Acompanha: O processo de produção de vídeos na construção de conceitos sociológicos na sala de aula a partir do protagonismo juvenil / Esta investigação tem por objetivo desenvolver um produto educacional tecnológico que possa contribuir no desenvolvimento de conceitos próprios da Sociologia, por meio da produção de vídeos em sala de aula e da promoção do protagonismo juvenil. Para tanto, partiu-se da pesquisa qualitativa que procurou promover a participação dos jovens aprendizes na produção de vídeos em sala de aula. Esses jovens, em colaboração com a professora investigadora, produziram vídeos de diferentes temas relacionados ao eixo Direitos Humanos. Para isso, foram consolidadas práticas pedagógicas relacionadas a didática Histórico-crítica de João Luiz Gasparin (2012). Nesse contexto, as propostas específicas do Ensino de Sociologia foram orientadoras para que os alunos aprendizes construíssem novas relações com os saberes, algo previsto na Educação em Direitos Humanos (EDH). Serviram como fundamentação teórica as concepções de Borba (1999), Rizinni (1999) e Oliveira & Oliveira (1999) quanto a pesquisa participante, Silva (2009a; 2009b), Moraes (2010), Paraná (2008) e Brasil (2006) a respeito do Ensino de Sociologia, Moran (2000), Borba (1999), Costa (2005) e Rojo (2012) para retratar a importância das TIC nos espaços escolares. Espera-se com essa dissertação, oferecer uma contribuição para novos estudos a respeito do Ensino de Sociologia e do protagonismo juvenil na construção de novos conceitos e conhecimentos sobre a vida em sociedade. / This investigation aims at developing a technological educational product that can contribute to the development of own concepts of sociology, through the production of videos in the classroom and the promotion of juvenile protagonism. Therefore, we started with the qualitative research which sought to promote the participation of young apprentices in the production of videos in the classroom. These young people, in collaboration with the researcher teacher, produced videos of different topics related to the axis Human Rights. For this, were consolidated pedagogical practices related to History-Critical didactic of João Luiz Gasparin (2012). In this context, the specific proposals of the Sociology Teaching were guiding in order that apprentices students build new relationships with knowledge, something provided in Human Rights Education (HRE). Served as theoretical basis the concepts of Borba (1999), Rizinni (1999) and Oliveira & Oliveira (1999) about the participatory research, Silva (2009a; 2009b), Moraes (2010), Parana (2008) and Brazil (2006) concerning the Sociology teaching, Moran (2000), Borba (1999), Costa (2005) and Rojo (2012) to portray the importance of ICT in school spaces. It is hoped with this dissertation, offer a contribution to further studies on the Sociology Teaching and youth protagonism in the construction of new concepts and knowledge about life in society.

Esta pesquisa teve por objetivo investigar empiricamente as decisões interpretativas quanto ao timing e dinâmica de quatro execuções do primeiro movimento da Sonata para piano n.1 de Francisco Mignone. Por meio da comparação de gravações, foram identificadas estratégias expressivas adotadas pelos intérpretes em relação ao timing, dinâmica e articulação, evidenciando assim o direcionamento expressivo do discurso musical em determinados trechos da obra. Tendo em vista os eventos musicais característicos de cada seção da Sonata, foi realizada uma análise da organização rítmica que apoiou a análise das gravações. / This research aimed at empirically investigating the interpretative decisions regarding timing and dynamics of four recorded performances of the first movement of Sonata n.1 for piano by Francisco Mignone. The comparison identified the expressive strategies adopted by the chosen interpreters in relation to articulation and dynamics thus bringing out the temporal profiles of predetermined spans. Issues such as background and organizational planning of the Sonata were taken into account in view of the musical events characteristic of each section. Theories of rhythmic organization supported the analyses of recordings.

Le langage de Salvatore Sciarrino et celui de Brian Ferneyhough sembleraient aux antipodes : l’un doté d’une ligne épurée de tout excès, l’autre avec une notation surchargée de détails. La structure temporelle de leurs langages pourraient toutefois trouver un point de contact dans deux pièces pour flûte seule : L’orologio di Bergson de Sciarrino et Carceri d’Invenzione IIb de Ferneyhough. La pièce de Sciarrino est structurée sur la périodicité de certains éléments qui, par leur récurrence, créent une sensation de temps circulaire. Celle de Ferneyhough, bien que plus complexe à la surface, emploie la même idée de récurrence du matériau. La simplicité des éléments sonores de Sciarrino laisse la place à des unités de matériau incandescentes. Cette thèse a comme but de montrer une certaine similarité quant à la gestion du temps, et quant à son déroulement. L’analyse de plusieurs interprétations montrera aussi comment les interprètes s’approprient cette conception temporelle. / At first impression, the language of Salvatore Sciarrino and that of Brian Ferneyhough seem to be antipodes, two extremes exactly opposite to each other: one simple, pure, deprived of any unnecessary excess, while the other rich, complex, decorated with all the possible details. However, in these two pieces for flute solo, there is a common ground that can be found: L’orologio di Bergson of Salvatore Sciarrino and Carceri d’Invenzione IIb of Brian Ferneyhough. The piece of Sciarrino is structured on the periodicity of certain elements, by their recurrence, which create a sensation of circular time. While the piece of Ferneyhough, although, seemingly much more complex, employs the same idea of recurrence of the material. The simplicity of the sonic elements of Sciarrino gives the space to the unity of the incandescent materials. The objective of this thesis is to demonstrate some certain similarity, concerning the time management and its development. The analysis of several interpretation also shows how the interpreters adapt themselves to this time conception.

