What Works for Wellbeing? A systematic review of wellbeing outcomes for music and singing in adults

IMS: The role of arts and music in supporting subjective wellbeing (SWB) is increasingly recognised. Robust evidence is needed to support policy and practice. This article reports on the first of four reviews of Culture, Sport and Wellbeing (CSW) commissioned by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)-funded What Works Centre for Wellbeing ( https://whatworkswellbeing.org/ ). OBJECTIVE: To identify SWB outcomes for music and singing in adults. METHODS: Comprehensive literature searches were conducted in PsychInfo, Medline, ERIC, Arts and Humanities, Social Science and Science Citation Indexes, Scopus, PILOTS and CINAHL databases. From 5,397 records identified, 61 relevant records were assessed using GRADE and CERQual schema. RESULTS: A wide range of wellbeing measures was used, with no consistency in how SWB was measured across the studies. A wide range of activities was reported, most commonly music listening and regular group singing. Music has been associated with reduced anxiety in young adults, enhanced mood and purpose in adults and mental wellbeing, quality of life, self-awareness and coping in people with diagnosed health conditions. Music and singing have been shown to be effective in enhancing morale and reducing risk of depression in older people. Few studies address SWB in people with dementia. While there are a few studies of music with marginalised communities, participants in community choirs tend to be female, white and relatively well educated. Research challenges include recruiting participants with baseline wellbeing scores that are low enough to record any significant or noteworthy change following a music or singing intervention. CONCLUSIONS: There is reliable evidence for positive effects of music and singing on wellbeing in adults. There remains a need for research with sub-groups who are at greater risk of lower levels of wellbeing, and on the processes by which wellbeing outcomes are, or are not, achieved

What works for wellbeing in culture and sport? Report of a DELPHI process to support coproduction and establish principles and parameters of an evidence review

Aims: There is a growing recognition of the ways in which culture and sport can contribute to wellbeing. A strong evidence base is needed to support innovative service development and a 3-year research programme is being undertaken to capture best evidence of wellbeing impacts and outcomes of cultural and sporting activities in order to inform UK policy and practice. This article provides an overview of methods and findings from an initial coproduction process with key stakeholders that sought to explore and agree principles and parameters of the evidence review for culture, sport and wellbeing (CSW). Methods: A two-stage DELPHI process was conducted with a purposeful sample of 57 stakeholders between August and December 2015. Participants were drawn from a range of culture and sport organisations and included commissioners and managers, policy makers, representatives of service delivery organisations (SDOs) and scholars. The DELPHI 1 questionnaire was developed from extensive consultation in July and August 2015. It explored definitions of wellbeing, the role of evidence, quality assessment, and the culture and sport populations, settings and interventions that are most likely to deliver wellbeing outcomes. Following further consultation, the results, presented as a series of ranked statements, were sent back to participants (DELPHI 2), which allowed them to reflect on and, if they wished, express agreement or disagreement with the emerging consensus. Results: A total of 40 stakeholders (70.02%) responded to the DELPHI questionnaires. DELPHI 1 mapped areas of agreement and disagreement, confirmed in DELPHI 2. The exercise drew together the key priorities for the CSW evidence review. Conclusion: The DELPHI process, in combination with face-to-face deliberation, enabled stakeholders to engage in complex discussion and express nuanced priorities while also allowing the group to come to an overall consensus and agree outcomes. The results will inform the CSW evidence review programme until its completion in March 2018

Multiple novel prostate cancer susceptibility signals identified by fine-mapping of known risk loci among Europeans

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified numerous common prostate cancer (PrCa) susceptibility loci. We have fine-mapped 64 GWAS regions known at the conclusion of the iCOGS study using large-scale genotyping and imputation in 25 723 PrCa cases and 26 274 controls of European ancestry. We detected evidence for multiple independent signals at 16 regions, 12 of which contained additional newly identified significant associations. A single signal comprising a spectrum of correlated variation was observed at 39 regions; 35 of which are now described by a novel more significantly associated lead SNP, while the originally reported variant remained as the lead SNP only in 4 regions. We also confirmed two association signals in Europeans that had been previously reported only in East-Asian GWAS. Based on statistical evidence and linkage disequilibrium (LD) structure, we have curated and narrowed down the list of the most likely candidate causal variants for each region. Functional annotation using data from ENCODE filtered for PrCa cell lines and eQTL analysis demonstrated significant enrichment for overlap with bio-features within this set. By incorporating the novel risk variants identified here alongside the refined data for existing association signals, we estimate that these loci now explain ∼38.9% of the familial relative risk of PrCa, an 8.9% improvement over the previously reported GWAS tag SNPs. This suggests that a significant fraction of the heritability of PrCa may have been hidden during the discovery phase of GWAS, in particular due to the presence of multiple independent signals within the same regio

Mitochondrial physiology

As the knowledge base and importance of mitochondrial physiology to evolution, health and disease expands, the necessity for harmonizing the terminology concerning mitochondrial respiratory states and rates has become increasingly apparent. The chemiosmotic theory establishes the mechanism of energy transformation and coupling in oxidative phosphorylation. The unifying concept of the protonmotive force provides the framework for developing a consistent theoretical foundation of mitochondrial physiology and bioenergetics. We follow the latest SI guidelines and those of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) on terminology in physical chemistry, extended by considerations of open systems and thermodynamics of irreversible processes. The concept-driven constructive terminology incorporates the meaning of each quantity and aligns concepts and symbols with the nomenclature of classical bioenergetics. We endeavour to provide a balanced view of mitochondrial respiratory control and a critical discussion on reporting data of mitochondrial respiration in terms of metabolic flows and fluxes. Uniform standards for evaluation of respiratory states and rates will ultimately contribute to reproducibility between laboratories and thus support the development of data repositories of mitochondrial respiratory function in species, tissues, and cells. Clarity of concept and consistency of nomenclature facilitate effective transdisciplinary communication, education, and ultimately further discovery

