3x5 for concert band ; an analysis of the numerical bases of rhythm, gesture, melody and form

text3x5 for Concert Band uses the numbers three and five as the basis of many smalland large-scale aspects of the work. The two numbers act as generative numbers, underlying such features of the work as length of melodic and rhythmic gestures, polyrhythmic interaction, articulation of significant formal sectional changes, durational patterns of local and large-scale formal events, and the number and relative length of large formal sections. The two generative numbers and their interaction generate both the formal skeletal structure of the work and aspects of the content of the work as well. v The use of these generative numbers gives the piece a unifying framework and generates musical interest through gestures and events that correspond to the numbers. For example, the superimposition of odd-numbered patterns over even-numbered frameworks (such as rhythmic units of 5 eighth-notes over a 4/4 measure) creates tension in the form of syncopation or polyrhythm. The resulting rhythmic structures sound as if they could be created by intuitive means, but contain a sense of cohesiveness that may be lacking from such a constructive method. The numerically generated structures may be audible or inaudible to the listener depending on their time scale and their proximity to the surface level of the texture. However, the number of events that are easily recognizable as having been derived from the generative numbers creates a sense of continuity and accessibility. Structural details do not exist solely for the sake of intellectual exercise. A sense of spontaneity and unpredictability is also central to the conception of the work, as is a visceral impact. 3x5 for Concert Band is an attempt to reconcile the sometimes disparate worlds of structurally- and intuitively-based music. With a balance of intuitive and logical structure, a work of accessibility and spontaneity can be created without sacrificing structural integrity, intellectual interest and rigor.Musi

Dietary intake of menaquinone-4 may determine hepatic and pancreatic menaquinone-4 in chickens

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the biological effects of natural dietary intake of vitamin K as phylloquinone (K1) and menaquinone-4 (MK-4) and a control diet also containing menadione (K3) on levels of K1 and total MK-4 (menaquinone-4) and menaquinone-4-2,3-epoxide (MK-4O) in liver and pancreas, and on femur bending resistance in a fast-growing animal model. Design: Chickens were fed four wheat-based diets from day 11 to day 22 after hatching. The diets contained different combinations of fat sources: rapeseed oil, animal rendered fat, soybean oil and hydrogenated soybean oil. Concentration of K1 in the three experimental diets was 120 ng/g whereas MK-4 levels were 23, 52 and 63 ng/g respectively. The control diet contained 157 ng K1/g, 75 ng MK-4/g and 2.250 ng K3/g. Results: Growth rates and femur strength confirmed adequate supply of nutrients and vitamin K in the test groups. There were no significant differences in femur bending resistance among the test groups, but these were higher than the control. K1, MK-4 and MK-4O were found in liver. In pancreas, mainly MK-4O was found with small amounts of MK-4, but none had content of K1. In the test groups the hepatic levels of MK-4 and MK-4O reflected the dietary intake of MK-4. Conclusion: The chickens were in good health with good bone resistance without supplements of K3in the feed, but at least a natural content of 23 ng MK-4/g feed. Liver and pancreas appears to use MK-4 in different ways

