Communicating seduction. Luxury fashion advertisements in video campaigns

This study examines the different themes of communication that take place in video ad campaigns deriving from the French luxury fashion houses Louis Vuitton, Dior, Chanel, Cartier and Hermès. By using semiology as a method we were able to recognize the themes of adventure, seduction, love and play in the videos. This study explores also how the myth becomes an important meaning-maker of the luxury commodity and fills it with sensations and pleasure. Unlike all other ads, we could see that the meaning of luxury in the Hermès’ ones was not directly connected to the objects per se but to the experience of human senses in contact with nature. We could further conclude that the visual communication of the ads has no need to be logical as long as it can seduce with its positive signs. The object of luxury constitutes a strong communication tool helping the viewer to discover new places, to fall in love, to create magic and to experience the amusement of play. Embedded in recognizable social narratives, the objects in the moving image are provided with a seductive meaning able to support the eternal myth of luxury

Vi speler inga covers vi eâ! Spelmanslaget som läroplats och dess ideologier

The overall aim of this study is to describe the social structure within Nordanstigs spelmanslag and further how the manifest and latent ideologies connected to the Swedish fiddler movement affects the learning and musical processes in Nordanstigs spelmanslag. The theoretical basis for the study was Bourdieuâs field theory, Berger & Luckmanns theory of institutionalisation, Lave & Wengers theories about Communities of practice and Liedmanâs concept of Manifest and Latent ideologies. The method consisted of both semi-structured interviews of three members in the spelmanslag and also Participatory observation with an auto-ethnographical approach on four occasions. The analysis was done using transcriptions and a self-invented color coding process of categorization. In the results it appears that a significant part of the latent ideology from the Swedish fiddler movement is manifested in the activity of the spelmanslag. Other findings are that the spelmanslag as an institution maintains a strong doxa that derives from its foundation which seems to have a fairly strong influence on its members concerning views on authenticity, repertoire and interpretation. The doxa is mainly upheld and reproduced by individuals that inherits a strong symbolic capital

Familial Breast Cancer- Risk populations and their surveillance

Women carrying mutations in either BRCA 1 or BRCA2 have a lifetime risk of breast cancer of 80%. As little is known about the risk of other malignancies, apart from ovarian/tubal cancer in mutation carriers, the importance of other malignancies in a family with several cases of breast cancer is hard to evaluate. Women at high risk of breast cancer due to family history are offered genetic counselling and surveillance. Whether women looking for oncogenetic counselling are, in terms of socioeconomic status and health-related quality of life, comparable with women in general is not known. Mammography is a widely used screening method to detect breast cancer and has proven to reduce breast cancer mortality in women older than 50 years. The sensitivity of the method is much lower in women with dense breast and in general young women tend to have denser breast than older women. Most women under surveillance in virtue of family history of breast cancer are younger than 50, thus in a group where mammography alone has not been proved to be effective as a single screening method there is a need for other surveillance methods in women at risk of hereditary breast cancer. We identified 803 BRCA 1/2-negative families with two or more cases of breast cancer and at least one additional malignancy. The observed proportion of different non-breast cancer in the study families was compared with the percentage distribution of non-breast cancer tumours in Sweden. Tumours in endometrium were seen in a significantly larger proportion in the study group than in the general population and could not be explained by previously known syndromes or other explanations for being overrepresented. Thus we suggest that endometrial carcinoma and breast cancer constitute a new breast cancer syndrome. In a cross-sectional study aiming to characterize health-related quality of life and socioeconomic status among all healthy women who had ever visited the Oncogenetic Clinic, Department of Oncology, Södersjukhuset in 1998 – 2004, 306 women consented to participate (82.5%). Significantly more women in the study group were cohabiting (74.2 vs. 43.8%), had the highest education level, (56.7 vs. 39.6%) and had the highest household income (36.9 vs. 12.9 %) as compared to the reference population in the same catchment area. Study subjects reported significantly lower levels of health-related quality of life for subscales related to mental health and for general health compared to normative data, but similar levels on subscales related to physical health. Six-hundred-and-thirty-two women (94%) from one counselling clinic consented to participate in a study aiming to find the most sensitive method to detect breast cancer in women with a familiar risk of the disease. Every woman underwent yearly, and blinded to the other methods, mammography, ultrasound and clinical breast exam. This first report describes the study design and the procedure, and the study cohort regarding hereditary pattern and sociodemographics. Further, the associations between breast density, BMI and other breast-cancer risk factors are elucidated. High breast density was associated with low BMI and young age. However, high density was not associated with increasing risk of breast cancer. Ultrasound and clinical breast examination caused substantially more work-up than MG. The number of detected cancers did not differ from the expected numbers. However, it is too early to draw any conclusion about the sensitivity of the three different modalities.

