Angels and ogres - online discourses of adult music learners, a corpus-based study

The purpose of this study is two-fold – to explore the potential of linguistic analysis techniques in music education research; and to use these techniques to investigate the discourses of adult learners in music, specifically those around learners and their teachers. Although music education research often uses text (interviews, autobiographical accounts, survey responses), linguistic analysis has barely been used in this area. Equally, the internet has become a source of support and expression for learners, using blogs and forum discussions, but these are an untapped data resource in music education research. Corpus linguistics techniques, which enable semi-automated analyses of databases of text, are increasingly being used in other discipline areas to identify patterns in large sets of textual data, and thus investigate recurring discourses, but have not yet been exploited in music education research. In this study I use corpus techniques to investigate discourses of adult music learners using text from online sources. I begin by summarising current literature on adult music learners, which identifies them as an under-researched group, and the background to corpus-based discourse analysis. I discuss the ethical challenges of using online data, how corpus linguistics techniques may provide solutions, and my approach to these challenges. I use a corpus-based approach to explore the discourses around learners and their teachers, looking in particular at metaphorical language. Discourses around teachers suggest that the learner/ teacher relationship is crucial, but can be problematic - issues around control are evident, but there is a feeling that learners welcome some level of control. I conclude that corpus-based discourse analysis has the potential to enrich music education research, and suggest other ways in which it might be used. In the area of adult music education, this research has the potential to inform teachers, training and community organisations and exam boards, to help them better meet the needs of this group which often ‘falls through the gaps’

‘Not an ogre’:adult music learners and their teachers, a corpus-based discourse analysis

Adult learners are an under-researched group in music education. Although music education research often uses texts (interviews, autobiographical accounts, survey responses), linguistic analysis has not yet been used in this area. Meanwhile, the internet has become a source of support and expression for adult music learners, through blogs and forums. This presentation describes part of the research undertaken for my MA in English Language, which uses a corpus of online texts to investigate discourses of adult music learners. Using corpus searches as a starting point, I combine several linguistic discourse analysis techniques to explore how adult learners describe their experiences of and relationships with music teachers. I find that adult music learners represent the student/ teacher relationship as crucial but complex, with discourses around teacher support and approval. The issue of control in student/ teacher relationships appears frequently, revealed by passivisation and metaphors of force, injury and war. These findings have the potential to inform music educators, influencing the way individual teachers work with adults, and the guidance given by organisations who offer music education training. The study demonstrates the potential of corpus-based discourse analysis (which is increasingly being used outside linguistics) in the realm of music education

Oxidative stress and the use of antioxidants in stroke

Transient or permanent interruption of cerebral blood flow by occlusion of a cerebral artery gives rise to an ischaemic stroke leading to irreversible damage or dysfunction to the cells within the affected tissue along with permanent or reversible neurological deficit. Extensive research has identified excitotoxicity, oxidative stress, inflammation and cell death as key contributory pathways underlying lesion progression. The cornerstone of treatment for acute ischaemic stroke remains reperfusion therapy with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA). The downstream sequelae of events resulting from spontaneous or pharmacological reperfusion lead to an imbalance in the production of harmful reactive oxygen species (ROS) over endogenous anti-oxidant protection strategies. As such, anti-oxidant therapy has long been investigated as a means to reduce the extent of injury resulting from ischaemic stroke with varying degrees of success. Here we discuss the production and source of these ROS and the various strategies employed to modulate levels. These strategies broadly attempt to inhibit ROS production or increase scavenging or degradation of ROS. While early clinical studies have failed to translate success from bench to bedside, the combination of anti-oxidants with existing thrombolytics or novel neuroprotectants may represent an avenue worthy of clinical investigation. Clearly, there is a pressing need to identify new therapeutic alternatives for the vast majority of patients who are not eligible to receive rt-PA for this debilitating and devastating disease

Case Studies of the Attainment of Insight in Dream Sessions: Replication and Extension

To replicate and extend the Hill, Knox, et al. (2007) case study of a client who attained insight in one session of dream work, the authors examined two additional single-session cases: one in which a client gained insight and another in which a client did not. The observations across all three cases suggest that the two clients who acquired insight had positive attitudes toward dreams; were motivated and involved in session; and were nonresistant, trusting, and affectively present but not overwhelmed. The client who did not gain insight questioned the value of dreams and was resistant, untrusting, andf emotionally overwhelmed. Therapist adherence and competence using the dream model, ability to manage countertransference, and effective use of probes for insight distinguished the therapists whose clients gained insight from the therapist whose client did not

Should National Human Rights Institutions Institutionalize Dispute Resolution?

