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Applying New Frameworks to Vocal Fatigue
No full textCase studies, pre- and post-treatmentOccupational voice users are particularly susceptible to voice problems and voice disorders associated with vocal hyperfunction. Vocal fatigue can be particularly troublesome to teachers and performers as an independent symptom or an element of more significant voice disorder. Vocal fatigue lacks a specific, empirical definition although numerous attempts have been made. One approach attempts to define vocal fatigue as a physiological consequence. Exercise principles and related topics have been applied to define vocal fatigue. In addition, numerous studies have been conducted to identify specific laryngeal function measures that correlate with reports of vocal fatigue with mixed results. Other reports have implied that vocal fatigue is primarily a patient-reported phenomenon, relying heavily on self-report and perception of various degrees and elements. Recently, Hunter and several experts collaborated to develop new descriptions of relevant terms and concepts pertaining to vocal fatigue. Based upon literature review, expert opinion, and linguistic modeling, terms were proposed and defined. In this new description of vocal fatigue, a clinical framework consisting of "vocal demand", "vocal demand response", "vocal effort", and "vocal fatigue" emerged. As vocal fatigue remains prevalent in multiple cases of voice disorders in several populations, this new description and framework can be applied to clinical cases to better assess and treat patients in clinical practice. This presentation discusses past definitions of vocal fatigue, introduces Hunter et al.'s (2020) new definitions and framework pertaining to vocal fatigue, and applies these concepts to two case studies from clinical voice practice at the WT Speech and Hearing Clinic
THE IDEALISTIC PRESIDENT: AN ANALYSIS OF THE WEST WING: SEASON 4 USING METAPHORIC CRITICISM
No full textThis thesis project focused on the verbal and visual metaphors found in Season 4 of The West Wing. This American political drama follows President Jed Bartlet and his staff as they fight the good fight in the name of American democracy. Because of the time restraints in episodic television series, metaphors are used to connect viewers with sometimes unfamiliar political jargon and ideas. Recurring metaphors are a roadmap to understanding politics by connecting prior knowledge and experiences. This study used metaphorical analysis to examine what verbal and visual metaphors were used in Season 4. Verbal and visual metaphors were divided into major and minor tenors. Major tenors focused on President Bartlet and his administration. Minor tenors examined storylines or issues involving the staff. Major verbal tenors were integrity, sports, humility. Minor verbal tenors were sacrifice, grief, and time. Major visual tenors were foreshadowing of danger and the Walk and Talk camera angle. Minor tenors were connections to voters and fresh starts. Tenor and vehicle were analyzed for both verbal and visual metaphors. The use of dark and light was examined in visual metaphors. The study determined that the verbal and visual metaphors found in Season 4 connected viewers to how the president and his staff handle daily affairs. It also supports those metaphors did help the audience to understand complex political ideas through prior knowledge and experience
Genetic Evaluation of Sirens in Texas
Get PDFSirens have always been a taxonomically controversial group. Historically, morphological characters were used to delineate taxonomic groups. However, the neotenic characters seen in sirens complicate taxonomic assignment. While it has been traditionally thought that only lesser sirens (Siren intermedia) resided in Texas, it has been well known that sirens in southern Texas are morphologically divergent from typical lesser sirens. The taxonomic classification of these sirens in southern Texas has been long debated and currently remains in question. The sirens in eastern Texas, however, are not morphologically divergent from that of typical lesser sirens, leaving us to wonder where in Texas these two groups meet and how their evolutionary relationship may help define the taxonomic identity of southern Texas sirens. It is important that we answer this question since sirens in some parts of southern Texas have been classified as state-threatened and protection of an undefined taxon is problematic. Since morphological identification has been challenging, I approached this issue using modern molecular phylogenetics. I sequenced 4 mitochondrial genes (CO1, ND2, 16S, and ND5) from samples of both southern Texas and eastern Texas sirens, as well as sirens from out of state. Using those sequences and other siren sequences published online, I created phylogenic trees, using maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses, and haplotype networks. These analyses revealed that, of the 4 genes sequenced, there were conflicting results, with CO1 and ND2 representing one relationship and 16S and ND5 representing another. When concatenated, the maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses of the sequences sided with the latter 2 genes, suggesting that eastern Texas sirens belong to a clade nested within the southern Texas sirens. Despite the conflicts, there was a consensus among the results in that the sirens of southern Texas seem to relate closer to lesser sirens than greater sirens or reticulated sirens. As such, there does not seem to be a significant difference between sirens within southern Texas, but sirens in eastern and southern Texas were somewhat divergent from each other. While the scope of this project is too small to definitively determine the exact relationship between these Texas sirens, my data strongly supports the sirens of southern Texas are lesser sirens
