Skin Color and Attractiveness Modulate Empathy for Pain: An Event-Related Potential Study

Although racial in-group bias in empathy for pain has been reported, empathic responses to others’ pain may be influenced by other characteristics besides race. To explore whether skin color and attractiveness modulate empathy for pain, we recorded 24 participants’ reactions to painful faces from racial in-group members with different skin color (fair, wheatish, or dark) and attractiveness (more or less attractive) using event-related potentials (ERPs). Results showed that, for more attractive painful faces, dark skin faces were judged as less painful and elicited smaller N2 amplitudes than fair- and wheatish-skinned faces. However, for less attractive faces, there were no significant differences among the three skin colors. Our findings suggest that empathy for pain toward racial in-group members may be influenced by skin color and attractiveness.

Suara “Sang Cenderawasih” yang Membisu: Perjuangan Para Perempuan Papua dalam Menggapai Keadilan

This article emphasizes the importance of raising the issue of Papuan women’s empowerment and struggle for justice. This research is to answer, what is justice according to Papuan women and how are Papuan women’s efforts to achieve justice for their identity and the land of Papua? In answering questions and the realities faced by women in achieving justice, this research seeks freedom of talks about the rights of Papuan women in the life of the state and society. However, there are a patriarchal system and a state that make it difficult in listening to and responding to women’s voices about justice. It takes time and effort to change this old paradigm. Through the first form of storytelling, we can place the story of the identity of a Papuan woman and her pride as a symbol of cenderawasih with dark skin and curly hair. Papuan women must not remain silent and must fight for justice.

IMPLICATURE IN SAIKIRAN’S STAND UP COMEDY SCRIPT DARK SKIN AND GETTING MARRIED

This research focuses on implicature in Saikiran’s Stand Up Comedy Script Dark Skin and Getting Married. By using Grice theory of implicature, the make up of this research strongly refers to the use of descriptive qualitative method to process the data, which are originally taken from the script. The analysis reveals two types of implicature i.e. cconventional implicatures and conversational implicatures. Conventional implicature is associated with the general meaning and also related to specific words (but, and, even). Meanwhile, conversational implicature verifies two types, i.e. generalized conversational implicature and particularized conversational implicature. There are 13 data referring to cconventional implicatures and 4 data to conversational implicatures (2 data generalized conversational implicatures and 2 data particularized conversational implicatures). The results of this research indicate that Saikiran uses those implicatures when he wants the audience to understand about his life condition in funny ways, and the audience will possibly find it difficult to understand if they do not know his utterances in the contexts.

Representation of Skin of Color in Rheumatology Educational Resources

Objective To investigate the availability of images representing black, indigenous, and people of color in rheumatology educational resources. Methods Colorized images were collected from 5 major educational resources and cataloged by educational resources they came from, underlying rheumatic conditions, and skin type. Fitzpatrick skin type (FST) was used to categorize images into "light", "dark", or "indeterminate". The images were initially scored by a fellow in the Division of Rheumatology and subsequently validated by a faculty member from the Department of Dermatology. Results Of the thousands of images reviewed, 1604 images met study criteria. Fitzpatrick skin type validation from Dermatology resulted in the re-coding of 111 images. The final scoring revealed 86% of the images to be light skin, 9% of images to be dark skin, and 5% of images to be indeterminate. Conclusion The paucity of dark skin images in rheumatology resources is incongruent with current diversity estimates in the United States. Significant efforts should be made to incorporate images of black, indigenous, and people of color into educational resources.

Skin whitening as a menace to African identity through Tony Morrison's 'The Bluest Eyes': An Afrocentric examination

The African democratic forces, among other things, aimed to resuscitate and re-essentialise African identities that the colonial administration had endangered earlier. These autonomous corps dispensed mechanisms to champion Africanism and conscientise African natives about their heritage. The cherishing of African identities automated decolonial shifts and inculcated an urge into Africans to be proud of who they are and where they come from. Notwithstanding these efforts, the study diagnoses skin whitening as a stubborn nemesis that menaces the authenticity of Africanism in the present day. Many Africans, especially black women appear to be gravitated to skin whitening. This act embraces the attempt to alter one’s dark skin tone to be bright. Most of the skin whiteners are postulated to whiten their skins in an effort to qualify into the modern-day Eurocentric criterions of beauty at the expense of their black (African) identity. This paper employed a qualitative methodology and has relied on secondary data to unveil the extent to which skin whitening imperils African identities. It has employed Morrison’s The Bluest Eyes as a lens to crystalise the impacts of skin whitening on Africanism. The study has discovered that the skin-whitening phenomenon epitomises and perpetuates Eurocentric ideologies and it is preferred by most women because of the assumed glory that comes with the white identity such as social class, privilege, attractiveness, favour, and admiration.

Intradermal tranexamic acid in the treatment of melasma: A prospective study of 20 Moroccan cases

Background: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of tranexamic acid mesotherapy in the treatment of melasma in the Moroccan population. Materials and Methods: All the patients received an intradermal injection of tranexamic acid (5 mg/mL). No other local or general treatment was administered. The patients were kept under external photoprotection only. Pre- and post-treatment photographs were taken and analyzed with the Visioface® RD hardware. The evaluation was employed the MASI score. Results: All patients had a dark skin phototype. The average duration of melasma evolution was 3.67 years. The pre-treatment average MASI was 7.6. The post-therapeutic average MASI was 6. The Visioface® RD hardware estimated a 25% reduction in the surface area attained at month five. No serious side effects were reported. Conclusion: Tranexamic acid was proven to be an essential tool in treating melasma.

Post-Acne Hyperpigmentation: Evaluation of risk factors and the use of Artificial Neural Network as a predictive classifier

Background: Acne is common among young individuals. People with dark skin have a higher risk for developing pigmentary complications. Inflammation is an important factor in post-acne hyperpigmentation however other factors are also involved in developing this complication however these factors are not well studied. Objective: The aim of this study is to identify risk factors involved in post-acne hyperpigmentation. Materials and Methods: Clinical data related to acne, acne- related hyperpigmentation were collected. Data was analyzed for risk factors associated with acne pigmentation. Artificial neural network was used as predictive disease classifier for the outcome of pigmentation. Results: Majority of patients in this study (339 patients) had dark skin phototypes (3 and 4). Post- acne hyperpigmentation was seen in more than 80% of patients. Females, darker skin color, severe acne, facial sites, and excessive sunlight exposure, squeezing or scratching lesions are important risk factors for post-acne hyperpigmentation. Conclusion: Post-acne hyperpigmentation is multifactorial. Several factors implicated in PAH are modifiable by adequate patient education (lesion trauma, excessive sunlight exposure). The use of ANN was helpful in predicting appearance of post-acne hyperpigmentation based on identified risk factors.

Bridging The Gap: Demanding 1-1 Representation of Dark-Light Skin Tones Within Medical Lectures/Resources

Being a good physician means having the ability to recognize diseases in all kinds of individuals. This is especially true for skin lesions (e.g., acne, cancer), which present differently based on skin color and tone. Developing skin-tone-dependent diagnosing skills depends on the medical education (e.g., lectures, medical textbooks, and online board certification prep resources) and hands-on clinical experiences doctors receive. We find it alarming that medical students' gold standard resources overrepresent light skin and underrepresent dark skin to the point where many medical students can recognize a lesion on white skin but fail to recognize a similar lesion on dark skin. This lack of representation perpetuates race as a social determinant of health, leading to missed diagnoses and diagnosis at a later/worse stage in people of color. To combat this underrepresentation within medical education, we propose the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) amend Accreditation Standard 7: Curricular Content, Subsection 7.6: Cultural Competence and Health Care Disparities. The amendment is to include 1 of the 2 following policy changes, with preference for the top-down mandate: 1) Top-down Mandate: An objective measure and subsequent goal (1:1 representation) for the representation of skin of color within a school's medical lectures, which is evaluated by an LCME-approved curriculum committee and mandated for schools wishing to continue to be LCME accredited. 2) Bottom-up Individualized Institutional Goals: A requirement for schools to choose their own goal, create their committee, and evaluate their progress. These progress reports will be submitted to the LCME annually.