Music Therapy with Adolescents in Crisis in America and Korea : A Cross-Cultural Analysis

The purpose of this study was to explore music therapy with adolescents in crisis in both America and Korea. Qualitative methods were employed in this study and the data were collected through semi-structured interviews with two music therapists —one American music therapist practicing in the United States and one Korean practicing in Korea — who have experience working with adolescents in crisis. The participants openly shared their experiences during an hour video-recorded on-line interviews. After the interviews, all content of the interviews was transcribed and analyzed. Three essential categories emerged: (a) the role of music, (b) the role of therapist, and (c) the cultural differences in the therapeutic process. Within the category of the role of music, the following themes emerged: (a) eliciting self-expression, (b) evoking projection, and (c) improving self-esteem. Within the category of the role of therapist, the following themes emerged: (a) expressing empathic understanding and (b) consistent and reliable caretaking. Within the category of cultural differences in the therapeutic process, the following themes emerged: (a) client openness and trust and (b) therapist emphasis on process versus product. Implications for music therapy clinical practice and future study are discussed

EmphasisChecker: A Tool for Guiding Chart and Caption Emphasis

Recent work has shown that when both the chart and caption emphasize the same aspects of the data, readers tend to remember the doubly-emphasized features as takeaways; when there is a mismatch, readers rely on the chart to form takeaways and can miss information in the caption text. Through a survey of 280 chart-caption pairs in real-world sources (e.g., news media, poll reports, government reports, academic articles, and Tableau Public), we find that captions often do not emphasize the same information in practice, which could limit how effectively readers take away the authors' intended messages. Motivated by the survey findings, we present EmphasisChecker, an interactive tool that highlights visually prominent chart features as well as the features emphasized by the caption text along with any mismatches in the emphasis. The tool implements a time-series prominent feature detector based on the Ramer-Douglas-Peucker algorithm and a text reference extractor that identifies time references and data descriptions in the caption and matches them with chart data. This information enables authors to compare features emphasized by these two modalities, quickly see mismatches, and make necessary revisions. A user study confirms that our tool is both useful and easy to use when authoring charts and captions.Comment: IEEE VIS 202

Evaluation of thermal performance of bio-based phase change materials composites using carbon nanomaterials

Paper presented to the 10th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Florida, 14-16 July 2014.Phase change materials (PCMs) have been considered for the latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) in buildings. Bio-based PCMs are type of organic fatty acid ester PCMs and significantly less flammable than paraffins so it can be used safely. However, they have a low thermal conductivity which severely reduces their thermal performances. In this study, Bio-based PCMs were prepared by the stirring of carbon nanomaterials such as exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets (xGnP) and carbon nanotubes (CNT) in liquid Bio-based PCMs at different mass fractions (1.0, 3.0 and 5.0 wt%). The micro structures were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and it showed well-dispersion of Bio-based PCMs composites. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) results showed no chemical interaction between Bio-based PCM and prepared carbon nanomaterials. The thermal conductivity of Bio-based PCMs composites were increased as increasing carbon nanomaterials loading contents. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis results indicated that Bio-based PCM/xGnP composites maintained their large latent heat values and suitable phase change temperatures due to large surface area and well-dispersion of carbon nanomaterials. Therefore, Bio-based PCM composites can be considered as suitable candidates for latent heat thermal energy storage.dc201

Psychosocial support interventions for women with gestational diabetes mellitus: a systematic review

Purpose This study aimed to analyze the content and effectiveness of psychosocial support interventions for women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Methods The following databases were searched with no limitation of the time period: Ovid-MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, Ovid-Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, NDSL, KoreaMed, RISS, and KISS. Two investigators independently reviewed and selected articles according to the predefined inclusion/exclusion criteria. ROB 2.0 and the RoBANS 2.0 checklist were used to evaluate study quality. Results Based on the 14 selected studies, psychosocial support interventions were provided for the purpose of (1) informational support (including GDM and diabetes mellitus information; how to manage diet, exercise, stress, blood glucose, and weight; postpartum management; and prevention of type 2 diabetes mellitus); (2) self-management motivation (setting goals for diet and exercise management, glucose monitoring, and enhancing positive health behaviors); (3) relaxation (practicing breathing and/or meditation); and (4) emotional support (sharing opinions and support). Psychosocial supportive interventions to women with GDM lead to behavioral change, mostly in the form of self-care behavior; they also reduce depression, anxiety and stress, and have an impact on improving self-efficacy. These interventions contribute to lowering physiological parameters such as fasting plasma glucose, glycated hemoglobin, and 2-hour postprandial glucose levels. Conclusion Psychosocial supportive interventions can indeed positively affect self-care behaviors, lifestyle changes, and physiological parameters in women with GDM. Nurses can play a pivotal role in integrative management and can streamline the care for women with GDM during pregnancy and following birth, especially through psychosocial support interventions

Harmful alcohol use among mothers of under-five child: findings from the Panel Study on Korean Children

Background Harmful alcohol use in young mothers as a primary caregiver has a profound impact on their own health and interaction with the child. We studied the epidemiology of harmful alcohol use among Korean mothers and their partners of under-five children. Methods We used a longitudinal data of 2,150 Korean mothers of the Panel Study on Korean Children (PSKC). We assessed temporal trend and risk factors for harmful alcohol use in mothers using generalized estimating equation (GEE) model. To estimate the impact of maternal harmful alcohol use on the child, the association between neurodevelopment of the child measured by the Korean-Ages & Stages Questionnaire (K-ASQ) and maternal harmful alcohol use was analyzed using GEE and generalized linear mixed model. We included mothers age, education, preterm, year of the survey and time-varying covariates (including maternal working status, monthly household income, plan for additional childbirth, psychological stress related with childcare, current smoking, and partners harmful alcohol use) in the model. Results Mean age of mothers at the baseline was 31.3 years. Annual prevalence of harmful alcohol use increased from 0.7% in the 1st year to 2.6% in the 4th year (P for linear trend < 0.001). Prevalence of harmful alcohol use increased by 48% per year among the mothers (adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.48, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.22, 1.78). Lower education than college or university graduation was associated with higher odds of harmful alcohol use (2.52, 95% CI: 1.43, 4.45). Current smoking (7.44, 95% CI: 3.00, 18.45), harmful use of alcohol of partner (2.66, 95% CI: 1.57, 4.49) were associated with higher risk of harmful alcohol use in mothers. The association between low K-ASQ score and maternal harmful alcohol use was toward positive which did not reach statistical significance. Conclusions In a cohort of Korean mothers participating in the PKSC, risk of harmful alcohol use increases over time and is associated with harmful alcohol use of their partners. We suggest an approach targeting both parents can be more effective in controlling the harmful alcohol use of mothers.This research was supported by a Korea University Grant (K2022961) and a Korea University Medical Center Grant (K2025301). This funding source had no role in study design, in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data, in the writing of the report, and in the decision to submit the article for publica‑tion. The contents of this report are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the ofcial views of the sponsoring organizatio

Thermal efficiency evaluation of silica fume/phase change material composite for application to concrete

Paper presented to the 10th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Florida, 14-16 July 2014.Silica fume has been used as a replacement for cement, due to its high early compressive strength, high tensile and flexural strength, high bond strength, and enhanced durability of concrete. In this study, enhanced thermal performances of silica fume by incorporating organic PCMs were examined, for applying to concrete. Three kinds of organic PCMs were incorporated into the silica fume. The silica fume/PCM composites were prepared by the vacuum impregnation method. Because the silica fume has a high porous structure compared to the cement, it is useful to incorporate the PCM, to enhance its thermal storage performance. The characteristics of the composites were determined by using SEM, DSC, FTIR and TGA. SEM morphology showed the micro structure of silica fume/PCM. Also, thermal properties were examined by DSC and TGA analyses; and the chemical bonding of the composite was determined by FTIR analysisdc201

Regurgitation Hemodynamics Alone Cause Mitral Valve Remodeling Characteristic of Clinical Disease States In Vitro

Mitral valve regurgitation is a challenging clinical condition that is frequent, highly varied, and poorly understood. While the causes of mitral regurgitation are multifactorial, how the hemodynamics of regurgitation impact valve tissue remodeling is an understudied phenomenon. We employed a pseudo-physiological flow loop capable of long-term organ culture to investigate the early progression of remodeling in living mitral valves placed in conditions resembling mitral valve prolapse (MVP) and functional mitral regurgitation (FMR). Valve geometry was altered to mimic the hemodynamics of controls (no changes from native geometry), MVP (5ﾠmm displacement of papillary muscles towards the annulus), and FMR (5ﾠmm apical, 5ﾠmm lateral papillary muscle displacement, 65% larger annular area). Flow measurements ensured moderate regurgitant fraction for regurgitation groups. After 1-week culture, valve tissues underwent mechanical and compositional analysis. MVP conditioned tissues were less stiff, weaker, and had elevated collagen III and glycosaminoglycans. FMR conditioned tissues were stiffer, more brittle, less extensible, and had more collagen synthesis, remodeling, and crosslinking related enzymes and proteoglycans, including decorin, matrix metalloproteinase-1, and lysyl oxidase. These models replicate clinical findings of MVP (myxomatous remodeling) and FMR (fibrotic remodeling), indicating that valve cells remodel extracellular matrix in response to altered mechanical homeostasis resulting from disease hemodynamics

Improved laminar specificity and sensitivity by combining SE and GE BOLD signals

The most widely used gradient-echo (GE) blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) contrast has high sensitivity, but low specificity due to draining vein contributions, while spin-echo (SE) BOLD approach at ultra-high magnetic fields is highly specific to neural active sites but has lower sensitivity. To obtain high specificity and sensitivity, we propose to utilize a vessel-size-sensitive filter to the GE-BOLD signal, which suppresses macrovascular contributions and to combine selectively retained microvascular GE-BOLD signals with the SE-BOLD signals. To investigate our proposed idea, fMRI with 0.8 mm isotropic resolution was performed on the primary motor and sensory cortices in humans at 7 T by implementing spin- and gradient-echo (SAGE) echo planar imaging (EPI) acquisition. Microvascular-passed sigmoidal filters were designed based upon the vessel-size-sensitive ??R2*/??R2 value for retaining GE-BOLD signals originating from venous vessels with ??? 45 ??m and ??? 65 ??m diameter. Unlike GE-BOLD fMRI, the laminar profile of SAGE-BOLD fMRI with the vessel-size-sensitive filter peaked at ??? 1.0 mm from the surface of the primary motor and sensory cortices, demonstrating an improvement of laminar specificity over GE-BOLD fMRI. Also, the functional sensitivity of SAGE BOLD at middle layers (0.75???1.5 mm) was improved by ??? 80% to ???100% when compared with SE BOLD. In summary, we showed that combined GE- and SE-BOLD fMRI with the vessel-size-sensitive filter indeed yielded improved laminar specificity and sensitivity and is therefore an excellent tool for high spatial resolution ultra-high filed (UHF)-fMRI studies for resolving mesoscopic functional units