Racial biases, facial trustworthiness, and resting heart rate variability: unravelling complexities in pain recognition.

The study explores whether racial identity and appearance-based trustworthiness judgments can affect recognition of pain in medical students differing in levels of resting heart rate variability (HRV), a measure of parasympathetic control of the heart. After undergoing HRV assessment, 68 medical students (37 females) participated in a dynamic pain recognition task, viewing video clips of White and Black faces, which differed in perceived trustworthiness based on facial appearance, transitioning from neutral to intense pain expressions. Response time, pain intensity attribution and treatment recommendations were analyzed.

Facial trustworthiness dampens own-gender bias in emotion recognition.

Previous research suggests that emotion recognition is influenced by social categories derived by invariant facial features such as gender and inferences of trustworthiness from facial appearance. The current study sought to replicate and extend these findings by examining the intersection of these social categories on recognition of emotional facial expressions. We used a dynamic emotion recognition task to assess accuracy and response times in the happiness and anger categorization displayed by female and male faces that differed in the degree of facial trustworthiness (i.

Familiarity From Facial Appearance Leads to Hypoalgesia.

Social context has been shown to influence pain perception. This study aimed to broaden this literature by investigating whether relevant social stimuli, such as faces with different levels of intrinsic (based on physical resemblance to known individuals) and episodic (acquired through a previous experience) familiarity, may lead to hypoalgesia. We hypothesized that familiarity, whether intrinsic or acquired through experience, would increase pain threshold and decrease pain intensity.

No(cebo) Vax: COVID-19 Vaccine Beliefs Are Important Determinants of Both Occurrence and Perceived Severity of Common Vaccines' Adverse Effects.

This study highlights the role of psychological influences in triggering and amplifying the adverse effects of the COVID-19 vaccine (i.e., nocebo effects).

Nail-Patella Syndrome and Glaucoma: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Nail-patella syndrome (NPS) is a rare autosomal dominant disease characterized by nail dysplasia, aplastic or hypoplastic patellae, elbow dysplasia, and presence of iliac horns. Renal or ocular abnormalities are also associated with the disease. We report the case of a 57-year-old woman affected by NPS and having haploinsufficiency of the LMX1B gene who experienced severe bilateral chronic angle-closure glaucoma in both eyes and that was successfully managed with a flap-express procedure in the right eye.

Reoperations for complications within 90 days after gel stent implantation or trabeculectomy.

Purpose: To describe reoperations in the operating room for complications that occurred within the first 90 days after gel stent implantation or trabeculectomy at a single institution over 5 years.

Methods: In this retrospective chart review, patients who have undergone gel stent implantation with mitomycin C (MMC) or trabeculectomy with MMC were enrolled. Postoperative complications that required reoperations within the first 90 days were evaluated.

Development and cross-national investigation of a model explaining participation in WHO-recommended and placebo behaviours to prevent COVID-19 infection.

To protect themselves from COVID-19, people follow the recommendations of the authorities, but they also resort to placebos. To stop the virus, it is important to understand the factors underlying both types of preventive behaviour. This study examined whether our model (developed based on the Health Belief Model and the Transactional Model of Stress) can explain participation in WHO-recommended and placebo actions during the pandemic.

Moving beyond the Slit-Lamp Gonioscopy: Challenges and Future Opportunities.

After almost a century from its introduction in clinical practice, slit-lamp gonioscopy is still considered the reference standard for evaluating the anterior chamber angle (ACA). Gonioscopy is essential for diagnosing angle closure disease, and ACA features are included in glaucoma's diagnostics and treatments algorithms. However, shortcomings of slit-lamp gonioscopy include a steep learning curve, lack of agreement between examiners and poor documentation.

Direct selective laser trabeculoplasty in open angle glaucoma study design: a multicentre, randomised, controlled, investigator-masked trial (GLAUrious).

Introduction: Laser trabeculoplasty is an effective and widely used treatment for glaucoma. A new laser technology, the Eagle direct selective laser trabeculoplasty (DSLT) device, may provide automated, fast, simple, safe and effective laser treatment for glaucoma in a broader range of clinical settings. This trial aims to test the hypothesis that translimbal DSLT is effective and not inferior to selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) in reducing intraocular pressure (IOP) in open angle glaucoma (OAG).

A 2-year prospective multicenter study of ultrasound cyclo plasty for glaucoma.

Ultrasound cyclo plasty (UCP) is a recently developed surgical technique for glaucoma allowing a selective and controlled coagulation of the ciliary body. We herein investigated the long-term efficacy and safety of UCP for the treatment of glaucoma. This prospective study included patients with primary and secondary glaucoma.

Bilateral choroidal detachment and myopic shift after acetazolamide intake for laser capsulotomy.

Introduction: To report a case of bilateral choroidal effusion after laser capsulotomy.

Case Description: A healthy 85 years old white woman was referred to our hospital with a diagnosis of posterior capsule opacification in the left eye. The patient was treated with laser capsulotomy and oral acetazolamide was administered after the procedure.

Judging health care priority in emergency situations: Patient facial appearance matters.

Rationale: Extensive research has shown that implicit trait inferences from facial appearance can bias everyday life in a pervasive way, influencing our decisions in different social contexts such as mate choice, political vote and criminal sentence. In situations characterized by time pressure and scant information, decisions based on inferences from facial appearance may have particularly critical and serious consequences, such as in emergency healthcare. No studies today have investigated this aspect in an actual emergency.

Functional neuroanatomy of racial categorization from visual perception: A meta-analytic study.

