Lateralization of squamous cell carcinomas in the head-neck region

Earlier studies have shown the lateralization of several immune disorders, including herpes zoster infection and breast cancer. We investigated whether there is lateralization of squamous cell carcinomas in the head-neck region and a relation of handedness with this cancer. Analysis showed right-sided lateralization of head-heck cancers in right-handed patients and vice versa in left-handed ones and a higher rate of left-handedness in patients with squamous cell cancer. Associations among left-handedness, squamous cell carcinoma, and its lateralization may result from a genetic togetherness.     

I like you but I don't know why: Objective facial resemblance to significant others influences snap judgments

Does a new person's objective facial resemblance to a significant other influence snap judgments of liking, and if so, does this effect occur even when individuals are not consciously aware of the resemblance? Participants (romantic couples) made trait judgments about 24 novel faces, each shown for 500 ms. Objective facial resemblance was manipulated using morphing techniques such that half of the novel faces resembled participants' partner and half did not. We found that women's evaluations of novel men who resembled their partner (vs. those who did not) were more positive, but men's evaluations of novel women were not appreciably affected by facial resemblance. These results held even when individuals were not consciously aware of the resemblance. Moreover, the effect of facial resemblance on judgments of liking was more pronounced for individuals who were more satisfied in their relationship, suggesting that these results were due to activating the specific partner representation (rather than familiarity). This research shows that objective facial resemblance to a significant other influences snap judgments of liking automatically, effortlessly, and without conscious awareness.     

The Effect of Religious Belief and Forgiveness on Coping with Diabetes

We aimed to investigate the relationship of religious beliefs and forgiveness in diabetic patients with various sociodemographic characteristics, emotional problems and glycaemic control. The study comprises 100 patients diagnosed with type 2 DM. We used a data collection form, the Scale of Forgiveness and Religiosity (SFR), Problem Areas in Diabetes Scale (PAID), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and the Audit of Diabetes-Dependent Quality of Life (ADDQoL). We also recorded blood glucose and HbA1c test results. A statistically significant relationship was determined only between the scores of the STAI-I and the religious belief scales (r = 0.198, p = 0.049). A statistically significant negative relationship was determined between the forgiveness scale points and the BDI (r = 0.326, p = 0.001), the STAI-II (r = 0.308, p = 0.002) and PAID (r = 0.313, p = 0.001) and a positive correlation with ADDQoL (r = 0.284, p = 0.004). To conclude, forgiveness by patient himself or others reduced the emotional problems which were experienced related to diabetes by reducing stress levels and could increase quality of life.     

Bibliometric and Scientometric Analysis of the Articles Published in the Journal of Religion and Health Between 1975 and 2016

Journal of Religion and Health - Bibliometrics and scientometrics are novel closely related scientific fields measuring and analyzing scientific publications in a certain area. Although...     

Accidents happen: Psychological empowerment as a moderator of accident involvement and its outcomes

Research in the occupational safety realm has tended to develop and test models aimed at predicting accident involvement in the workplace, with studies treating accident involvement as the starting point and examining its outcomes being more rare. In this study, we examine the relationship between accident involvement and a series of outcomes drawing upon a learned helplessness theory perspective. Specifically, we predicted that psychological empowerment would moderate the relationship between prior accident involvement and outcomes. We tested our hypotheses on a sample of 392 employees and their 66 supervisors working in an iron and steel manufacturing firm in Southern Turkey, using data collected from employees and their supervisors via four separate surveys. Results suggest that accident involvement was positively related to supervisor‐rated employee withdrawal, production deviance, and sabotage only when psychological empowerment was low. The results illustrate that workplace accidents have indirect costs in the form of higher withdrawal and maladaptive behaviors, and organizations may inoculate employees against some of these outcomes via higher psychological empowerment.     

Posttraumatic stress disorder in posttransplant children: creating a clinical program to address their needs

Posttraumatic stress symptoms have been shown to occur in pediatric and adult solid-organ transplant recipients. The presence of these symptoms is associated with non-adherence to medications, increased distress, and poor outcome. Because posttraumatic stress disorder is treatable and because a transplant operation usually is an "anticipated trauma," it is possible to address posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in transplant recipients and attempt to prevent their development. Under my direction, the pediatric liver transplant program at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City created research and clinical programs to address posttraumatic stress symptoms and their consequences. Specifically, the focus on non-adherence to immunosuppressive medications in transplant recipients who are distressed and their parents. This article begins with a review of the data that led to the decision to start these programs. I then present the basic elements that are in place, in this particular program, to address patients' needs. I end this review with preliminary outcome data that illustrate the potential impact of such an integrated approach to patient care on medical outcomes.     

