Neurophysiological evidence of motor contribution to vicarious affective touch.

Understanding observed interpersonal touch, particularly the so-called affective touch targeting the CT fibers, is essential for social interactions. Research has documented that observing other people being touched activates the same cortical areas involved in direct tactile experiences. However, observing interpersonal touch also activates an inner simulation of the movements in the observer's motor system.

Review of dose setting for the extended one-generation reproductive toxicity studies (OECD TG 443): Considerations on ECHA's dose level selection recommendations.

During 2020, The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) began evaluating the OECD Test Guideline 443: Extended One Generation Reproductive Toxicity Study (EOGRTS) to analyze specific aspects related to study design, conduct and toxicological findings. A significant outcome of this ECHA evaluation focused on adequate dose level selection. Subsequently, ECHA published recommendations for DART studies, however, these recommendations seemingly do not align with the principles of the 3Rs, animal welfare or human safety goals, specifically, regarding three aspects.

'Magic cosmetic fillers': Appearance-enhancement effects on self-face recognition.

People naturally exhibit a self-serving bias which can be observed in their tendency to judge their own physical attractiveness more favourably than that of others. Despite this positive self-perception, minimally invasive cosmetic injectable procedures for facial rejuvenation and enhancement are becoming increasingly common. It remains unclear, however, whether recognizing an altered version of one's own face, enhanced cosmetically, correlates with a positive view of cosmetic surgery and excessive preoccupations about physical characteristics perceived as defects (body dysmorphic concerns).

Long-Term Impact of COVID-19 Related Disruption of National Health Service Elective Services on Emergency Major Lower Limb Amputations.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the healthcare systems worldwide since the dawn of 2020. In March 2020, the United Kingdom government announced the first national lockdown which severely disturbed all National Health Service (NHS) healthcare elective services. Our aim is to assess the long-term impact of COVID-19 related disruption of NHS elective services on emergency major lower limb amputations (MLLAs).

Evidence of Altered Fear Extinction Learning in Individuals with High Vaccine Hesitancy During Covid-19 Pandemic.

Objective: A relevance of fear and concerns about vaccine development and its side effects are suggested to explain COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. However, evidence supporting the phobic origin hypothesis of hesitancy for COVID-19 and other vaccinations remains indirect and elusive.

Method: We addressed this issue by investigating the existence of a relationship between fear conditioning, extinction, and the respective vaccination hesitancy and anxiety scores in a group of 25 individuals.