Search

The aim was to investigate whether vocalists and instrumentalists (N = 108) would differ in personality traits, such as the Big five dimensions, competence-based self-esteem, and musical self-perce...

This research investigated the congruence between the ideologies of political parties and the ideological preferences (N = 1515), moral intuitions (N = 1048), and political values and worldviews (N = 1345) of diverse samples of Swedish adults who voted or intended to vote for the parties. Logistic regression analyses yielded support for a series of hypotheses about variations in ideology beyond the left-right division. With respect to social ideology, resistance to change and binding moral intuitions predicted stronger preference for a social democratic (vs. progressive) party on the left and weaker preference for a social liberal (vs. social conservative or liberal-conservative) party on the right. With respect to political values and broader worldviews, normativism and low acceptance of immigrants predicted the strongest preference for a nationalist party, while environmentalism predicted the strongest preference for a green party. The effects were generally strong and robust when we controlled for left-right self-placements, economic ideology, and demographic characteristics. These results show that personality variation in the ideological domain is not reducible to the simplistic contrast between liberals and conservatives, which ignores differences between progressive and non-progressive leftists, economic and green progressives, social liberal and conservative rightists, and nationalist and non-nationalist conservatives. (c) 2020 The Authors. European Journal of Personality published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Association of Personality Psychology Funding Agencies|Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsradet)Swedish Research Council [2014-01158]; Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies [A056-2012]

During 2017 and 2018, the #metoo hashtag united a global movement against sexual abuse and harassment. In Sweden, a large portion of the attention was given to the voices of working women, who organised and wrote petitions that were published in news media. Previous research has found that media reports of sexual abuse often focus on singular stories, rather than describing the underlying structural problems, and that the problem is often framed as an individual rather than structural problem. This article accounts for a qualitative content analysis of the first 28 published #metoo petitions in Sweden, with the goal of understanding how these framed the issue. In contrast to previous research, this study shows how the petitions established a coherent feminist explanatory framework that placed the problems on a structural level by focusing on work environments and framing demands in terms of general and perfectly reasonable human rights.

In Norway and Sweden, the governments see a potential for establishing a policy for cultural participation, based on the assumption that cultural activities will improve health and well-being. Aim: The aim was to survey the scientific literature in Norway and Sweden concerning cultural interventions for increased well-being and health. All applications of cultural activities in medical and leisure time field were included. Methods: Medline, Cinahl, Cochrane, Psycinfo, Proquest, Sportdiscus, PsiTri, Norart, ERIC, www.helsedirektoratet.no, www.folk2.no, www.nakuhel.no, www.ssd.gu.se, www.scb.se were browsed. Additionally, grey literature such as books, reports, as well as White and Green Papers has been searched. Studies published from 1995 to 2009 were included. Results: Mostly effects of cultural participation in clinical settings were studied, focusing on small groups. Very few studies have been published regarding public health aspects. The few epidemiological studies were for the most part carried out ...

This study examines in detail the psychological variables underlying ideological political orientation, and structure and contents of this orientation, in Sweden and Latvia. Individual political orientation is conceptualized on two dimensions: acceptance vs. rejection of social change and acceptance vs. rejection of inequality. Swedish (N = 320) and Latvian (N = 264) participants completed measures of political orientation, Social Dominance Orientation (SDO), Right Wing Authoritarianism (RWA), self vs. other orientation, tolerance for ambiguity, humanism and normativism, core political values, system justification, as well as moral foundations questionnaire and portrait values questionnaire. The results showed that the relation among the measured variables was similar in both samples. Swedish participants showed stronger endorsement of egalitarian attitudes and social values, whereas we found more self-enhancing and socially conservative values and attitudes among the Latvian participants.

