Intersexual and Intrasexual Differences in Mate Selection Preferences Among Lesbian Women, Gay Men, and Bisexual Women and Men.

Sex differences in mating strategies and partner preferences are well established. However, most research solely focused on heterosexual women and men. We examined the mate selection, marriage, and age preferences of a sample of lesbian women, gay men, and bisexual women and men (LGB) who took part in an online dating survey. Additionally, we analyzed inter- and intrasexual differences in these preferences. A total of 710 participants rated the importance of 82 mate selection criteria and 10 marriage criteria, and they also indicated their age preferences and short-term and long-term relationship orientation. An exploratory factor analysis suggested 11 relevant domains of mate selection in the LGB sample, with sex, age, and long-term relationship orientation being relevant predictors of differences in these domains. We compared the LGB data with data collected from 21,245 heterosexual women and men on the same mate selection criteria. Results showed that the participants' sex was the most important predictor of differences in mate selection and marriage preferences, while intrasexual variables (sexual orientation and relationship orientation) explained only a small part of the variance. We incorporated the results into the current discussion about partner preferences and sexual orientation.

No Support for Two Hypotheses About the Communicative Functions of Displaying Disgust: Evidence From Turkey, Norway, Germany, and Croatia.

In recent years, researchers have discovered much about how disgust works, its neural basis, its relationship with immune function, its connection with mating, and some of its antecedents and consequents. Despite these advances in our understanding, an under-explored area is how disgust may be used to serve a communicative function, including how individuals might strategically downplay or exaggerate the disgust display in front of different audiences. Here, we generated two hypotheses about potential communicative functions of disgust, and tested these hypotheses in four countries (Turkey, Croatia, Germany, and Norway). We found no evidence in support of either hypothesis in any country. Discussion focuses on the likely falsity of the two central hypotheses, alternative interpretations of our findings, and directions for future research.

Antecedents of the red-romance effect: Men's attractiveness and women's fertility.

The color red has been implicated in a variety of social processes, including those involving mating. While previous research suggests that women sometimes wear red strategically to increase their attractiveness, the replicability of this literature has been questioned. The current research is a reasonably powered conceptual replication designed to strengthen this literature by testing whether women are more inclined to display the color red 1) during fertile (as compared with less fertile) days of the menstrual cycle, and 2) when expecting to interact with an attractive man (as compared with a less attractive man and with a control condition). Analyses controlled for a number of theoretically relevant covariates (relationship status, age, the current weather). Only the latter hypothesis received mixed support (mainly among women on hormonal birth control), whereas results concerning the former hypothesis did not reach significance. Women (N = 281) displayed more red when expecting to interact with an attractive man; findings did not support the prediction that women would increase their display of red on fertile days of the cycle. Findings thus suggested only mixed replicability for the link between the color red and psychological processes involving romantic attraction. They also illustrate the importance of further investigating the boundary conditions of color effects on everyday social processes.

Angiogenic Potential of Co-Cultured Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells and Adipose Stromal Cells in Customizable 3D Engineered Collagen Sheets.

The wound healing process is much more complex than just the four phases of hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and maturation. Three-dimensional (3D) scaffolds made of biopolymers or ECM molecules using bioprinting can be used to promote the wound healing process, especially for complex 3D tissue lesions like chronic wounds. Here, a 3D-printed mold has been designed to produce customizable collagen type-I sheets containing human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and adipose stromal cells (ASCs) for the first time. In these 3D collagen sheets, the cellular activity leads to a restructuring of the collagen matrix. The upregulation of the growth factors Serpin E1 and TIMP-1 could be demonstrated in the 3D scaffolds with ACSs and HUVECs in co-culture. Both growth factors play a key role in the wound healing process. The capillary-like tube formation of HUVECs treated with supernatant from the collagen sheets revealed the secretion of angiogenic growth factors. Altogether, this demonstrates that collagen type I combined with the co-cultivation of HUVECs and ACSs has the potential to accelerate the process of angiogenesis and, thereby, might promote wound healing.

