Kreuzer, Gundula. 2018. Curtain, Gong, Steam: Wagnerian Technologies of Nineteenth-Century Opera. Oakland, CA: University of California Press.

In a recent Journal of the American Musicological Society colloquy, “Discrete/ Continuous: Music and Media Theory after Kittler,” Alexander Rehding argues that the late Friedrich Kittler’s media theory—and its subsequent development by media theorists after Kittler (Sybille Krämer, Bernhard Siegert, Wolfgang Ernst, Jussi Parikka)—has a great deal to offer current musicology (Rehding et al. 2017, 225). Despite criticisms from Geoffrey Winthrop-Young (2002, 832) that Kittler adheres to a form of technological determinism, and focuses too narrowly on the connection between media technologies and the military-industrial complex, Rehding claims that Kittler’s media theory can nevertheless help musicologists make sense of the material and technological underpinnings of music and sound. One such application of Kittler’s media theory comes in the form of Gundula Kreuzer’s Curtain, Gong, Steam: Wagnerian Technologies of Nineteenth-Century Opera. Kreuzer’s book is an outstanding example of the productive ways that Kittler’s media theory can be applied within opera studies, and more specifically to the integrative multimedia experience of Wagner’s Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art). Yet what makes Curtain, Gong, Steam such an effective book—and without a doubt this book is truly remarkable for the ways it has changed the way I think about Wagner and opera in general—is that while it is in dialogue with Kittler’s media theory, it is not confined by the latter’s ideas or methodologies.1 As Kreuzer states in her contribution to the aforementioned JAMS colloquy (“Kittler’s Wagner and Beyond”), Kittler relied too much on Wagner’s idealized theoretical writings, and not enough on the material realities of how these operas were realized on the stage (Rehding et al. 2017, 231). As a corrective, Kreuzer aims to present her own media archaeology of the Wagnerian Gesamtkunstwerk—a history of the technologies involved in the immersive multimedia experience at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus (230). Kreuzer’s book carries out this media archaeology by considering three often-overlooked technologies—the curtain, gong, and steam—which enable her to explore the mechanical aspects that Wagner sought to hide in his theoretical writings. Each chapter examines a particular Wagnerian technology, and each one illuminates some aspect of the relationship of the media involved in the Gesamtkunstwerk

Inference in Regression Discontinuity Designs with High-Dimensional Covariates

We study regression discontinuity designs in which many predetermined covariates, possibly much more than the number of observations, can be used to increase the precision of treatment effect estimates. We consider a two-step estimator which first selects a small number of "important" covariates through a localized Lasso-type procedure, and then, in a second step, estimates the treatment effect by including the selected covariates linearly into the usual local linear estimator. We provide an in-depth analysis of the algorithm's theoretical properties, showing that, under an approximate sparsity condition, the resulting estimator is asymptotically normal, with asymptotic bias and variance that are conceptually similar to those obtained in low-dimensional settings. Bandwidth selection and inference can be carried out using standard methods. We also provide simulations and an empirical application

Reduction of dichloro(diaza-phospha)stibanes – isolation of a donor-stabilized distibenium dication

A reaction of antimonytrichloride SbCl3 with potassium bis(terphenylimino)phosphide K[(TerN)2P] smoothly afforded a novel class of mixed diazadipnictanes, namely dichloro(diaza-phospha)stibane [Ter2N2P(III)Sb(III)Cl2], which is considered to exist as open chain-like and cyclic isomers in an equilibrium. [Ter2N2PSbCl2] is a versatile starting material for reduction and halide abstraction experiments. Halide abstraction led to the formation of a cyclic diazastibaphosphenium cation [P(μ-NTer)2SbCl]+. Upon reduction of [Ter2N2PSbCl2], the transient existence of the novel mixed biradicaloid [P(μ-NTer)2Sb] was proven by a trapping experiment with an alkyne, while reduction in the absence of trapping agents afforded the eight-membered heterocycle [Sb2-{μ-(TerN)2P}2]. This constitutional isomer of a dimerized biradicaloid features a bonding situation that indicates the presence of a donor-stabilized [Sb2]2+ ion

