Empowering Our Future Through Music Education

Music creates a window into the soul and a pathway into the heart. It does not find its home in a certain race, gender, or culture; instead it tells a story that creates a change in every person it encounters. At twenty years old, music has been a vital piece of my life for as long as I can remember. What started as enjoyable background sounds evolved into a passionate adoration when implemented into my education. Music has a profound psychological effect on the minds of children and can completely alter their future. Studies have shown the exponential benefits of music education for students. Yet our society’s view of the importance of music has diminished and has become reflected in the legislative policies that result in the removal of music from our schools. Our nation has the opportunity to reverse the trend before this problem causes a catastrophic deprivation in our future generations. The integration of music into a child’s education is essential to our nation’s future due to the psychological and physical adaptations created in the brain

Straight-Line Access Accuracy in Posterior Teeth with a Dynamic Guidance System: A Comprehensive ex vivo Analysis

Introduction: Dynamic navigation has the ability to overcome many treatment limitations encountered when using static guides; however, its use for endodontic access is just beginning to be explored. The accuracy of new navigation systems needs to be further evaluated. The aim of this study is to evaluate angular deviations and position deviations of endodontic access preparations compared with the digital file plan, and the ability to provide straight-line access to the canal orifice as shown by the angle of deflection of inserted files. Methods: Thirty-two extracted human teeth were placed into two maxillary and two mandibular jaw models. Preoperative CBCT scans were uploaded into the X-Nav software, and access cavities were virtually planned. After access cavity preparation by two operators, postoperative CBCT scans were superimposed on the virtual plans. Accuracy was measured by calculating the angular deviations and position deviations of endodontic access preparations compared with the virtual plans, and the ability to provide straight-line access to the canal orifice as shown by the angle of deflection of inserted files. Results: All root canals were accessible after access preparation. Straight line access into canals was achieved with a low average file deviation angle of 5.19° ± 3.09°. Relative to the preoperative access plan, the angular accuracy of drilled access using the tested device was 3.55° ± 1.87° for posterior teeth. Positional accuracy was 0.64mm ± 0.29mm measured at the coronal surface and 0.36mm ± 0.20mm measured at the cutting tip of the access bur. Conclusions: This study fills a gap in the current literature, showing that current technology in dynamic navigation enables very accurate and precise endodontic access cavities. Straight line access into canals was achieved with low average file deviation angle, and access cavity results that were accurate with the digitally planned access

The Ancient-Future of Worship Education: The Evangelical-Sacramental Movement\u27s Effect on Modern Worship Education

This thesis looks at developments in evangelical/Pentecostal contemporary Christian worship music (CWM) in response to its theological critiques and analyzes the effects they are having on what training worship leaders will need. CWM has grown into a global phenomenon that largely either disregards or is ignorant of its theological critics. The rapid rate of churches adopting CWM practices in their services has led to numerous universities creating post-secondary degrees in Worship Leadership focused specifically on modern expressions of worship. This thesis uses a convergent parallel mixed methods research model to analyze how worship practices are changing in key evangelical-turned-sacramental churches to determine the worship education needs of worship leaders in similar churches. The research results can be used by universities to adapt or create Worship Leadership degrees that properly equip students for careers in the current and future church job marketplace. Churches can use these findings to help them navigate similar transitions in their worship practices. This research showed that evangelical-sacramental churches still use contemporary and modern musical genres but also use traditional songs. The research shows that these churches require worship leaders to be proficient in modern and traditional music styles, historical worship practices, songwriting, and pastoral care

Where Life and Language Meet: An Interdisciplinary Collection in Context of My Sámi Heritage

Where Life and Language Meet is an interdisciplinary project exploring my Sámi heritage through research and the creation of a poetry collection. Following a brief historical background on the Sámi, the project showcases how my original poems are informed by Sámi storytelling practices. The analytical essay also explores how these poems fit into a larger framework of contemporary literature. Overall, this project demonstrates the creation of poetry as not only cultural heritage work but also a showcase for a culture not significantly explored in contemporary Western scholarship

Fat Talk And Romantic Relationships: Does Fat Talk Affect Relationship Satisfaction And Sexual Satisfaction?

