ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Autonomous individuals are characterized by self-governance; awareness of and capacity to realize one's wishes and needs, while being connected with and sensitive towards others. In line with earlier research showing consistent associations between autonomy-connectedness deficits and anxiety, we tested in two studies whether autonomy deficits predict anxious responses to acute stressors. METHODS: In Study 1, participants (N = 177) viewed an anxiety-inducing film fragment and reported anxiety before and after viewing the clip. In experimental Study 2, participants (N = 100) were randomly allocated to one of two conditions: giving a short presentation to an audience (impromptu speech task) or watching another person's presentation (control condition). Anxiety was measured at baseline, after a preparation period and directly after the presentation. RESULTS: In Study 1, individuals' anxiety in reaction to watching the movie was positively associated with the autonomy-connectedness component sensitivity to others. In Study 2, individuals' anxiety in reaction to preparing the presentation was negatively associated with the autonomy-connectedness component self-awareness. CONCLUSIONS: Specific autonomy components may be related to experiencing anxiety in differing situations (i.e., related to others' distress or presenting one's personal views). Collectively these results indicate that autonomy-connectedness deficits may form a vulnerability factor for experiencing anxiety.
Subject(s)
Anxiety/etiology , Personal Autonomy , Female , Humans , Interpersonal Relations , Male , Young AdultABSTRACT
Blood platelets can interact with bacteria, possibly leading to platelet activation, cytokine and microparticle release and immune signalling. Besides, bacteria can also affect the platelet RNA content. We investigated the impact of non-pathogenic K12 and pathogenic O18:K1 Escherichia (E.) coli strains on platelet activation, RNA expression patterns, and selected proteins. Depending on bacteria concentration, contact of platelets with E. coli K12 lead to an increase of P-selectin (24-51.3%), CD63 (15.9-24.3%), PAC-1 (3.8-14.9%) and bound fibrinogen (22.4-39%) on the surface. E. coli O18:K1 did not affect these markers. Sequencing analysis of total RNA showed that E. coli K12 caused a significant concentration change of 103 spliced mRNAs, of which 74 decreased. For the RNAs of HMBS (logFC = +5.73), ATP2C1 (logFC = -3.13) and LRCH4 (logFC = -4.07) changes were detectable by thromboSeq and Tuxedo pipelines. By Western blot we observed the conversion of HMBS protein from a 47 kDA to 40 kDa product by E. coli K12, O18:K1 and by purified lipopolysaccharide. While ATP2C1 protein was released from platelets, E. coli either reduced the secretion or broke down the released protein making it undetectable by antibodies. Our results demonstrate that different E. coli strains influence activation, RNA and protein levels differently which may affect platelet-bacteria crosstalk.
Subject(s)
Blood Platelets/metabolism , Calcium-Transporting ATPases/genetics , Escherichia coli K12/genetics , Nerve Tissue Proteins/genetics , Uroporphyrinogen III Synthetase/genetics , Antigens, Bacterial/genetics , Calcium-Transporting ATPases/blood , Escherichia coli Infections/blood , Escherichia coli Infections/genetics , Escherichia coli Infections/microbiology , Escherichia coli K12/pathogenicity , Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial/genetics , Humans , Lipopolysaccharides/genetics , P-Selectin/genetics , Platelet Activation/genetics , RNA/blood , RNA/genetics , Sequence Analysis, RNA , Tetraspanin 30/geneticsABSTRACT
A survey to demonstrate the presence or absence of genital campylobacteriosis and trichomonosis in cross-bred breeding bulls kept under smallholding dairy farms in the Tanga region of Tanzania was carried out during the period of January-June 1996. Sheath washings, swabs and preputial scrapings were collected from 58 randomly selected bulls. Campylobacter fetus subsp. venerealis was demonstrated in 3/58 (5.1%) and Tritrichomonas foetus in 0/58 (0%) of all bulls tested. Bull-level variables of level of taurine genes (62.5% taurine genes, F2; 75% taurine genes, F3) and age were not significantly associated with campylobacteriosis (P > 0.05). The result of the study identifies Campylobacterfetus subsp. venerelias as the agent of enzootic infertility in smallholder herds and suggests that may be a significant problem.
