“He Who Sings, Prays Twice”? Singing in Roman catholic mass leads to spiritual and social experiences that are predicted by religious and musical attitudes

Singing is an essential element in every religion. In the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church, theologians expect congregational singing to have several clear-cut effects which can be translated into psychological hypotheses. This study is the first to approach these quantitatively. N = 1603 Catholics from German-speaking countries answered an exhaustive questionnaire that asked whether and to what degree these putative effects were actually experienced by churchgoers. We found that people do, to a large degree, associate feelings of community and spiritual experiences with congregational singing. We also identified relevant intraindividual factors that contribute to the frequency of these experiences, most importantly, religious and musical attitudes. These results are discussed in the light of psychological literature on the effects of group singing on social bonding and wellbeing, but also in the context of theological, ethnomusicological, and sociological research on singing, songs, and spiritual and social experiences

Vitamin D Status Is Not Associated with Outcomes of Experimentally-Induced Muscle Weakness and Pain in Young, Healthy Volunteers

Vitamin D receptors have been identified in skeletal muscle; and symptoms of vitamin D deficiency include muscle weakness and pain. Moreover, increased serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations have been associated with improved muscle function. To further clarify the importance of vitamin D to muscle, we examined the association between vitamin D status and exercise-induced muscle pain and weakness in healthy people. Muscle damage to the elbow flexors was induced with eccentric exercise (EE) in 48 individuals (22.5 ± 3.2 yrs). Muscle pain ratings following unloaded movement and peak isometric force (IF) were collected before EE and for 4 days post-EE. Linear regression was used to determine if serum 25(OH)D was a predictor of any outcome. In males, R2-values from 0.48 to 1.00. R2 for IF ranged from 0 to 0.02 and P-values from 0.48 to 1.00. In females, R2 for pain ratings ranged from 0.01 to 0.11 and P-values from 0.14 to 0.59. R2 for IF ranged from 0 to 0.04 and P-values from 0.41 to 0.90. In conclusion, vitamin D status did not predict muscle pain or strength after EE-induced muscle damage in young healthy men and women

Comparison of two surgical methods for the treatment of CIN: classical LLETZ (large-loop excision of the transformation zone) versus isolated resection of the colposcopic apparent lesion - study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background In compliance with national and international guidelines, non-pregnant women with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3 should be treated by cervical conization. According to the definition of the large loop excision of the transformation zone (LLETZ) operation, the lesion needs to be resected, including the transformation zone. It is well known from the literature that the cone size directly correlates with the risk of preterm delivery in the course of a future pregnancy. Thus, it would be highly desirable to keep the cone dimension as small as possible while maintaining the same level of oncological safety. Methods/Design The aim of this study is to analyze whether resection of the lesion only, without additional excision of the transformation zone, is equally as effective as the classical LLETZ operation regarding oncological outcome. We are performing this prospective, patient-blinded multicenter trial by randomly assigning women who need to undergo a LLETZ operation for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3 to either of the following two groups at a ratio of 1:1: (1) additional resection of the transformation zone or (2) resection of the lesion only. To evaluate equal oncological outcome, we are performing human papillomavirus (HPV) tests 6 and 12 months postoperatively. The study is designed to consider the lesion-only operation as oncologically not inferior if the rate of HPV high-risk test results is not higher than 5 % compared with the HPV high-risk rate of women undergoing the classical LLETZ operation. Discussion In case that non-inferiority of the “lesion-only” method can be demonstrated, this operation should eventually become standard treatment for all women at childbearing age due to the reduction in risk of preterm delivery. Trial registration German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS) Identifier: DRKS00006169 webcite. Date of registration: 30 July 2014

Screening tools for early neuropsychological impairment after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage

Background Although most aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) patients suffer from neuropsychological disabilities, outcome estimation is commonly based only on functional disability scales such as the modified Rankin Scale (mRS). Moreover, early neuropsychological screening tools are not used routinely. Objective To study whether two simple neuropsychological screening tools identify neuropsychological deficits (NPDs), among aSAH patients categorized with favorable outcome (mRS 0-2) at discharge. Methods We reviewed 170 consecutive aSAH patients that were registered in a prospective institutional database. We included all patients graded by the mRS at discharge, and who had additionally been evaluated by a neuropsychologist and/or occupational therapist using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and/or Rapid Evaluation of Cognitive Function (ERFC). The proportion of patients with scores indicative of NPDs in each test were reported, and spearman correlation tests calculated the coefficients between the both neuropsychological test results and the mRS. Results Of the 42 patients (24.7%) that were evaluated by at least one neuropsychological test, 34 (81.0%) were rated mRS 0-2 at discharge. Among these 34 patients, NPDs were identified in 14 (53.9%) according to the MoCA and 8 (66.7%) according to the ERFC. The mRS score was not correlated with the performance in the MoCA or ERFC. Conclusion The two screening tools implemented here frequently identified NPDs among aSAH patients that were categorized with favorable outcome according to the mRS. Our results suggest that MoCA or ERFC could be used to screen early NPDs in favorable outcome patients, who in turn might benefit from early neuropsychological rehabilitation.Peer reviewe

IMPACT OF RADIATION ON THE WALL HEAT LOAD AT A TEST BENCH GAS TURBINE COMBUSTION CHAMBER: MEASUREMENTS AND CFD SIMULATION

ABSTRACT Experimental and numerical work has been carried out to determine the wall heat load at the liner structure of a model gas turbine combustion chamber. Measured cross-sectional profiles of the velocity and temperature field inside the chamber could be used to validate various CFD calculations of the combustion flow. It turned out that only a special treatment of the thermal boundary conditions at all liner walls would actually lead to appropriate values of the wall heat flux. Radiation modeling included two radiative properties models (SG single gray gas and WSSG weighted sum of gray gases) and three radiation transport models (P1, DT discrete transfer, MC Monte Carlo). The performance of the WSGG model has been assessed with charts and the impact of the radiation on the liner wall temperature distribution has been studied. The experimental values are matched within 3% deviation with the best combination of transport and radiation property models. The radiation contributes to 20-30% of the total wall heat flux. The present approach enables Siemens PG to access the thermal design of combustors more precisely

Statistical methods to correct for verification bias in diagnostic studies are inadequate when there are few false negatives: a simulation study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A common feature of diagnostic research is that results for a diagnostic gold standard are available primarily for patients who are positive for the test under investigation. Data from such studies are subject to what has been termed "verification bias". We evaluated statistical methods for verification bias correction when there are few false negatives.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A simulation study was conducted of a screening study subject to verification bias. We compared estimates of the area-under-the-curve (AUC) corrected for verification bias varying both the rate and mechanism of verification.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In a single simulated data set, varying false negatives from 0 to 4 led to verification bias corrected AUCs ranging from 0.550 to 0.852. Excess variation associated with low numbers of false negatives was confirmed in simulation studies and by analyses of published studies that incorporated verification bias correction. The 2.5^th– 97.5^thcentile range constituted as much as 60% of the possible range of AUCs for some simulations.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Screening programs are designed such that there are few false negatives. Standard statistical methods for verification bias correction are inadequate in this circumstance.</p

Th2/Th17 cell associated cytokines found in seroma fluids after breast cancer surgery

Purpose The development of a seroma after breast cancer surgery is a common postoperative complication seen after simple mastectomy and axillary surgery. We could recently demonstrate that breast cancer patients undergoing a simple mastectomy with subsequent seroma formation developed a T-helper cell increase within the aspirated fluid measured by flow cytometry. The same study revealed a Th2 and/or a Th17 immune response in peripheral blood and seroma fluid of the same patient. Based on these results and within the same study population, we now analyzed the Th2/Th17 cell associated cytokine content as well as the best known clinical important cytokine IL-6. Methods Multiplex cytokine measurements (IL-4, IL-5, IL-13, IL-10, IL-17, and IL-22) were done on 34 seroma fluids (Sf) after fine needle aspiration of patients who developed a seroma after a simple mastectomy. Serum of the same patient (Sp) and that of healthy volunteers (Sc) were used as controls. Results We found the Sf to be highly cytokine rich. Almost all analyzed cytokines were significantly higher in abundance in the Sf compared to Sp and Sc, especially IL-6, which promotes Th17 differentiation as well as suppresses Th1 differentiation in favor of Th2 development. Conclusion Our Sf cytokine measurements reflect a local immune event. In contrast, former study results on T-helper cell populations in both Sf and Sp tend to demonstrate a systemic immune process