Möglichkeiten der Steigerung der Autopsierate am Krankenhaus der Regelversorgung

Die klinische Obduktion erfüllt heutzutage vor allem Aufgaben in der Qualitätssicherung. Trotz eines hohen individuellen und gesundheitspolitischen Stellenwertes fällt die Zahl der tatsächlich durchgeführten Sektionen seit Jahrzehnten weltweit. Die Gründe für das Absinken sind multifaktoriell. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird die Rolle des zuletzt behandelnden Arztes untersucht, der bei der Initialisierung des Vorganges (Arztgespräch mit den Angehörigen, Dokumentation, Anmeldung der Obduktion) eine wichtige Rolle spielt. Zu diesem Zweck wurden die von 2005 bis 2012 am Ev. Diakonissenkrankenhaus Leipzig durchgeführten 194 Obduktionen ausgewertet. Durch krankenhausweite, arzt-zentrierte Mittel der Hilfestellung, Schulung und Formalisierung im Jahr 2009 gelang es, die Autopsierate am akademischen Lehrkrankenhaus der Regelversorgung von 3,3% auf 26% zu steigern. Im Rahmen der Untersuchung wurden klinisch vermutete und autoptisch nachgewiesene Todesursachen verglichen und die Ergebnisse in Fehlerklassen eingeteilt. Im Kontrollzeitraum vor dem Maßnahmenpaket wurde eine Gesamt-Fehlerrate von 54% in den Todesursachen (davon 18,8 % prognoserelevante Fehler) festgestellt. Nach Intervention konnte ein Absinken der Gesamt-Fehlerrate auf 27,9% (davon 11,6% prognoserelevante Diskrepanzen) gemessen werden. Nach Gruppierung der autoptisch erhobenen Todesursachen wurden „einfache“ und „schwierige“ Diagnosen erarbeitet. Dabei zeigten sich Lungenembolien (45,5% Fehleinschätzung), Infektionen (13,7% Fehleinschätzung) und akut dekompensierte Herzinsuffizienzen (8,8% Fehleinschätzung) als am häufigsten klinisch verkannte todesursächliche Krankheiten. Eine Sektionsfrequenz von ca. 30% wird als ausreichende epidemiologische Datengrundlage zur Validierung der Todesursachenstatistik angesehen (Bundesärztekammer 2005). In Deutschland beträgt die Rate aktuell etwa 4%. Bemüht man sich um eine Steigerung der Obduktionsrate, ist die Rolle des zuletzt behandelnden Arztes hervorzuheben. In der vorliegenden Arbeit konnte durch einfache Mittel der Beseitigung von Unsicherheiten, Schulung und Formalisierung (SOP) eine deutliche Steigerung der Rate an Sektionen ermöglicht werden. In Konsequenz wurde ein Absinken der Diagnose-Diskrepanzrate und der Anzahl an prognoserelevanten Irrtümern (18,8% auf 11,6%) in den Todesursachen festgestellt. Ob dies allein einen didaktischen Erfolg der vermehrten Behandlungsnachschau darstellt, oder statistische Effekte (verringerter Selektionsbias) beinhaltet, muss offen bleiben. Auffällig ist die Schlüsselstellung der Intensivtherapiestation. Da hier aufgrund der Erkrankungsschwere die höchste Patientensterblichkeit im Krankenhaus vorliegt (25% der pro Jahr Versterbenden), ist eine positive Einstellung der ärztlichen Kollegen gegenüber der Obduktion von entscheidender Bedeutung. Das Maßnahmenpaket ist auf andere Einrichtungen übertragbar und ein für Ärzteschaft und Geschäftsführung lohnender Aufwand, da neben sämtlichen individuellen Vorteilen für Angehörige und Mediziner die Ergebnisse einer solchen Auswertung als globale Qualitätsindikatoren für ein Krankenhaus dienen können

Kreuzer, Gundula. 2018. Curtain, Gong, Steam: Wagnerian Technologies of Nineteenth-Century Opera. Oakland, CA: University of California Press.

In a recent Journal of the American Musicological Society colloquy, “Discrete/Continuous: Music and Media Theory after Kittler,” Alexander Rehding argues that the late Friedrich Kittler’s media theory—and its subsequent development by media theorists after Kittler (Sybille Krämer, Bernhard Siegert, Wolfgang Ernst, Jussi Parikka)—has a great deal to offer current musicology (Rehding et al. 2017, 225). Despite criticisms from Geoffrey Winthrop-Young (2002, 832) that Kittler adheres to a form of technologi-cal determinism, and focuses too narrowly on the connection between me-dia technologies and the military-industrial complex, Rehding claims that Kittler’s media theory can nevertheless help musicologists make sense of the material and technological underpinnings of music and sound

Synthetic strategies to bicyclic tetraphosphanes using P1, P2 and P4 building blocks

