Laughter yoga reduces the cortisol response to acute stress in healthy individuals.

Stress is one of the foremost contributors to the development of psychiatric diseases. Since the prevalence of stress-related complaints is increasing, we are in need for affordable and effective treatment alternatives. Laughter yoga (LY), a popular method encouraging participants to simulate laughter and participate in yogic breathing exercises, is hypothesized to buffer negative effects of stress. Although widely practiced, empirical evidence for beneficial effects of LY is scarce. We investigated the acute effects of a single 30-min LY session on the autonomic, endocrine and psychological response to a standardized psychosocial stressor. Thirty-five healthy subjects (51% female) were randomly assigned to experience either a LY (n = 11), a relaxation breathing (n = 12) or a (non-intervention) control (n = 12) session prior to their exposure to the Trier Social Stress Test for Groups (TSST-G). Salivary cortisol, salivary alpha amylase, and subjective stress were assessed repeatedly throughout the experiment. We expected that LY and relaxation breathing group each show a downregulation of stress response indices compared to the control group. Further, we expected that LY has beneficial effects compared to relaxation breathing. The groups did not differ in salivary cortisol, alpha amylase or subjective stress reactivity during the 30-min intervention. However, in response to the TSST-G, the LY, but neither the relaxation breathing, nor the control condition, showed an attenuated cortisol stress response. These findings highlight the potential of LY to buffer the endocrine stress response. Therefore, LY could be used as a cheap and easily-to-implement add-on to more traditional stress interventions. LAY SUMMARY In recent years, more and more people have reported to feel stressed. Although our body is well equipped to deal with acute stress, chronic stress can tire our system and contribute to illness in the long run. Therefore, we need affordable and effective measures to reduce stress. In this study we have investigated whether a single laughter yoga session can help us to deal with acute stress. Although laughter yoga did not change how stressful a situation was perceived, it reduced the amount of stress hormones that were released in response to the situation. As such, laughter yoga might be a cheap and easily-to-implement add-on to more traditional stress reduction interventions.

Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures: a current overview.

Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) resemble epilepsy, but no pathophysiological explanation has been established. Although there have been recent advances in PNES research and various hypotheses as to the psychopathology, no theory has achieved general acceptance. In this overview of selected literature on PNES, we highlight the often contradictory findings that underline the challenges that confront both practitioner and researcher. We first provide a synopsis of the history, diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes, as well as patient characteristics of PNES and the relevance of communication in the clinical context. In the subsequent sections we discuss recent research that may advance the understanding and diagnosis of this disorder. These themes include the use of qualitative methods as a viable research option, the application of nonlinear methods to analyze heterogeneous observations during diagnosis, recent advances in neuroimaging of PNES, and the development of international databases.

Application of broad-spectrum resequencing microarray for genotyping rhabdoviruses.

The rapid and accurate identification of pathogens is critical in the control of infectious disease. To this end, we analyzed the capacity for viral detection and identification of a newly described high-density resequencing microarray (RMA), termed PathogenID, which was designed for multiple pathogen detection using database similarity searching. We focused on one of the largest and most diverse viral families described to date, the family Rhabdoviridae. We demonstrate that this approach has the potential to identify both known and related viruses for which precise sequence information is unavailable. In particular, we demonstrate that a strategy based on consensus sequence determination for analysis of RMA output data enabled successful detection of viruses exhibiting up to 26% nucleotide divergence with the closest sequence tiled on the array. Using clinical specimens obtained from rabid patients and animals, this method also shows a high species level concordance with standard reference assays, indicating that it is amenable for the development of diagnostic assays. Finally, 12 animal rhabdoviruses which were currently unclassified, unassigned, or assigned as tentative species within the family Rhabdoviridae were successfully detected. These new data allowed an unprecedented phylogenetic analysis of 106 rhabdoviruses and further suggest that the principles and methodology developed here may be used for the broad-spectrum surveillance and the broader-scale investigation of biodiversity in the viral world.

Patients diagnosed with nonepileptic seizures: their perspectives and experiences.

The objective of this qualitative study was to examine how patients with nonepileptic seizures (NES) make sense of their illness experience in light of the many obstacles they may face when seeking treatment. We conducted semistructured interviews with five patients with NES to explore their illness perspectives and different modes of reasoning in regard to their illness and treatment experiences. The data were examined using thematic content analysis. The participants who implicitly incorporated epilepsy as an illness prototype demonstrated less effective treatment expectations and imposed greater life constraints on themselves than the participant who used anxiety attacks. The participants who defined an explanatory model with a psychosocial basis for illness onset were receptive and demanding of psychotherapeutic intervention. Emergent themes included accounts of adverse and positively perceived life events coinciding with illness onset, head injury, presence of caregivers during events, comorbid illness, and previously witnessing epilepsy in others.

Cerebral functional networks during sleep in young and older individuals.

Even though sleep modification is a hallmark of the aging process, age-related changes in functional connectivity using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) during sleep, remain unknown. Here, we combined electroencephalography and fMRI to examine functional connectivity differences between wakefulness and light sleep stages (N1 and N2 stages) in 16 young (23.1 ± 3.3y; 7 women), and 14 older individuals (59.6 ± 5.7y; 8 women). Results revealed extended, distributed (inter-between) and local (intra-within) decreases in network connectivity during sleep both in young and older individuals. However, compared to the young participants, older individuals showed lower decreases in connectivity or even increases in connectivity between thalamus/basal ganglia and several cerebral regions as well as between frontal regions of various networks. These findings reflect a reduced ability of the older brain to disconnect during sleep that may impede optimal disengagement for loss of responsiveness, enhanced lighter and fragmented sleep, and contribute to age effects on sleep-dependent brain plasticity.

Use of consensus sequences for the design of high density resequencing microarrays: the influenza virus paradigm.

BACKGROUND: A resequencing microarray called PathogenID v2.0 has been developed and used to explore various strategies of sequence selection for its design. The part dedicated to influenza viruses was based on consensus sequences specific for one gene generated from global alignments of a large number of influenza virus sequences available in databanks. RESULTS: For each HA (H1, H2, H3, H5, H7 and H9) and NA (N1, N2 and N7) molecular type chosen to be tested, 1 to 3 consensus sequences were computed and tiled on the microarray. A total of 12 influenza virus samples from different host origins (humans, pigs, horses and birds) and isolated over a period of about 50 years were used in this study. Influenza viruses were correctly identified, and in most cases with the accurate information of the time of their emergence. CONCLUSIONS: PathogenID v2.0 microarray demonstrated its ability to type and subtype influenza viruses, often to the level of viral variants, with a minimum number of tiled sequences. This validated the strategy of using consensus sequences, which do not exist in nature, for our microarray design. The versatility, rapidity and high discriminatory power of the PathogenID v2.0 microarray could prove critical to detect and identify viral genome reassortment events resulting in a novel virus with epidemic or pandemic potential and therefore assist health authorities to make efficient decisions about patient treatment and outbreak management.

Phi29 polymerase based random amplification of viral RNA as an alternative to random RT-PCR.

BACKGROUND: Phi29 polymerase based amplification methods provides amplified DNA with minimal changes in sequence and relative abundance for many biomedical applications. RNA virus detection using microarrays, however, can present a challenge because phi29 DNA polymerase cannot amplify RNA nor small cDNA fragments (<2000 bases) obtained by reverse transcription of certain viral RNA genomes. Therefore, ligation of cDNA fragments is necessary prior phi29 polymerase based amplification. We adapted the QuantiTect Whole Transcriptome Kit (Qiagen) to our purposes and designated the method as Whole Transcriptome Amplification (WTA). RESULTS: WTA successfully amplified cDNA from a panel of RNA viruses representing the diversity of ribovirus genome sizes. We amplified a range of genome copy numbers from 15 to 4 x 10(7) using WTA, which yielded quantities of amplified DNA as high as 1.2 microg/microl or 10(10) target copies. The amplification factor varied between 10(9) and 10(6). We also demonstrated that co-amplification occurred when viral RNA was mixed with bacterial DNA. CONCLUSION: This is the first report in the scientific literature showing that a modified WGA (WTA) approach can be successfully applied to viral genomic RNA of all sizes. Amplifying viral RNA by WTA provides considerably better sensitivity and accuracy of detection compared to random RT-PCR.

Prohibiting Headgear for Safety in Amateur Boxing? Opinion of the Canadian Boxing Community: an Online Poll.

BACKGROUND: In 2013, the Amateur International Boxing Association (AIBA) introduced a rule banning headgear for male-senior open class boxers during competition. The AIBA has defended the rule change as motivated by safety and supported by internal unpublished studies. As a result, in 2018, the AIBA plans to universally prohibit headgear in competition: for all competitors (male and female), all ages and all levels. Within Canada, this ruling has generated controversy in the boxing community, yet there has been no overall measure of opinion. METHODS: To address this, we instituted a voluntary, anonymous, online open-access poll to allow members of the boxing community to express their stance on headgear use in competition. RESULTS: In total, 636 responses were received. A total of 71.5 % of Canadian respondents believed headgear should be mandatory at all levels. Only 5.8 % agreed that headgear should be prohibited, as planned for 2018. Estimating results on a representative breakdown of boxing membership in Canada, a similar pattern emerged, whereby 68.2 % concurred with mandatory headgear while only 4.95 % supported its prohibition. Parents of boxers were almost unanimously against banning headgear, stating they would change sports as a result. Similarly, only 1.7 % of women believed headgear should be prohibited. CONCLUSIONS: The consensus of the Canadian boxing community largely opposes the rule changes that the AIBA has implemented. The results highlight risks posed to the long-term viability of the sport, if significant grassroots safety concerns are disregarded.

Massively parallel pathogen identification using high-density microarrays.

Identification of microbial pathogens in clinical specimens is still performed by phenotypic methods that are often slow and cumbersome, despite the availability of more comprehensive genotyping technologies. We present an approach based on whole-genome amplification and resequencing microarrays for unbiased pathogen detection. This 10 h process identifies a broad spectrum of bacterial and viral species and predicts antibiotic resistance and pathogenicity and virulence profiles. We successfully identify a variety of bacteria and viruses, both in isolation and in complex mixtures, and the high specificity of the microarray distinguishes between different pathogens that cause diseases with overlapping symptoms. The resequencing approach also allows identification of organisms whose sequences are not tiled on the array, greatly expanding the repertoire of identifiable organisms and their variants. We identify organisms by hybridization of their DNA in as little as 1-4 h. Using this method, we identified Monkeypox virus and drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a skin lesion taken from a child suspected of an orthopoxvirus infection, despite poor transport conditions of the sample, and a vast excess of human DNA. Our results suggest this technology could be applied in a clinical setting to test for numerous pathogens in a rapid, sensitive and unbiased manner.