The description of epileptic seizures in the classical opera

Epilepsy or epileptic seizures have only rarely been described in the classical opera. Four operas were detected, in which epileptic seizures are described also by musical means. Three of them ("Der Golem" by Eugen d'Albert; "Idiot" by Mieczyslaw Weinberg; "Otello" by Giuseppe Verdi) describe a generalized tonic-clonic epileptic seizure by a descending chromatic scale. One opera ("The turn of the screw" by Benjamin Britten) describes temporal lobe seizures by overtone music played by the instrument celesta.

"Qui la voce sua soave": "Maria Callas' dermatomyositis"-art beyond disease and its stigma

Not available for a historical note.

An Evaluation of the Swissmedic Regulatory Framework for New Active Substances

BACKGROUND

Swissmedic is a major regulatory agency that has been benchmarking its timelines for 20 years. To better understand the Swissmedic review times and to examine whether measures introduced to accelerate the process were effective, a retrospective analysis was undertaken. The objective was to provide a breakdown of where time is spent in the phases of Swissmedic's approval process (validation, scientific assessment, authorisation) and how this compared to other major authorities.

METHODS

Data on Swissmedic, EMA and FDA product approvals were collected from websites or through direct communication, using a standardised CIRS method and milestones previously identified, focusing on new active substances approved 2019-2021.

RESULTS

In 2019, 2020, and 2021, Swissmedic median approval times were 520, 470, and 392 days, respectively. The decrease over this time was mainly observed in the Authorisation Phase and can be attributed to lower proportions of applications with multiple "labelling loops", in addition to shorter times for final label negotiation. While Swissmedic had the longest overall approval time (447 days) compared to EMA (428) and FDA (244), the timelines were more comparable when considering only the agency's time spent on the scientific assessment, with Swissmedic at 194 days, EMA at 218 days, and FDA at 184 days.

CONCLUSIONS

These observations represent an important analysis of Swissmedic regulatory activity timelines, demonstrate the impact of process improvements, and emphasise the importance of measuring timelines. Swissmedic will continue to expedite its processes also by promoting international collaborations with like-minded authorities.

Impact of Opera on Mental Health Stigma: Pilot of Provider/Community Workshop

BACKGROUND

Arts can influence mental health stigma, but little is known about impact of operas. We examined effects of a two-opera workshop on complicated grief and schizophrenia.

METHODS

Pre-post audience surveys with post-workshop discussion. The primary outcome was a 4-item measure of willingness to engage with persons with grief or schizophrenia. Secondary outcomes were perceptions of art affecting stigma and stigma mediators. Of 47 participants, 33 had pre-post surveys for both operas.

RESULTS

There was a significant pre-post opera increase in audience willingness to engage with persons with grief or schizophrenia (p < .001). Perceptions of impact on mediators such as empathy, were significantly greater for the opera on schizophrenia relative to grief (p < .001)..

CONCLUSION

The pre- to post increase in audience willingness to engage with affected persons (primary) with greater impact on secondary mediators for the schizophrenia opera and post-discussion suggest that operas may be a forum for addressing mental health stigma and promoting empathy.

Foliar application of fungicide-opera alleviates negative impact of water stress in soybean plants

The modulatory effect of opera was investigated on the physiological and morphological aspects in soybean thriving in water stress environment. The data procured from current investigation indicated that water stress significantly declined the plant growth, leaf area in addition to photosynthetic efficiency, nitrate reductase activity and crop yield at various stages of growth such as vegetative (VS), flowering (FS) and pod filling stage (PFS). However, foliar application of opera (0.15%) was effective to enhance the the leaf area (42%), rate of photosynthesis (194%), and nitrate reductase activity (68%) at FS stage while the maximum enhancement in biomass accumulation (92%) and yield (119%) was observed at PFS stage as compared to their control plants. The opera is applied as foliar spray in field experiments to augment the assimilation of nitrogen and carbon in soybean which contributes to increased crop development and productivity under water stress conditions.

Why do we need to investigate non-classical musicians to reduce the burden of musicians' musculoskeletal symptoms?

Musculoskeletal symptoms (MSSs) are common among professional musicians; however, most of the research has focused on orchestral/classical musicians. In some countries orchestral and classical musicians are in the minority; hence targeting research towards these specific sub-groups of musicians is unlikely to address the overall burden of musicians' MSSs, unless the research is generalizable to other types of musicians. This multidisciplinary narrative review seeks to answer the question: "why do we need to examine the MSSs of non-classical groups of performing musicians in order to reduce the burden of musicians' MSSs?". There are differences in the education, posture, tasks (e.g. military training for military band musicians, dancing for those in musical theatre), venues and management of MSSs for different types of musicians. Future research should compare classical and non-classical musicians in order to determine which specific sub-groups (e.g. military band musicians) have the greatest MSS burden, such that further research into the risk factors of and interventions for MSSs can be targeted towards the sub-groups of musicians with the greatest MSS burden. In doing so, we maximise the likelihood of being able to introduce interventions, policies and practice that reduce the burden of musicians' MSSs.

Blindness and visual impairment in opera

PURPOSE

The performing arts mirror the human condition. This study sought to analyze the reasons for inclusion of visually impaired characters in opera, the cause of the blindness or near blindness, and the dramatic purpose of the blindness in the storyline.

METHODS

We reviewed operas from the 18^th century to 2010 and included all characters with ocular problems. We classified the cause of each character's ocular problem (organic, nonorganic, and other) in relation to the thematic setting of the opera: biblical and mythical, blind beggars or blind musicians, historical (real or fictional characters), and contemporary or futuristic.

RESULTS

Cases of blindness in 55 characters (2 as a choir) from 38 operas were detected over 3 centuries of repertoire: 11 had trauma-related visual impairment, 5 had congenital blindness, 18 had visual impairment of unknown cause, 9 had psychogenic or malingering blindness, and 12 were symbolic or miracle-related. One opera featured an ophthalmologist curing a patient.

CONCLUSIONS

The research illustrates that visual impairment was frequently used as an artistic device to enhance the intent and situate an opera in its time.

Physiologic and Acoustic Effects of Opera Performance

INTRODUCTION/HYPOTHESIS

Opera performance is physiological and emotional, and singing performers utilize their larynges in often strenuous ways. Historically, the training of a classical voice has been considered the paragon of healthy singing. However, the natural history of a performing larynx has not been studied systematically. There is paucity of scientific studies to guide practice patterns, particularly with regard to the course and extent of post-performance physiologic and acoustic changes.

STUDY DESIGN

A prospective case series was carried out.

METHODS

Principal singers in the Houston Grand Opera's 2012-2013 repertory were enlisted, for a total of seven singers. Stroboscopy was performed prior to the start of rehearsals, and at the completion of the opera's run. Data points included erythema, edema, masses or lesions, mucosal waveform, supraglottic posture; acoustic measurements were also performed.

RESULTS

There were statistically significant differences (P < 0.05) in the mucosal wave on pre- and postperformance stroboscopic examinations. Acoustical measures did not achieve statistical significance, but there was a trend toward increased harmonic-to-noise ratio in postperformance measures, as well as decreased frequency range and reading F₀. Measures of intra- and inter-rater reliability indicated varying levels of intra-rater reliability, and generally poor inter-rater reliability.

CONCLUSIONS

This pilot study describes physiologic and acoustic changes that may occur over the course of a series of rehearsals and performances in the operatic larynx. In so doing, it highlights a need for larger studies with increased frequency of serial examinations to study in a systematized way what may be natural reactive changes that occur during performance.

Physicians and alternative medicines in "The Barber of Seville" by Gioachino Rossini: A bicentennial debate

BACKGROUND

The year 2016 marks the bicentennial anniversary of the premiere of "The Barber of Seville" by Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868). This opera buffa, one of the most renowned in the world, puts on stage a sharp criticism against the physicians of that time in favour of empiric healers, respectively represented by the doctor Bartolo and the barber Figaro.

METHODS

The paper analysed both the opera by Rossini and the French comedy "Le Barbier de Séville" (1775) by Pierre Beaumarchais (1732-1799), on which the Italian composer based his own play.

RESULTS

The unlearned barber Figaro is portrayed as a poor but wise guy, while his rival, the graduated doctor Bartolo, is defined as an arrogant and opulent old physician. Dr. Bartolo's incompetence, lack of skill and ignorance are evident in the works by Rossini and Beaumarchais. Both plays show empiric and unskilled medicine triumphs over academic medicine, which appears weak in its scientific concepts and corrupted by money.

CONCLUSIONS

Arrogance, presumption and carelessness among physicians are a danger nowadays as they have been for a couple of hundred years, since they may not only lead to misjudgement and errors, but also to an increase of alternative medicines and strange healing remedies.

Performing Lieder: Expert Perspectives and Comparison of Vibrato and Singer's Formant With Opera Singers

This article reports three studies about performance of lieder, and in particular in comparison with opera performance. In study 1, 21 participants with experience in music performance and teaching completed a survey concerning various characteristics of lieder performance. The results showed that there was consensus between the literature and the assessment of an expert panel-that a "natural" and "unoperatic" vibrato was favored, and that diction, text, and variation of tone are all important aspects of lieder performance. Two acoustic analyses were conducted to investigate genre-specific differences of the singer's formant and vibrato parameters. The first analysis (study 2) used 18 single quasi-unaccompanied notes from commercial recordings of two lieder, and, for comparison, 20 single unaccompanied notes from an opera. Vibrato rate was statistically identical between the two genres at ~6.4 Hz; however, lieder featured a longer delay in vibrato onset. Vibrato extent was smaller for lieder (~112 cents) compared with opera (~138 cents). The singer's formant, which is generally associated with opera, was at times observed in the lieder recordings; however, this was at an overall significantly weaker intensity than in the opera recordings. The results were replicated in study 3, where recordings using only singers who performed in both lied and opera were analyzed. This direct comparison used 45 lieder notes and 55 opera notes and also investigated three different methods of analyzing the singer's formant. A number of consistencies and inconsistencies were identified between acoustic parameters reported in studies 2 and 3, and the beliefs of singing teachers and scholars in the literature and study 1.