Using vignettes about a fictional couple, the present study examined how varied levels of the woman’s fat talk were perceived to affect the couple’s relationship and sexual satisfaction. Participants were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk and included 239 heterosexual people (127 men, 112 women) with long-term (i.e., at least 1 year) relationship experience. Using a 3 (Level of Body Talk: Excessive Fat Talk, Minimal Fat Talk, vs. Self-Accepting Body Talk) x 2 (Participant Gender: Male vs. Female) x 2 (Perspective: Michael vs. Jessica) design, participants were randomly assigned to a Body Talk and Perspective condition and were asked to read a vignette and complete a series of questionnaires. Supporting hypotheses, analyses indicated participants in the excessive fat talk condition perceived lower satisfaction levels than the minimal fat talk and self-accepting body talk conditions. The satisfaction levels perceived by the self-accepting body talk and minimal fat talk conditions did not significantly differ. Participants’ perceptions of the target woman’s signal that she cared about her physical appearance did not differ across the three conditions. Research in this area is in its infancy; more is needed to inform interventions to improve body image and sexual satisfaction and to reduce women's habitual fat talk

Detection limits of organic compounds achievable with intense, short-pulse lasers

Many organic molecules have strong absorption bands which can be accessed by ultraviolet short pulse lasers to produce efficient ionization. This resonant multiphoton ionization scheme has already been exploited as an ionization source in time-of-flight mass spectrometers used for environmental trace analysis. In the present work we quantify the ultimate potential of this technique by measuring absolute ion yields produced from the interaction of 267 nm femtosecond laser pulses with the organic molecules indole and toluene, and gases Xe, N2 and O2. Using multiphoton ionization cross sections extracted from these results, we show that the laser pulse parameters required for real-time detection of aromatic molecules at concentrations of one part per trillion in air and a limit of detection of a few attomoles are achievable with presently available commercial laser systems. The potential applications for the analysis of human breath, blood and tissue samples are discussed

Proton irradiation of DNA nucleosides in the gas phase

International audienceThe four DNA nucleosides guanosine, adenosine, cytidine and thymidine have been produced in the gas phase by a laser thermal desorption source, and irradiated by a beam of protons with 5 keV kinetic energy. The molecular ions as well as energetic neutrals formed have been analyzed by mass spectrometry in order to shed light on the ionization and fragmentation processes triggered by proton collision. A range of 8-20 eV has been estimated for the binding energy of the electron captured by the proton. Glycosidic bond cleavage between the base and sugar has been observed with a high probability for all nucleosides, resulting in predominantly intact base ions for guanosine, adenosine, and cytidine but not for thymidine where intact sugar ions are dominant. This behavior is influenced by the ionization energies of the nucleobases (G < A < C < T), which seems to determine the localization of the charge following the initial ionization. This charge transfer process can also be inferred from the production of protonated base ions, which have a similar dependence on the base ionization potential. Other dissociation pathways have also been identified, including further fragmentation of the base and sugar moieties for thymidine and guanosine, respectively, and partial breakup of the sugar ring without glycosidic bond cleavage mainly for adenosine and cytidine. These results show that charge localization following ionization by proton irradiation is important in determining dissociation pathways of isolated nucleosides, which could in turn influence direct radiation damage in DNA

Intermittent structural weakening and acceleration of the Thwaites Glacier Tongue between 2000 and 2018

Evolving conditions at the terminus of Thwaites Glacier will be important in determining the rate of its future sea-level contribution over the coming decades. Here, we use remote-sensing observations to investigate recent changes (2000–2018) in the structure and velocity of Thwaites Glacier and its floating tongue. We show that the main trunk of Thwaites Glacier has accelerated by 38% over this period, while its previously intact floating tongue has transitioned to a weaker mélange of fractured icebergs bounded by sea ice. However, the rate of structural weakening and acceleration was not uniform across the observational period and we identify two periods of rapid acceleration and structural weakening (2006–2012; 2016–2018), separated by a period of deceleration and re-advance of the structurally-intact shear margin boundary (2012–2015). The timing of these accelerations/decelerations strongly suggests a link to variable ocean forcing. The weakened tongue now has some dependency on landfast sea ice for structural integrity and is vulnerable to changes in landfast ice persistency. Future reductions in landfast sea ice could manifest from changes in climate and/or the imminent removal of the B-22A iceberg from the Thwaites embayment. Such changes could have important implications for the integrity of the ice tongue and future glacier discharge

Slowdown of Shirase Glacier, East Antarctica, caused by strengthening alongshore winds

Around large parts of West Antarctica and in Wilkes Land, East Antarctica, increased wind-forced intrusions of modified Circumpolar Deep Water (mCDW) onto the continental shelf have been associated with mass loss over the last few decades. Despite considerable seasonal variability, observations in 2018 have also confirmed relatively high basal melt rates of up to 16 m a -1 underneath the Shirase ice tongue in Enderby Land, East Antarctica. These high basal melt rates are also caused by intrusions of mCDW onto the continental shelf, but the catchment of Shirase Glacier has been gaining mass, a trend often attributed to increased precipitation. Here, we document the dynamical ocean-driven slowdown, ice surface thickening and grounding line advance of Shirase Glacier, in response to strengthening easterly winds that reduce mCDW inflow and decrease basal melt rates. Our findings are significant because they demonstrate that warm ice shelf cavity regimes are not universally associated with glacier acceleration and mass loss in Antarctica, and they highlight the overlooked role of the impact of easterly winds in the recent mass gain of the Shirase Glacier catchment