Bobbin Friction Stir Welding (BFSW) is a new application of Friction Stir Welding (FSW) that can be used to join materials together with little to no axial forces. This eliminates the need of a backplate or anvil needed to apply counter pressure against the tool. The applications of BFSW are growing every day. This new technology is helping the automotive industry and many other industries join materials more effectively and efficiently. This technology can be used to join materials with high strength to weight ratios to make cars lighter to increase fuel efficiency. This will also greatly reduce the cost of current joining technologies.The purpose of this research is to prove the feasibility of augmenting a BFSW tool with cutters to join enclosed castings while simultaneously removing ribs and variations in thickness by (1) penetrating a BFSW tool into the material away from an edge; (2) removing any inconsistencies in the material thickness while maintaining a weld; and (3) removing a BFSW tool from the casting away from an edge leaving a clean exit hole without destroying either the casting or the tool.

Declines in amphibian populations have prompted study of their ecology and distribution. The purpose of this study was to survey two sites located within different physiographic and one herpetofaunal region of Northeast Tennessee, comparing species composition and activity. The first, Henderson Wetland, is in the Appalachian Ridge and Valley physiographic region. The second, John's Bog, is in the Blue Ridge. Survey methods included random walks, aural surveys, and point source collections during a 16-month period (February 1999 to May 2000). Nine caudate (Plethodontidae) and one anuran species (Ranidae) were found in John's Bog. Seven caudate (Ambystomatidae, Plethodontidae, Salamandridae) and five anuran species (Hylidae, Ranidae) were found in Henderson Wetland. Assemblages were compared using an index of community similarity. Sites differed regarding amphibians detected. Temporal activity was not compared because of different species compositions. Instead, temporal data were compared to literature. Data will be used in future amphibian studies and site management.

AURAL REGENERATION by MYRNA LEE PRONCHUK Under the Direction of Craig Dongoski ABSTRACT The aim of this thesis is to survey the abstraction of the human experience obscuring the confines between form and expression, sound and visual, experience and imitation. In establishing multiple levels of communication, I began with gathering discarded found objects, which I repurposed through building hybrid musical sculptures. The act of mark making mapped out systems and direction, and escalated into a form of hybrid musical notation. Both forms of hybrids informed each other in its development process. When the hybrid instruments and notation were placed in an environment together with the elements of Digital Signal Processing (DSP), it created a natural progression for performance. The objects required interaction: to be hit, tapped, bowed and plucked, with their sounds processed through DSP, and projected back into the audience, who participated in creating interactivity. In producing mechanical musical instruments, along with mark making, installation and experimental sound recordings, a platform is established allowing for a dialogue between audio and visual elements, and human experience.

Professional research project (Au.D.)--University of South Florida, 2002. / Title from PDF of title page. / Document formatted into pages; contains 35 pages. / Includes bibliographical references. / Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. / ABSTRACT: A need has been established for aural rehabilitation (AR) sessions throughout the years. The literature reviewed here demonstrates that new hearing aid users do benefit from a structured follow-up AR program. However, this need is often not met for a variety of patient and audiologist related factors. Therefore, an AR program that could be viewed at home has been suggested. I have developed a prototype for a CD-ROM based aural rehabilitation (AR) program. Included in the program are communication and speechreading strategies, which are the most prevalent materials in AR. The instructional and interaction portions of the prototype were created to be understood by the average person. The prototype includes the use of video, graphics, and audio to support the written information and to incorporate a sense of excitement into the CD-ROM based program. / System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.