Semiconductors in Industrial Waste Heat Collection Improvements
No full textThermoelectric generators (TEGs) use the Seebeck effect to transform thermal flow into electrical potential, have no moving parts, are low maintenance, have a long material life, and can be readily serviced. Utilizing these principles in conjunction with heat transfer manipulation, TEGs could be utilized as a new avenue for energy recovery. A cubical system was built with TEGs within the walls of the structure. The top was covered with standard building materials to simplify the proof of concept. The inside was then heated to be approximately 30 ̊C with manipulation of the thermal conductance of the cover of the system. The heat recovery is ~40mW for the control case and ~50 mW for the experimental case. Using the regression model indicates, based on the improvement in energy recovery, that this technology and approach can be implemented on a greater scale to produce the desired result of increased energy savings, through increased energy recovery. The results of the study netted some sporadic data so a much simpler system was tracked. This simple system in conjunction with the other collected data showed an improvement of power production. The relationship between the suppression and the generation is related to the ratio changes of thermal fluxes throughout the system
SHRINKING THE COUNTRY MILE: IMPLEMENTATION OF VIRTUAL PLCS IN RURAL SCHOOLS
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The challenges and obstacles that a small rural school district in west Texas experiences in the planning and implementing a professional learning communities (PLC) appear
overwhelming due to the lack of resources. Realizing that other area rural school districts were experiencing the same challenges, the creation of a virtual inter-district PLC was
developed to help alleviate the challenges and overcome the obstacles. This PLC included five rural school districts and a partnership with the local university. The initiation of the virtual inter-district PLC was feasible through virtual collaboration efforts between the school districts and all stakeholders involved
"I Don't Need Saving": An Exploration into How Arya Stark Is Her Own Epic Hero
No full textThis thesis strives to prove how Arya Stark from HBO’s Game of Thrones (GoT) is an epic hero. In order to work through how Arya is an epic hero, the researcher first establishes the definition of “epic” through A Glossary of Literary Terms and the Oxford English Dictionary. While GoT is not an epic poem, this fantasy television show has much in common with old stories and oral tales. After establishing what creates an epic, this thesis works through the evolution of the epic hero to further understand the purpose and exigence behind studying literary characters and how these characters represent the cultural values of their home nations. In order to fully examine Arya’s journey, the researcher compares her to Gregory Nagy’s analysis of the epic hero, aligning Arya with the heroes of old and establishing how she fits the mold of the epic hero despite the genre differences. The researcher found that Arya is, indeed, a modern-day epic hero, acting as a merger between those heroes who established the genre and newer generations who have revolutionized it. Despite the limitations in research, reception, and genre, Arya’s journey holds importance not only in literary study, but also within cultural studies of the present and future
Assessment of embryo viability based on morphokinetics in cattle and horses
No full textABSTRACT
In both bovine and equine reproduction, fertility is a lowly heritable trait that has an exceedingly large financial impact and may be a limiting factor on the ability to grow genetic lines. In order to increase pregnancy rates using Assisted Reproductive Techniques (ART) such as Embryo Transfer (ET), in vitro fertilization (IVF), and cryopreservation, producers must have access to accurate decision-making tools. Traditionally, the embryo grading system accepted by industry standards is based on morphological evaluation, and is a method that has remained relatively unchanged for over four decades that uses subjective evaluation that varies with exposure of technicians to training and experience. Inconsistency in grading among embryologists can ultimately lead to decreased conception rates through increased potential in discarding viable embryos.
