This dissertation consists of two parts: Convergence Lines, my twenty-four-minute composition for ten instruments and electronics, and this subsidiary essay. Convergence Lines was written in 2013 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the publication of Thomas Pynchon’s V. At the center of this discussion is my creative process in imagining a musical corollary to Pynchon’s fictional world: his large cast of vivid characters, far-flung settings, and disjointed sense of time. I also detail my attempt to fashion a formal parallel to the novel’s unorthodox structure of two independent strands of narrative that converge towards the end. I discuss the role of allusion in Pynchon’s work and in my own, and the various points of reference the music is meant to invoke. A second important topic is the role of electronics in the composition, presenting both a technical analysis of the tools employed and an aesthetic perspective, considering how the intrusion of non-acoustic sounds mirrors a central theme of V.: the gradual replacement of the animate by the inanimate. The thesis endeavors to explain from a composer’s perspective, and in an integrated, organic manner, the poetic, musical, and technical aspects behind my work.

The thesis presents the first in-depth study of the role of measuring instruments in a leading scientific society concerned with field science. It draws upon a substantial literature in the history of science, geography, and exploration and makes use of actor network theory. The thesis considers the instruments to have been assimilated into an iterative cyclical process. By studying each aspect of the cycle, a comprehensive understanding of the integration of instruments into the working practices of the Society, the process of exploration, and ultimately the British imperialist endeavour, has been achieved. The start date is that of the founding of the Society. The end date approximates to the retirement of the map curator Edward Reeves, when recording practices at the Society changed. The century has coherence as the instruments remained essentially similar. The thesis therefore draws on a range of archival material: the journal articles, the medal awards, and the maps in addition to the paper archives, minute books and instruments themselves. The empirical findings have been enriched by reference to a substantial literature from historians of science, historical geographers and instrument historians. The thesis documents instrumental activity on behalf of the Society from acquisition to disposal or loss, regarding activity on behalf of the Society as 'added resource'. The thesis argues that the ambitions of the Society were slow to be enacted, and that a collection of instruments for lending was not formed until 1850. The preparation of travellers has been discussed as a complementary activity; systematic provision is likewise found to have been slow. Having studied fifty expeditions with respect to instrument mobilisation, from which excerpts are presented, a number of factors are identified which affected success, and the fallibility of instruments is confirmed. The itineraries of over a thousand individual items have been charted and made available in a database which will assist future research. The agencies of the instruments have been considered to be knowledge creation, individual reputation, empire, and social relations. The RGS developed strategies for militating against the fallibility of instruments in the field to provide credible outcomes. The instrumental data was manipulated by a growing body of professionals which served to moderate results. The instruments conferred social and epistemological authority to some groups more than others, but not necessarily in the manner predicted by existing theories. The geographical endeavour could be subsumed into imperialist demands. The instruments reflected and strengthened existing social hierarchies. The conclusions drawn indicate that historians of science and geography need to look at the role of instruments in more detail than extant models of knowledge creation, including ANT, suggest.

