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The problem of consonance and dissonance has intrigued and baffled theorists since the days of Pythagoras. There are many aspects of the problem which have never been satisfactorily explained. All are agreed, however, that consonances are those relations of pitch which can be expressed in small numbers. Why this should be so, no one has been able to decide definitely, at least up until Helmholtz wrote his Sensations of Tone. It is also self-evident that consonance is a restful and dissonance a restless sound, that dissonance demands resolution into consonance and that the two are necessary to each other, in order that music may retain the variety and movement which makes it a vital art.

Thesis advisor: Scott D. Slotnick / The overarching aim of this dissertation is to examine the role of human motion processing complex, MT+ during sustained perception and attention. MT+ is comprised of sub-region MT, which processes motion in the contralateral visual field (i.e., left hemisphere MT processes motion in the right visual field and vice versa), and sub-region MST, which processes motion in both the contralateral and ipsilateral visual fields. Whereas previous transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) research has provided compelling evidence that region MT+ is necessary for low-level motion processing, Chapter 1 describes an experiment testing whether the sub-region MT is necessary for contralateral low-level motion processing. Chapter 2 describes an experiment that dissociates low-level sensory attentional modulation in MT+ from high-level attentional control processing in the parietal cortex (i.e., during sustained attention). Chapter 3 describes an experiment investigating the role of MT+ during aesthetic processing when viewing visual art. Importantly, this experiment tests whether the aesthetic is tied to not only low-level motion processing in MT+ but also high-level processing in frontal regions. Taken together, the results across the three experiments provide novel evidence for the role of MT+ during low-level motion processing during sustained perception and attention. Moreover, these low-level motion processing effects together with the observed high-level processes in frontal-parietal regions provide neural mechanisms for the cognitive processes of sustained perception and attention. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2012. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Psychology.

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Geociências, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Geociências Aplicadas, 2012. / Submitted by Albânia Cézar de Melo (albania@bce.unb.br) on 2013-03-07T15:15:12Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2012_MariaIzabelDuarteMartfeld.pdf: 3264145 bytes, checksum: a822c2e2c39d54f76bcb2421a31a09ad (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Guimaraes Jacqueline(jacqueline.guimaraes@bce.unb.br) on 2013-03-15T13:31:24Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2012_MariaIzabelDuarteMartfeld.pdf: 3264145 bytes, checksum: a822c2e2c39d54f76bcb2421a31a09ad (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-03-15T13:31:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2012_MariaIzabelDuarteMartfeld.pdf: 3264145 bytes, checksum: a822c2e2c39d54f76bcb2421a31a09ad (MD5) / A qualidade da água de uma bacia hidrográfica é resultante das condições naturais e alterações decorrentes do uso e ocupação do solo. Este estudo teve por objetivo avaliar a influência das atividades agropecuárias e desmatamento na bacia hidrográfica do rio das Pacas, região do Alto curso do rio Xingu, através da caracterização geoquímica de água e sedimento, diferenciando os elementos associados à geologia e a ação antrópica. Foram coletadas amostras de água e sedimento em diferentes pontos ao longo da bacia. Para análise das amostras de água, utilizaram-se técnicas de ICP-OES, espectrofotometria UV/Visível, titulação automática e métodos volumétricos. Os sedimentos foram submetidos ao ataque ácido na fração 0,063 μm para determinação dos elementos-traço e fusão de metaborato de lítio para os elementos maiores, utilizando-se técnicas de ICP-OES e EAA. A mineralogia foi determinada através do uso de DRX. Análises de componentes principais, correlação e índice de geoacumulação foram utilizados para a interpretação dos dados. O rio das Pacas possui águas ácidas com baixa condutividade elétrica, turbidez e pouco material em suspensão. Sua qualidade mostrou alterações relacionadas ao grau de preservação de mata ciliar, com maior turbidez em áreas onde houve supressão da vegetação nativa. O silício foi o elemento químico mais abundante em ambos os períodos. Verificou-se que a sazonalidade não interferiu na qualidade. Em geral, a presença de metais nos sedimentos está relacionada às características da Formação Utiariti. Porém, a maior presença de óxidos e elementos-traços em áreas adjacentes aos campos agrícolas demonstrou influência da agricultura e manejo do solo como importante transportador de partículas. O bário foi o único elemento químico que apresentou Igeo de classe 1 e 3, e a ocorrência do mineral vermiculita foi observada próximo aos campos agrícolas, sendo potencial indicador do uso e ocupação do solo por atividades agrícolas. Foram estabelecidos valores de referência, com o intuito de acompanhar as transformações ocorridas no interior desta bacia. Apesar de indícios de interferência da agricultura o rio das Pacas ainda apresenta um sistema em equilíbrio. ______________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT / Water quality of a river basin is a result of natural conditions and disturbances due changes in land use and occupation. The present study had the aim of assess the influence of agriculture activities and deforestation in the hydrological river basin of Pacas river, in the region of Alto rio Xingu, through geochemical characterization of water and sediments, differentiating those elements which are associated with local geology from those affected by anthropogenic activities. Water and sediment samples were collected in different locations along the Pacas river basin. Analysis on water samples were performed using ICP-OES techniques, spectrophotometry UV / Visible, automatic titration and volumetric methods. Sediment samples were submitted to acid attack using 0.063 μm fraction for the assessment of trace elements, and lithium metaborate fusion was used for major elements, through ICP-OES and EEA. Mineralogy was determined through DRX methods. Principal component analysis, correlation analysis and geoaccumulation index were used for the interpretation of the data set. Pacas river water has acid waters with low electric conductivity, turbidity and suspended matter. Analysis indicated alterations in water quality related to the degree of preservation of riparian forests, with high turbidity in areas were riparian forests had been destroyed. Silicon was the most abundant chemical element found in both dry and rainy seasons. Seasonality did not interfere in water quality. In general, metal occurrence in sediments were associated with geological Utiariti formation. However, in general, a higher occurrence of oxides and trace elements in areas nearby agriculture fields indicated the influence of agriculture and associated soil management as important particles transporter. Barium was the only chemical element which presented Igeo of classes 1 and 3. In addition, the occurrence of vermiculate mineral was observed in areas nearby agriculture fields, what could represent them as potential indicators of impacts of soil use and occupation by agriculture. Reference values were established with the aim of enable a monitoring of transformations which occur in the interior of Pacas river basin. Besides evidences of agriculture interference in Pacas river, it still presents a system in equilibrium.

