Co-Creating Knowledge Online: Approaches for Community Artists

Forming peer alliances to share and build knowledge is an important aspect of community arts practice, and these co-creation processes are increasingly being mediated by the internet. This paper offers guidance for practitioners who are interested in better utilising the internet to connect, share, and make new knowledge. It argues that new approaches are required to foster the organising activities that underpin online co-creation, building from the premise that people have become increasingly networked as individuals rather than in groups (Rainie and Wellman 2012: 6), and that these new ways of connecting enable new modes of peer-to-peer production and exchange. This position advocates that practitioners move beyond situating the internet as a platform for dissemination and a tool for co-creating media, to embrace its knowledge collaboration potential.

Drawing on a design experiment I developed to promote online knowledge co-creation, this paper suggests three development phases – developing connections, developing ideas, and developing agility – to ground six methods. They are: switching and routing, engaging in small trades of ideas with networked individuals; organising, co-ordinating networked individuals and their data; beta-release, offering ‘beta’ artifacts as knowledge trades; beta-testing, trialing and modifying other peoples ‘beta’ ideas; adapting, responding to technological disruption; and, reconfiguring, embracing opportunities offered by technological disruption. These approaches position knowledge co-creation as another capability of the community artist, along with co-creating art and media.

Comparing the decline in coronary heart disease and stroke mortality in neighbouring countries with different healthcare systems

Objective
To examine age and gender specific trends in coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke mortality in two neighbouring countries, the Republic of Ireland (ROI) and Northern Ireland (NI). Design Epidemiological study of time trends in CHD and stroke mortality.

Setting/patients
The populations of the ROI and NI, 1985–2010.

Interventions
None.

Main outcome measures
Directly age standardised CHD and stroke mortality rates were calculated and analysed using joinpoint regression to identify years where the slope of the linear trend changed significantly. This was performed separately for specific age groups (25–54, 55–64, 65–74 and 75–84 years) and by gender. Annual percentage change (APC) and 95% CIs are presented.

Results
There was a striking similarity between the two countries, with percentage change between 1985 and 1989 and between 2006 and 2010 of 67% and 69% in
CHD mortality, and 64% and 62% in stroke mortality for the ROI and NI, respectively. However, joinpoint analysis identified differences in the pace of change between the two countries. There was an accelerated pace of decline (negative APC) in mortality for both CHD and stroke in both countries from the mid-1990s (APC ROI −8% (95% CI −9.5 to 6.5) and NI −6.6% (−6.9 to −6.3)), but the accelerated decrease started later for CHD mortality in the ROI. In recent years, a levelling off in CHD mortality was observed in the 25–54 year age group in NI and in stroke mortality for men and women in the ROI.

Conclusions
While differences in the pace of change in mortality were observed at different time points, similar, substantial decreases in CHD and stroke mortality were achieved between 1985 and 1989 and between 2006 and 2010 in the ROI and NI despite important differences in health service structures. There is evidence of a levelling in mortality rates in some groups in recent years.

Dissolved uranium, radium and radon evolution in the Continental Intercalaire aquifer, Algeria and Tunisia

Natural, dissolved 238U-series radionuclides (U, 226Ra, 222Rn) and activity ratios (A.R.s: 234U/238U; 228Ra/226Ra) in Continental Intercalaire (CI) groundwaters and limited samples from the overlying Complexe Terminal (CT) aquifers of Algeria and Tunisia are discussed alongside core measurements for U/Th (and K) in the contexts of radiological water quality, geochemical controls in the aquifer, and water residence times. A redox barrier is characterised downgradient in the Algerian CI for which a trend of increasing 234U/238U A.R.s with decreasing U-contents due to recoil-dominated 234U solution under reducing conditions allows residence time modelling ∼500 ka for the highest enhanced A.R. = 3.17. Geochemical modelling therefore identifies waters towards the centre of the Grand Erg Oriental basin as palaeowaters in line with reported 14C and 36Cl ages. A similar 234U/238U trend is evidenced in a few of the Tunisian CI waters. The paleoage status of these waters is affirmed by both noble gas recharge temperatures and simple modelling of dissolved, radiogenic 4He-contents both for sampled Algerian and Tunisian CI and CT waters. For the regions studied these waters therefore should be regarded as “fossil” waters and treated effectively as a non-renewable resource.

