scholarly journals Choose your own adventure: Vocal jazz improvisation, conceptual metaphor, and cognitive embodiment

2021 ◽  
pp. 102986492110627
Author(s):  
Melissa Forbes ◽  
Kate Cantrell

Creativity in the form of musical improvisation has received growing attention from researchers informed by the literature on embodiment. To date, this research has focused on the embodied experiences of improvising instrumentalists rather than those of improvising singers. This article investigates the experience of embodiment during improvisation through a systematic analysis of the metaphorical language used by an artist-level jazz singer in her reflections on practice. Extensive interview data with the participant were analyzed to identify and reconstruct metaphorical expressions into conceptual metaphors. In this process, the metaphor of IMPROVISATION IS AN ADVENTURE was identified as the overarching conceptual structure that the participant used to make sense of her experiences of improvisation. This metaphor and its mappings illuminate the cognitively embodied dimension of vocal jazz improvisation. These findings will be of interest to jazz singers and vocal jazz educators who are encouraged to explore more fully the role of the body–mind’s interactions with its environment in order to establish expertise in improvisational ways of knowing. This research illuminates the multidimensional nature of an expert singer’s experiences of improvisation and is presented as a provocation for future research to include singers as participants when investigating musical improvisation and cognitive embodiment.

2011 ◽  
Vol 106 (9) ◽  
pp. 1297-1309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Navamayooran Thavanesan

The increase in the prevalence of obesity in recent years has prompted research into alternative methods of modulating body weight and body fat. The last decade has reflected this with a surge in studies investigating the potential of green tea as a natural agent of weight loss, with a view to confirming and elucidating the mechanisms underlying its effect on the body. Currently, it is widely believed that the polyphenolic components present in green tea have an anti-obesogenic effect on fat homeostasis, by increasing thermogenesis or reducing fat absorption among other ways. The data published to date, however, are inconsistent, with numerous putative modes of action suggested therein. While several unimodal mechanisms have been postulated, a more plausible explanation of the observed results might involve a multimodal approach. Such a mechanism is suggested here, involving simultaneous inhibition of the enzymes catechol-O-methyltransferase, acetyl-CoA carboxylase, fatty acid synthase and impeding absorption of fat via the gut. An evaluation of the available evidence supports a role of green tea in weight loss; however the extent of the effects obtained is still subject to debate, and requires more objective quantification in future research.


2004 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica T. Whitty

AbstractWhile flirting is a relatively underresearched area within psychology, even less is known about how people cyber-flirt. This paper explores how often individuals flirt offline compared to online. Moreover, it attempts to examine how men and women flirt within these different spaces. Five thousand, six hundred and ninety-seven individuals, of which 3554 (62%) were women and 2143 (38%) were men, completed a survey about their flirting behaviour both in face-to-face interactions and in chatrooms. The first hypothesis, which stated that the body would be used to flirt with as frequently online as offline, was partly supported. However, it was found that individuals downplayed the importance of physical attractiveness online. Women flirted by displaying nonverbal signals (offline) or substitutes for nonverbal cues (online), to a greater extent than men. In chatrooms men were more likely than women to initiate contact. It is concluded that cyber-flirting is more than simply a meeting of minds and that future research needs to consider the role of the body in online interactions.


2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Martens

The central role of the body in producing music is hardly debatable. Likewise, the body has always played at least an implicit role in music theory, but has only been raised as a factor in music analysis relatively recently. In this essay I present a brief update of the body in music analysis via case studies, situated in the disciplines of music theory and music cognition, broadly construed. This current trajectory is part of a broader shift away from the musical score as the sole focus for analysis, which admittedly—though, in my view, delightfully—raises a host of challenging epistemological questions surrounding the interaction of performer (production) and listener (perception). While the concomitant research methodologies and technologies may be unfamiliar to scholars trained in humanities disciplines, I advocate for a full embrace of these approaches, either by individual researchers or in the form of cross-disciplinary collaboration.


