Wednesday, December 14, 2011

"Disco Science" music tops in cardiac massage

Posted: 03 November 2011

A person practices CPR compressions on a mannequin. (AFP Photo/Getty Images/Justin Sullivan)
PARIS: A millennium dance-floor hit, "Disco Science", is better than "Achy Breaky Heart" for helping victims of heart attacks but neither meets the grade for inclusion in first-aid guidelines, according to an unusual study.

Rhythmic music has long been suggested as a tool for medical workers learning cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

Healthcare workers in Britain were once advised to recall a quirky 1950s children's song, "Nellie the Elephant", in order to get the right rhythm of chest compression.

Rather more macabrely, their counterparts in the United States experimented at one point with the Bee Gees' 1970s pointy-finger disco hit, "Stayin' Alive".

The songs did inspire first-aiders to get the right rate of chest compressions.

But they failed to help them achieve the correct depth of compression, which is five to six centimetres (two to two-and-a-half inches).

Keen to explore the link between backbeat and heartbeat, researchers carried out an experiment on the sidelines of a conference of Australian paramedics.

Seventy-four volunteers delivered CPR to a dummy as they listened on headphones either to Billy Ray Cyrus' 1992 country hit "Achy Breaky Heart" or Mirwais' "Disco Science", or heard no music at all.

"Disco Science" came out tops in terms of meeting the compression rate.

Eighty-two percent of those who listened to it got within the optimal range of 100 to 120 compressions per minute, compared to 64 percent for "Achy Breaky Heart" and 65 percent for no music at all.

Even so, regardless of the music, a third of compressions were still too shallow and more than 50 percent of the volunteers adopted the wrong hand positions.

Given the combined importance of correct depth and rate of compression, the researchers are unconvinced that music is the best guide for CPR, and suggest that a metronome or some other audio gadget may be better.

The study, headed by Malcolm Woollard, a professor of health and life sciences at Britain's Coventry University, appears on Thursday in the specialist publication Emergency Medicine Journal.

- AFP/al



Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
"Disco Science" music tops in cardiac massage

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Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Domingo sings farewell to Washington

08 May 2011

Placido Domingo
WASHINGTON : At 70 years old, he climbs ladders, rolls on the ground and his voice shakes the room - Placido Domingo is Oreste in "Iphigenie en Tauride," a performance-style farewell to the Washington National Opera, which the Spanish tenor has led for 15 years.

Visibly tired but delighted, Placido Domingo earned a long ovation on Friday night on the stage of the Washington National Opera (WNO). He steps down as general director on June 30.

To mark the occasion, the tenor gives eight performances in the role of Oreste in Christoph Willibald Gluck's opera that premiered in Paris in 1779. It's the same role he performed in Madrid on his 70th birthday in January, at the Teatro Real opera house.

Alternately, he leads Donizetti's opera "Don Pasquale", as conductor until May 27.

The role of Oreste was originally written for a baritone but adapted to the tenor voice of Domingo, who began his career as a baritone at the age of 18 in Mexico, before being told he in fact had the voice of a tenor.

In this production from Opera de Oviedo (Spain), Domingo's Oreste is Iphigenie's long-lost brother who is condemned to death. It's not an easy turn for a septuagenarian, who last year underwent surgery to remove a cancerous polyp from his colon.

Domingo as Oreste arrives on stage in chains, and guards throw him to the ground, before he is to be sacrificed to the gods by his sister, Iphigenie. But brother and sister find the courage to escape and triumph over their oppressors.

Though he is leaving as general director, Domingo doesn't plan to disappear.

"I am singing because I can," he told The Washington Post. "But why I am still able to sing, you know, this is a big mystery for me.

"I think that one day I will have the feeling that that's it and I will go out and I will say to the public 'Ladies and gentlemen, that was my last opera performance,'" he added.

The WNO last year appointed Philippe Auguin of France as music director but Domingo's replacement has not been named.

Born in Madrid, Domingo moved to Mexico as a child with his parents, who ran a company that performed zarzuela, the traditional Spanish operetta.

Domingo, well known to popular music audiences for his "Three Tenors" performances with Jose Carreras and the late Luciano Pavarotti, made his operatic debut in a leading role as Alfredo in Verdi's "La Traviata" in Monterrey, Mexico nearly five decades ago.

The Grammy-winner's repertoire encompasses 134 stage roles - a number unmatched by any other celebrated tenor in history.

Domingo was to be honored Saturday by the WNO's signature event, the Opera Ball, a lavish fundraiser being held in the chancery of the Chinese embassy in Washington.

On Tuesday, the Atlantic Council, a Washington think tank, presented Domingo with its "Distinguished Artistic Leadership Award" for his music and humanitarian accomplishments.

US Vice President Joe Biden attended the event on Tuesday and could not resist the opportunity to link Domingo to the big news the day before when US commandos killed Osama bin Laden.

"Placido Domingo is probably the only man who could appropriately sing their praises," Biden said of the commandos.

Domingo remains director of the Los Angeles Opera through 2013.

- AFP/al



Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
Spanish tenor Domingo sings farewell to Washington

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Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Construction completed!

Construction works at a prefabricated houseImage via WikipediaAnd after so many tries on changing templates, trying one after another, and without success, I finally decided to try and delete all the widgets first (which is a last recourse), to see if the format I selected will be displayed accordingly (correctly, to be precise).

I should say that worked. And it has to be the long and hard way of reconstructing the 'face' of my 'musing on music' blog.

Anyway, I have put back in all those missing items, and some other things that were not there before, and some other blogs and sites I am following, or want to keep as reference in the future...

I do hope that what I did is fine, and that it is going to help the readers have a pleasant and enjoyable experience from blog-reading.

Enjoy!

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Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Facelift-ing... now

Construction Workman.Image via WikipediaI am trying to correct the template that has been used for my musing on music blog, which, my apologies to all readers, has been uncorrected for so long a time that I can remember.

I should say, this blog is "Under Construction".

The articles are still readable, and it is basically the layout that will be changed. Yes, that is correct, the articles, even at the start of the change, should be readable already.

Hope to see you all again soon.

Till then!

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Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Phil Collins out of music

In the Air TonightImage via WikipediaI missed this one, and it is over a month ago, but here it is anyway...
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Sat., Mar. 5, 2011 5:31 PM PST by 

Against all odds, Phil Collins is ditching his music career.

Not without good reason, however.

RELATED: Phil Collins: I've Considered Suicide

The famed Genesis drummer and vocalist (and successful solo artist) cited medical issues as the reason for his retirement, saying years of drumming resulted in a variety of health issues, including hearing loss, a dislocated vertebrae and nerve damage in his hands.

Despite his seven Grammy wins, an Oscar, 13 hit singles and more than 150 million albums sold as a solo artist, Collins has seen his share of criticism, with critics panning much of his work over the years years.

"You don't have to be great to be successful. Look at Phil Collins," Oasis member Noel Gallagher famously said, for example.

Collins seemed resigned to the abuse, telling FHM (via Time), "I'm sorry that it was all so successful. I honestly didn't mean it to happen like that. It's hardly surprising that people grew to hate me."

And this isn't exactly Collins' first attempt to exit the music industry. He moved to Switzerland to do just that, and now lives in a remote town in the country with his two sons.

In 2009, Collins hinted at his impending retirement on the Genesis website, after he dislocated a vertebrae in his neck that prevented him from playing the drums or piano.

"I was going to stop drumming anyway," Collins said. "I had stopped. I don't miss it."

What do you think about Collins' official retirement? Let us hear it in the comments.



Taken from EOnline.com; source article is below:
In the Air Tonight: Phil Collins Quits the Music Biz

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