Emotion resonance and divergence: a semiotic analysis of music and sound in 'The Lost Thing', an animated short film and 'Elizabeth' a film trailer

Music and sound contributions of interpersonal meaning to film narratives may be different from or similar to meanings made by language and image, and dynamic interactions between several modalities may generate new story messages. Such interpretive potentials of music and voice sound in motion pictures are rarely considered in social semiotic investigations of intermodality. This paper therefore shares two semiotic studies of distinct and combined music, English speech and image systems in an animated short film and a promotional filmtrailer. The paper considers the impact of music and voice sound on interpretations of film narrative meanings. A music system relevant to the analysis of filmic emotion is proposed. Examples show how music and intonation contribute meaning to lexical, visual and gestural elements of the cinematic spaces. Also described are relations of divergence and resonance between emotion types in various couplings of music, intonation, words and images across story phases. The research is relevant to educational knowledge about sound, and semiotic studies of multimodality

PAL leader training at Bournemouth University: 12 years on and still evolving

Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) at Bournemouth University (BU) is a peer mentoring scheme that fosters cross-year support between students on the same course. Coordination of PAL, including leader training, is run centrally within Student and Academic Services by the PAL Coordination Team. Successful applicants attend two days of compulsory training in June or September with optional follow up training sessions offered throughout the autumn term. As with other training programmes for peer learning schemes, including Supplemental Instruction (SI), upon which PAL is based (Arendale 1994; Jacobs et al. 2008), the concept of modelling is integral to the training. Trainers employ small group learning techniques and frequently re-direct questions. Leaders can then use these approaches in their own sessions. Crucially, all attendees lead a simulated PAL session. Weekly follow up training is delivered in collaboration with other support staff, providing information on various academic skills, support services and ideas for related PAL sessions. Like PAL itself, leader training has evolved gradually since it began in 2001. Changes include: training on new online community areas on the University's Virtual Learning Environment; streamlining of initial training in response to trainee feedback. However, the overarching principles of the training, established by the founders of the scheme, remain (Capstick et al. 2004). Qualitative feedback from 2011-2012 trainees after completing training, and from a later survey delivered to them towards the end of their role, has further confirmed the continued power of this training while revealing potential ways to strengthen it

Samurai of Gentle Power : An Exploration of Aikido in the Lives of Women Aikidoka

This exploratory study of women\u27s experience of the martial art of aikido comes as a response to the paucity of texts on women in the martial arts. My 16-year involvement with aikido and my studies in the field of Leisure Science have led me to explore the apparent contradiction between the traditionally masculine domain of martial arts and prescribed female/feminine behaviour. As a feminist researcher and as an aikido participant I acknowledge a close connection with my topic and hence the subjective nature of this study. I am not trying to produce an absolute truth, but present some of the complex individual realities of the participants of this study. Twelve women who had been practising aikido for more than two years were interviewed for this study. Their stories sketched pictures of their personal experiences of aikido and illustrated what aikido meant to them. After reviewing relevant literature and its relationship to participants\u27 stories five major themes emerged: female values in a masculine environment; empowerment and self development; spirituality; social behaviour and intimacy; and sport, martial arts and aikido. While the construction of physicality, sport and the martial arts has been largely from a male perspective, applying a postmodern feminist perspective lead to a redefining of masculine and feminine behaviours. Dispensing with the binary opposition of masculine versus feminine the redefined behaviours were interpreted as female value qualities and, according to the participants\u27 stories, these qualities were to be found in aikido

Student Teacher Performance Related to Cognitive Style

Research conducted in the field of cognitive style suggests there are certain learning styles which can be identified, defined and measured. However, the literature points out that a neglected aspect of research is an exploration of relationships between students\u27 cognitive styles and performance. The goal of this study was to explore whether the cognitive style manner of reasoning scales were jointly and differentially, related to student teachers\u27 academic performance. The sample consisted of 40 primary school student teachers enrolled in the second year of the Diploma in Teaching course at the Townsville College of Advanced Education, Townsville, Queensland. Data was gathered by the Hill Cognitive Style Mapping instrument. Student teacher scores on an academic task were used to measure performance. The data were analysed by multiple and stepwise regression techniques. Results of the study were that: (a) cognitive style manner of reasoning scales, operating jointly, contributed 30.~.% of the variance in student teacher academic performance and (b) cognitive style manner of reasoning scales - . relationships, categorical and appraisal, operating differentially, accounted for 9.8%, 9.1 % and 8.7% respectively, of the variance in student teacher academic performance. Results were statistically significant at the .05 level

Spawning Chronology of Native and Introduced Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis) in Two Gulf of Mexico Drainages

