bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Antiquitin Deficiency with Adolescent Onset Epilepsy: Molecular Diagnosis in a Mother of Affected Offsprings
Authors: Srinivasaraghavan Rangan , Parameswaran Narayanan , Mathis Deborah , Bürer Celine , Plecko Barbara
Published: February 2018

Antiquitin deficiency is the most prevalent form of pyridoxine-dependent epilepsy. While most patients present with neonatal onset of therapy-resistant seizures, a few cases with late-onset during infancy have been described. Here, we describe the juvenile onset of epilepsy at the age of 17 years due to antiquitin deficiency in an Indian female with homozygosity for the most prevalent ALDH7A1 missense mutation, c.1279G > C; p.Glu427Gln in exon 14. The diagnosis was established along familial cosegregation analysis for an affected offspring, that had neonatal pyridoxine responsive seizures and had been found to be compound heterozygous for c.1279G > C; p.Glu427Gln in exon 14 and a nonsense mutation c.796C > T; p.Arg266* in exon 9. While seizures in the mother had been incompletely controlled by levetiracetam, she remained seizure-free on pyridoxine monotherapy, 200 mg/day. Her fourth pregnancy resulted in a female affected offspring, who was treated prospectively and never developed seizures with a normal outcome at age 2 years while on pyridoxine. This report illustrates that the phenotypic spectrum of antiquitin deficiency is still underestimated and that this treatable inborn error of metabolism has to be considered in case of therapy-resistant seizures even at older age. It furthermore supports prospective in utero treatment with pyridoxine in forthcoming pregnancies at risk.
Homeopathy in the Age of Antimicrobial Resistance: Is It a Viable Treatment for Upper Respiratory Tract Infections?
Authors: Fixsen Alison
Published: February 2018

Background Acute upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) and their complications are the most frequent cause of antibiotic prescribing in primary care. With multi-resistant organisms proliferating, appropriate alternative treatments to these conditions are urgently required. Homeopathy presents one solution; however, there are many methods of homeopathic prescribing. This review of the literature considers firstly whether homeopathy offers a viable alternative therapeutic solution for acute URTIs and their complications, and secondly how such homeopathic intervention might take place.

Method Critical review of post 1994 clinical studies featuring homeopathic treatment of acute URTIs and their complications. Study design, treatment intervention, cohort group, measurement and outcome were considered. Discussion focused on the extent to which homeopathy is used to treat URTIs, rate of improvement and tolerability of the treatment, complications of URTIs, prophylactic and long-term effects, and the use of combination versus single homeopathic remedies.

Results Multiple peer-reviewed studies were found in which homeopathy had been used to treat URTIs and associated symptoms (cough, pharyngitis, tonsillitis, otitis media, acute sinusitis, etc.). Nine randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and 8 observational/cohort studies were analysed, 7 of which were paediatric studies. Seven RCTs used combination remedies with multiple constituents. Results for homeopathy treatment were positive overall, with faster resolution, reduced use of antibiotics and possible prophylactic and longer-term benefits.

Conclusions Variations in size, location, cohort and outcome measures make comparisons and generalisations concerning homeopathic clinical trials for URTIs problematic. Nevertheless, study findings suggest at least equivalence between homeopathy and conventional treatment for uncomplicated URTI cases, with fewer adverse events and potentially broader therapeutic outcomes. The use of non-individualised homeopathic compounds tailored for the paediatric population merits further investigation, including through cohort studies. In the light of antimicrobial resistance, homeopathy offers alternative strategies for minor infections and possible prevention of recurring URTIs.
Acute Portal Vein Thrombosis
Authors: Thornburg Bartley
Published: February 2018

Acute portal vein thrombosis (PVT) is characterized by thrombus formation within the portal vein or its branches. This thrombus formation leads to a nonspecific clinical presentation, which emphasizes the need for imaging to establish the diagnosis. Prompt diagnosis is vital, because if left untreated, acute PVT can lead to bowel infarction or the clinical sequelae of portal hypertension. Currently, guidelines recommend anticoagulation as first line therapy for patients with acute PVT with endovascular management reserved for those who fail anticoagulation or present with signs of bowel ischemia. However, many patients treated with anticoagulation will develop portal vein cavernoma and long term sequalea of portal hypertension, which suggests the need for earlier endovascular intervention in select patients. This article will discuss the risk factors for development of acute PVT, the clinical presentation and diagnosis of the disease, and the pharmacologic, endovascular, and surgical therapy options.
Aktueller Status der Therapie und Prophylaxe des Oropharynxkarzinoms
Authors: Dietz Andreas , Pirlich Markus , Wiegand Susanne
Published: February 2018

