Slashes, Dashes, Points, and Squares: The Development of Musical Notation

The development of musical notation has long been a popular topic of discussion among musicologists. All cultures in the world have music and different cultures had methods of notating music. The purpose of the research was to trace the development of music notation and to see if the modern methods of notation are superior to the older methods. The development of music notation in western music was closely tied to the church and the Gregorian chant. Early neumes resembled points and slashes, which developed into squares when the staff stated to develop. The first staff was only four lines where our modern staff is five lines. Mensuration symbols developed when a need to measure and count time in music, these were precursors to our modern time signatures and clefs. The modern notation method is not better than the older methods simply different, showing the age old saying newer is not always better to be true. As the oral developed into more of a written tradition the way the notation was used changed. When neumes were first used they acted as a guide and as time went on the notation used became closer to exact instructions which is how our modern notation works. In each stage of notational development the notation fulfilled the role it was called upon to play. In early neumatic notation the neumes gave the amount of notes that needed to be sung, which with the oral tradition was all the information that was needed. The oral tradition and the written tradition now seem to be in competition with each other like the Suzuki method and the traditional note methods. This was not always the case; the written tradition in the early tenth century supported the oral tradition. That does not make either method better than the other only different. The research for this project was done through historical documentation; books on medieval and renaissance music theory and notation were used. Journal articles relating to this topic such as mensuration and music literacy were also used

Antiplatelet Resistance—Does it Exist and How to Measure it?

Aspirin and clopidogrel are the most commonly used antiplatelet agents in patients with coronary artery disease. The existence of resistance to these agents has been a controversial issue and new drugs are being developed to overcome this problem. Laboratory tests, which can identify resistance and correlate this with clinical outcome, are being studied in order to identify patients at risk of future thrombotic events. We discuss the evidence for the existence of antiplatelet resistance—both in the laboratory and in the clinical setting. So far, platelet aggregometry has been considered the gold standard test, but is very operator dependant, time consuming, and has shown little correlation with other available tests of antiplatelet resistance. We discuss the available tests of platelet function, their limitations, and evidence for their use. A simple, rapid, near-patient test, which is affordable and useful in the clinical (not just laboratory) setting, could allow risk stratification of patients and individualization of antiplatelet medication to improve outcome

Impaired endogenous fibrinolysis at high shear using a point-of-care test in STEMI is associated with alterations in clot architecture

© The Author(s) 2019Impaired endogenous fibrinolysis is an adverse prognostic biomarker in acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Abnormally dense in vitro fibrin thrombi have been demonstrated in ACS patients and related to hypofibrinolysis using cumbersome, laboratory-based methods. We aimed to assess endogenous fibrinolysis using a point-of-care technique and relate this to clot architecture. From patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), venous blood was drawn immediately on arrival to assess thrombotic status. Blood was assessed using the point-of-care Global Thrombosis Test which measures occlusive thrombus formation under high shear and subsequently endogenous fibrinolysis (lysis time, LT). Two samples per patient were run in parallel. In one channel, the measurement was allowed to proceed as normal. In the other, after occlusion, thrombus was extracted, washed, fixed in glutaraldehyde, dried, sputter-coated, and assessed using scanning electron microscope. Endogenous fibrinolysis was strongly associated fibrin fibre thickness (p = 0.0001). As LT increased (less efficient fibrinolysis), the fibrin network of the thrombus was significantly more compact and dense, with thinner fibrin fibres and smaller gaps. Fibrin fibre thickness correlated inversely with LT (r = - 0.89, p = 0.001). Adverse clot architecture in vitro is directly related to impaired endogenous fibrinolysis using a relatively new point-of-care technique in patients with STEMI. This may transform the relevance of fibrin clot architecture from an off-line laboratory association to being directly relevant to endogenous fibrinolysis at the patient bedside, which could be used as a near-patient test to guide prognosis and assess the effect of treatment.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Correction to: RIC in COVID-19—a Clinical Trial to Investigate Whether Remote Ischemic Conditioning (RIC) Can Prevent Deterioration to Critical Care in Patients with COVID-19

Purpose: Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) has, to date, been diagnosed in over 130 million persons worldwide and is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Several variants of concern have emerged including those in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Brazil. SARS-CoV-2 can cause a dysregulated inflammatory response known as a cytokine storm, which can progress rapidly to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), multi-organ failure, and death. Suppressing these cytokine elevations may be key to improving outcomes. Remote ischemic conditioning (RIC) is a simple, non-invasive procedure whereby a blood pressure cuff is inflated and deflated on the upper arm for several cycles. “RIC in COVID-19” is a pilot, multi-center, randomized clinical trial, designed to ascertain whether RIC suppresses inflammatory cytokine production. Methods: A minimum of 55 adult patients with diagnosed COVID-19, but not of critical status, will be enrolled from centers in the United Kingdom, Brazil, and South Africa. RIC will be administered daily for up to 15 days. The primary outcome is the level of inflammatory cytokines that are involved in the cytokine storm that can occur following SARS-CoV-2 infection. The secondary endpoint is the time between admission and until intensive care admission or death. The in vitro cytotoxicity of patient blood will also be assessed using primary human cardiac endothelial cells. Conclusions: The results of this pilot study will provide initial evidence on the ability of RIC to suppress the production of inflammatory cytokines in the setting of COVID-19. Trial Registration: NCT04699227, registered January 7th, 2021

Potentiation of thrombus instability: a contributory mechanism to the effectiveness of antithrombotic medications

© The Author(s) 2018The stability of an arterial thrombus, determined by its structure and ability to resist endogenous fibrinolysis, is a major determinant of the extent of infarction that results from coronary or cerebrovascular thrombosis. There is ample evidence from both laboratory and clinical studies to suggest that in addition to inhibiting platelet aggregation, antithrombotic medications have shear-dependent effects, potentiating thrombus fragility and/or enhancing endogenous fibrinolysis. Such shear-dependent effects, potentiating the fragility of the growing thrombus and/or enhancing endogenous thrombolytic activity, likely contribute to the clinical effectiveness of such medications. It is not clear how much these effects relate to the measured inhibition of platelet aggregation in response to specific agonists. These effects are observable only with techniques that subject the growing thrombus to arterial flow and shear conditions. The effects of antithrombotic medications on thrombus stability and ways of assessing this are reviewed herein, and it is proposed that thrombus stability could become a new target for pharmacological intervention.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Poly(3-alkylthiophenes): new sorption materials for solid phase microextraction of drugs isolated from human plasma

A novel sorbent in solid phase microextraction (SPME) method based on poly(3-alkylthiophenes) was used in the isolation of linezolid from human plasma samples following liquid chromatography determination. The effect of extraction time on the sorption capacity of the SPME process was studied and pointed at 10 min both for adsorption and desorption. Poly(3-methylthiophene) and poly(3-nonylthiophene) were applied for the extraction of linezolid from water solutions. In plasma samples, four coatings including polythiophene and poly(3-penthylthiophene) were investigated. With these measurements, correlation coefficients were calculated in the range from 0.9820 to 0.9995, and the relative standard deviations were below 15%. That allowed claiming that the synthesized and described materials can be successfully applied in the analysis of linezolid also from other matrices such as urine or blood

Current and novel biomarkers of thrombotic risk in COVID-19: a Consensus Statement from the International COVID-19 Thrombosis Biomarkers Colloquium

© Springer Nature Limited 2022. This is the accepted manuscript version of an article which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41569-021-00665-7Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) predisposes patients to thrombotic and thromboembolic events, owing to excessive inflammation, endothelial cell activation and injury, platelet activation and hypercoagulability. Patients with COVID-19 have a prothrombotic or thrombophilic state, with elevations in the levels of several biomarkers of thrombosis, which are associated with disease severity and prognosis. Although some biomarkers of COVID-19-associated coagulopathy, including high levels of fibrinogen and d-dimer, were recognized early during the pandemic, many new biomarkers of thrombotic risk in COVID-19 have emerged. In this Consensus Statement, we delineate the thrombotic signature of COVID-19 and present the latest biomarkers and platforms to assess the risk of thrombosis in these patients, including markers of platelet activation, platelet aggregation, endothelial cell activation or injury, coagulation and fibrinolysis as well as biomarkers of the newly recognized post-vaccine thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome. We then make consensus recommendations for the clinical use of these biomarkers to inform prognosis, assess disease acuity, and predict thrombotic risk and in-hospital mortality. A thorough understanding of these biomarkers might aid risk stratification and prognostication, guide interventions and provide a platform for future research.Peer reviewe

Developmental Trajectories of Body Mass Index Among Japanese Children and Impact of Maternal Factors during Pregnancy

Background The aims of this study were to 1) determine the distinct patterns of body mass index (BMI) trajectories in Japanese children, and 2) elucidate the maternal factors during pregnancy, which contribute to the determination of those patterns. Methodology/Principal Findings All of the children (1,644 individuals) born in Koshu City, Japan, between 1991 and 1998 were followed in a longitudinal study exploring the subjects’ BMI. The BMI was calculated 11 times for each child between birth and 12 years of age. Exploratory latent class growth analyses were conducted to identify trajectory patterns of the BMI z-scores. The distribution of BMI trajectories were best characterized by a five-group model for boys and a six-group model for girls. The groups were named “stable thin,” “stable average,” “stable high average,” “progressive overweight,” and “progressive obesity” in both sexes; girls were allocated to an additional group called “progressive average.” Multinomial logistic regression found that maternal weight, smoking, and skipping breakfast during pregnancy were associated with children included in the progressive obesity pattern rather than the stable average pattern. These associations were stronger for boys than for girls. Conclusions/Significance Multiple developmental patterns in Japanese boys and girls were identified, some of which have not been identified in Western countries. Maternal BMI and some unfavorable behaviors during early pregnancy may impact a child’s pattern of body mass development. Further studies to explain the gender and regional differences that were identified are warranted, as these may be important for early life prevention of weight-associated health problems