Globally, songs and instrumental melodies are slower and higher and use more stable pitches than speech: A Registered Report

Both music and language are found in all known human societies, yet no studies have compared similarities and differences between song, speech, and instrumental music on a global scale. In this Registered Report, we analyzed two global datasets: (i) 300 annotated audio recordings representing matched sets of traditional songs, recited lyrics, conversational speech, and instrumental melodies from our 75 coauthors speaking 55 languages; and (ii) 418 previously published adult-directed song and speech recordings from 209 individuals speaking 16 languages. Of our six preregistered predictions, five were strongly supported: Relative to speech, songs use (i) higher pitch, (ii) slower temporal rate, and (iii) more stable pitches, while both songs and speech used similar (iv) pitch interval size and (v) timbral brightness. Exploratory analyses suggest that features vary along a “musi-linguistic” continuum when including instrumental melodies and recited lyrics. Our study provides strong empirical evidence of cross-cultural regularities in music and speech

We heart cultured hearts. A comparative review of methodologies for targeted differentiation and maintenance of cardiomyocytes derived from pluripotent and multipotent stem cells

Human cell lines, including disease cell lines are often superior to routine animal models for the purposes of rapid and safe assessment of the effects of different agents that may modulate myocardial functioning under physiological and pathological conditions. There are several currently existing methodologies for derivation of cardiomyocyte-like cells by targeted differentiation from pluripotent cells and by reprogramming/transdifferentiation from other types of cells (multipotent progenitors, somatic cells, etc). The present paper reviews the potential sources of cells capable of differentiation along the cardiomyocyte lineage; the existing methodologies for targeted differentiation, outlining the specificities of each method; and the markers for differentiation along the mesodermal and the cardiogenic lineage. The yield of robustly beating cells expressing cardio-specific proteins derived by any of the existing methods, however, still rarely exceeds 70-90 %, even with the newly developed approaches for increasing the differentiation capacity. There still is significant variance in the results obtained by different research groups and even between different experiments carried out in the same laboratory, with the same type of cells and same general type of protocol. Derivation of new lines of human pluripotent and multipotent stem cells according to standardised protocols and in completely defined; xeno-free conditions may increase the reliability and reproducibility of research and speed up the development of potential clinical applications

We heart cultured hearts. A comparative review of methodologies for targeted differentiation and maintenance of cardiomyocytes derived from pluripotent and multipotent stem cells

Human cell lines, including disease cell lines are often superior to routine animal models for the purposes of rapid and safe assessment of the effects of different agents that may modulate myocardial functioning under physiological and pathological conditions. There are several currently existing methodologies for derivation of cardiomyocyte-like cells by targeted differentiation from pluripotent cells and by reprogramming/transdifferentiation from other types of cells (multipotent progenitors, somatic cells, etc). The present paper reviews the potential sources of cells capable of differentiation along the cardiomyocyte lineage; the existing methodologies for targeted differentiation, outlining the specificities of each method; and the markers for differentiation along the mesodermal and the cardiogenic lineage. The yield of robustly beating cells expressing cardio-specific proteins derived by any of the existing methods, however, still rarely exceeds 70-90 %, even with the newly developed approaches for increasing the differentiation capacity. There still is significant variance in the results obtained by different research groups and even between different experiments carried out in the same laboratory, with the same type of cells and same general type of protocol. Derivation of new lines of human pluripotent and multipotent stem cells according to standardised protocols and in completely defined; xeno-free conditions may increase the reliability and reproducibility of research and speed up the development of potential clinical applications

Measles Induced Death in Eastеrn Europe

The infectious disease of measles is becoming a rarity in the member states of the European Union. After the implementation of the mandatory immunization calendar, cases of measles among children rarely encounter while those that have been registered usually pass lightly and without any significant complications. We present two cases of a measles-type infection with a fatal outcome for two children - 4 and 11 years of age respectively - who had not been immunized by the time of the event and who developed an unfolding clinical picture with the respective complications. In a number of countries in the European Union (as well as within some ethnical groups, the Roma population included), standard-type vaccinations may appear to be problematic. The most frequently encountered complications, resulting from such “blunders”, are pneumonia and encephalitis but controlling the clinical symptoms is not always possible because of: 1) late medical intervention due to the poor knowledge ability of the respective ethnical group (overdue contact with the specialized medical personnel), as well as 2) the superposed bacterial infections which unmask the initial diagnosis. Obtaining a clear picture of the symptoms in such patients is difficult. In the rare cases, when the therapy is rewarded with some success, patients remain partial or permanent invalids because of the irreversible damage to the brain and/or the functions of the lungs

Simultaneous transanal endolaparoscopic resection of a large anal canal and low rectal polyps

SCOPUS: le.jDecretOANoAutActifinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Simultaneous transanal endolaparoscopic resection of a large anal canal and low rectal polyps – a video vignette

SCOPUS: le.jDecretOANoAutActifinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Does singing enhance cooperation more than speaking does? A global experimental Stage 1 Registered Report

The evolution of music, language, and cooperation have been debated since before Darwin. The social bonding hypothesis proposes that these phenomena may be interlinked: musicality may have facilitated the evolution of group cooperation beyond the possibilities of spoken language. Although dozens of experimental studies have shown that synchronised rhythms can promote cooperation, it is unclear whether synchronous singing enhances cooperation relative to spoken language, particularly across diverse societies that differ in their musical/linguistic rhythms and social organisation. Here, we propose a Registered Report to test this hypothesis through a global experiment in diverse languages aiming to collect data from 1500 participants across 50 sites. The social bonding hypothesis predicts that cooperation will increase more after synchronous singing than after spoken (sequential) conversation or (simultaneous) recitation, while alternative hypotheses predict that song will not increase cooperation relative to speech. Regardless of outcome, these results will provide an unprecedented understanding of cross-cultural relationships between music, language, and cooperation