Influence of female's sexual cycle on aggressiveness in male rats

Two experiments examined the relationship between the female's stage of estrus and agonistic behavior among males. Socially subordinate male albino rats were exposed to an inaccessible female and then given equal numbers of free-choice and forced-choice trials to a more aggressive "target" male or to an empty compartment. The submissive males were more aggressive following exposure to an estrous female than following exposure to a diestrous female. Furthermore, the probability of approaching the more aggressive male increased. This heightened level of aggressiveness was accompanied by a comparable increase in hostile behaviors by the dominant target males of Experiment 1. However, in the second experiment the increase in submissive-male aggressiveness was sufficient to reduce the social distance between the submissive subjects and their moderately aggressive target males.     

Metalloproteinases and their inhibitors in squamous cell carcinoma of the hypopharynx: indicators of individual tumor aggressiveness

The physicochemical properties of recombinant hepatitis B surface antigen (r-HBsAg), which was expressed in C127 mammalian cell were studied. Using roller bottle culture in DMEM supplemented with fetal bovine serum, 10-15 mg/L of r-HBsAg was produced with about 31% of purification yield. The purity of r-HBsAg by HPLC was 99.8% and electron microscopic examination showed homogeneous spherical particle with 22 nm in diameter, a morphological characteristic of HBsAg. The density of r-HBsAg by CsCl density gradient method was 1.19 g/ml and the isoelectric point by Mono P HR 5/20 column was 4.6. The analysis of subunit protein pattern using SDS-PAGE followed by scanning densitometry gave 81.3% of S protein and 18.7% of pre-S protein. Fluorophore-assisted-carbohydrate-electrophoresis analysis showed the relative amount of carbohydrate to protein was 1.7% and its major component was N-acetyl glucosamine, which was about 39% of total carbohydrate. The relative amount of lipid to protein determined by vanillin phosphoric acid method was 32.5% and its major component was phospholipid, which was about 70% of total lipid. The physicochemical properties of C127 mammalian cell-derived r-HBsAg are similar to those of p-HBsAg, suggesting that the r-HBsAg can be used in developing a new preventive vaccine against hepatitis B.     

Effect of television violence on aggressiveness.

A review of field studies on the possible relation of exposure to TV violence to subsequent aggressive behaviors indicates that such studies have produced mixed results and that there is little evidence of causality. Correlational research has established a small but significant association between viewing TV violence and aggressiveness, but evidence for a causal relationship is again minimal. There is no substantial evidence for a cumulative effect of TV viewing, nor has it been demonstrated that the effect of TV viewing depends on a crucial period or is delayed. In addition, correlations between viewing violence on TV and aggression do not consistently increase with age. It is concluded that although exposure to and preference for violent programming on TV is correlated with aggressive behavior, there is no evidence that viewing violence in natural settings causes an increase in subsequent aggressiveness. (48 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Distribution and dynamics of nematocyte populations in Hydra attenuata

The distribution and dynamics of the 4 nematocyte populations of Hydra attenuata were investigated. Ninety-seven per cent of all nematocytes, including all 4 types, are mounted in the battery cells of the tentacles. The remaining 3%, including 2 types (stenoteles and holotrichous isorhizas) are mounted in the ectoderm of the body column. Eight-two per cent of all nematocytes are desmonemes; 11%, atrichous isorhizas; 5%, stenoteles; and 2%, holotrichous isorhizas. The density of each nematocyte population increases along the length of the tentacle towards the tip. The percentages of the total nematocytes per quarter of tentacle for each of the 4 quarters starting at the base is 15, 18, 25 and 42% respectively. The turnover time of the nematocyte populations in the tentacles was measured with 2 methods. First, the transit time for a carbon-marked battery cell from the base to the tip of the tentacle was measured. Secondly, the time required to replace the unlabelled nematocytes in the tentacles with [3H]proline-labelled nematocytes was measured. In both cases the time was 7--9 days. Based on these data (distribution and turnover time) a model was constructed for the dynamics of the nematocyte populations in the tentacles. The numbers of nematocytes produced dialy in the body column as predicted by the model are in reasonable agreement with the measured values.     

Feelings change: Accounting for individual differences in the temporal dynamics of affect.

People display a remarkable variability in the patterns and trajectories with which their feelings change over time. In this article, we present a theoretical account for the dynamics of affect (DynAffect) that identifies the major processes underlying individual differences in the temporal dynamics of affective experiences. It is hypothesized that individuals are characterized by an affective home base, a baseline attractor state around which affect fluctuates. These fluctuations vary as the result of internal or external processes to which an individual is more or less sensitive and are regulated and tied back to the home base by the attractor strength. Individual differences in these 3 processes—affective home base, variability, and attractor strength—are proposed to underlie individual differences in affect dynamics. The DynAffect account is empirically evaluated by means of a diffusion modeling approach in 2 extensive experience-sampling studies on people's core affective experiences. The findings show that the model is capable of adequately capturing the observed dynamics in core affect across both large (Study 1) and shorter time scales (Study 2) and illuminate how the key processes are related to personality and emotion dispositions. Implications for the understanding of affect dynamics and affective dysfunctioning in psychopathology are also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of induced aggressiveness on opinion change.

