Music and song in early eighteenth-century Belfast

One of the most important developments in provincial Ireland during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries was the emergence of towns. The economic expansion of the early seventeenth century, based on the extraction of raw, unprocessed materials, had not encouraged the development of an integrated marketing structure but rather had benefited the port towns. By the end of the seventeenth century diversification of Irish economic structure led to more complex inter-regional trading patterns, and with that came the growth of provincial towns. By the beginning of the eighteenth century those small towns had formed into distinctive and complex regional societies. There were several markers of the emergence of these urban societies. One particularly powerful indicator was the emergence of a print culture in provincial Ireland. While there were moves in the I64s to establish provincial presses in Waterford and Kilkenny these were motivated mainly by political necessity and they soon faltered; it was the 1720s before Waterford produced another printed work. Only Cork managed sporadically to produce printed works in the late seventeenth century and in 1694 it was joined by Belfast, reflecting the significant growth of that town in the years after 1660 and the need by Ulster Presbyterians to establish a printing press. Limerick had acquired a press by 1716 and by the 1760s there is imprint evidence for provincial presses in Derry, Strabane, Newry, Drogheda and Armagh. A second marker of the evolution of provincial society in the early eighteenth century is the creation of centres of sociability where the middling sort might meet and display their possessions and social accomplishments for the admiration or more critical inspection of their peers. The theatre was one such obvious site of display. At first provincial towns were entertained by troupes of players from Dublin who toured Ireland, but gradually more permanent structures were created in the larger provincial towns where the local playgoers might be entertained and entertain others by their display. Cork had a purpose-built theatre by the I7JOS, Waterford by the 1740s, Belfast by the 1750s and Derry perhaps by the 1770s. Clubs and societies of all sorts, from Freemasons to the less bibulous reading societies, spread through provincial Ireland like wildfire in the eighteenth century:• Churches became places where the fashions of one's neighbours could be inspected as well as places of worship for the more conventionally devout

A Mullingar election of 1637

By 1640 small corporate towns had become an established feature of Irish Life. many of these were recent creations, stemming from the plantation and colonisation schemes of the early seventeenth century. Others, particularly in the Pale, were much older being the result of the earlier Anglo-Norman colonisation process. While it is possible to recreate something of the topography and formal government structures of these towns much less is known about how they actually worked. Corporation minutes were either not kept or have not survived before the end of the seventeenth century. Only occasionally when a dispute erupted is it possible to catch a glimpse of town government at work. The document printed here, from one of the petition books of lord Deputy Wentworth, provides such a glimpse in the case of Mullingar

BRIDGESTONE EUROPE: A Circular Business Model Innovation Journey

This report provides an overview of the circular business model innovation journey guided by the R2π project team for Bridgestone EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa). The team customised an innovation process to suit the specific needs of the company in order to help them explore opportunities to become more sustainable and circular. Due to confidentiality agreements, this report does not provide details of Bridgestone strategy and internal business data, rather the purpose of the report is to describe the innovation journey and tools utilised. A key challenge of the company relates to end-of-life tyres (ELT), a problem that persists in all tyre companies and in society due to the negative environmental and social impacts that this waste could result in, if not properly collected and treated. According to the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturing Association (2018), the global tyre output is estimated at 1.5 billion units per year, which will all eventually fall into the category of end-of-life tyres.1 Over the last 18 years, recovery rates for tyres have increased in Europe, and the cost of recycling has decreased due to both efficiency in management structures and new recovery routes. This shift shows that products derived from end-of-life tyres can be legitimately recognised as a valuable secondary material. About 2.6 million tonnes of end-of-life tyres (ELT) are recovered annually in Europe and 600,000 tonnes of used tyres are either reused or sent for re-treading, so the tyre industry has promoted promising economic activities that are beneficial to the environment while also creating over 10,000 jobs2, but there is still much more to be accomplished. Therefore, Bridgestone is seeking viable business models to continue improving this situation and to continue its mission, “Serving Society with Superior Quality”3. To that end, a cross-functional team from Bridgestone and R2π was brought together in workshops to gain a deeper understanding of the current business model and context within the market as well as to innovate new business models. Based on internal and external strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats identified within their current business model and context, they generated and explored multiple options for future circular business models. Thereafter, they further detailed these options and mapped out bold steps required to achieve the new business models. Team members identified their most critical assumptions and planned out roadmaps to allow them to test these assumptions and move forward towards implementing a more sustainable and circular business mode

