The Rhythm of Our Lives: Popular Music and Cultural Memory in the Age of the Internet and Retro Culture

This thesis examines how popular music listening facilitates cultural memory through retro culture and the affordances of the internet and mobile listening technologies. The theoretical framework is comprised of a blend of approaches, namely, Hesmondhalgh’s (2005) ‘none of the above’ thesis, Mannheim’s (1928) concept of the ‘generation unit’, Williams’ (1961) ‘structures of feeling’, the concept of hauntology and a soft technological determinism. This framework is used to interpret the empirical data emerging from thirty-eight semi-structured interviews conducted with a cross-generational sample of male and female fans of older popular music aged between eighteen to sixty-two years of age and based in the greater Dublin area. Using theoretical and empirical evidence, then, the thesis argues that while popular music is continually associated with youth culture in academia, there is a developing trend of retro culture and nostalgia in recent years that demands more attention. It is found that the specific generation unit of younger fans in this study listen primarily to rock and indie music of the mid-to-late twentieth century and possess memories of and nostalgia for these particular genres and decades in their quest for authenticity and the desire to connect through music to a generation and time period that is not theirs. This is found to be the result of cultural developments such as changing generational relationships, the continued production and consumption of popular music by older generations, the structure of feeling shared by the generation unit, new means of retrieval, storage and distribution and also the revival of older formats. In short, the findings show that cultural and technological trends enmesh to influence the ways in which musical tastes and memories are constructed. There has been some work completed on this topic by journalists but little in terms of academic work and so my original contribution to existing knowledge arises from my analysis of the concept of retro culture through a theoretical and empirical study of music listeners

Electromagnetic Wave Theory and Applications

Contains table of contents for Section 3 and reports on five research projects.U.S. Department of Transportation Contract DTRS-57-88-C-00078TTD13U.S. Department of Transportation Contract DTRS-57-88-C-00078TTD30Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Contract MDA972-90-C-0021Digital Equipment CorporationIBM CorporationJoint Services Electronics Program Contract DAAL03-89-C-0001Joint Services Electronics Program Contract DAAL03-92-C-0001Schlumberger-Doll ResearchU.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-90-J-1002U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-89-J-1019National Aeronautics and Space Administration Grant NAGW-1617National Aeronautics and Space Administration Grant 958461National Aeronautics and Space Administration Grant NAGW-1272U.S. Army Corp of Engineers Contract DACA39-87-K-0022U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-89-J-110

The Rhythm of Our Lives: Popular Music and Cultural Memory in the Age of the Internet and Retro Culture

This thesis examines how popular music listening facilitates cultural memory through retro culture and the affordances of the internet and mobile listening technologies. The theoretical framework is comprised of a blend of approaches, namely, Hesmondhalgh’s (2005) ‘none of the above’ thesis, Mannheim’s (1928) concept of the ‘generation unit’, Williams’ (1961) ‘structures of feeling’, the concept of hauntology and a soft technological determinism. This framework is used to interpret the empirical data emerging from thirty-eight semi-structured interviews conducted with a cross-generational sample of male and female fans of older popular music aged between eighteen to sixty-two years of age and based in the greater Dublin area. Using theoretical and empirical evidence, then, the thesis argues that while popular music is continually associated with youth culture in academia, there is a developing trend of retro culture and nostalgia in recent years that demands more attention. It is found that the specific generation unit of younger fans in this study listen primarily to rock and indie music of the mid-to-late twentieth century and possess memories of and nostalgia for these particular genres and decades in their quest for authenticity and the desire to connect through music to a generation and time period that is not theirs. This is found to be the result of cultural developments such as changing generational relationships, the continued production and consumption of popular music by older generations, the structure of feeling shared by the generation unit, new means of retrieval, storage and distribution and also the revival of older formats. In short, the findings show that cultural and technological trends enmesh to influence the ways in which musical tastes and memories are constructed. There has been some work completed on this topic by journalists but little in terms of academic work and so my original contribution to existing knowledge arises from my analysis of the concept of retro culture through a theoretical and empirical study of music listeners

