Individual Differences in How Desirable People Think They Are as a Mate.

Mate value is an important concept in mate choice research although its operationalization and understanding are limited. Here, we reviewed and evaluated previously established conceptual and methodological approaches measuring mate value and presented original research using individual differences in how people view themselves as a face-valid proxy for mate value in long- and short-term contexts. In data from 41 nations (N = 3895, Mage = 24.71, 63% women, 47% single), we tested sex, age, and relationship status effects on self-perceived mate desirability, along with individual differences in the Dark Triad traits, life history strategies, peer-based comparison of desirability, and self-reported mating success. Both sexes indicated more short-term than long-term mate desirability; however, men reported more long-term mate desirability than women, whereas women reported more short-term mate desirability than men. Further, individuals who were in a committed relationship felt more desirable than those who were not. Concerning the cross-sectional stability of mate desirability across the lifespan, in men, short- and long-term desirability rose to the age of 40 and 50, respectively, and decreased afterward. In women, short-term desirability rose to the age of 38 and decreased afterward, whereas long-term desirability remained stable over time. Our results suggest that measuring long- and short-term self-perceived mate desirability reveals predictable correlates.

Validation of the Interprofessional Collaborative Competency Attainment Survey (ICCAS) retrospective pre-test measures.

Establishing the effectiveness of IPE experiences is essential, and current assessment measures may be subject to various types of bias. The Interprofessional Collaborative Competency Attainment Survey (ICCAS) is administered after the learning experience as retrospective pretest and posttest measures of perceived collaborative practice skills. Because the ICCAS does not have an actual pretest, there are potential risks of recall bias and social desirability bias. To address these concerns, Jackson (2017) proposed conducting a true ICCAS pretest before the learning experience and examining the differences between the true and retrospective pretest scores and the differences between these pretest and posttest scores. This study design was implemented for two in-person Interprofessional forums conducted in the Fall (N = 745) and following Spring (N = 599) semesters. Students from 11 (Fall) and 12 (Spring) health professions education programs were included. True ICCAS pretest scores did not significantly differ from the retrospective pretest scores in either sample, although the effect sizes for pretest to posttest gains were slightly smaller for the true pretest scores. These results support and provide confidence for using the standard ICCAS administration methodology by demonstrating the administration methodology is not adversely impacted by recall or social desirability biases.

Recommendations on compiling test datasets for evaluating artificial intelligence solutions in pathology.

Artificial intelligence (AI) solutions that automatically extract information from digital histology images have shown great promise for improving pathological diagnosis. Prior to routine use, it is important to evaluate their predictive performance and obtain regulatory approval. This assessment requires appropriate test datasets. However, compiling such datasets is challenging and specific recommendations are missing. A committee of various stakeholders, including commercial AI developers, pathologists, and researchers, discussed key aspects and conducted extensive literature reviews on test datasets in pathology. Here, we summarize the results and derive general recommendations on compiling test datasets. We address several questions: Which and how many images are needed? How to deal with low-prevalence subsets? How can potential bias be detected? How should datasets be reported? What are the regulatory requirements in different countries? The recommendations are intended to help AI developers demonstrate the utility of their products and to help pathologists and regulatory agencies verify reported performance measures. Further research is needed to formulate criteria for sufficiently representative test datasets so that AI solutions can operate with less user intervention and better support diagnostic workflows in the future.

Knowledge and Practice of Harm Reduction Strategies Among People Who Report Frequent Cannabis Use.

We examined knowledge and practice of harm reduction strategies among people who use cannabis attending an annual public cannabis advocacy event. We also assessed the sources from which they glean information about cannabis. Participants (n = 472) completed a brief survey assessing cannabis use, sources for information on cannabis, and harm reduction strategies. Participants' knowledge of cannabis was based mostly on their own experiments and experiences rather than on information from health professionals. Participants generally had low accuracy in identifying effective harm reduction techniques and low rates of utilizing effective harm reduction techniques, using them at the same rate overall as techniques without empirical support. Results from this survey will be useful to public health professionals developing and implementing harm reduction educational strategies related to cannabis use.

The eukaryotic linear motif resource ELM: 10 years and counting.

The eukaryotic linear motif (ELM http://elm.eu.org) resource is a hub for collecting, classifying and curating information about short linear motifs (SLiMs). For >10 years, this resource has provided the scientific community with a freely accessible guide to the biology and function of linear motifs. The current version of ELM contains ∼200 different motif classes with over 2400 experimentally validated instances manually curated from >2000 scientific publications. Furthermore, detailed information about motif-mediated interactions has been annotated and made available in standard exchange formats. Where appropriate, links are provided to resources such as switches.elm.eu.org and KEGG pathways.

