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Structural Models for Lyric-Setting Analysis in Popular Song
Get PDFStudies of English text setting have long focused on well-formed examples, typically in 4/4 time, in which syllabic-stress-to-beat matching is prioritized (Halle and Lerdahl 1993, Hayes and Kaun 1996, Hayes 2009). Evidence of this prioritization has been presented in Palmer and Kelly 1992 and Girardi and Plag 2019, and such examples are ubiquitous in English-language nursery rhymes, children’s songs, and folk tunes. The present study contextualizes this type of text setting as one of four models for the structural interaction of English lyrics and music in popular song: 1) unified ( well-formed ), in which musical considerations and a preference for stress matching are molded into agreement; 2) dominated lyric, in which stress matching is of secondary importance to musical concerns; 3) accentuated lyric, in which syllabic stress is emphasized by intentional conflict with a prevailing musical metrical grid; and 4) speech-timed, in which the natural, speechlike rhythm of a lyric–measured in absolute time–structures the example while musical meter and tempo play a subordinate and flexible role.
This article includes many close analyses of song recordings. To assist in understanding and following these analyses, the author is hosting a website with streaming audio or video of these recordings. The link to this site is given with each relevant example in the article, and the site as a whole can also be accessed through this link:
https://www.matthewhough.com/structuralmodelspape
VolWrestling Update Spring 2025
No full textThis is an update of the 2024-2025 season of the University of Tennessee\u27s National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA) Team. Season highlights, goals, and updates for alumni are included
Year-4 Progress Report on Numerical Methods for BGK-Type Kinetic Equations
No full textThis Year-Four progress report presents ongoing research, supported by subcontracts from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), on the design and analysis of numerical methods for multi-species kinetic equations. Rather than summarizing only recent developments, this cumulative report builds upon prior work and serves as a resource for training new graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. Three new sections have been added. First, a comprehensive chapter on the multi-species Boltzmann equation addresses gaps in the literature and offers a modern, pedagogical introduction to this fundamental kinetic framework. Second, we introduce a novel iterative solver for moment equations derived from the space-homogeneous multi-species BGK model, laying the groundwork for more advanced numerical solvers. Third, we provide an overview of the Ellipsoidal Statistical BGK (ES-BGK) model, which improves upon the basic BGK model by better capturing fluid dynamics in the Navier–Stokes and Euler limits. The report also reviews recent progress on the numerical solution of BGK-type kinetic equations, highlighting the challenges posed by high-dimensional phase space, nonlocal particle interactions, and numerical stiffness. To address these, we describe strategies including high-order finite volume methods, implicit-explicit (IMEX) time integrators, adaptive multi-level methods, discrete velocity schemes, and moment-based approaches. Preliminary implementations are developed in MATLAB for prototyping, with plans to migrate to modern production software. The report concludes with a summary of achieved milestones and outlines directions for future work, particularly in developing robust solvers for the ES-BGK model
Essays on the Economics of Conservation Policy: Impacts of Protected Areas, Wildfire Dynamics, and Species Delisting
Get PDFThis dissertation examines the multifaceted interactions between environmental conservation policies and economic dynamics through three distinct but interrelated studies spanning the contiguous United States from 1998 to 2018.
The first chapter focuses on the economic impacts of Protected Area Designations (PADs) on land-intensive sectors (LIS), such as agriculture, forestry, and construction. Using a Poisson Pseudo-Maximum Likelihood model with High-Dimensional Fixed Effects (PPMLHDFE), this study uncovers non-linear relationships between PAD coverage and business dynamics, including establishment births, exits, and relocations at both intra- and inter-state levels. Results emphasize the critical role of conservation stringency in shaping regional economies.
The second chapter evaluates the economic consequences of wildfires in California, analyzing the frequency and intensity of wildfires and their differential effects on LIS and non-land-intensive sectors (non-LIS). Findings reveal that wildfire frequency destabilizes LIS through increased establishment deaths and outward relocations, while wildfire intensity generates opportunities for recovery-oriented sectors like construction. This study provides actionable insights into disaster resilience and sectoral adaptation.
The third chapter examines the post-recovery economic impacts of delisting the Louisiana Black Bear under the Endangered Species Act. Using proprietary establishment-level data, it highlights the temporal and spatial dimensions of delisting effects on LIS and non-LIS, revealing trade-offs between economic growth and conservation recovery. Findings underscore the importance of monitoring post-delisting dynamics to align economic and environmental goals.