The Rhythm of Our Lives: Popular Music and Cultural Memory in the Age of the Internet and Retro Culture

This thesis examines how popular music listening facilitates cultural memory through retro culture and the affordances of the internet and mobile listening technologies. The theoretical framework is comprised of a blend of approaches, namely, Hesmondhalgh’s (2005) ‘none of the above’ thesis, Mannheim’s (1928) concept of the ‘generation unit’, Williams’ (1961) ‘structures of feeling’, the concept of hauntology and a soft technological determinism. This framework is used to interpret the empirical data emerging from thirty-eight semi-structured interviews conducted with a cross-generational sample of male and female fans of older popular music aged between eighteen to sixty-two years of age and based in the greater Dublin area. Using theoretical and empirical evidence, then, the thesis argues that while popular music is continually associated with youth culture in academia, there is a developing trend of retro culture and nostalgia in recent years that demands more attention. It is found that the specific generation unit of younger fans in this study listen primarily to rock and indie music of the mid-to-late twentieth century and possess memories of and nostalgia for these particular genres and decades in their quest for authenticity and the desire to connect through music to a generation and time period that is not theirs. This is found to be the result of cultural developments such as changing generational relationships, the continued production and consumption of popular music by older generations, the structure of feeling shared by the generation unit, new means of retrieval, storage and distribution and also the revival of older formats. In short, the findings show that cultural and technological trends enmesh to influence the ways in which musical tastes and memories are constructed. There has been some work completed on this topic by journalists but little in terms of academic work and so my original contribution to existing knowledge arises from my analysis of the concept of retro culture through a theoretical and empirical study of music listeners

The Rhythm of Our Lives: Popular Music and Cultural Memory in the Age of the Internet and Retro Culture

This thesis examines how popular music listening facilitates cultural memory through retro culture and the affordances of the internet and mobile listening technologies. The theoretical framework is comprised of a blend of approaches, namely, Hesmondhalgh’s (2005) ‘none of the above’ thesis, Mannheim’s (1928) concept of the ‘generation unit’, Williams’ (1961) ‘structures of feeling’, the concept of hauntology and a soft technological determinism. This framework is used to interpret the empirical data emerging from thirty-eight semi-structured interviews conducted with a cross-generational sample of male and female fans of older popular music aged between eighteen to sixty-two years of age and based in the greater Dublin area. Using theoretical and empirical evidence, then, the thesis argues that while popular music is continually associated with youth culture in academia, there is a developing trend of retro culture and nostalgia in recent years that demands more attention. It is found that the specific generation unit of younger fans in this study listen primarily to rock and indie music of the mid-to-late twentieth century and possess memories of and nostalgia for these particular genres and decades in their quest for authenticity and the desire to connect through music to a generation and time period that is not theirs. This is found to be the result of cultural developments such as changing generational relationships, the continued production and consumption of popular music by older generations, the structure of feeling shared by the generation unit, new means of retrieval, storage and distribution and also the revival of older formats. In short, the findings show that cultural and technological trends enmesh to influence the ways in which musical tastes and memories are constructed. There has been some work completed on this topic by journalists but little in terms of academic work and so my original contribution to existing knowledge arises from my analysis of the concept of retro culture through a theoretical and empirical study of music listeners

The Rhythm of Our Lives: Popular Music and Cultural Memory in the Age of the Internet and Retro Culture

This thesis examines how popular music listening facilitates cultural memory through retro culture and the affordances of the internet and mobile listening technologies. The theoretical framework is comprised of a blend of approaches, namely, Hesmondhalgh’s (2005) ‘none of the above’ thesis, Mannheim’s (1928) concept of the ‘generation unit’, Williams’ (1961) ‘structures of feeling’, the concept of hauntology and a soft technological determinism. This framework is used to interpret the empirical data emerging from thirty-eight semi-structured interviews conducted with a cross-generational sample of male and female fans of older popular music aged between eighteen to sixty-two years of age and based in the greater Dublin area. Using theoretical and empirical evidence, then, the thesis argues that while popular music is continually associated with youth culture in academia, there is a developing trend of retro culture and nostalgia in recent years that demands more attention. It is found that the specific generation unit of younger fans in this study listen primarily to rock and indie music of the mid-to-late twentieth century and possess memories of and nostalgia for these particular genres and decades in their quest for authenticity and the desire to connect through music to a generation and time period that is not theirs. This is found to be the result of cultural developments such as changing generational relationships, the continued production and consumption of popular music by older generations, the structure of feeling shared by the generation unit, new means of retrieval, storage and distribution and also the revival of older formats. In short, the findings show that cultural and technological trends enmesh to influence the ways in which musical tastes and memories are constructed. There has been some work completed on this topic by journalists but little in terms of academic work and so my original contribution to existing knowledge arises from my analysis of the concept of retro culture through a theoretical and empirical study of music listeners

Predicting outcomes for children with neuroblastoma using a multigene-expression signature: a retrospective SIOPEN/COG/GPOH study

Background More accurate prognostic assessment of patients with neuroblastoma is required to better inform the choice of risk-related therapy. The aim of this study is to develop and validate a gene-expression signature to improve outcome prediction. Methods 59 genes were selected using an innovative data-mining strategy, and were profiled in the largest neuroblastoma patient series (n=579) to date using real-time quantitative PCR starting from only 20 ng of RNA. A multigene-expression signature was built using 30 training samples, tested on 313 test samples, and subsequently validated in a blind study on an independent set of 236 tumours. Findings The signature has a performance, sensitivity, and specificity of 85.4% (95% CI 77.7-93.2), 84.4% (66.5-94.1), and 86.5% (81.1-90.6), respectively, to predict patient outcome. Multivariate analysis indicates that the signature is a significant independent predictor of overall survival and progression-free survival after controlling for currently used risk factors: patients with high molecular risk have a higher risk of death from disease and higher risk of relapse or progression than patients with low molecular risk (odds ratio 19.32 [95% CI 6.50-57.43] and 3.96 [1.97-7.97] for overall survival and progression-free survival, respectively, both p<0.0001). Patients at an increased risk of an adverse outcome can also be identified in the current treatment groups, showing the potential of this signature for improved clinical management. These results were confirmed in the validation study, in which the signature was also independently statistically significant in a model adjusted for MYCN status, age, International Neuroblastoma Staging System stage, ploidy, International Neuroblastoma Pathology Classification grade of differentiation, and mitosis karyorrhexis index (odds ratios between 4.81 and 10.53 depending on the model for overall survival and 3.68 [95% CI 2.01-6.71] for progression-free survival). Interpretation The 59-gene expression signature is an accurate predictor of outcome in patients with neuroblastoma. The signature is an independent risk predictor, identifying patients with an increased risk of poor outcome in the current clinical-risk groups. The method and signature is suitable for routine laboratory testing, and should be evaluated in prospective studies. Funding The Belgian Foundation Against Cancer, the Children Cancer Fund Ghent, the Belgian Society of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology, the Belgian Kid's Fund and the Fondation Nuovo-Soldati (JV), the Fund for Scientific Research Flanders (KDP, JH), the Fund for Scientific Research Flanders, the institute for the Promotion of Innovation by Science and Technology in Flanders, Strategisch basisonderzoek, the Fondation Fournier Majoie pour l'Innovation, the Instituto Carlos III, the Italian Neuroblastoma Foundation, the European Community under the FP6, and the Belgian programme of Interuniversity Poles of Attraction

Incorporating Prior Information into a GMM Objective for Mixed Logit Demand Systems

