Differential Eating Behavior Patterns among the Dark Triad

There is little extant empirical literature examining the associations between Dark Triad (DT: Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) and eating behaviors. The current study (n = 361) investigated the associations between Dark Triad and restrained eating, uncontrolled eating, and emotional eating in a sample drawn from the general population. The results from the study indicate that (a) despite expected sex differences in narcissism and primary psychopathy, no sex differences were found in Machiavellianism, secondary psychopathy, and eating behaviors; (b) among women, Machiavellianism was a protective factor against uncontrolled eating behaviors; (c) the sex of the participant moderated the narcissism–uncontrolled eating behaviors and narcissism–emotional eating behaviors relationships, with the negative correlation being stronger for men than that for women; (d) secondary psychopathy, rather than primary psychopathy, was associated with higher uncontrolled eating behaviors in both sexes, and associated with higher emotional eating behaviors for men only. The implication of these findings are interpreted and discussed

Pathogenic Implication of a Fibrinogen-Binding Protein of Staphylococcus epidermidis in a Rat Model of Intravascular-Catheter-Associated Infection▿

The involvement of Fbe, a fibrinogen-binding protein of Staphylococcus epidermidis, in the pathogenesis of catheter-associated infection was investigated. An fbe (gene encoding Fbe protein) mutant was constructed by allelic replacement, wherein an erythromycin resistance gene replaced a portion of the A region of fbe. Meanwhile, a rat central venous catheter (CVC) infection model was established to assess the importance of Fbe in the pathogenesis of CVC-associated infection due to S. epidermidis. Fbe-positive S. epidermidis strain HB was significantly more likely to cause a CVC-associated infection resulting in bacteremia and metastatic disease than its isogenic Fbe-deficient mutant (100% versus 20%, P < 0.01). These results confirm the importance of adherence associated with Fbe in the pathogenesis of CVC-associated infection caused by S. epidermidis

Struggling or Liberating? The Effects of Machiavellianism on Break-Up Distress

Negative emotions caused by break-up are the key work of university students&rsquo; psychological intervention. It is important to explore the specific factors of break-up distress for university students&rsquo; psychological intervention. Therefore, we investigated 869 university students to examine the effect of Machiavellianism and psychological capital on break-up distress, as well as its gender difference. The results indicated that high Machiavellians experience more break-up distress. Moreover, through structural equation models, we found that as for female university students, psychological capital mediated the relationship between Machiavellianism and break-up distress. However, as for male university students, the mediation effect was not significant. It means that for female university students, psychological capital acted as the mechanism to connect Machiavellianism and break-up distress

Social appearance anxiety among the dark tetrad and self-concealment

Abstract This study analyzed the effects of the Dark Tetrad (narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, sadism) and self-concealment on social appearance anxiety. Empirical investigations on which personality traits influence social appearance anxiety are yet missing. In this study, a sample of N = 1186 Chinese students performed a questionnaire-based survey assessing different personality facets and social appearance anxiety tendencies. Measures included the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale, the Machiavellian Personality Scale, the Short Sadistic Impulse Scale, the Self-concealment Scale, and the Social Appearance Anxiety Scale. The results of the multiple regression analysis showed that psychopathy, Machiavellianism, sadism, and self-concealment positively predicted social appearance anxiety and narcissism negatively predicted social appearance anxiety. Machiavellianism, psychopathy, sadism, and self-concealment were positive predictors of social appearance anxiety, whereas narcissism was a negative predictor. These findings provide insight into the complex nature of the Dark Tetrad and their influence on social appearance anxiety

Selective Crystallization of Racemic Polymorph <i>via</i> Native Enantiomer Inhibition: dl-Methionine

Crystallization of chiral compounds is dictated by chiral recognition and molecular self-assembly in solution. However, their interplay remains elusive. The reason for the considerably reduced polymorphism in chiral molecules than that of nonchiral molecules remains unclear. Herein, we use a combination of experimental and computational techniques to show that excessive enantiomer functioning, as a native crystallization inhibitor, selectively suppresses the crystallization of racemic polymorphs, affording preferential crystallization of the metastable α polymorph of dl-methionine. Bulk crystallization assays show concomitant crystallization of the α and β polymorphs of racemic dl-methionine in the solution with no enantiomeric excess. However, when the solution contains excessive d-/l-methionine enantiomer, only the metastable α form can be crystallized. Crystal growth experiments, fluoresce confocal microscopy, and atomic force microscope surface topology measurements reveal the growth inhibition of both polymorphs with preferential suppression of the β form by excess native enantiomer. Binding energy calculations and molecular dynamic simulations further demonstrate the preferential adsorption of excessive enantiomers on the (0 0 2) facet of the β form over the α form. Overall, our results uncover a unique chiral self-positioning mechanism where the excess enantiomer solutes serve as a native growth inhibitor to disrupt the kinetics of racemic polymorphic crystallization, affording selective crystallization of only one polymorph of dl-methionine. Our results highlight the important effect of excess enantiomer in a solution on the polymorph occurrence of chiral molecules

Discovery of Novel Potential Aphid Repellents: Geranic Acid Esters Containing Substituted Aromatic Rings

Aphids are one of the most damaging agricultural pests. For the sake of novel eco-friendly compounds with good activity for aphid control, a series of novel geranic acid esters containing substituted aromatic rings were designed by inverting ester groups of lead compounds. All compounds were characterized by HRMS, 1H-NMR, and 13C-NMR. In order to identify the effect of inversion ester groups on activity, a bioassay was conducted. The results showed that the repellent activity against Acyrthosiphon pisum (A. pisum) and the binding affinity with the odorant-binding protein 9 from A. pisum (ApisOBP9) of the compounds were increased after inversion of the ester groups. Particularly, 5f showed the best repellent activity (repellency proportion: 55.6%) and binding affinity (1/Ki: 0.49 &micro;M). Meanwhile, the structure&ndash;activity relationships revealed that the introduction of meta-substitution of the benzene ring and halogen atoms, such as Cl and Br, facilitated the biological activity. The further molecular docking results demonstrated that hydrogen bonding interactions and hydrophobic interactions were vital for the binding affinity with ApisOBP9. Additionally, all compounds were predicted to be eco-friendly and their volatile physicochemical properties have been enhanced compared to the leads. The present results provide valuable clues for the further rational design of aphids&rsquo; behavioral control agents