Singing for mental health and wellbeing: findings from West Kent and Medway

Background: An earlier study in East Kent of weekly singing for people with enduring mental health issues revealed clinically important improvements in mental wellbeing over a period of ten months. The present study was designed to assess whether the model developed in East Kent could be transferred to West Kent and Medway with similarly positive results. Methods: Four community singing groups were established for people with experience of mental health issues, which ran weekly from November 2014 to the end of 2015. The groups were allowed to establish themselves to ensure stability of attendance before formal evaluation of the project took place over a six-month period from February-July 2015. Participants completed the short Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation questionnaire, CORE10, a measure of mental distress, and the full Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS), a measure of mental wellbeing, at baseline, and then three months and six months later. Of 47 participants regularly involved in the groups in early 2015, 26 (55%) completed baseline questionnaires in February, and after six months in July. Qualitative feedback on participants’ experiences of the groups was also gathered through comments on the questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. Findings: Both the CORE10 and WEMWBS showed satisfactory reliabilities across the six-month period with significant negative correlations between the two scales. Scores on CORE10 significantly reduced over six months indicating reductions in reported mental distress. Scores on the WEMWBS significantly increased showing improved mental wellbeing. Significant improvements were found on the following CORE items, which signal reduction in specific problems affecting mental health: I have felt tense, anxious or nervous; I have had difficulty getting to sleep or staying asleep; I have felt unhappy, and Unwanted images or memories have been distressing me. Qualitative feedback from participants was strongly consistent with the quantitative findings and gives further insights into participants’ mental health challenges and how regular singing helped ameliorate them. Conclusions: The current study replicates the earlier findings from the East Kent project and shows that regular group singing is associated with reductions in mental distress and increased mental wellbeing

Results of a search for deuterium at 25-50 GC/c using a magnetic spectrometer

A method is presented for separately identifying isotopes using a Cerenkov detector and a magnet spectrometer. Simulations of the method are given for separating deuterium from protons. The simulations are compared with data gathered from the 1979 flight of the New Mexico State University balloonborne magnet spectrometer. The simulation and the data show the same general characteristics lending credence to the technique. The data show an apparent deuteron signal which is (11 + or - 3)% of the total sample in the rigidity region 38.5 to 50 GV/c. Until further background analysis and subtraction is performed this should be regarded as an upper limit to the deuteron/(deuteron+proton) ratio

The effect of ring distortions on buckling of blunt conical shells

A rigorous analytical study of cones stiffened by many thin-gage, open-section rings is presented. The results are compared with data previously obtained from uniform pressure tests of the Viking mission flight aeroshell and of the Viking structural prototype aeroshells. A conventional analysis, in which the rings are modeled as discrete rigid cross sections, is shown to lead to large, unconservative strength predictions. A more sophisticated technique of modeling the rings as shell branches leads to much more realistic strength predictions and more accurately predicts the failure modes. It is also shown that if a small initial imperfection proportional to the shape of the buckling mode is assumed, the critical buckling modes from analysis and test are in agreement. However, the reduction in buckling strength from the perfect-shell predictions is small

An automatic data system for vibration modal tuning and evaluation

A digitally based automatic modal tuning and analysis system developed to provide an operational capability beginning at 0.1 hertz is described. The elements of the system, which provides unique control features, maximum operator visibility, and rapid data reduction and documentation, are briefly described; and the operational flow is discussed to illustrate the full range of capabilities and the flexibility of application. The successful application of the system to a modal survey of the Skylab payload is described. Information about the Skylab test article, coincident-quadrature analysis of modal response data, orthogonality, and damping calculations is included in the appendixes. Recommendations for future application of the system are also made

Radiative diffusivity factors in cirrus and stratocumulus clouds: Application to two-stream models

A diffusion-like description of radiative transfer in clouds and the free atmosphere is often used. The two stream model is probably the best known example of such a description. The main idea behind the approach is that only the first few moments of radiance are needed to describe the radiative field correctly. Integration smooths details of the angular distribution of specific intensity and it is assumed that the closure parameters of the theory (diffusivity factors) are only weakly dependent on the distribution. The diffusivity factors are investigated using the results obtained from both Stratocumulus and Cirrus phases of FIRE experiment. A new theoretical framework is described in which two (upwards and downwards) diffusivity factors are used and a detailed multistream model is used to provide further insight about both the diffusivity factors and their dependence on scattering properties of clouds

History of the 3Rs in Toxicity Testing: From Russell and Burch to 21st Century Toxicology

Toxicity testing is a key part of the process of assessing the hazards, safety, or risk that chemicals and other substances pose to humans, animals, or the environment. Standardized methods for such testing, typically involving animals, began to emerge during the first half of the 20th century. In 1959, British scientists William Russell and Rex Burch proposed a framework for reducing, refining, or replacing animal use in toxicology and other forms of biomedical experimentation. This “3Rs” or “alternatives” approach emerged at a time of growing sensitivity to the use of animals in experimentation, and progress in its implementation has been spurred by a growing appreciation of the power of emerging science and technology and the limitations of animal-based approaches. The 3Rs approach, although slow to be embraced, increasingly become a framework for change in toxicity testing during the last quarter of the 20th century. These years saw measurable growth in research activity related to the 3Rs, along with the establishment of 3Rs-based organizations and centers, journals, websites, funding sources, and conferences. As the field matured, the principles for validating new and revised alternative tests were formulated and pioneered. The 3Rs framework reached a tipping point in 2007 with the emergence of a U.S. National Research Council report proposing a radically different, largely animal-free approach to toxicity testing, encapsulated in the phrase “21st Century Toxicology.” This chapter reviews these developments, examines 3Rs trends in the toxicological literature, presents measures of the impact of 3Rs activity, and concludes with a summary of some of the remaining challenges to the development, validation, regulatory acceptance, and implementation of 3Rs methods

Further evidence that singing fosters mental health and wellbeing: The West Kent and Medway project

Purpose Clift and Morrison (2011) report that weekly singing over eight months for people with enduring mental health issues led to clinically important reductions in mental distress. The present study tested the robustness of the earlier findings. Design Four community singing groups for people with mental health issues ran weekly from November 2014 to the end of 2015. Evaluation place over a six-month period using two validated questionnaires: the short Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation questionnaire (CORE-10), and the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS). Findings Twenty-six participants completed baseline and follow-up questionnaires. CORE-10 scores were significantly reduced, and WEMWBS scores significantly increased. Comparisons with the earlier study found a similar pattern of improvements on CORE items that are part of the 'problems' sub-scale in the full CORE questionnaire. There was also evidence from both studies of participants showing clinically important improvements in CORE-10 scores. Research limitations The main limitations of the study are a small sample size, and the lack of a randomised control group. Originality No attempts have been made previously to directly test the transferability of a singing for health model to a new geographical area and evaluate outcomes using the same validated measure