Bacillus subtilis forms twisted cells with cell wall integrity defects upon removal of the molecular chaperones DnaK and trigger factor

The protein homeostasis network ensures a proper balance between synthesis, folding, and degradation of all cellular proteins. DnaK and trigger factor (TF) are ubiquitous bacterial molecular chaperones that assist in protein folding, as well as preventing protein misfolding and aggregation. In Escherichia coli, DnaK and TF possess partially overlapping functions. Their combined depletion results in proteostasis collapse and is synthetically lethal at temperatures above 30°C. To increase our understanding on how proteostasis is maintained in Gram-positive bacteria, we have investigated the physiological effects of deleting dnaK and tig (encoding for DnaK and TF) in Bacillus subtilis. We show that combined deletion of dnaK and tig in B. subtilis is non-lethal, but causes a severe pleiotropic phenotype, including an aberrant twisted and filamentous cell morphology, as well as decreased tolerance to heat and to cell wall active antibiotics and hydrolytic enzymes, indicative of defects in cell wall integrity. In addition, cells lacking DnaK and TF have a much smaller colony size due to defects in motility. Despite these physiological changes, we observed no major compromises in important cellular processes such as cell growth, FtsZ localization and division and only moderate defects in spore formation. Finally, through suppressor analyses, we found that the wild-type cell shape can be partially restored by mutations in genes involved in metabolism or in other diverse cellular processes

Characterization of anammox hydrazine dehydrogenase, a key N2-producing enzyme in the global nitrogen cycle

Anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing (anammox) bacteria derive their energy for growth from the oxidation of ammonium with nitrite as the electron acceptor. N2, the end product of this metabolism, is produced from the oxidation of the intermediate, hydrazine (N2H4). Previously, we identified N2-producing hydrazine dehydrogenase (KsHDH) from the anammox organism Kuenenia stuttgartiensis as the gene product of kustc0694 and determined some of its catalytic properties. In the genome of K. stuttgartiensis, kustc0694 is one out of ten paralogs related to octaheme hydroxylamine (NH2OH) oxidoreductase (HAO). Here, we characterized KsHDH as a covalently cross-linked homotrimeric octaheme protein as found for HAO and HAOrelated hydroxylamine-oxidizing enzyme kustc1061 (KsHOX) from K. stuttgartiensis. Interestingly, the HDH trimers formed octamers in solution, each octamer harbouring an amazing 192 c-type heme moieties. While HAO and KsHOX are capable of hydrazine oxidation as well, KsHDH was highly specific for this activity. To understand this specificity, we performed detailed amino acid sequence analyses and investigated the catalytic and spectroscopic (electronic absorbance, EPR) properties of KsHDH in comparison with the well-defined HAO and HOX. We conclude that HDH specificity is most likely derived from structural changes around the catalytic heme 4 (“P460”) and of the electron-wiring circuit comprising seven His/His-ligated c-type hemes in each subunit. These nuances make HDH a globally prominent N2-producing enzyme, next to nitrous oxide (N2O) reductase from denitrifying microorganisms