We effortlessly sort people into different racial groups from their visual appearance and implicitly generate racial bias affecting cognition and behavior. As these mental activities provide the proximate mechanisms for social behaviours, it becomes essential to understand the neural activity underlying differences between own-race and other-race visual categorization. Yet intrinsic limitations of individual neuroimaging studies, owing to reduced sample size, inclusion of multiple races, and interactions between races in the participants and in the displayed visual stimuli, dampens generalizability of results.

Early Postoperative Intraocular Pressure is Associated With Better Pressure Control After XEN Implantation.

Unlabelled: PRéCIS:: Gel stent implantation is a bleb-forming surgery designed to achieve predictable pressure drop. An early low intraocular pressure (IOP) is associated with the long-term success of the procedure.

Purpose: To identify the variables associated with the success of the XEN procedure.

CFSE: A New Method for Identifying Human Limbal Stem Cells and Following Their Migration in Human Cornea.

Aim: To develop a method capable of identifying human corneal limbal stem cells (LSCs) and follow their proliferation and migration in the epithelium.

Materials And Methods: Ten fresh matched pairs of cadaveric normal human corneas were obtained from donors. Carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester (CFSE) was used to target LSCs.

Predictors of Endothelial Cell Loss after Phacoemulsification for the Treatment of Primary Angle Closure.

Purpose: To investigate demographic and anatomical factors associated with a reduction in endothelial cell density (ECD) after phacoemulsification (PE) for the treatment of primary angle closure (PAC).

Methods: In this prospective case series, ECD was evaluated by noncontact specular microscopy and biometric parameters by both noncontact optical biometry and anterior segment optical coherence tomography, preoperatively and at 12 months after surgery. Anterior segment biomicroscopy and gonioscopy were also performed.

Toward an integrative science of social vision in intergroup bias.

Social neuroscience is unveiling how the brain coordinates the construal of social categories and the generation of intergroup biases from facial perception. Recent evidence indicates that social categorization is more sensitive and malleable to elemental facial features than previously assumed. At the same time, perception of social categories can be crafted by top-down factors, including prior knowledge, motivations, and social expectations.

Chorioretinal folds: a proposed diagnostic algorithm.

Purpose: To create a diagnostic algorithm for the management of chorioretinal folds.

Methods: We reviewed the existing literature about chorioretinal folds focusing our attention on three specific conditions and created a diagnostic algorithm in order to otpimize the choice and the number of investigations.

Results: Chorioretinal folds are visible striations of the fundus usually arranged in parallel lines and disposed horizontally.

EX-PRESS Ab Externo Revision With a 41-G Needle.

The EX-PRESS Glaucoma Filtration Device is a stainless steel, nonvalved filtration device that channels aqueous humor through a secure lumen to a half-thickness scleral flap, creating a subconjunctival filtration bleb. Elevated postoperative intraocular pressure may indicate occlusion of the device lumen or episcleral fibrosis, and it is essential to reestablish the flow in a timely manner to prevent bleb formation failure. We report the successful use of an extendible 41-G subretinal injection needle to rapidly restore device patency when the conventional bleb revision was not effective.

Functional neuroanatomy of blindsight revealed by activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis.

Blindsight, the residual abilities of patients with cortical blindness to respond proficiently to stimuli they do not consciously acknowledge, offers a unique opportunity to study the functional and anatomical mechanisms sustaining visual awareness. Over decades, the phenomenon has been documented in a wide number of different patients, across independent laboratories, and for a variety of tasks and stimulus properties. Nevertheless, the functional neuroanatomy of blindsight remains elusive and alternative proposals have been put forth.

Prospective evaluation of CO laser-assisted sclerectomy surgery (CLASS) with Mitomycin C.

Purpose: Our purpose was to evaluate the clinical safety and efficacy of CO laser-assisted sclerectomy surgery (CLASS) with Mitomycin C (MMC) in open angle glaucoma (OAG).

Methods: This was a prospective, uncontrolled, interventional case series. All subjects underwent CLASS procedure by a single surgeon.

Basic Emotions in Human Neuroscience: Neuroimaging and Beyond.

The existence of so-called 'basic emotions' and their defining attributes represents a long lasting and yet unsettled issue in psychology. Recently, neuroimaging evidence, especially related to the advent of neuroimaging meta-analytic methods, has revitalized this debate in the endeavor of systems and human neuroscience. The core theme focuses on the existence of unique neural bases that are specific and characteristic for each instance of basic emotion.

Comparison of Central Corneal Thickness Measurements Using Ultrasonic Pachymetry, Anterior Segment OCT and Noncontact Specular Microscopy.

Purpose: To evaluate and compare central corneal thickness (CCT) values measured with anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT), noncontact specular microscopy (NCSM), and ultrasound pachymetry (USP).

Materials And Methods: CCT was measured in 182 healthy eyes without ocular abnormalities other than refractive errors. Three consecutive measurements of CCT by the same examiner were obtained during the same session.

Dynamic Changes in Amygdala Psychophysiological Connectivity Reveal Distinct Neural Networks for Facial Expressions of Basic Emotions.

The quest to characterize the neural signature distinctive of different basic emotions has recently come under renewed scrutiny. Here we investigated whether facial expressions of different basic emotions modulate the functional connectivity of the amygdala with the rest of the brain. To this end, we presented seventeen healthy participants (8 females) with facial expressions of anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness and emotional neutrality and analyzed amygdala's psychophysiological interaction (PPI).

Amygdala Response to Emotional Stimuli without Awareness: Facts and Interpretations.

Over the past two decades, evidence has accumulated that the human amygdala exerts some of its functions also when the observer is not aware of the content, or even presence, of the triggering emotional stimulus. Nevertheless, there is as of yet no consensus on the limits and conditions that affect the extent of amygdala's response without focused attention or awareness. Here we review past and recent studies on this subject, examining neuroimaging literature on healthy participants as well as brain-damaged patients, and we comment on their strengths and limits.