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This paper presents a novel hybrid DNA encryption (HyDEn) approach that uses randomized assignments of unique error-correcting DNA Hamming code words for single characters in the extended ASCII set. HyDEn relies on custom-built quaternary codes and a private key used in the randomized assignment of code words and the cyclic permutations applied on the encoded message. Along with its ability to detect and correct errors, HyDEn equals or outperforms existing cryptographic methods and represents a promising in silico DNA steganographic approach.

Although the term psychopathy is embedded with negativity, evidence points to the existence of another form of psychopathy, which involves adaptive traits such as stress and anxiety immunity, remarkable social skills, noteworthy leadership ability, and an absence of fear. The newly developed Durand Adaptive Psychopathic Traits Questionnaire (DAPTQ) aims to assess adaptive traits known to correlate with the psychopathic personality. Validation of the questionnaire among 765 individuals from the community gave support to a 9-factor solution: Leadership, Logical Thinking, Composure, Creativity, Fearlessness, Money Smart, Focus, Extroversion, and Management. The DAPTQ and its 9 subscales demonstrated good internal consistency reliability in a community sample (.68-.88). Convergent validity and divergent validity were supported by administering the DAPTQ alongside established measures of the psychopathic personality. Overall, these findings support the potential of the DAPTQ as an instrument for measuring psychopathy-associated adaptive traits. Limitations of this study and potential directions for future research are also discussed. Further studies are needed to validate the DAPTQ and its subscales against a wider range of personality traits and behaviors.

Although highly debated, the notion of the existence of an adaptive side to psychopathy is supported by some researchers. Currently, 2 instruments assessing psychopathic traits include an adaptive component, which might not cover the full spectrum of adaptive psychopathic traits. The Durand Adaptive Psychopathic Traits Questionnaire (DAPTQ; Durand, 2017 ) is a 41-item self-reported instrument assessing adaptive traits known to correlate with the psychopathic personality. In this study, I investigated in 2 samples (N = 263 and N = 262) the incremental validity of the DAPTQ over the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Short Form (PPI-SF) and the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM) using multiple criterion measures. Results showed that the DAPTQ significantly increased the predictive validity over the PPI-SF on 5 factors of the HEXACO. Additionally, the DAPTQ provided incremental validity over both the PPI-SF and the TriPM on measures of communication adaptability, perceived stress, and trait anxiety. Overall, these results support the validity of the DAPTQ in community samples. Directions for future studies to further validate the DAPTQ are discussed.

Recent findings have provided evidence for a negative correlation between psychopathy and happiness. In order to determine if this correlation is generalizable to all subtypes of psychopathy, participants from the community (N = 572) were recruited to examine happiness-related features among males and females by psychopathic subtypes. Examination of the Fearless-Dominance (PPI-I) and Impulsive-Antisociality (PPI-II) subscales of the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Short Form provided evidence for two distinct patterns when comparing psychopathic personality traits to happiness-related features. PPI-I was positively correlated with higher durable happiness, presence of a meaning in life, personal growth and hope, and correlated negatively with fluctuating happiness. PPI-II was negatively correlated with durable happiness, presence of a meaning in life, personal growth and hope, and correlated positively with fluctuating happiness and searching for a meaning in life. Despite a few differences, both genders displayed an overall similar pattern between measures of well-being and psychopathic subtypes. Implications for psychopathy regarding the importance of performing analyses by gender and subtypes are discussed.