John Mackey: the composer, his compositional style and a conductor\u27s analysis of Redline Tango and Turbine

The purpose of this monograph is to present the first formal analysis of John Mackey and his music. Through substantive firsthand interaction with the composer, this document details Mackey’s unique compositional development through computer-based learning and includes a conductor’s analysis of Redline Tango and Turbine. Mackey’s compositional style includes simplistic forms using melodies and harmonies that do not readily demonstrate the difficulties conductors and performers may find within his well-crafted compositions. Mackey’s work emphasizes the element of rhythm and his orchestration typically utilizes the conventional instrumentation for wind ensemble with prominence placed on percussion. Redline Tango has been awarded two significant band awards and has received international performances. Turbine is unique in comparison to Mackey’s earlier works, relying even less on melodic material and more on rhythmic complexity for its content, establishing it as Mackey’s most rhythmically complicated band work to date. A distinctive characteristic of Turbine is Mackey’s percussion scoring, which includes the use of non-traditional percussion instruments and may cause conductors to consider alternative score preparation and rehearsal techniques. Both Redline Tango and Turbine display balance in form between repetition and contrast, consistency and originality in style, a creative design that exhibits craftsmanship and unique rhythmic vitality. Although technically demanding, conductors and performers should find rehearsals and performances of both pieces to be enjoyable. To be assured, audiences continue to be captivated by Mackey’s distinctive compositional style, unique rhythmic creativity and imaginative percussion scoring

Self-Compassion Mediates the Link Between Attachment Security and Intimate Relationship Quality for Couples Navigating Pregnancy

Millions of couples navigate the transition from pregnancy to postpartum in a given year, and this period of change and adjustment in the family is associated with elevated risk for intimate relationship dysfunction. Self-compassion has the potential to promote skills that are essential for healthy adaptation (e.g., emotion regulation, greater openness and flexibility, more awareness of the needs of oneself and one’s partner). The overarching goal of the present study was to investigate the role of self-compassion in intimate relationship quality during pregnancy. A sample of 159 couples completed semi-structured interviews and questionnaires. Parents engaging in more compassionate self-responding during pregnancy had higher quality intimate relationships as measured across multiple facets – the degree of emotional intimacy and closeness in the relationship, adaptive conflict management and resolution, high quality support in response to stress, and a high degree of respect and acceptance directed toward each other. Further, compassionate self-responding emerged as a mediator of the link between attachment security and intimate relationship quality. Specifically, mothers who were higher in attachment anxiety reported lower levels of compassionate self-responding which, in turn, undermined multiple dimensions of the intimate relationship. Further, fathers who were higher in attachment avoidance practiced less self-compassion, which had deleterious consequences for the couple. These results provide implications that can inform conceptual frameworks of intimate relationship quality and clinical implications for interventions targeting the transition into parenthood

Does Fungal Endophyte Infection Improve Tall Fescue’s Growth Response to Fire and Water Limitation?

Invasive species may owe some of their success in competing and co-existing with native species to microbial symbioses they are capable of forming. Tall fescue is a cool-season, non-native, invasive grass capable of co-existing with native warm-season grasses in North American grasslands that frequently experience fire, drought, and cold winters, conditions to which the native species should be better-adapted than tall fescue. We hypothesized that tall fescue’s ability to form a symbiosis with Neotyphodium coenophialum, an aboveground fungal endophyte, may enhance its environmental stress tolerance and persistence in these environments. We used a greenhouse experiment to examine the effects of endophyte infection (E+ vs. E−), prescribed fire (1 burn vs. 2 burn vs. unburned control), and watering regime (dry vs. wet) on tall fescue growth. We assessed treatment effects for growth rates and the following response variables: total tiller length, number of tillers recruited during the experiment, number of reproductive tillers, tiller biomass, root biomass, and total biomass. Water regime significantly affected all response variables, with less growth and lower growth rates observed under the dry water regime compared to the wet. The burn treatments significantly affected total tiller length, number of reproductive tillers, total tiller biomass, and total biomass, but treatment differences were not consistent across parameters. Overall, fire seemed to enhance growth. Endophyte status significantly affected total tiller length and tiller biomass, but the effect was opposite what we predicted (E−\u3eE+). The results from our experiment indicated that tall fescue was relatively tolerant of fire, even when combined with dry conditions, and that the fungal endophyte symbiosis was not important in governing this ecological ability. The persistence of tall fescue in native grassland ecosystems may be linked to other endophyte-conferred abilities not measured here (e.g., herbivory release) or may not be related to this plant-microbial symbiosis