The hypothesis that aggressively aroused persons are more influenced by a punitively oriented communication and less by a leniency oriented one than are nonaggressive persons is investigated. One group of Ss is exposed to a failure-insult procedure to evoke instigation to aggression, the other group of Ss to an ego-satisfying experience. Then half of each group read a communication urging punitiveness toward delinquents and the other half read a communication suggesting leniency and consideration in America's dealings with her allies. An immediate-after opinion questionnaire followed. The data support the research hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Modelling and numerical simulation of isothermal oxidation of an individual magnetite pellet based on computational fluid dynamics

A mathematical model based on the computational fluid dynamics method,heat and mass transfer in porous media and the unreacted shrinking core model for the oxid...     

The dynamics of individual preference in the probability and value of reinforcement in the development of experimental neurosis

The creation of a partnership, the hallmark of true collaborative practice, is an ongoing, dynamic process. It demands commitment, energy, and creativity. It is learned and therefore must be role modeled. One must remember that it takes time to develop collaborative relationships. One must begin slowly, walk not run, and have realistic expectations. It is a joy to work in an environment that has developed and is in the process of continually developing true collaborative practice. Hope for the future of health care lies in our ability to deliver coordinated and collaborative care. Nursing, medicine, and administration together can and must provide the solutions to our health care delivery problems before those solutions are legislated. We must set policies and priorities to appropriately allocate scarce resources. We must address personnel needs, credentialing, and compensation to ensure adequate numbers of qualified staff to meet the growing needs of our patients. We must evaluate technology and our physical environments to determine the types of services that we will offer. We must continue to broaden our collaborative efforts to extend from the patient care arena into the realms of education, research, and administration. It is up to each of us and each of our colleagues to work every day toward a more collaborative practice environment. By empowering each other, we can put into place a collaboration which "works jointly with others in intellectual endeavors" rather than one which merely "cooperates with an enemy force."     

Fast game theory coupled to slow population dynamics: the case of domestic cat populations

The distribution of a metabotropic glutamate receptor mGluR2 in the central nervous system was immunohistochemically examined in the rat and mouse with a monoclonal antibody raised against an N-terminal sequence of rat mGluR2 (amino acid residues 87-134). Neuronal cell bodies with mGluR2-like immunoreactivity (mGluR2-LI) were clearly shown in the horizontal cells of Cajal in the cerebral cortex, neurons in the triangular septal nucleus and medial mammillary nucleus, Golgi cells and the unipolar brush cells in the cerebellar cortex, and Golgi-like and unipolar brush-like cells in the cochlear nucleus. Neuropil was intensely immunostained in the accessory olfactory bulb, bed nucleus of the accessory olfactory tract, neocortex, cingulate cortex, retrosplenial cortex, subicular and entorhinal cortices, stratum lacunosum-moleculare of CA1 and CA3, molecular layer of the dentate gyrus, periamygdaloid cortex, basolateral amygdaloid nucleus, bed nucleus of the anterior commissure, caudate-putamen, accumbens nucleus, thalamic reticular nucleus, anteroventral and paraventricular thalamic nuclei, granular layer of the cerebellar cortex, anterior and ventral tegmental nuclei, granular layer of the cochlear nucleus, and parvicellular part of the lateral reticular nucleus. Many axons in the white matter and fiber bundles were also immunostained. No glial cells with mGluR2-LI were found. No particular species differences were found in the distribution pattern of mGluR2-LI between the rat and mouse. The results indicate that mGluR2 is expressed not only in somato-dendritic domain, but also in axonal domain of excitatory and inhibitory neurons.     

Trait aggressiveness and hockey penalties: predicting hot tempers on the ice

Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) complementation group F was first reported in Japan and most XP-F patients reported to date are Japanese. The clinical features of XP-F patients are rather mild, including late onset of skin cancer. Recently a cDNA that corrects the repair deficiency of cultured XP-F cells was isolated. The XPF protein forms a tight complex with ERCC1 and this complex functions as a structure-specific endonuclease responsible for the 5' incision during DNA excision repair. Here we have identified XPF mRNA mutations and examined levels of the mRNA and protein expression in seven primary cell strains from Japanese XP-F patients. The XP-F cell strains were classified into three types in terms of the effect of the mutation on the predicted protein; (i) XPF proteins with amino acid substitutions; (ii) amino acid substituted and truncated XPF proteins; and (iii) truncated XPF protein only. A normal level of expression of XPF mRNA was observed in XP-F cells but XPF protein was extremely low. These results indicate that the detected mutations lead to unstable XPF protein, resulting in a decrease in formation of the ERCC1-XPF endonuclease complex. Slow excision repair of UV-induced DNA damage due to low residual endonuclease activity provides a plausible explanation for the typical mild phenotype of XP-F patients.     

Influence of individual and group identity salience in the global self-esteem of youth.

Combined 9 specific self-ratings into a scale that used various weightings in an attempt to maximize correlations with global self-esteem measured by 2 content-free scales and to determine whether the content-free scales would tap the same self-esteem dimensions as the summated 9-factor scale. Ss were 1,528 7th, 9th, and 11th graders. Results suggest that measures based on summations of a large number of specific self-ratings tap a somewhat different phenomenon than content-free global scales. The most effective weighting of specific dimensions for predicting global self-esteem depended on group-identity salience rather than individual-identity salience—group means of the importance of the separate self-evaluation dimensions rather than each S's self-rating of the importance of that dimension. This result held even when interactive models of weighting were used. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Group dynamics and individual performances: Pseudogroup and quasi-F analyses.

The problems for statistical analysis posed by the groups vs individuals design are presented, a statistical model for the design is developed, and 2 alternative solutions are proposed—the pseudogroup and quasi-F procedures. Solutions are extended to the general case of designs including several levels of the group-size variable. The quasi-F approach is applied to the problem of contrasting combinations of means from several group-size conditions. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)