| 1. |
- Augustinsson (Nilsdotter-Augustinsson), Åsa, 1962-, et al.
(author)
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Interaction of staphylococcus epidermidis from infected hip prostheses with neutrophil granulocytes
- 2001
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In: Scandinavian Journal of Infectious Diseases. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0036-5548 .- 1651-1980. ; 33:6, s. 408-412
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This study focuses on the interaction of Staphylococcus epidermis isolated from granulation tissue covering infected hip prostheses and neutrophil granulocytes. Bacterial strains isolated from normal flora were used as controls. The bacteria were well characterized with routine methods and further characterized with random amplified polymorphic DNA analyses and slime tests. Phagocytosis and chemiluminescence (CL) assays were used in the neutrophil interaction studies. The prostheses strains were ingested to a lesser extent than strains from normal flora (p ≤ 0.001). There was no significant difference between the prostheses strains and the normal flora strains in terms of total CL response. However, the extracellular CL response from the neutrophils was lower in comparison with the normal flora when interacting with the prostheses strains. The results of this study support the notion that S. epidermidis strains isolated from infected hip prostheses have an enhanced capacity to resist phagocytosis and that most of these strains elicit a reduced inflammatory response, measured as the production of extracellular oxidative metabolites from the neutrophils, compared to normal flora.
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| 2. |
- Cardell, Kristina, 1964-, et al.
(author)
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Nosocomial hepatitis C in a thoracic surgery unit; retrospective findings generating a prospective study
- 2008
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In: Journal of Hospital Infection. - : Elsevier BV. - 0195-6701 .- 1532-2939. ; 68:4, s. 322-328
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We describe the transmission of hepatitis C virus (HCV) to two patients from a thoracic surgeon who was unaware of his hepatitis C infection. By partial sequencing of the non-structural 5B gene and phylogenetic analysis, the viruses from both patients were found to be closely related to genotype la strain from the surgeon. Two further hepatitis C cases were found in relation to the thoracic clinic. Their HCV sequences were related to each other but were of genotype 2b and the source of infection was never revealed. To elucidate the magnitude of the problem, we conducted a prospective study for a period of 17 months in which patients who were about to undergo thoracic surgery were asked to participate. Blood samples were drawn prior to surgery and at least four months later. The postoperative samples were then screened for anti-HCV and, if positive, the initial sample was also analysed. The only two patients (0.4%) identified were confirmed anti-HCV positive before surgery, and none out of 456 evaluable cases seroconverted to anti-HCV during the observation period. Despite the retrospectively identified cases, nosocomial hepatitis C is rare in our thoracic unit. The study points out the risk of transmission of hepatitis C from infected personnel and reiterates the need for universal precautions.
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| 3. |
- Carlson, Rolf, et al.
(author)
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Speech and music performance : parallels and contrasts
- 1989
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In: Contemporary Music Review. - 0749-4467 .- 1477-2256. ; 4, s. 389-402
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Speech and music performance are two important systems for interhuman communication by means of acoustic signals. These signals must be adapted to the human perceptual and cognitive systems. Hence a comparitive analysis of speech and music performances is likely to shed light on these systems, particularly regarding basic requirements for acoustic communication. Two computer programs are compared, one for text-to-speech conversion and one for note-to-tone conversion. Similarities are found in the need for placing emphasis on unexpected elements, for increasing the dissimilarities between different categories, and for flagging structural constituents. Similarities are also found in the code chosen for conveying this information, e.g. emphasis by lengthening and constituent marking by final lengthening.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Foberg, Ulla, et al.
