Collaborative imagination synchronizes representations of the future and fosters social connection in the present.

From close friends to people on a first date, imagining a shared future appears fundamental to relationships. Yet, no previous research has conceptualized the act of imagination as a socially constructed process that affects how connected we feel to others. The present studies provide a framework for investigating imagination as a collaborative process in which individuals cocreate shared representations of hypothetical events-what we call collaborative imagination. Across two preregistered studies (N = 244), we provide evidence that collaborative imagination of a shared future fosters social connection in novel dyads-beyond imagining a shared future individually or shared experience in general. Subjective ratings and natural language processing of participants' imagined narratives illuminate the representational features of imagined events shaped by collaborative imagination. Together, the present findings have the potential to shift how we view the structure and function of imagination with implications for better understanding interpersonal relationships and collective cognition.

Glassy gels toughened by solvent.

Glassy polymers are generally stiff and strong yet have limited extensibility1. By swelling with solvent, glassy polymers can become gels that are soft and weak yet have enhanced extensibility1-3. The marked changes in properties arise from the solvent increasing free volume between chains while weakening polymer-polymer interactions. Here we show that solvating polar polymers with ionic liquids (that is, ionogels4,5) at appropriate concentrations can produce a unique class of materials called glassy gels with desirable properties of both glasses and gels. The ionic liquid increases free volume and therefore extensibility despite the absence of conventional solvent (for example, water). Yet, the ionic liquid forms strong and abundant non-covalent crosslinks between polymer chains to render a stiff, tough, glassy, and homogeneous network (that is, no phase separation)6, at room temperature. Despite being more than 54 wt% liquid, the glassy gels exhibit enormous fracture strength (42 MPa), toughness (110 MJ m-3), yield strength (73 MPa) and Young's modulus (1 GPa). These values are similar to those of thermoplastics such as polyethylene, yet unlike thermoplastics, the glassy gels can be deformed up to 670% strain with full and rapid recovery on heating. These transparent materials form by a one-step polymerization and have impressive adhesive, self-healing and shape-memory properties.

A lanthanide-rich kilonova in the aftermath of a long gamma-ray burst.

Observationally, kilonovae are astrophysical transients powered by the radioactive decay of nuclei heavier than iron, thought to be synthesized in the merger of two compact objects1-4. Over the first few days, the kilonova evolution is dominated by a large number of radioactive isotopes contributing to the heating rate2,5. On timescales of weeks to months, its behaviour is predicted to differ depending on the ejecta composition and the merger remnant6-8. Previous work has shown that the kilonova associated with gamma-ray burst 230307A is similar to kilonova AT2017gfo (ref. 9), and mid-infrared spectra revealed an emission line at 2.15 micrometres that was attributed to tellurium. Here we report a multi-wavelength analysis, including publicly available James Webb Space Telescope data9 and our own Hubble Space Telescope data, for the same gamma-ray burst. We model its evolution up to two months after the burst and show that, at these late times, the recession of the photospheric radius and the rapidly decaying bolometric luminosity (Lbol ∝ t-2.7±0.4, where t is time) support the recombination of lanthanide-rich ejecta as they cool.

Ethical reasoning versus empathic bias: a false dichotomy?

Does empathy necessarily impede equity in altruism? Emerging findings from cognitive and affective science suggest that rationality and empathy are mutually compatible, contradicting some earlier, prominent arguments that empathy impedes equitable giving. We propose alternative conceptualizations of relationships among empathy, rationality, and equity, drawing on interdisciplinary advances in altruism research.

From memory to motivation: Probing the relationship between episodic simulation, empathy, and helping intentions.

Research has documented a strong link between constructing episodic simulations-vivid imaginations of specific events-and empathy. To date, most studies have used episodic simulations of helping someone to facilitate affective empathy and promote helping intentions, but have not studied how episodic simulations of another's distressing situation affect empathy. Moreover, affective empathy encompasses both personal distress (i.e., an egocentric experience of distress in response to another's circumstances) and empathic concern (i.e., compassion for another), but we do not know how episodic simulations affect each component. To address these questions, we ran three experiments testing how different episodic simulations influenced personal distress and empathic concern, and thereby willingness to help. In Experiment 1 (N = 216), we found that participants who constructed episodic simulations of another's situation reported increased personal distress (but not empathic concern) and increased helping intentions compared to a control group; additional analyses revealed that personal distress mediated the simulation effect on helping. Furthermore, in Experiment 2 (N = 213), we contrasted episodic simulation of helping versus the distressing scenario; we found no differences in personal distress or helping intentions, but simulating helping led to higher empathic concern. Experiment 3 (N = 571) included both simulation conditions and a control condition; we fully replicated our findings, additionally showing that simulating a helping interaction increased personal distress, empathic concern, and helping intentions relative to the control condition, which consisted of prior work. Taken together, our work illustrates how distinct forms of episodic simulation differentially guide empathic responding and highlights the importance of personal distress in motivating helping. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

N-Glycans on the extracellular domain of the Notch1 receptor control Jagged-1 induced Notch signalling and myogenic differentiation of S100ß resident vascular stem cells.

Notch signalling, critical for development and postnatal homeostasis of the vascular system, is highly regulated by several mechanisms including glycosylation. While the importance of O-linked glycosylation is widely accepted, the structure and function of N-glycans has yet to be defined. Here, we take advantage of lectin binding assays in combination with pharmacological, molecular, and site-directed mutagenetic approaches to study N-glycosylation of the Notch1 receptor. We find that several key oligosaccharides containing bisecting or core fucosylated structures decorate the receptor, control expression and receptor trafficking, and dictate Jagged-1 activation of Notch target genes and myogenic differentiation of multipotent S100ß vascular stem cells. N-glycans at asparagine (N) 1241 and 1587 protect the receptor from accelerated degradation, while the oligosaccharide at N888 directly affects signal transduction. Conversely, N-linked glycans at N959, N1179, N1489 do not impact canonical signalling but inhibit differentiation. Our work highlights a novel functional role for N-glycans in controlling Notch1 signalling and differentiation of vascular stem cells.

Episodic simulation of helping behavior in younger and older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Imagining helping a person in need increases one's willingness to help beyond levels evoked by passively reading the same stories. We examined whether episodic simulation can increase younger and older adults' willingness to help in novel scenarios posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Across 3 studies we demonstrate that episodic simulation of helping behavior increases younger and older adults' willingness to help during both everyday and COVID-related scenarios. Moreover, we show that imagining helping increases emotional concern, scene imagery, and theory of mind, which in turn relate to increased willingness to help. Studies 2 and 3 also showed that people produce more internal, episodic-like details when imagining everyday compared to COVID-related scenarios, suggesting that people are less able to draw on prior experiences when simulating such novel events. These findings suggest that encouraging engagement with stories of people in need by imagining helping can increase willingness to help during the pandemic.

Anticholinergic Burden and Xerostomia in Critical Care Settings.

BACKGROUND: Although previous studies have established the association of medications with anticholinergic adverse effects and xerostomia, anticholinergic burden and xerostomia in critical care settings are poorly characterized. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of medication burdens associated with anticholinergic adverse effects, particularly the occurrence of xerostomia (dry mouth) in a critical care setting. In addition, this study explored the correlation between the timing of the first instance of xerostomia and the administration timing of medication known to have anticholinergic adverse effects. METHODS: A retrospective case-control study was used with the MIMIC (Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care) III database. The MIMIC-III clinical database is a publicly available, deidentified, health-related database with more than 40 000 patients in critical care units from 2001 to 2012. Cases of xerostomia (n = 1344) were selected from clinical notes reporting "dry mouth," "xerostomia," or evidence of pharmacological treatment for xerostomia; control (n = 4032) was selected using the propensity analysis with 1:3 matching on covariates (eg, age, sex, race, ethnicity, and length of stay). The anticholinergic burden was quantified as the cumulative effect of anticholinergic activities using the Anticholinergic Burden Scale. RESULTS: Anticholinergic burden significantly differed between xerostomia patients and control subjects (P = .04). The length of stay was a statistically significant factor in xerostomia. The probability of developing the symptom of xerostomia within 24 hours was .95 (95%) for patients of xerostomia. CONCLUSIONS: Anticholinergic Burden Scale is associated with xerostomia in the critical care setting, particularly within 24 hours after admission. It is crucial to carefully evaluate alternative options for medications that may have potential anticholinergic adverse effects. This evaluation should include assessing the balance between the benefits and harms, considering the probability of withdrawal reactions, and prioritizing deprescribing whenever feasible within the initial 24-hour period.

Education Innovations in the Department of Psychiatry at Washington University.

The Department of Psychiatry at Washington University has been innovating psychiatric education during the second millennium at all levels of training - undergraduate medical, general residency, and child and adolescent psychiatry (CAP) fellowship training. Undergraduate medical education now occurs in three phases. The 18-month pre-clerkship phase is divided into seven multidisciplinary modules that span basic, social, and clinical sciences. Psychiatry is part of the seven-week long Brain and Behavior module. The yearlong second phase includes a six-week traditional psychiatry clerkship-like experience bracketed by an introductory foundational week and a one-week consolidation period. The third phase is 18 months in length and provides in-depth exploration of both clinical and non-clinical areas. The residency training program has enlarged the number of residents undergoing training and simultaneously greatly expanded the clinical exposure to include rotations in eating disorders and perinatal psychiatry. In addition, our residents can choose to enhance their training in either our research or leadership focused options, both of which are also available to trainees in our child and adolescent program. Additionally, our CAP trainees are exposed to several unique areas including eating disorders and substance use disorders. We believe that these innovations across the educational spectrum allow us to prepare our learners for the practice of psychiatry in the 21st century.

Lectin Affinity Chromatography.

Glycosylation is a non-template-driven posttranslational modification during which linked-sugars and glycans are added to the nascent polypeptide. Over 70% of the eukaryotic proteome is thought to be glycosylated. It is now known that correct glycosylation is essential for the correct folding, solubility, stability, and immunogenicity of proteins. In this chapter, we describe the technique of lectin affinity chromatography (LAC), a procedure that has the ability to distinguish different glycans, which are attached to proteins or lipids, termed glycoproteins or glycolipids, respectively. This method utilizes different immobilized lectins that have affinity for specific sugar substrates, to separate a wide range of glycan-attached complexes (Ambrosi et al., Org Biomol Chem 3:1593-1608, 2005). To further enhance the specificity of LAC, a corresponding free sugar may be used to produce a specific elution. In general, the conditions under which lectin affinity chromatography operates are relatively mild resulting in good biological recoveries of the glycoproteins.

A structured jet explains the extreme GRB 221009A.

Long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are powerful cosmic explosions, signaling the death of massive stars. Among them, GRB 221009A is by far the brightest burst ever observed. Because of its enormous energy (Eiso ≈ 1055 erg) and proximity (z ≈ 0.15), GRB 221009A is an exceptionally rare event that pushes the limits of our theories. We present multiwavelength observations covering the first 3 months of its afterglow evolution. The x-ray brightness decays as a power law with slope ≈t-1.66, which is not consistent with standard predictions for jetted emission. We attribute this behavior to a shallow energy profile of the relativistic jet. A similar trend is observed in other energetic GRBs, suggesting that the most extreme explosions may be powered by structured jets launched by a common central engine.

Appendicitis-related acute referrals to Children's Health Ireland from Non-Specialist Paediatric Surgical Centres.

BACKGROUND: Acute appendicitis is the most common surgical emergency in children. Eighty percent of paediatric appendicectomies are performed by adult general surgeons on an annual basis. The remaining 20% are performed at Children's Health Ireland (CHI) centres. Occasionally patients are transferred from Non-Specialist Paediatric Surgical Centres (NSPSC) for specialised pre-operative or post-operative care. AIM: To assess the rates of and characterise appendicitis-related referrals to CHI at Crumlin from NSPSC. METHODS: A retrospective review of all appendicitis-related transfers to CHI at Crumlin between January 2020 and December 2021 was performed. Data relating to indications for transfer, referring hospital level, patient demographics, management, type of surgery, length of stay (LOS), and radiological studies were collected and analysed. RESULTS: Seventy-two patients were transferred to CHI at Crumlin over the 2-year period. A total of 60.9% were male, mean age 9 ± 4.3 years, mean LOS 6.0 ± 2.2 days (range 1-30 days). Nineteen percent were under 5 years of age. Seventy-three percent were transferred from level 4 centres. Ninety-seven percent were transferred pre-operatively, 25% of those transferred pre-operatively had imaging in CHI confirming appendicitis. Fifty-five percent (40/72) of patients had pre-operative imaging performed. A total of 37.5% (15/40) confirmed complicated appendicitis. Twenty percent (8/40) underwent both ultrasound and computerised tomography (CT) at the referring centre. A total of 2.7% (2/72) were transferred with known co-morbidities. Ninety-two percent (66/72) underwent appendicectomy. Eight percent (6/72) were managed non-operatively (NOM) - 2 failed NOM, 2 underwent interval appendicectomy. Of those managed operatively, 76% (50/66) underwent laparoscopic appendicectomy, and 24% (16/66) were performed open. CONCLUSION: The majority of paediatric appendicectomies are performed at Non-Specialist Paediatric Surgical Centres. It is vital to maintain this working relationship so that specialist paediatric centres are available to provide care to complex paediatric patients.

Emergent molecular traits of lettuce and tomato grown under wavelength-selective solar cells.

The integration of semi-transparent organic solar cells (ST-OSCs) in greenhouses offers new agrivoltaic opportunities to meet the growing demands for sustainable food production. The tailored absorption/transmission spectra of ST-OSCs impacts the power generated as well as crop growth, development and responses to the biotic and abiotic environments. To characterize crop responses to ST-OSCs, we grew lettuce and tomato, traditional greenhouse crops, under three ST-OSC filters that create different light spectra. Lettuce yield and early tomato development are not negatively affected by the modified light environment. Our genomic analysis reveals that lettuce production exhibits beneficial traits involving nutrient content and nitrogen utilization while select ST-OSCs impact regulation of flowering initiation in tomato. These results suggest that ST-OSCs integrated into greenhouses are not only a promising technology for energy-neutral, sustainable and climate-change protected crop production, but can deliver benefits beyond energy considerations.

Social value at a distance: Higher identification with all of humanity is associated with reduced social discounting.

How much we value the welfare of others has critical implications for the collective good. Yet, it is unclear what leads people to make more or less equal decisions about the welfare of those from whom they are socially distant. The current research sought to explore the psychological mechanisms that might underlie welfare judgements across social distance. Here, a social discounting paradigm was used to measure the tendency for the value of a reward to be discounted as the social distance of its recipient increased. Across two cohorts (one discovery, one replication), we found that a more expansive identity with all of humanity was associated with reduced social discounting. Additionally, we investigated the specificity of this association by examining whether this relationship extended to delay discounting, the tendency for the value of a reward to be discounted as the temporal distance to its receipt increases. Our findings suggest that the observed association with identity was unique to social discounting, thus underscoring a distinction in value-based decision-making processes across distances in time and across social networks. As data were collected during the COVID-19 pandemic, we also considered how stress associated with this global threat might influence welfare judgements across social distances. We found that, even after controlling for COVID-19 related stress, correlations between identity and social discounting held. Together, these findings elucidate the psychological processes that are associated with a more equal distribution of generosity.

How Imagination and Memory Shape the Moral Mind.

Interdisciplinary research has proposed a multifaceted view of human cognition and morality, establishing that inputs from multiple cognitive and affective processes guide moral decisions. However, extant work on moral cognition has largely overlooked the contributions of episodic representation. The ability to remember or imagine a specific moment in time plays a broadly influential role in cognition and behavior. Yet, existing research has only begun exploring the influence of episodic representation on moral cognition. Here, we evaluate the theoretical connections between episodic representation and moral cognition, review emerging empirical work revealing how episodic representation affects moral decision-making, and conclude by highlighting gaps in the literature and open questions. We argue that a comprehensive model of moral cognition will require including the episodic memory system, further delineating its direct influence on moral thought, and better understanding its interactions with other mental processes to fundamentally shape our sense of right and wrong.

Electrothermally Actuated Semitransparent Shape Memory Polymer Composite with Application as a Wearable Touch Sensor.

A semitransparent shape memory polymer (SMP):silver nanowire (AgNW) composite is demonstrated to be capable of low-temperature actuation, thus making it attractive for wearable electronics applications that require intimate contact with the human body. We demonstrate that the SMP:AgNW composite has tunable electrical and optical transparency through variation of the AgNW loading and that the AgNW loading did not significantly change the mechanical behavior of the SMP. The SMP composite is also capable of electrical actuation through Joule heating, where applying a 4 V bias across the AgNWs resulted in full shape recovery. The SMP was found to have high strain sensitivity at both small (<1%) and large (over 10%) applied strain. The SMP could sense strains as low as 0.6% with a gauge factor of 8.2. The SMP composite was then utilized as a touch sensor, able to sense and differentiate tapping and pressing. Finally, the composite was applied as a wearable ring that was thermally actuated to conformably fit onto a finger as a touch sensor. The ring sensor was able to sense finger tapping, pressing, and bending with high signal-to-noise ratios. These results demonstrate that SMP:AgNW composites are a promising design approach for application in wearable electronics.

Curvilinear soft electronics by micromolding of metal nanowires in capillaries.

Soft electronics using metal nanowires have attracted notable attention attributed to their high electrical conductivity and mechanical flexibility. However, high-resolution complex patterning of metal nanowires on curvilinear substrates remains a challenge. Here, a micromolding-based method is reported for scalable printing of metal nanowires, which enables complex and highly conductive patterns on soft curvilinear and uneven substrates with high resolution and uniformity. Printing resolution of 20 µm and conductivity of the printed patterns of ~6.3 × 106 S/m are achieved. Printing of grid structures with uniform thickness for transparent conductive electrodes (TCEs) and direct printing of pressure sensors on curved surfaces such as glove and contact lens are also realized. The printed hybrid soft TCEs and smart contact lens show promising applications in optoelectronic devices and personal health monitoring, respectively. This printing method can be extended to other nanomaterials for large-scale printing of high-performance soft electronics.

Moral psychology from the lab to the wild: Relief registries as a paradigm for studying real-world altruism.

Experimental psychology's recent shift toward low-effort, high-volume methods (e.g., self-reports, online studies) and away from the more effortful study of naturalistic behavior raises concerns about the ecological validity of findings from these fields, concerns that have become particularly apparent in the field of moral psychology. To help address these concerns, we introduce a method allowing researchers to investigate an important, widespread form of altruistic behavior-charitable donations-in a manner balancing competing concerns about internal validity, ecological validity, and ease of implementation: relief registries, which leverage existing online gift registry platforms to allow research subjects to choose among highly needed donation items to ship directly to charitable organizations. Here, we demonstrate the use of relief registries in two experiments exploring the ecological validity of the finding from our own research that people are more willing to help others after having imagined themselves doing so. In this way, we sought to provide a blueprint for researchers seeking to enhance the ecological validity of their own research in a narrow sense (i.e., by using the relief registry method we introduce) and in broader terms by adapting methods that take advantage of modern technology to directly impact others' lives outside the lab.

Probing the Electronic Properties and Interaction Landscapes in a Series of N-(Chlorophenyl)pyridinecarboxamides.

A 3 × 3 isomer grid of nine N-(chlorophenyl)pyridinecarboxamides (NxxCl) is reported with physicochemical studies and single crystal structures (Nx = pyridinoyl moiety; xCl = aminochlorobenzene ring; x = para-/meta-/ortho-), as synthesized by the reaction of the substituted p-/m-/o-pyridinecarbonyl chlorides (Nx) with p-/m-/o-aminochlorobenzenes (xCl). Several of the nine NxxCl crystal structures display structural similarities with their halogenated NxxX and methylated NxxM relatives (x = p-/m-/o-substitutions; X = F, Br; M = methyl). Indeed, five of the nine NxxCl crystal structures are isomorphous with their NxxBr analogues as the NpmCl/Br, NpoCl/Br, NmoCl/NmoBr, NopCl/Br, and NooCl/Br pairs. In the NxxCl series, the favored hydrogen bonding mode is aggregation by N-H···Npyridine interactions, though amide···amide intermolecular interactions are noted in NpoCl and NmoCl. For the NoxCl triad, intramolecular N-H···Npyridine interactions influence molecular planarity, whereas NppCl·H2O (as a monohydrate) exhibits O-H···O, N-H···O1W, and O1W-H···N interactions as the primary hydrogen bonding. Analysis of chlorine-containing compounds on the CSD is noted for comparisons. The interaction environments are probed using Hirshfeld surface analysis and contact enrichment studies. The melting temperatures (T m) depend on both the lattice energy and molecular symmetry (Carnelley's rule), and the melting points can be well predicted from a linear regression of the two variables. The relationships of the T m values with the total energy, the electrostatic component, and the strongest hydrogen bond components have been analyzed.