Viewing art on a tablet computer: a wellbeing intervention for people with dementia and their caregivers

Background: Art-based interventions have been shown to be beneficial for the wellbeing of people with dementia and their caregivers. This paper explored whether such interventions can be delivered via a touchscreen tablet device displaying art images. Methods: Twelve pairs of volunteers with dementia and informal caregivers were recruited. A quasi-experimental mixed-methods within-subjects study evaluated the wellbeing impacts of art viewing using visual analogue scales and explored participant experiences with thematic analysis. Findings: Quantitative results showed a significant effect for change in composite wellbeing from session one to session five. Wellbeing subdomains showed impact on wellbeing, which generally increased with number of sessions. Qualitative findings included changes in cognition, behaviour, mood and relationships. These changes tended to be viewed positively. Conclusions: The results suggest touchscreen-based art interventions could yield wellbeing benefits for this population. A larger-scale controlled study would help to determine whether wider dementia care practice implications can be drawn

Experimental field studies to measure behavioral responses of cetaceans to sonar

Funding was provided by a variety of military and governmental funding sources from several nations acknowledged within referenced publications, notably the US Office of Naval Research, US Navy Living Marine Resources Program, and the navies of the USA, Norway, and the Netherlands. P.L.T. acknowledges the support of the MASTS pooling initiative (The Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland) in the completion of this study. MASTS is funded by the Scottish Funding Council (grant reference HR09011) and contributing institutions.Substantial recent progress has been made in directly measuring behavioral responses of free-ranging marine mammals to sound using controlled exposure experiments. Many studies were motivated by concerns about observed and potential negative effects of military sonar, including stranding events. Well-established experimental methods and increasingly sophisticated technologies have enabled fine-resolution measurement of many aspects of baseline behavior and responses to sonar. Studies have considered increasingly diverse taxa, but primarily odontocete and mysticete cetaceans that are endangered, particularly sensitive, or frequently exposed to sonar. This review focuses on recent field experiments studying cetacean responses to simulated or actual active military sonars in the 1 to 8 kHz band. Overall results demonstrate that some individuals of different species display clear yet varied responses, some of which have negative implications, while others appear to tolerate relatively high levels, although such exposures may have other consequences not measured. Responses were highly variable and may not be fully predictable with simple acoustic exposure metrics (e.g. received sound level). Rather, differences among species and individuals along with contextual aspects of exposure (e.g. behavioral state) appear to affect response probability. These controlled experiments provide critically needed documentation of identified behavioral responses occurring upon known sonar exposures, and they directly inform regulatory assessments of potential effects. They also inform more targeted opportunistic monitoring of potential responses of animals during sonar operations and have stimulated adaptations of field methods to consider increasingly realistic exposure scenarios and how contextual factors such as behavioral state and source proximity influence response type and probability.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Beaked whales echolocate on prey

Author Posting. © Royal Society, 2004. This article is posted here by permission of Royal Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Biology Letters 271: Supplement 6 (2004): S383-S386, doi:10.1098/rsbl.2004.0208.Beaked whales (Cetacea: Ziphiidea) of the genera Ziphius and Mesoplodon are so difficult to study that they are mostly known from strandings. How these elusive toothed whales use and react to sound is of concern because they mass strand during naval sonar exercises. A new non-invasive acoustic recording tag was attached to four beaked whales (two Mesoplodon densirostris and two Ziphius cavirostris) and recorded high-frequency clicks during deep dives. The tagged whales only clicked at depths below 200 m, down to a maximum depth of 1267 m. Both species produced a large number of short, directional, ultrasonic clicks with no significant energy below 20 kHz. The tags recorded echoes from prey items; to our knowledge, a first for any animal echolocating in the wild. As far as we are aware, these echoes provide the first direct evidence on how free-ranging toothed whales use echolocation in foraging. The strength of these echoes suggests that the source level of Mesoplodon clicks is in the range of 200-220 dB re 1 μPa at 1 m. This paper presents conclusive data on the normal vocalizations of these beaked whale species, which may enable acoustic monitoring to mitigate exposure to sounds intense enough to harm them.Tag development was funded by a Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Award and the US Office of Naval Research. Fieldwork was funded by the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) under program CS-1188, the Packard Foundation, and the Council of Environment of the Canary Islands, and was supported by University of La Laguna, BluWest, SACLANT Undersea Research Centre, and the Government of El Hierro

Classification of broadband echoes from prey of a foraging Blainville's beaked whale

Author Posting. © Acoustical Society of America, 2008. This article is posted here by permission of Acoustical Society of America for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 123 (2008): 1753-1762, doi:10.1121/1.2828210.Blainville's beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris) use broadband, ultrasonic echolocation signals with a −10 dB bandwidth from 26 to 51 kHz to search for, localize, and approach prey that generally consist of mid-water and deep-water fishes and squid. Although it is well known that the spectral characteristics of broadband echoes from marine organisms vary as a function of size, shape, orientation, and anatomical group, there is little evidence as to whether or not free-ranging toothed whales use spectral cues in discriminating between prey and nonprey. In order to study the prey-classification process, a stereo acoustic tag was deployed on a Blainville's beaked whale so that emitted clicks and the corresponding echoes from targets in the water could be recorded. A comparison of echoes from targets apparently selected by the whale and those from a sample of scatterers that were not selected suggests that spectral features of the echoes, target strengths, or both may have been used by the whale to discriminate between echoes. Specifically, the whale appears to favor targets with one or more nulls in the echo spectra and to seek prey with higher target strengths at deeper depths.Field work was supported by the U.S. National Oceanographic Partnership Program, the U.S. Office of Naval Research, and the Canary Islands government. Analysis of the data was supported by the Office of the Oceanographer of the U.S. Navy, The Academic Programs Office at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Danish Natural Science Research Council through a Steno scholarship to Peter T. Madsen

North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) ignore ships but respond to alerting stimuli

Author Posting. © Royal Society, 2004. This article is posted here by permission of Royal Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 271 (2004): 227-231, doi:10.1098/rspb.2003.2570.North Atlantic right whales were extensively hunted during the whaling era and have not recovered. One of the primary factors inhibiting their recovery is anthropogenic mortality caused by ship strikes. To assess risk factors involved in ship strikes, we used a multi-sensor acoustic recording tag to measure the responses of whales to passing ships and experimentally tested their responses to controlled sound exposures, which included recordings of ship noise, the social sounds of conspecifics and a signal designed to alert the whales. The whales reacted strongly to the alert signal, they reacted mildly to the social sounds of conspecifics, but they showed no such responses to the sounds of approaching vessels as well as actual vessels. Whales responded to the alert by swimming strongly to the surface, a response likely to increase rather than decrease the risk of collision.Funding for this work was provided by the Fisheries Service of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (contract no. NA87RJ0445), and was conducted under NOAA Fisheries permit to conduct scientific research no. 1014 issued to Dr Scott Kraus and Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans permits 2001-559 and 2002-568

Modeling potential masking of echolocating sperm whales exposed to continuous 1–2 kHz naval sonar

This study was sponsored by the U.S. Living Marine Resources program, Office of Naval Research (ONR) Grant Nos. N00014-18-1-2062 and N00014-20-1-2709, UK Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), French Direction générale de l'armement (DGA), and the Netherlands Ministry of Defence.Modern active sonar systems can (almost) continuously transmit and receive sound, which can lead to more masking of important sounds for marine mammals than conventional pulsed sonar systems transmitting at a much lower duty cycle. This study investigated the potential of 1–2 kHz active sonar to mask echolocation-based foraging of sperm whales by modeling their echolocation detection process. Continuous masking for an echolocating sperm whale facing a sonar was predicted for sonar sound pressure levels of 160 dB re 1 μPa2, with intermittent masking at levels of 120 dB re 1 μPa2, but model predictions strongly depended on the animal orientation, harmonic content of the sonar, click source level, and target strength of the prey. The masking model predicted lower masking potential of buzz clicks compared to regular clicks, even though the energy source level is much lower. For buzz clicks, the lower source level is compensated for by the reduced two-way propagation loss to nearby prey during buzzes. These results help to predict what types of behavioral changes could indicate masking in the wild. Several key knowledge gaps related to masking potential of sonar in echolocating odontocetes were identified that require further investigation to assess the significance of masking.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Spatio-temporal variation in click production rates of beaked whales : implications for passive acoustic density estimation

T.A.M. was funded under Grant No. N000141010382 from the Office of Naval Research (LATTE project) and thanks support by CEAUL (funded by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal, through the project UID/MAT/00006/2013). M.P.J. was funded by a Marie Curie Career Integration Grant and M.P.J. and P.L.T. were funded by MASTS (The Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland, a research pooling initiative funded by the Scottish Funding Council under grant HR09011 and contributing institutions). L.S.H. thanks the BRS Bahamas team that helped collect the Bahamas data, and A. Bocconcelli. D.H. and L.T. were funded by the Office of Naval Research (Award No. N00014-14-1-0394). N.A.S. was funded by an EU-Horizon 2020 Marie Slodowska Curie fellowship (project ECOSOUND). DTAG data in the Canary Islands were collected with funds from the U.S. Office of Naval Research and Fundación Biodiversidad (EU project LIFE INDEMARES) with permit from the Canary Islands and Spanish governments.Passive acoustic monitoring has become an increasingly prevalent tool for estimating density of marine mammals, such as beaked whales, which vocalize often but are difficult to survey visually. Counts of acoustic cues (e.g., vocalizations), when corrected for detection probability, can be translated into animal density estimates by applying an individual cue production rate multiplier. It is essential to understand variation in these rates to avoid biased estimates. The most direct way to measure cue production rate is with animal-mounted acoustic recorders. This study utilized data from sound recording tags deployed on Blainville's (Mesoplodon densirostris, 19 deployments) and Cuvier's (Ziphius cavirostris, 16 deployments) beaked whales, in two locations per species, to explore spatial and temporal variation in click production rates. No spatial or temporal variation was detected within the average click production rate of Blainville's beaked whales when calculated over dive cycles (including silent periods between dives); however, spatial variation was detected when averaged only over vocal periods. Cuvier's beaked whales exhibited significant spatial and temporal variation in click production rates within vocal periods and when silent periods were included. This evidence of variation emphasizes the need to utilize appropriate cue production rates when estimating density from passive acoustic data.PostprintPeer reviewe

Off-axis effects on the multipulse structure of sperm whale usual clicks with implications for sound production

Author Posting. © Acoustical Society of America, 2005. This article is posted here by permission of Acoustical Society of America for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 118 (2005): 3337-3345, doi:10.1121/1.2082707.Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) produce multipulsed clicks with their hypertrophied nasal complex. The currently accepted view of the sound generation process is based on the click structure measured directly in front of, or behind, the whale where regular interpulse intervals (IPIs) are found between successive pulses in the click. Most sperm whales, however, are recorded with the whale in an unknown orientation with respect to the hydrophone where the multipulse structure and the IPI do not conform to a regular pulse pattern. By combining far-field recordings of usual clicks with acoustic and orientation information measured by a tag on the clicking whale, we analyzed clicks from known aspects to the whale. We show that a geometric model based on the bent horn theory for sound production can explain the varying off-axis multipulse structure. Some of the sound energy that is reflected off the frontal sac radiates directly into the water creating an intermediate pulse p1/2 seen in off-axis recordings. The powerful p1 sonar pulse exits the front of the junk as predicted by the bent-horn model, showing that the junk of the sperm whale nasal complex is both anatomically and functionally homologous to the melon of smaller toothed whales.This work was funded by grants to from the Office of Naval Research Grant Nos. N00014-99-1-0819 and No. N00014-01-1-0705, and the Packard Foundation

Noise level correlates with manatee use of foraging habitats

Author Posting. © Acoustical Society of America, 2007. This article is posted here by permission of Acoustical Society of America for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 121 (2007): 3011-3020, doi:10.1121/1.2713555.The introduction of anthropogenic sound to coastal waters is a negative side effect of population growth. As noise from boats, marine construction, and coastal dredging increases, environmental and behavioral monitoring is needed to directly assess the effect these phenomena have on marine animals. Acoustic recordings, providing information on ambient noise levels and transient noise sources, were made in two manatee habitats: grassbeds and dredged habitats. Recordings were made over two 6-month periods from April to September in 2003 and 2004. Noise levels were calculated in one-third octave bands at nine center frequencies ranging from 250 Hz to 64 kHz. Manatee habitat usage, as a function of noise level, was examined during four time periods: morning, noon, afternoon, and night. Analysis of sightings data in a variety of grassbeds of equal species composition and density indicate that manatees select grassbeds with lower ambient noise for frequencies below 1 kHz. Additionally, grassbed usage was negatively correlated with concentrated boat presence in the morning hours; no correlation was observed during noon and afternoon hours. This suggests that morning boat presence and its associated noise may affect the use of foraging habitat on a daily time scale.This research was supported by a P.E.O. Scholar Award and National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship awarded to Jennifer Miksis

A beamforming video recorder for integrated observations of dolphin behavior and vocalizations

Author Posting. © Acoustical Society of America, 2005. This article is posted here by permission of Acoustical Society of America for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 117 (2005): 1005-1008, doi:10.1121/1.1831284.In this Letter we describe a beamforming video recorder consisting of a video camera at the center of a 16 hydrophone array. A broadband frequency-domain beamforming algorithm is used to estimate the azimuth and elevation of each detected sound. These estimates are used to generate a visual cue indicating the location of the sound source within the video recording, which is synchronized to the acoustic data. The system provided accurate results in both lab calibrations and a field test. The system allows researchers to correlate the acoustic and physical behaviors of marine mammals during studies of social interactions.This research was funded by NSF Ocean Sciences CAREER award 9733391