Potato mop-top virus (PMTV) RNA3 contains a triple gene block (TGB) encoding viral movement proteins and an open reading frame for a putative 8 kDa cysteine-rich protein (CRP). In this study, PMTV CRP was shown to be expressed in the course of virus infection, and a PMTV CRP-specific subgenomic RNA was mapped. CRP has previously been shown to be dispensable for infection of PMTV in Nicotiana benthamiana. In this study, PMTV CRP was found to increase the severity of disease symptoms when expressed from Potato virus X or Tobacco mosaic virus in N. benthamiana and Nicotiana tabacum, suggesting that the protein affects virulence of the virus or might suppress a host defence mechanism. However, PMTV CRP did not show RNA silencing suppression activity in three assays. Host responses to the PMTV CRP expression from different viral genomes ranged from an absence of response to extreme resistance at a single cell level and were dependent on the viral genome. These findings emphasized involvement of viral proteins and/or virus-induced cell components in the plant reaction to CRP. PMTV CRP was predicted to possess a transmembrane segment. CRP fused to the green fluorescent protein was associated with endoplasmic reticulum-derived membranes and induced dramatic rearrangements of the endoplasmic reticulum structure, which might account for protein functions as a virulence factor of the virus.

Full-length genomic cDNA clones of the Swedish isolate of Potato mop-top virus (PMTV) were transcribed in vitro using T7 RNA polymerase. The combination of RNA 1, 2 and 3 synthesized in the presence of m(7)GpppG cap analogue was infectious when inoculated onto Nicotiana benthamiana plants. Also, the combination of RNA 1 (encodes the viral replicase) with RNA 3 [encodes the triple gene block proteins and a small cysteine-rich protein (CRP)] was infectious and both RNAs moved systemically in N. benthamiana plants in the absence of RNA 2, which encodes the coat protein (CP). However, the yellow mosaic symptoms that typically developed following PMTV infection with all three RNAs were not observed in plants infected with RNA 1+RNA 3. Site-directed mutagenesis experiments revealed that expression of the putative CRP was not required for systemic infection and symptom induction in N. benthamiana. These data show that PMTV represents an example of a multipartite virus capable of establishing systemic infection without the CP-encoding RNA, and also without the putative CRP.

The necrotic symptoms (spraing) in tubers caused byPotato mop-top pomovirus (PMTV) have become a severe problem for potato production in Scandinavia. PMTV is transmitted by the powdery scab pathogen (Spongospora subterranea) and no methods for control are currently available. Two breeding lines (NY99 and NY103) from the Cornell University potato breeding program, twotuberosum ×acaule lines (TA3.8.3.3 and TA3.5.3.7) from the International Potato Center (CIP), and one line (IvP35) ofSolarium phureja were tested for resistance to PMTV in field trials in Sweden in 1998 and 1999. In both years, NY99 had a low incidence of PMTV infection in tubers, and the infected tubers showed a low accumulation of PMTV, indicating that NY99 is a promising new source of resistance to PMTV for breeding programs. Furthermore, it may be suitable for cultivation in Scandinavia, which, however, needs to be evaluated in more extensive field trials.

The present thesis explores factors and processes associated with the artistic profession and development of opera singers. The profession of opera singers has a long story deriving its origin in early 1600s in Italy. What is performed on opera stages today is written in the musical scores in the 18th and 19th century. The question arises how the modern opera singers live, learn and excel in their contemporary pursuit in order to meet the high demands on performance. The initial study identified health issues related to the professional activity of opera singers. Qualitative and quantitative measurements indicated that psychological problems were associated with a distinct worry for possible negative evaluation from significant others and a fear of vocal indisposition. A range of health-promoting activities was demonstrated aiming at preventing the occurrence of somatic problems that could cause vocal indisposition. Psychosocial problems concerned difficulties to maintain a family life and relations due to irregular working hours. In Study II, the psychological and physiological effects of singing lessons were investigated with respect to amateur and professional levels of singing experiences. Amateur singers experienced more well-being measured by self-reports of emotional states and by lower levels of stress hormones than professionals. In Study III, narrative accounts were collected to identify factors and processes in the artistic development during higher opera education. A descriptive model was created that embraced the development of various skills such as singing technique, means of expressiveness and interpersonal skills. Outcome variables from the education were artistic autonomy, artistic competence and change in self-concept. In Study IV, personality characteristics were assessed among elite students in opera and business education representing an artistic versus a traditional educational streaming. Female opera students, female business and male business students shared the personality characteristic of extraversion indicating a disposition towards sensation seeking. Male opera singers exhibited a profile of elevated levels of emotionality. In general, the findings across the studies demonstrate that the individual development of operatic artistry is a complex process where health-related issues, personality characteristics, skills acquisition and sociocultural values are critical constituents. A major result was the marked focus on the instrument per se, the voice. Vocal functioning in singing was described as a means of enabling operatic singing, a mode for artistic expression and indicator of health.

