Studia Universitatis Babeş-Bolyai
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Determining the Difference between the Chronological and Biological Age of Athletes Diagnosed with Trigeminal Neuralgia
Get PDFTrigeminal neuralgia induces severe, often intolerable pain in patients—athletes, in this context—that is frequently resistant to currently available therapeutic options. The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) defines trigeminal neuralgia as a sudden, typically unilateral, intense, brief, stabbing, and recurring episode of pain in the distribution of one or more branches of the trigeminal nerve. The condition may be caused by vascular compression of the trigeminal nerve, tumor-related processes, or multiple sclerosis. Compression of the nerve itself leads to demyelination, which results in abnormal depolarization and the generation of ectopic impulses. Triggers for pain may include heat, cold, eating, breathing, tooth brushing, shaving, or incidental contact. Once diagnosed by a specialist, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is required to confirm or exclude multiple sclerosis. Tumorous processes may also secondarily lead to trigeminal neuralgia. The first-line pharmacological treatment remains carbamazepine. If pharmacotherapy proves ineffective, more invasive interventions such as microvascular decompression, stereotactic radiosurgery (Gamma Knife), percutaneous balloon microcompression, glycerol rhizolysis, and radiofrequency (RF) ablation may be considered. This study is unique in that its sample comprises athletes diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia. The primary objective is to examine potential differences between their chronological and biological age by analyzing their metabolic age. The findings aim to support and potentially initiate a novel paradigm or theoretical framework concerning the remodeling of biological aging in athletes suffering from trigeminal neuralgia, particularly in the context of optimizing training processes.
Article history: Received 2025 July 18; Revised 2025 October 08; Accepted 2025 October 23;Available online 2025 November 20; Available print 2025 November 3
Waiting for the train that never came: establishing a new Podarcis muralis (Laurenti, 1768) railway population in Romania
Get PDFNowadays, man-made structures have become surrogate habitats for various species. Among them, lizards are often capable of using railways. In the autumn of 2024, we identified a new Podarcis muralis railway population on a railway abandoned for 11 years in southwestern Romania, near Voislova locality. On a 100-meter transect, we observed 13 P. muralis and 3 Lacerta viridis. Most wall lizards were subadults, indicating a breeding population on the railway. Probably, the lizards were introduced from the nearby marble quarry in Rușchița, where the species is present. Although P. muralis was mentioned in the mountains surrounding Voislova, the habitats near the railway are not favorable to it.
Article history: Received 29 August 2025; Revised 27 October 2025; Accepted 1 December 2025; Available online 20 December 202
Overexpression of HSFA4A and RAP2.12 transcription factors in Arabidopsis thaliana confers tolerance to various abiotic stresses
Get PDFTranscription factors are part of stress-signaling pathways, controlling activation of stress-responsive target genes. Heat shock factors and ethylene response factors can regulate responses to extreme temperature, salinity, drought, heavy metals, oxidative damage and anoxia. Arabidopsis HEAT SHOCK FACTOR A4A (HSFA4A) is part of the mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway and was previously shown to regulate responses to salt, oxidative and heat stresses as well as their combinations. The RELATED TO APETALA2.12 (RAP2.12) factor was shown to be involved in anoxia, oxidative and osmotic stresses, and to modulate sensitivity to abscisic acid (ABA). Here we show that overexpression of HSFA4A and RAP2.12 can increase the survival rate of Arabidopsis plants exposed to heat, salt or osmotic stresses and combinations of high temperature with salt or osmotic stresses. Moreover, overexpression of these factors improved photosynthetic activity in such adverse conditions. Photosynthetic performance of the hsfa4a and rap2.12-2 mutants was variable in plantlets stressed in sterile conditions and less affected in soil-grown mutants when exposed to drought stress. Our data clearly indicate that these factors are implicated in stress response control, although their precise function remains to be elucidated.
Article history: Received 18 February 2025; Revised 11 November 2025;Accepted 15 November 2025; Available online 20 December 202
On a Riemann-Liouville fractional anti-periodic boundary value problem in a weighted space
Get PDFThis paper is concerned with the existence of solutions for a fractional anti-periodic boundary value problem of order α ∈ (2, 3] involving Riemann–Liouville fractional derivative and integral operators in a weighted space. The existence of solutions for the given problem is shown by means of the Leray- Schauder’s alternative, while the uniqueness of its solutions is established with the aid of the Banach’s fixed point theorem. We also discuss the Ulam–Hyers stability for the problem at hand. Examples are presented for illustration of the main results.
Mathematics Subject Classification (2010): 34A08; 34B15.
