Minimal music: roles and approaches of teachers engaging students with a contemporary art music through composing activities

Since it arose in the 1960s, the minimalist aesthetic has increasingly influenced composers of art and popular music around the world and, in turn, minimalist composers have drawn on the compositional ideas of Western popular music and several non-Western musics. Educationally, minimal music offers much potential for music in the classroom as it embodies a number of musical characteristics known to, and preferred by, students aged 9-18 years at primary, secondary and first year tertiary level. Socially, it offers teachers an opportunity to engage students, through composing activities, with contemporary society. The study aims, firstly, to analyse compositions by students aged 9, 12, 15 and 18 years and their teachers, seeking pastiche development of, and compositional expansion beyond, the musical concepts presented in a resource booklet of projects, The Pulse Music Album. Secondly, this study aims to investigate how nineteen participating teachers in three countries engage their students with minimalist composing activities stimulated through the resource booklet. The study attempts to determine why teachers adopt their particular roles and strategies by examining music qualifications, preferences and experience, teaching perspectives and teaching environments. It also seeks to identify reasons why one group of teachers submitted pieces which were pastiches of those presented in the projects and another group submitted compositions which moved well beyond pastiche into an expansion of these same musical concepts and argues for this as evidence of dialogue with contemporary society. Conclusions drawn from the findings note that while there are many commonalities between the backgrounds and approaches of both groups of teachers, there are clearly observed differences. These differences suggest approaches to classroom composition for consideration by practising classroom teachers, in-service instructors and teacher training institutions

The epidemiology and prevention of pertussis in Australia

Pertussis (whooping cough) remains an important public health problem in Australia. Although mortality and morbidity from pertussis declined dramatically following the introduction of mass vaccination programs in 1953, the level of morbidity remains unacceptably high for a vaccine-preventable disease. Aims and methods The primary aims of this thesis were (i) to ascertain the epidemiology of pertussis in Australia between 1993 and 2000 by analysing and interpreting sources of routinely collected data on pertussis; and (ii) to examine the effectiveness of vaccination against pertussis in a number of ways. Data from three primary national sources (notifications of disease, hospitalisations for pertussis and death certificates) were used to examine the burden from pertussis in Australia over these eight years. Analyses included the age distribution of cases, temporal and geographic trends, comparisons of notification and hospitalisation data, and the impact of differences in the method of diagnosis of notified cases between years and age groups. In addition to analyses at the national level using data from the national databases, further detailed analyses were undertaken at the State level for New South Wales (NSW), the most populous Australian State. Pertussis vaccine coverage was estimated using data from the recently established Australian Childhood Immunisation Register (ACIR); these data were also used to track the transition from whole-cell to acellular pertussis vaccines. The different types of studies used to evaluate vaccine effectiveness were reviewed, and a method suitable for ongoing estimation of vaccine effectiveness in Australia was developed. This was then applied to the NSW data, to determine the effectiveness of pertussis vaccination in this State. Main findings The annual notification rate for pertussis in Australia ranged from 23–59 per 100 000 population over the eight years. Infants had the highest notification and hospitalisation rates in Australia — they accounted for 5 percent of notifications, 61 percent of hospitalisations and 100 percent of deaths. Age-specific notification and hospitalisation rates in children aged less than two years strongly suggested a protective effect of vaccination, with the greatest reduction in rate coinciding with eligibility to receive a second dose of pertussis vaccine at four months of age. Notification rates among 5–9 year olds progressively decreased in successive age cohorts, consistent with an effect of the introduction in 1994 of a pertussis vaccine booster for preschool-aged children. Although adults (persons aged 15 years or more) accounted for half the notifications, they had the lowest notification rate. The highest numbers of pertussis notifications were in 1997, when most jurisdictions experienced an epidemic. Notification and hospitalisation rates varied across the States and Territories and also across smaller geographic regions in NSW. Areas and years with high notification rates tended to also have high hospitalisation rates, suggesting that trends in notifications reflected trends in incidence. The number of infant hospitalisations in NSW between July 1993 and June 1999 exceeded the number of notifications by 32 percent, highlighting the extent of under-notification. Overall, and particularly amongst those aged more than 12 months, the majority of cases notified in NSW were based on the results of serological tests. The proportion diagnosed by culture of the organism was greatest in infants; the proportion diagnosed by serological tests increased with age. There was no evidence that the use of serology had increased since 1994 in NSW, hence changes in notification rates after this time are unlikely to be attributable to increased use of serological diagnosis. ACIR records indicated that in December 2000, 92 percent of one-year-old children had received three doses of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccine and 90 percent of two-year-olds had received four doses. Vaccine coverage varied by jurisdiction. Since 1997, there was an increased use of DTP vaccines containing acellular pertussis components with a corresponding decrease in the use of vaccines containing whole-cell components. In 2000, almost all DTP vaccines administered contained acellular pertussis components. The results of the vaccine effectiveness study showed that pertussis vaccination was highly effective at preventing pertussis in NSW children, as measured by notified cases. Vaccine effectiveness was highest (91 percent) in the youngest age group ((8–23 months) and lowest (78percent) in the oldest age group (9–13 years). The screening method has not previously been used to estimate pertussis vaccine effectiveness in Australia. Conclusions This thesis demonstrates the value of integrating varied data sources in estimating the disease burden from pertussis. The data presented here show that the disease burden is substantial in all age groups, despite high levels of vaccine coverage in infants and children. This problem of disease control does not appear to be due to lack of vaccine effectiveness, but there is evidence of waning immunity over time. The analyses presented here form a basis for the ongoing monitoring of trends in pertussis epidemiology following the replacement of whole-cell by acellular pertussis vaccines, and will assist consideration of the need for additional booster doses in adolescents and adults

Толерантный подход к теме греко-турецких взаимоотношений в новейшей греческой прозе

Целью данной статьи стало рассмотрение нового видения дихотомии «грек-турок» в романах греческих писателей второй половины ХХ века

Zicht op de plantaardige biologische keten

De studie vormt een onderdeel van het project 'Visies op biologische landbouw: een systeem analyse'. Dit project is gefinancierd door Wageningen Universiteit en Researchcentrum uit middelen voor Strategische Expertise Ontwikkeling. In dit project worden mensbeelden onderscheiden om de visies te concretiseren. Dit rapport bevat een beschrijving van de plantaardige biologische keten. Deze keten wordt vanaf de consument tot de toeleverende bedrijven beschreven. De beschrijving eindigt met een SWOT-analyse voor de vier mensbeelden en kwantificering van de technische parameters voor die mensbeelden. This study forms part of the project entitled 'Visions of organic farming: a system analysis'. This project is being financed by Wageningen University and Research Centre, from Strategic Expertise Development funds. This project distinguishes categories of people in order to crystallise the visions. This report comprises a description of the vegetable-based organic chain. This chain is described from the consumer stage right through to the suppliers. The description concludes with a SWOT analysis for the four categories of people and a quantification of the technical parameters for those categories

Dynamical effects in proton-proton bremsstrahlung for non-coplanar geometries

The proton-proton bremsstrahlung process, including both coplanar and non-coplanar kinematics, has been measured with polarized protons of 190 MeV. High-precision cross sections and analyzing powers have been obtained. Cross sections as a function of non-coplanarity angle are presented and show large variations of dynamical origin. Non-coplanar analyzing powers have been measured for the first time and are compared to theoretical predictions. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved

The exposure of the hybrid detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Pierre Auger Observatory is a detector for ultra-high energy cosmic rays. It consists of a surface array to measure secondary particles at ground level and a fluorescence detector to measure the development of air showers in the atmosphere above the array. The "hybrid" detection mode combines the information from the two subsystems. We describe the determination of the hybrid exposure for events observed by the fluorescence telescopes in coincidence with at least one water-Cherenkov detector of the surface array. A detailed knowledge of the time dependence of the detection operations is crucial for an accurate evaluation of the exposure. We discuss the relevance of monitoring data collected during operations, such as the status of the fluorescence detector, background light and atmospheric conditions, that are used in both simulation and reconstruction.Comment: Paper accepted by Astroparticle Physic

Evidence for a mixed mass composition at the `ankle' in the cosmic-ray spectrum

We report a first measurement for ultra-high energy cosmic rays of the correlation between the depth of shower maximum and the signal in the water Cherenkov stations of air-showers registered simultaneously by the fluorescence and the surface detectors of the Pierre Auger Observatory. Such a correlation measurement is a unique feature of a hybrid air-shower observatory with sensitivity to both the electromagnetic and muonic components. It allows an accurate determination of the spread of primary masses in the cosmic-ray flux. Up till now, constraints on the spread of primary masses have been dominated by systematic uncertainties. The present correlation measurement is not affected by systematics in the measurement of the depth of shower maximum or the signal in the water Cherenkov stations. The analysis relies on general characteristics of air showers and is thus robust also with respect to uncertainties in hadronic event generators. The observed correlation in the energy range around the `ankle' at $\lg(E/{\rm eV})=18.5-19.0$ differs significantly from expectations for pure primary cosmic-ray compositions. A light composition made up of proton and helium only is equally inconsistent with observations. The data are explained well by a mixed composition including nuclei with mass $A > 4$. Scenarios such as the proton dip model, with almost pure compositions, are thus disfavoured as the sole explanation of the ultrahigh-energy cosmic-ray flux at Earth.Comment: Published version. Added journal reference and DOI. Added Report Numbe