Effect of Financial Stress and Positive Financial Behaviors on Cost-Related Nonadherence to Health Regimens Among Adults in a Community-Based Setting.

INTRODUCTION: Little is known about the role of positive financial behaviors (behaviors that allow maintenance of financial stability with financial resources) in mitigating cost-related nonadherence (CRN) to health regimens. This study examined the relationships between positive financial behaviors, financial stress, and CRN. METHODS: Data came from the 2011 Speak to Your Health! Community Survey (n = 1,234). Descriptive statistics were computed to examine financial stress and CRN, by chronic condition and health insurance status. We used multivariate logistic regression models to examine the relationship between positive financial behaviors and financial stress and their interaction on a composite score of CRN, controlling for health insurance status, educational level, age, marital status, number of chronic conditions, and employment status. RESULTS: Thirty percent of the sample engaged in CRN. Participants reported moderate financial stress (mean, 13.85; standard deviation [SD] = 6.97), and moderate positive financial behavior (mean, 8.84; SD = 3.24). Participants with employer-sponsored insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, the Genesee Health Plan, high blood pressure, asthma, and diabetes had the highest proportion of CRN. The relationship between financial stress and CRN was not significantly different between those who reported lower versus higher levels of positive financial behavior (P = .32). Greater financial stress was associated with a greater likelihood of CRN (odds ratio [OR] = 2.49; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.08-2.99). Higher level of positive financial behavior was associated with a lower likelihood of CRN (OR = 0.80; 95% CI, 0.67-0.94). CONCLUSION: Financial literacy as a means of promoting positive financial behavior may help reduce CRN. An intervention strategy focused on improving financial literacy may be relevant for high-risk groups who report high levels of financial stress.

Psychological Empowerment Among Urban Youth: Measurement Model and Associations with Youth Outcomes.

Empowerment-based strategies have become widely used method to address health inequities and promote social change. Few researchers, however, have tested theoretical models of empowerment, including multidimensional, higher-order models. We test empirically a multidimensional, higher-order model of psychological empowerment (PE), guided by Zimmerman's conceptual framework including three components of PE: intrapersonal, interactional, and behavioral. We also investigate if PE is associated with positive and negative outcomes among youth. The sample included 367 middle school youth aged 11-16 (M = 12.71; SD = 0.91); 60% female, 32% (n = 117) white youth, 46% (n = 170) African-American youth, and 22% (n = 80) identifying as mixed race, Asian-American, Latino, Native American, or other ethnic/racial group; schools reported 61-75% free/reduced lunch students. Our results indicated that each of the latent factors for the three PE components demonstrate a good fit with the data. Our results also indicated that these components loaded on to a higher-order PE factor (X2  = 32.68; df: 22; p = .07; RMSEA: 0.04; 95% CI: .00, .06; CFI: 0.99). We found that the second-order PE factor was negatively associated with aggressive behavior and positively associated with prosocial engagement. Our results suggest that empowerment-focused programs would benefit from incorporating components addressing how youth think about themselves in relation to their social contexts (intrapersonal), understanding social and material resources needed to achieve specific goals (interactional), and actions taken to influence outcomes (behavioral). Our results also suggest that integrating the three components and promoting PE may help increase likelihood of positive behaviors (e.g., prosocial involvement); we did not find an association between PE and aggressive behavior. Implications and future directions for empowerment research are discussed.

Factors Influencing the Intended Likelihood of Exposing Sexual Infidelity.

There is a considerable body of literature on infidelity within romantic relationships. However, there is a gap in the scientific literature on factors influencing the likelihood of uninvolved individuals exposing sexual infidelity. Therefore, we devised an exploratory study examining a wide range of potentially relevant factors. Based in part on evolutionary theory, we anticipated nine potential domains or types of influences on the likelihoods of exposing or protecting cheaters, including kinship, strong social alliances, financial support, previous relationship behaviors (including infidelity and abuse), potential relationship transitions, stronger sexual and emotional aspects of the extra-pair relationship, and disease risk. The pattern of results supported these predictions (N = 159 men, 328 women). In addition, there appeared to be a small positive bias for participants to report infidelity when provided with any additional information about the situation. Overall, this study contributes a broad initial description of factors influencing the predicted likelihood of exposing sexual infidelity and encourages further studies in this area.

Racial/ethnic and gender differences in the association between depressive symptoms and higher body mass index.

