Дисертації з теми "The Practice of Corban"

Lo scopo di questo progetto di dottorato è quello di utilizzare delle superfici metalliche nanostrutturate come substrati per la spettroscopia Raman amplificata da superfici (SERS) per l’analisi di biofluidi. Questa tecnica analitica restituisce l’impronta digitale vibrazionale del campione grazie alla presenza della nanostruttura metallica. Queste caratteristiche anticipano le potenzialità della spettroscopia SERS in campo bioanalitico che ha visto un aumento esponenziale delle sue applicazioni nell’ultimo decennio. In particolare, la SERS richiede la fabbricazione di substrati metallici nanostrutturati che possano funzionare da sensori. Questo progetto si basa sullo sviluppo di un approccio privo di marcatura (label-free:): nessuna funzionalizzazione è presente sulla superficie metallica al fine di rilevare in modo aspecifico gli analiti presenti della matrice di interesse biologico. Il risultato del segnale SERS sarà un’istantanea della soluzione in analisi depositata sulla superficie metallica, cioè l’impronta specifica del campione. Per esempio, l’analisi label-free dei biofluidi riflette il suo contenuto metabolico. Nell’era “omica”, il SERS può essere integrato nella metabolomica non funzionalizzata in quanto fornisce il profilo metabolico del soggetto in esame e di conseguenza distinguere campioni diversi basandosi sulle differenze di ogni profilo analizzato. I colloidi stabilizzati elettrostaticamente sono stati scelti per la loro nota compatibilità con i biofluidi. Verranno usati sia in forma colloidale in sospensione acquosa, sia fissati su un supporto di carta, definiti supporti solidi e sviluppati grazie a un protocollo validato nel nostro laboratorio. Il vantaggio portato dai supporti in carta risiede nella stabilità della risposta spettroscopica: sono di lunga durata, facili da fabbricare e da maneggiare, economici e veloci, potenzialmente fabbricabili su ampia scala. Queste sono le caratteristiche che nell’ambito delle applicazioni del SERS possono promuovere la costruzione di un dispositivo Point of Care. Basandosi sulle competenze acquisite dal nostro gruppo di ricerca, lo scopo di questa tesi di dottorato è duplice: aumentare le nostre conoscenze sull’interazione biofluidi-nanostrutture e utilizzare il metodo SERS per lo studio di specifici problemi clinici. Al fine di soddisfare tali richieste questo lavoro è diviso in tre parti: 1. Sviluppare protocolli per l’analisi label-free delle frazioni di sangue (siero, plasma, eritrociti, cellule mononucleate del sangue periferico, e sangue intero) con il SERS, sfruttando le loro caratteristiche in base alla diversa preparazione dei campioni e ai substrati SERS utilizzati; 2. Caratterizzare il comportamento delle biomolecole sulla superficie di nanoparticelle metalliche su sistemi modello, cioè capire il ruolo delle corone di proteine e non proteine nell’interazione metabolita-nanoparticelle. Il sistema modello usato si basa su un insieme di albumina di siero umano (la più abbondante proteina del siero) e molecole che sono comunemente osservate nei biofluidi: adenina, ipoxantina e acido urico; 3. Applicare le nozioni di cui sopra per la diagnosi precoce di diverse malattie (tumore al seno, fegato grasso non alcolico, cirrosi e carcinoma epatocellulare) tramite campioni di sangue e plasma e l’uso di analisi dati multivariata per spettri SERS. Lo scopo dell’utilizzo del SERS in ambito medico è di proporre nuovi approcci diagnostici complementari alle tecniche già in uso in clinica come ad esempio i metodi di immunochimica e istopatologia. Il vantaggio del SERS risiede nella rapida risposta e in un approccio non invasivo tramite l’utilizzo di biopsia liquida. Lo scopo futuro è lo sviluppo di una piattaforma SERS label-free come dispositivo point of care integrato allo strumento Raman
This PhD project aims to apply nanostructured metal surfaces as substrates for Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy for the study of biofluids. This analytical technique provides the vibrational fingerprint of a sample assisted by nanostructured metal surfaces, which can enhance the scattering signal of analytes adsorbed on them: this allows detection of analytes in very low concentrations. These features tell a lot about the potential of SERS in the bioanalytics, and indeed, in this field, the use of SERS has increased over the past decade taking advantage of both sensitive detection and fingerprinting features. Above all, SERS requires the manufacturing of metal nanostructured substrates as sensors. In particular, this project is based on the development of a label-free approach: no functionalization is present on the nanoparticles surface, and, hence, no preferential affinity for a given analyte in the biological matrix is sought. Briefly, once nanoparticles are in contact with the specimen, the analytes may adsorb on them without any specific interaction other than their affinity for the metal. The outcoming SERS signal will be a snapshot of what actually reached the metal surface, namely a fingerprint of the sample. For instance, the label-free analysis of biofluids reflect the metabolic content of the fluid itself. In the “omic” era, SERS can integrate with untargeted metabolomics and provide the metabolic profile of a specimen and distinguish different samples accordingly, based on differences in such profiles. Silver colloids have been chosen, given that their performances with biofluids are known. They have been used both as colloidal suspension in water, and fixed on a paper support, according to an in-house developed protocol for the fabrication of solid substrates. The coupling of metal nanostructures substrates with SERS acts as actual sensors, able to interact with aqueous environment and detect dissolved analytes. The real advantage of the paper supports lay in the stability of the spectroscopic response: they are long lasting, easy to fabricate and to handle, cost and time effective, prone to scale up. These reasons make them potential Point of Care tool in the frame of SERS applications. The aim of this PhD thesis is twofold: to push forward our fundamental knowledge of the nanostructure-biofluid interaction and to test the feasibility of the application of SERS for specific clinical problems. These goals were pursued in three steps: 1. to develop protocols for the label-free analysis of blood fractions (serum, plasma, erythrocytes, periphereal blood mononuclear cells, and whole blood) with SERS, exploiting their features according to several treatments and SERS substrates; 2. to characterize the behaviour of biomolecules at the interface with metal nanoparticles on model systems, namely to understand the role of the protein and non-protein corona in the metabolites-nanoparticle interaction. The model system used is based on mixture of human serum albumin (i.e. the most abundant serum protein) and molecules which are commonly detected in SERS of biofluids: adenine, hypoxanthine and uric acid; 3. to apply the aforementioned knowledge to the early diagnosis of several diseases (breast cancer, non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma) through serum and plasma samples by means of multivariate data analysis of SERS spectra. Considering the latter application of SERS in the field of disease diagnosis, the aim is to provide new diagnostic methods complementary to the accepted gold standards such as immunochemistry and histopathology methods. The advantages of SERS lay on the rapid response and on the non-invasiveness of the liquid biopsy approach. As a future goal, the development of SERS platforms as label-free point of care tools integrated to portable Raman instruments could bring the diagnosis

