Mathematics and Music: Using Group Theory to Qualify N-Note Tonal Systems

In this senior thesis we examine the relationship between math, specifically group theory, and tonal music systems. In particular, we examine the 12-note tonal system of western music and identify some of its fundamental properties. From there we establish criteria that an alternative tonal system must meet to be considered an acceptable alternative to the 12-note tonal system. We build a mathematical model for n-note tonal systems using cyclic groups of order n. Ultimately we conclude that in order for an n-note tonal system to be acceptable, the system must be composed of n notes where n is divisible by 4, but not divisible by 8

“She Comes Armed With The Proper Documents”: Myra Bradwell’s Fight For Women’s Rights In Bradwell V. Illinois

Myra Bradwell was the first woman to seriously challenge the United States Supreme Court for a woman’s right to an employment of her choosing, specifically the right to practice law. Even though Myra Bradwell’s case was struck down in the Supreme Court, the case still marks two important aspects of American History. Not only was her Supreme Court case Bradwell v. Illinois 1873 a landmark case for the advancement of Women’s Rights, but it was also a landmark case in Post-Civil War America. Bradwell v. Illinois became the second Supreme Court case to rule on the newly ratified Fourteenth Amendment, though The Slaughterhouse Cases are far more often noted among historians for the impact of the Fourteenth Amendment. This paper seeks to examine the tactics in which Myra Bradwell employed her gender to secure advancements for women and how this case changed the social atmosphere Post-Civil War America

Nineteenth century land-use, watershed erosion, and sediment yield in southern Appalachia

The purpose of this research was to gain insight into the anthropogenic forcing of geomorphic systems, specifically how nineteenth century land-use changes impacted watershed hydrologic, upland erosional, and sediment delivery subsystems of Southern Appalachian headwater catchments. Identification and analysis of the timing and rate of change in these subsystems, and the reestablishment of presettlement conditions, were used to address landscape sensitivity and watershed inheritance issues in a region undergoing population expansion and development. Archival research was used to reconstruct concurrent land-use changes in the catchments of two nineteenth century water-powered mills. Changes in the physical properties of mill pond sediments including, organic content, particle size distribution, and magnetic susceptibility, were used to interpret trends in sediment source during the span of mill operation. Interpolation of augering and coring data was used to determine mill pond sediment mass and pond capacity. Hillslope hydrologic change occurred almost immediately following land conversion. Upland erosion began with the removal of A-horizon fines, and progressed with the removal of A-horizon coarse particulates, and then B-horizon particulates. Change from one source category to another was punctuated by high flow events signifying an integration of human activity and climate in the changing of system boundary conditions. Late nineteenth century sediment yield in Southern Appalachia was almost as high as that reported for the adjoining Piedmont although only 25 percent of highland watersheds were converted to agriculture. However, sediment delivery ratios were relatively low indicating a more complicated relationship between hillslope-channel connectivity and soil erosion. In reforested watersheds, both the hydrological and erosional subsystems reverted to presettlement conditions within a few years but may have taken up to one hundred years for sediment yield rates to return to presettlement conditions. Finally, the sediment trapped behind nineteenth century dams has served as a significant source of ecologically damaging washload to highland streams during the twentieth century

The antiobesity mechanism of conjugated linoleic acid

Given the steady rise in obesity worldwide, it is important to identify dietary compounds that prevent adiposity. One dietary strategy is supplementation with conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which has been demonstrated to reduce body fat mass. However, side effects associated with CLA supplementation include inflammation, insulin resistance, and dyslipidemia. Elucidation of the antiobesity mechanism of CLA is critical for evaluating its efficacy and safety as a dietary supplement for treating obesity. Therefore, this research examined the upstream mechanism by which CLA induced inflammation, insulin resistance, and delipidation of human adipocytes. Our research group has previously demonstrated that trans-10, cis-12 (10,12) CLA causes delipidation of human adipocytes via activating nuclear factor kappa B (NF?B) and mitogen-activated protein kinase / extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase (MEK/ERK) signaling, leading to inflammation and the suppression of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor (PPAR?) and decreased glucose and fatty acid uptake. Based on these findings, the following questions were addressed using primary cultures of newly differentiated human adipocytes as a cell model 1) How does CLA impact PPAR? activity?, 2) What upstream mechanisms activate ERK, NF?B and induce inflammation?, and 3) Does resveratrol, a phenolic phytochemical with antioxidant properties, attenuate CLA-induced inflammation, insulin resistance, and delipidation? Answers to these questions were as follows. 1) 10,12 CLA antagonized ligand-dependent PPAR? activity, possibly via PPAR? phosphorylation by ERK. 10,12 CLA suppression of PPAR? and insulin-stimulated glucose uptake, along with delipidation were partially rescued by co-supplementation with the PPAR? agonist BRL, further supporting CLA antagonizing PPAR?. 2) Cultures treated with TMB-8, an inhibitor of calcium release from the endoplasmic reticulum or KN-62, an inhibitor of calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinase II (CAMKII) attenuated 10,12 CLA-mediated reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation, inflammatory gene induction, and insulin resistance. These data suggested that 10,12 CLA-mediated inflammation and insulin resistance are dependent on calcium release from the endoplasmic reticulum or CAMKII. 3) Treatment with resveratrol prevented 10,12 CLA-mediated inflammation and insulin resistance by attenuating intracellular calcium, ROS, and inflammation, by increasing PPAR? activity. Collectively, these data suggest that one of the antiobesity mechanisms of 10,12 CLA is inducing cellular stress and inflammation which antagonize PPAR?, leading to insulin resistance and delipidation of human adipocytes

A Method to His Madness: The Role of Insanity in Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita

When The Master, title character of Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita (1966), is first introduced in the novel it is within the confines of a Soviet era insane asylum, and in the novel, “madness” serves as a socio-historical satire of life in the Soviet Union and as a literary tool by creating a disjointed structure with multiple plot planes and engaging with literary traditions such as the grotesque. Although several scholars note the reading of a fractured, complex narrative, in this paper, the author suggests it is purposeful for aesthetic and political reasons, simulating the impact of the Stalinist regimen on artistic life in Moscow. In other words, Bulgakov does not merely depict the Stalinist’s regime’s cold and pliant grip over artists of the period, he places his audience into a similar position by presenting two different planes of realism- forcing readers to juggle the possible and the impossible in their own minds, which is admittedly an unsetting mixture

Characterization of a gene family associated with calcified structures in the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus

Eleven cDNAs from a family of genes were cloned from the calcified exoskeleton of the decapod crustacean Callinectes sapidus. Multiple, variant copies of a conserved 18-residue motif (xLxGPSGffxxDGxxxQf), unique to calcified crustacean exoskeleton, accounts for ~70% of the total amino acid residues. The proteins appear to be post-translationally cleaved by a trypsin-like serine protease at conserved recognition sites (RxKR). Two to six peptides, each containing either two or four copies of the 18-residue motif, are expected, depending on which pro-protein is cleaved. Expression of the CsproCP gene family begins at the onset of calcification in the hypodermis of post-ecdysial, calcified cuticle, as shown by Northern analysis. The genes are never expressed in the hypodermis of the noncalcified arthrodial membrane. Western analysis, using an antibody against the 18-residue motif, shows that accumulation of peptides with this motif begins in the calcified cuticle several hours post-ecdysis and continues to anecdysis. The size of the detected peptides agrees with the presumed post-translational cleavage. The strong antibody binding to calcified cuticle proteins and the lack of binding to arthrodial membrane proteins from anecdysial crabs is consistent with immunohistochemical staining performed by Hequembourg (2002). Interestingly, the antibody also weakly binds to proteins from the tendon, another calcified structure in the crab. These results confirm that the proteins encoded by the CsproCP gene family are associated with calcification in Callinectes sapidus

The relation of yarn structure of selected cotton fabrics to abrasion resistance

The objectives of the study were to determine after use and laundering the yarn characteristics of yarn number and diameter and to determine die effect of changes in these characteristics on abrasion resistance. Yarn number measurements were made using the Suter Yarn Numbering Balance. Yarn diameter measurements of longitudinally mounted specimens were made using the Visopan Microprojector. Abrasion resistance measurements were made using the occurrence of yarn breakdown method with the Taber Abraser. The sample of this study consisted of the experimental sheetings used at the North Carolina station for Phase I of the Southern Regional Research Project SM-18. Measurements were made on specimens from sheets withdrawn following zero, thirty and sixty periods of use and laundering

The development of a framework for an articulation plan for the transfer of credits from two- to four-year public educational institutions in North Carolina

It was the purpose of this study to develop a framework for an articulation plan to transfer credits for courses from two- to four-year public educational institutions in North Carolina. In 1981, 109,951 students were enrolled in the 58 institutions in the North Carolina Community College System. The problem precipitating the study was the lack of a plan whereby these students could transfer credits to institutions in the North Carolina University System. Only those students following a prescribed program of study in the College Transfer programs in the 23 community colleges in the system could transfer credits to the University System. A search was made of the education professional literature, and the articulation plans for higher education in other states were studied. Data were solicited through the use of a questionnaire mailed to the chief administrative officer of the two-year public postsecondary institutions in all 50 states. The 43 states (86 percent) from which data were received enrolled approximately 97 percent of students attending public two-year postsecondary educational institutions in the United States as of October, 1981. The states rated their plans using criteria developed by the researcher based on information gathered from the literature

The effect of zinc toxicity on the calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium content of bone and blood in young rats

Aristotle believed the food of plants and animals to be composed of four "essential elements"--earth, air, fire and water. While our present day concepts of nutrition differ radically from such early beliefs, information in this branch of science is by no means complete. One area where information is lacking is that of the trace elements. Over the last hundred years, and especially in the last thirty years, a steadily increasing number of minerals, occurring in minute amounts in the animal body, have had definite physiological roles assigned to them. Two different kinds of investigations have advanced out understanding of the role of these minerals: (1) the investigation of various naturally occurring diseases of man and animal shown to be due to a dietary deficiency, or excess, of a particular trace element and (2) the investigation of the effects on animals of specially constituted diets, deliberately designed to have an abnormally low, or high, content of the trace mineral under study

Increased stress resistance in socially manipulated Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) workers

General life history theory suggests a trade-off between somatic maintenance and reproduction. However, in the honey bee, and other social insects, reproduction increases lifespan. The mechanisms for this positive relation between antagonistic demands are unclear but may be related to vitellogenin (Vg), a reproductive protein that has adopted other important survival functions, such as oxidative stress resistance and immunity. To study the role of Vg in survival functions, the susceptibility of reproductive and non-reproductive honey bee workers to Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV) and pesticide-related oxidative stress was compared. Workers in the absence of a queen exhibited more active ovaries than workers in the presence of a queen at older (25d) but not younger (15d) ages. Survival measures of paraquat stress and IAPV infections, complemented with an assessment of gene expression patterns, indicated not only the predicted changes in survival and Vg titers but also correlated alterations in the differential expression of other functional domains: Toll-6 and Argonaute-2. These results support the relevance of non-reproductive functions of Vg in worker bee defense against stressors, demonstrating that social manipulations can alter worker physiology and improve resistance to viral and pesticide stressors of queenless workers. Data from this study has not only interesting implications for honey bee immunity and health but also understanding honey bee caste differences