Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 375-398).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Communication and Culture, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Feb. 10, 2010). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-06, Section: A, page: . Adviser: Carolyn Calloway-Thomas.

The prevalence of obesity has made it necessary to develop a convenient, reliable and safe tool for timely assessing and monitoring this condition in public health. We suggest that three-dimensional (3D) anthropometry can provide a convenient, accommodating and comprehensive means to body composition assessment. A 3D anthropometry system based on stereo vision technology is developed. To make it more portable and affordable, the system is reduced to a two-stance design and only uses off-the-shelf components. The system is calibrated in two separate stages: camera calibration and 3D registration. The first stage is relatively complicated, but there is no need to repeat frequently. Therefore, only 3D registration is required when the system is transported. This property contributes to the portability and also reduces cost of maintenance. In this system, image acquisition can be completed in 200 ms, which is important in reducing artifacts caused by slight body movement. However, the computation in stereo vision is complex and intensive, and is still a challenge. A two-phase stereo matching algorithm is developed. In the first phase, the foreground is accurately segmented with the help of a predefined virtual interface, and a coarse disparity map is generated with block matching. In the second phase, local least squares matching is performed in combination with global optimization within a regularization framework, so as to ensure both accuracy and reliability. To make the 3D data more interpretable and manageable, it is essential to convert the raw 3D data to a surface model. For our system, a unique challenge is that there are large gaps in the data caused by occlusions. An effective surface reconstruction algorithm based on subdivision surface representation is developed. It has been verified that the algorithm is reliable in gap closing, accurate in representation, and efficient in data compression. To make the 3D anthropometry system ready for practical use, a body measurement system dedicated to body composition assessment is developed based on an earlier system that was designed for applications in apparel fitting. The functions of 3D measurement are enhanced by taking advantage of modern graphics hardware. The overall performance of the presented system has been evaluated on mannequins and human subjects. It has been shown that the measurements are highly repeatable. The feasibility of 3D anthropometry in body fat assessment has been demonstrated in comparison to air displacement plethysmography and bioimpedance analysis. / text

Purpose: This is the first study done to determine the efficacy of 10-weeks of Nexersys training on improving cardiovascular fitness (CF) and body composition (BC). Nexersys is an "exergaming" system that combines mixed martial arts, high-intensity interval training and core work into an interactive unit with a monitor and 7-strike pads. Participants were provided a Nexersys unit in their homes to complete 10-weeks of training 3 to 4 times a week progressing from 5, 3-min rounds with a minute rest to 15 rounds at the end of 10-weeks. Participants were tested on 3 separate occasions, prior to beginning training (0wk), at 5-weeks (5wk) and 10-weeks (10wk). Body mass (BM), percent body fat (%BF), fat mass (FM) and lean mass (LM) were assessed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). CF was assessed during a 10-round Nexersys bout (NB) and a VO2max treadmill (VO2max) test. CF during NB and VO2max treadmill test was assessed by using regression analysis to determine the estimated average heart rate for a range of VO2 10-25 ml/kg/min (HRN) and 10-30 ml/kg/min (HRV) respectively. Results and Conclusion: Relative to starting values, BM did not change (79.8 ± 7.9 to 79.7 ± 7.5 kg). %BF and FM decreased from starting values (36.0 ± 3.4% to 34.1 ± 5.3%, p=0.003 and 30.0 ± 4.9 kg to 28.4 ± 4.6 kg, p=0.045, respectively). LM increased from starting values (46.7 ± 3.5kg to 48.4 ± 3.6kg, p=0.001). HRN and HRV decreased from starting (148 ± 2.7 to 140.8 ± 1.9 bpm, p=0.003 and 148 ± 1.8 to 140.1 ± 1.8 bpm, p=0.003, respectively). VO2max trended to increase but did not reach statistical significance (33.9 ± 1.7 to 36.3 ± 1.7 ml/kg/min, p=0.054). These findings suggest 10-weeks of Nexersys training improves body composition both by increasing LM and decreasing BF with no change in BM. CF improved at submaximal intensities. / text

