“A Uniting Force:” Irish Music on U.S. Radio

Ethnic music of all kinds has had a powerful influence on American popular music throughout history, and this is certainly true of Irish music. For nearly 100 years, radio has been a vital conduit for conveying musical influences of all kinds to listeners and musicians alike. This qualitative study analyzes Irish radio broadcasting in the United States The article is based upon an open-ended survey of U.S. broadcasters of Irish music programs in the top 10 markets and provides a summary of their recent playlists.     

Training the inspiratory muscles improves running performance when carrying a 25 kg thoracic load in a backpack

Load carriage (LC) exercise in physically demanding occupations is typically characterised by periods of low-intensity steady-state exercise and short duration, high-intensity exercise while carrying an external mass in a backpack; this form of exercise is also known as LC exercise. This induces inspiratory muscle fatigue and reduces whole-body performance. Accordingly we investigated the effect of inspiratory muscle training (IMT, 50% maximal inspiratory muscle pressure (P_Imax) twice daily for six week) upon running time-trial performance with thoracic LC. Nineteen healthy males formed a pressure threshold IMT (n?=?10) or placebo control group (PLA; n?=?9) and performed 60?min LC exercise (6.5?km?h^–1) followed by a 2.4?km running time trial (LC_TT) either side of a double-blind six week intervention. Prior to the intervention, P_Imax was reduced relative to baseline, post-LC and post-LC_TT in both groups (pooled data: 13?±?7% and 16?±?8%, respectively, p?P_Imax increased +31% (p?TT (+18%, p?P_Imax at each time point was unchanged (13?±?11% and 17?±?9%, respectively, p?>?.05). In IMT only, heart rate and perceptual responses were reduced post-LC (p?p?相似文献   

‘Excellence’ and Exclusion: The Individual Costs of Institutional Competitiveness

A performance-based funding system like the United Kingdom’s ‘Research Excellence Framework’ (REF) symbolizes the re-rationalization of higher education according to neoliberal ideology and New Public Management technologies. The REF is also significant for disclosing the kinds of behaviour that characterize universities’ response to government demands for research auditability. In this paper, we consider the casualties of what Henry Giroux (2014) calls “neoliberalism’s war on higher education” or more precisely the deleterious consequences of non-participation in the REF. We also discuss the ways with which higher education’s competition fetish, embodied within the REF, affects the instrumentalization of academic research and the diminution of academic freedom, autonomy and criticality.     

The characterization of four gene expression analysis in circulating tumor cells made by Multiplex-PCR from the AdnaTest kit on the lab-on-a-chip Agilent DNA 1000 platform

Introduction

Nowadays, on-a-chip capillary electrophoresis is a routine method for the detection of PCR fragments. The Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer was one of the first commercial devices in this field. Our project was designed to study the characteristics of Agilent DNA 1000 kit in PCR fragment analysis as a part of circulating tumour cell (CTC) detection technique. Despite the common use of this kit a complex analysis of the results from a long-term project is still missing.

Materials and methods

A commercially available Agilent DNA 1000 kit was used as a final step in the CTC detection (AdnaTest) for the determination of the presence of PCR fragments generated by Multiplex PCR. Data from 30 prostate cancer patients obtained during two years of research were analyzed to determine the trueness and precision of the PCR fragment size determination. Additional experiments were performed to demonstrate the precision (repeatability, reproducibility) and robustness of PCR fragment concentration determination.

Results

The trueness and precision of the size determination was below 3% and 2% respectively. The repeatability of the concentration determination was below 15%. The difference in concentration determination increases when Multiplex-PCR/storage step is added between the two measurements of one sample.

Conclusions

The characteristics established in our study are in concordance with the manufacturer’s specifications established for a ladder as a sample. However, the concentration determination may vary depending on chip preparation, sample storage and concentration. The 15% variation of concentration determination repeatability was shown to be partly proportional and can be suppressed by proper normalization.Key words: lab-on-a-chip devices, capillary electrophoresis, multiplex PCR, circulating tumour cells, Agilent DNA 1000 kit     

Sectoral patterns of small firm innovation, networking and proximity

Drawing upon a sample of 597 small and medium-sized manufacturing firms, this article investigates the extent to which cooperation for innovation is associated with firm-level product and process ‘innovativeness’ and, where collaborative relationships are reported, the factors which influence their spatial distribution. With respect to the former issue, the data suggests considerable variety of association across Pavitt’s [Research Policy 13 (1994) 343] sectoral taxonomy and innovation type. However, the data also indicates the need for caution when developing network strategies or policies: the evidence presented here is unequivocal in noting that innovation is neither a necessary nor less a sufficient condition for innovation. Moreover, internal resources often act as complements to, or indeed appears to negate the need for, external resources. With regards to the spatial distribution of firm linkages, it appears that increasing firms size and export propensity are positively associated with external linkages at a higher spatial level. Moreover, the spatial reach of innovation-related linkages is also likely to be greater for firms reporting the introduction of relatively novel innovations (i.e. products or processes which are new to the industry). In contrast, smaller firms and firms engaged in incremental product innovations appear more likely to be locally embedded.     

Chinese Rooms and Program Portability

I argue in this article that there is a mistake in Searle'sChinese room argument that has not received sufficient attention.The mistake stems from Searle's use of the Church–Turingthesis. Searle assumes that the Church–Turing thesis licencesthe assumption that the Chinese room can run any program. Iargue that it does not, and that this assumption is false. Anumber of possible objections are considered and rejected. Myconclusion is that it is consistent with Searle's argument tohold onto the claim that understanding consists in the runningof a program.

1 Searle's Argument

1.1 The Church–Turingthesis

2 Criticism of Searle's Argument

3 Objectionsand Replies

3.1 The virtual brain machine objection

3.2The brain-basedobjection

3.3 The syntax/physics objection

3.4 The abstractionobjection

3.5 The ‘same conclusion’objection

3.6 The ‘unnecessary baggage’ objection

3.7The Chinese gym objection

3.8 The syntax/semantics objection

3.9 Turing's definition of algorithm

3.9.1 Consequences

3.9.2 Criticism of the defence

4 Conclusion