Preferences for moral vs. immoral traits in others are conditional.

The preference for morality in others is regarded as a dominant factor in person perception. Moral traits are thought to foster liking, and immoral traits are thought to foster disliking, irrespective of the context in which they are embedded. We report the results of four studies that oppose this view. Using both explicit and implicit measures, we found that the preference for morality vs. immorality in others is conditional on the evaluator's current goals. Specifically, when immorality was conducive to participants' current goals, the preference for moral vs. immoral traits in others was eliminated or reversed. The preferences for mercifulness vs. mercilessness (experiment 1), honesty vs. dishonesty (experiment 2), sexual fidelity vs. infidelity (experiment 3), and altruism vs. selfishness (experiment 4) were all found to be conditional. These findings oppose the consensus view that people have a dominant preference for moral vs. immoral traits in others. Our findings also speak to nativist and empiricist theories of social preferences and the stability of the "social contract" underlying productive human societies.

Fetal liver and lung volume index of neonatal survival with congenital diaphragmatic hernia.

BACKGROUND: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) assesses pulmonary hypoplasia in fetal congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). Neonatal mortality may occur with CDH. OBJECTIVE: To quantify MRI parameters associated with neonatal survival in fetuses with isolated CDH. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fetal MRI for assessing CDH included region of interest (ROI) measurements for total lung volume (TLV), herniated liver volume, herniated other organ volume and predicted lung volume. Ratios of observed lung volume and liver up volume to predicted lung volume (observed to predicted TLV, percentage of the thorax occupied by liver) were calculated and compared to neonatal outcomes. Analyses included Wilcoxon rank sum test, multivariate logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. RESULTS: Of 61 studies, the median observed to predicted TLV was 0.25 in survivors and 0.16 in non-survivors (P=0.001) with CDH. The median percentage of the thorax occupied by liver was 0.02 in survivors and 0.22 in non-survivors (P<0.001). The association of observed to predicted TLV and percentage of the thorax occupied by liver with survival for gestational age (GA) >28 weeks was greater compared to GA ≤28 weeks. The ROC analysis demonstrated an area under the curve of 0.96 (95% confidence interval 0.91-1.00) for the combined observed to predicted TLV, percentage of the thorax occupied by liver and GA. CONCLUSION: The percentage of the thorax occupied by liver and observed to predicted TLV was predictive of neonatal survival in fetuses with CDH.

Fetal Head and Neck Masses: MRI Prediction of Significant Morbidity.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to determine which MRI parameters of fetal head and neck masses predict high-morbidity neonatal outcomes, including ex utero intrapartum treatment (EXIT) procedure. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study (2004-2016) included parameters of polyhydramnios (based on largest vertical pocket), mass effect on the trachea, mass midline extension, and morphologic grade and size of masses. The morbid cohort included those requiring an EXIT procedure, difficult intubation at delivery, or lethal outcome. Predictive modeling with a multivariable logistic regression and ROC analysis was then performed. RESULTS: Of 36 fetuses, five were delivered by EXIT procedures, there was one neonatal death within 12 hours after delivery, and another neonate required multiple intubation attempts. The remaining 29 fetuses were delivered at outside institutions with no interventions or neonatal morbidity. The largest vertical pocket and mass effect on the trachea were selected as independent predictors by the logistic regression. The cross-validated ROC AUC was 0.951 (95% CI, 0.8795-1). CONCLUSION: The largest vertical pocket measurement and mass effect on the trachea were the most contributory MRI parameters that predicted significant morbidity in fetuses with masses of the face and neck, along with other significant parameters. These parameters predict significant morbid neonatal outcomes, including the need for EXIT procedures.

Is Man the Measure of All Things? A Social Cognitive Account of Androcentrism.

Androcentrism refers to the propensity to center society around men and men's needs, priorities, and values and to relegate women to the periphery. Androcentrism also positions men as the gender-neutral standard while marking women as gender-specific. Examples of androcentrism include the use of male terms (e.g., he), images, and research participants to represent everyone. Androcentrism has been shown to have serious consequences. For example, women's health has been adversely affected by over-generalized medical research based solely on male participants. Nonetheless, relatively little is known about androcentrism's proximate psychological causes. In the present review, we propose a social cognitive perspective arguing that both social power and categorization processes are integral to understanding androcentrism. We present and evaluate three possible pathways to androcentrism deriving from (a) men being more frequently instantiated than women, (b) masculinity being more "ideal" than femininity, and/or (c) masculinity being more common than femininity.

