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The feasibility of implicitly assessing medical student burnout was explored, using the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP), to measure longitudinal student burnout over the first two years of medical school and directly comparing it with an existing explicit measure of burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory; MBI). Three successive cohorts of medical students completed both implicit and explicit measures of burnout at several time points during their first two years of medical school. Both assessments were conducted via the internet within a one-week period during the first week of medical school, the end of the first year of medical school, and the end of the second year, though not all cohorts were able to complete the assessments at all time points. Mixed linear models were used to compare the two measures directly, as well as to evaluate changes over time in each measure separately. Minimal correspondence was observed between the implicit and explicit measures of burnout on a within-subject basis. However, when analyzed separately, all subscales of both measures detected significant change over time in the direction of greater levels of burnout, particularly during the first year of medical school. These results provide preliminary evidence the IRAP is able to assess implicit attitudes related to burnout among medical students, though additional research is needed. The IRAP detected consistent improvements in positive implicit attitudes toward medical training during students' second year of medical school, which was not detected by the MBI. Possible implications of these findings are discussed.

Polyoxometalates (POMs) using {Mo72V30} as an example, dissolved in water, can interact with amine-terminated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS-NH2) dissolved in toluene at the water/toluene interface to form POM-surfactants that significantly lower the interfacial tension and can be used to stabilize liquids via interfacial elasticity. The jamming of the POM-surfactants at the water/oil interface with consequent wrinkling occurs with a decrease in the interfacial area. The packing density of the POM-surfactants at the interface can be tuned by varying the strength of screening with the addition of cations with differing hydrated radii.

Bicontinuous jammed emulsions (or bijels) are tortuous, interconnected structures of two immiscible liquids, kinetically trapped by colloidal particles that are irreversibly bound to the oil-water interface. A wealth of applications has been proposed for bijels in catalysis, energy storage and molecular encapsulation, but large domain sizes (on the order of 5 µm or larger) and difficulty in fabrication pose major barriers to their use. Here, we show that bijels with sub-micrometre domains can be formed via homogenization, rather than spinodal decomposition. We achieve this by using nanoparticle surfactants: polymers and nanoparticles of complementary functionality (for example, ion-pairing) that bind to one another at the oil-water interface. This allows the stabilization of the bijel far from the demixing point of the liquids, with interfacial tensions on the order of 20 mN m-1. Furthermore, our strategy is extremely versatile, as solvent, nanoparticle and ligand can all be varied.

Organometallic η6-arene ruthenium(II) complexes with 3-chloro-6-(1H-pyrazol-1-yl)pyridazine (Ru1, Ru2, and Ru5) and 3-chloro-6-(3,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)pyridazine (Ru3-4) N,N' heterocyclic and η6-arene (cymene (Ru1-4) or toluene (Ru 5)) have been synthesized. The ruthenium(II) complexes have common "three-legged piano-stool" pseudo-octahedral structures known for half-sandwich complexes. Evolution of their UV–Visible absorption spectra in PBS buffer or DMSO over 24 h confirmed their good solvolysis stability. Titrations of the complexes with the calf thymus DNA (CT-DNA) were monitored using UV–Visible absorption and fluorescence spectroscopies. The complexes interact moderately with CT-DNA and their binding constants are in the order of 104 M−1. Competitive binding of the complexes to a DNA-Hoechst 33,258 depicted competitive displacement of Hoechst from DNA's minor grooves. These complexes bind to glutathione forming GSH-adducts through S coordination by replacement of a halide, with the iodo-analogues having higher binding constants than the chloro-complexes. Cyclic voltammograms of the complexes exhibited one electron-transfer quasi-reversible process. Trends in the molecular docking data of Ru1-5/DNA were similar to those for DNA binding constants. Of the five, only Ru1, Ru3 and Ru5 showed some activity (moderate) against the MCF-7 breast cancer cells with IC50 values in the range of 59.2–39.9 for which Ru5 was the most active. However, the more difficult-to-treat cell line, MDA-MB 231 cell was recalcitrant to the treatment by these complexes. Molecular docking simulations visualized the interactions of arene Ru(II) complexes with CT-DNA via minor grooving. The trends were corroborated by electrochemical and cytotoxicity data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP, Barnes-Holmes et al. in Psychol Rec 60:527-542, 2010) was utilized as a relatively new tool to measure implicit weight bias in first- and third-year medical students. To date, only two studies (Miller et al. in Acad Med 88:978-982, 2013; Phelan et al. in Med Educ 49:983-992, 2015) have investigated implicit weight bias with medical students and both have found pro-thin/anti-fat implicit attitudes, on average, using the Implicit Association Test (IAT, Greenwald and Banaji in Psychol Rev 102:4-27, 1995) as the assessment tool. The IRAP, however, allows for a deeper analysis of implicit attitudes with respect to both thin and fat in isolation, and it was found that medical students are, on average, actually both pro-thin and pro-fat, and on average are more pro-thin than pro-fat, as opposed to anti-fat. Additionally, it was found that medical students' implicit weight bias against fat/obese individuals improved over the first 2 years of medical training, and this improvement was specifically driven by improved implicit attitudes toward overweight and obese, while implicit attitudes toward thin remained constant over that time. The implications of more sensitive implicit bias assessment and specific changes in bias over time are discussed within the context of medical education curriculum development.

Motivative augmentals are mles or statements that temporarily change the effectiveness of a consequence, similar to establishing operations for nonverbal consequences (Hayes, Bames-Holmes, & Roche, 2001). Many communications by an organization's leadership may function as such and alter the function of stimuli in the workplace, which in turn may influence employee behaviors (Houmanfar & Rodrigues, Journal of Applied Radical Behavior Analysis, Nl, 22-27, 2012). There is a lack of experimental research regarding this, however, particularly under different organizational pay systems (i.e., financial contingencies), which have been repeatedly shown to influence performance (e.g., Gupta & Shaw, Compensation and Benefits Review, 30(2), 26-32, 1998; Locke, Feren, McCaleb, Shaw, & Denny, 1980). The current study sought to compare the two by measuring the effect of motivational statements on individual versus cooperative responding under two different pay-for-performance contingencies in an organizational analogue. Stimuli for the motivational statements were selected utilizing an Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) with one group of participants, and these statements were then tested under piece-rate and profit-share conditions with a second group of participants in a counterbalanced reversal design. Results indicated that the financial contingencies had more of an effect on responding, but that motivational statements influenced behavior as well. In particular, motivational statements affected whether a participant chose to cooperate or behave individually more under financially neutral conditions (i.e., profit share) when there was no financial cost for doing so. As such, organizations can utilize memos or speeches to increase performance, but it is important for the content to align with financial contingencies in order to maximize performance. Keywords Motivative augmentals * Pay-for-performance * Implicit relational assessment procedure * Rules * Cooperation * Relational frame theory, One of the primary means of influencing employee behavior and productivity involve consequential manipulations, in particular performance-based pay. Some of the most common examples of payment systems are hourly, piece [...]