CuDAS: An interactive curriculum combining pedagogic composition with interactive software for the teaching of music technology

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Within the framework of education of Music Technology for 16-18 year olds there exists a lack of thorough teaching and learning resources sufficient for a broad understanding of the basics of audio and electronic synthesis. This PhD submission outlines the role of the composer in the classroom in addressing this fundamental issue through the development of a curriculum containing pedagogic composition and interactive software. There will be a discussion of the principles of pedagogic methodologies developed by various composers and of the current model of learning provided in Music Technology Alevel. The programming tools used to develop the software are investigated, as well as an exploration into the current learning psychology that informed the curriculum development. This submission consists of a written thesis that accompanies a set of compositions and a multimedia DVD, which includes the software for the CuDAS curriculum. Within this software is contained a presentation of a series of interactive tutorials alongside compositions in the form of scores, recordings and interactive exercises. There is also include written supporting documentation and sound files of techniques and recordings from contrasting genres of music history

How to interpret the Qurʾān: a moral issue?

There are many different approaches to interpreting scripture, and the Qurʾān in particular, and these tend to work with different theories of meaning. After all, the issue is what a particular text actually means, and we need a theory about how to resolve such questions, especially when there are apparent difficulties in understanding the text. Arguments tend to range over which theory of meaning makes most sense of the text, or works most adequately as a theory of meaning. One approach which has not been taken on the whole is to see the issue as partially at least moral and epistemological. Should we have confidence that we can understand entirely what is before us, and how would we know that we have the answer to the semantic issues that any such text brings along with it? It might be argued that an ethics of moderation, balance, and restraint are important hermeneutic techniques that up to now have not been sufficiently employed when discussing how to understand and interpret the Qurʾān.Ci sono molti metodi diversi nell’interpretazione delle Scritture, e del Corano in particolare, e questi tendono a lavorare con diverse teorie del significato. Dopo tutto, la questione è cosa un particolare testo significhi effettivamente, e abbiamo bisogno di una teoria su come risolvere tali questioni, specialmente quando ci sono evidenti difficoltà nella comprensione del testo. Le argomentazioni tendono a spaziare su quale teoria del significato dia più senso al testo, o funzioni più adeguatamente come teoria del significato. Un metodo che non è stato adottato nel complesso è quello di vedere la questione almeno parzialmente come morale ed epistemologica. Dovremmo avere fiducia di poter comprendere interamente ciò che abbiamo davanti e come potremmo sapere di avere la risposta alle questioni semantiche che ogni testo porta con sé? Si potrebbe sostenere che un’etica della moderazione, dell’equilibrio e della moderazione sono importanti tecniche ermeneutiche che finora non sono state sufficientemente impiegate quando si discute su come comprendere e interpretare il Corano. There are many different approaches to interpreting scripture, and the Qurʾān in particular, and these tend to work with different theories of meaning. After all, the issue is what a particular text actually means, and we need a theory about how to resolve such questions, especially when there are apparent difficulties in understanding the text. Arguments tend to range over which theory of meaning makes most sense of the text, or works most adequately as a theory of meaning. One approach which has not been taken on the whole is to see the issue as partially at least moral and epistemological. Should we have confidence that we can understand entirely what is before us, and how would we know that we have the answer to the semantic issues that any such text brings along with it? It might be argued that an ethics of moderation, balance, and restraint are important hermeneutic techniques that up to now have not been sufficiently employed when discussing how to understand and interpret the Qurʾān

Expanding on the Fundamental Metallicity Relation in Dwarf Galaxies with MUSE

The mass-metallicity relation (MZR) represents one of the most important scaling relations in the context of galaxy evolution, comprising a positive correlation between stellar mass and metallicity (Z). The fundamental metallicity relation (FMR) introduces a new parameter, the star formation rate (SFR), in the dependence. While several studies found that Z is anti-correlated with the SFR at fixed mass, the validity of this statement has been questioned extensively and no widely-accepted consensus has been reached yet. With this work, we investigate the FMR in nine nearby, spatially-resolved, dwarf galaxies, using gas diagnostics on integral-field spectroscopic data of the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE), pushing such investigations to lower galaxy masses and higher resolutions. We find that both the MZR and FMR exhibit different behaviours within different star forming regions of the galaxies. We find that the SFR surface density - metallicity anti-correlation is tighter in the low-mass galaxies of our sample. For all the galaxies considered, we find a SFR surface density - stellar mass surface density correlation. We propose that the main reason behind these findings is connected to the accretion mechanisms of the gas fuelling star formation -- low-mass, metal-poor galaxies accrete pristine gas from the intergalactic medium, while in more massive and metal-enriched systems the gas responsible for star formation is recycled from previous star forming episodes.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

