Classical Music Students' Pre-performance Anxiety, Catastrophizing, and Bodily Complaints Vary by Age, Gender, and Instrument and Predict Self-Rated Performance Quality.

Music performance anxiety (MPA) is a multifaceted phenomenon occurring on a continuum of severity. In this survey study, we investigated to what extent the affective (anxiety), cognitive (catastrophizing), and somatic (bodily complaints) components of MPA prior to solo performances vary as a function of age, gender, instrument group, musical experience, and practice as well as how these MPA components relate to self-rated change in performance quality from practice to public performance. The sample comprised 75 male and 111 female classical music university students, aged 15-45 years. Age was positively associated with anxious feelings and bodily complaints. Compared to male students, female students reported significantly more anxious feelings and catastrophizing. Singers reported less anxious feelings and catastrophizing than instrumentalists. Breathing-, mouth- and throat-related complaints were highest among singers and wind players; hand- and arm-related complaints were highest among string players and pianists. The indices of musical experience and practice had marginal effects. An average of four bodily complaints bothered the participants strongly to very strongly. Worsening in performance quality from practice to public performance was reported by almost half of the participants and was best predicted by anxious feelings and breathing-related complaints. We conclude that age, gender and instrument play a significant role in understanding the phenomenology of MPA. Musicians should be examined according to these characteristics rather than as one homogenous population. In particular, it might be valuable to develop assessment tools for MPA that incorporate items related to the bodily complaints that are most relevant to the different instrument groups. Breathing-related complaints could add an important dimension to the investigation of MPA and music performance. Finally, the high percentage of students reporting worsening of their performance quality from practice to public performance highlights the need of professional support to help music students be able to perform at their best and thrive as artists

Mycoplasma suis infection results endothelial cell damage and activation: new insight into the cell tropism and pathogenicity of hemotrophic mycoplasma

Hemotrophic mycoplasmas (HM) are highly specialized red blood cell parasites that cause infectious anemia in a variety of mammals, including humans. To date, no in vitro cultivation systems for HM have been available, resulting in relatively little information about the pathogenesis of HM infection. In pigs, Mycoplasma suis-induced infectious anemia is associated with hemorrhagic diathesis, and coagulation dysfunction. However, intravasal coagulation and subsequent consumption coagulopathy can only partly explain the sequence of events leading to hemorrhagic diathesis manifesting as cyanosis, petechial bleeding, and ecchymosis, and to disseminated coagulation. The involvement of endothelial activation and damage in M. suis-associated pathogenesis was investigated using light and electron microscopy, immunohistochemistry, and cell sorting. M. suis interacted directly with endothelial cells in vitro and in vivo. Endothelial activation, widespread endothelial damage, and adherence of red blood cells to the endothelium were evident in M. suis-infected pigs. These alterations of the endothelium were accompanied by hemorrhage, intravascular coagulation, vascular occlusion, and massive morphological changes within the parenchyma. M. suis biofilm-like microcolonies formed on the surface of endothelial cells, and may represent a putative persistence mechanism of M. suis. In vitro analysis demonstrated that M. suis interacted with the endothelial cytoskeletal protein actin, and induced actin condensation and activation of endothelial cells, as determined by the up-regulation of ICAM, PECAM, E-selectin, and P-selectin. These findings demonstrate an additional cell tropism of HM for endothelial cells and suggest that M. suis interferes with the protective function of the endothelium, resulting in hemorrhagic diathesis

Komani [Dalmace] (Albanie)

Déroulement de la campagne 2011 Les opérations de terrain sur le site de Komani (Dal- mace) ont été menées au cours de quatre semaines, du 3 août au 2 septembre 2011. À l'issue de la campagne de l'an dernier, nous avions prévu de concentrer nos efforts sur la fouille de trois composants du site : l'habitat (zone 1), la nécropole (zones 2 et 3) et le secteur de l'Église Saint-Georges (zone 3). Néanmoins, le prévisionnel des opérations, contrarié d'une part par des nécessités de sécurité et d'a..

Komani [Dalmace] (Albanie)

International audienc

Komani [Dalmace] (Albanie)

Déroulement de la campagne 2011 Les opérations de terrain sur le site de Komani (Dal- mace) ont été menées au cours de quatre semaines, du 3 août au 2 septembre 2011. À l'issue de la campagne de l'an dernier, nous avions prévu de concentrer nos efforts sur la fouille de trois composants du site : l'habitat (zone 1), la nécropole (zones 2 et 3) et le secteur de l'Église Saint-Georges (zone 3). Néanmoins, le prévisionnel des opérations, contrarié d'une part par des nécessités de sécurité et d'a..

Lezha [Lissos, Alessio] (Albanie)

Fouilles d'urgence dans l'espace funéraire En 2011, la mission franco-albanaise de coopération archéologique à Lezha (Albanie) a mené deux opérations : une mission d'étude, du 16 au 30 avril ; une campagne de fouilles du 5 août au 15 septembre. La mission du printemps a été consacrée : à l'achèvement du lavage des ossements exhumés lors de la dernière campagne ; à la poursuite de l'étude anthropologique ; à la photographie, au dessin et à l'étude du matériel ; à la mise au propre des relevés ..