Art, Knowledge, and Reflexivity

L'assaig aborda les múltiples relacions entre l'art i la investigació sota la perspectiva de la pròpia manera de pensar de les arts i separa la producció de coneixement artístic de la ciència. Mentre que en ciència «investigació» significa acció guiada per un objectiu que té la finalitat de desenvolupar la veritat, en les arts, la investigació es relaciona amb una «recerca» oberta sense estar obligada a obtenir resultats. Òbviament, l'art no treballa ni amb conceptes ni amb proposicions, ni tampoc necessita cap teoria o model general o maneres de verificar i fer-los vàlids. Tampoc hi ha cap mètode per seguir i l'art tampoc depèn de les justificacions públiques a través de les crítiques. Més aviat l'art està basat en pràctiques que deixen aparèixer alguna cosa i ho fan perceptible i d'aquesta manera es produeixen noves idees. Per tant, la cognició i reconeixement artístics no estan basats en la lògica, sinó en certs «llenguatges» mediàtics no discursius que permeten reflexions no proposicionals en la seva pròpia estructura i limitacions, mitjançant l'ús d'accions, performances, imatges, objectes materials, composicions, collages o instal·lacions multimèdia diferents per empènyer la perceptibilitat als seus marges, on les contradiccions es tornen aparentsEl ensayo aborda las relaciones múltiples entre el arte y la investigación bajo la perspectiva de la propia manera de pensar de las artes, que separa la producción de conocimiento artístico de la ciencia. Mientras que en ciencia «investigación» significa acción guiada por un objetivo que tiene la finalidad de desarrollar la verdad, en las artes, la investigación se relaciona con una «búsqueda» abierta sin estar obligada a obtener resultados. Obviamente, el arte no trabaja ni con conceptos ni con proposiciones, ni tampoco necesita ninguna teoría o modelo general o maneras de verificar tesis y hacerlas válidos. Tampoco hay ningún método a seguir ni el arte tampoco depende de justificaciones públicas por medio de las críticas. Más bien el arte está basado en prácticas que dejan aparecer algo, lo hacen perceptible y de esta manera se producen nuevas ideas. Por lo tanto, la cognición y reconocimiento artísticos no están basados en la lógica, sino en ciertos «lenguajes» mediáticos no discursivos que permiten reflexiones no proposicionales en su propia estructura y limitaciones, mediante el uso de acciones, performances, imágenes, objetos materiales, composiciones, collages o instalaciones multimedia que van a contracorriente para provocar la perceptibilidad a sus márgenes, cuando las contradicciones se hacen aparentesThe essay addresses the manifold relationships between art and research under the perspective of the arts’ own way of thinking, separating artistic knowledge-production from science. While in science ‘research’ means a goal-guided action that has the purpose of developing truth, in the arts research is related to an open ‘search’ without being bound to gaining results. Obviously, art works neither with concepts nor with propositions, nor does it need any theory or general model or ways of verifying theses and making them valid. There is also no method to follow, nor does art depend on public justifications through critique. Rather, art is based in practices that let something appear and make it perceivable, and by doing so producing new insights. Hence, artistic cognition and recognition it not based in logic, but in certain non-discursive media-‘languages’ which allow for non-propositional reflections on their own structure and limitations, using actions, performances, images, material objects, compositions and montage or multimedia installations that go against the grain in order to push perceptibility to its limits where contradictions become apparent

Stories Retold: Exploring Real-Life Stories through an Analysis of William Vollinger\u27s Art Songs for Lyric Soprano and Piano

This document explores the art songs for lyric soprano and piano of contemporary composer William Vollinger (b. 1945). Vollinger’s penchant for storytelling inspires his song compositions and the myriad of different stories he relays. In the majority of Vollinger’s art songs for voice and piano, he features the real-life stories of ordinary people and interweaves moral messages. Moreover, all song texts analyzed appear in prose rather than metered poetry, follow the linear narrative structure of short stories, and originate from a variety of unconventional sources. Freytag’s Pyramid, a diagram created to analyze dramatic structures, serves as a useful model for discussing the intersection of music and texts in Vollinger’s art songs based on its applicability to a variety of linear narrative forms and thematic content. By building on the familiar foundation of story narratives, such analysis can function as a relatable tool to help performers better understand Vollinger’s music and illuminate the song texts so they can make informed, interpretative choices. This document merges an interest in Vollinger as a composer and the stories he retells with a structural analysis of the song texts based on Freytag’s Pyramid which informs a discussion of his musical settings. I begin with a biography of Vollinger followed by information on the general style of his art songs for voice and piano. I then outline my methodology for analysis of “Benalisa,” “Alice,” “Ruth,” “Daddy Verne,” and the song cycle, Acts of Kindness. According to each song’s text, I highlight salient musical features present in the melody, harmony, and accompaniment that elucidate the texts and are informed by my delineated structural divisions based on Freytag’s model. Advisors: Anthony Bushard and Kathleen Butle

