Masters of harmony

Faber Birren, the well known color consultant and writer, has, over a considerable time period, researched and pondered unusual and novel aspects of color as they are related to art and harmony. He is in the process of preparing a comprehensive review in book form on this subject. He has been kind enough to offer three chapters in advance to our readers.     

A Sense of Illumination. Remarks on a New Approach to Color Expression

Color in art is traced from the Renaissance to the present. Much in the past has been taken from nature, with emphasis on optical effects involving visual appearances. Principles based on modern studies of perception offer new incentives to the artist, and new modes of expression in which brain reactions supplement visual ones.     

Age changes in human abilities: A 28-year longitudinal study.

32 Ss from a group of 485 White University of Southern California (USC) undergraduates who were tested on the Army Alpha Examination (AAE) in 1944 were retested in 1972. Comparisons were made between these Ss' early (A1) and later (A2) scores and those of a group (B) of 32 matched 1972 USC undergraduates. Results showed a 1 standard deviation (SD) decrement on the relations factor when A2 scores were compared to A1 and B but little difference between A1 vs B scores. On the verbal factor no differences were found between A2 and B, but when A1 vs A2 and A1 vs B were compared there was a one-half SD gain in favor of the later tests. On the number factor, females showed a 1 SD difference in favor of B when its scores were compared to those of A2 or A1. There were no differences for males on this factor. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward an experimental psychology of aging.

Advocates the development of an experimental psychology of aging for cultural, scientific, and practical purposes. The ethical, economical, and temporal problems involved in longitudinal studies are discussed. Data on the effect of age differences on intellectual functioning, RT, and perceptual ability are presented. Several tentative hypotheses are proposed to explain results not covered by the perceptual difficulty and cautiousness hypotheses. New research areas are pointed out. (22 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A bacterial artificial chromosome-based framework contig map of human chromosome 22q

We have constructed a physical map of human chromosome 22q using bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones. The map consists of 613 chromosome 22-specific BAC clones that have been localized and assembled into contigs using 452 landmarks, 346 of which were previously ordered and mapped to specific regions of the q arm of the chromosome by means of chromosome 22-specific yeast artificial chromosome clones. The BAC-based map provides immediate access to clones that are stable and convenient for direct genome analysis. The approach to rapidly developing marker-specific BAC contigs is relatively straightforward and can be extended to generate scaffold BAC contig maps of the rest of the chromosomes. These contigs will provide substrates for sequencing the entire human genome. We discuss how to efficiently close contig gaps using the end sequences of BAC clone inserts.     

Aging in America: Roles of psychology.

Argues that aging may be viewed from a pessimistic perspective in which the elderly are seen as poor, unhealthy, and lonely or from an optimistic perspective revolving around millions of competent older adults who enjoy a high quality of life (QOL). A study of 3 cohorts (aged 30, 50, and 70 yrs) by J. D. Flanagan (1978) identified 3 factors as being relevant to QOL: (1) material comforts, work, and health; (2) close friends and opportunity for socializing; and (3) opportunity to use cognitive capabilities and creative expression. Mental health personnel needs of persons over 65 yrs and institutional and professional inertia related to training professionals to serve an aging population are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neo-impressionism: The most scientific of all schools of color in art

This is an account of French painting immediately before and after the turn of the twentieth century. Here the scientific revelations of such men as Maxwell and Helmholtz, introduced in France by Ogden N. Rood of the United States, played an important role in color expression.     

The gene for death agonist BID maps to the region of human 22q11.2 duplicated in cat eye syndrome chromosomes and to mouse chromosome 6

Cat eye syndrome (CES) is associated with a duplication of a segment of human chromosome 22q11.2. Only one gene, ATP6E, has been previously mapped to this duplicated region. We now report the mapping of the human homologue of the apoptotic agonist Bid to human chromosome 22 near locus D22S57 in the CES region. Dosage analysis demonstrated that BID is located just distal to the CES region critical for the majority of malformations associated with the syndrome (CESCR), as previously defined by a single patient with an unusual supernumerary chromosome. However, BID remains a good candidate for involvement in CES-related mental impairment, and its overexpression may subtly add to the phenotype of CES patients. Our mapping of murine Bid confirms that the synteny of the CESCR and the 22q11 deletion syndrome critical region immediately telomeric on human chromosome 22 is not conserved in mice. Bid and adjacent gene Atp6e were found to map to mousechromosome 6, while the region homologous to the DGSCR is known to map to mouse chromosome 16.