The relationship between music performance anxiety, subjective performance quality and post-event rumination among music students

According to cognitive models, the negative perception of one’s performance and the post-event rumination (PER) occurring after stressful social events maintain social anxiety. These aspects have hardly been studied in music performance anxiety (MPA), a specific form of social anxiety. The first aim of this study was to analyze the development of negative and positive PER over two days following a soloist concert, depending on the usual MPA level. The second aim was to investigate if subjective performance quality serves as mediator between MPA and PER. Negative and positive PER were assessed 10 minutes, one day and two days after a concert in 72 music students with different levels of usual MPA. Subjective performance quality was measured 10 minutes after the study concert. An increasing usual MPA level was associated with more negative and less positive PER. Both decreased over time. Negative PER decreased less rapidly in high-anxious than in low-anxious musicians and positive PER decreased more rapidly in low-anxious than in high-anxious musicians. Subjective performance quality mediated the relationship between MPA and PER. These findings extend previous knowledge in social anxiety to the field of MPA and have implications for interventions aiming at reducing MPA

Prolonged performance-related neuroendocrine activation and perseverative cognition in low- and high-anxious university music students.

Music performances are social-evaluative situations that can elicit marked short-term neuroendocrine activation and anxious thoughts especially in musicians suffering from music performance anxiety (MPA). The temporal patterns of neuroendocrine activity and concert-related worry and rumination (perseverative cognition, PC) days before and after a concert in low- and high-anxious musicians are unknown. The first goal of the present study was to investigate the prolonged effects of a solo music performance and the effects of trait MPA on salivary cortisol (sC), alpha-amylase (sAA), and concert-related PC. The second goal was to investigate whether concert-related PC is associated with neuroendocrine activity and mediates the effects of measurement day and trait MPA on neuroendocrine responses. Seventy-two university music students collected saliva samples and reported their PC for seven consecutive days. On the fifth day, they performed solo. Measurement day and trait MPA were tested as main predictors of the diurnal area under the curve with respect to ground (sC AUCg, sAA AUCg), awakening responses, and PC. SC AUCg, sAA AUCg, and concert-related PC were highest on concert day. SC AUCg decreased only partially on post-concert days. SAA AUCg remained elevated on the first post-concert day among students with moderate to very high trait MPA. Throughout the assessment period, trait MPA was associated with smaller sC AUCg and higher concert-related PC. Concert-related PC showed significant positive associations with sC AUCg and sAA AUCg but did not mediate the effects of measurement day and trait MPA on these measures. These findings suggest that solo music performances have prolonged neuroendocrine effects and that trait MPA is an important factor having specific effects on university music students' hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, autonomic nervous system, and cognitive activity

Removal of a subset of non-essential genes fully attenuates a highly virulent mycoplasma strain

Mycoplasmas are the smallest free-living organisms and cause a number of economically important diseases affecting humans, animals, insects, and plants. Here, we demonstrate that highly virulent Mycoplasma mycoides subspecies capri (Mmc) can be fully attenuated via targeted deletion of non-essential genes encoding, among others, potential virulence traits. Five genomic regions, representing approximately 10% of the original Mmc genome, were successively deleted using Saccharomyces cerevisiae as an engineering platform. Specifically, a total of 68 genes out of the 432 genes verified to be individually non-essential in the JCVI-Syn3.0 minimal cell, were excised from the genome. In vitro characterization showed that this mutant was similar to its parental strain in terms of its doubling time, even though 10% of the genome content were removed. A novel in vivo challenge model in goats revealed that the wild-type parental strain caused marked necrotizing inflammation at the site of inoculation, septicemia and all animals reached endpoint criteria within 6 days after experimental infection. This is in contrast to the mutant strain, which caused no clinical signs nor pathomorphological lesions. These results highlight, for the first time, the rational design, construction and complete attenuation of a Mycoplasma strain via synthetic genomics tools. Trait addition using the yeast-based genome engineering platform and subsequent in vitro or in vivo trials employing the Mycoplasma chassis will allow us to dissect the role of individual candidate Mycoplasma virulence factors and lead the way for the development of an attenuated designer vaccine

RANTES/CCL5 and Risk for Coronary Events: Results from the MONICA/KORA Augsburg Case-Cohort, Athero-Express and CARDIoGRAM Studies

BACKGROUND: The chemokine RANTES (regulated on activation, normal T-cell expressed and secreted)/CCL5 is involved in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease in mice, whereas less is known in humans. We hypothesised that its relevance for atherosclerosis should be reflected by associations between CCL5 gene variants, RANTES serum concentrations and protein levels in atherosclerotic plaques and risk for coronary events. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We conducted a case-cohort study within the population-based MONICA/KORA Augsburg studies. Baseline RANTES serum levels were measured in 363 individuals with incident coronary events and 1,908 non-cases (mean follow-up: 10.2±4.8 years). Cox proportional hazard models adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, metabolic factors and lifestyle factors revealed no significant association between RANTES and incident coronary events (HR [95% CI] for increasing RANTES tertiles 1.0, 1.03 [0.75-1.42] and 1.11 [0.81-1.54]). None of six CCL5 single nucleotide polymorphisms and no common haplotype showed significant associations with coronary events. Also in the CARDIoGRAM study (>22,000 cases, >60,000 controls), none of these CCL5 SNPs was significantly associated with coronary artery disease. In the prospective Athero-Express biobank study, RANTES plaque levels were measured in 606 atherosclerotic lesions from patients who underwent carotid endarterectomy. RANTES content in atherosclerotic plaques was positively associated with macrophage infiltration and inversely associated with plaque calcification. However, there was no significant association between RANTES content in plaques and risk for coronary events (mean follow-up 2.8±0.8 years). CONCLUSIONS: High RANTES plaque levels were associated with an unstable plaque phenotype. However, the absence of associations between (i) RANTES serum levels, (ii) CCL5 genotypes and (iii) RANTES content in carotid plaques and either coronary artery disease or incident coronary events in our cohorts suggests that RANTES may not be a novel coronary risk biomarker. However, the potential relevance of RANTES levels in platelet-poor plasma needs to be investigated in further studies

RANTES/CCL5 and risk for coronary events: Results from the MONICA/KORA Augsburg case-cohort, Athero-express and CARDIoGRAM studies

Background: The chemokine RANTES (regulated on activation, normal T-cell expressed and secreted)/CCL5 is involved in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease in mice, whereas less is known in humans. We hypothesised that its relevance for atherosclerosis should be reflected by associations between CCL5 gene variants, RANTES serum concentrations and protein levels in atherosclerotic plaques and risk for coronary events. Methods and Findings: We conducted a case-cohort study within the population-based MONICA/KORA Augsburg studies. Baseline RANTES serum levels were measured in 363 individuals with incident coronary events and 1,908 non-cases (mean follow-up: 10.2±

Autoantibodies against type I IFNs in patients with critical influenza pneumonia

In an international cohort of 279 patients with hypoxemic influenza pneumonia, we identified 13 patients (4.6%) with autoantibodies neutralizing IFN-alpha and/or -omega, which were previously reported to underlie 15% cases of life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia and one third of severe adverse reactions to live-attenuated yellow fever vaccine. Autoantibodies neutralizing type I interferons (IFNs) can underlie critical COVID-19 pneumonia and yellow fever vaccine disease. We report here on 13 patients harboring autoantibodies neutralizing IFN-alpha 2 alone (five patients) or with IFN-omega (eight patients) from a cohort of 279 patients (4.7%) aged 6-73 yr with critical influenza pneumonia. Nine and four patients had antibodies neutralizing high and low concentrations, respectively, of IFN-alpha 2, and six and two patients had antibodies neutralizing high and low concentrations, respectively, of IFN-omega. The patients' autoantibodies increased influenza A virus replication in both A549 cells and reconstituted human airway epithelia. The prevalence of these antibodies was significantly higher than that in the general population for patients 70 yr of age (3.1 vs. 4.4%, P = 0.68). The risk of critical influenza was highest in patients with antibodies neutralizing high concentrations of both IFN-alpha 2 and IFN-omega (OR = 11.7, P = 1.3 x 10(-5)), especially those <70 yr old (OR = 139.9, P = 3.1 x 10(-10)). We also identified 10 patients in additional influenza patient cohorts. Autoantibodies neutralizing type I IFNs account for similar to 5% of cases of life-threatening influenza pneumonia in patients <70 yr old

GWAS meta-analysis of intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy implicates multiple hepatic genes and regulatory elements

Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) is a pregnancy-specific liver disorder affecting 0.5–2% of pregnancies. The majority of cases present in the third trimester with pruritus, elevated serum bile acids and abnormal serum liver tests. ICP is associated with an increased risk of adverse outcomes, including spontaneous preterm birth and stillbirth. Whilst rare mutations affecting hepatobiliary transporters contribute to the aetiology of ICP, the role of common genetic variation in ICP has not been systematically characterised to date. Here, we perform genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and meta-analyses for ICP across three studies including 1138 cases and 153,642 controls. Eleven loci achieve genome-wide significance and have been further investigated and fine-mapped using functional genomics approaches. Our results pinpoint common sequence variation in liver-enriched genes and liver-specific cis-regulatory elements as contributing mechanisms to ICP susceptibility

GRB 080517: a local, low-luminosity gamma-ray burst in a dusty galaxy at z=0.09

We present an analysis of the photometry and spectroscopy of the host galaxy of Swift-detected GRB 080517. From our optical spectroscopy, we identify a redshift of z = 0.089 ± 0.003, based on strong emission lines, making this a rare example of a very local, low-luminosity, long gamma-ray burst. The galaxy is detected in the radio with a flux density of S4.5 GHz = 0.22 ± 0.04 mJy - one of relatively few known gamma-ray bursts hosts with a securely measured radio flux. Both optical emission lines and a strong detection at 22 μm suggest that the host galaxy is forming stars rapidly, with an inferred star formation rate ∼16 M⊙ yr-1 and a high dust obscuration (E(B - V) > 1, based on sightlines to the nebular emission regions). The presence of a companion galaxy within a projected distance of 25 kpc, and almost identical in redshift, suggests that star formation may have been triggered by galaxy-galaxy interaction. However, fitting of the remarkably flat spectral energy distribution from the ultraviolet through to the infrared suggests that an older, 500 Myr post-starburst stellar population is present along with the ongoing star formation. We conclude that the host galaxy of GRB 080517 is a valuable addition to the still very small sample of well-studied local gamma-ray burst hosts