Criteria for graphic representation in musical scores: Visual elements in musical scores

A interdisciplinaridade entre a música e as artes visuais tem sido explorado por conceituados teóricos e filósofos, embora não exista muito na área da interpretação visual do grafismo de partituras musicais. Este estudo investiga como os grafismos na notação e símbolos musicais afectam o intérprete na sua transformação em som, com referência especial a partituras contemporâneas, que utilizam notação menos convencional para a criação de uma interpretação por sugestão. Outras relações entre o som e o visual são exploradas, incluindo a sinestesia, a temporalidade e a relação entre obra de arte e público. O objectivo desta dissertação é a de constituir um estudo inovativo sobre partituras musicais contemporâneas, simultaneamente do ponto de vista musical e visual. Finalmente, também vai mais longe, incluindo desenhos da própria autora inspirados e motivados pela música. Estes já não cumprem uma função de notação convencional para o músico, embora existe uma constante possibilidade de uma reinterpretação. ABSTRACT; The inter-disciplinarity between music and visual art has been explored by leading theorists and philosophers, though very little exists in the area of the visual interpretation of graphic musical scores. This study looks at how the graphics of musical notation and symbols affect the performer in transforming them into sound, with particular reference to contemporary scores that use non¬conventional notation to create an interpretation through suggestion. Other sound-visual relationships are explored, including synaesthesia, temporality and the interconnection between work of art and audience or public. This dissertation aims to be an innovative study of contemporary musical scores, from a musical as well as visual perspective. Finally, it takes a step further with drawings of my own, directly inspired and motivated by the music. These no longer fulfil a conventionally notational function for the musician, yet the potential for a re-interpretation is ever-present

Impairments in Site-Specific AS160 Phosphorylation and Effects of Exercise Training

The purpose of this study was to determine if site-specific phosphorylation at the level of Akt substrate of 160 kDa (AS160) is altered in skeletal muscle from sedentary humans across a wide range of the adult life span (18–84 years of age) and if endurance- and/or strength-oriented exercise training could rescue decrements in insulin action and skeletal muscle AS160 phosphorylation. A euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp and skeletal muscle biopsies were performed in 73 individuals encompassing a wide age range (18–84 years of age), and insulin-stimulated AS160 phosphorylation was determined. Decrements in whole-body insulin action were associated with impairments in insulin-induced phosphorylation of skeletal muscle AS160 on sites Ser-588, Thr-642, Ser-666, and phospho-Akt substrate, but not Ser-318 or Ser-751. Twelve weeks of endurance- or strength-oriented exercise training increased whole-body insulin action and reversed impairments in AS160 phosphorylation evident in insulin-resistant aged individuals. These findings suggest that a dampening of insulin-induced phosphorylation of AS160 on specific sites in skeletal muscle contributes to the insulin resistance evident in a sedentary aging population and that exercise training is an effective intervention for treating these impairments

Aerobic and Resistance Exercise Training Reverses Age-Dependent Decline in NAD + Salvage Capacity in Human skeletal muscle

© 2019 The Authors. Physiological Reports published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Physiological Society and the American Physiological Society. Aging decreases skeletal muscle mass and strength, but aerobic and resistance exercise training maintains skeletal muscle function. NAD+ is a coenzyme for ATP production and a required substrate for enzymes regulating cellular homeostasis. In skeletal muscle, NAD+ is mainly generated by the NAD+ salvage pathway in which nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT) is rate-limiting. NAMPT decreases with age in human skeletal muscle, and aerobic exercise training increases NAMPT levels in young men. However, whether distinct modes of exercise training increase NAMPT levels in both young and old people is unknown. We assessed the effects of 12 weeks of aerobic and resistance exercise training on skeletal muscle abundance of NAMPT, nicotinamide riboside kinase 2 (NRK2), and nicotinamide mononucleotide adenylyltransferase (NMNAT) 1 and 3 in young (≤35 years) and older (≥55 years) individuals. NAMPT in skeletal muscle correlated negatively with age (r2 = 0.297, P \u3c 0.001, n = 57), and VO2peak was the best predictor of NAMPT levels. Moreover, aerobic exercise training increased NAMPT abundance 12% and 28% in young and older individuals, respectively, whereas resistance exercise training increased NAMPT abundance 25% and 30% in young and in older individuals, respectively. None of the other proteins changed with exercise training. In a separate cohort of young and old people, levels of NAMPT, NRK1, and NMNAT1/2 in abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue were not affected by either age or 6 weeks of high-intensity interval training. Collectively, exercise training reverses the age-dependent decline in skeletal muscle NAMPT abundance, and our findings highlight the value of exercise training in ameliorating age-associated deterioration of skeletal muscle function

Lipocalin-2 Deficiency Attenuates Insulin Resistance Associated With Aging and Obesity

OBJECTIVE - The proinflammatory cytokines/adipokines produced from adipose tissue act in an autocrine and/or endocrine manner to perpetuate local inflammation and to induce peripheral insulin resistance. The present study investigates whether lipocalin-2 deficiency or replenishment with this adipokine has any impact on systemic insulin sensitivity and the underlying mechanisms. METHODS AND RESULTS - Under conditions of aging or dietary-/genetic-induced obesity, lipocalin-2 knockout (Lcn2-KO) mice show significantly decreased fasting glucose and insulin levels and improved insulin sensitivity compared with their wild-type littermates. Despite enlarged fat mass, inflammation and the accumulation of lipid peroxidation products are significantly attenuated in the adipose tissues of Lcn2-KO mice. Adipose fatty acid composition of these mice varies significantly from that in wild-type animals. The amounts of arachidonic acid (C20:4 n6) are elevated by aging and obesity and are paradoxically further increased in adipose tissue, but not skeletal muscle and liver of Lcn2-KO mice. On the other hand, the expression and activity of 12-lipoxygenase, an enzyme responsible for metabolizing arachidonic acid, and the production of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), a critical insulin resistance-inducing factor, are largely inhibited by lipocalin-2 deficiency. Lipocalin-2 stimulates the expression and activity of 12-lipoxygenase and TNF-α production in fat tissues. Cinnamyl-3,4- dihydroxy-α-cyanocinnamate (CDC), an arachidonate lipoxygenase inhibitor, prevents TNF-α expression induced by lipocalin-2. Moreover, treatment with TNF-α neutralization antibody or CDC significantly attenuated the differences of insulin sensitivity between wild-type and Lcn2-KO mice. CONCLUSIONS - Lipocalin-2 deficiency protects mice from developing aging- and obesity-induced insulin resistance largely by modulating 12-lipoxygenase and TNF-α levels in adipose tissue. © 2010 by the American Diabetes Association.link_to_OA_fulltex

Immigration and the Common Profit: Native Cloth Workers, Flemish Exiles, and Royal Policy in Fourteenth-Century London

Drawing on a wide variety of published and unpublished sources, this article reconstructs a crucial episode in the relationship between the English Crown, its native subjects and the kingdom’s immigrant population during the later Middle Ages. Determined that their presence would boost the development of the local textile industries, Edward III encouraged high numbers of skilled Flemish cloth workers who had been exiled from their home county at the start of the 1350s to settle in the realm. Most of them took up residence in London, where they produced higher-quality cloth for the domestic market and, probably, for export. Soon, however, the immigrants’ activities conflicted with the privileges that had structured the capital’s economic life for centuries. Their work was contested by London’s native weavers who, since the middle of the twelfth century, had enjoyed the sole right to produce cloth in the city. Hoping that the control over the immigrants’ activities would help them to overcome the crisis in the market for lower-quality textiles they were struggling with, the natives petitioned the king to obtain the incorporation of the Flemish weavers into their guild for over twenty-five years. Yet, arguing that the Flemings’ contribution benefited the common profit of the whole kingdom in a way that transcended the interests of any particular group, the Crown rejected all their requests and avoided every attempt at discussion. Each time political communication broke down, the native weavers took out their frustrations by physically attacking their Flemish counterparts. These incidents became increasingly violent during the years leading up to the Peasants’ Revolt in 1381 and came to a dramatic conclusion during the rebellion itself

Dietary supplement increases plasma norepinephrine, lipolysis, and metabolic rate in resistance trained men

Correction to Richard J Bloomer, Kelsey H Fisher-Wellman, Kelley G Hammond, Brian K Schilling, Adrianna A Weber and Bradford J Cole: Dietary supplement increases plasma norepinephrine, lipolysis, and metabolic rate in resistance trained men. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 2009, 6:

Insulin and GH Signaling in Human Skeletal Muscle In Vivo following Exogenous GH Exposure: Impact of an Oral Glucose Load

GH induces acute insulin resistance in skeletal muscle in vivo, which in rodent models has been attributed to crosstalk between GH and insulin signaling pathways. Our objective was to characterize time course changes in signaling pathways for GH and insulin in human skeletal muscle in vivo following GH exposure in the presence and absence of an oral glucose load.Eight young men were studied in a single-blinded randomized crossover design on 3 occasions: 1) after an intravenous GH bolus 2) after an intravenous GH bolus plus an oral glucose load (OGTT), and 3) after intravenous saline plus OGTT. Muscle biopsies were taken at t = 0, 30, 60, and 120. Blood was sampled at frequent intervals for assessment of GH, insulin, glucose, and free fatty acids (FFA).GH increased AUC(glucose) after an OGTT (p<0.05) without significant changes in serum insulin levels. GH induced phosphorylation of STAT5 independently of the OGTT. Conversely, the OGTT induced acute phosphorylation of the insulin signaling proteins Akt (ser(473) and thr(308)), and AS160.The combination of OGTT and GH suppressed Akt activation, whereas the downstream expression of AS160 was amplified by GH. WE CONCLUDED THE FOLLOWING: 1) A physiological GH bolus activates STAT5 signaling pathways in skeletal muscle irrespective of ambient glucose and insulin levels 2) Insulin resistance induced by GH occurs without a distinct suppression of insulin signaling proteins 3) The accentuation of the glucose-stimulated activation of AS 160 by GH does however indicate a potential crosstalk between insulin and GH.ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00477997