Evaluation of a website providing information on regional health care services for patients with rheumatoid arthritis: an observational study

Studies on the effectiveness of information provision for patients with arthritis through the Internet are scarce. This study aimed to describe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients’ knowledge and information needs before and after launching a website providing information on regional health care services for patients with rheumatic conditions. The intervention consisted of a weekly updated website comprising practical information on regional health care services for patients with arthritis. In addition, patients were offered information leaflets and an information meeting. Before (T1) and 24 months after (T2) the website was launched, a random sample of 400 RA patients filled in a questionnaire regarding knowledge and information need (scores 0–18) about accessibility and contents of 18 regional health care services. Two hundred and fifty-one patients returned the questionnaire (response rate 63%) at T1 and 200 patients (50%) at T2, respectively, with 160 paired observations (112 females (70%), mean age 60.4 years (SD 9.9)). The total score for insufficient knowledge about contents decreased from 9.3 (SD 4.9) to 8.5 (SD 4.8; p = 0.03) and for accessibility from 8.6 (SD 4.7) to 8.4 (SD 4.9; p = 0.59). Total score for information need about contents decreased from 4.2 (SD 4.5) to 1.9 (SD 2.9; p < 0.01) and for accessibility from 3.6 (SD 4.5) to 1.4 (SD 2.4; p < 0.01) (paired t-tests)

The Power of Gaze in Music. Leonard Bernstein’s Conducting Eyes

The paper argues for the importance and richness of gaze communication during orchestra and choir conduction, and presents three studies on this issue. First, an interview with five choir and orchestra conductors reveals that they are not so deeply aware of the potentialities of gaze to convey indications in music performance. A conductor who was utterly conscious of the importance of gaze communication, however, is Leonard Bernstein, who conducted a performance of Haydn’s Symphony No. 88 using his face and gaze only. Therefore, a fragment of this performance is analyzed in an observational study, where a qualitative analysis singles out the items of gaze exploited by Bernstein and their corresponding meanings. Finally, a perception study is presented in which three of these items are submitted to expert, non-expert, and amateur participants. The results show that while the signal for “start” is fairly recognized, the other two, “pay attention” and “crescendo and accelerando” are more difficult to interpret. Furthermore, significant differences in gaze item recognition emerge among participants: experts not only recognize them more, but they also take advantage of viewing the items with audio-visual vs. videoonly presentation, while non-experts do not take advantage of audio in their recognition

Music and Time Perception in Audiovisuals: Arousing Soundtracks Lead to Time Overestimation No Matter Their Emotional Valence

soundtrack; film music; audiovisual; time estimation; time perceptio

Ethos Theory of Music: Toward an Empirical Confirmation through Moral Foundations Theory

As an advocate of the Ethos Theory of Music, Herbert Spencer argues that sharing in a wide range of musically-aroused emotions promotes fellow-feeling thanks to which humans behave considerately towards each other. Here we attempt to provide empirical evidence to this claim. We identified Spencer’s fellow-feeling as an instantiation of the concerns for Harm and Fairness Moral Foundations; thus, we predicted that musical expertise, and specifically long-term listening to and playing classical music, would lead to favouring individualising moral foundations and opposing the binding ones. A cross-national questionnaire (US, Canada, and Italy) was conceived (N=330), and the data were analysed through a parallel mediation Structural Equation Model. Results confirm that musical expertise dampens the proclivity toward the binding moral foundations. Conversely, it is connected with an embracement of the individualizing moral foundations. Coherently with Spencer’s view, such an effect is fully mediated by the emotional way of listening to musi

F13A1 gene variant (V34L) and residual circulating FXIIIA levels predict short-and long-term mortality in acute myocardial infarction after coronary angioplasty