Pre-operative core muscle index in combination with hypoalbuminemia is associated with poor prognosis in advanced ovarian cancer.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Age and frailty have been correlated with poor clinical outcomes in cancer. Core muscle index (CMI) and nutritional status are integral in assessing frailty. We explored the effect of pre-operative serum albumin and body composition on clinical outcomes in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). METHODS: We identified stage III-IV EOC patients undergoing primary cytoreductive surgery from 2007 to 2015. Data were abstracted from medical records. Body composition measurements were obtained from pre-operative imaging. Psoas muscle cross-sectional area was normalized to height2 to determine CMI. Sarcopenia was defined as CMI below the population mean. The influence of sarcopenia on short-term morbidity was evaluated. Relationships among body composition measurements and albumin were assessed with Spearman correlations. Patient characteristics and body composition measurements between patients with and without sarcopenia were compared with parametric and non-parametric statistical methods. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were compared using log-rank. RESULTS: 102 women met inclusion criteria. Sarcopenia correlated with albumin (P = 0.0002). Sarcopenia was not associated with short-term morbidity or time to recurrence. Sarcopenia was associated with nearly a fourfold increased risk of death when hypoalbuminemia was present (P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Pre-operative sarcopenia in combination with hypoalbuminemia was associated with significantly worse survival.

Liver Injury in Hemolysis, Elevated Liver Enzymes, and Low Platelets Syndrome Measured by Diffusion-Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate acute liver injury (ALI) detected by diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and the associated laboratory findings in women with hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelet (HELLP) syndrome. STUDY DESIGN: This was a retrospective, observational study of women with HELLP syndrome defined by serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels ≥100 U/L and thrombocytopenia with platelets ≤100,000/µL. All women underwent MRI postpartum including diffusion-weighted imaging to estimate the volume of ALI with reconstructed apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps. The ADC map and the volume of ALI were compared with laboratory abnormalities by Spearman's correlation analysis. RESULTS: From March 2013 through August 2015, 16 women with HELLP syndrome underwent MRI, and of these, 14 (88%) women had areas of increased signal intensity suggestive of ALI. Their median (range) maximum AST level was 262 (140-1,958) IU/L, and at the time of MRI, AST was 103 (36-1,426) IU/L. Both of these AST levels significantly correlated with ADC map as well as the volume of ALI (both p-values <0.001). CONCLUSION: Women with HELLP syndrome frequently exhibited areas of abnormal diffusion in the liver on diffusion-weighted MRI, suggestive of ALI. The extent of liver injury was significantly correlated with serum AST.

Assessment of acute thermal damage volumes in muscle using magnetization-prepared 3D T2 -weighted imaging following MRI-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound therapy.

PURPOSE: To evaluate magnetization-prepared 3D T2 -weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurements of acute tissue changes produced during ablative MR high-intensity focused ultrasound (MR-HIFU) exposures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A clinical MR-HIFU system (3T) was used to generate thermal lesions (n = 24) in the skeletal muscles of three pigs. T1 -weighted, 2D T2 -weighted, and magnetization-prepared 3D T2 -weighted sequences were acquired before and after therapy to evaluate tissue changes following ablation. Tissues were harvested shortly after imaging, fixed in formalin, and gross-sectioned. Select lesions were processed into whole-mount sections. Lesion dimensions for each imaging sequence (length, width) and for gross sections (diameter of lesion core and rim) were assessed by three physicists. Contrast-to-background ratio between lesions and surrounding muscle was compared. RESULTS: Lesion dimensions on T1 and 2D T2 -weighted imaging sequences were well correlated (R2 ∼0.7). The contrast-to-background ratio between lesion and surrounding muscle was 7.4 ± 2.4 for the magnetization-prepared sequence versus 1.7 ± 0.5 for a conventional 2D T2 -weighted acquisition, and 7.0 ± 2.9 for a contrast-enhanced T1 -weighted sequence. Compared with diameter measured on gross pathology, all imaging sequences overestimated the lesion core by 22-33%, and underestimated the lesion rim by 6-13%. CONCLUSION: After MR-HIFU exposures, measurements of the acute thermal damage patterns in muscle using a magnetization-prepared 3D T2 -weighted imaging sequence correlate with 2D T2 -weighted and contrast-enhanced T1 -weighted imaging, and all agree well with histology. The magnetization-prepared sequence offers positive tissue contrast and does not require IV contrast agents, and may provide a noninvasive imaging evaluation of the region of acute thermal injury at multiple times during HIFU procedures. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 1 Technical Efficacy: Stage 2 J. MAGN. RESON. IMAGING 2017;46:354-364.