Portable colorimetric sensor array technology

Humans as a species are generally audio-visual creatures and do not take full advantage of the olfactory sense. Nonetheless, even humans can recognize and differentiate among thousands of different odorants under challenging conditions. Molecular recognition by the olfactory system derives its specifity from a complex pattern of responses generated by cross-reactive olfactory receptors. These receptors are encoded by approximately one thousand genes, which represents roughly 3% of the entire human genome. As a concept, the use of multiple cross-reactive chemical sensors is broadly applicable to any situation in which the sensors can be simultaneously exposed to each of a set of multiple target analytes; such an "artificial nose" has significant potential in all areas of chemical sensor technology. The chemical sensor arrays discussed in this work are based upon cross-reactive colorimetric response: each of many sensor elements in an array is a mixture of dyes or other compounds that changes color upon exposure to an analyte. These arrays typically use strong, poorly-reversible chemical reactions involving a diverse set of color-changing dyes or chromogens; such colorimetric sensor arrays have evolved to be fast, sensitive, portable, and inexpensive. Importantly, the analyte scope of the developed arrays has been shown to be capable of tailoring based on their intended applications, and can be made to be either broad or narrow as desired: in previous works, they have proven to be capable of discriminating among a broad range of analytes including both gaseous and aqueous analytes involving many different types of chemical reactivity, including Lewis and Brønsted acidity/basicity, molecular polarity, redox properties, and chelation. Of particular interest is the study of chemicals which are hazardous to human life, by either directly interacting with the human body or indirectly causing a physical effect. This work discusses development of colorimetric sensor arrays for two such cases: aqueous toxins and explosives materials. Both types of analytes are particularly challenging due to their relative lack of chemical reactivity: aqueous toxins derive their toxicity from interaction with specific proteins within the human body, while explosives have high potential energy but are kinetically inert. Targeting these analytes while still maintaining high sensitivity, low noise, and the ability to discriminate among them was the primary focus of these two projects. Further, inexpensive portable technology for the quantitative analysis of these arrays is vitally necessary for their intended use outside of the laboratory. This work discusses development of an automated, truly portable device that fits into a pocket and improves upon previous instrumentation in scan speed, sensitivity, and noise. Since colorimetric sensor arrays are monitored by optical transduction, development of portable scanners involves investigating inexpensive, compact, low-noise optical imagers. Previous works focused on flatbed scanners, which have since shown to have limitations in portability (flatbed scanners will certainly not fit in someone's pocket), scan speed (~15-45 seconds per scan), noise (largely induced by the scanner's moving parts), and processing ability (processed manually). To improve upon this, an optical line imager known as a contact image sensor was used to act as the optical transducer; chemical sensor arrays were printed linearly so as to maintain compatibility with the line imager. The final device included disposable sensor array cartridges, a flow control system, control software, and analysis software for pattern matching

Policy učenje u lokalnoj samoupravi: uloga refleksivnog vodstva

The paper addresses three interrelated issues in policy learning, based on survey data from a representative sample of all Norwegian councillors. The authors ask: What characterizes the policy learning behaviour of local councillors? This issue is addressed through data on what councillors find to be useful information sources in their capacities as decision-makers and agenda-setters. The paper documents three policy-learning profiles: cosmopolitans (who draw largely on external sources of information), locals (who draw on internal sources), and party loyalists (who draw on party sources). The authors also ask if policy learning profiles make a difference to councillors as decision-makers and agenda-setters. The paper documents that cosmopolitans are the most active agenda setters. Do new patterns of policy learning indicate the emergence of a new type of leadership in local government? It is argued that political interest in publicly available information that contextualizes the municipality’s current performance is part of a larger syndrome that we term ‘reflexive leadership’.U radu se istražuju tri međusobno povezana pitanja policy učenja, na temelju podataka prikupljenih anketnim istraživanjem na reprezentativnom uzorku lokalnih vijećnika u Norveškoj. Pitanje je bilo što obilježava policy učenje lokalnih vijećnika. Do odgovora se pokušalo doći preko podataka o tome što vijećnici smatraju korisnim izvorima podataka u njihovom poslu donošenja odluka i utvrđivanja političkog dnevnog reda (agenda-setting). Nađena su tri profila vijećnika s gledišta policy učenja: kozmopoliti (koji se u velikoj mjeri oslanjaju na vanjske izvore informacija), lokalci (koji se oslanjaju na unutarnje izvore) te stranački poslušnici (koji se oslanjaju na izvore političke stranke). Istraženo je i utječu li ta tri profila vijećnika na odlučivanje i postavljanje političkog dnevnog reda. Utvrđeno je da su kozmopoliti najaktivniji postavljači dnevnog reda (najviše utječu na to koja će pitanja doći na dnevni red političkog odlučivanja). Postavilo se i pitanje ukazuje li nova struktura policy učenja na pojavu novog tipa vodstva u lokalnoj samoupravi. Autori smatraju da je politički interes u javno dostupnim informacijama koje se bave uspješnošću lokalnih jedinica dio šireg sindroma koji se može nazvati refleksivnim vodstvom

Koronakommisjonens evalueringshåndverk

I april 2020 nedsatte regjeringen Koronakommisjonen for å gjøre en grundig evaluering av myndighetenes håndtering av pandemien. Ett år etter forelå NOU 2021: 6 Myndighetenes håndtering av koronapandemien. Rammebetingelsene var så gode at rapporten kan betraktes som en kritisk case for god evalueringspraksis. Artikkelen legger et evalueringsfaglig perspektiv på rapporten og spør hvordan Koronakommisjonen begrunnet sine vurderende konklusjoner. Funnet er at kommisjonen mange steder er tause om hvilke kriterier de har lagt til grunn for sine konklusjoner. At det er vanskelig å ta informert stilling til om man deler eksperters vurderinger, er uheldig i en tid med økende mistro til kunnskap og faglig ekspertise. Mangelfull redegjørelse for konklusjoners grunnlag kan dessuten føre til at solide konklusjoner forkastes og at svakt funderte råd, vurderinger og konklusjoner tas til følge i senere beslutninger.publishedVersio

Services for reducing duration of hospital care for acute stroke patients

<p>Background: Stroke patients conventionally receive a substantial part of their rehabilitation in hospital. Services have now been developed which offer patients in hospital an early discharge with rehabilitation at home (early supported discharge (ESD)).</p> <p>Objectives: To establish the effects and costs of ESD services compared with conventional services.</p> <p>Search methods: We searched the trials registers of the Cochrane Stroke Group (January 2012) and the Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care (EPOC) Group, MEDLINE (2008 to 7 February 2012), EMBASE (2008 to 7 February 2012) and CINAHL (1982 to 7 February 2012). In an effort to identify further published, unpublished and ongoing trials we searched 17 trial registers (February 2012), performed citation tracking of included studies, checked reference lists of relevant articles and contacted trialists.</p> <p>Selection criteria: Randomised controlled trials recruiting stroke patients in hospital to receive either conventional care or any service intervention which has provided rehabilitation and support in a community setting with an aim of reducing the duration of hospital care.</p> <p>Data collection and analysis: The primary patient outcome was the composite end-point of death or long-term dependency recorded at the end of scheduled follow up. Two review authors scrutinised trials and categorised them on their eligibility.We then sought standardised individual patient data from the primary trialists. We analysed the results for all trials and for subgroups of patients and services, in particular whether the intervention was provided by a co-ordinated multidisciplinary team (co-ordinated ESD team) or not.</p> <p>Main results: Outcome data are currently available for 14 trials (1957 patients). Patients tended to be a selected elderly group withmoderate disability. The ESD group showed significant reductions (P = 0.0001) in the length of hospital stay equivalent to approximately seven days. Overall, the odds ratios (OR) (95% confidence interval (CI)) for death, death or institutionalisation, death or dependency at the end of scheduled follow-up were OR 0.91 (95% CI 0.67 to 1.25, P = 0.58), OR 0.78 (95% CI 0.61 to 1.00, P = 0.05) and OR 0.80 (95% CI 0.67 to 0.97, P = 0.02) respectively. The greatest benefits were seen in the trials evaluating a co-ordinated ESD team and in stroke patients with mild to moderate disability. Improvements were also seen in patients’ extended activities of daily living scores (standardised mean difference 0.12, 95% CI 0.00 to 0.25, P = 0.05) and satisfaction with services (OR 1.60, 95% CI 1.08 to 2.38, P = 0.02) but no statistically significant differences were seen in carers’ subjective health status, mood or satisfaction with services. The apparent benefits were no longer statistically significant at five-year follow-up.</p> <p>Authors’ conclusions: Appropriately resourced ESD services provided for a selected group of stroke patients can reduce long-term dependency and admission to institutional care as well as reducing the length of hospital stay. We observed no adverse impact on the mood or subjective health status of patients or carers.</p&gt

Epidemiology and outcome of sepsis in adult patients with Streptococcus pneumoniae infection in a Norwegian county 1993–2011: an observational study

90-day mortality in relation to patient characteristics prior to infection. Table S1a. 90-day mortality in relation to gender. Table S2. 90-day mortality in relation to disease acquisition, severity, focus and time period. (DOCX 22 kb