How culturally unique are pandemic effects? Evaluating cultural similarities and differences in effects of age, biological sex, and political beliefs on COVID impacts

Despite being bio-epidemiological phenomena, the causes and effects of pandemics are culturally influenced in ways that go beyond national boundaries. However, they are often studied in isolated pockets, and this fact makes it difficult to parse the unique influence of specific cultural psychologies. To help fill in this gap, the present study applies existing cultural theories via linear mixed modeling to test the influence of unique cultural factors in a multi-national sample (that moves beyond Western nations) on the effects of age, biological sex, and political beliefs on pandemic outcomes that include adverse financial impacts, adverse resource impacts, adverse psychological impacts, and the health impacts of COVID. Our study spanned 19 nations (participant N = 14,133) and involved translations into 9 languages. Linear mixed models revealed similarities across cultures, with both young persons and women reporting worse outcomes from COVID across the multi-national sample. However, these effects were generally qualified by culture-specific variance, and overall more evidence emerged for effects unique to each culture than effects similar across cultures. Follow-up analyses suggested this cultural variability was consistent with models of pre-existing inequalities and socioecological stressors exacerbating the effects of the pandemic. Collectively, this evidence highlights the importance of developing culturally flexible models for understanding the cross-cultural nature of pandemic psychology beyond typical WEIRD approaches

Primary breast lymphoma; disease recurrence

Primary breast lymphoma (PBL) accounts 0.4-0.5% of all breast cancers. The aim is to present the patient diagnosed with recurrency of primary breast lymphoma treated six year ago without radiotherapy. A 63-years-old woman patient admitted to our hospital with a palpabl mass in her left breast. Six years ago she was treated with chemoterapy after local excision for primary left breast lymphoma. Imaging modalities showed multiple lesion in breast and confirmed with biopsy. Pathologic results were similar with first one and the case was accepted as PBL recurrence. Multipl metastases has been determined with staging modalities. Patient started to chemotherapy treatment. PBL is a rare cancer of breast and there is no consensus at the treatment of disease. In the literature addition of radiotherapy to the treatment prevents local recurrence. There were occured recurrence without radiotherapy, mimicked that radiotherapy is an essential modality in PBL treatment

Clinical and molecular evaluation of MEFV gene variants in the Turkish population: a study by the National Genetics Consortium

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is a monogenic autoinflammatory disorder with recurrent fever, abdominal pain, serositis, articular manifestations, erysipelas-like erythema, and renal complications as its main features. Caused by the mutations in the MEditerranean FeVer (MEFV) gene, it mainly affects people of Mediterranean descent with a higher incidence in the Turkish, Jewish, Arabic, and Armenian populations. As our understanding of FMF improves, it becomes clearer that we are facing with a more complex picture of FMF with respect to its pathogenesis, penetrance, variant type (gain-of-function vs. loss-of-function), and inheritance. In this study, MEFV gene analysis results and clinical findings of 27,504 patients from 35 universities and institutions in Turkey and Northern Cyprus are combined in an effort to provide a better insight into the genotype-phenotype correlation and how a specific variant contributes to certain clinical findings in FMF patients. Our results may help better understand this complex disease and how the genotype may sometimes contribute to phenotype. Unlike many studies in the literature, our study investigated a broader symptomatic spectrum and the relationship between the genotype and phenotype data. In this sense, we aimed to guide all clinicians and academicians who work in this field to better establish a comprehensive data set for the patients. One of the biggest messages of our study is that lack of uniformity in some clinical and demographic data of participants may become an obstacle in approaching FMF patients and understanding this complex disease