bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Children's Perception of Native and Nonnative Musical Scales
Authors: Lynch Michael P. , Eilers Rebecca E.
Published: September 2012

The influence of musical experience on children's perception of culturally familiar (native) and culturally unfamiliar (nonnative) musical scales was studied. Western musician and nonmusician 10- to 13-year olds were tested in detection of mistunings in a melody based on either the Western major, Western minor, or Javanese pelog scales. In the Javanese scale context, the performance of the musicians was not different from that of the nonmusicians, and neither group detected mistunings in this context significantly better than chance. The child musicians' performance in the Western contexts, however, was better than in the Javanese context and also was better than that of the child nonmusicians. In contrast, the child nonmusicians' performance in the Western contexts was significantly better than chance, but these children did not have significantly greater success at detecting mistunings in the Western than Javanese contexts. These findings suggest that informal musical acculturation results in somewhat better perception of native than nonnative scales by 10-13 years of age but that formal musical experience can facilitate the acculturation process. These results are compared with other published data on infants and adults tested with the same stimuli.
Calculating Tonal Tension
Authors: Lerdahl Fred
Published: September 2012

The prolongational component in A Generative Theory of Tonal Music assigns tensing and relaxing patterns to tonal sequences but does not adequately describe degrees of harmonic and melodic tension. This paper offers solutions to the problem, first by adapting the distance algorithm from the theory of tonal pitch space for the purpose of quantifying sequential and hierarchical harmonic tension. The method is illustrated for the beginning of the Mozart Sonata, K. 282, with emphasis on the hierarchical approach. The paper then turns to melodic tension in the context of the anchoring of dissonance. Interrelated attraction algorithms are proposed that incorporate the factors of stability, proximity, and directed motion. A distinction is developed between the tension of distance and the tension of attraction. The attraction and distance algorithms are combined in a view of harmony as voice leading, leading to a second analysis of the opening phrase of the Mozart in terms of voiceleading motion. Connections with recent theoretical and psychological work are discussed.
Retracing One's Steps: An Overview of Pitch Circularity and Shepard Tones in European Music, 1550–1990
Authors: Braus Ira
Published: September 2012

This article documents the use of pitch circularity and Shepard tones in Western art music, 1550–1990. My thesis is that composers have come to exploit the perceptual as well as musical aspects of pitch circularity. Jean-Claude Risset, whose orchestral work, Phases, I analyze in some detail, has been especially successful in both aspects. Additionally, I posit a theory correlating the presence or absence of pitch circularity in music with the aesthetic of formal closure.
Perception of Mode, Rhythm, and Contour in Unfamiliar Melodies: Effects of Age and Experience
Authors: Halpern Andrea R. , Bartlett James C. , Dowling W. Jay
Published: September 2012

We explored the ability of older (60-80 years old) and younger (18-23 years old) musicians and nonmusicians to judge the similarity of transposed melodies varying on rhythm, mode, and/or contour (Experiment 1) and to discriminate among melodies differing only in rhythm, mode, or contour (Experiment 2). Similarity ratings did not vary greatly among groups, with tunes differing only by mode being rated as most similar. In the same/different discrimination task, musicians performed better than nonmusicians, but we found no age differences. We also found that discrimination of major from minor tunes was difficult for everyone, even for musicians. Mode is apparently a subtle dimension in music, despite its deliberate use in composition and despite people's ability to label minor as "sad" and major as "happy."
Claudio Monteverdi's Ordine novo, bello et gustevole: The Canzonetta as Dramatic Module and Formal Archetype
Authors: Ossi Massimo
Published: September 2012

The apparently incongruous pairing of Claudio Monteverdi's light canzonette with Giulio Cesare's "Dichiaratione" in the Scherzi musicali (1607) suggests a purely casual relationship between music and essay. Key passages in the essay indicate however a closer connection between the two, and date the pieces to 1599-1602, earlier than has generally been assumed. Composed at a time when Monteverdi was still producing the classical madrigals of the Fourth and Fifth books (1603 and 1605), the Scherzi employ a number of elements characteristic of his later concertato style: in addition to setting the poetry of Gabriello Chiabrera, they are cast in schematic forms alternating tuttis, solos with instrumental accompaniment, and instrumental ritornellos, and they include short obbligato instrumental passages. Rather than being by-products of larger compositions, the Scherzi bear witness to a complex line of development at a crucial point in the composer's career, and they provide a background against which to reevaluate Monteverdi's use of the canzonetta form for dramatic purposes in such widely divergent works as Orfeo (1607) and the "Lamento della ninfa" (1638).
The Repertory of the Cappella Giulia in the 1560s
Authors: Dean Jeffrey J.
Published: September 2012

An inventory has recently been discovered of the music books belonging to the Cappella Giulia (the choir of St Peter's Basilica in Rome), compiled by the singer Simon Prince some time between 1559 and 1566. The great majority of the books listed survive, either in the Cappella Giulia collection of the Vatican Library or (in the case of two prints) in other collections. Nearly half of the compositions contained in these books are the work of Carpentras, Festa, and Morales, the dominant composers of the Cappella Sistina from 1513 to 1548; the remainder show a bias towards French compositions and are virtually restricted to works composed before 1550. The conservativism of this repertory, paralleled by that of the Cappella Sistina, is emphasized by the fact that the books in Prince's inventory contain no music by Palestrina, though he had been chapel-master of the Cappella Giulia in 1551-54. It appears, in fact, that most of his sacred music was composed after he returned to the Cappella Giulia in 1571; this was probably in response to the Tridentine reform of the liturgy in 1568-70.
On Gregorian Orality
Authors: Levy Kenneth
Published: September 2012

