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This study investigated the effects of score study on novice conductors’ nonverbal and verbal conducting behaviors. Presented with a brief musical excerpt of which they had no prior knowledge, undergraduate conducting students (N = 11) conducted and rehearsed a live brass quartet. After an initial conducting session, participants in the experimental group (n = 6) received two individual 30-minute score study tutorials, while the control group (n = 5) received no assistance. All participants returned one week after the first conducting session to conduct and rehearse the ensemble for a second time. Brass quartet members and three experienced conductors, all whom were blind to the experimental condition, evaluated participants’ conducting in terms of eye contact, facial expression, effective gesture, ability to lead toward a musically accurate performance, knowledge of the score, and pacing. Significant differences were found between the score study and control conditions. The brass quartet members’ ratings for eye contact and knowledge of the score were higher for the participants who studied the score. I found no significant differences between conditions in the ratings given by experienced conductors. At the conclusion of the second rehearsal, brass quartet members accurately identified five of the six conductors who had received score study assistance and four of the five conductors who had not. Experienced conductors were asked to identify the order of the two videos of each conductor. They accurately identified the order of five of the six score study conductors’ videos. Identifications of participants’ videos in the control group were mostly inaccurate and reflected much disagreement among the experienced conductors. In reviews of the participants’ written and verbal responses about their experience and the comments provided by brass quartet members and experienced conductors, I noted three characteristics that distinguished those who engaged in score study from those who had not: (1) more meaningful, instrument-specific eye contact; (2) greater confidence and comfort; and (3) more effective gestures and other nonverbal behaviors in rehearsal, all of which seemed to result from a more clearly defined interpretation of the music. / text

The purpose of this study was to create and gain consensus of an essential curriculum for teaching score study in the undergraduate instrumental conducting class. Questions to be answered by this study were what methods, materials, and evaluations should be used to teach score study to undergraduate instrumental conducting students? Resolving the questions required the collection of information on the methods, materials, and evaluations used in teaching score preparation in the undergraduate instrumental conducting class and the opinions of conductors and teachers of conducting about those methods, materials, and evaluations.

The problem of this study was to determine the effectiveness of instant replay television as a method for teaching certain physical aspects of choral conducting to undergraduate college or university students majoring in music education.

This thesis provides a historical account of the career of Miles “Mity” Johnson. Johnson taught music for thirty-seven years at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. During those years, he led the St. Olaf Band to national and international prominence. Johnson’s professional influences traverse his work as a collegiate band director, and horn recitalist and teacher, as well as his contributions to professional development for conductors and the adult community band movement. This research draws heavily on archival materials from the Shaw-Olson Center for College History at St. Olaf College along with several personal collections, including Johnson’s own private collection. Oral interviews with family members, colleagues, and former students supplemented archival materials. Johnson’s career spanned the second half of the twentieth century, a period that witnessed important growth in repertoire, professional development, and other areas in the concert band field, and this thesis highlights his reactions and contributions to those changes. Chapters explore Johnson’s family, education, and military background; followed by details of his public school and St. Olaf College teaching career. Examining the areas of domestic and international touring, concert programming, and horn teaching during Johnson’s tenure at St. Olaf reveals significant contributions to the band field. Also included are Johnson’s numerous guest conducting engagements at All-State band performances and the Vestfold Summer music camp in Norway. Research on Johnson’s establishment of the Minnesota Instrumental Conducting Symposium (MICS) and the Minnesota Symphonic Winds (MSW) adult community band, give further insight into Johnson’s broader contributions to the wind band profession.

This study investigates the effect on: 1) the bulk surface; and 2) the three-dimensional non-woven microfabric scaffolds of poly(N-isopropylacylamide)-CNT-polyaniline on growth and viability of  mice fibroblast cells L929. The poly(N-isopropylacylamide)-CNT-polyaniline was prepared using coupling chemistry and electrospinning was then used for the fabrication of responsive, nonwoven microfabric scaffolds. The electrospun microfabrics were assembled in regular three-dimensional scaffolds with OD: 400-500 mm; L: 6-20 cm. Mice fibroblast cells L929 were seeded on the both poly(N-isopropylacylamide)-CNT-polyaniline bulk surface as well as non-woven microfabric scaffolds. Excellent cell proliferation and viability was observed on poly(N-isopropylacylamide)-CNT-polyaniline non-woven microfabric matrices in compare to poly(N-isopropylacylamide)-CNT-polyaniline bulk and commercially available Matrigel™ even with a range of cell lines up to 168 h. Temperature dependent cells detachment behaviour was observed on the poly(N-isopropylacylamide)-CNT-polyaniline scaffolds by varying incubation at below lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of poly(N-isopropylacylamide). The results suggest that poly(N-isopropylacylamide)-CNT-polyaniline non-woven microfabrics could be used as a smart matrices for applications in tissue engineering. / European Commission FP7 (PIIF-GA-2009-254955), JSPS, JST-CREST and MEXT

In this thesis, the development of a novel experimental technique for measuring the spontaneous, stochastic work function (WF) fluctuations of conducting polymer films, at equilibrium, is discussed. Polyaniline (PANI) is studied as a representative conducting polymer. This technique utilizes an insulated-gate field-effect transistor (IGFET) with PANI gate electrode (PANI-IGFET). The fluctuations of PANI WF are transduced into measurable drain current fluctuations of the device. By analyzing these fluctuations while systematically controlling the temperature, electric field and doping level, a model of WF fluctuations in PANI films is developed. These experiments suggest that the source of WF fluctuations is the hopping of charge carriers, or trapping/detrapping of charge carriers, around the Fermi level of the PANI film at the PANI-insulator interface. This process is thermally activated with a field and doping dependent activation energy in the range of 0.1 to 0.5 eV. Thus, this new technique provides detailed information about charge-carrier dynamics in the space-charge region of the PANI film, at equilibrium. These results have important implications for organic electronics and furthering fundamental understanding of the relationship between doping, disorder and work function in organic semiconductors.

Polyaniline/Gold Nanocomposites J. Anthony Smith 141 Pages Directed by Dr. Ji and #345;?anata The expectation that it is possible to create a range of new materials from two basic components, polyaniline fibers and gold particles is explored. Three synthetic methods were employed each of which created different materials and required different investigation techniques. The methods are: chemical, one step aniline oxidation / AuCl4- reduction; electrochemical/chemical, a two-step composite growth achieved by electrochemical polyaniline thin film growth followed by film immersion in AuCl4- solution and spontaneous reduction to gold particles; electrochemical, resulting in freestanding polyaniline thin film/Au nanoparticles carried out by electrochemical stripping of a polyaniline thin film grown over a sacrificial gold layer in the presence halide solutions. The incorporation of particles was shown to affect film morphology and electrical properties in all synthetic methods. The changes are in large part attributed to the development of a contact potential between the polyaniline and the gold particles. Applications for the composites include use as chemically sensitive layers, corrosion inhibition materials, and use as probes to evaluate nanoparticle substrate interactions.