Tap Dance, Notation, and the Archive: The Possibilities are Plural

The Arts: 1st Place (The Ohio State University Edward F. Hayes Graduate Research Forum)While processing the archives of American bandleader Ted Lewis, jazz expert Joseph Rubin discovered notations for nine tap dances. The scores were composed on a typewriter sometime in the mid-20th century. In this paper I explore the process of deciphering and (re)embodying the notated movements and presenting them onstage in Rubin’s project “The Ted Lewis Orchestra: Rhythm Rhapsody Revue,” a concert co-sponsored by the Canton Comic Opera Company and the Ted Lewis Museum. The Lewis notations are, like all tap dance scores, unique to their writer. In her book Inside Tap, Anita Feldman presents one system of tap notation; Marshall and Jean Stearns offer Labanotated scores of tap dances at the end of their book Jazz Dance. However, no widely used, codified systems of tap dance notation exist; there seem to be as many systems as there are teachers, choreographers, and dancers. Each of us creates our own abbreviations and codes to document our work, as evidently did the author of the Lewis notations. How do these translate to other tap dancers? What happens when a score of “vintage” tap dance choreography resurfaces? How does a tap dancer today interpret choreography scored by a stranger more than 70 years ago? In this presentation I pursue these questions through an analysis of the process and performance of Rhythm Rhapsody Revue, which I argue enables us to think more broadly about movement archives, historical shifts of moves considered standard, and the way all notation scores are simultaneously historical and personal.No embarg

Vintage vinyl can tell us about Cold War tensions and cultural diplomacy

As we face the potential for a 21st century version of the Cold War, Jonathan Schroeder and Janet Borgerson take a close look at how cultural conflicts from the 20th century version spilled over into American life – specifically into vinyl LPs. They write that such albums featured attractive images of the American lifestyle, subtle elements of the ideological struggles of the Cold War era

Polyimides as High Temperature Capacitor Dielectrics

Nearly five decades of effort has focused on identifying and developing new polymer capacitor films for higher-than-ambient temperature applications, but simultaneous demands of processability, dielectric permittivity, thermal conductivity, dielectric breakdown strength, and self-clearing capability limit the number of available materials. Demands on these criteria are even more stringent in growing numbers of applications demanding high power performance. Aromatic polyimides, though not a panacea, are a class of heat-resistant polymers of great interest to researchers as capacitor dielectrics because of good thermal and mechanical stability. In this chapter, the key aspects and advantages of metallized polymer film capacitors are compared to analogous alternative technologies (polymer-film-metal-foil, ceramic, and electrolytic capacitors), followed by a comprehensive review of commercial resin development leading up to recent research on polyimides targeted for operating temperature above 150°C. Finally, this chapter provides a brief discussion on the recent effort on combining computation and synthesis to design polymers with desirable dielectric properties

Indirect genetic effects increase heritability estimates for male and female extra-pair reproduction

The question of why females engage in extra-pair behaviors is long-standing in evolutionary biology. One suggestion is that these behaviors are maintained through pleiotropic effects on male extra-pair behaviors (genes controlling extra-pair reproduction are shared between sexes, but only beneficial to one sex, in this case, males). However, for this to evolve extra-pair reproduction must be both heritable and positively genetically correlated between sexes. Previous studies have suggested low heritability with no evidence for between-sex genetic correlations in extra-pair reproduction. However, these have not considered indirect genetic effects (derived from the behavior of others, IGEs) from the social partner, the influence of the social partner’s genotype on the phenotype of an individual, despite the potential of IGEs to uncover hidden heritable variation. Using data from a closed-house sparrow population with a genetic pedigree spanning two decades, we tested the influence of social partner IGEs on heritable variation and genetic correlation estimates of extra-pair reproduction. We found that the inclusion of IGEs resulted in larger heritable genetic variance for both male and female extra-pair heritability. While IGEs did not change between-sex genetic correlations, we found they reduced uncertainty in those estimates. Future studies should consider the effect of IGEs on the mechanisms of sex-specific extra-pair reproduction

A meta-analysis on the heritability of vertebrate telomere length

Telomere dynamics are linked with both cellular and organismal senescence, and life history, individual quality and health. Telomere dynamics, particularly telomere length, have therefore garnered much research interest in evolutionary biology. To examine the evolution of telomere length, it is important to quantify its heritability, the proportion of total variation explained by additive genetic effects. Many studies have quantified telomere length heritability, but estimates are varied, and no general conclusion has been drawn. Additionally, it is unclear whether biological and methodological factors influence telomere length heritability estimates. We present the first meta-analysis of telomere length heritability, using 104 estimates from 43 studies over 18 vertebrate species. We calculated an overall mean heritability and examined how estimates varied by study, phylogeny, species-specific ecology, environmental setting, age at sampling, laboratory methods, statistical methods, sex and repeated measurements. Overall heritability was moderate (44.9%, 95% CI: 25.2-64.7%), and there was considerable heterogeneity in heritability estimates, in particular among studies and estimates. Laboratory method influenced heritability estimates, with in-gel hybridization TRF yielding higher heritabilities than qPCR and Southern blot TRF. There was also an effect from statistical method, with twin-based and SNP-based estimates lower than correlation-based or pedigree-based estimates. Our results highlight an overall heritable basis of telomere length, and we recommend future research on a wider range of taxa, and the use of variance-partitioning methods with relatedness or SNP data over correlation methods to minimize heritability estimation bias

Norm entrepreneurs promote local values and practices in pursuit of just and sustainable forest governance.

This paper explores the dissonance between conceptions of justice among forest-adjacent communities and their representation in global forest policies, a persistent barrier to delivering just sustainability. We empirically track justice claims of rural villagers upwards through specific intermediaries or ‘justice brokers’: civil society, state, or private sector actors operating at local to international levels, who navigate different institutions to advance various social and ecological interests. We draw on interviews with 16 intermediaries in each of Nepal and Uganda and find that recognition of local values and practices such as customary tenure systems are key justice concerns of forest-adjacent communities in each country. However, intermediaries perceive a low likelihood of advancing those claims through national or international climate and forest policy debates, such as REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation), in large part because deliberations on justice are subordinated to concerns such as carbon accounting and arrangements for distributing monetary benefits. This suggests these policy processes must be modified to offer potential for transformational pathways. Intermediaries who pursued recognition justice issues developed innovative tactics in alternative forums. These ‘norm entrepreneurs’ adopted a suite of complementary strategies to attain influence, including: (1) formation of associations at the grassroots level; (2) media and advocacy campaigns through national coalitions to reach powerful international donors, and; (3) drawing on international support networks for advice, training and to influence national government. In both Uganda and Nepal these strategies were evidenced to enhance recognition for local values and practices

An ethics of representation for international marketing

Pre-print; authors' draft originally issued as working paper in 2004. Final published version available at http://www.emeraldinsight.com/This paper offers an ethical analysis of visual representation that provides criteria for and sheds light on the appropriateness dimension of marketing communications. It provides a theoretically informed framework for recognizing and understanding ethical issues in visual representation. An interdisciplinary conceptual review and analysis focuses on four representational conventions, synthesizing ethical concerns, to provide a broader context for recognizing and understanding ethical issues in marketing representation: face-ism, idealization, exoticization and exclusion. This framework is discussed and applied to marketing communications. It argues that valuations of communication appropriateness must be informed by an awareness of the ethical relationship between marketing representations and identity. It is no longer satisfactory to associate advertising solely with persuasion, rather advertising must be seen as a representational system, with pedagogical as well as strategic functions. We conclude by discussing the theoretical, research, and managerial implications that arise from an ethics of visual representation. Urges moving beyond an advertising = persuasion model to encompass representation and culture in marketing communication studies. Contributes to understanding the ethical implications of marketing communication. Challenges marketers and researchers to broaden their conception of marketing communication to one more consistent with an image economy

Barriers to equity in REDD+: Deficiencies in national interpretation processes constrain adaptation to context

A national interpretation process involving diverse actors and interests is required to transform global environmental initiatives into policies appropriate to the national or subnational context. These processes of localising norms are critical spaces to formulate equitable pathways to environmental conservation, yet have received limited attention from policy makers and researchers. We explored national policy processes for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) in Uganda and Nepal from the perspectives of ‘intermediaries’, state and civil society actors at subnational and national scale who promote the interests of various stakeholder groups. Through think-tank meetings and semi-structured interviews with a range of intermediaries, we uncovered that REDD+ implementation processes in both countries are dominated by international actors, applying a demanding administrative agenda and restricting space for deliberation. Consequently, social aspects of policy were compartmentalised, reduced to technical exercises and local equity concerns inadequately addressed in national REDD+ policies. For example, social safeguards approaches were perceived to lack substantive guidelines to promote equity. Limited national political space to criticise government policy and lack of attention to relevant evidence further restricted ability to address entrenched injustices such as status inequalities faced by marginalised groups. Although civil society organisations choose to maintain official involvement with REDD+, many expressed a possibility they would oppose REDD+ in future, or serious doubts about its design and expected outcomes. Concerns centred on lack of recognition of indigenous peoples’ and local communities’ values, identities, practices and institutions such as customary tenure systems, alongside possible detrimental impacts to decentralised forest governance regimes, well established in Nepal and emerging in Uganda. We suggest features to be enshrined in REDD+ policy for adapting national interpretation processes to become more effective spaces for empowering diverse intermediaries to negotiate and influence localisation of international norms, ultimately to promote more equitable pathways to reduced deforestation and degradation

NF05-628 Helping Children Resolve Conflict \u3cem\u3eConflict Mediation Model\u3c/em\u3e

During conflict mediation children learn the skills necessary to reach peaceful resolutions. These skills involve communication, compromise, the ability to see how different aspects of a dispute are related and the ability to consider their own perspective as well as that of another person. Adults play an important role in the socialization of children. They help children develop social skills. This NebFact discusses how to teach children to resolve conflicts