Differential effects of 1-naphthaleneacetic acid, indole-3-acetic acid and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid on the gravitropic response of roots in an auxin-resistant mutant of arabidopsis, aux1

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Gallbladder mucus itself has been recognized to play an important role in gallstone development. Despite the diverse mechanisms of stone induction and the differences in stone composition, there is a quantitative increase in the epithelial mucus production period before stone formation. As brown pigment stones are found frequently in gallstone disease, we conducted a study on gallbladders with brown pigment stones or combination stones with a brown periphery to evaluate the mucin content in the gallbladder epithelium in comparison to gallbladders with cholesterol stones and those without stones. METHODS: Gallbladder specimens were fixed in 10% formalin immediately after cholecystectomy and then embedded in paraffin. The specimens were sectioned for periodic acid-Schiff-alcian blue (PAS-AB, pH 2.5) double stain to evaluate the intra-epithelial mucin content. The PAS-AB index was calculated as a proportion of the PAS-AB-positive mucin area to the total epithelial area, using a computerized image analyzer. RESULTS: Evaluation of the PAS-AB index on the lining epithelia of gallbladders showed that it was 32.43 +/- 9.96% in gallbladders with brown stones, which is significantly (p < 0.001) higher than in gallbladders with cholesterol stones (15.63 +/- 6. 75%) and gallbladders without stones (9.55 +/- 4.77%). CONCLUSION: The results show that gallbladders with brown stones contain more abundant mucin than gallbladders with cholesterol stones or those without stones. They also suggest that the gallbladder epithelium per se might play a more important role in stone formation in those with brown stones than in those with cholesterol stones.     

Cue-dependent amnesia in rats.

Gave 78 male Sprague-Dawley rats extensive training in a complicated appetitive maze. Following a retention interval of 7 days, Ss were given a single ECS. Ss for which memory cues had been reinstated just prior to ECS were more amnesic upon retest than Ss whose memories had not been reinstated. Thus, amnesia can be produced for well-established memories if the memory cues are present at the time the amnesic agent occurs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The roles of self-esteem and self-consciousness in the Wortman-Brehm model of reactance and learned helplessness.

Studied the conditions under which failure would enhance or inhibit subsequent task performance. Based on the theory of C. B. Wortman and J. W. Brehm (1975), it was expected that small amounts of failure would produce reactance (manifested by improved performance at a subsequent task); large amounts would lead to learned helplessness (i.e., impaired later performance). It was further expected that individual differences in self-esteem and private self-consciousness would serve as moderator variables for the effects. In Exp I, 78 college students were exposed to either a small amount or no failure before working on an anagrams task. As predicted, Ss high in self-consciousness, who showed greater reactance arousal in attitude change studies, performed better on the anagrams task than Ss low in self-consciousness in the small-failure condition, but not in the no-failure condition. In Exp II, 119 Ss were pretreated with either a small amount of failure, an extended amount of failure, or no failure before working on the task. A significant Self-Esteem by Helplessness Training interaction emerged. Low self-esteem Ss (low SEs) performed marginally better than did high SEs in the small-failure condition but significantly worse than high SEs in the extended-failure condition. Questionnaire data from Exp II were consistent with the notion that enhanced performance reflected reactance, whereas impaired performance signified helplessness. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Failure modes and energy absorption capability of ZnO varistors

Thermal and mechanical behavior of ZnO varistors used in surge arresters is simulated for current pulses of various magnitude and duration. Time dependence of the temperature profile and of the distribution of thermal stresses is computed by solving heat transfer equations for varistor disks with nonuniform electrical properties. The simulations identify failure processes and determine energy absorption capability of varistor elements. The results are in excellent agreement with experiment and provide fundamental explanation of the energy handling dependence upon current surge intensity and duration     

Adult psychological functioning of individuals born with craniofacial anomalies

This study represents an initial investigation into the adult psychological functioning of individuals born with craniofacial disfigurement. A total of 24 men and women born with a craniofacial anomaly completed paper and pencil measures of body image dissatisfaction, self-esteem, quality of life, and experiences of discrimination. An age- and gender-matched control group of 24 non-facially disfigured adults also completed the measures. As expected, craniofacially disfigured adults reported greater dissatisfaction with their facial appearance than did the control group. Craniofacially disfigured adults also reported significantly lower levels of self-esteem and quality of life. Dissatisfaction with facial appearance, self-esteem, and quality of life were related to self-ratings of physical attractiveness. More than one-third of craniofacially disfigured adults (38 percent) reported experiences of discrimination in employment or social settings. Among disfigured adults, psychological functioning was not related to number of surgeries, although the degree of residual facial deformity was related to increased dissatisfaction with facial appearance and greater experiences of discrimination. Results suggest that adults who were born with craniofacial disfigurement, as compared with non-facially disfigured adults, experience greater dissatisfaction with facial appearance and lower self-esteem and quality of life; however, these experiences do not seem to be universal.