Sexual Objectification Increases Rape Victim Blame and Decreases Perceived Suffering

Sexual objectification changes the way people view women by reducing them to sexual objects—denied humanity and an internal mental life, as well as deemed unworthy of moral concern. However, the subsequent consequences of sexually objectifying others remain underresearched. In the current study, we examined the impact of objectification in the domain of sexual assault. Sixty British undergraduate students were recruited to complete an impression formation task. We manipulated objectification by presenting participants with either a sexualized or nonsexualized woman. Participants rated the woman’s mind and the extent to which they felt moral concern for her. They then learned that she was the victim of an acquaintance rape and reported victim blame and both blatant and subtle perceptions of her suffering. Consistent with prior research, sexualized women were objectified through a denial of mental states and moral concern. Further, compared with nonobjectified women, the objectified were perceived to be more responsible for being raped. Interestingly, although no difference emerged for blatant measures of suffering, participants tacitly denied the victims’ suffering by exhibiting changes in moral concern for the victim. We conclude that objectification has important consequences for how people view victims of sexual assault. Our findings reveal that sexual objectification can have serious consequences and we discuss how these might influence how victims cope and recover from sexual assault

Expression of three GnRH receptors in specific tissues in male and female sea lampreys Petromyzon marinus at three distinct life stages

Two recently cloned gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) receptors (lamprey GnRH-R-2 and lamprey GnRH-R-3) along with lamprey (l) GnRH-R-1 were shown to share similar structural features and amino acid motifs common to other vertebrate receptors. Here we report on our findings of RNA expression of these three GnRH receptors in the three major life stages (larval, parasitic, and adult phases) of the sea lamprey, Petromyzon marinus, a basal vertebrate. For each stage, we examined the expression of messenger RNA encoding the receptors in the brain, pituitary, gonad, heart, muscle, liver, eye, intestine, kidney, skin, thyroid, gill, and endostyle by RT-PCR. In adult lampreys, the spatial expression of the three receptors in the brain and pituitary was investigated by in situ hybridization. In general, the receptors were more widely expressed in adult tissues as compared to parasitic-phase tissues and least widely expressed in the larval tissues. There were noted differences in male and female lampreys in the adult and parasitic phases for all three receptors. The data showed the presence of all three receptor transcripts in brain tissues for adult and parasitic phases and all three receptor transcripts were expressed in the adult pituitaries, but not in the parasitic pituitaries. However, in the larval phase, only lGnRH-R-1 was expressed in the larval brain and pituitary. In situ hybridization revealed that lGnRH-R-2 and -3 were expressed in the pineal tissue of adult female lampreys while lGnRH-R-1 was expressed in the pineal in adult male lampreys, all restricted to the pineal pellucida. In summary, these data provide an initial comparative analysis of expression of three lamprey GnRH receptors suggesting differential regulation within males and females at three different life/reproductive stages

Neutrino-12C scattering in the ab initio shell model with a realistic three-body interaction

We investigate cross sections for neutrino-12C exclusive scattering and for muon capture on 12C using wave functions obtained in the ab initio no-core shell model. In our parameter-free calculations with basis spaces up to the 6 hbarOmega we show that realistic nucleon-nucleon interactions, like e.g. the CD-Bonn, under predict the experimental cross sections by more than a factor of two. By including a realistic three-body interaction, Tucson-Melbourne TM'(99), the cross sections are enhanced significantly and a much better agreement with experiment is achieved. At the same time,the TM'(99) interaction improves the calculated level ordering in 12C. The comparison between the CD-Bonn and the three-body calculations provides strong confirmation for the need to include a realistic three-body interaction to account for the spin-orbit strength in p-shell nuclei.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure

Isotope Ratio Monitoring Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (IRM-GCMS)

