Empathy in medical students is receiving increasing attention as it is fundamental to build and develop a functional patient-physician relationship. When looking at its determinants, demographic and academic factors seem to concur in shaping empathy in this population. Although data show strong gender differences and changes in empathy throughout medical school, it is not clear the direction of these changes and whether gender and curriculum features modulate them. This longitudinal study examined changes in empathy and explored gender differences throughout the medical school. Four consecutive cohorts of Italian medical students (N = 336) completed the Jefferson Scale of Empathy - Student (JSE-S) and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) in their second year of study (before any clinical clerkship and communication skills courses) and fifth year of study (after a 2-year clinical clerkship and communication skills courses). Analysis of variance for repeated-measures revealed that, beyond the effect of gender, JSE-S total score and IRI Perspective Taking increased, whereas IRI Personal Distress and IRI Fantasy significantly decreased throughout medical school. No significant change in IRI Empathic Concern emerged over time. Student\'s t-tests showed that female students displayed significantly higher mean scores than their male counterparts for all empathy measures in both their second and fifth years of medical training. The findings suggest that the medical curriculum affects self-reported empathy dimensions among undergraduate medical students. Further research is needed to deepen the understanding of the educational factors that promote the changes in empathy levels during medical training.

Although working men and women share common retirement concerns, women encounter unique challenges in securing their retirement. These challenges arise from factors such as part-time work, intermittent work histories, and potential wealth disparities. Marital status also exerts a profound influence on retirement decisions. Marital status significantly impacts their financial security as they approach retirement. This study investigates the intricate relationship between gender, marital status, and theory of planned behavior factors that influence retirement planning among older adults. Utilizing data from the 2014 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and RAND, the research analyzed 2,657 participants aged 50 to 62, all of whom reported full or part-time employment. Also, the research leveraged the theory of planned behavior to examine motivational factors affecting retirement planning. The study\'s findings highlight the significant association of gender with expected retirement timing, revealing that married women typically anticipate retiring earlier than both unmarried women and men. In addition, older adults who secure retirement resources tend to retire earlier. It is important to develop tailored policies and initiatives to address the specific retirement challenges women face. It is imperative to develop retirement support systems that consider the gender, marital statuses, and retirement resources of older adults, and to give special attention to those who are vulnerable. This study provides valuable insights into the intricate interplay of gender, marital status, retirement motivation factors and retirement planning among older adults.

UNASSIGNED: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) can have negative impacts on the health outcomes of individuals with type 2 diabetes. However, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), there is a lack of understanding regarding the relationship between OSA and type 2 diabetes despite the significant implications it has on health. The primary objective of this study is to investigate the association between OSA risk and type 2 diabetes, associated risk factors, and gender differences in OSA symptoms among Emirati adults.
UNASSIGNED: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of the baseline data from the UAE Healthy Future Study (UAEHFS) collected between February 2016 and March 2023. Our sample consisted of 4578 participants aged 18-71 who completed the STOP-BANG survey, provided body measurements and blood samples. We stratified the patients according to their OSA risk and diabetes. We used univariate and multivariate logistic regression models to analyze the relationship between OSA risk and type 2 diabetes and to identify factors associated with risk for OSA and type 2 diabetes. We estimated odds ratios (ORs) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CI).
UNASSIGNED: The mean age was 27.5 years (± 8.35), and 55.81% (n=2555) were men. The overall prevalence of high risk for OSA was 16.58% and was higher in men compared to women (26.46% vs 4.10%). Women reported feeling tired more often than men (68.02% vs 48.96%). Both genders have similar rates of stop breathing and BMI ≥ 35. There was a significant association between the OSA risk and type 2 diabetes in the unadjusted model (OR=2.44; 95% CI: 1.78-3.35; p-value <0.0001) and (OR=6.44; 95% CI: 4.32-9.59; p-value < 0.0001) among those who reported intermediate and high OSA risk, respectively. After adjusting the model for education attainment, marital status, waist circumference, and smoking, the association remained significant between diabetes and OSA risk, with an OR of 1.65 (95%CI: 1.18-2.32; p-value =0.004) for intermediate OSA risk and 3.44 (95%CI: 2.23-5.33; p-value <0.0001) for high OSA risk.
UNASSIGNED: This study conducted in the UAE found a significant correlation between OSA risk and type 2 diabetes. We suggest introducing routine screening of OSA for individuals with diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: Few studies have investigated the relationship between low dietary variety and clearly defined social isolation by gender. This study explored the association between dietary variety and social isolation, classified by operational definition, separately by gender in community-dwelling older adults.
METHODS: This cross-sectional study recruited respondents via mail. A total of 4798 participants aged ≥65 years participated in the on-site assessment. Social isolation was assessed by \"lack of conversation,\" \"lack of passive support,\" \"lack of offering support,\" and \"lack of social participation.\" Dietary variety was evaluated using the Dietary Variety Score (DVS).
RESULTS: The participants\' median age was 73 (interquartile range 25-75: 69-77) years, and 2147 (44.7%) were male. After adjusting for covariates, with regard to male participants, a lack of offering support (β = -0.051, P = 0.019) and a lack of social participation (β = -0.089, P < 0.001) were associated with a low DVS. For female participants, only a lack of social participation was related to a low DVS (β = -0.067, P < 0.001). A lack of conversation and passive support were not associated with a low DVS for both genders (P >0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that encouraging social participation, regardless of gender, as well as preventing a lack of offering support for others among men, may contribute to improving individuals\' DVS. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2024; ••: ••-••.

