Analysis of the morbidity with temporary incapacity for work among workers at the ship building and ship repairing company

Aim: To analyse the yearly morbidity with temporary in capacity among workers at the ship building and ship-repairing company as compared to norm groups after Batkis-Lekarev, previously defined values according to groups of disease - standard and registered illnesses of the population aged 18 and above in general hospitals in Varna district for the period 2004-2006. The comparative analysis for the period 2004-2006 shows that the negative tendencies in the morbidity with temporary in capacity for work have decreased during the past year. The structure of morbidity shows that the basic reasons for temporary in capacity for work of the working team as a whole are mainly diseases of the respiratory, musculo-skeletal system and diseases of the peripheral nervous system, which can be explained with the specific type of work. Special attention should be paid to the fact that the frequency of absences from work be cause of malignant growths grows double each following year. The progression of the sickness related to the peripheral nervous system, neuroses and eye diseases is similar. The presence of some of these diseases could be related directly with the working conditions.Scripta Scientifica Medica 2009; 41(2): 191-194

Real or Artificial? Intergroup Biases in Mind Perception in a Cross-Cultural Perspective

Recent research suggests that attributions of aliveness and mental capacities to faces are influenced by social group membership. In this article, we investigated group related biases in mind perception in participants from a Western and Eastern culture, employing faces of varying ethnic groups. In Experiment 1, Caucasian faces that ranged on a continuum from real to artificial were evaluated by participants in the UK (in-group) and in India (out-group) on animacy, abilities to plan and to feel pain, and having a mind. Human features were found to be assigned to a greater extent to faces when these belonged to in-group members, whereas out-group faces had to appear more realistic in order to be perceived as human. When participants in India evaluated South Asian (in-group) and Caucasian (out-group) faces in Experiment 2, the results closely mirrored those of the first experiment. For both studies, ratings of out-group faces were significantly predicted by participants’ levels of ethnocultural empathy. The findings highlight the role of intergroup processes (i.e., in-group favoritism, out-group dehumanization) in the perception of human and mental qualities and point to ethnocultural empathy as an important factor in responses to out-groups

The multi-modal nature of trustworthiness perception

Most past work on trustworthiness perception has focused on the structural features of the human face. The present study investigates the interplay of dynamic information from two channels – the face and the voice. By systematically varying the level of trustworthiness in each channel, 49 participants were presented with either facial or vocal information, or the combination of both, and made explicit judgements with respect to trustworthiness, dominance, and emotional valence. For most measures results revealed a primacy effect of facial over vocal cues. In examining the exact nature of the trustworthiness - emotion link we further found that emotional valence functioned as a significant mediator in impressions of trustworthiness. The findings extend previous correlational evidence and provide important knowledge of how trustworthiness in its dynamic and multi-modal form is decoded by the human perceiver. Index Terms: trustworthiness, face, voice, emotion, dynamic, multi-moda

Examining subjective and physiological responses to norm violation using text-based vignettes

In this article, we describe a paradigm using text-based vignettes for the study of social and cultural norm violation. Towards this aim, a range of scenarios depicting instances of norm violations was generated and tested with respect to their ability in evoking subjective and physiological responses. In Experiment 1, participants evaluated 29 vignettes on how upsetting, excusable and realistic the described behaviour appeared to be. Based on those ratings we selected and extended three norm violation vignettes for Experiment 2 in which participants' physiological responses were obtained in addition to their subjective ratings. In both studies, the vignettes were successful in eliciting negative responses to norm violations and were significantly affected by the perceivers' level of ethnocultural empathy. The trait measure of cultural empathy further predicted facial electromyography (EMG) activity at muscle sites associated with disgust (M. Levator Labii), thereby suggesting a potential moral response to norm-violating scenarios. We discuss the methodological merits and implications of this vignettes paradigm for investigating perceived norm transgressions and make recommendations for future work

Vocal and facial trustworthiness of talking heads

Trust is a key aspect to human communication due to its link to co-operation and survival. Recent research by [Ballew and Todorov 2007] has shown that humans can generate an initial trustworthiness judgement based on facial features within 100ms. However, in that work, perceived trustworthiness has been studied solely in the context of facial information. It has been suggested by [Surawski and Ossoff 2006] that trustworthiness cues are also prevalent in the auditory channel. There is however, no prior empirical evidence to suggest that visual cues are more important than audio cues and how people deal with inconsistent cues between the audio and visual channels