Con el aumento en el uso de las TIC para el aprendizaje en distintos campos, resalta el crecimiento de las comunidades en línea, sobre todo de aquellas enfocadas al aprendizaje de lenguas, que plantean nuevos intereses de investigación en relación con el aprendizaje informal. Existen, pues, distintas investigaciones en el campo que han logrado estudiar aquellas comunidades online que se centran en el aprendizaje informal colaborativo de idiomas con el objetivo de aportar en el área de educación abriendo discusiones acerca de la creación de nuevos métodos de enseñanza y aprendizaje. Es por ello que la presente investigación busca analizar el aprendizaje informal en función de las interacciones entre los usuarios de la comunidad Aprende Coreano Amino la cual se caracteriza por ser una comunidad de aprendizaje de coreano en la que los participantes aportan y consumen contenido con el fin de aprender la lengua coreana mediante sus interacciones dentro de la plataforma. Con tal fin, se indagará sobre la motivación de los miembros para participar en la comunidad, y sobre sus prácticas y espacios de afinidad que se desarrollan dentro de la misma. Para lograrlo, se empleará el método netnográfico. Asimismo, se contactará a un grupo de participantes de la misma comunidad y se obtendrá el consentimiento para realizar entrevistas y observar su actividad en la plataforma durante un período determinado de tiempo. Por último, los datos recogidos por estas técnicas se analizarán mediante el análisis de contenido.
Along with the growing use of ICT on learning, the growth of online communities stands out, especially those focused on learning foreign languages. This has raised interest in doing research on informal learning. There are various studies that have focused on those online communities around collaborative informal language learning, aiming to improve theory on education studies by starting discussions on the creation of new studying and learning methods. This study also aims to analyze informal learning through the interactions of the users of the community Aprende Coreano Amino. This community is one of Korean language learning and members are supposed to build knowledge through their interactions. To reach our goals, the motivations of the members will be studied, as well as their practices and the affinity spaces within the platform. In order to do so, the netnographic approach will be used. In addition, a group of users will be contacted and asked for their consent to be interviewed and observed on the platform for a period of time. Finally, the collected data will be analyzed through the content analysis.
Trabajo de investigación