In this study, I investigated the potential for temperature to serve as a mechanism for maintenance of reproductive isolation in a sympatric population of Atlantic and Gulf striped bass in the Apalachicola and Ochlockonee rivers, Florida. Adult striped bass (n= 66, mean weight = 8.3 kg, mean total length = 780.6 mm) were collected from February to May below Jim Woodruff Lock and Dam, on the Apalachicola River, and below Jackson Bluff Lock on the Ochlockonee River, Florida. Ancestry (Gulf or Atlantic) of specimens was determined based upon the methods of Wirgin et al. (2005) using three diagnostic microsatellite loci: SB 20, SB 1021 and SB 111. There was no difference between the mean date of arrival for female striped bass between strains within years. The mean date of first arrival for either strain of striped bass differed between 2003 and 2005. A comparison of the mean arrival temperature for Atlantic and Gulf striped bass also showed no difference within years. It is possible that the genetic introgression of Atlantic alleles has been so great that any difference in spawning temperature preference between strains that might have existed historically has been lost

The importance of positive cognitive processes in psychological well-being

Introduction: Clinical psychologists have traditionally focused on understanding and treating psychological distress, and psychological theories have rarely been applied to understand positive psychological well-being. This project is interested in applying the principles of Cognitive Theory, a well-established model for the mechanisms underpinning psychological disorders, to understanding positive psychological states. Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with undergraduate students to investigate how they think when they feel well. Items derived from these interviews were used in the design of two measures of positive cognition (one of positive core-beliefs and one of positive assumptions). These measures were administered to a larger sample of students, in a battery of questionnaires, examining other psychological variables and well-being. The results were analysed, to investigate the relationship between positive cognition and psychological well-being. Results: The findings provide evidence in support of the psychometric properties of the two measures, suggesting that positive cognitions can be reliably and validly measured. Correlation analyses indicated a positive relationship between positive cognition and psychological well-being. Regression analyses indicated that positive core-beliefs predict psychological well-being, although self-esteem was the best predictor. Core-beliefs had some unique predictive power, when other variables were accounted for. Discussion: The findings provide some support for the hypothesis that positive cognitions exist and are related to psychological well-being in a way predicted by cognitive theory. The study also produces two measures of positive cognition, which have the potential to be developed and used in future research. Methodological issues are discussed along with the implications of the findings for theory, clinical practice and future research

The Effect of Rural Road Transport on Crop Commercialization: Evidence from the Ethiopian Living Standard Measurement Survey

Ethiopia has adopted commercialization of smallholder agriculture as a policy tool for agricultural development and rural transformation thereby to improve rural welfare. Towards this end, the government has given policy focus to rual road infrastracture. The objective of the study is, therefore, to estimate the effect of acess to rual road on commercialization of smallholder farmers in the country. The study used the Ethiopian Socio- Economic Survey, a nationally representative panel data prepared by Central Statistics Agency of Ethiopia and the World Bank. Descriptive statistics as well as Econometric techniques are used to analyze the effect of rural accessibility and mobility on agricultural market participation and commercialization. The descriptive statistics reveals that the commercialization index for households in villages with access to all weather roads is 19 percent against the corresponding figure of 16 percent for their counterparts. The econometrics estimation also tallied with this finding. More interestingly, mode of transport used for agricultural purposes is found to have a positive and significant effect on commercialization. The result indicates that commercialization level for farmers using modern mode of transport is 17 percentage points higher than those who did not use any. In the same manner, the result indicates that commercialization level of farmers using traditional mode of transport is 12 percentage points higher than those who did not use any. Thus, integrating remote areas with urban centers through rural transport infrastructure development that addresses both access and mobility demand of rural communities should be given priority. Keywords: commercialization, market participation, rural road access, mobilit

Interaction between Bluetongue virus outer capsid protein VP2 and vimentin is necessary for virus egress

BACKGROUND: The VP2 outer capsid protein Bluetongue Virus (BTV) is responsible for receptor binding, haemagglutination and eliciting host-specific immunity. However, the assembly of this outer capsid protein on the transcriptionally active viral core would block transcription of the virus. Thus assembly of the outer capsid on the core particle must be a tightly controlled process during virus maturation. Earlier studies have detected mature virus particles associated with intermediate filaments in virus infected cells but the viral determinant for this association and the effect of disrupting intermediate filaments on virus assembly and release are unknown. RESULTS: In this study it is demonstrated that BTV VP2 associates with vimentin in both virus infected cells and in the absence of other viral proteins. Further, the determinants of vimentin localisation are mapped to the N-terminus of the protein and deletions of aminio acids between residues 65 and 114 are shown to disrupt VP2-vimentin association. Site directed mutation also reveals that amino acid residues Gly 70 and Val 72 are important in the VP2-vimentin association. Mutation of these amino acids resulted in a soluble VP2 capable of forming trimeric structures similar to unmodified protein that no longer associated with vimentin. Furthermore, pharmacological disruption of intermediate filaments, either directly or indirectly through the disruption of the microtubule network, inhibited virus release from BTV infected cells. CONCLUSION: The principal findings of the research are that the association of mature BTV particles with intermediate filaments are driven by the interaction of VP2 with vimentin and that this interaction contributes to virus egress. Furthermore, i) the N-terminal 118 amino acids of VP2 are sufficient to confer vimentin interaction. ii) Deletion of amino acids 65–114 or mutation of amino acids 70–72 to DVD abrogates vimentin association. iii) Finally, disruption of vimentin structures results in an increase in cell associated BTV and a reduction in the amount of released virus from infected cells