On Earth, the C-13 content of organic compounds is depleted by roughly 13 to 23 permil from atmospheric carbon dioxide. This difference is largely due to isotope effects associated with the fixation of inorganic carbon by photosynthetic organisms. If life once existed on Mars, then it is reasonable to expect to observe a similar fractionation. Although the strongly oxidizing conditions on the surface of Mars make preservation of ancient organic material unlikely, carbon-isotope evidence for the existence of life on Mars may still be preserved. Carbon depleted in C-13 could be preserved either in organic compounds within buried sediments, or in carbonate minerals produced by the oxidation of organic material. A technique is introduced for rapid and precise measurement of the C-13 contents of individual organic compounds. A gas chromatograph is coupled to an isotope-ratio mass spectrometer through a combustion interface, enabling on-line isotopic analysis of isolated compounds. The isotope ratios are determined by integration of ion currents over the course of each chromatographic peak. Software incorporates automatic peak determination, corrections for background, and deconvolution of overlapped peaks. Overall performance of the instrument was evaluated by the analysis of a mixture of high purity n-alkanes of know isotopic composition. Isotopic values measured via IRM-GCMS averaged withing 0.55 permil of their conventionally measured values

Prompt Beta Spectroscopy as a Diagnostic for Mix in Ignited NIF Capsules

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) technology is designed to drive deuterium-tritium (DT) internal confinement fusion (ICF) targets to ignition using indirect radiation from laser beam energy captured in a hohlraum. Hydrodynamical instabilities at interfaces in the ICF capsule leading to mix between the DT fue l and the ablator shell material are of fundamental physical interest and can affect the performance characteristics of the capsule. In this Letter we describe new radiochemical diagnostics for mix processes in ICF capsules with plastic or Be (0.9%Cu) ablator shells. Reactions of high-energy tritons with shell material produce high-energy $\beta$-emitters. We show that mix between the DT fuel and the shell material enhances high-energy prompt beta emission from these reactions by more than an order of magnitude over that expected in the absence of mix

Morbid adherence of the placenta: lack of specificity should remind us that ultrasound is a screening tool.

Excellent performance has been reported with prenatal diagnosis of abnormal placental invasion using ultrasound. We describe a case which illustrates the validity of ultrasound features of abnormally invasive placentation in women without previous caesarean delivery. CASE: Ms. CB, a 27 year-old G3 P1+1 was seen in her pregnancy at 36 weeks of gestation. Her first pregnancy was uncomplicated and she gave vaginal birth to a normally grown baby at term. Before the current pregnancy, she suffered a miscarriage in the first trimester, and underwent surgical evacuation. She suffered prolonged vaginal blood loss for which she was investigated, and a diagnosis of A-V malformation (AVM) was made on the basis of the ultrasound findings (Figure 1). She conceived spontaneously before intervention

Neutral gas in Lyman-alpha emitting galaxies Haro 11 and ESO 338-IG04 measured through sodium absorption

Context. The Lyman alpha emission line of galaxies is an important tool for finding galaxies at high redshift, and thus probe the structure of the early universe. However, the resonance nature of the line and its sensitivity to dust and neutral gas is still not fully understood. Aims. We present measurements of the velocity, covering fraction and optical depth of neutral gas in front of two well known local blue compact galaxies that show Lyman alpha in emission: ESO 338-IG 04 and Haro 11. We thus test observationally the hypothesis that Lyman alpha can escape through neutral gas by being Doppler shifted out of resonance. Methods. We present integral field spectroscopy from the GIRAFFE/Argus spectrograph at VLT/FLAMES in Paranal, Chile. The excellent wavelength resolution allows us to accurately measure the velocity of the ionized and neutral gas through the H-alpha emission and Na D absorption, which traces the ionized medium and cold interstellar gas, respectively. We also present independent measurements with the VLT/X-shooter spectrograph which confirm our results. Results. For ESO 338-IG04, we measure no significant shift of neutral gas. The best fit velocity is -15 (16) km/s. For Haro 11, we see an outflow from knot B at 44 (13) km/s and infalling gas towards knot C with 32 (12) km/s. Based on the relative strength of the Na D absorption lines, we estimate low covering fractions of neutral gas (down to 10%) in all three cases. Conclusions. The Na D absorption likely occurs in dense clumps with higher column densities than where the bulk of the Ly-alpha scattering takes place. Still, we find no strong correlation between outflowing neutral gas and a high Lyman alpha escape fraction. The Lyman alpha photons from these two galaxies are therefore likely escaping due to a low column density and/or covering fraction.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure