bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Modulation and Formal Manipulation on Perception of Tonic Closure by Expert Listeners
Authors: Marvin Elizabeth West , Brinkman Alexander
Published: September 2012

This study arises in response to previous research that calls into question the ability of musically trained listeners to perceive tonal closure in the original tonic key. In our Experiment 1, 36 experienced musicians heard 12 randomly ordered excerpts from piano and orchestral works in three categories: nonmodulating, modulating to the dominant, modulating to a key other than the dominant. After hearing each excerpt, participants answered six questions, one of which asked whether the concluding key was the same as the initial one. Participants correctly answered this question at above-chance levels, with music academics (theorists and musicologists) more accurate than other musicians. In Experiment 2, 33 experienced musicians heard MIDI performances of six Handel keyboard compositions. On each trial, participants heard either the original composition or one of two variants with phrase units rearranged. Trials were quasi-randomly ordered so that an original and variant were not heard in succession. Three types of tonal motion resulted from our formal manipulation: the stimulus began and ended in the tonic key, began and ended in the dominant key, or began and ended in different keys. After hearing each work, participants answered seven questions, of which data were analyzed for three: whether the beginning and ending key were the same, whether the harmonic structure conformed to stylistic expectations, and whether the final key was the tonic. Participants' accuracy on the beginning/ending key question was no better than chance would predict; however, listeners were able to discriminate between works that ended in the tonic key and those that did not. Unlike Experiment 1, we found no significant differences in accuracy between music academics and other musicians. Listeners generally found both the original and the manipulated compositions to conform to stylistic expectations, possibly because they attended to local harmonic relationships rather than global ones.
Chills and Tempo
Authors: McEvilly Daniel K.
Published: September 2012

A correlation between "chills" and specific tempos might partially account for the notion of the "right tempo" in Western art-music performance. Thus, as a call for empirical research, I hypothesize that, for a given passage of music, there is a set of specific optimal tempos (related by transposition and/or proportion) for which the character, coherence, and vitality of the music can be significantly more well marked than for all other tempos.
Stravinsky's Les Noces and Russian Village Wedding Ritual
Authors: Mazo Margarita
Published: September 2012

This study presents Stravinsky's well-known ballet Les Noces as seen by an ethnomusicologist familiar with wedding rituals and, particularly, laments of Russian villages. The music of Les Noces, statements made by the composer himself, and the data gleaned from published sources of folk music (those Stravinsky is known to have come in contact with or those accessible to him) are juxtaposed with observations obtained in field interviews with Russian villagers who themselves were participants in wedding rituals and performers of wedding laments. The conceptual and structural ideas of Les Noces are compared to those of the village ritual. The examination of the role of laments and songs in the unfolding of the ritual, the use of ostinato, the analysis of the manner of singing and voice quality in laments, and an inquiry into the polyphonic forms based on polymorphic texture enable a fresh insight into Les Noces and the way Stravinsky handled materials derived from folk practice. The general conceptualization of the composition with its coalescence of high emotional intensity and, at the same time, personal detachment is traced to folk ritual where the episodes, being part of the ritual, embody primarily impersonal responses to the requirements of a ritualized situation, even though they are presented as highly tense and emotionally charged.
Putting the Experience of the World at the Nation's Command: Music at the Library of Congress, 1800-1917
Authors: Anderson Gillian B.
Published: September 2012

Between 1800 and 1917 the music section at the Library of Congress grew from a few items in The Gentleman's Magazine to almost a million items. The history of this development provides a unique view of the infant discipline of musicology and the central role that libraries played in its growth in the United States. Between 1800 and 1870 only 500 items were acquired by the music section at the Library of Congress. In 1870 approximately 36,000 copyright deposits (which had been accumulating at several copyright depositories since 1789) enlarged the music section by more than seventy fold. After 1870 the copyright process brought an avalanche of music items into the Library of Congress. In 1901 Herbert Putnam, Librarian of Congress, hired American-born, German-educated Oscar Sonneck to be the second Chief of the Music Division. Together Putnam and Sonneck produced an ambitious acquisitions program, a far-sighted classification, cataloging, and shelving scheme, and an extensive series of publications. They were part of Putnam's strategy to transform the Library of Congress from a legislative into a national library. Sonneck wanted to make American students of music independent of European libraries and to establish the discipline of musicology in the United States. Through easy access to comprehensive and diverse collections Putnam and Sonneck succeeded in making the Library of Congress and its music section a symbol of the free society that it served.
The Authorship of the Motet "Ich lasse dich nicht" (BWV Anh. 159)
Authors: Melamed Daniel R.
Published: September 2012

The eight-voice motet Ich lasse dich nicht (BWV Anh. 159) has been attributed both to J. S. Bach and to his father's cousin Johann Christoph Bach (1642-1703). A new look at the sources and transmission of the motet makes clear that the attribution to the older Bach was a nineteenth-century speculation that must be rejected. With the question of the motet's authorship reopened, the evidence shows that Ich lasse dich nicht is indeed by J. S. Bach. The oldest source, partly in Bach's hand, may be securely dated to the Weimar period, making the motet one of Bach's earliest extant vocal works. This dating challenges the widely-held assumption that Bach wrote all his motets in Leipzig, and forces a reevaluation of the dating of his other motets.
Beethoven's Mozart Quartet
Authors: Yudkin Jeremy
Published: September 2012

