Le vingtième siècle a vu la montée du mouvement de renouveau de l’interprétation de la musique ancienne, notamment celle de la période baroque, appuyé sur une forme de socle théorique. La mise à jour et l’étude des textes contemporains a fourni un ensemble d’éléments permettant de construire des exécutions obéissant à des normes qui rompaient avec l’héritage du dix-neuvième siècle. La démarche appliquée aux modalités d’élocution de la musique s’est accompagnée d’un travail de restauration et de remise en service de l’instrumentarium ancien, qui est devenu un élément central de la pratique moderne de la musique ancienne. Nous nous intéressons particulièrement au répertoire pour clavier de l’époque du baroque tardif. L’instrument pratiqué aujourd’hui, le piano, occupe une place visible dans l’interprétation de ce répertoire. Or, ce répertoire a été conçu pour des instruments différents. Comment le piano a-t-il conquis son statut d’instrument propre à l’exécution de ces oeuvres ? Comment les pianistes ont-ils vécu le mouvement baroquiste ? qu’en est-il des aptitudes du piano à rendre justice à cette musique ? Quelles sont les philosophies interprétatives impliquées dans la problématique ? La recherche projetée se propose de répondre à ces questionnements, en choisissant pour terrain d’étude des oeuvres de Bach, Scarlatti et Rameau, compositeurs porteurs chacun de caractéristiques stylistiques particulières. L’étude analytique appliquée sera circonscrite aux enregistrements discographiques depuis l’époque du microsillon. / The second half of the twentieth century witnessed the development of the movement of renewal in the interpretation of old music, especially that of the Baroque period, depending on theoretical updating, reading and studying of contemporary works that provided musicians with a range of elements which have no relation with the traditional interpretation inherited from the nineteenth century.The approach applied in composing music was accompanied by a restoration and reopening of the former instruments, which became essential to the modern performance of old music. As a pianist, I am very much interested in the keyboard repertoire of the late Baroque, or the second half of the eighteenth century. The instrument played today, the modern piano, has a visible place in the landscape interpretation of baroque repertoire for keyboard. However, these works were designed for an entirely different instrument. How could the harpsichord play old works? How pianists interested in Baroque music experienced the movement "baroque"? What is really the piano skills do to this music? Beyond that, how are the philosophers of interpretation involved in this issue? What is their philosophy and how was it built? The proposed study aims to answer this set of questions, preferred the keyboard works String of Bach, Scarlatti and Rameau, composers representing distinct tradition of writing and Holders of each particular stylistic characteristics.The analytical study was applied in addition to recordings from the time of microstomia. / شهد النصف الثاني من القرن العشرين تطورا مشهودا لحركة تجديد أداء الموسيقا القديمة, خصوصا موسيقا الباروك,مستندة على قاعدة نظرية إن إعادة النظر قراءة و دراسة الأعمال الحديثة قدمت للموسيقيين مجموعة عناصر سمحت لهم ببناء أداءات موسيقية تقطع صلتها تماما مع تقاليد أداء القرن التاسع عشر إن المنهجية المطبقة على كيفية الصياغة الموسيقية, ترافقت مع عملية ترميم و إعادة بناء معتمدين على ا لعودة إلى الآلة القديمة التي أصبحت بدورها عنصرا أساسيا في عملية الأداء المعاصر للموسيقا المؤلفة ماقبل ١٨٠٠كوني عازفة بيانو أعير اهتماما خاصا لمجموعة الأعمال المكتوبة لآلات الكلافيه في فترة الباروك المتأخرةأو الجزء الثاني من القرن الثامن عشر. الآلة الممارسة اليوم البيانو المعاصر يشغل مكانا مركزيا في أداء مجموعة هذه الأعمال. لكن هذه الأعمال كانت مكتوبة و مخصصة لآلات مختلفة كيف استطاعت آلة المطارق (البيانو) أن تحتل مكانها كآلة قادرة بدورها على أداء الأعمال القديمة؟ كيف نظرعازفو البيانو المهتمون بموسيقا الباروك الى ظاهرة حركة الباروكيين؟ ماهي صلاحيات آلتهم لاعطاء هذه الموسيقا حقها الكامل؟ ماهي الفلسفات التي تتضمنها هذه الإشكالية, ما هو تاريخ هذه الفلسفات وعلى أي أساس بنيت؟ إن البحث الآتي يقترح الإجابة على مجموعة هذه الأسئلة بالاستناد إلى دراسة خاصة لأعمال آلات الكلافيه للمؤلفين باخ, رامو وسكارلاتي، الذين يمثل كل منهم مدرسة قائمة بحد ذاتها, و تتميزمؤلفات كل منهم بخصائص أسلوبية واضحة. الدراسة التحليلية المطبقة, معززة أيضا بتسجيلات صوتية لأداءات مختلفة على آلة البيانو منذ عام ١٩٥٠ حتى يومنا الحاضر

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Abstract There is a need to identify patients with an increased risk of dying after acute myocardial infarction (AMI), because sudden cardiac death (SCD) and potentially fatal ventricular tachyarrhythmias can be prevented by an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, or in some cases, with aggressively optimized drug or revascularization therapy. The present study was designed to study the predictive power of non-invasive risk markers and all-cause, cardiac and arrhythmic mortality in 700 consecutive post-AMI patients discharged alive with optimal medication according to contemporary guidelines. Detrended fluctuation analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) predicted all-cause mortality beyond clinical variables as well as left ventricular function in post-AMI patients. The predictive power of the short-term scaling exponent α1 was higher than that of the traditional indexes of HRV (for α1 < 0.65, the risk ratio (RR) in multivariate analysis was 5.1, with 95% confidence intervals (CI) 2.9-8.9; p < 0.001). HRV results from a conventional 24-hour electrocardiographic (ECG) recording system differed significantly when compared to a system with a higher sampling frequency. The difference was generally more pronounced in post-AMI patients than in healthy subjects. The presence of sustained T-wave alternans during a predischarge exercise test after AMI was not a marker of mortality. However, the inability to perform an exercise test or to reach the heart rate of 105 beats/min predicted independently all-cause (RR 9.3, 95% CI 2.0-43.3, p < 0.01) and cardiac mortality (RR 11.1, 95% CI 2.4-50.8, p < 0.01). High levels of natriuretic peptides were associated with both sudden and non-sudden cardiac mortality. B-type natriuretic peptide provided more specific independent information on the risk for subsequent SCD (RR 3.9, 95% CI 1.2-12.3, p < 0.05) than non-SCD. SCDs occurred mainly more than 18 months after AMI, and the proportion of SCD was less than 40% of all cardiac deaths. Common arrhythmia markers such as the presence of ventricular premature beats or episodes of nonsustained ventricular tachycardia during ambulatory recordings, the time domain parameters of HRV, baroreflex sensitivity, QT dispersion and QRS complex duration provided only limited predictive power on the risk of SCD or arrhythmic events in patients with optimized beta-blocking therapy. Many risk variables previously considered to predict SCD were better predictors of non-SCD than SCD. Conclusions: 1. The epidemiological pattern of SCD was different from that reported previously. 2. Many arrhythmia risk markers provided only limited information on the risk of SCD. 3. Short-term fractal scaling exponent α1 provided potentially useful information on the risk for all-cause mortality, and BNP was useful in predicting the risk of SCD in a post-AMI population with optimized therapy.

