Structure is beauty, but not always truth.

Structural biology, as powerful as it is, can be misleading. We highlight four fundamental challenges: interpreting raw experimental data; accounting for motion; addressing the misleading nature of in vitro structures; and unraveling interactions between drugs and "anti-targets." Overcoming these challenges will amplify the impact of structural biology on drug discovery.

From the Beauty of Genomic Landscapes to the Strength of Transcriptional Mechanisms.

Genomic analyses are commonly used to infer trends and broad rules underlying transcriptional control. The innovative approach by Tong et al. to interrogate genomic datasets allows extracting mechanistic information on the specific regulation of individual genes.

Neural correlates of the experience of ugliness.

Previous studies have shown that the experience of beauty is dependent upon the co-activity of field A1 of the medial frontal cortex and sensory areas. This leaves us with the question of ugliness; are the same neural mechanisms involved in this experience, including neural activity patterns, or are different mechanisms at play? This question arises because ugliness, although often regarded as the opposite of beauty, could possibly be a distinct aesthetic category. Subjects were asked to rate faces according to how ugly they found them to be while their brain activity was measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging. There was moderate agreement in the experience of ugliness of faces among subjects. Univariate parametric analyses did not reveal any brain regions with increasing activity as the declared intensity of the experience of ugliness increased. In contrast, increasing activity appeared in the striatum and posterior medial orbitofrontal cortex with decreasing levels of ugliness. As with studies on facial beauty, representational similarity analysis revealed distinct neural activity patterns with the experience of facial ugliness in sensory areas relevant for face processing and in the medial orbitofrontal cortex. Thus, similar neural mechanisms appear to be involved in the experience of facial beauty and ugliness, the difference being the level and distribution of activity within the neural network. This suggests that ugliness and beauty are on the same aesthetic continuum.

Hormonal and cycle phase predictors of within-women shifts in self-perceived attractiveness: Tests of alternative functional models.

Prior research has produced mixed findings regarding whether women feel more attractive during the fertile phase of the menstrual cycle. Here, we analyzed cycle phase and hormonal predictors of women's self-perceived attractiveness (SPA) assessed within a daily diary study. Forty-three women indicated their SPA, sexual desire, and interest in their own partners or other potential mates each day across 1-2 menstrual cycles; saliva samples collected on corresponding days were assayed for estradiol, progesterone, and testosterone; and photos of the women taken at weekly intervals were rated for attractiveness. Contrary to some prior studies, we did not find a significant increase in SPA within the estimated fertile window (i.e., cycle days when conception is possible). However, within-cycle fluctuations in progesterone were significantly negatively associated with shifts in SPA, with a visible nadir in SPA in the mid-luteal phase. Women's sexual desire and SPA were positively associated, and the two variables fluctuated in very similar ways across the cycle. Third-party ratings of women's photos provided no evidence that women's SPA simply tracked actual changes in their visible attractiveness. Finally, for partnered women, changes in SPA correlated with shifts in attraction to own partners at least as strongly as it did with shifts in fantasy about extra-pair partners. Our findings provide preliminary evidence for the idea that SPA is a component of women's sexual motivation that may change in ways similar to other hormonally regulated shifts in motivational priorities. Additional large-scale studies are necessary to test replication of these preliminary findings.

Beauty and health: an intriguing liaison?

The exposure to different form of beauty coming from visual art, music, nature, architecture, improves mental health and exerts neurotrophic effects on different parts of the brain. This in turn improves physical health, prolongs life expectancy, and reduces the risk of serious degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and cancer. These beneficial actions would not be understandable and plausible if one did not accept the mind-body unity. The 'hegemonic' role of the brain in health and illness can be discerned, for example, in the effect of emotions on vital physiological parameters, in the relationships between stress and many medical-clinical pathologies, in the control exercised by the brain over the immune system reflecting also in the inhibition of tumour progression.

Brain waves and landscape settings: emotional responses to attractiveness.

Neuro-architecture is a specific branch of architecture that studies how the physical environment can change our mental processes and influence our behaviors. One of the main purposes of this field is to use changes in brain activities as a measure to quantify attractiveness of the landscapes. In this study, we investigated how changes in elements of attractiveness influence ones' emotional perception and present the related pattern of changes in brain activities. Therefore, we implied five elements of attractiveness including mystery, visual openness, landscape or greenness, walkability, and social interaction using the Delphi method. Then, we made changes in each element separately to make the landscape more attractive and assessed their effects on a group of young adults. We used the self-assessment manikin questionnaire to measure the participants' emotional perception while the participants' brain activities were recorded using a 32-channel EEG while exposed to the landscape images. The results showed that changes in attractive elements of the landscape could significantly improve ones' emotional perception of the landscape. In addition, these changes are perceived by changing the oscillatory pattern of brain activities. We hope these findings could shed a light to use of neural markers in measurement of place attractiveness.

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.

Male facial cues to physical strength in Europe: Medium-strength preference and higher aggressiveness attribution to the weakest.

OBJECTIVES: The capacity to assess male physical strength from facial cues may be adaptive given health and fitness-related associations with muscular strength. Our study complements recent research on strength-related face perceptions of male Maasai by applying the protocol to male European faces and assessors. METHODS: Five distinct facial morphs calibrated for handgrip strength (HGS) were manufactured with geometric morphometrics performing regressions of the Procrustes shape coordinates on HGS in a sample of 26 European men (18-32 years). Young adult men and women (n = 445) rated these morphs on physical strength, attractiveness, and aggressiveness. RESULTS: Facial morphs calibrated to lower HGS were rated as less strong, less attractive, and more aggressive than those calibrated to higher HGS. Medium levels of HGS were associated with the highest attractiveness ratings. CONCLUSIONS: The rating patterns of physical strength, attractiveness, and aggressiveness for European male facial morphs exhibit similarity to previous ratings of Maasai male faces. Therefore, the current findings corroborate the suggestion of a common mechanism for social attributions based on facial cues to physical strength, modulated by local ecology and societal context.

The psychometrics of rating facial attractiveness using different response scales.

Perceiving facial attractiveness is an important behaviour across psychological science due to these judgments having real-world consequences. However, there is little consensus on the measurement of this behaviour, and practices differ widely. Research typically asks participants to provide ratings of attractiveness across a multitude of different response scales, with little consideration of the psychometric properties of these scales. Here, we make psychometric comparisons across nine different response scales. Specifically, we analysed the psychometric properties of a binary response, a 0-100 scale, a visual analogue scale, and a set of Likert scales (1-3, 1-5, 1-7, 1-8, 1-9, 1-10) as tools to measure attractiveness, calculating a range of commonly used statistics for each. While certain properties suggested researchers might choose to favour the 1-5, 1-7 and 1-8 scales, we generally found little evidence of an advantage for one scale over any other. Taken together, our investigation provides consideration of currently used techniques for measuring facial attractiveness and makes recommendations for researchers in this field.

Watching (natural) beauty boosts task performance: testing the nature-as-reward hypothesis.

In two online studies, we tested the "nature-as-reward hypothesis", which suggests that superior cognitive task performance following nature exposure reflects a general performance improvement, driven by the reward value of beautiful things. In both between-subjects experiments, participants viewed either beautiful or less beautiful images for 10 s, comprising beautiful mountain photos (vs. less beautiful mountain drawings) in Study 1 and beautiful fractals (vs. less beautiful pixelated images) in Study 2. Following image exposure, participants engaged in a ticking task requiring them to freely tick up to 200 boxes. Participants had to complete four (Study 1) or five (Study 2) of such ticking tasks, with each task being preceded by either a beautiful or less beautiful image. In Study 1, for a subset of participants the ticking task was framed as a game. We found that in Study 1, ticking declined over the ticking rounds when participants had viewed less beautiful line drawings of mountains, while ticking performance remained unchanged over the rounds after seeing beautiful mountain images. However, when the ticking task was framed as a game, there was no significant difference in ticking performance between the two beauty conditions over the four ticking rounds. In Study 2, participants ticked more boxes over all ticking rounds after viewing images of beautiful fractals compared to less beautiful pixelated images. In line with the nature-as-reward hypothesis, these findings show that brief exposures to beautiful (nature) images can motivate to work and that framing tasks as a game can attenuate this beauty advantage.

Nature's beauty versus urban bustle: Chinese folk music influences food choices by inducing mental imagery of different scenes.

Previous research has demonstrated that music can impact people's food choices by triggering emotional states. We reported two virtual reality (VR) experiments designed to examine how Chinese folk music influences people's food choices by inducing mental imagery of different scenes. In both experiments, young healthy Chinese participants were asked to select three dishes from an assortment of two meat and two vegetable dishes while listening to Chinese folk music that could elicit mental imagery of nature or urban scenes. The results of Experiment 1 revealed that they chose vegetable-forward meals more frequently while listening to Chinese folk music eliciting mental imagery of nature versus urban scenes. In Experiment 2, the participants were randomly divided into three groups, in which the prevalence of their mental imagery was enhanced, moderately suppressed, or strongly suppressed by performing different tasks while listening to the music pieces. We replicated the results of Experiment 1 when the participants' mental imagery was enhanced, whereas no such effect was observed when the participants' mental imagery was moderately or strongly suppressed. Collectively, these findings suggest that music may influence the food choices people make in virtual food choice tasks by inducing mental imagery, which provides insights into utilizing environmental cues to promote healthier food choices.

