"In x Out": reviewing the group bias through the biological perspective

The factors underlying to the ingroup favoritism and outgroup indifference/hostility are broadly studied by social psychology, where studies report that, for example, individuals trust more and associate positive words to members of the same group. The study of these factors can help in understand phenomena such as prejudice and ethonocentrism. However, a systematic search in the databases Web of Science, Google Scholar, Scielo, and Lilacs for the keywords related to group bias showed a studies shortage for this topic in Brazil. Besides, in the studies retrieved, just one fi tted into evolutionary perspective and no study has approached the neuroendocrine mechanisms of the group bias. Therefore, the objective of this study was to discuss the group bias through the biological perspective, explaining the evolutionary hypothesis to the evolution of these behaviors, the methods applied to study this topic, and the neuroendocrine basis and neural substrates mediating them

Screening for Residual Disease in Pediatric Burkitt Lymphoma Using Consensus Primer Pools

Assessing molecular persistent or minimal residual disease (PD/MRD) in childhood Burkitt lymphoma (BL) is challenging because access to original tumor is usually needed to design patient-specific primers (PSPs). Because BL is characterized by rearranged immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgVH) genes, IgVH primer pools from IgVH1–IgVH7 regions were tested to detect PD/MRD, thus eliminating the need for original tumor. The focus of the current study was to assess the feasibility of using IgVH primer pools to detect disease in clinical specimens. Fourteen children diagnosed with B-NHL had follow-up repository specimens available to assess PD/MRD. Of the 14 patients, 12 were PD/MRD negative after 2 months of therapy and remained in remission at the end of therapy; 2/14 patients were PD/MRD positive at 2-3 months and later relapsed. PSP-based assays from these 14 patients showed 100% concordance with the current assay. This feasibility study warrants further investigation to assess PD/MRD using IgVH primer pools, which could have clinical significance as a real-time assessment tool to monitor pediatric BL and possibly other B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma therapy

What Does Women's Facial Attractiveness Signal? Implications for an Evolutionary Perspective on Appearance Enhancement.

In their Target Article, Davis and Arnocky (2020) suggest that evolutionary theories of mate preferences can contribute to our understanding of why appearance-enhancement behaviors are seemingly ubiquitous. We support their argument that an interdisciplinary approach, in which evolutionary and other perspectives are fully integrated, will give us a more complete understanding of appearance-enhancement behaviors. We also agree that evolutionary theories of mate preferences have the potential to provide new insights into why such behaviors are so common. Here, we use the literature on women’s facial attractiveness to highlight an important limitation of this argument: uncertainty about precisely what is signalled by physical attractiveness

No evidence that partnered and unpartnered gay men differ in their preferences for male facial masculinity

Women's preferences for masculine characteristics in men's faces have been extensively studied. By contrast, little is known about how gay men respond to masculine facial characteristics. One area of disagreement in the emerging literature on this topic is the association between gay men's partnership status and masculinity preference. One study found that partnered gay men showed stronger preferences for masculine faces than did single gay men, while another study found that partnered gay men showed weaker preferences for masculine faces than did single gay men. We re-examined this issue in a sample of 618 gay men, finding no significant difference between partnered and single gay men's masculinity preferences. Together with the mixed previous findings, our null result suggests that the effect of partnership status on gay men's face preferences is not robust

HIV DNA and Dementia in Treatment-Naive HIV-1-Infected Individuals in Bangkok, Thailand

High HIV-1 DNA (HIV DNA) levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) correlate with HIV-1-associated dementia (HAD) in patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). If this relationship also exists among HAART-naïve patients, then HIV DNA may be implicated in the pathogenesis of HAD. In this study, we evaluated the relationship between HIV DNA and cognition in subjects naïve to HAART in a neuro AIDS cohort in Bangkok, Thailand. Subjects with and without HAD were recruited and matched for age, gender, education, and CD4 cell count. PBMC and cellular subsets were analyzed for HIV DNA using real-time PCR. The median log10 HIV DNA copies per 106 PBMC for subjects with HAD (n=15) was 4.27, which was higher than that found in subjects without dementia (ND; n=15), 2.28, p\u3c 0.001. This finding was unchanged in a multivariate model adjusting for plasma HIV-1 RNA levels. From a small subset of individuals, in which adequate number of cells were available, more HIV DNA was in monocytes/macrophages from those with HAD compared to those with ND. These results are consistent with a previous report among HAART-experienced subjects, thus further implicating HIV DNA in the pathogenesis of HAD

Calidad de vida y bien estar espiritual en pacientes con enfermedad pulmonar obstructiva crónica

Este estudo teve como objetivos avaliar a qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde (QVRS) e o bem-estar espiritual (BEE) de pacientes com doença pulmonar obstrutiva crônica (DPOC) e analisar as relações entre QVRS e BEE. As versões em português do Seattle Obstructive Lung Disease Questionnaire (SOLDQ) e do Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS) foram aplicadas por entrevista a 70 pacientes com DPOC em tratamento ambulatorial. Os domínios do SOLDQ com menor e maior escores foram: Função Física (37,29±17,19) e Satisfação com o Tratamento (68,75±28,05). O escore médio de 94,87±13,56 indica um nível moderado de BEE. O escore total do SWBS e o da subescala Bem-Estar Religioso correlacionaram-se positivamente com o domínio Satisfação com o Tratamento (p=0,007 e p=0,002, respectivamente). Correlação negativa foi encontrada entre Bem-Estar Religioso e Função Física (p=0,05). Pacientes com maior bem-estar religioso estavam mais satisfeitos com o tratamento e tinham pior funcionamento físico.This study aimed to evaluate health related quality of life (HRQL) and spiritual well-being (SWB) of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and to investigate the relationship between HRQOL and SWB. Seventy outpatients with COPD were interviewed using Portuguese versions of the Seattle Obstructive Lung Disease Questionnaire (SOLDQ) and Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS). SOLDQ domains with lowest and highest scores were Physical Function (37.29±17.19) and Treatment Satisfaction (68.75±28.05). Total score of the SWBS was 94.87±13.56, indicating a moderate level of SWB. Total SWB and the subscale Religious Well-Being correlate positively with Treatment Satisfaction (p=0.007 and p=0.002, respectively). Negative correlation were found between Religious Well-Being and Physical Function domain (r = -0.233, p=0.05). Patients with higher spiritual/religious well-being were more satisfied with treatment and had worst physical functioning.En este estudio se evaluaron la calidad de vida relacionada con la salud (CVRS) y el bienestar espiritual (BEE) de pacientes con enfermedad pulmonar obstructiva crónica (EPOC) y además la relación entre la CVRS y BEE. Setenta pacientes con EPOC en tratamiento ambulatorial fuerón entrevistados usando las versiones en portugués del Seattle Obstructive Lung Disease Questionnaire (SOLDQ) y del Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS). Las dimensiones del SOLDQ con puntuaciones más bajos y más altos fueron: Función Física (37,29 ± 17,19) y Satisfacción con el Tratamiento (68,75 ± 28,05). La puntuación media 94,87 ± 13,56 indica un nivel moderado de BEE. La puntuación total del Bienestar Religioso correlacionó positivamente con la Satisfacción con el Tratamiento (p = 0,007 y p = 0,002, respectivamente). Se encontró correlación negativa entre bienestar religioso y función físico (p = 0,05). Los pacientes con mayor bienestar religioso estaban más satisfechos con el tratamiento y tenían peor función físico

Subtemporal Multiple Hippocampal Transection with/without CA1-Subiculum Disconnection for Medically Intractable Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

Transsylvian selective amygdalohippocampectomy resulted in postoperative verbal memory decline in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy of the language-dominant side. Mapping whole-brain connectivity changes have been studied recently of different surgical resection approaches for temporal lobe epilepsy. The subtemporal resection is the least disruptive to long-range connectivity, which may explain its better cognitive outcome. Finally, the authors introduced subtemporal multiple hippocampal transections technique in a case of hippocampal sclerosis negative left mesial temporal lobe epilepsy, and postoperative neuropsychological examinations revealed improvement of cognitive function immediately after the operation contrasting transsylvian multiple hippocampal transections in which verbal memory remains dropped. The authors introduced another new operation to left mesial temporal lobe epilepsy patient with hippocampal sclerosis by multiple hippocampal transections plus disconnection between CA1 and subiculum at the hippocampal head. Operative result is satisfactory in terms of neuropsychological and operative outcome