BACKGROUND: Despite the challenging curriculum, medicine is a popular study program. We propose McClelland\'s Motive Disposition Theory (MDT) as a possible theory for explaining medical students motivation. The theory describes how individuals differ in their behaviour due to their varying manifestations of certain motives. The three motives can thus influence the students behaviour and academic success. Using these motives, complimented with an altruism- and a freedom motive, this study was aimed at investigating young adults\' explicit motives to study medicine. In addition, we also wanted to find out whether there are gender differences in motives and other variables such as empathy, emotional intelligence and academic self-concept.
METHODS: Over 20 universities across Germany were contacted and asked to share the online study with their first semester medical students in the winter term 2022/23, which resulted in a final N = 535. We used validated and reliable measurements, including a self-created and piloted questionnaire covering medicine-specific explicit motives.
RESULTS: Comparing the mean scores between motives, we found that the altruism motive was the strongest motive (M = 5.19), followed by freedom (M = 4.88), affiliation (M = 4.72) and achievement (M = 4.59). The power motive achieved the lowest score (M = 3.92). Male students scored significantly higher for power (M = 4.24) than females did (M = 3.80, p < .001), while female students found affiliation more important (M = 4.81) than male students did (M = 4.59, p = .016). Female participants scored significantly higher for emotional intelligence (p = .010) and several personality aspects, including empathy (p < .001), but showed a significantly lower academic self-concept (p = .033), compared to their male colleagues. Nonetheless, the effect sizes were mostly small to medium.
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that first-year medical students are primarily motivated by humanitarian factors to study medicine, compared to motives related to money or power. This is mostly in line with earlier studies using qualitative approaches, showing that MDT can be applied to explain explicit motives in medical students.
BACKGROUND: The longitudinal project, which this study was part of, was registered via OSF ( https://archive.org/details/osf-registrations-mfhek-v1 ) on the 28th of September 2022 under the title \"Transformation of emotion and motivation factors in medical students during the study progress: A multicenter longitudinal study\".

BACKGROUND: In today\'s world, which is progressively oriented towards science and technology and facing a growing demand for skilled professionals, it becomes essential to identify the factors that encourage individuals to pursue careers in STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Previous research has shown that affective-motivational factors, math performance and gender influence STEM occupational and academic choices in adulthood. However, few studies examined how these factors may influence STEM choices as early as middle school. This study aims to assess how math anxiety, math self-efficacy, math performance and gender influence STEM school choices during middle school.
METHODS: We longitudinally assessed a group of 109 students (Year 6) over three school years, with measurements taken on three different occasions.
RESULTS: Findings indicated that individuals who made an STEM school choice experienced lower math anxiety, higher self-efficacy and math performance and were predominantly male. Furthermore, the results indicated that both math anxiety in Year 7 and self-efficacy in Year 6 made the most substantial unique contributions to the STEM school choice.
CONCLUSIONS: Math anxiety and math self-efficacy seem to be both crucial in influencing middle school students\' STEM choices, offering new perspectives for early interventions aimed at promoting more informed school choices.

