Graduate Recital: Natalie Hoijer

Kemp Recital HallApril 10, 2016Sunday Noon12:00 p.m

Unleashing Music’s Hidden Blueprint: An Analysis of Mathematical Symmetries Used in Music

The history of the development of mathematics and the development of Western music unleashes fascinating connections between the two fields and illustrates their similarities and dependence on each other. The human brain’s logical functioning left side and creative functioning right side, as studied by psychobiologist Robert Sperry ( Whole Brain Development”) are bridged together in this project as mathematical patterns meld with the art of musical composition. These studies investigate mathematical patterns such as the Fibonacci Series and the Golden Mean; as they apply to the composition of concert music, in comparison to other mathematical symmetries used as compositional tools, such as palindromes, crab canons, and fractals. This research explores the impact that these compositional techniques have on the style, structure, and aesthetic beauty of a composition as a whole, and thus considers how these techniques set the piece apart from other works that do not use such mathematics. The findings show that the Fibonacci Series and Golden Mean were the most effective compositional tools and yielded the most aesthetically pleasing results

Peptidoglycan and the peptidoglycan-degrading N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanine amidase in human tissues

Normal flora as well as pathogenic bacteria, can induce acute and chronic inflammations in humans. Probably as a result of the therapeutic efficacy of antibiotics in the past decades there has been relatively little interest in the mechanisms underlying bacterially induced inflammation. However, because of the increase in the incidence of antibiotic resistant bacteria, the subject is gaining interest. It is important to investigate the inflammatory mechanisms in order to provide new tools for clinicians as they will have to treat the inflammatory symptoms as well as the infection. One of the major components present in Gram-positive bacteria is peptidoglycan (PG). It has been shown that PG possesses inflammatory properties similar to LPS. This suggests that PG is involved in the pathogenesis of inflammation induced by Gram-positive bacteria and possibly also Gramnegative bacteria. A description of the recent work done to test this hypothesis is given in the first part of this introduction. In the second part of this chapter special attention is given to the detection of PG in tissues. The presence of PG in tissues is a prerequisite for the induction of inflammation by PG products. The presence of PG in tissues implicates the presence of PG degrading systems, necessary to prevent the inflammation. In the last Palt of this chapter, an overview is given on the PG degrading systems available in humans

Unleashing Music\u27s Hidden Blueprint: An Analysis of Mathematical Symmetries Used in Music (Honors)

The history of the development of mathematics and the development of Western music unleashes fascinating connections between the two fields and illustrates their similarities and dependence on each other. Various branches of mathematics are rooted in music, ranging from mathematical physics in sound frequency, to probability and statistical methods of composing, to the use of the Golden Mean and the Fibonacci Series in music. The human brain\u27s logical functioning left side and creative functioning right side, as studied by psychobiologist Robert Sperry ( Whole Brain Development ), are bridged together in this project as mathematical patterns meld with the art of musical composition. These studies investigate mathematical patterns such as the Fibonacci Series and the Golden Mean as they apply to the composition of concert music, in comparison to other mathematical symmetries used as compositional tools, such as palindromes, crab canons, and fractals. This research explores the impact that these compositional techniques have on the style, structure, and aesthetic beauty of a composition as a whole, and thus considers how these techniques set the piece apart from other works that do not use such mathematics. The findings show that the Fibonacci Series and Golden Mean were the most effective compositional tools and yielded the most aesthetically pleasing results

Clinical outcomes after upgrading from pacemakers to cardiac resynchronization therapy

Background and Aims: Right ventricular pacing may lead to heart failure (HF). Upgrades from pacemakers to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) were excluded from most randomized, controlled trials. We sought to determine the long-term outcomes of upgrading from pacemakers to CRT with (CRT-D) or without (CRT-P) defibrillation in patients with no history of sustained ventricular arrhythmias. Methods and Results: In this observational study, clinical events were quantified in relation to the type of implant (de novo or upgrade) and device type at upgrade (CRT-P or CRT-D). Patients underwent CRT implantation (n = 1,545; 1,314 [85%] de novo implants and 231 [15%] upgrades) over a median of 4.6 years [interquartile range: 2.4 - 7.0]). In analyses of crude event rates, upgrades had a higher total mortality (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR]: 1.33; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.10-1.61), a higher total mortality or HF hospitalization (aHR: 1.26; 95% CI 1.05-1.51), but similar mortality or hospitalization for major adverse cardiac events (MACEs, aHR: 1.15; 95% CI 0.96-1.38). No group differences emerged in any of these endpoints after propensity score matching. After inverse probability weighting in upgrades, total mortality (HR: 0.55; 95% CI 0.36-0.73), total mortality or HF hospitalization (HR: 0.56; 95% CI 0.34-0.79) and total mortality or hospitalization for MACEs (HR: 0.61; 95% CI 0.40-0.82) were lower after CRT-D than after CRT-P. Conclusion: Upgrading from pacemakers to CRT was associated with a similar long-term risk of mortality and morbidity to de novo CRT. After upgrade, CRT-D was CRT-D was associated with lower mortality than CRT-

Ethics of Mediation and the Voice of the Injured Subject

In this chapter I argue that understanding the workings of mediation – a structurally different condition to face-to-face communication – is a prerequisite to any discussion of ethics of media. Drawing on O’Neill’s earlier critique of rights-based models of media ethics, I argue that a sociological analysis of the symbolic power of mediation highlights an additional reason why freedom of expression – an individual right – cannot be applied to media institutions. Drawing on the witness statements at the Leveson inquiry into the Culture, Practice and Ethics of the UK Press among other narratives of individuals who found themselves inadvertently exposed in the media I illustrate the asymmetries of mediation and observe that technological convergence can even heighten the symbolic power of mediation. Cases of mediated harm can even contribute to the problem of materialisation (Butler, 2005) and annihilation of voice

Looking Good: Mediatisation and International NGOs

Many international NGOs value those parts of their work that are suited to media representation: campaigning, advocacy, projects that produce the right sort of images. In this article I make three points about this change. First, those parts of the NGO most reliant on media – such as the campaign desk – may be becoming more powerful. This can change the internal dynamics of NGOs. Second, the increasing use of media means that NGOs, like other organisations, hold themselves accountable in new ways. Third, NGOs may appear to look more and more like media organisations. These changes have received relatively little attention in the literature on NGOs, though they reflect a broader set of debates about the role of media in society. Using a case analysis of an international NGO, I suggest that the concept of mediatisation might be a useful way to understand some of the changes observed in the NGO sector