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Description
ABSTRACT 1. Aposematic signals advertise prey distastefulness or metabolic unprofitability to potential predators and have evolved independently in many prey groups over the course of evolutionary history as a means of protection from predation. Most aposematic signals investigated to date exhibit highly chromatic patterning; however, relatives in these toxic groups with patterns of very low chroma have been largely overlooked. 2. We propose that bright displays with low chroma arose in toxic prey species because they were more effective at deterring predation than were their chromatic counterparts, especially when viewed in relatively low light environments such as forest understories. 3. We analyzed the reflectance and radiance of color patches on the wings of 90 tropical butterfly species that belong to groups with documented toxicity that vary in their habitat preferences to test this prediction: Warning signal chroma and perceived chromaticity are expected to be higher and brightness lower in species that fly in open environments when compared to those that fly in forested environments. 4. Analyses of the reflectance and radiance of warning color patches and predator visual modeling support this prediction. Moreover, phylogenetic tests, which correct for statistical non-independence due to phylogenetic relatedness of test species, also support the hypothesis of an evolutionary correlation between perceived chromaticity of aposematic signals and the flight habits of the butterflies that exhibit these signals.
ContributorsDouglas, Jonathan Marion (Author) / Rutowski, Ronald L (Thesis advisor) / Gadau, Juergen (Committee member) / McGraw, Kevin J. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
In order to cope with the decreasing availability of symphony jobs and collegiate faculty positions, many musicians are starting to pursue less traditional career paths. Also, to combat declining audiences, musicians are exploring ways to cultivate new and enthusiastic listeners through relevant and engaging performances. Due to these challenges, many community-based chamber music ensembles have been formed throughout the United States. These groups not only focus on performing classical music, but serve the needs of their communities as well. The problem, however, is that many musicians have not learned the business skills necessary to create these career opportunities. In this document I discuss the steps ensembles must take to develop sustainable careers. I first analyze how groups build a strong foundation through getting to know their communities and creating core values. I then discuss branding and marketing so ensembles can develop a public image and learn how to publicize themselves. This is followed by an investigation of how ensembles make and organize their money. I then examine the ways groups ensure long-lasting relationships with their communities and within the ensemble. I end by presenting three case studies of professional ensembles to show how groups create and maintain successful careers. Ensembles must develop entrepreneurship skills in addition to cultivating their artistry. These business concepts are crucial to the longevity of chamber groups. Through interviews of successful ensemble members and my own personal experiences in the Tetra String Quartet, I provide a guide for musicians to use when creating a community-based ensemble.
ContributorsDalbey, Jenna (Author) / Landschoot, Thomas (Thesis advisor) / McLin, Katherine (Committee member) / Ryan, Russell (Committee member) / Solis, Theodore (Committee member) / Spring, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
American Primitive is a composition written for wind ensemble with an instrumentation of flute, oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones, trumpet, horn, trombone, euphonium, tuba, piano, and percussion. The piece is approximately twelve minutes in duration and was written September - December 2013. American Primitive is absolute music (i.e. it does not follow a specific narrative) comprising blocks of distinct, contrasting gestures which bookend a central region of delicate textural layering and minimal gestural contrast. Though three gestures (a descending interval followed by a smaller ascending interval, a dynamic swell, and a chordal "chop") were consciously employed throughout, it is the first gesture of the three that creates a sense of unification and overall coherence to the work. Additionally, the work challenges listeners' expectations of traditional wind ensemble music by featuring the trumpet as a quasi-soloist whose material is predominately inspired by transcriptions of jazz solos. This jazz-inspired material is at times mimicked and further developed by the ensemble, also often in a soloistic manner while the trumpet maintains its role throughout. This interplay of dialogue between the "soloists" and the "ensemble" further skews listeners' conceptions of traditional wind ensemble music by featuring almost every instrument in the ensemble. Though the term "American Primitive" is usually associated with the "naïve art" movement, it bears no association to the music presented in this work. Instead, the term refers to the author's own compositional attitudes, education, and aesthetic interests.