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Introduction: major depressive disorder is a common psychiatric disorder associated with high economic cost, severe human suffering, and low remission rates. Imbalanced neurotransmission of the monoaminergic serotonin (5-HT), dopamine (DA) and norepinephrine (NE) systems is implicated in this disorder. However, the etiology underlying this presumed imbalance and the mechanism by which antidepressant strategies restore this imbalance requires further exploration. Accordingly, the present work assessed the effects of depressogenic and antidepressant-like conditions on these systems. Methodology: Electrophysiological extracellular single unit recordings from 5-HT, DA, NE, and hippocampal pyramidal neurons were obtained in adult male chloral hydrate anaesthetized Sprague-Dawley rats. Effects on relevant receptors were characterized using established electrophysiological and/or pharmacological strategies. Prenatal stress was used to model depressogenic-like conditions. The effects on monoamine systems of asenapine and brexpiprazole, two atypical antipsychotics with antidepressant potential, were characterized after acute (brexpiprazole) and sustained administration. These sustained regimens resulted in clinically relevant blood plasma levels. Results: Prenatal stress exposure altered monoamine system activities but did not produce detrimental effects on behavior. Asenapine and brexpiprazole had unique effects on the activities of monoamine systems. Unlike other antipsychotics, both agents did not produce a cessation of the firing of dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area, thereby providing novel insights in the role of this system in the treatment of mood disorders. Furthermore, both agents enhanced the tonic activation of postsynaptic 5-HT1A receptors, similarly to the effects of all antidepressant strategies. Conclusion: Prenatal stress altered the activities of 5-HT, NE and DA neurons. Since these central changes were obtained in animals displaying normal behavior, they presumably reflect adaptations to depressogenic-like conditions. The characterization of asenapine and brexpiprazole contributed to a further understanding of their mechanisms of action. Together, these studies provide insight in neural substrates presumably relevant to the antidepressant response.

The Napster case has created a frenzy of controversy and confusion. The Peer to Peer technology developed by Napster creator Shawn Fanning, has forced the courts, the legislature, corporations, and individuals to reconsider the use of the Internet. Peer to peer networks create new challenges for the application of copyright law. However, these challenges are not that different from those which copyright law has evolved to accommodate in the past. Copyright law is intended to balance the interests of the creators and the public to promote the progress of science and useful arts. The premise behind copyright protection is to ensure that people continue creating, and that the public continues to enjoy those creations, through the mechanism of rewarding the creators with a temporary monopoly over their works. This balance of interests is fundamental to the interpretation of copyright law by the United States Congress and the Courts. This thesis focuses on the application and interpretation of copyright law through a case study of the law in the United States, in particular the Napster case. Although it now appears that the Internet can be subject to some form of regulation with the aid of technological innovation to enforce the regulation, the Courts in the Napster case have misinterpreted the previous judicial consideration attributed to copyright law. In essence, the fundamental principle of the balancing of interests has been lost. We are now left with an unequal balance in favor of large media conglomerates. It can be argued that the media conglomerates have used Napster as an example of their power to control the technology of peer to peer networking as a model of distribution. Napster demonstrates that peer to peer is an effective way of sharing information with an extremely large amount of people. This has the music industry scared, resulting in their legal battle to shut down the Napster technology. The claims of copyright misuse raise awareness of the need for regulation and a reassessment of copyright application in a digital age. There is a need for regulation. However, any attempts at further application of law and regulation to the Internet concerning copyright protection should consider the intent of the constitutional founders of the United States -- copyright law is intended to protect the interests of both the artists, and the public. / Law, Peter A. Allard School of / Graduate

This study explores the use of the information theory entropy equation in representations of videos for children. The calculated rates of information in the videos are calibrated to the corresponding perceived rates of information as elicited from the twelve 7 to 10 year old girls who were shown video documents. Entropy measures are calculated for several video elements: set time, set incidence, verbal time, verbal incidence, set constraint, nonverbal dependence, and character appearance. As hypothesized, mechanically calculated entropy measure (CEM) was found to be sufficiently similar to perceived entropy measure (PEM) made by children so that they can be used as useful and predictive elements of representations of children’s videos. The relationships between the CEM and the PEM show that CEM could stand for PEM in order to enrich representations for video documents for this age group. Speculations on transferring the CEM to PEM calibration to different age groups and different document types are made, as well as further implications for the field of information science.

