Cewa concepts of musical instruments

In 1965 the Cewa novelist John W. Gwengwe published, ostensibly as a school text-book, a work called Kukula ndi Mwambo. The title may be interpreted either as Growth and Custom or Growing is Custom. The book explores many aspects of the development and training of the children of a Cewa village, among them their introduction of music as part of village life. For this purpose the author provides a classification of musical instruments which is remarkably similar to that of Hornbostel and Sachs. Whether this is an example of indigenous ingenuity or, as has been suggested, the outcome of one of Dr. Tracey’s informative visits to Malawi, is uncertain; whatever the case, it is good evidence of the acceptability of this classification in a village milieu

Model organism databases: essential resources that need the support of both funders and users.

Modern biomedical research depends critically on access to databases that house and disseminate genetic, genomic, molecular, and cell biological knowledge. Even as the explosion of available genome sequences and associated genome-scale data continues apace, the sustainability of professionally maintained biological databases is under threat due to policy changes by major funding agencies. Here, we focus on model organism databases to demonstrate the myriad ways in which biological databases not only act as repositories but actively facilitate advances in research. We present data that show that reducing financial support to model organism databases could prove to be not just scientifically, but also economically, unsound

Can an excellent distance learning library service support student retention and how can we find out?

Higher Education libraries have traditionally sought to be able to demonstrate the impact their services have on student attainment. This is particularly important in the current economic climate where libraries frequently have to defend their budgets in the face of financial constraints, whilst needing to demonstrate better value for money to students who are now paying more for higher education. A number of studies around the world have been successful in harnessing data around library usage to begin to show strong correlation with student retention and final results. But most of these studies rely on data from book loans and engagement with a physical library, and where students follow a traditional three or four year degree course. This is challenging for a distance education institution, like the UK’s Open University (OU), where most students rarely or never visit the physical Open University Library and where study and assessment patterns can differ from those of traditional universities. This paper outlines the efforts of staff at The Open University Library to embed their services and resources into the learning experience of their distance learners, and to aspire to find ways of demonstrating their contribution to student retention and achievement. While there is huge potential in the amount and range of data available, the challenge is to identify an appropriate model that allows The Open University Library to demonstrate how Library Services impacts on student retention, attainment and achievement

W+jets Matrix Elements and the Dipole Cascade

We extend the algorithm for matching fixed-order tree-level matrix element generators with the Dipole Cascade Model in Ariadne to apply to processes with incoming hadrons. We test the algoritm on for the process W+n jets at the Tevatron, and find that the results are fairly insensitive to the cutoff used to regularize the soft and collinear divergencies in the tree-level matrix elements. We also investigate a few observables to check the sensitivity to the matrix element correction

Feasibility and Diagnostic Utility of Antigen-Specific Interferon-γ Responses for Rapid Immunodiagnosis of Tuberculosis Using Induced Sputum

Background: The diagnosis of smear-negative or sputum-scarce tuberculosis (TB) is problematic as culture takes several weeks and representative biological samples are difficult to obtain. RD-1 antigen-specific interferon-c release assays (IGRAs) are sensitive and specific blood-based tests for the diagnosis of M. tuberculosis infection. The feasibility and diagnostic utility of this rapid immunodiagnostic assay, using cells from induced sputum, is unknown.Methodology/Principal Findings: Cells isolated from induced sputum were co-cultured with ESAT-6 and CFP-10 antigens using a standardized enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay (T-SPOT (R).TB) in 101 consecutively recruited TB suspects or non-TB controls. An optimization phase using 28 samples was followed by a validation phase using samples from 73 participants (20 with definite or probable TB, and 48 with non-TB). Despite optimization of sputum processing 65/73 (89%) of the IGRAs in the validation phase were inconclusive. 44/73 (60%) tests failed due to sputum induction-related factors [sputum induction-related adverse events (n = 5), inadequate sputum volume (n = 8), non-homogenisable sputum (n = 7), and insufficient numbers of cells to perform the assay (n = 24)], whilst 20/73 (27%) tests failed due T-SPOT (R).TB assay-related factors [excessive debris precluding reading of spots in the ELISPOT well (n = 6), failure of the positive control (n = 11), or high spot count in the negative control (n = 3)]. Only 8/73 (11%) of the available samples could therefore be correctly categorized (7 definite or probable TB, and 1 non-TB patient). Thus, 13/20 (65%) of the definite or probable TB cases remained undiagnosed.Conclusions/Significance: Rapid immunodiagnosis of pulmonary TB by antigen-specific IFN-gamma ELISPOT responses, using cells from induced sputum, is possible. However, the test, in its current ELISPOT format, is not clinically useful because the majority of the assays are inconclusive

Transnational social capital: the socio‐spatialities of civil society

Civil society remains a contested concept, but one that is widely embedded in global development processes. Transnationalism within civil society scholarship is often described dichotomously, either through hierarchical dependency relations or as a more amorphous networked global civil society. These two contrasting spatial imaginaries produce very particular ideas about how transnational relations contribute to civil society. Drawing on empirical material from research with civil society organizations in Barbados and Grenada, in this article I contend that civil society groups use forms of transnational social capital in their work. This does not, however, resonate with the horizontal relations associated with grassroots globalization or vertical chains of dependence. These social relations are imbued with power and agency and are entangled in situated historical, geographical and personal contexts. I conclude that the diverse transnational social relations that are part of civil society activity offer hope and possibilities for continued civil society action in these unexpected spatial arrangements

An extension of the benefit segmentation base for the consumption of organic foods : a time perspective

Benefit segmentation is a long-standing marketing approach that emphasises the ‘what’ and ‘how’ dimensions of consumer benefits; that is, what benefits consumers perceive in product/service consumption, and how such benefits are perceived. This research proposes a fresh time-based approach to benefit segmentation – namely, focusing on the ‘when’ element or when in time benefits take effect. Drawing upon a survey of UK consumers, it explains and discusses consumption motivations through examining antecedents of temporally dominated benefits in application to organic food. Specifically, the study investigates why some consumers predominantly seek present-based benefits vis-à-vis future-based benefits or vice versa in organic food purchase and consumption behaviour. Using correlation and regression analyses, the research findings establish significant associations of level of involvement, prior knowledge level, and product usage level, and some association of time orientation with the temporally emphasised consumption benefits consumers ultimately pursue. Overall, the research highlights the added contribution of a time perspective in a benefit segmentation approach which can assist marketers in understanding better and communicating more effectively with consumers through drawing up consumer profiles based on when in time their dominantly pursued benefit for an offering is perceived to take effect

From START to FINISH : the influence of osmotic stress on the cell cycle

Peer reviewedPublisher PD