The power of Oral Transmission : Singer's imprint and Folk Song Lab

In this keynote, the singer’s role in tradition is enlightened from today’s perspective. Starting from this idea: the person from whom you learnt the song matters, and you will retain an “imprint” of that singer over time while making the song your own, adding your variations.  This may seem contradictory, so how does this work? What stable features do you retain from the singer you learn from, and what is the variation? What explorative ideas can emerge from this perspective in today's traditional and folk singing environment?In The Singer’s Imprint (2019), the question was how much of a singer's imprint remains in a long-term chain of oral tradition, what these stable features are, and what is varied. In the Folk Song Lab project (2019-2021), the exploratory question was whether it would be possible to learn traditional singing skills through collective improvisation sessions and consider the song more like a “container” of musical and stylistic ideas, creating new interpretations every time you sing. Both projects illuminate how traditional singing thrives as a dynamic interplay between tradition and innovation.The Singer’s imprint shows how imitation and oral transmission allow singers to inherit cultural knowledge while leaving room for personal expression and transformation.Methods like shadow singing in the Folk Song Lab project demonstrate that skills connected with traditional singing passed down informally can be learned today through intuitive, embodied practices that allow creativity, flow, and collective presence.Both studies show that traditional singing is not a static preservation but a living, communal art form in which continuity and change coexist.</p

Evaluating Tactile Interactions with Fine Textures Obtained with Femtosecond Laser Surface Texturing

Tactile perception deteriorates with age, resulting in a negative impact on life quality. A clinical assessment of this decline could help to reduce its effects. Such a clinical apparatus for fine texture does not yet exist. Femtosecond laser surface texturing (LST) is capable of manufacturing fine textures on materials that are sufficiently robust for clinical requirements. This paper starts by addressing how LST can be used to manufacture surfaces for tactile tests, i.e. of sufficient dimensions to permit interrogation, and with a minimum quantity of uncontrolled surface features. Vibrotactile interrogation tests on textured surfaces demonstrate that the surface textures have controllable tactile signature and thus underline the suitability of the process for generating fine textures for tactile perception assessment.</p

Photo-supported conversations about well-being (BeWell™) for patients with exhaustion disorders - a controlled clinical intervention study

IntroductionHealth-promotion approaches to address stress-related exhaustion disorders, reduce personal suffering, improve coping and participation in everyday life are needed in primary care. The aim of this study was to investigate self-reported health and well-being before and after an intervention focusing on well-being with photo-supported conversations (BeWellTM). Material and methodsEighty-one patients (69 women), 20-67 years old, with exhaustion disorders were recruited at Swedish primary health care centres (PHCC) to a controlled clinical study. The intervention group (n = 40) were offered BeWell (TM) by therapists in addition to care as usual. Controls (n = 41) received only care as usual. The primary outcome, self-rated symptoms of exhaustion (Karolinska exhaustion disorder scale, KEDS), and secondary outcomes, anxiety and depression, sense of coherence, quality of life, occupational balance, and work ability, were assessed by validated questionnaires. Non-parametric statistical analyses were used to compare data collected directly after the treatment period with baseline measures. ResultsDemographics and self-rated baseline measures of health and well-being were comparable between the groups, apart from sick leave being more common in the intervention group. Participants in the intervention group reduced their level of exhaustion more than the control group (median difference on KEDS -9.0 vs -4.0, p = .035). However, the size of the KEDS reduction was related to baseline KEDS and, not independently associated with group assignment. Both groups improved regarding secondary outcome measures. ConclusionStress-related symptoms decreased considerably over the treatment period for both groups. The potential benefit of the BeWell (TM), which was intended to facilitate recovery, needs to be further evaluated

Regulatory effects of RNA-protein interactions revealed by reporter assays of bacteria grown on solid media [Elektronisk resurs]

Reporter systems are widely used to study biomolecular interactions and processes in vivo, representing one of the basic tools used to characterize synthetic regulatory circuits. Here, we developed a method that enables the monitoring of RNA–protein interactions through a reporter system in bacteria with high temporal resolution. For this, we used a Real-Time Protein Expression Assay (RT-PEA) technology for real-time monitoring of a fluorescent reporter protein, while having bacteria growing on solid media. Experimental results were analyzed by fitting a three-variable Gompertz growth model. To validate the method, the interactions between a set of RNA sequences and the RNA-binding protein (RBP) Musashi-1 (MSI1) were evaluated, as well as the allosteric modulation of the interaction by a small molecule (oleic acid). This new approach proved to be suitable to quantitatively characterize RNA–RBP interactions, thereby expanding the toolbox to study molecular interactions in living bacteria, including allosteric modulation, with special relevance for systems that are not suitable to be studied in liquid media.</p

Characterization of the C17.2 Cell Line as Test System for Endocrine Disruption-Induced Developmental Neurotoxicity

