Facing Aggression: Cues Differ for Female versus Male Faces

The facial width-to-height ratio (face ratio), is a sexually dimorphic metric associated with actual aggression in men and with observers' judgements of aggression in male faces. Here, we sought to determine if observers' judgements of aggression were associated with the face ratio in female faces. In three studies, participants rated photographs of female and male faces on aggression, femininity, masculinity, attractiveness, and nurturing. In Studies 1 and 2, for female and male faces, judgements of aggression were associated with the face ratio even when other cues in the face related to masculinity were controlled statistically. Nevertheless, correlations between the face ratio and judgements of aggression were smaller for female than for male faces (F1,36 = 7.43, p = 0.01). In Study 1, there was no significant relationship between judgements of femininity and of aggression in female faces. In Study 2, the association between judgements of masculinity and aggression was weaker in female faces than for male faces in Study 1. The weaker association in female faces may be because aggression and masculinity are stereotypically male traits. Thus, in Study 3, observers rated faces on nurturing (a stereotypically female trait) and on femininity. Judgements of nurturing were associated with femininity (positively) and masculinity (negatively) ratings in both female and male faces. In summary, the perception of aggression differs in female versus male faces. The sex difference was not simply because aggression is a gendered construct; the relationships between masculinity/femininity and nurturing were similar for male and female faces even though nurturing is also a gendered construct. Masculinity and femininity ratings are not associated with aggression ratings nor with the face ratio for female faces. In contrast, all four variables are highly inter-correlated in male faces, likely because these cues in male faces serve as “honest signals”

How much does it cost to manage paediatric tuberculosis? One-year experience from The Hospital for Sick Children

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) is a major infection with nearly eight million cases annually worldwide. Although the majority of these cases are in the developing world, TB is also a problem in Canada

How Much Does It Cost to Manage Paediatric Tuberculosis? One-Year Experience from The Hospital for Sick Children

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) is a major infection with nearly eight million cases annually worldwide. Although the majority of these cases are in the developing world, TB is also a problem in Canada.OBJECTIVE: To determine the cost of diagnosis and management of paediatric TB in Canada.DESIGN: Cross-sectional study.SETTING: In-patients and out-patients at The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, a tertiary care centre.PATIENTS: Patients were included if they had clinical or radiological evidence of TB infection with a positive tuberculin skin test or a positive culture result, and were treated from July 1, 1995, to June 30, 1996. Twenty-two patients met the criteria for inclusion in the study.OUTCOME MEASURES: Patient characteristics, types of disease, types and numbers of investigations, number of in-patient days and out-patient appointments, course of TB treatment, TB-related complications and antimicrobial resistance were obtained from charts. Costs were derived from allocated hospital costs, Ontario Health Insurance Plan billings and costs provided by the Pharmacy Department at The Hospital for Sick Children.RESULTS: The total cost for one year of management of paediatric TB in a tertiary care centre was $211,576. Pulmonary TB affected one-half of the study patients but accounted for one-quarter of the cost. One case of meningitis resulted in almost the same costs as all cases of pulmonary TB. Hospitalization was the largest contributor to overall cost, accounting for three-quarters of the total. The remaining costs in order of their contribution to overall costs were antimicrobial treatment, out-patient appointments, diagnostic imaging and TB cultures.CONCLUSIONS: From a hospital’s perspective, the costs of managing each of the 22 patients was approximately$10,000. However, there was great variability between patients, with much greater costs for those who required hospitalization or numerous investigations because TB was not suspected. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time that such a cost analysis has been performed for a paediatric population. A cost analysis provides a better measure of the burden of illness than is indicated by the absolute number of patients.Peer Reviewe

Outbreaks of infection caused by community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a Canadian correctional facility

BACKGROUND: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has been identified in prison settings in the United States. The present study investigated two clusters of skin and soft tissue infection caused by community-acquired (CA) MRSA in a correctional facility in southern Ontario

Infant-mother attachment in separated and married families.

Two contrasting predictions about the effects of parental marital separation on infants' attachment to their mothers are considered. The "early adversity" hypothesis suggests that infants will be adversely affected by negative life events and thus will develop anxious attachments to their mothers. The "protective" hypothesis claims that infants are resistant to stressors because of their limited cognitive ability, and therefore will be no more likely to develop anxious attachments than other infants. Results from 76 motherchild pairs in the "strange situation" procedure (assessing infantmother attachment) supported the "protective" hypothesis in that there were no significant differenccs between infants in two marital status groups. The role of marital status versus unfavorable life events in affecting children's development was discussed