MR imaging of the fetal cerebellar vermis: Biometric predictors of adverse neurologic outcome.

PURPOSE: To provide normal biometry of the cerebellar vermis using fetal MR and determine threshold values associated with abnormal neurologic outcome. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cerebellar vermis biometry was applied in prospective, cross-sectional evaluation of fetal brains. Vermis length and inferior vermian distance were obtained in mid-sagittal planes using T2-weighted, single-shot sequences with 1.5 Tesla MR. Measurements were compared with reference nomograms from a retrospective review of fetal brains with normal intracranial anatomy. Observed and predicted measurements of the cerebellar vermis were recorded. Neurologic outcome was classified as normal or abnormal. Unpaired t-tests and discriminate analysis were applied to the two measurements and differences between the observed and predicted values. RESULTS: The reference group included 64 fetuses of 13 to 38 weeks gestation. Both vermis length and inferior vermian distance increased linearly with time (r = 0.92, P < 0.001; r = 0.32, P = 0.01). The prospective group included 64 additional fetuses with documented normal (39/64, 61%) and abnormal (25/64, 39%) outcomes. Significant differences were seen in vermis length, inferior vermian distance, and correlation with predicted values based on neurologic outcome (P < 0.001). Vermis length discrepancy ≥ 4 mm or inferior vermian distance ≥ 4 mm were associated with abnormal neurologic outcome. CONCLUSION: MR measurements of a short, raised vermis characterized by a vermis length discrepancy ≥ 4 mm or an inferior vermian distance ≥ 4 mm is associated with abnormal neurologic, syndromic, and developmental outcomes. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2016;44:1284-1292.

Fetal MR Imaging of Gastrointestinal Abnormalities.

Fetal magnetic resonance (MR) imaging plays an increasing and valuable role in antenatal diagnosis and perinatal management of fetal gastrointestinal (GI) abnormalities. Advances in MR imaging data acquisition and use of motion-insensitive techniques have established MR imaging as an important adjunct to obstetric ultrasonography (US) for fetal diagnosis. In this regard, MR imaging provides high diagnostic accuracy for antenatal diagnosis of common and uncommon GI pathologic conditions. In the setting of fetal GI disease, T1-weighted images demonstrate the amount and distribution of meconium, which is crucial to the diagnostic capability of fetal MR imaging. Specifically, knowledge of the T1 signal intensity characteristics of fetal meconium, the normal pattern of meconium with advancing gestational age, and the expected caliber of small and large bowel in the fetus is key to diagnosis of abnormalities of the GI tract. Use of ultrafast T2-weighted sequences for evaluation of the expected location and morphology of fluid-containing structures, including the stomach and small bowel, in the fetal abdomen further aids in diagnostic confidence. Uncommonly encountered fetal GI pathologic conditions, especially cloacal dysmorphology, may demonstrate characteristic MR imaging patterns, which may add additional information to that from fetal US, allowing improved fetal and neonatal management. This article discusses common indications for fetal MR imaging of the GI tract, imaging protocols for fetal GI MR imaging, the normal appearance of the fetal GI tract with advancing gestational age, and the imaging appearances of common fetal GI abnormalities, as well as uncommon fetal GI conditions with characteristic appearances. (©)RSNA, 2016.

Postoperative Imaging after Surgical Repair for Pelvic Floor Dysfunction.

Pelvic floor dysfunction encompasses an extremely common set of conditions, with various surgical and nonsurgical treatment options. Surgical options include injection of urethral bulking agents, native tissue repair with or without bioabsorbable or synthetic graft material, placement of synthetic midurethral slings or use of vaginal mesh kits, and mesh sacrocolpopexy procedures. Numerous different synthetic products with varied imaging appearances exist, and some of these products may be difficult to identify at imaging. Patients often present with recurrent or new symptoms after surgery; and depending on the presenting complaint and the nature of the initial intervention, imaging with ultrasonography (US), magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, voiding cystourethrography, or computed tomography (CT) may be indicated. US and MR imaging can both be used to image urethral bulking agents; US is often used to follow potential changes in bulking agent volume with time. Compared with MR imaging, US depicts midurethral slings better in the urethrovaginal space, and MR imaging is better than US for depiction of the arms in the retropubic space and obturator foramen. Mesh along the vaginal wall may be depicted with both US and MR imaging; however, the distal arms of the mesh traversing the sacrospinous ligaments or within the ischiorectal fossae (ischioanal fossae) are better depicted with MR imaging. Scarring can mimic slings and mesh at both US and MR imaging. MR imaging is superior to US for depiction of sacrocolpopexy mesh and associated complications. Voiding cystourethrography and CT are used less commonly because they rarely allow direct depiction of implanted material. Online supplemental material is available for this article. (©)RSNA, 2016.

Comparison of saline infusion sonography (SIS) versus SIS-guided endometrial sampling in the diagnosis of endometrial pathology.

PURPOSE: To compare saline infusion sonography (SIS) to tissue obtained from SIS-guided endometrial sampling (SISES) to determine sensitivity and specificity for benign and malignant conditions of the endometrium. METHODS: Added value of SISES after SIS was evaluated over 5 years. SIS and SISES techniques have been previously described. Women with abnormal uterine bleeding and endometrial findings underwent SIS. Criteria for SISES included atypical polypoid mass, focal irregularity or global endometrial thickening, nondiagnostic SIS, discordance between SIS and endometrial biopsy, or request from the primary team. Final surgical pathology was compared with SIS and SISES. RESULTS: One-hundred twenty-three SIS patients had SISES. SIS alone had a sensitivity of 100%, specificity of 42%, positive predictive value of 16%, and negative predictive value of 100%. A total of 120 patients had final clinical or surgical outcomes. Specificity was greatly improved with addition of SISES (95.5%, p < 0.001). Combination of SIS with SISES detected all 12 premalignant and malignant endometrial lesions. Three cases had small foci of hyperplasia (n = 2) or atypia (n = 1) in polyps on final surgical pathology, which were not prospectively identified on SISES. CONCLUSIONS: SISES significantly improves the specificity in the diagnosis of endometrial lesions. False-negative findings of SISES in polyps in postmenopausal women with bleeding suggest the need for surgical removal in this setting. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound 44:416-422, 2016.

Ovarian involvement in endometrioid adenocarcinoma of uterus.

OBJECTIVE: Ovarian preservation is an option for some premenopausal patients with early stage endometrial cancer. Studies have shown that ovarian preservation in selected patients does not negatively impact survival outcomes. The objective of this study is to determine the frequency and characteristics of ovarian involvement when endometrial cancer is clinically confined to the uterus. METHODS: Patients with endometrioid adenocarcinoma of uterus treated at our institution between 2000 and 2013 were identified. Patients with ovarian metastasis or synchronous primary ovarian cancer were included. Patients were excluded if there was gross extrapelvic disease on examination or imaging. RESULTS: Seven hundred and fifty-nine patients were found to have endometrial cancer with the disease confined to the pelvis (stages I, II, and III). Fifteen patients (2%) had ovarian metastasis. Twenty-three patients (3%) had synchronous uterine and ovarian cancer. Most ovarian lesions (32 out of 38) were either enlarged or had abnormal appearing surface involvement. Six patients had microscopic ovarian involvement, accounting for 0.8% of the endometrial cancer patients with pelvis-confined disease. All of the patients were greater than 50 years of age. For those patients with microscopic ovarian metastasis, all had FIGO grade 3 disease, deep myometrial invasion, and extrauterine involvement of either cervix or lymph nodes. CONCLUSIONS: Microscopic ovarian involvement occurred in 0.8% of patients with endometrial cancer. For premenopausal patients with endometrial cancer, normal appearing ovaries may be considered for preservation in the absence of extrauterine spread, grade 3 disease and deep myometrial invasion.

Para-aortic nodal metastases in cervical cancer: a blind spot in the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics staging system: current diagnosis and management.

In cervical cancer, para-aortic nodal (PALN) metastases at presentation is a strong indicator of poor prognosis. Despite this, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics staging system does not require evaluation of lymph node involvement and does not incorporate clinically detected PALN into the staging system. In the USA, despite screening, a significant number of women still present at an advanced stage often with nodal metastases. While the presence of PALN metastases often indicates occult systemic disease, it is possible with modern therapies to provide long-term control of disease in a percentage of patients. We review the epidemiology, diagnosis and treatment of PALN metastases in cervical cancer outlining advances in modern imaging and combined modality therapies (surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy).

Intersectional Male-Centric and White-Centric Biases in Collective Concepts.

In principle, the fundamental concepts person, woman, and man should apply equally to people of different genders and races/ethnicities. In reality, these concepts might prioritize certain groups over others. Based on interdisciplinary theories of androcentrism, we hypothesized that (a) person is more associated with men than women (person = man) and (b) woman is more associated with women than man is with men (i.e., women are more gendered: gender = woman). We applied natural language processing tools (specifically, word embeddings) to the linguistic output of millions of individuals (specifically, the Common Crawl corpus). We found the hypothesized person = man / gender = woman bias. This bias was stronger about Hispanic and White (vs. Asian) women and men. We also uncovered parallel biases favoring White individuals in the concepts person, woman, and man. Western society prioritizes men and White individuals as people and "others" women as people with gender, with implications for equity across policy- and decision-making contexts.

People's beliefs about pronouns reflect both the language they speak and their ideologies.

Pronouns often convey information about a person's social identity (e.g., gender). Consequently, pronouns have become a focal point in academic and public debates about whether pronouns should be changed to be more inclusive, such as for people whose identities do not fit current pronoun conventions (e.g., gender nonbinary individuals). Here, we make an empirical contribution to these debates by investigating which social identities lay speakers think that pronouns should encode (if any) and why. Across four studies, participants were asked to evaluate different types of real and hypothetical pronouns, including binary gender pronouns, race pronouns, and identity-neutral pronouns. We sampled speakers of two languages with different pronoun systems: English (N = 1,120) and Turkish (N = 260). English pronouns commonly denote binary gender (e.g., "he" for men), whereas Turkish pronouns are identity-neutral (e.g., "o" for anyone). Participants' reasoning about pronouns reflected both a familiarity preference (i.e., participants preferred the pronoun type used in their language) and-critically-participants' social ideologies. In both language contexts, participants' ideological beliefs that social groups are inherently distinct (essentialism) and should be hierarchal (social dominance orientation) predicted relatively greater endorsement of binary gender pronouns and race pronouns. A preregistered experimental study with an English-speaking sample showed that the relationship between ideology and pronoun endorsement is causal: Ideologies shape attitudes toward pronouns. Together, the present research contributes to linguistic and psychological theories concerning how people reason about language and informs policy-relevant questions about whether and how to implement language changes for social purposes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Checking gender bias: Parents and mentors perceive less chess potential in girls.

Girls and women are underrepresented in chess. Here, we explored the role of gender bias in this phenomenon. Specifically, we investigated whether parents and mentors (e.g., coaches) show bias against the female youth players in their lives. Parents and mentors (N = 286; 90.6% men) recruited through the U.S. Chess Federation reported their evaluations of and investment in youth players (N = 654). We found evidence of bias on some, but not all, measures. Most strikingly, parents and mentors thought that female youth players' highest potential chess ratings were on average lower than male players', a bias that was exacerbated among parents and mentors who believed that success in chess requires brilliance. In addition, mentors who endorsed (vs. rejected) this belief also reported that female mentees were more likely to drop out of chess due to low ability. These findings provide the first large-scale evidence of bias against youth female players and hold implications for the role of parents and mentors in other domains that, like chess, are culturally associated with intellectual ability and exhibit substantial gender imbalances (e.g., science and technology). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Biological Essentialism Correlates With (But Doesn't Cause?) Intergroup Bias.

People with biological essentialist beliefs about social groups also tend to endorse biased beliefs about individuals in those groups, including intensified emphasis on the group, stereotypes, and prejudices. These correlations could be due to biological essentialism causing bias, and some experimental studies support this causal direction. Given this prior work, we expected to find that biological essentialism would lead to increased bias compared with a control condition and set out to extend this prior work in a new direction (regarding "value-based" essentialism). But although the manipulation affected essentialist beliefs and essentialist beliefs were correlated with group emphasis (Study 1), stereotyping (Studies 2, 3a, 3b, and 3c), prejudice (Studies 3a), there was no evidence that biological essentialism caused these outcomes (NTotal = 1,903). Given these findings, our initial research question became moot. We thus focus on reexamining the relationship between essentialism and bias.

Seeing men everywhere, even in toast.

Women and men each represent about half the population, but people think of the concept person more as a man. Wardle et al. recently found that people also see face-like objects more as men than as women. This finding generates further questions on whether bias about concepts and faces might differ.

Based on billions of words on the internet, people = men.

Recent advances have made it possible to precisely measure the extent to which any two words are used in similar contexts. In turn, this measure of similarity in linguistic context also captures the extent to which the concepts being denoted are similar. When extracted from massive corpora of text written by millions of individuals, this measure of linguistic similarity can provide insight into the collective concepts of a linguistic community, concepts that both reflect and reinforce widespread ways of thinking. Using this approach, we investigated the collective concept person/people, which forms the basis for nearly all societal decision- and policy-making. In three studies and three preregistered replications with similarity metrics extracted from a corpus of over 630 billion English words, we found that the collective concept person/people is not gender-neutral but rather prioritizes men over women-a fundamental bias in our species' collective view of itself.