Strengthening the Passivity Default

In The Prudence of Passivity, Bryon Harmon and Laura Fisher (hereafter HF) argue that passive management become the default approach for the investment of trust funds, to be abandoned only when circumstances specifically dictate the use of active management. \u27 In this comment we argue that their thesis could be strengthened (i) by more clearly distinguishing between default law and default investment practices, (ii) by more clearly articulating their favored altering rules

The harpsichord in 20th-century opera by Ruy Coelho, Augusto Machado and Joly Braga Santos

UIDB/00693/2020 UIDP/00693/2020Quando, possivelmente sob influência de Wanda Landowska, Ruy Coelho (1889-1986) inclui o cravo no efectivo orquestral da sua primeira ópera, torna-se assim o primeiro compositor português moderno a recorrer a este então recém-redescoberto instrumento. Desse momento em diante volta a utilizá-lo em várias outras obras, e no contexto lusitano será um dos poucos a fazê-lo. A presente comunicação pretende reflectir sobre o imaginário conceptual e sonoro que sustentou esta renovada utilização do cravo, quais os desafios técnico-organológicos associados e qual a sua razão de existência e significações possíveis no contexto dramático-musical das óperas portuguesas do século XX que dele fizeram uso: Serão da infanta (1913) e Rosas de todo o anno (1921) de Ruy Coelho, Rosas de todo o anno (1920) de Augusto Machado (1845- 1924) e Trilogia das barcas (1970) de Joly Braga Santos (1924-1988). When Ruy Coelho (1889-1986), possibly influenced by Wanda Landowska, included the harpsichord in the orchestration of his first opera, he became the first modern Portuguese composer to resort to this recently rediscovered instrument. He would go on to use it in several other works, and would be one of few within the Portuguese musical milieu to do so. This paper seeks to reflect on the conceptual and musical background of this revival of the harpsichord, on its technical and organologic obstacles, and ultimately on the instrument’s raison d’être and significance in the dramatic and musical context of 20th-century Portuguese operas Serão da infanta (1913) and Rosas de todo o anno (1921) by Ruy Coelho, Rosas de todo o anno (1920) by Augusto Machado (1845- 1924) and Trilogia das barcas (1970) by Joly Braga Santos (1924-1988).publishersversionpublishe

Visualization techniques to aid in the analysis of multi-spectral astrophysical data sets

The goal of this project was to support the scientific analysis of multi-spectral astrophysical data by means of scientific visualization. Scientific visualization offers its greatest value if it is not used as a method separate or alternative to other data analysis methods but rather in addition to these methods. Together with quantitative analysis of data, such as offered by statistical analysis, image or signal processing, visualization attempts to explore all information inherent in astrophysical data in the most effective way. Data visualization is one aspect of data analysis. Our taxonomy as developed in Section 2 includes identification and access to existing information, preprocessing and quantitative analysis of data, visual representation and the user interface as major components to the software environment of astrophysical data analysis. In pursuing our goal to provide methods and tools for scientific visualization of multi-spectral astrophysical data, we therefore looked at scientific data analysis as one whole process, adding visualization tools to an already existing environment and integrating the various components that define a scientific data analysis environment. As long as the software development process of each component is separate from all other components, users of data analysis software are constantly interrupted in their scientific work in order to convert from one data format to another, or to move from one storage medium to another, or to switch from one user interface to another. We also took an in-depth look at scientific visualization and its underlying concepts, current visualization systems, their contributions, and their shortcomings. The role of data visualization is to stimulate mental processes different from quantitative data analysis, such as the perception of spatial relationships or the discovery of patterns or anomalies while browsing through large data sets. Visualization often leads to an intuitive understanding of the meaning of data values and their relationships by sacrificing accuracy in interpreting the data values. In order to be accurate in the interpretation, data values need to be measured, computed on, and compared to theoretical or empirical models (quantitative analysis). If visualization software hampers quantitative analysis (which happens with some commercial visualization products), its use is greatly diminished for astrophysical data analysis. The software system STAR (Scientific Toolkit for Astrophysical Research) was developed as a prototype during the course of the project to better understand the pragmatic concerns raised in the project. STAR led to a better understanding on the importance of collaboration between astrophysicists and computer scientists

Hubble Space Telescope FUV Spectra of the Post-Common-Envelope Hyades Binary V471 Tauri

