Structure of Dark Triad Dirty Dozen Across Eight World Regions.

The Dark Triad (i.e., narcissism, psychopathy, Machiavellianism) has garnered intense attention over the past 15 years. We examined the structure of these traits' measure-the Dark Triad Dirty Dozen (DTDD)-in a sample of 11,488 participants from three W.E.I.R.D. (i.e., North America, Oceania, Western Europe) and five non-W.E.I.R.D. (i.e., Asia, Middle East, non-Western Europe, South America, sub-Saharan Africa) world regions. The results confirmed the measurement invariance of the DTDD across participants' sex in all world regions, with men scoring higher than women on all traits (except for psychopathy in Asia, where the difference was not significant). We found evidence for metric (and partial scalar) measurement invariance within and between W.E.I.R.D. and non-W.E.I.R.D. world regions. The results generally support the structure of the DTDD.

Lower fumonisin mycotoxin levels in the grain of Bt corn grown in the United States in 2000-2002.

Fumonisins were monitored in corn grain collected from Bt hybrids grown in 107 locations across the United States in 2000-2002. Bt corn hybrids contain the Cry1Ab protein from Bacillus thuringiensis that controls European corn borers and other stalk-boring pests. Fumonisin levels were frequently lower in grain from Bt hybrids grown in field trials under conditions of natural (FACT trials) or manual insect infestation (university trials). Over three years of FACT trials, there were 126/210 comparisons when fumonisin levels in grain from control hybrids were >2 ppm, exceeding U.S. FDA guidance levels of 2 ppm for human food. Grain from Bt hybrids was at or below 2 ppm of fumonisins for 58 of the 126 comparisons. The use of Bt hybrids can increase the percentage of corn grain that would be suitable for use in food and feed.