To positively identify marine mammals using passive acoustics, large volumes of data are often collected that need to be processed by a trained analyst. To reduce acoustic analyst workload, an automatic detector can be implemented that produces many detections, which feed into an automatic classifier to significantly reduce the number of false detections. This requires the development of a robust classifier capable of performing inter-species classification as well as discriminating cetacean vocalizations from anthropogenic noise sources. A prototype aural classifier was developed at Defence Research and Development Canada that uses perceptual signal features which model the features employed by the human auditory system. The dataset included anthropogenic passive transients and vocalizations from five cetacean species: bowhead, humpback, North Atlantic right, minke and sperm whales. Discriminant analysis was implemented to replace principal component analysis; the projection obtained using discriminant analysis improved between-species discrimination during multiclass cetacean classification, compared to principal component analysis. The aural classifier was able to successfully identify the vocalizing cetacean species. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) is used to quantify the two-class classifier performance and the M-measure is used when there are three or more classes; the maximum possible value of both AUC and M is 1.00 – which is indicative of an ideal classifier model. Accurate classification results were obtained for multiclass classification of all species in the dataset (M = 0.99), and the challenging bowhead/ humpback (AUC = 0.97) and sperm whale click/anthropogenic transient (AUC = 1.00) two-class classifications.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Jana Fallin / The purpose of this study was to test student achievement in the course of one semester while enrolled in an Aural Skills music classroom. The research used the framework from Caine and Caine’s 1991 Brain/Mind Learning Principles (later revised and republished in 2005 by Caine, Caine, McClintic and Klimek) and Jensen’s Brain-Compatible Teaching theory (1997). The research was completed at a mid-American university. Treatment classrooms taught using strategies to implement novelty, student engagement, and scaffolding success techniques based on a subset of Caine’s et al. Brain/Mind Learning Principles. The researcher used a quasi- experimental design with a treatment and control group, gathering quantitative pre-test/post-test data from student assessments before and after the implementation of the research-based brain- compatible strategies in the university Aural Skills classroom. The study followed four graduate teaching assistants who were new to collegiate teaching over the course of a semester; two were put in a training program and trained on how to create novelty, perpetuate student engagement, and build levels of success and two were left alone, to continue with a lecture style of teaching. At the end of the study, student test scores were examined to determine significance of the treatment. Results of this study are inconclusive, due to a methodology fail during the grading of the pre and post-tests. In the final chapter, preliminary findings indicate that academic gains were maintained within the control classes of Aural Skills I and III, and academic gains were maintained within the treatment class of Aural Skills II. The study is concluded with a discussion on methodological improvements necessary to provide reliable results within the bounds of educational research.

Developing the music cognition competencies of both singers and instrumentalists is one of the goals of school music programs. Vocal and instrumental sight reading are used to indicate the level of development of cognitive skills in music. In this study, vocal and instrumental sight reading served as a basis for determining public school orchestra students' cognitive development in music. Vocal sight-reading and instrumental sight-reading performances of 143 orchestra students in 7th, 9th, and 11th grades were examined. Students' vocal sight-singing accuracy was tested using the Vocal Sight Reading Inventory (Henry, 1999). Students' instrumental sight-reading was assessed using the String Performance Rating Scale (Zdzinski & Barnes, 2002). The ANOVA procedure and the Welch test were applied to determine whether there was an improvement in students' vocal and instrumental sight reading with additional years of school orchestra experience. Results from ANOVA analyses indicated that the differences in students' instrumental sight-reading scores across the three grade levels were statistically significant [F (2,140) = 34.50], p < .01. A post hoc Bonferroni adjustment revealed that the differences between each of the groups were statistically significant (p < .05) in favor of older and more experienced students. For vocal sight reading, the Tamhane procedure revealed significant differences only between students at the 7th and 11th grade levels, also in favor of the older students (p < .05). Correlational analysis indicated that there was a strengthening of the relationship between students' vocal sight reading and instrumental sight reading as students progressed in grade level, indicating that they were continuing to develop their musicianship skills. The correlation between vocal sight-reading and instrumental sight-reading scores according to grade level were r = .36, p < .05 for 7th grade, r = .52, p < .01 for 9th grade, and r = .64, p < .01 for 11th grade. In this study I stressed the importance of both vocal sight-reading and instrumental sight-reading experiences for orchestra students and ultimately for all instrumental students. I also proposed theoretical models as to how the two skills are related and how they might be developed.

abstract: In the noise and commotion of daily life, people achieve effective communication partly because spoken messages are replete with redundant information. Listeners exploit available contextual, linguistic, phonemic, and prosodic cues to decipher degraded speech. When other cues are absent or ambiguous, phonemic and prosodic cues are particularly important because they help identify word boundaries, a process known as lexical segmentation. Individuals vary in the degree to which they rely on phonemic or prosodic cues for lexical segmentation in degraded conditions. Deafened individuals who use a cochlear implant have diminished access to fine frequency information in the speech signal, and show resulting difficulty perceiving phonemic and prosodic cues. Auditory training on phonemic elements improves word recognition for some listeners. Little is known, however, about the potential benefits of prosodic training, or the degree to which individual differences in cue use affect outcomes. The present study used simulated cochlear implant stimulation to examine the effects of phonemic and prosodic training on lexical segmentation. Participants completed targeted training with either phonemic or prosodic cues, and received passive exposure to the non-targeted cue. Results show that acuity to the targeted cue improved after training. In addition, both targeted attention and passive exposure to prosodic features led to increased use of these cues for lexical segmentation. Individual differences in degree and source of benefit point to the importance of personalizing clinical intervention to increase flexible use of a range of perceptual strategies for understanding speech. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Speech and Hearing Science 2015