Author(s):  
Amrut.S. Salunke ◽  
Adarsh Ramkalap Sharma ◽  
Sonali Sunil Tadasarkar

Corona virus disease is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome Corona virus 2[SARS-CoV-2] infections attacking multisystem of the human body at a time, of which respiratory system, immune system and circulatory system are most affected. The complications of the disease arise or it becomes more pronounced, after the cytokinine storm phase becomes established leading to hypercoagulative state affecting the circulatory and respiratory system. In Ayurveda, there is a holistic approach in treating the disease and the body as a whole. Drugs such as Haridra, Tulasi, Guduchi, Yashtimadhu, Twak, Triphala, Lavang, Maricha, Pippali etc and few Visha Dravyas like Langali, Dravanti etc can be used a single drug or a group of drugs with their phytochemical properties and active principles leading to delay and prevention of hyper coagulable states thereby preventing the cascade of complications caused by COVID, additionally having anti-inflammatory and immune-modulatory effect. Scientific research on these drugs may reveal a new approach for management and prevention of COVID related complications and can be a subject of future research interest.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Callan Sait

<p>Following calls from both disability studies and anthropology to provide ethnographic accounts of disability, this thesis presents the narratives of nine people living with disability, focusing on what disability means to them, how it is incorporated into their identities, and how it shapes their lived experiences. While accounts of disability from disability studies often focus on the social model of disability (Shakespeare 2006) and emphasise social stigma and oppression (Goffman 1967, Susman 1994), anthropological accounts often emphasise the suffering and search for cures (Rapp and Ginsburg 2012) that is assumed to accompany disability. Both approaches have their benefits, but neither pay particularly close attention to the personal experiences of individuals, on their own terms.  By taking elements from both disciplines, this thesis aims to present a balanced view that emphasises the lived experiences of individuals with disability, and uses these experiences as a starting point for wider social analysis. The primary focus of this thesis is understanding how disability shapes an individual’s identity: what physical, emotional, and social factors influence how these people are perceived – by themselves and others? Through my participants’ narratives I explore how understandings of normal bodies and normal lives influence their sense of personhood, and investigate the role of stigma in mediating social encounters and self-concepts. Furthermore, I undertake a novel study of the role of technology in the lives of people living with disability. My work explores how both assistive and non-assistive (‘general’) technologies are perceived and utilised by my participants in ways that effect not just the physical experience of disability, but also social perceptions and personal understandings of the body/self.  I argue that although the social model of disability is an excellent analytical tool, and one which has provided tangible benefits for disabled people, its political nature can sometimes lead to a homogenisation of disabled experiences; something which this thesis is intended to remedy by providing ethnographic narratives of disability, grounded in the embodied experiences of individuals.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Callan Sait

<p>Following calls from both disability studies and anthropology to provide ethnographic accounts of disability, this thesis presents the narratives of nine people living with disability, focusing on what disability means to them, how it is incorporated into their identities, and how it shapes their lived experiences. While accounts of disability from disability studies often focus on the social model of disability (Shakespeare 2006) and emphasise social stigma and oppression (Goffman 1967, Susman 1994), anthropological accounts often emphasise the suffering and search for cures (Rapp and Ginsburg 2012) that is assumed to accompany disability. Both approaches have their benefits, but neither pay particularly close attention to the personal experiences of individuals, on their own terms.  By taking elements from both disciplines, this thesis aims to present a balanced view that emphasises the lived experiences of individuals with disability, and uses these experiences as a starting point for wider social analysis. The primary focus of this thesis is understanding how disability shapes an individual’s identity: what physical, emotional, and social factors influence how these people are perceived – by themselves and others? Through my participants’ narratives I explore how understandings of normal bodies and normal lives influence their sense of personhood, and investigate the role of stigma in mediating social encounters and self-concepts. Furthermore, I undertake a novel study of the role of technology in the lives of people living with disability. My work explores how both assistive and non-assistive (‘general’) technologies are perceived and utilised by my participants in ways that effect not just the physical experience of disability, but also social perceptions and personal understandings of the body/self.  I argue that although the social model of disability is an excellent analytical tool, and one which has provided tangible benefits for disabled people, its political nature can sometimes lead to a homogenisation of disabled experiences; something which this thesis is intended to remedy by providing ethnographic narratives of disability, grounded in the embodied experiences of individuals.</p>


mSystems ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shi Huang ◽  
Niina Haiminen ◽  
Anna-Paola Carrieri ◽  
Rebecca Hu ◽  
Lingjing Jiang ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Human gut microbiomes are known to change with age, yet the relative value of human microbiomes across the body as predictors of age, and prediction robustness across populations is unknown. In this study, we tested the ability of the oral, gut, and skin (hand and forehead) microbiomes to predict age in adults using random forest regression on data combined from multiple publicly available studies, evaluating the models in each cohort individually. Intriguingly, the skin microbiome provides the best prediction of age (mean ± standard deviation, 3.8 ± 0.45 years, versus 4.5 ± 0.14 years for the oral microbiome and 11.5 ± 0.12 years for the gut microbiome). This also agrees with forensic studies showing that the skin microbiome predicts postmortem interval better than microbiomes from other body sites. Age prediction models constructed from the hand microbiome generalized to the forehead and vice versa, across cohorts, and results from the gut microbiome generalized across multiple cohorts (United States, United Kingdom, and China). Interestingly, taxa enriched in young individuals (18 to 30 years) tend to be more abundant and more prevalent than taxa enriched in elderly individuals (>60 yrs), suggesting a model in which physiological aging occurs concomitantly with the loss of key taxa over a lifetime, enabling potential microbiome-targeted therapeutic strategies to prevent aging. IMPORTANCE Considerable evidence suggests that the gut microbiome changes with age or even accelerates aging in adults. Whether the age-related changes in the gut microbiome are more or less prominent than those for other body sites and whether predictions can be made about a person’s age from a microbiome sample remain unknown. We therefore combined several large studies from different countries to determine which body site’s microbiome could most accurately predict age. We found that the skin was the best, on average yielding predictions within 4 years of chronological age. This study sets the stage for future research on the role of the microbiome in accelerating or decelerating the aging process and in the susceptibility for age-related diseases.


Author(s):  
Nicholas L. Miller

This chapter reviews the argument and evidence presented in the body of book, which provides substantial support for the proposed theories on the sources and effectiveness of US nonproliferation policy. It identifies areas for future research, such as the nonproliferation policies of other countries, the mechanisms through which nuclear domino effects occur, and the role of preventive strikes in preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. It also discusses the implications of the book’s finding for theory and policy, for example the need for the United States to maintain a credible sanctions policy, continue its international engagement, and work to develop more reliable policies for instituting multilateral sanctions.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shabir Ahmad ◽  
Ishtiaq Ahmad Bajwa

Purpose This study aims to present the first meta-analysis of the research on social entrepreneurship and socio-economic development (SESED). Nation-states, researchers and organizations realized the pivotal role of social entrepreneurship in socio-economic development in the recent two decades. The body of knowledge in this domain witnessed consistent research growth, but it still lacks a critical review to map the scholarly literature and to guide future researchers. Design/methodology/approach This study used meta-analysis that combines bibliometric and content analyzes of 83 most relevant articles from 910 initially retrieved articles from the Web of Science, published in 75 different journals and 45 countries during 2005 and 2020. The analysis was performed using Histcite, VOSviewer and Biblioshiny software to identify the most influential aspects and to conduct citation and content analyze of selected publications. Findings The findings showed an overall consistent growth in research publications during the past 16 years with “Social Entrepreneurship and Enterprise: International and Innovation Perspectives” as the most influential article, “Entrepreneurship and Regional Development” as the most influential journal, and the USA and the UK as the most productive countries. The keyword co-occurrence analysis exposed five thematic clusters and content analysis revealed five streams within the selected publications. Practical implications This study provides 10 research questions that urge future researchers to conduct a thorough investigation on how social entrepreneurship while solving social, cultural, environmental and community issues, contributes to socio-economic development. Originality/value This study identifies prominent trends, intellectual structure, leading research streams and specific future research directions in the field of SESED.


KWALON ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Bootsma ◽  
Melanie Schellekens ◽  
Rosalie van Woezik ◽  
Marije van der Lee ◽  
Jenny Slatman

Embodied experiences of patients with severe chronic fatigue after cancer. An interpretive phenomenological study This article presents a phenomenological study on embodied experiences based on interviews with 25 patients with severe chronic cancer-related fatigue (CCRF). Insight into the patient’s perspective can help to facilitate personalized treatment in CCRF. Theoretically resorting to philosophical phenomenology, we explored embodied experiences of living with CCRF. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis, we identified four superordinate themes: (1) Worn out; (2) Diminishment of one’s ‘I can’; (3) Socially invisible objectification of the body; and (4) Restoring one’s ‘I can’. For clinical practice, these results suggest that focusing on the body and restoring one’s ‘I can’ could be helpful during treatment of CCRF. Future research should focus on measuring individual patterns of CCRF symptoms in order to personalize treatment.


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