C. P. Snow's (1964) The Two Cultures has been controversial, and is still much cited in the literature of both the sciences and the humanities. However, there seem to have been no empirical studies of cultural and aesthetic activities in scientists and non-scientists. This study describes a questionnaire which measured 17 different cultural activities in a stratified survey of science and non-science students in London, UK. Science students showed a significantly lower level of activity on 12 of the 17 measures (and were significantly higher on none). Among the scientists, cultural activity overall was lowest in engineering and mathematics students, and highest in medical and biological science students. Cultural activity correlated significantly with the personality measure of Openness to Experience, although the correlation was weaker in scientists than in non-scientists.
The aesthetic effect of pictures has been suggested to depend in part upon the existence of an implicit or explicit geometrical basis to their composition. In Experiment 1, subjects identified the significant points which might form the basis for such a geometry. In Experiment 2, a different group of subjects expressed preferences either for intact or cut versions of the pictures used in Experiment 1, and for sets of dots based upon the significant points within those cut and uncut pictures. Although subjects showed an overall preference for uncut rather than cut stimuli (in which it was presumed that cutting would have destroyed much of the compositional geometry), both for pictures and for dot stimuli, there was no correlation between the judgments of pictures and dot patterns, either between picture or between subjects, suggesting that compositional geometry was not of aesthetic significance in preference judgments. That conclusion was reinforced by Experiment 3, in which subjects showed no evidence of a preference for synthetic stimuli which were produced so that they had significant geometrical structure.To the eye there is displayed a confused and inarticulate juxtaposition of things; and to put this into order is the task of the human spirit [Friedlander,1, p. 91] The harmonious placing of the multifarious elements of a painting upon canvas (what Gombrich [2], calledframing and filling) is perhaps the central process that distinguishes great art from indifferent art, and which possibly confers some of the timeless quality which allows a painting to transcend any purely local limitation of its interest to a particular time, place, or culture. In addition such purely aesthetic properties achieve additional emphasis in abstract rather than representational 73
Objectives: To determine the prevalence and predictors of self-reported access to appropriate personal protective equipment (aPPE) for healthcare workers (HCWs) in the United Kingdom (UK) during the first UK national COVID-19 lockdown (March 2020) and at the time of questionnaire response (December 2020 - February 2021). Design: Two cross sectional analyses using data from a questionnaire-based cohort study. Setting: Nationwide questionnaire from 4th December 2020 to 28th February 2021. Participants: A representative sample of HCWs or ancillary workers in a UK healthcare setting aged 16 or over, registered with one of seven main UK healthcare regulatory bodies. Main outcome measure: Binary measure of self-reported aPPE (access all of the time vs access most of the time or less frequently) at two timepoints: the first national lockdown in the UK (primary analysis) and at the time of questionnaire response (secondary analysis). Results: 10,508 HCWs were included in the primary analysis, and 12,252 in the secondary analysis. 3702 (35.2%) of HCWs reported aPPE at all times in the primary analysis; 6806 (83.9%) reported aPPE at all times in the secondary analysis. After adjustment (for age, sex, ethnicity, migration status, occupation, aerosol generating procedure exposure, work sector, work region, working hours, night shift frequency and trust in employing organisation), older HCWs (per decade increase in age: aOR 1.2, 95% CI 1.16 - 1.26, p<0.001) and those working in Intensive Care Units (1.61, 1.38 - 1.89, p<0.001) were more likely to report aPPE at all times. Those from Asian ethnic groups compared to White (0.77, 0.67 - 0.89, p<0.001), those in allied health professional (AHPs) and dental roles (vs those in medical roles; AHPs: 0.77, 0.68 - 0.87, p<0.001; dental: 0.63, 0.49 - 0.81, p<0.001), and those who saw a higher number of COVID-19 patients compared to those who saw none (≥21 patients 0.74, 0.61 - 0.90, p=0.003) were less likely to report aPPE at all times in the primary analysis. aPPE at all times was also not uniform across UK regions (reported access being better in South West and North East England than London). Those who trusted their employing organisation to deal with concerns about unsafe clinical practice, compared to those who did not, were twice as likely to report aPPE at all times (2.18, 1.97 - 2.40, p<0.001). With the exception of occupation, these factors were also significantly associated with aPPE at all times in the secondary analysis. Conclusions: We found that only a third of HCWs in the UK reported aPPE at all times during the period of the first lockdown and that aPPE had improved later in the pandemic. We also identified key sociodemographic and occupational determinants of aPPE during the first UK lockdown, the majority of which have persisted since lockdown was eased. These findings have important public health implications for HCWs, particularly as cases of infection and long-COVID continue to rise in the UK.
Forty-three women and 45 men rated a series of images of selected paintings and sculptures for aesthetic appeal and originality. For each painting or sculpture, there were three versions: the original image and two manipulated images, one displaying a lower waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and the other displaying a higher WHR than in the original. The results showed that, in general, both male and female participants considered the original and, in some cases, the image with the higher WHR as the most aesthetically pleasing. The results also showed that participants were generally able to discern the undoctored image as being the original, although women were better at this task than men. Implications for the study of aesthetics and physical attractiveness are considered.
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