Operationalizing Gestalt therapy's processes of experiential organization.

Developed a coding system to operationalize the Gestalt therapy formulation of experiential organization and used the scale to test the assumption that each member of an interacting couple is influenced by concurrent organization of experience processes of the other. 20 couples (at least 1 member was an undergraduate student) who had lived together for at least 6 mo were rated. Findings support the reliability of the procedure, but data do not reflect adequate levels of usage along the full range of the scale. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Edge Stress Intensity Functions in Polyhedral Domains and their Extraction by a Quasidual Function Method

The solution to elastic isotropic problems in three-dimensional (3-D) polyhedral domains in the vicinity of an edge is provided in an explicit form. It involves a family of eigen-functions with their shadows, and the associated edge stress intensity functions (ESIFs), which are functions along the edges. Utilizing the explicit structure of the solution in the vicinity of the edge we use the quasidual function method, recently presented in [Omer et al. (2004). International Journal of Fracture 129:97–130] for scalar elliptic problems and in [Costabel et al. (2004). SIAM Journal of Mathematical Analysis 35(5), 1177–1202] in a general theoretical framework, for the extraction of ESIFs. This method provides a polynomial approximation of the ESIF along the edge whose order is adaptively increased so to approximate the exact ESIF. It is implemented as a post-solution operation in conjunction with the p-version finite element method. Numerical examples are provided in which we extract ESIFs associated with traction free or homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions in 3-D cracked domains or 3-D V-Notched domains. These demonstrate the efficiency, robustness and high accuracy of the proposed quasi-dual function method.     

On the long-range effects of concentration camp internment on Nazi victims: 25 years later.

Investigated long-range effects of concentration camp internment on survivors. It was hypothesized that the extreme and prolonged stress suffered by victims could be expected to have resulted in impoverishment of personality and dedifferentiation in both personality and perceptual-cognitive functioning. Ss consisted of 42 survivors—26 males and 16 females, ranging in age from 42 to 67 yrs—and 20 controls—9 men and 11 women of similar age, background, and education but who had escaped incarceration. The study was conducted in Israel, using a double-blind paradigm. All Ss were tested with 3 measures of psychological differentiation—the Embedded Figures Test, Human Figure Drawings, and the Block Design subtest of the WAIS. They were also given the Rorschach test, the Bender Gestalt Test, and the 16 PF. Findings tend to support the hypothesis. Survivors manifested evidence of impoverishment and constriction of personality and appeared to be less accessible, less connected, and more labile than controls. In perceptual-cognitive functioning, survivors tended to be more global, less complex, and less differentiated, and there were indications of breakdown of ego boundaries. Some evidence suggests that earlier incarceration led to more severe impairment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bacteriophages as viral pollution indicators

f2 Phage, attenuated Polio I (LSC) strain introduced daily to a 350 l. experimental oxidation pond showed no decrease in bacterial viruses f2 or other coliphages or Polio I strain.Ratios of coliphages to human enteric viruses ranged in flood waters from concentrations as low as 1:1 to as high as 10³:1; in wastewater at various seasons the ratio was 10⁵:1; in trickling filter effluents in winter it was 10⁴:1; in spring 10⁵:1, in summer and fall 10⁴:1, in oxidation pond effluents in winter 10³:1; in spring 10⁴:1; and in summer and fall 10³:1. Out of three epidemics in small communities caused by failure of water supply, coliphages were found to be positive. At the same time only two samples of human enteric viruses were positive (the third was contaminated with yeasts).Chlorination experiments using the experimental oxidation pond showed that f2 was most resistant, MS₂ was very resistant, and coliphages were more resistant than attenuated Polio I virus. Experiments with the oxidation pond effluents showed that coliphages were at least as or even more resistant to chlorine than human enteric viruses.     