Spatio-temporally separated cortical flows and spindle geometry establish physical asymmetry in fly neural stem cells

Asymmetric cell division, creating sibling cells with distinct developmental potentials, can be manifested in sibling cell size asymmetry. This form of physical asymmetry occurs in several metazoan cells, but the underlying mechanisms and function are incompletely understood. Here we use Drosophila neural stem cells to elucidate the mechanisms involved in physical asymmetry establishment. We show that Myosin relocalizes to the cleavage furrow via two distinct cortical Myosin flows: at anaphase onset, a polarity induced, basally directed Myosin flow clears Myosin from the apical cortex. Subsequently, mitotic spindle cues establish a Myosin gradient at the lateral neuroblast cortex, necessary to trigger an apically directed flow, removing Actomyosin from the basal cortex. On the basis of the data presented here, we propose that spatiotemporally controlled Myosin flows in conjunction with spindle positioning and spindle asymmetry are key determinants for correct cleavage furrow placement and cortical expansion, thereby establishing physical asymmetry

Balkans' Asteraceae Species as a Source of Biologically Active Compounds for the Pharmaceutical and Food Industry

Herbal drugs are a useful source of different bioactive compounds. Asteraceae species, as the most widespread vascular plants, can be used both as food and as medicine due to the great diversity of recorded chemical components - different phenolic compounds, terpenes, carotenoids, vitamins, alkaloids, etc. The Balkan Peninsula is characterized by great diversity of plants from Asteraceae family, including presence of rare and endemic species. In this review, results of the survey of chemical composition and biological activity, mainly focusing on antioxidant, antimicrobial and anticancer effects of selected Balkans' Asteraceae species were provided. In addition, information on edible plants from Asteraceae family is presented, due to growing interest for the so-called 'healthy diet' and possible application of Balkans' Asteraceae species as food of high nutritional value or as a source of functional food ingredients.This is peer-reviewed version of the following article: Kostić, A.; Janacković, P.; Kolasinac, S. M.; Dajić-Stevanović, Z. Balkans’ Asteraceae Species as a Source of Biologically Active Compounds for the Pharmaceutical and Food Industry. Chemistry & Biodiversity 2020, 17 (6). [https://doi.org/10.1002/cbdv.202000097

Epigenetic management of major psychosis

Epigenetic mechanisms are thought to play a major role in the pathogenesis of the major psychoses (schizophrenia and bipolar disorder), and they may be the link between the environment and the genome in the pathogenesis of these disorders. This paper discusses the role of epigenetics in the management of major psychosis: (1) the role of epigenetic drugs in treating these disorders. At present, there are three categories of epigenetic drugs that are being actively investigated for their ability to treat psychosis: drugs inhibiting histone deacetylation; drugs decreasing DNA methylation; and drugs targeting microRNAs; and (2) the role of epigenetic mechanisms in electroconvulsive therapy in these disorders

Epigenetics and the power of art

This review presents an epigenetic view on complex factors leading to development and perception of “genius.” There is increasing evidence which indicates that artistic creativity is influenced by epigenetic processes that act both as targets and mediators of neurotransmitters as well as steroid hormones. Thus, perception and production of art appear to be closely associated with epigenetic contributions to physical and mental health

Longitudinal analyses of the DNA methylome in deployed military servicemen identify susceptibility loci for post-traumatic stress disorder

In order to determine the impact of the epigenetic response to traumatic stress on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), this study examined longitudinal changes of genome-wide blood DNA methylation profiles in relation to the development of PTSD symptoms in two prospective military cohorts (one discovery and one replication data set). In the first cohort consisting of male Dutch military servicemen (n=93), the emergence of PTSD symptoms over a deployment period to a combat zone was significantly associated with alterations in DNA methylation levels at 17 genomic positions and 12 genomic regions. Evidence for mediation of the relation between combat trauma and PTSD symptoms by longitudinal changes in DNA methylation was observed at several positions and regions. Bioinformatic analyses of the reported associations identified significant enrichment in several pathways relevant for symptoms of PTSD. Targeted analyses of the significant findings from the discovery sample in an independent prospective cohort of male US marines (n=98) replicated the observed relation between decreases in DNA methylation levels and PTSD symptoms at genomic regions in ZFP57, RNF39 and HIST1H2APS2. Together, our study pinpoints three novel genomic regions where longitudinal decreases in DNA methylation across the period of exposure to combat trauma marks susceptibility for PTSD