The study considers various means of approach to the Gregorian melos during its oral transmission, before the conversion to neumes. Among these are intuitive analysis, based on the Carolingian received text; analogy with Balkan oral epic ("Homer and Gregory"); and "multiples" or parallel readings. An approach by way of a rare case of "close multiples" is explored in depth. The Gallo-Gregorian Offertory Elegerunt apostoli survives in parallel readings that are close in their musical substance but may be independent in their neumation. It suggests that during a later oral stage this particular chant, and perhaps a good deal of its cognate "idiomelic" repertory as well, had become melodically stable and memorized, and was no longer freely improvised. There have been common-sense reasons for supposing this, but nothing else takes it so near to proof.
Haydn's Theater Symphonies
Authors: Sisman Elaine R.
Published: September 2012

Although spoken plays in eighteenth-century Germany and Austria frequently included arias, the presence of instrumental music as overtures, entr'actes, and finales is less well documented. Few instrumental pieces appear to have been composed especially for particular plays before 1780. Haydn wrote one of the most celebrated of these pieces-music to Regnard's play Le distrait, performed in German as Der Zerstreute-and then arranged it as a symphony (no. 60, 1774). Theater journals of the 1770s listed Haydn as music director to theatrical troupes in residence at Eszterháza, notably that of Karl Wahr, known for performing serious plays and Shakespeare's tragedies; indeed, references in the same journals suggest that Haydn had even written music to Hamlet for Wahr. Yet no such music nor any other theater music by Haydn has been recovered. This study explores the hypothesis that Haydn's symphonies served as theater music and examines theories of theater symphonies, the flourishing of Hamlet on the Austrian stage in the 1770s, and the relevance of titles of Haydn's symphonies of the later 1760s and 1770s. The author proposes that much of Haydn's symphonic music of the period widely described as exemplifying the musical Sturm und Drang was either originally destined for the stage, or composed with a view to possible later use as overtures and entr'actes, and that important dramatic and rhetorical features of his style can be better understood in this light than in traditional ways.
Redating Schoenberg's Passacaglia for Orchestra
Authors: Haimo Ethan
Published: September 2012

Schoenberg's never completed Passacaglia for Orchestra has occupied a significant position in the history of the development of his twelve-tone method. This fragment was thought to date from 1920-that is, before any of Schoenberg's completed serial compositions-but, significantly, it seems to anticipate compositional procedures and techniques from a later period in Schoenberg's serial development. The fragment was given the date of 1920 because on one page Schoenberg dated the manuscript. However, that date was not clearly written. In this study it is shown that the Passacaglia dates not from 1920, but from 1926, and that it is not an independent composition, but a first draft for the Variations for Orchestra.
Benedicamus Domino: The Unwritten Tradition
Authors: Robertson Anne Walters
Published: September 2012

This inquiry into the monophonic Benedicamus explores: 1) the performance practice of the chant; 2) a thirteenth-century collection of twenty-six melodies for the Benedicamus; 3) the liturgical placement of the versicle; and 4) the dissemination of certain Benedicamus melodies. The article advances the thesis that the performance practice of the Benedicamus accounts on the one hand for its prestige in the liturgy and on the other hand for the fact that the monophonic Benedicamus built on preexisting material could be improvised without the aid of notated sources. It argues that certain melodies for the Benedicamus were more widely disseminated than has previously been supposed, and that these chants are interconnected with other musical forms: responsory tropes and polyphonic responsories, alleluias, and motets. The melodies examined represent both the end of the early era of monophonic Benedicamus, a tradition which was often unnotated, and the beginning of a later practice of writing out the collections of the chant.
Rossini and the Development of the Mid-Century Lyric Form
Authors: Balthazar Scott L.
Published: September 2012

Rossini's conservative, florid treatment of the expressive surface of melody has encouraged recent scholars to differentiate his approach to melodic structure from that of his followers. In particular, the freedom and complexity of his melodic designs have been contrasted with the conventionality and simplicity of the mid-century lyric form A A′ B A′ adopted by Bellini and others. However, Rossini's conception of melodic form embraced a broader range of options than we have previously acknowledged. Many of his melodies in fact prefigure later lyric conventions exactly, while others incorporate numerous aspects of later practice. Rossini's role in the development of the mid-century lyric form suggests that we should regard Bellini not as the originator of the design that would for many years dominate Italian melody, but rather as the composer who solidified and popularized an approach that Rossini had already tested and made successful.
Edward MacDowell: Musical Nationalism and an American Tone Poet
Authors: Crawford Richard
Published: September 2012

