Leopold Mozart, the Rationalist? Humanism and Good Taste in Eighteenth-Century Musical Thought

The religious turn in eighteenth-century studies over the last two decades has created opportunities to revisit and refine some of our most entrenched ideas about this period in history. Revisionist histories of the Enlightenment emphasize various compromises between religion and secularism, tradition and individual freedom, faith and reason. One important nexus among these tendentious beliefs and values is the Jesuit education system. Using Leopold Mozart, father of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as a case study, this essay argues that “enlightened Christianity” long predated the Age of Enlightenment. The Jesuit educational system, which was founded on the humanist neoclassicism that proliferated in the Renaissance, was both philosophically sophisticated and theologically uncompromising. Leopold Mozart’s Jesuit education was centered on humanistic studies and, specifically, classic Greek and Roman texts. His philosophy of art and general worldview reflect the influence of those texts, and, as I argue, his particular shade of rationalism is best understood in light of his internalization (and reappropriation) of humanist philosophy, aesthetics, and ethics. Leopold’s humanistic orientation is prominently exhibited in the concept of taste. Five central aspects of Leopold’s aesthetic ideal of taste emerge from his personal and professional writings—moderation, clarity, propriety, expression, and ornamentation. These operate within a (predominately Ciceronean) humanist framework that promotes reason beyond rules—reason born of wisdom and experience and fitted to navigate uncertain situations that may defy a predetermined ideal. Taste, itself frequently associated with dogma and rules, is here revealed as a counterpoint to them and a keystone to Leopold’s humanistic shade of rationalism

The Cytoplasmic Membrane Carbon(4)-transport Components In Escherichia Coli K12: Identification And Purification Studies

The C(,4)-dicarboxylate transport system of Escherichia coli K12 is responsible for the active uptake of succinate, fumarate and malate. Genetic and biochemical evidence has indicated that at least three distinct components appear to be involved in this transport process. Two of these transport components are the cytoplasmic membrane-bound succinate binding proteins, SBP1 and SBP2, which are coded for by the dctB (16 minutes) and dctA (78 minutes) genes respectively. Early work on these two transport proteins involved their isolation via aspartate-Sepharose chromatography from detergent-solubilized cytoplasmic membrane vesicles. The impurity of the isolated dicarboxylate transport proteins necessitated the development of techniques for their identification and purification. Three affinity techniques were developed that utilized the recognition of the transport components\u27 substrate binding sites in order to identify and enrich the proteins prior to further purification steps. These techniques included aspartate-Sepharose affinity chromatography, immunoblotting of cytoplasmic membrane proteins with succinate-specific antiidiotypic antibodies and photoaffinity labelling of proteins in isolated membranes and whole cells. All three techniques involved a comparison of a wild-type strain (CBT43) with various dicarboxylate transport-mutant strains. The original aspartate-Sepharose protocol was optimized in terms of the isolation, solubilization and affinity chromatography of the cytoplasmic membrane proteins. The results of (\u2714)C -succinate binding studies with affinity-purified proteins from strain CBT43 and affinity chromatography of transport-mutant cytoplasmic membrane proteins suggests that a 53K protein was a good candidate for the SBP2 transport component. The immunoblotting studies employed antiidiotypic antibodies raised against the antigen binding site of succinate-specific IgG molecules and again implicated a 53K protein in the transport process. Finally, photoaffinity labelling of whole cells with N-(4-azido-2-nitrophenyl)aspartic acid suggested that a 47K protein might be involved in dicarboxylate transport. Further studies with dctA and dctB transformants are necessary to confirm the identity of the 53K protein as a succinate transport component and to establish the relationship, if any, between the 47K and 53K proteins

Inferring Information Flow in Spike-train Data Sets using a Trial-Shuffle Method

Understanding information processing in the brain requires the ability to determine the functional connectivity between the different regions of the brain. We present a method using transfer entropy to extract this flow of information between brain regions from spike-train data commonly obtained in neurological experiments. Transfer entropy is a statistical measure based in information theory that attempts to quantify the information flow from one process to another, and has been applied to find connectivity in simulated spike-train data. Due to statistical error in the estimator, inferring functional connectivity requires a method for determining significance in the transfer entropy values. We discuss the issues with numerical estimation of transfer entropy and resulting challenges in determining significance before presenting the trial-shuffle method as a viable option. The trial-shuffle method, for spike-train data that is split into multiple trials, determines significant transfer entropy values independently for each individual pair of neurons by comparing to a created baseline distribution using a rigorous statistical test. This is in contrast to either globally comparing all neuron transfer entropy values or comparing pairwise values to a single baseline value. In establishing the viability of this method by comparison to several alternative approaches in the literature, we find evidence that preserving the inter-spike-interval timing is important. We then use the trial-shuffle method to investigate information flow within a model network as we vary model parameters. This includes investigating the global flow of information within a connectivity network divided into two well-connected subnetworks, going beyond local transfer of information between pairs of neurons.Comment: 24 pages, 6 figure

Treaty federalism: building a foundation for duty to consult in Saskatchewan

In Canada, the duty to consult doctrine has been articulated as a legal remedy to address the potential infringement of Aboriginal and treaty rights by the Crown. The political dimension and implications of this legal duty on the evolving federal relationship between First Nations and the provincial Crown concerning lands and resources have yet to be fully explored. This research presents the argument that the duty to consult jurisprudence and the ‘new relationship’ policy in British Columbia are moving towards the articulation of a treaty federalism relationship between the Crown and First Nations. The implications of these findings are then analyzed within the Saskatchewan policy environment, and a potential consultation framework is offered for this province. Crucial linkages between duty to consult jurisprudence and Aboriginal governance, and their implications for policy are highlighted, which contribute to further understanding the complex relationship between First Nations and the Crown in Canada on land and resources

Slipped capital femoral epiphysis

This issue of eMedRef provides information to clinicians on the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and therapeutics of a slipped capital femoral epiphysis

Katherine Backherms-Thornton interview for Miami University of Ohio Oral History Course 685 and the Miami Valley Cultural Heritage Project

On March 1, 2003 Jodie Walker interviewed Katherine Backherms-Thornton, a housewife and mother of six children, as part of the requirement for the Miami University Oral History 685 Course and the Miami Valley Cultural Heritage Project. During the interview Kay Backherms-Thornton discusses her two brothers joining the army and the navy World War II, her marriage, and more

Comorbidities and Race/Ethnicity Among Adults with Stimulant Use Disorders in Residential Treatment

Comorbid physical and mental health problems are associated with poorer substance abuse treatment outcomes; however, little is known about these conditions among stimulant abusers at treatment entry. This study compared racial and ethnic groups on baseline measures of drug use patterns, comorbid physical and mental health disorders, quality of life, and daily functioning among cocaine and stimulant abusing/dependent patients. Baseline data from a multi-site randomized clinical trial of vigorous exercise as a treatment strategy for a diverse population of stimulant abusers (N = 290) were analyzed. Significant differences between groups were found on drug use characteristics, stimulant use disorders, and comorbid mental and physical health conditions. Findings highlight the importance of integrating health and mental health services into substance abuse treatment and could help identify potential areas for intervention to improve treatment outcomes for racial and ethnic minority groups

Library Consultation Assessment: Examining Time and Difficulty Across Patron Type, Format, and Location

Patron consultations, ranging from simple directions to complex research inquiries, are a notable component of librarians’ work. Research has examined different facets of these consultations, such as topic, skill development, and location, however, fewer studies have examined the duration and difficulty of those library consultations. We examine both the time and difficulty of library consultations across patron type (e.g. community member, undergraduate student), format (e.g. email, in person), as well as campus location (e.g. Atlanta, Decatur, Clarkston). Data used for this analysis is from the Patron Transaction log for Georgia State University Library which contains over 150,000 consultations

Melanoma mimicking malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor with spread to the cerebellopontine angle: Utility of next-generation sequencing in diagnosis

Cutaneous spindle cell malignancy is associated with a broad differential diagnosis, particularly in the absence of a known primary melanocytic lesion. We present an unusually challenging patient who presented with clinical symptoms involving cranial nerves VII and VIII and a parotid-region mass, which was S100-positive while lacking in melanocytic pigment and markers. Over a year after resection of the parotid mass, both a cutaneous primary lentigo maligna melanoma and a metastatic CP angle melanoma were diagnosed in the same patient, prompting reconsideration of the diagnosis in the original parotid-region mass. Next-generation sequencing of a panel of cancer-associated genes demonstrated 19 identical, clinically significant mutations as well as a high tumor mutation burden in both the parotid-region and CP angle tumors, indicating a metastatic relationship between the two and a melanocytic identity of the parotid-region tumor