Algorithmic Beauty: The New Beauty Standard.

BACKGROUND: Algorithms on various social media platforms feed users what it considers "beautiful", impacting the aesthetic desires of patients as well as beauty ideals. OBJECTIVE: To discuss how algorithms on social media platforms personalize feeds and influence a patient's preference for procedures. METHODS: YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok's websites were searched for how their algorithms function. A narrative review of the literature pertaining to social media and cosmetic procedures was also conducted using PubMed. RESULTS/DISCUSSION: Social media platforms personalize feeds for their users. Identifying exactly what a patient is exposed to on social media and how that influences their preference for cosmetic procedures presents a challenge at various levels. Social media usage appears to at least influence cosmetic procedure consideration. The desired appearance may be impacted by location, repeated exposure, and familiarity. CONCLUSION: While impossible to predict the next beauty trend, it is important to understand how algorithms and artificial intelligence may play an increasing role in a patient’s visual diet and how their aesthetic goals are thereby affected. Using social media platforms and understanding market trends can guide dermatologists to provide evidence-based education, dispel misinformation, and anchor patients in reality while understanding the cosmetic procedures that patients seek. J Drugs Dermatol. 2024;23(9):742-746.  doi:10.36849/JDD.8074.

Topical Steroids Sold as Fade Creams in Beauty Supply Stores: A Danger for Cosmetic Consumers.

Topical corticosteroids are used extensively in dermatology. Class 1 high potency topical steroids (HPTS) can result in unwanted side effects such as skin hypopigmentation, atrophy, and acneiform eruptions. HPTS are only legally available by prescription to ensure appropriate use in the United States (US). The authors have noticed a recent increase in patients presenting with steroid acne after buying HPTS products in beauty supply stores. These products are marketed as fade creams to treat hyperpigmentation and uneven skin tone. We assessed skincare products containing HPTS (clobetasol or betamethasone) in 33 beauty supply stores in Miami, FL; Washington, DC; and Baltimore, MD. Out of 33 beauty supply stores, 14 (42.42%) contained HPTS skincare products, and they were all located in Miami. Out of 15 stores visited in Miami, 14 (93.33%) contained skincare products with clobetasol, and 5 (33.33%) contained skincare products with both clobetasol and betamethasone. Of the stores selling HPTS skincare products, the number of different brands available ranged from 1 to 7, with an average of 4.21 different brands per store. Our study reveals that HPTS are readily available in over-the-counter skincare products in many beauty supply stores. HPTS skincare products were only available in one of three cities suggesting there may be a regional supplier distributing these products. It may also indicate that there is less oversight of retail stores in Miami with HPTS products. More studies are needed to quantify the availability of these products in different locations throughout the US. Further Studies can help identify this problem and raise awareness among consumers of the dangers of HPTS skincare products in beauty supply stores. J Drugs Dermatol. 2024;23(9):709-712. doi:10.36849/JDD.7608.

Controlling images and standards of beauty shapes body image: using a relational cultural approach to improve Black American women's well-being.

OBJECTIVES: Controlling images and racialized stereotypical myths inform Eurocentric and cultural standards of beauty that shape Black American women's body image and well-being. Cultural responsiveness is crucial in understanding the lived experiences of Black American women, the systemic oppressive factors that subjugate them, and the impacts on their mental health. DESIGN: An integrative review was conducted on controlling images and racialized stereotypes, standards of beauty, and body image to assess the contribution of these factors on Black American women's mental health, specifically, disordered eating, depression, and anxiety. Black Feminist and Intersectionality theories were used to conceptualize the role of controlling images and racialized stereotypes. RESULTS: A conceptual model is offered, and a discussion is provided to explain the contribution of controlling images and racialized stereotypes on the manifestation of standards of beauty and Black American women's perceptions of body image which leads to poor mental health outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Cultural responsiveness in therapeutic settings is imperative, as providers must understand the intersecting effects of controlling images and racialized stereotypes on Black American Women's well-being. Relational Cultural Theory is offered as a therapeutic modality that invites practitioners to move beyond symptom reduction and basic 'helping' interventions and gives emphasis to a contextual and relational approach that aims to ameliorate the impacts of systemic oppression and gender and racial marginalization.

