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Here we explore the contemporary practices of female participation in the music scenes in Serbia, and to an extent, in the Balkans. This research identified and described the possibilities, gendered constraints, and acts of transgressions that together weave a complex dynamic of female participation in popular music, in relation to the changing field of dominant gender ideologies in Serbia and the surrounding region. This work provides a critical analysis of gender issues in music-making and performing and of the topic of gendered labour in music, by relying on multiple case studies grounded in local contexts. We consider the mores and demands of the music market and everyday culture, their link to personal experiences, and the reach of the social institutions regarding music. Either as role models or cherished leaders, female musicians employ different tactics to fight stereotypes, strengthen communities, and ensure female participation. This work maps the strategies and tools they have been putting in place in order to sustain their audience, income, and presence to the best possible extent. Bearing in mind the imperative of transforming a standard way of working, communicating with audiences, and maintaining earning potential, this text singles out practices that could be recognised as (female) leadership in contemporary circumstances. We also consider a wider spectrum of roles that female musicians and music professionals have taken on or were awarded within their professional circles, local scenes, communities, or wider society.

Ací explorem les pràctiques contemporànies de la participació femenina en l’escena musical de Sèrbia i, en certa manera, dels Balcans. Aquesta investigació va identificar i descobrir les possibilitats, les restriccions de gènere i els actes de transgressió que, en conjunt, teixien una dinàmica complexa de participació femenina en la música popular, en relació amb el camp canviant de les ideologies de gènere dominants a Sèrbia i la regió circumdant. Aquest treball proporciona una anàlisi crítica de les qüestions de gènere en la creació i execució de música i del tema del treball de gènere en la música, basant-se en casos connectats a contextos locals. Per a fer-ho, considerem els costums i les demandes del mercat musical i la cultura quotidiana, el seu vincle amb les experiències personals i l’envergadura de les institucions socials al voltant de la música. Siga com a models a seguir o com a líders apreciades, les dones músiques empren diferents tàctiques per a combatre els estereotips, enfortir les comunitats i garantir la participació femenina. Aquest treball recull les estratègies i eines que han estat implementant per a mantenir la seua audiència, els ingressos i la presència de la millor manera possible. Tenint en compte l’imperatiu de transformar una manera estàndard de treballar, comunicar-se amb les audiències i mantenir el potencial d’ingressos, aquest text destaca pràctiques que es podrien reconéixer com a lideratge (lideratge femení) en les circumstàncies contemporànies. També considerem un espectre més ampli de rols que les dones músiques i professionals de la música han assumit o se’ls ha adjudicat dins dels seus cercles professionals, escenaris locals, comunitats o la societat en general, Here we explore the contemporary practices of female participation in the music scenes in Serbia, and to an extent, in the Balkans. This research identified and described the possibilities, gendered constraints, and acts of transgressions that together weave a complex dynamic of female participation in popular music, in relation to the changing field of dominant gender ideologies in Serbia and the surrounding region. This work provides a critical analysis of gender issues in music-making and performing and of the topic of gendered labour in music, by relying on multiple case studies grounded in local contexts. We consider the mores and demands of the music market and everyday culture, their link to personal experiences, and the reach of the social institutions regarding music.Either as role models or cherished leaders, female musicians employ different tactics to fight stereotypes, strengthen communities, and ensure female participation. This work maps the strategies and tools they have been putting in place in order to sustain their audience, income, and presence to the best possible extent. Bearing in mind the imperative of transforming a standard way of working, communicating with audiences, and maintaining earning potential, this text singles out practices that could be recognised as (female) leadership in contemporary circumstances. We also consider a wider spectrum of roles that female musicians and music professionals have taken on or were awarded within their professional circles, local scenes, communities, or wider society.

Pattern Recognition and Bioinformatics, Intelligent Systems

Induction of antigen-specific regulatory T cells (Tregs) in vivo is the holy grail of current immune-regulating therapies in autoimmune diseases, such as type 1 diabetes. Tolerogenic dendritic cells (tolDCs) generated from monocytes by a combined treatment with vitamin D and dexamethasone (marked by CD52hi and CD86lo expression) induce antigen-specific Tregs. We evaluated the phenotypes of these Tregs using high-dimensional mass cytometry to identify a surface-based T cell signature of tolerogenic modulation. Naïve CD4+ T cells were stimulated with tolDCs or mature inflammatory DCs pulsed with proinsulin peptide, after which the suppressive capacity, cytokine production and phenotype of stimulated T cells were analysed. TolDCs induced suppressive T cell lines that were dominated by a naïve phenotype (CD45RA+CCR7+). These naïve T cells, however, did not show suppressive capacity, but were arrested in their naïve status. T cell cultures stimulated by tolDC further contained memory-like (CD45RA-CCR7-) T cells expressing regulatory markers Lag-3, CD161 and ICOS. T cells expressing CD25lo or CD25hi were most prominent and suppressed CD4+ proliferation, while CD25hi Tregs also effectively supressed effector CD8+ T cells. We conclude that tolDCs induce antigen-specific Tregs with various phenotypes. This extends our earlier findings pointing to a functionally diverse pool of antigen-induced and specific Tregs and provides the basis for immune-monitoring in clinical trials with tolDC., Comp Graphics & Visualisation

