Mask-wearing selectivity alters observers' face perception.

Face masks became prevalent across the globe as an efficient tool to stop the spread of COVID-19. A host of studies already demonstrated that masks lead to changes in facial identification and emotional expression processing. These changes were documented across ages and were consistent even with the increased exposure to masked faces. Notably, mask-wearing also changes the state of the observers in regard to their own bodies and other agents. Previous research has already demonstrated a plausible association between observers' states and their perceptual behaviors. Thus, an outstanding question is whether mask-wearing would alter face recognition abilities. To address this question, we conducted a set of experiments in which participants were asked to recognize non-masked faces (Experiment 1), masked faces (Experiment 2) and novel objects (Experiment 3) while they were either masked or unmasked. Mask wearing hindered face perception abilities but did not modulate object recognition ability. Finally, we demonstrated that the decrement in face perception ability relied on wearing the mask on distinctive facial features (Experiment 4). Together, these findings reveal a novel effect of mask-wearing on face recognition. We discuss these results considering the plausible effect of somatosensory stimulation on visual processing as well as the effect of involuntary perspective taking.

Recognition of Masked Faces in the Era of the Pandemic: No Improvement Despite Extensive Natural Exposure.

Face masks, which became prevalent across the globe during the COVID-19 pandemic, have had a negative impact on face recognition despite the availability of critical information from uncovered face parts, especially the eyes. An outstanding question is whether face-mask effects would be attenuated following extended natural exposure. This question also pertains, more generally, to face-recognition training protocols. We used the Cambridge Face Memory Test in a cross-sectional study (N = 1,732 adults) at six different time points over a 20-month period, alongside a 12-month longitudinal study (N = 208). The results of the experiments revealed persistent deficits in recognition of masked faces and no sign of improvement across time points. Additional experiments verified that the amount of individual experience with masked faces was not correlated with the mask effect. These findings provide compelling evidence that the face-processing system does not easily adapt to visual changes in face stimuli, even following prolonged real-life exposure.

Patterns of Care for Breast Radiotherapy in Italy: Breast IRRadiATA (Italian Repository of Radiotherapy dATA) Feasibility Study.

Aim. Breast IRRADIATA (Italian Repository of RADIotherapy dATA) is a collaborative nationwide project supported by the Italian Society of Radiotherapy and Clinical Oncology (AIRO) and the Italian League Against Cancer (LILT). It focuses on breast cancer (BC) patients treated with radiotherapy (RT) and was developed to create a national registry and define the patterns of care in Italy. A dedicated tool for data collection was created and pilot tested. The results of this feasibility study are reported here. Methods. To validate the applicability of a user-friendly data collection tool, a feasibility study involving 17 Italian Radiation Oncology Centers was conducted from July to October 2021, generating a data repository of 335 BC patients treated between January and March 2020, with a minimum follow-up time of 6 months. A snapshot of the clinical presentation, treatment modalities and radiotherapy toxicity in these patients was obtained. A Data Entry Survey and a Satisfaction Questionnaire were also sent to all participants. Results. All institutions completed the pilot study. Regarding the Data Entry survey, all questions achieved 100% of responses and no participant reported spending more than 10 min time for either the first data entry or for the updating of follow-up. Results from the Satisfaction Questionnaire revealed that the project was described as excellent by 14 centers (82.3%) and good by 3 (17.7%). Conclusion. Current knowledge for the treatment of high-prevalence diseases, such as BC, has evolved toward patient-centered medicine, evidence-based care and real-world evidence (RWE), which means evidence obtained from real-world data (RWD). To this aim, Breast IRRADIATA was developed as a simple tool to probe the current pattern of RT care in Italy. The pilot feasibility of IRRADIATA encourages a larger application of this tool nationwide and opens the way to the assessment of the pattern of care radiotherapy directed to other cancers.

Radiotherapy for inoperable non-small cell lung cancer using helical tomotherapy.