Metamorphosis of a Tall and Ugly Woman Through Plastic Surgery During a 7-Year Period: An Analysis of The Life and Loves of a She-Devil.

The aim of this study is to analyze the process of metamorphosis of a tall and ugly woman through plastic surgery as depicted in The Life and Loves of a She-Devil (1983) of Fay Weldon. The process of plastic surgeries and the psychology of the protagonist of this novel were analyzed. A highly unattractive woman (Ruth, 185 cm) takes revenge on her husband (Bobbo, 175 cm) and his attractive lover (Mary Fisher, 160 cm). To transform her appearance, Ruth remodels her jaw, has her teeth extracted (2-jaw surgery or facial contouring surgery), straightens and trims her nose (corrective rhinoplasty), flattens her cheekbones (reduction malarplasty), reduces her breast size (reduction mammoplasty), and shortens both her arms and legs (limb reduction surgery). Following the series of surgeries, Ruth ultimately made herself look identical to Mary Fisher, her husband's lover. She believes her inadequacies stem from her body's failure to meet societal beauty standards, prompting her decision to "remake" herself. She declares, "I will be what I want, not what God ordained." Ruth's aspiration is not to acquire a new face but to attain the face of Mary Fisher. When confronted with pain and harm, Ruth does not waver but acknowledges it. "Of course it hurts. Andersen's little mermaid wanted legs instead of a tail. And, like her, I welcome it. I don't complain." In this study, we derived insights into why patients who want to change their entire bodies undergo plastic surgery, what these patients really want, and patients' attitudes toward the pain caused by surgical procedures.

What Did the Ideal Beauty of the 15th Century Look Like? An Anthropometric Analysis of Botticelli Portraits.

The aim of this study was to conduct an anthropometric analysis of the 5 portraits painted by Botticelli that depict Simonetta Vespucci. Five images in the Simonetta series by Botticelli workshop were measured. The anthropometric measurements of the face included 22 parameters on the lateral view (in 4 portraits; 18 distances and 4 angles) and 17 distances on the frontal view (in one portrait), which were measured using Adobe Photoshop. The absolute distances were calculated relative to the vertical corneal diameter (10.6 mm), which was calculated by multiplying the distance from the pupil's center to the lower margin of the iris. In the lateral faces, the nasofrontal angle (g-n-prn) was 157.6±2.4 degrees, and the nasal tip angle (n-prn-sn) was 99.7±3.4 degrees. The nasolabial angle (prn-sn-ls) was 125.7±4.9 degrees, and the labiomental angle (li-sl-pg) was 131.6±4.4 degrees. The ratio of the upper lip height to the lower lip height (sn-sto/sto-sl) was 85.4±9.0%. The ratio of the upper lip vermillion to the upper lip height (ls-sto/sn-sto) was 27.7±3.9%. The ratio of the lower lip vermillion to the lower lip height (sto-li/sto-sl) was 47.2±6.6%. Comparing the data with 21st-century Italian females, forehead II height (tr-n), physiognomical face height (tr-gn), and morphologic face height (n-gn) of the beauties of the 15th century were significantly greater than those of 21st-century Italian females. However, there were no significant differences in lower face height (sn-gn) and nose height (n-sn). Considering the ongoing cultural relevance of Renaissance art, the esthetic proportions from this study may have reflection to the present day plastic surgery.

Aconite-Induced Metamorphosis From Beauty to Ugliness in a Japanese Tale.

The authors present a narrative that details the cause and process of a woman's transformation from beauty to ugliness in a Japanese tale. In " Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan ," the metamorphosis from a beauty to an ugly woman is analyzed. After taking medication to recover from childbirth, Oiwa's face became disfigured and grotesque. Oiwa: It seems to be good for my blood, but when I drink it, it causes fraying and breakdown, causing sudden pain. I feel a numbing dullness. When she looked at herself in the mirror, she was shocked. Oiwa: What's wrong with my face? I hate this, it's such a disgusting thing. Neighbor: It was a lie that the medicine you drank was a helpful medicine that protects the appearance of people's faces. Your face is that of a wicked woman (). Oiwa: Is it really me? Why does she have the face of an evil woman? Her hair falls out in a gruesome combing scene, driving her mad. The poison Oiwa took was aconite, which grows wild in Japan. Both aconite tincture and raw aconite roots contain high concentrations of Aconitum alkaloids, which can penetrate the stratum corneum following the diffusion gradient. As her hair fell out during a horrific combing session, she abandoned her maternal role and sought revenge, having lost what she considered a symbol of her femininity. In treating female patients with facial disfigurement, it is important to be mindful of their psychological state, akin to that of Oiwa, who became disfigured through no fault of her own.