Chez l'homme comme chez l'animal, les odeurs guident le comportement et motivent à agir. La valeur hédonique (le caractère plus ou moins plaisant) est la dimension olfactive principale et est généralement utilisée pour décider d'approcher ou fuir la source odorante. Bien que cette attractivité soit façonnée par l'expérience, certaines odeurs non-familières sont spontanément attractives ou répulsives. Le caractère plus ou moins plaisant d'une odeur serait, du moins en partie, inné. Il existerait ainsi une signature neurale spécifique de la valeur hédonique des odeurs, et c'est ce que cette thèse s'emploie à identifier.Après sélection d'odorants spontanément plus ou moins attractifs (plaisant et déplaisants respectivement), nous avons recherché les bases neurales qui sous-tendent ces comportements. Nous avons tout d'abord cartographié (expression de Zif268) puis manipulé (optogénétique) l'activité neuronale du bulbe olfactif en réponse à ces odorants, et avons révélé une signature neurale bulbaire de la valeur hédonique des odeurs le long de l'axe antéro-postérieur.Puis, afin d'analyser comment le message hédonique était interprété par les aires olfactives et associatives supérieures, nous avons développé une méthode de recalage de l'activité cérébrale dans un atlas de référence, assurant une cartographie rapide, précise et fiable de cette activité. Enfin, en combinant cette méthode à des approches comportementales, électrophysiologiques et pharmacologiques, nous avons montré un rôle du système de la récompense dans le codage de la valeur hédonique des odeurs et qu'une odeur peut être perçue comme une récompense, motivant alors les comportements d'approche et de retrait / In humans and animals, odors guide behavior and motivate action. The hedonic value (that is the pleasantness) is the main olfactory dimension and is generally used to decide to approach the odor source or move away. While this attractiveness is shaped by experience, some unfamiliar odors are spontaneously attractive or repulsive. The pleasantness of an odor would be, at least in part, innate, and suggest a specific neural signature of the hedonic value of odors. The global aim of this thesis is to decipher neuronal mechanisms underlying the hedonic value of odors.After having selected odorants with various level of attraction (pleasant and unpleasant), we have deciphered the neural bases that underlie these behaviors.We first mapped (expression of Zif268) and then manipulated (optogenetic) the neuronal activity of the olfactory bulb in response to these odors, and have revealed a bulbar neural signature of the hedonic value of odors along the antero-posterior axis.Then, in order to analyze how the hedonic information was interpreted by the higher olfactory and associative areas, we developed a method allowing the registration of brain activity in a reference atlas, that ensure a fast, accurate and reliable mapping of this activity. Finally, by combining this method with behavioral, electrophysiological and pharmacological approaches, we have shown a role of the reward system in the coding of odor hedonics and that an odor can act as a reward, thus motivating behavior, approach and withdrawal

