The effect of correctional facility programming on nonviolent beliefs

Gemstone Team Peace in Prisons

The controlled delivery of hydrogen sulfide for the preservation of heart tissue

Gemstone Team Organ Storage and Hibernation

Real-time decision aid display

Gemstone Team Future Firefighting Advancements

Using sediment flocculation to reduce the impacts of Chesapeake Bay Microcystis aeruginosa harmful algal blooms

Gemstone Team BREATHE (Bay Revitalization Efforts Against the Hypoxic Environment)

Incorporating grape seed antioxidants into a functional food model

Gemstone Team IMMUNE (Innovative Medicines for Maladies Utilizing Nutraceutical Enhancements)

Cognitive training: the effects of working memory training

Gemstone Team Cognitive Training

The potential of natural, photosynthetic pigments to improve the efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells

Gemstone Team Grenergy

Combined heat and power and campus carbon footprint reduction

Gemstone Team Cogeneration Technology

Implementation of customer relationship management and inventory control software: a multiple case study of small retailers

Gemstone Team Small Business Solutions

Analysis of ocean power extraction capabilites of a rotary wave energy conversion system

Gemstone Team WAVES (Water and Versatile Energy Systems)

Characterization and analysis of the exogenous application of selected phytohormones on C. reinhardtii metabolism

Gemstone Team Genes to Fuels

THERMODYNMICS AND STRUCTURE OF POLY(ETHYLENE OXIDE) IN MIXTURES OF WATER AND ETHANOL

Poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) is one of the most researched synthetic polymers due to the complex behavior which arises from the interplay of the hydrophilic and hydrophobic sites on the polymer chain. PEO in ethanol forms an opaque gel-like mixture with a partially crystalline structure. Addition of a small amount of water disrupts the gel: 5 wt % PEO in ethanol becomes a transparent solution with the addition of 4 vol % water. The phase behavior of PEO in mixed solvents have been studied using small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). PEO solutions (5 wt % PEO) which contain 4 vol % - 10 vol % (and higher) water behave as an athermal polymer solution and the phase behavior changes from UCST to LCST rapidly as the fraction of water is increased. 2 wt % PEO in water and 10 wt % PEO in ethanol/ water mixtures are examined to assess the role of hydration. The observed phase behavior is consistent with a hydration layer forming upon the addition of water as the system shifts from UCST to LCST behavior. At the molecular level, two or three water molecules can hydrate one PEO monomer (water molecules form a sheath around the PEO macromolecule) which is consistent with the suppression of crystallization and change in the mentioned phase behavior as observed by SANS. The clustering effect of aqueous PEO solution (M.W of PEO = 90,000 g/mol) is monitored as an excess scattering intensity at low-Q. Clustering intensity at Q = 0.004 Å^-1 is used for evaluating the clustering effect. The clustering intensity is proportional to the inverse temperature and levels off when the temperature is less than 50 ˚C. When the temperature is increased over 50 ˚C, the clustering intensity starts decreasing. The clustering of PEO is monitored in ethanol/ water mixtures. The clustering intensity increases as the fraction of water is increased. Based on the solvation intensity behavior, we confirmed that the ethanol/ water mixtures obey a random solvent mixing rule, whereby solvent mixtures are better at solvating the polymer that any of the two solvents. The solution behavior of PEO in ethanol was investigated in the presence of salt (CaCl2) using SANS. Binding of Ca2+ ions to the PEO oxygens transforms the neutral polymer to a weakly charged polyelectrolyte. We observed that the PEO/ethanol solution is better solvated at higher salt concentration due to the electrostatic repulsion of weakly charged monomers. The association of the Ca2+ ions with the PEO oxygen atoms transforms the neutral polymer to a weakly charged polyelectrolyte and gives rise to repulsive interactions between the PEO/Ca2+ complexes. Addition of salt disrupts the gel, which is consistent with better solvation as the salt concentration is increased. Moreover, SANS shows that the phase behavior of PEO/ethanol changes from UCST to LCST as the salt concentration is increased.

