Midlife psychological stress and risk of dementia: a 35-year longitudinal population study.” Brain 133

The number of people with dementia has increased dramatically with global ageing. Nevertheless, the pathogeneses of these diseases are not sufficiently understood. The present study aims to analyse the relationship between psychological stress in midlife and the development of dementia in late-life. A representative sample of females (n = 1462) aged 38-60 years were examined in 1968-69 and re-examined in 1974-75, 1980-81, 1992-93 and 2000-03. Psychological stress was rated according to a standardized question in 1968, 1974 and 1980. Dementia was diagnosed according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders criteria based on information from neuropsychiatric examinations, informant interviews, hospital records and registry data. During the 35-year follow-up, 161 females developed dementia (105 Alzheimer's disease, 40 vascular dementia and 16 other dementias). We found that the risk of dementia (hazard ratios, 95% confidence intervals) was increased in females reporting frequent/constant stress in 1968 (1.60, 1.10-2.34), in 1974 (1.65, 1.12-2.41) and in 1980 (1.60, 1.01-2.52). Frequent/ constant stress reported in 1968 and 1974 was associated with Alzheimer's disease. Reporting stress at one, two or three examinations was related to a sequentially higher dementia risk. Compared to females reporting no stress, hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) for incident dementia were 1.10 (0.71-1.71) for females reporting frequent/constant stress at one examination, 1.73 (1.01-2.95) for those reporting stress at two examinations and 2.51 (1.33-4.77) at three examinations. To conclude, we found an association between psychological stress in middle-aged women and development of dementia, especially Alzheimer's disease. More studies are needed to confirm our findings and to study potential neurobiological mechanisms of these associations

Total Rhythm in Three Dimensions: Towards a Motional Theory of Melodic Dance Rhythm in Swedish Polska Music

In this article I present an ethnotheory of the music/dance relationship in Swedish polska, based on dance fieldwork and interviews I have conducted with polska dance musicians. I discuss three mechanisms that these musicians use to communicate movement patterns to dancers: iteration (entrainment via repetition), metaphor (timbral weight conveying motional weight), and sympathy (musicians’ movements mapping dance movements). I then discuss how musicians use these mechanisms to control four motional parameters: pulsation (rate and consistency of tempo), lean (degree and direction of tilt over the dance axis) viscosity (level of perceived air resistance), and libration (degree and timing of vertical motion). The work is intended in part as a case study of how theories of both music and dance can benefit from a focused analysis of the relationship between those two domains, as well as how studies of music/dance relations can benefit from the application of ethnographic research techniques

Structures of Solvated Cations of Palladium(II) and Platinum(II) in Dimethyl Sulfoxide, Acetonitrile and Aqueous Solution Studied by EXAFS and LAXS

X-Ray absorption edge and EXAFS spectra of the solvated cations of platinum(II) in water, dimethyl sulfoxide and acetonitrile and of palladium(II) in dimethyl sulfoxide have been recorded and analyzed. The cations are four-coordinated. Pt-O in Pt(H2O)4(2+) is 2.01(1) angstrom and Pt-N in Pt(CH3CN)4(2+) is 2.00(1) angstrom. The dimethyl sulfoxide solvated cations of both platinum and palladium contain two sulfur- and two oxygen-bonded ligands with Pt-O 2.07(2), Pt-S 2.21(2), Pd-O 2.04(2), and Pd-S 2.23(2) angstrom, probably in a square-planar cis-arrangement, as in the solid state. Large-angle X-ray scattering (LAXS) studies of the platinum(II) dimethyl sulfoxide solvated cation in a solution of the triflate salt gave Pt-O 2.07(1) and Pt-S 2.20(1) angstrom and in a solution of the tetrafluoroborate salt Pt-O 2.07(2) and Pt-S 2.21(5) angstrom, in good agreement with the EXAFS results. Neither technique gave any support for axially bound solvent molecules in addition to the four in the assumed square coordination plane

Personality in women and associations with mortality: a 40-year follow-up in the Population Study of Women in Gothenburg

Background: The question of whether personality traits influence health has long been a focus for research and discussion. Therefore, this study was undertaken to examine possible associations between personality traits and mortality in women. Methods: A population-based sample of women aged 38, 46, 50 and 54 years at initial examination in 1968-69 was followed over the course of 40 years. At baseline, 589 women completed the Cesarec-Marke Personality Schedule (the Swedish version of the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule) and the Eysenck Personality Inventory. Associations between personality traits and mortality were tested using Cox proportional hazards models. Results: No linear associations between personality traits or factor indices and mortality were found. When comparing the lowest (Q1) and highest quartile (Q4) against the two middle quartiles (Q2 + Q3), the personality trait Succorance Q1 versus Q2 + Q3 showed hazard ratio (HR) = 1.37 (confidence interval (CI) = 1.08-1.74), and for the factor index Aggressive non-conformance, both the lowest and highest quartiles had a significantly higher risk of death compared to Q2 + Q3: for Q1 HR = 1.32 (CI = 1.03-1.68) and for Q4 HR = 1.36 (CI = 1.06-1.77). Neither Neuroticism nor Extraversion predicted total mortality. Conclusions: Personality traits did not influence long term mortality in this population sample of women followed for 40 years from mid- to late life. One explanation may be that personality in women becomes more circumscribed due to the social constraints generated by the role of women in society