This dissertation examines the contributions of the early twentieth-century Chinese composer Huang Zi to the genre of Chinese art songs. It discusses how he combined Western compositional techniques with traditional Chinese music and ancient or contemporary Chinese poetry, focusing on his works 花非花 Flowers in the Mist, 点绛唇, 赋登楼 Ode to Ascending the Tower, 思乡 Missing Homelands, and 春思曲 Spring Nostalgia. Huang's songs, which created a bridge between East and West, are still significant today in China and deserve performance in the West, too. Translations and a phonetic guide to the four songs are provided so that Western singers have the tools they need to perform these songs.

This study proposes a detailed historic account of the life and career of Lionel Bowman as a concert pianist and teacher. The role and relevance of criticism in music have also been included and documented with specific reference to Bowman’s playing. In order to do this, a survey of the available relevant literature such as Bowman’s journal and notebook, published articles, newspaper articles and reviews on the subject were comprehensively examined. Available recorded materials such as compact discs with Bowman’s live performances have been incorporated in the study. Apart from a detailed biographical account of Bowman’s life and career, as an orientation to the historic account, attention is given to how Bowman’s teaching style initiated and its development into a unique and personal method which resulted in the publication of The Magic Touch: For pianists and teachers. A workable practical guide to piano playing by Wallace Tate (2000). The success of this method supported by commentary from several pianists, who experienced Bowman’s method first hand, has been incorporated in the study. Light is also shed on Bowman’s human side including the past and present situation of the arts in South Africa in order for artists in general to learn from it and facilitate new growth and vision of the future of the Arts and Cultural field. Bowman’s final legacy and information about his death, including commentaries from people who knew him as a pianist, teacher and friend has also been documented. The study ends with a concluding chapter summarising the whole study and sheds light on future possible studies on related topics. Copyright / Dissertation (MMus)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Music / unrestricted

As one of the few piano works with Tibetan folk characteristics, the piano suite Tibetan Sketches composed by Bingyuan Cui presents a vivid depiction of the Tibetan people with colorful sound and considerable imagination. As a Tibetan, I have been greatly honored to research and perform this work and incorporate my understanding into this dissertation. The composer took into account Western composition techniques as well as Eastern music, combining religious and folk musical elements of Chinese ethnic minorities with Western piano techniques to create a wonderful work. This dissertation introduces the characteristics of Tibetan music and analyzes the work, then explores the use of Tibetan elements and the varied styles in the three movements of Tibetan Sketches. Cui uses a large number of Tibetan elements in this work, closely related to the local Tibetan music style in melodies, decorations, harmonies, tone color changes, and performance techniques. Based on the historical background and influence of Western music on the development of Chinese music and some other aspects, a brief description is given of the Eastern and Western music styles in the work. This dissertation introduces my own performance and learning experience when I studied this work, communications and an interview with the composer are also taken into account.

Extended piano techniques, which mainly involve playing directly on the internal components of the piano, emerged early in the twentieth century, mainly in the United States. Henry Cowell (1897-1965) explored some of these techniques in short piano pieces such as The Tides of Manaunaun (1917; clusters) The Banshee (1925; glissando, pizzicato) and Sinister Resonance (1930; mute, harmonic). Several contemporary composers followed this path. Notably, George Crumb's (b. 1929) mature works combine conventional techniques with an unprecedented variety of extended techniques, including vocal and percussive effects. Although extended techniques are no longer a novelty, most pianists are still unfamiliar with them. Extended piano works are rarely performed or taught. This situation is regrettable considering the quality of these compositions, and the great potential of extended techniques to expand the piano's coloristic resources. A Pedagogical Guide to Extended Piano Techniques is designed to help pianists learn this idiom and achieve fluency. Teachers may also find it useful in planning courses at the undergraduate college level. Chapters 1 and 2 provide general information such as the development and classification of unconventional techniques, and the construction of the grand piano. Chapters 3, 4 and 5 form the core of the monograph. They contain practical exercises, composed by the author, presented in a progressive order and accompanied by detailed instructions explaining how to execute and practice each technique. From a technical point of view, natural string piano techniques--pizzicatos, glissandos, mutes and harmonics--are the basis upon which most other extended techniques are founded. Therefore, this document focuses mainly on mastering these string techniques through the acquisition of two important skills: visual techniques and aural-motor coordination. The following topics are also discussed: use of foreign objects inside the piano, percussive technique, vocal effects, and strategies to integrate various techniques into a unified musical context. Prepared piano techniques are excluded because they do not require the acquisition of performance skills, which form the essence of this monograph. Chapter 6 provides a suggested course schedule to organize the pianist's study and practice time, and offers practical advice for the preparation of performances involving extended piano techniques. It is hoped that this document will play a positive role in helping pianists gain the knowledge, ability, confidence and enthusiasm to explore and perform extended piano repertoire. / Music Performance