Cancers Associated with BRCA1 and BRCA2 Mutations Other Than Breast and Ovarian

Mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 cause tumor development in Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer syndrome (HBOC) through accumulation of unrepaired DNA damage. Extensive research of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations has led to well-defined breast and ovarian cancer risks in individuals with HBOC. Previous studies have reported additional cancers associated with BRCA mutations; however, the type of cancer, magnitude of risk, and differences between sexes remains to be clarified. Ultimately, a consensus of additional cancer risks can aid in better recommendations for genetic testing and more effective screening and prevention guidelines. A retrospective chart review of MD Anderson Cancer Center patients identified 1081 individuals with a BRCA mutation. A detailed cancer history for each person was collected and compared to the general population incidence rates reported by the CDC using standardized incidence ratios (SIR). Individuals with a BRCA2 mutation had significantly higher number of observed cases compared to expected cases for pancreatic cancer (SIR 21.7, 95% CI 13.1-34.0, p value p value = 0.002). Individuals with a BRCA1 mutation did not have a significant increase in cancers other than breast and ovarian; however, a trend in melanoma was observed in men and women. The results of this study uphold the current recommendations for HBOC screening of cancers other than breast and ovarian by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network

Nucleosynthesis in Core-Collapse Supernovae

A Core-Collapse Supernova explosion occurs when nuclear fusion stops in the core of a massive star. Without a source of energy supplying enough pressure to balance gravity, the core becomes unstable and collapses to form a neutron star. Beyond the neutron star, a shockwave forms which moves outward through the star, causing heavier elements to be created through nuclear fusion. We have been studying the elements that are ejected from a Core-Collapse Supernova using a nuclear code network called XNet, which follows the thermonuclear kinetics. We use the results from a code called Chimera, which explores the mechanism of Core-Collapse Supernova. We are exploring how the composition of the newly-made elements that are ejected by the explosion change over time. In particular, we are studying how well extrapolations from earlier times fit the final result. If the extrapolations fit the final result well, it may be possible to shorten the simulation in order to save on computing costs while still maintaining accurate predictions

On the hydraulic bulge testing of thin sheets

textThe bulge test is a commonly used experiment to establish the material stress-strain response at the highest possible strain levels. It consists of a metal sheet placed in a die with a circular opening. It is clamped in place and inflated with hydraulic pressure. In this thesis, a bulge testing apparatus was designed, fabricated, calibrated and used to measure the stress-strain response of an aluminum sheet metal and establish its onset of failure. The custom design incorporates a draw-bead for clamping the plate. A closed loop controlled servohydraulic pressurization system consisting of a pressure booster is used to pressurize the specimens. Deformations of the bulge are monitored with a 3D digital image correlation (DIC) system. Bulging experiments on 0.040 in thick Al-2024-T3 sheets were successfully performed. The 3D nature of the DIC enables simultaneous estimates of local strains as well as the local radius of curvature. The successful performance of the tests required careful design of the draw-bead clamping arrangement. Experiments on four plates are presented, three of which burst in the test section as expected. Finite deformation isotropic plasticity was used to extract the true equivalent stress-strain responses from each specimen. The bulge test results correlated well with the uniaxial results as they tended to fall between tensile test results in the rolling and transverse directions. The bulge tests results extended the stress-strain response to strain levels of the order of 40%, as opposed to failure strains of the order of 10% for the tensile tests. Three-dimensional shell and solid models were used to investigate the onset of localization that precedes failure. In both models, the calculated pressure-deformation responses were found to be in reasonable agreement with the measured ones. The solid element model was shown to better capture the localization and its evolution. The corresponding pressure maximum was shown to be imperfection sensitive.Engineering Mechanic

Flächenproduktivität in Öko-Milchviehbetrieben in unterschiedlichen Standorten und Regionen

The productivity of forage land and of dairy cow pastures has been investigated in Organic dairy farms in North Germany and the Netherlands. The energy yields of the forage land varied between the farms from 18030 to 62707 MJ NEL per ha. The yields clearly indicate regional differences between the farms. In 2011 the grazing time lasted more than 200 days per year and is partly due to the application of the continuous grazing system with short grass swards. As milk and energy yields are concerned dairy cow pastures appeared to be high yielding

SERpredict: Detection of tissue- or tumor-specific isoforms generated through exonization of transposable elements

Background: Transposed elements (TEs) are known to affect transcriptomes, because either new exons are generated from intronic transposed elements (this is called exonization), or the element inserts into the exon, leading to a new transcript. Several examples in the literature show that isoforms generated by an exonization are specific to a certain tissue (for example the heart muscle) or inflict a disease. Thus, exonizations can have negative effects for the transcriptome of an organism. Results: As we aimed at detecting other tissue- or tumor-specific isoforms in human and mouse genomes which were generated through exonization of a transposed element, we designed the automated analysis pipeline SERpredict (SER = Specific Exonized Retroelement) making use of Bayesian Statistics. With this pipeline, we found several genes in which a transposed element formed a tissue- or tumor-specific isoform. Conclusion: Our results show that SERpredict produces relevant results, demonstrating the importance of transposed elements in shaping both the human and the mouse transcriptomes. The effect of transposed elements on the human transcriptome is several times higher than the effect on the mouse transcriptome, due to the contribution of the primate-specific Alu element