Tillstånd och trender för arter och deras livsmiljöer

2015 års upplaga av den svenska rödlistan är den fjärde i ordningen. Den är baserad på IUCN:s rödlistningskriterier och revideras vart femte år. I rödlistan bedöms risken som enskilda arter av djur, växter och svampar löper att försvinna från Sverige. Bedömningen utförs av ArtDatabankens medarbetare i samverkan med över 100 externa experter, indelade i 14 expertkommittéer för olika organismgrupper. Under arbetet med 2015 års rödlista har tillstånd och trender bedömts för 21 600 arter och 1 318 lägre taxa (apomiktiska arter, underarter och varieteter), sammanlagt ca 22 900 taxa. Av de bedömda arterna klassificerades 2 029 som hotade (kategorierna CR, EN och VU) och 4 273 som rödlistade (inkluderar även kategorierna NT, RE och DD). Förhållandet mellan antalet rödlistade och antalet bedömda arter ar 19,8 %, vilket är ungefär samma värde som 2010 och 2005. I denna rapport jämförs antalet och andelen rödlistade arter mellan olika organismgrupper, biotoper, substrat och påverkansfaktorer. Texten ar indelad i en allmän del och åtta kapitel inriktade på olika landskapstyper. Landskapstyperna utgör en grov indelning av landets miljöer enligt följande kategorier: Skog, Jordbrukslandskap, Urbana miljöer, Fjäll, Våtmarker, Sötvatten, Havsstränder och Havsmiljöer. Skogen och jordbrukslandskapet är de artrikaste landskapstyperna med 1 800 respektive 1 400 arter som har en stark anknytning dit, och ytterligare flera hundra arter som förekommer där mer sporadiskt. De faktorer som påverkar flest rödlistade arter i Sverige är skogsavverkning och igenväxning, som båda utgör ett hot mot vardera ca 30 % av de rödlistade arterna. Avverkning minskar arealen av skog där naturliga strukturer och naturlig dynamik upprätthålls, och den orsakar därmed förlust av livsmiljöer. Igenväxning orsakas av ett antal faktorer, bland annat upphörande hävd (bete och slåtter), gödsling, trädplantering och brist på naturliga störningsregimer som t.ex. regelbundna översvämningar kring vattendrag och sjöar. Andra viktiga påverkansfaktorer är fiske, torrläggning av våtmarker, tillbakagång hos värdarter (främst alm och ask som drabbats av invasiva svampsjukdomar), klimatförändringar och konkurrens från invasiva arter. IUCN:s rödlisteindex beräknas för ett urval av de bedömda organismgrupperna. Rödlisteindex visar att skillnaderna mellan rödlistorna från 2000, 2005, 2010 och 2015 är små. Ett par undantag finns dock. Groddjur och stora däggdjur har fått en något förbättrad situation sedan 2000. Totalt förefaller det ändå som att trycket mot Sveriges artstock har förblivit relativt konstant under de senaste 15 åren

Evaluation of the BOADICEA risk assessment model in women with a family history of breast cancer

The ability of the Breast and Ovarian Analysis of Disease Incidence and Carrier Estimation Algorithm (BOADICEA) model to predict BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations and breast cancer incidence in women with a family history of breast cancer was evaluated. Observed mutations in 263 screened families were compared to retrospective predictions. Similarly, observed breast cancers in 640 women were compared to retrospective predictions of breast cancer incidence. The ratios of observed to expected number of BRCA1- , BRCA2- and BRCA(1 or 2) mutations were 1.43 (95% CI 1.05–1.90), 0.63 (95% CI 0.34–1.08), and 1.12 (95% CI 0.86–1.44), showing a significant underestimation of BRCA1 mutations. Discrimination between carriers and non-carriers as measured by area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was 0.83 (95% CI 0.76–0.88). The ratio of observed to expected number of invasive breast cancers was 1.41 (0.91–2.08). The corresponding area under the ROC curve for prediction of invasive breast cancer at individual level was 0.62 (95% CI 0.52–0.73). In conclusion, the BOADICEA model can predict the total prevalence of BRCA(1 or 2) mutations and the incidence of invasive breast cancers. The mutation probability as generated by BOADICEA can be used clinically as a guideline for screening, and thus decrease the proportion of negative mutation analyses. Likewise, individual breast cancer risks can be used for selecting women whose risk of breast cancer indicates follow-up. Application of local mutation frequencies of BRCA1 and BRCA2 could improve the ability to distinguish between the two genes