The literary critic Harold Bloom coined the term "anxiety of influence" to cover stages in the emancipation of poets from their powerful forebears. Much has been written on the shadow cast by Beethoven over later nineteenth-century composers, but Beethoven too had to come to terms with powerful influences. It has long been recognized that the slow movement of Beethoven's String Quartet, op. 18, no. 5, is modeled on that of Mozart's String Quartet in A major, K. 464. Here it is shown that in fact, the imitation involves not only the slow movement but all four of the movements. This provides an opportunity to examine in detail Beethoven's technique of reinterpreting his model. Indeed an examination of Beethoven's "anxiety" at different stages of his career may lead us to a closer understanding of his creative development. Toward the end of his life Beethoven imitated one of the movements from K. 464 again. Here may be seen the final stage in the confrontation of his anxiety.
In Praise of Spurious Saints: The Missae Floruit egregiis by Pipelare and La Rue
Authors: Bloxam M. Jennifer
Published: September 2012

The cult of saints exerted a profound influence on the liturgy and plainsong of the Roman Catholic church in the later Middle Ages, as individual churches evolved local traditions of liturgy and plainsong to celebrate saints held dear by certain communities. Sacred polyphonic composition during this period also reflects the stimulation to musical creativity engendered by the veneration of special saints. This study explores a particularly fine example of the intersection of liturgy, chant, and polyphony inspired by the adoration of saints in the late Middle Ages. The introduction of a new local saint, Livinus, to the liturgy of the Flemish city of Ghent during the eleventh century provides the starting point for the investigation, which introduces a newly-discovered body of plainsong in his honor, notably a rhymed Office, preserved in manuscripts spanning the twelfth through the sixteenth centuries. From this corpus of plainsong the composer Mattheus Pipelare (c. 1450-c. 1515?) selected no fewer than sixteen chants for inclusion in his four-voiced Missa Floruit egregiis infans Livinus; the identification of these heretofore unknown cantus firmi prompts a fresh look at the provenance, style and structure of this remarkable Mass, which proves to be a musical historia akin to other multiple cantus firmus Masses of the period, notably those by Jacob Obrecht. The essay concludes with an examination of the Missa de Sancto Job by Pierre de la Rue, whose debt to Pipelare's Missa de Sancto Livino is elucidated through a discussion of its background and compositional technique.
The Hapsburg Court of Ferdinand II and the Messa, Magnificat et Iubilate Deo a sette chori concertati con le trombe (1621) of Giovanni Valentini
Authors: Saunders Steven
Published: September 2012

The Messa, Magnificat et Iubilate Deo a sette chori concertati con le trombe (1621) of Giovanni Valentini, organist, and later chapel master to the Hapsburg Emperor Ferdinand II, command attention on several counts. They are cast on more expansive a scale than any music yet to appear in print, and feature what their composer claimed was "a new way of combining trumpets with voices and instruments." While only two part-books from the collection have survived, newly discovered archival sources, contemporaneous accounts of Hapsburg court ceremony, and surviving compositions from the imperial court enable us to reconstruct a context for understanding these seven-choir compositions. Valentini's works prove to be major musical statements of political ideas, and provide a rare glimpse into the functions, conventions, and ideologies of early seventeenth-century ceremonial music. More significant, they provide a window onto a music culture of unsuspected opulence, the imperial court in Vienna under Ferdinand II.
Approaching the Sketches for Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata
Authors: Marston Nicholas
Published: September 2012

Contrary to his usual procedure, Beethoven seems to have composed the "Hammerklavier" Sonata without the aid of a desk (or standard-format) sketchbook: the surviving desk sketches for the sonata are to be found on a number of loose leaves and bifolia only. An examination of the concordances between these sources, some of which are introduced here for the first time, and the pocket sketchbooks containing material for the sonata makes it possible to place the loose desk leaves in a tentative order, and thus lays the foundations for a future study of the genesis of the sonata. The present study also uses the pocket sketchbooks to identify previously unsuspected desk sketches for the sonata, and traces the persistence in these of early plans for the tonal structure of the work.
Musical Autographs of Frescobaldi and His Entourage in Roman Sources
Authors: Annibaldi Claudio , Hill Laura Callegari
Published: September 2012

This article reconstructs the circumstances through which the keyboard tablatures Q iv 24-9 and Q viii 205-6, now conserved among the manuscripts of the Chigi family in the Vatican Library, were acquired by this papal family. The point of departure for this reconstruction is the author's earlier studies on several of these tablatures and other Roman sources, studies that have allowed him to identify a series of autographs stemming from the entourage of Frescobaldi; among these are the first musical autographs attributable with certainty to the master himself. Following this path, it is possible to identify the principal scribe of the Chigi tablatures as Leonardo Castellani, one of Frescobaldi's favorite pupils; one can thus relate these sources to several documents from the Chigi administrative archive that name Castellani, even though they do not mention him as a professional musician. The resulting reconstruction of the transfer of Castellani's tablatures to Prince Mario Chigi has two notable results. On the one hand, it throws new light (and new shadows) on music patronage in Baroque Rome; on the other, it points toward further research possibilities in the Chigi musical archive, since other manuscripts belonging to Castellani are probably to be found there. Moreover, Castellani, a previously little-known musician, is now shown to be the link between Frescobaldi and the new stylistic tendencies that grew up in Rome in the second half of the seventeenth century.
Bologna Q 18: Some Reflections on Content and Context
Authors: Weiss Susan Forscher
Published: September 2012

Bologna, Civico Museo Bibliografico Musicale, Codex Q 18 (olim 143) preserves various genres. Frottole and laude, many with complete texts, occupy the first nineteen folios; the remainder of the manuscript consists of approximately seventy textless pieces, one a 5, some a 3, the majority a 4. More than half of these textless pieces have not been found in any contemporary source. None of the pieces in the manuscript bears an attribution, although from concordant readings 45 pieces can be attributed to, among others, Isaac, Josquin, Compère, Tromboncino, Brumel, Cara, Caron, Busnois, and Agricola. The last third of the manuscript was copied by Giovanni Spataro (ca. 1458-1541), the famous and influential theorist, teacher, choirmaster, and composer, who around 1500 was in the employ of the youngest son of the Bentivoglio, the ruling family of Bologna. Watermarks, scribal features, and repertory establish with near certainty that the manuscript originated as a unit in Bologna between the years 1502 and 1505. The majority of compositions in Q 18 are at least suitable for instrumental performance. It seems likely that the manuscript was compiled with instrumental performance in mind. Bologna boasted at least two groups capable of performing these pieces: one, the civic wind ensemble called the Concerto palatino della Signoria, and the other, noble and bourgeois amateur musicians who were known to have performed alongside professionals. Both the position of these two groups within the context of musical patronage under the Bentivoglio family and the place of Bologna in northern musical culture are illuminated by means of newly recovered documents and through the repertory of Q 18.
On the Origins of the Sonate auf Concertenart
Authors: Swack Jeanne R.
Published: September 2012

This article traces the development of the Sonate auf Concertenart-a type of sonata that imitates the Vivaldian concerto in at least one of its movements-in Germany in the first half of the eighteenth century. While such sonatas had been considered to be the special property of Johann Sebastian Bach, the article shows that such works of Vivaldi were performed at the Dresden court; that composers from Dresden and its environs especially cultivated the genre at the time that Bach wrote his sonatas; and that such works, as well as Vivaldi's concertos, probably served as Bach's models.
Sonorous Bodies: Women and the Glass Harmonica
Authors: Hadlock Heather
Published: September 2012

In the 1760s, Benjamin Franklin modified the traditional "musical glasses" into the more elegant and playable "glass harmonica." Its gentle yet irresistibly resonant sound inspired analogies with feminine voices and souls: the instrument was represented as a "sister" and even as a physical extension of the woman performer. By the late 1780s, enthusiasm for its sound was tempered by concern over physical and moral dangers it posed to listeners and players. Its reputation waxed and waned with that of Dr. Franz Mesmer, who used it in his "magnetic" therapies. For the Gothic and early Romantic era, the armonica was no mere object for making music, but a focus for fantasies about ideal music itself. Yet while its sound remained a literary sign of inspiration and esoteric knowledge, the instrument lost its prestigious place in musical practice. Its feminine associations, once the secret to its magical potency, ultimately became a liability.
Reading and Reminiscence: Tinctoris on the Beauty of Music
Authors: Page Christopher
Published: September 2012

In his Liber de arte contrapuncti Johannes Tinctoris (d. 1511) invokes the beauty of music by Binchois, Dufay, and other composers, referring to the way their compositions smell. How are we to assess the meaning of such an unexpected idea? Questions such as this are easily overlooked in modern studies of the medieval music theorists, for the technical information those writers impart encourages us to read their works in a severely purposeful fashion. The treatises of Tinctoris, a voluble and most informative writer, are a case in point. The project of reading Tinctoris's work in a "literary" manner might take many forms, but one kind of literariness is concentrated at moments of heightened intertextuality. Such entanglements of sense have first to be discovered before they can be assessed, however, and the process of tracing intertextualities may be an arduous one since the books that medieval clerics studied as a matter of course have few readers today. Some newly identified intertexts in Tinctoris allow us to see the intricacy of the weave in several unexpected cases. Tinctoris consults a commentary upon Aristotle's Politics; he secretly rewrites a passage from Augustine's Confessions, bringing reading and reminiscence together in a moment of self-scrutiny; finally, as he invokes the sweet odor of music by Dufay and other composers, he brings reading and reminiscence together with an impulse that is hard to convey now that the language of learning does not resonate with the diction of biblical and patristic Latin: it is a kind of rapturous allusion which crosses and re-crosses the boundaries embodied in modern terms such as "piety," "beauty," and "learning."
The Unknown Florestan: The 1805 Version of "In des Lebens Frühlingstagen"
Authors: Tusa Michael C.
Published: September 2012