ARAB MUSICIANS IN WASHINGTON, D.C. AREA: ETHNICITY AND IDENTITY

Musicians living in the Arab Diaspora around the Washington, D.C. metro area are a small group of multi-faceted individuals with significant contributions and intentions to propagate and disseminate their music. Various levels of identity are discussed and analyzed, including self-identity, group/ collective identity, and Arab ethnic identity. The performance and negotiation of Arab ethnic identity is apparent in selected repertoire, instrumentation, musical style, technique and expression, shared conversations about music, worldview on Arabic music and its future. For some musicians, further evidence of self-construction of one's ethnic identity entails choice of name, costume, and venue. Research completed is based on fieldwork, observations, participant-observations, interviews, and communications by phone and email. This thesis introduces concepts of Arabic music, discusses recent literature, reveals findings from case studies on individual Arab musicians and venues, and analyzes Arab identity and ethnicity in relation to particular definitions of identity found in anthropological and ethnomusicological writings. Musical lyrics, translations, transcriptions, quotes, discussions, analyses, as well as charts and diagrams of self-identity analyses are provided as evidence of the performance and negotiation of Arab identity.

The Oud Across Arabic Culture

This study is a compilation and compendium of information on the oud, the most important instrument in Arabic classical music. It has grown out of my own long-time involvement in studying and playing the oud, and in particular out of my interest in the lack of sources and knowledge available to the vast majority of oud players and researchers, as well as for the readers. My own path started from an intensive study of the oud, which included exposure to several treaties; some housed in museums around the globe, and some only available in the Arabic language. The study combines archival research (including Arabic poetry and pre-Islamic Era and medieval treaties), symbolism, new archaeological discoveries, field interviews, and analysis of existing scholarship, and draws on my professional performance experience for detailed stylistic analysis of the oud's performance practice and its historical development. The study consists of participant observation, personal performance, and interviews conducted in person, via telephone, and/or via e-mail, according to the choice of the performers. The performers have been selected from networks of musicians who perform regularly at lounges, concert halls, and private events. These performers have been chosen according to their musical knowledge, technical skill, experience, and activity in Arabic music and oud performance. Chapter one deals with the purpose of this study and the methods of investigation, as well as giving a brief overview of the history of the oud. In addition, there will be an introduction to the Arabic musical system (mâqâm), which is primarily based on the mechanics and sound production of the oud. Chapter two deals with the oud in Arabic sources: the first source is Arabic poetry in the pre-Islamic Era. The second source is Arabic poetry in the medieval era, in which I found a significant number of poets who allude to the oud, providing accurate descriptions of the player, singers, and the scenes within the contexts of oud performance. The third source is the Arab scholars' intensive treatises with meticulous accounts of the instrument's apparatii, including descriptions and measurements of the parts, strings, and tuning. While chapter three deals with the classification, the development of the oud, chapter four deals with topics such as: the symbolism of the oud and its relation to cosmology, astronomy, mathematics and anatomy. In most of the pertinent Arabic writings, philosophers mention a significant correlation between the oud and the other sciences. Chapter five deals with recreating the performance practice of the oud. A case study of the oud performers focuses on their style, technique, training, and personal experiences. Topics such as improvisation and ornamentation, the oud in the Arabic musical ensemble, the social uses and functions, and gender in musical performance practices will be included in detailed analysis. Other important topics will be analyzed such as traditional vs. modern technique, and the repertoire of the oud. Specifically, in regard to technique, the study outline the style of the music, the role of the oud in Arabic ensembles, the function of the oud in music composition, and the form of the ensembles in Arabic performance and practice.

CHASING THE SINGERS: THE TRANSITION OF LONG-SONG (URTYN DUU) IN POST-SOCIALIST MONGOLIA

Long-song (Urtyn duu) is a prominent Mongolian traditional folk song genre that survived throughout the socialist period (1921-1990) and throughout the political transformation of Mongolia from socialism to democratic capitalism after the Soviet Union was dismantled and terminated its aid to Mongolia in 1990. This dissertation, based on research conducted from 2006 to 2010, presents and investigates the traces of singers' stories and memories of their lives, songs, and singing, through the lens of the discourse on change and continuity in, and as, folk tradition. During the socialist period, this genre was first considered backward, and was then subtly transformed into an urban national style, with the formation of a boundary between professionalism and amateurism among long-song singers and with selective performance of certain songs and styles. This boundary was associated with politics and ideology and might be thought to have ended when the society entered its post-socialist period. However, the long-song genre continued to play a political role, with different kinds of political meaning one the one hand and only slight musical modification on the other. It was now used to present a more nostalgic and authentic new Mongolian identity in the post-socialist free market. Through my investigation, I argue that the historical transition of Mongolia encompassed not merely political or economic shifts, but also a deeper transformation that resulted in new cultural forms. Long-song provides a good case study of the complicated process of this cultural change.