Requiem Mass as Concert Piece

This dissertation concerns the history and architecture of the requiem mass as a composition conceived and designed for concert performance. The overall academic format and design of this work includes five chapters and a score of the authors own original requiem mass composition. Chapter one contains an historical overview and discusses how the mass (including the requiem mass) has evolved from traditional religious ceremony to complex musical performance piece. Chapter two provides a brief overview and analysis (limited to the Introit and Kyrie sections) of the requiem masses by Mozart, Berlioz, Verdi, and Britten (which are the four most important contributions to the genre of the requiem mass as concert piece). Particular attention is paid to the use of counterpoint and chromaticism within these pieces, and how these two specific devices contribute to development of the timbral interplay and textural variation of the concerted style. Chapter three includes a survey of the state of the requiem mass as concert piece in Canada and analysis of relevant requiem masses by Canadian composers. Chapter four tackles the oppositional rubrics of absolute music and programme music, the grey area which exists between the standard definitions of these two concepts, and what the limits of absolute music are, including the use of vocal participants and text-setting. Finally, chapter five contains a thorough description of the authors own original requiem mass composition. This latter component manifests itself in the form of a major compositional exegesis scored for full symphonic orchestra and mixed SATB chorus. It incorporates the standardized seven movements of the Latin text of the requiem mass Introit, Sequence, Offertory, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, Libera Me, and In Paradisum and has a duration of approximately sixty minutes

BSE infectivity survives burial for five years with only limited spread

© 2019, The Author(s). The carcasses of animals infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), scrapie or chronic wasting disease (CWD) that remain in the environment (exposed or buried) may continue to act as reservoirs of infectivity. We conducted two experiments under near-field conditions to investigate the survival and dissemination of BSE infectivity after burial in a clay or sandy soil. BSE infectivity was either contained within a bovine skull or buried as an uncontained bolus of BSE-infected brain. Throughout the five-year period of the experiment, BSE infectivity was recovered in similar amounts from heads exhumed annually from both types of soil. Very low levels of infectivity were detected in the soil immediately surrounding the heads, but not in samples remote from them. Similarly, there was no evidence of significant lateral movement of infectivity from the buried bolus over 4 years although there was a little vertical movement in both directions. However, bioassay analysis of limited numbers of samples of rain water that had drained through the bolus clay lysimeter indicated that infectivity was present in filtrates. sPMCA analysis also detected low levels of PrP Sc in the filtrates up to 25 months following burial, raising the concern that leakage of infectivity into ground water could occur. We conclude that transmissible spongiform encephalopathy infectivity is likely to survive burial for long periods of time, but not to migrate far from the site of burial unless a vector or rain water drainage transports it. Risk assessments of contaminated sites should take these findings into account

A history of high-power laser research and development in the United Kingdom

The first demonstration of laser action in ruby was made in 1960 by T. H. Maiman of Hughes Research Laboratories, USA. Many laboratories worldwide began the search for lasers using different materials, operating at different wavelengths. In the UK, academia, industry and the central laboratories took up the challenge from the earliest days to develop these systems for a broad range of applications. This historical review looks at the contribution the UK has made to the advancement of the technology, the development of systems and components and their exploitation over the last 60 years

BHPR research: qualitative1. Complex reasoning determines patients' perception of outcome following foot surgery in rheumatoid arhtritis

Background: Foot surgery is common in patients with RA but research into surgical outcomes is limited and conceptually flawed as current outcome measures lack face validity: to date no one has asked patients what is important to them. This study aimed to determine which factors are important to patients when evaluating the success of foot surgery in RA Methods: Semi structured interviews of RA patients who had undergone foot surgery were conducted and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis of interviews was conducted to explore issues that were important to patients. Results: 11 RA patients (9 ♂, mean age 59, dis dur = 22yrs, mean of 3 yrs post op) with mixed experiences of foot surgery were interviewed. Patients interpreted outcome in respect to a multitude of factors, frequently positive change in one aspect contrasted with negative opinions about another. Overall, four major themes emerged. Function: Functional ability & participation in valued activities were very important to patients. Walking ability was a key concern but patients interpreted levels of activity in light of other aspects of their disease, reflecting on change in functional ability more than overall level. Positive feelings of improved mobility were often moderated by negative self perception ("I mean, I still walk like a waddling duck”). Appearance: Appearance was important to almost all patients but perhaps the most complex theme of all. Physical appearance, foot shape, and footwear were closely interlinked, yet patients saw these as distinct separate concepts. Patients need to legitimize these feelings was clear and they frequently entered into a defensive repertoire ("it's not cosmetic surgery; it's something that's more important than that, you know?”). Clinician opinion: Surgeons' post operative evaluation of the procedure was very influential. The impact of this appraisal continued to affect patients' lasting impression irrespective of how the outcome compared to their initial goals ("when he'd done it ... he said that hasn't worked as good as he'd wanted to ... but the pain has gone”). Pain: Whilst pain was important to almost all patients, it appeared to be less important than the other themes. Pain was predominately raised when it influenced other themes, such as function; many still felt the need to legitimize their foot pain in order for health professionals to take it seriously ("in the end I went to my GP because it had happened a few times and I went to an orthopaedic surgeon who was quite dismissive of it, it was like what are you complaining about”). Conclusions: Patients interpret the outcome of foot surgery using a multitude of interrelated factors, particularly functional ability, appearance and surgeons' appraisal of the procedure. While pain was often noted, this appeared less important than other factors in the overall outcome of the surgery. Future research into foot surgery should incorporate the complexity of how patients determine their outcome Disclosure statement: All authors have declared no conflicts of interes

Efficient Raman shifting of high-energy picosecond pulses into the eye-safe 1.5-µm spectral region by use of a KGd(WO4)_2 crystal

We report an efficient transient stimulated Raman conversion of high-energy picosecond pulses at 1350 nm into the eye-safe 1500-nm wavelength range by use of a KGd(WO4)_2 crystal. The conversion efficiency into either 1503- or 1537-nm radiation (767- or 901-cm^-1 Raman modes, respectively) is measured to be ~10% in a single-pass configuration. The transient Raman gain coefficient is found to be ~0.8 cm/GW. Simultaneous generation of multiple Raman lines is also observed