Migratory and anti-fibrotic programmes define the regenerative potential of human cardiac progenitors.

Heart regeneration is an unmet clinical need, hampered by limited renewal of adult cardiomyocytes and fibrotic scarring. Pluripotent stem cell-based strategies are emerging, but unravelling cellular dynamics of host-graft crosstalk remains elusive. Here, by combining lineage tracing and single-cell transcriptomics in injured non-human primate heart biomimics, we uncover the coordinated action modes of human progenitor-mediated muscle repair. Chemoattraction via CXCL12/CXCR4 directs cellular migration to injury sites. Activated fibroblast repulsion targets fibrosis by SLIT2/ROBO1 guidance in organizing cytoskeletal dynamics. Ultimately, differentiation and electromechanical integration lead to functional restoration of damaged heart muscle. In vivo transplantation into acutely and chronically injured porcine hearts illustrated CXCR4-dependent homing, de novo formation of heart muscle, scar-volume reduction and prevention of heart failure progression. Concurrent endothelial differentiation contributed to graft neovascularization. Our study demonstrates that inherent developmental programmes within cardiac progenitors are sequentially activated in disease, enabling the cells to sense and counteract acute and chronic injury.

Synthetic cell-based materials extract positional information from morphogen gradients.

Biomaterials composed of synthetic cells have the potential to adapt and differentiate guided by physicochemical environmental cues. Inspired by biological systems in development, which extract positional information (PI) from morphogen gradients in the presence of uncertainties, we here investigate how well synthetic cells can determine their position within a multicellular structure. To calculate PI, we created and analyzed a large number of synthetic cellular assemblies composed of emulsion droplets connected via lipid bilayer membranes. These droplets contained cell-free feedback gene circuits that responded to gradients of a genetic inducer acting as a morphogen. PI is found to be limited by gene expression noise and affected by the temporal evolution of the morphogen gradient and the cell-free expression system itself. The generation of PI can be rationalized by computational modeling of the system. We scale our approach using three-dimensional printing and demonstrate morphogen-based differentiation in larger tissue-like assemblies.

Sequential Defects in Cardiac Lineage Commitment and Maturation Cause Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Complex molecular programs in specific cell lineages govern human heart development. Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) is the most common and severe manifestation within the spectrum of left ventricular outflow tract obstruction defects occurring in association with ventricular hypoplasia. The pathogenesis of HLHS is unknown, but hemodynamic disturbances are assumed to play a prominent role. METHODS: To identify perturbations in gene programs controlling ventricular muscle lineage development in HLHS, we performed whole-exome sequencing of 87 HLHS parent-offspring trios, nuclear transcriptomics of cardiomyocytes from ventricles of 4 patients with HLHS and 15 controls at different stages of heart development, single cell RNA sequencing, and 3D modeling in induced pluripotent stem cells from 3 patients with HLHS and 3 controls. RESULTS: Gene set enrichment and protein network analyses of damaging de novo mutations and dysregulated genes from ventricles of patients with HLHS suggested alterations in specific gene programs and cellular processes critical during fetal ventricular cardiogenesis, including cell cycle and cardiomyocyte maturation. Single-cell and 3D modeling with induced pluripotent stem cells demonstrated intrinsic defects in the cell cycle/unfolded protein response/autophagy hub resulting in disrupted differentiation of early cardiac progenitor lineages leading to defective cardiomyocyte subtype differentiation/maturation in HLHS. Premature cell cycle exit of ventricular cardiomyocytes from patients with HLHS prevented normal tissue responses to developmental signals for growth, leading to multinucleation/polyploidy, accumulation of DNA damage, and exacerbated apoptosis, all potential drivers of left ventricular hypoplasia in absence of hemodynamic cues. CONCLUSIONS: Our results highlight that despite genetic heterogeneity in HLHS, many mutations converge on sequential cellular processes primarily driving cardiac myogenesis, suggesting novel therapeutic approaches.

Of Time Gals and Mega Men: Empirical Findings on Gender Differences in Digital Game Genre Preferences and the Accuracy of Respective Gender Stereotypes.