This thesis' focal presentable object – to swim in air – is a mythosystem comprising six iteratively malleable experiential systems of intermedial musical and visual performance works composed by myself between the years 2018 and 2023. Conceived through the lens of Jennifer Walshe's New Discipline, created within my practice cycle's nodal context, and connected by a sub/conscious structure of perceptual timbre, the mythosystem and its parts form the centerpiece of this discussion of context, process, and method. As described in this document, the creative practice of nodal context and the adaptive intermedial methods used in the conceptualization and composition of to swim in air were developed through a personal and pragmatic application of feminist writer and independent scholar Sarah Ahmed's Queer Phenomenology: Orientations, Objects, Others, and composer, musicologist and trombonist George Lewis' curatorial decolonization guidelines as outlined in his "8 Difficult Steps to Decolonizing Music" towards the creation of presentable cultural objects which invite variable and continuous interaction from their participants through the exploration of the reciprocity of community, multi-practice creative strategy and malleable forms. Throughout this document I discuss how through the exploration of the reciprocity of community, multi-practice creative strategy and malleable forms I have addressed concerns of cost, access and participation in living culture with regards to my own work creating cultural objects. I also discuss phenomenological and practical issues to do with cost, access and living culture present within the creative, curatorial and institutional spaces and communities in which this work was created and is initially intended to exist, and how these concerns impact the pedagogical, practical and experiential potential of my own work. This document also reflects on how the pragmatic and personal adoption of these concepts of cultural object phenomenological ephemera and decolonized curatorial practice as presented by Ahmed and Lewis by other composers, artist, curators, educators, and other creative professionals might impact the nature of artistic institutional spaces, might encourage the engagement of new, speculative and/or more colloquial spaces, and how these spatial reorientations might encourage a more fluidic approach to creative practice, community cultivation and engagement.

L'objectif du mémoire était de contribuer à l'élaboration d'une méthode d'identification des stéroïdes C18 et C19 de type androstane et estrane. Dans un projet futur, cette méthode pourrait servir lors d'analyse pharmacocinétique chez le singe Cynomolgus. Ainsi, on a prétraité à 60°C un mélange (1:1) plasma:tampon phosphate 0.2M /10% MeOH à pH 7.5. Puis, avec une cartouche C18, on a extrait les stéroïdes. Enfin, on les a analysé par HPLC avec une colonne C18 et une phase mobile de MeOH:H20:MeCN (47:38:15). Ainsi, la nouvelle méthode d'extraction a donné des taux de récupération élevés et les manipulations requises sont plus simples et plus rapides que les méthodes courantes (Ex.: EtOH, urée). Quant à l'analyse par HPLC, elle a permis d'identifier les stéroïdes étudiés. Au contraire des protocoles HPLC sur Ci8 publiés, dont le pouvoir de séparation est limité. Finalement, en raison de ces très bons résultats, l'objectif est considéré comme atteint.

Titre de l'écran-titre (visionné le 2 mai 2023) / Les bétons renforcés de fibres à ultra-hautes performances (BFUP) sont une nouvelle classe de composites de ciment aux propriétés mécaniques et de durabilité exceptionnelle qui inspirent la créativité architecturale, tout en prolongeant la durée de vie des bâtiments et des structures. Cette thèse vise à introduire de nouveau BFUP écologique avec des structures à faible teneur en ciment et des outils avancés pour tenir compte des défis industriels qui limitent l'utilisation du BFUP, en particulier l'architecture de formes complexes, telles que la distribution des fibres. Premièrement, les propriétés mécaniques d'un nouveau BFUP écologique à faible teneur en ciment qui a été récemment développé à l'Université Laval seront caractérisées dans cette étude en mettant l'accent sur des essais d'extraction et des essais de flexion. Ensuite, nous couplons la méthode d'inductance magnétique (MIM) et la méthode des éléments finis (FEM) pour tenir compte de la distribution des fibres afin de prédire le comportement en traction et en flexion du BFUP avec différentes distributions de fibres. Une vaste campagne expérimentale a été menée sur le test d'arrachement de fibre unique, le test de traction directe et le test de flexion à quatre points sur des éléments architecturaux aux formes complexes. Les méthodes de moulage ont également été variées pour comprendre l'effet de la distribution et de l'orientation des fibres. Sur la base des résultats présentés, ce travail a développé et validé avec succès un outil MIM-FEM pour prédire le comportement en traction du BFUP en tenant compte de la distribution non uniforme des fibres. En particulier, les éléments complexes de X-connexion d'un projet de passerelle futuriste pour le Québec sont utilisés pour évaluer les outils développés et leurs limites. Le présent travail offre une nouvelle direction pour favoriser les projets d'applications de BFUP au Québec pour améliorer leur fiabilité contre la distribution de fibres ainsi que pour introduire de nouveau BFUP à faible émission de carbone. / Ultra-High-Performance Fiber Reinforced Concrete (UHPFRC) are a new class of cement composites with outstanding mechanical and durability properties which inspires architectural creativity, while extending the life of buildings and structures. This thesis aims to introduce novel ecological UHPFRC with low cement structures and advanced tools to account for industrial challenges which limit the use of UHPFRC, especially architecture of complex forms, such as the fiber distribution. Firstly, the mechanical properties of a new ecological UHPFRC with low cement which was recently developed at Laval Université will be characterized in this study with emphasis on pull-out tests and bending tests. Then, we couple the magnetic inductance method (MIM) and Finite Element Methods (FEM) to account for the fiber distribution to predict the tensile and bending behavior of UHPFRC with different fiber distributions. A wide experimental campaign was carried out on single fiber pull-out tests, direct tensile tests and four-point bending tests, along with bending tests on architectural elements with complex shapes. The casting methods were also varied to understand the effect of fiber distribution and orientation. Results from this work show the successful development and validation of MIM-FEM tool to predict the tensile UHPFRC behavior by considering a non-uniform fiber distribution. In particular, the complex X-connection elements of a futuristic footbridge project for Quebec is used to evaluate the tools developed and their limitations. The present work opens a new direction to foster UHPFRC applications projects in Quebec to enhance their reliability against the fiber distribution effects as well as for introducing novel UHPFRC with low carbon.