ContributorsJandreau, Joshua (Composer) / Rockmaker, Jody D (Thesis advisor) / Rogers, Rodney I (Committee member) / Demars, James R (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
A multitude of individuals across the globe suffer from hearing loss and that number continues to grow. Cochlear implants, while having limitations, provide electrical input for users enabling them to "hear" and more fully interact socially with their environment. There has been a clinical shift to the bilateral placement of implants in both ears and to bimodal placement of a hearing aid in the contralateral ear if residual hearing is present. However, there is potentially more to subsequent speech perception for bilateral and bimodal cochlear implant users than the electric and acoustic input being received via these modalities. For normal listeners vision plays a role and Rosenblum (2005) points out it is a key feature of an integrated perceptual process. Logically, cochlear implant users should also benefit from integrated visual input. The question is how exactly does vision provide benefit to bilateral and bimodal users. Eight (8) bilateral and 5 bimodal participants received randomized experimental phrases previously generated by Liss et al. (1998) in auditory and audiovisual conditions. The participants recorded their perception of the input. Data were consequently analyzed for percent words correct, consonant errors, and lexical boundary error types. Overall, vision was found to improve speech perception for bilateral and bimodal cochlear implant participants. Each group experienced a significant increase in percent words correct when visual input was added. With vision bilateral participants reduced consonant place errors and demonstrated increased use of syllabic stress cues used in lexical segmentation. Therefore, results suggest vision might provide perceptual benefits for bilateral cochlear implant users by granting access to place information and by augmenting cues for syllabic stress in the absence of acoustic input. On the other hand vision did not provide the bimodal participants significantly increased access to place and stress cues. Therefore the exact mechanism by which bimodal implant users improved speech perception with the addition of vision is unknown. These results point to the complexities of audiovisual integration during speech perception and the need for continued research regarding the benefit vision provides to bilateral and bimodal cochlear implant users.
ContributorsLudwig, Cimarron (Author) / Liss, Julie (Thesis advisor) / Dorman, Michael (Committee member) / Azuma, Tamiko (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
This project is a practical annotated bibliography of original works for oboe trio with the specific instrumentation of two oboes and English horn. Presenting descriptions of 116 readily available oboe trios, this project is intended to promote awareness, accessibility, and performance of compositions within this genre.
The annotated bibliography focuses exclusively on original, published works for two oboes and English horn. Unpublished works, arrangements, works that are out of print and not available through interlibrary loan, or works that feature slightly altered instrumentation are not included.
Entries in this annotated bibliography are listed alphabetically by the last name of the composer. Each entry includes the dates of the composer and a brief biography, followed by the title of the work, composition date, commission, and dedication of the piece. Also included are the names of publishers, the length of the entire piece in minutes and seconds, and an incipit of the first one to eight measures for each movement of the work.
In addition to providing a comprehensive and detailed bibliography of oboe trios, this document traces the history of the oboe trio and includes biographical sketches of each composer cited, allowing readers to place the genre of oboe trios and each individual composition into its historical context. Four appendices at the end include a list of trios arranged alphabetically by composer's last name, chronologically by the date of composition, and by country of origin and a list of publications of Ludwig van Beethoven's oboe trios from the 1940s and earlier.
The annotated bibliography focuses exclusively on original, published works for two oboes and English horn. Unpublished works, arrangements, works that are out of print and not available through interlibrary loan, or works that feature slightly altered instrumentation are not included.
Entries in this annotated bibliography are listed alphabetically by the last name of the composer. Each entry includes the dates of the composer and a brief biography, followed by the title of the work, composition date, commission, and dedication of the piece. Also included are the names of publishers, the length of the entire piece in minutes and seconds, and an incipit of the first one to eight measures for each movement of the work.
In addition to providing a comprehensive and detailed bibliography of oboe trios, this document traces the history of the oboe trio and includes biographical sketches of each composer cited, allowing readers to place the genre of oboe trios and each individual composition into its historical context. Four appendices at the end include a list of trios arranged alphabetically by composer's last name, chronologically by the date of composition, and by country of origin and a list of publications of Ludwig van Beethoven's oboe trios from the 1940s and earlier.
