Tracking Gendered Streams

One of the most prominent features of digital music services is the provision of personalized music recommendations that come about through the profiling of users and audiences. Based on a range of “bot experiments,” this article investigates if, and how, gendered patterns in music recommendations are provided by the streaming service Spotify. While our experiments did not give any strong indications that Spotify assigns different taste profiles to male and female users, the study showed that male artists were highly overrepresented in Spotify’s music recommendations; an issue which we argue prompts users to cite hegemonic masculine norms within the music industries. Although the results should be approached as historically and contextually contingent, we argue that they point to how gender and gendered tastes may be constituted through the interplay between users and algorithmic knowledge-making processes, and how digital content delivery may maintain and challenge gender relations and gendered power differentials within the music industries. Seen through the lens of critical research on software, music and gender performativity, the experiments thus provide insights into how gender is shaped and attributed meaning as it materializes in contemporary music streams

Tracking Gendered Streams

One of the most prominent features of digital music services is the provision of personalized music recommendations that come about through the profiling of users and audiences. Based on a range of “bot experiments,” this article investigates if, and how, gendered patterns in music recommendations are provided by the streaming service Spotify. While our experiments did not give any strong indications that Spotify assigns different taste profiles to male and female users, the study showed that male artists were highly overrepresented in Spotify’s music recommendations; an issue which we argue prompts users to cite hegemonic masculine norms within the music industries. Although the results should be approached as historically and contextually contingent, we argue that they point to how gender and gendered tastes may be constituted through the interplay between users and algorithmic knowledge-making processes, and how digital content delivery may maintain and challenge gender relations and gendered power differentials within the music industries. Seen through the lens of critical research on software, music and gender performativity, the experiments thus provide insights into how gender is shaped and attributed meaning as it materializes in contemporary music streams

Changes in genomic inbreeding and diversity over half a century in Swedish Red and Swedish Holstein dairy cattle

Swedish Red (SR) and Swedish Holstein (SH) are the dominating commercial dairy cattle breeds in Sweden. Both breeds have undergone substantial changes during the last half century due to intensive selection for breeding goal traits, but also resulting from increased international exchange of breeding animals and genetic drift. The aim of this study was to learn more about changes in genomic diversity and inbreeding in these two breeds over time. Therefore, semen samples from old bulls were genotyped using the 150K Genomic Profiler SNP array and combined with 50K SNP array genotype data, obtained for more recent bulls from the Nordic Cattle Genetic Evaluation. Different measures of level of homozygosity, genomic inbreeding, relatedness and changes in allele frequency were estimated for bulls born during different time periods from the 1950s until 2020. In total, more than 33,000 SNPs for 9737 SR and 5041 SH bulls were included in the analysis using PLINK v1.9. The results showed higher average homozygosity for SR than for SH bulls up to around 2000, but the difference was very small after that. The average inbreeding coefficients based on deviation from expected homozygosity as well as on runs of homozygosity decreased until the early 1980s in both breeds, whereafter they started to increase again for SH, but stayed more stable for SR. From the 1990s onwards, SH displayed higher average inbreeding coefficients than SR. In the last studied birth year group (2015-2020), the mean inbreeding coefficient based on runs of homozygosity was 5.9% for SH and 3.7% for SR. A principal component analysis showed a pattern of genetic relationships related to the birth year period of the bulls, illustrating the gradual change of the genetic material within each breed. The change in allele frequency over time was generally larger for SH than for SR. The results show that the inbreeding level was higher half a century ago than at present, and the inbreeding levels were lower than in some other studied populations. Still, the increase seen for inbreeding coefficients and homozygosity, especially in SH during recent years, should be considered in future breeding strategies

Genetic diversity and recent ancestry based on whole-genome sequencing of endangered Swedish cattle breeds

Several indigenous cattle breeds in Sweden are endangered. Conservation of their genetic diversity and genomic characterization is a priority.Whole-genome sequences (WGS) with a mean coverage of 25X, ranging from 14 to 41X were obtained for 30 individuals of the breeds Fjallko, Fjallnara, Bohuskulla, Rodkulla, Ringamala, and Vaneko. WGS-based genotyping revealed 22,548,028 variants in total, comprising 18,876,115 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 3,671,913 indels. Out of these, 1,154,779 SNPs and 304,467 indels were novel. Population stratification based on roughly 19 million SNPs showed two major groups of the breeds that correspond to northern and southern breeds. Overall, a higher genetic diversity was observed in the southern breeds compared to the northern breeds. While the population stratification was consistent with previous genome-wide SNP array-based analyses, the genealogy of the individuals inferred from WGS based estimates turned out to be more complex than expected from previous SNP-array based estimates. Polymorphisms and their predicted phenotypic consequences were associated with differences in the coat color phenotypes between the northern and southern breeds. Notably, these high-consequence polymorphisms were not represented in SNP arrays, which are used routinely for genotyping of cattle breeds.This study is the first WGS-based population genetic analysis of Swedish native cattle breeds. The genetic diversity of native breeds was found to be high. High-consequence polymorphisms were linked with desirable phenotypes using whole-genome genotyping, which highlights the pressing need for intensifying WGS-based characterization of the native breeds

Magnetism and exchange interaction of small rare-earth clusters; Tb as a representative

