Where Do We Go From Here?

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Brentry & Henbury Children's Centre, final report of knowledge cafe evaluation event, 2nd February 2011

Researchers from UWE were invited to facilitate a Knowledge Cafe event with the aim of exploring the views and experiences of key stakeholders and to see if there are any ways of improving the activities and services the centre provides. A Knowledge Cafe approach involves participants in open, creative and reflective conversations as a way of exploring and responding to shared experiences and key issues

New State Record of the Psyllid Heterotrioza chenopodii (Reuter, 1876) (Hemiptera: Psylloidea: Triozidae) for Hawaii

We report the first state record of a widespread palaearctic psyllid species, Heterotrioza chenopodii (Reuter, 1876), for the state of Hawaii. This species belongs to a small genus of 13 species feeding exclusively on host plants in the plant family Amaranthaceae (Lauterer 1982, Burckhardt and Ouvrard 2012, Ouvrard 2019). Recorded host genera are Atriplex, Beta, Chenopodium, and Spinacia (Ouvrard 2019). In Hawaii, a likely host plant is Atriplex suberecta, and possibly A. semibaccata and Chenopodium oahuense

Controlled nanostructure and high loading of single-walled carbon nanotubes reinforced polycarbonate composite

Abstract This paper presents an effective technique to fabricate thermoplastic nanocomposites with high loading of well-dispersed single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). SWNT membranes were made from a multi-step dispersion and filtration method, and then impregnated with polycarbonate solution to make thermoplastic nanocomposites. High loading of nanotubes was achieved by controlling the viscosity of polycarbonate solution. SEM and AFM characterization results revealed the controlled nanostructure in the resultant nanocomposites. Dynamic mechanical property tests indicated that the storage modulus of the resulting nanocomposites at 20 wt% nanotubes loading was improved by a factor of 3.4 compared with neat polycarbonate material. These results suggest the developed approach is an effective way to fabricate thermoplastic nanocomposites with good dispersion and high SWNT loading

Long-term photometry and periods for 261 nearby pulsating M giants

We present the results of a 5.5-year CCD photometric campaign that monitored 261 bright, southern, semi-regular variables with relatively precise Hipparcos parallaxes. The data are supplemented with independent photoelectric observations of 34 of the brightest stars, including 11 that were not part of the CCD survey, and a previously unpublished long time-series of VZ Cam. Pulsation periods and amplitudes are established for 247 of these stars, the majority of which have not been determined before. All M giants with sufficient observations for period determination are found to be variable, with 87% of the sample (at S/N >= 7.5) exhibiting multi-periodic behaviour. The period ratios of local SRVs are in excellent agreement with those in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Apparent K-band magnitudes are extracted from multiple NIR catalogues and analysed to determine the most reliable values. We review the effects of interstellar and circumstellar extinction and calculate absolute K-band magnitudes using revised Hipparcos parallaxes.Comment: 18 pages, 15 figures; accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Societ

The phenotype associated with a large deletion on MECP2

Multiplex ligation-dependent Probe Amplification (MLPA) has become available for the detection of a large deletion on the MECP2 gene allowing genetic confirmation of previously unconfirmed cases of clinical Rett syndrome. This study describes the phenotype of those with a large deletion and compares with those with other pathogenic MECP2 mutations. Individuals were ascertained from the Australian Rett Syndrome and InterRett databases with data sourced from family and clinician questionnaires, and two case studies were constructed from the longitudinal Australian data. Regression and survival analysis were used to compare severity and age of onset of symptoms in those with and without a large deletion. Data were available for 974 individuals including 51 with a large deletion and ages ranged from 1 year 4 months to 49 years (median 9 years). Those with a large deletion were more severely affected than those with other mutation types. Specifically, individuals with large deletions were less likely to have learned to walk (OR 0.42, 95% CI: 0.22–0.79, P=0.007) and to be currently walking (OR 0.53, 95% CI: 0.26–1.10, P=0.089), and were at higher odds of being in the most severe category of gross motor function (OR 1.84, 95% CI: 0.98–3.48, P=0.057) and epilepsy (OR 2.72, 95% CI: 1.38–5.37, P=0.004). They also developed epilepsy, scoliosis, hand stereotypies and abnormal breathing patterns at an earlier age. We have described the disorder profile associated with a large deletion from the largest sample to date and have found that the phenotype is severe with motor skills particularly affected

Catalog of Galactic Beta Cephei Stars

We present an extensive and up-to-date catalog of Galactic Beta Cephei stars. This catalog is intended to give a comprehensive overview of observational characteristics of all known Beta Cephei stars. 93 stars could be confirmed to be Beta Cephei stars. For some stars we re-analyzed published data or conducted our own analyses. 61 stars were rejected from the final Beta Cephei list, and 77 stars are suspected to be Beta Cephei stars. A list of critically selected pulsation frequencies for confirmed Beta Cephei stars is also presented. We analyze the Beta Cephei stars as a group, such as the distributions of their spectral types, projected rotational velocities, radial velocities, pulsation periods, and Galactic coordinates. We confirm that the majority of these stars are multiperiodic pulsators. We show that, besides two exceptions, the Beta Cephei stars with high pulsation amplitudes are slow rotators. We construct a theoretical HR diagram that suggests that almost all 93 Beta Cephei stars are MS objects. We discuss the observational boundaries of Beta Cephei pulsation and their physical parameters. We corroborate that the excited pulsation modes are near to the radial fundamental mode in frequency and we show that the mass distribution of the stars peaks at 12 solar masses. We point out that the theoretical instability strip of the Beta Cephei stars is filled neither at the cool nor at the hot end and attempt to explain this observation

Händels Musik und Programmgestaltung in Londons Kristallpalast, 1859–1874 [Programming Handel’s music at the Crystal Palace, 1859–1874]

Dieser Aufsatz beleuchtet die Funktion gemischter Konzertprogramme im Hin-blick auf den historischen Aufführungskontext Händelscher Musik sowie den Kanonisierungsprozess verschiedener anfänglich wenig bekannter Werke. Das Hauptaugenmerk liegt dabei auf den Konzerten im Kristallpalast im Londoner Vorort Sydenham in den Jahren 1859 bis 1874, wobei sowohl die regulären Samstagskonzerte als auch die ‚Selection Days‘ des Triennial Handel Festival berücksichtigt werden. Die Untersuchung zeigt, wie einzelne Nummern aus Händels großen Werken Einzug in die Samstagskonzerte fanden und wie ­Händels Musik für die Aufführungen an den Selection Days, den Herzstücken des Festivals, neu zusammengestellt, aufgeführt und anschließend veröffentlicht wurden. Aufführungsgeschichte – weniger die in der historischen Aufführungspra-xis bedachten spezifischen spieltechnischen Nuancen, sondern die eigentliche Biographie eines Werkes auf der Bühne – wird häufig im Prozess des „Kontex­ tualisierens, Inszenierens und Vermittelns“ übersehen, der laut Lydia Goehr einen entscheidenden Anteil daran hat, den Rang eines Werks dem Publikum näherzubringen. Meist rückt die besser erforschte kritische und wissenschaft-liche Literatur in den Vordergrund. Die im 19. Jahrhundert gängige Praxis, klangliche Vielfalt durch thematisch gemischte Konzertprogramme und die Einbeziehung diverser Genres herzustellen, wird besonders oft als Verstoß gegen die ‚Absichten des Komponisten oder der Komponistin‘ abgetan oder als Ver-such verstanden, den scheinbar richtigen Aufführungskontext eines Werks zu finden. Dennoch wird eingeräumt, dass diese Vorstellungen oft nicht mit der Erfahrung des Komponisten oder der Komponistin im Einklang stehen. Je-doch ermöglichen derartige Untersuchungen interessante Einblicke in Kanoni-sierungsprozesse sowie in Kräfteverhältnisse zwischen KomponistInnen (heute und in der Geschichte), MusikerInnen und dem Publikum. Wie dieser Aufsatz zeigen wird, herrschte in der Musikkritik des 19. Jahrhundert keine Einigkeit über die flexible Programmgestaltung, aber sie hatte dennoch einen Anteil an der „weitverbreiteten und umfassenden Vertrautheit“, die ein kanonisiertes Werk ausmacht.5 Obwohl eine derartige Flexibilität in der Programmgestal-tung – zum Beispiel das Ersetzen oder Neuzusammensetzen von Gesangsnum-mern oder die Aufführung ausgewählter Ausschnitte eines Werks – heutzutage in der Aufführung Händelscher Werke kaum noch anzutreffen ist, war sie zu Händels Lebzeiten die Norm und hatte auch einen Einfluss auf den komposi-torischen Schaffensprozess.*******This essay explores the role of nineteenth-century miscellaneous concert programming in the history of Handel performance and the canonisation stages of various initially little-known works. It focuses on the concerts at the Crystal Palace in the London suburb of Sydenham in 1859–1874, both the regular Saturday concerts, and the Selection Days of the Triennial Handel Festivals. It reveals how individual numbers from Handel’s large-scale works were presented in the Saturday concerts; and how Handel’s music was reassembled, performed, and subsequently published in the Selection Day concerts, the central concert of the vast Handel Festivals. Performance history – not so much the individual nuances which usually preoccupy historical performance practitioners, but the actual concert programming – is a much overlooked part of the ‘framing, staging and placement’ which Lydia Goehr has argued is a crucial way of communicating a work’s status to audiences; it is usually overlooked in favour of the far better scrutinised critical and scholarly literature. Miscellany programming – the widespread nineteenth-century practice of ensuring timbral variety by mixing genres in a concert in an unthematised way – is especially often dismissed as a contravention of the ‘composer’s intentions’, or a stage on the way to a ‘correct’ understanding of how to perform a work, even while acknowledging that those intentions often have little to do with the composer’s experience. However, it can reveal an enormous amount about necessary processes of canonisation, as well as the complex power balances between composers (living and dead), performers and audiences. As is shown below, nineteenth-century critics were inconsistent in their responses to such flexibility, but it was nevertheless part of the ‘widespread and multivalent familiarity’ which ensures a work’s canonical life. Furthermore, while flexibility – for instance, replacing or recomposing vocal numbers, interpolating instrumental numbers, or performing just sections of a work – is now rarely encountered in Handel performance, it was the norm in his day and clearly underpinned compositional thought. Loose ties between movements become a positive advantage for nineteenth-century programming. Ultimately, the act of appropriation that performers undertook when they selected fragments which suited their needs from a longer score is worth reconsidering today, as concert practices become increasingly stagnant and rule-bound

The private military industry and neoliberal imperialism: Mapping the terrain

Despite the international reach, and increasing global importance, of the free market provision of military and security services—which we label the Private Security Industry (PSI)—management and organization studies has yet to pay significant attention to this industry. Taking up Grey’s (2009) call for scholarship at the boundaries between security studies and organization studies and building on Banerjee’s (2008) treatment of the PSI as a key element in necrocapitalism, in this article we aim to trace the long history of the PSI and argue that it has re-emerged over the last two decades against, and as a result of, a very specific politico-economic backdrop. We then suggest that the PSI operates as a mechanism for neoliberal imperialism; demonstrate its substitution for and supplementing of the state; and count some of the costs of this privatization of war. Finally, we take seriously Hughes’s (2007) thesis of the growth of a new security-industrial complex, and of the intersecting elites who benefit from this phenomenon