“Avoiding or approaching eyes”? Introversion/extraversion affects the gaze-cueing effect

We investigated whether the extra-/introversion personality dimension can influence processing of others’ eye gaze direction and emotional facial expression during a target detection task. On the basis of previous evidence showing that self-reported trait anxiety can affect gaze-cueing with emotional faces, we also verified whether trait anxiety can modulate the influence of intro-/extraversion on behavioral performance. Fearful, happy, angry or neutral faces, with either direct or averted gaze, were presented before the target appeared in spatial locations congruent or incongruent with stimuli’s eye gaze direction. Results showed a significant influence of intra-/extraversion dimension on gaze-cueing effect for angry, happy, and neutral faces with averted gaze. Introverts did not show the gaze congruency effect when viewing angry expressions, but did so with happy and neutral faces; extraverts showed the opposite pattern. Importantly, the influence of intro-/extraversion on gaze-cueing was not mediated by trait anxiety. These findings demonstrated that personality differences can shape processing of interactions between relevant social signals

Six Action Steps to Address Global Disparities in Parkinson Disease: A World Health Organization Priority

Importance: The Global Burden of Disease study conducted between 1990 and 2016, based on a global study of 195 countries and territories, identified Parkinson disease (PD) as the fastest growing neurological disorder when measured using death and disability. Most people affected by PD live in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and experience large inequalities in access to neurological care and essential medicines. This Special Communication describes 6 actions steps that are urgently needed to address global disparities in PD. Observations: The adoption by the 73rd World Health Assembly (WHA) of resolution 73.10 to develop an intersectoral global action plan on epilepsy and other neurological disorders in consultation with member states was the stimulus to coordinate efforts and leverage momentum to advance the agenda of neurological conditions, such as PD. In April 2021, the Brain Health Unit at the World Health Organization convened a multidisciplinary, sex-balanced, international consultation workshop, which identified 6 workable avenues for action within the domains of disease burden; advocacy and awareness; prevention and risk reduction; diagnosis, treatment, and care; caregiver support; and research. Conclusions and Relevance: The dramatic increase of PD cases in many world regions and the potential costs of PD-associated treatment will need to be addressed to prevent possible health service strain. Across the board, governments, multilateral agencies, donors, public health organizations, and health care professionals constitute potential stakeholders who are urged to make this a priority

Understanding the formation of pinholes in PFSA membranes with the essential work of fracture (EWF)

International audienc

Infrared and thermal behaviour of proton exchange membrane (PEM) after cationic contamination

International audienc

Diagnostic criteria for blepharospasm: A multicenter international study

Background: There are no widely accepted criteria to aid the physician in diagnosing BSP. Objective: To validate recently proposed diagnostic criteria for blepharospasm in a larger and geographically diverse population and to develop a screening system for blepharospasm. Methods: Video-recordings from 211 blepharospasm patients and 166 healthy/disease controls were examined by 8 raters. Agreement for presence of orbicularis oculi spasms, sensory trick, and increased blinking was measured by k statistics. Inability to voluntarily suppress the spasms was asked by the examiner but not captured in the video. Patients/controls were also requested to fill a self-administered questionnaire addressing relevant blepharospasm clinical aspects. The diagnosis at each site was the gold standard for sensitivity/specificity. Results: All the study items yielded satisfactory inter/intra-observer agreement. Combination of items rather than each item alone reached satisfactory sensitivity/specificity. The combined algorithm started with recognition of spasms followed by sensory trick. In the absence of a sensory trick, including “increased blinking” or “inability to voluntarily suppress the spasms” or both items yielded 88–92% sensitivity and 79–83% specificity. No single question of the questionnaire yielded high sensitivity/specificity. Serial application of the questionnaire to our blepharospasm and control subjects and subsequent clinical examination of subjects screening positive by the validated diagnostic algorithms yielded 78–81% sensitivity and 83–91% specificity. Conclusion: These results support the use of proposed diagnostic criteria in multi-ethnic, multi-center cohorts. We also propose a case-finding procedure to screen blepharospasm in a given population with less effort than would be required by examination of all subjects