Thesis (M.M.)--Boston University

<p> The purpose of this study is to provide background information, a conductor&rsquo;s analysis, and a performance guide for John Mackey&rsquo;s <i>Songs from the End of the World</i> (2015), a composition for soprano soloist, eleven winds, double bass, harp, piano, and percussion. </p><p> Background information for this study emerged from interviews with Abby Jaques, poet; John Mackey, composer; Lindsay Kesselman, premiering soprano vocalist; and Kevin M. Geraldi, premiering conductor. The text, Mackey&rsquo;s compositional choices, the premiering vocalist's approach to characterization, and the conductor's interpretive decisions are presented to reveal the work's structure, construction, and dramatic elements. Insight into challenges and approaches for presentations of this work is provided in the performance guide. </p><p>

<p> This paper examines the capabilities of Vocaloid synthesis software as a featured solo instrument in an original composition entitled <i>&ldquo;Real&rdquo;: Concerto for Vocaloid</i>, scored for an ensemble of vocalists, chamber orchestra, laptop performers who trigger Vocaloid playback and process electronic audio live, and multimedia elements that include video, staging, and lighting design. This paper discusses the inherent compositional issues of implementing Vocaloid within a concerto and multimedia setting through an examination of identity (reality vs. virtuality), the process of composing a concerto, and methods of creation. <i>&ldquo;Real&rdquo;: Concerto for Vocaloid</i> explores appropriation techniques, adaptation of electro-acoustic practices (and the subsequent inheritance of certain styles), and the use of a narrative involving crowd-sourced creativity, hyper-reality, consumerism, and the Vocaloid virtual instrument as a performer and platform.</p><p>

First Year Composition (FYC) is one of the most important courses for any incoming college student. This course (often designated as English 101) provides students the rhetorical tools to fully engage in critical thinking and writing on the college level. One of the most common methods of organizing FYC is to use a topic as the center of all the reading and writing prompts. The use of outside subject matter to teach FYC is a common practice that is rarely interrogated for its effectiveness. However, the Hairston debate in the early 1990s opened up a public discussion of how FYC should be taught. I am arguing that this debate was never fully resolved. Instead of using this historical moment in our field to discuss how topics impact FYC instruction, the use of topics has continued to be normalized during the last twenty years with little attention given to interrogating what actually happens in a FYC course that focuses on a topic. This dissertation study examines what happens when a controversial theme like race is used as the primary organizing principle of both a day and night FYC course in a metro-St Louis area community college. Using discourse analysis, I analyze student writing to determine how the students' writing is impacting by the subject matter of the course.

1 score (xvii, 233 p.) / Throughout history, wondrous discoveries of science, like great pieces of music, have often come about through extraordinary feats of creativity, informed by deep rational thought yet not limited by it. Like science, music composition requires a mastery of its own technical features (instrumentation, orchestration, harmony, counterpoint, etc.), but neither music nor science can flourish when too much emphasis is placed upon the mechanical and not enough on the imagination. Composers have sometimes turned to mathematics as a tool for generating art though the systematization of musical elements. However, music often suffers from the conscious attempt by composers to bring it closer to the world of science and math through the serialization of musical material. This does not mean that mathematics and science do not play an important part in music of great expression. To be sure, composers have used simple mathematical concepts to discuss, analyze, and create music at every stage, whether consciously or unconsciously, since the beginning of Western music. These ideas are at the very heart of the great music of previous centuries, even if we celebrate those works more for their intrinsic beauty than their rational mechanics. It is the inventiveness and creativity that we find easy to value in music, but the science behind it also makes its creation possible. My symphony pays tribute to the marriage of creativity, not process, in scientific and musical thought, using the words of scientists and mathematicians as poetic texts, which generate musical imagery. I have chosen a series of quotations by notable scientists and mathematicians throughout history, which serve as textual introductions for each movement of the six-movement, approximately forty-five minute orchestral symphony. Each quotation makes reference to a specific scientific or mathematical discovery of its writer, or displays an aspect of his philosophy. The ideas expressed in the quotations serve as abstract inspiration and suggest musical imagery for each respective movement. / Committee in Charge: Dr. Robert Kyr, Chair; Dr. David Crumb; Dr. Jack Boss; Dr. Marilyn Linton