Orientador: Leticia Bicalho Canedo
Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadudal de Campinas, Faculdade de Educação
Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-11T01:39:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Santos_AnaRoseliPaesdos_M.pdf: 3872998 bytes, checksum: 69af0904077dc310d47caa9ccb529a72 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008
Resumo: O presente trabalho insere-se na temática da formação e prática do professor e tem como objeto o Professor de Música, especificamente o de instrumentos de cordas friccionadas. Diante das freqüentes transformações por que passam as sociedades, os ambientes de formação exigem também suas modificações no plano das diretrizes. Diante de tais fatos, nosso problema de pesquisa se estabeleceu por meio das seguintes indagações: ¿Como alguns indivíduos educados para ser músico assumem o ofício de professor¿, ¿Com constroem o conhecimento que colocam em prática?¿ e ¿Como se dá essa prática pedagógica?¿. Este estudo, portanto, foi guiado pelas hipóteses de que as formas de socialização são fatores importantes no desempenho futuro do professor e conseqüentemente na construção da sua prática; que o conjunto de valores e crenças acumuladas durante a trajetória de formação, dentre outros elementos, contribui para a perfomance servindo de base para seu desempenho. Assim, neste estudo procura-se demonstrar que a construção da prática pedagógica antecede a prática docente, pois tem suas raízes nas relações arcaicas, com ex-professores que marcaram o aprendizado quer de forma positiva ou não. Para amparar tal hipótese a pesquisa vem alicerçada pela teoria de ¿campo¿ e pela noção do habitus (BOURDIEU 1997). A metodologia privilegia o modelo exploratório com visão de etnografia por se tratar de estudo feito com pessoas. É de natureza qualitativa por explorar comportamentos e práticas sociais. Por tais características, foi possível constatar neste estudo que disposições incorporadas das diversas vivências ¿ escolares; familiares; de convívio social ¿ foram determinantes para a construção do conhecimento que o professor de cordas coloca em sala de aula
Abstract: The present work concerns the theme of teacher training and has the music teacher as its main object, specifically the string. Confronted with the frequent transformations by which societies go through, the training milieus also call for modifications as far as directives are concerned. Based on such facts, our research problem was established by means of the following inquiries: ¿How do some individuals educated to be musicians assume the role of a teacher?¿, ¿How do they build the knowledge they put into practice?¿ and ¿How does their pedagogical practice take place?¿. This study has, therefore, been oriented by the hypothesis that forms of socialization are important factors in the future accomplishments of the teacher and consequently in the construction of his or her practice; the set of values and beliefs accumulated during his or her training, among other elements, contribute to the accomplishment and give the basis for his or her performances. Therefore, the aim of this study was to demonstrate that the pedagogical practice precedes the teaching practice, for it has its roots in archaic relationships with former teachers who have positively or not marked his or her learning. To support such hypothesis, the research is backed by the ¿field¿ theory and by the notion of habitus (BOURDIEU 1997). The methodology favors the exploratory model with an ethnographic view, for it is a study carried out with people. It is qualitative in nature for it explores behaviors and social practices. For this reason, it was possible to evidence that these incorporated dispositions of the diverse life experiences ¿ school; family; social conviviality ¿ were determinant for the construction of the knowledge that the string teacher places in the classroom
Mestrado
Educação, Conhecimento, Linguagem e Arte
Mestre em Educação

