Selecting Useful Outcome Measures

https://repository.upenn.edu/crp/1003/thumbnail.jp

Science of music therapy

Thesis (S.M. in Science Writing)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Comparative Media Studies, 2013.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (pages 37-39).At the Sherrill House Rehabilitation and Retirement Center in Boston, MA, music therapist Dianne Tow and her interns use a variety of therapeutic interventions to treat physical and psychological dysfunctions-though not every method has been supported by rigorous scientific research. With current technology in the fields of neuroscience and psychology, the effectiveness of most therapies is difficult to quantify. Most of the progress has been made for methodologies targeting physical limitations. The two therapies with the strongest documentation are rhythmic-auditory stimulation (RAS) gait training and melodic intonation therapy (MIT). RAS gait training is typically used to treat patients with Parkinson's disease or some kind of mobility loss caused by brain damage. Parkinson's disease attacks a person's motor system, and RAS gait training re-stimulates the motor system with music, specifically sound with rhythmic qualities. MIT is used to treat certain kinds of speech loss caused by brain damage in the left hemisphere. Speech is housed in specific organs, primarily in the left hemisphere, but music processing is dispersed throughout both halves of the brain. If the main language enter is compromised, the music neural network can be reworked through multiple therapeutic sessions to help relatively unused language centers in the right hemisphere to develop and grow the connections necessary to produce speech again. Other music therapies that target emotional and psychological dysfunctions appear to have positive effects, as observed by family members and therapists, but science is not yet satisfied. Human musicality and music's direct effects on our health remain mysterious, but the complexities that have been unraveled thus far with gait training and melodic intonation hold a positive note of hope for the future.by Hannah Yee-shing Cheng.S.M.in Science Writin

Nanophotonic Filters and Integrated Networks in Flexible 2D Polymer Photonic Crystals

Polymers have appealing optical, biochemical, and mechanical qualities, including broadband transparency, ease of functionalization, and biocompatibility. However, their low refractive indices have precluded wavelength-scale optical confinement and nanophotonic applications in polymers. Here, we introduce a suspended polymer photonic crystal (SPPC) architecture that enables the implementation of nanophotonic structures typically limited to high-index materials. Using the SPPC platform, we demonstrate nanophotonic band-edge filters, waveguides, and nanocavities featuring quality (Q) factors exceeding 2, 300 and mode volumes (Vmode) below 1.7(λ/n)3. The unprecedentedly high Q/Vmode ratio results in a spectrally selective enhancement of radiative transitions of embedded emitters via the cavity Purcell effect with an enhancement factor exceeding 100. Moreover, the SPPC architecture allows straightforward integration of nanophotonic networks, shown here by a waveguide-coupled cavity drop filter with sub-nanometer spectral resolution. The nanoscale optical confinement in polymer promises new applications ranging from optical communications to organic opto-electronics, and nanophotonic polymer sensors.National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) (2012CB921900)United States. Dept. of Energy (Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Contract No. DE-AC02-98CH10886)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (NSF Award No. IIP-1152707)United States. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (PECASE, Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers)United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship