Effects of perceptions of information overload, noise and environmental demands on wellbeing and academic attainment.

The present research considers components of information overload, which may have a negative impact on wellbeing and academic attainment. 179 university students completed a survey consisting of an information overload scale (IOS) and the wellbeing process questionnaire. Their academic attainment scores were also added to the database. The IOS scale also included questions relating to noise exposure. Both the noise scores and non-noise IOS scores were associated with greater negative wellbeing and lower positive wellbeing. There were no significant effects of noise or IOS scores on academic attainment. Wellbeing is predicted by a number of factors such as exposure to stressors, negative coping, social support and psychological capital. When these established factors were included in the analyses, the effects of noise and other aspects of IOS could be accounted for by exposure to other stressors and were no longer significant predictors of negative or positive wellbeing

Associations between job demands, perceptions of noise at work and the psychological contract

Despite the widespread interest in the effects of workload on behaviour, there has been little research on the effects of it on attitudes and values in the workplace and life generally. The aim of the present research was to examine associations between noise exposure (which increases workload) and components of the psychological contract (fairness; trust; organisational commitment; work satisfaction; motivation; organisational citizenship; and intention to stay/quit). 166 workers completed a survey measuring components of the psychological contract, perceptions of noise exposure and other job characteristics. Univariate analyses showed that higher noise exposure was associated with a more negative psychological contract. However, adjustment for other job characteristics, both negative (e.g. job demands) and positive (e.g. control and support), removed the significant effects of noise. These results confirm previous research suggesting that psychosocial stressors have greater behavioural effects than components of the physical working environment such as noise

Student workload, wellbeing and academic attainment

There has been extensive research on workload, often in the laboratory or workplace. Less research has been conducted in educational settings and there is very little examining workload, wellbeing and academic attainment of university students. The present study of 1294 students examined associations between perceptions of workload, hours spent at university, time pressure and attainment and wellbeing outcomes (measured using the Wellbeing Process Questionnaire). Established predictors (stressors; social support; negative coping; positive personality and conscientiousness) were controlled for, and the analyses showed that workload was significantly associated with all outcomes whereas time pressure was only related to course stress and negative wellbeing (life stress, fatigue and anxiety/depression). Hours spent at the university had no significant effects. The effects of workload were interpreted in terms of an initial challenge leading to increased efficiency and attainment. These results show the importance of including workload in future longitudinal research on student wellbeing and attainment

Genetic Control of Resistance to Trypanosoma brucei brucei Infection in Mice

Trypanosoma brucei are extracellular protozoa transmitted to mammalian host by the tsetse fly. They developed several mechanisms that subvert host's immune defenses. Therefore analysis of genes affecting host's resistance to infection can reveal critical aspects of host-parasite interactions. Trypanosoma brucei brucei infects many animal species including livestock, with particularly severe effects in horses and dogs. Mouse strains differ greatly in susceptibility to T. b. brucei. However, genes controlling susceptibility to this parasite have not been mapped. We analyzed the genetic control of survival after T. b. brucei infection using CcS/Dem recombinant congenic (RC) strains, each of which contains a different random set of 12.5% genes of their donor parental strain STS/A on the BALB/c genetic background. The RC strain CcS-11 is even more susceptible to parasites than BALB/c or STS/A. In F2 hybrids between BALB/c and CcS-11 we detected and mapped four loci, Tbbr1-4 (Trypanosoma brucei brucei response 1–4), that control survival after T. b. brucei infection. Tbbr1 (chromosome 3) and Tbbr2 (chromosome 12) have independent effects, Tbbr3 (chromosome 7) and Tbbr4 (chromosome 19) were detected by their mutual inter-genic interaction. Tbbr2 was precision mapped to a segment of 2.15 Mb that contains 26 genes

Genetics of Host Response to Leishmania tropica in Mice – Different Control of Skin Pathology, Chemokine Reaction, and Invasion into Spleen and Liver

Several hundred million people are exposed to the risk of leishmaniasis, a disease caused by intracellular protozoan parasites of several Leishmania species and transmitted by phlebotomine sand flies. In humans, L. tropica causes cutaneous form of leishmaniasis with painful and long-persisting lesions in the site of the insect bite, but the parasites can also penetrate to internal organs. The relationship between the host genes and development of the disease was demonstrated for numerous infectious diseases. However, the search for susceptibility genes in the human population could be a difficult task. In such cases, animal models may help to discover the role of different genes in interactions between the parasite and the host. Unfortunately, the literature contains only a few publications about the use of animals for L. tropica studies. Here, we report an animal model suitable for genetic, pathological and drug studies in L. tropica infection. We show how the host genotype influences different disease symptoms: skin lesions, parasite dissemination to the lymph nodes, spleen and liver, and increase of levels of chemokines CCL2, CCL3 and CCL5 in serum

