Electrochemical characteristics of amino acids and peptides derivatized with naphthalene-2,3-dicarboxaldehyde: pH effects and differences in oxidation potentials.

The electrochemical oxidations of the cyanobenz[f]isoindole (CBI) derivatives of 18 amino acids and 15 peptides, including enkephalins and several enkephalin fragments, were studied. Cyclic voltammetry indicated that the oxidation potentials of derivatized amino acids were virtually independent of pH. The utility of this pH-independence was demonstrated by controlling, through varying the pH, the selectivity with which CBI derivatives could be detected in the presence of phenolic compounds.

Perception of three-dimensional angular rotation.

In three experiments, difference thresholds (dLs) and points of subjective equality (PSEs) for three-dimensional (3-D) rotation simulations were examined. In the first experiment, observers compared pairs of simulated spheres that rotated in polar projection and that differed in their structure (points plotted in the volume vs. on the surface), axis of rotation (vertical, y, vs.

Comments on Cavanagh and Mather (1989): coming up short (and long).

Cavanagh and Mather (1989) reviewed literature concerning the possible distinction between short- and long-range processes in motion perception and concluded that the distinction cannot be supported. Instead, they proposed that motion perception be considered on the basis of detectors for first-order (luminance, color) and second-order (first-order motion, texture, stereo) stimulus attributes. They supported their position with studies of motion based on second-order stimuli.

Effects of adaptation to apparent movement on recovery of structure from motion.

Past work on the recovery of three-dimensional structure from dynamic two-dimensional images has led to inconsistent conclusions regarding the contributions of the short-range and long-range motion processes. In the present experiments, subjects adapted to displays (either four lines or 50 randomly positioned pixels) whose spatiotemporal parameters were chosen to favor either the short-range or long-range process. Adaptation periods were followed by test displays that simulated the rotation of a four-pixel random object about the vertical gamma-axis.

The effects of position cues on the appearance of stimulus elements in a bistable apparent movement display.

A modified version of the Ternus display was used to assess the relative effects of element position cues on reports of group and end-to-end movement. In this display, two rows of stimulus elements are joined by connecting lines. In one version of the display, the connecting lines remain stationary across frames, facilitating the interpretation that the associated stimulus elements also remain stationary.

Global cooperativity of the short-range process in apparent movement: evidence obtained with contour-containing stimuli.

Previous research has demonstrated that the short-range process in apparent movement, as studied with random-dot cinematograms, exhibits global cooperativity; that is, computations performed by local elements interact nonlinearly and are pooled. Other research using displays containing extended contours has implicated the short-range process, but has never demonstrated global cooperativity. In the first of four experiments, it was shown that under certain conditions of presentation, a short-range motion percept exhibiting apparent global cooperativity can be obtained when collections of randomly located contours are rotated about the center of a display, despite the fact that the displacement of peripheral contours falls outside the normal limit of the short-range process.

Auditory sensitivity and tone-sequence reproduction in oral contraceptive users and nonusers.

In two stages spanning a single academic year, 10 women using oral contraceptives and 11 not using oral contraceptives were tested on their auditory threshold sensitivity to six frequencies (250, 750, 1500, 3000, 6000, and 8000 Hz) as a function of phases of the menstrual cycle. 11 women (5 users and 6 nonusers) were also tested on their ability to reproduce successively longer tone sequences. Results showed that there was little variation due to phase of the menstrual cycle, with the exception that oral contraceptive users showed lower relative thresholds at low frequencies during the postmenstrual phase.

Dependence of apparent movement of a subjective figure on the perceptual fate of inducing elements.

In a series of demonstrations, two stimulus frames that contained subjective figures were alternated. It is shown that the perception of apparent movement of a subjective figure depends upon the configuration of the inducing stimuli and whether or not conditions of presentation favor the short-range or long-range process in apparent movement. Those conditions that favor the long-range process result in global apparent movement of the subjective figure.