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Richard Miles Berman (born September 11, 1943) is a Senior United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Education and early career
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Berman received his Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University in 1964. He earned his Juris Doctor from New York University School of Law in 1967. He received a Diploma of Comparative Law in 1968 and a Diploma of International Law in 1970 from the University of Stockholm Faculty of Law, where he also served as Assistant to the Dean of Foreign Students. He received a Master of Social Work from Fordham University in 1996. He went into private practice at Davis Polk & Wardwell in 1970. In 1974, he became Executive Assistant to United States Senator Jacob K. Javits in 1974. (In 1977, he was named Executive Director of the New York State Alliance to Save Energy, co-chaired by Senators Javits and Daniel Patrick Moynihan. A year later, he was appointed General Counsel and Executive Vice President of the Warner Cable Corporation, a position he held until 1986, when he returned to private practice as a partner of LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae. Berman currently serves on the Board of
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Directors of the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations Alumni Association.
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Judicial career Berman was appointed by Mayor Giuliani as judge of the New York State Family Court for Queens County (1995 to 1998). On May 21, 1998, he was named by President Bill Clinton to a seat on the District Court for the Southern District of New York. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 21, 1998. Berman assumed senior status on September 11, 2011. He is a member of the New York State-Federal Judicial Council, which is concerned with issues of interest to the state and federal judiciary. Berman served as Chairman of the Council from 2011 to 2012. Legislative service Berman served as Executive Assistant to United States Senator Jacob K. Javits from 1974 to 1978. Notable cases U.S. District Court
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United States v. Owens et al In September 2018, four individuals were charged in the “Panama Papers” conspiracy with unlawfully evading U.S. tax laws. Two of four defendants pleaded guilty to the charges. The remaining two defendants have not appeared in the S.D.N.Y. proceedings.
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United States v. Epstein In July 2019, Judge Berman was assigned the case of financier Jeffrey Epstein who was charged with Sex Trafficking and Conspiracy to Commit Sex Trafficking. On July 18, 2019, Berman denied Epstein’s bail application, finding that he posed a danger to the community and that he was also a flight risk. On July 23, 2019, Epstein attempted suicide at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (“MCC”) and on August 10, 2019 he committed suicide at the MCC. On August 27, 2019, Berman conducted a public hearing on the government's motion to dismiss the case. Twenty-seven alleged victims, along with the government and defense counsel, participated at the hearing. On August 29, 2019, Berman granted the motion to dismiss.
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Ortiz v. United States In March 2019, in a case of first impression, Judge Berman denied an inmate's habeas corpus petition to vacate his six-year sentence. The Court held that the New York Penal Law § 120.05(7), or Second Degree Assault by a Convicted Prisoner, was a "crime of violence" under the United States Sentencing Guidelines and that Petitioner had waived his right to appeal. United States v. Usher In October 2018, Judge Berman presided over the criminal jury trial of defendants Richard Usher, Rohan Ramchandani and Christopher Ashton. Defendants, all foreign nationals, were charged in a one count indictment with conspiracy to restrain trade in violation of § 1 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1, for conducting Euro/Dollar currency trades in the United Kingdom as employees of (affiliates of) The Royal Bank of Scotland, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citicorp, and Barclays. On October 26, 2018, the Defendants were acquitted.
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Duka v. U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission In August 2015, Berman enjoined the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from continuing its securities law administrative proceedings against Barbara Duka, finding that the SEC's administrative law judges had been appointed in violation of the Appointments Clause in the U.S. Constitution. Upon appeal, the injunction was dissolved based upon the Second Circuit's holding in SEC v. Tilton that parties "must await a final SEC order before raising their Appointments Clause claim in federal court." On June 21, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States in Lucia v. SEC resolved a "circuit split" and ruled that the SEC's ALJs are officers of the United States and, as Berman had also concluded, subject to the Appointments Clause.
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United States v. Rahimi In October 2017, Judge Berman presided over the criminal jury trial of Ahmad Khan Rahimi, also known as the "Chelsea bomber." Rahimi was convicted of all counts related to the September 2016 bombing in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City, in which 31 people were injured. Rahimi was sentenced on February 13, 2018 to life in prison. United States v. Atilla In November and December 2017, Judge Berman presided over the criminal jury trial of Turkish citizen Mehmet Hakan Atilla. Atilla was convicted of 5 out of 6 counts in the Indictment, including conspiracies to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran and to defraud the United States, and bank fraud. Atilla was sentenced on May 16, 2018 to 32 months in prison.
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NFL Management Council v. NFL Players Association
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Berman presided over New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady's case involving a four-game suspension levied against him by the National Football League for Brady's alleged role in the 2015 "Deflategate" matter. After unsuccessful efforts to bring about a settlement, Berman overturned Brady's suspension in an opinion dated September 3, 2015, finding significant legal deficiencies attending Brady's suspension. These included the NFL's disregard of the rules and penalties regarding handling of footballs once they have left the locker room; denial of the opportunity for Brady to examine one of the two lead NFL investigators; and denial of access to investigative files. On April 25, 2016, a panel of the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed on the grounds that the Players Association had signed into agreement, Goodell's authority to implement the suspension regardless of the circumstantial evidence of the case. In dissent, Chief Judge Robert Katzmann determined that it was
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improper for the NFL Commissioner to review in arbitration his own decision to suspend Brady.
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In 2017, Berman moderated a discussion called "Arbitration in 2017: Where It is Headed." Panel members consisted of some of the attorneys involved in the scandal, plus a couple arbitrators in law. After the panel discussion was complete, Berman was interviewed by a Sports Illustrated reporter to discuss his position on the scandal. In the interview, Berman said that Brady's case "should have been decided on the field," and that he was still confident that he had ruled correctly even though it was overturned. In any case, Berman said that, "Deflategate was put to rest by that Super Bowl."(61) United States v. Kurniawan Berman presided over two landmark wine cases. One involved Rudy Kurniawan, who was convicted of counterfeiting fine wines in December 2013 following a jury trial, and sentenced to a term of incarceration.
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Swedenburg v. Kelly The second wine case involved challenges to state liquor laws which prohibited out of state wineries from selling directly to consumers within New York. In November 2002, Berman held that New York's direct ban on such out of state wine sales was unconstitutional, as "[t]he New York regime constitutes a cut and dry example of direct discrimination against interstate commerce." The ruling was upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States in Granholm v. Heald. United States v. Siddiqui Berman presided over the case against Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani citizen and graduate of MIT and Brandeis University, who was convicted by a jury in 2010 of attempted murder of U.S. officials in Afghanistan, and sentenced to lengthy incarceration.
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New York Taxi Workers Alliance v. New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission In September 2007, Berman denied the NYC cab driver association's application to prevent the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission from requiring that all taxicabs be installed with credit- and debit-card readers. MacWade v. Kelly In December 2005, following a bench trial, Berman ruled that random police searches of riders' backpacks and bags on the New York City subway system do not violate the U.S. Constitution.
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Gershkovich v. Iocco Alex Gershkovich, a photographer involved in the Occupy Wall Street movement, sued two NYPD officers and the City of New York because he was allegedly arrested without probable cause while photographing police activity in a public place. Judge Berman, in a summary judgment decision dated July 17, 2017, determined that the right to record police activity in public areas was "clearly established" at the time of Gerskovich's arrest. The parties reached a settlement in November 2017.