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:31:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2011-06-30Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:01:42Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 macedo_mf_dr_jabo.pdf: 645192 bytes, checksum: 338cf17fd30edca5727c68efc7cc661c (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O transplante autólogo ovariano tem despertado um crescente interesse científico devido à sua relevante contribuição em estudos reprodutivos básicos ou aplicados de animais e humanos. A presente tese foi conduzida com o objetivo de investigar de que forma o transplante autólogo ovariano nos diferentes sítios anatômicos preconizados poderia influenciar diversos aspectos orgânicos de ratas ovariectomizadas. Para tanto, 54 ratas Wistar, foram subdivididas em seis grupos, sendo dois controles de animais não-ovariectomizados e ovariectomizados (respectivamente, grupos A e B), e quatro submetidos à ovariectomia bilateral seguida do transplante autólogo ovariano para região subcapsular do rim (grupo C), tecido subcutâneo (grupo D), bolsa ovárica (grupo E) e próximo aos vasos femorais (grupo F). Foram avaliados e comparados nos grupos e tratamentos estabelecidos, aspectos cirúrgicos, anestésicos, reprodutivos, bem como, a composição corporal dos animais. De um modo geral, os sítios anatômicos forneceram condições adequadas ao desenvolvimento e crescimento folicular, com retorno ao ciclo estral após 17-19 dias em média de transplante, sendo ainda eficazes na manutenção da histomorfometria uterina e composição corporal dos animais transplantados, à exceção do grupo F. Nos grupos C, D e E, o percentual de matéria mineral foi maior que o observado nos demais, enquanto que os teores de matéria seca, extrato etéreo e proteína bruta desses grupos foram semelhantes aos do grupo A. E por fim, nos grupos C e D, foram estimadas as maiores populações foliculares dentre os animais transplantados... / The ovarian autologous transplantation has attracted an increasing scientific interest due its contribution in basic or applied reproductive studies in animals and humans. This thesis was conducted to investigate how the autologous ovarian transplantation in different anatomical sites could influence various organic aspects of ovariectomized rats. Thus, 54 Wistar rats were divided into six groups, two controls of non-ovariectomized animals and ovariectomized (respectively, groups A and B), and four submitted to bilateral ovariectomy and ovarian autologous transplantation for under kidney capsule (group C), subcutaneous tissue (group D), bursa ovarica (group E) and nearing femoral vessels (group F). In the groups and treatments were evaluated and compared, surgical aspects, anesthetics, reproductive, as well as, the body composition of animals. In general, the anatomical sites provided good conditions for development and growth follicular with return to estrus 17-19 days after transplantation, providing the maintenance of uterine histomorphometry and body composition of animals transplanted, except in the group F. In groups C, D and E, the percentage of mineral matter (ash) was higher than that observed in the others, while the dry matter, ether extract and crude protein of these groups were similar to the group A. Finally, in groups C and D, were estimated the largest follicular populations of transplanted animals. In conclusion, the autologous ovarian transplantation, when performed for under kidney capsule, subcutaneous tissue and bursa ovarica, was effective to maintenance of functions evaluated in this study, demonstrated even in some situations, results similar to or better than those observed in animals not ovariectomized

Arda is an instrumental chamber work scored for cello, percussion, and multiple keyboards with a total duration of approximately thirteen minutes. The work is structured in an arch form whose divisions are based on instrumental and textual groupings. The pitch organization utilizes prominent intervals, improvised passages on certain passages on certain pitches, and the double harmonic mode, which is derived from an Indian raga. Various instrumental techniques are also used throughout the work to alter timbres as well as to create more interesting vertical sonorities.

abstract: Past research has shown that students have difficulty developing a robust conception of function. However, little prior research has been performed dealing with student knowledge of function composition, a potentially powerful mathematical concept. This dissertation reports the results of an investigation into student understanding and use of function composition, set against the backdrop of a precalculus class that emphasized quantification and covariational reasoning. The data were collected using task-based, semi-structured clinical interviews with individual students outside the classroom. Findings from this study revealed that factors such as the student's quantitative reasoning, covariational reasoning, problem solving behaviors, and view of function influence how a student understands and uses function composition. The results of the study characterize some of the subtle ways in which these factors impact students' ability to understand and use function composition to solve problems. Findings also revealed that other factors such as a students' persistence, disposition towards "meaning making" for the purpose of conceptualizing quantitative relationships, familiarity with the context of a problem, procedural fluency, and student knowledge of rules of "order of operations" impact a students' progress in advancing her/his solution approach. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Mathematics 2014

The highly sulphated, methylated polysaccharide isolated from Pachymenia Carnosa, a red seaweed, was shown to contain D- galactose, 2-o (underscore) methyl-D- galactose, 6-o (underscore) -methyl- D- galactose and 4-o (underscore)-methylgalactose. The polysaccharide was desulphated with methanolic hydrogen chloride. Methylation of the desulphated polysaccharide revealed that it was composed entirely of (1→73) and (1→4) links in approximately equal amounts. Treatment of the polysaccharide with alkali showed that the majority of the ester sulphate groups were alkali-stable. Partial hydrolysis and acetolysis studies indicated that the polysaccharide was extremely complex, and contained alternate (1→3) and β (1→4) glycosidic linkages. There is evidence for the presence of D-galactose-6-sulphate.

Aeodes ulvoidea, a red seaweed of the Grateloupiaceae, yielded a highly sulphated polysaccharide which was shown to contain D- and L-galactose, 4-0-methy-L-galactose, 2-0-methyl - D- and L-galactose and 6-0-methyl-D-galactose, together with chromatographic traces of xylose and mannose. The sulphate was not labile to alkali, but it was largely removed with methanolic hydrogen chloride. Periodate oxidation of the polysaccharide, methylation of the de sulphated polysaccharide, and investigation of fifteen oligosaccharides from partial hydrolysis and acetolysis studies of the polysaccharide, indicate that (a) the polysaccharide is composed of a backbone of D-galactose residues which are 1,3- and 1,4-linked (b) at least some regions of alternating structure do occur (c) the 2-0-methylgalactose is linked through the 4-position (d) the 4-0-methyl-L-galactose is present as single unit side chains glycosidically linked to the galactose backbone at position 6, and (e) most of the 6-0-methyl-D-galactose is linked to the 4-position of 2-0-methyl-D-galactose.