(author)
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Hepatitis C virus transmission, 1988-1991, via blood components from donors subsequently found to be anti-HCV-positive
- 1996
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In: Scandinavian Journal of Infectious Diseases. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1651-1980 .- 0036-5548. ; 28:1, s. 21-26
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The recipients of blood components, from the first 12 anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) positive donors identified by blood donor screening, 1985-1991, were traced retrospectively and tested to assess the HCV transmission rate, HCV genotypes and disease severity. Three enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) positive but RIBA-indeterminate and HCV RNA-negative donors did not transmit HCV to their 9 traced recipients. Nine RIBA- and HCV RNA-positive donors had donated blood to 27 now living recipients of whom 16/27 (59%) were viraemic 1-5 years later. Nine recipients had resolved infection, as determined by PCR HCV RNA. Five of these were RIBA-2 positive but HCV RNA-negative and 4 recipients were RIBA-2-indeterminate and HCV RNA-negative. Two recipients negative in all tests had probably received blood before the donor became infected with HCV. The HCV genotype in each case was identical between the donor and the recipient. Of the viraemic recipients, 50% (8/16) were unsuitable for further investigation or therapy due to their high age and/or underlying severe disease. At most, only 30% (8/27) of the recipients were suitable for further investigation and/or treatment. Two of these were already diagnosed as being infected with HCV before being traced. It is concluded that the benefit of a general tracing of recipients of blood components from HCV-infected donors is doubtful since only a few of them are suitable candidates for treatment. Our results seem to indicate that it is more appropriate to recommend anti-HCV testing to those seeking medical care who have received transfusions or undergone major surgery before 1992, i.e. before anti-HCV-screening was initiated.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Friberg, Anders, et al.
(author)
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Music from motion : Sound level envelopes of tones expressing human locomotion
- 2000
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In: Journal of New Music Research. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0929-8215 .- 1744-5027. ; 29:3, s. 199-210
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The common association of music with motion was investigated in a direct way. Could the original motion quality of different gaits be transferred to music and be perceived by a listener? Measurements of the ground reaction force by the foot during different gaits were transferred to sound by using the vertical force curve as sound level envelopes for tones played at different tempi. Three listening experiments assesses the motion quality of the resulting stimuli. In the first experiment, where the listeners were asked to freely describe the tones, 25% of answers were direct references to motion; such answers were more frequent at faster tempi. In the second experiment, where the listeners were asked to describe the motion quality, about half of the answers directly related to motion could be classified as belonging to one of the categories of dancing, jumping, running, walking, or stumbling. Most gait patterns were clearly classified as belonging to one of these categories, independent of presentation tempo. In the third experiment, the listeners were asked to rate the stimuli on 24 adjective scales. A factor analysis yielded four factors that could be interpreted as Swift vs. Solemn (factor 1), Graceful vs. Stamping (factor 2), Limping vs. Forceful (factor 3), and Springy (factor 4, no contrasting adjective). The results from the three experiments were consistent and indicated that each tone (corresponding to a particular gait) could clearly be categorised in terms of motion.
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| 11. |
- Friberg, Anders, et al.
(author)
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Musical punctuation on the microlevel : Automatic identification and performance of small melodic units
- 1998
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In: Journal of New Music Research. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0929-8215 .- 1744-5027. ; 27:3, s. 271-292
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this investigation we use the term musical punctuation for the marking of melodic structure by commas inserted at the boundaries that separate small structural units. Two models are presented that automatically try to locate the positions of such commas. They both use the score as the input and operate with a short context of maximally five notes. The first model is based on a set of subrules. One group of subrules mark possible comma positions, each provided with a weight value. Another group alters or removes these weight values according to different conditions. The second model is an artificial neural network using a similar input as that used by the rule system. The commas proposed by either model are realized in terms of micropauses and of small lengthenings of interonset durations. The models are evaluated by using a set of 52 musical excerpts, which were marked with punctuations according to the preference of an expert performer.
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| 12. |
- Friberg, Anders, et al.
(author)
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Performance Rules for Computer-Controlled Contemporary Keyboard Music
- 1991
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In: Computer music journal. - 0148-9267 .- 1531-5169. ; 15:2, s. 49-55
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A computer program for synthesis of music performance, originally developed for traditional tonal music by means of an analysis-by-synthesis strategy, is applied to contemporary piano music as well as to various computer-generated random music. The program consists of rules that manipulate the durations and sound levels of the tones in a contextdependent way. When applying the rules to this music, the concept harmonic charge, which has been found useful for generating crescendi and diminuendi in performance of traditional tonal music for example, is replaced by chromatic charge. The music is performed on a Casio sampler controlled by a Macintosh II microcomputer. A listening panel of five experts on contemporary piano music or electroacoustic music clearly preferred performances processed by the performance program to "deadpan" performances mechanically replicating the durations and sound levels nominally written in the music score.
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| 13. |
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| 14. |
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| 15. |
- Friberg, Anders, et al.
(author)
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Recent musical performance research at KTH
- 1994
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In: Proceedings of the Aarhus symposium on Generative grammars for music performance 1994. ; , s. 7-12
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)
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| 16. |
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| 17. |
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| 18. |
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| 19. |
- Jansson, E, et al.
