52 research outputs found
Clinical Impact of Monoclonal Antibodies in the Treatment of High-Risk Patients with SARS-CoV-2 Breakthrough Infections:The ORCHESTRA Prospective Cohort Study
No full textThe clinical impact of anti-spike monoclonal antibodies (mAb) in Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) breakthrough infections is unclear. We present the results of an observational prospective cohort study assessing and comparing COVID-19 progression in high-risk outpatients receiving mAb according to primary or breakthrough infection. Clinical, serological and virological predictors associated with 28-day COVID-19-related hospitalization were identified using multivariate logistic regression and summarized with odds ratio (aOR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). A total of 847 COVID-19 outpatients were included: 414 with primary and 433 with breakthrough infection. Hospitalization was observed in 42/414 (10.1%) patients with primary and 8/433 (1.8%) patients with breakthrough infection (p < 0.001). aOR for hospitalization was significantly lower for breakthrough infection (aOR 0.12, 95%CI: 0.05–0.27, p < 0.001) and higher for immunocompromised status (aOR:2.35, 95%CI:1.08–5.08, p = 0.003), advanced age (aOR:1.06, 95%CI: 1.03–1.08, p < 0.001), and male gender (aOR:1.97, 95%CI: 1.04–3.73, p = 0.037). Among the breakthrough infection group, the median SARS-CoV-2 anti-spike IgGs was lower (p < 0.001) in immunocompromised and elderly patients >75 years compared with that in the immunocompetent patients. Our findings suggest that, among mAb patients, those with breakthrough infection have significantly lower hospitalization risk compared with patients with primary infection. Prognostic algorithms combining clinical and immune-virological characteristics are needed to ensure appropriate and up-to-date clinical protocols targeting high-risk categories.</p
[[alternative]]The Investigation on the Viewpoints of String Orchestra Conductors at Elementary Schools in Taipei
No full text[[abstract]]Abstract
The study is aimed at carrying out the investigation on the viewpoints of string orchestra conductors at elementary schools in Taipei along with how those conductors interact with the schools’ administrations. Interviews were conducted with a questionnaire designed by the researcher. The data were collected from twenty string orchestras conductors in Taipei. The result is carried out by means of frequency, percentage, and correlation coefficient.
The results of the data analysis found that, in terms of giving drills like ear training and bow techniques, the relevance is obvious when conductors were majored in strings were compared to those were non-strings majors; secondly, it is quite common for school administrative staff to introduce the curriculum in a public presentation; scale exercise is the most widely done in ensemble, while getting the orchestra members to know the required pieces is the first priority to set in; over half of the conductors interviewed take it as the top priority to shape the performing techniques of the members when selecting the methods, among which “Strictly Strings” is the method book most widely used; furthermore, more than half of the them also prepare materials by themselves. In addition, the result of the survey shows that the requirements for “The National Students Music Competition”, from 1995 to 2004, are viewed by more than half of the conductors interviewed as “too difficult for elementary school orchestra”; time for practicing and rehearsing is greatly lengthened for all the string orchestras which have participated in “The National Students Music Competition”; 75% of the elementary schools in Taipei provide classrooms specially reserved for string orchestras; strings are sufficient in numbers,
while only 30% of the schools sponsor expenses for the string orchestras; 85% of the
schools provide administrative assistance for the string orchestras; 65% of the school administrations learn well the individual situation of every orchestra member; 80% of the school administrations show good care about how the orchestras are working; 85% of the school administrations respect the specialties of the orchestra conductors. Suggestions are offered in terms of the recruiting process, the training courses, the curriculum, the school administrations, and the music department of colleges.
Keywords: string orchestra at elementary school, string orchestra conductor,
string group instruction, school administration
Abstract
The study is aimed at carrying out the investigation on the viewpoints of string orchestra conductors at elementary schools in Taipei along with how those conductors interact with the schools’ administrations. Interviews were conducted with a questionnaire designed by the researcher. The data were collected from twenty string orchestras conductors in Taipei. The result is carried out by means of frequency, percentage, and correlation coefficient.
