Structural Expansion in Javanese Gamelan and Chinese Jiangnan Sizhu

In her seminal 1980 article, Judith Becker convincingly demonstrated that Thai and Javanese gong-chime traditions share a "Southeast Asian musical process" of "expansion and/or contraction allowing a single piece to assume different lengths, instrumentation, different styles and degrees of improvisation, and consequently, different meanings and ethos" (1980: 454). The pieces chosen for comparison contained three levels of expansion and contraction played in sequence (ibid.: 457-58). More recently, Alan Thrasher posed the question: "Is there ... a shared ... structural ideal in the instrumental genres, one that is based on melodies of fixed length and performed in suite-like variations at slow, moderate and fast tempos?" (1995: 111). Unlike the process described by Becker, the latter "structural ideal" is as an "East Asian" one, illustrated by a comparison of the repertories for the Chinese zheng and Japanese koto. 주디스 베커는 1980년 논문에서, 타이와 자바의 공(gong)·차임(chime) 전통이 한 악곡의 길이, 악기편성, 양식, 즉홍의 정도, 그 결과 의미와 에토스까지 달라지게 하는 확장/축약 곧 동남아시아적 음악과정을 공유하고 있음을 설득력 있게 논증했다(Becker 1980: 454). 비교를 위해 제시한 악곡들에서는 세 단계의 확장과 축약이 차례로 이루어지고 있었다(같은 책: 457-58). 최근에는 앨런 쓰래셔가 이런 문제를 제기했다: 고정된 길이에 바탕을 두고 모음곡처럼 느림-보통-빠름의 템포로 변주하여 연주하는 기악 장르들 사이에 공통된 구조적 아이디얼이 있는가?(Thrasher 1995: 111). 베커가 설명하는 〔동남아시아적〕 과정과 달리 쓰래셔의 구조적 아이디얼이란 중국의 쩡(筆)과 일본의 고토(筆) 악곡 비교에서 드러나는, 동아시아적 아이디얼이다

Biocultural Healing: Relational Methods for Extending Public Health Sovereignty in Eugene, Oregon

120 pagesThis project was completed as a master’s project within the Landscape Architecture department at the University of Oregon from January 2022 to June 2023. In this section, I present the relational methodology, topic focus on culturallyrelevant medicinal landscapes, and the key research questions of this project, followed by a short summary of some of the research findings. As will be described in this section, the body of this project “report” is comprised of letters written to particular audiences, including my community collaborators and mentors. The purpose of this introduction section is to provide an orientation before reading any of the personalized letters. It is also intended to serve as a summary of the project for a “general audience.

Picosecond Multilevel Resistive Switching in Tantalum Oxide Thin Films

The increasing demand for high-density data storage leads to an increasing interest in novel memory concepts with high scalability and the opportunity of storing multiple bits in one cell. A promising candidate is the redox-based resistive switch repositing the information in form of different resistance states. For reliable programming, the underlying physical parameters need to be understood. We reveal that the programmable resistance states are linked to internal series resistances and the fundamental nonlinear switching kinetics. The switching kinetics of Ta$_{2}$O$_{5}$-based cells was investigated in a wide range over 15 orders of magnitude from 250 ps to 10$^{5}$ s. We found strong evidence for a switching speed of 10 ps which is consistent with analog electronic circuit simulations. On all time scales, multi-bit data storage capabilities were demonstrated. The elucidated link between fundamental material properties and multi-bit data storage paves the way for designing resistive switches for memory and neuromorphic applications.Comment: Compiled PDF should contain 24 pages, 5 figures and 50 reference

Lignin-Depolymerisation via UV-Photolysis and Titanium Dioxide Photocatalysis

Today, more than 70 million tons of lignin are produced by the pulp and paper industry every year. However, the utilization of lignin as a source for chemical synthesis is still limited due to the complex and heterogeneous lignin structure. The purpose of this study was a selective photodegradation of industrially available kraft lignin in order to obtain appropriate fragments and building block chemicals for further utilization, e.g. polymerization. Thus, kraft lignin obtained from soft wood black liquor by acidification was dissolved in sodium hydroxide and irradiated at a wavelength of 254 nm with and without the presence of titanium dioxide in various concentrations. Analyses of the irradiated products via SEC showed decreasing molar masses and decreasing polydispersity indices over time. At the end of the irradiation period the lignin was depolymerised to form fragments as small as the lignin monomers. TOC analyses showed minimal mineralisation due to the depolymerisation process

Immune checkpoint expression in HNSCC patients before and after definitive chemoradiotherapy

Background Primary platinum-based chemoradiotherapy (CRT) remains the treatment of choice for nonresectable squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (HNSCC). Immune-checkpoint modulators are used as palliative therapy and studied in combination with definitive CRT. However, the immunological changes by CRT need yet to be understood. Methods A cohort consisting of 67 paired tissue biopsies (N = 134) of HNSCC patients before and after CRT was created. The expression of PD-1, PD-L1, and CD27 of tumor and immune cells by immunohistochemistry was evaluated. Results PD-L1 expression on immune cells of non-responders was significantly lower before CRT (P = .008). CD27 was expressed only on immune cells and not on cancer cells. A significant lower CD27-expression score was observed following CRT (P = .019). Conclusions Conventional CRT changes the expression of CD27 in the tumor microenvironment. Whether this is due to a loss of expression or a reduction of CD27+ cells must be evaluated in further analyses

Changes in gene expression patterns in the tumor microenvironment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma under chemoradiotherapy depend on response

Chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is a standard treatment for advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Unfortunately, not all patients respond to this therapy and require further treatment, either salvage surgery or palliative therapy. The addition of immunotherapy to CRT is currently being investigated and early results describe a mixed response. Therefore, it is important to understand the impact of CRT on the tumor microenvironment (TME) to be able to interpret the results of the clinical trials. Paired biopsies from 30 HNSCC patients were collected before and three months after completion of primary CRT and interrogated for the expression of 1392 immune- and cancer-related genes. There was a relevant difference in the number of differentially expressed genes between the total cohort and patients with residual disease. Genes involved in T cell activation showed significantly reduced expression in these tumors after therapy. Furthermore, gene enrichment for several T cell subsets confirmed this observation. The analysis of tissue resident memory T cells (TRM) did not show a clear association with impaired response to therapy. CRT seems to lead to a loss of T cells in patients with incomplete response that needs to be reversed. It is not clear whether the addition of anti-PD-1 antibodies alone to CRT can prevent treatment failure, as no upregulation of the targets was measurable in the TME