J. S. Bach: The Good Lord of Influence

Many musicians stand in awe of J. S. Bach’s ability to create a masterpiece. In fact, few question his greatness as a musician, but the source of that greatness is a different discussion altogether. Was Bach’s excellent musicianship a result of good DNA, or did other causes inspire his excellence? My paper aims to identify the external influences that shaped Bach into the musician that he was. What environmental factors influenced Bach? Did his education play a role in his composition style? How did his career positions affect his works? Did Bach unite his religious beliefs with his music? Many biographies of Bach indicate causes for his musical excellence other than his natural abilities. I expound on these items and discuss how each factor influenced Bach’s compositions. First, I talk about Bach’s educational background and give examples of how each of his scholastic experiences introduced him to different musical skills that he would later use to compose. Next, I highlight each of his major career positions and explain how each position inspired him to write different genres. Finally, I draw attention to Bach’s religious beliefs and the influence that they had on his compositional style. These examples illustrate that Bach was a man who combined his natural musical abilities with his everyday circumstances and achieved many accomplishments as a result. From this research, I draw the conclusion that although Bach was a brilliant musician, he could not have achieved such immense success without the external factors such as his educational background, his career positions, and his religious beliefs

J. S. Bach: The Good Lord of Influence

Many musicians stand in awe of J. S. Bach’s ability to create a masterpiece. In fact, few question his greatness as a musician, but the source of that greatness is a different discussion altogether. Was Bach’s excellent musicianship a result of good DNA, or did other causes inspire his excellence? My paper aims to identify the external influences that shaped Bach into the musician that he was. What environmental factors influenced Bach? Did his education play a role in his composition style? How did his career positions affect his works? Did Bach unite his religious beliefs with his music? Many biographies of Bach indicate causes for his musical excellence other than his natural abilities. I expound on these items and discuss how each factor influenced Bach’s compositions. First, I talk about Bach’s educational background and give examples of how each of his scholastic experiences introduced him to different musical skills that he would later use to compose. Next, I highlight each of his major career positions and explain how each position inspired him to write different genres. Finally, I draw attention to Bach’s religious beliefs and the influence that they had on his compositional style. These examples illustrate that Bach was a man who combined his natural musical abilities with his everyday circumstances and achieved many accomplishments as a result. From this research, I draw the conclusion that although Bach was a brilliant musician, he could not have achieved such immense success without the external factors such as his educational background, his career positions, and his religious belief

Graduate Recial:Christa K. Krause, Flute

Kemp Recital Hall Saturday Evening March 31, 2007 8:30p.m

AerobON Breathe on with AerobON

In this era, a smartphone is all you need to save a life.  We have developed a product that promises to bridge the gap between health and technology, making life simpler. AerobON is a practical add-on to the medical asthma kit. It is a two-tier system -- a mobile application (Android, Windows & IOS platform) and a device (Microcontroller, Bluetooth & battery). When in sync, features like find device, panic button, peak flow meter, puff counter, etc. are available. It’s a one-of-a-kindproduct design that aims to minimize the risk of asthma

HE ROLE OF ZIC1 IN CRANIAL SUTURE FORMATION

The zic1 gene plays an important role in embryonic development, in part by regulating the expression of many other genes including the engrailed gene. Previous investigators have reported that abnormal engrailed expression shifts the location of cranial suture formation and affects gene expression in the developing sutures (Deckelbaum et al. 2012). Such defects may cause a premature fusion of cranial sutures, leading to a serious birth defect known as craniosynostosis. Dr. Andrew Wilkie (Oxford University) has found that mutations in the human ZIC1 gene cause craniosynostosis.  He hypothesizes that the engrailed gene is abnormally regulated in patients with these ZIC1 mutations. In collaboration with the Wilkie lab, we are testing this hypothesis by injecting RNA derived from the human ZIC1 mutants into Xenopus frog embryos. The goal of our experiments is to observe whether the mutated human ZIC1 genes affect the expression of the engrailed gene in frog embryos, which we were able to show by in situ hybridization.  The degree of abnormality of engrailed expression caused by the various human ZIC1 mutations corresponds to the severity of the patients’ phenotypes. These findings provide a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying craniosynostosis and suggest possible gene regulatory pathways