The results of the data analysis found that, in terms of giving drills like ear training and bow techniques, the relevance is obvious when conductors were majored in strings were compared to those were non-strings majors; secondly, it is quite common for school administrative staff to introduce the curriculum in a public presentation; scale exercise is the most widely done in ensemble, while getting the orchestra members to know the required pieces is the first priority to set in; over half of the conductors interviewed take it as the top priority to shape the performing techniques of the members when selecting the methods, among which “Strictly Strings” is the method book most widely used; furthermore, more than half of the them also prepare materials by themselves. In addition, the result of the survey shows that the requirements for “The National Students Music Competition”, from 1995 to 2004, are viewed by more than half of the conductors interviewed as “too difficult for elementary school orchestra”; time for practicing and rehearsing is greatly lengthened for all the string orchestras which have participated in “The National Students Music Competition”; 75% of the elementary schools in Taipei provide classrooms specially reserved for string orchestras; strings are sufficient in numbers,
while only 30% of the schools sponsor expenses for the string orchestras; 85% of the
schools provide administrative assistance for the string orchestras; 65% of the school administrations learn well the individual situation of every orchestra member; 80% of the school administrations show good care about how the orchestras are working; 85% of the school administrations respect the specialties of the orchestra conductors. Suggestions are offered in terms of the recruiting process, the training courses, the curriculum, the school administrations, and the music department of colleges.
Keywords: string orchestra at elementary school, string orchestra conductor,
string group instruction, school administration
Host immunological responses facilitate development of SARS-CoV-2 mutations in patients receiving monoclonal antibody treatments
No full textAbstract: The role of host immunity in emergence of evasive SARS-CoV-2 Spike mutations under therapeutic monoclonal antibody (mAb) pressure remains to be explored. Here, we show that patients treated with various anti-SARS-CoV-2 mAb regimens develop evasive Spike mutations with remarkable speed and high specificity to the targeted mAb-binding sites. Mutations develop more frequently in immunocompromised patients and strongly correlate not only with neutralizing capacity of the therapeutic mAbs, but also with an anti-inflammatory and healing-promoting host milieu. We further built and deploy machine-learning models on host-derived biomarkers that identify patients at high risk of developing escape mutations against therapeutic mAbs with high accuracy. While our data suggest that host-driven responses are essential for development of mutant SARS-CoV-2, the mechanisms and models described here could also be utilized to reduce risk of treatment failure in high-risk populations receiving anti-SARS-CoV-2 mAb treatments and improve mitigation strategies for possible dissemination of escape SARS-CoV-2 mutants
A.J. Potter (1918-1980): The career and creative achievement of an Irish composer in social and cultural context
No full textA. J. Potter (1918-1980) was one of the most significant composers working in Ireland in the latter part of the twentieth century. This thesis surveys his career and creative achievement, which have not hitherto been subjected to detailed scrutiny. The opening chapter presents a biographical overview: its first part outlines the circumstances of Potter's childhood and early adulthood, including his studies with Vaughan Williams at the Royal College of Music in London, his period of service in the British Army during World War II and his subsequent three-year sojourn in Africa; the second continues the narrative from 1951, when he settled permanently in Ireland, up to his death in 1980. In addition to detailing events of note in his private and professional life, an important subsidiary focus of this section is to depict the impoverished and culturally marginalised nature of Irish musical life at this period and describe the frustrations that these conditions engendered for the composer and his contemporaries. The remaining chapters are devoted to an examination of Potter's major works. Chapter 2 considers four student compositions that were written or conceived in the late 1930s and were subsequently revised when he resumed composing in 1949 after a creative silence of over a decade. Chapter 3 is divided in two parts: the first delineates the salient features of his mature creative aesthetic, while the second provides an account of his later orchestral works. The remaining chapters explore his choral music and stage works, which, in addition to the scores previously described, constitute his most noteworthy achievements
The music of Hamish MacCunn (1868-1916): a critical study
No full textApart from a single study of Jeanie Deans, MacCunn's music has, to date, never received a detailed examination. This thesis aims to provide a contextual basis for, and a stylistic analysis of, his major works, and so establish informed criteria by which a truer assessment of MacCunn's significance may be made, challenging the sovereignty of Land of the Mountain and the Flood in the public's reckoning of his compositions and hence revealing it to be not an isolated peak but one summit among many. Hamish MacCunn (1868-1916) grew up in Greenock on the west coast of Scotland before removing to London at the tender age of 15 to further his musical studies at the Royal College of Music. His assimilation of a robust orchestral technique was rapid and before he reached his twentieth birthday he had already tasted the pleasures of public approbation. Thereafter, a sequence of orchestral works, cantatas, songs and two grand operas with a pronounced Scottish character appeared in the late eighties and nineties. It is this period which is the focus of the study, but later works dating from MacCunn's time conducting West End shows are also discussed. Through a generic survey of his output, the thesis locates the composer's works within a historical and biographical framework, isolating characteristic traits both novel and derived from the earlier Nineteenth Century inheritance, and evaluating his position as a composer of his time and afterwards. In particular his strengths and penchants as a composer have been identified with special emphasis on the composer’s bias for dramatic or narrative music, amply demonstrated in his overtures, cantatas and, above all, his two operas Jeanie Deans and Diarmid. To complement the chapters on MacCunn's musical works, an opening biographical chapter, a comprehensive catalogue, a family tree, iconography and bibliography have been provided. Throughout the thesis, reference has been made to primary sources held in Glasgow and other libraries throughout Britain and the United States, in an attempt to arrive at as complete a picture of MacCunn as possible
Exploring Emptiness: An Investigation of MA and MU in My Sonic Composition Practice
No full textThe commentary investigates Japanese aesthetics of space, silence and emptiness - ma and mu - that informed my compositional practice during the research period 2012 - 2015. The portfolio comprises text compositions and sound installations in which forms of micro events and sustained events are employed. Throughout, the emphasis is on my personal engagement with, and manifestation of emptiness that concerns a particular model of listening and perception.
Chapter 1 discusses six primary research areas: ma and mu, material, text, form, listening and perception. Firstly, I introduce ma and mu by examining noh culture and Zeami's teaching of senu hima (where there is no-action) in the context of my personal approaches to music. The following subjects are then used to contextualise my PhD practice by means of examples from various composers and visual artists. Here, these particular and enigmatic concepts are explored through Japanese art as well as Western contemporary works by Alvin Lucier, Eliane Radigue and those of the Wandelweiser collective.
Part 2 provides contextual commentaries on selected compositions from the portfolio that mostly articulate my aesthetics in relation to the topics covered in Chapter 1. koso koso addresses my methodologies to investigate the essence of senu hima, followed by treow that discusses my approach to materials and the importance of space. I move on to grade two and grade two extended in order to examine text scores, and then, look into Espèces d'espaces 03 and 04 as examples of musical forms that I employ.
Finally, listening and perception are investigated through the compositions gnome and con.de.structuring. Throughout, I describe how my works explore emptiness as a result of my particular emphasis on listening over composing
Musiikkiopistojen maestrot : Oppilasorkesterinjohtajan taidot ja niiden kehittäminen
No full textTämän tutkimuksen päätavoite oli selvittää, mitä taitoja ja ominaisuuksia oppilas- tai harrastajaorkesteria johtava pedagogi tai ammattiorkesteria johtava kapellimestari tarvitsee työssään, ja eroavatko nämä taidot ja ominaisuudet toisistaan. Tutkimuksen toinen keskeinen tavoite oli selvittää, millä tavoin orkesterinjohtamisen täydennyskoulutusta tulisi järjestää, jotta se palvelisi mahdollisimman tarkoituksenmukaisesti potentiaalista asiakaskuntaansa, eli musiikkioppilaitosten orkestereita johtavia pedagogeja. Tutkimuksen keskeisenä perustana on käytetty orkesterinjohtamisen täydennyskoulutusta järjestävän Pirkanmaan Pinna ry:n kurssisarjaa lukuvuonna 2011-2012. Tämän tutkimuksen kirjoittaja on perustanut Pirkanmaan Pinna ry:n, järjestänyt nämä kurssit ja osallistunut kaikille niille opiskelijana. Tutkimuksen hypoteesi on, että oppilasorkesterin johtaja ja kapellimestari tarvitsevat työssään samoja taitoja ja ominaisuuksia.
Tutkimus on kvantitatiivisen ja kvalitatiivisen tutkimusmetodin yhdistelmä. Tutkimus on suoritettu laatimalla ja analysoimalla lomakekysely pirkanmaalaisille, musiikkiopistoissa orkestereita johtaville instrumenttipedagogeille ja haastattelemalla Pirkanmaan Pinnan orkesterinjohdon kurssisarjan kouluttajia. Tutkimukseen kuuluu myös empiirinen, narratiivinen osuus, jossa tutkimuksen tekijä kuvailee kurssisarjaa osallistujan näkökulmasta ja reflektoi oppimiskokemuksiaan oppimispäiväkirjan muodossa.
Tutkimuksen tulokset vahvistavat tutkimushypoteesin. Sekä lomakekyselyn että haastattelujen tulokset osoittavat, että oppilas- tai harrastajaorkesteria johtava pedagogi että ammattikapellimestari tarvitsevat työssään samoja taitoja ja ominaisuuksia. Lisäksi tuloksista nähdään, että nämä tarvittavat ominaisuudet ja taidot painottuvat kulloinkin johdettavan ryhmän asettamien vaatimusten ja osaamistason mukaan.The principal aim of this thesis is to define the qualifications and attributes that student orchestra conductors need in their profession and to find out if those qualifications and attributes differ from the ones that are needed when conducting a professional orchestra. Another goal is to find out the ideal content and form for updating training for student orchestra conductors. Therefore, the series of conducting courses organized by the Pirkanmaan Pinna association during the academic year 2011-2012 is an essential foundation for this study. The author of this thesis is the founder of Pirkanmaan Pinna and has organized these courses as well as participated in all of them. The main hypothesis of this study is that both a student orchestra conductor and a conductor working with a professional orchestra need equal qualifications and attributes.
The methodology of this study is a combination of a quantitative and a qualitative approach. It has been carried out by compiling a questionnaire and analyzing the answers given by musical instrument teachers that conduct a student orchestra at Music Institutes in the Pirkanmaa area. In addition, the instructors of Pirkanmaan Pinna conducting courses have been interviewed to acquire knowledge on their insight about the topic. There is also an empirical and narrative section, where the author describes the course series from a participant’s point of view. In the reflective section the author discusses his own learning experiences.
The results of this study verify the main hypothesis. According to the answers given in the questionnaire and opinions of the interviewees, the qualifications and attributes that professional conductors and student orchestra conductors need are the same. Furthermore, the findings also show that the attributes vary depending on skills and requirements of the group that the conductor is working with
Näin tehtiin Keuruun Soittajapoikien 60-vuotishistoriikki : Toimittajataitojen käyttö ja kasvu kirjan tekemisessä
No full textOpinnäytetyöraportti käsittelee historiikin kirjoitusprosessia alkuideasta painetuksi kirjaksi asti.
”Ja soitto soi” -kirja kertoo Keuruun Soittajapojat -nimisestä nuorisopuhallinorkesterista, joka täytti 60 vuotta vuonna 2012. Aiheen valintaan vaikutti tekijän omakohtainen Soittajapoika-tausta.
Juhlavuoden julkaisuista vastasi erityinen hanketyöryhmä, jonka puheenjohtajana toimi DI Jorma Haapamäki. Historiikkitoimittajien lisäksi työryhmään kuului orkesterin ja Keuruun kaupungin edustajia. Julkaistu historiikkipaketti sisältää kirjan, DVD-filmin ja CD-tallenteen. Hankkeen kustansi Keuruun kaupunki. Toimeenpanevana yksikkönä oli Keuruun vapaa-aikatoimen kulttuuritoimi.
Keuruun Soittajapojat on opettaja Erkki Haapamäen vuonna 1952 perustama nuorisopuhallinorkesteri, joka huippuvuosinaan 1970- ja 80-luvuilla voitti seitsemän kertaa sarjansa suomenmestaruuden. Historiikkihankkeella haluttiin tallentaa Erkki Haapamäen elämäntyö ja orkesterin maineikas historia nykypolvea kiinnostavalla tavalla, sekä virkistää orkesterin nykyistä toimintaa.
Kirjoittaja kuvaa ja analysoi journalistisesta näkökulmasta käsin kirjan kirjoittamisen tiedonhankintaa, haastattelumenetelmiä ja aineiston työstämistä. Lisäksi tarkastellaan yhteistyötä hanketyöryhmän, taiton ja painon kanssa.
Raportin lopussa tekijä tiivistää kokemuksensa historiikkiprojektin aikana oppimistaan asioista ja analysoi sitä, mitä hyötyä toimittajan tiedoista ja taidoista oli käytännössä, miten ne prosessin myötä karttuivat, ja mitä olisi voinut tehdä toisin.
Historiikkikirja, DVD ja CD julkistettiin Keuruun Soittajapoikien juhlakonsertissa 18.3.2012 Keuruulla.This report describes and analyzes the process of writing a book from the first idea to the artifact.
The author wrote a short history book, as a combined thesis and practical training in journalism. The book, entitled "Ja soitto soi", tells of a brass orchestra called Keuruun Soittajapojat, which had its 60th anniversary in 2012. The author herself played in the orchestra in the 1970s; this had an effect on the choice of subject for this thesis.
A special project team was established for the festival in the year 2012. The Chairman of the group was Mr. Jorma Haapamäki. History editors, representatives of the orchestra and the Keuruu township made up the team. The “history package” included a book, DVD and CD. The project was financed by the Keuruu township, on behalf of which the executive unit was the cultural department.
Keuruun Soittajapojat is a youth brass orchestra which was founded in 1952 by the teacher Mr. Erkki Haapamäki. During the most successful years in the 1970s and 1980s the orchestra won the Championship of Finnish Youth Brass Orchestras seven times. The aim of the history project was to preserve the lifetime work of Mr. Erkki Haapamäki, as well as the prestigious history of the orchestra, and also to revive the present activity of the band.
The author describes from the journalistic point of view this history-writing project, and analyzes the data collection, interview methods and working with the material. She also observes the co-operation among the project team, desktop publishing person and the printing house. The author analyzes the use of journalistic skills in practice and the growth of professional expertise throughout the process, and summarizes what could have been done differently.
The history book, DVD and CD were released on 18th March 2012 at the Celebration Concert in Keuruu.Työn liitteenä oleva kirja "Ja soitto soi" löytyy Haaga-Helia amk:n kirjastosta.
Muut raportissa mainitut liitteet ovat nähtävissä vain Haaga-Helia amk:n kirjastossa opinnäytetyöraportin kansitetussa versiossa
Motivation and Needs of Artistic Workers from Generation Y. A Case Study of a Music Institution
No full textThe aim of the work is to analyse the motivational system used in one of the musical cultural institutions in Poland and to identify the motivating factors (motivators) for the work of the artists employed in it, representing the Generation Y. The first – theoretical – part contains selected motivational theories and the characteristics of Generation Y. The empirical part is a description of the results of the research carried out by the author.
A critical analysis of the literature and the results of surveys as well as interviews conducted in a cultural institution will allow the author to answer the following research questions: What are the current premises and needs of Generation Y when they start working in a public cultural institution? What are the motivating and demotivating factors for a Generation Y employee of a public cultural institution?
In order to research the topic, the author chose the case study method. A large (over 200 people) public institution promoting musical culture served as a model. Only a group of artistic creators (choir and orchestra with the decision-makers) from Generation Y (people born between 1980 and 2000) was subjected to the test.
The research showed the diversity of such occurring employee needs: stabilisation of employment, belonging to a team and the need for closer contact with art. The main motivating factors for work are also stable employment, but also finances, a friendly atmosphere and a possibility of professional development. Among the demotivators, the Millennials indicated the inadequacy of earnings in relation to work, lack of respect and poor working conditions
Leisure Aspect of the Everyday Life of Factory Workers in Yelysavethrad at the Turn of the 19th–20th centuries
No full textThe article highlights the development of the leisure aspect of the everyday life of factory workers in Yelysavethrad at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries, characterizes its forms, qualitative content and specifics. It has been established that the leisure culture of Yelysavethrad workers in the late nineteenth century was dominated by destructive activities and habits typical of the working communities of industrial cities of the Naddniprianshchyna. With the intensification of industrial production at the turn of the century and the attention drawn to the situation of the working community during the events of the Russian Revolution of 1905–1907, the germs of recreational infrastructure began to appear in the city, creating an alternative for workers in the form of constructive, life-affirming forms of recreation — reading periodicals and literature, visiting the circus, enjoying theatre, football, etc. To a large extent, this trend was influenced by the owners of enterprises and their administration, rather than by representatives of the city government. The expansion of enterprises and production teams and their increased economic prosperity in the early twentieth century made it possible to invest in improving the socio-economic and cultural level of the working community. The cultural and leisure sphere was best organised at the largest enterprise in the city, the R. and T. Elworthy’s Plant of Agricultural Machinery. In 1905, the owner created the «People’s House» at the enterprise, which served as a hall for public performances and theatrical performances of the local drama group, dances; there was a bowling alley and a factory library. The company had an amateur orchestra, a cycling club and its own football team. In addition to this, the author has made an attempt to create a periodisation of the development of workers’ leisure in Yelysavethrad, based on the chronology of the quantitative and qualitative expansion of its main elements
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