Do lifestyle and hormonal variables explain links between health and facial attractiveness?

Introduction: Facial attractiveness has recently been considered an indicator of underlying immunocompetence. However, studies examining this relationship have yielded mixed findings. Previous research suggested that these discrepant findings could be due to the common influence of lifestyle factors upon both rated facial attractiveness and health.

The Role of Branched Chain Ketoacid Dehydrogenase Kinase (BCKDK) in Skeletal Muscle Biology and Pathogenesis.

Muscle wasting can be caused by nutrition deficiency and inefficient metabolism of amino acids, including Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs). Branched Chain Amino Acids are a major contributor to the metabolic needs of healthy muscle and account for over a tenth of lean muscle mass. Branched chain alpha-ketoacid dehydrogenase (BCKD) is the rate limiting enzyme of BCAA metabolism.

Behavioral and neural responses to social exclusion in women: the role of facial attractiveness and friendliness.

The behavioral and neural responses to social exclusion were examined in women randomized to four conditions, varying in levels of attractiveness and friendliness. Informed by evolutionary theory, we predicted that being socially excluded by attractive unfriendly women would be more distressing than being excluded by unattractive women, irrespective of their friendliness level. Our results contradicted most of our predictions but provide important insights into women's responses to interpersonal conflict.

Predictors of clinical outcome in myeloproliferative neoplasm, unclassifiable: A Bone Marrow Pathology Group study.

Objectives: Myeloproliferative neoplasm, unclassifiable (MPN-U, revised to MPN, not otherwise specified in the fifth edition of the World Health Organization classification) is a heterogeneous category of primary marrow disorders with clinical, morphologic, and/or molecular features that preclude classification as a more specific MPN subtype due to stage at diagnosis, overlapping features between MPN subtypes, or the presence of coexisting disorders. Compared with other MPN subtypes, the contribution of the mutational landscape in MPN-U in conjunction with other clinical and morphologic biomarkers to prognosis has been less well investigated.

Methods: We performed a multicenter, retrospective study of MPN-U (94 cases) to better define the clinicopathologic features, genetic landscape, and clinical outcomes, including subgroups of early-stage, advanced-stage, and coexisting disorders.

Validating the Revised Mating Effort Questionnaire.

The mating effort questionnaire (MEQ) is a multi-dimensional self-report instrument that captures factors reflecting individual effort in upgrading from a current partner, investment in a current partner, and mate seeking when not romantically paired. In the current studies, we sought to revise the MEQ so that it distinguishes among two facets of mate seeking-mate locating and mate attracting-to enable a more nuanced measurement and understanding of individual mating effort. Moreover, we developed additional items to better measure partner investment.

U.S. cereal rye winter cover crop growth database.

Winter cover crop performance metrics (i.e., vegetative biomass quantity and quality) affect ecosystem services provisions, but they vary widely due to differences in agronomic practices, soil properties, and climate.

Social Media Friendship Jealousy.

A new measure to assess friendship jealousy in the context of social media was developed. This one-factor, seven-item measure was psychometrically sound, showing evidence of validity and reliability in three samples of North American adults (Study 1, = 491; Study 2, = 494; Study 3, = 415) and one-, two-, and three-year stability (Study 3). Women reported more social media friendship jealousy than men (Studies 2 and 3) and younger women had the highest levels of social media friendship jealousy (compared with younger men and older men and women; Study 2).

Extreme Risk Protection Orders in Washington State: Understanding the Role of Health Professionals.

Objective: Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPO) allow a petitioner to file a civil order to temporarily restrict access to firearms among individuals ("respondents") deemed to be at extreme risk of harming themselves, others, or both. Although unable to file ERPOs for their clients in most states, health professionals may play a pivotal role in the ERPO process by recommending an eligible petitioner initiate the process. We describe the process of filing an ERPO when a healthcare, mental health, or social service professional contacted an ERPO petitioner.

Female intrasexual competitiveness interacts with body mass index to predict willingness to use a risky diet pill.

Introduction: Previous research has highlighted the putative role of intrasexual competition (IC) in predicting women's body dissatisfaction, weight loss effort, and, at its extreme, eating disorders. However, extant research reporting on these links is limited by its exclusion of potential confounds, including psychopathologies such as depression. Moreover, it is presently unclear whether women higher in body mass index (BMI) may be more prone to the influence of IC in taking dieting risks.

Provider Intentions to Implement Cannabis Use Intervention in First Episode Psychosis Treatment.

Young adults with first episode psychosis use cannabis at high rates. In light of progressively tolerant attitudes toward cannabis, decreased perceptions of risk, and limited implementation of substance use modules within coordinated specialty care (CSC) programs, this study sought to describe factors contributing to CSC providers' intentions to implement motivational enhancement therapy (MET) for cannabis reduction. Two focus groups were conducted with CSC providers (n = 14), with questions guided by theory of planned behavior.

Clinicopathologic Features of IDH2 R172-Mutated Myeloid Neoplasms.

Objectives: IDH1 and IDH2 are among the most commonly mutated genes in myeloid neoplasms (MNs). It has been proposed that IDH2 R172 mutations (mR172) define a molecular subtype of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), but the clinicopathologic features of AML with mR172 have not been fully described.

Methods: We retrospectively identified and characterized all mR172 MNs with increased blasts in our archive for comparison to a similar number of MNs with IDH2 R140 (mR140) and IDH1 R132 (mR132) mutations (n = 39).

The Distinctive Nature of Thyroid MALT Lymphomas Including IRTA1 Expression.

Mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphomas often express IgM and IRTA1 with only a minority demonstrating plasmacytic differentiation. However, like primary cutaneous marginal zone lymphoproliferative disorders (PCMZLPD), thyroid MALT lymphomas (T-MALT-L) frequently show plasmacytic differentiation and IgG positivity. Whether T-MALT-L share other features with PCMZLPD, including frequent IgG4 positivity and infrequent IRTA1 expression, and how IRTA1 staining compares to that in Hashimoto thyroiditis (HT) are unknown.

Self-perceived Mate Value is Predicted by Biological and self-reported Indices of Health in Young Adults.

Immunocompetence can influence an organism's reproductive fitness, and thus presumably their desirability as a mate (i.e., mate value).

Identification of infarct core and ischemic penumbra using computed tomography perfusion and deep learning.

Purpose: The size and location of infarct and penumbra are key to decision-making for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) management. CT perfusion (CTP) software estimate infarct and penumbra volume using contralateral hemisphere relative thresholding. This approach is not robust and widely contested by the scientific community.

sp. nov., a fungal species associated with seeds of pioneer trees in the soil seed bank of a lowland forest in Panama.

As currently circumscribed, (Acrogenosporaceae, Minutisphaerales, Dothideomycetes) is a genus of saprobic hyphomycetes with distinctive conidia. Although considered common and cosmopolitan, the genus is poorly represented by sequence data, and no neotropical representatives are present in public sequence databases. Consequently, has been largely invisible to ecological studies that rely on sequence-based identification.

Young adults with psychosis: Intentions for cannabis reduction and cessation based on theory of planned behavior.

Objective: Young adults experiencing a first episode of psychosis (FEP) have high rates of cannabis use and cannabis use disorder (CUD). No evidence-based practice effectively treats CUD for people with FEP, and little is known about factors that influence intentions to reduce or stop using. A critical inquiry was conducted to identify salient factors contributing to intentions of young adults with FEP to reduce or discontinue cannabis use, guided by theory of planned behavior (TPB).

Quantitative Protein Analysis of ZPB2, ZPB1 and ZPC in the Germinal Disc and a Non-Germinal Disc Region of the Inner Perivitelline Layer in Two Genetic Lines of Turkey Hens That Differ in Fertility.

The avian inner perivitelline layer (IPVL), containing the zona pellucida (ZP) family of proteins, surrounds the ovulated ovum. In mammalian species, ZP proteins serve as key component(s) in binding sperm and initiating the acrosome reaction. Sperm binding at the germinal disc (GD) region of the IPVL initiates fertilization in avian species, and the amount of sperm binding at the GD reflects female fertility.

Darwin Versus Wallace: Esthetic Evolution and Preferential Mate Choice.

Dominant theorizing and research surrounding the operation of intersexual selection in evolutionary psychology tends to be guided by an adaptationist framework and aligned with models of sexual selection involving direct benefits (e.g., parental care) and indirect "good gene" and condition-dependent benefits.

Optimistic Environmental Messaging Increases State Optimism and Pro-environmental Behavior.

Despite recent empirical interest, the links between optimism and pessimism with pro-environmental behavior (PEB) remain equivocal. This research is characterized by a reliance on cross-sectional data, a focus on trait-level at the neglect of state-level optimism-pessimism, and assessments of retrospective self-reported ecological behavior that are subject to response bias. To attend to these gaps, 140 North American adults (  = 34;  = 11.

Longitudinal Associations Between Primary and Secondary Psychopathic Traits, Delinquency, and Current Dating Status in Adolescence.

Many have examined the desirability and mate competition tactics of adults higher on psychopathy using cross-sectional data, but few have studied the longitudinal associations between the lower-order factors of psychopathy (e.g., primary and secondary psychopathy) with indices of mating behavior in adolescents.

Heterozygosity of the major histocompatibility complex predicts later self-reported pubertal maturation in men.

Individual variation in the age of pubertal onset is linked to physical and mental health, yet the factors underlying this variation are poorly understood. Life history theory predicts that individuals at higher risk of mortality due to extrinsic causes such as infectious disease should sexually mature and reproduce earlier, whereas those at lower risk can delay puberty and continue to invest resources in somatic growth. We examined relationships between a genetic predictor of infectious disease resistance, heterozygosity of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), referred to as the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) gene in humans, and self-reported pubertal timing.