Megawatt solar power systems for lunar surface operations

Lunar surface operations require habitation, transportation, life support, scientific, and manufacturing systems, all of which require some form of power. As an alternative to nuclear power, the development of a modular one megawatt solar power system is studied, examining both photovoltaic and dynamic cycle conversion methods, along with energy storage, heat rejection, and power backup subsystems. For photovoltaic power conversion, two systems are examined. First, a substantial increase in photovoltaic conversion efficiency is realized with the use of new GaAs/GaSb tandem photovoltaic cells, offering an impressive overall array efficiency of 23.5 percent. Since these new cells are still in the experimental phase of development, a currently available GaAs cell providing 18 percent efficiency is examined as an alternate to the experimental cells. Both Brayton and Stirling cycles, powered by linear parabolic solar concentrators, are examined for dynamic cycle power conversion. The Brayton cycle is studied in depth since it is already well developed and can provide high power levels fairly efficiently in a compact, low mass system. The dynamic conversion system requires large scale waste heat rejection capability. To provide this heat rejection, a comparison is made between a heat pipe/radiative fin system using advanced composites, and a potentially less massive liquid droplet radiator system. To supply power through the lunar night, both a low temperature alkaline fuel cell system and an experimental high temperature monolithic solid-oxide fuel cell system are considered. The reactants for the fuel cells are stored cryogenically in order to avoid the high tankage mass required by conventional gaseous storage. In addition, it is proposed that the propellant tanks from a spent, prototype lunar excursion vehicle be used for this purpose, therefore resulting in a significant overall reduction in effective storage system mass

The local history project: co-operating North and South, A report

Local history is an important and popular pursuit throughout both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. In the local community setting the study of local history crosses social, political, religious and economic divides and fosters an understanding of the complex forces behind the making of local identity. It can play a vital role in improving community relations and fostering respect for cultural difference. Research in local history is greatly enriched by being conducted in an all-Ireland context. This research project provides the basis for the first all-Ireland register of local history societies, including those affiliated to the Federation of Local History Societies (FLHS), those affiliated to the Federation of Ulster Local Studies (FULS), and those with no formal affiliation to any federation, which comprise by far the largest group. It also assesses the existing linkages between local history societies north and south of the border, and investigates the provision of training/education in local history methodology. Through a major questionnaire survey, and the collaboration of the local history federations, it succeeds in identifying 330 societies, considerably more than was previously estimated, but still an incomplete listing. The research team predict that a complete list would exceed 500 societies north and south, involving an active membership of perhaps 28,000 persons, and reaching into most parishes on the island. Recommendations are made on minimising the obstacles to cross-border cooperation, the promotion of visits to repositories in the other jurisdiction, and the strengthening of the institutional basis of cross-border co-operation, most notably the role of the local history federations. The Border Counties History Collective, Blacklion, Co Cavan provides a working model of effective grassroots, non-threatening, non-centralised collaboration that reaches across religious, cultural and political divides

A Comparison of 1978 and 2006 Peak Pollen Seasons and Sampling Methods in Missoula, Montana

A study was conducted in Missoula, Montana to compare local pollen counts from 1978 with those measured nearly 30 years later in 2006 using two different measurement techniques (Durham gravimetric sampler and a Burkard volumetric sampler). Trends in peak pollen times measured during the spring, summer and autumn, respectively, were compared between the two years by Pearson’s correlation and frequency of occurrence of plant genus. Meteorological conditions were also examined during each of the two study periods. In comparing the two years, there was a statistically significant linear association between the different counts for the months of April through August, with similar levels of pollen types for any given month. The five predominant pollen types (based on counts) identified in each study were Pinus, Poaceae, Populus, Alnus, and Betula for 2006 and Pinus, Poaceae, Populus, Acer and Artemisia for 1978. In summary most of the genera displayed similar peak pollination timing between the two years, suggesting that results from the Durham (gravimetric) and Burkard (volumetric) sampling methods are comparable when reporting relative frequency of occurrence

Live to cheat another day: bacterial dormancy facilitates the social exploitation of beta-lactamases

The breakdown of antibiotics by β-lactamases may be cooperative, since resistant cells can detoxify their environment and facilitate the growth of susceptible neighbours. However, previous studies of this phenomenon have used artificial bacterial vectors or engineered bacteria to increase the secretion of β-lactamases from cells. Here, we investigated whether a broad-spectrum β-lactamase gene carried by a naturally occurring plasmid (pCT) is cooperative under a range of conditions. In ordinary batch culture on solid media, there was little or no evidence that resistant bacteria could protect susceptible cells from ampicillin, although resistant colonies could locally detoxify this growth medium. However, when susceptible cells were inoculated at high densities, late-appearing phenotypically susceptible bacteria grew in the vicinity of resistant colonies. We infer that persisters, cells that have survived antibiotics by undergoing a period of dormancy, founded these satellite colonies. The number of persister colonies was positively correlated with the density of resistant colonies and increased as antibiotic concentrations decreased. We argue that detoxification can be cooperative under a limited range of conditions: if the toxins are bacteriostatic rather than bacteridical; or if susceptible cells invade communities after resistant bacteria; or if dormancy allows susceptible cells to avoid bactericides. Resistance and tolerance were previously thought to be independent solutions for surviving antibiotics. Here, we show that these are interacting strategies: the presence of bacteria adopting one solution can have substantial effects on the fitness of their neighbours

Ten Simple Rules for Getting Help from Online Scientific Communities

The increasing complexity of research requires scientists to work at the intersection of multiple fields and to face problems for which their formal education has not prepared them. For example, biologists with no or little background in programming are now often using complex scripts to handle the results from their experiments; vice versa, programmers wishing to enter the world of bioinformatics must know about biochemistry, genetics, and other fields. In this context, communication tools such as mailing lists, web forums, and online communities acquire increasing importance. These tools permit scientists to quickly contact people skilled in a specialized field. A question posed properly to the right online scientific community can help in solving difficult problems, often faster than screening literature or writing to publication authors. The growth of active online scientific communities, such as those listed in Table S1, demonstrates how these tools are becoming an important source of support for an increasing number of researchers. Nevertheless, making proper use of these resources is not easy. Adhering to the social norms of World Wide Web communication—loosely termed “netiquette”—is both important and non-trivial. In this article, we take inspiration from our experience on Internet-shared scientific knowledge, and from similar documents such as “Asking the Questions the Smart Way” and “Getting Answers”, to provide guidelines and suggestions on how to use online communities to solve scientific problems

Homophily and Contagion Are Generically Confounded in Observational Social Network Studies

We consider processes on social networks that can potentially involve three factors: homophily, or the formation of social ties due to matching individual traits; social contagion, also known as social influence; and the causal effect of an individual's covariates on their behavior or other measurable responses. We show that, generically, all of these are confounded with each other. Distinguishing them from one another requires strong assumptions on the parametrization of the social process or on the adequacy of the covariates used (or both). In particular we demonstrate, with simple examples, that asymmetries in regression coefficients cannot identify causal effects, and that very simple models of imitation (a form of social contagion) can produce substantial correlations between an individual's enduring traits and their choices, even when there is no intrinsic affinity between them. We also suggest some possible constructive responses to these results.Comment: 27 pages, 9 figures. V2: Revised in response to referees. V3: Ditt

The effect of the SAFE or SORRY? programme on patient safety knowledge of nurses in hospitals and nursing homes: a cluster randomised trial

Background: patients in hospitals and nursing homes are at risk for the development of often preventable adverse events. Guidelines for the prevention of many types of adverse events are available, however compliance with these guidelines appears to be lacking. As a result many patients do not receive appropriate care. We developed a patient safety program that allows organisations to implement multiple guidelines simultaneously and therefore facilitates guideline use to improve patient safety. This program was developed for three frequently occurring nursing care related adverse events: pressure ulcers, urinary tract infections and falls. For the implementation of this program we developed educational activities for nurses as a main implementation strategy.Objectives: the aim of this study is to describe the effect of interactive and tailored education on the knowledge levels of nurses.Design: a cluster randomised trial was conducted between September 2006 and July 2008.Settings: ten hospital wards and ten nursing home wards participated in this study. Prior to baseline, randomisation of the wards to an intervention or control group was stratified for centre and type of ward.Participants: all nurses from participating wards.Methods: a knowledge test measured nurses’ knowledge on the prevention of pressure ulcers, urinary tract infections and falls, during baseline en follow-up. The results were analysed for hospitals and nursing homes separately.Results: after correction for baseline, the mean difference between the intervention and the control group on hospital nurses’ knowledge on the prevention of the three adverse events was 0.19 points on a zero to ten scale (95% CI: ?0.03 to 0.42), in favour of the intervention group. There was a statistically significant effect on knowledge of pressure ulcers, with an improved mean mark of 0.45 points (95% CI: 0.10–0.81). For the other two topics there was no statistically significant effect. Nursing home nurses’ knowledge did neither improve (0 points, CI: ?0.35 to 0.35) overall, nor for the separate subjects.Conclusion: the educational intervention improved hospital nurses’ knowledge on the prevention of pressure ulcers only. More research on long term improvement of knowledge is neede