THE USE OF PERCUSSION IN THERAPY: A REALIST SYNTHESIS

Background: Percussion use is common in both music therapy clinical practice and in publications. However, no comprehensive review regarding the use of percussion instruments in music interventions appears to exist. The investigator examined the various literature review types available in order to address the complex and contextual nature of percussion-related interventions. The purpose of this study was to conduct a realist synthesis-type systematic review of the literature regarding the use of percussion in therapy in order to answer the following research questions. Research Questions: 1. When using published tools designed to evaluate quality of research, what was the outcome of this appraisal process when reviewing identified studies? 2. What are the context-mechanism-outcome configurations within percussion-related interventions as found through the systematic review process? Methods: Literature review types were examined in order to locate a systematic review type that best fit the research questions. The investigator used a prior database from Matney (in press), and employed inclusion/exclusion criteria to locate studies with reduced bias and increased study rigor. Eligible studies were examined using methodological evaluation tools, which were corroborated through inter-rater reliability. The investigator created evidence tables that included context-mechanism-outcome configurations (CMOC’s). These configurations were examined for larger patterns that may inform theory development. The investigator linked chains of evidence in accordance with the realist synthesis methodology, and offered CMOC propositions. Results: Results revealed that 30.91% of studies prior to eligibility screening did not report internal review board or consent procedures. Regarding experimental studies evaluated after screening, 34.79% did not report the type of randomization procedure used, and 43.48% were unclear regarding concealment of allocation. Reporting within qualitative and mixed-methods studies also lacked transparent reporting. The investigator presented CMOC’s for each individual study, and proposed evidence linkage that may promote theory development regarding percussion interventions. Conclusions: The percussion-related intervention literature that was evaluated demonstrates a lack of study rigor (internal review board and/or consent procedures, intention to treat principle), a lack of transparent and detailed reporting (randomization details, allocation concealment, treatment consistency amongst groups), as well as a lack of replication and transferability. While context-mechanism-outcome configurations can only provide tentative theory development due to the paucity of connections available, the literature suggests that particular mechanisms may promote effective outcomes in particular situations. The investigator provides implications for future research, clinical practice, and pedagogy

Kinetic Damage from Meteorites

A Near Earth object impacting into Earth's atmosphere may produce damaging effects at the surface due to airblast, thermal pulse, or kinetic impact in the form of meteorites. At large sizes (greater than many tens of meters), the damage is amplified by the hypersonic impact of these large projectiles moving with cosmic velocity, leaving explosively produced craters. However, much more common is simple "kinetic" damage caused by the impact of smaller meteorites moving at terminal speeds. As of this date a handful of instances are definitively known of people or structures being directly hit and/or damaged by the kinetic impact of meteorites. Meteorites known to have struck humans include the Sylacauga, Alabama fall (1954) and the Mbale meteorite fall (1992). Much more common is kinetic meteorite damage to cars, buildings, and even a post box (Claxton, Georgia - 1984). Historical accounts indicate that direct kinetic damage by meteorites may be more common than recent accounts suggest (Yau et al., 1994). In this talk we will examine the contemporary meteorite flux and estimate the frequency of kinetic damage to various structures, as well as how the meteorite flux might affect the rate of human casualties. This will update an earlier study by Halliday et al (1985), adding variations expected in meteorite flux with latitude (Le Feuvre and Wieczorek, 2008) and validating these model predictions of speed and entry angle with observations from the NASA and SOMN fireball networks. In particular, we explore the physical characteristics of bright meteors which may be used as a diagnostic for estimating which fireballs produce meteorites and hence how early warning of such kinetic damage may be estimated in advance through observations and modeling

A Comparison of Damaging Meteoroid and Orbital Debris Fluxes in Earth Orbit

No abstract availabl

A status update on Southern Hemisphere Meteoroid Measurements with SAAMER

Hypervelocity meteoroid impacts are a risk to spacecraft operations. Mitigation of the meteoroid impact risk can be accomplished by implementing spacecraft designs that minimize the threat to critical systems, operational changes to the spacecraft orientation during mission operations, or a combination of both. Knowledge of the meteoroid threat in terms of mass-dependent flux (both rate and direction) is required in order to best implement the mitigation strategies. NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office (MEO) assesses the risk posed to space assets by naturally occurring meteoroids, either from the sporadic background or meteors showers. Historically, most models used are based on monitoring the meteoroid environment in the Northern Hemisphere and only partially the Southern Hemisphere, leaving some potential threats without means to be catalogued. To address this gap, an effort to upgrade an existing radar facility in Southern Argentina is underway in order to develop the needed capability to provide the required data from the Southern Hemisphere.Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísica