Bach and Opera: Is It Possible?

Devoted to the art and science of technique, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) is a celebrated master of the musical genres of the time, except for opera. Based on his musical upbringing and his independent attitude, there exists a possibility that Bach had the propensity to be an operatic composer. An exploration into this perspective leads us to wonder: Why did Bach never become an opera composer? Are there operatic features present in non-operatic works? What factors might have affected his inclination toward operatic composition? An investigation into professional development and influences from his early days in Arnstadt to his mature years in Leipzig, reveals a number of opportunities for Bach to assimilate operatic expressive devices. Such occasions include examples from the monumental St. Matthew Passion (BWV 244), the secular cantata BWV 211, Schwegt stille, plaudert nicht (recognized as the Coffee Cantata), and the drama per musica BWV 201, Der Streit zwischen Phoebus und Pan, with three texts written by Christian Friedrich Henrici (1700-1764), who is known as \u27Picander.\u27 Despite having been contracted for work in other genres, these pieces, produced during the greatly prolific time in Leipzig, exemplify Bach\u27s mastery of operatic writing

Deconvolution of Blood Microarray Data Identifies Cellular Activation Patterns in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a systemic autoimmune disease with a complex spectrum of cellular and molecular characteristics including several dramatic changes in the populations of peripheral leukocytes. These changes include general leukopenia, activation of B and T cells, and maturation of granulocytes. The manifestation of SLE in peripheral blood is central to the disease but is incompletely understood. A technique for rigorously characterizing changes in mixed populations of cells, microarray expression deconvolution, has been applied to several areas of biology but not to SLE or to blood. Here we demonstrate that microarray expression deconvolution accurately quantifies the constituents of real blood samples and mixtures of immune-derived cell lines. We characterize a broad spectrum of peripheral leukocyte cell types and states in SLE to uncover novel patterns including: specific activation of NK and T helper lymphocytes, relationships of these patterns to each other, and correlations to clinical variables and measures. The expansion and activation of monocytes, NK cells, and T helper cells in SLE at least partly underlie this disease's prominent interferon signature. These and other patterns of leukocyte dynamics uncovered here correlate with disease severity and treatment, suggest potential new treatments, and extend our understanding of lupus pathology as a complex autoimmune disease involving many arms of the immune system

Are Drivers of Root-Associated Fungal Community Structure Context Specific?

The composition and structure of plant-root-associated fungal communities are determined by local abiotic and biotic conditions. However, the relative influence and identity of relationships to abiotic and biotic factors may differ across environmental and ecological contexts, and fungal functional groups. Thus, understanding which aspects of root-associated fungal community ecology generalise across contexts is the first step towards a more predictive framework. We investigated how the relative importance of biotic and abiotic factors scale across environmental and ecological contexts using high-throughput sequencing (ca. 55 M Illumina metabarcoding sequences) of >260 plant-root-associated fungal communities from six UK salt marshes across two geographic regions (South-East and North-West England) in winter and summer. Levels of root-associated fungal diversity were comparable with forests and temperate grasslands, quadrupling previous estimates of salt-marsh fungal diversity. Whilst abiotic variables were generally most important, a range of site- and spatial scale-specific abiotic and biotic drivers of diversity and community composition were observed. Consequently, predictive models of diversity trained on one site, extrapolated poorly to others. Fungal taxa from the same functional groups responded similarly to the specific drivers of diversity and composition. Thus site, spatial scale and functional group are key factors that, if accounted for, may lead to a more predictive understanding of fungal community ecology

Going home for tea and medals: how members of the flood risk management authorities in England construct flooding and flood risk management

The construction of flooding and flood risk management are complex and there is potential for dissonance between the individual and institutional understanding and experience of both. In this paper we start by investigating how flooding is managed and the change in paradigm from flood defence to more adaptive approaches which embed resilience into flood risk management. Using analysis of semi-structured interviews with members of the flood authorities in England, we explore how flood management authorities construct ‘flooding’ and establish that it is often defined by in-the-moment impacts. Whilst these in-the-moment impacts are understood to be devastating, there is less appreciation of the long-term human impacts of living at risk of flooding. We uncover how the construction of ‘flood risk management’ by the flood management authorities is complicated by factors, such as the construction of resilience, the availability of funding, technical expertise, whether they provide other services to customers and the responsibility fragmentation that the Floods and Water Management Act (2010) has created. We conclude that the differing constructions of flooding and flood risk management between flood management authorities in England hinder how flooding is managed. In a world facing climate change where impacts of flooding are expected to intensify, this dissonance could readily stymie partnership working and therefore we propose that a more nuanced understanding of flooding and flood risk management is essential for effective partnership working between flood risk management authorities and communities

Towards a Better Understanding of Rural Homelessness: An Examination of Housing Crisis in a Small, Rural Minnesota Community

