Music Therapy by Proxy: Using Humanised Images in Song

Developing awareness, exploration and expression of emotionally sensitive issues can be difficult for some clients in music therapy. They may find it hard to express emotion through improvised music and may turn instead to the perceived security of the repetition of known songs.This paper presents the results from a completed research PhD, a qualitative case study based on naturalistic clinical practice, which examined the song choices of one woman in a medium-secure forensic unit over the three-year course of her music therapy. A descriptive narrative account was subjected to analysis according to a modified form of therapeutic narrative analysis (Aldridge and Aldridge 2002), resulting in the abstraction of a series of generative metaphoric images, framed within a chronological series of events. Crucially, these images were found to be humanised figures, yet they were also emotionally decentred or depersonalised. When approached from the philosophical and methodological perspective of behaviourism, which views these as conditioned responses associating music with life experiences as part of a process of developing self-identity, such images can be seen to provide an unspoken voice for the client’s feelings to be expressed in a manner that is personally revealing, socially acceptable, culturally accessible and therapeutically constructive.I assert that using these third-person characters as a form of proxy facilitates mutual reference and experimentation, and places music firmly at the heart of a socially constructed process of music therapy

Forest Management and the Dead Wood Resource in Ponderosa Pine Forests: Effects on Small Mammals

Changes in vegetation structure and composition affect habitat for wildlife. Species such as small mammals that are restricted to small home ranges and are relatively immobile may be most affected since it is more difficult to find and move to new habitat. In the southwestern United States, forest management treatments (thinning and prescribed burning) are being implemented to alter structure and function of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) ecosystems and recreate pre-settlement (ca. 1870) tree species composition and size class distribution. These forest restoration treatments will affect the availability of dead wood to wildlife (e.g., prescribed fires may consume dead wood, forest operations may create snags and logs). I livetrapped small mammals in a northern Arizona ponderosa pine forest prior to restoration treatment and found that mouse species (Peromyscus species) were associated with some dead wood elements (e.g., Gambel oak [Quercus gambelii] snags, ponderosa pine snags, ponderosa pine stumps)

Leadership of Diversity in the Ontario Fire Service

The purpose of this Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) is to interrogate the problem of leadership and change management as related to addressing the problem of gender diversification in Ontario’s municipal fire departments. The goal is to identify appropriate leadership approaches and attributes that are helpful in cultivating a high-performing, respectful, and collegial environment in which qualified females can be accepted and successful in working alongside male firefighters. The current situation is fraught with complaints, premature resignations, illness, and highly publicized experiences of women encountering negative experiences while working in municipal fire departments. My Problem of Practice is focused on the need for leaders’ attributes and actions that serve to support women in the fire service and, in turn, influence the mindset of legacy male firefighters toward embracing the benefits of a cohesive and effective workforce in this critical community service. This OIP considers solutions that can be useful in ensuring that fire service leaders (namely male) are appropriately positioned and prepared to support and cultivate a high-performing workforce that embraces and respects gender diversity within the firefighting ranks

Working paper 23: Guidelines for managing small mammals in restored ponderosa pine forests of northern Arizona

Restoration thinning and burning treatments in southwestern ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests are designed to both reduce the risk of wildfire and restore ecosystem functions and structure, including maintaining or reestablishing habitat for wildlife populations. However, we found limited quantitative data regarding wildlife responses to restoration treatments and changes in forest structure because most previous studies were conducted at small temporal and spatial scales, and they generally focused on bird species (Kalies et al. 2010). In addition, although habitat components, such as Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii), large-diameter trees, snags and downwood, are thought to be important to wildlife, there is debate about treatment targets on the landscape (Abella et al. 2006, Noss et al. 2006). In this ERI Working Papers , we present the results of a study that assessed small mammal responses to treatments--responses previously unexamined at the community level or at large temporal and spatial scales in southwestern ponderosa pine forests

Is Dementia Screening of Apparently Healthy Individuals Justified?

Despite efforts to raise awareness and develop guidelines for care of individuals with dementia, reports of poor detection and inadequate management persist. This has led to a call for more identification of people with dementia, that is, screening individuals who may or may not complain of symptoms of dementia in both acute settings and primary care. The following should be considered before recommending screening for dementia among individuals in the general population. Dementia Tests. Low prevalence reduces positive predictive value of tests and screening tests will miss people who have dementia and identify people who do not have dementia in substantial numbers. Clinical Issues. The clinical course of dementia has not yet been shown to be amenable to intervention. Misdiagnosis and overdiagnosis can have significant long-term effects including stigmatization, loss of employment, and autonomy. Economic Issues. Health systems do not have the capacity to respond to increased demand resulting from screening. In conclusion, at present attention to life-course risk reduction and support in the community for frail and cognitively impaired older adults is a better use of limited healthcare resources than introduction of unevaluated dementia screening programs.Peer Reviewe

Population genetic patterns among social groups of the endangered Central American spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi) in a human-dominated landscape

Spider monkeys (Genus: Ateles) are a widespread Neotropical primate with a highly plastic socioecological strategy. However, the Central American species, Ateles geoffroyi, was recently re-listed as endangered due to the accelerated loss of forest across the subcontinent. There is inconsistent evidence that spider monkey populations could persist when actively protected, but their long-term viability in unprotected, human-dominated landscapes is not known. We analyzed noninvasive genetic samples from 185 individuals in 14 putative social groups on the Rivas Isthmus in southwestern Nicaragua. We found evidence of weak but significant genetic structure in the mitochondrial control region and in eight nuclear microsatellite loci plus negative spatial autocorrelation in Fst and kinship. The overall pattern suggests strong localized mating and at least historical female-biased dispersal, as is expected for this species. Heterozygosity was significantly lower than expected under random mating and lower than that found in other spider monkey populations, possibly reflecting a recent decline in genetic diversity and a threat from inbreeding. We conclude that despite a long history of human disturbance on this landscape, spider monkeys were until recently successful at maintaining gene flow. We consider the recent decline to be further indication of accelerated anthropogenic disturbance, but also of an opportunity to conserve native biodiversity. Spider monkeys are one of many wildlife species in Central America that is threatened by land cover change, and an apt example of how landscape-scale conservation planning could be used to ensure long-term persistence

Systematic Review – Final: How do thinning and burning treatments in southwestern conifer forests in the United States affect wildlife density and population performance?

The aim of this review is to examine whether thinning and burning treatments in conifer forests in the southwestern United States affect wildlife distribution, abundance, and population performance

The role of old-growth forests in frequent-fire landscapes

Classic ecological concepts and forestry language regarding old growth are not well suited to frequent-fire landscapes. In frequent-fire, old-growth landscapes, there is a symbiotic relationship between the trees, the understory graminoids, and fire that results in a healthy ecosystem. Patches of old growth interspersed with younger growth and open, grassy areas provide a wide variety of habitats for animals, and have a higher level of biodiversity. Fire suppression is detrimental to these forests, and eventually destroys all old growth. The reintroduction of fire into degraded frequent-fire, old-growth forests, accompanied by appropriate thinning, can restore a balance to these ecosystems. Several areas require further research and study: 1) the ability of the understory to respond to restoration treatments, 2) the rate of ecosystem recovery following wildfires whose level of severity is beyond the historic or natural range of variation, 3) the effects of climate change, and 4) the role of the microbial community. In addition, it is important to recognize that much of our knowledge about these old-growth systems comes from a few frequent-fire forest types

Response of terrestrial vertebrates to three silvicultural treatments in the Central Oregon Coast Range

Growing concerns over maintaining animal and plant biodiversity have led to significant changes in forest management policies in the Pacific Northwest. Silvicultural alternatives to clear cutting are being suggested to promote development, retention, or creation of late-successional features such as large trees, multilayered canopies, snags and logs. As alternative management techniques are applied to forested landscapes, land managers need to assess their effects on wildlife. I systematically sampled diurnal breeding bird and small mammal populations in the eastern Central Oregon Coast Range 1 year prior to and 2- to 4-years after harvest to determine effects of 3 silvicultural treatments: modified clearcut, two-story, and small patch group selection harvest on wildlife species compared with uncut controls. Based on measures of community similarity and responses of individual bird species, the small patch treatment (a silvicultural treatment representing a light intensity disturbance) was most similar in species composition to controls, while the two-story treatment (twoaged silvicultural treatment representing a moderate to heavy disturbance) was most similar to the modified clearcut treatment (even-aged management treatment representing a heavy intensity disturbance). Communities in control and group selection treatments were represented by different bird species than two-story and clearcut treatments. Ten bird species associated with mid- to late-successional forests declined after intensive harvest. Nine bird species responded positively to harvesting and increased in 1 or more treatments. Only 1 taxonomic group of small mammals showed a significant response to treatment; shrews (Sorex spp.) declined in two-story and clearcut treatments. I used artificial nests placed on the ground and in shrubs to compare nest predation rates among treatments. Artificial shrub nest predation rates were higher (P< 0.10) in two-story and clearcut treatments compared with control and small patch group selection stands. Animal responses to the silvicultural treatments I studied indicate a variety of stand types are needed to meet needs of all species. Placement of these stand types on the landscape should be considered so as to maintain well-distributed populations. I examined only a limited number of silvicultural options. As new treatments are implemented, animal response to them should be monitored

The Ursinus Weekly, June 6, 1971

Harrison Salisbury to speak today • Dean Samuel Lucius Gandy is Baccalaureate speaker • Gold, Crane receive alumni senior award • Why Ursinus • 276 seniors graduate in ceremonies today • Editorial: Four years later • Looking ahead and looking back • A Letter from the President • Ursinus alumni welcomed home • Speakers selectedhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/weekly/1148/thumbnail.jp