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Estimates of the Apert syndrome birth prevalence and the mutation rate are reported for Washington State, Nebraska, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Atlanta, and Northern California. Data were pooled to increase the number of Apert births (n = 57) and produce a more stable birth prevalence estimate. Birth prevalence of the Apert syndrome was calculated to be approximately 15.5/1,000,000 births, which is twice the rate determined in earlier studies. The major reason appears to be incomplete ascertainment in the earlier studies. The similarity of the point estimates and the narrow bounds of the confidence limits in the present study suggest that the birth prevalence of the Apert syndrome over different populations is fairly uniform. The mutation rate was calculated to be 7.8 x 10(-6) per gene per generation. Apert syndrome accounts for about 4.5% of all cases of craniosynostosis. The mortality rate appears to be increased compared to that experienced in the general population; however, further study of the problem is necessary.

Two hypotheses about coping with an arbitrary authority, an angry boss, were tested: (1) styles of handling anger vary with social status, and (2) these styles are in turn related to blood pressure levels. Two styles of coping were tested: model R-R, Resentful vs. Reflective, and model I/O/R, Anger-In, Anger-Out, and Reflective. Handling an angry boss by Reflection is reported by more women than men, by those in middle-class areas rather than lower class, and does not vary by race. Working class report more use of Anger-Out than middle class who in turn report more use of Reflection. In general, the Anger-In response did not vary by race, sex, or area of residence (12-18%). For model R-R, Reflection of boss's anger was related to lower blood pressure when compared to Resentful responses, within sex, race, and residence groups. For model I/O/R, working-class, high stress persons who expressed Anger-Out showed the highest mean levels. Reflection is an appraisal response related to vascular and neural deceleration in stress experiments. This mode can be learned, and may aid in handling daily emotional-loaded stimuli to control blood pressure, along with learning a relaxation response.

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