Mitochondrial physiology

As the knowledge base and importance of mitochondrial physiology to evolution, health and disease expands, the necessity for harmonizing the terminology concerning mitochondrial respiratory states and rates has become increasingly apparent. The chemiosmotic theory establishes the mechanism of energy transformation and coupling in oxidative phosphorylation. The unifying concept of the protonmotive force provides the framework for developing a consistent theoretical foundation of mitochondrial physiology and bioenergetics. We follow the latest SI guidelines and those of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) on terminology in physical chemistry, extended by considerations of open systems and thermodynamics of irreversible processes. The concept-driven constructive terminology incorporates the meaning of each quantity and aligns concepts and symbols with the nomenclature of classical bioenergetics. We endeavour to provide a balanced view of mitochondrial respiratory control and a critical discussion on reporting data of mitochondrial respiration in terms of metabolic flows and fluxes. Uniform standards for evaluation of respiratory states and rates will ultimately contribute to reproducibility between laboratories and thus support the development of data repositories of mitochondrial respiratory function in species, tissues, and cells. Clarity of concept and consistency of nomenclature facilitate effective transdisciplinary communication, education, and ultimately further discovery

Canadian Veterinary Journal-Revue Veterinaire Canadienne 40 4 265 267 CANADIAN VET MED ASSOC OTTAWA; 339 BOOTH ST ATTN: KIMBERLY ALLEN-MCGILL, OTTAWA, ONTARIO K1R 7K1, CANADA

A 10-year-old, female, spayed shorthair with presumed psychogenic alopecia was treated with clomipramine (1 mg/kg body weight/day). The cat developed urinary retention within 2 days. Clomipramine was discontinued. Clinical signs resolved over the next 7 days. The urinary retention was attributed to the anticholinergic effects of clomipramine.CR: *CAN PHARM ASS, 1996, COMP PHARM SPEC, P73 BALDESSARINI RJ, 1996, GOODMAN GILMANS PHAR, P431 LANDSBERG G, 1997, HDB BEHAV PROBLEMS D, V45, P175 OVERALL KL, 1997, CLIN BEHAV MED SMALL, P293 PAPICH M, 1992, KIRKS CURRENT VET TH, V11, P1233 SIMPSON BS, 1996, COMP CONT EDUC PRACT, V18, P106

Applied Animal Behaviour Science 74 1 29 42 Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier Science B.V..

A detailed telephone survey of dog owners was undertaken in 1996 to determine the risk factors for biting behaviour of dogs in a household setting. Individuals were selected from a cross-sectional population of veterinary clientele in the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. Interviews were successfully completed with 515 of 640 individuals selected from a study population of 3226 dogs by a formal random process. For the risk factor analysis, 227 biting and 126 non-biting dogs were selected according to a strict criteria to evaluate the association of potential risk factors to biting behaviour. Biting behaviour was carefully defined in the telephone interview to avoid including activity associated with playful mouthing by the dog. All dogs were at least 6 months of age. Both the mean weight and age of biting dogs were significantly lower (P<0.05) than that of non-biting dogs. Significant risk factors for an outcome of biting were as follows: the dog being female (particularly if small), the presence of one or more teenage children in the home, a history of a pruritic or malodorous skin disorder which had received veterinary treatment, aggression over food in the first 2 months of ownership, the dog having slept on someone's bed in the first 2 months of ownership, and the dog having been given a significantly higher ranking for excitability based on its behaviour in the first 2 months of ownership. Small dogs were also determined to have a higher risk of biting than large dogs when exposed to certain lifestyle and health factors, suggesting a relationship between body size and reactivity, or possibly greater owner tolerance of aggression in smaller dogs. Biting dogs were more likely to have exhibited fear of children, men, and strangers. The risk factors identified provide a useful focus for the veterinarian in general practice when counselling owners in the prevention of canine aggression.

Applied Animal Behaviour Science 74 1 15 28 Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier Science B.V..

A retrospective cross-sectional survey of dog-owning veterinary clients was undertaken in 1996 in three Canadian provinces (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island) to generate a population of dogs for future use in a more detailed survey on canine behaviour. The questionnaire was designed to detect which dogs had or had not bitten a person living in the same household, and included both demographic and behaviour questions. Twenty veterinary clinics were enlisted to administer the questionnaire to their clientele. Data was collected on 3226 dogs and a response rate of 81.4% was observed. The dogs were predominantly purebred (60.1%) and neutered (71.6%). Of the 110 breeds, the Labrador Retriever was the most commonly reported. There were slightly more female than male dogs, and significantly more female dogs were neutered (P < 0.001). Questions elicited information about three forms of aggression: growling, possessive aggression, and biting. The reported frequencies of aggression problems were significantly associated with age, gender, neuter status, and breed. Biting behaviour was reported for 15.6% of all dogs. The highest frequency of biting was reported for dogs less than one year of age. Relative to intact female dogs of at least 1 year of age, the odds ratio for having bitten a member of the household was highest for neutered male dogs (OR: 3.23; 95% CI: 1.83-5.71), followed by neutered female dogs (OR: 2.13; 95% CI: 1.21-3.75). Similar trends were seen for growling and possessive aggression. Our results indicate that excellent response rates can be achieved in behavioural research by utilizing general veterinary practices and their clientele, that canine aggression in a household setting is a frequent problem, and that the relationship between neutering and behaviour warrants further investigation.