Die Inzidenz von Oropharynxkarzinomen nimmt weltweit signifikant zu. Aufgrund ihres Zusammenhangs mit
chronischem Tabak-/Alkoholkonsum, zunehmend aber auch mit dem humanen Papillomavirus HPV-16, sind die
Oropharynxkarzinome eine genetisch heterogene Tumorgruppe mit hoher prognostischer Diversifikation. Dieser
Beitrag versucht auf Basis der aktuellen Evidenzlage Empfehlungen zu Therapie, Prophylaxe und Früherkennung
darzulegen.
Comparative study of chaotic features in hourly wind speed using recurrence quantification analysis
Authors: Adeniji A. E. , Olusola O. I. , Njah A. N.
Published: February 2018

Due to the shortage in electricity supply in Nigeria, there is a need to improve the alternative power generation from wind energy by analysing the wind speed data available in some parts of the country, for a better understanding of its underlying dynamics for the purpose of good prediction and modelling. The wind speed data used in this study were collected over a period of two years by National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) from five different stations in the tropics namely; Abuja (7050'02.09"N and 6004'29.97"E), Akungba (6059'05.40"N and 5035'52.23"E), Nsukka (6051'28.14"N and 7024'28.15"E), Port Harcourt (4047'05.41"N and 6059'30.62"E), and Yola (9017'33.58"N and 12023'26.69"E). In this paper, recurrence plot (RP) and recurrence quantification analysis (RQA) are applied to investigate a non-linear deterministic dynamical process and non-stationarity in hourly wind speed data from the study areas. Using RQA for each month of the two years, it is observed that wind speed data for the wet months exhibit higher chaoticity than that of the dry months for all the stations, due to strong and weak monsoonal effect during the wet and dry seasons respectively. The results show that recurrence techniques are able to identify areas and periods for which the harvest of wind energy for power generation is good (high predictability) and poor (low predictability) in the study areas. This work also validates the RQA measures (Lmax, DET and ENT) used and establishes that they are similar/related as they give similar results for the dynamical characterization of the wind speed data.
Sparsity of the wavefunction from the generalized Pauli exclusion principle
Authors: Chakraborty Romit , Mazziotti David A.
Published: February 2018

Electron occupations that arise from pure quantum states are restricted by a stringent set of conditions that are said to generalize the Pauli exclusion principle. These generalized Pauli constraints (GPCs) define the boundary of the set of one-electron reduced density matrices (1-RDMs) that are derivable from at least one N-electron wavefunction. In this paper, we investigate the sparsity of the Slater-determinant representation of the wavefunction that is a necessary, albeit not sufficient, condition for its 1-RDM to lie on the boundary of the set of pure N-representable 1-RDMs or in other words saturate one of the GPCs. The sparse wavefunction, we show, is exact not only for 3 electrons in 6 orbitals but also for 3 electrons in 8 orbitals. For larger numbers of electrons and/or orbitals in the lowest spin state, the exact wavefunction does not generally saturate one of the GPCs, and hence, the sparse representation is typically an approximation. Because the sparsity of the wavefunction is a necessary but not sufficient condition for saturation of one of the GPCs, optimization of the sparse wavefunction Ansatz to minimize the ground-state energy does not necessarily produce a wavefunction whose 1-RDM exactly saturates one of the GPCs. While the sparse Ansatz can be employed with arbitrary orbitals or optimized orbitals, in this paper, we explore the Ansatz with the natural orbitals from full configuration interaction, which yields an upper bound to the ground-state energy that equals the exact energy for a given basis set if the full-configuration-interaction wavefunction saturates the Ansatz’s GPC. With calculations on the boron isoelectronic sequence, the dinitrogen cation N2+, hydrogen chains, and cyclic conjugated π systems, we examine the quality of the sparse wavefunction Ansatz from the amount of correlation energy recovered.
Effect of 60Co γ-irradiation on the nature of electronic transport in heavily doped n-type GaN based Schottky photodetectors
Authors: Chatterjee Abhishek , Khamari Shailesh K. , Porwal S. , Kher S. , Sharma T. K.
Published: February 2018

GaN Schottky photodetectors are fabricated on heavily doped n-type GaN epitaxial layers grown by the hydride vapour phase epitaxy technique. The effect of 60Co γ-radiation on the electronic transport in GaN epilayers and Schottky detectors is studied. In contrast to earlier observations, a steady rise in the carrier concentration with increasing irradiation dose is clearly seen. By considering a two layer model, the contribution of interfacial dislocations in carrier transport is isolated from that of the bulk layer for both the pristine and irradiated samples. The bulk carrier concentration is fitted by using the charge balance equation which indicates that no new electrically active defects are generated by γ-radiation even at 500 kGy dose. The irradiation induced rise in the bulk carrier concentration is attributed to the activation of native Si impurities that are already present in an electrically inert form in the pristine sample. Further, the rise in interfacial contribution in the carrier concentration is governed by the enhanced rate of formation of nitrogen vacancies by irradiation, which leads to a larger diffusion of oxygen impurities. A large value of the characteristic tunnelling energy for both the pristine and irradiated Au/Ni/GaN Schottky devices confirms that the dislocation-assisted tunnelling dominates the low temperature current transport even after irradiation. The advantage of higher displacement energy and larger bandgap of GaN as compared to GaAs is evident from the change in leakage current after irradiation. Further, a fast recovery of the photoresponse of GaN photodetectors after irradiation signifies their compatibility to operate in high radiation zones. The results presented here are found to be crucial in understanding the interaction of 60Co γ-irradiation with n+-GaN epilayers.
Computational investigation of non-covalent interactions in 1-butyl 3-methylimidazolium/bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide [bmim][Tf2N] in EMD and NEMD
Authors: Blanco-Díaz Edgar G. , Vázquez-Montelongo Erik A. , Cisneros G. Andrés , Castrejón-González Edgar Omar
Published: February 2018

