1,324 research outputs found
Grappling with movement models: performing arts and slippery contexts
The ways we leave, recognise, and interpret marks of human
movement are deeply entwined with layerings of collective
memory. Although we retroactively order chronological
sediments to map shareable stories, our remediations often
emerge unpredictably from a multidimensional mnemonic
fabric: contemporary ideas can resonate with ancient aspirations and initiatives, and foreign fields of investigation can inform ostensibly unrelated endeavours. Such links reinforce the debunking of grand narratives, and resonate with quests for the new kinds of thinking needed to address the mix of living, technological, and semiotic systems that makes up our wider ecology. As a highly evolving field, movement-and-computing is exceptionally open to, and needy of, this diversity.
This paper argues for awareness of the analytical apparatus
we sometimes too unwittingly bring to bear on our research objects, and for the value of transdisciplinary and
tangential thinking to diversify our research questions. With a view to seeking ways to articulate new, shareable questions rather than propose answers, it looks at wider questions of problem-framing. It emphasises the importance of - quite literally - grounding movement, of recognising its environmental implications and qualities. Informed by work on expressive gesture and creative use of instruments in domains including puppetry and music, this paper also insists on the complexity and heterogeneity of the research strands that are indissociably bound up in our corporeal-technological movement practices
Creative methodologies for understanding a creative industry
The chapter presents a conceptual framework for the identification and analysis of value creating and value capture systems within creative industry contexts based on theoretical and empirical studies. It provides a âdigital economyâ perspective of the creative industries as a micro-level example of a wider analytical problem, which is how society changes itself. The increasing level of innovation and creativity produces greater levels of instability in social structures (habits, norms etc.) Completely new industries can arise (and âcreativelyâ destroy old ones) as new stabilised patterns form, particularly where entry costs are tumbling, such as digital milieu. Observations of workshops over several days with creative groups, interviews with creative enterprises, literature reviews on creative industries, business models and value systems have informed the analysis and conceptualisation. As a result we present a conceptual framework that we suggest can capture how novelty arises as emergent order over time. We have extended previous work that investigates the significance of emergence in theorising entrepreneurship into an exploration of how to articulate the creation and flow of value and effective ontology in a creative landscape. In the digital economy, the creative industries revolve around dynamic, innovative and often unorthodox collaborations, whereby numerous large, small and micro-businesses come together for the duration of a project, then disband and form new partnerships for the next project. Research designs must therefore address multiple contexts and levels presenting an analytical challenge to researchers. Methodologically, we suggest that the framework has analytical potential to support the collection of data: ordering and categorising empirical observations concerning how different phenomena emerge over time across multiple levels of analysis and contexts. Conceptually, the work broadens the notions of âbusiness modelâ to consider value creating systems and particular states reached by those systems in their evolution. The work contributes new concepts for researchers in this field and a wider framework for practitioners and policy makers
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Senses of liveness for digital times
Performing arts allow us to creatively challenge digitally remediated experience, and to collectively reflect on and explore its prolific scales, materials, and modes of existence. Through celebrations of diversity and idiosyncracy, live performance helps us counter the normative pressures of digitisation. This keynote looks at how theatre - Artaud's crucible - is a uniquely powerful means for mobilising the poetic energies that characterise what is human, and what it is to be human. This in turn is seen as a source of vital resilience, tuning our senses of liveness to digital - and post-digital - times
Progesterone and Preterm Birth
Progestogens (vaginal progesterone and intramuscular 17âhydroxyprogesterone acetate) are widely recommended for women at high risk of preterm birth. Typical regimens include 17âhydroxyprogesterone caproate (250 mg intramuscularly weekly), starting at 16â20 gestational weeks until 36 weeks or delivery for women with a singleton gestation and a history of spontaneous preterm birth, or vaginal progesterone (90âmg vaginal gel or 200âmg micronized vaginal soft capsules) for women with a short cervix (typically â¤25 mm). Although some randomized trials support this approach, neither of the largest trials (PROLONG for 17âhydroxyprogesterone acetate or OPPTIMUM for vaginal progesterone) demonstrated efficacy. There are almost no data on longâterm effects, and none that shows benefit beyond the neonatal period. Although some analyses suggest the costâeffectiveness of the approach, a cervical length screening program followed by progesterone for those with a short cervix will reduce preterm birth rates by less than 0.5%. The present review assesses evidence on the efficacy, likely impact, and longâterm effects of implementing the recommendations for progestogens in full. Clinicians and pregnant women can look forward to resolution of the conflicting views on efficacy once the PatientâCentered Outcomes Research Initiative (PCORI)âfunded individual patient data metaâanalysis is published
INVESTIGATION AND SIMULATION OF HOT WATER USE AND PRODUCTION IN FARM DAIRIES
The dairy farming sector of European Agriculture is currently under
considerable economic pressure so the aim of each farmer should be
to produce saleable milk, at the lowest cost. One important area
of concern is the expenditure on hot water for hygiene, as to be
acceptable to the buyer the milk must have a low level of
contaminants. Clean milk is produced from clean, healthy udders by
means of equipment which is adequately and appropriately cleaned.
