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To translate the cancer-specific Body Image Scale (BIS) into German and assess its psychometric properties.The BIS was translated in accordance with current guidelines. In a prospective, cross-sectional two center study (psychosocial counselling center for cancer patients Leipzig, oncological inpatient ward Berlin), we assessed composite reliability and factor structure using confirmatory factor analysis. Additional item response theory (IRT) modelling was performed. Convergent validity was assessed via correlation with the Body Appreciation Scale (BAS) as well as psychological symptom burden (PHQ-9, GAD-2 and Distress Thermometer). Discriminant validity was assessed via demographic and clinical group comparisons.677 patients participated (response rate 78%). Composite reliability was 0.95 and the one-factor structure was confirmed (standardized root mean square residual = 0.051, average variance extracted ≥50%, no indications of local dependence). In IRT models, all items had a discriminating power above the established threshold of b = 0.5 and relatively high "difficulty" parameters (b = 0.89-2.06). The BIS was negatively correlated with the BAS (rho = -0.62, p 0.001) and positively with psychological symptom burden (e.g. PHQ-9: rho = 0.49, p 0.001). Patients who were younger, female, had undergone chemotherapy, radiotherapy or surgery and those who were distressed by fatigue, their appearance or sexual problems had significantly higher BIS scores.The German version of the BIS is a valid tool to assess BID in patients with cancer that is now available for clinical or research contexts.

Objective: To translate the cancer-specific Body Image Scale (BIS) into German and to validate the translated version by assessing its psychometric properties. Methods: The state-of-the-art translation of the BIS was tested in (i) a psychosocial cancer counselling center in Leipzig and (ii) oncological wards in Berlin, Germany. Composite reliability and factor structure were investigated using confirmatory factor analysis. Item response theory (IRT)-based analyses were performed. Convergent validity was assessed via correlation with another body image questionnaire (BAS) as well as psychological symptom burden (PHQ-9, GAD-2 and DT). Psychosocial and clinical group differences were assessed using t-tests. Results: 677 patients participated (response rate 78%). Composite reliability was 0.92 and the average variance extracted was above 50%. All items had a discriminating power above the established threshold of b = 0.5 and showed optimal discriminatory power at relatively high severity levels of body image disturbance (BID) (b = 0.89-2.06). Test information was highest in patients with moderate BID ( = 1.36). The BIS was negatively correlated with the BAS (r = -0.62, p < 0.001) and positively with psychological symptom burden (e.g. PHQ-9: r = 0.49, p < 0.001). Patients who were younger, female, had undergone chemotherapy and those who were distressed by fatigue, their appearance or sexual problems had significantly higher BID. Conclusions: The German version of the BIS is a valid tool to assess BID in patients with cancer. Normative data are needed to better interpret individual scores within the clinical context.

This study explored the subjective bodily experiences of patients with a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa (AN) during vibro-acoustic stimulation sessions with the Body Monochord (BoMo), a body sound treatment instrument. A total of 20 female patients diagnosed with AN received two BoMo treatments. Subsequent to the treatments, semi-structured interviews were conducted. Analysis was conducted using Grounded Theory. The following main categories were identified: differentiated perception, focussed attention, emergence of body-related feelings, emergence of emotions, emergence of thoughts, emergence of inner images, relaxation, spatial and temporal experience, new bodily experiences and self-reflection. The subjective experiences during the BoMo treatment were independent of patient body shape and weight, were not exclusively focussed on usual illness-related body problem areas like the belly and the thighs and had both positive and negative connotations. New therapeutic approaches that are suited to handling and integrating new bodily experiences in patients diagnosed with AN may develop from these observations. Due to the variety of issues that emerge during the treatments BoMo might present a meaningful extension to verbal psychotherapy.

Relaxation and meditation techniques are generally characterized by focusing attention, which is associated with an increase of frontal EEG Theta. Some studies on music perception suggest an activation of Frontal Midline Theta during emotionally positive attribution, others display a lateralization of electrocortical processes in the attribution of music induced emotion of different valence. The present study examined the effects of vibroacoustic stimulation using a Body Monochord and the conventional relaxation music from an audio CD on the spontaneous EEG of patients suffering from psychosomatic disorders (N = 60). Each treatment took about 20 min and was presented to the patients in random order. Subjective experience was recorded via self-rating scale. EEG power spectra of the Theta, Alpha-1 and Alpha-2 bands were analysed and compard between the two treatment conditions. There was no lateralization of electrocortical activity in terms of the emotional experience of the musical pieces. A reduction in Alpha-2 power occurred during both treatments. An emotionally positive attribution of the experience of the vibroacoustically induced relaxation state is characterized by a more pronounced release of control. In the context of focused attention this is interpreted as flow experience. The spontaneous EEG showed an increase in Theta power, particularly in the frontal medial and central medial area, and a greater reduction in Alpha-2 power. The intensity of positive emotional feelings during the CD music showed no significant effect on the increase in Theta power.

