Denna uppsats jämför och analyserar källtexter från två inriktningar av den esoteriska idéströmningen kaosmagi. Peter J. Carroll och Genesis Breyer P-Orridge som anses vara förgrundsgestalter inom denna sentida form av esoterisk praktik menade att en individ kan skapa och sätta samman sin egen religion och med den förverkliga sig själv spirituellt och även förändra samhället. Idéströmningen har paralleller med teorier om postmodern spiritualitet och religion där individ, konsumtion och nätverk är några förekommande faktorer. Studien visar att de idéer som lyfts fram av Carroll och Breyer P-Orridge påvisar såväl likheter som skillnader men som har ett gemensamt drag av fokus på individens egen potential och att de ser föregångare i Austin Osman Spare och Aleister Crowley. De två idéströmningarna är även produkter av sin historiska kontext där populärkultur och teknisk innovation har avtryck i det idémässiga innehållet och utförandet.

A growing military organisation have the need to expand on all fronts. One of the prominent sections in the military that is expanding is communications. Communications is something that all modern armies need and thus it needs to be presented as an interesting and exciting place to work. Communications is however a complex area of work, demanding knowledge of how the very space around you works. The complexity of communications is often metaphorically referred to as ”Black magic” in the sense that noone actually knows why and what is happening. This study aims to show how the metaphor ”Black magic” in the context of communication can affect future officers view of the abstractness that is communications. This is to emphasize the effects of metaphors in the military and how they can shape the future of the growing military. The results from this study show that the metaphor ”Black magic” mainly affect the cadets in two different ways. ”Black magic” can build a mystery around the subject of communications which in turn can intrigue the cadets to learn more about it. ”Black magic” can also create the perception of not needing to learn more of the subject, as it is often seen as something we cannot control or unnatural, something we would rather avoid. The study shows a small example of how military discourse can affect the organizations future and how important it is for officers to be aware of the words they are using for example during education.

Activated receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK), such as the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor (EGFR) and the platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) receptor (PDGFR), recruit downstream signalling proteins, including phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K). PI3K, composed of a regulatory p85 subunit and a catalytic p110 subunit, phosphorylates phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate at the 3 position to generate phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate. This lipid second messenger activates Akt, which promotes cell growth, cell cycle entry and progression, as well as cell survival and cellular migration. PTEN, a tumor suppressor protein, dephosphorylates phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate at the 3 position, turning off Akt signalling. PTEN contains a C-terminal PDZ binding motif that binds to the PDZ2 domain of MAGI-2, a scaffolding protein that localizes signalling molecules to the plasma membrane. MAGI-2 has ten domains that potentially mediate multiple protein-protein interactions simultaneously. A PTEN associated-complex (PAC) has been described and may contain MAGI-2, PTEN and p85. The PAC is hypothesized to form at the plasma membrane at appropriate sites for PTEN to gain access to its lipid substrates, since the binding of PTEN to MAGI-2 has been shown to enhance the suppression of PI3K-mediated Akt signalling. In order to better understand the role of the PAC in attenuation of the Akt signalling pathway, regions of the MAGI-2 scaffolding protein were mapped to identify the interactions taking place in the PAC. MAGI-2, and its individual domains, were expressed as GST fusion proteins. These were immobilized onto beads and allowed to bind to cellular proteins including PTEN, p85, PDGFR and EGFR using a GST pull-down experiment. The proteins bound to GST-MAGI-2 were identified using an immunoblot analysis. In vitro pull-down experiments revealed that MAGI-2 PDZ2 and PDZ5 domains bind to PTEN, and both MAGI-2 WW domains were shown to bind to p85. EGFR and PDGFR did not bind to the PDZ domains of MAGI-2 under the conditions studied. In order to study protein-protein interactions in cells, immunoprecipitation assays were also performed. Full length MAGI-2 was expressed tagged to a Myc epitope. This was used in immunoprecipitation assays to determine if MAGI-2 could co-immunoprecipitate with proteins involved in the Akt signalling pathway, such as PTEN, p85, PDGFR and EGFR. MAGI-2 can co-immunoprecipitate with PTEN upon 5 min EGF stimulation however, this result was inconclusive because replicate experiments did not verify this initial observation. MAGI-2 does not co-immunoprecipitate with the EGFR nor p85, under the conditions tested. We examined for these interactions after 5 min of growth factor stimulation and more experiments that test different time points after growth factor stimulation would reveal if these interactions are present at shorter time points. MAGI-2 has been shown to bind to PTEN and p85 in vitro and therefore has the potential to regulate the attenuation of the PI3K/Akt signalling pathway in response to activated EGFR and/or PDGFR.