abstract: This study investigated high school band students' processes of learning as well as their responses and reactions to student-led aural-based learning projects. Previous research has focused on various aspects of informal learning and student-centered learning--the frameworks upon which this study is based--but none have focused on inclusion of informal learning methods into a secondary large ensemble classroom setting with an emphasis on playing by ear. Participants in this study were 20 students divided into four small groups in a 45-member high school band. The study took place during the regularly scheduled band class during one full class period for eight weeks, culminating in small group performances. Data were collected throughout the study via observation and audio- or video-recording of weekly group rehearsal, participant interviews, teacher interviews, and collection of student artifacts. Data were analyzed by creating a case study of each of the four groups to determine their working processes. Cross-case analysis revealed themes common to the participant groups in these categories: navigation of the learning process, playing by ear, and student attitudes and perceptions of benefits and drawbacks of the project. Discussion of navigation of the learning process includes group members' methods of problem solving within a constructivist classroom environment. These methods included problem finding, strategizing, and responding, peer assessment and feedback, and teacher scaffolding; I also discuss how group dynamics played a major role in student's learning processes. While learning to play by ear, musical elements students addressed included pitch, division of parts, form, key and modality, intonation, instrumentation, dynamics, tempo, rhythm, improvisation, and range. Students' attitudes included enjoyment of most aspects of the project, and dislike or frustration with a few aspects. Benefits students perceived from participation in the project included increased ability to play by ear and increased confidence. Recommendations for music teachers and music teacher educators as well as suggestions for future research are provided. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Music Education 2014

Orientador: Claudiney Rodrigues Carrasco / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Artes / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-22T15:33:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Flores_ViginiaOsorio_D.pdf: 3541857 bytes, checksum: 6ab729f594829eaed9b1539e6bc5fe1d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Resumo: No cinema, o uso do som fora do quadro visual tem larga experimentação e utilização nas diferentes cinematografias, principalmente a partir do pós-guerra. Com o cinema moderno, a utilização e manipulação antirrealista do som trouxe, para a trilha sonora dos filmes, uma significante contribuição. Esse é o principal foco de interesse do trabalho que percorreu, com a pesquisa, as diferentes utilizações do som desde o cinema clássico até o cinema contemporâneo; investigou as potencialidades do imaginário quando som e imagem visual aparentemente se desvinculam e geram imagens mentais múltiplas e abertas; e buscou compreender como comunicações abertas influenciam a recepção dos filmes. Nossa pesquisa também demonstrou que o som é um elemento importante do audiovisual que contribui para a crítica e a compreensão da vertente estética a que os filmes se vinculam. O conhecimento dos procedimentos usados com o som nos filmes é um horizonte para a compreensão do fazer cinematográfico e para o entendimento de como um processo de autoria se constitui nos cinemas de expressão artística. Durante todo o percurso do trabalho foram usados exemplos de filmes nacionais e internacionais. Para finalizar, quatro filmes da fase contemporânea do cineasta Júlio Bressane serviram de estudo de caso: Miramar, São Jerônimo, Dias de Nietzsche em Turim e Filme de Amor / Abstract: In cinema, offscreen sound has been widely used in different cinematographies, especially after World War II. In modern cinema, the antirealistic use and manipulation of sound have made significant contributions to film scores. This is the main focus of our work, which researches the different uses of sound, from classic to contemporary cinema; investigates the potentialities of the imaginary when sound and visual image are apparently disconnected from each other, creating multiple and open mental images; and seeks to understand how open messages affect the way films are perceived by the receivers. Our study also demonstrates that sound is an important audiovisual element to understand the aesthetic groups to which each film belongs. Understanding the different uses of sound in films is a way to understand filmmaking itself and the process of authorship in art cinema. A wide range of films, from both Brazilian and foreign cinema, is analyzed throughout this research. Four feature films from director Júlio Bressane's contemporary work are used as case studies: Miramar, São Jerônimo, Dias de Nietzsche em Turim e Filme de Amor / Doutorado / Multimeios / Doutora em Multimeios