After American-born, European-trained Edward MacDowell returned to the United States in 1888 and settled in Boston, he was welcomed as the composer American music had been awaiting. Enhanced by a professorship at Columbia University (1896-1904), his fame drew him into the current debate over musical nationalism. MacDowell relished the role of American composer, using national elements to approach artistic universality. "To a Wild Rose" for piano links post-Wagnerian tonality with programmatic suggestion in a style echoed by later popular songs. And "Dirge" from the Indian Suite evokes Native American experience to ground America's independent spirit in an idealized primeval past.
Victor Capoul, Marguerite Olagnier's "Le Saïs", and the Arousing of Female Desire
Authors: Henson Karen
Published: September 2012

We tend to think of exoticism in late nineteenth-century French opera as a very male-oriented phenomenon: as "cultural work" carried out mainly by men and for the male spectator's pleasure. This article takes as its starting point a rather different configuration of opera, exoticism, and gender issues, exploring the possibility of a form of French operatic exoticism aimed at the fantasies and desires of women. In particular, the article focuses on a now wholly forgotten work, Marguerite Olagnier's Le Saïs (1881), and on the role in this and other operas of Victor Capoul, an Opéra-Comique tenor once celebrated not only for his vocal and dramatic skills, but also for his popularity with female listeners. In addition to providing a firm historical basis from which to begin theorizing about the relationship between exoticism and the late nineteenth-century female listener, the case of Capoul and Le Saïs reveals how operatic men, even the most high-voiced and seemingly effeminate, can be as complexly compelling-and even as liberating-for women as recent critics have argued for sopranos and "queer" listeners.
Ravel's "Russian" Period: Octatonicism in His Early Works, 1893-1908
Authors: Baur Steven
Published: September 2012

The octatonic scale has provided composers an important alternative to common diatonic practice since the middle of the nineteenth century. Scholars have traced a direct line of transmission with respect to octatonic writing passing from Liszt, through Rimsky-Korsakov, to Stravinsky. But octatonicism also figures prominently in the music of Maurice Ravel, and several works from the first fifteen years of his career implicate Ravel directly in the octatonic legacy, simultaneously bearing the influence of nineteenth-century chromatic harmony as practiced by Liszt and Rimsky-Korsakov and anticipating methods of octatonic partitioning heretofore considered specifically Stravinskian innovations.
Patriotism or Nationalism? Fauré and the Great War
Authors: Caballero Carlo
Published: September 2012

Even though Gabriel Fauré's contemporaries championed his music as quintessentially French, Fauré distanced himself from policies of national exclusion in art, and his own construction of French musical style was cosmopolitan. This essay summarizes Fauré's political choices during the Great War, explains his motives, and indicates how some of his decisions affected French musical life. Fauré's outspoken preface to Georges Jean-Aubry's La Musique française d'aujourd'hui provides one key to the composer's position. Jean-Aubry, following Debussy, reckoned as authentically French only musical styles attached to pre-Revolutionary traditions. Fauré felt that such a narrow characterization of French music falsified the diversity of the historical record. His preface therefore takes issue with Jean-Aubry's book and insists that German composers had played an irrefutable role in the formation of modern French music. We may understand Fauré's-and other composers'-wartime decisions in terms of a distinction between patriotism and nationalism. Composers such as Fauré, Bruneau, and Ravel emerge as patriots. Debussy, who sought to purify French music of foreign contamination, emerges as a nationalist. Both nationalism and patriotism call on collective memory and experience, but nationalism exercises its power protectively and tends toward exclusion, while patriotism, favoring political over ethnic determination, tends toward inclusion. Fauré's patriotism emerges through the evidence of the preface; charitable activities; his refusal to sign a French declaration calling for a ban on contemporary German and Austrian music; and his attempt to unite the Société Nationale and the Société Musicale Indépendante. Fauré's wartime music, in contrast to his writings and activities, evades connections with historical events and raises methodological questions about perceived relations between political belief and artistic expression.
Opera Salaries in Eighteenth-Century London
Authors: Milhous Judith , Hume Robert D.
Published: September 2012

Until the last fifteen years, very few salaries have been known for Italian opera singers or ballet dancers in eighteenth-century London. Two major new sources are presented here for the first time: Chancery testimony concerning salaries in the 1780s, and a series of manuscript annotations giving salaries of principals for eight seasons between 1796 and 1808. Added to recent discoveries concerning the first decade of the century, the Royal Academy of Music in the 1720s, and Chancery testimony about the pay scale in the 1760s, this information makes an overview possible. The top and bottom of the salary scale (£1,500 to £100) remained surprisingly stable from the 1720s to the 1790s. During the last third of the century ballet emerges from relative insignificance and attains virtual parity in cost and status with opera itself. The star system was established as early as 1708, and the size of the theater was always a key determinant in limiting salaries. The huge new opera house of 1791, coupled with Napoleonic-era inflation, quickly increased salaries at the top end of the scale, culminating in the £5,250 paid to Catalani in 1808. The gap between top and bottom salaries was always enormous, but in the later years of this survey the gap was widening substantially.
Idealism and the Aesthetics of Instrumental Music at the Turn of the Nineteenth Century
Authors: Bonds Mark Evan
Published: September 2012

The growing aesthetic prestige of instrumental music in the last decades of the eighteenth century was driven not so much by changes in the musical repertory as by the resurgence of idealism as an aesthetic principle applicable to all the arts. This new outlook, as articulated by such writers as Winckelmann, Moritz, Kant, Schiller, Herder, Fichte, and Schelling, posited the work of art as a reflection of an abstract ideal, rather than as a means by which a beholder could be moved. Through idealism, the work of art became a vehicle by which to sense the realm of the spiritual and the infinite, and the inherently abstract nature of instrumental music allowed this art to offer a particularly powerful glimpse of that realm. Idealism thus provided the essential framework for the revaluation of instrumental music in the writings of Wackenroder, Tieck, E. T. A. Hoffmann, and others around the turn of the century. While this new approach to instrumental music has certain points of similarity with the later concept of "absolute" music, it is significant that Eduard Hanslick expunged several key passages advocating idealist thought when he revised both the first and second editions of his treatise Vom Musikalisch-Schönen. The concept of "absolute" music, although real enough in the mid-nineteenth century, is fundamentally anachronistic when applied to the musical thought and works of the decades around 1800.
Different Strokes for Different Folks? On Tempo and Diminution in Fifteenth-Century Music
Authors: Wegman Rob C.
Published: September 2012

The stroke in the mensural notation sign ϕ (which turns up in musical sources shortly after 1400) has generally been understood to signal diminution in perfect tempus. According to a new interpretation advanced by Margaret Bent, however, this was not its primary meaning until the later fifteenth century. Before then, she has argued, ϕ was in use as a "general-purpose sign," with a broad range of meanings of which diminution was only one. This interpretation is open to challenge on both factual and methodological grounds. At present, there appears to be no basis for abandoning the received interpretation of ϕ.
Skryabin and the Impossible
Authors: Morrison Simon
Published: September 2012

In 1904, Aleksandr Skryabin conceived a composition that would actualize the Russian Symbolist ideal of spiritual emancipation. In 1913, he determined that the work (called the Mysterium) could not be composed, since his uncertainties about his dual roles as author and participant in it had led him to a dead end. In its place, he decided to compose an introductory work entitled the Preparatory Act. Before his sudden death in 1915, he had finished only a draft libretto and fifty-five partial pages of sketches for it. Analysis of the extant material reveals the paradoxes in creating communal art. It also relates a Symbolist tragedy: how one composer's philosophical speculations led to creative silence and creative martyrdom.
Defending the Dodecachordon: Ideological Currents in Glarean's Modal Theory
Authors: Fuller Sarah
Published: September 2012

Although Heinrich Glarean's assertion of a twelvefold modal system is well known, the diverse ideological forces that guided his inquiry into the nature of mode and its presentation to the public have been only partially explored. Assessment of Dodecachordon from an ideological perspective reveals a remarkable symbiosis among rationalist, religious, and humanist currents, a marked concern for religious orthodoxy, and a strong advocacy of traditional plainchant. A universalist view of the concepts defined in music theory guides Glarean's interpretations of ancient Greek theory and Latin plainsong alike. Cultural factors had a decisive impact upon the exposition of theory in Dodecachordon.
"If the Pretty Little Hand Won't Stretch": Music for the Fair Sex in Eighteenth-Century Germany
Authors: Head Matthew
Published: September 2012

The image of the young lady at music is part of the mythology of the eighteenth century, nostalgically summoning a bygone era in European manners. How should such images be read, and to what uses are they put in the construction of the past and the present? Richard Leppert appeals to eighteenth-century iconography to argue the disciplinary function of music on women. This article extends Leppert's arguments in a newly uncovered repertory of songs and keyboard works published in eighteenth-century Germany "for the fair sex." Moving between prescriptions about musical practice specifically and women's character and place in the world more broadly, this music evinces cautionary and disciplinary rhetorics that accord with Leppert's readings. But whereas Leppert deals with paintings-more or less official representations-musical performance and reception complicate the picture. In performance, music offers possibilities for negotiation. On closer examination, instrumental music for the fair sex reveals a complex web of generic and stylistic motifs that undermine the manifest rhetoric of easiness and simplicity in the repertory and invoke the professional and public spheres. Questioning as well as espousing virtue, and haunted by the figure of the rake, songs for ladies reflect the instability in the emergent discourses of bourgeois femininity and the private sphere.
The Quest for the Origins of Music in Germany Circa 1900
Authors: Rehding Alexander
Published: September 2012

Speculation as to the origins of music flourished around 1900, in the climate of the recently institutionalized academic discipline of Musikwissenschaft at German-speaking universities. Even across the methodological divides of the young discipline, virtually all branches of Musikwissenschaft participated in this search, which was fueled by the nineteenth-century "philosophy of origins," a powerful ideology that invested special metaphysical significance in the point of departure. Resonating with such concepts as authenticity, autochthony, stability, and purity, the philosophy of origins encouraged a search particularly for the Germanic origins of music. The article traces how various branches of Musikwissenschaft-psychological, ethnological, theoretical, and historical-contribute to this search by reconstructing these elusive origins of music, and at the same time (to varying degrees) establish a sense of identity. This search for origins was not merely of archaeological interest but became instrumental in defining the meaning of Musik as the object of the wissenschaftlich enterprise in the young discipline-not coincidentally at a time when this object, the tradition of tonal music, was increasingly perceived to be under threat from contemporary composition.
La Flora and the End of Female Rule in Tuscany
Authors: Harness Kelley
Published: September 2012

On 14 October 1628 the Medici court witnessed a performance of Marco da Gagliano's opera La Flora, a work whose ostensible purpose was to celebrate a marriage uniting Florence and Parma. This event occurred three months after Ferdinando II assumed the title of grand duke of Tuscany, ending a period of regency government that had begun in 1621, during which Ferdinando's mother and grandmother ruled Tuscany. An analysis of La Flora reveals that its allegorical themes extend beyond mere celebration of a wedding, and that the opera actually reenacts the transfer of power from female to male rule.
Schumann and Romantic Distance
Authors: Hoeckner Berthold
Published: September 2012

The poetic trope and aesthetic category of "distance" is central to Novalis's and Jean Paul Richter's definition of the Romantic, as embodied in dying sound and distant music. In the "young poetic future" proposed by the composer and critic Robert Schumann in the 1830s, romantic distance figures prominently, exemplified by the relationship between the endings of Jean Paul's Flegeljahre and Schumann's Papillons, Op. 2. Distance also provides the key for a new understanding of the relationship between analysis and poetic criticism in Schumann's review of Schubert's Great C-Major Symphony; between texted and untexted music in his Piano Sonata, Op. 11; between music and landscape in Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6; and between the composer and his distant beloved in the Fantasie, Op. 17 and the Novelletten, Op. 21. The article presents new evidence of Schumann's reference to Beethoven's An die ferne Geliebte and Clara Wieck's Romance variée, Op. 3 in the Fantasie, and to Clara's Valses romantiques, Op. 4 in Davidsbündlertänze.
The PCCW Going Private Saga: What Is a Fair Deal?
Authors: Cheng Suwina L. S.
Published: September 2012

This instructional case discusses the process and maneuvers of a going private scheme in which the controlling shareholders of Pacific Century CyberWorks (PCCW) proposed to buy out all the shares of the minority shareholders and to then delist the company. The case highlights the importance of applying accounting knowledge in evaluating the value of a company. It also exposes students to the real-world ethical issues relating to vote manipulation and minority shareholder protection in the voting process of a going private deal.
Biomechanical validation of an artificial tooth–periodontal ligament–bone complex for in vitro orthodontic load measurement
Authors: Xia Zeyang , Chen Jie
Published: September 2012

Objectives:

To develop an artificial tooth–periodontal ligament (PDL)–bone complex (ATPBC) that simulates clinical crown displacement.

Material and Methods:

An ATPBC was created. It had a socket hosting a tooth with a thin layer of silicon mixture in between for simulating the PDL. The complex was attached to a device that allows applying a controlled force to the crown and measuring the resulting crown displacement. Crown displacements were compared to previously published data for validation.

Results:

The ATPBC that had a PDL made of two types of silicones, 50% gasket sealant No. 2 and 50% RTV 587 silicone, with a thickness of 0.3 mm, simulated the PDL well. The mechanical behaviors (1) force-displacement relationship, (2) stress relaxation, (3) creep, and (4) hysteresis were validated by the published results.

Conclusion:

The ATPBC simulated the crown displacement behavior reported from biological studies well.
Electrodialysis of oxalic acid: batch process modeling
Authors: Kaláb Jiří , Palatý Zdeněk
Published: September 2012

Batch electrodialysis of aqueous solutions of oxalic acid was investigated using a laboratory electrodialyzer ED-Z mini equipped with ion-exchange membranes Ralex-AMH-PES and Ralex-CMHPES (Mega, Stráž pod Ralskem, Czech Republic). The paper presents a mathematical model which enables to predict changes in the oxalic acid concentrations in the diluate and concentrate compartments during the electrodialysis process under various conditions specified by combinations of the initial acid concentrations with current densities. The calculation proved a good agreement between the developed model and the experimental results.
Biodegradation of tobacco waste by composting: Genetic identification of nicotine-degrading bacteria and kinetic analysis of transformations in leachate
Authors: Briški Felicita , Kopčić Nina , Ćosić Ivana , Kučić Dajana , Vuković Marija
Published: September 2012

The tobacco industry produces large quantities of solid and liquid waste. This waste poses a significant environmental problem, as some major components are harmful and toxic. The aim of this work is to isolate and identify the nicotine-degrading microorganisms in the composting of tobacco waste. The bioremediation process for the detoxification of waste was carried out in a column reactor at an airflow-rate of 0.4 L min−1 kg−1. The concentrations of nicotine and number of CFU in the samples taken from reactor were monitored over nineteen days. After nineteen days, 89.8 % of nicotine conversion was obtained. A nicotine-degrading bacterium, strain FN, was isolated from the composting mass and identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa on the basis of morphology, 16S rDNA sequence, and the phylogenetic characteristics. To confirm that the isolated Pseudomonas aeruginosa FN is the actual nicotine degrader, batch experiments were performed using tobacco leachate. It was confirmed that the strain FN possesses a considerable capacity to degrade nicotine with simultaneous COD removal. The Monod kinetic model for single substrate was applied to obtain the substrate degradation rate and half saturation constant.
Theoretical enthalpies of formation and structural characterisation of halogenated nitromethanes and isomeric halomethyl nitrites
Authors: Kosmas Agnie , Ntivas Aristeidis , Liaska Stavroula , Papayannis Demetrios
Published: September 2012

