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We contacted a random sample of social/personality psychologists in the United States and asked for copies of their graduate syllabi. We coded more than 3,400 papers referenced on these syllabi for gender of authors as well as other characteristics. Less than 30% of the papers referenced on these syllabi were written by female first authors, with no evidence of a trend toward greater inclusion of papers published by female first authors since the 1980s. The difference in inclusion rates of female first-authored papers could not be explained by a preference for including classic over contemporary papers in syllabi (there was evidence of a recency bias instead) or the relative availability of female first-authored papers in the published literature. Implications are discussed.

People often assume that moral and religious convictions are functionally the same thing. But are they? We report on 19 studies (N = 12,284) that tested whether people's perceptions that their attitudes are reflections of their moral and religious convictions across 30 different issues were functionally the same (the equivalence hypothesis) or different constructs (the distinct constructs hypothesis), and whether the relationship between these constructs was conditional on political orientation (the political asymmetry hypothesis). Seven of these studies (N = 5,561, and 22 issues) also had data that allowed us to test whether moral and religious conviction are only closely related for those who are more rather than less religious (the secularization hypothesis), and a narrower form of the political asymmetry and secularization hypotheses, that is, that people's moral and religious convictions may be tightly connected constructs only for religious conservatives. Meta-analytic tests of each of these hypotheses yielded weak support for the secularization hypothesis, no support for the equivalence or political asymmetry hypotheses, and the strongest support for the distinct constructs hypothesis., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

The scientific quality of social and personality psychology has been debated at great length in recent years. Despite research on the prevalence of Questionable Research Practices (QRPs) and the replicability of particular findings, the impact of the current discussion on research practices is unknown. The current studies examine whether and how practices have changed, if at all, over the last 10 years. In Study 1, we surveyed 1,166 social and personality psychologists about how the current debate has affected their perceptions of their own and the field's research practices. In Study 2, we coded the research practices and critical test statistics from social and personality psychology articles published in 2003-2004 and 2013-2014. Together, these studies suggest that (a) perceptions of the current state of the field are more pessimistic than optimistic; (b) the discussion has increased researchers' intentions to avoid QRPs and adopt proposed best practices, (c) the estimated replicability of research published in 2003-2004 may not be as bad as many feared, and (d) research published in 2013-2014 shows some improvement over research published in 2003-2004, a result that suggests the field is evolving in a positive direction. (PsycINFO Database Record, ((c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).)

A large animal model was established to investigate the feasibility and suitable dosage of intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) to the hepatic hilum before biliary-enteric anastomosis is performed. Twenty-two Pietrain Hampshire pigs underwent gallbladder and proximal bile duct resection followed by IORT using 20-40 Gy and performing biliary-enteric anastomosis. In the follow-up period of 56 days, pigs developed dose-dependent complications like stenosis of the biliary-enteric anastomosis. Results demonstrate that IORT of the liver hilum up to 20 Gy is safe with acceptable early complications in the presented animal model. The porcine biliary-enteric anastomosis can tolerate intraoperative irradiation up to a dosage of 40 Gy without disruption.

Purpose: To assess, in a pig model, the value of dual-modality positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) for monitoring radiation therapy., Materials and Methods: Central bile duct resection followed by creation of a biliodigestive anastomosis was performed in nine pigs. Six of these pigs were also treated with intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) (20 Gy) in the area of the anastomosis. Two, 4, and 8 weeks postoperatively, contrast material-enhanced fluorine 18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT of the liver was performed in all of the animals. The radioactive tracer concentration in the region of the anastomosis was quantified, and the values were compared intraindividually with the values at the liver periphery. Histologic evaluation of the liver was performed 8 weeks postoperatively. The PET/CT images were assessed for changes in liver volume and bile duct diameter over time., Results: In all nine pigs, the region of the anastomosis could be clearly defined on the fused PET/CT images. PET/CT revealed a decreased concentration of FDG in the irradiated field 2 and 4 weeks after IORT. At 8 weeks, however, the distribution of the tracer in the irradiated pigs did not differ from that in the nonirradiated pigs. Homogeneous tracer uptake in all liver regions was observed in the nonirradiated animals. The CT images showed an increase in liver volume in all pigs and bile duct dilatation that increased over time in the irradiated pigs., Conclusion: The morphologic and functional changes due to IORT in liver tissue can be accurately monitored with dual-modality PET/CT. By enabling the integration of functional and morphologic data, PET/CT may have an important role in monitoring radiation treatment., (Copyright RSNA, 2004)