Top-down attentional modulation of spatial frequency processing in scene perception

Recent evidence suggests that spatial frequency (SF) processing of simple and complex visual patterns is flexible. The use of spatial scale in scene perception seems to be influenced by people's expectations. However as yet there is no direct evidence for top-down attentional effects on flexible scale use in scene perception. In two experiments we provide such evidence. We presented participants with low- and high-pass SF filtered scenes and cued their attention to the relevant scale. In Experiment 1 we subsequently presented them with hybrid scenes (both low- and high-pass scenes present). We observed that participants reported detecting the cued component of hybrids. To explore if this might be due to decision biases, in Experiment 2, we replaced hybrids with images containing meaningful scenes at uncued SFs and noise at the cued SFs (invalid cueing). We found that participants performed poorly on invalid cueing trials. These findings are consistent with top-down attentional modulation of early spatial frequency processing in scene perception.     

The Effect of Religious Beliefs on the Attitude of Aesthetic Surgery Operation in Islam

This study aims to investigate the relationship between individuals’ attitudes about acceptance of aesthetic surgery (e.g. rhinoplasty, autoplasty, blepharoplasty, and mammaplasty) and some of the worship practices in Islamic religion such as performing prayer, fasting, and going to pilgrimage. Although many people think that aesthetic surgery is inappropriate in Islamic religion, no studies in the literature were found to have investigated this issue. This study collected data through a questionnaire administered to 96 patients who applied to our Plastic Surgery Clinic and underwent various surgical operations and 96 patients who were recommended plastic surgery but rejected to have one; the questionnaire aimed to identify the participants’ frequency of religious worship practices and appropriateness of aesthetic surgery to their beliefs. The participants responded on the frequency of religious worship levels according to the options in the questionnaire. The “Acceptance of Cosmetic Surgery Scale” was utilized in order to identify their attitudes towards aesthetic surgery. Levels of performing prayers, fasting, and going to pilgrimage in the groups that accepted surgery and in the groups that rejected surgery were significantly different (p < 0.001, p = 0.008, p < 0.001). In two different groups, the Acceptance of Aesthetic Surgery Scale scores were significantly different within the prayer groups and fasting groups (p < 0.001, p < 0.001, p = 0.001, p < 0.001). While the group that accepted surgery indicated no significant differences between those who thought about going to pilgrimage and who did not (p = 0.650), there was a significant difference in the group that rejected surgery (p < 0.001). While 14.6% of the participants in the group that accepted surgery considered aesthetic surgery a sin, this proportion was 56.3% in the group that rejected surgery, and this difference was significant (p < 0.001). In both surgery groups, there were differences in the scale scores of those who considered aesthetic surgery a sin and those who did not (p < 0.001, p < 0.001). There was a significant relationship between worship practices, one of the biggest indicators of the level of belief in Islamic religion, and aesthetic surgery attitudes. However, despite the fact that belief levels affect the decision of having an operation in plastic surgery, in case of serious health problems, the decision of having an operation becomes more important religious beliefs.

     

Investigation of the Relationship Between Anxiety Levels of Patients Before Plastic Surgery Operation and Worship Practices in Muslims

There is an increasing interest in the effects of preoperative anxiety on the course and outcomes of surgical treatments and also in the studies about the anxiety-decreasing interventions. The present study aims to identify the relationship between the preoperative anxiety level of the individuals prior to aesthetic surgery operations such as nose, ear, eyelid, and mammoplasty and religious rituals such as performing prayers, fasting, and going to pilgrimage. The frequency of performing the religious rituals was identified through a questionnaire. The questionnaire included questions about the religious rituals such as performing prayers, going to a pilgrimage, and fasting as well as questions about sociodemographic features such as gender, age, and education level of the patients. Preoperative anxiety level was measured using the “Anxiety Specific to Surgery Questionnaire.” The nonparametric Mann–Whitney U test was used for the scale score comparisons of the two independent groups. The scale score comparisons of more than two groups were performed using the Kruskal–Wallis test. The relationships between age and scale scores were analyzed using the Spearman’s correlation coefficient. The study involved 117 patients who were planned to undergo an aesthetic surgery operation. The scale scores were significantly different according to the pilgrimage groups (p = 0.004). The scale scores were significantly different according to the level of fasting (p = 0.022). No significant differences were found between the scales scores of the groups who reported the frequency of performing prayer as never, sometimes or five times (p = 0.515). In conclusion, the present study found that Muslim people who performed religious rituals more often experienced less preoperative anxiety levels in plastic surgeries, which indicates that the belief level is an effective factor in preoperative anxiety levels. The findings of the present study indicate that patients’ beliefs and worship practices should be taken into consideration by doctors, operating room personnel, and even all health workers in order to decrease the anxiety levels of patients who will undergo surgery.

     

Language, Learning, and Color Perception

Abstract— People perceive colors categorically. But what is the role of the environment (or nurture)—specifically, language—in color perception? The effects of language on the way people categorize and perceive colors have been considered to be minimal, but recent evidence suggests that language may indeed change color perception. Speakers of languages with different color-name repertoires show differences in the way they perceive color. Research shows that categorical effects on color perception can be induced through laboratory training and suggests language can similarly change color perception through the mechanism of perceptual learning.