Interfaith-Cross-Cultural Improvisation: Music and Meaning Across Boundaries of Faith and Culture

This article explores the social value and meaning of interfaith-cross-cultural improvisation (musical improvisation between people from differing cultural and faith traditions) and its unique quality of engaging widely different cultural and faith-based groups. It draws concepts from evolutionary biology, ethnomusicology, religious experience, the emerging field of community music, and the insight of first-hand participants. Interfaith-cross-cultural improvisation can be seen as a form of “deep play” with the ability to signal and evoke empathy across participants who identify with divergent beliefs, cultures, and practices. The article attempts to illuminate the process of interfaith-cross-cultural improvisation as a meaningful undertaking of interfaith and multicultural practice, important to the formation of group empathy, sense of connection, and ultimately creating a deep sense of community

An Analysis of Alfred Schnittke's Fourth Symphony

This study presents an analysis of Alfred Schnittke's Fourth Symphony, scored for tenor soloist, contralto soloist, mixed chorus, and chamber orchestra. Commissioned by Le Chant du Mende publishing company in Paris, the Fourth Symphony was completedin 1984 during a period of increasing enthusiasm for Schnittke's compositions outside ofthe Soviet Union. In approaching an analysis of the Fourth Symphony, it is necessary to consider religious, political, and biographical issues relevant to the composition of the work as well as the music itself The Fourth Symphony is, in fact, an autobiographicalwork inspired by the composer's personal religious inquiries . Its overall structure isbased on the Rosary, a prayer closely associated with Schnittke's religion of choice, Roman Catholicism .</p

The Church Cantatas of Nicolaus Bruhn

This lecture-demonstration presents the twelve church cantatas of the seventeenth century composer, Nicolaus Bruhns (1665-1697), in an endeavor to shed light on a performance-worthy but neglected body of literature. The first portion of this discussion will be on the background of the cantatas and analysis. Topics include sonorities, harmonic language, melodic writing, metrical relationships, structure, performance practice, and other issues brought to light from study of the scores. The session will culminate in the performance of MuB nicht der Mensch auf dieser Erden in stetem Streite. one of Bruhns' s finest cantatas. While much of the discussion will involve general description of the twelve cantatas, excerpts from the specific cantatas will be cited in order to emphasize particular points.</p

Projects in Editing and Arranging

" Lamento della ninfa" (Lament of the nymph) appeared in Claudio Monteverdi's eighth book of madrigals - Madrigali guerrieri et amorosi - in 163 8. The lament is considered one of Monteverdi's late masterpieces. This famous composition is not a madrigal in the conventional sense. Rather , it is a three-section dramatic work in the theatrical style. The composer's performance instructions appear in the original Basso Continua part book. A translation of these instructions appears below: The way to perform the present vocal piece : the three voice parts to be sung before and after theLament of the Nymph have been kept separate because they are to be sung to the beaten time (qu ello de/a mano). The other three parts, which softly commiserate with the Nymph, have been printed in score, so that they can accompany her lament, which must be sung in time with the e motion s of the mind (ajfett o de f anim o) and not in time with the hand. Monteverdi set the parts for sections one and three in part books: Tenore Primo, Tenore Sec ondo , and Basso Primo . The vocal parts for the second section, " Amor," appear in score form in the Basso Continua and Alto Primo part books . From the distribution of parts in these part books , it is likely that the trio accompanying the soloist was a separate group from those singing in the outer two sections of the piece. The distribution of parts into part books is outlined in the following table.</p

Developmental arrest of T cells in RpL22-deficient mice is dependent upon multiple p53 effectors

available in PMC 2012 July 15alpha beta and gamma delta lineage T cells are thought to arise from a common CD4–CD8– progenitor in the thymus. However, the molecular pathways controlling fate selection and maturation of these two lineages remain poorly understood. We demonstrated recently that a ubiquitously expressed ribosomal protein, Rpl22, is selectively required for the development of alpha beta lineage T cells. Germline ablation of Rpl22 impairs development of alpha beta lineage, but not gamma delta lineage, T cells through activation of a p53-dependent checkpoint. In this study, we investigate the downstream effectors used by p53 to impair T cell development. We found that many p53 targets were induced in Rpl22−/− thymocytes, including miR-34a, PUMA, p21waf, Bax, and Noxa. Notably, the proapoptotic factor Bim, while not a direct p53 target, was also strongly induced in Rpl22−/− T cells. Gain-of-function analysis indicated that overexpression of miR-34a caused a developmental arrest reminiscent of that induced by p53 in Rpl22-deficient T cells; however, only a few p53 targets alleviated developmental arrest when individually ablated by gene targeting or knockdown. Co-elimination of PUMA and Bim resulted in a nearly complete restoration of development of Rpl22−/− thymocytes, indicating that p53-mediated arrest is enforced principally through effects on cell survival. Surprisingly, co-elimination of the primary p53 regulators of cell cycle arrest (p21waf) and apoptosis (PUMA) actually abrogated the partial rescue caused by loss of PUMA alone, suggesting that the G1 checkpoint protein p21[superscript waf] facilitates thymocyte development in some contexts.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) ( (NIH) Grant R01AI073920)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (NIH Core Grant P01CA06927)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) ( (NIH) Grant R21CA141194)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) ( NIH Center Grant P30-DK-50306)Pennsylvania (appropriation)Fox Chase Cancer Center (NIH Postdoctoral Training Grant T32 CA00903534)Fox Chase Cancer Center (NIH Postdoctoral Training Grant F32 AI089077-01A1

Osteocalcin signaling in myofibers is necessary and sufficient for optimum adaptation to exercise

Circulating levels of undercarboxylated and bioactive osteocalcin double during aerobic exercise at the time levels of insulin decrease. In contrast, circulating levels of osteocalcin plummet early during adulthood in mice, monkeys, and humans of both genders. Exploring these observations revealed that osteocalcin signaling in myofibers is necessary for adaptation to exercise by favoring uptake and catabolism of glucose and fatty acids, the main nutrients of myofibers. Osteocalcin signaling in myofibers also accounts for most of the exercise-induced release of interleukin-6, a myokine that promotes adaptation to exercise in part by driving the generation of bioactive osteocalcin. We further show that exogenous osteocalcin is sufficient to enhance the exercise capacity of young mice and to restore to 15-month-old mice the exercise capacity of 3-month-old mice. This study uncovers a bone-to-muscle feedforward endocrine axis that favors adaptation to exercise and can reverse the age-induced decline in exercise capacity

Stromal‐Derived Factor‐1α (CXCL12) Levels Increase in Periodontal Disease

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142300/1/jper0845.pd

Meta-analysis of epigenome-wide association studies in neonates reveals widespread differential DNA methylation associated with birthweight

Birthweight is associated with health outcomes across the life course, DNA methylation may be an underlying mechanism. In this meta-analysis of epigenome-wide association studies of 8,825 neonates from 24 birth cohorts in the Pregnancy And Childhood Epigenetics Consortium, we find that DNA methylation in neonatal blood is associated with birthweight at 914 sites, with a difference in birthweight ranging from -183 to 178 grams per 10% increase in methylation (P-Bonferroni <1.06 x 10(-7)). In additional analyses in 7,278 participants,Peer reviewe

Genome-wide meta-analysis of 241,258 adults accounting for smoking behaviour identifies novel loci for obesity traits

Few genome-wide association studies (GWAS) account for environmental exposures, like smoking, potentially impacting the overall trait variance when investigating the genetic contribution to obesity-related traits. Here, we use GWAS data from 51,080 current smokers and 190,178 nonsmokers (87% European descent) to identify loci influencing BMI and central adiposity, measured as waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio both adjusted for BMI. We identify 23 novel genetic loci, and 9 loci with convincing evidence of gene-smoking interaction (GxSMK) on obesity-related traits. We show consistent direction of effect for all identified loci and significance for 18 novel and for 5 interaction loci in an independent study sample. These loci highlight novel biological functions, including response to oxidative stress, addictive behaviour, and regulatory functions emphasizing the importance of accounting for environment in genetic analyses. Our results suggest that tobacco smoking may alter the genetic susceptibility to overall adiposity and body fat distribution.Peer reviewe