Gender differences in altruistic reputation: Are they artifactual?

Tested the notion that observed sex differences in children's altruistic reputations that favor girls are due to sex-biased items found in commonly used peer-assessment measures. A gender-fair assessment of altruistic reputation was attempted by including items that were empirically derived examples of masculine, feminine, and gender-neutral prosocial behaviors. These items were based on prosocial incidents reported by 65 5th graders. 123 additional 5th graders were asked to respond to the new items by nominating 2 classmates most likely to engage in prosocial behavior or by indicating which sex was most likely to perform the behaviors. Results show that, overall, females were judged to be more altruistic than males. However, endorsement differed across item content: Males were selected more often for masculine items and females more often for feminine and sex-neutral items. In general, males endorsed males for helpful behaviors and females endorsed females. The gender-rating form of the test produced responses more closely related to the empirically based item-gender-content classes than did the peer-nomination form. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Wasserstoffinduzierte Spannungsrißkorrosion an unverzinkten und verzinkten Baustählen

Hydrogen induced stress corrosion cracking of non galvanized and galvanized construction steels The processes of atmospheric corrosion and corrosion in collected water which may lead to hydrogen induced stress corrosion cracking of high-strength reinforcing steels in casing tubes before injection with concrete are discussed. Hydrogen uptake during corrosion occurs in weakly acid solutions as well as in neutral or alkaline aqueous solutions. The hydrogen uptake by proton discharge in acid solutions decreases with increasing pH of the electrolyte. Hydrogen can also be absorbed in neutral to weakly alkaline solutions if steels are plastically deformed and water reacts with the fresh iron surface. In alkaline solutions, hydrogen uptake is possible if, at the generally passivated steel surface, localized corrosion (pitting or crevice corrosion), local galvanic cells and a sufficient decrease in the pH of the pit electrolyte occurs. In the case of galvanized steels with damaged zinc layers, hydrogen uptake may result from the cathodic polarization of the free steel surface by zinc dissolution. The absorbed hydrogen interacts with the microstructure of the steels and weakens the bonds between the iron atoms. The influence of the microstructure of high-strength steels on the fracture behaviour is discussed on the basic of the so-called decohesion theory.     

Pantoprazole does not interact with the pharmacokinetics of carbamazepine

OBJECTIVE: Pantoprazole is a H+/K+-ATPase inhibitor with a minimized potential of interaction with the cytochrome P450 system. Imidazole derivatives such as cimetidine and omeprazole have been shown to markedly interact with carbamazepine, a major anticonvulsant with a narrow therapeutic range. Therefore, the influence of steady-state pantoprazole on the pharmacokinetics of carbamazepine was investigated. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: N = 20 healthy volunteers (12 male/8 female) completed a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized crossover study. During the test period they received 40 mg pantoprazole p.o. once daily for 11 days and concomitantly a single oral dose of 400 mg carbamazepine on day 5. In the reference period placebo was administered instead of pantoprazole. RESULTS: Serum concentrations of carbamazepine and its active metabolite carbamazepine-10,11-epoxide were measured until day 11. Geometric means of AUC (extent characteristic) and Cmax/AUC (rate characteristic) of carbamazepine were 292 and 287 mgxh/l, and 0.0150 and 0.0144 l/h (reference and test), respectively. Point estimates and 90% confidence intervals of the ratios were 0.98 (0.95, 1.01) for AUC, and 0.96 (0.92, 1.00) for Cmax/AUC, respectively. Since the 90% confidence intervals of the primary characteristics, AUC and Cmax/AUC were entirely within the predefined equivalence range of 0.80 - 1.25, lack of interaction of pantoprazole with the pharmacokinetics of carbamazepine was demonstrated. Equivalence was also demonstrated for carbamazepine-10,11-epoxide using the characteristics AUC and Cmax. CONCLUSION: No dose adjustment of carbamazepine is therefore required during concomitant treatment with pantoprazole.     

G 2 interpolation and blending on surfaces

We introduce a method for curvature-continuous (G ²) interpolation of an arbitrary sequence of points on a surface (implicit or parametric) with prescribed tangent and geodesic curvature at every point. The method can also be used forG ² blending of curves on surfaces. The interpolation/blending curve is the intersection curve of the given surface with a functional spline (implicit) surface. For the construction of blending curves, we derive the necessary formulas for the curvature of the surfaces. The intermediate results areG ² interpolation/blending methods in IR².     

Chromosome-specific aneusomy in carcinoma of the breast

Fluorescence in situ hybridization was performed on touch preparations from 55 primary infiltrating ductal carcinomas of the breast to determine numeric chromosome abnormalities. The frequency of aneusomy, measured by both nondisomy and chromosomal gain, was determined for chromosomes X, 4, 6-12, 17, and 18 with the use of chromosome-specific, alpha-satellite DNA probes. The presence of chromosome-specific numeric abnormalities was correlated with established clinicopathological parameters, including tumor size, lymph node involvement, tumor grade, estrogen receptor level, and menopause status. In addition, a case-control study was performed to explore a possible association between chromosome-specific aneusomy and recurrence in lymph-node-negative patients. Although chromosomes 8 and 6 were most frequently aneusomic, numeric abnormalities of chromosomes 4 and 11 were most strongly associated with established prognostic factors. For chromosomes 4 and 11, strong associations were found with tumor involvement of lymph nodes and increased tumor size, along with a weaker association with tumor grade. In addition, numeric abnormalities of the following chromosomes were associated with the corresponding prognostic factors: chromosomes X, 7, and 12 with lymph node status; chromosomes 10, 17, and 6 with tumor size; and chromosomes 7, 12, 17, and X with tumor grade. No correlations were observed with estrogen receptor level or menopause status. In the case-control study performed on isolated nuclei of paraffin-embedded tissue from lymph node-negative breast cancer patients (19 cases and 19 controls), the gain of chromosome 4 was correlated with disease progression. These findings suggest that chromosome-specific aneusomy is associated with certain established prognostic factors and may be associated with disease progression.