Toward A Pedagogical Guide To Argentine Art Song

Argentine art song is a branch of the art song genre that is virtually unknown to Canadian academics and performers. Although there are numerous composers who have contributed songs to this genre, these composers and their contributions to the body of art song repertoire remain virtually unknown. The illusion of their non-existence is perpetuated by a cycle of factors. Publishers, not interested in publishing a product for which there is limited interest, print very little Argentine music. The lack of musical scores makes it difficult for performers to program and record this music. Thus, very few people are exposed to it, and most people continue to know very little about this rich body of repertoire that has much to offer performers and voice pedagogues. The goal of this study of Argentine art song is to introduce this repertoire to pedagogues and performers and inform them of some of the challenges and benefits of incorporating this music into the standard art song repertoire. Many of the songs need “cultural translation” for those unfamiliar with the gaucho and other aspects of Argentine music, history, and culture. The gaucho and his influence on Argentine art song, both musically and thematically, is examined so that meaningful and informed performances can be prepared. Also, the pedagogical value of the repertoire in the voice studio is also discussed so that pedagogues can make informed decisions regarding its best application in the voice studio. An added benefit is that these songs introduce a greater variety of material and expression to the voice studio and recital stage that will make them welcome additions to the standard art song repertoire

Challenges Associated with Partnering with Sudanese Refugee Women in Addressing Their Health Issues

Civil war in Sudan has displaced refugees all over the globe. A community-based collaborative action research project (CBCAR) took place over one year between university researchers and southern Sudanese refugee women. The purpose of the study was to define the process of partnering with Sudanese refugee women to address their health needs. CBCAR requires equal participation from researchers and participants and is divided into six cyclical phases: partnership, dialogue, pattern recognition, dialogue on meaning of pattern, transforming insight to action, and reflecting on evolving pattern. Challenges from this project were examined from the perspectives of the researchers and the participants. The main challenges associated with conducting a CBCAR project between researchers and refugee women included: misunderstandings and differing expectations of research outcomes, language barriers, and cultural differences. Despite the challenges, this project led to increased knowledge for participants and researchers and improved health outcomes for the refugee women. This study demonstrates how CBCAR is a useful method to partner with refugees to address their health needs.University of Kansas School of Nursing. Bachelor of Science in Nursing Honors Progra

Racial Disparities in Breast Cancer Survival: The Mediating Effects of Macro-Social Context and Social Network Factors

ABSTRACT This study attempts to clarify the associations between macro-social and social network factors and continuing racial disparities in breast cancer survival. The study improves on prior methodologies by using a neighborhood disadvantage measure that assesses both economic and social disadvantage and an ego-network measurement tool that assesses key social network characteristics. Our population-based sample included 786 breast cancer patients (nHWhite=388; nHBlack=398) diagnosed during 2005-2008 in Chicago, IL. The data included census-derived macro-social context, self-reported social network, self-reported demographic and medically abstracted health measures. Mortality data from the National Death Index (NDI) were used to determine 5-year survival. Based on our findings, neighborhood concentrated disadvantage was negatively associated with survival among nHBlack and nHWhite breast cancer patients. In unadjusted models, social network size, network density, practical support, and financial support were positively associated with 5-year survival. However, in adjusted models only practical support was associated with 5-year survival. Our findings suggest that the association between network size and breast cancer survival is sensitive to scaling of the network measure, which helps to explain inconsistencies in past findings. Social networks of nHWhites and nHBlacks differed in size, social support dimensions, network density, and geographic proximity. Among social factors, residence in disadvantaged neighborhoods and unmet practical support explained some of the racial disparity in survival. Differences in late stage diagnosis and comorbidities between nHWhites and nHBlacks also explained some of the racial disparity in survival. Our findings highlight the relevance of social factors, both macro and inter-personal in the racial disparity in breast cancer survival. Findings suggest that reduced survival of nHBlack women is in part due to low social network resources and residence in socially and economically deprived neighborhoods. Our findings indicate that, to improve survival among breast cancer patients, policies need to focus on continued improvement of access to care and reduction of racially patterned social and economic hardship. Additionally, our findings support the need for health care providers to assess social support resources of breast cancer patients at the time of diagnosis

Constraining Disk Parameters of Be Stars using Narrowband H-alpha Interferometry with the NPOI

Interferometric observations of two well-known Be stars, gamma Cas and phi Per, were collected and analyzed to determine the spatial characteristics of their circumstellar regions. The observations were obtained using the Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer equipped with custom-made narrowband filters. The filters isolate the H-alpha emission line from the nearby continuum radiation, which results in an increased contrast between the interferometric signature due to the H-alpha-emitting circumstellar region and the central star. Because the narrowband filters do not significantly attenuate the continuum radiation at wavelengths 50 nm or more away from the line, the interferometric signal in the H-alpha channel is calibrated with respect to the continuum channels. The observations used in this study represent the highest spatial resolution measurements of the H-alpha-emitting regions of Be stars obtained to date. These observations allow us to demonstrate for the first time that the intensity distribution in the circumstellar region of a Be star cannot be represented by uniform disk or ring-like structures, whereas a Gaussian intensity distribution appears to be fully consistent with our observations.Comment: 23 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in A

The effect of phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors on cerebral blood flow in humans: A systematic review.

Agents that augment cerebral blood flow (CBF) could be potential treatments for vascular cognitive impairment. Phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors are vasodilating drugs established in the treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED) and pulmonary hypertension. We reviewed published data on the effects of phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors on CBF in adult humans. A systematic review according to PRISMA guidelines was performed. Embase, Medline and Cochrane Library Trials databases were searched. Sixteen studies with 353 participants in total were retrieved. Studies included healthy volunteers and patients with migraine, ED, type 2 diabetes, stroke, pulmonary hypertension, Becker muscular dystrophy and subarachnoid haemorrhage. Most studies used middle cerebral artery flow velocity to estimate CBF. Few studies employed direct measurements of tissue perfusion. Resting CBF velocity was unaffected by phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors, but cerebrovascular regulation was improved in ED, pulmonary hypertension, diabetes, Becker's and a group of healthy volunteers. This evidence suggests that phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors improve responsiveness of the cerebral vasculature, particularly in disease states associated with an impaired endothelial dilatory response. This supports the potential therapeutic use of phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors in vascular cognitive impairment where CBF is reduced. Further studies with better resolution of deep CBF are warranted. The review is registered on the PROSPERO database (registration number CRD42016029668)

Disentangling the Cosmic Web I: Morphology of Isodensity Contours

We apply Minkowski functionals and various derived measures to decipher the morphological properties of large-scale structure seen in simulations of gravitational evolution. Minkowski functionals of isodensity contours serve as tools to test global properties of the density field. Furthermore, we identify coherent objects at various threshold levels and calculate their partial Minkowski functionals. We propose a set of two derived dimensionless quantities, planarity and filamentarity, which reduce the morphological information in a simple and intuitive way. Several simulations of the gravitational evolution of initial power-law spectra provide a framework for systematic tests of our method.Comment: 26 pages including 12 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap

The Anisotropy in the Galaxy Velocity Field Originated from the Gravitational Pancaking Effect

We analyze the Millennium run semi-analytic galaxy catalog to explore quantitatively the gravitational pancaking effect on the orientation of galaxy velocity field. We first calculate the probability density distribution of the cosine of the angle between the velocity of a field galaxy and the direction normal to a local pancake plane which is determined using two nearest neighbor field galaxies. A clear signal of alignment is detected for the case that the pancake scale is in the range of $5-8h^{-1}$ Mpc. The tendency of the velocity-pancake alignment is found to still exist when the pancakes are determined using three neighbor galaxies, indicating that it has a spatial coherence. The degree of the velocity-pancake alignment is shown to increase with the velocity magnitude and the local density, while it decreases with the separation distance from the galaxy to the pancake and disappears when the pancake has a filamentary shape. A final conclusion is that our work may provide another clue to understanding the large-scale structure in the universe.Comment: accepted by ApJL, new analyses included, discussions improve

Keck-Nirspec Infrared OH Lines: Oxygen Abundances in Metal-Poor Stars Down to [Fe/H] = -2.9

Infrared OH lines at 1.5 - 1.7 um in the H band were obtained with the NIRSPEC high-resolution spectrograph at the 10m Keck Telescope for a sample of seven metal-poor stars. Detailed analyses have been carried out, based on optical high-resolution data obtained with the FEROS spectrograph at ESO. Stellar parameters were derived by adopting infrared flux method effective temperatures, trigonometric and/or evolutionary gravities and metallicities from FeII lines. We obtain that the sample stars with metallicities [Fe/H] < -2.2 show a mean oxygen abundance [O/Fe] ~ 0.54, for a solar oxygen abundance of epsilon(O) = 8.87, or [O/Fe] ~ 0.64 if epsilon(O) = 8.77 is assumed.Comment: To be published in ApJ 575 (August 10