Dans ce projet nous nous intéresserons à la création d’un nouveau modèle permettant de simuler des enregistrements extracellulaires de l’activité électrique neurale dans le système nerveux périphérique. Ce modèle fut développé pour permettre une meilleure compréhension de l’impact des différentes propriétés des interfaces sur la qualité des signaux recueillis. Ce projet fut en particulier conduit pour répondre au contexte actuel qui voit le développement de nombreuses applications dans le domaine des neuro-prothèses et autres interfaces neurales à but biomédical. Nos intentions étaient de fournir un nouvel outil permettant de mieux comprendre les particularités des interfaces existantes ou d’aider à leur amélioration et à la planification de futures innovations. Ce modèle est construit comme la synthèse de la compréhension actuelle des différents rouages biophysiques impactant les enregistrements. Sa structure peut être perçue comme l’assemblage de différents sous-systèmes interconnectés et représentant chacun une dimension du processus. Il s’avère particulièrement efficace pour l’analyse comparative des performances entre diffèrent types/géométries d’électrodes invasives. Dans ce document, nous nous efforcerons d’expliquer en détail la structure et les paramètres de notre modèle. Nous décrirons ensuite les différents tests que nous avons entrepris pour sa validation expérimentale, ainsi que les différentes voies d’applications que nous avons commencé à explorer. Nous finirons par décrire les améliorations qui nous sont apparues comme nécessaires ou possibles et par une discussion sur les ouvertures futures offerte à ce domaine de recherche. / Neural interfaces are becoming a newly dynamic and promising field especially thanks to the numerous applications they could have in the biomedical domain. A great deal of these applications requires a monitoring of targeted neural activity. Among the different technologies available for such recording practice, chronic electrodes implanted in the peripheral nervous system offer a good compromise on the resolution versus invasiveness technological constraint. A large array of electrodes has been developed in this intention but there is still only a limited comprehension of their recording principles and weakness. This makes difficult any targeted improvement of the electrodes and led this field to be mainly dominated by a trial and error empirical approach simultaneously costly in funds, animal lives and time. In particular, intrafascicular electrodes, while providing exiting results for stimulation, have often failed in recordings. These electrodes typically show interesting recording performance right after implantation but have rapid decline of their efficacy up to the points that they often become useless after a few weeks. Such performance proves problematic as they drastically limit the transfer of experimental results to human applications. The extent of our work has been the development of a theoretical framework for the study of implantable electrodes. Our goal here has been to construct a model that could be used as a platform to better understand implanted electrode and compare their performance and possible improvement. We focused our work on intrafascicular electrode for the peripheral nervous system. However, our procedure could easily be applied to other type of interface. During this project we first constructed a detailed model of the recording biophysical process happening at the peripheral nerve electrical interface. This model encompasses all the mechanism known to influence the quality and shape of neural activity recordings. We have then recreated within our model specific controlled experiments and by comparing the properties of the simulated recording with their experimental counterparts demonstrated the potency of our approach to produce bio-plausible signals. This validated our model as an in silico alternative to compare and test electrodes. We then further developed this model to also simulate some of the changes happening in the nerve post implantation. In particular, we found that the growth of the fibrotic scar could already explain a large part of the signal degradation happening in the first weeks. Then to demonstrate the adaptability of this model we used it to compare the performance of the main type of electrodes implanted nowadays peripherally. Finally, as the main weakness of our model relied in its relative complexity and the related long computing time, we started to analyze how this model could be simplified without losing the precision necessary for the intended applications. In conclusion, this project led to the creation of a model which in its current form can be used as an in silico platform to test and compare electrodes. This will facilitate the planning and development of future peripheral neural interface by proving both more economical and informative that current strategies. Conjointly, we opened the way to future improvement of our model, leading to more practicality.

Tato magisterská práce se zabývá analýzou vysokofrekvenčních složek záznamu EKG z pohledu mechano-elektrické vazby u izolovaného králičího srdce. První částí této práce je literární rešerše na zadané téma zahrnující informace o vzniku a šíření akčního potenciálu na chemické i elektrické úrovní i mechano-elektrické zpětné vazbě. Dále práce obsahuje kapitolu zabývající se tématikou průměrování signálu jako techniky ke zvýšení poměru signál-šum při analýze vysokofrekvenčních složek. V praktické části práce jsou získané poznatky aplikovány na dlouhé záznamy EKG z izolovaných králičích srdcí. Zahrnut je popis perfuzního systému podle Neelyho a jeho užití při experimentech. V realizaci byla data z 15 izolovaných králičích srdcí podrobeno analýze zkoumající přítomnost reakce systému na změnu vstupních parametrů (afterloadu a preploadu) v případě tlakově objemových dat. Výsledky byly vztaženy ke stejně získaným hodnotám z HF ECG. Dohromady tvoří popis mechano-elektriké reakce srdce na hemodynamické podněty. Výsledky byly statistisky testovány a vyhodnoceny.

MAAS / Department of Music

MAAS / Department of of Music

It is not uncommon to read claims of music’s ability to affect our sense of time and its rate of passage. Indeed, such effects are often considered among the most distinctive and prized aspects of musical aesthetics. Yet when it comes to the similarly abstract notion of space and its manipulation by musical structures, theorists are generally silent. My dissertation addresses this gap in the literature and shows how music’s spatial effects arise through an affective engagement with musical works. In this study, I examine an eclectic selection of compositions to determine how the spaces we inhabit are transformed by the music we hear within them. Drawing on Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s theory of embodied perception, as well as research on acoustics, sound studies, and media theory, I deploy an affective model of spatial perception—a model that links the sense of space with the moment-to-moment needs and desires of the perceiver— to explain how these musical modulations of space occur. My claim is that the manner in which the music solicits our engagement affects how we respond, which in turn affects what we perceive. I begin by discussing the development of recording technology and how fixed media works deemed “spatial music” reinforce a particular conception of space as an empty container in which sound sources are arrayed in specific locations relative to a fixed listening position. After showing how innovative studio techniques have been used to unsettle this conventional spatial configuration, I then discuss examples of Renaissance vocal music, instrumental chamber music, and 20th century electronic music in order to develop a richer understanding of the range of spatial interactions that musical textures and timbres can provide. In my final chapter, I draw upon these varieties of affective engagement to construct a hermeneutic analysis of the spatial experience afforded by Steve Reich’s Electric Counterpoint, thereby modeling a phenomenological method for grounding interpretation in embodied, rather than strictly discursive, practices. By soliciting movement through the call for bodily action, music allows us an opportunity to fit together one world of possibilities with another, thereby providing an occasion for grasping new meanings presented through the work. The spatial aspect of music, therefore, does not consist in merely recognizing an environmental setting populated by individual sound sources. Through the embodied practices of music perception and the malleability of space they reveal, we are afforded an opportunity to reshape our understanding of the world around us.

