Performance anxiety in actors: symptoms, explanations and an Indian approach to treatment

There are numerous examples of renowned performers across the arts (actors and musicians) and in sports, which become news items in the media due to their performance anxiety (also called stage fright in English, or Lampenfieber in German). Given the number of celebrity actors suffering from stage fright, the number of those actors who do not make the news headlines in relation to their stage fright but nevertheless suffer from it must be even higher. In t his essay we provide an up to date account of the symptoms of stage fright, possible explanations for it and a range of known approaches to treatment. This is followed by an original approach to treating stage fright, based on Indian performance techniques, using details of a study undertaken in 2005.This multi-author journal article provides an in-depth analysis into the nature and treatment available for performance anxiety. The article offers examples of numerous artists and singers, including Sir Laurence Olivier, who had experienced stage fright for the duration of his performances of the title role in Ibsen’s The Master Builder (1965). The article run a clear analysis of the symptoms of stage fright and explain the nature of this psychophysical anxiety using clinical evidences and therapeutic methods. The key focus of the article is to compare and contrast two therapeutic methods for deducing stage anxiety: NLP, a well-established method, and SIT, which is an emerging method developed by Sreenath Nair using South Indian Bodily traditions. The article is based on a project carried out by Emerita Elizabeth Valentine and Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe in 2005, funded by the British Academy and the University of Wales Aberystwyth. The project compared two distinct methods of reducing stage fright in stage actors (Valentine et.al. 2006), one of them based on Indian approaches (South Indian Techniques, SIT) and the other Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP). The SIT approach makes use of a range of psychophysical approaches deriving from the martial and performance traditions of Kerala. The study concludes that although many of the results were not statistically significant, ten of the eleven main effects were in the predicted direction, i.e. a greater effect for SIT than NLP. This multi-author journal article provides an in-depth analysis into the nature and treatment available for performance anxiety. The article offers examples of numerous artists and singers, including Sir Laurence Olivier, who had experienced stage fright for the duration of his performances of the title role in Ibsen’s The Master Builder (1965). The article run a clear analysis of the symptoms of stage fright and explain the nature of this psychophysical anxiety using clinical evidences and therapeutic methods. The key focus of the article is to compare and contrast two therapeutic methods for deducing stage anxiety: NLP, a well-established method, and SIT, which is an emerging method developed by Sreenath Nair using South Indian Bodily traditions. The article is based on a project carried out by Emerita Elizabeth Valentine and Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe in 2005, funded by the British Academy and the University of Wales Aberystwyth. The project compared two distinct methods of reducing stage fright in stage actors (Valentine et.al. 2006), one of them based on Indian approaches (South Indian Techniques, SIT) and the other Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP). The SIT approach makes use of a range of psychophysical approaches deriving from the martial and performance traditions of Kerala. The study concludes that although many of the results were not statistically significant, ten of the eleven main effects were in the predicted direction, i.e. a greater effect for SIT than NLP. The study is a practice-based research demonstrating a highly relevant contribution to a therapeutic practice reducing stage fright. The research combines science and humanities indicating direct and wider impact

Promoting Awareness of Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) affects 1 in 54 children across the United States. Adolescents with ASD are often excluded and have negative experiences interacting with their neurotypical peers. This service learning project attempted to address this issue by educating neurotypical adolescents about ASD. Specifically, a 45-minute presentation was delivered at private and public middle schools and secondary schools that aimed to a) educate and inform neurotypical adolescents about ASD, and b) positively influence acceptance and inclusivity of individuals with ASD

Catalytic bio-hybrid polymersomes: towards novel biomedical applications

Merging synthetic polymers with potent biomolecules is an effective strategy to build hybrid systems that benefit from the best of both worlds. However, the combination of polymers with biomolecules bearing strong appeal for biomedical applications, e.g., enzymes producing therapeutic compounds or detectable signals as diagnostic indicators, is often compromised due to the properties of the polymers not matching the requirements for the incorporation of the said active biomolecules. Hence, bio-hybrid polymer nanosystems have yet to develop their full potential for biomedical applications. Chapter 1 introduces the concept of mimicking compartmentalization of biological cells by the means of synthetic polymers able to build nanocompartments with a large potential for accommodating various biomolecules. An overview of polymer properties, self-assembly of amphiphilic block-copolymers and polymersome formation techniques, as well as target applications of bio-hybrid nanocompartments is given. Finally, strategies to overcome drawbacks of such hybrid systems are introduced. Chapter 2 describes the aim of this work which is to set stage for biomedical applications involving innovative catalytic nanocompartments encapsulating enzymes. The targeted applications and adopted strategies to develop different bio-hybrid systems are presented. Chapter 3 highlights the development of a theranostic polymersome-based super assembly aimed at providing a novel type of treatment for atherosclerosis. Separate imaging and therapeutic nanocompartments were tethered together via hybridizing surface-exposed, complementary DNA strands, to form dual-functional polymersome clusters with simultaneous therapeutic and imaging properties. On one hand, on-site dopamine production was achieved by therapeutic compartments encapsulating active Dopa Decarboxylase (DDC), which are permeabilized by membrane insertion of OmpF porin. On the other hand, imaging compartments containing fluorescent dyes enabled tracking of the complete super-assemblies in parallel to their attachment to epithelial cells. Special emphasis is placed on the modularity of such polymersome clusters, as this system represents a novel platform for future dual-functional systems aiming at other biomedical applications. Chapter 4 presents a polymersome-based bioluminescent system that is able to produce a strong and long-lasting light signal as is desired for pre-clinical imaging applications. The encapsulation of Gaussia Luciferase (GLuc) within the cavity of polymersomes enabled efficient light production. The diffusion of GLuc substrate thought the membrane-inserted OmpF was exploited to modulate the enzyme kinetics such that the signal turned long-lasting. The applicability of such a system was investigated in vitro in cultured cells and in vivo in a mouse model. Chapter 5 illustrates how mimicking native organelles can be exploited to provide a novel bio-hybrid system showing cell-photoprotective potential. Melanosome mimics were developed via encapsulation of Tyrosinase together with precursors L-DOPA/Dopamine to form macromolecular melanin/polydopamine (PDA) within the cavity of polymersomes. By enclosing the melanin/PDA production, the polymeric membrane prevents the major pitfalls associated with synthetic melanin/PDA nanoparticles and enables a bio-hybrid system with reduced cytotoxicity and enhanced colloidal stability while UV-absorption properties are preserved. Finally, the mix and match of strategies employed to build the different bio-hybrid systems, the challenge of balancing the polymer/biomolecules selection with the design and optimization possibilities, and the potential of the resulting bio-hybrid systems to evolve into novel biomedical applications are discussed (chapter 6). Complementary material including additional experimental details (chapter 7), relevant literature (chapter 8), contributor and funding acknowledgment (chapter 9), and supplementary figures (chapter 10) conclude this thesis

Kinetic self-organization of trenched templates for the fabrication of versatile ferromagnetic nanowires

We have self-organized versatile magnetic nanowires, ie with variable period and adjustable magnetic anisotropy energy (MAE). First, using the kinetic roughening of W(110) uniaxial templates of trenches were grown on commercial Sapphire wafers. Unlike most templates used for self-organization, those have a variable period, 4-12nm are demonstrated here. Fe deposition then results in the formation of wires in the trenches. The magnitude of MAE could be engineered up or down by changing the capping- or underlayer, in turn affecting the mean superparamagnetic temperature, raised to 175K so far.Comment: 3 page

Intersectional Education

Education leads to higher future success, freedom, autonomy over one’s lifestyle, and an overall better quality of life. Unfortunately, women make up seventy percent of the world’s out-of-school youth. Additionally, minority groups are suffering from lack of access to educational resources, including native tongue instruction (Intel 2012). Not only are both groups suffering separately, but the intersection of female and minority groups are not achieving the same educational outcomes as majority or male groups. This brief explores this problem and examines how some governments are trying—or not trying—to address it

Magnetic properties of self-organized lateral arrays of (Fe,Ag)/Mo(110) nanostripes

We report the fabrication of self-organized arrays of Fe nanostripes with a period of 3.5 nm, by sequential deposition of Fe and Ag on Mo(110). The wires display a strong in-plane uniaxial anisotropy along their length, and are superparamagnetic above Tb=185+/-15K. The large value of nucleation volumes, inferred from the analysis of the thermal dependence of coercivity below TB, suggests the existence of interactions between the wires.Comment: 3 pages journal-style Proceedings of MMM0

Usefulness of Kinesiotaping for Children Experiencing High Tone and Spasticity as a Symptom of Cerebral Palsy

This critically appraised topic focuses on the use of Kinesiotape for improving occupational engagement for children and adolescents experiencing high tone or spasticity related to the diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy treated in the outpatient setting. To develop a better understanding of the different factors in question, Cerebral Palsy and Kinesiotape are first addressed, then the impacts on the quality of life in children with CP, and finally, occupational therapy\u27s role in the use of Kinesiotape and treatment of CP

High Resolution Crystal Structures of the Wild Type and Cys-55 right-arrow Ser and Cys-59 right-arrow Ser Variants of the Thioredoxin-like [2Fe-2S] Ferredoxin from Aquifex aeolicus

The [2Fe-2S] ferredoxin (Fd4) from Aquifex aeolicus adopts a thioredoxin-like polypeptide fold that is distinct from other [2Fe-2S] ferredoxins. Crystal structures of the Cys-55 right-arrow Ser (C55S) and Cys-59 right-arrow Ser (C59S) variants of this protein have been determined to 1.25 Å and 1.05 Å resolution, respectively, whereas the resolution of the wild type (WT) has been extended to 1.5 Å. The improved WT structure provides a detailed description of the [2Fe-2S] cluster, including two features that have not been noted previously in any [2Fe-2S] cluster-containing protein, namely, pronounced distortions in the cysteine coordination to the cluster and a Calpha -H-Sgamma hydrogen bond between cluster ligands Cys-55 and Cys-9. These features may contribute to the unusual electronic and magnetic properties of the [2Fe-2S] clusters in WT and variants of this ferredoxin. The structures of the two variants of Fd4, in which single cysteine ligands to the [2Fe-2S] cluster are replaced by serine, establish the metric details of serine-ligated Fe-S active sites with unprecedented accuracy. Both the cluster and its surrounding protein matrix change in subtle ways to accommodate this ligand substitution, particularly in terms of distortions of the Fe2S2 inorganic core from planarity and displacements of the polypeptide chain. These high resolution structures illustrate how the interactions between polypeptide chains and Fe-S active sites reflect combinations of flexibility and rigidity on the part of both partners; these themes are also evident in more complex systems, as exemplified by changes associated with serine ligation of the nitrogenase P cluster