FROM SONATA AND FANTASY TO SONATA-FANTASY: CHARTING A MUSICAL EVOLUTION

Part One of this project examines a group of piano pieces that bear the title sonata-fantasy or fantasy-sonata. While much has been written about quasi-sonata fantasies and quasi-fantasies of the Romantic period, the sonata/fantasy hybrid works of the following era have largely been a neglected area in music research. The purpose of this document is to fill this void and provide an introductory study of these works. The introductory chapter includes a list of sonata-fantasies and fantasy-sonatas I have found in U.S. libraries. The next two chapters outline the history of the fantasy as a genre and its relationship to the sonata up to the mid-nineteenth century: while the two were generally viewed as two contrasting genres in the eighteenth century, their boundaries gradually began to disappear in the early nineteenth century. Six works selected for detailed analysis in this project are Joachim Raffs Fantasie-Sonate, op.168; Alexander Scriabins Sonate Fantaisie, op.posth. and Sonata No.2 (Sonate-Fantaisie), op.19; Joaquin Turinas Sonata Fantasia, op.59; Anatoly Nikolayevich Aleksandrovs Piano Sonata No.11 Sonata Fantasia, op.81; and George Rochbergs Sonata-Fantasia. The final chapter summarizes the analyses of the selected works and explores explanations for the emergence of pieces bearing the sonata/fantasy compound titles. Part Two of this project consists of program notes for the repertoire used in fulfilling the performance requirements of the D.M.A. degree. The following works are individually discussed in this section: Piano Trio No. 28 in D Major, Hob. XV: 16 by Franz Joseph Haydn; Piano Trio in D Major, No. 70 no. 1, Ghost by Ludwig van Beethoven; Piano Trio No. 2 in C Minor, op.66 by Felix Mendelssohn; Prelude in D Major, BWV925 by Wilhelm Friedmann Bach(?); Sonata in G Major, op.78 (D.894) by Franz Schubert; Klavierstcke, op.118 by Johannes Brahms; Rain Tree Sketch for piano (1982) by Toru Takemitsu; Los Requiebros by Enrique Granados; and Concerto in G Major for Piano and Orchestra by Maurice Ravel

EduceLab-Scrolls: Verifiable Recovery of Text from Herculaneum Papyri using X-ray CT

We present a complete software pipeline for revealing the hidden texts of the Herculaneum papyri using X-ray CT images. This enhanced virtual unwrapping pipeline combines machine learning with a novel geometric framework linking 3D and 2D images. We also present EduceLab-Scrolls, a comprehensive open dataset representing two decades of research effort on this problem. EduceLab-Scrolls contains a set of volumetric X-ray CT images of both small fragments and intact, rolled scrolls. The dataset also contains 2D image labels that are used in the supervised training of an ink detection model. Labeling is enabled by aligning spectral photography of scroll fragments with X-ray CT images of the same fragments, thus creating a machine-learnable mapping between image spaces and modalities. This alignment permits supervised learning for the detection of "invisible" carbon ink in X-ray CT, a task that is "impossible" even for human expert labelers. To our knowledge, this is the first aligned dataset of its kind and is the largest dataset ever released in the heritage domain. Our method is capable of revealing accurate lines of text on scroll fragments with known ground truth. Revealed text is verified using visual confirmation, quantitative image metrics, and scholarly review. EduceLab-Scrolls has also enabled the discovery, for the first time, of hidden texts from the Herculaneum papyri, which we present here. We anticipate that the EduceLab-Scrolls dataset will generate more textual discovery as research continues

Effect of baseline self-efficacy on physical activity and psychological stress after a one-week pedometer intervention

Physical activity and psychological stress were hypothesized to improve more in participants with high self-efficacy than in those with low and medium self-efficacy, after a one-week intervention. 39 female university students participated. The intervention had two steps: a lecture on self-monitoring and goal setting (160 min.) and a one-week pedometer intervention. Analyses were conducted on tertile groups according to self-efficacy at baseline. Pedometer step counts were higher in the high self-efficacy group than in the low self-efficacy group after intervention. Helplessness decreased time dependently after intervention only in the high-self-efficacy group. Because physical activity improved more in the high self-efficacy group after a one-week intervention, one hypothesis was supported

Association between circulating CD34‑positive cell count and height loss among older men

Height loss starting in middle age is reportedly signifcantly associated with death due to cardiovascular disease. Impaired blood fow is the main pathology in cardiovascular disease. Hematopoietic stem cells such as CD34-positive cells play an important role in maintaining the microcirculation and preventing impaired blood fow by activating endothelial repair and angiogenesis. Therefore, circulating CD34-positive cell count could be associated with height loss. To clarify the association between circulating CD34-positive cell count and height loss, we conducted a follow-up study of 363 Japanese men aged 60–69 years over 2 years. Height loss was defned as being in the highest quartile of height decrease per year. Independent of known cardiovascular risk factors, circulating CD34-positive cell count was signifcantly inversely associated with height loss. The fully adjusted odds ratio (OR) and 95% confdence interval (CI) of height loss for circulating CD34-positive cell count (logarithmic values) was 0.49 (0.32, 0.74). This study suggests that a lower capacity to maintain the microcirculation due to a fewer CD34-positive cells might afect height loss

Hydrogen in Drinking Water Reduces Dopaminergic Neuronal Loss in the 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine Mouse Model of Parkinson's Disease

It has been shown that molecular hydrogen (H2) acts as a therapeutic antioxidant and suppresses brain injury by buffering the effects of oxidative stress. Chronic oxidative stress causes neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease (PD). Here, we show that drinking H2-containing water significantly reduced the loss of dopaminergic neurons in PD model mice using both acute and chronic administration of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP). The concentration-dependency of H2 showed that H2 as low as 0.08 ppm had almost the same effect as saturated H2 water (1.5 ppm). MPTP-induced accumulation of cellular 8-oxoguanine (8-oxoG), a marker of DNA damage, and 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE), a marker of lipid peroxidation were significantly decreased in the nigro-striatal dopaminergic pathway in mice drinking H2-containing water, whereas production of superoxide (O2•−) detected by intravascular injection of dihydroethidium (DHE) was not reduced significantly. Our results indicated that low concentration of H2 in drinking water can reduce oxidative stress in the brain. Thus, drinking H2-containing water may be useful in daily life to prevent or minimize the risk of life style-related oxidative stress and neurodegeneration

当院における便潜血陽性者に対する大腸CT(CTコロノグラフィー)検査の有用性:大腸がん検診への導入と課題

大腸がん検診におけるスクリーニング検査としての大腸CT(CT colonography: CTC)検査の有用性を検討するために,当院における便潜血陽性者に対するCTCと大腸内視鏡検査の精度比較を行った.2009年7月から2014年1月までに川崎医科大学附属病院で施行されたCTC検査673件中,スクリーニング目的で行われた411件の中で便潜血陽性者に対して行われた183名を対象とした.全例CTC検査と同日に全大腸内視鏡検査も行った.対象とする病変は内視鏡観察あるいは病理組織学的に腺腫,がんと診断されたものとした.CTCの前処置は,経口腸管洗浄剤に水溶性造影剤による標識(タギング)を付けて行った.CT装置は16列Multi-slice CT(MSCT),腸管拡張は自動炭酸ガス注入器を使用した.CTC読影は,まず仮想内視鏡(3D)で行い,後に多断面再構成像(Multi-planar reconstruction: MPR 像(2D))を行う3D primary 法で行った.183名(男性98名,女性85名,年齢40～86歳,平均年齢62.1歳±0.8歳)のうち,病変を認めなかったのは87名(47.5%)であり,病変を認めたのは96名(53%)であった.総病変数は191個であり,うち6mm以上の病変は77個(40%)で,そのうち10mm以上のものは46個(24%)であった.大腸癌は25例(全病変中13%)で,うち腺腫内癌16例(全病変中8%)であった.側方発育型腫瘍は8例(4%)(大きさ平均17mm)であった.病変のうち,内視鏡的切除が行われたものは34病変であり,手術が行われたものは22病変であった.病変形態別による描出率は隆起型病変80%で,平坦型病変65%であった.病変サイズ別の精度は10mm以上の病変(n=46)で感度96%,陽性適中率98%であり,6mm以上の病変(n=77)で感度83%,陽性適中率79%であった.CTCは便潜血陽性者において良好な精度を示し,大腸がんスクリーニング法としての可能性がある.The purpose of this study was to estimate the sensitivity and specificity of CT colonography (CTC) for colorectal cancer screeing following positive fecal occult blood test (FOBT) in Japan. To compare detection rates of colorectal cancer and adenoma between CTC and optical total colonoscopy (TCS). This study included 183 patients with positive result of FOBT in Japanese colorectal cancer screening program. The patients had both CTC and TCS on the same day. 96 patients (53%) had colorectal lesions, on the other hand 87 patients had no lesions. The total number of lesions was 191, including 77 lesions 6 mm in maximum diameter and larger, including 46 lesions 10 mm and larger

FROM SONATA AND FANTASY TO SONATA-FANTASY: CHARTING A MUSICAL EVOLUTION

Part One of this project examines a group of piano pieces that bear the title sonata-fantasy or fantasy-sonata. While much has been written about quasi-sonata fantasies and quasi-fantasies of the Romantic period, the sonata/fantasy hybrid works of the following era have largely been a neglected area in music research. The purpose of this document is to fill this void and provide an introductory study of these works. The introductory chapter includes a list of sonata-fantasies and fantasy-sonatas I have found in U.S. libraries. The next two chapters outline the history of the fantasy as a genre and its relationship to the sonata up to the mid-nineteenth century: while the two were generally viewed as two contrasting genres in the eighteenth century, their boundaries gradually began to disappear in the early nineteenth century. Six works selected for detailed analysis in this project are Joachim Raff’s Fantasie-Sonate, op.168; Alexander Scriabin’s Sonate Fantaisie, op.posth. and Sonat