Manuel de Falla' s Siete canciones populares españolas: The composer's personal library, folksong models and the creative process

Manuel de Falla's personal library provides a unique resource for the study of the composer's assimilation of ideas, and his lifelong habit of annotating his reading material and scores heightens the library's usefulness to an understanding of his creative process. Falla's reliance on musical borrowings in his compositions means that a study of the printed scores in his library often gives insights into the sources employed and the development of his musical ideas. The limited extent of Falla's field work in the realm of folk music makes this source even more valuable to discussions of folk-inspired works such as the Siete canciones populares españolas. The provenance of the melodies employed by Falla in that work has been the subject of articles by Manuel Garcia Matos and Josep Crivillé i Bargalló. While indebted to their research, this study argues that in the Siete canciones populares españolas all of Falla's melodic lines and some of the accompaniments are based, to varying degrees, on the assimilation of materials taken from specific publications in his possession. Falla's exposure to and incorporation of folk music in his scores is also examined, and the Siete canciones populares españolas are situated within the creative context of Falla's Parisian milieu. Finally, similarities are drawn between Falla's use of folk sources and the process through which early music was incorporated into his neoclassical scores of the 1920s.La biblioteca personal de Manuel de Falla proporciona una fuente única para el estudio de la asimilación de ideas del compositor, y su hábito de toda la vida de anotar su material de lectura y partituras elevan la utilidad de la biblioteca a una comprensión de su proceso creativo. El uso de música preexistente en varias composiciones de Falla da más relevancia al estudio de las partituras impresas en su biblioteca es un trabajo que puede aclarar las fuentes empleadas por Falla y el desarrollo de sus ideas musicales. La magnitud limitada del trabajo del campo de Falla en el reino de música folclórica hace esta fuente aun más valiosa para el estudio de trabajos inspirados en el folclore como las Siete canciones populares españolas. La procedencia de las melodías empleadas por Falla en ese trabajo ha sido el centro de artículos de Manuel García Matos y Josep Crivillé i Bargalló. Basado en sus investigaciones, este estudio sostiene que en las Siete canciones populares españolas todas las lineas melódicas de Falla y algunos de los acompañamientos están basados, con variaciones, en la asimilación de materiales tomada de las publicaciones específicas de su propiedad. La incorporación de música folclórica en las partituras de Falla también es examinada, y las Siete canciones populares españolas se sitúan dentro del contexto creativo de su entorno parisiense. Finalmente, se compara el uso que hace Falla de fuentes folclóricas y el proceso a través de que la música antigua estaba incorporada en sus partituras neoclásicas de los años veinte

Volume of visual field assessed with kinetic perimetry and its application to static perimetry

John B ChristoforidisCollege of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USABackground: The purpose of this study was to quantify the volume of the kinetic visual field with a single unit that accounts for visual field area and differential luminance sensitivity.Methods: Kinetic visual field perimetry was performed with a Goldmann perimeter using I4e, I3e, I2e, and I1e targets. The visual fields of 25 normal volunteers (17 women, eight men) of mean age 33.9 ± 10.1 (range 17–64) years were obtained and digitized. Isopter areas were measured with a method devised to correct cartographic distortion due to polar projection inherent in perimetry and are expressed in steradians. The third dimension of each isopter represents sensitivity to target luminance and was calculated as log (target luminance-1). If luminance is expressed in cd/m2, the values for the third dimension are 0.5 for I4e, 1.0 for I3e, 1.5 for I2e, and 2.0 for I1e. The resulting unit is a steradian (log 103 (cd/m2)-1 which is referred to as a Goldmann. In addition, the visual fields of four patients with representative visual defect patterns were examined and compared with normal subjects.Results: Mean isopter areas for normal subjects were 3.092 ± 0.242 steradians for I4e, 2.349 ± 0.280 steradians for I3e, 1.242 ± 0.263 steradians for I2e, and 0.251 ± 0.114 steradians for the I1e target. Isopter volumes were 1.546 ± 0.121 Goldmanns for the I4e target, 1.174 ± 0.140 Goldmanns for I3e, 0.621 ± 0.131 Goldmanns for I2e, and 0.126 ± 0.057 Goldmanns for I1e. The total mean visual field volume in our study for the I target was 3.467 ± 0.371 Goldmanns.Conclusion: The volume of the island of vision may be used to quantify a visual field with a single value which contains information about both visual field extension and differential luminance sensitivity. This technique may be used to assess the progression or stability of visual field defects over time. A similar method may be applied to static perimetry.Keywords: visual field, kinetic perimetry, static perimetry, steradian, cartographic distortio

Wound Infection After Excision and Primary Midline Closure for Pilonidal Disease: Risk Factor Analysis to Improve Patient Selection

Background: Excision and primary midline closure for pilonidal disease (PD) is a simple procedure; however, it is frequently complicated by infection and prolonged healing. The aim of this study was to analyze risk factors for surgical site infection (SSI) in this context. Methods: All consecutive patients undergoing excision and primary closure for PD from January 2002 through October 2008 were retrospectively assessed. The end points were SSI, as defined by the Center for Disease Control, and time to healing. Univariable and multivariable risk factor analyses were performed. Results: One hundred thirty-one patients were included [97 men (74%), median age=24 (range 15-66) years]. SSI occurred in 41 (31%) patients. Median time to healing was 20days (range 12-76) in patients without SSI and 62days (range 20-176) in patients with SSI (P<0.0001). In univariable and multivariable analyses, smoking [OR=2.6 (95% CI 1.02, 6.8), P=0.046] and lack of antibiotic prophylaxis [OR=5.6 (95% CI 2.5, 14.3), P=0.001] were significant predictors for SSI. Adjusted for SSI, age over 25 was a significant predictor of prolonged healing. Conclusion: This study suggests that the rate of SSI after excision and primary closure of PD is higher in smokers and could be reduced by antibiotic prophylaxis. SSI significantly prolongs healing time, particularly in patients over 25year

Tuning thermally treated graphitic carbon nitride for H₂ evolution and CO₂ photoreduction: The effects of material properties and mid-gap states

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) is regarded as an attractive photocatalyst for solar fuel production, i.e., H2 evolution and CO2 photoreduction. Yet, its structural, chemical and optoelectronic properties are very much dependent on the synthesis method and are likely to contribute differently whether H2 evolution or CO2 reduction is considered. Little is known about this aspect making it difficult to tailor g-C3N4 structure and chemistry for a specific photoreaction. Herein, we create g-C3N4 of varying chemical, structural and optical features by applying specific thermal treatments and investigating the effects of the materials properties on solar fuel production. The samples were characterized across scales using spectroscopic, analytical and imaging tools, with particular attention given to the analyses of trap states. In the case of H2 evolution, the reaction is controlled by light absorption and charge separation enabled by the presence of trap states created by N vacancies. In the case of CO2 photoreduction, reactant adsorption appears as a dominating factor. The analyses also suggest that the thermal treatment leads to the formation of trap states located close to the valence band of g-C3N4

Optical coherence tomography findings of quinine poisoning

John Christoforidis, Robert Ricketts, Theodore Loizos, Susie ChangThe Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH, USAPurpose: To report a case of acute quinine poisoning, document acute and chronic macular changes with optical coherence tomography imaging and fluorescein angiography (FA), and to review the literature on ocular toxicity of quinine.Methods: A 32-year-old white female presented to our Emergency Department after ingesting over 7.5 g of quinine. She underwent a complete ophthalmologic examination, fluorescein angiography, Stratus time-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT), and electroretinography at 72 hours and 15 months postingestion. Stratus time-domain and Cirrus spectral-domain OCT, fundus autofluorescence, and FA were obtained at 28 months postingestion.Results: Fluorescein angiography at 72 hours postingestion revealed normal filling times and vasculature. OCT showed marked thickening of the inner retina bilaterally. At 15 and 28 months follow-up, fundus photography and fluorescein angiography demonstrated optic nerve pallor, severely attenuated retinal vessels while OCT showed inner retinal atrophy. Fundus autofluorescence did not reveal any retinal pigmentary abnormalities.Conclusions: Quinine toxicity as seen by OCT reveals increased thickness with inner retinal hyperreflectivity acutely with development of significant retinal atrophy in the long-term. Fundus autofluorescence reveals an intact retinal pigment epithelial layer at 28 months. These findings suggest that quinine poisoning may produce a direct toxic effect on the inner retina in the acute phase resulting in long-term retinal atrophy.Keywords: retinal, optical coherence tomography, quinine toxicity&amp;nbsp

Artificial Intelligence Techniques Applied to Electromagnetic Interference Problems Between Power Lines and Metal Pipelines

European ecological regulations meant to protect nature and wild life along with construction cost reduction policies generated a set of government regulations that limit the access to new transmission and distribution corridors. As a result, gas, water or oil supply pipelines are forced to share the same distribution corridors with Electrical Power Lines (EPL), AC Railway Systems or Telecommunication Lines (figure 1)