Performance analyses of three major choral works

Thesis (D.M.A.)--Boston Universit

Controversy and the Common Core. A Book Review of \u3cem\u3eCommon Core: National Education Standards and the Threat to Democracy\u3c/em\u3e

For a decade, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) have been no stranger to controversy. Tangled in the discourse have been numerous scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and community members. Many of those in favor of the Common Core argue that national standards provide a foundation on which to build equitable opportunities for student success, while those opposed say that they disempower autonomy of local schools, community members, parents, and students themselves. In Common Core: National Education Standards and the Threat to Democracy, Tampio (2018) highlights how national standards create barriers for students to operate as citizens in a democratic society. He advocates for a return to localized power and control, which he admits may not be a silver bullet to solve the country’s education afflictions but does reflect a governing system that is equitable, democratic, and reflective of the talents and interests of individual students and communities

Neoliberalism and the Putin Government: A Discourse on the Contemporary Relationship Between Russia and the West

The overall goal of this research is to produce an original, analytical, ethnographic critique of the relationship between two technologies of government, neoliberalism and that of the Putin presidency. Emphasis will be placed on historic and cultural elements which helped to produce and sustain the Putin government; the conception of neoliberalism in the west, its dissemination through particular financial institutions and its effects; the relationship between the Putin government and western neoliberalism. My research is made up of ethnographic interviews and participant observation, this is supplemented with and analysed against background literature listed in the bibliography. The thesis explores in detail the various cultural and historical elements which produced the Putin government at the turn of the millennium and have since been harnessed by it. It further details the current situation of western neoliberalism and the transnational class it has produced, blurring the lines between business and politics. The thesis finally investigates why the fundamental characteristics of the respective technologies of governments must produce an abrasive relationship

Plasma Surface Functionalization of AFP Manufactured Composites for Improved Adhesive Bond Performance

Application of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) as a high-performance structural material has widespread application in the present aerospace industry. However, as-processed composite materials require a comprehensive surface treatment prior to bonding to remove contaminants and impart surface functionality and topography to overcome their poor adhesion properties. Atmospheric pressure plasma jet treatment (APPJT) has been increasingly garnering attention as an alternate method for surface preparation of CFRP. This method has been reported to achieve success in imparting favorable polar functional groups into the composite surfaces enhancing wettability and surface energy of the bonded surfaces. In some cases, APPJT has been demonstrated to remove contaminants or, in the case of silicones, convert them to silica. In this study, an atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) system was used for surface activation of a composite laid-up by an automated fiber placement (AFP) machine. Surface modifications prior to and after treatment were characterized using water contact angle (WCA) measurements, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Double cantilever beam (DCB) tests were performed to quantify the bonding performance of the composites. The results show a marked enhancement of the mode I interlaminar fracture toughness with the application of APPJT

Drift-Free Latent Space Representation for Soft Strain Sensors

Soft strain sensors are becoming increasingly popular for obtaining tactile information in soft robotic applications. Diverse technological solutions are being investigated to design these sensors. Simultaneously, new methods for modeling these sensor are being proposed due to their highly nonlinear, time varying properties. Among them, machine learning based approaches, particularly using dynamic recurrent neural networks look the most promising. However, these complex networks have large number of free parameters to be tuned, making it difficult to apply them for real-world applications. This paper introduces the concept of transfer learning for modelling soft strain sensors, which allows us to utilize information learned in one task to be applied to another task. We demonstrate this technique on a passive anthropomorphic finger with embedded strain sensors used for two regression tasks. We show how the transfer learning approach can drastically reduce the number of free parameters to be tuned for learning new skills. This work is an important step towards scaling of sensor networks (algorithm-wise) and for using soft sensor data for high-level control tasks

Identification of left ventricular mass QTL in the stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rat

Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is accepted as an important independent predictor of adverse cardiovascular outcome; the aetiology includes a number of well-recognized causes but there is considerable interest in the genetics underlying cardiac hypertrophy. Data from several twin studies indicates that left ventricular mass index (LVMI) has a significant genetic basis that is most likely polygenic. Given the heterogeneity of the human condition, there has been little progress made towards identification of the genes involved, in this now common disease state. As an adjuvant to current human studies, inbred animal models have been developed which in turn have led to the identification of quantitative trait loci (QTL), via investigation using a genome wide strategy. This generally involves high fidelity phenotyping of large segregating F2 populations, derived by crossing inbred strains of sufficiently differing phenotype and subsequent genotyping using a wide selection of polymorphic microsatellite markers spread across the entire rat genome. The research described in this thesis incorporated an improved analysis of a previous genome wide scan, to confirm and identify QTL containing determinants of left ventricular hypertrophy in the Glasgow SHRSP x WKY F2 cross. This genome wide scan was carried out in 134 F2 hybrids (male: female = 65:69). Systolic and diastolic blood pressure was measured by radio-telemetry at baseline and after a 3 week 1% salt challenge in addition to heart rate, motor activity and pulse pressure. Other phenotype data included body weight, heart and LV weight and plasma renin activity. QTL affecting a given phenotype were mapped relative to an improved genetic linkage map for rat chromosome 14, with the aid of JoinMap 3.0, MapManager QTXb and Windows QTL Cartographer software. The original method of single marker analysis was used initially to test previous and newly acquired genotype data and confirm the cited LVMI QTL on rat chromosome 14. More stringent and complex statistical approaches were integrated in analysis resulting in detection of a second QTL for LVMI at marker D14Got23 and a single QTL for cardiac mass at marker D14Woxl4. The identification of QTL, although a fundamental process, is only the initial step towards the end objective of gene identification. The next logical step is the physical capture and confirmation of QTL with the production of congenic strains and substrains. In this thesis, the process of verifying the chromosome 14 QTL began with the generation of congenic strains, using a marker assisted 'speed' congenic strategy, previously validated in rats by our group. This was achieved by backcross breeding two inbred rat strains (SHRSP X WKY) and introgression of marker delineated regions of chromosome 14, from one background into the recipient genome and vice versa. Complete homozygosity of the background genetic markers (n=168) was achieved after 4 backcross generations. In the time line allowed, it was not possible to achieve a fixed congenic line however based on data provided from QTL analysis it was possible to generate and analyse preliminary phenotype data from backcross 4 males on the SHRSP background. The initial readings from this pilot study provide physical evidence that substituting a portion of WKY chromosome 14 with SHRSP results in a reduced LVMI, despite equivalent systolic blood pressure. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.)