To facilitate this hygienic milk production most dairies are
eguipped with heaters to provide water at 40°C (for cleaning
udders) and 80- 100°C (for plant cleaning). The practice of udder
washing is a subjective process as it depends on the operator's
judgement of a 'clean' udder and his view of necessity. In England
and Wales there are two only accepted methods of plant cleaning,
circulation cleaning and Acidified Boiling Water (A. B. W.). Prior
to the. audit described it was expected that water and electricity
consumption for plant cleaning would be predictable.
To date there has been little information on the volume and
temperature of water used on commercial dairy farms and the
electricty consumed to produce this hot water. It is therefore
difficult for farmers to make informed judgement on methods of
reducing their electricity costs.
Thirteen farms in South Devon have been monitored, to establish
current practice: farmers were questioned about their water use;
electricity and water consumption were metered for two years; and
cleaning practices were observed. This survey has revealed that
many non-standard cleaning methods are used on dairy farms, making
the prediction of water and electricity consumption difficult. The
management of equipment has been revealed as the most important
aspect in determining the energy used.
A computer model has been produced to simulate water heating in the
farm dairy, which can be used to advise farmers as to the energy
cost of their cleaning practices. This model has .been successfully
used on several of the farms surveyed, on one farm its use resulted
in energy savings in excess of 400 kWh per month.The Electricity Counci
Feasibility and design of a trial to determine the optimal mode of delivery in women presenting in preterm labour, or with planned preterm delivery: CASSAVA
Elective induction of labour on maternal request: why do we continue to deny women this option?
Long term cognitive outcomes of early term (37-38 weeks) and late preterm (34-36 weeks) births: a systematic review
Background: There is a paucity of evidence regarding long-term outcomes of late preterm (34-36 weeks) and early term (37-38 weeks) delivery. The objective of this systematic review was to assess long-term cognitive outcomes of children born at these gestations. Methods: Four electronic databases (Medline, Embase, clinicaltrials.gov and PsycINFO) were searched. Last search was 5 th August 2016.  Studies were included if they reported gestational age, IQ measure and the ages assessed. The protocol was registered with the International prospective register of systematic reviews (PROSPERO Record CRD42015015472). Two independent reviewers assessed the studies. Data were abstracted and critical appraisal performed of eligible papers. Results: Of 11,905 potential articles, seven studies reporting on 41,344 children were included. For early term births, four studies (n = 35,711) consistently showed an increase in cognitive scores for infants born at full term (39-41 weeks) compared to those born at early term (37-38 weeks) with increases for each week of term (difference between 37 and 40 weeks of around 3 IQ points), despite differences in age of testing and method of IQ/cognitive testing. Four studies (n = 5644) reporting childhood cognitive outcomes of late preterm births (34 - 36 weeks) also differed in study design (cohort and case control); age of testing; and method of IQ testing, and found no differences in outcomes between late preterm and term births, although risk of bias was high in included studies. Conclusion: Children born at 39-41 weeks have higher cognitive outcome scores compared to those born at early term (37-38 weeks). This should be considered when discussing timing of delivery. For children born late preterm, the data is scarce and when compared to full term (37-42 weeks) did not show any difference in IQ scores
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