La recherche dans le domaine des matrices cimentaires nouvelles est très active aujourd’hui et elle s’intéresse à divers aspects comme les temps de prises contrôlés, le développement des résistances mécaniques rapide ou encore la rhéologie adaptée. Des études récentes ont permis de mettre de l’avant de nouveaux systèmes cimentaires non traditionnels, incorporant des ciments d’aluminate de calcium, de phosphate de magnésium, de sulfoaluminate de calcium ou encore un mélange de plusieurs bases cimentaires. Les matrices à base de ciment Portland (OPC), de ciment d’aluminate de calcium (CAC) et de sulfate de calcium ( ̅) ont démontré un développement des résistances mécaniques en bas âge très rapide. Cependant, ce type de liant mélangé présente des problèmes de maniabilité rendant ce système difficilement compatible avec le béton coulé en place. Le premier objectif de ce projet vise à contourner ce problème en utilisant le béton projeté par voie sèche comme méthode de mise en place. En effet, puisque le contact eau-ciment survient immédiatement avant la mise en place, le problème de la maniabilité déficiente est évité. Il faut cependant rester vigilant car les mélanges OPC-CAC- ̅ présentent un comportement expansif incontrôlé s’ils sont mal proportionnés. En parallèle à cet objectif de hautes résistances mécaniques à jeune âge, un paramètre d’étude additionnel est l’incorporation de fibres au mélange de béton projeté par voie sèche afin d’atteindre un comportement en flexion de type écrouissant. Les résultats obtenus démontrent qu’il est possible de mettre au point un mélange de béton projeté par voie sèche basé sur une matrice OPC-CAC- ̅ qui permet une projection avec un équipement de projection conventionnel. Un béton projeté ayant une résistance d’environ 10 MPa à 1h, 30 MPa à 3h et atteignant sa résistance finale de 50 MPa en une seule journée a été produit dans le cadre de ce projet. Cependant, cette étude met également de l’avant la grande variabilité et sensibilité de ces matrices ternaires. Une variation d’aussi peu que 1,5% de la teneur en sulfate de calcium peut engendrer des variations de résistances en compression de près de 20 MPa. La mise en place de béton projeté par voie sèche à haut volume de fibre s’est avérée impossible avec l’équipement utilisé. / Research in the field of emerging cementitious materials is very active nowadays and is focusing on various aspects such as controlled setting time, rapid strength gain and adapted rheology. Recent studies have brought forward non-traditional cementitious material systems, incorporation calcium aluminate cement, magnesium phosphate cement, calcium sulfoaluminate cement or blends of several cements. Blended cements composed of ordinary Portland cement (OPC), calcium aluminate cement (CAC) and calcium sulphate ( ̅) have shown very rapid gain in early mechanical strength. However, this type of blended binder also exhibits very difficult workability that limits its use in regular cast in-place concrete applications. The first objective of this research project is to bypass this problem using dry-mix shotcrete as a placement method. Since the contact of water-cement occurs immediately before the placement, workability problem are avoided. However, the use of these binders requires vigilance because the OPC-CAC- ̅ mix may show an uncontrolled expansive behaviour if incorrectly formulated. To complement this objective of high early-strength, an additional study parameter is the possible incorporation of fibres in dry-mix shotcrete in order to obtain a flexural strain-hardening behaviour. Results show that it is possible to design a dry-mix shotcrete based on OPC-CAC- ̅ binder that allows proper placement with conventional shotcrete equipment. A shotcrete with a compressive strength of 10 MPa at 1h, 30 MPa at 3h and reaching its final strength of 50 MPa in a single day has been produced in this project. However, this study also brings forward the variability and sensitivity of this kind of binder. A variation as low as 1,5% of the calcium sulphate content can create a variation in the compressive strength of nearly 20 MPa. The placement of dry-mix shotcrete containing high volume of fibres was unfortunately impossible with the equipment used.

Les hydrolysats protéiques ont une haute valeur ajoutée pour des secteurs industriels variés, de par leurs propriétés nutritives, fonctionnelles et / ou nutraceutiques. Pour améliorer les propriétés des hydrolysats, l’ultrafiltration est utilisée. Cependant, le manque d’outils de modélisation lié à la complexité des mélanges est un verrou pour une mise en œuvre rationnelle du procédé. Ces travaux ont permis de valider une stratégie de prédiction basée sur des caractéristiques classiques des hydrolysats et un étalonnage expérimental de la membrane d’ultrafiltration. Cette méthode permet de prédire les rendements et enrichissements en fraction(s) ou peptide(s) cible(s), ainsi que la productivité du procédé. Le modèle global de prédiction de l’ultrafiltration obtenu est alors utilisé afin d’optimiser la mise en œuvre de ce procédé. La démarche d’optimisation consiste à maximiser l’enrichissement de fractions ou de peptides cibles en minimisant la consommation d’eau et la durée du procédé / Protein hydrolysates are high added value mixtures for various industrial areas, thanks to their nutritive, functional or nutraceutical properties. To enhance hydrolysates performances, fractionation processes such as ultrafiltration are used. However, the lack of tools to predict ultrafiltration performances is a major bottleneck for a rational implementation of the process. This research thesis work enables to validate a prediction strategy based on classical characteristics of hydrolysates and an experimental calibration of the membrane. Yields and enrichment factors in targeted peptides or fractions during ultrafiltration as well as the productivity of the process can be predicted. This global methodology of performances prediction is then used to optimize the implementation modes of ultrafiltration. The multiobjective optimization approach consists in maximizing the enrichment in targeted peptides or fractions while water consumption and / or process duration is minimized

