The weaker sex: Male lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus) with blue color polymorphism are more burdened by parasites than are other sex–color combinations

The unusual blue color polymorphism of lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus) is the subject of much speculation but little empirical research; ~20% of lingcod individuals exhibit this striking blue color morph, which is discrete from and found within the same populations as the more common brown morph. In other species, color polymorphisms are intimately linked with host–parasite interactions, which led us to ask whether blue coloration in lingcod might be associated with parasitism, either as cause or effect. To test how color and parasitism are related in this host species, we performed parasitological dissection of 89 lingcod individuals collected across more than 26 degrees of latitude from Alaska, Washington, and California, USA. We found that male lingcod carried 1.89 times more parasites if they were blue than if they were brown, whereas there was no difference in parasite burden between blue and brown female lingcod. Blue individuals of both sexes had lower hepatosomatic index (i.e., relative liver weight) values than did brown individuals, indicating that blueness is associated with poor body condition. The immune systems of male vertebrates are typically less effective than those of females, due to the immunocompromising properties of male sex hormones; this might explain why blueness is associated with elevated parasite burdens in males but not in females. What remains to be determined is whether parasites induce physiological damage that produces blueness or if both blue coloration and parasite burden are driven by some unmeasured variable, such as starvation. Although our study cannot discriminate between these possibilities, our data suggest that the immune system could be involved in the blue color polymorphism–an exciting jumping-off point for future research to definitively identify the cause of lingcod blueness and a hint that immunocompetence and parasitism may play a role in lingcod population dynamics.

Expanding the Time Domain of Multiple Populations: Evidence of Nitrogen Variations in the ∼1.5 Gyr Old Star Cluster NGC 1783

We present the result of a detailed analysis of Hubble Space Telescope UV and optical deep images of the massive and young (∼1.5 Gyr) stellar cluster NGC 1783 in the Large Magellanic Cloud. This system does not show evidence of multiple populations (MPs) along the red giant branch (RGB) stars. However, we find that the cluster main sequence (MS) shows evidence of a significant broadening (50% larger than what is expected from photometric errors) along with hints of possible bimodality in the MP sensitive (m F343N − m F438W, m F438W) color–magnitude diagram (CMD). Such an effect is observed in all color combinations including the m F343N filter, while it is not found in the optical CMDs. This observational evidence suggests we might have found light-element chemical abundance variations along the MS of NGC 1783, which represents the first detection of MPs in a system younger than 2 Gyr. A comparison with isochrones including MP-like abundances shows that the observed broadening is compatible with a N abundance enhancement of Δ([N/Fe]) ∼ 0.3. Our analysis also confirms previous results about the lack of MPs along the cluster RGB. However, we find that the apparent disagreement between the results found on the MS and the RGB is compatible with the mixing effects linked to the first dredge up. This study provides new key information about the MP phenomenon and suggests that star clusters form in a similar way at any cosmic age.

Subjective and Objective User Behavior Disparity: Towards Balanced Visual Design and Color Adjustment

Interactive environments create endless possibilities for the design of websites, games, online platforms, and mobile applications. Their visual aspects and functional characteristics influence the user experience. Depending on the project, the purpose of the environment can be oriented toward marketing targets, user experience, or accessibility. Often, these conflicting aspects should be integrated within a single project, and a search for trade-offs is needed. One of these conflicts involves a disparity in user behavior concerning declared preferences and real observed activity in terms of visual attention. Taking into account accessibility guidelines (WCAG) further complicates the problem. In our study, we focused on the analysis of color combinations and their contrast in terms of user-friendliness; visual intensity, which is important for attracting user attention; and recommendations from the Web Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). We took up the challenge to reduce the disparity between user preferences and WCAG contrast, on one hand, and user natural behavior registered with an eye-tracker, on the other. However, we left the choice of what is more important—human conscious reaction or objective user behavior results—to the designer. The former corresponds to user-friendliness, while the latter, visual intensity, is consistent with marketing expectations. The results show that the ranking of visual objects characterized by different levels of contrast differs when considering the perspectives of user experience, commercial goals, and objective recording. We also propose an interactive tool with the possibility of assigning weights to each criterion to generate a ranking of objects.

Affective Responses to Image Color Combinations

Responses to colored patterns were collected for a group of 60 naive participants. We explicitly aimed at affective responses, rather than aesthetic judgments, so this is not ‘color harmony’ proper. Patterns were mainly spatially highly structured compositions, the color palettes reminiscent of what is found in generic ‘colorist’ art. Color combinations systematically cover mono-, di-, and trichromatic chromatic chords, whereas there was always an additional achromatic component. This sets the research apart from the bulk of the mainstream literature on ‘color harmony.’ Various ways of analysis are compared. Clustering methods reveal that the responses are highly structured through the teal–orange (cool–warm) dimension. Clustering reveals a large group of mutually concordant participants and various small, idiosyncratic groups. When the data is coarse-grained, retaining only a limited red–blue–yellow palette, the group as a whole appears quite concordant. It is evident that responses are systematic, thus the notion of a universal affective response to color combinations gains some credibility. The precise affective responses are specific because constrained by the seven categories used in the experiment. Thus, the systematic structure is perhaps to be understood as the generic result. We discuss tangencies with various traits found with ‘colorist’ art styles.