Stimuli of Sensory-Motor Nerves Terminate Arterial Contractile Effects of Endothelin-1 by CGRP and Dissociation of ET-1/ETA-Receptor Complexes

Endothelin-1 (ET-1), a long-acting paracrine mediator, is implicated in cardiovascular diseases but clinical trials with ET-receptor antagonists were not successful in some areas. We tested whether the quasi-irreversible receptor-binding of ET-1 (i) limits reversing effects of the antagonists and (ii) can be selectively dissociated by an endogenous counterbalancing mechanism.-receptor complexes.-receptors by ET-1 (i) occur at an antagonist-insensitive site of the receptor and (ii) are selectively terminated by endogenously released CGRP. Hence, natural stimuli of sensory-motor nerves that stimulate release of endogenous CGRP can be considered for therapy of diseases involving ET-1

Identification of Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis Transcript Sequences Expressed during Infection Reveals Isolate-Specific Effectors

Biotrophic plant pathogens secrete effector proteins that are important for infection of the host. The aim of this study was to identify effectors of the downy mildew pathogen Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis (Hpa) that are expressed during infection of its natural host Arabidopsis thaliana. Infection-related transcripts were identified from Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) derived from leaves of the susceptible Arabidopsis Ws eds1-1 mutant inoculated with the highly virulent Hpa isolate Waco9. Assembly of 6364 ESTs yielded 3729 unigenes, of which 2164 were Hpa-derived. From the translated Hpa unigenes, 198 predicted secreted proteins were identified. Of these, 75 were found to be Hpa-specific and six isolate Waco9-specific. Among 42 putative effectors identified there were three Elicitin-like proteins, 16 Cysteine-rich proteins and 18 host-translocated RXLR effectors. Sequencing of alleles in different Hpa isolates revealed that five RXLR genes show signatures of diversifying selection. Thus, EST analysis of Hpa-infected Arabidopsis is proving to be a powerful method for identifying pathogen effector candidates expressed during infection. Delivery of the Waco9-specific protein RXLR29 in planta revealed that this effector can suppress PAMP-triggered immunity and enhance disease susceptibility. We propose that differences in host colonization can be conditioned by isolate-specific effectors

Regulatory T cells and their role in rheumatic diseases: a potential target for novel therapeutic development

Regulatory T cells have an important role in limiting immune reactions and are essential regulators of self-tolerance. Among them, CD4+CD25high regulatory T cells are the best-described subset. In this article, we summarize current knowledge on the phenotype, function, and development of CD4+CD25high regulatory T cells. We also review the literature on the role of these T cells in rheumatic diseases and discuss the potential for their use in immunotherapy

Minimal information for studies of extracellular vesicles (MISEV2023): From basic to advanced approaches

Extracellular vesicles (EVs), through their complex cargo, can reflect the state of their cell of origin and change the functions and phenotypes of other cells. These features indicate strong biomarker and therapeutic potential and have generated broad interest, as evidenced by the steady year-on-year increase in the numbers of scientific publications about EVs. Important advances have been made in EV metrology and in understanding and applying EV biology. However, hurdles remain to realising the potential of EVs in domains ranging from basic biology to clinical applications due to challenges in EV nomenclature, separation from non-vesicular extracellular particles, characterisation and functional studies. To address the challenges and opportunities in this rapidly evolving field, the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) updates its 'Minimal Information for Studies of Extracellular Vesicles', which was first published in 2014 and then in 2018 as MISEV2014 and MISEV2018, respectively. The goal of the current document, MISEV2023, is to provide researchers with an updated snapshot of available approaches and their advantages and limitations for production, separation and characterisation of EVs from multiple sources, including cell culture, body fluids and solid tissues. In addition to presenting the latest state of the art in basic principles of EV research, this document also covers advanced techniques and approaches that are currently expanding the boundaries of the field. MISEV2023 also includes new sections on EV release and uptake and a brief discussion of in vivo approaches to study EVs. Compiling feedback from ISEV expert task forces and more than 1000 researchers, this document conveys the current state of EV research to facilitate robust scientific discoveries and move the field forward even more rapidly