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Articles by Brian Angus
T cell memory response to MPXV infection exhibits greater effector function and migratory potential compared to MVA-BN vaccination - Nature Communications
Abstract In 2022, a global mpox outbreak occurred, and remains a concern today. The T cell memory response to MPXV (monkeypox virus) infection has not been fully investigated. In this study, we evaluate this response in convalescent and MVA-BN (Modified Vaccinia Ankara - Bavarian Nordic) vaccinated individuals using VACV-infected cells. Strong CD8+ and CD4+ T cell responses are observed, and T cell responses are biased towards viral early expressed proteins.
Anomalies in the review process and interpretation of the evidence in the NICE guideline for chronic fatigue syndrome and myalgic encephalomyelitis
Dear Editor, In the article ‘Anomalies in the review process and interpretation of the evidence in the NICE guideline for chronic fatigue syndrome and myalgic encephalomyelitis’ published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry on 10th July 2023, the authors claim NICE invented a new definition of ME.
Anomalies in the review process and interpretation of the evidence in the NICE guideline for chronic fatigue syndrome and myalgic encephalomyelitis
Anomalies in the review process and interpretation of the evidence in the NICE guideline for chronic fatigue syndrome and myalgic encephalomyelitis Peter White1, Susan Abbey2, Brian Angus3, http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2137-7582Harriet A Ball4, Dedra S Buchwald5, Christine Burness6, Alan J Carson7, http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0775-1045Trudie Chalder8, Daniel J Clauw9, Jan Coebergh10, Anthony S David11, Barbara A Dworetzky12, Mark J Edwards13, Alberto J Espay14, John Etherington15, Per Fink16,...
Christian Spuck’s acclaimed Verdi Requiem wows the Adelaide Festival
Christian Spuck’s acclaimed reinvention of Verdi’s powerful Messa da Requiem has finally arrived in Adelaide for the 2023 Festival of Arts. Covid bans on travel have delayed it for years, so all the more eager the anticipation. With inspiring choreography, Spuck has added a new dimension to the work.
Psychic numbing: Why we would prefer to save a single dog instead of thousands of humans
In 2002 a fire broke out on an oil tanker hundreds of miles south of Hawaii. All eight of the crew members were successfully rescued, but, as it was later realized, the captain’s dog, Hokget, was left behind. The two-year-old terrier was alone on the tanker, floating around in the Pacific Ocean. The lost dog story made headlines, and people donated thousands of dollars to the Hawaiian Humane Society to save Hokget.
Lauren Fagan and Kang Wang excel in Adelaide's new Traviata
La traviata is an opera brimming with emotions. Love, insecurity, fear, anger, passion, pride, hypocrisy, revenge, redemption and reconciliation are woven into the mix from which Verdi crafted his engrossing fabric of fragile humanity. Full of memorably great arias, it is now one of the most frequently performed of all operas. This year every Australian mainland capital has mounted a production, indeed this one is being co-produced by Perth and Brisbane.
Richard Meale’s Voss revived in all its brilliance in Adelaide
Richard Meale’s powerful opera Voss has returned to the Adelaide’s Festival Theatre 36 years after its world premiere, another in the State Opera’s “Lost Operas of Oz” series. David Malouf's libretto crystallises Patrick White's difficult-to-read Nobel prize-winning novel. It’s a story that touches the Australian soul, that speaks of coming to terms with our land, embracing it, and letting it speak to us.
The Turn of the Screw: Stuart Maunder directs powerful in Adelaide
The State Opera South Australia has another winner on its hands in an imaginatively creative Turn of the Screw directed by Stuart Maunder. Roger Kirk’s massive Bly House set, a very bleak house indeed, features panels that go up, down and sideways to produce a stunning tower, chapel and several other rooms. His costumes convey a sombre 19th-century bleakness, with lighting designer Trudy Dalgleish giving the ghostly Peter Quint a green aura, and Miss Jessel a blue.
Barrie Kosky’s reimagined Golden Cockerel launches Adelaide Festival
Barrie Kosky is well known in Adelaide. He has been Artistic Director of the Festival, where he has directed several key productions, and has even been quoted as saying that it is “my favourite arts festival in all the world.” And Adelaide audiences love his work.
A marvellous Walküre from Melbourne Opera
A preliminary opera has set the stage, key characters have been introduced and events have unfolded which prefigure the remaining three operas. Gold, stolen from the maidens of the Rhine and forged into a ring would blight the future of everyone who handled it, until it eventually found its way back to the Rhine.
Getting jabs to the unvaccinated has never been more critical
Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA With vaccinated people receiving their boosters, the horrors of Covid are now restricted to those who won’t or can’t have a jab Covid patients in ICUs now almost all unvaccinated, says Oxford scientist More than ever before, we must look behind the reported Covid-19 numbers in hospitals and communities to understand what is happening in the pandemic.
Compelling to hear, amazing to see: Opera Australia’s Aida
The singers were outstanding, the sets amazing. Davide Livermore's Aida for Opera Australia has brought a total sensory experience to the Melbourne stage. There was no weak link in the exceptional cast, well drilled chorus, delightful dancers and accomplished orchestra. Visually the sets were stunning, perhaps over-stunning, with D-Wok's large movable digital screens bringing brightness and spectacle to the stage, seeming, at times, as if a kid was playing with a new toy.
Revenge, murder and cannibalism: Adelaide Sweeney Todd has legs
Stuart Maunder, Artistic Director of State Opera of South Australia, has brought another of his earlier productions to the Adelaide stage – and Sweeney Todd was well worth the wait. It fitted beautifully into the enlarged and renovated Her Majesty’s Theatre which Limelight described as now “one of the finest theatres of the world”. It is the same theatre, then called the Opera Theatre, where Sweeney Todd had its Australian premiere in 1987.
Efficacy of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AZD1222) vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern 202012/01 (B.1.1.7): an exploratory analysis of a randomised controlled trial
Summary Background A new variant of SARS-CoV-2, B.1.1.7, emerged as the dominant cause of COVID-19 disease in the UK from November, 2020. We report a post-hoc analysis of the efficacy of the adenoviral vector vaccine, ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AZD1222), against this variant.
Safety and immunogenicity of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine against SARS-CoV-2: a preliminary report of a phase 1/2, single-blind, randomised controlled trial
Research in context Evidence before this study Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was identified as the causative agent of COVID-19 in January, 2020. There are currently no licensed vaccines to prevent COVID-19. ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 has previously been reported to be immunogenic and protective against pneumonia in a rhesus macaque challenge model.
Amazing Breaking the Waves: Scottish Opera at the Adelaide Festival
American composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek make a great team. Inspired by the Lars von Trier film Breaking the Waves they have created an amazing, confronting, yet mystical opera, telling the same story but with refreshingly new insights. This Breaking the Waves opera is a most unusuallove story of redemption, of Bess sacrificing her life that Jan might live.
Romeo Castellucci’s makeover of Mozart’s Requiem at the Adelaide Festival
Mozart never did finish his Requiem. His student, Franz Xaver Süssmayr used notes he had penned and scraps of paper to complete the score performed here, alongside other additions, by director Romeo Castellucci (making his third appearance at the Adelaide Festival) and his musical collaborator, Raphaël Pichon. This is a co-production between the Adelaide Festival and Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.
Lewis Carroll’s Boojum! makes serious-nonsense in Adelaide
State Opera of South Australia have initiated an ambitious program: Lost Operas of Oz, presenting Australian operas which have had little exposure since their premieres in the latter half of the 20th century. First on the list is Boojum!, premiered at the 1986 Adelaide Festival in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II. She must have liked it for it is said she went back stage to congratulate the cast and crew.
Investigation of the role of typhoid toxin in acute typhoid fever in a human challenge model
Abstract Salmonella Typhi is a human host-restricted pathogen that is responsible for typhoid fever in approximately 10.9 million people annually1. The typhoid toxin is postulated to have a central role in disease pathogenesis, the establishment of chronic infection and human host restriction2,3,4,5,6. However, its precise role in typhoid disease in humans is not fully defined. We studied the role of typhoid toxin in acute infection using a randomized, double-blind S. Typhi human challenge model7.
Column: All Drugs Should Be Legal
Last Updated on April 20, 2019 358 views By Brian Angus | bangus@radford.edu All drugs should be legal. It’s not a very popular statement in America, but to reduce crime, government spending, disease, and drug-induced deaths, decriminalizing drugs is a necessity. Drugs Do Not Disappear Due to Laws First off, drugs do not disappear due to laws; they go to the black market. In the black market, there is violence, corruption, and no quality control over the drugs.
Column: "Fake News" Is Overhyped - Here's Why
5 views By Brian Angus | bangus@radford.edu The news media has been under fire since it’s birth; however, in recent years the fire has grown. “Fake news” has become a popular phrase, mostly due to President Donald Trump, who frequently uses the phrase to slander journalists and news organizations.
Column: Virginia's New 21+ Tobacco Law is Not the Answer
8 views By Brian Angus | bangus@radford.edu Feb. 21, Gov. Ralph Northam signed the bill HB2748 making it illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to buy tobacco in Virginia. ACS CAN’s website says, “Although ACS CAN applauds our state legislators for their desire to prevent kids from using tobacco, we did not support this legislation. ACS CAN’s work on this issue in multiple states has shown that the focus needs to be on the sale, not the purchase, of tobacco and e-cigarette products.
Q: What do you call cheese that's not yours? A: Nacho cheese!;)
4 views By Brian Angus | bangus@radford.edu Here are seven simple meals that can be made right in your dorm. You won’t need a stove or oven, just a microwave. I can’t promise they will be great, but I can promise they will be good. I mean what do you expect? You’re cooking in a microwave. 1. Oatmeal One of the easiest ways to start the day is with a bowl of oatmeal. Just boil some water in a microwave and pour it over some oats.
Column: The Mysterious Origins of April Fools' Day
March 31, 2019 Brian Angus April Fools, calendar, Celebrate, communication, france, Gregorian, holiday, origins, Pranks, speculations 7 views By Brian Angus | bangus@radford.edu The origins of April Fools’ Day are quite blurry. After searching and searching for an answer as to why we celebrate April Fools’, I came up with only speculations. However, some speculations were more popular than others.
Column: The 6 Benefits on Taking Time Away From School
3 views Brian Angus | bangus@radford.edu After graduating from high school in 2017, I decided to take a year off from school, which is commonly called a gap year. I rarely enjoyed high school. Most of my time in class was spent daydreaming about what life would be like after graduation. I dreamed about being free, having no restrictions or responsibilities. Those desires manifested themselves into the idea of a road trip across the country. I worked through the summer, then set out in September.
An exciting open air Carmen in Adelaide
There is always a feeling of excitement when great operas are performed in the open air. Acclaimed venues like Verona, Bregenz and Sydney draw eager audiences from all over the world. Last night thousands of opera lovers packed Victoria Square in central Adelaide to experience a thrilling sold-out performance of Bizet’s Carmen.
Travel: 7 Inexpensive Ways To Spend Spring Break in Virginia
4 views Brian Angus | bangus@radford.edu Spring Break is almost here! After being stuck in the rain and cold this last month, you’re probably dreaming of warm, sunny weather. However, traveling to places with such a climate can put a dent in your bank account. So, while the weather may not feel very spring-like, there are still a ton of fun things to do right here in Virginia that can make your break feel a little brighter.
Column: The Meaning of the Dap Today
6 views By Brian Angus | bangus@radford.edu The Dap. If you are not familiar with the name, I guarantee you have seen people exchanging it around campus. In its most basic form, it is a type of handshake. There is no one way to dap; however, the most common variation that I see around campus is a slapping of the hands, followed by the hands sliding down till the fingertips meet, then a curling in of the fingers till the hands can clench on each other.
A compelling Parsifal from Victorian Opera in Melbourne
Victorian Opera has mounted an awesome production of Parsifal, Wagner’s great Bühnenweihfestspiel, in Melbourne’s cavernous Palais Theatre, featuring outstanding principals, an exceptional chorus and a simply brilliant Australian Youth Orchestra. Roger Hodgman's minimalist, powerful staging featured a box split by a jagged tear into front and back sections, visually depicting the brokenness of the black suited Grail knights. Props were kept to a minimum. The effect was strong, clear and precise.
Thrilling King Arthur from the Gabrieli Consort in Adelaide
In between engagements in Vienna and Moscow, the Gabrieli Consort and Players have travelled to the other side of the world bringing their King Arthur to enthusiastic audiences in Adelaide and Melbourne. King Arthur didn’t come, nor did Osmond, Emmeline, Merlin or any of the other characters with spoken roles. Instead were a cast of six principals and three ensemble members who shared the vocal roles, and seventeen exceptional musicians, under the brilliant guidance of Paul McCreesh.
Column: The Strange and Curious Origins of Valentine's Day
10 views By Brian Angus | bangus@radford.edu In today’s world, Valentine’s Day is filled with chocolates, candies, cards, and most importantly love. However, it hasn’t always been like this. The contrast from where Valentine’s Day started and where it is now is pretty extreme. Faith According to History.com, In the year 269, on Feb. 14, St. Valentine was executed by the Roman Emperor, Claudius II. Historians can attest to this fact, but the reasoning for his execution is debated.
An effervescent Merry Widow from State Opera in Adelaide
A clever production of Franz Lehár's The Merry Widow has been making its way around the major Australian opera companies, and finally, with some extra tweaks, has arrived onto the Adelaide Festival Theatre's stage for a joyous end-of-year spectacular.
Bethany Hill and Raphael Wong make a great Dido and Aeneas pairing in Adelaide
The State Opera of South Australia ventured to Adelaide’s trendy “Plant 4” complex to mount a clever production of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas in the round – the oldest opera in the English language being performed in a trendy venue.
A Meistersinger Act 3 to celebrate a State Opera Wagner anniversary
Not only has it been twenty years since the State Opera of South Australia launched its Wagner extravaganza with its first production of the Ring, it is also 150 years since Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg premiered in Munich. To celebrate, the company mounted an exciting semi-staged version of Act 3 of the opera in Adelaide’s Festival Theatre (although some fully staged versions have less staging than this).
Opera Australia’s Tosca highlights the tyranny of evil Scarpia
Giacomo Puccini tends to kill off his heroines as a way of bringing his operas to a close. In Tosca he manages to kill off all four principals, heroine, heroes and rogue alike, in under a day, all meeting violent deaths. Central to Tosca – his dramatic, almost sinister opera – are the malevolent Baron Scarpia, the chief of Rome police, and Puccini’s foreboding music. Opera Australia’s production by John Bell underscores these.
Adelaide Symphony’s Master Series launches with Saint-Saëns
The first of the 2018 Adelaide Symphony Orchestra Master Series concerts began with the Tannhäuser overture, a reminder that principal conductor Nicholas Carter is destined to become a leading Wagner conductor of the 21st century. Then came Bernstein’s Serenade after Plato’s Symposium to honour the centenary of the composer’s birth, and finally Saint-Saëns’ “Organ Symphony”, because the Adelaide Town Hall organ had not been played since Carter became principal conductor.
A Mimì to die for: La bohème in Adelaide
Co-Opera, a company which aims to bring accessible and exciting opera to new and existing audiences throughout Australia, has, through a project called “Intermezzo”, developed a performance of Puccini’s La bohème which gives young artists the chance to perform major roles otherwise unavailable to them. They have engaged Italian baritone with internationl experience, Mario Bellanova, as director and he has succeeded.
Fidelio: delightful Beethoven in Cologne
Beethoven’s music is always what makes Fidelio stunning. This is true of Cologne Opera’s Fidelio in Staatenhaus am Rheinpark, a temporary home while Cologne’s Opera House undergoes refurbishments. This production is a remarkably enjoyable celebration of the beauty of Beethoven’s music. Fidelio took him a long time to complete, with the composer quoted as saying, “This opera will win me a martyr’s crown”.
Don Giovanni in Munich: the final day in the life of a dissolute rake
Don Giovanni, one of Mozart’s most loved operas, tells the tale of a dissolute rake who finally gets his come-uppance. Or, perhaps a better description would be that he is sent down. During the course of the opera he attempts to seduce several women, and his servant Leporello has a list of almost two thousand more seductions from Europe and Turkey. Mozart’s music and Da Ponte’s libretto make him an attractive cad, yet he treats all women as objects of lust.
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