During role-differentiated bimanual movements (RDBM), an object is typically stabilized with one hand and manipulated with the other. RDBM require coupling both hands for coordinated action (achieved through interhemispheric connections), but also inhibition of crosstalk to avoid involuntary movements in the stabilizing hand. We investigated how healthy cognitive aging and mild cognitive impairments (MCI) affect force-stabilization during an RDBM in a cohort sequential study design with up to 4 measurement points over 32 months. 132 older adults (>80 years) participated in this study, 77 were cognitively healthy individuals (CHI) and 55 presented with MCI. Participants performed a visuomotor bimanual force-tracking task. They either produced a constant force with both hands (bimanual constant) or a constant force with one and an alternating force with the other hand (role-differentiated). We investigated force-fluctuations of constant force-production using the coefficient of variation (CV), detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) and sample entropy (SEn). Results showed higher CV and less complex variability structure (higher DFA and lower SEn) during the role-differentiated compared to the bimanual constant task. Furthermore, CHI displayed a more complex variability structure during the bimanual constant, but a less complex structure during the role-differentiated task than MCI. Interestingly this complexity reduction was more pronounced in CHI than MCI individuals, suggesting different changes in the control mechanisms. While understanding these changes requires further research, potential causes might be structural deteriorations leading to less efficient (intra- and interhemispheric) networks because of MCI, or an inability to appropriately divert the focus of attention.

Competency-based teasing has been identified as a risk factor for children\'s depressive symptoms. However, the specific psychological mechanisms mediating this relationship are not well understood, especially in the context of Chinese culture. This study examined the relationship between competency-based teasing, subsequent depressive symptoms, and the possible mediating role of positivity in Chinese children by using parallel process latent growth curve modelling. Gender differences were also explored. A sample of 4376 Chinese children (55.1% boys; age: M = 9.98 years, SD = 0.88) completed measurements of the relevant constructs on five occasions across 2 years, using half-year intervals. The findings revealed that competency-based teasing was significantly positively associated with subsequent depressive symptoms in Chinese children. Furthermore, positivity mediated this relationship in girls, but not in boys. The results suggest that positivity-cultivating and gender-specific interventions may be effective to reduce the risk of depressive symptoms in Chinese children.

UNASSIGNED: Red blood cell distribution width (RDW) is being actively studied as a biomarker in various cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). The aim of this study was to conduct a comparative analysis of RDW in patients with carotid atherosclerosis, comparing it with an assessment of the severity of carotid artery stenosis (CAS).
UNASSIGNED: The Duplex registry database was used to conduct this retrospective cross-sectional study. The study participants underwent a complete blood count test, analysis for lipid profile, and carotid ultrasound. The patients were divided into 5 groups depending on CAS degree: none; 20%-49%; 50%-69%; 70%-99%; and occlusion.
UNASSIGNED: Data from 2548 patients were included in the final analysis (mean age: 57.9 ± 12.3 years; 51% males [n = 1301]). The analysis confirmed the relationship between the increase in the RDW index and CAS gradation increase in men (Kr-W H = 16.43; P = 0.0009), but was not confirmed in women (Kr-W H = 4.32; P = 0.22). Significantly higher levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and platelets and lower levels of red blood cell and white blood cells were registered in female patients without CAS and with CAS < 50% compared with men (P < 0.001).
UNASSIGNED: The results of the present study showed that RDW is an indicator whose increase is associated with an increase in the degree of carotid atherosclerosis in men, but not in women. This allows to discuss the role of the RDW index as a possible new laboratory biomarker of inflammation and progression of atherosclerosis, which can make an additional contribution to the formation of increased morbidity and mortality in men from atherosclerotic CVD.

Intrinsic (i.e., personality traits) and extrinsic mate value (i.e., resources, physical attractiveness) preferences play a crucial role in (online) relationship formation. The role of mate values in dating applications was unclear and was addressed in a multi-method study. A first content analytical study examined the prevalence of mate values (MVs) on Tinder profiles (Study 1) and two subsequent cross-sectional studies explored the relationships between dating app use, various swiping behaviors, sexual satisfaction (Studies 2-3), need satisfaction with matches (Study 3), having a committed relationship versus casual sex motivation for using dating apps and users\' gender. The content analysis of 307 Tinder profiles indicated that resources and physical attractiveness were most salient in biographies and pictures, respectively. The first cross-sectional study (nfullsample = 325, ndating app users = 133) revealed no significant relationships between dating app frequency/swiping frequency, intrinsic and extrinsic MV preferences, and sexual satisfaction. The second cross-sectional study (n = 323) showed no significant relationships between picture-based or biography-based swiping, intrinsic and extrinsic MV preferences, and need satisfaction with matches. Gender differences emerged in the presentation of MVs on Tinder (Study 1) and general MV preferences (Study 2-3), but not in the relationships between different types of dating app use/swiping and MV preferences (Study 2-3). A committed relationship and a casual sex motivation played a role in the relationships between different types of swiping behaviors and MV preferences, and between MV preferences, and sexual satisfaction/need satisfaction with matches.