A search for modifying genetic factors in CHEK2 : c.1100delC breast cancer patients

The risk of breast cancer associated with CHEK2:c.1100delC is 2-threefold but higher in carriers with a family history of breast cancer than without, suggesting that other genetic loci in combination with CHEK2:c.1100delC confer an increased risk in a polygenic model. Part of the excess familial risk has been associated with common low-penetrance variants. This study aimed to identify genetic loci that modify CHEK2:c.1100delC-associated breast cancer risk by searching for candidate risk alleles that are overrepresented in CHEK2:c.1100delC carriers with breast cancer compared with controls. We performed whole-exome sequencing in 28 breast cancer cases with germline CHEK2:c.1100delC, 28 familial breast cancer cases and 70 controls. Candidate alleles were selected for validation in larger cohorts. One recessive synonymous variant, rs16897117, was suggested, but no overrepresentation of homozygous CHEK2:c.1100delC carriers was found in the following validation. Furthermore, 11 non-synonymous candidate alleles were suggested for further testing, but no significant difference in allele frequency could be detected in the validation in CHEK2:c.1100delC cases compared with familial breast cancer, sporadic breast cancer and controls. With this method, we found no support for a CHEK2:c.1100delC-specific genetic modifier. Further studies of CHEK2:c.1100delC genetic modifiers are warranted to improve risk assessment in clinical practice.Peer reviewe

In vivo MRI and PET imaging in a translational ILD mouse model expressing non-resolving fibrosis and bronchiectasis-like pathology after repeated systemic exposure to bleomycin

Drug-induced interstitial lung disease (ILD) is crucial to detect early to achieve the best treatment outcome. Optimally, non-invasive imaging biomarkers can be used for early detection of disease progression and treatment follow-up. Therefore, reliable in vivo models are warranted in new imaging biomarker development to accelerate better-targeted treatment options. Single-dose bleomycin models have, for a long time, served as a reference model in fibrosis and lung injury research. Here, we aimed to use a clinically more relevant animal model by systemic exposure to bleomycin and assessing disease progression over time by combined magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) imaging.MethodsC57BL/6 mice received bleomycin (i.p. 35iU/kg) or saline as control twice per week for 4 weeks. Mice were monitored until 2 weeks after cessation of bleomycin administration (w4 + 1 and w4 + 2), referred to as the resting period. MRI scans were performed in weeks 3 and 4 and during the resting weeks. [18F]FDG-PET was performed at the last week of dosing (w4) and 2 weeks after the last dosing (w4 + 2). Lung tissue sections were stained with Masson’s trichrome and evaluated by modified Ashcroft scoring. Lung volume and lesion volumes were assessed using MRI, as well as 3D mapping of the central airways.Results and discussionBleomycin-challenged mice showed increased lung weights (p < 0.05), while total lung volume was unchanged (w4 and onward). Histology analysis demonstrated fibrotic lesions emanating from the distal parts of the lung. Fibrosis progression was visualized by MRI with significantly increased high signal in bleomycin-exposed lungs compared to controls (p < 0.05). In addition, a significant increase in central airway diameter (p < 0.01) was displayed in bleomycin-exposed animals compared to controls and further continued to dilate as the disease progressed, comparing the bleomycin groups over time (p < 0.05–0.001). Lung [18F]FDG uptake was significantly elevated in bleomycin-exposed mice compared to controls (p < 0.05).ConclusionNon-invasive imaging displayed progressing lesions in the lungs of bleomycin-exposed mice, using two distinct MRI sequences and [18F]FDG-PET. With observed fibrosis progression emanating from distal lung areas, dilation of the central airways was evident. Taken together, this chronic bleomycin-exposure model is translationally more relevant for studying lung injury in ILD and particularly in the context of DIILD