Received 2 March 2025; Accepted 25 July 2025
DEVELOPING INSTRUMENTALISTS’ INTERPRETIVE FREEDOM THROUGH PEDAGOGICAL SUPPORT IN THEIR PROFESSIONAL STUDIES
Get PDFThe relevance of the study is determined by the need to develop creative thinking and an individual performance style in view of the dynamics of the academic musical space. The aim of the study is to identify effective pedagogical means of developing instrumentalists’ interpretive freedom in the course of their professional musical studies. The research employed the methods of a pedagogical experiment, expert evaluation, survey, and comparative analysis. Pedagogical approaches that contribute to the development of interpretive freedom were identified, in particular, performance analysis, improvisational practices, dialogic forms of learning, problem-based creative tasks, master classes, analysis of performance versions, and reflection. The effectiveness of an innovative model of the interpretive freedom development, which systematically takes into account the interaction of technical, pedagogical, and individual factors, was substantiated. The study showed that the initial level of interpretive freedom in the control group (CG) and experimental group (EG) was similar. After 12 months of applying pedagogical strategies, the EG increased interpretive freedom by 34%, while the CG showed minor changes. Pedagogical support is a key factor in the development of interpretative freedom, especially in the context of active concert and performance practice, participation in performance competitions, forums, festivals, and interdisciplinary creative platforms
OBSERVATIONS ON THE CONCEPT OF THE SOUND PLANE AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE OVERALL MUSICAL STRUCTURE
Get PDFIn this paper, we aim to define the concept of the sound plane and its relationship with the musical ensemble. We have further detailed the notion of the musical ensemble, emphasizing its formation as a gathering of multiple sound sources. Additionally, we have created several diagrams to present the structure of a musical ensemble, both choral and vocal-symphonic, as well as its evolution through different musical periods. Finally, we have made observations regarding the distribution of sound planes within various types of musical ensembles. All of these ideas have been presented from the perspective of the conductor, who must understand and apply them in the interpretation of a musical work
MEDIA REPRESENTATION IN CONTEMPORARY ACADEMIC PIANO PERFORMANCE: ALEXANDRE THARAUD’S PHENOMENON
Get PDFThe problem area ofthe proposed article is outlined by the issue of the development of academic piano performance in the realities of modern life, marked by the search by musicians for new approaches to the interpretation of musical classics in the conditions of rapid renewal of methods of communication with the audience. The innovative element of the investigation is associated with the inclusion of the media space (which is implemented mainly through the system of Internet tools) in the factual base of scientific research, which is a sign of the exclusive role of modern mass media in promoting the performing achievements of musicians. The study of Alexandre Tharaud’s releases from the perspective of media representations of his performance work is of exceptional interest, both from the perspective of revealing the performance phenomenon of the French pianist as a media figure, and from the point of view of solving the problem of actualizing academic art in the present, the way of broadcasting the experience of the past through the use of modern forms of presentation and a system of references between objects
ASTOR PIAZZOLLA’S “TANGO SUITE” FOR TWO GUITARS: GENRE AND STYLE ASPECTS
Get PDFAstor Piazzolla’s “Tango Suite” for two guitars is studied in terms of their embodiment of Argentine genre traditions. The aim of the article is to reveal the authentic features of the tango genre in their historical dynamics and style reconstruction using the linguistic resources of academic and jazz traditions. The rhythmic idioms of tango, asymmetrical accent figures, the genesis and specificity of polymeters are identified. The sonotypes of timbral everyday presentations of tango are correlated with solo and ensemble concert performances. Sound-imaging and percussive techniques of imitating the timbres of orchestral instruments with guitar sound are traced. The linguistic elements of tango are systematized according to the semantics of the musical images of the dance. The style features of the tango nuevo vocabulary are identified, and the nature of innovative components is indicated based on the analysis of each of the guitar pieces
“TO VICTORY” FOR VOCAL SEXTET AND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA BY OLENA ILNYTSKA: MYTHOPOETICS OF THE WORK
Get PDFThe works of the Ukrainian composer Olena Ilnytska (born in 1977) are well known not only in Ukraine, but also abroad. Her works are performed by both domestic and foreign musicians. The piece “To Victory” for vocal sextet and symphony orchestra is an example of contemporary Ukrainian symphonism, combining Western European and national traditions with techniques of contemporary musical language. In it, as in other genres, the author\u27s mythopoetic thinking is evident. She reflects on a complex, historically established genre that has a philosophical basis in the history of world musical culture. “To Victory” is indicative both for understanding of mythopoetics of symphony music and the author’s symphonic thinking, which revealed itself in the skill of large-scale thinking, combining different musical-semantical intonation models, uniting them in an integrate structure. Mythologization takes place on genre, thematic, and timbre levels
ASTOR PIAZZOLLA’S “HISTORY OF TANGO”: AN ANTHOLOGY OF THE GENRE IN THE AUTHOR’S PROJECTIONS
Get PDFAstor Piazzolla’s chamber cycle “History of Tango” for flute and guitar is examined in terms of its transformation of Latin American, European, and African genre traditions of tango, milonga, samba, habanera, lundu, and maxixe. The aim of this article is to reveal the genre characteristics and dynamics of style changes in 20th-century tango in Astor Piazzolla’s author’s projections using the selected cycle as an example. The composer’s interpretations of the genre allowed the listener to discover the history of tango, enriching traditional elements with baroque idioms and techniques of passacaglia descending chromatic bass, polyphony of contrapuntal accompaniments, and a wealth of melodic ornamentation. Along with this, the composer imbued the fabric of his tangos with jazz improvisation techniques, block chord sequencing, and a language of polystrophic, polymodal structures based on symmetrical scale constructions that were radical for its time. Modifications to the language of the genre do not affect the key attributes of tango, which go back to the dance roots of African-American ritual practices, implying that tango is recognizable to the listener and requires a high level of skill from guitar performers