We have carried out an analysis of the HST STIS archival spectra of the magnetic white dwarf in the Hyades eclipsing-spectroscopic, post-common envelope binary V471 Tauri, time resolved on the orbit and on the X-ray rotational phase of the magnetic white dwarf. An HST STIS spectrum obtained during primary eclipse reveals a host of transition region/chromospheric emission features including N V (1238, 1242), Si IV (1393, 1402), C IV (1548, 1550) and He II (1640). The spectroscopic characteristics and emission line fluxes of the transition region/chromosphere of the very active, rapidly rotating, K2V component of V471 Tauri, are compared with the emission characteristics of fast rotating K dwarfs in young open clusters. We have detected a number of absorption features associated with metals accreted onto the photosphere of the magnetic white dwarf from which we derive radial velocities. All of the absorption features are modulated on the 555s rotation period of the white dwarf with maximum line strength at rotational phase 0.0 when the primary magnetic accretion region is facing the observer. The photospheric absorption features show no clear evidence of Zeeman splitting and no evidence of a correlation between their variations in strength and orbital phase. We report clear evidence of a secondary accretion pole. We derive C and Si abundances from the Si IV and C III features. All other absorption lines are either interstellar or associated with a region above the white dwarf and/or with coronal mass ejection events illuminated as they pass in front of the white dwarf.Comment: The Astrophysical Journal, May 10, 2012 issue - 16 figure

Tree Species Traits Influence Soil Physical, Chemical, and Biological Properties in High Elevation Forests

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that plants often have species-specific effects on soil properties. In high elevation forests in the Southern Rocky Mountains, North America, areas that are dominated by a single tree species are often adjacent to areas dominated by another tree species. Here, we assessed soil properties beneath adjacent stands of trembling aspen, lodgepole pine, and Engelmann spruce, which are dominant tree species in this region and are distributed widely in North America. We hypothesized that soil properties would differ among stands dominated by different tree species and expected that aspen stands would have higher soil temperatures due to their open structure, which, combined with higher quality litter, would result in increased soil respiration rates, nitrogen availability, and microbial biomass, and differences in soil faunal community composition. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We assessed soil physical, chemical, and biological properties at four sites where stands of aspen, pine, and spruce occurred in close proximity to one-another in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado. Leaf litter quality differed among the tree species, with the highest nitrogen (N) concentration and lowest lignin:N in aspen litter. Nitrogen concentration was similar in pine and spruce litter, but lignin:N was highest in pine litter. Soil temperature and moisture were highest in aspen stands, which, in combination with higher litter quality, probably contributed to faster soil respiration rates from stands of aspen. Soil carbon and N content, ammonium concentration, and microbial biomass did not differ among tree species, but nitrate concentration was highest in aspen soil and lowest in spruce soil. In addition, soil fungal, bacterial, and nematode community composition and rotifer, collembolan, and mesostigmatid mite abundance differed among the tree species, while the total abundance of nematodes, tardigrades, oribatid mites, and prostigmatid mites did not. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Although some soil characteristics were unaffected by tree species identity, our results clearly demonstrate that these dominant tree species are associated with soils that differ in several physical, chemical, and biotic properties. Ongoing environmental changes in this region, e.g. changes in fire regime, frequency of insect outbreaks, changes in precipitation patterns and snowpack, and land-use change, may alter the relative abundance of these tree species over coming decades, which in turn will likely alter the soils

A representação musical do Diabo no Auto da Barca do Inferno (1944) de Ruy Coelho

UID/EAT/00693/2013O diabo canta, ri, assobia: como e por que razão? A que recursos melódicos, harmónicos, rítmicos, tímbricos, foi sendo associada a sua figura? Que relação musical, de contraste ou de afinidade, estabelece com os outros personagens em palco numa obra músico-dramática? Esta comunicação procura, a propósito da representação musical da figura do Diabo no Auto da barca do inferno (1944) de Ruy Coelho, começar a esboçar algumas respostas para estas questões. Em particular, explorar-se-ão as marcas que aproximam ou que diferenciam esta figura de outros “diabos” do repertório operático canónico que o antecede, procurando desvelar uma genealogia que o explique e procurando interpretar os contextos social e musical em que, no diálogo que encerra com a prática teatral vicentina, foi modernamente reinterpretado pelo compositor português.publishersversionpublishe

Obras vocais de câmara de Ruy Coelho à luz do simbolismo fin-de-siècle

UID/EAT/00693/2013 SFRH/BD/111708/2015Propõe-se a observação, à luz dos ideários e imaginários simbolistas fin-de-siècle, enquanto resposta ao naturalismo na arte e ao positivismo na filosofia, de aspectos técnicos e conceptuais de algumas das obras vocais de câmara que Ruy Coelho (1889-1986) escreveu em início de carreira, provavelmente no início dos anos 10 do século XX. O exercício debruçar-se-á em particular sobre alguns momentos de 6 Kacides Mauresques — ciclo escrito sobre poemas árabes ibéricos do século X, traduzidos para francês por Franz Toussaint e publicados em dois Mercure de France de 1909 — e de Sur la jetée d’Alexandrie — sobre um excerto de Aphrodite, romance de Pierre Louÿs publicado em 1896. Neste contexto será discutida a influência que a obra vocal de Claude-Achille Debussy, e em particular as suas Trois chansons de Bilitis, poderá ter exercido no compositor português — desde a procura por uma “correspondência perpétua entre os sentidos da frase escrita e as inflexões da frase cantada”, aproveitando as palavras de Louÿs a propósito de Pélleas et Mélisande, à reivindicação do mistério, do incognoscível, da ambiguidade, à valoração multiplamente significante do sonho, do encantamento, da luz, da sombra e de outros conceitos estilisticamente sugestivos e evocadores na relação texto-música então explorada.publishersversionpublishe

