Dance Movement Therapy (D/MT) and the Use of Music for First Grade Students with a History of Trauma at an Urban School

This paper describes a therapist intern’s work in creating a dance/movement therapy group with the use of music to help support students in an urban school. The therapist intern worked with a group of first grade students with a history of trauma who presented with behavioral issues with the classroom. The work consisted of three 30 minute sessions of dance/movement therapy group that implemented music as a tool to help support students in this setting. Based on the observations on the data collected, a theme of a sense of self began to emerge within the group. Insight on this project calls for more research on how a multi model approach can be used to better serve individual and group needs. Recommendations are made for future work in this area

Photochemical investigation of porphyrins for use in Dye Sensitized Solar Cells

As Dye Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs) have become a more prominent focus of the research being published on alternative energy sources it is important to consider basic principles that show promise for improving the energy conversion efficiency of these cells. By choosing and building a dye system carefully it is possible to promote a process called triplet-triplet annihilation (TTA) which involves the upconversion of two relatively low energy triplet excited molecules to produce one highly excited singlet molecule and a ground state molecule (2 T1 Sn + S0 [n>1]). This process will give DSSCs the ability to take advantage of the photon-rich near infrared portion of the solar spectrum making them inherently more efficient than systems which cannot undergo TTA. Two dye systems which show promise as TTA capable light harvesters are zinc tetraphenylporphyrin (ZnTPP) and tin(IV)-dichloro,tetraphenylporphyrin (SnCl2TPP). The photophysical properties of ZnTPP are studied in its standard form as well as in its ligated form. Ligation of the central atom with nitrogen containing bidentate ligands (i.e. pyrazine, 4,4- bipyridine etc…) can have a profound effect on both the properties of the monomer as well as the aggregate behavior of solvated dyes and their interaction with each other. The properties of SnCl2TPP are also examined and in particular methods for the formation of stacked molecular columns as manipulation of interactions between the individual dyes can significantly impact their ability to undergo TTA. Spectral data indicate that ligation of the ZnTPP leads to the formation of a short lived charge transfer state which greatly decreases the lifetime of the S2 state while having little effect on the S1 decay kinetics. It also shows that there is little or no formation of six-coordinate ZnTPP (i.e. doubly ligated) which makes the formation of stacked supramolecular structures very difficult. Data concerning the electrochemical synthesis and chemical synthesis of a SnCl2TPP based stack were inconclusive but show some promise that may give direction to future work

Elemental composition and degree of homeostasis of fungi: are aquatic hyphomycetes more like metazoans, bacteria or plants?

Ecological stoichiometry generally assumes that heterotrophs have a higher degree of ele- mental homeostasis than autotrophs. Differences between fixed consumer nutrient requirements and nutrients available in resources allow prediction of the intensity of nutrient recycling ensured by heterotrophs. Despite their fundamental role in detritus decomposition, extremely few data are currently available on fungal elemental composition. In this study, we quantified the degree of elemental homeostasis of aquatic hyphomycetes used as model organisms. Contrary to metazoans, but similar to plants, aquatic hyphomy- cetes exhibited highly plastic elemental compositions. Mycelium also reached far higher C/ nutrient ratios than reported for bacteria. Our results suggest that non-homeostasis of fungi should be explicitly included in stoichiometric models dealing with nutrient recycling, and that the discrepancy in homeostasis between some bacterial strains and fungi should cer- tainly be considered when investigating interactions between both groups of decomposers

Des réseaux trophiques au fonctionnement des écosystèmes lacustres : vers une intégration de l’hétérogénéité et de la complexité

Les milieux aquatiques constituent des modèles essentiels pour comprendre le rôle de la biodiversité et des interactions biotiques et abiotiques sur la structure des communautés et sur le fonctionnement des écosystèmes. La dernière décennie a été marquée par d’importantes avancées :Aquatic ecosystems constitute essential models to understand the role of biodiversity and that of biotic and abiotic interactions on both community structure and ecosystem functioning. The last decade was marked by important breakthroughs:The objective is now to integrate this multidimensional complexity in order to reach a better prediction capacity of limnology as a discipline for human societies

“The Music is Still There”: Hearing from Individuals with Dementia Who Sing Together

Music therapy is increasingly recognized as a valuable component of dementia care, yet research on group singing with this population is relatively limited, as is qualitative research that uses this population’s firsthand accounts to understand their experiences. The current study provided a means for individuals with dementia to express how they experienced music therapist-led group singing in a residential care home. The guiding research question was: What is the experience of music therapist-led singing group for individuals with dementia living in a residential care home? Six male residents, diagnosed with moderate to advanced dementia and ranging in age from 78 to 92 years, participated in six 30-minute group singing sessions facilitated by a music therapist who also played the piano. Data was collected in a community-based setting through observation, field notes, video recording, and individual interviews (fully recorded and transcribed), which were analyzed using an observational checklist (Davidson & Fedele, 2011) and Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (Smith & Osborn, 2003). Six themes were produced: (1) Self as a Performer; (2) Self as Part of a Group; (3) Live Music is Special; (4) Music is a Gift; (5) Gaps in Time, Memory and Ability; and (6) The Music Is Still There. Conclusions included support about the value and appropriateness of engaging individuals with dementia in research, as well as in group singing led by a music therapist; and evidence supporting group singing as an aspect of dementia care that contributes to well-being

Resultados de la estimulación cognitiva integrada con rehabilitación física en paciente con síndrome hemipléjico

Cerebrovascular diseases are one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, which cause physical-motor and cognitive limitations in the individual. This article aims to evaluate the results of the application of a system of cognitive actions integrated with physical rehabilitation in hemiplegic patients. The most used methods were observation, analysis-synthesis and statistical-mathematical. Among the results to be achieved, the improvement in memory domains stands out, as well as attention and global cognition with significant effects.Las enfermedades cerebrovasculares constituyen unas de las primeras causas de morbilidad y mortalidad a nivel mundial, que originan en el individuo limitaciones físico-motoras y cognitivas. El presente artículo, tiene como objetivo evaluar los resultados de la aplicación de un sistema de acciones cognitivas integradas con la rehabilitación física en el paciente hemipléjico. Los métodos más utilizados fueron, la observación, análisis-síntesis y estadísticos-matemáticos. Entre los resultados a alcanzar destacan, la mejoría en los dominios de memoria, al igual que, la atención y la cognición global con efectos significativos