En vue de l’importance de l’évaluation dans l’enseignement et l’apprentissage des langues étrangères, notre projet vise à comparer et analyser les pratiques d’évaluation utilisées dans les cours de langue étrangère au sein de trois pays : l’Iran, la France et les États-Unis. L’objectif de cette recherche n’est pas de mettre en valeur un système éducatif à proprement parlé, mais de comprendre si les pratiques évaluatives de ces contextes sont universelles ou culturellement spécifiques. In fine, il convient de comprendre quelle est la dynamique qui met en jeu leurs spécificités, c'est-à-dire les réalités sociales, politiques ou économiques qui les forment. Pour la réalisation de cette étude, nous avons mené des entretiens compréhensifs semi-directifs auprès de 48 enseignants de langues (français, anglais et persan) dans les trois pays. À travers ces entretiens nous avons extrait les représentations de ces enseignants autour de quatre concepts clés de pratiques d’évaluation, c'est-à-dire les objectifs d’apprentissage des langues, les pratiques et les instruments évaluatifs, l’examen, et la perception des enseignants des langues (étrangères). L’analyse qualitative de ces entretiens nous a montré que les pratiques d’évaluation utilisées dans les différents contextes académiques et universitaires dans ces trois pays, sont plutôt universelles ; fait principalement dû aux règles et exigences particulières du contexte institutionnel d’évaluation que les enseignants doivent respecter et satisfaire, ainsi qu’au niveau élémentaire des étudiants, qui nécessite l’intégration des activités évaluatives des niveaux inférieurs de la Taxonomie de Bloom. En même temps, nous avons également constaté des différences significatives qui relèvent des particularités culturelles telles que les traditions d’enseignement et d’évaluation, les rôles de l’enseignant, de l’apprenant et de l’institution, ainsi que des contextes d’emploi de la langue, situations qui dépendent, à leur tour, des contextes et des enjeux politiques, économiques, sociaux et géographiques de chacun des trois pays étudiés. / Given the importance of assessment in the teaching and the learning of foreign languages, this dissertation aims at comparing and analyzing the assessment practices used in university-level foreign language classes in three countries: Iran, France and the United States. The goal of this research is not to valorize one of these countries’ educational systems, but to understand if the assessment practices used in these countries are universal or culturally specific and if specific, what social, political or economic realities are involved. For the completion of this study, a set of semi-directive comprehensive interviews were conducted with 48 language instructors (French, English and Persian languages) in these three countries. These interviews provided us with the representations of the participants of their assessment practices, which enabled us to establish four images that reflect the key concepts relating to assessment: these images were course objectives, assessment tools and practices, exam and instructors’ perception of (foreign) languages. Through a qualitative analysis of these interviews revealed that assessment practices in academic (university) settings were in part universal, due to their institutional contexts, which require the implementation of certain rules and regulations, as well as the elementary level of students involved in these assessment practices, which favored the use of the activities that lie in the inferior levels of the Bloom’s Taxonomy. At the same time, we also able to observe significant differences among the assessment practices used in these three countries, which raise from the specificities of these three cultures and education/teaching traditions, as well as the uses of the language in question, which depend on the political, economic, social and geographic situations of each of these three countries.