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The article discusses the history of "rube" characters, or unsophisticated rural persons, in American performance. It argues that rubes were depicted as both yeomen and barbarians. The author considers rubes in American theater from the mid-nineteenth century, particularly in vaudeville and variety shows, and considers ties to minstrelsy and popular depictions of Yankee characters. Actors who performed rube characters are considered, including Cal Stewart and Frank Bell. Later rube representations in the film "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town" and the television show "The Beverly Hillbillies" are also explored.

The article discusses the book "Vom Musikalisch-Schönen" (On the Musically Beautiful) by Eduard Hanslick as a means to explore Hanslick's notion of absolute music. More specifically, Hanslick's belief in a connection between nature and music is detailed, with emphasis given to his idea that musical sounds are closely related to the type of motion described by natural physics and cosmological motion.

As policing enters an era of financial austerity and increased public scrutiny against the backdrop of an increasingly global criminal economy, this paper describes the value of crime intelligence as a component of future policing strategies. It proposes the Integrated Crime Intelligence Analysis Framework (The Diamond Matrix) as a way of ‘shrinking the crime triangle’ by supporting and educating intelligence practitioners to generate the actionable ideas necessary to drive targeted, coordinated policing. Moreover, it provides the foundations for a wider programme focused on intelligence specialists/advanced specialists, decision-makers, and managers/leaders—a scientifically driven approach to the use and application of crime intelligence to underpin the requirements of a future-focused professional policing service. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Multifetal pregnancy reduction (MFPR) was developed over 20 years ago to rescue higher-order multifetal pregnancies and has become a major component of improving the outcomes in infertility therapies. By definition, MFPR will always be controversial, but opinions do not follow the traditional "pro-life/pro-choice" dichotomy that has sabotaged the more generalized abortion debate. If one defines SUCCESS as a healthy mother and healthy offspring, clearly, with multiples, fewer are always safer. The ethical issues surrounding MFPR are for most people not a clear black-or-white but varying shades of gray. The ethical principle of proportionality takes precedence (i.e., trying to obtain the most good for the least harm while looking for areas of moral compromise to achieve the best outcomes). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article the author discusses a performance of the play "Cato," by Joseph Addison that took place in May 1778, performed before members of the Continental Army at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Tradition has it the the performance was a celebration of revolutionary and patriotic fervor given as gift from Washington and his primary commanders to the men of the army who had survived the difficult winter. Using the correspondence of William Bradford Jr., a young officer in Valley Forge at the time of the performance, the author establishes that audience for the play was exclusive and designed to curry favor with Washington.William Bradford, Jr., the future attorney general, who was at. Valley Forge as a lieutenant colonel.

Abstract: Two-pore channels (TPCs or TPCNs) are novel members of the large superfamily of voltage-gated cation channels with slightly higher sequence homology to the pore-forming subunits of voltage-gated Ca2+ and Na+ channels than most other members. Recent studies demonstrate that TPCs locate to endosomes and lysosomes and form Ca2+ release channels that respond to activation by the Ca2+ mobilizing messenger, nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NAADP). With multiple endolysosomal targeted NAADP receptors now identified, important new insights into the regulation of endolysosomal function in health and disease will therefore be unveiled. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In pulmonary arterial smooth muscle, Ca2+ release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) via ryanodine receptors (RyRs) may induce constriction and dilation in a manner that is not mutually exclusive. We show here that the targeting of different sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum 2+-ATPases (SERCA) and RyR subtypes to discrete SR regions explains this paradox. Western blots identified protein bands for SERCA2a and SERCA2b, whereas immunofluorescence labeling of isolated pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells revealed striking differences in the spatial distribution of SERCA2a and SERCA2b and RyR1, RyR2, and RyR3, respectively. Almost all SERCA2a and RyR3 labeling was restricted to a region within 1.5 μm of the nucleus. In marked contrast, SERCA2b labeling was primarily found within 1.5 μm of the plasma membrane, where labeling for RyR1 was maximal. The majority of labeling for RyR2 lay in between these two regions of the cell. Application of the vasoconstrictor endothelin-1 induced global Ca2± waves in pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells, which were markedly attenuated upon depletion of SR 2+ stores by preincubation of cells with the SERCA inhibitor thapsigargin but remained unaffected after preincubation of cells with a second SERCA antagonist, cyclopiazonic acid. We conclude that functionally segregated SR 2+ stores exist within pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells. One sits proximal to the plasma membrane, receives 2+ via SERCA2b, and likely releases 2+ via RyR1 to mediate vasodilation. The other is located centrally, receives 2+ via SERCA2a, and likely releases 2+ via RyR3 and RyR2 to initiate vasoconstriction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]