Study of Chinese family musical involvement (FMI) and musical identities

Individuals’ musical identities are closely related to and manifested in their musical behaviours. How people conceive of their music and themselves, and how they make use of music can reflect their own distinctive values, attitudes and views of the world, which is an important process in their identity construction. Previous studies have highlighted the significance of family factors (such as parental musical behaviour and preferences) in one’s construction of musical identities, and suggest that family musical activities are positively correlated with family cohesion and emotional well-being. Despite the significance of both family and music in individuals’ lives, few studies have focused on the function of music within the family unit, and even fewer consider families in the very different context of Chinese society. This study aims to address the gap in the literature relating to Chinese family musical involvement (FMI) and musical identities. The research questions investigated in this study are: 1) What is FMI and how can it be assessed? 2) What is the relationship between FMI and musical identities? 3) What is the relationship between FMI and interpersonal interactions and family communication? Participants were recruited from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province. Six Chinese families with 16 people in total participated in the investigation, and each individual family member was interviewed separately. The interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. The analysis of the participants’ narratives identified three overarching themes, namely: ‘Describing FMI’, ‘Developing identities in FMI’, and ‘Outcomes of FMI’. ‘Describing FMI’ presents information about participating families’ musical activities, musical resources, their attitudes towards music, and their motivation for FMI. In general, FMI in the participating Chinese families was highly child-centred, as parents placed great importance on their children’s musical development, regardless of their own level of interest in musical activities. Mothers and children had stronger musical identities than fathers. The extracurricular music class was considered to be an important resource for organising family musical activities. ‘Developing identities in FMI’ shows that the participants’ roles and identities are dynamic in their interaction with FMI. The roles of family members are interchangeable in many situations depending on parental and child ages. Engaging in music with family members could bring about transformations in individuals’ musical identities. Most participants experienced a positive change in their musical identities when engaging in FMI. However, unpleasant musical experiences, such as listening to dispreferred music in the interaction of FMI could harm the development of musical identities and even family relationships if unresolved. ‘Outcomes of FMI’ examines participants’ experiences of FMI, and the influence of FMI on family communication and relationships. FMI can have both positive and negative influence on couple relationships and parent-child relationships. FMI can play a significant role in the development of close family bonds. However when family members’ preferences are not facilitated and balanced, FMI might also be less interesting and enjoyable for the family members involved, and hence an unpleasant musical experience might damage musical identities and adversely affect family relationships. From a positive perspective, negative experiences in FMI proved short-term such that family members often self-adjust their own negative feelings; for example, they might maximise the positive aspect of their experiences or put negative experiences aside. The findings of the study suggest that simply pulling family members together might not achieve the goal of ‘families that play together, stay together’; instead, it can adversely affect individuals’ interests and motivation in FMI, as well as their communication and relationships with family members. Perhaps music educators, music therapists, and community workers could devise strategies to help families see any problems as something other families come across, and how they can overcome these or get more positive time from their musical interaction. The study also highlights gender bias in FMI and music culture in Chinese context. The absence of fathers in both FMI and family affairs should garner more attention from all segments of society. Family activity organisers could inform parents of both maternal and paternal involvement in family/musical activities

Spatial and temporal variability in net primary production (NPP) of alpine grassland on Tibetan Plateau from 1982 to 2009

Abstract HKT-ISTP 2013 B

Integration of Genome and Chromatin Structure with Gene Expression Profiles To Predict c-MYC Recognition Site Binding and Function

The MYC genes encode nuclear sequence specific–binding DNA-binding proteins that are pleiotropic regulators of cellular function, and the c-MYC proto-oncogene is deregulated and/or mutated in most human cancers. Experimental studies of MYC binding to the genome are not fully consistent. While many c-MYC recognition sites can be identified in c-MYC responsive genes, other motif matches—even experimentally confirmed sites—are associated with genes showing no c-MYC response. We have developed a computational model that integrates multiple sources of evidence to predict which genes will bind and be regulated by MYC in vivo. First, a Bayesian network classifier is used to predict those c-MYC recognition sites that are most likely to exhibit high-occupancy binding in chromatin immunoprecipitation studies. This classifier incorporates genomic sequence, experimentally determined genomic chromatin acetylation islands, and predicted methylation status from a computational model estimating the likelihood of genomic DNA methylation. We find that the predictions from this classifier are also applicable to other transcription factors, such as cAMP-response element-binding protein, whose binding sites are sensitive to DNA methylation. Second, the MYC binding probability is combined with the gene expression profile data from nine independent microarray datasets in multiple tissues. Finally, we may consider gene function annotations in Gene Ontology to predict the c-MYC targets. We assess the performance of our prediction results by comparing them with the c-myc targets identified in the biomedical literature. In total, we predict 460 likely c-MYC target genes in the human genome, of which 67 have been reported to be both bound and regulated by MYC, 68 are bound by MYC, and another 80 are MYC-regulated. The approach thus successfully identifies many known c-MYC targets and suggests many novel sites. Our findings suggest that to identify c-MYC genomic targets, integration of different data sources helps to improve the accuracy

An animal model of SARS produced by infection of Macaca mulatta with SARS coronavirus.