Potato mop-top virus (PMTV) RNA 2 contains a triple gene block (TGB) that consists of a set of three overlapping genes. These genes encode three proteins necessary for viral cell-to-cell movement. The gene encoding for the second triple gene block protein, TGB2, was mutated in a region that is highly conserved among TGB2 proteins from different viruses. The mutated TGB2 gene, under transcriptional control of the 35S promoter from cauliflower mosaic virus, was transformed into potato (Solanum tuberosum cv. Hulda) by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Ten of the transgenic lines obtained, all of which were shown to transcribe the introduced gene, were evaluated for resistance to PMTV in a field trial. Tubers from the field were analysed for virus content by ELISA. In seven of the transgenic lines analysed there was a reduction in ELISA values relative to a non-transgenic control line. In the three lines that had the lowest ELISA readings this reduction was manifested both as a reduction in the proportion of infected tubers and as a reduction in virus levels in infected tubers. In the line showing the highest level of resistance, the total ELISA value was reduced by 79%. These results demonstrate that the introduction of a mutated TGB2 gene into potato can confer increased resistance to PMTV.

Resistance tests were made on seedlings of transformed lines of Nicotiana benthamiana which contain a transgene encoding the coat protein (CP) gene of a Scottish isolate of potato mop-top virus (PMTV). This transgene has been reported to confer strong resistance to the PMTV isolate from which the transgene sequence was derived and also to a second Scottish isolate. Plants of lines of the transgenic N. benthamiana were as resistant to two Swedish and two Danish PMTV isolates as to a Scottish isolate, and of five lines tested, greater than 93.5% of transgenic plants were immune. The coat protein gene sequences of these four Scandinavian isolates were very similar to those of the two Scottish isolates. The greatest divergence between the isolates was three amino acid changes and there was less than 2% change in CP gene nucleotide sequence. It is concluded that the PMTV CP transgene used in these experiments could confer resistance against isolates from different geographical areas because it is becoming apparent that the CP genes of PMTV isolates are highly conserved.

The aim of the present exploratory study was twofold. The first was to investigate how indicators of high-level proficiency (collocations and grammaticality judgment) related to aptitude in late Fr ...

The occorrence of potato mop-top virus (PMTV) was assessed by two different soil sampling methods. PMTV was prevalent in southwestern Sweden but was not detected in the northern part of the country. In storage trials more symptoms developed in tubers kept at 9°C than 4 °C. irrespective of the cultivar. Cutting the tubers enhanced post storage symptom develoment in some cultivars. Of 14 cultivars grown in Sweden, those used for crisp products were more inclined to develop spraing than the others. A comparison of the severity of PMTV symptoms in field trials in Sweden. Denmark and Finland indicated substantial geographic variation in the relative susceptibility of different cultivars suggesting variation among isolates of the virus. From glasshouse experiments it was found that inoculations done at flower bud development or at flowering resulted in most spraing. Cultivar trials in pots produced a low level of spraing symptoms in general.

In trials with potato tubers infected with tobacco rattle virus (TRV), symptoms of spraing in cvs Bellona, King Edward, Maris Bard, Matilda, Sv 82146 and Sv 82149 increased during storage when the tubers were cut. Storage of intact tubers at a constant temperature of 9°C or at fluctuating temperatures (2 weeks at 18°C, 2 weeks at 9°C and 2 weeks at 18°C) did not increase the frequency of symptoms.

