Investigating the 'Uncatchable Smile' in Leonardo da Vinci's La Bella Principessa: A Comparison with the Mona Lisa and Pollaiuolo's Portrait of a Girl.

This paper discusses how the 'Uncatchable Smile' illusion in Leonardo da Vinci's La Bella Principessa portrait was discovered. Kemp and Cotte described the expression of the Princess as ambiguous and "subtle to an inexpressible degree". A combination of three methods was used (inter-observation, structured interviews, and psychophysical experiments) to identify what may underlie this 'ambiguity'.

The uncatchable smile in Leonardo da Vinci's La Bella Principessa portrait.

A portrait of uncertain origin recently came to light which, after extensive research and examination, was shown to be that rarest of things: a newly discovered Leonardo da Vinci painting entitled La Bella Principessa. This research presents a new illusion which is similar to that identified in the Mona Lisa; La Bella Principessa's mouth appears to change slant depending on both the Viewing Distance and the Level of Blur applied to a digital version of the portrait. Through a series of psychophysics experiments, it was found that a perceived change in the slant of the La Bella Principessa's mouth influences her expression of contentment thus generating an illusion that we have coined the "uncatchable smile".

Female alcohol consumption, motivations for aggression and aggressive incidents in licensed premises.

Research into the relationship between alcohol and aggression has previously focused on men. However, in recent years there has been an increase in binge drinking and violent crime among women, behaviours which have been labelled 'ladette' culture in the UK. The current study advances the literature in this area by investigating the relationship between alcohol consumption and aggressive behaviour of females in licensed premises, including the type of aggression and motivations for aggressive incidents.

Personality assessment inventory (PAI) profiles of offenders and their relationship to institutional misconduct and risk of reconviction.

This article investigates whether particular scales of the personality assessment inventory (PAI; Morey, 1991 ) are associated with institutional misconduct and risk of reconviction among 268 offenders in a therapeutic community prison. A moderate positive correlation was found between the Antisocial Behavior subscale of the PAI and general institutional misconduct. Moderate positive correlations were also found between the antisocial features, aggression, and drug problems scales and risk of reconviction as measured by the offender group reconviction scale (Francis, Soothill, & Humphries, 2007; Taylor, 1999 ).

Lost in translation? Psychometric properties and construct validity of the English Essen Climate Evaluation Schema (EssenCES) social climate questionnaire.

The social climate of correctional (forensic) settings is likely to have a significant impact on the outcome of treatment and the overall functioning of these units. The Essen Climate Evaluation Schema (EssenCES) provides an objective way of measuring social climate that overcomes the content, length, and psychometric limitations of other measures. But the English translation of the EssenCES has yet to be sufficiently validated for use in forensic settings in the United Kingdom.