Our understanding of Beethoven's initial effort in opera, the 1805 version of Fidelio, is significantly clouded by certain difficulties in establishing its text. An especially obscure point is Florestan's aria at the beginning of the third act. Simply put, no surviving source transmits the aria as it was performed in 1805. In order to publish a complete, performable text for the opera, the editors of the Ur-Leonore, Erich Prieger and Willy Hess, present the aria in a version that conflates 1805 and 1806 sources. To shed some light on the lost 1805 version of the aria and on Beethoven's understanding of the piece, the present paper turns to the so-called Leonore sketchbook of 1804-5. The latest stages of 1805 sketches reveal a version that comprises three sections corresponding to basic shifts of perspective in the poem: an Adagio in A♭ major for Florestan's reflections on the meaning of his suffering; a Moderato in F major for the remembrance of his life with Leonore; and an Andante in F minor for his stoic advice to the distant beloved. Was this three-tempo version in fact performed at the premiere? This question cannot be answered definitively, but various bits of evidence, including the overture of 1805, sources for the 1806 revision, and the testimony of the tenor who sang the part of Florestan in 1806, suggest that the version performed in 1805 may have approximated the three-tempo version in the Leonore sketchbook. Further, the sources for the 1806 version suggest that the limitations of the tenor who sang the role of Florestan in 1805 lay behind a number of revisions.
Modal Theory, Church Keys, and the Sonata at the End of the Seventeenth Century
Authors: Barnett Gregory
Published: September 2012

In the latter half of the seventeenth century, two composers, Giovanni Maria Bononcini and Giulio Cesare Arresti, published collections of sonatas arranged according to modal criteria. Although their conceptions of a modal system differ markedly from one another and from other modal theories of the period, Bononcini's and Arresti's common use of a particular set of eight tonalities concurs with a widespread practice among seicento sonata composers that was also widely attested by theorists. In their music, composers extended these eight tonalities to greater numbers through transpositions. This practice thus reflects an a priori conception of a tonal system based on a core set of tonalities plus transpositions of that set. This core set derives, not from the modes, but from tonalities originating in the eight psalm tones used in the Catholic offices. The significance of these psalm tone tonalities-otherwise known as church keys-cannot be underestimated: they provide a crucial link between seventeenth-century modal theory and the musical practice of that period; moreover, the particular characteristics of the psalm tones themselves explain features found in late seicento tonalities.
The Hotteterre Flute: Six Replicas in Search of a Myth
Authors: Powell Ardal
Published: September 2012

Three instruments attributed to "Hotteterre" are considered the earliest baroque flutes. But two of these, once in the collection of César Charles Snoeck, prove to be copies, made at different times in the nineteenth century in La Couture-Boussey, Normandy. These, and other replicas made for the Brussels Conservatory and Dayton C. Miller collections, have fostered the growing myth of the "Hotteterre flute." Recently discovered flutes by Richard Haka and others argue against the presumption that the baroque flute was a sudden invention. New and wider studies of seventeenth-century woodwind instruments throughout Europe are beginning to indicate that the flute underwent a process of change far more complex than previously thought.
Combining the Physical Adsorption Approach and the Covalent Attachment Method to Prepare a Bifunctional Bioreactor
Authors: Dong Mengxing , Wu Zhuofu , Lu Ming , Wang Zhi , Li Zhengqiang
Published: September 2012

Aminopropyl-functionalized SBA-15 mesoporous silica was used as a support to adsorb myoglobin. Then, in order to avoid the leakage of adsorbed myoglobin, lysozyme was covalently tethered to the internal and external surface of the mesoporous silica with glutaraldehyde as the coupling agent. The property of amino-functionalized mesoporous silica was characterized by N2 adsorption-desorption and thermogravimetric (TG) analysis. The feature of the silica-based matrix before and after myoglobin adsorption was identified by fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and UV/VIS measurement. With o-dianisidine and H2O2 as the substrate, the peroxidase activity of adsorbed myoglobin was determined. With Micrococus lysodeilicus as the substrate, the antibacterial activity of covalently tethered lysozyme was measured. Results demonstrated that the final product not only presented peroxidase activity of the myoglobin but yielded antibacterial activity of the lysozyme.
Time Dependent Dielectric Breakdown in Copper Low-k Interconnects: Mechanisms and Reliability Models
Authors: Wong Terence K.S.
Published: September 2012

The time dependent dielectric breakdown phenomenon in copper low-k damascene interconnects for ultra large-scale integration is reviewed. The loss of insulation between neighboring interconnects represents an emerging back end-of-the-line reliability issue that is not fully understood. After describing the main dielectric leakage mechanisms in low-k materials (Poole-Frenkel and Schottky emission), the major dielectric reliability models that had appeared in the literature are discussed, namely: the Lloyd model, 1/E model, thermochemical E model, E1/2 models, E2 model and the Haase model. These models can be broadly categorized into those that consider only intrinsic breakdown (Lloyd, 1/E, E and Haase) and those that take into account copper migration in low-k materials (E1/2, E2). For each model, the physical assumptions and the proposed breakdown mechanism will be discussed, together with the quantitative relationship predicting the time to breakdown and supporting experimental data. Experimental attempts on validation of dielectric reliability models using data obtained from low field stressing are briefly discussed. The phenomenon of soft breakdown, which often precedes hard breakdown in porous ultra low-k materials, is highlighted for future research.
Synthesis of a New Series of Pyridine and Fused Pyridine Derivatives
Authors: Al-Issa Siham AbdulRahman
Published: September 2012

The reaction of 4-methyl-2-phenyl-1,2-dihydro-6-oxo-5-pyridine- carbonitrile (1) with arylidene malononitrile afforded isoquinoline derivatives 2a,b. 6-Chloro-4-methyl-2-phenyl-5-pyridinecarbonitile (3) obtained by chlorination of compound 1 with phosphoryl chloride was converted into 6-amino-4-methyl-2-phenyl-5-pyridinecarbonitrile (4) and 6-hydrazido-4-methyl-2-phenyl-5-pyridinecarbonitrile (5) in good yield, through reactions with ammonium acetate and hydrazine hydrate, respectively. Treatment of 4 with ethyl acetoacetate, acetic anhydride, formic acid, urea and thiourea gave the corresponding pyrido [2,3-d] pyrimidine derivatives 7–10a,b. A new series of 6-substituted-4-methyl-2-phenyl-5-pyridine carbonitriles 11–13 has been synthesized via reaction of 4 with phenyl isothiocyanate, benzenesulphonyl chloride and acetic anhydride. Treatment of 4 with malononitrile gave 1,8-naphthyridine derivative 14. The reactivity of hydrazide 5 towards acetic acid, phenylisothiocyanate and methylacrylate to give pyrazolo-[3,4-b]-pyridine derivatives 15–17 was studied. Treatment of 5 with acetic anhydride, phthalic anhydride and carbon disulphide gave pyridine derivatives 18,19 and 1,2,4-triazolo-[3,4-a]-pyridine derivative 20.
Evaluation of the Cobas 4800 HPV Test for Detecting High-Risk Human Papilloma-Virus in Cervical Cytology Specimens
Authors: Martin Isabella W. , Steinmetz Heather B. , Lefferts Claudine L. , Dumont Larry J. , Tafe Laura J. , Tsongalis Gregory J.
Published: September 2012

As new platforms for high-risk strains of human papillomavirus (HR HPV) testing are introduced into the clinical laboratory, it is important to verify their performance and agreement. In this validation study, post-aliquot cervical cytopathology specimens (n = 226) were used to analyze agreement between the Invader HPV ASR assay (Hologic) and the recently FDA-approved Cobas 4800 high-risk HPV assay (Roche). Residual sample from 92 Invader positive and 134 Invader negative samples were analyzed with the Cobas 4800 test. Discordant results were further analyzed by Linear Array HPV genotype testing (Roche). To assess intra- and inter-run precision, 31 Invader positive samples were run in duplicate on the Cobas 4800 by different operators over multiple days and purchased HR HPV DNA control was run in ten replicates. Cross-contamination during cytology processing was evaluated by spiking 6 Invader negative samples with different volumes of Acrometrix HPV High Risk Positive Control and analyzed on the Cobas with 4 negative samples in between. There was significant discordance between the assays (p < 0.001; exact McNemar X2 test), with overall agreement of 82%. Of the 92 Invader positive samples, 58 (63%) were positive with the Cobas assay, while 34 (37%) were negative. Of the 134 Invader negative samples, 6 (4%) were positive with the Cobas while 128 (96%) were negative. The observed discordance may be attributed to the previously described false positive rate of the Invader ASR assay. The Cobas 4800 high-risk HPV assay is a viable new tool for use in the clinical setting to identify high-risk HPV.
First Phytochemical Evidence of Chemotypes for the Seagrass Zostera noltii
Authors: Grignon-Dubois Micheline , Rezzonico Bernadette
Published: September 2012

The variability of the flavonoid content of two populations of Z. noltii from different geographical zones, i.e., the Bay of Arcachon and the Bay of Cadiz, was evaluated. Samples were collected in spring and autumn at the two sites, and extracts were prepared by maceration in water. The phenolic content was fully characterized using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), UV and Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS), and the concentration of the individual phenolic was determined by quantitative High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with Diode-Array Detection (HPLC-DAD). The two populations show a strong geographical differentiation in their flavonoid content. The samples from Cadiz were dominated by apigenin 7-sulfate, which represents 71% (autumn collection) and 83% (spring collection) of the total flavonoids, whereas the samples from Arcachon were characterized by diosmetin 7-sulfate (85 and 93% of the total flavonoids). Structural elucidation of the individual phenolics was assigned using the complementary information from their spectral evidence. In addition, the results were confirmed by acid hydrolysis of the flavonoid sulfates, and comparison to synthetic standards obtained by sulfation of apigenin, diosmetin and luteolin. The results represent the first experimental evidence of the existence of chemotypes within the species Z. noltii.
Effect of Simulation on Nursing Knowledge and Critical Thinking in Failure to Rescue Events
Authors: Schubert Carolyn R.
Published: September 2012

Failure to rescue events are hospital deaths that result from human error and unsafe patient conditions. A failure to rescue event implies that the last and best chance to avoid tragedy is not acted on in time to avoid a disaster. Patient safety is often compromised by nurses who do not perform accurate assessments (vigilance), do not detect clinical changes (surveillance), or do not display critical thinking (recognition that something is wrong). This project used simulation as a teaching strategy to enhance nursing performance. Medical-surgical nurses took part in a simulated failure to rescue event in which the patient’s clinical condition deteriorated rapidly. Nursing knowledge and critical thinking improved after the simulation and showed the effectiveness of simulation as a teaching strategy to address nursing knowledge and critical thinking skills.
Fabrication of Self-Aligned Graphene FETs with Low Fringing Capacitance and Series Resistance
Authors: Wang Yanjie , Huang Bo-Chao , Zhang Ming , Miao Congqin , Xie Ya-Hong , Woo Jason C. S.
Published: September 2012

Graphene FETs with top-gate and buried-gate structure has been studied. The buried-gate structure shows less fringing capacitance and more reliable contacts. High-performance graphene transistors with self-aligned buried gates have been fabricated. The graphene transistor shows field-effect mobility of over 6,000 cm2/V · s according to the transconductance measurement. The contact resistance and intrinsic mobility have been extracted from both curve fitting and transfer length measurement, and the two results agree well. This result paves the way of high-quality graphene transistor technology for the RF application.
Extensive Phenotypic Diversity among South Chinese Dogs
Authors: Crapon de Caprona Marie-Dominique , Savolainen Peter
Published: September 2012

We describe here a broad diversity in phenotype among dogs in southern China’s rural areas, previously relatively unknown outside of China. These dogs display a much broader spectrum of diversity than is observed for the Indian Pariah Dog and the Australian Dingo, which are of a more uniform type and popularly thought to be typical for South Asian dogs and to represent the primitive morphology of the earliest domestic dogs. We show here that the village dog population of southern China harbors a broad diversity of morphological features, for color, body structure and size, coat texture, ear, and tail set, that are otherwise typically associated with the wide variety of Western dog breeds and assumed to be the result of intense selective breeding. The diversity of southern China’s dogs is cast in the light of mtDNA and Y-chromosome DNA studies showing that the genetic diversity is distinctly higher in southern East Asia than in the rest of the world, indicating that this was the geographical origins of today’s dog. These data suggest that the diverse morphologies of European dogs may have been formed from genetic “building blocks" still present in the dog population of rural southern China.
Crystal Structure and Properties of a New Copper(II) Complex Cu2(phen)2[C7H8(COO)2]2 (H2O)4:5
Authors: Yang Ying-Qun , Li Wei , Chen Zhi-Min , Fu Li-Xia
Published: September 2012

A new complex Cu2(phen)2[C7H8(COO)2]2 (H2O)4:5 (1) has been synthesized, with the dianion of bicyclo[2.2.1] hept-2-ene-5,6-dicarboxylic acid [C7H8(COOH)2] (LH2) and 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) as ligands. In 1, L2- anions link Cu(II) cations to form two binuclear structure units, in which each Cu(II) cation is coordinated by five donor atoms to give a distorted square-pyramidal geometry. The magnetic data of 1 show that it exhibits weak antiferromagnetic properties at low temperature. When the excitation wavelength is at 470 nm, it has an intense photoluminescence. In addition, the cyclovoltammetric electron transfer is quasi reversible in the electrode reaction of 1, two electrons being involved in the reaction corresponding to Cu(II)=Cu(0)
Orthoamide und Iminiumsalze, LXXXI [1]. Orthoamid-Derivate der 1,3-Dimethylparabansäure / Orthoamides and Iminium Salts LXXXI [1]. Orthoamide Derivatives of 1,3-Dimethylparabanic Acid
Authors: Kantlehner Willi , Haug Erwin , Bauer Christophe
Published: September 2012

1,3-Dimethyl-5-imino-imidazolidine-2,4-dione (7a) undergoes thiolysis (H2S) to give the corresponding imidazolidine-2,4-dione-5-thione derivative 6. The 5-N-methylimino analogue 7b can be obtained from 7a by methylation. Further methylation of 7b affords the crude iminium salt 8c from which the heterocyclic orthoamide derivatives 10, 11 can be prepared. The heterocyclic amide acetal 9a can be obtained from 7a and dimethyl sulfate in methanol and subsequent addition of sodium methanolate in a one-pot reaction. The aminal ester 10 is converted to the amide acetal 9a on treatment with hydrogen chloride in methanol
Hydrothermal Synthesis, Crystal Structure and Properties of a Novel Phosphorus-containing 3D Metal- Organic Cd(II) Coordination Polymer
Authors: Mei Chong-Zhen , Hu Xi-Ying , Yang Guang-Rui , Li Kai-Hui , Shan Wen-Wen
Published: September 2012

A metal-organic framework [Cd(dppip)]n (1) based on 5-(diphenylphosphino)isophthalic acid (H2dppip) has been synthesized hydrothermally and characterized by IR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, and X-ray crystallography. [Cd(dppip)]n shows a sheet structure owing to carboxylate bridging with windows with dimensions 10.692 x 9.325 Å2. The layers are further connected through P-Cd interactions to give a three-dimensional supramolecular network. The thermal analysis (DTA) of complex 1 exhibited an exceptionally high thermal stability (m. p. 452:8 °C). The compound shows fluorescence at ca. 418 nm upon excitation at 314 nm
Moderate Dose Inhaled Budesonide Disguising Symptoms of Addison's Disease in An Asthmatic Boy with Silent Celiac Disease
Authors: Stenhammar Lars C. , Högberg Lotta M. , Nordwall Maria , Strömberg Leif G. E.
Published: September 2012

Inhaled corticosteroids are first-line treatment for asthma. Moderate doses of budesonide have been supposed not to affect hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis function. We report the case of a boy with asthmatic symptoms and a late diagnosis of celiac disease, in whom inhaled budesonide in a dose used in conventional asthma therapy seems to have been systemically absorbed in amounts large enough to temporarily disguise the symptoms of a developing adrenal insufficiency. Inhaled corticosteroids in a dose used in standard asthma therapy seem to have the potential of disguising a developing Addison's disease. Furthermore, celiac disease, especially if diagnosed in late childhood, may be associated with Addison's disease causing a complex symptom pattern.
A History of Neonatal Medicine—Past Accomplishments, Lessons Learned, and Future Challenges. Part 1—The First Century
Authors: Lussky Richard C. , Cifuentes Raul F. , Siddappa Ashajyothi M.
Published: September 2012

This is the first of two articles that will review the history of neonatal medicine. This article will describe the beginnings of the modern era of newborn medicine, review pharmacological misadventures, and describe recent advances in the fields of neonatal and perinatal medicine.
Impact of a Pediatric Clinic-Based Multidisciplinary Asthma Education and Management Program
Authors: Condren Michelle , Boger James A
Published: September 2012

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to determine if a multidisciplinary asthma education and management program within a general pediatric clinic impacts clinical outcomes of children with asthma.

METHODS An asthma education and management clinic was started by a general pediatrician, a pharmacist, and a nurse. At a patient's initial clinic visit, data were collected summarizing hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and number of systemic corticosteroid courses for the previous year. The same data were collected at each subsequent visit. A retrospective review of this data was performed for patients who enrolled in the clinic between February 1999 and 2002 to compare outcomes between the year before enrollment in the clinic and the following year. Patients were included if they received follow-up for at least one year.

RESULTS Fifty-seven patients with a mean age of 8.5 years qualified for data analysis. Forty-eight percent of the study population was classified as having moderate persistent asthma, and 11% of patients were severe persistent. Compared to the year prior to clinic enrollment, the number of hospitalizations per patient decreased by 82% (P < .001). Emergency department visits decreased by 81% (P < .001). The number of systemic corticosteroid courses decreased by 72% (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS Patient enrollment in a general pediatric clinic-based multidisciplinary asthma education and management program decreases hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and systemic corticosteroid exposure.
An Open Label Comparison of Calfactant and Poractant Alfa Administration Traits and Impact on Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Resources
Authors: Gerdes Jeffrey S. , Seiberlich William , Sivieri Emidio M. , Marsh Wallace , Varner Dwight L. , Turck Charles J , York John M.
Published: September 2012

OBJECTIVE To compare calfactant (CA) and poractant alfa (PA) administration traits, short-term clinical responses, and resource use in the neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) setting.

METHODS An open label series of 277 (213 PA and 64 CA) infants was evaluated for 445 administrations. Registered respiratory therapists collected patient, surfactant administration, and postadministration clinical data. Economic analysis involved labor costs of surfactant administration and usage, wastage, and product average wholesale price. Analysis utilized the Mann-Whitney rank sum test for differences in administration time and either the chi-square or Fisher's exact test for categorical variables.

RESULTS PA had a statistically lower bedside administration time than CA (3.8 minutes vs. 5.3 minutes; P = .006) and a higher percentage of doses administered in less than five minutes (58.9% vs. 4.3%; P < .001). Doses administered per patient were similar (1.67 vs. 1.72). PA and CA were similar in time to recovery (81.4% vs. 74.3%), percent desaturation (24.8% vs. 26.7%), and bradycardia (3.8% vs. 8.5%). Reflux was significantly higher (13.2% vs. 3.5%; P < .001) with CA. Economic analyses found total administration costs per dose were $2.21 for PA and $3.08 for CA. Mean wastage costs were $141.21 for PA and $337.34 for CA (P < .001).

CONCLUSIONS PA appeared to utilize fewer neonatal intensive care unit resources than CA due to reduced administration time and less wastage of drug product. Future studies should more closely evaluate time, resource, wastage, and post-administrative clinical effects to fully assess the impact of surfactant products in this setting.
The Role of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Therapy in the Management of Respiratory Distress in Extremely Premature Infants
Authors: Sekar Kris
Published: September 2012

The use of mechanical ventilation for the treatment of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in low birth weight infants may cause barotrauma, volutrauma, and chronic lung disease. Different continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) delivery systems exist, each with its own practical and clinical advantages and disadvantages. CPAP can be used as either a primary or an adjunctive respiratory support for RDS. Research demonstrates that CPAP decreases the incidence of respiratory failure after extubation. Clinical trials indicate that the optimal management of neonatal RDS consists of early surfactant treatment followed quickly by extubation and stabilization on CPAP. Early surfactant treatment combined with CPAP reduces the need for mechanical ventilation, compared to later surfactant treatment. Evidence suggests a synergistic effect between early surfactant administration and rapid extubation to nasal CPAP.
Pharmacoeconomics of Surfactant Therapy
Authors: Barbarello-Andrews Liza , Marsh Wallace
Published: September 2012

Surfactant therapy has become an integral part of the standard of care for treating premature infants with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). Institutions that routinely treat this patient population have to select a surfactant based upon clinical and pharmacoeconomic considerations. Pharmacoeconomic studies have established the cost-effectiveness of individual agents based on a variety of factors, including length of hospitalization, mortality odds ratio, and other direct medical costs. These studies evaluated infants with weights between 600 and 2000 grams and survival periods between 28 days and 1 year. With the cost-effectiveness of surfactants already established as being far superior to no treatment, trials have evolved to compare the available surfactants. Two studies have supported the cost-effectiveness of beractant compared to colfosceril or calfactant. Two others demonstrated lower resource utilization associated with poractant alfa as compared to beractant or calfactant. Evolving treatment approaches in the management of neonatal RDS, such as recent data suggesting continuous positive airway pressure as an alternative to mechanical ventilation for respiratory support, have defined the need to further evaluate the impact of such strategies upon surfactant and resource utilization.
The Role of Pamidronate in Pediatric Patients with Severe Osteogenesis Imperfecta
Authors: Tsuji Jennifer L. , Smith Katherine P.
Published: September 2012

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a heritable bone disorder with clinical features that include bone fragility, blue sclerae, and short stature. There are four main subtypes of OI, encompassing a wide range of clinical severity. The majority of patients have mutations in either the COL1A1 or COL1A2 gene that ultimately lead to an abnormal synthesis of or a decrease in the production of collagen. Bisphosphonates have been used effectively in adults and children to treat other bone disorders, since they have been proven to increase bone density through inhibition of bone resorption. Recent studies have demonstrated the advantages of pamidronate therapy in the treatment of children and adolescents with the more severe forms of OI. Pamidronate consistently increases bone mass, vertebral growth, and quality-of-life while decreasing the number of fractures in children with severe OI. Long-term effects are promising, and benefits of pamidronate therapy appear to outweigh the possible risks.
Intraventricular Vancomycin In Pediatric Patients With Cerebrospinal Fluid Shunt Infections
Authors: Al-Jeraisy Majed , Phelps Stephanie J. , Christensen Michael L. , Einhaus Stephanie
Published: September 2012

OBJECTIVES To determine: 1) the range and magnitude of vancomycin trough cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations following intraventricular (IVT) vancomycin; 2) any correlation between patient demographic and CSF vancomycin concentrations; and 3) eradication and complications rates following IVT vancomycin.

METHODS Medical records of pediatric patients with shunt infection who received IVT vancomycin during a 12 month period were reviewed. Demographic, microbiological data, IVT/intravenous (IV) vancomycin dosing, concomitant antibiotics, CSF and serum vancomycin concentrations, and CSF drainage output were recorded.

RESULTS Seventeen patients ages 4 months to 17 years were hospitalized for shunt infection. Staphylococcus epidermidis (n=12) was the predominant organism. Sixteen patients received 10 mg, and one patient received 5 mg of IVT vancomycin for 3–23 days. All but one received concurrent IV vancomycin. The mean maximum trough CSF vancomycin concentration noted for 16 patients who recieved 10 mg of IVT vancomycin was 18.4±21.8 μg/mL (range: between 0.4 to 187.3 μg/mL). All four adolescents ≥25 kg had CSF vancomycin concentrations ≤5 μg/mL, three of four infants/children between 10.1 and 24.9 kg had trough CSF vancomycin concentrations between 10–20 μg/mL, and five of nine infants <10 kg had CSF concentrations >20 μg/mL. All organisms were successfully eradicated. One patient developed chronic eosinophilia presumed related to elevated CSF vancomycin concentrations (187 μg/mL).

CONCLUSIONS –The combination of IVT and IV vancomycin effectively eradicated CSF shunt infections. CSF vancomycin concentrations are highly variable and poorly correlated with age and CSF output. Following a 10 mg IVT vancomycin dose, CSF concentrations appear to be lower in older children and elevated in infants/young children. One infant experienced a complication related to an elevated CSF vancomycin concentration; hence, therapy must be individualized, using CSF trough vancomycin concentrations.
Managing Asthma: Past, Present, and Future
Authors: Weinberger Miles
Published: September 2012

Asthma has been recognized in the medical literature for almost 2000 years. Modern pharmaco-therapy for asthma began with the commencement of the 20th century following the development of epinephrine and the demonstration of its effectiveness for acute symptoms of asthma. Progressive development of this class of bronchodilator medication has provided greater β2 specificity and longer duration of action. Corticosteroids were introduced about 50 years ago. As a systemic medication, they provided anti-inflammatory activity that continues to be essential for exacerbations of symptoms that are unresponsive to a bronchodilator. Corticosteroids were subsequently developed as inhaled agents for long-term maintenance therapy. The availability of corticosteroids with high topical effect has permitted the use of smaller doses with minimal systemic effect; therefore, the inhaled corticosteroids have become the most effective monotherapeutic agents for chronic asthma.

Both theophylline and long-acting β2 agonists (e.g., salmeterol) provide additive clinical effect to small doses of inhaled corticosteroids. This effect is greater than that achieved with larger doses of the inhaled steroid used alone. A new approach to managing allergic asthma is now available in the form of a monoclonal antibody directed against immunoglobulin E (IgE). This agent, omalizumab, binds to circulating IgE, thereby preventing IgE from binding to mast cells. This subsequently prevents the release of mediators for bronchospasm and inflammation. Under investigation are monoclonal antibodies to modify the effects of interleukins involved in the inflammatory process of asthma. Phosphodiesterase inhibitors that are more specific than theophylline and monoclonal antibodies that prevent the attachment of rhinovirus to respiratory mucosa are being studied. Since rhinoviruses are major causes of acute exacerbations of asthma, these and other measures to prevent or modify the common cold provide great potential for further improvement in the outcome of asthma.