Evaluation of Consumer Reviews for adidas Sports Brands Using Data Mining Tools and Twitter APIs

The sportswear industry has become prominent, popular, and a very obvious category among various age groups in India. Big sports brands like adidas, seeing the Indian market potential, have extended their businesses across the country. To increase sales, online purchase has become one the most effective, easy, cheap, and quickest solution for the end customers as it provides the end consumers a variety of products, their designs, and color combinations on clicks. A large number of consumers express what exactly the end customer thinks about a particular product's preference level of brand, quality of service, quality of product, or stylish nature of the product. The current study does an evaluation of such online comments and reviews giving their feedback on their public Twitter accounts, flipkart.com, or amazon.in about an adidas sports brand in India. The research also provides a basic flow of Java program in the form of an algorithm that is used to collect the dataset from Twitter, process it, and export it into an Excel sheet for further investigation.

Towards Effective Visual Communication with Positive user Experience: High Contrast and Visibility vs. user-Friendliness/Positive Perception

Proper contrast used for elements within websites or applications is one of the key factors providing their visibility and ability to attract user attention. While usability guidelines and standards such as WCAG 1 assume the existence of minimal contrast for optimum user experience, maximal contrast for positive user experience has not been defined. Recent studies showed that too high a contrast can be harmful for user experience, while visibility is reduced if it is too low. In the present study, experiments were performed to examine the level of user-friendliness and visibility for selected color pairs. We calculated the color contrast according to the WCAG standard. As a result, it was possible to find color combinations not necessarily with a high contrast but delivering visibility and not diminishing user experience. Finally, a ColoUR Picker Tool was developed that supports designers in the design of effective visual communication, which is understood as searching for a balance between user-friendliness, visibility, and color contrast. Research expands current efforts towards effective web design and increased user experience.

Operating Virtual Keyboard and Mouse Using Hand Gestures

This project promotes an approach for the Human Computer Interaction (HCI) where cursor movement can be controlled using a real-time camera, it is an alternative to the current methods including manual input of buttons or changing the positions of a physical computer mouse. Instead, it utilizes a camera and computer vision technology to control various mouse events and is capable of performing every task that the physical computer mouse can. The Virtual Mouse color recognition program will constantly acquiring real-time images where the images will undergone a series of filtration and conversion. Whenever the process is complete, the program will apply the image processing technique to obtain the coordinates of the targeted colors position from the converted frames. After that, it will proceed to compare the existing colors within the frames with a list of color combinations, where different combinations consists of different mouse functions. If the current colors combination found a match, the program will execute the mouse function, which will be translated into an actual mouse function to the users' machine.

COLORONYMS AND LUXONYMS AS A MEANS OF CREATING ARTISTIC IMAGE IN HISTORICAL PROSE BY V. IPATOVA AND V. KARATKEVICH

The article examines the color and light vocabulary, with the help of which the authors create a figurative system of artistic text. It is a universal tool for creating a figurative and expressive characteristics of a real, ethnocultural space. The use of coloronyms and luxonyms in the historical prose of the authors, their linguistic interpretation indicates the determination of the individual author’s specificity of the perception of color by the writer and the adequate associative connection of color combinations arising from the reader. Creating a masterfully figurative picture or model of a certain ethnic group in the context of a work of art is an important task of every writer who conveys his vision of the world through different semantic groups of words as elements of artistic imagery. This also applies to the corresponding group of vocabulary denoting color and light. The semantic group of words denoting color is used in any work of art: in one the frequency of use of color designations is greater, in the second - less. Selected literary works on historical themes by V. Ipatova and V. Korotkevich are widely saturated with color vocabulary, which deserves a multifaceted analysis. The perception of the artistic word is an individualized phenomenon and is unique in the history of national literature and culture in general. The writers virtually penetrated into ancient events, rites and customs, skillfully described their heroes, national color, ethnic culture, social and spiritual life not only of Belarusians but also of other nations. The authors have made extensive use of the color palette, which involuntarily attracts the attention of readers and affects their figurative imagination. The peculiar style of writing of each author, the lexical and systemic organization of their texts, which organically include coloronyms, give the opportunity to vividly imagine the verbal picture of the world created by the writer. It should be noted that when describing a broad historical panorama, the authors often use color in the lexical microsystem as a means of creating a highly artistic text. Language in works of art of the historical genre acts not only as a means of communication, but also as a carrier of artistic imagery.

Effectiveness of Green Warning Lights with Different Flashing Patterns for Winter Maintenance Operations

Snow removal activities are performed by roadway agencies to enhance winter mobility and safety. Slower travel speeds during these operations, combined with low visibility and reduced pavement friction, mean that safety and collision avoidance remain a persistent concern. Many studies have implemented signing and lighting technologies to improve the visibility of snowplows. Although a few studies have evaluated the use of different colors on snowplows, there is no rigorous study that evaluates the potential impacts of using green warning lights for winter maintenance operations. This study, therefore, investigates the impacts of various warning light configurations on the visibility of snowplows, with the focus on green lights. To this end, 37 warning light configurations are designed using various color combinations (green and amber), and flashing patterns (single and quad) on the back (LED), the top (beacon), or both, of snowplows. These configurations are evaluated to identify the most effective configurations. Three sets of experiments are designed and implemented: static, dynamic, and weather to evaluate the visibility effectiveness in different contexts: day versus night, clear versus snowy weather, and static versus dynamic scenarios. Human subjects are employed to conduct the experiments and the test results are evaluated using statistical analyses. The conspicuity during the day time and glare during the night time are statistically different among various configurations. In addition, adding green lights with a single flash pattern to amber warning lights improves the conspicuity, while keeping the glare at an acceptable level relative to configurations using only amber.