A Phenomelogical Inquiry of the Applicability of Neurologic Music Therapy for a Student Music Therapist

Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT) is a standardized training offered to many different clinical disciplines including music therapy. NMT specializes in research, techniques, and principles regarding the brain’s relationship with music. Despite what the name may suggest, NMT is not affiliated with the music therapy profession, and may be often overlooked by music therapy programs across the country, as was the experience of the principal investigator (PI). There is a lot of research and studies available showing the benefits of NMT for specific clinical populations, but there is no research that examines the effect and value NMT training has when combined with a music therapy education. In an effort to find the value of NMT for a student music therapist specifically, this study uses a phenomenological approach, which is appropriate for understanding how experiences are perceived as well as the influence they may have on an individual. With this approach in mind the PI received NMT training and implemented the topics and techniques into their treatment process during a clinical practicum assignment. Over the course of 9 weeks the PI collected different forms of quantitative data specific to different reoccurring stages of their treatment process (planning, facilitating, and documenting) as well as qualitative data in the form of journal entries. At the end of 9 weeks the data was examined for themes and codes to determine the effect that NMT had within the practice of music therapy treatment. NMT training was found to have a positive influence on the music therapy student’s experiences within a clinical setting. The PI found that after taking the training they were much more aware of the role of different musical elements and was better able to understand and assess the needs of their clients and that they were more detailed, prepared, technical, and organized in their processes which in turn assisted them as they handled the unpredictable moments of interacting with clients and other professionals. Overall, it was determined that in the PI’s own experience NMT training reinforced a lot of principles that were taught during the PI’s music therapy education, but that hearing these principles described from an interdisciplinary perspective (outside of music therapy) allowed the PI to integrate a different kind of awareness in their music therapy process that wasn’t present before. The PI recognizes the limitations of a phenomenological approach to research and can only recommend the NMT training to other music therapy students based on the PI’s own documented experience. Future studies should seek to include a greater number of music therapy students

Electrostatic Hazard Considerations for ODC Solvent Replacement Selection Testing

ODC solvents are used to clean many critical substrates during solid rocket motor production operations. Electrostatic charge generation incidental to these cleaning operations can pose a major safety issue. Therefore, while determining the acceptability of various ODC replacement cleaners, one aspect of the selection criteria included determining the extent of electric charge generation during a typical solvent cleaning operation. A total of six candidate replacement cleaners, sixteen critical substrates, and two types of cleaning swatch materials were studied in simulated cleaning operations. Charge generation and accumulation effects were investigated by measuring the peak voltage and brush discharging effects associated with each cleaning process combination. In some cases, charge generation was found to be very severe. Using the conductivity information for each cleaner, the peak voltage data could in some cases, be qualitatively predicted. Test results indicated that severe charging effects could result in brush discharges that could potentially result in flash fire hazards when occurring in close proximity to flammable vapor/air mixtures. Process controls to effectively mitigate these hazards are discussed

Efficacy of Excipients Against Cytomegalovirus

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a herpesvirus that affects most of the world’s population. Although most people infected with CMV experience only mild symptoms, it can result in death for those who are immunocompromised. It is one of the leading causes of sensorineural hearing loss in infants. Currently, the most common treatment for CMV is ganciclovir (GCV), but GCV is highly cytotoxic. It has also been shown to cause birth defects in mice. Even though GCV is cytotoxic, GCV needs to be taken frequently for it to be effective. Recent studies in our lab have found using the excipients quercetin and poloxamer 188 (QP188) in addition to lower doses of GCV can be as effective as a GCV treatment on its own. In running cytotoxicity assays for QP188, there was a high variability in the measured values. Because of this high variation, there was some uncertainty in our results. To minimize potential error and uncertainty, we reviewed different methods of performing Neutral Red assays. We found that a combination of multiple methods ran a successful assay for 3T3 mouse fibroblast cells

Comfort and Aesthetic Properties of Bacterial Cellulose for Textile Applications

Recently, bacterial cellulose has been investigated for potential applications in textiles and apparel. This material has several unique properties, which make it a promising material for such applications. Several limitations to the material also exist, including lack of consumer familiarity and the material\u27s stiffness. The purpose of this study was to extend previous work by investigating aesthetic and comfort properties of bacterial cellulose grown and dried in a variety of conditions. Samples were grown in four types of media, treated in two conditions and dried in two conditions. Comfort and aesthetic properties were impacted by the different conditions in regards to fabric hand, uniformity and absorption

Growth of ARPE Cells on a 3D Printed PLA Scaffold

Forming blood vessels is a common obstacle that is faced when attempting to develop artificial organs. One possible method of overcoming this obstacle is by using a 3D printed material as a scaffold for blood vessel growth. In previous studies, it has been shown that Poly-lactic acid (PLA) is an ideal material for use as a scaffold in tissue engineering applications (Kudryavtseva et al., 2017). The following proof of concept will evaluate the ability of PLA to support cell growth on its surface. Specifically, this project aims to determine its usefulness as a scaffold in the culture of Adult Retinal Pigment Epithelium cells (ARPE-19) in the shape of a blood vessel. This was done by 3D printing scaffolds out of PLA, in both a flat sheet and various shapes to promote tubular cell formation. Cells were then cultured on the scaffolds and incubated for enough time to reach confluency. A viability assay was then conducted to determine the effectiveness of PLA at supporting cell growth. It was found that PLA could support the growth of ARPE-19 cells, but it will be necessary to perform further testing to be able to determine how the different shapes affect the the growth of the cells.Presentation Time: Wednesday, 9-10 a.m

Durability Properties of Bacterial Cellulose for Textile Applications

Cellulose used in apparel products often comes from plant sources; however, some bacteria of are also able to produce cellulose. Benefits of bacterial cellulose over plant cellulose include the absence of lignin and hemicelluloses and high crystallinity. Environmental benefits include the reduced need for water and processing chemicals. Current challenges to the material\u27s development are the cost of raw materials and the growth rate of the material. The goal of this project was to address these concerns by comparing the material grown from low cost media. Additionally, materials were treated and dried using a variety of methods and analyzed for textile property impacts

Female Composers in the Salt Lake City Classical Music Scene

Research done by the Institute for Composer Diversity shows that music written by women makes up a minority of classical music programming in the United States. This study looks at how Utah compares to the rest of the nation by collecting data on Utah Symphony, Utah Opera, and Ballet West. It also speculates on some potential reasons for the low numbers in Utah based on trends and previous research

The influence of membrane physical properties on microvesicle release in human erythrocytes

Exposure of human erythrocytes to elevated intracellular calcium causes fragments of the cell membrane to be shed as microvesicles. This study tested the hypothesis that microvesicle release depends on microscopic membrane physical properties such as lipid order, fluidity, and composition. Membrane properties were manipulated by varying the experimental temperature, membrane cholesterol content, and the activity of the trans-membrane phospholipid transporter, scramblase. Microvesicle release was enhanced by increasing the experimental temperature. Reduction in membrane cholesterol content by treatment with methyl-β-cyclodextrin also facilitated vesicle shedding. Inhibition of scramblase with R5421 impaired vesicle release. These data were interpreted in the context of membrane characteristics assessed previously by fluorescence spectroscopy with environment-sensitive probes such as laurdan, diphenylhexatriene, and merocyanine 540. The observations supported the following conclusions: 1) calcium-induced microvesicle shedding in erythrocytes relates more to membrane properties detected by diphenylhexatriene than by the other probes; 2) loss of trans-membrane phospholipid asymmetry is required for microvesicle release