Esthetics

BACKGROUND: A grafting technique that uses diced cartilage without fascia, which improves formability while maintaining long-term stability, would be a welcome addition to the rhinoplasty armamentarium. METHODS: A diced cartilage glue graft was recently introduced as the Tasman technique. The technique has been used by one of us (A.-J.T.) in 28 patients who were monitored clinically for 4 to 26 months. Sonographic morphometry of the graft was used in 10 patients with a maximum follow-up of 15 months, and 2 biopsies were obtained for histologic examination.

College students rated protagonists of vignettes involved in extra-marital affairs in two separate studies. In the first study, where the affair resulted in the errant spouse falling in love, both the husband and wife were perceived more favorably when they cheated than when they were being cheated. The results of the second study, where the affair did not involve love, were opposite from those of the first. The cheating spouse was viewed negatively. No significant differences were found between married and unmarried subjects' perceptions.

The author discusses female facial beauty through reference to works of art by Praxiteles, Rubens, and Rossetti.

Psychoanalysts enjoy doing analysis above and beyond its usefulness to patients; one reason for this lies in the aesthetic pleasure the analyst may derive from the analytic process. The author discusses this aesthetic pleasure from the standpoint of meaning making, communication, love, and professional craft. Patients may themselves seek in analysis a certain kind of beauty that is normally a byproduct of good enough empathy and communication.

The significance of music-induced thrills or chills was explored in 3 experiments (N= 223). Specifically, the ability of antecedent (priming) stimuli in different modalities and aesthetic domains (national anthems, stories, architectural objects, paintings) to increase the participants' thrills responsiveness to music by Rachmaninoff and Haydn was examined. In addition, the differential effects of having or not having experienced thrills on the participants' subsequent willingness to donate blood, and on their mood and self-concept, were tested.

For centuries, only philosophers debated the relationship between aesthetics and morality. Recently, with advances in neuroscience, the debate has moved to include the brain and an evolved neural underpinning linking aesthetic reactions and moral judgment. Biological survival emphasizes mate selection strategies, and the ritual displays have been linked to human aesthetics in the arts, in faces, and in various daily decision making. In parallel, cultural human practices have evolved to emphasize altruism and morality.

An approach to outpatient anesthesia using drugs that have reversible or very short-acting effects is described, along with a method of monitoring patients using pulse rate to assess tranquility. Preoperatively, the patient is given 1 mg of lorazepam the evening before surgery and sublingual lorazepam 1 mg combined with hydroxyzine 50 mg intramuscularly one hour before surgery. Before infiltration of local anesthesia, intravenous diazepam in 2.5 mg increments is given if needed, followed by a mixture of meperidine and pentazocine intravenously in exactly a 10:1 ratio.

Many recent studies have supported Dion, Berscheid, and Walster's (1972) viewpoint that "What is beautiful is good." In addition, several studies have found that an individual who is believed to be married to a facially attractive person will be perceived as attractive to other people. Few studies have examined how a disfigured or deformed face is perceived. The present study sought to determine whether perception of facial disfigurement is influenced by marriage to someone who has a normal face. Evidence to support this theory was found.

BACKGROUND: Women's body image in late pregnancy and its relationship to the assumption of the maternal role have not been fully addressed in transitional cultures like that of Taiwan. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore body image and body satisfaction of women in Taiwan during the third trimester of pregnancy.

AIM: To investigate the relationship between divine proportion and facial esthetics in frontal photographs as well as whether any of the 4 ratios for manipulation provide more favorable facial esthetics. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The sample comprised 20 frontal photographs of Caucasian individuals (11 males and 9 females). The photographs were digitized and stored on a compact disk. A photometric analysis was created with 7 facial segments that were measured on Image Tool software and 4 ratios between 2 facial segments calculated using Microsoft Excel.