Belfast Soundwalks: Experiences in Sound and Place through Locative Media

This article outlines the ongoing development of a locative smartphone app for iPhone and Android phones entitled The Belfast Soundwalks Project. Drawing upon a method known as soundwalking, the aim of this app is to engage the public in sonic art through the creation of up to ten soundwalks within the city of Belfast. This paper discusses the use of GPS enabled mobile devices in the creation of soundwalks in other cities. The authors identify various strategies for articulating an experience of listening in place as mediated by mobile technologies. The project aims to provide a platform for multiple artists to develop site-specific sound works which highlight the relationship between sound, place and community. The development of the app and the app interface are discussed, as are the methods employed to test and evaluate the project.

Urban and rural differences in risk of admission to a care home: a census-based follow-up study

Research on admissions to care homes for older people has paid more attention to individual and social characteristics than to geographical factors. This paper considers rural-urban differences in household composition and admission rates. Cohort: 51,619 people aged 65 years or older at the time of the 2001 Census and not living in a care home, drawn from a data linkage study based on c.28% of the Northern Ireland population.Living alone was less common in rural areas; 25% of older people in rural areas lived with children compared to 18% in urban areas. Care home admission was more common in urban (4.7%) and intermediate (4.3%) areas than in rural areas (3.2%). Even after adjusting for age, sex, health and living arrangements, the rate of care home admission in rural areas was still only 75% of that in urban areas.People in rural areas experience better family support by living as part of two or three generation households. Even after accounting for this difference, older rural dwellers are less likely to enter care homes; suggesting that neighbours and relatives in rural areas provide more informal care; or that there may be differential deployment of formal home care services.

Burkholderia pseudomallei:another emerging pathogen in cystic fibrosis

BACKGROUND: Burkholderia pseudomallei is an important cause of acute fulminant pneumonia and septicaemia in tropical regions of northern Australia and south east Asia. Subacute and chronic forms of the disease also occur. There have been three recent reports of adults with cystic fibrosis (CF) who presumably acquired B pseudomallei infection during extended vacations or residence in either Thailand or northern Australia.

METHODS: The clinical course, molecular characteristics, serology and response to treatment are described in four adult CF patients infected with B pseudomallei. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based methods were used to confirm B pseudomallei and exclude B cepacia complex. Genotyping was performed using randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) PCR and pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE).

RESULTS: Four patients are described with a mean duration of infection of 32 months. All but one patient lived in tropical Queensland. Two patients (with the longest duration of infection) deteriorated clinically and one subsequently died of respiratory failure. Both responded to intravenous treatment specifically targeting B pseudomallei. Another patient suffered two severe episodes of acute bronchopneumonia following acquisition of B pseudomallei. Eradication of the organism was not possible in any of the cases. PFGE of a sample isolate from each patient revealed the strains to be unique and RAPD analysis showed retention of the same strain within an individual over time.

CONCLUSIONS: These findings support a potential pathogenic role for B pseudomallei in CF lung disease, producing both chronic infection and possibly acute bronchopneumonia. Identical isolates are retained over time and are unique, consistent with likely environmental acquisition and not person to person spread. B pseudomallei is emerging as a significant pathogen for patients with CF residing and holidaying in the tropics.

Process simulation of co-firing torrefied biomass in a 220 MWe coal-fired power plant

Torrefaction based co-firing in a pulverized coal boiler has been proposed for large percentage of biomass co-firing. A 220 MWe pulverized coal-power plant is simulated using Aspen Plus for full understanding the impacts of an additional torrefaction unit on the efficiency of the whole power plant, the studied process includes biomass drying, biomass torrefaction, mill systems, biomass/coal devolatilization and combustion, heat exchanges and power generation. Palm kernel shells (PKS) were torrefied at same residence time but 4 different temperatures, to prepare 4 torrefied biomasses with different degrees of torrefaction. During biomass torrefaction processes, the mass loss properties and released gaseous components have been studied. In addition, process simulations at varying torrefaction degrees and biomass co-firing ratios have been carried out to understand the properties of CO₂ emission and electricity efficiency in the studied torrefaction based co-firing power plant. According to the experimental results, the mole fractions of CO ₂ and CO account for 69-91% and 4-27% in torrefied gases. The predicted results also showed that the electrical efficiency reduced when increasing either torrefaction temperature or substitution ratio of biomass. A deep torrefaction may not be recommended, because the power saved from biomass grinding is less than the heat consumed by the extra torrefaction process, depending on the heat sources. 

Distributed Sounding Art – Practices in Distributing Sound (eds. Barry Truax, Marcel Cobussen and Vincent Meelberg)

This chapter examines distributed sounding art by focusing on three key aspects that we consider essentially tied to the notion of distribution: assignment, transport and sharing. These aspects aid us in navigating through a number of nodes in a history of sounding art practices where sound becomes assigned, transported and shared between places and people. Sound or data become distributed, and in the process of distribution, meanings become assigned and altered through differing socio-cultural contexts of places and people. We have selected several works, commencing in the 1960’s as we consider this period as having produced some of the seminal works that address distribution.
We draw on works by composers, performers and sound artists and thus present a history of sounding art, which is amongst the many histories of sounding art in the 20th and 21st century.

'A Breath of Fresh Air': The experiences of undergraduate nursing students' participating in a creative learning project:This paper presents the experiences of undergraduate nursing students who participated in a creative learning project to explore the cells, tissues and organs of the human body through felt making.

Aim of the study
This paper presents the experiences of undergraduate nursing students who participated in a creative learning project to explore the cells, tissues and organs of the human body through felt making.

Context and Background
This project was funded by a Teaching Innovation Award from the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Queen’s University Belfast to explore creative ways of engaging year one undergraduate nursing students in learning anatomy and physiology. The project was facilitated through collaboration between University Teaching staff and Arts Care, a unique arts and health charity in Northern Ireland.

Methodology
Twelve year one students participated in four workshops designed to explore the cells, tissues and organs of the human body through the medium of felt. Facilitated by an Arts Care artist, students translated their learning into striking felt images. The project culminated in the exhibition of this unique collection of work which has been viewed by fellow students, teaching staff, nurses from practice, and artists from Arts Care, friends, family and members of the public.

Key Findings and conclusions
The opportunity to learn in a more diverse way within a safe and non-judgmental environment was valued, with students’ reporting a greater confidence in life science knowledge. Self- reflection and group discussion revealed that the project was a unique creative learning experience for all involved – students, teaching staff and artist – resulting in individual and collective benefits far beyond knowledge acquisition. As individuals we each felt respected and recognised for our unique contribution to the project. Working in partnership with Arts Care enabled us to experience the benefits of creativity to well-being and reflect upon how engagement in creative activities can help healthcare professionals to focus on the individual patient’s needs and how this is fundamental to enhancing patient-centred care

Blending Art and Science in Nurse Education: The Benefits and Impact of Creative Partnerships

Blending Art and Science in Nurse Education: The Benefits and Impact of Creative Partnerships

This paper presents the benefits of an innovative education partnership between lecturers from the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Queens University Belfast and Arts Care, a unique Arts and Health Charity in Northern Ireland, to engage nursing students in life sciences

Nursing and Midwifery students often struggle to engage with life science modules because they lack confidence in their ability to study science.This project was funded by a Teaching Innovation Award from the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Queens University Belfast, to explore creative ways of engaging year one undergraduate nursing students in learning anatomy and physiology. The project was facilitated through collaboration between Teaching staff from the School of Nursing and Midwifery and Arts Care, Northern Ireland. This unique Arts and Health Charity believes in the benefits of creativity to well being.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE(S)
To explore creative ways of engaging year one undergraduate nursing students in learning anatomy and physiology.

METHODS AND METHODLOGY
Students participated in a series of workshops designed to explore the cells, tissues and organs of the human body through the medium of felt. Facilitated by an Arts Care artist, and following self-directed preparation, students discussed and translated their learning of the cells, tissues and organs of the human body into striking felt images. During the project students kept a reflective journal of their experience to document how participation in the project enhanced their learning and professional development

RESULTS
Creativity transformed and brought to life the students learning of the cells, tissues and organs of the human body.

The project culminated in the exhibition of a unique body of artwork which has been exhibited across Northern Ireland in hospitals and galleries and viewed by fellow students, teaching staff, nurses from practice, artists, friends, family and members of the public.

