Exploring the Impact of German-American Heritage and the Musical Works of William Henry Pommer

William Henry Pommer (1851-1937) was a versatile German-American composer and musician of St. Louis. He held various musical positions as an educator, director, and performer. He was also an active composer with almost 500 works to his credit, composed in a variety of styles that reflect the variety of the different positions he held. Through archival work in St. Louis and by studying and playing through Pommer’s music, we have identified different styles that he composed in and begun to pick music for performances to best represent his work. In addition to performances, recordings of these performances will be on display as a permanent auditory exhibit in Hermann, Missouri at the Deutschheim Historic Site- the Pommer family house. This presentation will further discuss Pommer’s music and what role he played in the German-American community in Missouri and will include a short performance of his work

Looking through a Different Lens, Beyond Censorship: The American Reception of "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District"

The censorship of Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District is a familiar story to musicologists, but reception of the opera is not frequently mentioned. Examining the reception of a work can bring a work's relative importance into focus. In this thesis, German literary and reception theorist Hans Robert Jauss's model of the horizon of expectations is applied to reviews of American productions of Lady Macbeth. Curiosity about communism following the Great Depression in 1930s, America and American music critics' knowledge that Soviet composers worked for the Soviet regime led to the belief that Lady Macbeth was officially approved export from the Soviet Union. When the article condemning the opera as a Western formalism appeared in the Soviet magazine, Pravda, Americans needed to adjust their understanding of Lady Macbeth as a socialist expression. Following the work's revival in San Francisco in 1981, the influence of Solomon Volkov's Testimony is prevalent in many reviews. Many reviewers use Volkov's narrative of Shostakovich as covert dissident of the Soviet Union to assert that the censorship of the opera was about the content of the plot and not the music. Following the Soviet rejection of the work, American critics tried to claim Shostakovich for the West based on the values of individual freedom and feminism set forth in Lady Macbeth

Effectiveness of integrated HIV prevention interventions among Chinese men who have sex with men: evaluation of a 16-city public health program.

To examine the impacts of a multi-city HIV prevention public health program (China Global Fund Round 5 Project) on condom use and HIV infection, we analyzed four yearly cross-sectional surveys from 2006 through 2009 among 20,843 men who have sex with men (MSM) in 16 Chinese cities. Self-reported condom use at last sex with a male partner increased from 58% in 2006 to 81% in 2009 (trend test, P<0.001). HIV prevalence increased from 2.3% in 2006 to 5.3% in 2009 (P<0.001). Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that self-reported receipt of interventions was an independent predictor of increased condom use at last sex with a male partner over time (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.63 in 2006 to 2.33 in 2009; P<0.001), and lower HIV prevalence (aOR, 1.08 in 2006 to 0.45 in 2009; P<0.001). HIV prevalence increased from 2006-2009 for participants with no self-reported receipt of interventions (2.1% in 2006 to 10.3% in 2009) and less so for those with interventions (2.4% to 4.7%). This Chinese public health program had positive impacts on both behaviors and disease rate among MSM population. Escalation of the coverage and intensity of effective interventions is needed for further increasing condom use and for reversing the rising trend of HIV epidemic

Training the next generation of Biostatisticians in West Africa: The Vanderbilt Nigeria Biostatistics Training Program (VN-BioStat)

Biomedical HIV research is growing in West Africa, but biostatistical expertise is lagging. The Vanderbilt-Nigeria Biostatistics Training Program (VN-BioStat) seeks to establish a research and training platform for biostatisticians doing HIV-related research in Nigeria. The objectives of the program are: (i) Host two Nigerian data scientists per year (a total of 10 over 5 years) at Vanderbilt University Medical Center to gain hands-on biostatistics training and experience via one-year fellowships. Eligible trainees will be junior investigators with PhDs or nearing completion of their PhDs in statistics or related fields, including mathematics and computer science. (ii) Conduct annual workshops in Nigeria to provide biostatistics training. Trainees will undertake biostatistics coursework and hands-on training and participate in mentorship as biostatisticians involved in HIV research. Trainees will be at Vanderbilt for a full year and be part of an active biostatistics department. They will be immersed in a dry-lab HIV biostatistics project in collaboration with a Nigerian HIV research project and lead a methodologically focused research project. They will also participate in a one-month research training/grant writing program in Nashville. The VN-BioStat program will build on the existing momentum of ongoing initiatives to enhance research capacity in Nigeria by developing biostatistics leadership. VN-BioStat trainees will interact with investigators from Nigeria to provide collaborative biostatistical assistance with study design and data analysis, thus gaining real-world experience that will benefit the trainees and the broader research community in Nigeria

Logistic regression of HIV prevalence among MSM in 16 Chinese cities (surveys from all 4 years, 2006–2009).

<p><b>Note:</b> CI: confidence interval; STI: sexually transmitted infection.</p>**<p>Not including alcohol use.</p>‡<p>These 6 interventions included provision of free condoms, provision of free lubricants, peer education, STI testing and treatment, HIV testing and counseling, and distribution of AIDS/STI publicity materials (pamphlets, brochure, booklet, or foldout). See also: <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0050873#pone-0050873-g002" target="_blank">figure 2b</a>.</p

Number of men who have sex with men (MSM) who participated in yearly surveys in 16 Chinese cities from 2006 to 2009.

*<p>Participants were recruited using respondent driven sampling.</p

Demographics and sexual behaviors of MSM surveyed in 16 Chinese cities from 2006 to 2009.

<p><b>Note:</b><i>P</i><0.001 for all comparisons except for comparison of ethnicity across four study years (<i>P</i> = 0.30).</p><p>IQR: interquartile range; STI: sexually transmitted infection; CI: confidence interval;</p>*<p>Kruskal-Wallis equality-of-population rank tests;</p>**<p>Having a <i>Hukou</i> (or residence permit) in the surveyed city;</p>†<p>Not including alcohol use;</p>‡<p>Knowledge score range from 0 to 8.</p>#<p>Including painful urination, cloudy or bloody discharge from the penis, and ulcers and warts on the penis and around anus, etc.</p