This thesis aims to offer a practitioner’s perspective of composition for the Chinese instrumental ensemble of the twenty-first century. Chinese instrumental music composition has appeared in the concert hall in China since the beginning of the twentieth century. Modeled on western classical music, modern Chinese instrumental music has undergone a series of development and reformation that aimed to merge the Chinese and western musical ideas and techniques. The very role of the composer and the notion of concert-hall practice were being emphasized, whereas various ingrained characters of traditional instruments, such as music-making conventions, instrumentation preferences, and certain ideology behind timbre, were overshadowed. Also attributed to such nature of Chinese instrumental music is that composers and performers are often in a quandary when juggling Chinese instrumental music conventions with a mindset framed by western classical music. Furthermore, in the current globalized/globalizing culture, Chinese instrumental composition is propelled by manifold musical influences. I intend to share the insight and to document the first-hand information acquired through the composition processes from a composer’s perspective. My sharing and documentation focus on the issues of incorporating idiomatic music materials from various Chinese instruments into original compositions, as well as on several matters concerning rehearsals and performances. Including six chapters, this thesis anthologizes six original works and discusses the composition strategies relevant to the distinctive instrumental combination of each. Chapter 1 presents an adaptation of a western symphonic poem for modern Chinese orchestra. Chapters 2 and 3 illustrate respectively a composition for a large Chinese wind and percussion ensemble and a composition for a large plucked-string ensemble. Chapters 4 and 5 cover two pieces of contrasting instrumentation, namely a mixed ensemble of fourteen instruments and a huqin sextet. Chapter 6 is about a multimedia composition with electronic soundtrack and installation art for seven players. / published_or_final_version / Music / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

abstract / Music / Master / Master of Philosophy

No description available.

This dissertation, "(De)Compose, Shape-Shift, and Suture: Toward a Monstrous Rhetoric of Fan Compositions," argues that the multimodal compositions of fans--specifically, fan fiction, meta, videos, and visual-spatial compositions--are articulations of a new kind of rhetoric: a monstrous rhetoric. This monstrous rhetoric is characterized by the dissolution of textual, corporeal, and cosmological boundaries; intense affective engagement; decomposition and recomposition; shape-shifting; and reanimation. Employing a feminist nomadic research methodology, I rhetorically analyze multiple fan compositions across several online fandoms and explore how these creative works inform and challenge current conversations about embodiment, affect, subjectivity, and composition pedagogy. As a project grounded in pedagogical practice, this dissertation is concerned with how a greater awareness of fan cultures and practices can lead to a greater understanding of what drives and sustains student engagement and participation in the context of an increasingly digital and mobile media landscape. Ultimately, this project offers a new rhetorical framework located at the intersection of fandom and monstrosity, and, from that new framework, a pedagogy of the monstrous, which proffers new strategies for approaching, creating, and analyzing new media and multimodal compositions in college writing classrooms.

Blood pressure (BP) measurement reliability, year-to-year BP tracking, distinguishing characteristics of upper quintile (UQ) vs lower four quintiles' (LQ) systolic BP (SBP) tracking and the relationships of fat distribution and body composition to SBP were examined in 57 youth. Subjects were measured on two occasions approximately one year apart. Longitudinal measures included auscultatory BPs, height, weight, body circumferences, skeletal widths, bioelectrical impedance and skinfolds. Inter-trial reliability of right/left arm averaged BP (RLBP) exceeded that of either limb alone; tracking magnitude was likewise greater with RLBP. Greater total body mass and fatness as well as larger anthropometric dimensions distinguished UQ from LQ SBP trackers. Fat distribution and SBP were not consistently associated with each other across study years. Irrespective of gender differences, fatness and fat free mass per unit height2 were independently related to within year SBP, yet only initial fatness was independently predictive of future SBP.

Abstract Sheep fat contains relatively high levels of saturated fatty acids while poly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are toxic to cellulolytic bacteria and are also saturated in the rumen. Stabilization of residual oil in sunflower oilcake by conversion into calcium salts would be advantageous. Alpha lipoic acid acts as an anti-oxidant to ameliorate the effects of oxidative stress caused by high dietary levels of PUFA. Residual oil (14%) in mechanically extracted (expeller) sunflower oilcake (SFOC) was saponified in situ and compared in a complete feedlot diet (100 g crude protein and 31 g extractable fat/kg feed) with commercially extracted oilcake containing 2.4% residual oil (control diet with 29 g fat and 123 g crude protein kg feed) fed to four groups of 10 SA Mutton Merino weaner lambs (ca. 23 kg) for nine weeks. Both diets were fed either with, or without a weekly oral dosing of 500 mg α-lipoic acid. Fatty acid composition was determined on back fat samples while thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) were determined on samples of m. longissimus dorsi stored for zero and six months and displayed for six days. The back fat of the lambs on the saponified expeller SFOC diets contained significantly higher levels of saturated fatty acids and lower levels of mono-unsaturated fatty acids. PUFA were unaffected. High TBARS levels (>1.0) were found after six months storage. Non significant increases in TBARS were observed in the groups that received lipoic acid.