CONCLUSION
The impact of creativity learning strategies in nurse education should be further explored.

REFERENCES
Bennett, M and Rogers, K.MA. (2014) First impressions matter: an active, innovative and engaging method to recruit student volunteers for a pedagogic project. Reflections, Available online at: QUB, Centre for Educational Development / Publications / Reflections Newsletter, Issue 18, June 2014.

Chickering,A.W. and Gamson,Z.F. (1987) Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education The American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, March. http://www.aahea.org/aahea/articles/sevenprinciples1987.htm, accessed 8th August 2014

Fell, P., Borland, G., Lynne, V. (2012) Lab versus lectures: can lab based practical sessions improve nursing students’ learning of bioscience? Health and Social Care Education 3:1, 33-38

Efficient and selective hydrogen peroxide-mediated oxidation of sulfides in batch and segmented and continuous flow using a peroxometalate-based polymer immobilised ionic liquid phase catalyst

The peroxometalate-based polymer immobilized ionic liquid phase catalyst [PO4{WO(O-2)(2)}(4)]@PIILP has been prepared by anion exchange of ring opening metathesis-derived pyrrolidinium-decorated norbornene/ cyclooctene copolymer and shown to be a remarkably efficient system for the selective oxidation of sulfides under mild conditions. A cartridge packed with a mixture of [PO4{WO(O-2)(2)}(4)]@PIILP and silica operated as a segmented or continuous flow process and gave good conversions and high selectivity for either sulfoxide (92% in methanol at 96% conversion for a residence time of 4 min) or sulfone (96% in acetonitrile at 96% conversion for a residence time of 15 min). The immobilized catalyst remained active for 8 h under continuous flow operation with a stable activity/selectivity profile that allowed 6.5 g of reactant to be processed (TON = 46 428) while a single catalyst cartridge could be used for the consecutive oxidation of multiple substrates giving activity-selectivity profiles that matched those obtained with fresh catalyst.

Improvisation, Indeterminacy and Game-Mediated Participation in Network Music Performance

This chapter focuses on the relationship between improvisation and indeterminacy. We discuss the two practices by referring to play theory and game studies and situate it in recent network music performance. We will develop a parallel with game theory in which indeterminacy is seen as a way of articulating situations where structural decisions are left to the discernment of the performers and discuss improvisation as a method of play. The improvisation-indeterminacy relationship is discussed in the context of network music performance, which employs digital networks in the exchange of data between performers and hence relies on topological structures with varying degrees of openness and flexibility. Artists such as Max Neuhaus and The League of Automatic Music Composers initiated the development of a multitude of practices and technologies exploring the network as an environment for music making. Even though the technologies behind “the network” have shifted dramatically since Neuhaus’ use of radio in the 1960’s, a preoccupation with distribution and sharing of artistic agency has remained at the centre of networked practices. Gollo Föllmer, after undertaking an extensive review of network music initiatives, produced a typology that comprises categories as diverse as remix lists, sound toys, real/virtual space installations and network performances. For Föllmer, “the term ‘Net music’ comprises all formal and stylistic kinds of music upon which the specifics of electronic networks leave considerable traces, whereby the electronic networks strongly influence the process of musical production, the musical aesthetic, or the way music is received” (2005: 185).

Urban/rural variation in the influence of widowhood on mortality risk

Death of a spouse is associated with increased mortality risk for the surviving partner (the widowhood effect), although the mechanisms driving the effect are poorly understood. After acute stress and grief have dissipated, mortality risk may be increased by loss of emotional and instrumental support for daily living and so we investigated whether social support at both the household and community levels moderated the influence of spousal bereavement on mortality risk.

We assembled death records from the Northern Ireland Mortality Study spanning almost nine years for a prospective cohort of 296,125 married couples enumerated in the 2001 Census. Presence of other adults within the household and urban/rural residence were used as measures of support at the household and community levels, with informal social support perceived to be strongest in rural areas. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate the effects of widowhood, sex, household composition and urban/intermediate/rural residence on all-cause mortality.

Elevated mortality risk during the first six months of widowhood was found in all areas and for both sexes (range of hazard ratios 1.24, 1.57). After more than six months the effect among men was attenuated in rural but not urban areas (HRs and 95%CIs 1.09 [0.99, 1.21] and 1.35 [1.26, 1.44] respectively). Among women the effect was attenuated in both rural and urban areas (HRs 1.06 [0.96, 1.17] and 1.09 [1.01, 1.17]). Mortality risk post bereavement was not associated with presence of other adults in the household.

We found some support for the hypothesis that informal social support is beneficial for reducing the impacts of spousal loss. Rural residence had a positive effect especially among men but presence of other adults in the household had no effect. The reasons for this discrepancy require further investigation and we identify men in urban areas as being at greatest risk in the long term.

"No Encores" The Royal Dublin Society Concert Archive Recitals in Retrospect: 1925-50

A large archive of sources for the RDS classical music recitals is extant in the Society’s Library, Ballsbridge, Dublin. The recitals were established in 1886 for the promotion of chamber music and in order to expose Dublin audiences to the works of the great composers. Extant in the collection are minute books; autographed programmes; newspaper cuttings which include previews, reviews and advertisements; correspondences with artists and agents; promotional material; selections of photographs; records of attendance, artists fees and takings; and volumes of printed music.
This paper will document the organisation, management and occurrence of the RDS classical music recitals for the period 1925 to 1950 and will encompass the opening of the current concert hall (The Members’ Hall, 1925), the Society’s bi-centenary celebrations (1931) and the continuance of the recitals within the context of the Second World War (1939- 45). The paper will examine and analyse the following: networks, repertoire and reception.
The RDS music committee established significant links with many performers and UK-based classical music agents. Recitalists include musicians of international renown; Myra Hess, Isolde Menges, Lili Kraus, Joseph Szigeti, Leon Goossens, Sir Hamilton Harty and The Hallé Orchestra, The Catterall Quartet and many local, Dublin-based musicians; Raidió Éireann Orchestra, Dublin String Orchestra, Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra and Culwick Choral Society. The compromises and collaborations in evidence between the music committee, agents and performers resulted in the presentation of varied and well-balanced programmes featuring sonatas, quartets, trios, concerti, overtures, symphonies and songs by composers including Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn and Brahms. Works by contemporary composers including Bax, Dohnanyi, Szymanowski and Suk were also regularly performed, as were works with an Irish influence or flavour. Audiences mainly consisted of members of the Society, music students were encouraged to attend at a reduced rate and reviews were regularly published in the Irish Times, Irish Independent and Irish Press.

Factors associated with spectacle-wear compliance in school-aged Mexican children.

PURPOSE: To study the prevalence and determinants of compliance with spectacle wear among school-age children in Oaxaca, Mexico, who were provided spectacles free of charge. METHODS: A cohort of 493 children aged 5 to 18 years chosen by random cluster sampling from primary and secondary schools in Oaxaca, Mexico, all of whom had received free spectacles through a local program, underwent unannounced, direct examination to determine compliance with spectacle wear within 18 months after initial provision of spectacles. Potential determinants of spectacle wear including age, gender, urban versus rural residence, presenting visual acuity, refractive error, and time since dispensing of the spectacles were examined in univariate and multivariate regression models. Children not currently wearing their spectacles were asked to select the reason from a list of possibilities, and reasons for noncompliance were analyzed within different demographic groups. RESULTS: Among this sample of children with a mean age of 10.4 +/- 2.6 years, the majority (74.5%) of whom were myopic (spherical equivalent [SE] < or = -0.50 D), 13.4% (66/493) were wearing their spectacles at the time of examination. An additional 34% (169/493) had the spectacles with them but were not wearing them. In regression models, the odds of spectacle wear were significantly higher among younger (OR = 1.19 per year of age; 95% CI, 1.05-1.33) rural (OR = 10.6; 95% CI, 5.3-21.0) children and those with myopia < or = -1.25 D (OR = 3.97; 95% CI, 1.98-7.94). The oldest children and children in urban-suburban areas were significantly more likely to list concerns about the appearance of the glasses or about being teased than were younger, rurally resident children. CONCLUSIONS: Compliance with spectacle wear may be very low, even when spectacles are provided free of charge, particularly among older, urban children, who have been shown in many populations to have the highest prevalence of myopia. As screening programs for refractive error become increasingly common throughout the world, new strategies are needed to improve compliance if program resources are to be maximized.