The purpose of this study is to describe and thereby bring knowledge about how companies’ environmental practices can be expected to be affected by the corona crisis. The results of this study have shown that the corona crisis probably can not be expected to have a major impact on companies' implemented and planned environmental practices, at least not in a Swedish context. The results has also shown indications that companies’ planned environmental practices possibly can be expected to be negatively affected and that companies’ implemented and planned environmental practices possibly can be expected to be positively affected by the corona crisis in a Swedish context. That companies’ environmental practices can be positively affected seems to be further strengthened if we broaden our views and allow us to look beyond the corona crisis.

Past training as an athlete has driven me to reach for the unattainable goal of flawlessness. This mentality, which I apply to jewelry making, has led me to recreate the intricate angles of the athletic body and the beauty of its movements. I use gymnastics imagery within my work as a tool to communicate how we learn and understand through practice and repetition. With shifted lines, skewed shapes and geometric wirework, the jewelry tumbles over the architecture of the wearer’s body. The repetitive metal forms come together to simulate movement and enhance the physical language that a body in motion can suggests.

The thesis is a development of the making of the documentary tape L'Artiste. Le Fermier et Le Paysag. The central argument is to propose a way of looking at documentary based on the possibility of making and examining documentary material which combines narrative and non-narrative techniques and on the value of comparing non-actor contributions to improvised performance processes and outcomes. The purpose of this approach is to produce an effect upon the viewer where the viewer engages in working out what is happening within an array of possible meanings contained within the audio-visual pattern. The qualitative effect is to offer the viewer pleasure, recognition and a game of intellectual inquiry and assessment. The whole activity is termed the non-linear improvised approach to documentary. It places the maker in an ethical relationship with the participants and aims to create a democratic state of affairs for the viewer. Key areas of concern are firstly to examine the role of the participant and maker, before and during shooting. The participant develops confidence with the maker and at the time of shooting he or she is in a state of being to produce a performance which can be described as a line of energy drawn from his/her personality. Secondly, within the overall structure of the documentary attention is given to the opening, the ending and the overall patterning. Each scene produces many moments of meaning (beats) reinforcing the main theme which itself contains a cluster of meanings. Comparisons with silent cinema, the films of Jacques Tati and music hall comedians aim to illuminate the discussion. A key consequence of the non-linear improvised approach is to consider sound and image on an equal footing combining to produce a distinct style. Sound becomes a series of elements - dialogues, atmos. tracks, music and spot effects - which all have a role in the production of beats. Voice elements can be seen as much for their intrinsic poetic qualities as for their objective statements about the social world.

