Treating Symptoms of Canine Dementia
Faculty of Pharmacy researchers acquainted participants with the development of a medicine for alleviating the symptoms of canine dementia.
Zdravljenje simptomov pasje demence-grafični povzetek
The activity aimed to present, in very simple terms, what the drug is and what the process of discovering and developing new active substances is like.
In addition, the Faculty of Pharmacy presented its research labs to the participants.
Coordinator: Urban Košak, PhD, Faculty of Pharmacy
How Do Fireflies Glow?
There are five species of fireflies – little beetles emitting a strong, cold light – in Slovenia. The light is produced by converting chemical energy to light energy. This phenomenon is called bioluminescence in living organisms and chemiluminescence in laboratories. It was presented by researchers from the Faculty of Pharmacy.
54-FFA-Kako svetijo kresničke- slika-2MB
How do we produce cold light in a lab? Together with the visitors, the researchers conducted and explained the course of a chemical reaction generating cold light.
The demonstration aimed to provide an idea of the importance of (bio)chemical reactions taking place in living organisms, which can be used to good effect in many fields of research.
Coordinators: Stane Pajk, PhD, and Janez Mravljak, PhD, Faculty of Pharmacy
Elephant Toothpaste
Faculty of Pharmacy researchers presented a chemical experiment to the participants, explaining it through a chemical reaction.
Slončkova zobna pasta – slika-2MB
Based on this simple demonstration, the participants were able to learn about catalysts and their impact on the speed of a chemical reaction, about exothermic reactions and about the evidence of the products of a chemical reaction.
The demonstration aimed to provide an idea of the importance of understanding the course of a process at the chemical reaction level, which generally applies to certain pharmaceutical fields of research.
Coordinators: Stane Pajk, PhD, and Janez Mravljak, PhD, Faculty of Pharmacy
Computational methods – An Alternative to Animal Testing
Researchers from the Faculty of Pharmacy presented the use of computer (in-silico) methods, which are replacing animal testing in ascertaining the safety of chemical compounds.
Computational Methods – An Alternative to Animal Testing
Based on a demonstration of different computer programs, the participants discovered how software can replace animal testing, which is often painful and stressful to animals.
The activity aimed to highlight that computer methods can replace such testing to some extent, that they are not ethically questionable and that they are financially advantageous.
Coordinators: Marija Sollner Dolenc, PhD, and, Maša Kenda, PhD, Faculty of Pharmacy
Isolation of Molecule of Life, DNA, from Animal Tissue
Researchers from the Faculty of Pharmacy showed the participants of this presentation that molecules of life, i.e. DNA, are present in every living being and can be easily isolated from animal tissue with common substances found in any kitchen.
Izolacija DNA – molekule življenja iz živalskega materiala-slika 1-2MB
They taught them how to isolate DNA from beef liver using cooking salt, washing-up liquid and alcohol. During the activity, they also facilitated the pupils’ understanding of genetics and the meaning of DNA for life, explaining its use in detecting diseases.
Coordinators: Nataša Karas Kuželički, PhD, and Lucija Ana Vrščaj, Faculty of Pharmacy
Bilingual Anthology Humans to Animals and Animals to Humans in Contemporary Slavic Poetry
The Department of Slavistics at the Faculty of Arts has published a bilingual anthology of contemporary Slavic poetry with the theme of relations between humans and animals.
Pulover za psa ilustracija
The authors of the anthology have invited creative secondary school and university students to participate in debating the poems for the Slavic Reading Badge or illustrate them, set them to music, learn to recite them in the original Slavic languages etc.
Coordinator: Namita Subiotto, PhD, Faculty of Arts
The Bilingual Anthology Humans to Animals and Animals to Humans in Contemporary Slavic Poetry can be viewed here.
Excerpt from the song Пуловер за кудун – Sweater for a dog by Dimitar Kenarov
Слава тогава на бабите в моя квартал,
оплели пуловери за своите пудели,
самотни жени, които навярно нямат внучета,
или може би имат излишък на прежда –
светът, мисля си, не е чак толкова жесток,
щом още се среща обич, която облича.
Zato vsa čast starkam iz moje četrti,
ki so spletle puloverje za svoje pudlje,
osamljene ženske, ki najbrž nimajo vnukov
ali pa imajo morda višek volne.
Svet niti ni tako krut, si mislim,
če se še vedno najde ljubeči, ki obleče.
Translation from Bulgarian: Namita Subiotto, PhD, illustration: Nina Stanič
Bilingual Anthology Humans to Animals and Animals to Humans in Contemporary Slavic Poetry
The Festival of Antiquity
The Festival of Antiquity included workshops, lectures and other events where experts on different parts of classical languages and cultures present topics and the profession of researchers in this field. The festival events targeted students – from primary school to university – and the general public.
