The practice of cultural ecology: network connectivity in the creative economy

ABSTRACT

This paper reflects on approaches to collaborative knowledge exchange projects between UK universities and the creative economy. It develops a preliminary account of cultural ecology as a systematic approach to producing impact in the creative economy. It argues that such an approach is a powerful way to aggregate micro-businesses and small and medium sized enterprises in a meaningful network of new relationships. The paper uses social network analysis software to begin to visualise the pattern of relationships that constitute the ecosystem. The paper reports on the work of the Research and Enterprise for Arts and Creative Technologies Hub, one of four Knowledge Exchange Hubs for the Creative Economy established by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.     

Effect of cadence selection on peak power and time of power production in elite BMX riders: A laboratory based study

ABSTRACT

The aims of this study were to analyse the optimal cadence for peak power production and time to peak power in bicycle motocross (BMX) riders. Six male elite BMX riders volunteered for the study. Each rider completed 3 maximal sprints at a cadence of 80, 100, 120 and 140 revs · min^?1 on a laboratory Schoberer Rad Messtechnik (SRM) cycle ergometer in isokinetic mode. The riders’ mean values for peak power and time of power production in all 3 tests were recorded. The BMX riders produced peak power (1105 ± 139 W) at 100 revs · min^?1 with lower peak power produced at 80 revs · min^?1 (1060 ± 69 W, (F(2,15) = 3.162; P = .266; η² = 0.960), 120 revs · min^?1 (1077 ± 141 W, (F(2,15) = 4.348; P = .203; η² = 0.970) and 140 revs · min^?1 (1046 ± 175 W, (F(2,15) = 12.350; P = 0.077; η² = 0.989). The shortest time to power production was attained at 120 revs · min^?1 in 2.5 ± 1.07 s. Whilst a cadence of 80 revs · min^?1 (3.5 ± 0.8 s, (F(2,15) = 2.667; P = .284; η² = 0.800) 100 revs · min^?1 (3.00 ± 1.13 s, (F(2,15) = 24.832; P = .039; η² = 0.974) and 140 revs · min^?1 (3.50 ± 0.88 s, (F(2,15) = 44.167; P = .006; η² = 0.967)) all recorded a longer time to peak power production. The results indicate that the optimal cadence for producing peak power output and reducing the time to peak power output are attained at comparatively low cadences for sprint cycling events. These findings could potentially inform strength and conditioning training to maximise dynamic force production and enable coaches to select optimal gear ratios.     

Social Characteristics of Belgian Primary Teachers in the Twentieth Century

It is often claimed, both in the literature and by public opinion, that the status of teachers has declined sharply compared with the situation in the past. This article takes a more detailed look at the complex phenomenon of the ‘status’ of teachers. It does so on the basis of seven variables which ‘operatiohalise’ the process of social approval: the level of feminisation of the teaching corps, its social background, education, legal position and salary, the degree to which control has been obtained over the profession and its degree of social integration. Although a certain loss of prestige has undeniably occurred in comparison with other professions, it is evident that the status issue is not as clear cut as sometimes implied. In the first place, several contradictory trends were detected amongst the factors studied, indicating that the process of status acquisition and/or loss has not developed in a uniform manner. Moreover, statements concerning the relative status of this particular professional group always have to be related to other professions, regarding which the necessary basic data is not always present. It is evident, nonetheless, that the old (and not always very realistic) image of the ‘schoolmaster’ or ‘mistress’ with a ‘noble vocation’ to fulfil has faded nowadays, without the new ideal of the ‘education specialist’ yet establishing itself in the social context.     

语言·文化·习惯

我们学习英语时.应多了解一些西方人的文化和习俗,熟知不同国家之间的文化差异和语言表达习惯,才能学到地道的英语.下面举一些实例说明在学习英语中摆脱汉语影响的重要性.题外话:美女子的梦,只会使吏自己美好     

The PRET A Rapporter framework: Evaluating digital libraries from the perspective of information work

The strongest tradition of IR systems evaluation has focused on system effectiveness; more recently, there has been a growing interest in evaluation of Interactive IR systems, balancing system and user-oriented evaluation criteria. In this paper we shift the focus to considering how IR systems, and particularly digital libraries, can be evaluated to assess (and improve) their fit with users’ broader work activities. Taking this focus, we answer a different set of evaluation questions that reveal more about the design of interfaces, user–system interactions and how systems may be deployed in the information working context. The planning and conduct of such evaluation studies share some features with the established methods for conducting IR evaluation studies, but come with a shift in emphasis; for example, a greater range of ethical considerations may be pertinent. We present the PRET A Rapporter framework for structuring user-centred evaluation studies and illustrate its application to three evaluation studies of digital library systems.     

Identification of beneficial mass-included inerter-based vibration suppression configurations

Vibration suppression capabilities of linear passive vibration absorbers, such as traditional tuned mass damper (TMD), and recently proposed inerter-based vibration absorbers, have been studied for multiple mechanical systems. In particular, significant performance advantages have been obtained with a specific device making use of both inerter and mass elements, namely the tuned mass damper inerter (TMDI). However, there are still countless mass-included inerter-based configurations that have not been studied, which can potentially provide more preferred dynamic properties. In this paper, an immittance-function-layout (IFL) is introduced, which can cover a large range of topological connection possibilities with both mass and inerter elements. With the recently proposed structural immittance format, a systematic approach is established to identify the most beneficial IFL type mass-included inerter-based configurations with pre-determined number of each element type. Vibration suppression performance with single-IFL type device and two parallel-connected IFLs (i.e. dual-IFL) type devices are investigated in this paper. Three optimal configurations are identified for mitigating the maximum inter-storey drift of an example 3-storey building model subjected to base excitation. With this 3-storey building model, results show that, for the optimum single-IFL configuration, the performance improvement is 7.3% compared with the optimum TMDI, and with identified beneficial dual-IFL configurations, up to 34.9% performance advantages are obtained. Furthermore, consistent performance gains are shown under real-life earthquake inputs and with a 10-storey building model using identified absorber configurations.     

National/Global Synergy in the Development of Higher Education and Science in China since 1978

The paper reviews the rapid development of higher education and science in China in the last forty years. It discusses the conditions and strategies of that development, including the ways that it embodies a distinctive Chinese approach to higher education. In particular, the paper reflects on the policies whereby China coordinated with globalization in higher education and science after 1978, in building national capacity and global influence. Scale, nation-state policy goals and accelerated investment on their own are necessary but not sufficient (otherwise Saudi Arabia’s research universities would be stronger than they are). The effective national/global synergy developed by China, made possible by the international openness and part-devolution to science communities that was implemented in the Deng Xiaoping era, has been crucial in the rapid rise of China’s universities and science. This national/global synergy—and its potentials, tensions and limits—in turn has determined the nature of the achievement and will shape its future evolution.