This report compiles the work done during the Rural Housing Policy course at the University of Minnesota Morris by the students and their instructor, Professor Greg Thorson. the class reviewed the literature on urban and rural homelessness, interviewed local providers of social service programs, developed a survey to be administered at regional homeless shelters, wrote the Institutional Review Board (IRB) proposal to authorize the administration of the survey, administered the survey, and analyzed the results.https://digitalcommons.morris.umn.edu/cst/1009/thumbnail.jp

Micro-CT investigation of garnet-spinel clusters in mantle peridotite xenoliths

We have investigated the origin of garnet in garnet-spinel peridotite mantle xenoliths from two well known localities, Pali-Aike (Patagonia) and Vitim (Siberia). We used micro-CT scanning to examine the textures of garnet-spinel clusters and the relationship between garnet and spinel. CT scanning yields different mineral modes in terms of spinel and garnet than observed in thin-section, because distribution of these phases is inhomogeneous, and a larger volume is visible in a CT scan than in a thin section. We conclude that garnet formed after spinel in both localities, but the xenoliths record a complex tectonic history, in which the original garnets in garnet peridotites were transformed to spinel pyroxene clusters in spinel peridotites, via lithospheric thinning. This stage was followed by deformation of the spinel peridotites, producing a lineation. A final stage of isobaric cooling caused garnet to re-grow around the spinel clusters. Aspect ratios of garnets differ from those of garnet-spinel clusters; the latter are more similar to those of spinel pyroxene clusters. Kelyphite is a secondary feature resulting from heating and rapid decompression during entrainment in the host alkali basaltic lavas and has no relationship with the formation of the garnet-spinel clusters

The use of design activity for research into Computer Supported Co-operative Working (CSCW)

This paper describes current research at Loughborough University in the field of Computer Supported Co-operative Working (CSCW). The project, which is funded by the Information Engineering Directorate (IED) within the Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC), is titled 'Establishing the Communicational Requirements of Information Technology (IT) Systems that Support Humans Co-operating Remotely'. The research group have adopted a less cumbersome acronym for the project - ROCOCO which is derived from REmote COoperation and COmmunication. Design activity has been proposed as offering a suitable context for a study of co-operation and at the time of writing the first phase of the experiments - involving face to face or proximal co-operation - has been undertaken and the analysis begun. The ROCOCO project is about to embark on phase two involving remote co-operation. This paper presents, in some detail, the construction and operation of a pilot study that allowed project members to assess and adjust the experimental design prior to the start of Phase One. A selection of initial findings illustrate the nature of the investigation to be undertaken. The paper also seeks to highlight the importance of CSCW research for the design community. The substance of the paper is concerned with a presentation of issues involved in an analysis of co-operation, involving as it does, verbal and non-verbal communication

The Grizzly, October 6, 2011

Fong, CPPC Developing Strategic Plan • Study Abroad Undergoes Major Changes, Relocation • Art Department Sponsors Trip to New York City • Residence Life Sponsors First-Ever Sexual Olympics • Senior Spends Summer Researching Parkinson\u27s • International Film Festival: A Glimpse Into Other Cultures • Wismer on Wheels Offers Helping Hand • Club Promotes Suicide Awareness • Anti-anxiety Group Aims to Relieve Stress • UC Club Soccer Kicks Off First Full Season • UC Fencing Club Looking to Increase its Numbers • Coach Profile: Mark Feinberg, Swimminghttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1842/thumbnail.jp

Predicting asthma-related crisis events using routine electronic healthcare data

Background There is no published algorithm predicting asthma crisis events (accident and emergency [A&E] attendance, hospitalisation, or death) using routinely available electronic health record (EHR) data. Aim To develop an algorithm to identify individuals at high risk of an asthma crisis event. Design and setting Database analysis from primary care EHRs of people with asthma across England and Scotland. Method Multivariable logistic regression was applied to a dataset of 61 861 people with asthma from England and Scotland using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink. External validation was performed using the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage Databank of 174 240 patients from Wales. Outcomes were ≥1 hospitalisation (development dataset) and asthma-related hospitalisation, A&E attendance, or death (validation dataset) within a 12-month period. Results Risk factors for asthma-related crisis events included previous hospitalisation, older age, underweight, smoking, and blood eosinophilia. The prediction algorithm had acceptable predictive ability with a receiver operating characteristic of 0.71 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.70 to 0.72) in the validation dataset. Using a cut-point based on the 7% of the population at greatest risk results in a positive predictive value of 5.7% (95% CI = 5.3% to 6.1%) and a negative predictive value of 98.9% (95% CI = 98.9% to 99.0%), with sensitivity of 28.5% (95% CI = 26.7% to 30.3%) and specificity of 93.3% (95% CI = 93.2% to 93.4%); those individuals had an event risk of 6.0% compared with 1.1% for the remaining population. In total, 18 people would need to be followed to identify one admission. Conclusion This externally validated algorithm has acceptable predictive ability for identifying patients at high risk of asthma-related crisis events and excluding those not at high risk