Mozart's Bawdy Canons, Vulgarity and Debauchery at the Wiednertheater

Mozart's bawdy canons and use of scatalogical parlance in his letters have been described as indicative of a personality given to crass expression. Moreover, his association with Emanuel Schikaneder's supposedly dissolute Theater auf der Wieden, a boisterous venue for German stage works, has been taken as further evidence of Mozart's profligate tendencies. A review of the original source materials reveals that these views are apocryphal, originating after Mozart's death and embellished in nineteenth-century commentary and scholarship. Examples of even raunchier canons, composed by musicians with connections to Mozart, Schikaneder and the Theater auf der Wieden provide new insight into the genre. An examination surviving bawdy Viennese canons in their social context, together with a reconsideration of the Mozart family letters and attitudes toward vulgarity in Viennese popular theatre, reveals that lewd expressions on the stage were relatively uncommon in this period, Mozart's use of scatalogical language was relatively mild for the time and accounts of the composer's debauchery in his last years have little evidentiary basis

Tolerance without clonal expansion: Self-antigen-expressing B cells program self-reactive T cells for future deletion

B cells have been shown in various animal models to induce immunological tolerance leading to reduced immune responses and protection from autoimmunity. We show that interaction of B cells with naive T cells results in T cell triggering accompanied by the expression of negative costimulatory molecules such as PD-1, CTLA-4, B and T lymphocyte attenuator, and CD5. Following interaction with B cells, T cells were not induced to proliferate, in a process that was dependent on their expression of PD-1 and CTLA-4, but not CD5. In contrast, the T cells became sensitive to Ag-induced cell death. Our results demonstrate that B cells participate in the homeostasis of the immune system by ablation of conventional self-reactive T cells

Increased baseline ECG R-R dispersion predicts improvement in systolic function after atrial fibrillation ablation.

BackgroundAtrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction which may improve after AF ablation. We hypothesised that increased ventricular irregularity, as measured by R-R dispersion on the baseline ECG, would predict improvement in the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) after AF ablation.MethodsPatients with LVEF <50% at two US centres (2007-2016), having both a preablation and postablation echocardiogram or cardiac MRI, were included. LVEF improvement was defined as absolute increase in LVEF by >7.5%. Multivariable logistic regression (restricted to echocardiographic/ECG variables) was performed to evaluate predictors of LVEF improvement.ResultsFifty-two patients were included in this study. LVEF improved in 30 patients (58%) and was unchanged/worsened in 22 patients (42%). Those with versus without LVEF improvement had an increased baseline R-R dispersion (645±155 ms vs 537±154 ms, p=0.02, respectively). The average baseline heart rate in all patients was 93 beats per minute. After multivariable logistic regression, increased R-R dispersion (OR 1.59, 95% CI 1.00 to 2.55, p=0.03) predicted LVEF improvement.ConclusionsIncreased R-R dispersion on ECG was independently associated with improved systolic function after AF ablation. This broadens the existing knowledge of arrhythmia-induced cardiomyopathy, demonstrating that irregular electrical activation (as measured by increased R-R dispersion on ECG) is associated with a cardiomyopathy capable of improving after AF ablation

Direct, high resolution, four‐dimensional measurements of the fine scale structure of Sc≫1 molecular mixing in turbulent flows

Results from highly resolved, four‐dimensional measurements of the fine structure of the fully space‐ and time‐varying Sc≫1 conserved scalar field and the associated scalar energy dissipation rate field in a turbulent flow are presented. The resolution achieved in all three spatial dimensions and in time reaches down to the local strain‐limited molecular diffusion scale in the flow, allowing all three components of the instantaneous scalar gradient vector field ∇ζ(x,t) and their time evolution at every point in the data space to be directly evaluated. Results are presented in the form of fine structure maps of the instantaneous dissipation field loge ∇ζ⋅∇ζ(x,t) in several spatially adjacent data planes within an individual three‐dimensional spatial data volume, as well as in several temporally successive data planes from a sequence of such three‐dimensional data volumes. The degree of anisotopy in the underlying scalar gradient field is characterized in terms of the joint distribution β(ϑ,φ) of spherical orientation angles. The probability density of true scalar energy dissipation rates is presented and compared with the distributions that would result from lower‐dimensional measurements of the scalar gradient vector. From this the ‘‘spottiness’’ of the scalar dissipation field is directly quantified by determining the true fraction of the total dissipation that occurs in any given volume fraction of the flow.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/70449/2/PFADEB-3-5-1115-1.pd

Species diversity of the deep-water gulper sharks (Squaliformes: Centrophoridae: Centrophorus) in North Atlantic waters - current status and taxonomic issues

The gulper sharks (genus Centrophorus) are a group of deep-water benthopelagic sharks with a worldwide distribution. The alpha taxonomy of the group has historically been problematic and the number of species included in the genus has varied considerably over the years and is still under debate. Gulper sharks are routinely caught in mid- and deep-water fisheries worldwide and some have shown a considerable decline in abundance in the last few decades. Clear and consistent species discrimination of Centrophorus is essential for an efficient and sustainable management of these fisheries resources. Our study used molecular cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) and 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequences and morphometric data to re-evaluate the diversity of Centrophorus in North Atlantic waters, including the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, and the Mediterranean Seas. Molecular data separated North Atlantic Centrophorus into five well-supported groups whereas morphometric data separated these same five groups and suggested three additional groups for which no molecular data were available. Four of the five groups identified in the North Atlantic also occur in the Indian and/or Pacific Oceans, thus extending the reported range of some species considerably. A species identification key for North Atlantic Centrophorus is provided based on our findings. (c) 2014 The Linnean Society of Londo

Cationic Surface Modification of PLG Nanoparticles Offers Sustained Gene Delivery to Pulmonary Epithelial Cells

Biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles are currently being explored as a nonviral gene delivery system; however, many obstacles impede the translation of these nanomaterials. For example, nanoparticles delivered systemically are inherently prone to adsorbing serum proteins and agglomerating as a result of their large surface/volume ratio. What is desired is a simple procedure to prepare nanoparticles that may be delivered locally and exhibit minimal toxicity while improving entry into cells for effectively delivering DNA. The objective of this study was to optimize the formulation of poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLG) nanoparticles for gene delivery performance to a model of the pulmonary epithelium. Using a simple solvent diffusion technique, the chemistry of the particle surface was varied by using different coating materials that adsorb to the particle surface during formation. A variety of cationic coating materials were studied and compared to more conventional surfactants used for PLG nanoparticle fabrication. Nanoparticles (~200 nm) efficiently encapsulated plasmids encoding for luciferase (80–90%) and slowly released the same for 2 weeks. In A549 alveolar lung epithelial cells, high levels of gene expression appeared at day 5 for certain positively charged PLG particles and gene expression was maintained for at least 2 weeks. In contrast, PEI gene expression ended at day 5. PLG particles were also significantly less cytotoxic than PEI suggesting the use of these vehicles for localized, sustained gene delivery to the pulmonary epithelium