Accessibility and dimensionality: enhanced real time creative independence for digital musicians with quadriplegic cerebral palsy

Inclusive music activities for people with physical disabilities commonly emphasise facilitated processes, based both on constrained gestural capabilities, and on the simplicity of the available interfaces. Inclusive music processes employ consumer controllers, computer access tools and/or specialized digital musical instruments (DMIs). The first category reveals a design ethos identified by the authors as artefact multiplication -- many sliders, buttons, dials and menu layers; the latter types offer ergonomic accessibility through artefact magnification. We present a prototype DMI that eschews artefact multiplication in pursuit of enhanced real time creative independence. We reconceptualise the universal click-drag interaction model via a single sensor type, which affords both binary and continuous performance control. Accessibility is optimized via a familiar interaction model and through customized ergonomics, but it is the mapping strategy that emphasizes transparency and sophistication in the hierarchical correspondences between the available gesture dimensions and expressive musical cues. Through a participatory and progressive methodology we identify an ostensibly simple targeting gesture rich in dynamic and reliable features: (1) contact location; (2) contact duration; (3) momentary force; (4) continuous force, and; (5) dyad orientation. These features are mapped onto dynamic musical cues, most notably via new mappings for vibrato and arpeggio execution

Planetary science

The following types of experiments for a proposed Space Station Microgravity Particle Research Facility are described: (1) low velocity collisions between fragile particles; (2) low velocity collisions of ice particles; (3) plasma-dust interaction; and (4) aggregation of finely-comminuted geological materials. The required capabilities and desired hardware for the facility are detailed

At the Corner of Main and Wall Street: Family Pension Responses to Liquidity Change and Perceived Returns

Working Paper: WP 2012-282The U. S. economy experienced a shift away from employment with coverage under a defined benefit (DB) pension plan during 1991-2009. Defined contribution (DC) plan coverage seems not to have risen much, if at all, for married men in the recent decade. Overall, the percent of the labor force covered by any pension type fell over the period 2001-2009, with most of the shift occurring in 2001-2003, as indicated by data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). We seek to determine the factors that lead families to lose or gain DC coverage and to put money into their private pensions or to draw money out of private pensions and annuities prior to age 65. The importance of such discretionary participation and savings responses is accentuated by both the presence of DC pensions, and, presumably, learning that such pensions can be used to stabilize finances prior to retirement. Besides the impact of the overall economic climate, individual, family level events and cash flow changes are expected to play a role in the decision to add to or withdraw from a DC pension plan. Preliminary studies suggest that the savings response by households to recent economic uncertainties during 2009-2011, was greater overall savings and an increase in liquid asset holding, a result consistent with classic predictions of a response to economic turmoil. Overall, pension fund inflows have not been a part of the increase in private saving in the Great Recession.Social Security Administrationhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/95914/1/wp282.pd

Miopatia Pós-Anestésica em Equino - Relato de Caso

TCC(graduação) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Campus Curitibanos. Medicina Veterinária.O presente trabalho tem como objetivo descrever um caso de miopatia pós-anestésica em um equino atendido no Hospital Veterinário da Universidade Federal do Paraná - UFPR Curitiba, permanecendo internado por um período de cinco dias, sendo eutanasiado no quinto dia. A miopatia é uma das principais complicações pós-anestésicas em equinos, que ocorre devido ao procedimento de longa duração, decúbito e mal acolchoamento da mesa cirúrgica. Os animais acometidos têm dificuldade em se manter em pé, músculos firmes palpáveis e sinais de dor intensa. Os fármacos utilizados também interferem na ocorrência da miopatia, devido a hipotensão. O tratamento de miopatia é de suporte fluido venoso e vasodilatadores para promover o fluxo sanguíneo periférico e anti-inflamatórios para auxiliar na restauração da função muscular.The present study aims to describe a case of postanesthetic myopathy in an equine treated at the Veterinary Hospital of UFPR Curitiba, staying interned for a period of five days, being euthanized on the fifth day. Myopathy is one the main postanesthetic complications in horses, due to long-term procedure, decubitus and poor cushioning of the surgical table. The affected animals have difficulty in standing, firm palpable muscles and signs of intense pain. The drugs used also interfere with the occurrence of myopathy due to hypotension. The treatment of myopathy is supportive, venous fluid and vasodilators to promote peripheral blood flow and anti-inflammatory to assist in restoring muscle function

Factors Influencing Sleep Difficulty and Sleep Quantity in the Citizen Pscientist Psoriatic Cohort.

IntroductionSleep is essential for overall health and well-being, yet more than one-third of adults report inadequate sleep. The prevalence is higher among people with psoriasis, with up to 85.4% of the psoriatic population reporting sleep disruption. Poor sleep among psoriasis patients is particularly concerning because psoriasis is independently associated with many of the same comorbidities as sleep dysfunction, including cardiovascular disease, obesity, and depression. Given the high prevalence and serious consequences of disordered sleep in psoriasis, it is vital to understand the nature of sleep disturbance in this population. This study was designed to help meet this need by using survey data from Citizen Pscientist, an online patient portal developed by the National Psoriasis Foundation.MethodsOur analysis included 3118 participants who identified as having a diagnosis by a physician of psoriasis alone or psoriasis with psoriatic arthritis. Demographic information, psoriasis severity and duration, sleep apnea status, smoking and alcohol consumption, itch timing, and sleep characteristics were included. Two separate multivariate logistic regression models in STATA were used to determine whether the presence of psoriatic arthritis, age, gender, body mass index, comorbid sleep apnea, psoriasis severity, timing of worst itch, smoking status, or high-risk alcohol consumption were associated with sleep difficulty or low sleep quantity, defined by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine as less than 7 h of sleep per night on average.ResultsResults from the multivariate logistic regressions found that sleep difficulty was associated with psoriatic arthritis (OR 2.15, 95% CI [1.79-2.58]), female gender (2.03 [1.67-2.46]), obese body mass index (BMI ≥ 30) (1.25 [1.00-1.56]), sleep apnea (1.41 [1.07-1.86]), psoriasis severity of moderate (1.59 [1.30-1.94]) or severe (2.40 [1.87-3.08]), and smoking (1.60 [1.26-2.02]). Low sleep quantity was associated with obese BMI (1.62 [1.29-2.03]), sleep apnea (1.30 [1.01-1.68]), psoriasis severity of moderate (1.41 [1.16-1.72]) or severe (1.40 [1.11-1.76]), and smoking (1.62 [1.31-2.00]). Sleep difficulty and low sleep quantity were not associated with age, alcohol consumption, or timing of worst itch.ConclusionThese results are potentially meaningful in several aspects. We identify an important distinction between sleep difficulty and sleep quantity in psoriatic disease, whereby having psoriatic arthritis and being female are each associated with sleep difficulty despite no association with low sleep quantity. Furthermore, there is conflicting evidence from prior studies as to whether psoriasis severity is associated with sleep difficulty, but this well-powered, large study revealed a strong, graded relationship between psoriasis severity and both sleep difficulty and low sleep quantity. Overall, our results show that both sleep difficulty and low sleep quantity were associated with multiple factors in this analysis of a large psoriatic cohort. These findings suggest that dermatologists may gather clinically useful information by screening psoriatic patients for trouble sleeping and low sleep quantity to identify potential comorbidities and to more effectively guide disease management