The structural, energetic, and thermochemical properties of a number of halogenated nitromethanes, CHnX3−n NO2, and the isomeric nitrites, CHnX3−n ONO, are investigated, using theoretical ab initio and density functional theory (DFT) electronic structure methods. Analysis of the results and comparison with the maternal species, nitromethane, CH3NO2, and methyl nitrite, CH3ONO, reveal strong dependence of the molecular properties on the halogen induction effect. Opposite trends are obtained in the C—N and C—O bond dissociation energies (BDE) upon halogenation and higher stabilities are calculated for the trans-nitrite isomers, in contrast with the plain alkyl families where the nitroalkanes are the most stable species. Formation enthalpies, ΔH fℴ, at 298 K are calculated for all halogenated isomers.
Changes in Several Inflammatory and Oxidation Markers after Ovalbumin-Sensitization in a Guinea Pig Model of Allergic Asthma - A Pilot Study
Authors: Mokra D , Drgova A , Pullmann R , Mikolka P , Antosova M , Mokry J
Published: September 2012

Changes in Several Inflammatory and Oxidation Markers after Ovalbumin-Sensitization in a Guinea Pig Model of Allergic Asthma - A Pilot Study

Ovalbumin (OVA)-sensitization is a common way to evoke changes similar to changes in allergic asthma in humans. Activated cells produce various pro-inflammatory and vasoactive substances including reactive oxygen species. The goal of this pilot study was to evaluate mobilization of leukocytes into the lungs and oxidation processes induced by OVA-sensitization in a guinea-pig model of allergic asthma. Guinea-pigs were divided into OVA-sensitized and naïve animals. After sacrificing animals, blood samples were taken and total and differential leukocyte counts were calculated, and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) and total antioxidant status (TAS) in the plasma were determined. Left lungs were saline-lavaged and total number of cells and differential leukocyte count in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL) were calculated. Right lung tissue was homogenized, ECP, TAS and products of lipid and protein oxidation (thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances and lysine-lipoperoxidation end-products) were determined in the lung homogenate. OVA-sensitization increased a total number of cells and percentages of eosinophils and neutrophils and slightly increased ECP in the blood and in the BAL fluid. In addition, increased lipid and protein oxidation in the lung homogenate, and decreased TAS in the plasma was found in OVA-sensitized compared to naïve animals. In conclusion, OVA-sensitization increased mobilization of leukocytes into the lungs and elevated production of reactive oxygen spesies (ROS), accompanied by a decrease in plasma TAS.
Castleman's Disease Mimicking Carotid Body Tumor
Authors: Hanzel P. , Calkovsky V. , Sinak I. , Szepe P. , Zelenak K. , Hajtman A.
Published: September 2012

Castleman's Disease Mimicking Carotid Body Tumor

The authors present a case of 41-year-old patient with unicentric type of Castleman's disease in the neck imitating carotid glomus tumor. This rare condition can affect any lymph-node in the body and neck localization occurs only in 14% of cases. The case when Castleman's disease simulating chemodectoma have not been described yet in the literature. The authors give details on the course of the disease, its diagnosis and treatment and the discussion focuses on the reasons why the auxiliary imaging methods have led to the clinical diagnosis of carotid glomus tumor, and why the treatment was chosen.
Pattern of glomerular disease in a tertiary care hospital in Nepal: A Shree Birendra Hospital experience
Authors: Sharma A , Deo RK , Shahi RR
Published: September 2012

The incidence of renal diseases varies greatly in various parts of the world. Percutaneous renal biopsy is an important procedure for many patients with renal disease. This hospital based retrospective study evaluated the pattern of various glomerular diseases in Shree Birendra hospital. Hospital records were searched for all the patients undergoing renal biopsy for all indication and patient profile and histopathological examination record were obtained. All the patients undergoing renal biopsy for any cause from January 2007 to December 2010 were included in the study. A total of 46 patients underwent renal biopsy in the study period. The number of patients in the various age groups were - <16 years – 5 patients, 16-50 years – 34 patients and > 50 years – 7 patients. The number of male and female patients was 34 and 12 respectively. Major indication for undergoing renal biopsy in this study was Nephrotic Syndrome (n=29, 63%), followed by RPGN (n=8, 17%), Persistent proteinuria (n=6, 13%) and Nephritic syndrome (n=3, 7%). The most common histopathological diagnosis in the study was Membranous nephropathy (n=10, 22%), followed by Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (n=9, 20%), Membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (n=9, 20%) and Minimal change disease (n=6, 13%). USG guided renal biopsy is safe in adults and is a very useful tool for the diagnosis of renal disease. The pattern of glomerular disease varies in different settings. There is a need for further evaluation of glomerular disease with larger sample size to determine the pattern of glomerular disease in Nepal. Journal of College of Medical Sciences-Nepal,2011,Vol-7,No-4, 48-52 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jcmsn.v7i4.6742
A Comparative study of efficacy of high dose versus low dose of suxamethonium for endotracheal intubation
Authors: Yadav RK , Majhi PC , Pradhan BB
Published: September 2012

As use of suxamethonium is associated with a large number of undesirable and serious side effects, including cardiac arrhythmias and malignant hyperthermia. These undesirable effects have prompted anesthesiologists to restrict use of suxamethonium. The low dose of the drug is expected to have lower side effects without compromising its neuromuscular blocking properties as the dose dependent side effects have been known for long, so the present study carried out to compare the efficacy of high dose (1.5mg/Kg) of suxamethonium to that of low dose (0.5mg/Kg) assessed by intubation condition with neuromuscular blockade. We prospectively randomized and compared the intubating conditions with neuromuscular monitoring in 100 patients undergoing elective abdominal, gynaecological and limb surgery in CMS-TH and found duration of apnoea and time taken for recovery of twitch height was significantly shorter. Without compromising the quality of neuromuscular blockade. Suxamethonium or Succinylcholine can be used in lower doses (0.5 mg/kg) in elective cases without airway compromise to achieve intubation. Journal of College of Medical Sciences-Nepal,2011,Vol-7,No-4, 53-57 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jcmsn.v7i4.6812
Pheochromocytoma: reporting of two cases with a brief review
Authors: Patowary BN , Kumar S , Praveen CR , Majhi PC , Yadav RK , Tayal A , Chhetri PK
Published: September 2012

Pheochromocytoma arise from the chromaffin cells of adrenal gland or cells of sympathetic ganglion. The tumors secrete excessive adrenaline and nor-adrenaline and may cause severe elevation of blood pressure. Cardinal symptoms of pheochromocytoms are headache, diaphoresis, palpitation and high blood pressure which may be paroxysmal in nature. However, 10% of pheochromocytomas are only incidentally discovered during investigation of the patient for other reasons not related to suprarenal disease. We have reported here two cases of suprarenal tumors (pheochromocytoma), one of which is incidentally found while investigating her chest and epigastric pains. Journal of College of Medical Sciences-Nepal,2011,Vol-7,No-4, 78-86 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jcmsn.v7i4.6817
Basal cisternostomy – Is it a panacea for traumatic brain swelling?
Authors: Cherian I
Published: September 2012

The evolution of modern neurosurgical techniques in traumatic brain injury has been ongoing for the last two centuries. However it has always been a challenge to obtain an effective clinical outcome, especially those following severe traumatic brain injuries. Other than the well established procedures for acute and/ or chronic subdural hematomas and depressed skull fractures, newer avenues for development of surgical techniques where indicted have been minimal. Practical scenario in trauma neurosurgery comes with multiple challenges and limitations. In an emergency setup, primary management of traumatic brain injuries fall upon the on-duty resident or medical officer in training. Due to the emergent nature of the condition and time being an important variable, the experience of the operating surgeon as well as the severity of the injury become an important contributing factor in the disease prognosis. Based on clinical experience and observation of acute neurosurgical service in tertiary medical center in a developing country, a novel technique in the management of trauma neurosurgery have been elucidated in the current study. The study proposes to apply the principles of microvascular surgery and skull base surgery in selected cases of severe traumatic brain injuries. Journal of College of Medical Sciences-Nepal,2012,Vol-8,No-1, 1-6 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jcmsn.v8i1.6818
Results of lateral pin fixation for the displaced supracondylar fracture of humerus in children
Authors: Gupta HK , Khare KD , Chaurasia D
Published: September 2012

Supracondylar fracture is common fracture in children and choice of treatment in displaced fracture is closed reduction and percutaneous pinning. There are different methods of fixation techniques described and practiced. This study was undertaken to evaluate the results of lateral pin fixation for the displaced supracondylar fracture of humerus in children. 25 children with displaced Supracondylar fracture were treated with closed reduction and percutaneous lateral fixation by two K-wires. Above elbow slab applied for 4 weeks (mean 28.4 days ± SD 2.27) followed by physiotherapy and were followed for mean of 73.24 days( ± SD 3.66 days). The Flynn’s grading system was used to evaluate functional and cosmetic outcome. Loss in Baumann’s angle was measures. All the patient had satisfactory outcome with excellent to good grading as per Flynn’s criteria. The mean Baumann’s angle loss was 5.52 degrees(SD ± 1.75). Two pin tract infections noted which responded to oral cloxacillin for 5 days. No neurovascular or serious complication noted. In view of results obtained, lateral K -wire fixation provided good fracture stability, good union and satisfactory outcome with minimal complication and virtually no iatrogenic nerve injury. Journal of College of Medical Sciences-Nepal,2012,Vol-8,No-1, 13-17 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jcmsn.v8i1.6820
Pyoderma gangrenosum: A clinico- therapeutic profile of patients attending a tertiary care hospital in Nepal
Authors: Kharel C , Agrawal S , Rijal A , Bhattarai S
Published: September 2012

Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is a primarily sterile inflammatory neutrophilic dermatosis characterized by recurrent cutaneous ulcerations with mucopurulent or hemorrhagic exudate. In many cases, PG is associated with inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatic disorder or neoplasia. The peak of incidence occurs between the ages of 20 to 50 years with women being more often affected than men. To study the clinical and therapeutic profile of patients with pyoderma gangrenosum. All patients diagnosed as pyoderma gangrenosum in the department of dermatology from July 14th 2003- July 12th 2008 were included in the study. Demographic profile, clinical features as well as relevant investigations, treatment and follow-up were noted. A total of 8 patients with pyoderma gangrenosum were diagnosed over a 5 year period. There were 3 males and 5 female patients whose ages ranged from 32 to 80 years. Lower limbs were the commonest site to be involved in 6 patients (75%). Recurrent episodes were noted in 4 patients (50%) and among them 3 patients (75%) had multiple ulcers. Histopathological confirmation of the diagnosis was done in 7 patients (87.5%). Association with ulcerative colitis was seen in 2 patients (25%). All patients were treated with dapsone and systemic steroids which showed resolution of the lesions in all patients. Pyoderma gangrenosum was seen more frequently in females and association with ulcerative colitis was seen in 25% of the patients. Journal of College of Medical Sciences-Nepal,2012,Vol-8,No-1, 29-35 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jcmsn.v8i1.6823
Suspected appendicitis during pregnancy: prevalence and management at prince Hashem Ben AL-Hussein Hospital (Zarqa/Jordan)
Authors: Al-Dahamsheh Hasan
Published: September 2012

To evaluate the clinical picture and outcome of suspected appendicitis in pregnant women. Retrospective analytic study of 28 appendectomies performed during pregnancy for suspected appendicitis in our hospital at period April 2004 to September 2006. All files and medical records of these patients were analyzed and studied. Those including variables (demographic, clinical, laboratory and surgical outcomes data) were collected retrospectively. Prevalence of appendicitis was calculated from the total number of deliveries and abortions that occurred during this period. Numbers of correct and wrong diagnosis were reported and comparison of perinatal outcome, maternal morbidity and different variables in negative and positive laparotomies performed. The prevalence of suspected appendicitis in pregnancy is 0.29%. Incidences of negative laparotomies were 36%. The most diagnostic findings for acute appendicitis were history of periumbilical pain, anorexia and Rt iliac fossa findings. Half of wrong diagnosis were related to premature labor pain or abortion. The prevalence of suspected appendicitis during pregnancy in our environment during this period was higher than the reported incidence and rate of wrong diagnosis still high. Good clinical assessment with adjunct ultrasonic examination could reduce the incidence of negative laparotomies or prevent late complication. Delay in operation leading to higher rate of maternal morbidity and adversely affect the obstetric outcome. Journal of College of Medical Sciences-Nepal,2012,Vol-8,No-1, 36-43 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jcmsn.v8i1.6824
A unusual case of 356 vesical calculii
Authors: Agarwal A , Sigdel G , KC SR , Shrestha P , Belokar WK
Published: September 2012

Multiple vesical calculi are rarely seen in urological practice. Males are affected more than the females. Vesical calculi are usually secondary to bladder outlet obstruction. These patients present with recurrent urinary tract infection, haematuria or with retention of urine. We report a 43 years male patient who presented with acute urinary retention. He had history of trauma over perineal region three years back following which he had recurrent urinary tract infection and thinning of stream. USG abdomen revealed normal upper urinary tract with echogenic debris in partially filled urinary bladder. Renal function test was with in normal limit. Per urethral catheterization failed and over antibiotic cover, patient was posted for cystourethroscopy followed by suprapubic cystostomy under spinal anaesthesia. Membranous urethral stricture found during urethroscopy could be managed by optical internal urethrotomy. On cystoscopy whole of bladder was filled with thick pus like material with multiple large urinary bladder calculi. Open cystolithotomy was done and we were surprised to see 356 stones of various size and shape after removal. Patient made uneventful recovery and discharged after 12 days of hospital stay. Journal of College of Medical Sciences-Nepal,2012,Vol-8,No-1, 44-47 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jcmsn.v8i1.6825
A rare presentation of orbital complication of invasive fungal sinusitis in an immunocompetent young boy-a rare case
Authors: Gaur S , Lavania A , Saxena R
Published: September 2012

We present a case of allergic fungal sinusitis (AFS) in a 24 -year old man with history of left sided nasal obstruction and discharge since few years. Since few months he developed epiphora in the left eye associated with discomfort on eye movements. Patient was examined and CT with contrast was done. CT contrast showed an enhancing lesion in Left maxillary and ethmoid sinuses and erosion of the inferior bony wall of the orbit and medial wall of maxillary sinus. Though most patients of fungal sinusitis are immunocompromised but this patient was young male immunocompetent and made an unusual presentation with visual epiphora and painful eye movements. CT showed bony erosion of the Left inferior Bony wall of the Orbit and medial wall of Maxillary Sinus. After through examination and specific investigations, the patient was posted for surgery. We planed for Cald well –Luc’s Surgery and Endoscopic excision of the mass .Histological examination was reported as non malignant and microscopy showed Fungal Hyphae. After the surgery patient was discharged satisfactorily within couple of days and followed up regularly. Journal of College of Medical Sciences-Nepal,2012,Vol-8,No-1, 48-51 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jcmsn.v8i1.6826