Beauty Pageants in the Japanese Colonial Era of Korea (1931 and 1940).

The aim of this study was to analyze the beauty pageants that were held in Korea during the Japanese colonial era (1931, 1940). Through searches of www.google.com and www.naver.com , 3 pageants were found: (1) 1931, Miss Korea, organized by Samchunli (a magazine): Any Korean woman, with the exception of Korean geishas, could apply by submitting her photographs. The number of candidates was 326. Nine Korean judges evaluated the photos of the candidates. Among them, the victor was an 18-year-old Korean woman. (2) 1931 (Oct), Miss Joseon, organized by Osaka Mainichi Shimbun: The candidates were categorized into 2 groups: 10 "internals" (Japanese) and 10 Koreans. Their heights and weights, along with their photographs, were provided for the readers' reference. The winners were determined based on the readers' votes. The Japanese victor was a 21-year-old student with a height of 150 cm and a weight of 52 kg (body mass index [BMI] 23.11 kg/m 2 ). The Korean winner was a 19-year-old student standing at 157 cm and weighing 53 kg (BMI 21.50 kg/m 2 ). (3) 1940, Venus of the Peninsula, organized by Modern Japan (a magazine): The candidates were Korean women residing in Japan or Korea. The panel of judges evaluated the photographs of the candidates. The victor was a 20-year-old Korean geisha. Her winning photograph was featured in the Korean edition of the magazine Modern Japan. She stood at 157 cm in height and weighed 45 kg (BMI 18.25 kg/m 2 ). As beauty standards evolved over time, the beauty standards of the 1930s were markedly different from those of today.

Images of Modern Beauties in the Japanese Colonial Era of Korea (1910-1945).

This study aimed to analyze images of the modern beauty of Korea during the Japanese colonial era. Searches were conducted on Google ( www.google.com ) and Naver ( www.naver.com ) for archives of newspapers and magazines that contained images of beauty. Beauty of the face and neck (the early 1920s): an article (1922) detailed the contemporary beauty standards. It specifies the desired characteristics of the eyes, nose, and mouth and dictates that "the cheeks ought to be plump enough to obscure the cheekbones" and "the neck and shoulders should also be full, concealing the collarbones." Images of beauty showing balance and proportion (the late 1920s): in 1928, a magazine article introduced the concept of "the world's beauty from a scientific perspective," which represented Western esthetics as reflected in the "Canon" of body proportions and Vitruvian Man. From the face to the body (from the late 1920s to 1930s): in 1927, a daily newspaper established the standard for global beauty. During this period, there was an increased emphasis on maintaining the body, rather than just the face, as a crucial aspect of beauty. From the mid-1930s, the concept of a "streamlined" female body shape gained popularity. Male gaze, which fragmented and objectified women's bodies, had been visualized and mass-produced. It is essential to understand how preferences have evolved and to possess skilled hands capable of improving the face and body. To properly sculpt the face and body, keen eyes and adept hands are needed.

Predicting Facial Attractiveness from Colour Cues: A New Analytic Framework.

Various facial colour cues were identified as valid predictors of facial attractiveness, yet the conventional univariate approach has simplified the complex nature of attractiveness judgement for real human faces. Predicting attractiveness from colour cues is difficult due to the high number of candidate variables and their inherent correlations. Using datasets from Chinese subjects, this study proposed a novel analytic framework for modelling attractiveness from various colour characteristics. One hundred images of real human faces were used in experiments and an extensive set of 65 colour features were extracted. Two separate attractiveness evaluation sets of data were collected through psychophysical experiments in the UK and China as training and testing datasets, respectively. Eight multivariate regression strategies were compared for their predictive accuracy and simplicity. The proposed methodology achieved a comprehensive assessment of diverse facial colour features and their role in attractiveness judgements of real faces; improved the predictive accuracy (the best-fit model achieved an out-of-sample accuracy of 0.66 on a 7-point scale) and significantly mitigated the issue of model overfitting; and effectively simplified the model and identified the most important colour features. It can serve as a useful and repeatable analytic tool for future research on facial impression modelling using high-dimensional datasets.