Parametric subharmonic instability of the internal tide at 29°N

Author Posting. © American Meteorological Society, 2013. This article is posted here by permission of American Meteorological Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Physical Oceanography 43 (2013): 17–28, doi:10.1175/JPO-D-11-0108.1.Observational evidence is presented for transfer of energy from the internal tide to near-inertial motions near 29°N in the Pacific Ocean. The transfer is accomplished via parametric subharmonic instability (PSI), which involves interaction between a primary wave (the internal tide in this case) and two smaller-scale waves of nearly half the frequency. The internal tide at this location is a complex superposition of a low-mode waves propagating north from Hawaii and higher-mode waves generated at local seamounts, making application of PSI theory challenging. Nevertheless, a statistically significant phase locking is documented between the internal tide and upward- and downward-propagating near-inertial waves. The phase between those three waves is consistent with that expected from PSI theory. Calculated energy transfer rates from the tide to near-inertial motions are modest, consistent with local dissipation rate estimates. The conclusion is that while PSI does befall the tide near a critical latitude of 29°N, it does not do so catastrophically.This work was sponsored by NSF OCE 04-25283.2013-07-0

Dios en las tres culturas

Vicerrectorado de Investigación de la Universidad de MálagaConsejería de Innovación y Ciencia de la Junta de Andalucía (convocatoria 1/2010)Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación de España FFI2010-09124-

El lenguaje y sus descontentos : the false enemy

The concept of false friends suggests that language is essentially misleading. Words seem to be similar to each other, but in fact often are not. This is an aspect of the general view in philosophy and religion that language is confusing. There is scope for linking the concept of false friends with the idea of false enemies, where terms appear to be opposite to each other and yet perhaps are not as polarized in reality. In fact, it is sometimes argued that we forget how things are really linked up. So we are typically frightened and upset by death, yet it is sometimes argued that it is unreasonable to see it as something to which we ought to be opposed. Death is a false enemy and the language that surrounds it acts to point us in erroneous directions. It is suggested that just as language is replete with false friends, false enemies may also be a significant feature. The result is to reinforce the thesis that language has to be approached with caution.El concepto de falsos amigos sugiere que el lenguaje es esencialmente engañoso. Las palabras parecen ser similares entre sí, pero, en realidad, a menudo no lo son. Este es un aspecto de la opinion general en filosofía y religion de que el lenguaje es confuso. Hay margen para vincular el concepto de falsos amigos con la idea de falsos enemigos, donde los términos parecen ser opuestos entre sí y, sin embargo, tal vez no estén tan polarizados en realidad. De hecho, a veces se argumenta que olvidamos cómo se relacionan realmente las cosas. Normalmente, nos asusta y nos molesta la muerte, aunque a veces se argumenta que no es razonable verla como algo a lo que deberíamos oponernos. La muerte es un falso enemigo y el lenguaje que la rodea actúa para señalarnos direcciones erróneas. Se sugiere que, así como el lenguaje está replete de falsos amigos, los falsos enemigos también pueden ser una característica importante. El resultado es reforzar la tesis de que el lenguaje debe abordarse con cautela

The appeal of diversity: problems and possibilities

The desirability of diversity is often mentioned, especially in liberal political philosophy. Diversity across a range of areas such as ethnicity and religion is regarded as adding to the flavour of democracy and enriching the nature of society. Opposed to this, however, is the desire of many in the state to restrict membership to those who are close to the majority population, and there are often rules to establish this sort of homogeneity. Sometimes the arguments for these restrictions on diversity are economic, sometimes they are based on security, and these arguments are clearly reasonable and have to be responded to by anyone in favour of increasing diversity. Here the discussion will be centred around not these pragmatic considerations but the idea that there is something to be said for preserving a degree of uniformity in the population of a country or region. تنوع درمجموعه‌‌ای از عرصه‌ها، همچون عرصة قومیت و دین، چاشنی دموکراسی و مایة غنای ماهیت جامعه تلقی می‌شود. اما بسیاری از دولتمردان تمایل دارند که اعضای دولت را به کسانی محدود سازند که به اکثریت نزدیک‌اند؛ و غالباً قوانینی هم برای تثبیت این‌ همگونی وجود دارد. دلایل این‌گونه محدودیت‌ها در باب تنوع، گاه اقتصادی، و گاه مبتنی بر امنیت‌اند. این دلایل به طور آشکار منطقی‌‌اند و طرفدار افزایش تنوع باید نسبت به آنها پاسخ‌گو باشد. درمقالة حاضر، نه بر ملاحظات عملی، بلکه بر این ایده متمرکز خواهم شد که برای حفظ میزانی از هم‌شکلی در جمعیت یک کشور یا منطقه، لازم است چیزی برای مطرح کردن وجود داشته باشد. در اینجا می‌توان مطلب را با نظریة عصبیت ابن‌خلدون که بیانگر اهمیت میزانی از انسجام میان اعضای جامعه است، و نیز با این تصور آغاز کنیم که یقیناً او این ضرورت را ابراز می‌دارد تا انسجام مطلوب بر پایة چیزی حاصل آید که شهروندان در آن احساس مشارکت عمومی داشته باشند. پس می‌توان گفت که اگر تنوع به ضعف عصبیت منجر شود، نامطلوب است