Visual Impression Research Articles

EKPHRASIS AS MEMORY SPACE IN M. PROUST’s “PORTRAITS DE PEINTRES”

The article considers ekphrasis as one of the ways to create visual images in M. Proust’s “Portraits de Peintres”. The relevance of the research is resulted from arising interest to the phenomenon of literary visuality as well as the absence of specialised works devoted to the early lyric cycle of French modernist. The purpose of the article is to analyse devices of intersemiotic translation from a visual impression into a verbal description. Despite the full neglect on the part his contemporaries and researchers’ scepticism to Proust’s sole lyric cycle, this early experience contains, in our view, a repertoire of Proust’s recurring images and motifs. Artistic discourse of “Portraits de Peintres” refers, at a minimum, to three artistic codes: traditional genres of painting, literary ekphrasis, musical illustration. M.Proust combines the details of several paintings in his description, thus creating a text-puzzle, in which recognisable objects and the sequence of their appearance represent the manner of an artist and/or the style of an epoch in the mind of a recipient. Ekphrasis does not refer to the particular painting but to the genre image: “rural landscape” (Cuyp), “elegiac landscape” (Potter), “ceremonial portrait” (Van Dyck), “theatre scenery” (Watteau). They correspond to four literary models: idyll (Cuyp), lamentation (Potter), panegyric (Van Dyck), madrigal (Watteau). “Portraits de Peintres” gave rise to the layering typical for “later” Proust, when each time the text encourages to guess the new source of the “quotation”: symbolic landscape of the Dutch art, “portrait gallery” of great artists, emblematic puzzle image. The analysis of visuality in Proust’s cycle allows to assume that his Ekphrasis is not oriented to an individual artwork but to a text corpus even if the object of imitation comprises the individual style.

The impact of various factors on the occurrence and type of visual experiences during the cataract surgery

Aims: The aim was to check whether there is a relationship between ophthalmic and non-ophthalmic concomitant diseases and visual experiences during surgery. In addition, we wanted to verify whether visual experiences are influenced by such factors as age, gender, education, stress, etc.
 Methods: The patients phoned a few days after the surgery in order to be interviewed post-operatively by a 30-question questionnaire. Questions were asked on demographic data, concomitant diseases, both ophthalmic and non-ophthalmic, emotional and visual experiences during the cataract surgery p-value was calculated from the Chi-Square Test.
 Results: The study comprised 121 women and 87 men. 63.9% of patients underwent cataract surgery for the first time. Among 208 respondents 73 (35.1%) had light impressions and 77 (37%) reported visual impressions. Patients under 60 were more likely to experience both light and visual impressions (p < 0.05). Particular visual defects and concomitant diseases, both ophthalmic and non-ophthalmic, can influence the type of visual experiences. Stress was positively correlated with the occurrence of both light and visual impressions (p < 0.05) but it did not influence the exact type of visual experiences. For half of the respondents (51.0%), the impressions seen during the surgery were neutral. Only 14.4% of patients assessed these sensations as pleasant.
 Conclusion: Patients experienced a variety of visual sensations, which are not usually unpleasant, however they occurred more often among stressed patients and could also raise the stress level. Proper preoperative counselling is needed to help patients cope with the stress before surgery.

BI-RADS-Based Classification of Mammographic Soft Tissue Opacities Using a Deep Convolutional Neural Network.

The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of a machine learning algorithm to classify breast cancer solely by the presence of soft tissue opacities in mammograms, independent of other morphological features, using a deep convolutional neural network (dCNN). Soft tissue opacities were classified based on their radiological appearance using the ACR BI-RADS atlas. We included 1744 mammograms from 438 patients to create 7242 icons by manual labeling. The icons were sorted into three categories: “no opacities” (BI-RADS 1), “probably benign opacities” (BI-RADS 2/3) and “suspicious opacities” (BI-RADS 4/5). A dCNN was trained (70% of data), validated (20%) and finally tested (10%). A sliding window approach was applied to create colored probability maps for visual impression. Diagnostic performance of the dCNN was compared to human readout by experienced radiologists on a “real-world” dataset. The accuracies of the models on the test dataset ranged between 73.8% and 89.8%. Compared to human readout, our dCNN achieved a higher specificity (100%, 95% CI: 85.4–100%; reader 1: 86.2%, 95% CI: 67.4–95.5%; reader 2: 79.3%, 95% CI: 59.7–91.3%), and the sensitivity (84.0%, 95% CI: 63.9–95.5%) was lower than that of human readers (reader 1:88.0%, 95% CI: 67.4–95.4%; reader 2:88.0%, 95% CI: 67.7–96.8%). In conclusion, a dCNN can be used for the automatic detection as well as the standardized and observer-independent classification of soft tissue opacities in mammograms independent of the presence of microcalcifications. Human decision making in accordance with the BI-RADS classification can be mimicked by artificial intelligence.

Abstract 6310: Designing genomic test reports using a user-centered approach for clinicians in Pakistan

Abstract In the developed world, precision medicine and genomics are transforming traditional healthcare approaches. In spite of rapid technological progress being made in genomics, a 'genomic divide' is emerging between developed and developing countries. This is partly because of the limited genomic literacy of healthcare professionals and a scarcity of available genomics workforce that reportedly deters them from proposing genomic testing. We aim to help reduce this 'genomic divide' by proposing a genomic test report design for clinicians in Pakistan, that incorporates user-centered design principles. We tested two commonly used genomic reportswiththat varied in language, content and layout. Report A was a one-page genomic report from the Laboratory for Molecular Medicine, of a patient with suspected hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Report B was a report from FoundationOneCDx, of a breast carcinoma specimen with confirmed findings mentioned. We employed a qualitative descriptive study design, including a survey for trainees, non-specialists, and specialists. The parameters recorded were: subject comprehension, overall visual impression, level of difficulty of the language, and ease of understanding, along with, actionability and degree of trust. A total of 49 medical professionals across 11 institutes in Pakistan participated in the survey, of which 11 were specialists and 38 were non-specialists. We extracted 19 recommendations from the survey and broadly grouped them into three categories: communication style, report content, and layout. About 25% of the respondents commented that they would prefer a short and concise report, 20.8% wanted the language to be ‘doctor-friendly’ and 8.3% preferred data to be presented in tables. All recommendations were incorporated into our proposed genomic test report template. The template displays the results and what they mean for the patient (in layman's terms for ease of access to non-specialists), what possible action is to be taken by the doctor, and details of further information and support regarding the results. We propose the addition of a box on technical methodology at the end of the report template that may help in assisting with refreshing the genomic knowledge of non-specialists. Our findings have shown that in order to design impactful genomic reports for clinicians in Pakistan, we will have to start with a user-centered design approach. This can be instrumental in helping us improve the adoption of genomic testing in clinics around Pakistan. Citation Format: Momal Agha, Faisal Khan. Designing genomic test reports using a user-centered approach for clinicians in Pakistan [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 6310.

Phase-Sensitive Measurements of Depth-Dependent Signal Transduction in the Inner Plexiform Layer.

Non-invasive spatially resolved functional imaging in the human retina has recently attracted considerable attention. Particularly functional imaging of bipolar and ganglion cells could aid in studying neuronal activity in humans, including an investigation of processes of the central nervous system. Recently, we imaged the activity of the inner neuronal layers by measuring nanometer-size changes of the cells within the inner plexiform layer (IPL) using phase-sensitive optical coherence tomography (OCT). In the IPL, there are connections between the neuronal cells that are dedicated to the processing of different aspects of the visual information, such as edges in the image or temporal changes. Still, so far, it was not possible to assign functional changes to single cells or cell classes in living humans, which is essential for studying the vision process. One characteristic of signal processing in the IPL is that different aspects of the visual impression are only processed in specific sub-layers (strata). Here, we present an investigation of these functional signals for three different sub-layers in the IPL with the aim to separate different properties of the visual signal processing. Whereas the inner depth-layer, closest to the ganglion cells, exhibits an increase in the optical path length, the outer depth-layer, closest to the bipolar cell layer, exhibits a decrease in the optical path length. Additionally, we found that the central depth is sensitive to temporal changes, showing a maximum response at a stimulation frequency of around 12.5 Hz. The results demonstrate that the signals from different cell types can be distinguished by phase-sensitive OCT.

Development of low-fat and anthocyanin-rich purple sweet potato vacuum fried chips.

Vacuum frying technology has proven to be one of the best methods to produce snack products with higher retention of health-promoting/protecting nutraceuticals with reduced-fat content. In this work, application and optimization of vacuum frying process for purple sweet potato have used response surface methodology-based Box-Behnken design to produce low-fat and anthocyanin-rich purple sweet potato vacuum fried chips. The study showed the significant impact of frying temperature, vacuum pressure, and frying time on the chip's moisture and oil content, level of anthocyanin, visual impressions like color and texture. The selection of optimized frying parameters was carried out using a numerical optimizer and found to be 105°C for 7.08min at a reduced pressure of 14.79kPa. Compared to the atmospheric deep-fried chips, the vacuum fried chips showed 86% retention of anthocyanin content and a 35.6% decline in oil content with a lower breaking force of 0.69 N. Overall, the study confirmed that vacuum fried purple sweet potato chips could be a viable option to produce snacks with high functional value to meet the current consumer demands. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Purple sweet potatoes have the potential to produce healthy snack chips with lower fat content and higher functional characteristics when vacuum frying technology is used with optimized processing variables.

Hardwood Grain Image Restoration and Enhancement via Gaussian Histogram Specification and Adaptive Color Adjustment

Hardwood is widely used in the surface decoration of furniture and wood products due to its rich texture and durable surface, and the improvement of wood grain images is vital to promote the aesthetics of wood surfaces. In order to restore the Gaussian distribution of distorted wood grain images and reproduce a sharp and clear wood surface, a Gaussian histogram specification algorithm based on the constant mean and variance values of red (R), green (G), and blue (B), and an adaptive color adjustment algorithm based on the color extension of R, G, and B histograms was proposed, respectively. Objective evaluation methods of histogram distribution, colorfulness index, contrast index, and sharpness index were used independently to evaluate the visual effect of the images processed by the two algorithms. Objective and subjective evaluation results showed that although the Gaussian method had only a small influence on the visual effect of hardwood grain images, it could restore the distorted images by repairing the irregular color points to weaken the adverse impact on visual impression. Meanwhile, extra attention should be paid to the processing of images with prominent uneven color transitions, because the Gaussian method might have an imperceptible smoothing or enhancing effect. The adaptive color adjustment method had a favorable enhancement effect on most hardwood grain images. However, the color extension coefficients of the over-enhanced images should be reduced to eliminate overcompensation and color shift. Compared with the traditional enhancement method unsharp mask (USM) and the methods designed for sand-degraded images and underwater images, the proposed adaptive color adjustment at the 1.5 coefficient could effectively enhance the images from the perspective of wood grain visibility and color retention.

Development of an image-based measurement instrument for gloss characterization

Gloss is one of the main attributes to describe the appearance of surfaces and objects, as it contributes to the general quality perception. Gloss is a multidimensional quantity of which ‘specular gloss’ is the most commonly applied attribute. Specular gloss meters are standardized and widely used in industry. However, their readings correlate only partially to the general visual gloss impression, which also comprises distinctness-of-the-reflected-image (DOI), haze, contrast and surface-uniformity attributes. This study presents a more profound image-based gloss meter (iGM) which incorporates a CMOS camera detector. This concept is not new, but limited research has been conducted on the inclusion of various image processing evaluations for gloss attributes. The designed iGM is compatible to 60° specular gloss meter standards. The CMOS detector captures the reflected source image, which is processed to measure four perceptual attributes of surface gloss. The obtained results validate the 60° specular gloss evaluation and indicate a promising capability in characterizing DOI, haze, and contrast. Contrast is an important attribute that is not available yet in industrial gloss meters. It is measured using a diffuse aspecular light source. Generally, this iGM maintains the hardware principles of specular gloss meters, while evolving toward a representative gloss perception meter.

The Badlands Guardian: A Human Portrait with Feathered Headdress

This is an analysis of a large facial formation set within a glacial moraine along the southeast corner of Alberta, Canada, known as the Badlands Guardian. The formation is presented in one aerial and three satellite images acquired over the past 70 years by the Alberta Department of Lands & Forests and Google Earth. The images reveal a profiled portrait of a human head wearing a feathered headdress. The facial features include an eye, nose, mouth, chin, neck, and jawline. The headdress consists of a headband containing a staggered set of feather-shaped extensions. When taken together these aesthetic features create the visual impression of a left-facing portrait of an indigenous tribesman wearing a feathered headdress. A claim of intelligent design is offered and a geologist and geoscientist examine natural mechanisms that could contribute to the formation of these aesthetic features. A comparison of the iconographic tribal motifs of both North and South America is presented and a request for an extensive ground exploration and additional satellite images of this formation is encouraged.

Digital single-operator cholangioscopy in diagnostic and therapeutic bilio-pancreatic diseases: A prospective, multicenter study

Background and aimDigital single-operator cholangioscopy (D-SOC) is an endoscopic procedure that is increasingly used for the management of bilio-pancreatic diseases.We aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of D-SOC for diagnostic and therapeutic indications. MethodsThis is a multicenter, prospective study(January 2016-June 2019) across eighteen tertiary centers. The primary outcome was procedural success of D-SOC. Secondary outcomes were: D-SOC visual assessment and diagnostic yield of SpyBite biopsy in cases of biliary strictures, stone clearance rate in cases of difficult biliary stones, rate of adverse events(AEs) for all indications. ResultsD-SOC was performed in 369 patients (201(54,5%) diagnostic and 168(45,5%)therapeutic). Overall, procedural success rate was achieved in 360(97,6%) patients.The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV and accuracy in biliary strictures were: 88,5%, 77,3%, 83,3%, 84,1% and 83,6% for D-SOC visual impression; 80,2%, 92,6%, 95,1%, 72,5% and 84,7% for the SpyBite biopsy, respectively.For difficult biliary stones, complete duct clearance was obtained in 92,1% patients (82,1% in a single session). Overall, AEs occurred in 37(10%) cases.The grade of AEs was mild or moderate for all cases, except one which was fatal. ConclusionD-SOC is effective for diagnostic and therapeutic indications.Most of the AEs were minor and managed conservatively, even though a fatal event has happened that is not negligible and should be considered before using D-SOC.

Identification of fountain pen ink properties which determine the amount put on paper during handwriting

Handwriting with a modern fountain pen is an unique experience in present time, far beyond the pure necessity of making notes. The differences to ballpoint pens, rollerballs or pencils are in the tactual perception of the nib gliding over the paper surface and in the visual impression of a freshly drawn ink line with all the colour impressions and changing light reflections when a wet line dries and reveals either shading or sheen. This subjective impression of the wet line is commonly described as ink wetness and a lot is discussed and speculated about why one ink writes „wet“ and another „dry“. While such a subjective impression can not, the amount of ink put onto the paper can be measured quantitatively. To that end, a number of commercially available fountain pen inks were used to draw lines of a certain length and the amount of ink laid down on the paper was measured. These ink consumption data were correlated to the physical and chemical properties by a principal component analysis. The most significant outcome was the primary dependence of „ink wetness“ on surface tension, followed by viscosity and conductivity with unexpected and partly counter-intuitive correlations.

Infrared and visible image fusion based on cross-modal extraction strategy

Infrared and visible images can characterize the same scene by diverse modalities. However, most of existing deep learning-based fusion methods extract the two source image features by the dual independent extraction networks, which leads to the loss of deep feature relationships between source images. To this end, we propose a novel infrared and visible image fusion method based on cross-modal extraction strategy (CMEVIF), which could build an interactional relationship between dual independent extraction networks to help the model extract enough deep features. Specifically, we design two feature extraction networks to extract two kinds of cross-modal feature maps, i.e., background maps and target maps, which contain the main information of one source image and the additional information of another source image. Subsequently, all these cross-modal feature maps are utilized to reconstruct the fusion image. Besides, we design two region-based loss functions to guide the network to focus on specific regions of source images. Ablation experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of cross-modal extraction strategy and region-based loss functions. Compared with typical fusion methods, experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of our method in both objective metrics and visual impressions.

The economic value of urban landscapes in a suburban city of Tokyo, Japan: A semantic segmentation approach using Google Street View images

Visual impression of urban landscape has been investigated in detail through behavioral experiments and questionnaire surveys in the field of architecture. However, in order to give an incentive to build and maintain a good residential environment, an economic consideration of the urban landscape across space is also an important aspect. Employing a semantic segmentation approach using Google Street View images, we investigate the relationship between urban landscapes and property prices in low-rise residential areas in a suburban city of Tokyo, Japan. Such visual images are used to represent the landscape of both surrounding districts in general and the street-level landscape; more specifically, the latter is derived after controlling for the district fixed effect. We first show that greenery, openness and visual enclosure are positively correlated with property price at street level. We also investigate the value of urban landscapes commonly seen in Japan: (i) the presence of a power pole is negatively correlated with property price at district level; and (ii) the presence of a road shoulder or farmland, either of which may disrupt the continuity of a residential area, does not exhibit negative correlations with property price at either district or street level.

Development of the Clinical Gestalt Assessment: a visual clinical global impression scale for Proteus syndrome

BackgroundClinical outcome assessments are important tools for measuring the natural history of disease and efficacy of an intervention. The heterogenous phenotype and difficult to quantity features of Proteus syndrome present challenges to measuring clinical outcomes. To address these, we designed a global clinical assessment for Proteus syndrome, a rare mosaic overgrowth disorder. The Clinical Gestalt Assessment (CGA) aims to evaluate change over time in this phenotypically diverse disorder.ResultsWe gathered paired serial photographs and radiographs obtained at 12-to-36-month intervals from our natural history study of Proteus syndrome. The chronologic order of each set was blinded and presented to clinicians familiar with overgrowth disorders. They were asked to determine the chronologic order and, based on that response, rate global clinical change using a seven-point scale (Much Worse, Worse, Minimally Worse, No Change, Minimally Improved, Improved, Much Improved). Following a pilot, we tested the inter-rater reliability of the CGA using eight cases rated by eight clinicians. Raters identified the correct chronologic order in 53 of 64 (83%) of responses. There was low inter-rater variance and poor to moderate reliability with an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.46 (95% CI 0.24–0.75). The overall estimate of global change was Minimally Worse over time, which is an accurate reflection of the natural history of Proteus syndrome.ConclusionsThe CGA is a tool to evaluate clinical change over time in Proteus syndrome and may be a useful adjunct to measure clinical outcomes in prospective therapeutic trials.

Efficacy of narrow-band imaging during peroral cholangioscopy for predicting malignancy of indeterminate biliary strictures (with videos)

Direct peroral cholangioscopy (POC) can be useful when combined with narrow-band imaging (NBI) to explore the etiologies of indeterminate biliary strictures. We evaluated the efficacy of NBI compared with that of conventional white-light imaging (WLI) during POC diagnosis of indeterminate biliary strictures. Consecutive patients with indeterminate biliary strictures were enrolled from 2016 to 2019. The primary outcome was diagnostic accuracy, and secondary outcomes were technical success, adverse events, and visualization quality when predicting malignancy. Seventy-one patients underwent direct POC under NBI during targeted biopsy sampling. The strictures were successfully explored and adequate biopsy samples obtained in 67 of 71 patients (94.4%). In terms of visual impression, WLI and NBI afforded 75.0% and 87.5% sensitivity, 82.9 and 91.4% specificity, and 82.8 and 91.3% accuracy, respectively. The areas under the WLI and NBI receiver-operating characteristic curves were .80 and .96 (P= .01). Under NBI, the visualization quality of surface structures, microvessels, and lesional margins was higher than that under conventional WLI (P< .05). Direct POC under NBI effectively and accurately predicts malignancies of indeterminate biliary strictures. NBI effectively illuminated surface structures, microvessels, and lesional margins.

Model Eye Pictures can Lay the Foundation for Pictures Observed by Patients having Cataract Surgery while Simulation

Aim: The photographs of a model eye during the fake waterfall are to be evaluated by medical treatment.&#x0D; Methodology: This study was performed as a study in a research institution and a case procedure was carried out. Our current research was conducted at People Medical College Hospital, Nawabshah from April 2020 to March 2021. In the "front office" of a model eye, the iced rear surface was inserted with a flawed fogged focus, an acceptable intraocular focal point or an I/A tip. During the replicated Waterfall treatment, video pictures were collected from the back surface of the model eye. Before the waterfall surgery, 26 patients saw the video pictures and post-operatively rated their visual impressions.&#x0D; Results: View from behind were pictures of the movable focal parts, the I/A tip and the IOL add-on. The image via the opiated focus point and the IOL has been the light of the meticulous enlargement lens from behind without moving objects. However, after IOL added, pictures of the tiny and working space were switched off from behind by the light of the magnifying equipment. 70% of patients reported the visual feel of shifting focal components as video cuts and 58%. The overwhelming majority of patients advised that the film before their intended medical operation should be viewed.&#x0D; Conclusion: The model eye can re-enable visual insight for patients throughout the medical treatment for a waterfall. The preoperative view of the video pictures might aid to loosen the sufferers during the treatment.

Aesthetics of Sustainability: Research on the Design Strategies for Emotionally Durable Visual Communication Design

Lately, most studies on sustainable design from the perspective of emotional durability focus on product design, particularly on exploring how do product functions direct consumers’ emotional changes after the product is used, but overlook the significant impact of consumers’ visual impression of the product on their judgment. Therefore, this paper aims at finding out how to maintain the emotionally durable connection between consumers and products with the help of visual communication design so as to provide guidance for prolonging the service life of products and reducing the waste and consumption of resources. Based on literature reviews on sustainable design, visual communication design, and emotionally durable design, this paper firstly adopted the case study method to analyze more than 85 high-quality design practice cases and put forward preliminary design strategies. The behavior research method was then applied to analyze the consumer behavior involved in the preliminary design strategies, and those design strategies were upgraded according to the analysis results. Based on the above analysis and research work, this paper proposed six design strategies to improve the emotional durability of visual communication design, namely, Enjoyment, Functionality, Narrativity, Symbolism, Interaction, and Innovation. In the area of sustainability, the design strategies proposed in this paper provide a new design mode for emotionally durable visual communication design and make products to be more acceptable to consumers and long-term holding. Emotionally durable visual communication design can influence consumers’ aesthetics and lead consumers’ behavior toward more sustainable use of products.