This study aimed to describe clinical outcomes in patients prescribed teriparatide and followed up for 18months after stopping the drug in real-life conditions. The Extended Forsteo (R) Observational Study analysed incident clinical fractures in 6-month intervals using logistic regression with repeated measures. Changes in back pain (visual analogue scale) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL; EQ-5D questionnaire) were analysed using mixed models for repeated measures. Patients were analysed if they had a post-baseline visit, regardless of whether and for how long they took teriparatide. Of 1531 patients analysed (90.7% female, mean age: 70.3years), 76 (5.0%) never took teriparatide. Median treatment duration was 23.6months. The adjusted odds of clinical fracture decreased by 47% in the >12- to 18-month treatment period (p=0.013) compared with the first 6-month period, with no statistically significant reduction in the >18- to 24-month interval. The clinical fracture rate remained stable during the 18 months' post-teriparatide, when approximately 98% of patients took osteoporosis medication (51% bisphosphonates). Clinical vertebral fractures were reduced at every time period compared with the first 6months. Adjusted mean back pain scores decreased and EQ-5D scores increased significantly at each post-baseline observation. In a real-life clinical setting, the risk of clinical fractures declined during 24months of teriparatide treatment. This reduction was maintained 18months after stopping teriparatide. In parallel, patients reported significant improvements in back pain and HRQoL. The results should be interpreted in the context of the non-controlled design of this observational study.

This study aimed to describe clinical outcomes in patients prescribed teriparatide and followed up for 18 months after stopping the drug in real-life conditions. The Extended Forsteo® Observational Study analysed incident clinical fractures in 6-month intervals using logistic regression with repeated measures. Changes in back pain (visual analogue scale) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL; EQ-5D questionnaire) were analysed using mixed models for repeated measures. Patients were analysed if they had a post-baseline visit, regardless of whether and for how long they took teriparatide. Of 1531 patients analysed (90.7% female, mean age: 70.3 years), 76 (5.0%) never took teriparatide. Median treatment duration was 23.6 months. The adjusted odds of clinical fracture decreased by 47% in the > 12- to 18-month treatment period (p = 0.013) compared with the first 6-month period, with no statistically significant reduction in the > 18- to 24-month interval. The clinical fracture rate remained stable during the 18 months’ post-teriparatide, when approximately 98% of patients took osteoporosis medication (51% bisphosphonates). Clinical vertebral fractures were reduced at every time period compared with the first 6 months. Adjusted mean back pain scores decreased and EQ-5D scores increased significantly at each post-baseline observation. In a real-life clinical setting, the risk of clinical fractures declined during 24 months of teriparatide treatment. This reduction was maintained 18 months after stopping teriparatide. In parallel, patients reported significant improvements in back pain and HRQoL. The results should be interpreted in the context of the non-controlled design of this observational study.

Identification of epitopes that are recognized by diabetogenic T cells and cause selective beta cell destruction in type 1 diabetes (T1D) has focused on peptides originating from native beta cell proteins. Translational errors represent a major potential source of antigenic peptides to which central immune tolerance is lacking. Here, we describe an alternative open reading frame within human insulin mRNA encoding a highly immunogenic polypeptide that is targeted by T cells in T1D patients. We show that cytotoxic T cells directed against the N-terminal peptide of this nonconventional product are present in the circulation of individuals diagnosed with T1D, and we provide direct evidence that such CD8+ T cells are capable of killing human beta cells and thereby may be diabetogenic. This study reveals a new source of nonconventional polypeptides that act as self-epitopes in clinical autoimmune disease.

Cellular therapies with tolerogenic antigen-presenting cells (tolAPC) show great promise for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and for the prevention of destructive immune responses after transplantation. The methodologies for generating tolAPC vary greatly between different laboratories, making it difficult to compare data from different studies; thus constituting a major hurdle for the development of standardised tolAPC therapeutic products. Here we describe an initiative by members of the tolAPC field to generate a minimum information model for tolAPC (MITAP), providing a reporting framework that will make differences and similarities between tolAPC products transparent. In this way, MITAP constitutes a first but important step towards the production of standardised and reproducible tolAPC for clinical application.

We describe the pre-planned interim analysis of fracture outcomes, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and back pain in patients with severe osteoporosis treated with teriparatide for up to 24 months in the Extended Forsteo (Forsteo(A (R)) is a registered trade name of Eli Lilly and Company) Observational Study (ExFOS), a prospective, multinational, observational study. Data on incident clinical fractures, HRQoL (EQ-5D questionnaire) and back pain [100 mm visual analogue scale (VAS)] were collected. The number of patients with fractures was summarised in 6-month intervals and fracture rate over each 6-month period was assessed using logistic regression for repeated measures. Changes from baseline in EQ-5D and back pain VAS were analysed using mixed models for repeated measures. Of 1454 patients in the active treatment cohort, 90.6 % were female and 14.4 % were taking glucocorticoids. During teriparatide treatment (median duration 23.7 months), 103 patients (7.1 %) sustained a total of 122 incident clinical fractures (21 % vertebral, 79 % non-vertebral). A 49 % decrease in the odds of fractures and a 75 % decrease in the odds of clinical vertebral fractures were observed in the > 18- to 24-month period versus the first 6-month period (both p < 0.05). EQ-5D scores and back pain VAS scores were significantly improved from baseline at each post-baseline observation during teriparatide treatment. In conclusion, patients with severe osteoporosis showed a significant reduction in the incident fracture rate during 24 months of teriparatide treatment in routine clinical practice, accompanied by a significant improvement in HRQoL and reduction in back pain. Results should be interpreted in the context of the non-controlled design of this observational study.