Here we follow, both experimentally and theoretically, the development of magnetism in Tb clusters from the atomic limit, adding one atom at a time. The exchange interaction is, surprisingly, observed to drastically increase compared to that of bulk, and to exhibit irregular oscillations as a function of the interatomic distance. From electronic structure theory we find that the theoretical magnetic moments oscillate with cluster size in exact agreement with experimental data. Unlike the bulk, the oscillation is not caused by the RKKY mechanism. Instead, the inter-atomic exchange is shown to be driven by a competition between wave-function overlap of the 5d shell and the on-site exchange interaction, which leads to a competition between ferromagnetic double-exchange and antiferromagnetic super-exchange. This understanding opens up new ways to tune the magnetic properties of rare-earth based magnets with nano-sized building blocks

Genomic relatedness and diversity of Swedish native cattle breeds

International audienceAbstractBackgroundNative cattle breeds are important genetic resources given their adaptation to the local environment in which they are bred. However, the widespread use of commercial cattle breeds has resulted in a marked reduction in population size of several native cattle breeds worldwide. Therefore, conservation management of native cattle breeds requires urgent attention to avoid their extinction. To this end, we genotyped nine Swedish native cattle breeds with genome-wide 150 K single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to investigate the level of genetic diversity and relatedness between these breeds.ResultsWe used various SNP-based approaches on this dataset to connect the demographic history with the genetic diversity and population structure of these Swedish cattle breeds. Our results suggest that the Väne and Ringamåla breeds originating from southern Sweden have experienced population isolation and have a low genetic diversity, whereas the Fjäll breed has a large founder population and a relatively high genetic diversity. Based on the shared ancestry and the constructed phylogenetic trees, we identified two major clusters in Swedish native cattle. In the first cluster, which includes Swedish mountain cattle breeds, there was little differentiation among the Fjäll, Fjällnära, Swedish Polled, and Bohus Polled breeds. The second cluster consists of breeds from southern Sweden: Väne, Ringamåla and Swedish Red. Interestingly, we also identified sub-structuring in the Fjällnära breed, which indicates different breeding practices on the farms that maintain this breed.ConclusionsThis study represents the first comprehensive genome-wide analysis of the genetic relatedness and diversity in Swedish native cattle breeds. Our results show that different demographic patterns such as genetic isolation and cross-breeding have shaped the genomic diversity of Swedish native cattle breeds and that the Swedish mountain breeds have retained their authentic distinct gene pool without significant contribution from any of the other European cattle breeds that were included in this study

Androgen Receptors in Epithelial Cells Regulate Thymopoiesis and Recent Thymic Emigrants in Male Mice

Androgens have profound effects on T cell homeostasis, including regulation of thymic T lymphopoiesis (thymopoiesis) and production of recent thymic emigrants (RTEs), i. e., immature T cells that derive from the thymus and continue their maturation to mature naive T cells in secondary lymphoid organs. Here we investigated the androgen target cell for effects on thymopoiesis and RTEs in spleen and lymph nodes. Male mice with a general androgen receptor knockout (G-ARKO), T cell-specific (T-ARKO), or epithelial cell-specific (E-ARKO) knockout were examined. G-ARKO mice showed increased thymus weight and increased numbers of thymic T cell progenitors. These effects were not T cell-intrinsic, since T-ARKO mice displayed unaltered thymus weight and thymopoiesis. In line with a role for thymic epithelial cells (TECs), E-ARKO mice showed increased thymus weight and numbers of thymic T cell progenitors. Further, E-ARKO mice had more CD4(+)and CD8(+)T cells in spleen and an increased frequency of RTEs among T cells in spleen and lymph nodes. Depletion of the androgen receptor in epithelial cells was also associated with a small shift in the relative number of cortical (reduced) and medullary (increased) TECs and increased CCL25 staining in the thymic medulla, similar to previous observations in castrated mice. In conclusion, we demonstrate that the thymic epithelium is a target compartment for androgen-mediated regulation of thymopoiesis and consequently the generation of RTEs

Water, Forests, People: The Swedish Experience in Building Resilient Landscapes

A growing world population and rapid expansion of cities increase the pressure on basic resources such as water, food and energy. To safeguard the provision of these resources, restoration and sustainable management of landscapes is pivotal, including sustainable forest and water management. Sustainable forest management includes forest conservation, restoration, forestry and agroforestry practices. Interlinkages between forests and water are fundamental to moderate water budgets, stabilize runoff, reduce erosion and improve biodiversity and water quality. Sweden has gained substantial experience in sustainable forest management in the past century. Through significant restoration efforts, a largely depleted Swedish forest has transformed into a well-managed production forest within a century, leading to sustainable economic growth through the provision of forest products. More recently, ecosystem services are also included in management decisions. Such a transformation depends on broad stakeholder dialog, combined with an enabling institutional and policy environment. Based on seminars and workshops with a wide range of key stakeholders managing Sweden’s forests and waters, this article draws lessons from the history of forest management in Sweden. These lessons are particularly relevant for countries in the Global South that currently experience similar challenges in forest and landscape management. The authors argue that an integrated landscape approach involving a broad array of sectors and stakeholders is needed to achieve sustainable forest and water management. Sustainable landscape management—integrating water, agriculture and forests—is imperative to achieving resilient socio-economic systems and landscapes