No description available.

Mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid (mtDNA) plays a key role in the regulation of cell growth and survival. It has been demonstrated that mutations in mtDNA have an impact on survival for cancer patients, and studying these alterations may therefore provide valuable insight into cancer progression and tumorigenesis.  In this project, three mtDNA genes, MT-COX3, MT-CYB and MT-ATP6 have been knockout out from Human Embryonic Kidney 293T (HEK293T) cell models to investigate their role in tumorigenesis and cancer progression. Knockout cell models developed for MT-COX3 and MTATP6 was successful obtained, however no satisfactory knockout cell model for MT-CYB was obtained, limiting the investigation to MT-ATP6 and MT-COX3. The function of these two genes were investigated using numerous techniques including measuring cell growth, cell metabolism, and mitochondrial function. The results suggests that the knockout of the genes reduces the proliferation and viability of the cells. It also causes the cells to shift their metabolism and reduces mitochondrial function in general. This suggests that both MT-ATP6 and MT-COX3 are important for proper function of the investigated cells. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that mitochondria play an important role for the fitness of the investigated cells and that mtDNA may be a potential target for cancer treatment.

Many new sounds and new instrumental techniques have been introduced into music literature since 1950. The popular approach to support developments in modern instrumental technique is the catalogue or notation guide, which has led to isolated special effects. Several authors of handbooks of technique have pointed to an alternative, strategic, scientific approach to technique as an ideological ideal. I have adopted this approach more fully than before and applied it to the cello for the first time. This handbook provides a structure for further research. In this handbook, new techniques are presented alongside traditional methods and a ‘global technique’ is defined, within which every possible sound-modifying action is considered as a continuous scale, upon which as yet undiscovered techniques can also be slotted. The ‘map’ of the title is meant in the scientific sense of the word; connections are made between: ‘actions that a cellist makes’ and ‘sounds that a cello can produce’. In some cases, where existing scientific theory is insufficient to back up these connections, original empirical research has been undertaken and areas for further research have been suggested. Within this system there are no special effects, rather a continuum of actions with a clear relationship to sound.

