Music analysis and the computer: developing a computer operating system to analyse music, using Johann Sebastian Bach's "well tempered clavier" book 51 to test the methodology

"Most computerised and computer-aided musicological projects are written to achieve specific goals. Once achieved or not achieved as the case may be, the projects and their tools are frequently discarded because their dependency upon specific computer hardware and software prevents them from being utilised by other researchers for other projects. What is needed is a system that, using small tools to accomplish small tasks, can be expanded and customized to suit specific needs. This thesis proposes the creation of a music-analysis computer operating system that contains simple commands to perform simple musicological tasks such as the removal of repeated notes from a score or the audible rendition of a melodic line. The tools can be bolted together to form larger tools that perform larger tasks. New tools can be created and added to the operating system with relative ease, and these in turn can be bolted onto old tools. The thesis suggests a basic set of tools derived from old and new analytical methods, proposes a standard for their implementation based on the UNIX computer operating system, and discusses the benefits of using the system and its tools in an analysis of the twenty-four fugues of Johann Sebastian Bach from the "Well Tempered Clavier", Book II.

Management of urinary tract infections in the community; clinical audit and patient survey

Background: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a common ailment but can develop into sepsis. The outcomes related to UTI may potentially be affected by both patient and clinician management of UTI. Aim: To explore the circumstances around a single UTI episode, to determine if there are patient and clinician related variables that may contribute to differences in management. Design & setting: Survey and clinical audit in 12 General Practices in England. Method: Patients, n=504, completed a bespoke survey and their corresponding index UTI consultation was audited . The TARGET (Treat Antibiotics Responsibly, Guidance, Education and Tools) UTI audit toolkit was utilised. Results: Males self-manage their UTI symptoms – eg, increased fluid intake ( P <0.001, Chi-squared test) and analgesic s use ( P 0.036, Chi-squared test) – and indicate they lack UTI knowledge when compared to females ( P 0.002, Kruskal-Wallis test). Males also claimed to have waited significantly longer for a consultation appointment ( P 0.027, Chi-squared test). Antibiotics were prescribed in 98% of all cases, with adherence to clinical diagnostic guidelines lowest in females <65 years. Only 41% (89/221 of cases in this guideline sub-cohort) would have been a UTI - according to TARGET criteria - following a medical record audit. Conclusion: UTI symptom management by clinicians is sub-optimal; (the lack of) symptoms are often insufficiently recorded in medical records. Additionally, suboptimal adhere to guidelines concerning urinalysis and microbiological investigation is common. Known increased clinical risks for males may be compounded by their more limited knowledge of (self)-managing UTI and their comparatively late presentation

The snomipede : a parallel platform for scanning near-field photolithography.

Using scanning near-field lithography (SNP), it is possible to pattern molecules at surfaces with a resolution as good as 9 nm [M. Montague, R. E. Ducker, K. S. L. Chong, R. J. Manning, F. J. M. Rutten, M. C. Davies and G. J. Leggett, Langmuir 23 (13), 7328–7337 (2007)]. However, in common with other scanning probe techniques, SNP has previously been considered a serial process, hindering its use in many applications. IBM’s “Millipede” addresses this problem by utilizing an array of local probes operating in parallel. Here, we describe the construction of two instruments (Snomipedes) that integrate near-field optical methods into the parallel probe paradigm and promise the integration of top–down and bottom–up fabrication methods over macroscopic areas. Both are capable of performing near-field lithography with 16 probes in parallel spanning approximately 2 mm. The instruments can work in both ambient and liquid environments, key to many applications in nanobiology. In both, separate control of writing is possible for each probe. We demonstrate the deprotection of self-assembled monolayers of alkylsilanes with photocleavable protecting groups and subsequent growth of nanostructured polymer brushes from these nanopatterned surfaces by atom-transfer radical polymerization

Water-Based 3D Inkjet Printing of an Oral Pharmaceutical Dosage Form

Inkjet printing is a form of additive manufacturing where liquid droplets are selectively deposited onto a substrate followed by solidification. The process provides significant potential advantages for producing solid oral dosage forms or tablets, including a reduction in the number of manufacturing steps as well as the ability to tailor a unique dosage regime to an individual patient. This study utilises solvent inkjet printing to print tablets through the use of a Fujifilm Dimatix printer. Using polyvinylpyrrolidone and thiamine hydrochloride (a model excipient and drug, respectively), a water-based ink formulation was developed to exhibit reliable and effective jetting properties. Tablets were printed on polyethylene terephthalate films where solvent evaporation in the ambient environment was the solidification mechanism. The tablets were shown to contain a drug loading commensurate with the composition of the ink, in its preferred polymorphic phase of a non-stoichiometric hydrate distributed homogenously. The printed tablets displayed rapid drug release. This paper illustrates solvent inkjet printing’s ability to print entire free-standing tablets without an edible substrate being part of the tablet and the use of additional printing methods. Common problems with solvent-based inkjet printing, such as the use toxic solvents, are avoided. The strategy developed here for tablet manufacturing from a suitable ink is general and provides a framework for the formulation for any drug that is soluble in water

co_LAB - Project 1

co_LAB is an interdisciplinary, educational project which houses intensive teaching programmes, the first of which took place between 12-16 May, 2014. co_LAB was designed to explore and develop new approaches to collaborative teaching and learning through the use of networked digital tools, and through the transferral of knowledge, skillsets and teaching styles. co_LAB aims to overcome the traditional barriers between individual course specialisms by bringing together students and colleagues from across academic disciplines to collaborate on transmedia design projects. co_LAB team: Martyn Thayne, James Field, Graham Cooper, Rob Coley, Richard Vickers, Adam Verity, Clive McCarthy (special thanks to Louise Lawlor, Mike Downing, Mark Aldridge, John Murray, Chris Heydra (The Hague University of Applied Sciences

Successful treatment with azithromycin and rifampicin of penicillin and cephalosporin insensitive pneumococcal osteomyelitis in a child with HIV infection: a case report

Pneumococcal infection is common in children with HIV infection, but osteomyelits is unusual. The best treatment for bone and joint infection due to antibiotic resistant pneumococci is not known, especially in immunocompromised children

Spread of psoriasiform inflammation to remote tissues is restricted by the atypical chemokine receptor ACKR2

Elucidating the poorly defined mechanisms by which inflammatory lesions are spatially restricted in vivo, is of critical importance in understanding skin disease. Chemokines are the principal regulators of leukocyte migration and are essential in the initiation and maintenance of inflammation. The membrane-bound psoriasis associated atypical chemokine receptor ACKR2 binds, internalises and degrades most pro-inflammatory CC-chemokines. Here we investigate the role of ACKR2 in limiting the spread of cutaneous psoriasiform inflammation to sites that are remote from the primary lesion.  Circulating factors capable of regulating ACKR2 function at remote sites were identified and examined using a combination of clinical samples, relevant primary human cell cultures, in vitro migration assays and the imiquimod-induced model of psoriasiform skin inflammation. Localised inflammation and IFN together upregulate ACKR2 in remote tissues, protecting them from the spread of inflammation. ACKR2 controls inflammatory T-cell chemotaxis and positioning within the skin, preventing an epidermal influx that is associated with lesion development. Our results have important implications for our understanding of how spatial restriction is imposed on the spread of inflammatory lesions, and highlight systemic ACKR2 induction as a therapeutic strategy in the treatment and prevention of psoriasis and potentially a broad range of other immune-mediated diseases