Relating Singapore: cosmopolitan aesthetics and contemporary performance

This thesis addresses the place and function of theatrical performance in the highly globalìzed postcolonial city state of Singapore. In so doing, it combines a detailed study of a number of theatrical events and performative practices, with a broader enquiry into how the localized experience of theatre can be valued without recourse to instrumentalist justifications or appeals to afunctionality. Recognising modern Singapore's distinctive status as a "world city" run as an "illiberal democracy", it proposes the idea of a "cosmopolitan aesthetics", which understands the encounter with theatre in relational terms as fostering worldliness. The introduction elaborates on this with reference to firework performances in Singapore and London, and the responses of the author as a British person resident in Singapore. Part One surveys current perspectives on cosmopolitanism, and develops the idea of relationality with reference to the singularity of the theatrical event at its moment of emergence, and to the social context into which the event intervenes. It also reflects on the relations between foreignness and the challenge of writing about live performance. Part Two explores the complex ways in which singular and social relations intertwine in the process of relating Singapore on and to the stage. Each chapter takes theatrical space as a constant against which are measured expanding scales of social experience: solo performance and selfhood, socially committed theatre and city space. intercultural improvisations and regional dynamics I internationally-staged performances and globality, and an olfactory dérive, performances about trees, and the figuring of the environment. The thesis aims to make a positive contribution to the growing literature on intersections between artistic practice and global cultural and economic processes, and to compensate for a dearth of discussions on the relationship between theatre and cosmopolitanism. It also promises an original perspective on Singapore theatre, and proposes a number of enabling critical concepts, including "weak interculturalism" and cosmopolitan relationality

A Study of Meteoroid Impact Phenomena

Process of crater formation resulting from impact of hypervelocity projectile - meteoroid impac

Probabilistic Extensions of the Erd\H os-Ko-Rado Property

The classical Erd\H os-Ko-Rado (EKR) Theorem states that if we choose a family of subsets, each of size (k), from a fixed set of size (n (n > 2k)), then the largest possible pairwise intersecting family has size (t ={n-1\choose k-1}). We consider the probability that a randomly selected family of size (t=t_n) has the EKR property (pairwise nonempty intersection) as $n$ and $k=k_n$ tend to infinity, the latter at a specific rate. As $t$ gets large, the EKR property is less likely to occur, while as $t$ gets smaller, the EKR property is satisfied with high probability. We derive the threshold value for $t$ using Janson's inequality. Using the Stein-Chen method we show that the distribution of $X_0$, defined as the number of disjoint pairs of subsets in our family, can be approximated by a Poisson distribution. We extend our results to yield similar conclusions for $X_i$, the number of pairs of subsets that overlap in exactly $i$ elements. Finally, we show that the joint distribution $(X_0, X_1, ..., X_b)$ can be approximated by a multidimensional Poisson vector with independent components.Comment: 18 page

Nucleotide Sequence Analysis of the NS Genes of Wild-Type and Three Complementation Group E Mutants of Vesicular Stomatitis Virus New Jersey

Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) is the prototype of the family Rhabdoviridae. There are two serotypes of VSV -Indiana (IND) and New Jersey (NJ) which can be differentiated from one another on the basis of little or no cross neutralisation using antibody raised against the virion glycoprotein. VSV has a genome consisting of a non-segmented single strand of negative sense RNA approximately 11,000 bases in length. The genome codes for five proteins: L (large), M (matrix), NS (non-structural), N (nucleocapsid) and G (glycoprotein). The L, NS and N proteins associate with the genomic RNA and form the ribonucleoprotein core. N protein is the major structural component of the ribonucleoprotein core, the L and NS proteins function in viral transcription and replication; G and M comprise the viral envelope. M protein is believed to be located on the inner side of the envelope and is the group-specific antigen. G is the transmembrane glycoprotein and forms the spikes that project from the virion

The Application of Serial Electrophysiological Testing in the Management of Patients With Ventricular Arrhythmias

The lethal potential of ventricular tachyarrhythmias is well recognised and because of the ineffectiveness of empirically prescribed therapy a directed approach to the treatment of these arrhythmias is mandated. The aim of the studies in this thesis was to further define the applicability of serial electrophysiological testing for the determination of effective antiarrhythmic therapy in patients with these arrhythmias. In Chapter 1, the potential mechanisms for the development of ventricular tachyarrhythmias and their relation to the use of programmed stimulation are discussed. The prognostic impact of ventricular arrhythmias is reviewed. The therapeutic options are described and the classification of antiarrhythmic drugs is explained. The different management strategies for the prescription of antiarrhythmic therapy are discussed. The historical development and rationale for electrophysiological testing is described. The methodology and equipment required for this approach is described in Chapter 2. In particular, the stimulation protocol employed in all studies in this thesis is explained. The induction of ventricular tachyarrhythmia in response to the stimulation protocol is dealt with in Chapter 3. The varying impact of different factors including the type of underlying heart disease in the patient population being studied and the different components of the stimulation protocol are described. The comparability of the results with those reported from other laboratories confirms the utility of the stimulation protocol. The controversial aspect of sensitivity, specificity and reproducibility of programmed stimulation is discussed. In Chapter 4, the techniques for tachycardia termination and the effectiveness of pacing modalities are described. The effect of cycle length and antiarrhythmic therapy on pacing termination are discussed. The concordance between the response to electrophysio-logical testing with both intravenous and oral formulations of procainamide is dealt with in Chapter 5. The advantages of testing intravenous therapy were offset by the observation that non indueibility with intravenous procainamide was not predictive of noninducibility with oral procainamide. The results from this study confirm that retesting on oral therapy is required even if the intravenous agent is shown to be effective. The use of serial electrophysiological drug testing to identify effective therapy in patients with ventricular tachyarrhythmias related to coronary artery disease is described in Chapter 6. Overall drug efficacy, efficacy of individual regimens and the effect of the type of induced arrhythmia on drug response are detailed. The long-term effectiveness of antiarrhythmic regimens identified as successful by electrophysiological testing is confirmed using both the accepted stimulation end-point of noninducibility and the more relaxed end-point of 15 or less repetitive responses. In Chapter 7, similar results confirming the predictive value of serial drug testing were obtained for patients with ventricular tachyarrhythmias related to cardiomyopathy. The effect of the combination of amiodarone plus the Type 1 agent procainamide on arrhythmia inducibility is discussed in Chapter 8. The main benefit of the addition of procainamide was on the haemodynamic impact of the induced arrhythmia which may provide a degree of protection from sudden death. Using multivariate statistical techniques the determinants of the response to serial electrophysiological drug testing were analysed in Chapter 9. Patients with poor left ventricular function were less likely to respond to medical therapy, and suppression of arrhythmia induction was more difficult in patients with induced sustained ventricular tachycardia than in patients with either ventricular fibrillation or nonsustained ventricular tachycardia. During follow up, if recurrence of arrhythmia occurred, it was more likely to be as sudden death if the patients had cardiac failure, and the induced arrhythmia in the discharge drug study was not symptomatically tolerated. The major independent variable which predicted recurrence of arrhythmia during follow-up was failure of serial electrophysiological drug testing to identify a successful therapy. In Chapter 10, the predictive value of the response to procainamide is discussed. Failure of procainamide to suppress arrhythmia inducibility predicts failure of other agents in patients with induced sustained ventricular tachycardia but not in patients with either ventricular fibrillation or nonsustained ventricular tachycardia. The implications of these observations in the evaluation of antiarrhythmic drug efficacy are discussed. In Chapter 11, the use of programmed stimulation to reveal the potential for drug related worsening of arrhythmias is described. The different proarrhythmic responses and their potential clinical value are discussed and the lack of predictability of these responses is investigated. Important unresolved problems in the clinical application of electrophysiological testing for the management of patients with ventricular tachyarrhythmias are discussed in Chapter 12

On-Line Learning with Restricted Training Sets: An Exactly Solvable Case

We solve the dynamics of on-line Hebbian learning in large perceptrons exactly, for the regime where the size of the training set scales linearly with the number of inputs. We consider both noiseless and noisy teachers. Our calculation cannot be extended to non-Hebbian rules, but the solution provides a convenient and welcome benchmark with which to test more general and advanced theories for solving the dynamics of learning with restricted training sets.Comment: 19 pages, eps figures included, uses epsfig macr

Pharmacist intervention in primary care to improve outcomes in patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction

<b>Background</b> Meta-analysis of small trials suggests that pharmacist-led collaborative review and revision of medical treatment may improve outcomes in heart failure.<p></p> <b>Methods and results</b> We studied patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction in a cluster-randomized controlled, event driven, trial in primary care. We allocated 87 practices (1090 patients) to pharmacist intervention and 87 practices (1074 patients) to usual care. The intervention was delivered by non-specialist pharmacists working with family doctors to optimize medical treatment. The primary outcome was a composite of death or hospital admission for worsening heart failure. This trial is registered, number ISRCTN70118765. The median follow-up was 4.7 years. At baseline, 86% of patients in both groups were treated with an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or an angiotensin receptor blocker. In patients not receiving one or other of these medications, or receiving less than the recommended dose, treatment was started, or the dose increased, in 33.1% of patients in the intervention group and in 18.5% of the usual care group [odds ratio (OR) 2.26, 95% CI 1.64–3.10; P< 0.001]. At baseline, 62% of each group were treated with a β-blocker and the proportions starting or having an increase in the dose were 17.9% in the intervention group and 11.1% in the usual care group (OR 1.76, 95% CI 1.31–2.35; P< 0.001). The primary outcome occurred in 35.8% of patients in the intervention group and 35.4% in the usual care group (hazard ratio 0.97, 95% CI 0.83–1.14; P = 0.72). There was no difference in any secondary outcome.<p></p> <b>Conclusion</b> A low-intensity, pharmacist-led collaborative intervention in primary care resulted in modest improvements in prescribing of disease-modifying medications but did not improve clinical outcomes in a population that was relatively well treated at baseline

Evaluation of enzyme immunoassays in the diagnosis of camel (Camelus dromedarius) trypanosomiasis:a preliminary investigation

Three enzyme immunoassays were used for the serodiagnosis of Trypanosoma evansi in camels in the Sudan in order to evaluate their ability to discriminate between infected and non-infected animals. Two assays were used for the detection of trypanosomal antibodies, one using specific anti-camel IgG conjugate and another using a non-specific Protein A conjugate. The third assay detected the presence of trypanosomal antigens using anti-T. evansi antibodies in a double antibody sandwich assay. Inspection of the frequency distribution of assay results suggested that the ELISA for circulating trypanosomal antibodies using specific antisera and the ELISA for circulating antigens can distinguish between non-infected camels and infected camels exhibiting patent infections or not. The ELISA using Protein A conjugate to bind non-specifically to camel immunoglobulin did not appear to discriminate between infected and non-infected animals

Desejo de democracia: Perspectivas dos pais impactadas em 2013 fechamentos escolares de Chicago

In this article, we discuss the historical shifts in the purposes of public education and examine how neoliberal education policies, like Chicago’s school closings, attempt to limit the purpose of public education to be in service to and at the whim of the market. We juxtapose this dominant neoliberal narrative of public education with the voices of the parents from closed schools, whose deep involvement with and beliefs about public schools counter neoliberalism’s shallow concept of the public purpose of public education. Drawing upon a 2014 qualitative study of parents and caregivers who were impacted by school closures and actions, as well as publically available data, we find that parents believe school closings cause great harm to students, families and communities, aim to reduce citizens to consumers in an educational marketplace, and seek to further undermine democracy in education toward a “thin democracy” (Gandin Apple, 2002) of marketized education. However, we argue that there is an alternative to the neoliberal narrative reflected both in the ongoing historical struggle about the purposes of schooling and in the wisdom, experiences, and desires of parents most directly impacted by neoliberal education policies.En este artículo, discutimos los cambios históricos en los propósitos de la educación pública y examinamos cómo las políticas educativas neoliberales, como el cierre de las escuelas de Chicago, intentan limitar el propósito de la educación pública para el servicio y el capricho del mercado. Nosotros yuxtaponemos esa narrativa neoliberal dominante de educación pública con las voces de los padres de escuelas cerradas, cuya profunda implicación y creencias sobre escuelas públicas cuestionan el concepto superficial del neoliberalismo del propósito público de la educación pública. En base a un estudio cualitativo de 2014 sobre padres y cuidadores que se vieron afectados por cierres y acciones escolares, así como datos públicamente disponibles, creemos que los padres creen que el cierre de las escuelas causa grandes daños a los estudiantes, familias y comunidades, Ciudadanos a los consumidores Un mercado educativo, y tratan de minar aún más la democracia en la educación para una "democracia delgada" (Gandin Apple, 2002) de educación comercializada. Sin embargo, argumentamos que existe una alternativa a la narrativa neoliberal reflejada tanto en la lucha histórica en curso sobre los propósitos de la escolaridad como en la sabiduría, experiencias y deseos de los padres más directamente impactados por las políticas de educación neoliberales.Neste artigo, discutimos as mudanças históricas nos propósitos da educação pública e examinamos como as políticas educacionais neoliberais, como o encerramento das escolas de Chicago, tentam limitar o propósito da educação pública para o serviço e ao capricho do mercado. Nós justaponemos essa narrativa neoliberal dominante de educação pública com as vozes dos pais de escolas fechadas, cujo profundo envolvimento e crenças sobre escolas públicas contestam o conceito superficial do neoliberalismo do propósito público da educação pública. Com base em um estudo qualitativo de 2014 sobre pais e cuidadores que foram afetados por fechamentos e ações escolares, bem como dados publicamente disponíveis, achamos que os pais acreditam que o encerramento das escolas causa grandes danos aos estudantes, famílias e comunidades, visam reduzir os cidadãos aos consumidores Um mercado educacional, e procuram minar ainda mais a democracia na educação para uma "democracia delgada" (Gandin Apple, 2002) de educação comercializada. No entanto, argumentamos que existe uma alternativa à narrativa neoliberal refletida tanto na luta histórica em curso sobre os propósitos da escolaridade quanto na sabedoria, experiências e desejos dos pais mais diretamente impactados pelas políticas de educação neoliberais