AIM: The study investigated the socio-demographic differences in the association between depressive symptoms and higher body mass index (BMI). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: In Genesee County, Michigan, random samples of households were drawn from all residential census tracts. The Speak to Your Health! Survey was administered among adults aged 18 years and older in these households. To conduct this cross-sectional study, data from three waves of survey data collection (2007, 2009 and 2011) were combined resulting in a sample of 3381 adults. Self-reported height and weight were used to calculate BMI. Depressive symptoms were assessed with Brief Symptoms Inventory items. Socio-demographic factors included age, race/ethnicity, gender and education. RESULTS: Using stepwise linear regression, gender (ß = 0.04, P = 0.02) and the interaction terms of race/ethnicity × depressive symptoms (ß = 0.15, P < 0.001) and gender × depressive symptoms (ß = 0.05, P = 0.01) uniquely predicted BMI. CONCLUSION: Women had a higher BMI than men, and depressive symptoms were more strongly associated with BMI among African Americans and women than among non-Latino Whites and men. Tailored interventions to alleviate depressive symptoms in African Americans and females may help decrease racial/ethnic and gender differences in depressive symptoms and obesity.

Relationships Among Disease, Social Support, and Perceived Health: A Lifespan Approach.

We examined the relationship between the cumulative presence of major disease (cancer, stroke, diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension), social support, and self-reported general and emotional well-being in a community representative sample of predominantly White and African American respondents (N = 1349). Across all ages, greater presence of disease predicted poorer reported general health, and predicted lower emotional well-being for respondents 40 and above. In contrast, social support predicted better-reported general and emotional well-being.We predicted that different types of social support (blood relatives, children, friends, community members) would be relatively more important for health in different age groups based on a lifespan or life stage model. This hypothesis was supported; across all ages, social support was related to better reported general and emotional health, but sources of support differed by age. Broadly, those in younger age groups tended to list familial members as their strongest sources of support, whereas older group members listed their friends and community members. As a whole, social support mediated the effect of disease on reported wellbeing,however, moderated mediation by type of support was not significant. The results are consistent with a lifespan approach to changing social ties throughout the life course.

Pathways to prevention: improving nonresident African American fathers' parenting skills and behaviors to reduce sons' aggression.

This study describes a test of the Fathers and Sons Program for increasing intentions to avoid violence and reducing aggressive behaviors in 8- to 12-year-old African American boys by enhancing the parenting skills satisfaction and parenting behaviors of their nonresident fathers. The study included 158 intervention and 129 comparison group families. Structural equation model results indicated that the intervention was effective for improving fathers' parenting skills satisfaction, which was positively associated with sons' satisfaction with paternal engagement. Sons' paternal engagement satisfaction was positively associated with their intentions to avoid violence. Although aggressive behaviors were lower for comparison group sons, the intervention effectively reduced sons' aggressive behaviors indirectly by enhancing fathers' parenting behaviors. Support for family-centered youth violence prevention efforts is discussed.

The Role of Documentation Status Concerns, Perceived Discrimination, and Social Support on Latinx Adults' Physical and Mental Health.

There is a growing number of immigrants arriving in the USA, with the majority being of Latinx descent. Coupled with this increase, there has also been growing anti-immigration legislation which impacts the experiences this group faces and creates additional concerns for those who are residing in this country without documentation. Experiences of overt and covert discrimination and marginalization have been shown to relate to poorer mental and physical health outcomes. Drawing from Menjivar and Abrego's Legal Violence Framework, this paper explores the impact of perceived discrimination and social support on the mental and physical health of Latinx adults. We further observe whether these relationships differ based on participants' concerns about their documentation status. This data comes from a community-based participatory study conducted in a Midwestern County. Our analytic sample was comprised of 487 Latinx adults. We found social support to be related to fewer self-reported days of mental health symptoms for all participants regardless of documentation status concern. Perceived discrimination was found to be related to worse physical health for participants with concerns about their status. These findings point to the pernicious role of discrimination for Latinx's physical health and the importance of social support as an asset beneficial for their mental health.

A chip-based C-band ODNP platform.

In this paper, we present a chip-based C-band ODNP platform centered around an NMR-on-a-chip transceiver and a printed microwave (MW) Alderman-Grant (AG) coil with a broadband tunable frequency range of 528MHz. The printable ODNP probe is optimized for a high input-power-to-magnetic-field conversion-efficiency, achieving a measured ODNP enhancement factor of -151 at microwave power levels of 33.3dBm corresponding to 2.1W. NMR measurements with and without microwave irradiation verify the functionality and the state-of-the-art performance of the proposed ODNP platform. The wide tuning range of the system allows for indirect measurements of the EPR signal of the DNP agent by sweeping the microwave excitation frequency and recording the resulting NMR signal. This feature can, e.g., be used to detect line broadening of the DNP agent. Moreover, we demonstrate experimentally that the wide tuning range of the new ODNP platform can be used to perform multi-tone microwave excitation for further signal enhancement: Using a 10mM TEMPOL solution, we improved the enhancement by a factor of two.