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This time, the activities of the Festival of Antiquity focused on exploring the role of animals in ancient cultures (language, inscriptions etc.). The festival took place in the form of interactive (music, epigraphy, cultural history) and language workshops.
Coordinator: Sonja Weiss, PhD, Faculty of Arts
Program
BUZZ-words – Slovenian and Czech Names of Insects and Their Use in Idioms
People live with insects, finding them annoying but also useful. They have been named in various ways, such as based on what they look like (navadni modrin – common blue), what they eat (navadni govnač – earth-boring dung beetle) or where they live (jezerska blatnica – literally ‘lake mudfly’; alderfly).
zuzelke
The presence of insects in our everyday lives is affirmed by their presence in idioms (priden kot mravlja – literally ‘diligent as an ant’, busy as a bee; len kot trot – literally ‘lazy as a drone’, lazy as a toad; delati iz muhe slona – literally ‘to make an elephant out of a fly’, to make a mountain out of a molehill). These topics were the focus of a workshop at one of the stalls during the European Researchers’ Night.
In the first part of the workshop, Faculty of Arts researchers gave an interactive presentation on selected insects, their appearance and way of life as well as related types of forming insect names in Slovenian.
In doing so, they revealed the reasons for some insects’ names and how their names were linguistically formed. By comparing these names with their counterparts in a related Slavic language, Czech, they demonstrated differences and similarities in forming names for these tiny animals.
The second part of the workshop demonstrated selected Slovenian idioms featuring insects, comparing them to idioms with the same meanings in Czech. The participants discovered cultural differences between the two Slavic nations and differences in their perceptions of their surroundings.
Coordinator: Petra Stankovska, PhD, Faculty of Arts
Behavioural Research Lab – Open Day at the UL School of Economics and Business
At the open day, a study on the influence of consumer characteristics and values on the purchase of products that are tested on animals or related to animal welfare was presented.
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At the beginning, the head of the research group, Vesna Žabkar, PhD, addressed the visitors. Then Dr. Mateja Kos Koklič, PhD, Mila Zečević and Peter Gidaković presented a study on the influence of consumer characteristics and values on the purchase of products that are tested on animals or are related to animal welfare.
At the same time, the visitors were presented with how the facereader device works and how it is used in behavioural research. Facereader measures an individual’s emotional response to an ad that warns of the negative consequences of animal testing.
At the event, participants also took part in a survey via mobile phones: they watched the Save Ralph short film and answered questions about their attitude towards animal experiments, buying products that are tested on animals, and raising awareness about the mentioned activity.
At the end, the results of the study were presented, followed by questions from the visitors.
Coordinators and participants: Vesna Žabkar, PhD, Mateja Kos Koklič, PhD, Mila Zečević, Petar Gidaković, School of Economics and Business
Masks and Wassailing in Romanian Traditions
A symposium of the European Researchers’ Night was dedicated to Romanian tradition, where animal masks have a significant ritualistic and symbolic role. The attention was focused on wassailing, which is a multifaceted show throughout Romania, co-created by words, music, motion, dance and artistic performances.
obiceiuristravechicapra
A village turns into a big stage serving multiple roles as the carnival develops, enabling a group of young boys to play their parts. They are merely the main collective actor in wider socio-dramatic action, where men, women and fantastic beings perform in various ways. The village is not only a stage; it can also be an audience, actor, director or dramatist. The villagers are usually aware that they are creating a show, a carnival performance, and that they are part of it.
Wassailing with the “Goat”
Mimetic plays with an animal mask as the main prop can be found throughout the world and are very diverse; they often appear in Central and Eastern Europe as well.
The goat mask is one of the most widespread; it is related to a character called “rourita” or “blind man”, whose existence in Europe is attested even in ancient times.
Rituals, myths and legends from the Daco-Romanian area are part of the hunter culture, but “a hunter ideology can become a pastoral ideology”, as explained by Mircea Eliade, one of the most prominent Romanian anthropologists.
In the Carpathian lands along the Danube, the image of an animal, achieved by dressing as one and performing a simple show, represents aspects from the lives of animals living in the region. The theatrical image of the goat, however, represents a mythological animal that is separated from reality and normally serves as an abstract symbol for soil fertility.
The following participated in the symposium: Klara Rus, Denis Hacin, Manca Škvarč, Meta Kompara, Klara Katarina Rupert, Marjeta Prelesnik Drozg.
The conversation was held in English.
Coordinator: Ioanna-Carmen Jieanu, PhD, Faculty of Arts