We investigated the accuracy of gender stereotypes regarding digital game genre preferences. In Study 1, 484 female and male participants rated their preference for 17 game genres (gender differences). In Study 2, another sample of 226 participants rated the extent to which the same genres were presumably preferred by women or men (gender stereotypes). We then compared the results of both studies in order to determine the accuracy of the gender stereotypes. Study 1 revealed actual gender differences for most genres-mostly of moderate size. Study 2 revealed substantial gender stereotypes about genre preferences. When comparing the results from both studies, we found that gender stereotypes were accurate in direction for most genres. However, they were, to some degree, inaccurate in size: For most genres, gender stereotypes overestimated the actual gender difference with a moderate mean effect size.

Automaticity of facial attractiveness perception and sex-specific mating strategies.

The current literature shows mixed results regarding whether the perception of facial attractiveness is automatic, i.e. that it operates independently from attentional resources. We argue that an evolutionary perspective on mating strategies provides a comprehensive account of the findings. In two studies, we used the locus-of-slack logic in a psychological refractory period paradigm. Task 1 was a speeded judgment of tone pitch (low vs. high), and Task 2 was a speeded judgment of whether a face was attractive or unattractive on two difficulty levels. Male and female participants judged the attractiveness of opposite-sex faces (Study 1, n = 73) or same-sex faces (Study 2, n = 94) in this paradigm. Results indicate that men do not need attentional resources when processing female faces (Study 1), but require attentional resources when processing same-sex faces (Study 2). In contrast, women need attentional resources to process the attractiveness of opposite as well as same-sex faces.

A laser-cutting-based manufacturing process for the generation of three-dimensional scaffolds for tissue engineering using Polycaprolactone/Hydroxyapatite composite polymer.

A manufacturing process for sheet-based stacked scaffolds (SSCs) based on laser-cutting (LC) was developed. The sheets consist of Polycaprolactone/Hydroxyapatite (PCL/HA) composite material. Single sheets were cut from a PCL/HA foil and stacked to scaffolds with interconnecting pores of defined sizes. HA quantities up to 50% were processable with high reproducibility, while the accuracy was dependent on the applied laser power. The smallest achievable pore sizes were about 40 µm, while the smallest stable solid structures were about 125 µm. The human mesenchymal stem cell line SCP-1 was cultured on the manufactured PCL/HA scaffolds. The cells developed a natural morphology and were able to differentiate to functional osteoblasts. The generation of PCL/HA SSCs via LC offers new possibilities for tissue engineering (TE) approaches. It is reliable and fast, with high resolution. The SSC approach allows for facile cell seeding and analysis of cell fate within the three-dimensional cell culture, thus allowing for the generation of functional tissue constructs.

A Perfusion Bioreactor System for Cell Seeding and Oxygen-Controlled Cultivation of Three-Dimensional Cell Cultures.

Bioreactor systems facilitate three-dimensional (3D) cell culture by coping with limitations of static cultivation techniques. To allow for the investigation of proper cultivation conditions and the reproducible generation of tissue-engineered grafts, a bioreactor system, which comprises the control of crucial cultivation parameters in independent-operating parallel bioreactors, is beneficial. Furthermore, the use of a bioreactor as an automated cell seeding tool enables even cell distributions on stable scaffolds. In this study, we developed a perfusion microbioreactor system, which enables the cultivation of 3D cell cultures in an oxygen-controlled environment in up to four independent-operating bioreactors. Therefore, perfusion microbioreactors were designed with the help of computer-aided design, and manufactured using the 3D printing technologies stereolithography and fused deposition modeling. A uniform flow distribution in the microbioreactor was shown using a computational fluid dynamics model. For oxygen measurements, microsensors were integrated in the bioreactors to measure the oxygen concentration (OC) in the geometric center of the 3D cell cultures. To control the OC in each bioreactor independently, an automated feedback loop was developed, which adjusts the perfusion velocity according to the oxygen sensor signal. Furthermore, an automated cell seeding protocol was implemented to facilitate the even distribution of cells within a stable scaffold in a reproducible way. As proof of concept, the human mesenchymal stem cell line SCP-1 was seeded on bovine cancellous bone matrix of 1 cm3 and cultivated in the developed microbioreactor system at different oxygen levels. The oxygen control was capable to maintain preset oxygen levels ±0.5% over a cultivation period of several days. Using the automated cell seeding procedure resulted in evenly distributed cells within a stable scaffold. In summary, the developed microbioreactor system enables the cultivation of 3D cell cultures in an automated and thus reproducible way by providing up to four independently operating, oxygen-controlled bioreactors. In combination with the automated cell seeding procedure, the bioreactor system opens up new possibilities to conduct more reproducible experiments to investigate optimal cultivation parameters and to generate tissue-engineering grafts in an oxygen-controlled environment.