Psychedelic substitution: altered substance use patterns following psychedelic use in a global survey.

Introduction: Recent research suggests that psychedelics may have potential for the treatment of various substance use disorders. However, most studies to date have been limited by small sample sizes and neglecting to include non-North American and European populations. Methods: We conducted a global, cross-sectional online survey of adults (n = 5,268, 47.2% women) self-reporting past or current psychedelic use and investigated whether psychedelic use was associated with changes in use of other substances. Results: Nearly three-quarters (70.9%; n = 3,737/5,268) reported ceasing or decreasing use of one or more non-psychedelic substances after naturalistic psychedelic use. Among those with previous use, 60.6% (n = 2,634/4,344) decreased alcohol use, 55.7% (n = 1,223/2,197) decreased antidepressant use, and 54.2% (n = 767/1,415) decreased use of cocaine/crack. Over a quarter of the sample indicated that their decrease in substance use persisted for 26 weeks or more following use of a psychedelic. Factors associated with decreased use included a motivation to either decrease one's substance use or self-treat a medical condition. Importantly, 19.8% of respondents also reported increased or initiated use of one or more other substances after psychedelic use, with illicit opioids (14.7%; n = 86/584) and cannabis (13.3%; n = 540/4,064) having the highest proportions. Factors associated with increased substance use included having a higher income and residing in Canada or the US. Discussion: Although limited by cross-sectional study design, this large observational study will help inform future studies aiming to investigate the relationship between substance use patterns and psychedelic use.

Characteristics of Patients Presenting at an Emergency Department for a Heroin Overdose vs Detoxification.

Purpose: This study compares substance use, treatment histories, and sociodemographic characteristics of patients presenting to an emergency department (ED) following a heroin overdose or seeking detoxification services for heroin and examines risk factors for a subsequent return to the ED for a substance-related problem. Methods: A convenience sample of patients presenting for an overdose or detoxification at an urban teaching ED was recruited for this study. During their ED visit, patients were interviewed regarding demographics, substance use experiences, and treatment history. Subsequently, a review of patient records for past and subsequent ED use was performed. Results: Patients requesting detox and those with an overdose were similar in terms of prior treatment. Both groups had similar extensive polysubstance histories. As a group, however, patients presenting for detox were more likely to report use of each of three substances (benzodiazepines, opioid pain medications, and heroin) more than three times per week, compared to those presenting for overdose. Detox patients had higher scores on the 3-item Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test-C and the drug problems scale compared to overdose patients. Overall, 28% of the patients returned to the ED within 90 days for a drug-related issue, including 8% that returned for an overdose. Factors predictive of a return ED visit included ED visits for substance use in the previous year and recent frequent heroin use. Conclusion: Patients requesting detox were similar in most domains to those presenting following an overdose. Notably, overdose patients were less likely to use heroin more than three times per week compared to detox patients. Both groups were equally likely to return for an SUD reason within 3-months, however for both groups, previous ED visits and recent frequent heroin use predicted a return visit.

Comparison of 30-day retention in treatment among patients referred to opioid use disorder treatment from emergency department and telemedicine settings.

INTRODUCTION: Telemedicine is a feasible alternative to in-person evaluations for people with opioid use disorder (OUD). The literature on medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) telemedicine has focused on ongoing OUD treatment. Emergency department (ED) visits are an opportunity to initiate MOUD; however, little is known regarding the outcomes of patients following telemedicine referrals for MOUD from emergency settings. The current study describes rates of initial outpatient clinic appointment attendance and 30-day retention in care among patients referred by telemedicine compared to ED referrals. METHODS: This paper reports a retrospective review of data for patients referred from EDs or telemedicine through the Medication for Addiction Treatment and Electronic Referrals (MATTERS) Network. The MATTERS online platform collects data on patient demographic information (e.g., age, gender, race/ethnicity, and insurance type), reason for visit, prior medical and mental health history, prior OUD treatment history, and past 30-day substance use behaviors. Analyses compared initial visit attendance and 30-day retention among the patients for whom follow-up data were received from clinics by demographic and initial treatment factors. RESULTS: Between October 2020 and September 2022, the MATTERS Network made 1349 referrals; 39.7 % originated from an ED and 47.8 % originated from telemedicine. For patients with available data, those referred from telemedicine were 1.64 times more likely to attend their initial clinic appointment and 2.59 times more likely be engaged in treatment at 30 days compared to those referred from an ED. More than two-thirds of patients referred from the emergency telemedicine environment followed up at their first clinic visit and more than half of these patients were still retained in treatment 30 days after referral. CONCLUSIONS: The rates of initial clinic visit and 30-day retention when referred following a telemedicine evaluation are encouraging. Further development of telemedicine programs that offer evaluations, access to medications, and referrals to treatment should be considered.

