Music and Reconciliation in Colombia: Opportunities and Limitations of Songs Composed by Victims

This is the final version of the article. Available from the publisher via the link in this record.Colombia is a war-torn society where an important number of conflict-related songs have been composed by victims at the grassroots level. In order to develop a better understanding of the scope of music as a tool for reconciliation, this paper examines some of these songs and analyzes the extent to which this music may or may not contribute to reconciliation in both, the audience and the composers. To do so, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the composers, and a focal group exercise with ex-combatants was organized in order to analyze the impact of these songs on the listeners. The results of the analysis indicate that these songs entail opportunities but also limitations regarding reconciliation. On one hand, they have constituted storytelling tools that contribute to the historical memory of the conflict in Colombia in a way that is accessible for all types of public. In addition, the process of composition by victims and the musical activity itself embody an outlet through which composers release feelings and redefine identities. Moreover, in an audience made up ex-combatants there were some expressions of sympathy, understanding, and trust. However, the research shows contrary effects as well. The content of some songs may incite revenge, reinforce stereotypes and mistrust, and enlarge differences between the sides instead of reducing the distances. The results indicate that music may embody several opportunities but also limitations as a tool for reconciliation.The Japanese International Cooperation Agency and the “Tokyo University of Foreign Studies’ Advanced Training Programme for International Cooperation through Internship and Field Research” are acknowledged for their kind financial assistance, which funded my graduate studies and my field research

FLAIR-hyperintense lesions in anti-MOG-associated encephalitis with seizures (FLAMES) unmasked by withdrawal of immunosuppression for Crohn's disease?

A 31-year-old pregnant woman presented with headache, fever and left-sided focal motor seizures, which progressed to bilateral tonic-clonic seizures. Her medical history included Crohn's disease treated with azathioprine and adalimumab, which were discontinued when she became pregnant. Her cerebro-spinal fluid was entirely normal and viral PCR negative. Extensive testing for infectious, autoimmune or malignant causes of encephalitis were non-revealing. MRI head showed unilateral cortical FLAIR-hyperintensity which on interval scans was seen bilaterally. Anti-myelin-oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)-IgG was positive leading to a diagnosis of cortical FLAIR-hyperintense lesions in Anti-MOG-associated Encephalitis with seizures (FLAMES)

Transcultural adaptation to the Brazilian Portuguese of the Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire for assessing the postpartum bond between mother and baby

The establishment of the bond between mother and baby in the postpartum period is important for ensuring the physical and psychological health of both. This short communication reports the first phase of the cross-cultural translation and adaptation to the Brazilian context of the Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire (PBQ). Four aspects of equivalence between the original scale and the Portuguese version were evaluated: the conceptual, semantic, operational and item equivalences. Literature review, the study of PBQ history, translation, expert evaluation, back-translation and pretests involving 30 mothers with children aging up to 7 months using a primary healthcare unit were conducted. Each step demonstrated the need for adjustments, which were made during the adaptation process. At the end of the study, a version of PBQ in Brazilian Portuguese equivalent to the original one was obtained, offering promise for national studies on the mother-baby bond, and its influence on health, and for use in health services

Correlation between different PBL assessment components and the final mark for MB ChB III at a rural South African university

Background. Problem-based learning (PBL) is now an accepted component of many medical school programmes worldwide. Our university also follows the PBL ‘SPICES’ model for MB ChB III. The assessment modalities used are the modified essay questions (MEQ), objective structured practical examination (OSPE), individualised process assessment (IPA) and tutorial continuous assessment (TUT). This study was done to compare the students’ performances in individual assessment components with the final mark to determine the correlation between these parameters. Materials and methods. The study was retrospective, descriptive and analytical, based on the integrated marks of all the MB ChB III students at Walter Sisulu University (WSU) in 2007. Assessment marks were stratified according to blocks and different types of assessment (MEQ, TUT, OSPE, IPA). Regression analysis was used to compute and scrutinise these vis-à-vis their correspondence with the final marks for each block. Results. Three hundred and seventy-nine block assessment marks of 96 students from 4 blocks of MB ChB III were analysed and the correlation between the assessment components and final mark were compared. Regression analysis showed good correlation when analysing the assessment modality versus the final mark for the MEQs (r=0.93, 0.93, 0.94, 0.96), followed by OSPEs (r=0.71, 0.70, 0.76, 0.77) and IPAs (r=0.62, 0.51, 0.68, 0.77). However, correlation was not significant with the TUT. Conclusion. There was good correlation between the students’ performance in the majority of assessment modalities and the final mark in the different blocks of the MB ChB III examination. There may be a need to make tutorial assessment methods more objective, partly by additional tutor training

Electromagnetic channel capacity for practical purposes

We give analytic upper bounds to the channel capacity C for transmission of classical information in electromagnetic channels (bosonic channels with thermal noise). In the practically relevant regimes of high noise and low transmissivity, by comparison with know lower bounds on C, our inequalities determine the value of the capacity up to corrections which are irrelevant for all practical purposes. Examples of such channels are radio communication, infrared or visible-wavelength free space channels. We also provide bounds to active channels that include amplification.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. NB: the capacity bounds are constructed by generalizing to the multi-mode case the minimum-output entropy bounds of arXiv:quant-ph/0404005 [Phys. Rev. A 70, 032315 (2004)

Age- and Temperature-Dependent Somatic Mutation Accumulation in Drosophila melanogaster

Using a transgenic mouse model harboring a mutation reporter gene that can be efficiently recovered from genomic DNA, we previously demonstrated that mutations accumulate in aging mice in a tissue-specific manner. Applying a recently developed, similar reporter-based assay in Drosophila melanogaster, we now show that the mutation frequency at the lacZ locus in somatic tissue of flies is about three times as high as in mouse tissues, with a much higher fraction of large genome rearrangements. Similar to mice, somatic mutations in the fly also accumulate as a function of age, but they do so much more quickly at higher temperature, a condition which in invertebrates is associated with decreased life span. Most mutations were found to accumulate in the thorax and less in abdomen, suggesting the highly oxidative flight muscles as a possible source of genotoxic stress. These results show that somatic mutation loads in short-lived flies are much more severe than in the much longer-lived mice, with the mutation rate in flies proportional to biological rather than chronological aging

Multiscale biomimetic topography for the alignment of neonatal and embryonic stem cell-derived heart cells

Nano- and microscale topographical cues play critical roles in the induction and maintenance of various cellular functions, including morphology, adhesion, gene regulation, and communication. Recent studies indicate that structure and function at the heart tissue level is exquisitely sensitive to mechanical cues at the nano-scale as well as at the microscale level. Although fabrication methods exist for generating topographical features for cell culture, current techniques, especially those with nanoscale resolution, are typically complex, prohibitively expensive, and not accessible to most biology laboratories. Here, we present a tunable culture platform comprised of biomimetic wrinkles that simulate the heart's complex anisotropic and multiscale architecture for facile and robust cardiac cell alignment. We demonstrate the cellular and subcellular alignment of both neonatal mouse cardiomyocytes as well as those derived from human embryonic stem cells. By mimicking the fibrillar network of the extracellular matrix, this system enables monitoring of protein localization in real time and therefore the high-resolution study of phenotypic and physiologic responses to in-vivo like topographical cues.published_or_final_versio

Multiscale biomimetic topography for the alignment of neonatal and embryonic stem cell-derived heart cells

Nano- and microscale topographical cues play critical roles in the induction and maintenance of various cellular functions, including morphology, adhesion, gene regulation, and communication. Recent studies indicate that structure and function at the heart tissue level is exquisitely sensitive to mechanical cues at the nano-scale as well as at the microscale level. Although fabrication methods exist for generating topographical features for cell culture, current techniques, especially those with nanoscale resolution, are typically complex, prohibitively expensive, and not accessible to most biology laboratories. Here, we present a tunable culture platform comprised of biomimetic wrinkles that simulate the heart's complex anisotropic and multiscale architecture for facile and robust cardiac cell alignment. We demonstrate the cellular and subcellular alignment of both neonatal mouse cardiomyocytes as well as those derived from human embryonic stem cells. By mimicking the fibrillar network of the extracellular matrix, this system enables monitoring of protein localization in real time and therefore the high-resolution study of phenotypic and physiologic responses to in-vivo like topographical cues.published_or_final_versio