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) issued International Financial Reporting Standard No. 7 (IFRS 7) “Financial Instruments: Disclosure” in June 2006 as part of its ongoing refinement of existing financial instruments accounting standards. The new standard became effective for periods beginning on or after January 1st 2007 (IASB, 2006). IFRS 7 supersedes the previous International Accounting Standards (IASs): IAS 30/32. IFRS 7 states that information about Financial Instruments (FI) should be prepared in accordance with the management approach. In addition, the standard clarifies the disclosure requirements about FIs across all industries. In particular, the new standard consists of two main types of disclosures, namely: (i) discussion of the significance of FIs for an entity’s financial position and performance; and (ii) the provision of qualitative and quantitative information about exposure to risks arising from FIs based on information provided internally to the entity’s key management personnel. The current thesis uses a decision usefulness theoretical framework to examine the impact of IFRS 7’s adoption on FI disclosure practices and firm value. In particular, the current study has two primary objectives: (i) to assess the impact of IFRS 7 on the FI disclosure policies of Jordanian listed firms in their annual reports for 2007 when the standard became effective; and (ii) to examine the value relevance of FI disclosures. For these objectives, two pieces of empirical work were conducted respectively; a disclosure index technique was constructed and a valuation analysis was performed. A disclosure index analysis was undertaken for a sample of Jordanian listed companies’ annual reports pre- and post- the implementation of IFRS 7. The extant literature and the findings from the disclosure index analysis informed the second part of the empirical work: the valuation analysis. Value relevance analysis was employed in order to assess the usefulness of FI disclosures provided in the companies’ financial statements; indeed, the association between the level of information supplied and firms’ market values was examined. The main findings indicate that the implementation of IFRS 7 had a significant and sizeable impact on the FI disclosure practices of Jordanian companies in 2007 as compared to that provided under International Accounting Standard No. 30 (IAS 30): Disclosures in Financial Statements of Banks and Similar Financial Institutions and International Accounting Standard No. 32 (IAS 32): FIs: Presentation. In particular, the results revealed that the number of companies disclosing information about FIs as well as the level of FI information provided significantly increased after IFRS 7 was implemented. In addition, the analysis of FI disclosure by industry revealed that comparability of financial statement data within and across the sectors examined has improved. In particular, an analysis of Balance Sheet and Fair Value information about FIs revealed no significant differences within and across industries after IFRS 7 became effective. The findings from the valuation analysis revealed that FI disclosure was value relevant over the two periods. However, the regression analysis showed that the FI disclosure provided under IFRS 7 was more value relevant as compared to that supplied under the previous standards. The principal components analysis revealed that some categories of FI information were more influential than others. In particular, Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Fair Value and Risk information about FIs were valued differently as compared to other components of FI disclosures. Indeed, the evidence provided indicates that investors value FI disclosure when making investment decisions. In general, the findings support the decision usefulness approach underpinning the current FI disclosures for Jordanian listed companies. Specifically, In particular, the test of differences in FI disclosure within and across sectors revealed that the implementation of IFRS 7 has enhanced the comparability of the financial statements; no significant differences were noted in FI disclosure (balance sheet and fair value) post-IFRS 7, while this was not the case pre-IFRS 7. In addition, the issue of relevance has been investiagted by testing the association between FI disclosure and firm value. These findings provide a great deal of insight for accounting regulatory bodies (e.g. the IASB) about the current theoretical framework that underpins financial reporting standards. In addition, they provide valuable insights to Jordanian policy makers (JSC and ASE) about the relevance of such standards for Jordanian companies.

Thesis. 1977. M.S.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND AERONAUTICS. / Bibliography : leaves 222-229. / M.S.

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Music therapists are expected to provide live music for clients with diverse preferences, yet these therapists face many barriers preventing them from recreating client-preferred music in a way that adheres to the expectations of the genre, or with “musical authenticity.” The purpose of this study was to investigate music therapists’ perceptions and practices regarding musical authenticity. Survey responses (n = 904) indicated that music therapists highly value musical authenticity, but a major theme in the qualitative data revealed they often balance its importance with other factors. Descriptive survey data and qualitative themes revealed lack of training in functional musicianship and electronic technology as major barriers to musical authenticity. A major qualitative theme regarding therapists’ practices was the use of collaboration with clients and creative solutions. Most participants indicated use of non-electronic strategies and reported they had not used electronic technology to increase musical authenticity. Descriptive survey data and qualitative themes revealed frequent and effective use of recorded music. Finally, chi-square analyses revealed significant relationships between age and use of technology and iPad and between gender and use of technology. Music therapists would benefit from additional training, more research on authenticity, and music therapy specific guidelines for using music authentically.