Edge flux intensity functions in polyhedral domains and their extraction by a quasidual function method

The asymptotics of solutions to scalar second order elliptic boundary value problems in three-dimensional polyhedral domains in the vicinity of an edge is provided in an explicit form. It involves a family of eigen-functions with their shadows, and the associated edge flux intensity functions (EFIFs), which are functions along the edges. Utilizing the explicit structure of the solution in the vicinity of the edge we present a new method for the extraction of the EFIFs called quasidual function method. It can be interpreted as an extension of the dual function contour integral method in 2-D domains, and involves the computation of a surface integral J[R] along a cylindrical surface of radius R away from the edge as presented in a general framework in (Costabel et al., 2004). The surface integral J[R] utilizes special constructed extraction polynomials together with the dual eigen-functions for extracting EFIFs. This accurate and efficient method provides a polynomial approximation of the EFIF along the edge whose order is adaptively increased so to approximate the exact EFIF. It is implemented as a post-solution operation in conjunction with the p-version finite element method. Numerical realization of some of the anticipated properties of the J[R] are provided, and it is used for extracting EFIFs associated with different scalar elliptic equations in 3-D domains, including domains having edge and vertex singularities. The numerical examples demonstrate the efficiency, robustness and high accuracy of the proposed quasi-dual function method, hence its potential extension to elasticity problems.     

The privacy of dense symmetric functions

Ann argument function,f, is calledt-private if there exists a distributed protocol for computingf so that no coalition of at mostt processors can infer any additional information from the execution of the protocol. It is known that every function defined over a finite domain is [(n–1)/2]-private. The general question oft-privacy (fort[n/2]) is still unresolved.In this work, we relate the question of [n/2]-privacy for the class of symmetric functions of Boolean argumentsf: {0, 1} ⁿ {0, 1,...,n} to the structure of Hamming weights inf ^–1(b) (b{0, 1, ...,n}). We show that iff is [n/2]-private, then every set of Hamming weightsf ^–1(b) must be an arithmetic progression. For the class ofdense symmetric functions (defined in the sequel), we refine this to the following necessary and sufficient condition for [n/2]-privacy off: Every collection of such arithmetic progressions must yield non-identical remainders, when computed modulo the greatest common divisor of their differences. This condition is used to show that for dense symmetric functions, [n/2]-privacy impliesn-privacy.     

Fast photochemical oxidation of proteins for comparing structures of protein-ligand complexes: the calmodulin-peptide model system

Fast photochemical oxidation of proteins (FPOP) is a mass spectrometry-based protein footprinting method that modifies proteins on the microsecond time scale. Highly reactive (?)OH, produced by laser photolysis of hydrogen peroxide, oxidatively modifies the side chains of approximately one-half the common amino acids on this time scale. Because of the short labeling exposure, only solvent-accessible residues are sampled. Quantification of the modification extent for the apo and holo states of a protein-ligand complex provides structurally sensitive information at the amino-acid level to compare the structures of unknown protein complexes with known ones. We report here the use of FPOP to monitor the structural changes of calmodulin in its established binding to M13 of the skeletal muscle myosin light chain kinase. We use the outcome to establish the unknown structures resulting from binding with melittin and mastoparan. The structural comparison follows a comprehensive examination of the extent of FPOP modifications as measured by proteolysis and LC-MS/MS for each protein-ligand equilibrium. The results not only show that the three calmodulin-peptide complexes have similar structures but also reveal those regions of the protein that became more or less solvent-accessible upon binding. This approach has the potential for relatively high throughput, information-dense characterization of a series of protein-ligand complexes in biochemistry and drug discovery when the structure of one reference complex is known, as is the case for calmodulin and M13 of the skeletal muscle myosin light chain kinase, and the structures of related complexes are not.     

When helping helps: Autonomous motivation for prosocial behavior and its influence on well-being for the helper and recipient.

Self-determination theory posits that the degree to which a prosocial act is volitional or autonomous predicts its effect on well-being and that psychological need satisfaction mediates this relation. Four studies tested the impact of autonomous and controlled motivation for helping others on well-being and explored effects on other outcomes of helping for both helpers and recipients. Study 1 used a diary method to assess daily relations between prosocial behaviors and helper well-being and tested mediating effects of basic psychological need satisfaction. Study 2 examined the effect of choice on motivation and consequences of autonomous versus controlled helping using an experimental design. Study 3 examined the consequences of autonomous versus controlled helping for both helpers and recipients in a dyadic task. Finally, Study 4 manipulated motivation to predict helper and recipient outcomes. Findings support the idea that autonomous motivation for helping yields benefits for both helper and recipient through greater need satisfaction. Limitations and implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)