Popular music education in the UK, and worldwide, has seen a significant expansion in the last two decades. As this new subject matures, scholars are beginning to fashion a new and more student-centred approach to learning and teaching: drawing on the informal learning practice found in popular music. Green (2006) defined the key characteristics of informal learning: allowing learners to choose the music; learning by listening and copying recordings; learning in friendship groups, with minimum adult guidance; learning in personal, often-haphazard ways; and integrating listening, playing, singing, improvising and composing. Informal musical learning is also facilitated through the use of recording as a technique for reflecting on, and improving one's own performance. These novel approaches to music education have begun to be applied by music educators, in a diverse range of contexts. Karlsen (2010) has correspondingly linked informal learning with ideas of authenticity, and communities of practice: social networks that provide individuals with access to learning through interaction with experienced ‘old-timers' as described by Lave and Wenger (1991). This thesis examines the way that seven musicians, teaching in one private UK Higher Education popular music institution, learnt their craft: firstly as musicians and subsequently as teachers. It asks how the way that these individuals acquired their skills and beliefs might impact on the way that they teach their students, and if this impact might be more effective if teachers were encouraged to reflect on their own learning, using that reflection to research, inform, and modify their own teaching practice. This work is particularly situated in small and medium size group teaching rather than the one to one teaching model found in classical music programmes, or in peripatetic music teaching. Furthermore, my work takes a structural-constructivist approach using the ideas of Bourdieu (1977, 1990a, 1993) as a theoretical lens, and drawing on the constructivist learning theory developed from the principles established by Vygotsky in the 1920's and 1930's (1930/1978).1 I argue that a hybrid approach to Bourdieu's notion of habitus (1990a, p.53) or the dispositions we adopt to the social world is crucial to understanding the way that we become musicians. Moreover, that the situatedness of musical and educational practice and the identity practices of learners and teachers are fundamental to the process of learning as a process of becoming (Lave and Wenger, 1991). Ergo, by recognising this process of learning as situated in social, cultural, historical, and technological contexts we may also facilitate metacognition (Flavell, 1979). By metacognition, I mean the ability to be reflexive2 as a learner or teacher; understanding the way that learning works, our beliefs about learning, and how those beliefs affect one's own learning and thus agency. Additionally, that notions of authenticity and creativity are vital to the effectiveness of musical learning practices, and the accumulation of social and cultural capital for popular musicians. My research methods include the use of open ‘semi structured' interviews (Leech, 2002) alongside observation in the classroom3 to generate empirical data. The primary research presented here is an Action Research Study: enabling the teachers in the study to retrieve their own experience of informal learning in order to facilitate informal learning practice in the music classroom. I suggest that these individuals recognise the importance of their own experience and are able to utilise, and learn from those experiences in developing approaches that are relevant, creative, and also authentic to their students. What this work also aims to do is establish links between theory and practice, and to identify potential mechanisms for engaging with our students' entire learning experience, whilst allowing them to understand the social and cultural process of musical learning. 1 This text is a collection of Vygotsky's work originally published in the 1920's and 1930's. 2 Reflexivity is a word used in sociology to describe how much agents are able to recognise the forces of social structure and therefore affect agency. 3 By classroom teaching, I mean small group (10-20 students) and exceptionally, larger group (40-60) teaching, as is the model for delivery at my institution.

The interaction between musicians has been one of the traditional strengths of music: it stretches to include an audience and ritual participants but has its origins in group activity, the interpersonal responses of one musician to another. This thesis examines the way that electronic media have transformed the interactions between musicians, particularly in the context of live performance. A central theme is the way in which mediatisation creates new splits within previously integrated musical situations and also merges differences usually defined by physical boundaries. The theories of Gregory Bateson on schizophrenia and Irving Goffman on Situationism are brought together to create a new understanding of the term "schizophonia". This rehabilitated concept is proposed as the key to a creative exploration of new situations and discontinuities which make up group performance in a mediatised environment. In practical terms the exploration of new musical situations is documented in the following projects: the material created for the group "Automatic Writing Circle" during its evolution over a period of six years (compositions, software, instruments), development of the Ouija Board and accompanying software, composition of the piece Lipsync and the earlier piece I slept by numbers for flute and live electronics.

This dissertation addresses two topics. The first is a preliminary investigation into the listening strategies for electroacoustic music by François Delalande. A listening experiment was undertaken to test Delalande’s strategies and to learn from listeners’ responses in order to apply them to compositional practice. This process prompted the conception of a new, integrated reception behaviour framework for electroacoustic music that comprises four listening strategies: sonic properties, structural attributes, self-orientation, and imaginary realms. The second topic is the poietico-esthesic analysis of the folio of acousmatic compositions from the perspective of the reception behaviours framework. The intention of the reception behaviours framework is to illuminate those sounds and structures in electroacoustic music that could be perceived as carriers of meaning. The analysis of the acousmatic compositions in the portfolio, from the perspective of the reception behaviours framework, aims to illustrate how the acousmatic composer can attempt to create meaning in an acousmatic work. While space is observed as the common denominator in the reception behaviours framework from an esthesic perspective, space and time are proposed as common denominators that carry all poietic intention. Hence, space and time can be seen as universal carriers through which meaning can subsequently be conveyed and perceived.