Seventeen In Vivo derived (IVD) morula stage fertilized equine embryos, 5 cloned equine embryos, 19 IVD blastocyst stage fertilized equine embryos, and 73 IVD, fertilized bovine embryos were collected from donor animals to be evaluated before transfer into recipient mares and cows. Embryos were graded according to the International Embryo Transfer Society (IETS) manual guidelines (IETS, 2009), that is the accepted industry standard of grading. Of the embryos graded, those that were given a quality score of Grade 1 or 2 were chosen for morphokinetic evaluation. The objective of this study was to discern whether IETS quality Grade 1 or 2 embryos could be measured based on their morphokinetic activity to determine if this activity was indicative of embryo viability, enforce embryos that would establish pregnancies, and that would fail to establish pregnancies Both equine and bovine embryos were filmed within 3 h of transfer with the complete embryo in view of the camera. Videos were then amplified using video motion magnification (VMM) resulting in 300x amplification of the videos and revealed previously hidden components of these embryos.. Embryo morphokinetic activity became humanly perceptible and measurable by changes in morphological dimensions following the VMM step. Data measurements were taken on the embryo inner cellular mass area (ICM), complete embryo and ICM area, and on the vertical, diagonal, and horizontal axis of the sub-zonal (perivitelline) space, zona pellucida (ZP), and trophectoderm (TE).
Of the 72 bovine embryos transferred, as Grade 1 and 2, 19% failed to form a pregnancy as affected by morphokinetic activity. Of the 41 equine embryos transferred, 37% of the Grade 1 and 2 embryos failed to form a pregnancy. Morula stage equine embryos presented differences on the overall axis (P ≤ 0.01), ZP thickness (P < 0.05), and perivitelline space shift (P < 0.01), as well as tendencies when measuring the area of the ICM (P < 0.09). Once bovine embryos were analyzed and evaluated as range of overall morphokinetic activity per section measured, the effect of pregnancy due to that activity was most significant when measuring the complete embryo area (P < 0.03) and embryo complete change in diameter along the X-axis and Y-axis (P < 0.02) with average changes of 1242.66μm2 and 8.41μm, respectively, in embryos resulting in pregnancies. Both species demonstrate and exemplify that there is more to embryo grading than just morphology based on the observed effect on pregnancy status and morphokinetic values. By evaluating all of these factors, there are a wider range of parameters to rely on for the selection of viable embryos outside of the morphology
Additive Manufacturing of 316L Steel: Investigation of Thermal Stability and Crystalline Properties
Get PDFData is collected with the material characterization tools such as TGA, DSC, and XRDAdditive Manufacturing (AM) technology is a growing industry in the world of engineering. Similar to 3D printing, AM technology allows designers to create metal parts without the limitation of geometric restrictions of traditional methods, like machining. AM can be applied in industries such as biomedical and aerospace. The AM research conducted at West Texas A&M University (WTAMU) uses laser technology for powder-bed infusion (PBLF) using an SLM 125 to print 316L stainless steel parts. Although AM offers a wide variety of application, AM technology cannot produce consistent parts due to unknown factors that create defects in the part and impact the resultant material properties. In this study, a thermal analysis was conducted on printed 316 L Stainless Steel samples using a Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) to record phase change, melting points, other transitions like oxidation and decomposition and mass loss/gain. Thermal analysis demonstrated a comparative thermal stability of the printed steel. Additionally, the samples were analyzed with an X-Ray Powder Diffraction (XRD) machine for crystallinity of printed steel and a baseline elemental analysis. Results of the XRD analysis indicate the printed material is not entirely crystalline in structure and further analysis is needed to develop a standard XRD profile for AM 316L Stainless Steel. The findings of this study indicate the PBLF process changes the thermal properties of power material and the need for future studies to understand the impacts of material properties
Malacandra: A Symphonic Poem
Get PDFA Symphonic Tone Poem inspired from C.S. Lewis's science fiction book, "Out of the Silent Planet"