Meaningful Encounters: Creating a multi-method site for interacting with nonhuman life through bioarts praxis

This research advocates a multi-method approach to bioarts praxis, reflexively and critically questioning the contemporary contexts that frame our engagement with nonhuman life. In doing so, the research aims to generate further community engagement with nonhuman life and the environment, and engender critical discourse on the implications of developing biotechnologies. Hegemonic institutions influence the way culture is produced and how information is constructed and understood. Habermas (1987) suggests that these institutions will inevitably influence the individual’s lifeworld as they shape lived experience through the process of systemic colonisation. I assert that this process also shapes how individuals engage with or understand nonhuman life. Through the implementation of three major projects the research aims to develop the capacity of bioarts in challenging such institutions by providing the opportunity for hands-on life science activities and real-time interactions with nonhuman life. The research by employing such methods aims to counter-act the impact of urbanised living and indifference to environmental conservation. Each aspect of the creative praxis provides a reflexive case study to establish the research aims and answer the research agenda. This includes my creative bioartworks, an art-science secondary educational course and a curated group exhibition, symposium and workshop. This research provides an alternative communicative approach to hegemonic institutions such as the mass media, scientific biotechnological industries and traditional gallery spaces (Shanken, 2011)

Spes Unica : Louise de Marillac at the End of Her Life

Louise de Marillac has traditionally been seen as neurotic and dependent on others, particularly Vincent de Paul. Donna Franklin sees Louise as a woman who was interdependent, rather than dependent, a woman who understood the complexity of relationships with other people. Her focus on the humanity of Jesus helped her relate to others with humility, simplicity, charity, and compassion. She knew her strengths and weaknesses and was also profoundly aware that collaboration was essential for successful service

Creating A Culture Of Independent Reading Among African American Students, Especially Black Males

The research question addressed in this project is: How can I create a culture of independent reading among African American students, especially black males? The goal is to help motivate students to become lifelong readers who will be prepared to develop their life choices into great successes. The author examines the history of education of African Americans and the ensuing achievement gap. She discusses literature on the topic of motivating African American students, especially males, to see the value of reading and education, and includes literature on culturally relevant teaching. She documents three areas of teaching that influence the development of a culture of readers. These are vocabulary, independent reading, and teacher read-alouds. Research has shown that teacher read-alouds have a positive impact on independent reading, so the teacher shared read-aloud project was developed. The structure and implementation of the read-aloud project are documented and described for use by others

From Galaxies to Cells: Bridging Science, Sound Vibration and Consiousness Through the Music of the Spheres

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of working with a sound healing methodology that is rooted in 0 riental Medicine but integrates the therapeuric use of tuning forks, which are tuned to the frequencies of the earth, moon, sun and planets, in place of or in conjunction with acupuncture needles, acupressure, chiropractic, physical therapy, or various massage techniques. Drawing on Oriental Medicine, archetypes, correspondences, and sympathies, the authors presem a case for the use of a sound healing methodology in a clinical setting. At the core, our work recognizes the profound universal connections between the natural world, body, mind, and spirit, and the role that they each play in our jOllrney toward wholeness -attunement or at-one-mem with all things. This paper does not attempt to prove the efficacy of Oriental Medicine. There have been many fine studies conducted by leading research institutes that speak to the value and growing acceptance of this ancient medicine, as a viable medical system. Rather, we will demonstrate how a basic understanding of Oriental Medicine combined with knowledge of human physiology, music theory, and the power of archerypes, myths, sympathies, and correspondences create a powerful vehicle for health care delivery. KEYWORDS:Tuning forks, sOllnd vibration, energy, correspondences, sympathy, archetypes, the great theme, Music ofthe Spheres, Oriental Medicine, Acutonics, Pythagoras, Kepler Subtle Energie

Place-Based Pathways to Sustainability: Exploring Alignment between Geographical Indications and the Concept of Agroecology Territories in Wales

Geographical Indications (GIs) are regarded as important endogenous rural development mechanisms by the European Union. GIs have proven successful for some producers in some regions, delivering higher added value and safeguarding a product’s identity and heritage through the notion of terroir. Within the context of a gradual “greening” of GIs, this paper opens up questions about what potential they might have for transitions to agroecology territories, which are spaces engaged in a transition process towards sustainable agri-food systems. Using the Food and Agricultural Organization’s 10 elements of agroecology as a lens, we discuss whether GIs can serve as levers in delivering sustainable agri-food transitions, drawing on the case of the devolved nation of Wales. We base our narrative on a content analysis of GI product specification documents and data from interviews with GI stakeholders. Our case study illustrates that the discourse within the regulatory framework of some Welsh GIs has shifted from one of technicality towards the integration of some agroecology elements in more recent GI product specifications. In this respect, we argue that there is evidence of a “first generation” and “second generation” assortment of GIs in Wales. However, any potential for levering an overall transition within this scheme towards an agroecology territory remains constrained by the piecemeal embedding of agroecology. The incorporation of agroecology is emerging primarily from the ground-up—driven by independent organizational and place-based collective action, but unaccompanied, as yet, by any parallel shift amongst supporting administrative and regulatory authorities. We also discuss the importance of reflexive governance if GIs are to be viable pathways for sustainability transitions. As such, the capacity for GIs to facilitate quality-led place-based food systems that enhance increasingly threatened environmental resources is contingent upon stakeholders adopting a territorial, reflexive governance approach

Early high flow nasal cannula therapy in bronchiolitis, a prospective randomised control trial (protocol): A Paediatric Acute Respiratory Intervention Study (PARIS)

Background Bronchiolitis imposes the largest health care burden on non-elective paediatric hospital admissions worldwide, with up to 15 % of cases requiring admission to intensive care. A number of previous studies have failed to show benefit of pharmaceutical treatment in respect to length of stay, reduction in PICU admission rates or intubation frequency. The early use of non-invasive respiratory support devices in less intensive scenarios to facilitate earlier respiratory support may have an impact on outcome by avoiding progression of the disease process. High Flow Nasal Cannula (HFNC) therapy has emerged as a new method to provide humidified air flow to deliver a non-invasive form of positive pressure support with titratable oxygen fraction. There is a lack of high-grade evidence on use of HFNC therapy in bronchiolitis. Methods/Design Prospective multi-centre randomised trial comparing standard treatment (standard subnasal oxygen) and High Flow Nasal Cannula therapy in infants with bronchiolitis admitted to 17 hospitals emergency departments and wards in Australia and New Zealand, including 12 non-tertiary regional/metropolitan and 5 tertiary centres. The primary outcome is treatment failure; defined as meeting three out of four pre-specified failure criteria requiring escalation of treatment or higher level of care; i) heart rate remains unchanged or increased compared to admission/enrolment observations, ii) respiratory rate remains unchanged or increased compared to admission/enrolment observations, iii) oxygen requirement in HFNC therapy arm exceeds FiO2 ≥ 40 % to maintain SpO2 ≥ 92 % (or ≥94 %) or oxygen requirement in standard subnasal oxygen therapy arm exceeds >2L/min to maintain SpO2 ≥ 92 % (or ≥94 %), and iv) hospital internal Early Warning Tool calls for medical review and escalation of care. Secondary outcomes include transfer to tertiary institution, admission to intensive care, length of stay, length of oxygen treatment, need for non-invasive/invasive ventilation, intubation, adverse events, and cost. Discussion This large multicenter randomised trial will allow the definitive assessment of the efficacy of HFNC therapy as compared to standard subnasal oxygen in the treatment of bronchiolitis

A Double-Masked, Placebo-Controlled Study of Fluoxetine for Hypochondriasis

This study assessed the efficacy, durability, and tolerability of fluoxetine for hypochondriasis, a disorder for which controlled pharmacological trials are scarce. Fifty-seven patients with hypochondriasis were enrolled: 12 discontinued during the placebo run-in, and 45 were randomized to either fluoxetine or placebo for 12 weeks (acute treatment). Responder status was defined as a Clinical Global Impression rating for hypochondriasis of much or very much improved. Secondary outcome measures included severity of hypochondriasis, somatization, anxiety, and depression. Responders to acute treatment entered a 12-week maintenance phase to week 24. Sustained responders at week 24 entered a 12-week double-masked discontinuation phase. Primary analysis used the intent-to-treat sample. More patients responded with improvement in hypochondriasis when given fluoxetine compared with placebo, starting at week 8 (50.0% vs 19.0%, P = 0.03) and continuing to week 12 (62.5% vs 33.3%, P = 0.05). Mean dose at week 12 dose was 51.4 mg (SD, T23 mg). The acute treatment response was maintained to week 24 with more responders in the fluoxetine compared with the placebo group (54.2% vs 23.8%, P = 0.04). Significant improvement was not noted on the continuous secondary outcomes measures of hypochondriasis, with the exception of the Clinical Global Impression hypochondriasis severity scale at week 24. Likelihood of response was not associated with severity of psychiatric comorbidity. Durability of response after controlled drug discontinuation could not be reasonably assessed, given the small sample size of patients who entered the discontinuation phase (n = 10). Fluoxetine was well tolerated, with no significant differences in discontinuation due to side effects between treatment groups. Fluoxetine is a moderately effective and well-tolerated treatment for hypochondriasis

Mimesis stories: composing new nature music for the shakuhachi

Nature is a widespread theme in much new music for the shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute). This article explores the significance of such music within the contemporary shakuhachi scene, as the instrument travels internationally and so becomes rooted in landscapes outside Japan, taking on the voices of new creatures and natural phenomena. The article tells the stories of five compositions and one arrangement by non-Japanese composers, first to credit composers’ varied and personal responses to this common concern and, second, to discern broad, culturally syncretic traditions of nature mimesis and other, more abstract, ideas about the naturalness of sounds and creative processes (which I call musical naturalism). Setting these personal stories and longer histories side by side reveals that composition creates composers (as much as the other way around). Thus it hints at much broader terrain: the refashioning of human nature at the confluence between cosmopolitan cultural circulations and contemporary encounters with the more-than-human world