Translatability and translation, the possibility and act of conveying some thing between people, objects, languages, cultures, times, spaces and media, have become increasingly important elements of creative practice and works of art. My research explores this proposition. To contextualise this concept of translation as an artistic and critical method mediating the relationship of the seeable to the sayable I retrace an under-mined vein of translation that grew from the Enlightenment, the Early (Jena) Romantic response to it and its subsequent development through Walter Benjamin to other modern theorists. I suggest that this tradition of translation has developed into a creative method that assumes a pre-existent given from which it evolves in order to destabilise, re-appropriate and make-new. The thesis argues that art has come to occupy the space of translation and proposes that an interpretative mode is ultimately antithetical to a form of thought engaged with in the creative process. This relies on the understanding of a qualitative distinction between acts of translation as presentational and of interpretation as representational. The distinction is not clear-cut since these two forms of mediation operate on a continuum. The probable root of “interpret” in English is “between prices” and derives from trade. This etymology stresses the transactional, hermeneutic role of the interpreter as a responsive agent that negotiates between distinct value systems to ensure equivalence during the process of exchange. While Interpretation operates primarily within the symbolic aspect of language translation retains a relationship to metaphor, which acknowledges that during transfer something becomes something that it literally is not. It must therefore also account for Aporia, or what fails to cross over and for a-signifying, singular aspects that affect or alter the symbolic during this process. In contrast to interpretation, translation’s relation to subjectivity, its resistance to schematisation and reduction to the accurate, objective and rational transfer of information provides a prophylaxis of doubt and generates heterogeneity. The thesis triangulates my practices as artist, translator and critic using translation to destabilise and re-calibrate the relationship of theory to practice. In relation to theory, rather than use this to explain, interpret, or categorize art, it advocates the translational practice of placing in parallel so that lines of thought may be drawn from one to the other, responding to and setting up points of intersection, divergence and congruence to encourage a non-hierarchical associative-dissociative dismantling. Translation informs the research method, structure and content of the thesis, which occupies an inter-theoretical, inter-disciplinary or matrixial space. As such, it is edified through a process that derives from and displays the translational method and diverse sources that constitute it. Four case studies bring together practices employing a translational method from different periods, cultures, creative practices and theoretical sources: Bernard Leach and Ezra Pound’s modernist projects; Jorge Luis Borges’ theory of translation and Briony Fer’s re-presentation of Eva Hesse’s studio work; the Brazilian poets Haroldo and Agosto De Campos’ theory of Cannibalistic translation and painter Adriana Varejao’s work with tiles; and ceramicist Alison Britton in light of Donald Winnicott’s concept of transitional spaces.

There are several concerning issues with passwords today; one of them being weak passwords, but password management also plays a big role e.g. when the users reuses passwords over several services or don't change their passwords on a regular basis. With the usage of passwords for several aspects of our daily lives comes the responsibility of trying to mitigate these issues, a role that often falls on to the users themselves. The usage of guidelines has proved helpful in this regard but still lacks important aspects. This paper suggests the usage of education in the form of a lecture to help with the problem. In this paper we conducted a study of password leaks, a literature analysis of the area around passwords and perform some qualitative interviews with different kinds of people with varying education and usage of passwords. The results from these studies will then lay the foundation for the lecture in the experiment part of the paper, two experiment groups will be used, one given a lecture as education on the matter and one control group not given any education. The study has showed that the usage of a lecture can help increase the entropy, average length of user‟s passwords. These results can be interpreted together with another study that did a similar experiment to that a lecture can be a more efficient way to teach users about passwords.

Large regional health authorities are challenged to find effective ways to increase interprofessional and intra-regional collaboration so that expertise and knowledge can be shared, enhanced, disseminated and more effectively translated into practice. Communities of practice (CoPs) have been introduced into healthcare over the last few years as a strategy to improve knowledge translation and organizational performance. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore healthcare clinicians' experiences of being a member of a clinically-focused CoP. Semi-structured interviews with 15 CoP members were conducted and transcribed. Thematic analysis revealed participants constructed CoP in four main ways: as a learning community, a means to cope with organizational life, a mechanism to get organizational work done and as an elite group. Important participant experiences in CoPs included: supporting one another, staying on top of things, and helping each other. Although participants talked very positively about their experiences in CoPs there were also challenges and frustrations. There were two main outcomes of membership in a CoP. First the CoPs were perceived to provide an opportunity to develop a sense of belonging. Secondly, CoPs enabled changes in practice. Practice changes ranged from individuals thinking about and enacting practice differently to organization-wide changes in practice standards. Information from the perspectives of the community members about their experiences in clinically-focused CoP can be used by administrators for future planning, resourcing and providing support to CoPs. These findings extend our understanding of the implications of this important and relatively new social structure in healthcare.

This thesis explores the way General Practice trainees and early career General Practitioners describe their training environment in General Practice, the meaning they attach to the notion of preparedness and their perceptions of the impact of the training environment on their preparedness. The study was informed by the interpretivist paradigm. I conducted 27 in-depth semi-structured interviews with 15 early career General Practitioners and 12 General Practice trainees at the end of their training. Interview data were transcribed and analysed thematically, drawing partially on the grounded theory approach of data analysis. Interviewees described their training environment in terms of their sense of being included in the Practice, the Practice ethos, the importance of training within the Practice, the trainer and their relationship with the trainer. There was no unanimous way in which interviewees talked about preparedness, however the meanings attributed to preparedness centred around two central elements ‘confidence’ and ‘adaptability’ and included: working independently and being self directed; knowledge of business and partnership issues; ability to manage patients and workload; good consultation skills and effective time management; and adequate knowledge and passing the RCGP CSA examination. The way the training Practice can impact on trainees’ preparedness was explained drawing on Bandura’s theory of ‘self efficacy’ and Lave and Wenger’s theory of ‘situated learning’. Inclusive training Practices, characterised by less hierarchical relationships between the doctors, particularly vis-à-vis trainees, were better at preparing trainees for their future role by affording them greater opportunities to take part in a wider range of General Practice work. The role of the trainer was also pivotal in preparing trainees through effective teaching. Supervision tailored to trainees’ needs, and guided decision making enhanced confidence of trainees in their ability to work independently.

The thesis examines the Buddhist concept of suffering, portrayed through visual art. The central questions are how can art be used to understand Buddhist suffering and, conversely, how can Buddhist suffering be used in the creation and perception of visual art. My thesis is based on an understanding of suffering (Dhukkha) described in the Early Buddhist Texts. Suffering is addressed through the Khandhas; collective processes that recognize human subjectivity as shifting. The Khandhas show that we are just processes of cause and effect. The Khandhas also bridge divides between reason and affect, mind and body, drawing on the work of Sue Hamilton and Peter Harvey. These theorists describe a Buddhism that has been termed modernist, where there is a renewed focus on suffering. The 4 artworks use the Buddha’s principle metaphor for suffering; of being on fire. The first two suites show seated bodies burning, portraying the universality of suffering. The third suite has nuns standing in a panorama of gold, representing immanent enlightenment. The fourth suite utilizes an image of my ‘self’ as the site of suffering. The dissertation compares Dhukkha to the works of Theodor Adorno, Susan Sontag, Mieke Bal and Mark Ledbetter as theorists of suffering. Adorno saw the representation of suffering as gratuitous, reinforcing existing systems of repression. For Bal, representations of suffering are only possible through inflection; changing forms so that exploitation is removed but art remains. Buddhism however sees suffering as intrinsic to all representation. Ledbetter then posits suffering as one part of a larger process of seeing that includes voyeurism. Works by six artists are paired and compared to understand different ways of articulating suffering. Colombian artist Doris Salcedo uses materials that speak of the lives of people missing in war torn Colombia. In contrast Oscar Munoz uses video to invoke the suffering and transience of both life and images. The work of Bill Viola is examined to show immediacy in the apprehension of pain and suffering. Viola’s works are juxtaposed with Zhang Huan who uses ash to invoke existential suffering. Finally, late works by Mark Rothko and Richard Serra are analyzed to understand the transformation and ending of suffering through abstracted forms. The artworks are lastly compared to a history of Buddhist self-sacrifice, including suicide and self-immolation. Both the artworks and these acts relate to the Buddhist understanding of ‘self’. Ultimately that ‘self’ is a delusion. The understanding of the delusion provides release from suffering, which is the aim of Buddhism.