Neuroscience / La démence de type d’Alzheimer est la plus commune des démences. Elle entraîne un déclin dans les capacités cognitives et fonctionnelles, se traduisant dans des difficultés au niveau de la prise de décision, de l’accomplissement de tâches quotidiennes, de la communication ainsi qu’au niveau de la mémoire et de l’attention. On remarque également une diminution de l’état émotionnel et une apathie chez ces patients. Ce mémoire explore une nouvelle approche pour atténuer les effets psychologiques et cognitifs de la maladie. Les recherches effectuées dans ce mémoire explorent les impacts cognitifs et les effets sur le bien-être d'une intervention utilisant la réalité virtuelle sur les personnes souffrant de déclin cognitif subjectif. Deux environnements virtuels ont été testés : le premier étant un environnement dans lequel le participant voyage en train à travers différents climats, et le second étant un environnement de musicothérapie qui s’adapte en fonction de la réponse émotionnelle du participant. Pour mesurer les impacts sur l'état affectif, des lectures électroencéphalographiques ont été prises et analysées afin de déduire l'émotion ressentie par le participant avant, pendant et après l'expérience. Les résultats montrent une amélioration générale de l'état émotionnel pour les deux environnements. Quant à la mesure des effets sur les fonctions cognitives, des tâches d'attention et de mémoire ont été effectuées par les participants avant et après l'immersion. Les résultats montrent une légère amélioration des capacités d'attention et une meilleure amélioration de la mémoire. Nous approprions cet écart dans l'expérience de musicothérapie à l'activation musicale d'un réseau de structures cérébrales impliquées dans les expériences agréables : le circuit de récompense. Nous proposons que la musique facilite la rétention de la mémoire chez les personnes souffrant de démence. En effet, les résultats de l’amélioration des fonctions cognitives pour les deux expériences précédentes dépendent fortement de la précision de l'outil de mesure cognitive utilisé pour évaluer les performances d'attention et de mémoire avant et après l'intervention. Pour assurer cette précision, ce mémoire présente un outil de mesure des performances cognitives basé sur des tâches cognitives qui ont montré à plusieurs reprises leur fiabilité. Cet outil d’adresse aux personnes atteintes de la maladie d'Alzheimer pré-clinique et diagnostiquée. / Alzheimer’s disease is an irreversible disease which causes progressive memory loss and cognitive decline, eventually leading to severe inability to perform basic day-to-day tasks. The urgency to find an effective cure to the disease is crucial, as the medical and economical spin-offs could be disastrous. The present thesis explores a novel approach to help attenuate the psychological and cognitive effects of the disease. The research carried out for this thesis explored cognitive effects and impacts on overall well-being of a virtual reality intervention on people suffering from subjective cognitive decline. Two virtual environments were tested: the first being an environment in which the participant travels through different climates by train, and the second being a music therapy environment modified as a function of emotional response. To measure the effects on affective state, electroencephalography readings were taken and analyzed to infer the emotion felt by the participant before, during the experiment. Results show a general improvement in emotional state. To measure the effects of the environments on cognitive functions, attention and memory tasks were carried out by the participants before and after the immersion. Results show a small improvement in attention skills and a more substantial improvement in memory skills. We appropriate this discrepancy in the music therapy experiment to the musical activation of a network of brain structures involved in rewarding and pleasurable experiences. We propose that music could facilitate memory retention in people sufferance for dementia. Importantly, the results of the previous experiments rely heavily on the accuracy of the cognitive measurement tool used to evaluate attention and memory performances before and after the intervention. To provide this accuracy, this thesis presents a cognitive performance measurement tool based on cognitive tasks which have repeatedly shown to output reliable results. This tool is created to serve for people with pre-clinical Alzheimer’s disease and diagnosed Alzheimer’s disease. Additionally, this tool is designed in such a way as to minimize the effects of repetition as well as varying levels of education and language. This thesis presents a novel and promising research in the realms of computer sciences and health care.