From the creative drive to the musical product : a psychoanalytic account of musical creativity

This thesis is the result of a life's work dedicated to re-introducing people of all ages to their inherent musicality which, more often than not, has been denied and invalidated by society's rigid adherence to the reified status of `creativity'. The main premise sine qua non is that creativity is no more, and no less, than the re-realization of things that already exist, and that it is indeed the ubiquitous mode of Eros itself (libidinal energy). In explaining the means whereby the existents of music per se are imprinted in the minds of us all, and then why only certain people choose to manipulate these existents into musical compositions, we proceed from the universal experience of intra-uterine life. The importance to us all of sound impingement upon the fetus is explained, for it is revealed to be foundational to the genesis of the Self. However, as each one of us has different sound-experiences, the affective reactions to those experiences inform our unconscious attitudes towards music. These are revealed in our projections into `the containing space of music'. Furthermore, it is posited that, in utero, not only are we initiated through sound-impingements into that which is dissonant to the Self (necessitating integration), but we also acquire three paradigmatic schemes of reference which thereafter inform all that we do. Our aesthetic sense is rooted here too, through tactility and even visibility. Choosing the mode d'emploi of musical composition is first dependent upon extrinsic environmental factors, but the imperative to compose arises intrinsically. The process though, is one available to us all, as we already possess the necessary mental function. This is explicated by Freud as the dream-work. The thesis culminates in a three-way synthesis predicated upon the dynamics of the transference and counter-transference, between the work that takes place in psychoanalysis, the tripartite teleology of a musical work from composer to performer and listener, and the musical structure known as sonata form. The first movement of Beethoven's third symphony, the Eroica is used as exemplar. ' Appendices are designed to accommodate information pertaining to both disciplines, while comments are to be understood as the opinions of no-one else but mysel

Functional Analysis of Subunit e of the F\u3csub\u3e1\u3c/sub\u3eF\u3csub\u3eo\u3c/sub\u3e-ATP Synthase of the Yeast \u3cem\u3eSaccharomyces cerevisiae\u3c/em\u3e: Importance of the N-Terminal Membrane Anchor Region

Mitochondrial F1Fo-ATP synthase complexes do not exist as physically independent entities but rather form dimeric and possibly oligomeric complexes in the inner mitochondrial membrane. Stable dimerization of two F1Fo-monomeric complexes involves the physical association of two membrane-embedded Fo-sectors. Previously, formation of the ATP synthase dimeric-oligomeric network was demonstrated to play a critical role in modulating the morphology of the mitochondrial inner membrane. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, subunit e (Su e) of the Fo-sector plays a central role in supporting ATP synthase dimerization. The Su e protein is anchored to the inner membrane via a hydrophobic region located at its N-terminal end. The hydrophilic C-terminal region of Su e resides in the intermembrane space and contains a conserved coiled-coil motif. In the present study, we focused on characterizing the importance of these regions for the function of Su e. We created a number of C-terminal-truncated derivatives of the Su e protein and expressed them in the Su e null yeast mutant. Mitochondria were isolated from the resulting transformant strains, and a number of functions of Su e were analyzed. Our results indicate that the N-terminal hydrophobic region plays important roles in the Su e-dependent processes of mitochondrial DNA maintenance, modulation of mitochondrial morphology, and stabilization of the dimer-specific Fo subunits, subunits g and k. Furthermore, we show that the C-terminal coiled-coil region of Su e functions to stabilize the dimeric form of detergent-solubilized ATP synthase complexes. Finally, we propose a model to explain how Su e supports the assembly of the ATP synthase dimers-oligomers in the mitochondrial membrane

Tissue engineered organoids for neural network modelling

The increased prevalence of neurological diseases across the world has stimulated a great deal of research into the physiological and pathological brain, both at clinical and pre-clinical level. This has led to the development of many sophisticated tissue engineered neural models, presenting greater cellular complexity to better mimic the central nervous system niche environment. These have been developed with the ambition to improve pre-clinical assessment of pharma and cellular therapies, as well as better understand this tissue type and its function/dysfunction. This review covers the necessary considerations in in vitro model design, along with recent advances in 2Dculture systems, to 3D organoids and bio-artificial organs

Science on a Shoestring: Building Nursing Knowledge With Limited Funding

Building the science for nursing practice has never been more important. However, shrunken federal and state research budgets mean that investigators must find alternative sources of financial support and develop projects that are less costly to carry out. New investigators often build beginning programs of research with limited funding. This article provides an overview of some cost-effective research approaches and gives suggestions for finding other sources of funding. Examples of more cost-effective research approaches include adding complementary questions to existing funded research projects; conducting primary analysis of electronic patient records and social media content; conducting secondary analysis of data from completed studies; reviewing and synthesizing previously completed research; implementing community-based participatory research; participating in collaborative research efforts such as inter-campus team research, practice-based research networks (PBRNs), and involving undergraduate and doctoral students in research efforts. Instead of relying on funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other government agencies, nurse researchers may be able to find support for research from local sources such as businesses, organizations, or clinical agencies. Investigators will increasingly have to rely on these and other creative approaches to fund and implement their research programs if granting agency budgets do not significantly expand

Comparative Evaluation of the Hemodynamic Effects of Oral Cimetidine, Ranitidine, and Famotidine as Determined by Echocardiography

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90052/1/j.1875-9114.1995.tb04349.x.pd

Profiles of family-focused adverse experiences through childhood and early adolescence: the ROOTS project a community investigation of adolescent mental health.

BACKGROUND: Adverse family experiences in early life are associated with subsequent psychopathology. This study adds to the growing body of work exploring the nature and associations between adverse experiences over the childhood years. METHODS: Primary carers of 1143 randomly recruited 14-year olds in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, UK were interviewed using the Cambridge Early Experiences Interview (CAMEEI) to assess family-focused adversities. Adversities were recorded retrospectively in three time periods (early and later childhood and early adolescence). Latent Class Analysis (LCA) grouped individuals into adversity classes for each time period and longitudinally. Adolescents were interviewed to generate lifetime DSM-IV diagnoses using the K-SADS-PL. The associations between adversity class and diagnoses were explored. RESULTS: LCA generated a 4-class model for each time period and longitudinally. In early childhood 69% were allocated to a low adversity class; a moderate adversity class (19%) showed elevated rates of family loss, mild or moderate family discord, financial difficulties, maternal psychiatric illness and higher risk for paternal atypical parenting; a severe class (6%) experienced higher rates on all indicators and almost exclusively accounted for incidents of child abuse; a fourth class, characterised by atypical parenting from both parents, accounted for the remaining 7%. Class membership was fairly stable (~ 55%) over time with escape from any adversity by 14 years being uncommon. Compared to those in the low class, the odds ratio for reported psychopathology in adolescents in the severe class ranged from 8 for disruptive behaviour disorders through to 4.8 for depressions and 2.0 for anxiety disorders. Only in the low adversity class did significantly more females than males report psychopathology. CONCLUSIONS: Family adversities in the early years occur as multiple rather than single experiences. Although some children escape adversity, for many this negative family environment persists over the first 15 years of life. Different profiles of family risk may be associated with specific mental disorders in young people. Sex differences in psychopathologies may be most pronounced in those exposed to low levels of family adversities.This is the published version of the article. It was published in BMC Psychiatry by BioMed Central. The online version can be found here: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-244X/11/109

New universal ITS2 primers for high-resolution herbivory analyses using DNA metabarcoding in both tropical and temperate zones

DNA metabarcoding is a rapidly growing technique for obtaining detailed dietary information. Current metabarcoding methods for herbivory, using a single locus, can lack taxonomic resolution for some applications. We present novel primers for the second internal transcribed spacer of nuclear ribosomal DNA (ITS2) designed for dietary studies in Mauritius and the UK, which have the potential to give unrivalled taxonomic coverage and resolution from a short-amplicon barcode. In silico testing used three databases of plant ITS2 sequences from UK and Mauritian floras (native and introduced) totalling 6561 sequences from 1790 species across 174 families. Our primers were well-matched in silico to 88% of species, providing taxonomic resolution of 86.1%, 99.4% and 99.9% at the species, genus and family levels, respectively. In vitro, the primers amplified 99% of Mauritian (n = 169) and 100% of UK (n = 33) species, and co-amplified multiple plant species from degraded faecal DNA from reptiles and birds in two case studies. For the ITS2 region, we advocate taxonomic assignment based on best sequence match instead of a clustering approach. With short amplicons of 187–387 bp, these primers are suitable for metabarcoding plant DNA from faecal samples, across a broad geographic range, whilst delivering unparalleled taxonomic resolution

Implementation evaluation of multiple complex early years interventions: : an evaluation framework and study protocol

Introduction: Implementation evaluations are integral to understanding whether, how and why interventions work. However, unpicking the mechanisms of complex interventions is often challenging in usual service settings where multiple services are delivered concurrently. Furthermore, many locally developed and/or adapted interventions have not undergone any evaluation, thus limiting the evidence base available. Born in Bradford’s Better Start cohort is evaluating the impact of multiple early life interventions being delivered as part of the Big Lottery Fund’s ‘A Better Start’ programme to improve the health and well-being of children living in one of the most socially and ethnically diverse areas of the UK. In this paper, we outline our evaluation framework and protocol for embedding pragmatic implementation evaluation across multiple early years interventions and services. Methods and analysis: The evaluation framework is based on a modified version of The Conceptual Framework for Implementation Fidelity. Using qualitative and quantitative methods, our evaluation framework incorporates semistructured interviews, focus groups, routinely collected data and questionnaires. We will explore factors related to content, delivery and reach of interventions at both individual and wider community levels. Potential moderating factors impacting intervention success such as participants’ satisfaction, strategies to facilitate implementation, quality of delivery and context will also be examined. Interview and focus guides will be based on the Theoretical Domains Framework to further explore the barriers and facilitators of implementation. Descriptive statistics will be employed to analyse the routinely collected quantitative data and thematic analysis will be used to analyse qualitative data. Ethics and dissemination: The Health Research Authority (HRA) has confirmed our implementation evaluations do not require review by an NHS Research Ethics Committee (HRA decision 60/88/81). Findings will be shared widely to aid commissioning decisions and will also be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals, summary reports, conferences and community newsletters