An initial investigation into the effectiveness of group therapeutic puppetry with adults with severe mental illness

Section A explores the role of creative arts therapies (CATs) in assisting recovery from severe mental illness (SMI). It examines the congruence of CATs with recovery models, and critically reviews evidence for the effectiveness of art and drama therapy with adults with mental health problems. It then examines one form of CAT which combines art and drama therapy – therapeutic puppetry. Underlying theoretical models and the existing evidence base with adults with SMI are outlined and critiqued. The review concludes with a summary of proposed arguments and research recommendations. Section B reports on a pilot investigation of group therapeutic puppetry with people with SMI. Background: Therapeutic puppetry is the use of puppets to aid emotional healing. There is no published research investigating the effectiveness of therapeutic puppetry with people with SMI. Aims: A pilot investigation of group therapeutic puppetry with people with SMI tested the hypotheses that this intervention results in improvements in mental wellbeing, self-esteem, and body connection. It also investigated mechanisms of change, and service user acceptability and experience. Method: This mixed methodology study utilised five single AB design case studies with time series data analysed using simulation modelling analysis. Qualitative data was collected via participant observation and participant interviews and analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Three participants experienced statistically and clinically significant changes in either positive or negative directions during the intervention, with all participants describing therapeutic puppetry as powerful and beneficial. Conclusions: Therapeutic puppetry is a potentially powerful medium which could be utilised by various mental health professionals. Service users find therapeutic puppetry acceptable and beneficial despite it being an occasionally difficult and intense experience. Section C is a critical appraisal of the conducted research, examining lessons learnt, identified training needs, changes to clinical practice and future research directions

Intense Source of Slow Positrons

We describe a novel design for an intense source of slow positrons based on pair production with a beam of electrons from a 10 MeV accelerator hitting a thin target at a low incidence angle. The positrons are collected with a set of coils adapted to the large production angle. The collection system is designed to inject the positrons in a Greaves-Surko trap [1]. Such a source could be the basis for a series of experiments in fundamental and applied research and would also be a prototype source for industrial applications which concern the field of defect characterization in the nanometer scale.Comment: submitted to N.I.M.

Aeration Effects on Impact: Drop Test of a Flat Plate

Verbatim reproduction or republication of the papers or articles or part of the articles (e.g., figures or tables) by their authors, after the publication or presentation at the ISOPE meetings and journal, is permitted by the International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers (ISOPE), provided the full credit is given to the authors, to the publisher, The International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers (ISOPE), and to the Conference, Symposium or Journal - more specifically not to remove the copyright imprint on page 1 of the paper. The permission does not extend to copying for resale and to re-copyrighting the whole or part of the papers. Posting on your organization's website of the paper(s) you specified is allowed only where only your organization's employees including the students can view free of charge the paper authored or co-authored by your organization's employees, and www.isope.org is provided for the paper(s) in the ISOPE proceedings or journals. Regards, Prof. Jin S Chung Executive Director isope, 495 North Whisman Road, Suite 300 Mountain View, California 94043-5711, USA T 1-650-254-1871; F 1-650-254-2038; [email protected] [email protected], www.isope.org www.deepoceanmining.orgAeration effects on impact have been investigated by dropping a flat plate onto the water surface, in which the water is aerated to various degrees. An experimental study has been carried out in the newly commissioned Ocean Basin at Plymouth University’s COAST Lab. The falling block comprises a rigid impact plate connected to two driver plates and its total mass can be varied between 32 kg and 52 kg. The impact plate is 0.25m long, 0.25 m wide and 0.012 m high. The impact velocity is varied between 4 m/s and 7 m/s. Preliminary results of the impact tests are presented here. Visualised results show that there are significant differences between jet formation after impact of the plate in pure water and in aerated water. There is significant reduction of the maximum pressures from those measured in pure water to those measured in aerated water

Equiangular lines in Euclidean spaces

We obtain several new results contributing to the theory of real equiangular line systems. Among other things, we present a new general lower bound on the maximum number of equiangular lines in d dimensional Euclidean space; we describe the two-graphs on 12 vertices; and we investigate Seidel matrices with exactly three distinct eigenvalues. As a result, we improve on two long-standing upper bounds regarding the maximum number of equiangular lines in dimensions d=14, and d=16. Additionally, we prove the nonexistence of certain regular graphs with four eigenvalues, and correct some tables from the literature.Comment: 24 pages, to appear in JCTA. Corrected an entry in Table

Detecting a rotation in the epsilon Eridani debris disc

The evidence for a rotation of the epsilon Eridani debris disc is examined. Data at 850 micron wavelength were previously obtained using the Submillimetre Common User Bolometer Array (SCUBA) over periods in 1997-1998 and 2000-2002. By chi-square fitting after shift and rotation operations, images from these two epochs were compared to recover proper motion and orbital motion of the disc. The same procedures were then performed on simulated images to estimate the accuracy of the results. Minima in the chi-square plots indicate a motion of the disc of approximately 0.6'' per year in the direction of the star's proper motion. This underestimates the true value of 1'' per year, implying that some of the structure in the disc region is not associated with epsilon Eridani, originating instead from background galaxies. From the chi-square fitting for orbital motion, a counterclockwise rotation rate of ~2.75 degrees per year is deduced. Comparisons with simulated data in which the disc is not rotating show that noise and background galaxies result in approximately Gaussian fluctuations with a standard deviation +/-1.5 degrees per year. Thus counterclockwise rotation of disc features is supported at approximately a 2-sigma level, after a 4-year time difference. This rate is faster than the Keplerian rate of 0.65 degrees per year for features at ~65 AU from the star, suggesting their motion is tracking a planet inside the dust ring. Future observations with SCUBA-2 can rule out no rotation of the epsilon Eridani dust clumps with ~4-sigma confidence. Assuming a rate of about 2.75 degrees per year, the rotation of the features after a 10-year period could be shown to be >1 degree per year at the 3-sigma level.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure

Velocity map imaging of the dynamics of the CH3 + HCl -> CH4 + Cl reaction using a dual molecular beam method

International audienceThe reactions CH3 + HCl → CH4 + Cl(²P_3/2) and CD₃ + HCl → CD₃H + Cl(²P_3/2) have been studied by photo-initiation (by CH₃I or CD₃I photolysis at 266 nm) in a dual molecular beam apparatus. Product Cl(²P</sub>3/2</sub>) atoms were detected using resonance enhanced multi-photon ionisation and velocity map imaging, revealing product translational energy and angular scattering distributions in the centre-of-mass frame. Image analysis is complicated by the bimodal speed distribution of CH₃ (and CD₃) radicals formed in coincidence with I(²P_3/2) and I(²P_1/2) atoms from CH₃I (CD₃I) photodissociation, giving overlapping Newton diagrams with displaced centre of mass velocities. The relative reactivities to form Cl atoms are greater for the slower CH₃ speed group than the faster group by factors of ~1.5 for the reaction of CH₃ and ~2.5 for the reaction of CD₃, consistent with the greater propensity of the faster methyl radicals to undergo electronically adiabatic reactions to form Cl(²P_1/2). The average fraction of the available energy becoming product translational energy is = 0.48 ± 0.05 and 0.50 ± 0.03 for reaction of the faster and slower sets of CH₃ radicals, respectively. The Cl atoms are deduced to be preferentially forward scattered with respect to the HCl reagents, but the angular distributions from the dual beam imaging experiments require correction for under-detection of forward scattered Cl products

Ammonium nitrate blasting agent (ANFO) for land clearing

The introduction of prilled AN has revolutionised explosives practice and made possible safer and cheaper methods of blasting. This article outlines the methods of handling and using ANFO blasting agent for land clearing

Regulations for farm storage of fuels

THE Flammable Liquids Regulations, made under the Explosives and Dangerous Goods Act, are now the only comprehensive rules which apply to all industrial fuels and solvents and to all storages, from small tanks or drum depots to large industrial installations