An analysis of Printemps d\u27amour (op.40) and L\u27Union (op,48): two programmatic piano solos by Louis Moreau Gottschalk

Close analyses of two works by Gottschalk demonstrate, not just his consummate skill in evoking and sustaining extra-musical imagery, but also his firm control of harmony, motivic development, and form. In Printemps d\u27amour (1855), a mazurka inspired by Gottschalk\u27s love for Ada McElhenney, a romance develops between two distinct theme-actors, both of whom grow ever more entwined. Comparison with Chopin\u27s mazurka op. 50, no. 2, points out general similarities and profound differences. Analysis of L\u27Union (1862) follows, presenting a pasticcio rife with narrative and irony. The former manifests as a battaglia; the latter, as denial of listeners\u27 expectations. Comparison with models for The Star Spangled Banner, Hail, Columbia, and Yankee Doodle shows why listeners will recognize each air, and how Gottschalk creates an artistic paraphrase

Punishment: Benefits, Risks, and Alternatives in a Business Setting

Punishment is utilized in many settings in the world today, but it is continually getting more negative responses for its use in the workplace. Punishment\u27s main use is to decrease the occurrence of a behavior that is undesirable. In a business setting, this would most likely be a behavior that is a violation of policy or unsatisfactory work performance. A comparison of the positive aspects of punishment with its negative features, by utilizing information provided by scholarly journals and websites along with a survey of 31 employees, has yielded the results that there may be a better alternative to punishment

Before the Corridor of Shame: The African American Fight for Equal Education After Jim Crow

Before the Corridor of Shame: The African American Fight for Equal Education After Jim Crow analyzes how African American public school students in South Carolina used direct action protest to demand the implementation of quality, desegregated public education in the 1970s. Students built off of the legacy of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which empowered the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) to withhold federal funds from school districts that practiced overt segregation and became the mechanism by which the federal government could force states to desegregate. As a result, most South Carolina schools desegregated by 1970 and technically met federal civil rights standards, retaining federal school funding. In reality, many white school district officials and communities found ways to manipulate or circumvent new federal regulations while maintaining racially discriminatory policies, and federal and state authorities did not have the laws, policies, or political gumption to adequately deal with post-desegregation obstructions. This dissertation examines the problems that the first generation of black students attending totally desegregated schools faced. School districts closed majority-black schools to achieve desegregation and enrolled black students into previously all-white institutions that disrespected the history and identity of former majority-black institutions. Districts compounded black student and community frustrations when they fired and demoted many black teachers, administrators, and coaches, frequently replacing them for less qualified white candidates. Southern school districts tracked black students into lower level academic classes, which promoted segregated classrooms and racial isolation within newly desegregated schools, and subjected black students to harsher discipline policies. Many white residents in majority-black school districts abandoned South Carolina\u27s desegregated schools launching a prolific private school movement in the state, but simultaneously worked to control majority-black school districts, often funneling public resources into private, segregation academies. In the face of white resistance, black South Carolinians, civil rights activists, and a myriad of civil rights organizations once again inherited the burden of ensuring that their local and state governments implemented federally mandated desegregation regulations. From 1969-1979, black student protests emerged in communities across the state. Students boycotted classes, presented grievances, and petitioned state and federal authorities to demand that local school districts provide better education to black students. This dissertation asserts that black activists took advantage of growing state and federal oversight, and contributed to new desegregation regulations by providing accounts of the post- problems and discrimination they faced in their communities. By the late 1970s, South Carolina legislation regulated almost every component of education previously left to the jurisdiction of local school boards and the federal government revised many of its desegregation regulations. African American students, parents, and activists of the 1970s built on the legacy of black civil rights activism, established from the early twentieth century in South Carolina and across the South, and employed direct action protest to demand quality, integrated public education in South Carolina. Black South Carolinians achieved some successes and also witnessed many setbacks, but they continued to fight, placing quality education at the center of that struggle