Non-covalent interactions (NCIs) play a crucial role in the behavior and properties of ionic liquids (ILs). These interactions are particularly important for non-equilibrium properties such as the change in viscosity due to shearing forces (shear viscosity). Therefore, a detailed understanding of these interactions can improve our understanding of these important classes of liquids. Here, we have employed quantum mechanical energy decomposition analysis (EDA) and NCI analysis to investigate a series of representative 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([bmim][Tf2N]) ion pairs extracted from classical equilibrium and non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations. EDA based on symmetry-adapted perturbation theory (SAPT) for the complete monomers, as well as fragment SAPT (FSAPT), for the functional fragments has been carried out. In general, the electrostatic component comprises ≈80% of the intermolecular interaction, and significant contributions from other components (induction and dispersion) are also observed, especially for interactions involving bifurcated hydrogen bonds. The FSAPT analysis suggests that caution is warranted when employing simplified assumptions for non-bonded interactions, e.g., focusing only on hydrogen bonds between functional fragments, since this view may not provide a complete picture of the complicated interactions between the ions. In non-equilibrium molecular dynamics, the total interaction energies of some fragments have a significant qualitative change as the shear rate increases. Our results indicate that the inter-fragment interactions play a fundamental role in the viscous behavior of ILs, suggesting that the exclusive use of geometric criteria to analyze inter-molecular interactions in these systems is not sufficient to investigate shear-thinning effects.
Target scattering characteristics for OAM-based radar
Authors: Liu Kang , Gao Yue , Li Xiang , Cheng Yongqiang
Published: February 2018

The target scattering characteristics are crucial for radar systems. However, there is very little study conducted for the recently developed orbital angular momentum (OAM) based radar system. To illustrate the role of OAM-based radar cross section (ORCS), conventional radar equation is modified by taking characteristics of the OAM waves into account. Subsequently, the ORCS is defined in analogy to classical radar cross section (RCS). The unique features of the incident OAM-carrying field are analyzed. The scattered field is derived, and the analytical expressions of ORCSs for metal plate and cylinder targets are obtained. Furthermore, the ORCS and RCS are compared to illustrate the influences of OAM mode number, target size and signal frequency on the ORCS. Analytical studies demonstrate that the mirror-reflection phenomenon disappears and peak values of ORCS are in the non-specular direction. Finally, the ORCS features are summarized to show its advantages in radar target detection. This work can provide theoretical guidance to the design of OAM-based radar as well as the target detection and identification applications.
5-Azacytidine prevents relapse and produces long-term complete remissions in leukemia xenografts treated with Moxetumomab pasudotox
Authors: Müller Fabian , Cunningham Tyler , Stookey Stephanie , Tai Chin-Hsien , Burkett Sandra , Jailwala Parthav , Stetler Stevenson Maryalice , Cam Margaret C. , Wayne Alan S. , Pastan Ira
Published: February 2018

Significance

Moxetumomab pasudotox is a fusion protein of an anti-CD22 Fv andPseudomonasexotoxin. It is highly active against leukemia in vitro but acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients often are resistant. Studies with cultured cells showed resistance is caused by reduced diphthamide, the intracellular target ofPseudomonasexotoxin, but diphthamide is not reduced in most cells from most ALL patients. To study how resistance develops in animals, we injected ALL cells into mice and found that resistant cells occur in discrete bone marrow niches and contain major chromosomal and transcriptional changes. Mice pretreated with 5-azacytidine show greatly improved responses, supporting a trial of the combination in leukemia patients.
Wooden tools and fire technology in the early Neanderthal site of Poggetti Vecchi (Italy)
Authors: Aranguren Biancamaria , Revedin Anna , Amico Nicola , Cavulli Fabio , Giachi Gianna , Grimaldi Stefano , Macchioni Nicola , Santaniello Fabio
Published: February 2018

Significance

Wood is a widely available and versatile material, which has admittedly played a fundamental role in all human history. Wood, however, is most vulnerable to decomposition. Hence, its use is very rarely documented during prehistory. The present study yields new insights into the cognitive abilities of the early Neanderthals in wooden tool production and pyrotechnology. The early Neanderthals from the late Middle Pleistocene site of Poggetti Vecchi (central Italy) were able to choose the appropriate timber and to process it with fire to produce tools. The artifacts recall the so-called “digging sticks,” multipurpose tools used by all hunter-gatherer societies.
Double abdomen in a short-germ insect: Zygotic control of axis formation revealed in the beetleTribolium castaneum
Authors: Ansari Salim , Troelenberg Nicole , Dao Van Anh , Richter Tobias , Bucher Gregor , Klingler Martin
Published: February 2018

Significance

One of the first crucial steps of animal development is to distinguish the anterior versus the posterior pole of the embryo, i.e., the AP axis. If this process fails, embryos may develop two mirror image tails or heads. In the flyDrosophila, the mother provides the signals required for AP axis formation, while in vertebrates, gene activity of the embryo is required as well. We identified two genes whose knockdown leads to double-tail phenotypes in the beetleTribolium, representing the insect-typical short-germ embryogenesis. Intriguingly, embryo polarity depends on zygotic gene activities and Wnt signaling. Hence, short-germ insect axis formation is more similar to vertebrates than the mechanism employed byDrosophila.
Accelerated wound healing in mice by on-site production and delivery of CXCL12 by transformed lactic acid bacteria
Authors: Vågesjö Evelina , Öhnstedt Emelie , Mortier Anneleen , Lofton Hava , Huss Fredrik , Proost Paul , Roos Stefan , Phillipson Mia
Published: February 2018

Significance

Chronic wounds comprise a growing clinical problem that represents >3% of the health care budget in industrialized countries. Drug development is hampered by the proteolytic nature of the wounds, which greatly limits drug bioavailability. Here, we present a technology that circumvents this by on-site production and reduced chemokine degradation. Lactobacilli bacteria were transformed into CXCL12-producing vectors to bioengineer the wound microenvironment after topical application. Consequently, the immune cells driving the healing process were reinforced, which greatly accelerated wound closure in healthy mice, in mouse models of hyperglycemia and peripheral ischemia, and in a wound model using human skin disks. Initial safety studies demonstrated that neither bacteria nor the chemokine produced was detected in systemic circulation following application to open wounds.
Biologically functional molecules from mushroom-forming fungi*
Authors: Choi Jae-Hoon
Published: February 2018

Fungi including mushrooms have been proved to be an important biosource of numerous metabolites having a huge variety of chemical structures and diverse bioactivities. Metabolites of mushrooms are of remarkable importance as new lead compounds for medicine and agrochemicals. This review presents some of our studies on biologically functional molecules purified from mushroom-forming fungi; (1) endoplasmic reticulum stress suppressor, (2) osteoclast-forming suppressing compounds, (3) plant growth regulators.
Symbolism of Three Political Powers in Arok-Dedes by Pramoedya Ananta Toer
Authors: Purwantini  , Kusumayanti D D , Sudaryani R R S
Published: February 2018

This research entitiled “Symbolism of three political powers in arok-dedes by Pramoedya Ananta Toer is aimed at finding the actor behind the act of taking over the reign. The three political powers fighting to take over the reign are military (Arok) collaborating with the dominating party Golongan Karya (Brahmana) to face the Old Order and the Indonesia Communist Party (Tunggul Ametung supported by King of Kediri). This research employs semiotic theory which results to the criticism to the Old and the New Orders. The smart and resourcefull Arok is a threat to his opponent and ally is the symbol of the authority of the New Order Soeharto, while Tunggul Ametung is the symbol of the Old Order Soekarno. The New Order rezim collaborates with Golongan Karya and the authority of the Old Order Lama collaborates with the Indonesia Communist Party which is anti to Islam. The political battle won by the military force supported by Golongan Karya directs Soeharto to his presidency as the second Indonesia President.
GCPred: a web tool for guanylyl cyclase functional centre prediction from amino acid sequence
Authors: Xu Nuo , Fu Dongfang , Li Shiang , Wang Yuxuan , Wong Aloysius
Published: February 2018

GCPred is a webserver for the prediction of guanylyl cyclase (GC) functional centres from amino acid sequence. GCs are enzymes that generate the signalling molecule cyclic guanosine 3’, 5’-monophosphate from guanosine-5’-triphosphate. A novel class of GC centres (GCCs) has been identified in complex plant proteins. Using currently available experimental data, GCPred is created to automate and facilitate the identification of similar GCCs. The server features GCC values that consider in its calculation, the physicochemical properties of amino acids constituting the GCC and the conserved amino acids within the centre. From user input amino acid sequence, the server returns a table of GCC values and graphs depicting deviations from mean values. The utility of this server is demonstrated using plant proteins and the human interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinase family of proteins as example.

Availability and implementation

The GCPred server is available at http://gcpred.com.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Relativistic centrifugal instability
Authors: Gourgouliatos Konstantinos N , Komissarov Serguei S
Published: February 2018

Near the central engine, many astrophysical jets are expected to rotate about their axis. Further out they are expected to go through the processes of reconfinement and recollimation. In both these cases, the flow streams along a concave surface and hence, it is subject to the centrifugal force. It is well known that such flows may experience the centrifugal instability (CFI), to which there are many laboratory examples. The recent computer simulations of relativistic jets from active galactic nuclei undergoing the process of reconfinement show that in such jets CFI may dominate over the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability associated with velocity shear (Gourgouliatos & Komissarov). In this letter, we generalize the Rayleigh criterion for CFI in rotating fluids to relativistic flows using a heuristic analysis. We also present the results of computer simulations which support our analytic criterion for the case of an interface separating two uniformly rotating cylindrical flows. We discuss the difference between CFI and the Rayleigh–Taylor instability in flows with curved streamlines.
Research on Organizational Citizenship Behavior: Where Do We Go From Here?
Authors: Podsakoff Philip M. , Mackenzie Scott B. , Podsakoff Nathan P.
Published: February 2018

The purpose of this chapter is to highlight some of the most valuable suggestions for future organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) research made by the authors of this handbook. It is organized by section, beginning with future research issues related to the conceptual nature of OCB. Following this, we examine new directions for research on the consequences and antecedents of OCB. Next, we highlight promising ideas related to the mediating mechanisms and boundary conditions of the antecedents and consequences of OCBs that could be investigated in future research. Finally, we call attention to several methodological issues and problems that have implications for future research.
Music-Making Behind Bars
Authors: Cohen Mary L. , Henley Jennie
Published: February 2018

Approaches to incarceration and community music vary widely. This chapter examines music-making in US and UK prison contexts, suggesting new insights into the values, applications, and meanings of community music. Contrasting approaches towards imprisonment exist not only across the globe, but also within particular countries. In the United States, a wide range of practices within the contexts of imprisonment occur, such as differences in incarceration rates between whites and people of color, sentence lengths, use of capital punishment, voting rights, and quality of legal representation. Inmates’ opportunities for self-expression are restricted. Research and practice in music-making in prisons suggest that community music approaches within prisons provide a means towards desistance, improved self-esteem, social support and a sense of accomplishment. Music-making within the complex power dynamics of prison contexts emphasizes the importance of the welcome and hospitality within our understanding of community music.
Strategic Working with Children and Young People in Challenging Circumstances
Authors: Mullen Phil , Deane Kathryn
Published: February 2018

Young people in challenging circumstances have been a key participant group in, and for, interventionist community music practice for several decades. In the United Kingdom, hundreds of projects receive funding every year to work with these children and young people, often with a clear agenda to focus on personal and social transformation, as well as musical development. While the benefits of this work have been well documented, it is only within the last decade that anything approaching a systematic, rigorous, and strategic approach has been attempted. Drawing on their professional backgrounds and data from their collective work on three, large-scale, national projects, the authors describe the essential components for a strategic approach to community music with children and young people in challenging circumstances—considering strategy first at the national policy level (what community music development should seek to achieve), and then at the level of community music pedagogy (what approaches would enable the desired musical, social, and personal goals to be achieved).
Community Music Contexts, Dynamics, and Sustainability
Authors: Schippers Huib
Published: February 2018

Across the world, much community music-making continues to flourish as ‘organic’ practices. But as communities and their circumstances change, sometimes the need arises for active interventions with the aim to establish or restore. It is mostly these interventions that are now widely referred to as ‘community music activities’. A third—and rarely recognized—aspect on the community music spectrum is institutionalized music-making. Often depicted as the very antithesis of community music-making, I will argue in this chapter that most music institutions in fact arose from an expressed community need, and they are therefore essential in understanding the full scope and dynamics of community music-making. Next, a nine-domain framework of key characteristics of community music practices serves to address the problem of trying to define a great diversity of practices. From there, the discussion moves towards the relationship between community and the sustainability of music practices, introducing the concept of ‘musical ecosystems’.
Community Engagement and Lifelong Learning
Authors: Smilde Rineke
Published: February 2018

This chapter discusses the relationship of community engagement through music and the concept of lifelong learning, which is a dynamic concept of learning that enables us to respond to change. Underpinning the work of community musicians is the notion that artistic processes can have transformative potential that can bring about a sense of community, inclusion, and collective identity. Three case studies of community engagement will be explored with different aims and points of departure but with shared values and approaches, comprising important aspects of the concept of lifelong learning. Outcomes of the case studies are discussed and key issues on community engagement in these examples are reflected. In addition, implications for the training and education of community musicians are discussed in this light, aiming at considerable artistic and personal development of the musicians involved. This involves a strong plea to demarginalize community engagement in the curricula of music colleges.
Community Musical Theatre and Interethnic Peace-Building in Malaysia
Authors: Tan Sooi Beng
Published: February 2018

Community musical theatre projects have played important roles in engaging young people of diverse ethnicities in multicultural and religious Malaysia to cross borders, deconstruct stereotypes, appreciate differences, and build interethnic peace. This essay provides insights into the strategies and dialogic approaches employed in two such community musical theatre projects that promote peace-building in Penang. The emphasis is on the making of musical theatre through participatory research, collaboration, ensemble work, and group discussions about alternative history, social relationships and cultural change. The projects also stress partnerships with the multiethnic stakeholders, communities, traditional artists, university students, and school teachers who are involved in the projects. Equally important is the creation of a safe space for intercultural dialogue, skill training, research, and assessments to take place; this a working space that allows for free and open participation, communication, play, and creative expressions for all participants.
Community Music and Music Therapy
Authors: Wood Stuart , Ansdell Gary
Published: February 2018

This chapter outlines the historical and current relationship between community music and music therapy—in particular the seeming overlap between community music and the newer sub-discipline of music therapy called community music therapy. The chapter argues for a re-imagining of certain key areas of joint concern and potential linked to the broader shared agenda of working musically with people. These topics indicate a way for community music and music therapy to align and collaborate in a relationship that can be both ‘joint’ and ‘several’—ensuring that the work remains creative, effective, responsible, and professional for people and their communities.
Community Music in Cultural Policy
Authors: van den Hoogen Quirijn Lennert , Bisschop Boele Evert
Published: February 2018

Community music presents a contested field. Cultural policy has had a hard time dealing with community music because aesthetic intentions, social objectives, and economic motivations may all play a role for actors and these elements sometimes clash. This chapter provides a scheme of the basic tensions inherent to community music in the cultural policy fields which can form the basis for ‘negotiations’ between actors. The scheme is based upon the pragmatic sociology of Boltanski and Thévenot who provide a grid of sometimes conflicting and sometimes aligning values that can be present in any social situation. Their grid will be applied to the practice of community music in an effort to provide insight into the intricacies of cultural policies regarding this particular form of music, as well as into the practicalities of the practice of community musicians working in a field in which cultural policy-making plays an often vital role.
How Ubiquitous Technologies Support Ubiquitous Music
Authors: Brown Andrew R. , Keller Damián , de Lima Maria Helena
Published: February 2018

Pervasive computing technologies are providing opportunities and challenges for new musical practices and offering greater access to musical interactions for people at all levels of musical experience. In this chapter we review theoretical insights and practical experiences of taking advantage of these opportunities and meeting these challenges; we describe how to leverage ubiquitous technologies to support ubiquitous music; and we discuss ideas and techniques that can assist in ensuring that social music activities provide an appropriate variety of experiences and strategies to maximize socially positive and musically creative outcomes. Strategies include starting with what is known and available, enhancing human skills with computational automation, and increasing participation through simplification to improve access and promote cultures of open sharing. Three case studies illustrate how these ideas are put into practice, covering experiences from across the world based in varied social contexts and using differing technologies, but sharing the same ambition of enhancing everyday experience through musical interactions mediated by pervasive technologies.
Ecooperatic Music Game Theory
Authors: Kanaga David
Published: February 2018

Computer games can be approached as musical forms. Considered in this light, they operate on a number of scales that are typically considered hierarchically distinct, functioning at once as instrument, composition, notation, robotic musician(s), and ecosystem or ‘total music space’. The totalizing image is central, as the marriage of musics with games grants us the possibility of composing software experiences as ‘total artworks’, operatic toys assembled from a diverse set of interactive and deterministic algorithmic components. This understanding of games is grounded in the concept of ‘affordances’, as drawn from ecological psychology and explicitly contrasted with the totalizing psychosocial economism implied by game theory’s rational agents. The purpose of this chapter is to attempt a description of computer games in such a way as to aid in conceptualizing a pluralistic ecological ‘totality’ vis-à-vis the computer game medium’s essential musicality.
Technology, Creativity, and the Social in Algorithmic Music
Authors: Haworth Christopher
Published: February 2018

This chapter surveys developments in the sociology of art and theories of mediation to examine the contribution of technical devices and institutions to musical creativity. In particular, it considers Actor-Network Theory as a means to analyse the contributions of ‘nonhuman actors’ to the social world of algorithmic music. Two case studies are discussed: the network music pioneers The Hub and the contemporary genre of live coding. The example of The Hub raises the question of technological change and the necessity of considering the external forces that bear on the instrumentarium of algorithmic music as part of its social ecology. The chapter analyses live coding, focusing on the associated actors’ use of the Internet. It then charts the online development of the TOPLAP manifesto to illustrate how the ‘true’ computer music that live coding seeks to articulate is an ongoing social negotiation. The final section uses the Issuecrawler software to analyse networks of association within live coding.
Algorithmic Music for Mass Consumption and Universal Production
Authors: Levtov Yuli
Published: February 2018

This chapter explores algorithmic music and the software tools used to create it from the perspective of media that allow it to be distributed to mass audiences, such as smartphone apps, web-based experiences, and dedicated software packages. Different types of listener input and interaction for various algorithmic music formats are analysed, and examples of each are given. Advantages and disadvantages of various distribution platforms, both present and historic, are explored, and critical reaction to this wide body of work is also reviewed. Conclusions are drawn that the field is still relatively nascent, with advances in consumer technology being a main driver for innovation in this area of music distribution and creation.
Biologically Inspired and Agent-Based Algorithms for Music
Authors: Eldridge Alice , Bown Oliver
Published: February 2018

This chapter examines a range of approaches to algorithmic music making inspired by biological systems, and considers topics at the intersection of contemporary music, computer science, and computational creativity. A summary of core precursor movements both within and beyond musical practice (A Life, cybernetics, systems art, etc.) sets the scene, before core models and algorithms are introduced and illustrated. These include evolutionary algorithms, agent-based modelling and self-organizing systems, adaptive behaviour and interactive performance systems, and ecosystemic approaches to composition and computational creative discovery. The chapter closes by reviewing themes for future work in this area: autonomy and agency, and the poetics of biologically inspired algorithms.
Origins of Algorithmic Thinking in Music
Authors: Collins Nick
Published: February 2018

Musicians’ relationships with algorithms have deep precedents in the confluence of music and mathematics across millennia and across cultures. Technological and musico-mathematical precedents in the ancient world predate the Arabic etymology of the term ‘algorithm’. From Guido d’Arezzo’s hand to rule systems in music theory and eighteenth-century ars combinatoria, there is a rich background to twentieth-century rule-led music making. Robotic music, too, has precedents, and there is an interesting proto-computational thread linking the automata builder Vaucanson to early programmable weaving looms. Ada Lovelace’s writing, Joseph Schillinger’s composition system, and John Pierce’s 1950 stochastic music science fiction article provide productive insight into the origins of algorithmic music. Indeed, the world’s musics reveal a panoply of interesting practices, such as campanology, Nzakara court harp music, time structures in Indian classical music, and many more examples of the rich combinations of music and mathematics often predating musical computer science.
Musical Algorithms as Tools, Languages, and Partners
Authors: McLean Alex , Dean Roger T.
Published: February 2018

This is an introductory chapter to The Oxford Handbook of Algorithmic Music, and the practical, historical, philosophical, and cultural perspectives that it covers. This chapter outlines the structure and scope of the book, provides some background and motivation for its focus, covers points of terminology, and summarizes the development of the field in the modern era. It then signposts the following chapters and relates them to one another in terms of some of the key issues that are covered. As algorithmic music is a fast-developing field, the chapter then outlines contemporary directions in order to look forward to the next steps in both research and practice. The chapter concludes with further signposting, this time to literature which may be read in partnership with the present volume.
Algorithmic Thinking and Central Javanese Gamelan
Authors: Matthews Charles
Published: February 2018

This chapter explores the idea of central Javanese gamelan (also known as karawitan) as rule-based music, examining areas where algorithmic thinking can take place in both performance and composition. Different types of performance techniques are discussed, exploring the degree to which rules can be used to generate melodic content from a notated outline called the balungan (meaning ‘skeleton’ or ‘frame’ in Javanese). Several applications of algorithms in the contexts of ethnomusicology and composition are presented, with a focus on grammars and rewriting systems. This leads to a discussion of the author’s work with rule-based systems in composition and performance, including integration of computer parts in a live gamelan ensemble through augmented instruments. The chapter concludes with an overview of Pipilan: a piece of software developed in Max/MSP for computer-aided composition, which has also been used to facilitate audience participation in performance and installation settings.
Deautomatization of Breakfast Perceptions
Authors: Wieser Renate
Published: February 2018

For the author of this chapter, art is a particular way of thinking: it implies the exploring of social and political conditions, not only with the means already provided by academic disciplines, but by finding out new ways to explore, conceptualize, and change them. The chapter describes an art project consisting of an ‘acoustic breakfast’. Sounds of breakfasting were recorded and transformed in real time to make communal interactive music. The author identifies the conflict between artists explaining algorithmic processes to participants and the desire for an informal social situation focussed on eating and drinking. Ideas from literary theorist Shklovsky are used to discuss automatized perceptions and the interest in defamiliarization. Was the acoustic breakfast deautomatizing the computational processes? The chapter discusses the same issue in relation to live coding.
Performing Algorithms
Authors: Erickson Kristin
Published: February 2018

The chapter considers algorithmic music as the ‘sonification’ of algorithms, a term coined by Carla Scaletti to describe the mapping of numerically represented relations in some domain to relations in an acoustic domain. The chapter looks at the range of ways this concept has been used by the author in composing her works. The chapter identifies isomorphic relationships between algorithms and collaboration, music, and performance, and extends the boundary of the computer to include systems of people and sound. The definition of music and performance is extended to include process, rules, machines, and execution. Examples discussed include performing a bubble sort, pandemic performances (using principles of complex adaptive systems), Mandelbrot music, and M.T.Brain/Telebrain, which send complex algorithmic instructions to multiple performers in real time.
Perspective on Practice
Authors: Beran Jan
Published: February 2018

This chapter discusses the role of mathematical music theory in musical composition. Mathematical studies of music go far back in history. Some of the earliest documented come from the Pythagorean school in ancient Greece. Leibniz called music the ‘arithmetic of the soul’. The mathematical foundations of music have become an immensely active area of research in the last few decades. In conjunction with modern computer technology, mathematical tools are accessible to composers at an intuitive level. In this chapter, the usefulness of mathematical ideas for musical composition is illustrated by selected examples related to algebra and the theory of symmetries.
Network Music and the Algorithmic Ensemble
Authors: Ogborn David
Published: February 2018

Network music happens when people make music with computer networks, and algorithmic approaches to network music introduce specific challenges and opportunities. Networking is an area of considerable complexity from a programming standpoint, involving the representation and handling of uncertainty and failure, and computer networks and networked forms are fundamental to contemporary governance and politics. The allure of network music lies both in this potential for play with key aspects of present-day power structures and in its potential support for musical relationships of friendship, collaboration, and participation. Key network music dynamics that emerge from the materiality of networking technologies revolve around considerations of latency and jitter, bandwidth, and security. Each of these dynamics is modified strongly when it becomes a matter not simply of network music, but more specifically algorithmic network music.
The Radical Right
Authors: Rydgren Jens
Published: February 2018

This chapter provides an overview of the resurgence of strong radical right-wing parties and movements during the past decades. An overwhelming majority of books and papers published on the contemporary radical right focus on party politics and electoral politics. This handbook includes chapters covering all major theoretical and methodological strands in this literature. This chapter first discusses the defining characteristics of the radical right, including their ideology and political program, nationalism and ethnic exclusion, populism, and fascism. It then attempts to explain voter support of radical right-wing parties and movements, the radical right as social movement and in the non-party sector, and the impact of the radical right.
Party Organization and the Radical Right
Authors: Art David
Published: February 2018

This chapter begins by outlining some persistent challenges—conceptual, methodological, and theoretical—that have characterized the study of party organization in general, and radical right organization in particular. It then evaluates recent work and contends that it has done more than establish that “organization matters.” The intellectual challenge of demonstrating a causal relationship between organization and dependent variables of interest should not be underestimated. But in the social sciences, everything “matters” to some degree, so simply calling attention to another dynamic of the radical right phenomenon would be useful but perhaps not so interesting. Fortunately, recent work on radical right party organization (including several studies that include radical right parties in their comparative framework) offer excellent examples of creative data collection and theoretical innovation. Finally, the chapter speculates about what lines of inquiry are worth pursuing, and which ones might not be worth the intellectual investment.
The Non-Party Sector of the Radical Right
Authors: Veugelers John , Menard Gabriel
Published: February 2018

This chapter examines radical right publishers, intellectual schools, parallel organizations, voluntary associations, small groups, political sects, and families. Party and non-party sectors of the radical right share common projects. They interact with each other, and the boundaries between their memberships, social networks, and formal or informal organizations overlap. Yet the non-party sector retains important specificities. Apart from identifying its social bases, main activities, organizational forms, and ideological orientations, this chapter attends to variations across Europe and between Europe and the United States. The conclusion proposes directions for future research: (1) fill in empirical gaps that emerge from an overview of the literature, (2) examine if interaction between economic globalization and welfare protection explains the strength of the non-party sector, and (3) test the hypothesis that a centripetal party system with a weak boundary between moderate and radical right favors the non-party sector of the radical right.
Religion and the Radical Right
Authors: Minkenberg Michael
Published: February 2018

Religion is on the rise again in the West and specifically “secular” Europe, mostly due to the influx of new religions via migration, new political conflicts, and the growing (re)assertion of the Christian heritage among domestic actors. This chapter discusses the extent to which religions provide an ideological component of the radical right, what kind of religion is at play, and whether and how religion can be used to explain the radical right’s successes. It looks at religion in the development and organizational profile of major radical right actors, explores the relevance of religion in the far right, and places the radical right trajectory into a larger context of societal and political change. It concludes that religion functions as a relevant context factor and frame for political mobilization, even in secularized societies, against the perceived threat of rapid sociocultural change and its (alleged) agents and protagonists.