Lost Voices and Singing Texts: Reconstructing the Cultural Past of Ioannina During the First Half of the 1870s

Conducting fieldwork in the ethnomusicological past, among other things may consist of coping with a wide variety of textual records, such as newspapers, magazines, public or private archives and so on. Especially, as far as newspapers and magazines of any kind are concerned, historical awareness is of great importance, for instance when the understanding of the relevant political and cultural mentalité of the writers, is a critical determinant of one’s ability to fully comprehend and make use of the possible findings, or -sometimes- even the lack of them. Quite often, the hardest part is when trying to “decrypt”, analyze and reconstruct the narration of a person whose Self emerges only through his corresponding writings. This is the case with Jonah (aka Konstantínos Aravantinós), writer of the satirical calendar of Ioannina, Karavida, during 1873-1874. Following the above paradigm, it is evident that a historical ethnomusicological research of this kind has to deal with a two-fold methodological challenge: thoroughly creating a virtual historical space in which specially customized text analysis skills can provide the ability to reach out closer to voices and sounds of the past. The latter, is a problematic leading to research theories and methodologies offered by relevant scientific fields

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570

Performance and the Score: an Ethnomusicological Perspective

Through semi-structured interviews spanning over six years and in three different countries, this article explores the manner in which performers with different musical backgrounds interact with music notation of western and non-western origin. The aim is to highlight the participants’ cultural perspectives and intellectual mindsets which influence their logic of what consists of a musical score, and how it is to be addressed in performance. The interviews presented here reveal that the relationship between musicians and the written aspect of music is not uniform, even within performers of comparably similar music traditions, as the role of music and its textual representation themselves are  not uniform in their goals and operational mode

Geometric Retrieval for Grid Points in the RAM Model

We consider the problem of d-dimensional searching (d 3) for four query types: range, partial range, exact match and partial match searching. Let N be the number of points, s be the number of keys specified in a partial match and partial range query and t be the number of points retrieved. We present a data structure with worst case time complexities O(t + logd-2 N), O(t + (d - s) + logs N), O(d + ) and O(t + (d - s) + s ) for each of the aforementioned query types respectively. We also present a second, more concrete solution for exact and partial match queries, which achieves the same query time but has different space requirements. The proposed data structures are considered in the RAM model of computation

Synopsis and Synthesis of Candidate-Gene Association Studies in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: The CUMAGAS-CLL Information System

A comprehensive and systematic assessment of the current status of candidate-gene association studies for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) was conducted. Data from 989 candidate-gene association studies (1992-2009) involving 905 distinct genetic variants were analyzed and cataloged in CUMAGAS-CLL, a Web-based information system which allows the retrieval and synthesis of data from candidate-gene association studies on CLL (http://www.w3.org/1999/). Nine genetic variants (BAX (rs4645878), GSTM1 (null/present), GSTT1 (null/present), IL10 (rs1800896), LTA (rs909253), MTHFR (rs1801131), MTHFR (rs1801133), P2RX7 (rs3751143), and TNF (rs1800629)) were investigated in 4 or more studies, and their results were meta-analyzed. In individual studies, 147 variants showed a significant association with CLL risk under any genetic model. For 53 variants, the association was significant at P < 0.01 with an increased risk greater than 40%. Only 0.3% of studies had statistical power greater than 80%. In meta-analyses, none of the variants showed significant results, and heterogeneity ranged from none to high. Large and rigorous genetic studies (candidate-gene association studies and genome-wide association studies) designed to investigate epistatic and gene-environment interactions may produce more conclusive evidence about the genetic etiology of CLL. CUMAGAS-CLL would be a useful tool for current genomic epidemiology research in the field of CLL