ContributorsSassaman, Melissa Ann (Author) / Schuring, Martin (Thesis advisor) / Buck, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Holbrook, Amy (Committee member) / Hill, Gary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
During attempted fixation, the eyes are not still but continue to produce so called "fixational eye movements", which include microsaccades, drift, and tremor. Microsaccades are thought to help prevent and restore vision loss during fixation, and to correct fixation errors, but how they contribute to these functions remains a matter of debate. This dissertation presents the results of four experiments conducted to address current controversies concerning the role of microsaccades in visibility and oculomotor control.
The first two experiments set out to correlate microsaccade production with the visibility of foveal and peripheral targets of varied spatial frequencies, during attempted fixation. The results indicate that microsaccades restore the visibility of both peripheral targets and targets presented entirely within the fovea, as a function of their spatial frequency characteristics.
The last two experiments set out to determine the role of microsaccades and drifts on the correction of gaze-position errors due to blinks in human and non-human primates, and to characterize microsaccades forming square-wave jerks (SWJs) in non-human primates. The results showed that microsaccades, but not drifts, correct gaze-position errors due to blinks, and that SWJ production and dynamic properties are equivalent in human and non-human primates.
These combined findings suggest that microsaccades, like saccades, serve multiple and non-exclusive functional roles in vision and oculomotor control, as opposed to having a single specialized function.
The first two experiments set out to correlate microsaccade production with the visibility of foveal and peripheral targets of varied spatial frequencies, during attempted fixation. The results indicate that microsaccades restore the visibility of both peripheral targets and targets presented entirely within the fovea, as a function of their spatial frequency characteristics.
The last two experiments set out to determine the role of microsaccades and drifts on the correction of gaze-position errors due to blinks in human and non-human primates, and to characterize microsaccades forming square-wave jerks (SWJs) in non-human primates. The results showed that microsaccades, but not drifts, correct gaze-position errors due to blinks, and that SWJ production and dynamic properties are equivalent in human and non-human primates.
These combined findings suggest that microsaccades, like saccades, serve multiple and non-exclusive functional roles in vision and oculomotor control, as opposed to having a single specialized function.
ContributorsCostela, Francisco M (Author) / Crook, Sharon M (Committee member) / Martinez-Conde, Susana (Committee member) / Macknik, Stephen L. (Committee member) / Baer, Stephen (Committee member) / McCamy, Michael B (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
The ability to plan, execute, and control goal oriented reaching and grasping movements is among the most essential functions of the brain. Yet, these movements are inherently variable; a result of the noise pervading the neural signals underlying sensorimotor processing. The specific influences and interactions of these noise processes remain unclear. Thus several studies have been performed to elucidate the role and influence of sensorimotor noise on movement variability. The first study focuses on sensory integration and movement planning across the reaching workspace. An experiment was designed to examine the relative contributions of vision and proprioception to movement planning by measuring the rotation of the initial movement direction induced by a perturbation of the visual feedback prior to movement onset. The results suggest that contribution of vision was relatively consistent across the evaluated workspace depths; however, the influence of vision differed between the vertical and later axes indicate that additional factors beyond vision and proprioception influence movement planning of 3-dimensional movements. If the first study investigated the role of noise in sensorimotor integration, the second and third studies investigate relative influence of sensorimotor noise on reaching performance. Specifically, they evaluate how the characteristics of neural processing that underlie movement planning and execution manifest in movement variability during natural reaching. Subjects performed reaching movements with and without visual feedback throughout the movement and the patterns of endpoint variability were compared across movement directions. The results of these studies suggest a primary role of visual feedback noise in shaping patterns of variability and in determining the relative influence of planning and execution related noise sources. The final work considers a computational approach to characterizing how sensorimotor processes interact to shape movement variability. A model of multi-modal feedback control was developed to simulate the interaction of planning and execution noise on reaching variability. The model predictions suggest that anisotropic properties of feedback noise significantly affect the relative influence of planning and execution noise on patterns of reaching variability.
ContributorsApker, Gregory Allen (Author) / Buneo, Christopher A (Thesis advisor) / Helms Tillery, Stephen (Committee member) / Santello, Marco (Committee member) / Santos, Veronica (Committee member) / Si, Jennie (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Image Understanding is a long-established discipline in computer vision, which encompasses a body of advanced image processing techniques, that are used to locate (“where”), characterize and recognize (“what”) objects, regions, and their attributes in the image. However, the notion of “understanding” (and the goal of artificial intelligent machines) goes beyond factual recall of the recognized components and includes reasoning and thinking beyond what can be seen (or perceived). Understanding is often evaluated by asking questions of increasing difficulty. Thus, the expected functionalities of an intelligent Image Understanding system can be expressed in terms of the functionalities that are required to answer questions about an image. Answering questions about images require primarily three components: Image Understanding, question (natural language) understanding, and reasoning based on knowledge. Any question, asking beyond what can be directly seen, requires modeling of commonsense (or background/ontological/factual) knowledge and reasoning.
Knowledge and reasoning have seen scarce use in image understanding applications. In this thesis, we demonstrate the utilities of incorporating background knowledge and using explicit reasoning in image understanding applications. We first present a comprehensive survey of the previous work that utilized background knowledge and reasoning in understanding images. This survey outlines the limited use of commonsense knowledge in high-level applications. We then present a set of vision and reasoning-based methods to solve several applications and show that these approaches benefit in terms of accuracy and interpretability from the explicit use of knowledge and reasoning. We propose novel knowledge representations of image, knowledge acquisition methods, and a new implementation of an efficient probabilistic logical reasoning engine that can utilize publicly available commonsense knowledge to solve applications such as visual question answering, image puzzles. Additionally, we identify the need for new datasets that explicitly require external commonsense knowledge to solve. We propose the new task of Image Riddles, which requires a combination of vision, and reasoning based on ontological knowledge; and we collect a sufficiently large dataset to serve as an ideal testbed for vision and reasoning research. Lastly, we propose end-to-end deep architectures that can combine vision, knowledge and reasoning modules together and achieve large performance boosts over state-of-the-art methods.
Knowledge and reasoning have seen scarce use in image understanding applications. In this thesis, we demonstrate the utilities of incorporating background knowledge and using explicit reasoning in image understanding applications. We first present a comprehensive survey of the previous work that utilized background knowledge and reasoning in understanding images. This survey outlines the limited use of commonsense knowledge in high-level applications. We then present a set of vision and reasoning-based methods to solve several applications and show that these approaches benefit in terms of accuracy and interpretability from the explicit use of knowledge and reasoning. We propose novel knowledge representations of image, knowledge acquisition methods, and a new implementation of an efficient probabilistic logical reasoning engine that can utilize publicly available commonsense knowledge to solve applications such as visual question answering, image puzzles. Additionally, we identify the need for new datasets that explicitly require external commonsense knowledge to solve. We propose the new task of Image Riddles, which requires a combination of vision, and reasoning based on ontological knowledge; and we collect a sufficiently large dataset to serve as an ideal testbed for vision and reasoning research. Lastly, we propose end-to-end deep architectures that can combine vision, knowledge and reasoning modules together and achieve large performance boosts over state-of-the-art methods.
ContributorsAditya, Somak (Author) / Baral, Chitta (Thesis advisor) / Yang, Yezhou (Thesis advisor) / Aloimonos, Yiannis (Committee member) / Lee, Joohyung (Committee member) / Li, Baoxin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
ContributorsPagano, Caio, 1940- (Performer) / Mechetti, Fabio (Conductor) / Buck, Elizabeth (Performer) / Schuring, Martin (Performer) / Spring, Robert (Performer) / Rodrigues, Christiano (Performer) / Landschoot, Thomas (Performer) / Rotaru, Catalin (Performer) / Avanti Festival Orchestra (Performer) / ASU Library. Music Library (Publisher)
Created2018-03-02
Description
Growing understanding of the neural code and how to speak it has allowed for notable advancements in neural prosthetics. With commercially-available implantable systems with bi- directional neural communication on the horizon, there is an increasing imperative to develop high resolution interfaces that can survive the environment and be well tolerated by the nervous system under chronic use. The sensory encoding aspect optimally interfaces at a scale sufficient to evoke perception but focal in nature to maximize resolution and evoke more complex and nuanced sensations. Microelectrode arrays can maintain high spatial density, operating on the scale of cortical columns, and can be either penetrating or non-penetrating. The non-penetrating subset sits on the tissue surface without puncturing the parenchyma and is known to engender minimal tissue response and less damage than the penetrating counterpart, improving long term viability in vivo. Provided non-penetrating microelectrodes can consistently evoke perception and maintain a localized region of activation, non-penetrating micro-electrodes may provide an ideal platform for a high performing neural prosthesis; this dissertation explores their functional capacity.
The scale at which non-penetrating electrode arrays can interface with cortex is evaluated in the context of extracting useful information. Articulate movements were decoded from surface microelectrode electrodes, and additional spatial analysis revealed unique signal content despite dense electrode spacing. With a basis for data extraction established, the focus shifts towards the information encoding half of neural interfaces. Finite element modeling was used to compare tissue recruitment under surface stimulation across electrode scales. Results indicated charge density-based metrics provide a reasonable approximation for current levels required to evoke a visual sensation and showed tissue recruitment increases exponentially with electrode diameter. Micro-scale electrodes (0.1 – 0.3 mm diameter) could sufficiently activate layers II/III in a model tuned to striate cortex while maintaining focal radii of activated tissue.
In vivo testing proceeded in a nonhuman primate model. Stimulation consistently evoked visual percepts at safe current thresholds. Tracking perception thresholds across one year reflected stable values within minimal fluctuation. Modulating waveform parameters was found useful in reducing charge requirements to evoke perception. Pulse frequency and phase asymmetry were each used to reduce thresholds, improve charge efficiency, lower charge per phase – charge density metrics associated with tissue damage. No impairments to photic perception were observed during the course of the study, suggesting limited tissue damage from array implantation or electrically induced neurotoxicity. The subject consistently identified stimulation on closely spaced electrodes (2 mm center-to-center) as separate percepts, indicating sub-visual degree discrete resolution may be feasible with this platform. Although continued testing is necessary, preliminary results supports epicortical microelectrode arrays as a stable platform for interfacing with neural tissue and a viable option for bi-directional BCI applications.
The scale at which non-penetrating electrode arrays can interface with cortex is evaluated in the context of extracting useful information. Articulate movements were decoded from surface microelectrode electrodes, and additional spatial analysis revealed unique signal content despite dense electrode spacing. With a basis for data extraction established, the focus shifts towards the information encoding half of neural interfaces. Finite element modeling was used to compare tissue recruitment under surface stimulation across electrode scales. Results indicated charge density-based metrics provide a reasonable approximation for current levels required to evoke a visual sensation and showed tissue recruitment increases exponentially with electrode diameter. Micro-scale electrodes (0.1 – 0.3 mm diameter) could sufficiently activate layers II/III in a model tuned to striate cortex while maintaining focal radii of activated tissue.
In vivo testing proceeded in a nonhuman primate model. Stimulation consistently evoked visual percepts at safe current thresholds. Tracking perception thresholds across one year reflected stable values within minimal fluctuation. Modulating waveform parameters was found useful in reducing charge requirements to evoke perception. Pulse frequency and phase asymmetry were each used to reduce thresholds, improve charge efficiency, lower charge per phase – charge density metrics associated with tissue damage. No impairments to photic perception were observed during the course of the study, suggesting limited tissue damage from array implantation or electrically induced neurotoxicity. The subject consistently identified stimulation on closely spaced electrodes (2 mm center-to-center) as separate percepts, indicating sub-visual degree discrete resolution may be feasible with this platform. Although continued testing is necessary, preliminary results supports epicortical microelectrode arrays as a stable platform for interfacing with neural tissue and a viable option for bi-directional BCI applications.
ContributorsOswalt, Denise (Author) / Greger, Bradley (Thesis advisor) / Buneo, Christopher (Committee member) / Helms-Tillery, Stephen (Committee member) / Mirzadeh, Zaman (Committee member) / Papandreou-Suppappola, Antonia (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018