Hormone signaling plays an essential role during fetal life and is vital for brain development. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals can interfere with the hormonal milieu during this critical time-period, disrupting key neurodevelopmental processes. Hence, there is a need for the development of assays that evaluate developmental neurotoxicity (DNT) induced by an endocrine mode of action. Herein, we evaluated the neural progenitor C17.2 cell line as an in vitro test system to aid in the detection of endocrine disruption-induced DNT. For this, C17.2 cells were exposed during 10 days of differentiation to agonists and antagonists of the thyroid hormone (THR), glucocorticoid (GR), retinoic acid (RAR), retinoic x (RXR), oxysterol (LXR), estrogen (ER), androgen (AR), and peroxisome proliferator activated delta (PPARβ/δ) receptors, as well as to the agonist of the vitamin D (VDR) receptor. Upon exposure and differentiation, neuronal morphology (neurite outgrowth and branching) and the percentage of neurons in culture were assessed by immunofluorescence. For this, the cells were stained for βIII-tubulin (neuronal marker). C17.2 cells decreased neurite outgrowth and branching in response to RAR, RXR and PPARβ/δ agonists. Exposure to the GR agonist increased the number of cells differentiating into neurons, while exposure to the RXR agonist had the opposite effect. With this approach, we demonstrate that C17.2 cells are responsive to GR, RAR, RXR, and PPARβ/δ agonists and hence could be useful to develop a test system for hazard assessment of endocrine disruption-induced DNT.</p

Belimumab concentrations and immunogenicity in relation to drug effectiveness and safety in SLE within a Swedish real-world setting

OBJECTIVE: Studies supporting therapeutic drug monitoring to biopharmaceuticals in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are scarce. We aimed to assess anti-drug antibody (ADA) occurrence in belimumab-treated SLE patients and associations between belimumab concentrations and clinical response, serological outcomes, and adverse events.METHODS: We included 100 patients treated with intravenous belimumab. Clinical data and biological samples were collected at baseline and months 3, 6, 12, and 24. Belimumab levels were determined by quantitative sandwich ELISA, and ADA by an acid-dissociation radioimmunoassay. Clinical activity was evaluated with the SLE disease activity index 2000 (SLEDAI-2K), revised SLE activity measure (SLAM-R), and physician's global assessment (PhGA). Serological markers included C3, C4, and anti-dsDNA. We performed cross-sectional Spearman's rank correlation analyses, and longitudinal analyses using generalised estimating equations.RESULTS: Belimumab concentrations varied widely (median: 25.8; IQR: 20.9-43.5 μg/ml) but were stable over time at the group level. Pre-existing ADA were detected in 2 patients, but no patient developed ADA during follow-up. Belimumab levels moderately correlated with SLEDAI-2K (ρ: -0.37; p= 0.003) and PhGA (ρ: -0.41; p= 0.005) at month 6, while longitudinal analysis revealed a very weak association with SLEDAI-2K (β: -0.10; SE: 0.05; p= 0.031) and a weak association with SLAM-R (β: -0.32; SE: 0.13; p= 0.014). Despite moderate correlations between belimumab levels and serological markers at month 6, there were no associations in longitudinal analysis. There was no relationship between belimumab levels and adverse events.CONCLUSION: Belimumab yielded no immunogenicity. Belimumab levels were modestly associated with clinical activity but not with serological activity or adverse events.</p

The Effects of Fenobucarb on the Physiology, Behavior, and Growth of Silver Barb (Barbonymus gonionotus)

This study assessed the effects of fenobucarb (F) (1%, 10%, and 20% of the LC50-96h value) on the brain cholinesterase (AChE) activity, food intake (FI), feed conversion rate (FCR), and growth of silver barb (Barbonymus gonionotus, Bleeker, 1849). It also assessed the AChE inhibition levels that cause the abnormal swimming, behavior, and mortality of silver barb and how the feeding regime affects the recovery rate of the AChE activity. The results showed that the brain AChE inhibition increased with the F concentrations. It peaked after nine hours, at 73.6% and 79.7% for the two highest concentrations, and then the AChE activity started to recover. After 96 h, the inhibition level was still 11.8% in the fish exposed to the two lowest concentrations and 30.5% in the fish exposed to the highest concentrations. Even when placed in clean water, the inhibition level in the fish that were exposed to the highest concentrations and only fed every third day was 32% after 14 days. Although there were no differences in the feed intake at any time, the fish exposed to F had a higher FCR and a lower specific growth rate and weight compared to the control fish at the later stages of the experiment. Thus, although the use of F in rice farming in the Mekong Delta may not lead to direct fish kills, it impacts the growth and health of the fish, which could have negative implications for wild fish populations and the long-term production of healthy fish in the Mekong Delta.</p

Opening Up the Black Box of Knowledge Production in International Development : An Intervention from a Practice-Theoretical Perspective

The increased emphasis on results and evidence in international development has made practices such as planning, monitoring, reporting, and evaluation more important. These practices depend on knowledge production, involving the systematic collection and analysis of data and information. As such, development practice follows a general trend in international politics where problems of global concern are increasingly subject to various forms of knowledge production by expert institutions. However, development research rarely treats knowledge production as a study object in itself. Consequently, this research note proposes a research agenda to open up the black box of knowledge production in international development. This research agenda mobilizes a burgeoning practice-theoretical literature, which international relations scholars have increasingly turned to in order to examine the practices of knowledge production that render problems and objects of global concern knowable and governable. I argue that practice-theoretical scholarship offers a conceptual vocabulary that allows for a systematic and critical examination of knowledge production in international development. Particularly, I contend that practice theory offers the analytical tools to: (1) identify the sites where knowledge production unfolds in international development, (2) analyze the mundane and routine practices of producing and communicating knowledge, and (3) investigate the political nature of knowledge production. This research agenda not only opens up the possibility to examine knowledge production in itself but also enables the deconstruction of its power-laden and colonial underpinnings.</p