Fairness, Voice, Dialogue: Measuring Collective Social Justice in Schools

The United States is an inequitable society growing more inequitable in recent decades, and schooling is both part mechanism of oppression and part pathway toward social justice. Improving the extent to which schooling actually contributes to equity, however, depends on efforts to cultivate educator practices that advance social justice. Defining these practices and measuring their use among school faculties are necessary parts of the improvement process. Unfortunately, adequate measures of collective social justice practice in schools have not been developed for use with teachers. Based on a conception of social just as a three-part structure, we report progress on developing a 22-item instrument to measure collective social justice practice in schools, using data from teachers about their schools (rather than about their own practice). This report explains the rationale and conceptualization of the instrument, argues its intended use and its validity relevant to the intended use, accounts for item development, and presents empirical evidence of the relationship of items to the construct and of the construct to contextual variables. We argue an intended use in the summative evaluation of professional development that aims to foster improvement in collective social justice practice in multiple schools. Empirical work (exploratory factor analysis and correlation) supported the theoretical model and showed that the proposed measure is unrelated to political orientation. Although additional validation studies are certainly necessary more fully to establish validity for the intended use, the considerable work thus far completed on the items should prove helpful to other researchers struggling to measure social justice practice in schools in an historic era of increased concern for equity

Flexible, adaptive industrial assembly: driving innovation through competition

Funder: ArmAbstract: Robotics competitions stimulate the next generation of cutting edge robotics solutions and innovative technologies. The World Robot Summit (WRS) Industrial Assembly challenge posed a key research challenge: how to develop adaptive industrial assembly robots. The overall goal is to develop robots where minimal hardware or software changes are required to manufacture a new or altered product. This will minimise waste and allow the industry to move towards a far more flexible approach to manufacturing; this will provide exciting new technologies for the manufacturing industry and support many new business models and approaches. In this paper, we present an approach where general-purpose grippers and adaptive control approaches have been developed to move towards this research goal. These approaches enable highly flexible and adaptive assembly of a belt drive system. The abilities of this approach were demonstrated by taking part in the WRS Industrial Assembly Challenge. We achieved second place in the kitting challenge and second place in the adaptive manufacturing challenge and were presented with the Innovation Award

3D Printable Sensorized Soft Gelatin Hydrogel for Multi-Material Soft Structures

The ability to 3D print soft materials with integrated strain sensors enables significant flexibility for the design and fabrication of soft robots. Hydrogels provide an interesting alternative to traditional soft robot materials, allowing for more varied fabrication techniques. In this work, we investigate the 3D printing of a gelatin-glycerol hydrogel, where transglutaminase is used to catalyse the crosslinking of the hydrogel such that its material properties can be controlled for 3D printing. By including electron-conductive elements (aqueous carbon black) in the hydrogel we can create highly flexible and linear soft strain sensors. We present a first investigation into adapting a desktop 3D printer and optimizing its control parameters to fabricate sensorized 2D and 3D structures which can undergo >300% strain and show a response to strain which is highly linear and synchronous. To demonstrate the capabilities of this material and fabrication approach, we produce some example 2D and 3D structures and show their sensing capabilities

Machine Learning for Soft Robot Sensing and Control: A Tutorial Study

Developing feedback controllers for robots with embedded sensors is challenging and typically requires expert knowledge. As machine learning (ML) advances, the development of learning-based controllers has become more and more accessible, even to non-experts. This work presents the development of a tutorial to educate non-roboticists about ML-based sensing and control in cyber-physical systems using a soft robotic device. We demonstrated this by creating a recurrent neural network-based closed-loop force controller for a soft finger with embedded soft sensors. Our hypothesis is validated in a 2.5-hour workshop session for students with no prior knowledge of robot control. This work serves as a tutorial for participants aiming to experience and perform a general benchmark for soft robot control tasks, with little or even no expertise in robotics