Vibroacoustic stimulation via a Body Monochord can induce states of relaxation and subjective well-being. Sometimes unpleasant experiences such as fear, loss of control and unpleasant imagery can occur. Previous results were mainly deduced from investigations in healthy subjects.In this study, we examined psychosomatic patients’ subjective experiences during a single treatment with a Body Monochord in comparison to a listening session of relaxation music via audio CD. Diagnosed disorders were anxiety disorders n = 14, depressive disorders n = 18, adjustment disorder n = 27 and somatoform disorders n = 6. Each of the two treatments took approximately 20 minutes and was presented to the patients in random order. Subjective experiences were recorded via a shortened version of the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory. Neither clinical disorders nor psychometric scales for depressiveness and anxiety showed any influence on the emotional experience of the Body Monochord. However, patients with highe...

Vibroacoustic stimulation by a Body Monochord can induce relaxation states of various emotional valence. The skin conductance level (SCL) of the tonic electrodermal activity is an indicator of sympathetic arousal of the autonomic nervous system and thus an indicator of the relaxation response. Salivary cortisol is considered to be a stress indicator of the HPA-axis. The effects of the treatment with a Body Monochord and listening to relaxation music (randomized chronological presentation) on SCL and salivary cortisol in relation to the emotional valence of the experience were examined in patients with psychosomatic disorders (N = 42). Salivary cortisol samples were collected immediately before and after the expositions. Subjective experience was measured via self-rating scales. Overall, both the exposure to the Body Monochord as well as the exposure to the relaxation music induced an improvement of patients’ mood and caused a highly significant reduction of SCL. A more emotionally positive experience of relaxation correlated with a slightly stronger reduction of the SCL. Both treatment conditions caused a slight increase in salivary cortisol, which was significant after exposure to the first treatment. The increase of salivary cortisol during a relaxation state is contrary to previous findings. It is possible that the relaxation state was experienced as an emotional challenge, due to inner images and uncommon sensations that might have occurred.

Iron–sulfur cluster N2 of complex I (proton pumping NADH:quinone oxidoreductase) is the immediate electron donor to ubiquinone. At a distance of only ∼ 7 A in the 49-kDa subunit, a highly conserved tyrosine is found at the bottom of the previously characterized quinone binding pocket. To get insight into the function of this residue, we have exchanged it for six different amino acids in complex I from Yarrowia lipolytica. Mitochondrial membranes from all six mutants contained fully assembled complex I that exhibited very low dNADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase activities with n-decylubiquinone. With the most conservative exchange Y144F, no alteration in the electron paramagnetic resonance spectra of complex I was detectable. Remarkably, high dNADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase activities were observed with ubiquinones Q1 and Q2 that were coupled to proton pumping. Apparent Km values for Q1 and Q2 were markedly increased and we found pronounced resistance to the complex I inhibitors decyl-quinazoline-amine (DQA) and rotenone. We conclude that Y144 directly binds the head group of ubiquinone, most likely via a hydrogen bond between the aromatic hydroxyl and the ubiquinone carbonyl. This places the substrate in an ideal distance to its electron donor iron–sulfur cluster N2 for efficient electron transfer during the catalytic cycle of complex I.

Numerous hydrophobic and amphipathic compounds including several detergents are known to inhibit the ubiquinone reductase reaction of respiratory chain complex I (proton pumping NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase). Guided by the X-ray structure of the peripheral arm of complex I from Thermus thermophilus we have generated a large collection of site-directed mutants in the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica targeting the proposed ubiquinone and inhibitor binding pocket of this huge multiprotein complex at the interface of the 49-kDa and PSST subunits. We could identify a number of residues where mutations changed I50 values for representatives from all three groups of hydrophobic inhibitors. Many mutations around the domain of the 49-kDa subunit that is homologous to the [NiFe] centre binding region of hydrogenase conferred resistance to DQA (class I/type A) and rotenone (class II/type B) indicating a wider overlap of the binding sites for these two types of inhibitors. In contrast, a region near iron–sulfur cluster N2, where the binding of the n-alkyl-polyoxyethylene-ether detergent C12E8 (type C) was exclusively affected, appeared comparably well separated. Taken together, our data provide structure-based support for the presence of distinct but overlapping binding sites for hydrophobic inhibitors possibly extending into the ubiquinone reduction site of mitochondrial complex I.

Proton pumping respiratory complex I is a major player in mitochondrial energy conversion. Yet little is known about the molecular mechanism of this large membrane protein complex. Understanding the details of ubiquinone reduction will be prerequisite for elucidating this mechanism. Based on a recently published partial structure of the bacterial enzyme, we scanned the proposed ubiquinone binding cavity of complex I by site-directed mutagenesis in the strictly aerobic yeast Yarrowia lipolytica. The observed changes in catalytic activity and inhibitor sensitivity followed a consistent pattern and allowed us to define three functionally important regions near the ubiquinone-reducing iron-sulfur cluster N2. We identified a likely entry path for the substrate ubiquinone and defined a region involved in inhibitor binding within the cavity. Finally, we were able to highlight a functionally critical structural motif in the active site that consisted of Tyr-144 in the 49-kDa subunit, surrounded by three conserved hydrophobic residues.