Trainees Unprepared for Advances in Psychedelic Medicine: A Survey Study.

This study aimed to characterize attitudes and identify gaps in trainee knowledge and education that may impact the field's readiness for the reemergence of psychedelic use in psychiatry. A two-part survey was sent out targeting medical and allied professional trainees who may interact with patients using or planning to use psychedelics therapeutically. Collected data for part one characterized demographics, sources of information, attitudes, experiences, and amount and type of education available about psychedelics in training programs. Part two was an assessment of psychedelic literacy, and predictors of trainee knowledge were analyzed. A total of 473 responses were obtained, 221 of which were unique, complete, thought to be authentic, and therefore included. Results indicated trainees had learned about psychedelics and related therapies from a wide variety of sources, most notably social media and word-of-mouth, which did not correlate with increased knowledge. There is limited structured education available, and although overall knowledge is low, participation in programming at home institutions did predict greater psychedelic literacy. As psychedelics are becoming increasingly available and research into their use in medicine advances, inclusion of relevant material in academic training programs will be essential to prepare future professionals to effectively educate and counsel patients.

Assessing dental student knowledge on cannabis and demonstrating the need for cannabis education.

PURPOSE: The American Dental Association advocates for dentists' education on therapeutic and legal issues related to medical cannabis. It is important to understand current knowledge of cannabis and cannabinoids and to have a practical knowledge assessment instrument. This exploratory study is the first of its kind to assess dental students' knowledge of cannabis and aims to determine if there is a need for more instruction regarding cannabis in a dental school's curriculum. METHODS: Predoctoral dental students at the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine were recruited to participate. A validated, anonymous 22-item online survey was adapted and administered to students in all 4 years of the dental program. There was a total of 56 knowledge points. RESULTS: The average knowledge score was 21.6 points (SD = 5.2, range: 7-34), corresponding to 38.5% (SD = 9.2) of the answers correct. There were no overall differences in knowledge by gender, years in dental school, or by any reported source of formal education on cannabis. Those who reported doing their own research had higher knowledge scores. Most participants knew that there is an endogenous cannabinoid system (72.3%) and that Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is responsible for the "high" experienced with cannabis (76.6%). Most participants reported that they did not know the effective doses of THC (58.2%) and Cannabidiol (CBD) (66.7%); few provided an answer for THC (34%) or CBD (17%) in the acceptable range of 2-10 mg. CONCLUSION: Dental students did not have adequate knowledge on cannabis and cannabinoids. Given the rapid expansion of cannabis legalization, additional efforts are needed to integrate cannabis topics into coursework and learning experiences.

Neural correlates of control operations in inverse priming with relevant and irrelevant masks.

The inverse priming paradigm can be considered one example which demonstrates the operation of control processes in the absence of conscious experience of the inducing stimuli. Inverse priming is generated by a prime that is followed by a mask and a subsequent imperative target stimulus. With "relevant" masks that are composed of the superposition of both prime alternatives, the inverse priming effect is typically larger than with "irrelevant" masks that are free of task-relevant features. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the neural substrates that are involved in the generation of inverse priming effects with relevant and irrelevant masks. We found a network of brain areas that is accessible to unconscious primes, including supplementary motor area (SMA), anterior insula, middle cingulate cortex, and supramarginal gyrus. Activation of these brain areas were involved in inverse priming when relevant masks were used. With irrelevant masks, however, only SMA activation was involved in inverse priming effects. Activation in SMA correlated with inverse priming effects of individual participants on reaction time, indicating that this brain area reflects the size of inverse priming effects on the behavioral level. Findings are most consistent with the view that a basic inhibitory mechanism contributes to inverse priming with either type of mask and additional processes contribute to the effect with relevant masks. This study provides new evidence showing that cognitive control operations in the human cortex take account of task relevant stimulus information even if this information is not consciously perceived.