Structural insights into WcbI, a novel polysaccharide-biosynthesis enzyme

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original authors and source are cited. Available at: http://journals.iucr.org/m/ Copyright © 2013 International Union of CrystallographyCapsular polysaccharides (CPSs) are protective structures on the surfaces of many Gram-negative bacteria. The principal CPS of the human pathogen and Tier 1 select agent Burkholderia pseudomallei consists of a linear repeat of -­3)-­2-O-acetyl-6-deoxy-[beta]-D-manno-heptopyranose-(1-. This CPS is critical to the virulence of this emerging pathogen and represents a key target for the development of novel therapeutics. wcbI is one of several genes in the CPS biosynthetic cluster whose deletion leads to significant attenuation of the pathogen; unlike most others, it has no homologues of known function and no detectable sequence similarity to any protein with an extant structure. Here, the crystal structure of WcbI bound to its proposed product, coenzyme A, is reported at 1.38 Å resolution, solved using the halide-soak method with multiple anomalous dispersion. This structure reveals that WcbI incorporates a previously described 100-amino-acid subdomain into a novel, principally helical fold (310 amino acids). This fold adopts a cradle-like structure, with a deep binding pocket for CoA in the loop-rich cradle. Structural analysis and biophysical assays suggest that WcbI functions as an acetyltransferase enzyme, whilst biochemical tests suggest that another functional module might be required to assist its activity in forming the mature B. pseudomallei capsule.Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC

Leukotriene antagonists as first-line or add-on asthma controller therapy

Most randomized trials of treatment for asthma study highly selected patients under idealized conditions. METHODS: We conducted two parallel, multicenter, pragmatic trials to evaluate the real-world effectiveness of a leukotriene-receptor antagonist (LTRA) as compared with either an inhaled glucocorticoid for first-line asthma-controller therapy or a long-acting beta(2)-agonist (LABA) as add-on therapy in patients already receiving inhaled glucocorticoid therapy. Eligible primary care patients 12 to 80 years of age had impaired asthma-related quality of life (Mini Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire [MiniAQLQ] score =6) or inadequate asthma control (Asthma Control Questionnaire [ACQ] score =1). We randomly assigned patients to 2 years of open-label therapy, under the care of their usual physician, with LTRA (148 patients) or an inhaled glucocorticoid (158 patients) in the first-line controller therapy trial and LTRA (170 patients) or LABA (182 patients) added to an inhaled glucocorticoid in the add-on therapy trial. RESULTS: Mean MiniAQLQ scores increased by 0.8 to 1.0 point over a period of 2 years in both trials. At 2 months, differences in the MiniAQLQ scores between the two treatment groups met our definition of equivalence (95% confidence interval [CI] for an adjusted mean difference, -0.3 to 0.3). At 2 years, mean MiniAQLQ scores approached equivalence, with an adjusted mean difference between treatment groups of -0.11 (95% CI, -0.35 to 0.13) in the first-line controller therapy trial and of -0.11 (95% CI, -0.32 to 0.11) in the add-on therapy trial. Exacerbation rates and ACQ scores did not differ significantly between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Study results at 2 months suggest that LTRA was equivalent to an inhaled glucocorticoid as first-line controller therapy and to LABA as add-on therapy for diverse primary care patients. Equivalence was not proved at 2 years. The interpretation of results of pragmatic research may be limited by the crossover between treatment groups and lack of a placebo group

Astronomical Oxygen Isotopic Evidence for Supernova Enrichment of the Solar System Birth Environment by Propagating Star Formation

New infrared absorption measurements of oxygen isotope ratios in CO gas from individual young stellar objects confirm that the solar system is anomalously high in its 18O/17O ratio compared with extra-solar oxygen in the Galaxy. We show that this difference in oxygen isotope ratios is best explained by 1 per cent enrichment of the proto-solar molecular cloud by ejecta from type II supernovae from a cluster having of order a few hundred stars that predated the Sun by at least 10 to 20 Myr. The likely source of exogenous oxygen was the explosion of one or more B stars during a process of propagating star formation