Double bass and electric bass: the case study of John Patitucci

The electric bass and double bass are two different instruments sharing a common function: they link harmony with rhythm, especially when talking about jazz music. The capacity of a bassist to fully support an ensemble is something that can be achieved individually playing electric or double bass. However there are some bassists who, despite of the technical differences between these two instruments, choose to play both. Some of these performers are true masters using and switching electric and double bass according to the different musical settings. It is possible to define similarities and differences between the electric and double bass, but is it viable to use similar approaches too? In order to investigate this field, I focus my research on one exemplar player who combines all the qualities needed to both play electric than double bass: John Patitucci, an inspiration for bassists of all generations and a musician who synthesizes all the fundamental characteristics of an ideal bass player. This dissertation is inspired by Patitucci’s example and by the urge to fill a gap in the specialized literature concerning the history and application of different left and right hand techniques on the electric and double bass. The main purpose of this study is to create the backbone of a bass program for teaching both instruments using John Patitucci as example. His technical approach on both instruments and his soloing vocabulary are points of departure of this dissertation. I begin my study with the historical origins of Patitucci’s techniques ending with the development of exercises created in order to teach his techniques and vocabulary to those who aspire to play electric and double bass; RESUMO: Baixo elétrico e contrabaixo, dois instrumentos distintos que partilham uma função comum: a possibilidade de produzir um conjunto de notas capazes de interligar uma grelha harmonia a uma base rítmica, criando uma coesão estética e musical, sobretudo na música jazz. A capacidade de um baixista de conseguir alcançar de forma eficiente esta ligação como sólido suporte para um “ensemble” musical está na base de uma sua eventual afirmação profissional. Há músicos que apesar das diferencias técnicas entre estes dois instrumentos, decidiram tocar ambos; alguns deles conseguiram destacarse, usando e trocando o baixo elétrico e o contrabaixo para servir melhor diferentes situações musicais. O contrabaixo e baixo elétrico têm características em comum mas ao mesmo tempo diferem por apresentar algumas diferenças técnica substanciais; será por isso possível abordar, explorar e aprender ambos utilizando uma mesma base metodológica? Com o intuito de explorar esta possibilidade direcionei a minha pesquisa para o estudo de um músico que no curso da sua longa carreira consegui grande destaque em quanto baixista elétrico e contrabaixista. John Patitucci é a síntese desta tipologia de músico, sendo uma fonte de inspiração para baixistas de todas as gerações. Esta dissertação é inspirada no seu exemplo e no desejo de colmatar o vazio presente na literatura musical comum aos dois instrumentos sobre a história e aplicação das técnicas da mão esquerda e direita. O foco principal é a criação de uma base sólida para o futuro desenvolvimento de um programa de ensino comum para o baixo eléctrico e o contrabaixo, utilizando o vocabulário técnico e improvisativo de Patitucci como ponto de partida. A dissertação aborda as origens históricas das técnicas utilizadas por Patitucci desenvolvendo, numa fase sucessiva, exercícios criados com a função de ensinar as suas técnicas aos que desejarem aprofundar a prática do baixo elétrico e do contrabaixo.

An AAL Collaborative System: The AAL4ALL and a Mobile Assistant Case Study

Part 20: Health and Care Networks

Clostridium difficile ribotypes in humans and animals in Brazil

Clostridium difficile is an emerging enteropathogen responsible for pseudomembranous colitis in humans and diarrhoea in several domestic and wild animal species. Despite its known importance, there are few studies about C. difficile polymerase chain reaction (PCR) ribotypes in Brazil and the actual knowledge is restricted to studies on human isolates. The aim of the study was therefore to compare C. difficile ribotypes isolated from humans and animals in Brazil. Seventysix C. difficile strains isolated from humans (n = 25), dogs (n = 23), piglets (n = 12), foals (n = 7), calves (n = 7), one cat, and one manned wolf were distributed into 24 different PCR ribotypes. Among toxigenic strains, PCR ribotypes 014/020 and 106 were the most common, accounting for 14 (18.4%) and eight (10.5%) samples, respectively. Fourteen different PCR ribotypes were detected among human isolates, nine of them have also been identified in at least one animal species. PCR ribotype 027 was not detected, whereas 078 were found only in foals. This data suggests a high diversity of PCR ribotypes in humans and animals in Brazil and support the discussion of C. difficile as a zoonotic pathogen.

Climate change and impacts on family farming in the North and Northeast of Brazil.

The starting point for this study was the consideration of future climate change scenarios and their uncertainties. The paper presents the global projections from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) and compares them with regional scenarios (downscaling) developed by the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais - INPE), with a focus on two main IPCC scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) and two main global models (MIROC and Hadley Centre) for the periods 2011-2040 and 2041-2070. It aims to identify the main trends in terms of changes in temperature and precipitation for the North and Northeast regions of Brazil (more specifically, in the Amazon, semi-arid and cerrado biomes).

Social Services in Times of Economic and Social Crisis: The case of Spain

The financial and economic crisis which originated in 2008 has had a severe impact on the population of the Southern European countries. The economic policies of austerity and public deficit control, as well as the neo-liberal and conservative social policies are redefining the public social protection systems, in particular the Social Services. In order to get to understand the current situation, we shall explain how the Social Services were developed in Spain and analyse the causes and consequences of the economic crisis. The working hypothesis is that the greater the increase on the population’s needs, the more developed the Social Services should be. We carried out a descriptive analysis of the situation as far as the social impacts of the crisis per region are concerned. We tested the hypothesis through a parametric model of analysis of variance (one-way ANOVA) triangulating with the non-parametric Kruscal-Wallis test. The working hypothesis failed. The regions with better developed Social Services show a lower level of poverty and social exclusion. The challenges that the public Social Services system faces in times of crisis is three-fold: 1) re-modelling of local administration and transferring of the municipal Social Services responsibilities to the regional administration; 2) an increase of the population at risk of poverty and social exclusion 3) impact on social policies.