This thesis explores the impact of meditation on art practice. Its basic hypothesis is that Buddhist meditation can expand creative capacity by enabling the practitioner to transcend the limits of everyday sense experience and consciousness. Artists engaging in meditation develop a closer, more aware relationship with their emptiness mind (kongxin), freeing them from preconceptions and contexts that limit their artistic creation. Because this practice-led research focuses on how to expand one‘s freedom as an artist, I use two models to explore studio practice, then compare and contrast them with my own prior approach. A year-by-year methodology is followed, as artistic practice develops over time. The first model is studio practice in the UK, the second is Buddhist meditation before artistic activity. The research took place over three years, each representing a distinct area. Accordingly, in area 1 (the first year), I compared studio art practice in the UK with post-meditation art practice; in area 2 (the second year), I compared studio art practice in the UK with prostration practice at Bodh-gaya, India plus meditation before act activity; in area 3 (the third year), I compared studio art practice in the UK with entering a month-long meditation retreat in Taiwan before practicing art. By Buddhist meditation I refer more specifically to insight meditation, which K. Sri Dhammananda has described as follows: Buddha offers four objects of meditation for consideration: body, feeling, thoughts, and mental states. The basis of the Satipatthana (Pāli, refers to a "foundation" for a "presence" of mindfulness) practice is to use these four objects for the development of concentration, mindfulness, and insight or understanding of our-self and the world around you. Satipatthana offers the most simple, direct, and effective method for training the mind to meet daily tasks and problems and to achieve the highest aim: liberation. (K. Sri II Dhammananda 1987:59) In my own current meditation practice before art practice, I sit in a lotus position and focus on breathing in and breathing out, so that my mind achieves a state of emptiness and calm and my body becomes relaxed yet fully energized and free. When embarking on artistic activity after meditation, the practice of art then emerges automatically from this enhanced body/mind awareness. For an artist from an Eastern culture, this post-meditation art seems to differ from the practices of Western art, even those that seek to eliminate intention (e.g. Pollock), in that the artist‘s action seem to genuinely escape cogito: that is, break free of the rational dimensions of creating art. In my training and development as a studio artist, I applied cogito all the time, but this frequently generated body/mind conflict, which became most apparent after leaving the studio at the end of the day: I always felt exhausted, and what was worse, the art that I created was somehow limited. However, my experience was that Buddhist meditation, when applied before undertaking art practice, establishes body/mind harmony and empties the mind. For this artist at least, this discovery seemed to free my art as it emerged from emptiness through the agency of my energized hand. It was this, admittedly highly personal, experience that led me to undertake the research that informs this thesis.

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Position Statement of Developmentally Appropriate Practices (2009) serves as a pedagogical framework for best practice among early childhood educators. Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) is guided by what is known about how children develop and learn. Teachers draw upon these principles to make decisions about planning experiences which promote learning and optimize children's growth. The DAP statement is accepted in the early childhood field as the standard by which quality early learning experiences are defined and is used as a guidepost for planning (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009).

Copple and Bredekamp (2009) state that "intentional teachers are purposeful and thoughtful about the actions they take, and they direct their teaching towards the goals the program is trying to help children reach" (p. 10).

This qualitative descriptive study explored preschool teachers' perceptions of DAP and their use of DAP in planning learning experiences. Semi-structured interviews and document analyses were utilized to examine potential gaps between preschool teachers' perceptions and more fully understand daily planning decisions related to DAP. Utilizing Rubin and Rubin's responsive interviewing model (2012), (N=7) degreed preschool teachers employed at NAEYC accredited group care facilities were interviewed. Findings revealed inconsistencies among teachers' descriptions of key learning experiences for preschool children, implementation of learning experiences, and planning practices, thus, indicating a disconnect between theory and DAP.

The findings of this study may benefit pre-service and in-service teacher training programs as well as administrators of childcare centers. It is useful in identifying ways in which preschool teachers' understandings of developmentally appropriate practice can be further supported and developmentally inappropriate perceptions can be challenged.

The contemporarya cousticg uitarh asd evelopedfr om its origins in the 'Spanish' guitar to become a global instrument and the musical voice of a wide range of styles. The very 'acousticity' of the instrumentp ositionsi t as a binary oppositet o the electric guitar ano as a signifier for the organic and the natural world, artistry and maturity,e clecticisma ndt he esoteric.I n this concept-rootedsu bmissiont,h e acoustica nd guitaristicn atureo f the instrumentis consideredin relationt o a range of social, cultural and artistic concerns, and composition is used primarily to test a thesis, wherein a portfolio of original compositions, presented as recordings and understooda s phonogramsc, ommentu pona ndr eflect uponm odeso f performativity: instrument specific performance, introspection, virtuosity, mediation by technology and performance subjectivities.

