Clarinet Pedagogy: Common Challenges and Solutions

There is no one “perfect” clarinet or clarinetist in the world. There have been masters, yes, however, masters still have to practice and refine their artistry to improve. Professional clarinetists still squeak, and have done so on live recordings or in major concerts. So, if these professionals still have trouble, how can we expect young students to produce characteristic tone on this tube of wood, with a mouthpiece, and a vibrating piece of cane? Students are also faced with the trials of putting down the right fingers and doing so correctly. Yet the clarinet requires cross fingerings and pinky work and knowing when to use what finger and when, which can easily become confusing. Then there is a register key, not an octave key, which requires students to learn a whole new set of pitches that go with fingerings, not even counting the altissimo register. Furthermore, different pitches on the clarinet have different pitch tendencies and everything from an incorrect finger placement to tongue position can affect that pitch. There is a wide variety of reasons as to why clarinet students could struggle so much. The purpose of this paper is: A) to identify challenges to clarinet students through band director surveys, B) to conduct research into top challenges, and C) provide exercises and solutions that students and teachers can use to address the identified challenges

The Cellar Door Report: Margaret River Region Winery / Tourism Research

The Margaret River tourist is a well educated, professional person who visits the region to tour the wineries, enjoy the scenery and the beach, relax and go to the restaurants. The tourist considers the wineries one of the prime tourist destinations in the region and goes to the wineries primarily to taste and buy wine

2017 Youth Recidivism: Diversion to Discharge in Maine\u27s Juvenile Justice System

This report summarizes research that examined data for youth involved with the Maine Juvenile Justice System who were diverted, supervised, or released from commitment for the first time from 2010 to 2014. The report describes the cohorts of youth demographically, reviews trends, explores risk levels and length of stay, and examines recidivism and returns to a facility. This research shows that fewer youth are entering the system and that more of those who do are quickly and successfully diverted. It shows that youth supervised in the community are decreasing in risk level and offense severity and that the majority do not recidivate. It shows that committed youth are decreasing in risk level as well; the majority are assessed at low to moderate risk at time of commitment and are adjudicated with misdemeanor charges

Breaking Stigma to Build Trust in Remote Working Teams

This paper explores the current state, biases, and culture surrounding the experience of remote workers now and in the future; it provides insights into how organizations can successfully support leaders and employees within these complex team structures. It also attempts to address the wicked problem facing leaders and employees of large organizations as they work to build the infrastructure to support the growing needs of the blended (remote and colocated worker) workforce: How might we break the stigma of the remote worker and build trust between leaders and remote teams? Several solutions are proposed for consideration, prototyping and development, as well as additional areas of opportunity for further research

Disproportionate Contact: Youth of Color in Maine\u27s Juvenile Justice System

Research staff at the USM Muskie School work in partnership with Maine’s Juvenile Justice Advisory Group (JJAG) in support of the goal of producing information to enhance Maine’s understanding of disproportionate minority contact (DMC) in the state. This research documents the rate of disproportionate minority contact (DMC) for youth involved in Maine’s juvenile justice system, differences in pathways to detention for youth of color, and the experiences of youth and families of color who have had contact with Maine’s juvenile justice system. It uses a relative rate index (RRI) to demonstrate how youth of color are treated in comparison to their white counterparts throughout nine separate contact points in the juvenile justice system. This Maine-focused research report aligns with several federal, state, and local efforts aimed at promoting equity for youth of color throughout the juvenile justice system. In part, this report fulfills a federal grant requirement from the Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) to identify DMC within the juvenile justice system in Maine. In order to assist states in their efforts to comply with the DMC requirements of the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA), the OJJDP funds state-based advisory groups to understand and reduce DMC in their jurisdictions. Maine’s Juvenile Justice Advisory Group (JJAG) has partnered with the Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine to conduct this research to inform these efforts

From Pipelines to Informing Place-Based Strategies for Maine\u27s Older Youth

To help guide and inform the implementation of the recommendations in the first report in this series, Place Matters: Aligning Investments in a Community-Based Continuum of Care for Maine Youth Transitioning to Adulthood, this report addresses data resources. It presents data snapshots of the all sixteen counties in Maine for a number of measures that are related to system involvement. The measures summarized here have limitations, but together they serve as a starting point and highlight what is needed in terms of data in order to monitor the systems affecting Maine youth. These data include indicators of early involvement in systems such as the youth justice, child welfare, and behavioral health systems. A summary of the key data points is provided, as well as recommendations. Forthcoming reports will address community inclusion by representing the assets and opportunities identified by communities and lifting up youth voice. This knowledge is critical to implement the recommendations in the first report of this series, Place Matters: Aligning Investments in a Community-Based Continuum of Care for Maine Youth Transitioning to Adulthood.3 The universal goal then, as now, is that all Maine transition aged (14-24) youth thrive into adulthood

The solution structure of sarafotoxin-c: implications for ligand recognition by endothelin

The solution structure of sarafotoxin-c has been determined using NMR spectroscopy. A total of 112 interproton distance constraints derived from two-dimensional MMR spectra were used to calculate a family of structures using a combination of distance geometry and dynamical simulated annealing calculations. The structures reveal a well defined cu helix extending from Glu(9) to Cys(15) and an N-terminal region (Cys(1)-Asp(8)) that is tightly constrained by disulfide bands to Cys residues in the central helix. In contrast, the C-terminal region (His(16)-Trp(21)) does not adopt a defined conformation in the final family of structures. This is consistent with the paucity of NMR-derived structural constraints obtained for this region and leads to the suggestion that the C-terminal region oscillates rapidly between a number of substantially different conformers. It is proposed that differences between the central helix of the endothelin and sarafotoxin isopeptides might be important in binding of these ligands by the G protein-coupled endothelin receptors

Does citation matter? Research citation in policy documents as an indicator of research impact – an Australian obesity policy case-study

Background: Citation of research in policy documents has been suggested as an indicator of the potential longer-term impacts of research. We investigated the use of research citations in childhood obesity prevention policy documents from New South Wales (NSW), Australia, considering the feasibility and value of using research citation as a proxy measure of research impact. Methods: We examined childhood obesity policy documents produced between 2000 and 2015, extracting childhood obesity-related references and coding these according to reference type, geographical origin and type of research. A content analysis of the policy documents examined where and how research was cited in the documents and the context of citation for individual research publications. Results: Over a quarter (28%) of the policy documents (n = 86) were not publicly available, almost two-thirds (63%) contained references, half (47%) cited obesity-related research and over a third (41%) of those containing references used unorthodox referencing styles, making reference extraction laborious. No patterns, in terms of the types of documents more likely to cite research, were observed and the number of obesity research publications cited per document was highly variable. In total, 263 peer-reviewed and 94 non-peer-reviewed obesity research publications were cited. Research was most commonly cited to support a policy argument or choice of solution. However, it was not always possible to determine how or why individual publications were cited or whether the cited research itself had influenced the policy process. Content analysis identified circumstances where research was mentioned or considered, but not directly cited. Conclusions: Citation of research in policy documents in this case did not always provide evidence that the cited research had influenced the policy process, only that it was accessible and relevant to the content of the policy document. Research citation across these public health policy documents varied greatly and is unlikely to be an accurate reflection of actual research use by the policy agencies involved. The links between citation and impact may be more easily drawn in specific policy areas or types of documents (e.g. clinical guidelines), where research appraisal feeds directly into policy recommendations

Undergraduate Mathematics Students' Understanding of the Concept of Function

Concern has been expressed that many commencing undergraduate mathematics students have mastered skills without conceptual understanding. A pilot study carried out at a leading Australian university indicates that a significant number of students, with high tertiary entrance ranks, have very limited understanding of the concept of function, despite the emphasis it receives in the secondary mathematics curriculum. Whilst most students were familiar with families of functions, many were unable to give an appropriate definition or recognize whether a given graph or rule represents a function; and could not make correct connections between function graphs and tables of values

Specialists in Name or Practice? The Inclusion of Transgender and Gender Diverse Identities in Online Materials of Gender Specialists

Recommendations for health care providers working with transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals emphasize affirming clients’ identities, such as using correct pronouns and name, however it is unknown how often gender specialists adhere to such recommendations. Websites and intake forms of gender specialists were coded for use of affirming language, asking for pronouns and chosen name, and mention of TGD specialties and resources. Most websites identified the provider’s specialty to work with TGD individuals, though much fewer provided additional resources concerning TGD issues and only half of intake forms included affirming language. Given previous research that has demonstrated providers working in states with legal protections for TGD individuals use affirming language more often than providers in locales without protections, association with state legal climate is also examined