Tears or Fears? Comparing Gender Stereotypes about Movie Preferences to Actual Preferences.

This study investigated the accuracy of gender-specific stereotypes about movie-genre preferences for 17 genres. In Study 1, female and male participants rated the extent to which 17 movie genres are preferred by women or men. In Study 2, another sample of female and male participants rated their own preference for each genre. There were three notable results. First, Study 1 revealed the existence of gender stereotypes for the majority of genres (i.e., for 15 of 17 genres). Second, Study 2 revealed the existence of actual gender differences in preferences for the majority of genres (i.e., for 11 of 17 genres). Third, in order to assess the accuracy of gender stereotypes on movie preferences, we compared the results of both studies and found that the majority of gender stereotypes were accurate in direction, but inaccurate in size. In particular, the stereotypes overestimated actual gender differences for the majority of movie genres (i.e., 10 of 17). Practical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

Red - take a closer look.

Color research has shown that red is associated with avoidance of threat (e.g., failure) or approach of reward (e.g., mating) depending on the context in which it is perceived. In the present study we explored one central cognitive process that might be involved in the context dependency of red associations. According to our theory, red is supposed to highlight the relevance (importance) of a goal-related stimulus and correspondingly intensifies the perceivers' attentional reaction to it. Angry and happy human compared to non-human facial expressions were used as goal-relevant stimuli. The data indicate that the color red leads to enhanced attentional engagement to angry and happy human facial expressions (compared to neutral ones) - the use of non-human facial expressions does not bias attention. The results are discussed with regard to the idea that red induced attentional biases might explain the red-context effects on motivation.

Sex and age differences in mate-selection preferences.

For nearly 70 years, studies have shown large sex differences in human mate selection preferences. However, most of the studies were restricted to a limited set of mate selection criteria and to college students, and neglecting relationship status. In this study, 21,245 heterosexual participants between 18 and 65 years of age (mean age 41) who at the time were not involved in a close relationship rated the importance of 82 mate selection criteria adapted from previous studies, reported age ranges for the oldest and youngest partner that they would find acceptable, and responded to 10 yes/no questions about a potential marriage partner. For nearly all mate selection criteria, women were found to be the more demanding sex, although men placed consistently more value on the physical attractiveness of a potential partner than women. Also, the effects of the participants' age and level of education were nearly negligible. These results demonstrate the robustness of sex differences in mate selection criteria across a substantial age range.

Short- and long-term relationship orientation and 2D:4D finger-length ratio.

Recent studies have shown that preferences for close relationships (Long-Term Relationship Orientation) are independent of preferences for various sexual partners (Short-Term Relationship Orientation). In the current studies, we hypothesized that Short-Term Relationship Orientation would be negatively related to 2D:4D finger-length ratio (i.e., the more masculine, the higher Short-Term Relationship Orientation). Study 1 found a negative relationship between Short-Term Relationship Orientation and right, but not left, hand 2D:4D among 91 male participants. Study 2 found a negative relationship between Short-Term Relationship Orientation and left, but not right, hand 2D:4D among 65 male participants, even after controlling for age, relationship status, social desirability, and sex drive. Female participants (n = 142) did not show this relationship in Study 2. This sex difference was discussed in terms of flexible female sexual strategies, which are supposed to be contingent on the local environment or menstrual cycle variations.