Practice has the potential to transform a musician’s expertise by elevating technical and musical limitations to full competence, allowing a musician to play masterfully at a professional level (Ericsson, Krampe, & Tesch-Römer, 1993; Johnston, 2002; Sloboda, Davidson, Howe, & Moore, 1996). While the research literature underlines some pedagogical and psychological principles on how to practise, there is a need to identify strategies, inspirations, thoughts, and artistic behaviours that will lead to practice mastery and excellence in performance (Cervion, Laws, Lettberg, & Lisboa, 2012; Gerle, 1983; Miksza, 2007). To date, most of the studies related to effective practice have been conducted with students in higher education (Hallam, 2001). This research aims to evaluate how professional performers conceptualise and approach practice, and to observe how they are able to make practice theory meaningful. Six performance experts participated in an interview regarding practice. The interviews explored how the participants address and structure practice, how they handle obstacles, and how they prepare for performances. The participants discussed the importance of mental preparation, and unanimously described the value of mental practice in the learning of new works. For these performers, practice was never the ultimate objective, only a means to achieve progress in performance and to convey to an audience the delivery of art. This study aims to redefine existing practice concepts by appraising musicians and pedagogues of current expert approaches and demonstrating how these are implemented. It will identify how knowledge of theory needs to be enacted to experience expert practice mastery. These findings will benefit and advance pre-professional performers in their pursuit of excellence in performance as they prepare for the music profession.

As newly licensed registered nurses enter their first nursing role, their perceived preparation for practice may vary. This descriptive study addressed the education-practice gap that exists as nurses transition into nursing practice. The use of Benner's skill acquisition model offers a structure for connecting theory to practice. New graduate nurses responded to the Casey-Fink Graduate Nurse Experience Survey-© to identify gaps in preparedness for novice practice. A convenience sample of nurses within the first 12 months of hire (n = 35) was sent the survey link by educators from the chosen sites. Anonymity was maintained with 18 total responses and 5 respondents completing the entire 25-question survey. Responses were analyzed via descriptive statistics. New graduate nurses either strongly agreed or agreed that they were prepared for their new role and received positive support from preceptors and staff. However, nurses disagreed or strongly disagreed that they were prepared for transition from student to nurse in the areas of workload, unit integration, system, and interpersonal concerns. Thirty percent also felt uncomfortable with independent performance of some technical skills, such as emergency management and blood administration. None of the new graduate nurses felt unprepared in professional skills related to leadership, communication, and decision making, a finding which contrasts with the literature, which indicates that these are areas of difficulty for new graduates. These findings can be used to structure curriculum and educational strategies to address the perceptions of preparedness and transition-to-practice concerns discovered in this project. This project may lead to social change in its attempt to close the education-practice gap with a stronger population of new graduate nurses.

The work here presented is a reaction to a number of issues within contemporary turntablism. Firstly, the perceived disparity between the turntable traditions of hip-hop and the avant-garde has been analysed, and a number of new works created in order to explore the possibilities for greater hybridity between these two playing styles. Secondly, the rapidly changing landscape of turntable technology has been addressed, and conclusions drawn concerning both the new technical and sonic opportunities afforded by the new technology and the influence of these changes on existing playing styles and techniques. Finally, one of the defining characteristics of the instrument – the need to choose source material before playing – has been explored, in order to make judgements concerning the interplay between technique, style and the chosen sonic materials. These different strands of practice-led research all feed into an overarching discussion of idiomatic playing, and the findings of these projects help to define what that phrase might mean for contemporary turntablists.

This thesis aims to read Kierkegaard's work, and iIi 'particular the Postscript, under his own assessment of his writing as communication.This way of reading Kierkegaard has, I argue, been neglected in the predominant strands of secondary commentary, namely, blunt readings and deconstructive readings that typically take Kierkegaard's communicative work as subsidiary to his theoretical contributions. By building upon the recent works of Conant atf