Being well, being musical: Music composition as a resource and occupation for older people

Introduction: Participatory music making for older people has tended to focus on singing and performance. In a community music project undertaken by Manchester Camerata (a chamber orchestra), Blacon Community Trust and a small group of older adults, participants were given the opportunity to compose individual pieces of music interactively with professional musicians. This paper reports the findings of the research project. Method: An arts-based research method was adopted and incorporated action research and interpretive interactionism to articulate the experiences and perceptions of participants. Participants and Manchester Camerata musicians also worked together to represent the thematic findings of the research in a group composition. Findings: The findings demonstrate that individual and group music composition contributed to a sense of wellbeing through control over musical materials, opportunities for creativity and identity making, validation of life experience and social engagement with other participants and professional musicians. Conclusion: The results emphasised occupation as essential to health and wellbeing in the later stages of life. The findings also highlight the particularly innovative aspects of this research: (i) the use of music composition as a viable arts-in-health occupation for older people and (ii) the arts-based research method of group composition

Influence of intervals of radiant heat on performance and pacing dynamics during rowing exercise

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether intervals of radiant heat during thermoneutral exercise altered either the performance outcome or the dynamics of pacing within the exercise bout. Eleven male participants ( ; 56 ± 12 ml∙kg-1∙min-1) performed three 5000m exercise trials on a rowing ergometer in three different conditions, in a random order. The participants were either: non-warmed (NW), warmed (W), or periodically warmed in intervals throughout each trial (IW). Warming was achieved using radiant heat lamps to raise the localised environmental temperature from 18 ˚C to 35 ˚C. Intervals of warming were applied over fixed periods of the 5000m bouts between 1000-2000m (W1) and 3000-4000m (W2). The results of the experiment demonstrated that performance time and average power output of the 5000m matched intensity trials were not significantly different between conditions (p=0.10 ; p=0.189). However, the application of warming significantly reduced intra-trial power output during the first (W1) interval in the IW condition (p=0.03) but not during the second (W2) warming interval (p=0.10). Tsk increased by 0.51˚C (p=0.05) in response to the application of warming during W1 in the IW condition and by 0.15 ˚C in W2 (p=0.28). No significant between-condition differences were observed in Tc throughout the trials. These findings suggest that an abrupt change to environmental conditions brought about through intervals of radiant warming can affect the transient pacing dynamics of an exercise bout, but not necessarily impact overall performance time. Performance time appears unaffected by intervals of radiant heat during an exercise bout, although further work is required in more challenging dynamic environmental conditions

Keeping the engine room running: key themes and developments in water resources management in the Pilbara region of Western Australia

Water management is a key issue confronting government, the mining industry and the wider community in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. This article will provide an update on three current developments in Pilbara water resource management: preparation of the Pilbara groundwater allocation plan, consideration of facilitating the on-use of mine dewatering surplus ( or excess), and preparation of a guidance note on environmental and water assessments relating to mining operations in the Fortescue Marsh area.! From these developments, we can draw three themes that appear to be guiding water resource management in the Pilbara: limited water allocation plans, diversification of water supply sources (and the associated removal of any potential legislative constraints with respect to the use of mine dewater), and management of cumulative impacts for specific areas of ecological significance. This article seeks to explore these guiding themes and identify issues that require further investigation

Application for the 4W Model of Drowning for Prevention, Rescue and Treatment, Research and Education

Previous research has been published about the 4W model of drowning and its four constituent variables (Avramidis, Butterly & Llewellyn, 2007; 2009a; 2009b; 2009c; 2009d; Avramidis, McKenna, Long, Butterly, & Llewellyn, 2010). We presently summarize and suggest applications of the model for the general public, aquatic safety professionals, injury epidemiologists and policy makers

