Emotional arousal, client perceptual processing, and the working alliance in experiential psychotherapy for depression.

Early-, middle-, and late-phase client emotional arousal, perceptual processing strategies, and working alliance were examined in relation to treatment outcome on 4 measures in 32 clients who previously underwent experiential therapy for depression. Hierarchical regression analyses relating these variables to outcome indicated that results varied depending on the therapeutic process, phase of treatment, and outcome measure involved in the analyses. Mid-therapy arousal predicted improvements in self-esteem, whereas mid- and late treatment perceptual processing predicted reductions in client interpersonal dysfunction. Emotional arousal in conjunction with perceptual processing during mid-therapy predicted reductions in depressive and psychopathological symptomatology better than either of these variables alone. The implications of these findings for psychotherapy research and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sublethal concentrations of mercury in river otters: monitoring environmental contamination

Hair, muscle, and liver mercury concentrations were determined in river otter (Lutra canadensis) carcasses collected from the lower coastal plain and piedmont of Georgia. Mean muscle and hair mercury concentrations were greater (P < 0.001) in otters from the lower coastal plain (4.42 and 24.25 mg/kg wet wt, respectively) compared to otters from the piedmont (1.48 and 15.24 mg/kg, respectively). Liver tissue from lower coastal plain otters averaged 7.53 mg/kg mercury. Mean fetus brain and muscle mercury concentrations were 1.03 and 1.58 mg/kg wet wt, respectively, and fetal muscle mercury concentrations were correlated (r = 0.92) with maternal muscle mercury concentrations. Comparison of mercury concentrations found in Georgia otters to those associated with adverse effects in otter and mink (Mustela vison), indicate sublethal contamination with concentrations in some individuals approaching that observed in experimentally dosed individuals that developed clinical signs of mercurialism. Mercury concentrations in fish from the lower coastal plain approached or exceeded concentrations demonstrated to be toxic to experimentally dosed otters.     

Thyroid cancer after exposure to external radiation: a pooled analysis of seven studies

The thyroid gland of children is especially vulnerable to the carcinogenic action of ionizing radiation. To provide insights into various modifying influences on risk, seven major studies with organ doses to individual subjects were evaluated. Five cohort studies (atomic bomb survivors, children treated for tinea capitis, two studies of children irradiated for enlarged tonsils, and infants irradiated for an enlarged thymus gland) and two case-control studies (patients with cervical cancer and childhood cancer) were studied. The combined studies include almost 120,000 people (approximately 58,000 exposed to a wide range of doses and 61,000 nonexposed subjects), nearly 700 thyroid cancers and 3,000,000 person years of follow-up. For persons exposed to radiation before age 15 years, linearity best described the dose response, even down to 0.10 Gy. At the highest doses (> 10 Gy), associated with cancer therapy, there appeared to be a decrease or leveling of risk. For childhood exposures, the pooled excess relative risk per Gy (ERR/Gy) was 7.7 (95% CI = 2.1, 28.7) and the excess absolute risk per 10(4) PY Gy (EAR/10(4) PY Gy) was 4.4 (95% CI = 1.9, 10.1). The attributable risk percent (AR%) at 1 Gy was 88%. However, these summary estimates were affected strongly by age at exposure even within this limited age range. The ERR was greater (P = 0.07) for females than males, but the findings from the individual studies were not consistent. The EAR was higher among women, reflecting their higher rate of naturally occurring thyroid cancer. The distribution of ERR over time followed neither a simple multiplicative nor an additive pattern in relation to background occurrence. Only two cases were seen within 5 years of exposure. The ERR began to decline about 30 years after exposure but was still elevated at 40 years. Risk also decreased significantly with increasing age at exposure, with little risk apparent after age 20 years. Based on limited data, there was a suggestion that spreading dose over time (from a few days to > 1 year) may lower risk, possibly due to the opportunity for cellular repair mechanisms to operate. The thyroid gland in children has one of the highest risk coefficients of any organ and is the only tissue with convincing evidence for risk about 1.10 Gy.     

Electron-microscopic examination of the transition zone of aluminum-tantalum bimetallic joints (explosion welding)

A study of the structure of an aluminum-tantalum joint and a comparison of this structure with the structures of iron-silver and copper-tantalum joints have revealed the following processes of the interpenetration of the materials that occur during explosion welding: the formation of protrusions, the injection of particles of one material into the other, and the formation of zones of local melting. Regardless of the mutual solubility of the metals being welded, two types of fragmentation occur, i.e., (1) a granulating fragmentation (GF), which includes the formation, explosion-governed (EG) dispersion, and partial consolidation of particles, and (2) the fragmentation that is usually observed during severe plastic deformation. It is important that this traditional fragmentation is not accompanied by the formation and EG dispersion of particles. This feature allows one to easily distinguish these types of fragmentation (traditional and GF fragmentation).     

Is it possible for dislocations to self-lock after high-pressure torsion?

The evolution of the dislocation structure of the intermetallic compound Ni₃Ge upon high-pressure torsion has been investigated. It has been determined that, under certain conditions, subsequent heating without loading leads to the self-locking of dislocations, while in other cases, this does not take place. The role played by the lattice distortions that arise under torsion is emphasized.     

Structure of the transition zone and its influence on the strength of copper-tantalum joint (Explosion welding)

The joint of copper and tantalum, metals without mutual solubility, formed by explosion welding is studied. The mechanism of the influence of mutual solubility on the structure of the transition zone is established. It is demonstrated that the interface contains heterogeneities, and their role in the strength of the materials joint is revealed. A microheterogeneous structure of the joint zones is detected.     

Not all faces are processed equally: Evidence for featural rather than holistic processing of one's own face in a face-imaging task.

The present work considers the mental imaging of faces, with a focus in own-face imaging. Experiments 1 and 3 demonstrated an own-face disadvantage, with slower generation of mental images of one's own face than of other familiar faces. In contrast, Experiment 2 demonstrated that mental images of facial parts are generated more quickly for one's own face. Finally, Experiment 4 established that a bias toward local processing is advantageous for one's own face, whereas a global-processing bias produces an enhanced own-face disadvantage. The results suggest that own-face imaging is more synchronized with retrieval of face features and less attuned to a face's holistic pattern than is imaging of other people's faces. The authors propose that the salient information for own and other face identification reflects, in part, differences in the purpose and experiences (expertise) generally associated with processing of own and other faces. Consistent with work examining the range of face processing, including other-race faces, our results suggest that not all faces receive the same holistic emphasis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Wave formation during explosive welding: the relaxation of a nonequilibrium structure

The sequence of the transition states of the interface in the process of explosion welding has been studied. The self-organization of splash-shaped cusps first into a quasi-wave surface and, then into a perfect wavy surface has been revealed. A similarity between a quasi-wave surface and the periodic surface relief, which has been observed in the well-known experiments of G. R. Abrahamson, of a steel bullet after collision with a target has been found. Simulation tests have been performed in order to find possible methods of the relaxation of a nonequilibrium structure that possess excess area.