Stabilizing G-quadruplex DNA and RNA structures with ionic liquids

Stabilizing DNA and RNA for long-term room-temperature storage is important for many biotechnological applications including oncology pharmaceuticals and mRNA-based vaccines (e.g. Covid vaccines). This poster shows that ionic liquids can improve the thermal stability of G-quadruplex DNA and RNA structures, and motivates further studies of ionic liquid-based materials for DNA / RNA stabilization

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationThe occurrence of treatment refractory tumors contributes significantly to the morbidity of cancer. Clinical treatment with chemotherapeutics frequently results in robust initial responses but the majority of patients relapse with drug-insensitive forms of the disease. Considering the lack of therapies available to these patients, our labs implemented a chemical biology approach towards understanding and defining molecular processes of drug-insensitive cancer cells. A small molecule screen was developed with the goal of identifying new molecular tools to characterize vulnerabilities of drug refractory tumor cells. The screen employed malignant pleural effusion cells derived from treatment refractory breast cancer patients in addition to untransformed mammary epithelial cells; the incorporation of untransformed cells in the screen permitted for the identification of small molecules with cancer-specific phenotypes. Fourteen novel small molecules were identified and two of these molecules, C-6 and zinaamidole (ZNA), were chosen for detailed follow-up studies. The first molecule, C-6, was found to be cytotoxic against multiple patient-derived malignant cell types in addition to a variety of breast cancer cell lines, but did not significantly affect to viability of untransformed cells. Next-generation RNA sequencing revealed that C-6 induced endoplasmic reticulum stress and blocked mitochondrial genome transcription. Cells treated with C-6 with disruptions in mitochondrial energy production as assessed by oxygen consumption measurements. Cancer-specific increases in the oxidation of 2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate were also observed, indicating that cellular redox states were altered by treatment with C-6. Finally, C-6 was found to induce cancer cell death via a caspase independent mechanism. The second molecule identified, ZNA, contains a cyclic guanidine core and was found to induce metal trafficking gene expression and disrupt Zn2+ homeostasis. CuSO4 strongly potentiated ZNA's cytotoxic effects and treatment with ZNA/CuSO4 promoted rapid cell death in both malignant and untransformed cell types. ZnSO4 also potentiated ZNA's cytotoxicity, however, ZNA/ZnSO4 only resulted in cell death in malignant cell types. ZNA and ZNA/ZnSO4 were both found to induce caspase independent cell death selectively in cancer cells. Collectively, these investigations revealed a common theme of caspase independent cell death, suggesting a new strategy for the development of treatments targeting drug insensitive cancers

The Effect of Simulator Platform Motion on Pilot Training Transfer: A Meta-Analysis

A meta-analytic (MA) approach was used to generate an estimate of true mean effect size (δ) for simulator motion with regard to pilot training transfer. The analysis was based on the techniques developed by Hunter and Schmidt (1990). A d statistic was used for effect size calculations based on information available in the included sources. Eleven studies were reviewed and considered for analysis, but only seven of these included the information necessary for calculating effect size and were included in the study. The result of the MA suggest a small, positive effect for motion, d = .16. No credibility interval could be built around this estimate of population mean effect size because the resulting sampling error variance was larger than the observed variance in d across the assessed studies. This led to a negative variance estimate for δ and subsequently an estimated SDδ of 0. These results suggest that simulator motion has a small, positive effect on pilot training transfer and contradict an earlier MA on the same subject. The small sample size (few studies) and methodological shortcomings within the included studies require that the findings be interpreted cautiously. Alternative interpretations and their implications for the aviation training community are discussed

Language in relation to problem solving abilities in children with hearing impairment

The relation between language-based problem solving ability and language skills was studied in 11 school-age children with hearing impairment significant enough to require amplification. The Test of Problem Solving-Revised (TOPS-R) was used to assess problem solving that required the use of language. The Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamental-Revised (CELF-R) was used to measure receptive and expressive language ability. In addition, the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R) was used to measure receptive vocabulary The mean results for each test represented with standard scores were 1 5-2.0 standard deviations below the mean for typically developing children With multiple regression analysis, it was determined that problem solving scores could be predicted accurately using receptive language, expressive language, and vocabulary scores The results suggest that problem solving that involves the use of language in children with hearing impairment is significantly related to their language skills and vocabulary