Different reactions of Mes* substituted phosphanes (Mes* = 2,4,6-tri-tert-butylphenyl) led to the formation of the bicyclic tetraphosphane Mes*P4Mes* (5) and its unknown Lewis acid adduct 5·GaCl3. In this context, the endo–exo isomer of 5 was fully characterized for the first time. The synthesis was achieved by reactions involving “self-assembly” of the P4 scaffold from P1 building blocks (i.e. primary phosphanes) or by reactions starting from P2 or P4 scaffolds (i.e. a diphosphene or cyclic tetraphosphane). Furthermore, interconversion between the exo–exo and endo–exo isomer were studied by 31P NMR spectroscopy. All compounds were fully characterized by experimental as well as computational methods

Associations between dietary patterns and post-bronchodilation lung function in the SAPALDIA cohort

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is not restricted to smokers. Dietary habits may contribute to the disease occurrence. Epidemiological studies point to a protective effect of fruit and vegetable intake against COPD. Objective: To investigate the associations between dietary patterns and parameters of lung function related to COPD in the Swiss Cohort Study on Air Pollution and Lung and Heart Diseases in Adults (SAPALDIA). Methods: Data were included from the second follow-up assessment of the SAPALDIA cohort in 2010-2011 using a food frequency questionnaire. Principal component factor analysis was used to derive dietary patterns, whose association with FEV1, FEV1/FVC, FEF2575, and COPD was investigated by applying multivariate regression analyses. Results: After adjustment for potential confounders, the “prudent dietary pattern” characterised by the predominant food groups vegetables, fruits, water, tea and coffee, fish, and nuts was positively associated with FEV1 (increase of 40 mL per SD, p < 0.001). Also for factor 3 (“high-carbohydrate diet”), we found a significant positive association with FEV1 (with an increase per SD of 36 mL, p = 0.006). Conclusions: The main results are consistent with a protective effect of a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, fish, and nuts against age-related chronic respiratory disease. If confirmed in prospective cohorts, our results may guide nutritional counselling towards respiratory health promotion

Ammonium Pertechnetate in Mixtures of Trifluoromethanesulfonic Acid and Trifluoromethanesulfonic Anhydride

Ammonium pertechnetate reacts in mixtures of trifluoromethanesulfonic anhydride and trifluoromethanesulfonic acid under final formation of ammonium pentakis(trifluoromethanesulfonato)oxidotechnetate(V), (NH4)2[TcO(OTf)5]. The reaction proceeds only at exact concentrations and under the exclusion of air and moisture via pertechnetyl trifluoromethanesulfonate, [TcO3(OTf)], and intermediate TcVI species. 99Tc nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) has been used to study the TcVII compound and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), 99Tc NMR and X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) experiments indicate the presence of the reduced technetium species. In moist air, (NH4)2[TcO(OTf)5] slowly hydrolyses under formation of the tetrameric oxidotechnetate(V) (NH4)4[{TcO(TcO4)4}4] ⋅10 H2O. Single-crystal X-ray crystallography was used to determine the solid-state structures. Additionally, UV/Vis absorption and IR spectra as well as quantum chemical calculations confirm the identity of the species

Hippocampus-Avoidance Whole-Brain Radiation Therapy Is Efficient in the Long-Term Preservation of Hippocampal Volume

Background and Purpose: With improved life expectancy, preventing neurocognitive decline after cerebral radiotherapy is gaining more importance. Hippocampal damage has been considered the main culprit for cognitive deficits following conventional whole-brain radiation therapy (WBRT). Here, we aimed to determine to which extent hippocampus-avoidance WBRT (HA-WBRT) can prevent hippocampal atrophy compared to conventional WBRT. Methods and Materials: Thirty-five HA-WBRT and 48 WBRT patients were retrospectively selected, comprising a total of 544 contrast-enhanced T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging studies, longitudinally acquired within 24 months before and 48 months after radiotherapy. HA-WBRT patients were treated analogously to the ongoing HIPPORAD-trial (DRKS00004598) protocol with 30 Gy in 12 fractions and dose to 98% of the hippocampus ≤ 9 Gy and to 2% ≤ 17 Gy. WBRT was mainly performed with 35 Gy in 14 fractions or 30 Gy in 10 fractions. Anatomical images were segmented and the hippocampal volume was quantified using the Computational Anatomy Toolbox (CAT), including neuroradiological expert review of the segmentations. Results: After statistically controlling for confounding variables such as age, gender, and total intracranial volume, hippocampal atrophy was found after both WBRT and HA-WBRT (p Conclusion: HA-WBRT is a therapeutic option for patients with multiple brain metastases, which can effectively and durably minimize hippocampal atrophy compared to conventional WBRT