The UN has promoted the use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) by national human rights institutions (NHRIs). This article critically examines this proposition by analysing the three assumptions that underlie it. First, that ADR is an appropriate means by which to resolve human rights disputes; second, that ADR should be provided in institutional form; third that an NHRI should play a role in the delivery of ADR. We argue that voluntary engagement with ADR is permissible subject to procedural and substantive standards of justice but identify the risk that the offer of ADR by an institution may turn into a de facto mandatory process if not set within a context in which the courts are also accessible. Rather than an outright rejection of a role for ADR in such circumstances, we examine the potential contributions an institution could make to redressing the deficiencies in access to justice landscape and identify the key factors states and other policymakers should take into account when determining which institution(s) assume a dispute resolution role

Development of targeted gene delivery vectors to assess cardiac overexpresion of ACE2 in vivo

The renin angiotensin system is often maninpulated clinically for the treatment of hypertension and heart failure. This pathway is of major clinical importance and it is thus a major target for therapy. The incidence of cardiovascular diseases continues to increase worldwide, highlighting the need for new therapies to treat these conditions. Gene therapy for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases is currently being developed. Gene therapy is by definition the treatment or prevention of disease by means of gene transfer. The efficiency of gene transfer will determine how successful the gene therapy application will be. Before the full potential of gene therapy can be reached, many limitations common to all methods of gene delivery must be overcome. The current lack of suitable vectors capable of transducing cells of the vasculature or of the myocardium is a major rate-limiting step, but may be overcome by increasing the specifity of gene therapy vectors. This may be achieved through the isolation of new viral serotypes that can be developed into vectors, or the creation of new vectors by the alteration of the tropism of existing ones. This thesis aimed to assess the effect of ACE2 overexpression in vivo on heart function and blood pressure. In order to achieve cardiac gene transfer, we first had to identify an efficient cardiac gene delivery vector. This was approached by the application of the two main techniques; (1) the use of phage-display identified peptides to retarget viral vectors and (2) the comparison and optimisation of rAAV6 and rAAV9 mediated gene delivery to myocardium in vivo in a rat disease model

Music education training in UK Conservatoires and Universities - learning how to teach

Most musicians are involved in educating others at some point in their career, with around 60% actively teaching at any one time. A conservatoire or university music degree is often regarded as sufficient qualification for instrumental teaching. Teaching education provision at UK conservatoires has “improved massively over the last 20 years”. However, Henley (2011) recommends that conservatoires improve teaching qualifications and experience, in order to meet the needs of music education in the UK. This study summarises the provision of training in music teaching at UK conservatoires and universities, summarising the available undergraduate modules and their content, and considers whether this training is ‘fit for purpose’, using the topic of teaching adults as an example

Detecting Galaxy-Filament Alignments in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III

Previous studies have shown the filamentary structures in the cosmic web influence the alignments of nearby galaxies. We study this effect in the LOWZ sample of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey using the "Cosmic Web Reconstruction" filament catalogue. We find that LOWZ galaxies exhibit a small but statistically significant alignment in the direction parallel to the orientation of nearby filaments. This effect is detectable even in the absence of nearby galaxy clusters, which suggests it is an effect from the matter distribution in the filament. A nonparametric regression model suggests that the alignment effect with filaments extends over separations of 30-40 Mpc. We find that galaxies that are bright and early-forming align more strongly with the directions of nearby filaments than those that are faint and late-forming; however, trends with stellar mass are less statistically significant, within the narrow range of stellar mass of this sample.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures. Accepted to the MNRA