Structured music workshops for individuals with learning difficulties : an evaluation study

Music has been employed in numerous different therapeutic settings throughout history. However, there are few empirical studies and inadequate research guidelines in relation to investigating the process and outcomes of this intervention in a modern context. Anecdotal and descriptive accounts of improvements in psychological adjustment as a result of a music intervention exist but the need for empirical evaluation is paramount. The aim of this thesis is to evaluate the effect of structured music workshops on the musical ability, communication skills, self-esteem, self-perception, disruptive behaviour and short term memory of adults with learning difficulties. This series of studies employs previously validated assessments materials in addition to materials specifically designed and validated for use in this project. The first study utilises a two group design with 20 individuals in an experimental group and 20 individuals in a non-intervention control group. After all participants were assessed for communication skills, musical ability, disruptive behaviour and self-esteem the experimental group received 10 weekly, one hour music workshops focused on the playing of a Javanese Gamelan. After completion of the workshops individuals in both the experimental and control group were post-tested on the dependent variables. Results indicate significant improvements for the experimental group in musical ability and one measure of communication. No significant improvements in disruptive behaviour or self-esteem were obtained. The second study employs a similar design to study 1 in addition to controlling for experimenter effects and investigating cognitive developments and self-perception changes

Measurement of the linear thermo-optical coefficient of Ga0.51_{0.51}In0.49_{0.49}P using photonic crystal nanocavities

Ga$_{0.51}$In$_{0.49}$P is a promising candidate for thermally tunable nanophotonic devices due to its low thermal conductivity. In this work we study its thermo-optical response. We obtain the linear thermo-optical coefficient $dn/dT=2.0\pm0.3\cdot 10^{-4}\,\rm{K}^{-1}$ by investigating the transmission properties of a single mode-gap photonic crystal nanocavity.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Games for the two membranes problem

In this paper we find viscosity solutions to the two membranes problem (that is a system with two obstacle-type equations) with two different $p-$Laplacian operators taking limits of value functions of a sequence of games. We analyze two-player zero-sum games that are played in two boards with different rules in each board. At each turn both players (one inside each board) have the choice of playing without changing board or to change to the other board (and then play one round of the other game). We show that the value functions corresponding to this kind of games converge uniformly to a viscosity solution of the two membranes problem. If in addition the possibility of having the choice to change boards depends on a coin toss we show that we also have convergence of the value functions to the two membranes problem that is supplemented with an extra condition inside the coincidence set

Nonlinear response of a gallium phosphide nanopatterned photonic waveguide in the CW regime

International audienceThe third-order Kerr nonlinear response in gallium phos-phide nanoscale waveguides is measured through continuous wave (CW) four-wave mixing. The extracted nonlinear coefficient ranges from about 800 W −1 m −1 to 1400 W −1 m −1 , consistently with an estimated material nonlinearity n 2 ˆ 3.5 × 10 −18 W −1 m 2. The roles of the residual absorption and the related thermal effects are discussed