(author)
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On the acoustical function of the violin
- 1997
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In: 25. Congresso nazionale : Perugia, 21-23 maggio 1997 : atti / Associazione italiana di acustica.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)
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| 20. |
- Mathiesen, U L, et al.
(author)
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Also with a restrictive transfusion policy, screening with second-generation anti-hepatitis C virus enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay would have reduced post-transfusion hepatitis C after open-heart surgery
- 1993
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In: Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1502-7708 .- 0036-5521. ; 28:7, s. 581-584
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The incidence of post-transfusion hepatitis non-A, non-B (PTH-NANB) was prospectively assessed among open-heart surgery patients from the southeast region of Sweden before the introduction of antihepatitis C virus (HCV) blood donor screening. Blood samples for alanine aminotransferase analysis were drawn before and 2, 3, and 4 months after transfusion. Surgery was performed in four centres. Of 190 transfused and followed-up patients 2 (1.1%) contracted PTH-NANB, both operated on at the centre with significantly fewer transfusions than the other centres. One patient had antibodies to HCV detected by first-generation (C100-3) and later by second-generation anti-HCV enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA-2) and by positive second-generation recombinant immunoblot assay (4-RIBA). The other patient, although negative by first-generation anti-HCV ELISA, was positive by second-generation ELISA and by 4-RIBA. Both patients were hepatitis C-viremic by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). All the six donors implicated in the two hepatitis cases were first-generation anti-HCV-negative, but two, one for each patient, were positive by second-generation anti-HCV ELISA. This finding was confirmed by positive 4-RIBA in only 1 donor, the other being 'indeterminate'. However, in both donors hepatitis C viremia was found by PCR. This study shows that the second-generation anti-HCV ELISA will further reduce the risk for PTH-NANB/C and draws attention to the problem of evaluation of confirmatory tests.
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| 21. |
- Mathiesen, U L, et al.
(author)
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Anti-hepatitis C virus screening will reduce the incidence of post-transfusion hepatitis C also in low-risk areas
- 1992
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In: Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1502-7708 .- 0036-5521. ; 27:6, s. 443-448
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The incidence of post-transfusion hepatitis non-A, non-B (PTH-NANB) was prospectively assessed in two areas in the southeast region of Sweden. Patients undergoing hip arthroplasty were studied with blood sampling for alanine aminotransferase analysis before and at 2, 3, and 4 months after transfusion. Of the patients 97% and 82% were transfused and received a mean of 5.5 and 3.4 units in Linkoping and Oskarshamn, respectively. None of 38 patients in Oskarshamn but 4 of 144 patients (2.8%) in Linkoping contracted PTH-NANB. Two of these four patients developed antibodies against hepatitis C virus (HCV) by the first-generation anti-HCV enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (C100). The other two patients remained negative by this test. HCV infection was, however, indicated in all four patients by positive second-generation anti-HCV ELISA confirmed by positive second-generation recombinant immunoblot assay (4-RIBA). Three of the patients were positive by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Serum from one blood donor to the four hepatitis patients (altogether three donors) was found positive by first- and second-generation anti-HCV ELISA and 4-RIBA and was also PCR-positive. Three other blood donors, who did not transmit hepatitis, were anti-HCV ELISA (C100)-positive. This study shows that if anti-HCV ELISA had been available at the start of the trial, all cases of PTH would have been avoided at the expense of only 0.7% transfusion units discarded. Routine anti-HCV ELISA testing of all transfusion units will reduce the incidence of PTH-C even in low-risk areas.
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| 22. |
- Shev, S, et al.
(author)
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GBV-C/HGV infection in hepatitis C virus-infected deferred Swedish blood donors
- 1998
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In: Journal of Medical Virology. - 1096-9071 .- 0146-6615. ; 54:2, s. 75-79
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Sera from 62 hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected Swedish blood donors were tested by a nested polymerase chain reaction using primers targeting the 5'-noncoding region of the GB virus-C/hepatitis G (GBV-C/HGV) genome and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay that detects antibodies to the envelope protein E2 of GBV-C/HGV (anti-E2). Fourteen (22%) and 21 (34%) of the 62 blood donors were found to be GBV-C/HGV RNA and anti-E2 positive, respectively. None of the blood donors was positive for both GBV-C/HGV RNA and anti-E2. Thus, 35 of 62 (56%) HCV-infected donors had been exposed to GBV-C/HGV infection. At sequencing of the 14 GBV-C/HGV isolates, 12 were identified as subtype 2a and 2 as subtype 2b. One of 7 (14%) donors with mild liver disease such as steatosis and nonspecific reactive hepatitis had been exposed to GBV-C/HGV vs. 34 of 55 (62%) with chronic hepatitis with or without cirrhosis (P = 0.04). All other differences in histology were small between HCV and dual HCV GBV-C/HGV-infected donors. In conclusion, more than half of HCV-infected Swedish blood donors in this study were positive for either GBV-C/HGV RNA or anti-E2. GBV-C/HGV viremia and seropositivity were mutually exclusive.
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| 23. |
- Shev, S, et al.
(author)
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HCV genotypes in Swedish blood donors as correlated to epidemiology, liver disease and hepatitis C virus antibody profile
- 1995
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In: Infection. - 1439-0973 .- 0300-8126. ; 23:5, s. 253-257
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Sixty-two anti-HCV and HCV-RNA positive Swedish blood donors (44 men, 18 women; median age 34 years) were studied. HCV genotypes were correlated to parenteral risk factors, liver morphology, serum alanine aminotransferase (ALAT) levels and HCV antibody profile. Forty percent of the donors were infected with HCV genotype 1a, 10% with 1b, 21% with 2b, and 29% with 3a. Intravenous drug use (IVDU) was more common in donors with genotype 3a than in those with genotype 1a (p = 0.024), and prior blood transfusion more common in genotype 2b than in 3a (p = 0.012). Chronic active hepatitis with and without cirrhosis was found in 38% of donors infected with genotype 2b as compared to 8% of donors infected with 1a (p = 0.034). Forty percent of donors with genotype 1a had normal ALAT at the time of liver biopsy versus 11% with genotype 3a (p = 0.046). Antibodies to C33c and C22-3 were present in nearly all donors whereas reactivity to C100-3 and 5-1-1 was detected more often in donors with genotypes 1a and 1b as compared to donors with genotypes 2b and 3a. In conclusion, genotype 3a was correlated to IVDU or tattooing as parenteral risk factors for the acquisition of HCV infection, and genotype 2b to prior blood transfusion. Donors with genotypes 1a seemed to have less severe liver disease than those infected with genotypes 2b and 3a.
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| 24. |
- Shev, S, et al.
(author)
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Second-generation hepatitis C Elisa antibody tests confirmed by the four-antigen recombinant immunoblot assay correlate well with hepatitis C viremia and chronic liver disease in Swedish blood donors
- 1993
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In: Vox Sanguinis. - 1423-0410. ; 65:1, s. 32-37
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Seventy-three Swedish blood donors (52 men, 21 women; median age 36 years) repeatedly reactive for hepatitis C antibodies (anti-HCV C-100-3) were tested with a second-generation (2nd-gen) anti-HCV Elisa and a 4-band recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA 2). These results were correlated to serum alanine aminotransferase (S-ALAT), liver morphology and viremia as detected by 'nested' polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based on primers from a 5'-noncoding sequence of the HCV genome. Thirty-five of 46 (76%) donors with positive 2nd-gen Elisa tests confirmed by RIBA 2 were PCR positive whereof 27 had histological findings compatible with chronic persistent hepatitis (CPH) and 7 had chronic active hepatitis (CAH). Ten of 56 (18%) 2nd-gen Elisa-positive donors were RIBA 2 negative (or indeterminate) and none of these had chronic hepatitis nor were PCR positive. Seventeen of 73 (23%) donors were 1st-gen Elisa positive but 2nd-gen Elisa negative. All of these were PCR negative and only 1 (6%) had chronic hepatitis (CPH). An elevated S-ALAT level (reference < 0.7 mu kat/l) was found in 26 2nd-gen Elisa and RIBA 2-positive donors of which 18 had CPH and 7 had CAH and all 25 were PCR positive. A normal S-ALAT level was found in 9 of 34 (26%) donors with chronic hepatitis (all had CPH) and positive PCR. We have found that blood donors with positive 2nd-gen anti-HCV Elisa tests confirmed by RIBA-2 and especially with a concomitant elevated S-ALAT are highly likely to be viremic as demonstrated by PCR and to have chronic hepatitis.
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| 25. |
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| 26. |
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| 27. |
- Sundberg, Johan, et al.
(author)
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Expressive aspects of instrumental and vocal performance
- 1995
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In: Music and the Mind Machine: Psychophysiology and Psychopathology of the Sense of Music. - Heidelberg : Springer Berlin/Heidelberg.
-
Book chapter (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Several music computers can now convert an input note file to a sounding performance. Listening to such performances demonstrates convincingly the significance of the musicians’ contribution to music performance; when the music score is accurately replicated as nominally written, the music sounds dull and nagging. It is the musicians’ contributions that make the performance interesting. In other words, by deviating slightly from what is nominally written in the music score, the musicians add expressivity to the music.
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| 28. |
- Sundberg, Johan, et al.
(author)
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Music and locomotion. a study of the perception of tones with level envelopes replicating force patterns of walking
- 1992
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In: STL-QPSR. ; 33:4, s. 109-122
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Music listening ofien produces associations to locomotion. This suggests that some patterns in music are similar to those perceived during locomotion. The present investigation tests the hypothesis that the sound level envelope of tones allude to force patterns associated with walking and dancing. Six examples of such force patterns were recorded using a force platform, and the vertical components were translated from kg to dB and used as level envelopes for tones. Sequences of four copies of each of these tones were presented with four different fixed inter-onset times. Music students were asked to characterize these sequences in three tests. In one test, the subjects were free to use any expression, and the occurrence of motion words in the responses was examined. In another test, they were asked to describe, ifpossible, the motion characteristics of the sequences, and the number of blank responses were studied. In the third test, they were asked to describe the sequences along 24 motion adjective scales, and the responses were submitted to a factor analysis. The results from the three tests showed a reasonable degree of coherence, suggesting that associations to locomotions are likely to occur under these conditions, particularly when (1) the inter-onset time is similar to the inter-step time typical of walking, and (2) when the inter-onset time agreed with that observed when the gait patterns were recorded. The latter observation suggests that the different motion patterns thus translated to sound level envelopes also may convey information on the type of motion.
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| 29. |
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| 30. |
- Sundberg, Johan, et al.
(author)
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Music communication as studied by means of performance
- 1991
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In: STL-QPSR. ; 32:1, s. 065-083
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This article presents an overview of a long-term research work with a rule system for the automatic performance of music. The performance rules produce deviations from the durations, sound levels, and pitches nominally specified in the music score. They can be classified according to their apparent musical function: to help the listener (I) in the differentiation of different pitch and duration categories and (2) in the grouping of the tones. Apart from this, some rules serve the purpose of organizing tuning and synchronization in ensemble performance. The rules reveal striking similarities between music performance and speech; for instance final lengthening occur in both and the acoustic code used for marking of emphasis are similar.
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| 31. |
- Sundberg, Johan, et al.
(author)
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Musicians’ and nonmusicians’ sensitivity to differences in music performance
- 1988
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In: STL-QPSR. ; 29:4, s. 077-081
-
Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- A set of ordered context-dependent rules for the automatic transformation of a music score to the corresponding musical performance has been developed, using an analysis-by-synthesis method [Sundberg, J. (1987): "Computer synthesis of music performance," pp. 52-69 in (J. Sloboda, ed.) Generative Processes in Music, Clarendon, Oxford]. The rules are implemented in the LeLisp language on a Macintosh microcomputer that controls a synthesizer via a MIDI interface. The rules manipulate sound level, fundamental frequency, vibrato extent, and duration of the tones. The present experiment was carried out in order to find out if the sensitivity of these effects differed between musicians and nonrnusicians. Pairs of performances of the same examples were presented in different series, one for each rule. Between the pairs in a series, the performance differences were varied within wide limits and, in the first pair in each series, the difference was pat, so as to catch the subject's attention. Subjects were asked to decide whether the two performances were identical. The results showed that musicians had a clearly greater sensitivity. The pedagogical implications of this finding will be discussed.
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| 32. |
- Sundberg, Johan, et al.
(author)
-
Rules for automated performance of ensemble music
- 1989
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In: Contemporary Music Review. - 0749-4467 .- 1477-2256. ; 3, s. 89-109
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Recently developed parts of a computer program are presented that contain a rule system which automatically converts music scores to musical performance, and which, in a sense, can be regarded as a model of a musically gifted player. The development of the rule system has followed the analysis-by-synthesis strategy; various rules have been formulated according to the suggestions of a professional string quartet violinist and teacher of ensemble playing. The effects of various rules concerning synchronization and timing and also tuning, in performance of ensemble music are evaluated by a listening panel of professional musicians. Further support for the notion of melodic clzarge, previously introduced and playing a prominent rule in the performance rules, is found in a correlation with fine tuning of intervals.
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| 33. |
- Sundberg, Johan, et al.
(author)
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Rules for automatized performance of ensemble music
- 1987
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In: STL-QPSR. ; 28:4, s. 057-078
-
Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Recently developed parts of a computer program are presented that contain a rule system which automatically converts music scores to musical performance, and which, in a sense, can be regarded as a model of a musically gifted player. The development of the rule system has followed the analysis-by-synthesis strategy; various rules have been formulated after having been suggested by a professional string quartet violinist and teacher of ensemble playing. The effects of various rules concerning synchronization and timing and, also, tuning in performance of ensemble music are evaluated by a listening panel of professional musicians. Further support for the notion of melodic charge, previously introduced and playing a prominent rule in the performance rules, is found in a correlation with fine tuning of intervals.
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| 34. |
- Sundberg, Johan, et al.
(author)
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Threshold and preference Quantities of Rules for Music Performance
- 1991
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In: Music perception. - : University of California Press. - 0730-7829 .- 1533-8312. ; 9:1, s. 71-92
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In an analysis- by-synthesis investigation of music performance, rules have been developed that describe when and how expressive deviations are made from the nominal music notation in the score. Two experiments that consider the magnitudes of such deviations are described. In Experiment 1, the musicians' and nonmusicians' sensitivities to expressive deviations generated by seven performance rules are compared. The musicians showed a clearly greater sensitivity. In Experiment 2, professional musicians adjusted to their satisfaction the quantity by which six rules affected the performance. For most rules, there was a reasonable agreement between the musicians regarding preference. The preferred quantities seemed close to the threshold of perceptibility.
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| 35. |
- Thompson, W. F., et al.
(author)
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Evaluating rules for the synthetic performance of melodies
- 1986
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In: STL-QPSR. ; 27:2-3, s. 027-044
-
Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Starting from a text-to-speech conversion program (Carlson & Granstrom, 1975), a note-to-tone conversion program has been developed (!Xmdberg & ~rydh, 1985). It works with a set of ordered rules af fe&- ing the performance of melodies written into the computer. Depending on the musical context, each of these rules manipulates various tone parameters, such as sound level, fundamental frequency, duration, etc. In the present study the effect of some of the rules developed so far on the musical quality of the performance is tested; various musical excerpts perbrmed according to different combinations an5 versions of nine performance rules were played to musically trained listeners who rated the musical quality. The results support the assumption that the musical quality of the performance is improved by applying the rules.
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| 36. |
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| 37. |
- Widell, Anders, et al.
(author)
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Genotyping of hepatitis C virus isolates by a modified polymerase chain reaction assay using type specific primers: epidemiological applications
- 1994
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In: Journal of Medical Virology. - : Wiley. - 1096-9071 .- 0146-6615. ; 44:3, s. 272-279
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based assay using primers against the hepatitis C core gene has been described [Okamoto et al. (1992a): Journal of General Virology 73:673-679]. Within the two major HCV genotypes 1 and 2, the Okamoto system identifies two subtypes each (1a, 1b and 2a, 2b, respectively). Typing is achieved by a primary PCR with consensus primers followed by a nested PCR with type specific primers. The original assay was modified by addition of a parallel second PCR identifying the recently described major genotype 3. The assay also identifies in duplicate subtype 1b (type II by Okamoto), suggested to respond poorly to interferon. Reaction conditions were reviewed and melting temperatures of all typing primers equalised to increase strigency. The modified system functioned well and typing results were supported by partial core sequencing. The following distribution of genotypes was found in 53 hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected Swedish blood donors: genotype 1a (57%), 3 (19%), 1b (13%), and 2b (11%). In six recipients of HCV infected blood identified in a retrospective study, the recipient HCV genotype was identical to donor HCV genotype. Furthermore, in HCV positive couples identical genotype was observed when only one partner had an external risk factor; whereas genotypes were often diverse if both sex partners had parenteral risk factors. Finally, a cluster of hepatitis C cases in a haemodialysis unit was evaluated retrospectively. Eight patients had genotype 1b, two had mixed 1a and 1b, and one had type 1a. The modified HCV genotyping assay was of value in examining different epidemiological situations and can be expanded presumably to include future genotypes.
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