TGBp1, TGBp2, and TGBp3, three plant virus movement proteins encoded by the “triple gene block” (TGB), may act in concert to facilitate cell-to-cell transport of viral RNA genomes. Transient expression of Potato mop-top virus (genus Pomovirus) movement proteins was used as a model to reconstruct interactions between TGB proteins. In bombarded epidermal cells of Nicotiana benthamiana, green fluorescent protein (GFP)-TGBp1 was distributed uniformly. However, in the presence of TGBp2 and TGBp3, GFP-TGBp1 was directed to intermediate bodies at the cell periphery, and to cell wall-embedded punctate bodies. Moreover, GFP-TGBp1 migrated into cells immediately adjacent to the bombarded cell. These data suggest that TGBp2 and TGBp3 mediate transport of GFP-TGBp1 to and through plasmodesmata. Mutagenesis of TGBp1 suggested that the NTPase and helicase activities of TGBp1 were not required for its transport to intermediate bodies directed by TGBp2 and TGBp3, but these activities were essential for the protein association with cell wall-embedded punctate bodies and translocation of TGBp1 to neighboring cells. The C-terminal region of TGBp1 was critical for trafficking mediated by TGBp2 and TGBp3. Mutation analysis also suggested an involvement of the TGBp2 C-terminal region in interactions with TGBp1.

This study explored the possible beneficial effects of singing on well-being during a singing lesson. Eight amateur (2m, 6f, age 28-53 yrs) and eight professional (4m, 4f, age 26-49 yrs) singers who had been attending singing lessons for at least six months were included. Continuous ECG was recorded and computerized spectral analysis was performed. Serum concentrations of TNF-alpha, prolactin, cortisol, and oxytocin were measured before and 30 min after the lesson. Five visual analogue scales (VAS, sad-joyful, anxious-calm, worried-elated, listless-energetic, and tense-relaxed) were scored before and after the lesson. In addition, a semi-structured interview was performed. Heart rate variability analyses showed significant changes over time in the two groups for total power, and low and high frequency power. Power increased during singing in professionals, whereas there were no changes in amateurs. This indicates an ability to retain more "heart-brain connection." i.e., more cardio-physiological fitness for singing in professional singers, compared to amateur singers. Serum concentration of TNF-alpha increased in professionals after the singing lesson, whereas the concentration in amateurs decreased. Serum concentrations of prolactin and cortisol increased after the lesson in the group of men and vice versa for women. Oxytocin concentrations increased significantly in both groups after the singing lesson. Amateurs reported increasing joy and elatedness (VAS), whereas professionals did not. However, both groups felt more energetic and relaxed after the singing lesson. The interviews showed that the professionals were clearly achievement-oriented, with focus on singing technique, vocal apparatus and body during the lesson. The amateurs used the singing lessons as a means of self-actualization and self-expression as a way to release emotional tensions. In summary, in this study, singing during a singing lesson seemed to promote more well-being and less arousal for amateurs compared to professional singers, who seemed to experience less well-being and more arousal.

Molecular data on Potato mop-top virus (PMTV), genus Pomovirus, is currently mostly based on analysis of two Scottish isolates, PMTV-S and PMTV-T. Here we report the complete sequence of "the coat protein (CP) encoding RNA" of an isolate of PMTV obtained from the field in Sweden. Our data show that this RNA (3134 nt) is the second largest of the three RNA species in the tripartite PMTV genome, and it should, therefore, be referred to as RNA 2. This nomenclature is consistent with other pomoviruses. The sequence of the readthrough domain (RT) of RNA 2 was determined also in two additional field isolates of PMTV from Finland and Denmark. All three isolates contained a novel, 109 nucleotides long sequence at the 3'-end of the RT, which has not been found in PMTV-S and PMTV-T. Hence, our data suggest that the RNA 2 sequences previously described for the isolates PMTV-T and PMTV-S may represent deletion derivatives. The C-proximal half of RT contained many amino acid (aa) differences among the isolates, in contrast to only few aa differences in the N-proximal part of RT. Deletion variants of RNA 2 were generated from the Nordic isolates in potato tubers infected in the field, and in the mechanically inoculated test plants. All deletions started within a short region (18 nt) and removed 558-940 nt from the 3'-end of RT region. This study for the first time describes the full-length sequence of the "CP-encoding RNA" (RNA2) of PMTV, and reveals considerable aa variability and occurrence of deletion variants of RT in the field isolates of PMTV.