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abstract: Brain micromotion is a phenomenon that arises from basic physiological functions such as respiration (breathing) and vascular pulsation (pumping blood or heart rate). These physiological processes cause small micro displacements of 2-4µm for vascular pulsation and 10-30µm for respiration, in rat models. One problem related to micromotion is the instability of the probe and its ability to acquire stable neural recordings in chronic studies. It has long been thought the membrane potential (MP) changes due to micromotion in the presence of brain implants were an artefact caused by the implant. Here is shown that intracellular membrane potential changes are a consequence of the activation of mechanosensitive ion channels at the neural interface. A combination of aplysia and rat animal models were used to show activation of mechanosensitive ion channels is occurring during a neural recording. During simulated micromotion of displacements of 50μm and 100μm at a frequency of 1 Hz, showed a change of 8 and 10mV respectively and that the addition of Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) inhibited the membrane potential changes. The application of EDTA showed a 71% decrease in changes in membrane potential changes due to micromotion. Simulation of breathing using periodic motion of a probe in an Aplysia model showed that there were no membrane potential changes for <1.5kPa and action potentials were observed at >3.1kPa. Drug studies utilizing 5-HT showed an 80% reduction in membrane potentials. To validate the electrophysiological changes due to micromotion in a rat model, a double barrel pipette for simultaneous recording and drug delivery was designed, the drug delivery tip was recessed from the recording tip no greater than 50μm on average. The double barrel pipette using iontophoresis was used to deliver 30 μM of Gadolinium Chloride (Gd3+) into the microenvironment of the cell. Here is shown a significant reduction in membrane potential for n = 13 cells across 4 different rats tested using Gd3+. Membrane potential changes related to breathing and vascular pulsation were reduced between approximately 0.25-2.5 mV for both breathing and heart rate after the addition of Gd3+, a known mechanosensitive ion channel blocker. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Biomedical Engineering 2020

La fibrilación auricular es la arritmia más frecuente en la práctica clínica, con una prevalencia que alcanza el 10% en la población mayor de 70 años, y unas perspectivas de incremento en consonancia con el aumento de la esperanza de vida. No obstante, a pesar de ser la arritmia más frecuente, los mecanismos causantes de su generación y persistencia no se conocen con exactitud. Por esta razón, los estudios cuyo objetivo sea profundizar en los mecanismos que envuelven la citada arritmia son de gran ayuda para el desarrollo de protocolos clínicos que mejoren el diagnóstico, y permitan seleccionar los tratamientos más apropiados. Numerosos estudios científicos han indagado en cuáles son los factores que afectan al estado electrofisiológico de las aurículas, responsables de la iniciación y mantenimiento de la fibrilación, así como en los que gobiernan la transmisión de los impulsos eléctricos entre la aurícula y el ventrículo, donde el sistema nervioso autónomo se ha apuntado como uno de los factores responsables. En esta tesis doctoral se ha estudiado el efecto sobre la actividad auricular y ventricular, del anestésico más comúnmente usado en terapias destinadas a restablecer el ritmo sinusal en pacientes con episodios de fibrilación auricular. Este anestésico es el propofol (2,6-diisopropylphenol), que es un rápido anestésico intravenoso. La rápida redistribución y metabolismo del propofol resultan en una rápida eliminación de aproximadamente 1 hora, haciéndolo útil para sedaciones de corta duración. La hipótesis de este estudio es si el propofol puede alterar la actividad auricular durante la fibrilación auricular. Simultáneamente a la realización de los procedimientos de ablación, se realizan registros electrocardiográficos y electrogramas auriculares. Los electrogramas permiten extraer información local de las aurículas, muy útil para reflejar los procesos electrofisiológicos que ocurren durante la fibrilación auricular. Habitualmente, los registros internos de epi / Cervigón Abad, R. (2009). Signal processing of intracardiac recordings for the evaluation of propofol effects during atrial fibrillation [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/5766 / Palancia