Male-female differences and the influence of neonatal and adult testosterone on intraspecies aggression in rats.

Tested Sprague-Dawley male and female albino rats for intraspecies aggression without the use of shock. In the 1st experiment, 6 male pairs showed more biting attacks, offensive sideways movements, and self-grooming than did 6 female pairs; male pairs also showed more stereotyped defensive/submissive behaviors and were wounded more frequently. The 2nd experiment with 103 Ss examined the effects of neonatal castration and testosterone propionate (TP) on fighting. Males castrated at birth attacked other males less frequently than did controls when tested with TP treatment as adults. The TP given at birth to neonatally castrated males restored attacks to control levels. Females given TP as neonates did not differ from either male or female controls. Other aggressive/defensive behaviors, however, did not show this pattern. Results suggest that while the presence of testosterone during a brief postnatal period and during adulthood is necessary for attack behavior to occur, other related behaviors may not be affected in a similar manner. (11/2 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Finite element methodology for elastic-plastic fracture problems in three dimensions

The governing finite element system for elastic-plastic analysis of fracture specimens in three dimensions is formulated. The formulation accounts for mixed material hardening, finite strains, finite rotations and plastic incompressibility. The implementation of these aspects into a computational formula is presented and alternative formulations are compared. Small strain theory is recovered as a special case of the present formulation. Analysis is performed on a finite thickness centre-cracked specimen. The grid characteristics required for converged solutions are discussed. The effects of material hardening model and specimen thickness are studied. The local yield state is examined as a gauge of the local deformation processes. The implications for the fracture behaviour of the specimen are discussed. Local surface displacements are compared to experimentally measured yield surfaces. The formulation is shown to predict extremely accurate local deformation in the neighbourhood of the crack front. Contrary to the few three-dimensional fracture studies carried out to date, this analysis concentrates on the local deformation behaviour which ultimately controls fracture. Accurate resolution of this behaviour is essential before meaningful fracture criteria in three dimensions can be developed.     

Predicting the probability of facial identification using a specific object model

Many security and surveillance tasks involve either finding an object in a cluttered scene or discriminating between like objects. For example, an observer might look for a person of known height and weight in a crowd, or he might want to positively identify a specific face. The paper "Modeling target acquisition tasks associated with security and surveillance" [Appl. Opt. 46, 4209 (2007)] describes a specific-object model used to predict the probability of accomplishing this type of task. We describe four facial identification experiments and apply the specific-object model to predict the results. Facial identification is accurately predicted by the specific-object model.     

The role of the therapeutic alliance in psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy outcome: Findings in the National Institute of Mental Health Treatment of Depression Collaborative Research Program.

The relationship between therapeutic alliance and treatment outcome was examined for depressed outpatients who received interpersonal psychotherapy, cognitive-behavior therapy, imipramine with clinical management, or placebo with clinical management. Clinical raters scored videotapes of early, middle, and late therapy sessions for 225 cases (619 sessions). Outcome was assessed from patients' and clinical evaluators' perspectives and from depressive symptomatology. Therapeutic alliance was found to have a significant effect on clinical outcome for both psychotherapies and for active and placebo pharmacotherapy. Ratings of patient contribution to the alliance were significantly related to treatment outcome; ratings of therapist contribution to the alliance and outcome were not significantly linked. These results indicate that the therapeutic alliance is a common factor with significant influence on outcome. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The practice of dentistry in the drought areas of the west. 1935

An ultramicroELISA (UME) method was normalized for the detection of antibodies to serum human parvovirus B19. The optimum antigen concentration determined was 400 ng/ml, serum dilution was of 1:100; and the conjugate work dilution was of 1:2,000. 11 paired serum samples were also evaluated and antibodies were detected. The usefulness of the analyzed system is discussed.