AIM: To investigate the impact of tomotherapy on the dose delivered to the lungs and other normal tissues. MATERIAL AND METHODS: From February 2008 to May 2009, 35 patients with stage IIIA/IIIB non-small cell lung cancer were treated with helical tomotherapy at the S. Camillo-Forlanini Hospital. For our study we selected 20 patients who underwent chemotherapy followed by sequential radiotherapy. The planning target volume was delineated using planning CT scan and FDG-PET. The mean prescribed radiation dose was 67.5 Gy delivered in 30 fractions at a dose of 2.25 Gy per fraction. RESULTS: Median follow-up was 12.3 months. All patients developed acute esophageal toxicity, 15 of RTOG grade 1 and 5 of RTOG grade 2. At first follow-up 15 patients presented stable disease or partial response, 4 patients presented complete response, and 1 patient presented disease progression. CONCLUSIONS: Helical tomotherapy is useful to achieve dose-per-fraction escalation without increasing the treatment-related morbidity. Our results applying dose escalation were encouraging considering that we delivered doses that may be difficult to achieve with 3-dimensional treatments with no excessive complication rates.

Single-nucleotide polymorphisms in BER and HRR genes, XRCC1 haplotypes and breast cancer risk in Caucasian women.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to assess whether haplotypes in XRCC1 and SNPs in OGG1 and XRCC3 were associated with an increased risk of developing breast cancer (BC) and early adverse reactions after radiotherapy. METHODS: 43 Italian breast cancer patients and 31 healthy controls were genotyped for XRCC1(-77T-->C,194,399), OGG1-326 and XRCC3-241 by RFLP-PCR. RESULTS: XRCC1-77T-->C, XRCC1-194, OGG1 and XRCC3 were not associated with BC. On the contrary, we found a significant association (p or=3 SNPs [OR = 2.72 (0.99-7.39), p = 0.04]. CONCLUSION: In our study, the 399-Gln allele of XRCC1 increased significantly the risk of BC and it may act as a dominant allele [Arg/Arg vs. (Gln/Gln + Arg/Gln), OR = 4.67 (95% CI 1.65-13.23), p = 0.005]. The combination of variant alleles at codon 399 and in position -77 could affect XRCC1 protein activity, impairing genome integrity and promoting cancer occurrence. Also, the number of SNPs in several genes involved in BER and HRR mechanisms made higher the risk of sporadic BC. We can conclude that genetic variants in multiple repair pathways may have a joint or additive effect in cancer risk.

DNA repair capacity and acute radiotherapy adverse effects in Italian breast cancer patients.

Therapeutic exposure to ionising radiation can induce normal tissue side effects which consistently differ among individuals suggesting a possible genetic control. One approach to elucidate the underlying mechanisms is to analyse the relation between genetic traits, biomarkers of in vitro DNA damage and side toxicity in vivo. 43 breast cancer (BC) patients receiving radiotherapy after a breast-conserving surgery were recruited together with 34 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Adverse tissue reactions were recorded as indicators of radiotherapy susceptibility. All blood samples from both patients (35) and controls (34) were irradiated in vitro and DNA primary damage and repair kinetic were measured through Comet assay. All study subjects were genotyped for XRCC1, OGG1 and XRCC3 gene polymorphisms. In our small groups we found a positive association between XRCC1 variant allele (399Gln) and the occurrence of breast cancer [p=0.01; OR=2.41, 95%CI (1.24-4.66)]. BC patients showed a higher degree of basal (p<0.001) and X-ray induced DNA damage (p<0.01) when compared to healthy controls. A reduced repair ability was found in BC patients showing high degrees of tissue side effects as classified by Radiation Morbidity Scoring Scheme. BC patients showed an impairment of their DNA repair capacity associated with the development of radiation sensitivity but not with polymorphisms in any of the considered genes.

Impact of dose and volume on radiation-induced mucositis.

There is a relationship between a given radiation dose and the resulting biological effect in the management of head and neck cancer. Radiation mucositis represents a frequent complication in cancer chemoradiation. Its prevention and treatment are major goals in radiation therapy schedules. Critical tissues can be spared using high conformal radiation therapy (3DCRT) based on consensus guidelines for target volume. Current approaches to radiation mucositis with respect to the dose and volume impact are illustrated. The monitoring system of late toxicity used by the authors is presented.

Biological optimization of the dose in stereotactic radiotherapy of brain tumors.

The techniques of radiotherapy with a high dose gradient require several demanding choices but represent a major innovation in the radiation therapy of brain tumors. To optimize the expected outcomes in terms of effectiveness and efficacy some recent acquisitions of biological parameters of integration of the linear-quadratic model are illustrated, aimed at the progressive understanding of the role of histology, dose fractionation, timing, toxicity and combined modality therapy.