Development of a Testing Procedure for Gloss Ink Holdout

There is currently no standard acceptable method used to evaluate gloss ink holdout. Four methods are investigated to evaluate holdout. Heat seat ink is used to reduce absorption effects. The K&N ink smear test and the Vanceometer absorption tester are both discounted as inappropriate tests since they look at absorption alone and have widely varied results. The IGT printability tester is an improvement because it involves another major influence to holdout, printing pressure, but does not hold the ink film thickness constant. The Vandercook Proof Press procedure is judged the most valuable since it takes into account printing pressure and absorption, and holds the ink film thickness constant. It also is the closest approximation to the industrial setting

Jazz Orchestra II

VCU Jazz Orchestra II Steven Cunningham, directo

Jazz Orchestra II

VCU Jazz Orchestra II Steven Cunningham, directo

Physical and Biological Consequences of Giant Kelp (Macrocystis Pyrifera) Removals Within a Central California Kelp Forest

The giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) is a well-studied foundation species that builds complex biogenic habitat and contributes fixed carbon to the base of food webs. Kelp forest systems are some of the most productive ecosystems in the world and can sustain high levels of species richness and abundance. It has long been debated whether these systems are rich due to the (1) complex habitat structure of the giant kelp or (2) the kelp\u27s high growth rates that provide an abundance of food for primary consumers. Giant kelp modifies its environment by creating shade with its surface canopy, slowing currents by surface drag, and adding habitat stratified through the water column. It has been debated if giant kelp or phytoplankton are more important to the stability of the food webs within kelp forest systems. Many studies have attempted to validate the importance of giant kelp to the associated community by kelp removal experiments, which are unable to separate physical from biological effects of kelp. I expand upon these studies here by creating artificial Macrocystis plots and measuring variables that are typically overlooked in kelp removal experiments such as, currents, POC/ PON, particle size distribution, temperature, turbidity, fluorescence, and phytoplankton concentration and carbon contribution. Three kelp beds were analyzed in Stillwater Cove, CA between June October 2016. A randomized block design was used to test the differences in the measured variables among depth and treatments; control kelp, artificial kelp, and removed kelp. Each circular treatment plot was 10m in diameter and variables were measured weekly within blocks before (n=180) and after treatment (n = 216). There was no difference in POC/PON between control and kelp cleared treatments, indicating that a 10m plot is insufficient at reducing the ambient POC/PON. There was also no indication that the increased light in kelp cleared treatments increased phytoplankton concentrations to subsidize the missing kelp POC input, and the phytoplankton standing crop contributed very little (\u3c 3%) to the standing POC pool. Particulates and POC/ PON were well mixed throughout kelp beds and clearings, with no benthic accumulation observed. Currents increased in speed within kelp removed plots, the velocity was still too slow for turbulent shearing. A subsequent dye tracking experiment with an acoustic doppler velocimeter showed that high-frequency motions associated with turbulence had higher energy levels within kelp beds compared to outside, and vertical velocities had higher variance within beds than outside. Furthermore, benthic dye release experiments showed that dye flowed further up in the water column inside kelp beds than outside and that dye detection duration was dependent on the presence of giant kelp and increased wave orbital velocities. These results indicate that waves have a higher impact on vertical mixing within kelp beds than currents within Stillwater Cove. Mixing in kelp beds blends particulates evenly through the water column and removal plots have no impact on total POC/PON but may change particle distribution

Collaborative Artificial Intelligence in Music Production

The use of technology has revolutionized the process of music composition, recording, and production in the last 30 years. One fusion of technology and music that has been longstanding is the use of artificial intelligence in the process of music composition. However, much less attention has been given to the application of AI in the process of collaboratively composing and producing a piece of recorded music. The aim of this project is to explore such use of artificial intelligence in music production. The research presented here includes discussion of an auto ethnographic study of the interactions between songwriters, with the intention that these can be used to model the collaborative process and that a computational system could be trained using this information. The research indicated that there were repeated patterns that occurred in relation to the interactions of the participating songwriters