Thesis (M.Sc.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2003. / Bibliography: leaves 98-105. Also available online.

Orientador: Marisa Spirandeli Crespi / Banca: Carlos Alberto Alves Cairo / Banca: José Roberto Locatelli Fonseca / Banca: Jorge Manuel Vieira Capela / Banca: Pedro Paulo Corbi / Resumo: Com o avanço da tecnologia e industrialização houve um aumento de produtos descartáveis de uso doméstico ou industrial. A partir de então, tem início o trabalho de coleta seletiva e a reutilização desses produtos nas mais diversas áreas. Os "plásticos" são os produtos mais agressivos ao meio ambiente devido a sua difícil degradabilidade. Entre eles está o PET (polietileno tereftalato). Sabendo que garrafas PET pós-consumo (PET-R) é um problema muito sério no meio ambiente devido a sua alta resistência a degradação, pensou-se na sua reutilização, preparando blendas poliméricas com poli(3- hidroxibutirato), (PHB), que pertence a uma família de polímeros biodegradáveis, os polihidroxialcanoatos (PHAs) produzidos a partir de matéria-prima renovável como o açúcar da cana, matérias amiláceas e óleos vegetais. O PHB apresenta desvantagens como alto grau de cristalinidade e instabilidade térmica. Para melhorar essas características, o preparo de blendas poderia aliar as características dos polímeros convencionais, que são poucos degradáveis, mas possuem boas propriedades mecânicas com os polímeros biodegradáveis. Esse trabalho tem como objetivo a obtenção de blendas poliméricas na forma de mistura mecânica e na forma de filmes a partir de solução de PET-R e PHB (PHBPET-R) em várias proporções de massa As misturas obtidas foram caracterizadas utilizando Termogravimetria (TG), Calorimetria Exploratória Diferencial (DSC), difratometria de raios X, espectrometria na região do infravermelho (FTIR), Microscopia Eletrônica de Varredura (MEV) e Microscopia Óptica (MO). Os resultados obtidos por TG, DSC, MEV e MO evidenciam que amostras obtidas por métodos e proporções diferentes possuem comportamento térmico e morfologia diferente. Os parâmetros cinéticos foram obtidos utilizando o modelo de Flynn - Wall e Ozawa e a partir... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: With the advancement of technology and industrialization is verified an increase of household disposable products and industrial. The disposable products and reused of in several field. The "plastic" products are harmful to the environment due to their hand degradability, among them is the PET (polyethylene terephthalate). Once that post- consumer PET bottles (PET-R) constitutes a very serious problem in the environment due to its high resistance to degradation, it was thought in his re-obtain polymer blends with poly (3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB), which belongs to a family of biodegradable polymers, the polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) produced from renewable raw materials such as sugar from cane, vegetable oils and starch materials. The PHB presents disadvantages such as high degree of crystallinity and thermal instability. To improve these characteristics, a solution would be the preparation of blends. Thus, one can combine the characteristics of conventional polymers, which are few degradable but have good mechanical properties with biodegradable polymers. The aim of this study was investigate the synthesis of polymer blends in the form of mechanical mixture and in the form of films from solution between PET and R-PHB (PHBPET-R) in various proportions of mass. The mixtures obtained were characterized using thermogravimetry (TG), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X ray diffraction, spectroscopy in the infrared (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical microscopy (OM). The results obtained by TG, DSC, SEM and OM showed that samples obtained by different methods and proportions present different thermal behavior and morphology. The kinetic parameters were obtained using the model of Flynn - Wall and Ozawa and from the values of activation energy (Ea) and pre-exponential factor log A were evaluated the change of kinetic energy (Ea) on alpha (α) and ... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

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Master of Music / Department of Music / Frank C. Tracz / This document contains historical, theoretical and lesson plans of the selected literature for the Graduate Conducting Recital of Allen Brockmeier. The conducting recital was held in the auditorium of Wichita County High School in Leoti, Kansas, Tuesday, May 8, 2007 at 7:30 PM with performers from the Wichita County High School Concert Band. Selections included “Down a Country Lane,” by Aaron Copland, transcribed for band by Merlin Patterson; “Korean Folk Song Medley,” by James D. Ployhar; “Yellow Mountains,” by Jacob de Haan; and “The Washington Post,” by John Philp Sousa, edited by Frederick Fennell. Analytical methods are based upon the Blocher/Miles Unit Studies from the Teaching Music through Performance in Band Series along with the Tracz concept of macro-micro score analysis.

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This study investigated the effect of four score study styles--no score study, study with score alone, study with score and a correct aural example, and score study at the electronic keyboard--on the pitch and rhythm error detection abilities of beginning conducting students. Subjects were 30 members of undergraduate beginning conducting classes at three midwestern universities. Four tests were developed, each having 31 four- to six-measure excerpts from band literature. Each excerpt contained only one error. Excerpts were grouped according to difficulty and assigned to tests in a modified random manner to facilitate equality of difficulty between sets. Within each test, excerpts were arranged in order of increasing difficulty and rescored to contain from one to eight parts. A counterbalanced design was utilized featuring a Latin Square into which the four score study styles were entered. Over the course of four sessions subjects received all four styles and all four tests. The orders in which subjects received score study styles were assigned on a rotational basis. Each subject within a university received the tests in the same order, but this order varied between universities. Six Hypercard © (Atkinson, 1987-90) stacks were developed on a Macintosh LC computer for presentation of the tests, management of the study, and data collection. Excerpts were played through MIDI keyboards using sampled wind instrument sounds. Study with the score and a correct aural example was found to be significantly more effective than either study with the score alone or no study. No significant difference was found between score study at the keyboard and any other score study style. There were significant differences in test scores attributable to the number of parts in examples. Generally, error detection became more difficult as the number of parts in examples increased. There were no significant differences in test scores attributable to the order of presentation of score study styles, individual example sets, or groups/order of presentation of example sets. There were significant differences in means score study time per session attributable to score study style, and in mean total time per session attributable to session number.

This research focuses on the development of a biomimetic photosynthetic energy transduction system which can convert the light energy into a transmembrane potential gradient. This potential gradient provides energy for transmembrane proton pumping, which can be detected potentiometrically and/or spectroscopically through the changes in the optical and electrochemical properties of conductive polymers that supports a lipid bilayer. To achieve this goal, there were two major objectives: 1) Development of a pH sensitive, conducting polymer-based thin film platform as a suitable interface to couple a planar lipid membrane to an ITO electrode and as a pH transducer to detect transmembrane proton motive force (pmf). 2) Construction of an ionophore-aided, transmembrane proton transport model system in a planar supported lipid membrane.Toward the first objective, two different approaches have been used: a) to create a conducting polymer thin film, composed of alternating layers of poly(aniline) PANI and poly(acrylic acid) PAA on an ITO-coated, planar glass substrate. The electroactivity in a neutral environment and the pH dependence of the self-assembled (SA) PANI/PAA multilayer thin films were demonstrated both electrochemically and spectroscopically. Additionally, (PANI/PAA)2 films were shown to be compatible with PSLB. The polymer cushion supported lipid bilayer was found to be highly impermeable to protons, as demonstrated by the blockage of the pH response of the PANI film underneath the lipid membrane. b) to create a PANI nanowire/sol-gel hybrid thin film on an ITO-coated, planar glass substrate. Electrochemical growth of PANI nanowires through a porous sol-gel matrix was demonstrated. The PANI nanowire/sol-gel hybrid thin film with a sol-gel capping layer was found to respond to pH both potentiometrically and spectroscopically and a uniform lipid membrane was formed on the capping layer.To achieve the second objective, a ΔpH-driven transmembrane proton transport model system supported by a PANI nanowire doped sol-gel/ITO substrate with a sol-gel capping layer was developed. Ionophore valinomycin and CCCP were incorporated into the planar supported lipid bilayer (PSLB). Driven by a transmembrane pH gradient, an enhanced rate of proton transport with a proton permeability ca. 3 orders of magnitude higher than that of the lipid membrane without ionophores was demonstrated.

The Italian madrigal comedy experienced a relatively short, but exceedingly popular life during the late Renaissance. The works that may be called madrigal comedies, numbering less than two dozen in total, represent a type of musical entertainment that delighted audiences at courts and within the cultural academies of Renaissance Italy. The small subset of works within the genre, designated in this research project as "theatrical" madrigal comedies, showed an increasing focus on dramatic representation of text with music. These works, the plots of which derive from the commedia dell'arte tradition, may be seen as early forms of musical comedy and musical theater. Arguments concerning the manner in which the works were performed have centered on a debate for and against the staging of them.Because madrigal comedies have been largely neglected as concert and theatrical literature, there is little published to assist a director in finding the repertoire or to offer a guide to performance. The research project on which this document is based, along with the associated lecture-recital, resulted in the compilation of means to a successful madrigal comedy production. This was done by advocating historically informed performance decisions that are given a practical spin. In this manner, a director may put together a madrigal comedy production that is accessible to professionals and non-professionals, as well as secondary- and higher-education communities.