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Gordon v. Softech International, Inc. After having determined that the Driver's Privacy Protection Act of 1994 ("DPPA") is not a "strict liability" statute, Berman presided over the civil jury trial against defendants Arcanum Investigations, Inc. and its executive director. On April 24, 2015, the jury determined that defendants, who are resellers of DMV information, used reasonable care in providing plaintiff's information to a third party where defendants had required the purchaser of the information to provide ID, along with a DPPA-approved reason for making the information request. By summary order, dated April 15, 2016, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the judgment entered in connection with the jury's verdict.
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United States v. Buryakov After having been charged in a two count Indictment on February 9, 2015, defendant Evgeny Buryakov, a Russian citizen, pleaded guilty on March 11, 2016 to conspiring to act in the United States as an agent of a foreign government without prior notification to the Attorney General. Buryakov was sentenced to 30 months imprisonment on May 25, 2016. Royalty Network, Inc. v. Columbia Recording Corporation In April 2007, Berman presided over a copyright lawsuit against singer Beyoncé Knowles over the song, Still in Love (Kissing You). The parties reached a settlement in October 2007. United States v. D'Souza Berman presided in the Dinesh D'Souza campaign finance case in May 2014. On the eve of trial, D'Souza pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, (arranging straw donors), and was sentenced in September 2014 to five years of probation, $30,000 fine, and community service.
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Ideal Steel Supply Corporation v. Anza In June 2002, Berman dismissed a civil RICO suit against National Steel Supply, Inc., finding that plaintiff Ideal Steel failed to show that it had relied upon National Steel Supply's alleged misrepresentations to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. The decision was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court on June 5, 2006. United States v. Leekin In July 2008, Berman presided over the criminal case against Judith Leekin, who pleaded guilty to defrauding New York City and New York State adoption agencies out of $1.68 million in foster care funds. Leekin also had mistreated and willfully endangered her (11) adopted special needs children. Berman sentenced Leekin to 130 months in prison for the fraud. Immediately thereafter, she was prosecuted for child abuse in Florida.
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Dimmie v. Carey In April 2000, Berman dismissed an infringement suit brought against pop singer Mariah Carey, finding that the plaintiff, Rhonda Dimmie, the holder of a copyright for the song Be Your Hero, had failed to show that Carey, the copyright-holder for the song Hero, had knowledge of or infringed upon plaintiff's recording. Johnson v. Johnson In January 2011, Berman presided over a trial in which a father sought the return of his child from New York to Vicenza, Italy pursuant to the Hague Convention of the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. Following a bench trial, Berman found that Italy was not the habitual residence of the child, who also strenuously objected to being returned to Italy. Family court
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In the Matter of Shawna E. In January 1998, as a New York State family court judge, Berman removed two children from the custody of then professional baseball player Carl Everett and his wife. The Everetts had consented to findings of child neglect following the discovery of bruises on their daughter at the Shea Stadium child care center. Three-judge U.S. District Court panels Rodriguez v. Pataki Berman was part of a three-judge panel that heard challenges to the legislative district redistricting plan enacted by the New York State Legislature following the 2000 census. Following a bench trial in November 2003, the three-judge panel found that New York's redistricting plan did not violate the Voting Rights Act or the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. In November 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed by summary order.
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Nitke v. Gonzales Berman was part of a three-judge panel that heard challenges to obscenity provisions of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. In July 2005, the Court found that the Act was not overbroad and did not violate the First Amendment. In March 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed by summary order. U.S. Circuit Court opinions United States v. Stewart Berman—sitting by designation on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit—dissented on November 5, 2018 from the majority insider trading decision which overturned the defendant's conviction on an evidentiary issue. The majority held that the trial judge should have allowed the jury to hear the co-defendant father's post-arrest statement to the FBI. Berman found that the weight of evidence of defendant's guilt was overwhelming and that the Court should defer to the trial judge and to the jury.
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Carpenters Pension Trust Fund of St. Louis v. Barclays PLC In April 2014, Berman—sitting by designation on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit—authored the panel's opinion reinstating a securities fraud class action brought by pension funds against Barclays PLC and former Barclays' CEO Robert Diamond. Plaintiffs alleged that defendants had knowingly submitted false and inaccurate information to establish LIBOR rates during the class period of August 2007 through January 2009. The Court adopted a principle (also embraced by the Eleventh Circuit) that "so long as the falsehood remains uncorrected, it will continue to taint the total mix of available public information, and the market will continue to attribute the artificial inflation to the stock, day after day."
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Evans v. Books-A-Million In August 2014, Berman—sitting by designation on a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit—heard the appeal of an employee who had been terminated from her job. The Court of Appeals held that the district court correctly awarded summary judgment to plaintiff on her COBRA claims and to Books-A-Million with respect to plaintiff's Title VII and Equal Pay Act claims, but erred in dismissing plaintiff's FMLA claims. The Court of Appeals found that "[i]if a trial court refuses to grant further legal or equitable relief to a plaintiff who insists that such relief is necessary to make the plaintiff whole, it must articulate its rationale."
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Rodriguez v. Schriver In November 2004, Berman—sitting by designation on a panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals—heard New York State's appeal of a magistrate judge's decision, which found that prosecutors had improperly excluded a juror for non-race neutral reasons in a criminal trial. In vacating the judgment of the magistrate, the Second Circuit held that the basis for the juror's exclusion was not inherently discriminatory, and that the prosecutor had offered race neutral reasons.
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New England Insurance Co. v. Healthcare Underwriters Mutual Insurance Co. In July 2002, Berman—sitting by designation on a panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals—heard the appeal of New England Insurance Company, following the district court's reversal of a jury verdict finding in New England Insurance's favor. The Second Circuit reinstated the jury verdict. "We necessarily disagree with the 'clear liability' language []introduced by the district court in deciding Healthcare's post-trial application for judgment as a matter of law. As noted, 'clear liability' was specifically rejected and abandoned [and] there is no case since Pavia in which a court held that a finding of clear liability was given conclusive or totally dispositive weight."
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Publications and teaching Berman has authored a number of articles about children, including A Team Model To Identify Child Abuse, Seven Steps To Protect Children, Community Service for Juvenile Offenders, and Special Immigrant Juvenile Status. Published in the New York Law Journal, these articles offer guidance in developing improved models for identifying child abuse, bolstering the child welfare system, implementing community service-based sentencing options for juvenile offenders, and improving the process for obtaining special immigrant juvenile status. Berman's efforts in improving media access to the Family Court system and promoting community service have been cited in the New York Daily News and Newsday. See, e.g., Sun Also Rises in Family Court, Helping Other Helps Teens, Embracing Community Service for Juveniles, and A New Way Out of Trouble.
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Berman lectured about the "Rule of Law" before judges in Albania in 2013. He has also moderated a panel discussion of the "Rule of Law" at an international legal symposium in Istanbul, Turkey in 2014. In 2021, Berman published the results of a study on the Federal Court Involvement on Supervised Release. The results of the study indicate that the judiciary play a vital role in overseeing defendants’ reentry following prison. On October 15, 2021, Berman also participated on a panel for the Penn Program on Regulation titled How Judges Can Make a Difference in the Success of Supervised Release. Awards Judge Berman received the National Association of Social Workers (NYC) Emerald award for 20 years of leadership as a licensed social worker and judge on March 28, 2019. See also List of Jewish American jurists References
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61. Judge Berman: 'Deflategate Is Finally Put to Rest.", Sports Illustrated (3/17/17), Retrieved from https://www.si.com/nfl/2017/03/17/nfl-judge-richard-berman-deflategate-tom-brady-super-bowl-51-ted-wells-wells-report-roger-goodell External links 1943 births Living people Cornell University alumni New York University School of Law alumni Fordham University alumni New York (state) lawyers Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York United States district court judges appointed by Bill Clinton Lawyers from New York City Davis Polk & Wardwell lawyers 20th-century American judges 21st-century American judges
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John Newton (; – 21 December 1807) was an English Anglican cleric, a captain of slave ships who later became an investor in the slave trade but subsequently became an abolitionist. He served as a sailor in the Royal Navy for a period after forced recruitment. Newton went to sea at a young age and worked on slave ships in the slave trade for several years. In 1745, he himself became a slave of Princess Peye, a woman of the Sherbro people. He was rescued, returned to sea and the trade, becoming Captain of several slave ships. After retiring from active sea-faring, he continued to invest in the slave trade. Some years after experiencing a conversion to Christianity, Newton later renounced his trade and became a prominent supporter of abolitionism. Now an evangelical, he was ordained as a Church of England cleric and served as parish priest at Olney, Buckinghamshire, for two decades. He also wrote hymns, including "Amazing Grace" and "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken".
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Newton lived to see the British Empire's abolition of the African slave trade in 1807, just months before his death. Early life John Newton was born in Wapping, London, in 1725, the son of John Newton the Elder, a shipmaster in the Mediterranean service, and Elizabeth (née Scatliff). Elizabeth was the only daughter of Simon Scatliff, an instrument maker from London. Elizabeth was brought up as a Nonconformist. She died of tuberculosis (then called consumption) in July 1732, about two weeks before her son's seventh birthday. Newton spent two years at a boarding school, before going to live at Aveley in Essex, the home of his father's new wife. At age eleven he first went to sea with his father. Newton sailed six voyages before his father retired in 1742. At that time, Newton's father made plans for him to work at a sugarcane plantation in Jamaica. Instead, Newton signed on with a merchant ship sailing to the Mediterranean Sea.
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Impressment into naval service In 1743, while going to visit friends, Newton was captured and pressed into the naval service by the Royal Navy. He became a midshipman aboard HMS Harwich. At one point Newton tried to desert and was punished in front of the crew of 350. Stripped to the waist and tied to the grating, he received a flogging of eight dozen lashes and was reduced to the rank of a common seaman. Following that disgrace and humiliation, Newton initially contemplated murdering the captain and committing suicide by throwing himself overboard. He recovered, both physically and mentally. Later, while Harwich was en route to India, he transferred to Pegasus, a slave ship bound for West Africa. The ship carried goods to Africa and traded them for slaves to be shipped to the colonies in the Caribbean and North America.
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Enslavement and rescue Newton did not get along with the crew of Pegasus. In 1745 they left him in West Africa with Amos Clowe, a slave dealer. Clowe took Newton to the coast and gave him to his wife, Princess Peye of the Sherbro people. She abused and mistreated Newton just as much as she did her other slaves. Newton later recounted this period as the time he was "once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in West Africa." Early in 1748 he was rescued by a sea captain who had been asked by Newton's father to search for him, and returned to England on the merchant ship Greyhound, which was carrying beeswax and dyer's wood, now referred to as camwood. Spiritual conversion
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In 1748, during his return voyage to England aboard the ship Greyhound, Newton had a spiritual conversion. He awoke to find the ship caught in a severe storm off the coast of Donegal, Ireland and about to sink. In response, Newton began praying for God's mercy, after which the storm began to die down. After four weeks at sea the Greyhound made it to port in Lough Swilly, Ireland. This experience marked the beginning of his conversion to Christianity.
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He began to read the Bible and other religious literature. By the time he reached Britain, he had accepted the doctrines of evangelical Christianity. The date was 10 March 1748, an anniversary he marked for the rest of his life. From that point on, he avoided profanity, gambling and drinking. Although he continued to work in the slave trade, he had gained sympathy for the slaves during his time in Africa. He later said that his true conversion did not happen until some time later: "I cannot consider myself to have been a believer in the full sense of the word, until a considerable time afterwards."
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Slave trading Newton returned in 1748 to Liverpool, a major port for the Triangle Trade. Partly due to the influence of his father's friend Joseph Manesty, he obtained a position as first mate aboard the slave ship Brownlow, bound for the West Indies via the coast of Guinea. Newton continued to work in the slave trade. After his return to England in 1750, he made three voyages as captain of the slave ships Duke of Argyle (1750) and African (1752–53 and 1753–54). After suffering a severe stroke in 1754, he gave up seafaring, while continuing to invest in Manesty's slaving operations.
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In 1780 Newton moved to the City of London as rector of St Mary Woolnoth Church, where he contributed to the work of the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, formed in 1787. During this time he wrote Thoughts Upon the African Slave Trade. In it he states; "So much light has been thrown upon the subject, by many able pens; and so many respectable persons have already engaged to use their utmost influence, for the suppression of a traffic, which contradicts the feelings of humanity; that it is hoped, this stain of our National character will soon be wiped out." Marriage and family On 12 February 1750 Newton married his childhood sweetheart, Mary Catlett, at St. Margaret's Church, Rochester. Newton adopted his two orphaned nieces, Elizabeth Cunningham and Eliza Catlett, both from the Catlett side of the family. Newton's niece Alys Newton later married Mehul, a prince from India.
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Anglican priest In 1755 Newton was appointed as tide surveyor (a tax collector) of the Port of Liverpool, again through the influence of Manesty. In his spare time, he studied Greek, Hebrew, and Syriac, preparing for serious religious study. He became well known as an evangelical lay minister. In 1757, he applied to be ordained as a priest in the Church of England, but it was more than seven years before he was eventually accepted. During this period, he also applied to the Methodists, Independents and Presbyterians. He mailed applications directly to the Bishops of Chester and Lincoln and the Archbishops of Canterbury and York. Eventually, in 1764, he was introduced by Thomas Haweis to The 2nd Earl of Dartmouth, who was influential in recommending Newton to William Markham, Bishop of Chester. Haweis suggested Newton for the living of Olney, Buckinghamshire. On 29 April 1764 Newton received deacon's orders, and finally was ordained as a priest on 17 June.
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As curate of Olney, Newton was partly sponsored by John Thornton, a wealthy merchant and evangelical philanthropist. He supplemented Newton's stipend of £60 a year with £200 a year "for hospitality and to help the poor". Newton soon became well known for his pastoral care, as much as for his beliefs. His friendship with Dissenters and evangelical clergy led to his being respected by Anglicans and Nonconformists alike. He spent sixteen years at Olney. His preaching was so popular that the congregation added a gallery to the church to accommodate the many persons who flocked to hear him.
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Some five years later, in 1772, Thomas Scott took up the curacy of the neighbouring parishes of Stoke Goldington and Weston Underwood. Newton was instrumental in converting Scott from a cynical ‘career priest’ to a true believer, a conversion which Scott related in his spiritual autobiography The Force Of Truth (1779). Later Scott became a biblical commentator and co-founder of the Church Missionary Society. In 1779 Newton was invited by John Thornton to become Rector of St Mary Woolnoth, Lombard Street, London, where he officiated until his death. The church had been built by Nicholas Hawksmoor in 1727 in the fashionable Baroque style. Newton was one of only two evangelical Anglican priests in the capital, and he soon found himself gaining in popularity amongst the growing evangelical party. He was a strong supporter of evangelicalism in the Church of England. He remained a friend of Dissenters (such as Methodists and Baptists) as well as Anglicans.
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Young churchmen and people struggling with faith sought his advice, including such well-known social figures as the writer and philanthropist Hannah More, and the young William Wilberforce, a Member of Parliament (MP) who had recently suffered a crisis of conscience and religious conversion while contemplating leaving politics. The younger man consulted with Newton, who encouraged Wilberforce to stay in Parliament and "serve God where he was". In 1792, Newton was presented with the degree of Doctor of Divinity by the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University). Abolitionist
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In 1788, 34 years after he had retired from the slave trade, Newton broke a long silence on the subject with the publication of a forceful pamphlet Thoughts Upon the Slave Trade, in which he described the horrific conditions of the slave ships during the Middle Passage. He apologised for "a confession, which ... comes too late ... It will always be a subject of humiliating reflection to me, that I was once an active instrument in a business at which my heart now shudders." He had copies sent to every MP, and the pamphlet sold so well that it swiftly required reprinting. Newton became an ally of William Wilberforce, leader of the Parliamentary campaign to abolish the African slave trade. He lived to see the British passage of the Slave Trade Act 1807, which enacted this event.
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Newton came to believe that during the first five of his nine years as a slave trader he had not been a Christian in the full sense of the term. In 1763 he wrote: "I was greatly deficient in many respects ... I cannot consider myself to have been a believer in the full sense of the word, until a considerable time afterwards." Writer and hymnist In 1767 William Cowper, the poet, moved to Olney. He worshipped in Newton's church, and collaborated with the priest on a volume of hymns; it was published as Olney Hymns in 1779. This work had a great influence on English hymnology. The volume included Newton's well-known hymns: "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken," "How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds!, and "Faith's Review and Expectation," which has come to be known by its opening phrase, "Amazing Grace".
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Many of Newton's (as well as Cowper's) hymns are preserved in the Sacred Harp, a hymnal used in the American South during the Second Great Awakening. Hymns were scored according to the tonal scale for shape note singing. Easily learnt and incorporating singers into four-part harmony, shape note music was widely used by evangelical preachers to reach new congregants. In 1776 Newton contributed a preface to an annotated version of John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress.
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Newton also contributed to the Cheap Repository Tracts. He wrote an autobiography entitled An Authentic Narrative of Some Remarkable And Interesting Particulars in the Life of ------ Communicated, in a Series of Letters, to the Reverend T. Haweis, Rector of Aldwinckle, And by him, at the request of friends, now made public, which he published anonymously in 1764 with a Preface by Haweis. It was later described as "written in an easy style, distinguished by great natural shrewdness, and sanctified by the Lord God and prayer". Final years Newton's wife Mary Catlett died in 1790, after which he published Letters to a Wife (1793), in which he expressed his grief. Plagued by ill health and failing eyesight, Newton died on 21 December 1807 in London. He was buried beside his wife in St. Mary Woolnoth in London. Both were reinterred at the Church of St Peter and Paul in Olney in 1893. Commemoration
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Newton is memorialised with his self-penned epitaph on his tomb at Olney: JOHN NEWTON. Clerk. Once an infidel and libertine a servant of slaves in Africa was by the rich mercy of our LORD and SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST preserved, restored, pardoned and appointed to preach the faith he had long laboured to destroy. Near 16 years as Curate of this parish and 28 years as Rector of St. Mary Woolnoth. When he was initially interred in London, a memorial plaque to Newton, containing his self-penned epitaph, was installed on the wall of St Mary Woolnoth. At the bottom of the plaque are the words: "The above Epitaph was written by the Deceased who directed it to be inscribed on a plain Marble Tablet. He died on Dec. the 21st, 1807. Aged 82 Years, and his mortal Remains are deposited in the Vault beneath this Church." The town of Newton in Sierra Leone is named after him. To this day his former town of Olney provides philanthropy for the African town.
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In 1982, Newton was recognised for his influential hymns by the Gospel Music Association when he was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. A memorial to him was erected in Buncrana in Inishowen, County Donegal, in Ulster in 2013. Buncrana is located on the shores of Lough Swilly.
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Portrayals in media
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Film The film Amazing Grace (2006) highlights Newton's influence on William Wilberforce. Albert Finney portrays Newton, Ioan Gruffudd is Wilberforce, and the film was directed by Michael Apted. The film portrays Newton as a penitent haunted by the ghosts of 20,000 slaves. The Nigerian film The Amazing Grace (2006), the creation of Nigerian director/writer/producer Jeta Amata, provides an African perspective on the slave trade. Nigerian actors Joke Silva, Mbong Odungide, and Fred Amata (brother of the director) portray Africans who are captured and taken away from their homeland by slave traders. Newton is played by Nick Moran. The 2014 film Freedom tells the story of an American slave (Samuel Woodward, played by Cuba Gooding, Jr.) escaping to freedom via the Underground Railroad. A parallel earlier story depicts John Newton (played by Bernhard Forcher) as the captain of a slave ship bound for America carrying Samuel's grandfather. Newton's conversion is explored as well.
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Stage productions African Snow (2007), a play by Murray Watts, takes place in the mind of John Newton. It was first produced at the York Theatre Royal as a co-production with Riding Lights Theatre Company, transferring to the Trafalgar Studios in London's West End and a National Tour. Newton was played by Roger Alborough and Olaudah Equiano by Israel Oyelumade. The musical Amazing Grace is a dramatisation of Newton's life. The 2014 pre-Broadway and 2015 Broadway productions starred Josh Young as Newton. In 2015, Puritan Productions in Dallas, Texas, US premiered A Wretch Like Me, a dramatisation of John Newton's life story with ballet and chorus accompaniment. In 2018, Puritan Productions presented "Amazing Grace", a newly revised dramatisation of John Newton's life story with dance and chorus accompaniment. Television Newton is portrayed by actor John Castle in the British television miniseries, The Fight Against Slavery (1975).
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Novels Caryl Phillips' novel, Crossing the River (1993), includes nearly verbatim excerpts of Newton's logs from his Journal of a Slave Trader. In the chapter 'Blind, But Now I See' of the novel Jerusalem by Alan Moore (2016), an African-American whose favourite hymn is 'Amazing Grace' visits Olney where a local churchman relates the facts of Newton's life to him. He is disturbed by Newton's involvement in the slave trade. Newton's life and circumstances, and the lyrics of 'Amazing Grace' are described in detail. The Infidel by Joe Musser, a novel based on the life of Newton. See also Cowper and Newton Museum References Notes Citations Sources . Preface by Haweis (More legible (and machine-readable) transcription. For the facsimile edition at archive.org, see below.) Further reading
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External links Newton, John (1788). Thoughts Upon the African Slave Trade (Internet Archive with funding by Associates of the Boston Public Library ed.). London: J. Buckland & J. Johnson. Retrieved 24 May 2019. (Facsimile of original book at Archive.org. For more legible (and machine-readable) transcription, see Sources (above).) The John Newton Project Biography & Articles on Newton John Newton Papers Collection from the Digital Library of Georgia John Newton on Poeticous 1725 births 1807 deaths 18th-century English Anglican priests 18th-century Royal Navy personnel 19th-century English people English slave traders Calvinist and Reformed hymnwriters Christian abolitionists Church of England hymnwriters Doctors of Divinity English abolitionists English evangelicals Evangelical Anglicans Evangelical Anglican clergy Evangelicalism in the Church of England People from Aveley People from Wapping Royal Navy officers Royal Navy sailors Sailors from London
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Glycogen storage disease type II, also called Pompe disease, is an autosomal recessive metabolic disorder which damages muscle and nerve cells throughout the body. It is caused by an accumulation of glycogen in the lysosome due to deficiency of the lysosomal acid alpha-glucosidase enzyme. It is the only glycogen storage disease with a defect in lysosomal metabolism, and the first glycogen storage disease to be identified, in 1932 by the Dutch pathologist J. C. Pompe. The build-up of glycogen causes progressive muscle weakness (myopathy) throughout the body and affects various body tissues, particularly in the heart, skeletal muscles, liver and the nervous system. Signs and symptoms Newborn The infantile form usually comes to medical attention within the first few months of life. The usual presenting features are cardiomegaly (92%), hypotonia (88%), cardiomyopathy (88%), respiratory distress (78%), muscle weakness (63%), feeding difficulties (57%) and failure to thrive (50%).
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The main clinical findings include floppy baby appearance, delayed motor milestones and feeding difficulties. Moderate hepatomegaly may or may not be present. Facial features include macroglossia, wide open mouth, wide open eyes, nasal flaring (due to respiratory distress), and poor facial muscle tone. Cardiopulmonary involvement is manifested by increased respiratory rate, use of accessory muscles for respiration, recurrent chest infections, decreased air entry in the left lower zone (due to cardiomegaly), arrhythmias and evidence of heart failure. Prior to the development of a treatment, median age at death in untreated cases was 8.7 months, usually due to cardiorespiratory failure, however this outcome is drastically changed since treatment has been available, improving with early access to treatment. Late onset form
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This form differs from the infantile principally in the relative lack of cardiac involvement. The onset is more insidious and has a slower progression. Cardiac involvement may occur but is milder than in the infantile form. Skeletal involvement is more prominent with a predilection for the lower limbs. Late onset features include impaired cough, recurrent chest infections, hypotonia, progressive muscle weakness, delayed motor milestones, difficulty swallowing or chewing and reduced vital capacity. Prognosis depends on the age of onset of symptoms with a better prognosis being associated with later onset disease. Cause
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It has an autosomal recessive inheritance pattern. This means the defective gene is located on an autosome, and two faulty copies of the gene — one from each parent — are required to be born with the disorder. As with all cases of autosomal recessive inheritance, children have a 1 in 4 chance of inheriting the disorder when both parents carry the defective gene, and although both parents carry one copy of the defective gene, they are usually not affected by the disorder. The disease is caused by a mutation in a gene (acid alpha-glucosidase: also known as acid maltase) on long arm of chromosome 17 at 17q25.2-q25.3 (base pair 75,689,876 to 75,708,272). The number of mutations described is currently (in 2010) 289 with 67 being non-pathogenic mutations and 197 pathogenic mutations. The remainder are still being evaluated for their association with disease.
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The gene spans approximately 20 kb and contains 20 exons with the first exon being noncoding. The coding sequence of the putative catalytic site domain is interrupted in the middle by an intron of 101 bp. The promoter has features characteristic of a 'housekeeping' gene. The GC content is high (80%) and distinct TATA and CCAAT motifs are lacking. Most cases appear to be due to three mutations. A transversion (T → G) mutation is the most common among adults with this disorder. This mutation interrupts a site of RNA splicing.
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The gene encodes a protein—acid alpha-glucosidase (EC 3.2.1.20)—which is a lysosomal hydrolase. The protein is an enzyme that normally degrades the alpha -1,4 and alpha -1,6 linkages in glycogen, maltose and isomaltose and is required for the degradation of 1–3% of cellular glycogen. The deficiency of this enzyme results in the accumulation of structurally normal glycogen in lysosomes and cytoplasm in affected individuals. Excessive glycogen storage within lysosomes may interrupt normal functioning of other organelles and lead to cellular injury. A putative homologue—acid alpha-glucosidase-related gene 1—has been identified in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.
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Diagnosis In the early-onset form, an infant will present with poor feeding causing failure to thrive, or with difficulty breathing. The usual initial investigations include chest X ray, electrocardiogram and echocardiography. Typical findings are those of an enlarged heart with non specific conduction defects. Biochemical investigations include serum creatine kinase (typically increased 10 fold) with lesser elevations of the serum aldolase, aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase and lactic dehydrogenase. Diagnosis is made by estimating the acid alpha glucosidase activity in either skin biopsy (fibroblasts), muscle biopsy (muscle cells) or in white blood cells. The choice of sample depends on the facilities available at the diagnostic laboratory.
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In the late-onset form, an adult will present with gradually progressive arm and leg weakness, with worsening respiratory function. Electromyography may be used initially to distinguish Pompe from other causes of limb weakness. The findings on biochemical tests are similar to those of the infantile form, with the caveat that the creatine kinase may be normal in some cases. The diagnosis is by estimation of the enzyme activity in a suitable sample. On May 17, 2013 the Secretary's Discretionary Advisory Committee on Heritable Diseases in Newborns and Children (DACHDNC) approved a recommendation to the Secretary of Health and Human Services to add Pompe to the Recommended Uniform Screening Panel (RUSP). The HHS secretary must first approve the recommendation before the disease is formally added to the panel.
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Classification There are exceptions, but levels of alpha-glucosidase determines the type of GSD II an individual may have. More alpha glucosidase present in the individual's muscles means symptoms occur later in life and progress more slowly. GSD II is broadly divided into two onset forms based on the age symptoms occur. Infantile-onset form is usually diagnosed at 4–8 months; muscles appear normal but are limp and weak preventing the child from lifting their head or rolling over. As the disease progresses, heart muscles thicken and progressively fail. Without treatment, death usually occurs due to heart failure and respiratory weakness.
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Late or later onset form occurs later than one to two years and progresses more slowly than Infantile-onset form. One of the first symptoms is a progressive decrease in muscle strength starting with the legs and moving to smaller muscles in the trunk and arms, such as the diaphragm and other muscles required for breathing. Respiratory failure is the most common cause of death. Enlargement of the heart muscles and rhythm disturbances are not significant features but do occur in some cases. Treatment Cardiac and respiratory complications are treated symptomatically. Physical and occupational therapy may be beneficial for some patients. Alterations in diet may provide temporary improvement but will not alter the course of the disease. Genetic counseling can provide families with information regarding risk in future pregnancies.
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On April 28, 2006 the US Food and Drug Administration approved a Biologic License Application (BLA) for alglucosidase alfa, rhGAA (Myozyme), the first treatment for patients with Pompe disease, developed by a team of Duke University researchers. This was based on enzyme replacement therapy using biologically active recombinant human alglucosidase alfa produced in Chinese Hamster Ovary cells. Myozyme falls under the FDA Orphan Drug designation and was approved under a priority review.
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The FDA has approved Myozyme for administration by intravenous infusion of the solution. The safety and efficacy of Myozyme were assessed in two separate clinical trials in 39 infantile-onset patients with Pompe disease ranging in age from 1 month to 3.5 years at the time of the first infusion. Myozyme treatment clearly prolongs ventilator-free survival and overall survival. Early diagnosis and early treatment leads to much better outcomes. The treatment is not without side effects which include fever, flushing, skin rash, increased heart rate and even shock; these conditions, however, are usually manageable.
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Myozyme costs an average of US$300,000 a year and must be taken for the patients' entire life, so some American insurers have refused to pay for it. On August 14, 2006, Health Canada approved Myozyme for the treatment of Pompe disease. On June 14, 2007 the Canadian Common Drug Review issued their recommendations regarding public funding for Myozyme therapy. Their recommendation was to provide funding to treat a very small subset of Pompe patients (Infants less one year of age with cardiomyopathy).
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On May 26, 2010 FDA approved Lumizyme, a similar version of Myozyme, for the treatment of late-onset Pompe disease. Lumizyme and Myozyme have the same generic ingredient (alglucosidase alfa) and manufacturer (Genzyme Corporation). The difference between these two products is in the manufacturing process. Myozyme is made using a 160-L bioreactor, while Lumizyme uses a 4000-L bioreactor. Because of the difference in the manufacturing process, the FDA claims that the two products are biologically different. Moreover, Lumizyme is FDA approved as replacement therapy for late-onset (noninfantile) Pompe disease without evidence of cardiac hypertrophy in people 8 years and older. Myozyme is FDA approved for replacement therapy for infantile-onset Pompe disease. In July 2021, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended the authorization of avalglucosidase alfa. Avalglucosidase alfa (Nexviazyme) was approved for medical use in the United States in August 2021.
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Prognosis The prognosis for individuals with Pompe disease varies according to the onset and severity of symptoms, along with lifestyle factors. Without treatment the infantile form (which can typically be predicted by mutation analysis) of the disease is particularly lethal - in these cases time to get on treatment is critical, with evidence that days (not weeks or months) matter.
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Myozyme (alglucosidase alfa) is a recombinant form of the human enzyme acid alpha-glucosidase, and is also currently being used to replace the missing enzyme. In a study which included the largest cohort of patients with Pompe disease treated with enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) to date findings showed that Myozyme treatment clearly prolongs ventilator-free survival and overall survival in patients with infantile-onset Pompe disease as compared to an untreated historical control population. Furthermore, the study demonstrated that initiation of ERT prior to 6 months of age, which could be facilitated by newborn screening, shows great promise to reduce the mortality and disability associated with this devastating disorder. Taiwan and several states in the United States have started the newborn screening and results of such regimen in early diagnosis and early initiation of the therapy have dramatically improved the outcome of the disease; many of these babies have reached the normal
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motor developmental milestones.
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Another factor affecting the treatment response is generation of antibodies against the infused enzyme, which is particularly severe in Pompe infants who have complete deficiency of the acid alpha-glucosidase. Immune tolerance therapy to eliminate these antibodies has improved the treatment outcome.
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A Late Onset Treatment Study (LOTS) was published in 2010. The study was undertaken to evaluate the safety and efficacy of aglucosidase alfa in juvenile and adult patients with Pompe disease. LOTS was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study that enrolled 90 patients at eight primary sites in the United States and Europe. Participants received either aglucosidase alfa or a placebo every other week for 18 months. The average age of study participants was 44 years. The primary efficacy endpoints of the study sought to determine the effect of Myozyme on functional endurance as measured by the six-minute walk test and to determine the effect of aglucosidase alfa on pulmonary function as measured by percent predicted forced vital capacity.
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The results showed that, at 78 weeks, patients treated with aglucosidase alfa increased their distance walked in six minutes by an average of approximately 25 meters as compared with the placebo group which declined by 3 meters (P=0.03). The placebo group did not show any improvement from baseline. The average baseline distance walked in six minutes in both groups was approximately 325 meters. Percent predicted forced vital capacity in the group of patients treated with aglucosidase alfa increased by 1.2 percent at 78 weeks. In contrast, it declined by approximately 2.2 percent in the placebo group (P=0.006).
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There is an emerging recognition of the role that diet and exercise can play in functionally limiting symptom progression. This is an area for further study, as there is not a clear consensus guideline, but rather a body of case study work that suggests that appropriate physical activity can be an effective tool in managing disease progression. In one such study, side-alternating vibration training was used 3 times per week for 15 weeks. The results showed that, at 15 weeks, the patient had a 116 meter (70%) improvement to their 6MWT, which is significant compared with the results from the aforementioned LOTS study. Epidemiology The disease affects approximately 1 in 13,000. History
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The disease is named after Joannes Cassianus Pompe, who characterized it in 1932. Pompe described accumulation of glycogen in muscle tissue in some cases of a previously unknown disorder. This accumulation was difficult to explain as the enzymes involved in the usual metabolism of glucose and glycogen were all present and functioning. The basis for the disease remained a puzzle until Christian de Duve's discovery of lysosomes in 1955 for which he won the Nobel Prize in 1974. His co-worker Henri G. Hers realised in 1965 that the deficiency of a lysosomal enzyme (alpha glucosidase) for the breakdown of glycogen could explain the symptoms of Pompe disease. This discovery led to establishing the concept of lysosomal storage diseases, of which 49 have been described (to date).
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Despite recognizing the basis for the disease, treatment proved difficult. Administration of the enzyme lead to its uptake by the liver and not the muscle cells where it is needed. In the early 1990s Dutch scientists Arnold Reuser and Ans van der Ploeg were able to show that using alpha-glucosidase containing phosphorylated mannose residues purified from bovine testes increased the enzyme's activity in normal mouse muscles. Later in 1998, Dr. Yuan-Tsong Chen and colleagues at Duke University, using the enzyme produced in Chinese Hamster Ovary cells demonstrated for the first time that the enzyme can clear the glycogen and improved the muscle function in Pompe disease quail. The results of the work at Duke were impressive with one treated bird recovering to the point of being able to fly again.
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This was followed by production of clinical grade alpha-glucosidase in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells and in the milk of transgenic rabbits. This work eventually culminated in the start of clinical trials with the first clinical trial including 4 babies receiving enzyme from rabbit milk at Erasmus MC Sophia Children's Hospital and 3 babies receiving enzyme grown in CHO cells at Duke University in 1999.
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The currently approved Myozyme is manufactured by Genzyme Corp. in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Its development was a complex process. Genzyme first partnered with Pharming Group NV who had managed to produce acid alpha-glucosidase from the milk of transgenic rabbits. They also partnered with a second group based at Duke University using Chinese hamster ovary cells. In 2001, Genzyme acquired Novazyme which was also working on this enzyme. Genzyme also had its own product (Myozyme) grown in CHO cells under development. In November 2001, Genzyme chief executive Henri Termeer organised a systematic comparison of the various potential drugs in a mouse model of Pompe disease. It was found that the Duke enzyme was the most efficacious, followed by Myozyme. However, due to easier manufacture of Myozyme, work on the other products was discontinued.
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Funding for research in this field was in part provided by the Muscular Dystrophy Association and the Acid Maltase Deficiency Association in the US, and by the Association of Glycogen Storage Disorders in the UK, as well as the International Pompe Association. John Crowley became involved in the fund-raising efforts in 1998 after two of his children were diagnosed with Pompe. He joined the company Novazyme in 1999, which was working on enzyme replacement treatment for Pompe. Novazyme was sold to Genzyme in 2001 for over US$100 million. The 2010 film Extraordinary Measures is based on Crowley's search for a cure. As of 2019, many biomedical companies are developing Gene therapy in hopes of helping the body create alpha-glucosidase on its own. References External links GeneReview/NIH/UW entry on Glycogen Storage Disease Type II (Pompe Disease) Understanding Pompe Disease - US National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
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Autosomal recessive disorders Hepatology Inborn errors of carbohydrate metabolism Lysosomal storage diseases Rare diseases
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The Dumaw Creek Site is an archaeological site designated 20OA5, located along Dumaw Creek northeast of Pentwater, Michigan, that was the location of a 17th-century village and cemetery. It is one of the youngest pre-historic sites in Michigan, dating to the terminal Late Woodland Period just prior to European contact. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. History The village that once stood at this location was likely inhabited in the early part of the 17th century (about 1605–1620, according to Quimby). The people occupying the village are thought to be the precursors of the modern Potawatomi people. It is likely that they were uprooted from this location soon after Samuel de Champlain's 1615 visit to the region, as warring tribes spilled into Michigan. Were they the Potawatomi people, they eventually made their way by the 1640s to the region around Sault Ste. Marie.
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Meanwhile, white pine grew up in the plain where the village stood. The pine was lumbered in 1870-1880, after which the land was gradually converted to agricultural use, and was farmed as late as 1930. In the 1940s, oil was discovered in the area, and wells were installed. The Dumaw Creek site was originally discovered in 1915 by a farmer, Christoph "Carl" Schrumpf 1854–1949, who was pulling a stump from his field. Schrumpf discovered 18 skeletons and various artifacts in 1915–16. These artifacts were catalogued by the Museum of Anthropology at the University of Michigan in 1924, but the artifacts and records were not generally well known by archaeologists. Schrumpf eventually sold the collection to a private dealer, and they eventually made their way, sans any identifying data, to George I. Quimby at the Field Museum in 1959.
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Quimby eventually tracked the source of the artifacts to the Dumaw Creek site, and in 1960-62 did some summer surface collection there. He also located other artifacts already dug from the site. Description The Dumaw Creek site is located on a sandy plain near Dumaw Creek, a tributary of the Pentwater River, at a site not easily accessible by canoe. The creek itself runs through a small valley about beneath the level of the plain. The site, covering , was used as a village and burial ground. The village is thought to have been a semi-permanent settlement with dome-shaped wigwams. The people hunted and fished, and grew corn and pumpkins. Artifacts Artifacts and features found at the site include burials, faunal remains, stone tools, bone tools, red ocher/mineral paint (used for ceremonial coloring), copper artifacts, shell artifacts, tobacco pipes, animal skins, and vegetal and textile remains.
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At least nineteen, and perhaps as many as 55 skeletons were removed from burial sites in the Dumaw Creek site. The bodies were wrapped in furs and buried with stone implements and copper beads. The stone implements found include arrowheads, knives, and scraping tools of chipped flint and axes of a hard, granular stone. Quimby reports that 99% of the stone tools were small triangular points or arrowheads, aka Madison points, indicative of a Late Woodland period placement. There were also a considerable number of copper artifacts found at the site. Many were large bead-like tubes of copper known as hair pipes, which were worn as hair ornaments. There were also other, generally smaller copper beads, conical decorations, and copper plaques, as well as shell beads and pendants. Carved stone pipe bowls were also found, as well as animal skins and pottery.
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The pottery is described by Quimby as grit-tempered vessels with round-bottomed, globular forms with broad orifices and slightly flaring rims. The rim edges are often scalloped or crimped. The vessel pictured below with a scalloped rim has been compared to the Moccasin Bluff Scalloped type from the Moccasin Bluff site on the St. Joseph River in southwestern Michigan. This pottery type is diagnostic of a Late Woodland period temporal placement, just before European contact. There was also a shell pendant with a "weeping eye" design as shown below. This motif has been seen in other Late Prehistoric sites in the Great Lakes area. References Buildings and structures in Oceana County, Michigan Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Oceana County, Michigan Potawatomi Late Woodland period
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Dag Ivar Wirén (15 October 1905 – 19 April 1986) was a Swedish composer. Life Wirén was born at Striberg near Nora. His father had a roller blind factory, and there were various musical activities in the family home; he took piano lessons, and was a student at the Karolinska school in Örebro, and played the bass drum and celesta in the town orchestra. Wirén studied at the Stockholm conservatory from 1926 to 1931, which gave him much exposure to music from all periods; hearing Arthur Honegger's oratorio King David in 1927 was an important experience.
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In 1932 he won the state stipend and used the award money to continue his studies in Paris, where he lived from 1931 to 1934. While there, he studied composition under the Russian composer Leonid Sabaneyev, though he admitted later that his endless attendance of concerts, and not his tutoring with Sabaneyev, had the greater impact on his own work. In Paris he met Igor Stravinsky (as well as his compatriot Gösta Nystroem) and was exposed to the music of Stravinsky, Sergei Prokofiev and the French composers of Les Six.
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In 1934, Wirén moved to Stockholm with his bride, the Irish cellist, Noel Franks, whom he had met in Paris; their daughter, Annika, was born in 1947. In 1937, the couple set up home permanently in Danderyd, just north of Stockholm. As well as composing, Wirén regularly played his main instrument, the piano, on Swedish Radio during the 1930s; he also devoted himself to chamber music in the 1930s and 40s; although he conducted in a recording of his Sinfonietta, he hated conducting. He was music critic at the "Svenska Morgonbladet" from 1938 to 1946, and in 1947 became vice-chairman of the Society of Swedish Composers. From 1948, he spent summers on the island of Björkö, in Stockholm's archipelago. He served as a member of the board of directors of the Royal Swedish Opera from 1962 to 1971. His TV ballet Den elaka drottningen (The Evil Queen) won the 1960 Prix Italia. He also wrote the music for the Swedish entry for the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest, Annorstädes vals (Absent Friend),
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sung by Ingvar Wixell. He retired from composing in 1970, commenting, "One should stop in time, while one still has time to stop in time."
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He died at Danderyd on 19 April 1986. Music Wirén's output, which ranges from serious to popular, is notable for its quality rather than quantity, and a number of his works were refused opus numbers or withdrawn. He once commented that his first desire was to entertain and please, and compose listener-friendly "modern" music. He was reluctant to write for the voice (in the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest entry, Alf Henrikson wrote the lyrics after Wirén had composed the music). Neoclassical pieces from Wirén's early Parisian period, including the Piano Trio (1933) and the Sinfonietta (1933–34), are melodically and rhythmically entertaining.
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Upon his return to Sweden, he composed his first two symphonies and his most famous work, the Serenade for Strings (1937); the spirit of this serenade may also be found in the finale of his second symphony (1939). Wirén went on to compose five symphonies, concertos and other orchestral works, including music for the stage and film scores, as well as instrumental and chamber music, including a series of string quartets.
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His musical style on return from Paris remained broadly neoclassical; melodic, energetic and with high spirits. Towards the mid-1940s Wirén became more serious in style, perhaps under the influence of Jean Sibelius. Wirén also developed a personal technique, first used in the third string quartet (1941–45), of gradual motivic transformation, avoiding repetition (metamorphosis technique). He pursued this approach in his third symphony (1944), where the first motif in the first movement, based on a step-wise Dorian mode progression, is transformed during the movement and then echoed in the last three movements. Motivic tautness also characterizes the deeply expressive fourth symphony (1952), as well as his rather cooler later works, including the fifth symphony (1964) and fifth string quartet (1970). Compositions
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Symphonies Symphony No. 1, Op. 3 (1932), withdrawn and never performed Sinfonietta, Op. 7a (1933–34); Wirén's aborted attempt at a second symphony, subsequently refashioned into the Op. 7a Symphony No. 2, Op. 14 (1938–39) Symphony No. 3, Op. 20 (1943–44) Symphony No. 4, Op. 27 (1951–52) Symphony No. 5, Op. 38 (1963–64) Concert works Cello Concerto, Op. 10 (1936) Violin Concerto, Op. 23 (1946) Piano Concerto, Op. 26 (1950) Concertino for flute and small orchestra, Op. 44 (1972) Other orchestral Concert Overture 1, Op. 2 (1931) Two Orchestral Pieces, Op. 7b (1934) Serenade for Strings, Op. 11 (1937) Concert Overture 2, Op. 16 (1940) Little Suite, Op. 17 (1941) Romantic suite, Op. 22 (1943, rev. 1961) Lustspelsuvertyr, Op. 21 (1945) Divertimento, Op. 29 (1954–57) Triptych for small orchestra, Op. 33 (1958) Music for strings, Op. 40 (1966)
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Chamber music String Quartet 1 String Quartet 2, Op. 9 (1935) String Quartet 3, Op. 18 (1941) String Quartet 4, Op. 28 (1952–53) String Quartet 5, Op. 41 (1970) Piano trio 1, Op. 6 (1933) Piano trio 2, Op. 36 (1961) Wind quintet, Op. 42 (1971) Quartet for flute, oboe, clarinet and cello, Op. 31 (1956) Sonatina for violin and piano, Op. 15 (1940) Sonatina for cello and piano 1, Op. 1 (1931) Sonatina for cello and piano 2, Op. 4 (1933) Miniature suite for cello and piano, Op. 8a (1934) Miniature suite for piano trio, Op. 8b (1934) Instrumental Theme with variations for piano, Op. 5 (1933) Small ironic pieces for piano, Op. 19 (1942–45) Sonatina for piano, Op. 25 (1950) Improvisations for piano, Op. 35 (1959) Little serenade for guitar, Op. 39 (1964) Little suite for piano, Op. 43 (1971) Choral Titania for women’s voices, words by Gustaf Fröding (1942) Three sea poems a capella, words by Karin Boye (1963)
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Songs Livet och skrifterna ("En helig man"), words by Nils Ferlin (1934) Mitt trollslott står i skogens bryn, words by August Strindberg (1934) To your bed, Op. 13a, An autumn evening, Op. 13b, words by Erik Axel Karlfeldt (1938) Jungfru Maria and Malenavisorna, Op. 13 a-b (1938), words by Erik Axel Karlfeldt Annorstädes vals, words by Alf Henrikson (1965)
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Works for the stage Ballet Oscarian ball, Op. 24, after Gustaf Fröding’s "Balen" (1948–49), (Royal Stockholm Opera, 1950, choreography by Birgit Cullberg) Radio operetta, Gult, rött och blått, libretto by Georg Eliasson (Swedish Radio, 1940) Radio operetta, Den glada patiencen, libretto by Georg Eliasson (Swedish Radio, 1941) Incidental music for Madame Bovary, (Gustave Flaubert), Blancheteatern 1939 Stage music for Amorina (Carl Jonas Love Almqvist), Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern, 1951 Music for The Merchant of Venice, William Shakespeare (1943), Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern Incidental music for Romeo and Juliet (William Shakespeare), Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern, 1953 Stage music for Gudens hustru, (Vilhelm Moberg), Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern, 1954 Music for A midsummer night’s dream, Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern, 1955 Music for The Queen's Tiara (Carl Jonas Love Almqvist), Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern, 1957 Ballet Take your place on stage
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Ballet, Den elaka drottningen, Sveriges Television 1960, choreography by Birgit Cullberg Stage music for Hamlet (Shakespeare), Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern, 1960 Stage music for King John (Shakespeare), Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern, 1961
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Film music Man glömmer ingenting (One Forgets Nothing) (1942) Oss tjuvar emellan eller En burk ananas (1945) Grönt guld (1949) Only a Mother (1949) Miss Julie (1951) A Lesson in Love (1954) Wild Birds (1955) The Phantom Carriage (1958) De sista stegen (A matter of morals) (1961) Recordings As conductor Wirén recorded his Sinfonietta in May 1948 for Cupol, reissued on Phono Suecia PSCD 79, 1995. References External links A list of Wirén autographs with some information about dates Broadcast from 1960 of Wirén's Violin Concerto Op. 23 (British Library)
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1905 births 1986 deaths 20th-century classical composers Litteris et Artibus recipients Swedish opera composers Male opera composers Royal College of Music, Stockholm alumni People from Nora Municipality Swedish classical composers Swedish male classical composers Swedish classical pianists Male classical pianists Swedish film score composers Male film score composers Swedish music critics 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century Swedish male musicians 20th-century Swedish musicians
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Jason Eli Becker (born July 22, 1969) is an American virtuoso musician, songwriter and composer. At the age of 16, he became part of the Shrapnel Records-produced duo Cacophony with his friend Marty Friedman, and they released two albums, Speed Metal Symphony (1987) and Go Off! (1988). Since the dissolution of Cacophony in 1989, Becker has undertaken a solo career, releasing seven albums since his 1988 debut Perpetual Burn. He later joined David Lee Roth's band and recorded one album with him, A Little Ain't Enough. Becker's performing career was cut short by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which he was diagnosed with in 1989. By 1996, Becker had lost the ability to speak, and he now communicates with his eyes via a system developed by his father. He continues to compose with the aid of a computer and has since released Collection in 2008 and Triumphant Hearts in 2018, as well as various compilations. Biography and career
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Hometown, birthplace, school and early years Becker was born and raised in Richmond, California, by his parents, Gary and Patricia (Heffley) Becker. He was born in Richmond Hospital on 23rd Street in 1969. His maternal grandfather was actor Wayne Heffley. Becker graduated from Kennedy High School where he performed Yngwie Malmsteen's "Black Star" with his band at a talent show. While still in high school, Becker was introduced to Marty Friedman. He was exposed to the guitar at an early age because both his father and his uncle were guitar players. He absorbed all kinds of music from around the world and melded different aspects of each style into his playing. He cited Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen as early influences.