Activated receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK), such as the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor (EGFR) and the platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) receptor (PDGFR), recruit downstream signalling proteins, including phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K). PI3K, composed of a regulatory p85 subunit and a catalytic p110 subunit, phosphorylates phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate at the 3 position to generate phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate. This lipid second messenger activates Akt, which promotes cell growth, cell cycle entry and progression, as well as cell survival and cellular migration. PTEN, a tumor suppressor protein, dephosphorylates phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate at the 3 position, turning off Akt signalling. PTEN contains a C-terminal PDZ binding motif that binds to the PDZ2 domain of MAGI-2, a scaffolding protein that localizes signalling molecules to the plasma membrane. MAGI-2 has ten domains that potentially mediate multiple protein-protein interactions simultaneously. A PTEN associated-complex (PAC) has been described and may contain MAGI-2, PTEN and p85. The PAC is hypothesized to form at the plasma membrane at appropriate sites for PTEN to gain access to its lipid substrates, since the binding of PTEN to MAGI-2 has been shown to enhance the suppression of PI3K-mediated Akt signalling. In order to better understand the role of the PAC in attenuation of the Akt signalling pathway, regions of the MAGI-2 scaffolding protein were mapped to identify the interactions taking place in the PAC. MAGI-2, and its individual domains, were expressed as GST fusion proteins. These were immobilized onto beads and allowed to bind to cellular proteins including PTEN, p85, PDGFR and EGFR using a GST pull-down experiment. The proteins bound to GST-MAGI-2 were identified using an immunoblot analysis. In vitro pull-down experiments revealed that MAGI-2 PDZ2 and PDZ5 domains bind to PTEN, and both MAGI-2 WW domains were shown to bind to p85. EGFR and PDGFR did not bind to the PDZ domains of MAGI-2 under the conditions studied. In order to study protein-protein interactions in cells, immunoprecipitation assays were also performed. Full length MAGI-2 was expressed tagged to a Myc epitope. This was used in immunoprecipitation assays to determine if MAGI-2 could co-immunoprecipitate with proteins involved in the Akt signalling pathway, such as PTEN, p85, PDGFR and EGFR. MAGI-2 can co-immunoprecipitate with PTEN upon 5 min EGF stimulation however, this result was inconclusive because replicate experiments did not verify this initial observation. MAGI-2 does not co-immunoprecipitate with the EGFR nor p85, under the conditions tested. We examined for these interactions after 5 min of growth factor stimulation and more experiments that test different time points after growth factor stimulation would reveal if these interactions are present at shorter time points. MAGI-2 has been shown to bind to PTEN and p85 in vitro and therefore has the potential to regulate the attenuation of the PI3K/Akt signalling pathway in response to activated EGFR and/or PDGFR.

Orientador: Carlos Eduardo Di Stasi / Banca: Alexandre Francischini / Banca: Suzel Ane Reily / Resumo: A dissertação aborda a constituição do sistema musical da Companhia de Reis Fernandes, da cidade de Olímpia, Estado de São Paulo, buscando a compreensão da sua relação com os princípios religiosos e saberes musicais de seus praticantes. Tomando o ritual desse grupo de Folia de Reis como base para observar as relações entre os cantos dedicados aos Três Reis Magos (Gaspar, Melchior e Baltazar), além de outras cantigas, e aqueles que os praticam, buscamos evidências das suas principais características, dos procedimentos e das concepções que não só estruturam a prática musical como também validam as experiências de fé. No que se refere ao aspecto etnográfico, a pesquisa se fez sob uma perspectiva metodológica integrativa, com o pesquisador atuando como observador participante durante as práticas rituais da Companhia de Reis Fernandes, no período entre 2014 e 2016 / Abstract: This research addresses the musical system formation of Companhia Reis Fernandes, from the city of Olympia, State of São Paulo. The aim is to understand the group's relationship with its practitioners' religious principles and musical knowledge. Considering this group's ritual as the base to analyze the relationship between singing dedicated to the Three Magi (Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar), and other songs, and those who practice it, we intend to find evidence of their main characteristics, procedures and conceptions that not only structure the musical practice but also validate the experience of faith. With regard to the ethnographic aspect, this research has been carried out from an integrative methodological perspective, with the researcher acting as a participant observer during the ritual practices of Companhia Reis Fernandes, between 2014 and 2016 / Mestre

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Vad är magiskt? Och hur kan magi skapas på en scen? I mitt examensarbete var jag i roll av ljusdesigner med i skapandet av en barnföreställning. Föreställningen befann sig i gränslandet mellan ljus- och ljudinstallation, koreografi och fysisk teater. Föreställningens ljus, liksom tingen, koreografin och ljudet, var föreställningens grund i berättelse och upplevelse. Ett av mina mål med ljuset var att det skulle se okomplicerat ut för att inspirera barnen att själva utforska och leka med ljus. Därför användes inga konventionella teaterlampor utan små, batteridrivna LED- och glödlampsarmaturer och ficklampor. Föreställningen var vår scenkonstgrupps slutgiltiga mål och arbetades fram genom konstnärligt forskande. Således var det först och främst genom den jag skulle nå den nya kunskap som beskrivs och tolkas i denna text. Vår arbetsprocess var estetisk och fritt undersökande snarare än teoretisk och planerad. Uppsatsens frågeställningar fanns dock delvis formulerade när det sceniska arbetet påbörjades men omformulerades och preciserades under processens gång. Den konstnärliga forskningen kompletterades med teori, referensmaterial och två fokus grupper, en med förskolebarn och en med aktörer inom scenkonst, med huvudfrågeställning -Vad är magiskt?. Fokusgrupperna blev i slutändan ingen stor del av den kunskapande processen. Materialet var otillräckligt analyserat och insamlades i för sent skede. Uppsatsens analysmaterialet bestod av de problem jag ställdes inför i vår konstnärliga process och min väg till att finna lösningar på dessa. Materialet bestod också av jämförelser och kopplingar mellan referensmaterialen och vår egna arbetsprocess. Utifrån dessa kunde jag analysera och beskriva vårt tillvägagångssätt och göra slutsatser utifrån det. Uppsatsens frågeställningar förändrades utifrån det som skedde i vårt experimenterande arbete. Att ljus och mörker i samverkan fascinerar och lockar till lek och upptäckarlusta är efter detta arbete tydligt. Att ting, för oss, har en inneboende magi är också uppenbart för mig. Det vi som aktörer således behöver göra är att belysa och visa upp denna redan befintliga magi. Påminna publiken om saker den redan vet men kanske glömt bort. Vår uppgift från scenen är detta: Att skapa och bibehålla en närvaro och kontakt mellan publik och aktörer. Detta är väsentligt för att magi överhuvudtaget ska kunna ske. Finns närvaro och kontakt kan vi börja arbeta med att bygga upp en förväntan, göra publiken trygg, ge publiken möjlighet att hålla fokus på den upplevelsen vi vill förmedla. Ge dem tid att begrunda och smälta det de upplevelserna och de magiska ögonblicken. Lyckas vi med detta så har vi gjort mycket.

Le mécanisme de régulation des enzymes à travers les changements conformationnels est un processus clé dans le contrôle du fonctionnement cellulaire. Cette thèse est focalisée sur l’étude de trois complexes protéiques qui reflètent comment l’activité de protéines peut être est régulée par différents effecteurs. Pour cela, différentes spectroscopies ont étaient utilisées pour suivre les changements conformationnels des structures secondaire et tertiaire d’une protéine. La première protéine d’intérêt est PDZ1 de MAGI-1, impliquées dans la signalisation cellulaire. Ce domaine d’échafaudage est connu d’interagir avec la protéine E6 de HPV16. Il était démontré que les différents états conformationnels et leurs affinités vis-à-vis le C-terminal de la protéine virale sont régulées par la dynamique des liaisons hydrogène formées par un réseau qui connecte des acides aminés localisés dans les trois domaines de la protéine. Ces résultats suggère que les différences d’affinités sont directement corrélées aux liaisons hydrogène, ce qui mène à conclure que la pathogénicité et la prévalence d’un virus particulier comme le HPV16 sont liées à son habilitée à former un réseau de liaison hydrogène très solide comparé au substrat naturel. La deuxième protéine d’intérêt est une protéine modèle qui représente un petit prototype du changement conformationnel observé dans des protéines plus complexes. Il s’agit d’un peptide court capable de coordonner le cuivre. Ce n’est autre que le peptide β-amyloïde, connu d’être impliqué dans la maladie d’Alzheimer. L’objectif ici est de décrire l’effet des ligands histidine lors de la réduction du cuivre, qui est une réaction électrochimique critique pour le développement d’Alzheimer. La spectroscopie IRTF différentielle a montré deux sphères de coordination pour le Cu(I) et le Cu(II). Les majeurs changements spectraux sont dominés par les vibrations de l’imidazole des différentes histidines (His6, His13 et His14) ainsi que la contribution des résidus Asp1 et Tyr10. Les modifications de la géométrie de coordination peuvent être la cause de la dépendance-pH de l’agrégation du peptide observée en présence du Cu(I). Pour cela, il est possible de suggérer que la formation des fibrilles observées chez les patients d’Alzheimer n’est pas seulement stimulée par la présence du cuivre même mais elle est fortement affectée par ses réactions rédox.La dernière protéine d’intérêt est une métalloprotéine, la NADH:ubiquinone oxidoréductase (complexe I), qui joue un rôle majeur dans la bioénergétique cellulaire. Cette protéine contient plusieurs centres Fe-S et une flavine et son activité est régulée par l’énergie produite par la liaison avec un substrat ainsi que le transfert d’électrons de ces cofacteurs. Les vibrations métal-ligands de ces cofacteurs à l’état oxydé et à l’état réduit sont décrites ici. En utilisant l’électrochimie couplée aux spectroscopies IRTF, Raman de résonance et de fluorescence, les investigations sur le complexe I ont conduit à conclure que les propriétés des centres métalliques sont largement influencées par l’environnement proche. De plus, les changements conformationnels de la protéine ont un effet considérable sur les propriétés rédox et par la même, sur le bon fonctionnement de la protéine. Par ailleurs, la mutagenèse dirigée était utilisée pour étudier les propriétés des centres N1a et N2. A part des cofacteurs métalliques, cette étude a montré l’existence d’un nouveau cofacteur, une quinone localisée proche du domaine membranaire.[...] / The mechanism of enzyme regulation through conformational changes is a key pattern in governing cell behavior. In this thesis the focus is on three protein complexes that reflect how protein activity can be regulated by different effectors. Different spectroscopic techniques, like IR and Raman spectroscopy, were used is order to follow the secondary and tertiary conformational changes in protein structure to identify their roles. The first protein of interest was PDZ1 from MAGI-1, involved in cellular signaling. This scaffold domain is known to interact with the E6 protein from HPV16. It was demonstrated that the different conformational states and their affinities to the C-terminus of the viral protein is regulated by the dynamics of the hydrogen bonding network formed by the connection of specific amino acids in three regions of the protein. Study of mutations around the C-terminal area of the protein and the βC strand were performed; demonstrating that both regions are crucial for assembly of the hydrogen bonding network to stabilize the substrate binding. These results leads to conclude that the pathogenicity and prevalence of a particular virus like HPV16 is in its ability to build a stronger hydrogen bonding network in comparison to the natural binder. The allosteric model and the “shift population” model agree that, upon binding, conformational changes distant from a carboxylate binding group might be the key to understanding the binding dynamics between the PDZ domains and the viral proteins.The second protein of interest was a model that constitutes a small scale prototype of the conformational changes observed in more complex proteins; it is a short Copper-binding peptide, the amyloid-beta peptide, known to beinvolved in Alzheimer’s disease. The objective with this model was to describe the effect of histidine ligands in the metal centers upon Copper (Cu) reduction, a key electrochemical reaction in the development of Alzheimer’s. FTIR difference spectroscopy showed two different spheres of coordination for Cu(II) and Cu(I). The major changes in the structure are dominated by the contribution of the imidazole ring of His residues (His6, His13 and His14), in addition to Asp1 and Tyr10 residues. Changes in the coordination geometry could be key to the pH-dependency of the aggregation observed in the presence of Cu(I). Accordingly, it can be suggested that the formation of the fibrils observed in Alzheimer’s patients is not only triggered by the presence of Cu but it is strongly affected by its redox state. The last system of interest was a metalloprotein, the NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase (complex I), which plays a key role in the cellular bioenergetics. This protein bears several Fe-S clusters and one flavin and its activity is regulated by the energy produced by a bound substrate and the electron transfer of its cofactors. The metal ligand-vibrations of the cofactors are described in their oxidized and reduced states. Using electrochemistry coupled to FTIR, Resonance Raman and Fluorescence spectroscopies, the investigation of complex I led to the conclusion that the properties of the metal centers are dictated, to a large extent, by their surrounding environment. [...]

The practice of magic was common in the Ancient Greek and Roman Worlds. Curse tablets, astrology, divination and demonology were all common practices within the Ancient religions, but whether or not we can draw a distinct line between magic and religion in regards to ancient practices is a much more complicated and much discussed question. This study will be concerned with curse tablets in Latin from the Roman world. The time period will be focused on the second to the fourth centuries A.D. The ancient curse tablets can be divided into five categories, depending on what subject they are dealing with. These categories are: litigation curses, competition curses, trade curses, erotic curses and prayers for justice. This study will be looking at ways to define the modern concept of magic and set up a number of criteria that will be applied to different types of curse tablets in order to investigate if or to what degree curse tablets can be said to be dealing with magic. It will also investigate if certain categories of curse tablets can be said to be more magical than others. The study shows that all categories except prayers for justice relates well with the modern criteria for magic.