It is well known that random parameters specifications can generate upward sloping demands for a subset of products in the data. Nevo (2001), for example, found 0.7 percent of demands to be upward sloping. Possibly less well known is that demand system estimates can imply margins outside of the theoretical bounds for profit maximization. If such violations are numerous enough, they can confound merger simulation exercises. Using Lerner indices for multiproduct firms playing static Bertrand games, we find that up to 35 percent of implied margins for beer are outside the bounds. We characterize downward sloping demand and the theoretical bounds for profit maximization as prior information and extend the GMM objective function, incorporating inequality moments for product-level own-elasticities and brand-level or product-level Lerner indices. These moments impose a cost when the inequality is violated, and equal zero otherwise. Very few violations remain when an inequality constrained estimator is used. Importantly, the unconstrained GMM objective has multiple minima, while the constrained objective has only one minimum when the product-level constraints are used in our illustration. This is valuable for policy purposes as it enables one to limit attention to a single theoretically consistent model. Inputs to merger simulations are likewise consistent with economic theory, and, as a result, confidence in the output is increased. In a second innovation, this paper introduces merger simulation for static Stackelberg price competition games. Our illustration uses beer data, a perfect vehicle for introducing Stackelberg games as the economics literature and industry trade press have long considered Anheuser-Busch to be the industry price leader. We find evidence of positive pre-merger price conjectures consistent with beer brands being strategic complements. Allowing the leader to update their conjectures in response to a merger provides dramatically different post-merger price and share changes relative to Bertrand. The Stackelberg conjectures are used as a strategic tool that allows post-merger product repositioning unavailable under Bertrand

Age Dependency of the Prognostic Impact of Tumor Genomics in Localized Resectable MYCN-Nonamplified Neuroblastomas. Report From the SIOPEN Biology Group on the LNESG Trials and a COG Validation Group

Purpose: For localized, resectable neuroblastoma without MYCN amplification, surgery only is recommended even if incomplete. However, it is not known whether the genomic background of these tumors may influence outcome. Patients and methods: Diagnostic samples were obtained from 317 tumors, International Neuroblastoma Staging System stages 1/2A/2B, from 3 cohorts: Localized Neuroblastoma European Study Group I/II and Children's Oncology Group. Genomic data were analyzed using multi- and pangenomic techniques and fluorescence in-situ hybridization in 2 age groups (cutoff age, 18 months) and were quality controlled by the International Society of Pediatric Oncology European Neuroblastoma (SIOPEN) Biology Group. Results: Patients with stage 1 tumors had an excellent outcome (5-year event-free survival [EFS] ± standard deviation [SD], 95% ± 2%; 5-year overall survival [OS], 99% ± 1%). In contrast, patients with stage 2 tumors had a reduced EFS in both age groups (5-year EFS ± SD, 84% ± 3% in patients < 18 months of age and 75% ± 7% in patients ≥ 18 months of age). However, OS was significantly decreased only in the latter group (5-year OS ± SD in < 18months and ≥ 18months, 96% ± 2% and 81% ± 7%, respectively; P = .001). In < 18months, relapses occurred independent of segmental chromosome aberrations (SCAs); only 1p loss decreased EFS (5-year EFS ± SD in patients 1p loss and no 1p loss, 62% ± 13% and 87% ± 3%, respectively; P = .019) but not OS (5-year OS ± SD, 92% ± 8% and 97% ± 2%, respectively). In patients ≥ 18 months, only SCAs led to relapse and death, with 11q loss as the strongest marker (11q loss and no 11q loss: 5-year EFS ± SD, 48% ± 16% and 85% ± 7%, P = .033; 5-year OS ± SD, 46% ± 22% and 92% ± 6%, P = .038). Conclusion: Genomic aberrations of resectable non-MYCN-amplified stage 2 neuroblastomas have a distinct age-dependent prognostic impact. Chromosome 1p loss is a risk factor for relapse but not for diminished OS in patients 18months. In older patients with SCA, a randomized trial of postoperative chemotherapy compared with observation alone may be indicated.Funded in part by Oesterreichische National Bank (Grant No. 13422), Wissenschaftsfonds FWF (Grant No. I 2799-B28), and Directorate-General V, European Commission (Grant No. SOC 98 201284 05F02), all to P.F.A.; and Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Grant No. PI17/01558) to R.N.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio