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Associations of procrastination with loneliness, social isolation, and social withdrawal
No full textAim: The aim was to investigate the association of procrastination with loneliness, social isolation, and social withdrawal (also stratified by sex).Subjects and methods: Data were used from a large sample of the general adult population in Germany, consisting of individuals aged 18 to 74 years (analytic sample, n = 5000 individuals, mean age: 46.9 years, SD: 15.2; 50.7% female). Standardized instruments were employed to measure the key variables. Multiple linear regressions were employed.Results: After the adjustment for various sociodemographic factors, lifestyle habits, and health-related variables, the regression analyses showed that greater procrastination was significantly associated with higher levels of loneliness (β = .11, p Conclusion: Our study showed that procrastination is associated with several unfavorable social outcomes, particularly among men. Efforts to address procrastination may also help such unfavorable social outcomes, pending future longitudinal studies.</p
“Jewel-bright, hallucinatory, carefully described”: M. John Harrison's Radical Vision of the New Weird
No full textWeird works unsettle, decentering humanity on a cosmic scale and, at other times, breaking down the human barriers erected around race, class, gender, and sexuality. Featuring a comprehensive editors' introduction to the Weird as a mode engaging with forms of knowledge, transcendence, and resistance, this collection offers a broad-reaching discussion of Weird fiction, film, art, and thought. Its 31 essays explore theoretical and philosophical applications of the Weird, such as Black Metal Theory, and key Weird themes and tropes such as cosmic horror, radical embodiment and sensation, dark ecological speculation, and forms of alterity. Essays are highly varied in period focus and subject matter, ranging from early Weird works by William Hope Hodgson and Conan creator Robert E. Howard, to the surrealist paintings of Leonora Carrington, to more recent works by David Lynch, Octavia Butler, and Yorgos Lanthimos</p
Evidence that Tetris Reduces Immediate but Not Subsequent Daily Intrusions of a Trauma Film: A Multilab Replication Study
No full textReactivating a target memory and subsequently playing the computer game Tetris is thought to reduce intrusive memories and is being explored clinically. However, the current literature on the effect of Tetris on intrusions has limitations. To examine whether the previous finding from experimental research that Tetris reduces trauma film related intrusions is replicable in a large sample, we conducted a preregistered, multi-site study in healthy participants. Experiment 1 (N = 141) showed similar intrusion rates of an updated trauma film that was then used in Experiment 2. In line with previous findings, Experiment 2 (N = 433) showed that compared to a perceptual vigilance control task, Tetris reduced retrospective ratings of trauma film related intrusions during the task. In contrast to such an immediate effect, the hypothesis that Tetris reduces intrusions over the course of one week was not corroborated. Future research may examine the role of the format of delivering the experiment (i.e., in-person versus online sessions) and type of control condition (i.e., no-task versus active control). This may inform studies on whether, and in what settings, Tetris is a suitable intervention for clinical use.</p
Exosome Revolution or Marketing Mirage? AI-Based Multi-domain Evaluation of Claims, Scientific Evidence, Transparency, Public Sentiment, and Media Narratives
No full textIntroductionExosome-based therapies are being hypothesised and promoted as a transformative innovation in regenerative aesthetics, offering promising benefits for skin rejuvenation, anti-ageing, and hair restoration. However, the field faces challenges related to scientific validation, transparency, and lack regulatory oversight, for use in humans. Furthermore, there is insufficient of clinical trials registered for use in aesthetic practise. With increasing reliance on social media and influencer-driven promotion, public sentiment is often shaped by exaggerated claims rather than evidence-based information.MethodThis study employed a comprehensive multi-dimensional approach to evaluate 18 manufacturers of exosome-based products. Data from 70 product formulations, 2,700,029 social media posts, 4,350 non-scientific articles, and 37,437 consumer reviews were analysed using advanced AI-driven methods. Analyses included transparency ratings, linguistic evaluation of promotional versus scientific content, product composition analysis, sentiment trends, emotion analysis, and regulatory insights.ResultsHigh transparency was observed in 18% of manufacturers, with most companies relying on vague and promotional language. Growth factor concentrations showed significant variability across human-, plant-, and animal-derived sources (H = 18.73, p ConclusionWhile exosome-based aesthetic products may have substantial potential, the industry is hindered by inconsistencies in transparency, exaggerated claims, and weak regulatory frameworks. Future efforts should focus on standardising exosome formulations, enhancing regulatory oversight, and fostering ethical promotion to ensure consumer safety and scientific credibility. Addressing these gaps is essential for exosome-based therapies to achieve their transformative promise.</p
Differential eye movements and greater pupil size during mental scene construction in autobiographical recall
No full textThere is growing evidence supporting a role for eye movements during autobiographical recall, but their potential functionality remains unclear. We hypothesise that the oculomotor system facilitates the process of mental scene construction, in which complex scenes associated with an autobiographical event are generated and maintained during recall. To explore this, we examined spontaneous eye movements during retrieval of cued autobiographical memories. Participants’ verbal descriptions of each memory were recorded in synchronisation with their eye movements and pupil size during recall. For each memory participants described the place (details of the environment where the event took place) and the event (details of what happened). Narratives were analyzed using the Autobiographical Interview procedure, which separated internal spatial (place) and non- spatial (event, thoughts and emotion) details. Eye movements during recall of spatial details had significantly higher fixation duration and smaller saccade amplitude and peak velocity, and a higher number of consecutive unidirectional saccades, in comparison to recall of non-spatial details. Recurrence quantification analysis indicated longer sequences of refixations and more repetitions of the same fixation pattern when participants described spatial details. Recall of spatial details was also associated with significantly greater pupil area. Overall findings are consistent with the spontaneous production of more structured saccade patterns and greater cognitive load during the recall of internal spatial episodic scene details in comparison to episodic non-spatial details. These results are consistent with the oculomotor system facilitating the activation and correct positioning of elements of a complex scene relative to other imagined elements during autobiographical recall.</p
Food insecurity prevalence and its sociodemographic correlates among Spanish adolescents: the EHDLA study
No full textIntroduction: Insufficient and unequal access to food (i.e. food insecurity [FI]) has a negative impact on health, especially in vulnerable groups such as adolescents. This study determined the prevalence of FI and its sociodemographic correlates among adolescents in the Valle de Ricote, Region of Murcia, Spain.Methods: A secondary analysis was conducted using data from the Eating Healthy and Daily Life Activities (EHDLA) study, which provides a sample of 882 adolescents (median = 14, interquartile range [IQR] = 2) collected during the 2021–2022 academic year. FI was measured using the Child Food Security Survey Module in Spanish (CFSSM-S).Results: Findings showed a prevalence of FI of 16.2%, with significant sociodemographic disparities. Adolescents from immigrant (n: 67; %: 46.9; odds ratio [OR] = 2.41; 95% CI: 1.38 to 4.21) and diverse (n: 25; %: 17.5; OR=2.04; 95% CI: 1.10 to 3.79) families showed a higher susceptibility to FI. In addition, higher parental education was related to lower FI (university education: n: 13; %: 9.6; OR=0.36; 95% CI: 0.17 to 0.74).Conclusion: These findings highlight the need for targeted public health policies that improve access to nutritious food, enhance parental education, and address socioeconomic inequalities to effectively reduce FI among Spanish adolescents.</p
From CEPNs to training hubs: a decade of population-level workforce education and their strategic role in delivering the NHS 10-Year plan
No full textBackground: Since 2013, CEPNs—and, from 2018, Training Hubs—have provided locally led, multi-professional mechanisms for workforce education in primary and community care, aiming to match training supply and skill mix to population health needs.Aim: To synthesise the development, evolution, and impact of CEPNs/THs and assess their strategic alignment with the NHS 10-Year Health Plan (July 2025).Discussion: Evidence from local evaluations and national guidance indicates CEPNs/THs expanded placement capacity, supported interprofessional learning, integrated new roles into primary care, and improved links between education providers and employers—albeit against a backdrop of regional variability and short-termism in funding. The 10-Year Plan’s ‘three shifts’ (community-first, digital enablement, prevention) map directly to Training Hub functions, but require stronger place-based embedding, stable investment, and outcomes-focused evaluation.Conclusion: With explicit policy backing, multi-year funding, and standardised impact measures, Training Hubs can function as the operational bridge between national strategy and local delivery for the decade ahead.</p
“I stayed, because... I needed to have a plan”: Nigerian migrant women’s experiences of gender-based violence, resilience and resistance.
No full textThis article critiques gendered, cultural and racial stereotypes of Nigerian migrant women as passive victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) in the United Kingdom. Based on 14 semi-structured interviews, it reveals how spouse visa restrictions limit access to welfare and constrain women's ability to escape abuse. Despite these structural barriers, the women demonstrate agency and resilience, challenging dominant discourses. The article calls for a more gender-sensitive policy framework in the United Kingdom that considers both individual circumstances and systemic factors shaping migrant women's experiences of and responses to IPV.</p
The Object Attachment Security Measure: Assessing Convergent and Divergent Validity, Confirmatory Factor Analysis, and Measurement Invariance Across Age, Gender, and Hoarding Severity
No full textPast research shows strong links between object attachment and hoarding but has relied on poorly validated measures of object attachment. The Object Attachment Security Measure (OASM; David & Norberg, 2022b) was developed to address this limitation. This study evaluates the construct validity and measurement invariance of the OASM across age groups, genders, and hoarding severity. Participants were 777 individuals recruited via Prolific. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the correlated two-factor structure with two subscales: secure object attachment (SOA) and insecure object attachment (IOA). Measurement invariance testing showed strict invariance across age, gender, and hoarding severity. SOA and IOA had moderate to strong correlations with hoarding, and weaker associations with other psychopathology. IOA showed stronger correlations with hoarding than SOA, and the relationship between SOA and hoarding was no longer significant after accounting for IOA. These findings support the construct validity of OASM and reaffirm the central role of insecure object attachment in hoarding.</p
Enpp1 inhibition: a promising oral therapy for later-onset hypophosphatasia
No full textHypophosphatasia (HPP) is a rare, inherited metabolic bone disorder characterized by deficient activity of tissue-nonspecific alkaline phosphatase (TNAP), an enzyme encoded by the ALPL gene. Loss-of-function mutations in ALPL lead to reduced TNAP activity, resulting in the accumulation of extracellular inorganic pyrophosphate (PPi), a potent inhibitor of hydroxyapatite crystal formation and skeletal mineralization. Clinically, this presents as a broad spectrum of dento-osseous complications, including premature tooth loss, rickets or osteomalacia, and calcific arthropathies...</p
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