The Effect of Beautification Strategies on Mating Popularity Judged by Men from the People's Republic of China.

Contemporary women frequently employ beautification strategies. The impact of such strategies, such as plastic surgery, on mating popularity in different mate contexts remains unclear. To investigate this issue, the current study conducted two experiments. In Experiment 1, beautification strategies were manipulated using three images of the same female with different conditions (natural, makeup, and plastic surgery). The results indicated that when the beautification strategies were not informed, surgical-enhanced and makeup targets were perceived as significantly more attractive, loyal, and popular among potential mates than natural targets. However, when participants were informed of the beautification strategies, both natural and makeup targets showed a significant increase in perceived loyalty and mating popularity. In contrast, surgically enhanced targets saw a reduction in these dimensions. Experiment 2 aimed to reduce the confounding effect of facial attractiveness by using vignettes. The results indicated that the mating popularity of natural targets was significantly higher than that of makeup or surgically enhanced targets, with surgically enhanced targets being the least popular. Moreover, the results revealed the mediating role of perceived loyalty in the impact of beautification strategies on long-term mating popularity. This study sheds light on the potential stigmatization and negative bias toward beautification strategies in the mating market. Additionally, it provides guidance for women who intend to enhance their mate popularity through plastic surgery.

Unperceived, the impact of information gap design plateware on food waste.

Curiosity is a powerful motivator of behaviour. Although there have been some studies pertaining to the application of curiosity in the realm of food, research examining the potential to influence consumer food waste behaviour through the induction of curiosity is lacking. This study conducted two onsite dining experiments to explore the role and mechanism of curiosity in reducing food waste in a real dining environment by utilising an information gap design in tableware to induce participants' curiosity. Experiment 1 investigated the differences in food waste between participants using bowls with an information gap design and those using bowls with no information gap (blank bowls). Experiment 2 further controlled for other variables that could potentially influence the outcomes between bowls with and without information gaps; the latter displayed complete text externally. The results of both experiments consistently demonstrated a significant reduction in participants' food waste when utilising utensils with an information gap design. Moreover, we conducted an exploratory analysis combining these two experiments to examine the mediating mechanisms involved. Furthermore, the exploratory analysis suggested the mediating mechanism of curiosity elicited by the information gap design, ultimately leading to a decrease in food waste. This study presents a potential avenue for a simple and innovative approach for mitigating food waste.

Overexpression of PEAK1 contributes to epithelial-mesenchymal transition and tumor metastasis in lung cancer through modulating ERK1/2 and JAK2 signaling.

Pseudopodium-enriched atypical kinase 1 (PEAK1), a novel non-receptor tyrosine kinase, has been demonstrated to act as an oncogenic regulator in breast and pancreatic cancers. However, the role of PEAK1 in the progression and metastasis of lung cancer is still unknown. Here, we observed that ectopic PEAK1 expression promoted lung cancer cell migration and invasion, while PEAK1 knockout resulted in suppressed cell migration and invasion. Interestingly, cell proliferation did not significantly increase or decrease in either the PEAK1 overexpression or knockout groups compared with the corresponding control cells. In addition, PEAK1 overexpression could induce epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP2) and MMP9 both in vitro and in vivo, whereas PEAK1 knockout had the opposite effects. Then, we had confirmed that PEAK1 was significantly upregulated in lung cancer tissues, and correlated with a higher tumor node metastasis stage. Moreover, PEAK1 upregulation markedly enhanced the activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase-1/2 (ERK1/2) and Janus kinase-2 (JAK2) signaling in lung cancer cells. Further work demonstrated that the combination of PD98059 with AZD1480 could reverse the effects of PEAK1-induced EMT, cell migration and invasion. Our findings highlight a newer mechanism for PEAK1 in regulating EMT and metastasis in lung cancer, which might serve as a therapeutic target for lung cancer patients.