Together, these studies contribute to the fields of conservation economics, disaster economics, and land-use policy by offering a nuanced understanding of how conservation interventions influence economic landscapes. Policymakers can leverage these insights to design adaptive, spatially targeted strategies that balance ecological preservation with economic development
Using High Performance Additives in Fused Filament Fabrication to Improve Mechanical Properties
Get PDFFused filament fabrication (FFF) is an extrusion-based additive manufacturing (AM) technique that uses thermoplastic filaments as the feedstock material to build objects from printed layers. The layer-wise build approach of this technology allows for tremendous flexibility in design, however there are a limited number of feedstock materials that produce printed structures with robust mechanical properties. Printed structures made by FFF usually suffer from mechanical anisotropy due to poor interfacial bonding of the filament material between successive layers. This introduces voids throughout the printed structure that act as stress concentrators and, as a, result the mechanical properties of FFF printed parts are inferior compared to the properties of the bulk material. This dissertation work focuses on developing stronger feedstock filament materials for FFF by polymer blending. To accomplish this I explored strategies for synthesizing and preparing polymer additives for polymer feedstocks. In addition, I examined how incorporating an engineering thermoplastic with excellent mechanical properties poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (PPO) affects the mechanical properties of three commodity thermoplastics, polystyrene (PS), poly(acrylonitrile-styrene-acrylate) (ASA), and poly(acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) (ABS). The mechanical properties of each of these polymers were enhanced with the addition of PPO at low loading levels. Furthermore, ToF-SIMS analysis was conducted to assess the dispersion of PPO in the matrix polymers (ASA and ABS) at various loading levels. The results from this study strongly suggest that PPO is well distributed on the surface of the printed specimens. This demonstrates that is a polymer blending specifically by solution casting promotes uniform dispersion and distribution of polymer additives into intricate phase-separated matrices. These studies also show that polymer blending is a simple and yet powerful approach for developing new polymer-based feedstock materials with robust mechanical properties for printing by FFF
Understanding the Switching Dynamics in Memristor Materials using Large-scale Simulations and Deep Learning Methods
Get PDFThe discovery of multifunctional properties such as ferroelectricity in hexagonal nitride and oxide materials has sparked renewed interest in wurtzite materials, given their compatibility with CMOS integration and tunable optical and piezoelectric properties. However, the origin of ferroelectricity and its switching mechanism under electric fields remain poorly understood, posing challenges for designing and improving low-power microelectronic devices based on these materials. Similarly, in ferroelectrics like BaTiO, polar domain walls at the nanoscale show promise for memory devices, but their structure and dynamics, particularly in defective materials, are not well characterized. In this work, we address these gaps by performing largescale simulations to investigate both the field-induced switching in wurtzite-ZnO and the nanoscale domain-wall dynamics in pristine and defective BaTiO. Using reactive force fields of BaTiO and a graph dynamical neural network approach, we capture atomistic switching mechanisms, extract energy barriers, and reveal the role of defects such as oxygen vacancies in slowing dipole relaxation and influencing domain-wall dynamics on the hysteretic behavior \cite{dhakane2023graph}. In addition, we analyzed ferroelectric switching trajectories in ZnO with/without Mg-dopants and identified the key switching mechanism in good agreement with recent experimental results \cite{calderon2023atomic, dhakane2025understanding}. Furthermore, large-scale simulations revealed a new design principle on how to lower the coercive fields in wurtzite ferroelectrics, that will revolutionize their adoption in making low-power microelectronic devices. More generally, we show the power of combining large-scale simulations and data analytics, including deep learning techniques to provide a new paradigm of {\em ‘dynamics-by-design’} for discovering novel functional materials. In addition to field-induced switching, advantage of this paradigm in controlling out-of-equilibrium processes such as material synthesis will also be discussed in the outlook section of this thesis
I was never going to be fully included : Transgender Sport Participants\u27 Experiences of the Athletic Transition Process
Get PDFTransgender eligibility and participation in sport has a long history of being policed by such means as sex testing of athletes participating in women’s competitions, continually changing eligibility policies from sport organizations, and increasing anti-transgender sport legislation (Harper, 2020; Heggie, 2010; Jones et al., 2017b; Love, 2017; Martowicz et al., 2023; NCAA, 2022; Photopoulos, 2021; Trans Legislation Tracker, 2024; World Athletics, 2023). Expanding on previous research about transgender athletes’ experiences of the athletic transition process (Klein et al., 2018, 2019), the purpose of this study was to utilize an intersectional transfeminist lens to understand the experiences of adult transgender sport participants throughout the process of athletically transitioning from one gender category (e.g., men’s, women’s, mixed) in sport to another. Applying a basic qualitative research design, I conducted semi-structured interviews via Zoom with 14 participants. Using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis to analyze the interview transcripts, transgender sport participants’ experiences of the athletic transition process centered around the following five themes: (a) Discrimination, (b) Policies, (c) Social Connection, (d) Importance of Support, and (e) Athletic (In)Ability. Participants feared potential discrimination and experienced actual discrimination by having their identities delegitimized. Participants discussed the impact that sport organizations’ policies had on their ability to athletically transition, which included completing administrative tasks, restricting participation, and enabling participation. Transgender sport participants described their experiences of social connection, which included both exclusionary and inclusionary experiences. The participants in this study emphasized the importance of their support system during the athletic transition process. Lastly, participants explained how their athletic (in)ability served as both a barrier and facilitator of the athletic transition process. Based on the findings from the current study, sport organizations must implement transfeminist-informed policy changes, openly support LGBTQ+ people in sport and LGBTQ+ organizations, and bring transgender representation to the forefront of sports to make sport a more empowering and supportive experience for all