Spezifika der Lehre in der Gefäßchirurgie im interdisziplinär-chirurgischen Setting

ZielEs sollen die komplexen Veränderungen in der gefäßchirurgischen Lehre, Gemeinsamkeiten/Unterschiede zur Allgemeinchirurgie, Spezifika der Lehre/Lehrinhalte sowie deren universitäre Voraussetzungen umrissen werden.MethodeKompakte narrative Kurzübersicht.ErgebnisseDer gefäßchirurgische Anteil an den chirurgischen Vorlesungen im Universitätsklinikum Magdeburg A.ö.R. umfasst 10 akademische Lehrstunden und beinhaltet die Themen: pAVK, Embolie/Thrombose, Gefäßverletzung, Kompartmentsyndrom, Mesenterialischämie, Aorten‑/Aneurysma- und venöse Chirurgie. Damit liegt die hiesige gefäßchirurgische Lehre deutlich über dem Durchschnitt von 6,1 akademischen Lehrstunden in Deutschland. Die Stärke der (gefäß‑)chirurgischen Ausbildung liegt insbesondere darin, dass der Erkenntnisgewinn am Krankenbett anschließend im Operationssaal insbesondere an visuelle Eindrücke mit simultaner Erklärung gekoppelt werden kann. Eine enge Einbindung der/s Studierenden ins Team ist die hohe Kunst, um die Akzeptanz der (Gefäß‑)Chirurgie als Beruf und Berufung zu fördern. Voraussetzung für eine erfolgreiche Lehre ist ein didaktisch kompetenter Lehrender mit fachlicher Expertise, proaktiver Lehreinstellung, Kenntnissen der speziellen Lernziele, des Curriculums, modernen Lehrmethoden und Bewusstsein für die besondere Vorbildfunktion für Studierende. Die berechtigte und zu stärkende klassische Lehre mittels Vorlesung, Seminar, Praktikum und Lehrbuch wird zunehmend durch Nutzung von internetbasierten Lernplattformen, Bibliotheken und Videoportalen ergänzt.ZusammenfassungDie gefäßchirurgische Lehre wird sich in den nächsten Jahren multimodal/-medial mit mehr praxisorientierten Anteilen und intensiver Integration der Studierenden in den Klinikalltag verlagern (müssen).

Jan Sawka’s Screen Play

In 1982 the Polish American artist Jan Sawka executed an extraordinary painting, 15 Strange Things on the Clean Morning Sky. Contradicting the title, the sky depicted is covered with sketches and cryptic writing. This suggests a common hallucinatory experience had by pilots navigating an empty sky, the ganzfeld effect. When vision encounters any undifferentiated field, such as total darkness, it will create something to see, in the form of hallucinations. Maurice Merleau-Ponty has asserted that hallucination is an integral part of visual perception: it is a kind of preseeing, which Jacques Lacan calls the screen. For Lacan, the screen is a “locus of mediation” between actual perceptions and the expectations or models that shape our seeing; it works without any conscious awareness on our part. This is not so with the “15 strange things” of Sawka’s title: small, framed images in a dusky cluster near the top of the painting. Their subjects reflect three modes in which conscious thought is conceived out of the torrent of visual impressions: diagrams, words, and clouds. Sawka plays with the screen in various ways, making it visible in other works of his. His preoccupation with the nature of seeing is not confined to images from the material world but has implications as well for memory, fiction, and painting itself—since a canvas is also a screen.

Towards an integration of visual comfort and lighting impression: A field study within higher educational buildings

Daylighting environments within higher educational buildings play an important role in students’ vision health and learning efficiency. Effective daylighting predictors can help architects and designers to create pleasant daylighting environments. This field study investigates the performance of commonly applied daylighting predictors in Nanjing. Illuminance and luminance data are measured on site. A hundred and thirteen subjective responses to visual comfort and lighting impressions are collected through an online survey. A lighting impression model composed by the affection component, the stimulation component, and the distribution component is suggested. According to the data analysis, general daylighting predictors present comparable performance to customized daylighting predictors with regard to estimations of subjective assessments. The four general daylighting predictors, horizontal illuminance, vertical illuminance, mean luminance of an entire scene, and mean luminance of the horizontal 40° band, are recommended to effectively predict individual probability of reporting daylight sufficiency, desiring to adjust lighting levels, and reporting degrees of daylighting stimulations.