The legitimation of development and GM crops: The case of Bt Cotton and Indebtedness in Telangana, India

This study explores the relation between Bt cotton adoption and farmer suicides in India. This is undertaken through comparing the debt levels of Bt cotton cultivators with those adopting alternative organic and Non-Pesticide Management (NPM) methods. The study involves a total of 26 participants in three villages in Telangana, India. It argues that measures of indebtedness need to be adopted as part of assessments of both Bt cotton and development policy.

The legitimation of risk and Bt cotton: a case study of Bantala village in Warangal, Andhra Pradesh, India

This article explores Ulrich Beck’s theorisation of risk society through focusing on the way in which the risk of Bt cotton is legitimated by six cultivators in Bantala, a village in Warangal, Andhra Pradesh, in India. The fieldwork for this study was conducted between June 2010 and March 2011, a duration chosen to coincide with a cotton season. The study explores the experience of the cultivators using the ‘categories of legitimation’ defined by Van Leeuwen. These are authorisation, moral evaluation, rationalisation and mythopoesis. As well as permitting an exploration of the legitimation of Bt cotton by cultivators themselves within the high-risk context of the Indian agrarian crisis, the categories also serve as an analytical framework with which to structure a discourse analysis of participant perspectives. The study examines the complex trade-off, which Renn argues the legitimation of ambiguous risk, such as that associated with Bt technology, entails. The research explores the way in which legitimation of the technology is informed by wider normative conceptualisations of development. This highlights that, in a context where indebtedness is strongly linked to farmer suicides, the potential of Bt cotton for poverty alleviation is traded against the uncertainty associated with the technology’s risks, which include its purported links to animal deaths. The study highlights the way in which the wider legitimation of a neoliberal approach to development in Andhra Pradesh serves to reinforce the choice of Bt cotton, and results in a depoliticisation of risk in Bantala. The research indicates, however, that this trade-off is subject to change over time, as economic benefits wane and risks accumulate. It also highlights the need for caution in relation to the proposed extension of Bt technology to food crops, such as Bt brinjal (aubergine).

Territorial development, planning reform and urban governance: the case of Ireland's second-tier cities

The increased emphasis within Europe on the role of second-tier cities has implications for the ways in which these urban centres are considered within national spatial planning strategies. In centralised, monocentric states like Ireland, there has been a general ambivalence towards urban policy for cities outside the capital city, and historically this has prevented the development of a strong, diversified urban hierarchy undermining prospects for balanced regional development. This paper examines the extent to which a new found emphasis on Ireland’s second-tier cities which emerged in the ‘Gateways’ policy of the National Spatial Strategy (NSS, 2002) was matched by subsequent political and administrative commitment to facilitate the development of these urban centres. Following a discussion of the position of second-tier cities in an international context and a brief overview of recent demographic and economic trends, the paper assesses the relative performance of Ireland’s second-tier cities in influencing development trends, highlighting a comprehensive failure to deliver compact urban growth. In this context, the paper then discusses the implications of current development plans for the second-tier cities and proposals for Irish local government reform for securing compact urban development.

Depth distribution of the velvet belly, Etmopterus spinax, in relation to growth and reproductive cycle: The case study of a deep-water lantern shark with a wide-ranging critical habitat

The velvet belly lantern shark, Etmopterus spinax (Squaliformes: Etmopteridae), is a small-sized squalid shark commonly found in deep waters off the Portuguese coast, mainly on soft bottoms. In this study, 67 research cruise bottom trawl tows (with 1-hour duration) were carried out at depths that ranged from 84 to 786 m. A total of 396 specimens (192 males and 204 females) were caught, with total lengths and ages ranging, respectively, from 10.2 to 32.9 cm and 0 to 7 years for males and from 9.8 to 41.1 cm and 0 to 10 years for females. Size, age, sex and maturity stages were found to be correlated with depth, with the larger, older and mostly mature specimens occurring predominantly at greater depths. There seems to be a depth-related migration, where the pregnant females migrate from deeper mating grounds to shallower nursery grounds. The sex ratios were relatively similar in the shallower strata, but females dominated at more than 600 m and were exclusive at more than 700 m. Fishing-related mortality may have complex and significant repercussions on this species, given that commercial fisheries are impacting different segments of this population differently.

Spirituality in the Undergraduate Curricula of Nursing Schools in Portugal and São Paulo-Brazil

Spirituality is considered a dimension of nursing care, which is often recognized as being neglected, mainly due to a lack of education. Several studies have addressed nursing students’ perceptions and skills for providing spiritual care, but there is little evidence on how spirituality is addressed in undergraduate nursing curricula. This study comprised Portuguese and Brazilian nursing schools (from São Paulo) and describes how spirituality is addressed in undergraduate nursing curricula. It is descriptive and the survey research was performed in 2014–2015. The questionnaire was composed of closed and open-ended questions and was sent by e-mail. A total of 129 answers were obtained, mostly from Portugal. Results indicated that several curricular units include spirituality, although having different contents. The learning outcomes are consistent with improving nursing students’ integral education, developing the clinical reasoning regarding spirituality, and improving the assessment of the patient across the life span. Nevertheless, it seems that spirituality is poorly addressed in clinical practice. Few nursing schools have courses or curricular units specifically dealing with spirituality, but they do provide some form of teaching on the subject. No standard curriculum exists, but teachers believe that it is a very important subject that should be included in the courses taught.