Poetry is an artistic form of communication that may or may not contain meter, rhyme, or lexical content [1]. We examined how the temporal regularity of spoken German poetry varied as a function of these features. Using a beat tracker that was previously used to measure speech rate based on moments of acoustic stress [2], we examined how stress rate and variability were influenced by meter, rhy...

The POEMS syndrome (coined to refer to polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, M protein, and skin changes) remains poorly understood. Ambiguity exists over the features necessary to establish the diagnosis, treatment efficacy, and prognosis. We identified 99 patients with POEMS syndrome. Minimal criteria were a sensorimotor peripheral neuropathy and evidence of a monoclonal plasmaprolife...

The polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, M protein, skin changes (POEMS) syndrome is a rare multisystemic disorder associated with osteosclerotic myeloma and multicentric Castleman's disease (MCD). Human herpesvirus type 8 (HHV-8) DNA sequences have been detected in lymph nodes of about 40% of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-negative patients with MCD, and in bone marrow stromal cel...

The polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, M protein, skin changes (POEMS) syndrome is a rare multisystem disorder of obscure pathogenesis associated with osteosclerotic myeloma. Circulating levels of proinflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) interleukin-1 beta [IL-1 beta], IL-2, IL-6, and interferon-gamma [IFN-gamma]), anti-inflammatory cytokines (transforming g...

Background and purpose: POEMS syndrome (poly­ neuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, monoclonal gammopathy and skin changes) is a rare multisystemic disease, which belongs to plasma cell dyscrasia (monoclonal plasma cell proliferative disorder, almost always λ). Bone fractures in patients with POEMS syndrome are rarely described in literature. They are caused by bone lesions, which can be os...

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is an uncommon but lethal complication of some connective tissue diseases. We describe two cases of PH associated with plasma cell dyscrasia, with polyneuropathy (P), organomegaly (O), endocrinopathy (E), M protein (P) and skin changes (S) described as POEMS syndrome. Two patients, one female and one male, were hospitalized for dyspnoea. Both had a history of POEMS s...

Glomeruloid hemangioma is characterized by coiled capillary vessels contained within enlarged vascular spaces displaying an architecture that resembles renal glomeruli. The condition is strongly associated with POEMS syndrome (Polyneuropathy, Organomegaly, Endocrinopathy, Monoclonal gammopathy and Skin changes). The present paper reports on two cases of glomeruloid hemangiomas associated with P...

Conclusions, and Implications The purpose of this research was to determine whether or not poetry (i.e., poems, ballads, and songs) could be used as a source of knowledge on historic dress in a social, political, or economic context, using the dress of Scottish Highlanders from 1603 through 1830 as an example, and to triangulate the findings with other sources that portray dress through the wri...