Redispersion Reactions of Platinum/Alumina Reforming Catalysts

Platinum metal supported on alumina is used industrially as a reforming catalyst, converting linear hydrocarbons to unsaturated cyclised and isomerised species. With prolonged use the platinum tends to agglomerate and carbon is deposited on the surface of the alumina, decreasing the catalytic activity. The catalyst can be reactivated by burning off the carbonaceous residues in oxygen and redispersing the platinum by an oxychlorination treatment. Two models have been proposed to explain the redispersion of platinum, The crystallite splitting model suggests that large platinum particles split. The second model suggests that redispersion occurs via the spreading of a layer of platinum oxide on the alumina due to the decrease in surface tension as platinum is oxidised to platinum oxide. Previous studies in this department suggest that no redispersion occurs following an oxychlorination treatment. X-ray diffraction data suggests that most of the platinum exists at the contrast limit of the electron microscope and below the resolution of X-ray diffraction analysis. The aim of the present study is to identify any sub-10A platinum particles following oxychlorination treatment and to gain a better understanding of the optimum regeneration treatment and to propose a model for the redispersion of platinum following oxychlorination treatment. X-ray diffraction line broadening, chemisorption, transmission electron microscopy have been used and catalytic measurements from a lab-scale micro-reformer have been used to study the regeneration and dispersion of the catalyst following oxychlorination treatments. Small sub-10A platinum particles have been identified by high resolution electron microscopy following oxychlorination treatment indicating that redispersion occurs. Following oxychlorination over 50% of the platinum particles detected by TEM were 15A in diameter. Quantitative XRD has shown that 80% of the platinum exists in a highly dispersed state following oxychlorination treatment. Hollow Cone Illumination was used to resolve small platinum particles. A method was attempted using a Te compound to 'stain' the pIatinum but this was unsuccessful in since it combined with the support as well as the platinum and hence was non-selective. Conditions of oxychlorination treatment were varied to find optimum conditions and to gain an understanding of the mechanism. CCl4 concentration was found to increase the redispersion indicating that a platinum oxychloride complex may be responsible for redispersion. Redispersion was found to increase with time of oxychlorination, although some large platinum particles still remain after the attempted regeneration treatments. With the higher metal loading (C3 0.8% by weight Pt) the size of the large particles,as determined by XRD, increases with the time of oxychlorination. The splitting model is therefore not a good representation of platinum redispersion as energetically large particles split more readily than smaller particles. A model is proposed where redispersion occurs via the spreading of a layer of a platinum oxide due to the decrease in surface tension as the platinum is oxidised to platinum oxide. Large particles may be protected by a layer of platinum oxide and require very long redispersion times to completely spread out. A sintering mechanism is proposed which competes with the redispersion mechanism and so large platinum particles co-existing with the highly dispersed material grow at the expense of the smaller particles. CCl4 must be injected into the gas stream during regeneration to give better metal dispersion. Catalytic data compare well with physical measurements of particle size and dispersion. The catalytic activity decreases following the ageing treatment and increases following the regeneration treatments. The catalytic activity is less stable following oxychlorination for 18 hours. An optimum redispersion treatment is therefore oxychlorination for 9 hours

Drowning Survival in Icy Water: A Review

We conducted an extensive literature review using the search terms of “drowning” and “hypothermia” to discover the major factors related to differences in survival rate especially associated with hypothermic effects. Studies indicated that some differences in drowning survival could be identified associated with age, sex, length of submersion, reduced core body temperature, and quality of cardiopulmonary respiratory care. The variability of results associated with the large number of studies prevented us from making any recommendations about whether hypothermia can improve survival among either children or adults

Where Do People Drown? Encoding the Third Component of the 4W Model

When there is human activity in, above, or around an aquatic environment, a drowning incident may occur due to rescuer characteristics, casualty characteristics, location, and general circumstances (Avramidis, Butterly & Llewellyn, 2007). The aim of the current study was to identify locations where people drown. Qualitative content analysis was utilized to analyze drowning incident videos (n = 41), and semi-structured interviews were conducted of those involved in drowning incidents (n = 34). Drowning incidents may occur in any aquatic environment with a water depth that allows immersion or submersion, under a variety of environmental conditions where the ground in sloping, at any distance from safety, where anxiety is exists, in the absence or safety regulations, or when the law is breached

Under What Circumstances Do People Drown? Encoding the Fourth Component of the 4W Model

The aim of the current study was to identify under what circumstances people drown using the 4W model (Avramidis, Butterly, Llewellyn, 2007). We used qualitative content analysis to analyze drowning incident videos (n = 41), and semi-structured interviews of those involved in drowning incidents (n = 34). Results confirmed that drowning incidents can occur at any time, although most likely during daylight, and during any season of the year, with summer most common. We observed that drowning can occur after engaging in just about any form of human activity, on, near, above or under the surface of a liquid (mainly water). Drownings with serious consequences often result when rescue and personal protective equipment is either absent or has insufficient quality. Almost any risky aquatic-related activity that doesn’t comply with appropriate safety procedures might lead to drowning. In response to drowning, we noted that a wide variety of rescue techniques might be used

Who Drowns? Encoding the Second Component of the 4W Model

The aim of the current study was to identify the casualty characteristics that contribute to drowning according to the 4W model (Avramidis, Butterly & Llewellyn, 2007, 2009). Qualitative content analysis was utilized to analyze drowning incident videos (n = 41), and semistructured interviews of those involved in drowning incidents (n = 34). Results confirm that human activity in, on, and around an aquatic environment can lead to drowning, regardless of the casualty’s type, gender, age, ethnicity, and area of residence. Males far outnumber females as drowning victims. Younger persons were more likely to drown than were adults. Due to socioeconomic differences, Black people in our sample were likely to drown more often, while Whites who drowned were engaged in aquatic activities that lower socioeconomic individuals likely cannot afford or have access to. Nonswimmers, casualties who have lost consciousness, and nonresidents to specific aquatic environments also were the ones in the highest danger