Measuring musical interaction: analysing communication in embodied musical behaviour

This thesis addresses the ubiquity and necessity of embodied interaction to musical activity, using video analysis to observe communication in musical events. Through the specific study of classical North Indian instrumental duo performance, the thesis examines how processes of social interaction may inform human musical activity, using a combined methodology of ethnographic study and quantitative data analysis of original video-recordings. Proposing a pragmatic approach to the study of the meaningful nature of musical events, the thesis keeps sight of the generative context of the human body in social interaction, and offers a model of musical communication that privileges nonlinguistic, socially co-regulative elements in its account of human musical interaction. The socially meaningful nature of the behaviour-in-time of the musicians included in the study is investigated by means of a novel methodology. This combines the qualitative exploration of emic concepts related to the practice of North Indian classical music with an empirical analysis of video data, based on a cognitive ethological framework. The thesis draws on current notions of embodied cognition and contributes to the growing corpus of musicological literature emphasising the embodied and social nature of musical communication. The results of this exploratory study suggest that both social-interaction and music-structural factors contribute to the organisation of the musicians' communicative behaviours and that, to a certain extent, these organisational factors can be separated in analysis

The Individual Budgets Pilot Projects: Impact and Outcomes for Carers

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Report of the International Society for Zinc Biology 5th Meeting, in Collaboration with Zinc-Net (COST Action TD1304)-UCLan Campus, Pyla, Cyprus

From 18 to 22 June 2017, the fifth biennial meeting of the International Society for Zinc Biology was held in conjunction with the final dissemination meeting of the Network for the Biology of Zinc (Zinc-Net) at the University of Central Lancashire, Cyprus campus. The meeting attracted over 160 participants, had 17 scientific symposia, 4 plenary speakers and 2 poster discussion sessions. In this report, we give an overview of the key themes of the meeting and some of the highlights from the scientific programme

Nonshared Environmental Influences on Academic Achievement at Age 16 : A Qualitative Hypothesis-Generating Monozygotic-Twin Differences Study

Twin studies find ~20% of the variance in achievement in public examinations taken at age 16 in the United Kingdom can be explained by experiences not shared within families. Nonshared environmental (NSE) influences, including measurement error, explain why monozygotic (MZ) twins differ from each other. Such influences work independently of genetic effects and may represent strong candidates for intervention. This study aimed to generate hypotheses about what these NSE factors might be. Perceptions of within-pair differences were gathered from n  = 497 pairs of MZ twins and their parents, and telephone interviews were conducted with n  = 56 families reporting different General Certificate of Secondary Education grades. “Environmental” explanations related to teacher quality, teacher–pupil relationships, and ability grouping. Families also explained discordance in terms of effort, interest, ability, and personality

Taking on and taking over : choice and control for physically disabled young adults

This study looked at ways of supporting physically disabled young adults to achieve their preferred levels of control over care and support arrangements: * What are physically disabled young adults experiences of managing their care and support arrangements? * How can they be better supported? Key findings and practice implications are included. A video about the research findings is also available and a poster showing the challenges and solutions for supporting young physically disabled people

Taking on choice and control in personal care and support : the experiences of physically disabled young adults

Summary: Research on self-directed care has focused on older people and adults with learning disabilities or mental health difficulties. This paper reports physically disabled young adults’ experiences of self-directed care. Such work is important because young adults are a ‘minority’ group within adult social care. This, and their still developing life skills and lack of life experience, may have a bearing on their experiences of self-directed care and associated support needs. An exploratory qualitative study using semi-structured interviews investigated this issue. Participants were aged 19-29 years with a range of congenital and acquired impairments. Findings: Many aspects of interviewees’ experiences of self-directed care appeared to be influenced by their limited life experience, the fact they are still developing life skills and are a minority group within adult social care. Interviewees identified their lack of life experience and self-confidence as making them cautious in assuming responsibility for their care arrangements and, typically, their desire for on-going parental support. They also believed their age and life stage contributed to difficulties managing carers and PAs. Preferences around the characteristics of carers/PAs were influenced by their age and desire to integrate into mainstream activities. Information provided by statutory services did not (fully) acknowledge that some users were young adults. Applications: Compared to other physically disabled users of adult social care, young adults’ under-developed life skills and lack of life experience influences their experiences as users, and the support they needed to assume control of their care arrangements. Tailored information and support for this ‘minority group’ is required. Keywords: self- or consumer-directed support; personalization; adult social care; physical disability; young adults; transitio

Please don’t put a price on our lives”: Social media and the contestation of value in Ireland’s pricing of orphan drugs.

This chapter combines two streams of scholarship—social media marketing and influence, and market organization—to examine two case studies of patient activism in the context of Irish drug pricing. The first is the provision of Orkambi, a drug for cystic fibrosis, which was approved in Ireland after eleven months of state/pharma negotiations held in a context of public debate and social media campaigning by people living with cystic fibrosis, their loved ones, and their advocates. The second case concerns the provision of Spinraza, a drug for patients with spinal muscular atrophy. In each case the chapter identifies key actors and tracks their social media activity with a view to identifying key turning points in the debate, relational links, and shifts. Ultimately the goal is to understand how activist organizations and individuals organize and reorganize the pharmaceutical market and the collective good through their actions and interactions on social media

The relationship between zinc intake and growth in children aged 1-8 years: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: It is estimated that zinc deficiency affects 17% of the world's population, and because of periods of rapid growth children are at an increased risk of deficiency, which may lead to stunting. This paper presents a systematic review and meta-analysis of the randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that assess zinc intake and growth in children aged 1–8 years. This review is part of a larger systematic review by the European Micronutrient Recommendations Aligned Network of Excellence that aims to harmonise the approach to setting micronutrient requirements for optimal health in European populations (www.eurreca.org). SUBJECT/METHODS: Searches were performed of literature published up to and including December 2013 using MEDLINE, Embase and the Cochrane Library databases. Included studies were RCTs in apparently healthy child populations aged from 1 to 8 years that supplied zinc supplements either as capsules or as part of a fortified meal. Pooled meta-analyses were performed when appropriate. RESULTS: Nine studies met the inclusion criteria. We found no significant effect of zinc supplementation of between 2 weeks and 12 months duration on weight gain, height for age, weight for age, length for age, weight for height (WHZ) or WHZ scores in children aged 1–8 years. CONCLUSIONS: Many of the children in the included studies were already stunted and may have been suffering from multiple micronutrient deficiencies, and therefore zinc supplementation alone may have only a limited effect on growth