Organist

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine the influence of extensive work-related use of the feet on functional ankle stability among musicians. METHODS: Thirty professional organists were compared to professional pianists and controls. All participants completed a questionnaire. Range of motion (ROM), peroneal reaction time, and positional sense tests of the ankle were measured. The postural balance control was investigated with the Biodex Stability System for the stable level 8 and unstable level 2...

In his Systeme de la nature ou Essai sur les corps organists (originally published in Latin in 1751 as Dissertatio inauguralis metaphysica de universali naturae systemate, under the pseudonym Dr Baumann), Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis, President of the Berlin Academy of Sciences and a natural philosopher with a strong interest in the modes of transmission of 'genetic' information, described living minima which he termed molecules, "endowed with desire, memory and intelligence." Now, Maupertuis was Leibnizian of sorts; his molecules possessed higher-level, 'mental' properties, recalling La Mettrie's statement in L'Homme-Machine, that Leibnizians have "rather spiritualized matter than materialized the soul...

OBJECTIVE: To review the literature on strategies to optimize medication adherence in community-dwelling older adults and to make recommendations for clinical practice. METHODS: A systematic literature search was conducted using the MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, and EMBASE databases for randomized controlled trials examining strategies to optimize medication adherence in patients aged 65 or older prescribed long-term medication regimens. Additional studies were found by examining the reference lists of systematic reviews and selected papers...

A skeleton alleged to be that of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was exhumed from a graveyard in Leipzig, Germany, in 1894, but its authenticity is not established. In 1895, anatomist Wilhelm His concluded from his examination of the skeleton and reconstruction of the face that it most likely belonged to Bach. In 1949, surgeon Wolfgang Rosenthal noticed exostoses on the skeleton and on x-rays of 11 living organists and proposed a condition, Organistenkrankheit, which he interpreted as evidence that the skeleton was Bach's...

The subject of a prior report of a blind organist with aphasia and Braille alexia without amusia, published in French, has been identified as Jean Langlais. His artistic and medical history is presented, the latter via translation of the original 1987 paper.

Medical errors have become a leading cause of death, killing more people each year than AIDS or aeroplane crashes. These medical errors can be classified into five categories: poor decision making, poor communication, inadequate patient monitoring, patient misidentification, inability to respond rapidly and poor patient tracking. Employing innovative information technologies in correcting these deficiencies and meeting the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organistion (JCAHO) patient safety goals is the current trend in enhancing patient safety...

The history of madness and psychiatry has witnessed the socio-cultural influence of psychiatric disorders in etiological constructs, expression and treatment. After a brief historical overview, the author emphasizes the contemporary socio-politico-economical conditions and their influence on the field of psychiatry. The prevalence of economic values and "econometric process" increasingly penetrates the organization of government, institutions and science, as well as favouring uniformity and fragmentation of its constructs and treatments...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

The octave illusion is a useful tool for investigation of the contribution of specialist training to auditory perception. The stimulus that induces the illusion involves two tones with a frequency ratio of 2:1, presented dichotically, and with ear of presentation reversed every 250 ms. Most listeners report hearing a single tone that alternates from high in the right ear to low in the left ear [Scientific American 233 (1975) 92-104]. The first experiment investigated the hypothesis that musical training contributes to veridical perception of an ambiguous stimulus...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Several interventions have been developed to minimize the effects of a fragmented health care system and improve services to older adults in long-term care settings. In the context of scarce specialized resources and expertise, this article describes Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment, Minimum Data Set, and Resident Assessment Protocols, the integration of which offers promise for effective evaluation and case management. The model's significance and potential benefits for targeting services to residents at risk for adverse outcomes are explored as components of an integrated information system for enhancing the care of nursing home residents...

It is estimated that approximately 50% of residents in long-term care settings suffer from urinary incontinence. Developing and implementing a continence program in long-term care settings is one of the most challenging aspects of continence care. Careful assessment of residents will allow interventions to be targeted to those most likely to benefit. The combination of nursing measures and targeting the behavioral interventions to those most likely to benefit increases the likelihood that the program will produce clinically significant reductions in UI...

The case of a professional musician with a right temporal lobe epilepsy is presented. Whilst playing an organ concert (John Stanley's Voluntary VIII, Op. 5), he suffered a complex partial seizure. The recorded concert performance (with the seizure) was analysed and compared with other available exercise records and with the composition. The musical analysis of the seizure-induced variations reveals that at the beginning of the seizure, the left hand started to become unprecise in time and deviated from the score, whereas the right hand remained faultless at this time...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Orgasm is in some women accompanied by the release of fluid from the external genitalia. This fluid can sometimes eject under pressure and thus resemble male ejaculation. It may presumably originate in the vagina, in the bladder (orgastic urination) or in the paraurethral (Skene's) glands, labeled by some authors as the female prostate. Analysis of the fluid samples showed it to be urine, secretion of Skene's glands or a mixture of both. The relationship of these expulsions to the stimulation of the vaginal G spot has been reported...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

An organist had an episode of transient global amnesia during a recital. Despite a severe immediate-memory deficit, he performed complex organ music. This case suggests that the localization of the cerebral deficit in transient global amnesia is distinct from the cerebral centers necessary for performance of instrumental music.

An accomplished organist, who could neither read nor write music, suddenly lost his ability to play familiar melodies as the result of an infarction of the right superior temporal and supramarginal gyri. Although the patient had minor difficulty recognizing familiar melodies and coordinating his hands, he had mainly an expressive instrumental amusia. This case provides further evidence of right hemispheric dominance for musical execution, relatively independent of musical knowledge and training.

A 67-year-old organist and minister with diabetes mellitus had stereotyped focal seizures of the left lower face, jaw, and neck. Attacks occurred spontaneously or were induced when he played a specific hymn on the organ. The seizures were not induced by reading, singing, hearing, or playing the hymn silently. The patient had interictal weakness of the left lower face and left side of the tongue. Focal seizures were recorded on an electroencephalogram (EEG) at the right temporofrontal area. This patient illustrates partial seizures induced by playing music...