The complete nucleotide sequence (6043 nt) of RNA 1 from Potato mop-top virus (PMTV-Sw), the type member of the genus Pomovirus, was determined. The first (5′-terminal) open reading frame (ORF 1) encodes a predicted protein of 148 kDa. ORF 2 extends through the opal stop codon of ORF 1 producing a predicted readthrough protein of 206 kDa which resembles the RNA-dependent RNA polymerases (RdRp) of other fungal-transmitted viruses. It includes a methyltransferase, a helicase and a GDD RdRp motif, respectively. Phylogenetic analyses of RdRps indicated that PMTV is most closely related to Beet soil-borne virus (genusPomovirus), Broad bean necrosis virus (genus Pomovirus) and Soil-borne wheat mosaic virus (genus Furovirus), and is more distantly related to the other viruses of the former furovirus group. The 5′ and 3′ termini of RNA 1 in PMTV contained untranslated regions (UTR) of 114 nt and 489 nt, respectively. The 3′-UTR of RNA 1 contained a tRNA-like structure, which has previously been reported in the 3′-UTR of RNA 2 but not RNA 3. However, in this study, the tRNA-like structure was also found in the 3′-UTR of RNA 3, which confirms its presence in the 3′-UTRs of all three RNAs of PMTV.

Resistance to the pomovirus Potato mop-top virus (PMTV) was studied in potato (Solanum tuberosum cv. Saturna) and Nicotiana benthamiana transformed with the coat protein (CP) gene of PMTV. The incidence of PMTV infections was reduced in tubers of the CP-transgenic potatoes grown in the field in soil infested with the viruliferous vector, Spongospora subterranea. However, in those tubers that were infected, all three virus RNAs were detected and virus titres were high. The CP-transgenic N. benthamiana plants were inoculated with PMTV using two methods. Following mechanical inoculation of leaves, no RNA 3 (the CP-encoding RNA homologous to the transgene) was detected in leaves, but in some plants low amounts of RNA 3 were detected in roots; RNA 2 was readily detected in leaves and roots of several plants. Inoculation of roots using viruliferous S. subterranea resulted in infection of roots in all plants and the three PMTV RNAs were detected. However, no systemic movement of PMTV from roots to the above-ground parts was observed, indicating a novel expression of resistance. These data indicate that the CP gene-mediated resistance to PMTV specifically restricts accumulation of PMTV RNA 3, and is more effective in leaves than roots. Furthermore, expression of resistance is different depending on whether leaves or roots are inoculated. Data do not exclude the possibility that both a protein-mediated and an RNA-mediated resistance mechanism are involved.

Potato mop-top virus (PMTV) is the type member of the genus Pomovirus characterized by a tripartite, single-stranded, positive-sense RNA genome. However, PMTV differs from the other pomoviruses by having an open reading frame (ORF) for a 8-kDa cysteine-rich protein (CRP) on RNA 3, downstream the triple gene block. Site-directed mutagenesis of infectious cDNA clones of PMTV showed that the CRP ORF is not needed for the systemic infection in Nicotiana benthamiana and several other hosts, but it has an effect on the symptom development of PMTV. CRP of PMTV was not capable of RNA silencing suppression in agroinfiltration tests. However, the expression of CRP using vectors based on Potato virus X (PVX) or Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) resulted in necrotic symptoms on N. benthamiana and tobacco plants, respectively. Sequencing of PMTV isolates obtained from the field revealed significant sequence variability of the CRP. These data suggest that the functions of CRP may be expressed only in certain hosts or at certain phases of the PMTV infection cycle.