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Shaffer Sauer posted an update 2 days, 4 hours ago
Personality Inventory for DSM-5 Negative Affectivity and Psychoticism emerged as significant predictors of concurrent PTSD. When prospectively predicting PTSD symptoms in the longitudinal cohort, Negative Affectivity and Psychoticism were significant predictors of PTSD symptom severity. These findings indicate how the DSM-5 AMPD pathological traits are associated with risk for stress-related disorders cross-sectionally and prospectively. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).A central question in psychological science concerns whether psychological constructs are best conceptualized as dimensional or consist of one or more categories. The present study uses contemporary taxometric procedures to examine the latent structure of suicidal thoughts, with implications for how suicidal thoughts and behavior (STB) ought to be conceptualized, assessed, measured, and managed. Three nonredundant taxometric procedures (MAMBAC, MAXEIG, and L-Mode) were performed on various sets of indicators, and analyses were replicated across two large samples that included large numbers of individuals reporting current and recent STB. Results provide further evidence that the latent structure of suicidal thoughts is best understood as dimensional. However, inconsistent findings across studies and the relatively small number of taxometric studies conducted to date both suggest that it is premature to draw clear or definitive conclusions about the latent structure of STB being dimensional or categorical based on taxometric evidence. We report a meta-analysis of the current literature which evidences this ambiguity. We provide a detailed, critical discussion of the STB taxometric literature and outline key directions for future taxometric studies in this area, particularly how taxometric analysis relates to testing “ideation to action” theoretical models, which hypothesize that the development of suicidal ideation and the progression from suicide desire to attempting suicide are distinct processes with distinct explanations/mechanisms. It remains entirely possible that qualitatively distinct types of STB (e.g., representing ideation vs. action) or populations have different latent structures indicating different levels of risk. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).Animals need to adjust their decision-making strategies to the ecological challenges of their environment. Variation in ecological unpredictability and harshness thus seem to affect their decisions in the wild. In our study, we combine methods from human life history theory and previous comparative work with chimpanzees to investigate whether current variability in ecological factors such as reward unpredictability and harshness affect chimpanzees’ decision-making strategies in two value-based scenarios. BMS202 molecular weight We presented chimpanzees with choices varying in the probability of obtaining food rewards (risk-choice task) and in their temporal availability (temporal discounting task). These scenarios were preceded by different sets of priming phases mimicking variability in resource unpredictability (predictable or unpredictable rewards) and harshness (abundant or scarce rewards). In addition, we implemented a social manipulation to explore whether variations in unpredictable gains and losses affected chimpanzees’ performance in both tasks. We found that chimpanzees were only affected by the social manipulation in the risk-choice scenario. Specifically, after a period of constant food losses chimpanzees became less risk prone. We discuss how different types of negative experiences affect chimpanzees’ decisions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).Previous work with corvids such as scrub jays (Aphelocoma californica) and ravens (Corvus corax) suggests that many social corvids alter their caching behavior when observed by conspecifics to protect their caches. We examined whether the Clark’s nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana), an asocial corvid, can utilize a barrier to conceal its caching activities from a conspecific observer. Nutcrackers were allowed to cache nuts in a visible or concealed location in either the presence or absence of an observer. Nutcrackers were also given experience of having their caches pilfered. The nutcrackers cached significantly more nuts in the concealed compared to a visible location when observed. Importantly, nutcrackers also recovered a larger percentage of their nuts 24 hr later from a visible cache location but when the observer was no longer present. The results extend recent work suggesting that relatively nonsocial corvids, similar to their more social relatives, also engage in multiple forms of cache protection. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).Protein adsorption onto nanomaterial surfaces is important for various nanobiotechnology applications such as biosensors and drug delivery. Within this scope, there is growing interest to develop alumina- and silica-based nanomaterial vaccine adjuvants and an outstanding need to compare protein adsorption onto alumina- and silica-based nanomaterial surfaces. Herein, using alumina- and silica-coated arrays of silver nanodisks with plasmonic properties, we conducted localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) experiments to evaluate real-time adsorption of bovine serum albumin (BSA) protein onto alumina and silica surfaces. BSA monomers and oligomers were prepared in different water-ethanol mixtures and both adsorbing species consistently showed quicker adsorption kinetics and more extensive adsorption-related spreading on alumina surfaces as compared to on silica surfaces. We rationalized these experimental observations in terms of the electrostatic forces governing protein-surface interactions on the two nanomaterial surfaces and the results support that more rigidly attached BSA protein-based coatings can be formed on alumina-based nanomaterial surfaces. Collectively, the findings in this study provide fundamental insight into protein-surface interactions at nanomaterial interfaces and can help to guide the development of protein-based coatings for medical and biotechnology applications such as vaccines.