ABSTRACT
In Italy, the consumption of raw or slightly cooked mussels represents the most important risk factor for the transmission of hepatitis A virus (HAV). Although there exist effective methods for the bacterial depuration of contaminated mussels, these methods are poorly effective on enteric viruses. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a closed-circuit depuration system that uses both ozone and UV light for disinfecting water and that allows salinity and temperature, important parameters for the metabolism of mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis), to be maintained at constant levels. The results showed that this depuration method decreased the viral load (from 1.72 log 50% tissue culture infective dose [TCID50] ml(-1) to <1 log TCID50 ml(-1) within 24 h and from 3.82 log TCID50 ml(-1) to <1 log TCID50 ml(-1) within 48 h). However, in both cases, after 120 h of depuration, a residual amount of virus capable of replicating in cells was detected. These results show that depuration, even if performed with advanced systems, may not guarantee the absence of virus.
Subject(s)
Bivalvia/virology , Food Microbiology , Hepatitis A/transmission , Hepatovirus/growth & development , Animals , Ozone/pharmacology , Time Factors , Ultraviolet Rays , Viral LoadABSTRACT
The ability of congenitally blind persons to produce voluntarily facial expressions of a number of emotions was compared with that of normally sighted individuals using both objective facial measurement and observer recognition. Results revealed that there were almost no significant differences between blind and sighted participants with respect to the number and type of facial action units produced. The portrayals of the blind participants were significantly more poorly recognized by observers than were those of the sighted participants (except for happiness). Correspondence analyses of the data showed differences between sighted and blind participants in the dimensional structure of the expressions (as based on the similarity among emotions with respect to both objective measurement and judgments). Overall, the data relavitize earlier conclusions on the facial expression of blind as compared with sighted persons and suggest specific hypotheses and procedures for further work in this area.
Subject(s)
Blindness/psychology , Emotions , Facial Expression , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Blindness/congenital , Female , Humans , Imitative Behavior , Internal-External Control , Male , Middle Aged , Social Perception , SocializationABSTRACT
Anger and hostility have long been considered important factors in the etiology of essential hypertension (EH) and coronary heart disease (CHD). This case-control study investigates the association of hostility, as measured by the Cook and Medley Hostility Scale (HO), and anger, as measured by the Multidimensional Anger Inventory (MAI), with CHD and EH in 80 CHD patients, 80 EH patients, and a control group of 80 healthy adults from Italy. Cases revealed significantly higher scores than controls in two subsets of HO and in two subscales of MAI. Some of these subscales appeared to be age-dependent. The results indicate that particular components of anger-hostility could be taken into consideration when studying psychological risk factors for CHD and EH.
Subject(s)
Anger , Coronary Disease/psychology , Hostility , Hypertension/psychology , Adult , Age Factors , Aged , Analysis of Variance , Cardiovascular Diseases/psychology , Case-Control Studies , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Sex FactorsABSTRACT
We present here new evidence of cross-cultural agreement in the judgement of facial expression. Subjects in 10 cultures performed a more complex judgment task than has been used in previous cross-cultural studies. Instead of limiting the subjects to selecting only one emotion term for each expression, this task allowed them to indicate that multiple emotions were evident and the intensity of each emotion. Agreement was very high across cultures about which emotion was the most intense. The 10 cultures also agreed about the second most intense emotion signaled by an expression and about the relative intensity among expressions of the same emotion. However, cultural differences were found in judgments of the absolute level of emotional intensity.
Subject(s)
Cross-Cultural Comparison , Emotions , Facial Expression , Judgment , Adult , Attitude , Female , Humans , MaleABSTRACT
The ability to recognize the facial expressions of emotions was investigated in 30 borderline hypertensive patients, 16 with high intralymphocytic sodium content (ILSC) and 14 with normal ILSC, and in 34 normotensive matched controls. To this aim, 48 slides with the facial expressions of emotions and with neutral expressions were shown to the subjects by means of a tachistoscope. Two brief questionnaires, the Affective Communication Test and the Dimensions Rating Scale, were used to assess the ability to express emotions and the intensity of emotional experience in the subjects. Results show in borderline hypertensives a difficulty in recognizing emotions, with differences between the two subgroups of patients.