Electroencephalography and Music Therapy: On the Same Wavelength?

Abstract Particularly due to its temporal resolution, electroencephalography (EEG) has proved to be a feasible tool to study music perception and cognition. Consistent with the growing impact of neuroscientific research in music within the last two decades, the application of electrophysiological parameters has become more interesting for music therapy as well. This article offers an overview of electrophysiological basics and principles of EEG recording. Further, it reviews some electrophysiological studies on music perception. Eventually, it focuses on the results of EEG studies in participants with depression: clinically relevant reductions in depression and anxiety parameters are accompanied by lasting changes in resting EEG, that is, significant absolute power increases at left frontotemporal alpha and theta waves. The implications for future developments in research and clinical practice of music therapy are discussed

Neuropeptide S: a transmitter system in the brain regulating fear and anxiety

a b s t r a c t The recently discovered Neuropeptide S (NPS) and its cognate receptor represent a highly interesting system of neuromodulation with unique physiological effects. On one hand, NPS increases wakefulness and arousal. On the other, NPS produces anxiolytic-like effects by acutely reducing fear responses as well as modulating long-term aspects of fear memory, such as attenuation of contextual fear or enhancement of fear extinction. The main sources of NPS in the brain are a few clusters of NPS-producing neurons in the brainstem. NPS binds to a G-protein-coupled receptor that is highly conserved among vertebrates and stimulates mobilization of intracellular Ca 2þ as well as activation of protein kinases. In synaptic circuits within the amygdala, which are important for processing of acute fear as well as formation and expression of fear memories, NPS causes increased release of the excitatory transmitter glutamate, especially in synaptic contacts to a subset of GABAergic interneurons. Polymorphisms in the human NPS receptor gene have been associated with altered sleep behavior and panic disorder. In conclusion, the NPS system displays a unique physiological profile with respect to the specificity and time course of its actions. These functions could provide interesting opportunities for both basic research and clinical applications

The catalytically active tyrosine residues of both SPO11-1 and SPO11-2 are required for meiotic double-strand break induction in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell 19: 3090

SPO11, a homolog of the subunit A of the archaebacterial topoisomerase VI, is essential for double-strand break (DSB)-induced initiation of meiotic recombination. In contrast with single homologs in animals and yeasts, three homologs are present in Arabidopsis thaliana and other higher plants. Whereas At SPO11-3 is involved in somatic endoreduplication, At SPO11-1 and, as recently shown, At SPO11-2 are essential for the initiation of meiotic recombination. Further defining the role of At SPO11-2, we were able to demonstrate that it is required for proper chromosome segregation, as its loss resulted in aneuploidy in the surviving progeny. The double mutant spo11-1 spo11-2 does not differ phenotypically from the single mutants, indicating that both proteins are required for the same step. Contrary to the observations for the At rad51-1 single mutant, the combination of spo11-2 and rad51-1 did not lead to chromosome fragmentation, indicating that SPO11-2, like SPO11-1, is required for DSB induction. As the meiotic phenotype of both single SPO11 mutants can be reversed by complementation using the full-length genes but not the same constructs mutated in their respective catalytically active Tyr, both proteins seem to participate directly in the DNA breakage reaction. The active involvement of two SPO11 homologs for DSB formation reveals a striking difference between plants and other eukaryotes in meiosis

Investigating the association between obesity and asthma in 6- to 8-year-old Saudi children:a matched case-control study

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated an association between obesity and asthma, but there remains considerable uncertainty about whether this reflects an underlying causal relationship. Aims: To investigate the association between obesity and asthma in pre-pubertal children and to investigate the roles of airway obstruction and atopy as possible causal mechanisms. Methods: We conducted an age- and sex-matched case–control study of 1,264 6- to 8-year-old schoolchildren with and without asthma recruited from 37 randomly selected schools in Madinah, Saudi Arabia. The body mass index (BMI), waist circumference and skin fold thickness of the 632 children with asthma were compared with those of the 632 control children without asthma. Associations between obesity and asthma, adjusted for other potential risk factors, were assessed separately in boys and girls using conditional logistic regression analysis. The possible mediating roles of atopy and airway obstruction were studied by investigating the impact of incorporating data on sensitisation to common aeroallergens and measurements of lung function. Results: BMI was associated with asthma in boys (odds ratio (OR)=1.14, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.08–1.20; adjusted OR=1.11, 95% CI, 1.03–1.19) and girls (OR=1.37, 95% CI, 1.26–1.50; adjusted OR=1.38, 95% CI, 1.23–1.56). Adjusting for forced expiratory volume in 1 s had a negligible impact on these associations, but these were attenuated following adjustment for allergic sensitisation, particularly in girls (girls: OR=1.25; 95% CI, 0.96–1.60; boys: OR=1.09, 95% CI, 0.99–1.19). Conclusions: BMI is associated with asthma in pre-pubertal Saudi boys and girls; this effect does not appear to be mediated through respiratory obstruction, but in girls this may at least partially be mediated through increased risk of allergic sensitisation

Original Article Fish Oil Regulates Adiponectin Secretion by a Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor-␥-Dependent Mechanism in Mice