Factor XIIIA (FXIIIA) levels are independent predictors of early prognosis after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and the Valine-to-Leucine (V34L) single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) seems associated with lower AMI risk. Since the long-term AMI prognosis merits deeper investigation, we performed an observational study evaluating relationships between FXIIIA residual levels, cardiovascular risk-factors, and inherited genetic predispositions. FXIIIA V34L was genotyped in 333 AMI patients and a five-year follow-up was performed. FXIIIA levels assessed at day-zero (d0) and four days after AMI (d4), and conventional risk factors were analyzed, focusing on the development of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). FXIIIA assessed at d0 and d4 was also an independent MACE predictor in the long-term follow-up (FXIIIAd0, Odds Ratio (OR) = 3.02, 1.79–5.1, p = 0.013; FXIIIAd4, OR = 4.46, 2.33–8.55, p = 0.0001). FXIIIAd4showed the strongest MACE association, suggesting that the FXIIIA protective role is maximized when high levels are maintained for longer time. Conversely, FXIIIA levels stratified by V34L predicted MACE at a lesser extent among L34-carriers (Hazard Risk (HR)VV34= 3.89, 2.19–6.87, p = 0.000003; HRL34-carriers= 2.78, 1.39–5.57, p = 0.0039), and V34L did not predict all MACE, only multiple-MACE occurrence (p = 0.0087). Finally, in survival analysis, heart failure and death differed significantly from stroke and recurrent ischemia (p = 0.0013), with FXIIIA levels appreciably lower in the former (p = 0.05). Overall, genetically-determined FXIIIA levels have a significant long-term prognostic role, suggesting that a pharmacogenetics approach might help to select those AMI patients at risk of poor prognosis in the need of dedicated treatments

Phonometric study of the human first heart sound

The first heart sound was studied in 20 normal subjects. The phonocardiogram (PCG) was recorded from apical and mid-precordial areas using microphone with a flat response curve from 0.2 to 8,000 Hz. It was stored, together with a simultaneous electrocardiogram, on an FM analog tape recorder (linear frequency response from 0 to 4,000 Hz), fitted with a filter with weighting curve B according to the American National Standard Institute. A linear (SPL) recording was also made. The signal was fed through a digital converter into a minicomputer and the frequency distribution of the first heart sound was analyzed using Fast Fourier Transform. These data were stored and the average spectra were calculated for both B and SPL. The SPL spectra from both apex and mid-precordium showed a maximum intensity of about 80 dB between 12-20 Hz, decreasing progressively to a constant level of 35 dB between 110-120 Hz. The spectra obtained from both areas using filter B showed a maximum intensity of 40-50 dB between 20-60 thereafter. It is important to emphasize that the dB values in B and SPL are absolute, since they refer to a standard reference weighting. It appears that the SPL recording is more valuable in that it allows the study of all components of the PCG signal. The spectra obtained in this study will be used as a standard for future research in various pathological conditions

Analyzing the Perceived Utility of Covid-19 Countermeasures: The Role of Pronominalization, Moral Foundations, Moral Disengagement, Fake News Embracing, and Health Anxiety

An online survey (N¼210) is presented on how the perceived utility of correct and exaggerated countermeasures against Covid-19 is affected by different pronominalization strategies (impersonal form, you, we). In evaluating the pronominalization effect, we have statistically controlled for the roles of several personal characteristics: Moral Disengagement, Moral Foundations, Health Anxiety, and Embracing of Fake News. Results indicate that, net of personal proclivities, the you form decreases the perceived utility of exaggerated countermeasures, possibly due to simulation processes. As a second point, through a Structural Equation Model, we show that binding moral values (Authority, Ingroup, and Purity) positively predict both fake news embracing and perceived utility of exaggerated countermeasures, while individualizing moral values (Harm and Fairness) negatively predict fake news embracing and positively predict the perceived utility of correct countermeasures. Lastly, fake news embracing showed a doubly bad effect: not only does it lead people to judge exaggerated countermeasures as more useful; but, more dangerously, it brings them to consider correct countermeasures as less useful in the struggle against the pandemic