This work strived to increase knowledge of assessing airborne nanoparticles in the workplace by characterizing nanoparticle concentrations in a workplace using direct-reading instruments, evaluating a DC2000CE diffusion charger, and the creation of a personal diffusion battery (pDB). Direct-reading instruments were used with aerosol mapping and task monitoring to evaluate airborne nanoparticle concentrations in an apparel company that produces waterproof jackets composed of polytetrafluoroethylene membrane laminated fabric. Jacket production required that sewn seams be sealed with waterproof tape applied with hot air (600°C). Particle number concentrations were greater in the sewing and sealing areas than the office area while respirable mass was negligible throughout the facility. The breathing zone particle number concentrations of the workers who sealed the sewn seams were highly variable and significantly greater when sealing seams than when conducting other tasks (p<0.0001). The effectiveness of the canopy hoods used to ventilate sealing operations was poor. These measurements support the idea that work places were hot processes are conducted may have substantially greater concentrations of airborne nanoparticles than background measurements even with control measures in place. Laboratory tests were conducted to evaluate a commercially available diffusion charger, the DC2000CE, that measures nanoparticle surface area concentration. The surface area concentrations of unimodal and multimodal polydispersed aerosols measured by the DC2000CE were less than the surface area concentrations measured by the reference instruments. The differences in results were attributed to a difference of measuring active versus geometric surface area concentration and the design of the DC2000CE. The maximum measurable active surface area concentration (2,500 mm2 m-3) was found to be greater than the manufacturer stated maximum (1000 mm2 m-3). Moving or vibrating a DC2000CE while taking measurements can cause the appearance of increased surface area concentration results. The DC2000CE has limitations that must be acknowledged when using the DC2000CE to measure airborne nanoparticle surface area concentrations in a workplace. A four stage pDB (3.2 kg) composed of a screen-type diffusion battery, solenoid valve system, and an electronic controller was developed. The pDB was combined with a CPC and a data inversion was created that could be used to solve for the number median diameter, geometric standard deviation, and particle number concentration of a unimodal distribution. The pDB+CPC with inversion was evaluated using unimodal propylene torch exhaust and incense exhaust. For particle number concentration of particles with diameters less than 100 nm, the pDB+CPC with inversion results were between 86% to 109% of reference instrument results when the inversion did not solve to an inversion constraint and between 6% to 198% for results that solved to an inversion constraint. When coupled with a direct-reading instrument, the pDB with an inversion was able to measure the size distribution of particles with a NMD smaller than 290 nm.

Acquiring the motions of the inner ear sensory tissues provides insight to how the cochlea works. For this purpose, Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography (SDOCT) is an ideal tool as it has a penetration depth of several millimeters. SDOCT can not only image inside the cochlear partition, but also measure the sample structures’ simultaneous displacements. We customized a commercial Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography system for such functions and detailed the software and hardware steps so this powerful system could be more accessible to auditory researchers. The cochlea is surrounded by bones and tissues, and damage to it would make it passive. For this reason, cochlear vibrometry measuring locations have been limited to either the basal or apical regions. That is why I fabricated a two-dimensional scanning SDOCT-based probe, to access more cochlear locations through a small hand-drilled hole. What is exciting about the probe is that an electrode can be attached to its side to acquire spatially and temporally coincident voltage and displacement data. This would help us better understand the cochlear mechano-electrical feedback process. Lastly, I investigated how the SDPM-reported displacement could be influenced by its neighboring signals and demonstrated this signal competition phenomenon experimentally and theoretically.

Ce travail de thèse concerne l’étude et la modélisation de la fatigue à grand nombre de cycles des instruments endodontiques en Alliage à Mémoire de Forme (AMF) de type Nickel-Titane (NiTi). Ces outils sont plus souples et épousent mieux la forme plus ou moins complexe des racines. Ces deux avantages sont dus à un aspect tout à fait particulier du comportement mécanique de l’alliage NiTi : la super-élasticité qui permet au matériau de se déformer jusqu’à des niveaux de déformation pouvant atteindre 8% à 10%. En service, parfois, des cas de rupture d’outils dentaires arrivent, soit par déformation excessive, soit par fatigue ce qui complexifie la tâche du praticien. L’étude et la prévision de la rupture des outils en Nickel-Titane, que ce soit par déformation excessive ou par fatigue, sont des problèmes complexes. Nous nous sommes donc intéressés dans ce travail à l’étude de la fatigue à grand nombre de cycles des instruments dentaires en Nickel-Titane. Pour cela, nous avons mis en place trois blocs de travail. Le premier bloc concerne l’étude et la modélisation des propriétés en fatigue à grand nombre de cycles des fils en NiTi utilisés pour la fabrication des instruments dentaires. Nous proposons de caractériser les propriétés HCF (high cycle fatigue) du NiTi à partir de mesures d’auto-échauffement sous sollicitation cyclique. Ces mesures vont alimenter un modèle probabiliste à deux échelles qui permet de modéliser les courbes de Wöhler du matériau. Ce modèle est ensuite validé par comparaison avec des résultats d’essais classiques de fatigue. Le deuxième bloc est dédié à la mise en place de la chaîne numérique pour la prévision de la tenue à la fatigue d’instruments dentaires en NiTi. Elle repose sur l’utilisation du modèle de fatigue développé en post-traitement d’un calcul éléments finis sur instrument. Enfin, dans le troisième bloc, les prévisions de cette chaine numérique sont validées par comparaison avec des résultats expérimentaux de fatigue sur différents instruments endodontiques pour des cas de chargement en flexion rotative. / No

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