Perceptual influences on Fitts' law.

The linear relationship between movement time (MT) and index of difficulty (ID) for Fitts' type tasks has proven ubiquitous over the last 50+ years. A reciprocal aiming task (IDs 3, 4.5, 6) was used to determine if an enlarged visual display (visual angle 5.1 degrees , 7.4 degrees , or 13.3 degrees) would alter this relationship. With ID = 6, a condition typically associated with discrete action control, the largest visual display (13.3 degrees) allowed the motor system to exploit features of cyclical action control, e.g., shorter dwell times, more harmonic motion, less time decelerating the limb. The large visual display resulted in a quadratic relationship between MT and ID. For the IDs of 3 and 4.5, the visual displays did not alter the underlying control processes. The results are discussed in terms of the preference of the motor system to assemble movements from harmonic basis functions when salient visual information is provided.

Moisture gradient vector calculation as a new method for evaluating NMR images of corn (Zea Mays L.) kernels during drying.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to study the moisture migration inside single corn kernel during artificial drying. MRI data were taken every half an hour during drying while the intact kernel was kept inside the magnet. The moisture distribution was not uniform inside the kernel during drying, with the fastest moisture loss being detected in the endosperm, whilst the scutellum maintained the water. Resultant gradient vectors were visualized, as a new evaluation method, from each pixel of the subtraction of segmented MRI images showing the movement of proton density inside the kernel. The data matrix containing the gradient vectors can be stored for latter use as input parameters and to check the mass transfer models.