How do clarinet players adjust the resonances of their vocal tracts for different playing effects

In a simple model, the reed of the clarinet is mechanically loaded by the series combination of the acoustical impedances of the instrument itself and of the player's vocal tract. Here we measure the complex impedance spectrum of players' tracts using an impedance head adapted to fit inside a clarinet mouthpiece. A direct current shunt with high acoustical resistance allows players to blow normally, so the players can simulate the tract condition under playing conditions. The reproducibility of the results suggest that the players' "muscle memory" is reliable for this task. Most players use a single, highly stable vocal tract configuration over most of the playing range, except for the altissimo register. However, this 'normal' configuration varies substantially among musicians. All musicians change the configuration, often drastically for "special effects'' such as glissandi and slurs: the tongue is lowered and the impedance magnitude reduced when the player intends to lower the pitch or to slur downwards, and vice versa

Éditorial: Mesure des performances et évaluation des systèmes éducatifs – présupposés et contextes

Loin d’être un effet de mode médiatique, les études comparatives internationales d’évaluation et de performances des systèmes éducatifs (Third International Mathematics dans Science Study (TIMSS), le Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) ou l’Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (ALL)) se sont imposées tant au niveau national qu’international. Les longues discussions sur le positionnement des systèmes éducatifs, sur le niveau de compétences des systèmes éducatifs locaux ou nationaux, sur les particularités des « modèles » très ou peu performants représentent une évolution significative des systèmes éducatifs et de la politique de l’éducation même. Dans les pays et les systèmes politiques où l’implantation du système éducatif, institutionnelle et relativement aux contenus, était traitée au plan des réalités locales – alors que le fédéralisme était considéré comme une constante incontournable, comme c’était le cas aux Etats-Unis et en Suisse aussi –, la standardisation ou l’unité, voir l’uniformisation de l’enseignement est désormais un programme-cadre universellement accepté. (DIPF/Orig.

Gender and leadership aspiration: the impact of organizational identification

Purpose Although nowadays more women occupy leadership roles, they still are a minority. Because aspiration is a precursor of advancement, examining conditions fostering female leadership aspiration is important. A neglected perspective is the impact of organizational identification. Identification can be argued to foster leadership aspiration because the essence of leadership is the pursuit of collective interests, and identification motivates such pursuits. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional survey design with an n=400 fulltime employed men and women, working for various organizations was selected. Findings The initial prediction was that identification is more important to women’s leadership aspiration to the extent that gender is associated with communal orientation, because women tend to have stronger communal orientation with associated greater affiliation needs, and organizational identification can be expected to cater to those needs. The communal orientation by organizational identification interactive influence on leadership aspiration was supported. Also, the indirect effect of gender on leadership aspiration via this interactive influence of communal orientation and organizational identification was supported. Research limitations/implications Due to the selected survey approach the data are correlational and as a result no reference to matters of causality can be made. Thus (field) experimental data is needed to confirm these findings. Practical implications Within the paper the discussion focuses on the importance of creating an environment that is more conducive to organizational identification and as such speaks to the communal orientation – being more pronounced among women – to act in favor of the organization by aspiring leadership positions. Originality/value The presented results depict an important step toward understanding how organizational identification and communal orientation interact and how they interact with women’s leadership aspiration

Listener evaluations of violins made from composites

For centuries, wood, and more specifically spruce, has been the material of choice for violin top plates. Lately, carbon fiber instruments have entered the market. Some studies show that composite materials have potential advantages for making instruments [Damodaran, Lessard, and Babu, Acoust. Aust. 43, 117-122 (2015)]. However, no studies exist that evaluate violins made of different composite materials as judged by listeners. For this study, six prototype violins, differing only by the material of the top plate, were manufactured in a controlled laboratory setting. The six prototype violins were judged by experienced listeners in two double-blind experiments. In contrast to popular opinion that violins made from carbon have or lack a specific sound quality, the study provides insights in the diverse sounds and timbres violins from fiber-reinforced polymers can create. It allows an investigation of the links between the perception and the variations in material properties of the soundboards. Additionally, as neither players nor listeners are acquainted with these instruments, these results provide an interesting view on what type of qualities of violin-like sounds are preferred by listeners

An interpretation of the relationship between chan-buddhism and the state with reference to the monastic code at the end of the yuan era

Based on the monastic code entitled Chixiu Baizhang qinggui (Imperial Edition of Baizhang’s Rule of Purity), this article discusses the relations between Chan-monasteries and the state during the Yuan dynasty. The first chapter shows the state’s attitude towards religion and the ranking of the different Buddhist schools as well as the liturgical ceremonies for the emperor and the State and their rewards in form of financial and land donations. The second chapter explores to what extent the state’s veto in the elections of an abbot, its financial restrictions, and limited edition of ordination certificates could have been part of a repressive policy towards Buddhism. Conclusively, the inability of the monastic management to cope with their increased social and financial responsibilities impaired the Essential Teaching and further development of Chan-Buddhism

The Metabolic Response of Various Cell Lines to Microtubule-Driven Uptake of Lipid- and Polymer-Coated Layer-by-Layer Microcarriers

Lipid structures, such as liposomes or micelles, are of high interest as an approach to support the transport and delivery of active agents as a drug delivery system. However, there are many open questions regarding their uptake and impact on cellular metabolism. In this study, lipid structures were assembled as a supported lipid bilayer on top of biopolymer-coated microcarriers based on the Layer-by-Layer assembly strategy. The functionalized microcarriers were then applied to various human and animal cell lines in addition to primary human macrophages (MΦ). Here, their influence on cellular metabolism and their intracellular localization were detected by extracellular flux analysis and immunofluorescence analysis, respectively. The impact of microcarriers on metabolic parameters was in most cell types rather low. However, lipid bilayer-supported microcarriers induced a decrease in oxygen consumption rate (OCR, indicative for mitochondrial respiration) and extracellular acidification rate (ECAR, indicative for glycolysis) in Vero cells. Additionally, in Vero cells lipid bilayer microcarriers showed a more pronounced association with microtubule filaments than polymer-coated microcarrier. Furthermore, they localized to a perinuclear region and induced nuclei with some deformations at a higher rate than unfunctionalized carriers. This association was reduced through the application of the microtubule polymerization inhibitor nocodazole. Thus, the effect of respective lipid structures as a drug delivery system on cells has to be considered in the context of the respective target cell, but in general can be regarded as rather low

Gender and Leadership Aspiration

Summary The aim of this dissertation is to examine gender differences in leadership aspiration. Although some important work regarding gender-specific aspiration has been done already, conditions fostering leadership aspiration – particularly among women – are not completely understood. Therefore, the focus of this dissertation is on assessing the potential impact of the organizational environment, including formal and informal elements, as well as relevant actors and their respective impact on female leadership aspiration. The four empirical chapters of this dissertation advance our understanding which conditions are of importance in terms of stimulating women’s leadership aspiration. Firstly, we directed our attention towards examining the role of the individual’s supervisor. Particularly the supervisor is important for women as women have less access to mentors or informal networks. Our results show the importance of supervisor gender for female leadership aspiration as women reporting to a female supervisor report higher levels of support and control and as a result display higher leadership aspiration. In addition to looking at the supervisor, we also focused on work life initiatives, being initiatives targeted at helping employees to balance their work and private life by facilitating their integration. Understanding whether these initiatives have an impact is essential as women are still faced with more domestic responsibilities than men. Our findings show that although work life initiatives are positively related to the aspiration to lead for both genders, they have a greater influence on women’s aspiration. Apart from looking at the supervisor and formal initiatives, we were also interested to understand how informal elements within the organizational environment impact leadership aspiration. Therefore, we assessed the impact of cooperative climate, being defined as a climate in which team spirit and cooperation among employees are pronounced. We predicted and showed that men and women are more responsive to different elements within such a cooperative climate, mapping to their gender-specific disposal to different self-construals. As women are more disposed to a relational self-construal we predicted and showed that their leadership aspiration is more responsive to cooperative interpersonal relationships, i.e. with their coworkers, within the organization. Contrary to women, men are more disposed to a collective self-construal, defining themselves in terms of group membership, and consequently we hypothesized and verified that their leadership aspiration is more effected by a cooperative individual relationship with the organization. Eventually, we were also interested to understand whether the interplay between the organization and the individual plays an important role in influencing leadership aspiration. Therefore we zoomed in on organizational identification, being the individual’s perception of considering him-/ herself and the organization itself as an entity, and examined whether this construct features an impact on leadership aspiration. As predicted we showed that high organizational identification is linked to female leadership aspiration. In sum, our findings highlight different important precursors of women’s leadership aspiration within the organizational environment and point to interesting avenues for future research and beneficial implications for practitioners alike striving towards increasing female leadership aspiration

Экологическая оценка состояния растений произрастающих в зоне влияния выбросов железорудных шахт

Выполнены исследования состояния растений произрастающих на территориях прилегающих к железорудному комбинату. Установлены закономерности изменения степени повреждения озимой пшеницы в зависимости от расстояния до вентиляционных стволов железорудной шахты.Виконані дослідження стану рослин, що зростають на територіях прилеглих до залізорудного комбінату. Встановлено закономірності зміни ступеня пошкодження озимої пшениці в залежності від відстані до вентиляційних стволів залізорудної шахти.The studies of the status of plants growing in areas adjacent to the iron ore plant are conducted. The regularities of changes in the damage degree of winter wheat depending on the distance to the ventilation shafts of iron ore mines are fixed

Ambispora reticulata

A new glomeromycotean fungus,Ambispora reticulata, was found in the Swiss Alps and in the Chilean Andes. Only acauloambisporoid spores were detected so far, 87-131 x 125-150 μm in diameter and having a three-layered, yellow-brown to brown outer wall, a bi-layered, hyaline middle wall and a generally three-layered, hyaline inner wall. The middle wall has a characteristic reticulate outer surface with irregular triagonal to octagonal (usually tetrato hexagonal) pits that are surrounded by ridges. As known for all Ambispora species with acaulo-ambisporoid spore formation, the middle wall is a substantial part of the pedicel which connects the spore with the mycelium. The new species is a frequent member of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities in mountainous and subalpine grasslands of the Swiss Alps at 1000-2100 m above sea level. It occurred less frequent in high alpine grasslands and at altitudes below 1000 m, where the fungus was found in a conservation tillage and a low-input tillage system. It was also detected in evergreen and in deciduous forests in the Andes of Southern Chile at elevations of 550-1600 m

Group 2 Innate Lymphoid Cells in Respiratory Allergic Inflammation

Millions of people worldwide are suffering from allergic inflammatory airway disorders. These conditions are regarded as a consequence of multiple imbalanced immune events resulting in an inadequate response with the exact underlying mechanisms still being a subject of ongoing research. Several cell populations have been proposed to be involved but it is becoming increasingly evident that group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) play a key role in the initiation and orchestration of respiratory allergic inflammation. ILC2s are important mediators of inflammation but also tissue remodeling by secreting large amounts of signature cytokines within a short time period. Thereby, ILC2s instruct innate but also adaptive immune responses. Here, we will discuss the recent literature on allergic inflammation of the respiratory tract with a focus on ILC2 biology. Furthermore, we will highlight different therapeutic strategies to treat pulmonary allergic inflammation and their potential influence on ILC2 function as well as discuss the perspective of using human ILC2s for diagnostic purposes