Interannual variability in carbon dioxide fluxes and flux–climate relationships on grazed and ungrazed northern mixed-grass prairie

The annual carbon (C) budget of grasslands is highly dynamic, dependent on grazing history and on effects of interannual variability (IAV) in climate on carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes. Variability in climatic drivers may directly affect fluxes, but also may indirectly affect fluxes by altering the response of the biota to the environment, an effect termed ‘functional change’

Social inclusion for children with hearing loss in listening and spoken Language early intervention: an exploratory study

Background: Social inclusion is a common focus of listening and spoken language (LSL) early intervention for children with hearing loss. This exploratory study compared the social inclusion of young children with hearing loss educated using a listening and spoken language approach with population data. Methods: A framework for understanding the scope of social inclusion is presented in the Background. This framework guided the use of a shortened, modified version of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) to measure two of the five facets of social inclusion ('education' and 'interacting with society and fulfilling social goals'). The survey was completed by parents of children with hearing loss aged 4-5 years who were educated using a LSL approach (n = 78; 37% who responded). These responses were compared to those obtained for typical hearing children in the LSAC dataset (n = 3265). Results: Analyses revealed that most children with hearing loss had comparable outcomes to those with typical hearing on the 'education' and 'interacting with society and fulfilling social roles' facets of social inclusion. Conclusions: These exploratory findings are positive and warrant further investigation across all five facets of the framework to identify which factors influence social inclusion

Mixed-Grass Prairie Canopy Structure and Spectral Reflectance Vary with Topographic Position

Managers of the nearly 0.5 million ha of public lands in North and South Dakota, USA rely heavily on manual measurements of canopy height in autumn to ensure conservation of grassland structure for wildlife and forage for livestock. However, more comprehensive assessment of vegetation structure could be achieved for mixed-grass prairie by integrating field survey, topographic position (summit, mid and toeslope) and spectral reflectance data. Thus, we examined the variation of mixed-grass prairie structural attributes (canopy leaf area, standing crop mass, canopy height, nitrogen, and water content) and spectral vegetation indices (VIs) with variation in topographic position at the Grand River National Grassland (GRNG), South Dakota. We conducted the study on a 36,000-ha herbaceous area within the GRNG, where randomly selected plots (1 km2 in size) were geolocated and included summit, mid and toeslope positions. We tested for effects of topographic position on measured vegetation attributes and VIs calculated from Landsat TM and Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) data collected in July 2010. Leaf area, standing crop mass, canopy height, nitrogen, and water content were lower at summits than at toeslopes. The simple ratio of Landsat Band 7/Band 1 (SR71) was the VI most highly correlated with canopy standing crop and height at plot and landscape scales. Results suggest field and remote sensing-based grassland assessment techniques could more comprehensively target low structure areas at minimal expense by layering modeled imagery over a landscape stratified into topographic position groups

Mixed-Grass Prairie Canopy Structure and Spectral Reflectance Vary with Topographic Position

Managers of the nearly 0.5 million ha of public lands in North and South Dakota, USA rely heavily on manual measurements of canopy height in autumn to ensure conservation of grassland structure for wildlife and forage for livestock. However, more comprehensive assessment of vegetation structure could be achieved for mixed-grass prairie by integrating field survey, topographic position (summit, mid and toeslope) and spectral reflectance data. Thus, we examined the variation of mixed-grass prairie structural attributes (canopy leaf area, standing crop mass, canopy height, nitrogen, and water content) and spectral vegetation indices (VIs) with variation in topographic position at the Grand River National Grassland (GRNG), South Dakota. We conducted the study on a 36,000-ha herbaceous area within the GRNG, where randomly selected plots (1 km2 in size) were geolocated and included summit, mid and toeslope positions. We tested for effects of topographic position on measured vegetation attributes and VIs calculated from Landsat TM and Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) data collected in July 2010. Leaf area, standing crop mass, canopy height, nitrogen, and water content were lower at summits than at toeslopes. The simple ratio of Landsat Band 7/Band 1 (SR71) was the VI most highly correlated with canopy standing crop and height at plot and landscape scales. Results suggest field and remote sensing-based grassland assessment techniques could more comprehensively target low structure areas at minimal expense by layering modeled imagery over a landscape stratified into topographic position groups

Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a universal parenting skills programme in deprived communities : multicentre randomised controlled trial

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness and cost utility of a universally provided early years parenting programme. Design: Multicentre randomised controlled trial with cost-effectiveness analysis. Setting: Early years centres in four deprived areas of South Wales. Participants: Families with children aged between 2 and 4 years. 286 families were recruited and randomly allocated to the intervention or waiting list control. Intervention: The Family Links Nurturing Programme (FLNP), a 10-week course with weekly 2 h facilitated group sessions. Main outcome measures: Negative and supportive parenting, child and parental well-being and costs assessed before the intervention, following the course (3 months) and at 9 months using standardised measures. Results: There were no significant differences in primary or secondary outcomes between trial arms at 3 or 9 months. With ‘+’ indicating improvement, difference in change in negative parenting score at 9 months was +0.90 (95%CI −1.90 to 3.69); in supportive parenting, +0.17 (95%CI −0.61 to 0.94); and 12 of the 17 secondary outcomes showed a non-significant positive effect in the FLNP arm. Based on changes in parental well-being (SF-12), the cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained was estimated to be £34 913 (range 21 485–46 578) over 5 years and £18 954 (range 11 664–25 287) over 10 years. Probability of cost per QALY gained below £30 000 was 47% at 5 years and 57% at 10 years. Attendance was low: 34% of intervention families attended no sessions (n=48); only 47% completed the course (n=68). Also, 19% of control families attended a parenting programme before 9-month follow-up. Conclusions: Our trial has not found evidence of clinical or cost utility for the FLNP in a universal setting. However, low levels of exposure and contamination mean that uncertainty remains. Trial registration: The trial is registered with Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN13919732

Performance of endophyte infected tall fescue in Europe and North America

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Chemical formation of hybrid di-nitrogen calls fungal codenitrification into question

Removal of excess nitrogen (N) can best be achieved through denitrification processes that transform N in water and terrestrial ecosystems to di-nitrogen (N-2) gas. The greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) is considered an intermediate or end-product in denitrification pathways. Both abiotic and biotic denitrification processes use a single N source to form N2O. However, N-2 can be formed from two distinct N sources (known as hybrid N-2) through biologically mediated processes of anammox and codenitrification. We questioned if hybrid N-2 produced during fungal incubation at neutral pH could be attributed to abiotic nitrosation and if N2O was consumed during N-2 formation. Experiments with gas chromatography indicated N-2 was formed in the presence of live and dead fungi and in the absence of fungi, while N2O steadily increased. We used isotope pairing techniques and confirmed abiotic production of hybrid N-2 under both anoxic and 20% O-2 atmosphere conditions. Our findings question the assumptions that (1) N2O is an intermediate required for N-2 formation, (2) production of N-2 and N2O requires anaerobiosis, and (3) hybrid N-2 is evidence of codenitrification and/ or anammox. The N cycle framework should include abiotic production of N-2