Adiponectin has insulin-sensitizing, antiatherogenic, and anti-inflammatory properties, but little is known about factors that regulate its secretion. To examine the effect of fish oil on adiponectin secretion, mice were fed either a control diet or isocaloric diets containing 27% safflower oil or 27, 13.5, and 8% menhaden fish oil. Within 15 days, fish oil feeding raised plasma adiponectin concentrations twoto threefold in a dose-dependent manner, and the concentrations remained approximately twofold higher for 7 days when the fish oil diet was replaced by the safflower oil diet. Within 24 h, fish oil markedly induced transcription of the adiponectin gene in epididymal adipose tissue but not in subcutaneous fat. The increase of plasma adiponectin by fish oil was completely blocked by administration of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)␥ inhibitor bisphenol-A-diglycidyl ether. In contrast, there was no effect of fish oil feeding on adiponectin secretion in PPAR␣-null mice. These data suggest that fish oil is a naturally occurring potent regulator of adiponectin secretion in vivo and that it does so through a PPAR␥-dependent and PPAR␣-independent manner in epididymal fat. Diabetes 55: 924 -928, 200

Article Developmental Control of Nuclear Size and Shape by kugelkern and kurzkern

Summary Background: The shape of a nucleus depends on the nuclear lamina, which is tightly associated with the inner nuclear membrane and on the interaction with the cytoskeleton. However, the mechanism connecting the differentiation state of a cell to the shape changes of its nucleus are not well understood. We investigated this question in early Drosophila embryos, where the nuclear shape changes from spherical to ellipsoidal together with a 2.5-fold increase in nuclear length during cellularization. Results: We identified two genes, kugelkern and kurzkern, required for nuclear elongation. In kugelkern-and kurzkern-depleted embryos, the nuclei reach only hal

Boost Camp’, a universal school-based transdiagnostic prevention program targeting adolescent emotion regulation; evaluating the effectiveness by a clustered RCT : a protocol paper

Abstract Background The transition from childhood into adolescence can be considered as a critical developmental period. Moreover, adolescence is associated with a decreased use of adaptive emotion regulation strategies and an increased use of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies increasing the risk of emotional problems. Targeting emotion regulation is therefore seen as an innovative prevention approach. The present study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of Boost camp, an innovative school-based prevention program targeting ER, on adolescents’ emotion regulation skills and emotional wellbeing. Also secondary outcomes and possible moderators will be included. Methods The aim is to reach 300 adolescents (16 class groups, 6 schools) in their first year of high school. A clustered Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) with two conditions, intervention (n = 150) and control (n = 150), will be set up. Adolescents in the intervention condition will receive 14 lessons over the course of 2 days, followed by Booster sessions, and will be compared with adolescents in a non-intervention control group. The outcomes will be measured by self-report questionnaires at baseline, immediately after Boost camp, and at three and 6 months follow-up. Discussion Data-collection is planned to be completed in May 2018. Data-analyses will be finished the end of 2018. The presented paper describes the Boost camp program and the clustered RCT design to evaluate its effectiveness. It is expected that Boost camp will have beneficial effects. If found effective, Boost camp will have the potential to increase adolescent’s ER and well-being, and reduce the risk to become adults in need. The trials is registered on the 13th of June 2017 in ISRCTN registry [ISRCTN68235634]

The Systemic Lupus Erythematosus IRF5 Risk Haplotype Is Associated with Systemic Sclerosis

Abstract Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a fibrotic autoimmune disease in which the genetic component plays an important role. One of the strongest SSc association signals outside the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) region corresponds to interferon (IFN) regulatory factor 5 (IRF5), a major regulator of the type I IFN pathway. In this study we aimed to evaluate whether three different haplotypic blocks within this locus, which have been shown to alter the protein function influencing systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) susceptibility, are involved in SSc susceptibility and clinical phenotypes. For that purpose, we genotyped one representative single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of each block (rs10488631, rs2004640, and rs4728142) in a total of 3,361 SSc patients and 4,012 unaffected controls of Caucasian origin from Spain, Germany, The Netherlands, Italy and United Kingdom. A meta-analysis of the allele frequencies was performed to analyse the overall effect of these IRF5 genetic variants on SSc. Allelic combination and dependency tests were also carried out. The three SNPs showed strong associations with the global disease (rs4728142: P = 1.34610 28 , OR = 1.22, CI 95% = 1.14-1.30; rs2004640: P = 4.60610 27 , OR = 0.84, CI 95% = 0.78-0.90; rs10488631: P = 7.53610 220 , OR = 1.63, CI 95% = 1.47-1.81). However, the association of rs2004640 with SSc was not independent of rs4728142 (conditioned P = 0.598). The haplotype containing the risk alleles (rs4728142*A-rs2004640*T-rs10488631*C: P = 9.04610 222 , OR = 1.75, CI 95% = 1.56-1.97) better explained the observed association (likelihood P-value = 1.48610 24 ), suggesting an additive effect of the three haplotypic blocks. No statistical significance was observed in the comparisons amongst SSc patients with and without the main clinical characteristics. Our data clearly indicate that the SLE risk haplotype also influences SSc predisposition, and that this association is not subphenotype-specific

Job Strain and Alcohol Intake: A Collaborative Meta- Analysis of Individual-Participant Data from 140 000 Men and Women

Abstract Background: The relationship between work-related stress and alcohol intake is uncertain. In order to add to the thus far inconsistent evidence from relatively small studies, we conducted individual-participant meta-analyses of the association between work-related stress (operationalised as self-reported job strain) and alcohol intake

Progress of plant variety protection based on the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV Convention)

Abstract In reviewing the progress of plant variety protection based on the UPOV Convention, the author briefly describes the original Convention of 1961 and the revisions in 1972, 1978 and 1991. He goes on to examine the results of the substantial increases in membership and in grants of protection. One such result is greater interaction with conventions and treaties such as TRIPS and the Convention on Biodiversity. Issues described in this context include the conservation of and access to genetic resources (GR), disclosure of origin of GR, prior informed consent for the use of GR, benefit sharing and farmersÕ rights