A new SARS animal model was established by inoculating SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV) into rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) through the nasal cavity. Pathological pulmonary changes were successively detected on days 5-60 after virus inoculation. All eight animals showed a transient fever 2-3 days after inoculation. Immunological, molecular biological, and pathological studies support the establishment of this SARS animal model. Firstly, SARS-CoV-specific IgGs were detected in the sera of macaques from 11 to 60 days after inoculation. Secondly, SARS-CoV RNA could be detected in pharyngeal swab samples using nested RT-PCR in all infected animals from 5 days after virus inoculation. Finally, histopathological changes of interstitial pneumonia were found in the lungs during the 60 days after viral inoculation: these changes were less marked at later time points, indicating that an active healing process together with resolution of an acute inflammatory response was taking place in these animals. This animal model should provide insight into the mechanisms of SARS-CoV-related pulmonary disease and greatly facilitate the development of vaccines and therapeutics against SARS

Physiological Roles of ArcA, Crp, and EtrA and Their Interactive Control on Aerobic and Anaerobic Respiration in Shewanella oneidensis

In the genome of Shewanella oneidensis, genes encoding the global regulators ArcA, Crp, and EtrA have been identified. All these proteins deviate from their counterparts in E. coli significantly in terms of functionality and regulon. It is worth investigating the involvement and relationship of these global regulators in aerobic and anaerobic respiration in S. oneidensis. In this study, the impact of the transcriptional factors ArcA, Crp, and EtrA on aerobic and anaerobic respiration in S. oneidensis were assessed. While all these proteins appeared to be functional in vivo, the importance of individual proteins in these two major biological processes differed. The ArcA transcriptional factor was critical in aerobic respiration while the Crp protein was indispensible in anaerobic respiration. Using a newly developed reporter system, it was found that expression of arcA and etrA was not influenced by growth conditions but transcription of crp was induced by removal of oxygen. An analysis of the impact of each protein on transcription of the others revealed that Crp expression was independent of the other factors whereas ArcA repressed both etrA and its own transcription while EtrA also repressed arcA transcription. Transcriptional levels of arcA in the wild type, crp, and etrA strains under either aerobic or anaerobic conditions were further validated by quantitative immunoblotting with a polyclonal antibody against ArcA. This extensive survey demonstrated that all these three global regulators are functional in S. oneidensis. In addition, the reporter system constructed in this study will facilitate in vivo transcriptional analysis of targeted promoters

Repeatability and reproducibility of corneal higher-order aberrations measurements after small incision lenticule extraction using the Scheimpflug-Placido topographer

Background: To evaluate the precision of corneal higher-order aberrations measurements after small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) using the Sirius Scheimpflug-Placido topographer (CSO, Italy). Methods: Seventy-five eyes from 75 postoperative subjects were included in this prospective study. Three consecutive corneal aberrometric measurements were obtained with the Scheimpflug-Placido topographer by two experienced operators to assess intra- and inter-observer reproducibility. The within-subject standard deviation (Sw), test-retest repeatability (TRT) and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were calculated. Results: For intraobserver repeatability of anterior and total corneal aberrations, all ICCs were more than 0.922, except for trefoil (0.722 to 0.768). The ICCs of total root mean square (RMS), coma Z (3, ± 1), and spherical aberration Z (4, 0) were over 0.810 while higher-order RMS, trefoil Z (3, ± 3), and astigmatism II Z (4, ± 2) were below 0.634 for posterior corneal surface aberrations. All Sw values for all types of aberrations were equal to or below 0.07 μm. Regarding interobserver reproducibility, all TRT values were no more than 0.12 μm, 0.05 μm, and 0.11 μm for anterior, posterior, and total corneal aberrations, respectively. The ICC values ranged from 0.875 to 0.989, from 0.686 to 0.976 and over 0.834 for anterior, posterior, and total corneal aberrations, respectively. Conclusions: The repeatability of measurements of anterior and total corneal aberrations with the Sirius system in corneas after SMILE surgery was high, except for trefoil. There was some variability in posterior corneal aberrometric measurements. High reproducibility of corneal aberrometric measurements was observed between measurements of both examiners, except for trefoil, with poor to moderate reproducibility.This study was supported by the Medical and Health Science and Technology Program of Zhejiang Province (2019KY111); Foundation of Wenzhou City Science & Technology Bureau (Y2020037); EYE & ENT Hospital of Fudan University High-level Talents Program (2021318); Clinical Research Plan of SHDC (SHDC2020CR1043B)

Biological Activity of Endophytic Fungi from the Roots of the Medicinal Plant Vernonia anthelmintica

Endophytic fungi were first isolated from the fresh root of the Chinese medicinal plant Vernonia anthelmintica collected from the Hotan Prefecture within the Xinjiang Autonomous region of the People’s Republic of China. This plant has been used in Uyghur traditional medicine to treat vitiligo, a skin condition characterized by patches of the skin losing their pigment. In total, fifteen fungal strains were isolated. Among these, four endophytic fungi were identified by their DNA sequences and registered to GenBank with accession numbers. The isolates were identified as Schizophyllum commune XJA1, Talaromyces sp. XJA4, Aspergillus sp. XJA6, Aspergillus terreus XJA8. Ethyl acetate extracts of all fungal strains were used to quantify melanin content and to identify in vitro biological activity assays including antimicrobial, antioxidant, cytotoxic, antidiabetic and tyrosinase activity on B16 cells. Among the extracts of all four identified strains, the ethyl acetate extract of the Aspergillus sp. XJA6 was chosen for further characterization because it presented the highest biological activity against these tests. In addition, twenty four volatile compounds from the petroleum ether fraction were characterized by GC–MS