely increase the difficulty in separating out the individual features for subsequent processing.