During the pandemic,face masks are one of the most significant self-protection necessities,but they also cause heat stress.By using the ERA5(ECMWF Reanalysis 5th Generation)database and the local weather bureau data,t...During the pandemic,face masks are one of the most significant self-protection necessities,but they also cause heat stress.By using the ERA5(ECMWF Reanalysis 5th Generation)database and the local weather bureau data,the effect of mask wearing on outdoor thermal sensation has been investigated by a survey conducted in the hot summer and cold winter region of eastern China in the summer of 2020.Results show that wearing a face mask for a longer period result in a higher level of discomfort,and the primary source of discomfort is hot and stuffy feelings.The effect of relative humidity is crucial for mask wearers in warm-biased thermal environments,as mean thermal sensation vote(TSV)peaks when environmental relative humidity reaches the range of 70%to 80%and decreases after this range due to the evaporation within the microclimate created by a face mask.Meanwhile,prolonged mask wearing increases participants’hot feelings,especially in warm environments.Specifically,participants wearing face masks for less than 30 min feel hot at a physiological equivalent temperature(PET)value of 34.4℃,but those who wear them for over 60 min express hot feelings even at a PET value of 24.7℃.The participants who wear a face mask while walking slowly outdoors have similar thermal sensations to those who do not wear a mask,but are in a higher activity level.The findings demonstrate that mask wearing has a crucial impact on outdoor thermal comfort assessment in a warm-biased outdoor thermal environment.展开更多
Despite the global implementation of COVID-19 mitigation measures,the disease continues to maintain transmission.Although mask wearing became one of the key measures for preventing the transmission of COVID-19 early i...Despite the global implementation of COVID-19 mitigation measures,the disease continues to maintain transmission.Although mask wearing became one of the key measures for preventing the transmission of COVID-19 early in the pandemic period,many countries have relaxed the mandatory or recommended wearing of masks.The objective of the present study was to estimate the epidemiological impact of removing the mask-wearing recommendation in Japan.We developed a model to assess the consequences of declining mask-wearing coverage after the government revoked its recommendation in February 2023.The declining mask-wearing coverage was estimated using serial cross-sectional data,and a mathematical model was devised to determine the age-specific incidence of COVID-19 using the observed case count in Tokyo from week of October 3,2022 to October 30,2023.We explored model-based counterfactual scenarios to measure hypothetical situations in which the mask-wearing coverage decreases or increases relative to the observed coverage.The results show that mask-wearing coverage declined from 97%to 69%by the week of October 30,2023,and that if the mask-wearing recommendation had continued,427 lives could have been saved in Tokyo.If the mask-wearing coverage had declined to 25%of the observed level,the model suggests there might have been 1587 additional deaths.Thus,revoking the mask-wearing recommendation had a substantial epidemiological impact.In future pandemics,our proposed approach could provide a realtime quantification of the effects of relaxing countermeasures.展开更多
Objective:Medical masks have been shown to significantly influence speech communication in healthy people.The effect of mask-wearing on phonatory capability and daily communication exchanges in patients with voice dis...Objective:Medical masks have been shown to significantly influence speech communication in healthy people.The effect of mask-wearing on phonatory capability and daily communication exchanges in patients with voice disorders remains unclear.To evaluate the effect of the medical mask on acoustic parameters in patients with a voice disorder,we measured the voice frequency,quality,and intensity.Methods:Thirty-three healthy and 44 voice disorder patients were involved in this study,including 27 patients with vocal-fold lesions and 17 with primary functional dysphonia.Perceptual evaluation and acoustic parameters,including F0(fundamental frequency),jitter,shimmer,and maximum vocal intensity,were analyzed without and with medical masks.Results:With medical mask-wearing,the maximum vocal intensity significantly decreased in all patients with voice disorders(p<0.05),especially in patients with lesions of vocal folds(p<0.05)and functional dysphonia(p<0.05).The perceptual evaluation roughness scales also increased in patients with lesions of vocal folds(p<0.05)and functional dysphonia(p<0.05)with mask-wearing.There were no significant effects of mask-wearing on acoustic parameters for healthy participants.Conclusions:The intensity was influenced when wearing medical masks in patients with disordered voices.The voice perceptual roughness scales also significantly increased compared to those without medical masks.展开更多
基金The work described in this paper was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.52008079,No.52278094)the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(No.2021M691790).
文摘During the pandemic,face masks are one of the most significant self-protection necessities,but they also cause heat stress.By using the ERA5(ECMWF Reanalysis 5th Generation)database and the local weather bureau data,the effect of mask wearing on outdoor thermal sensation has been investigated by a survey conducted in the hot summer and cold winter region of eastern China in the summer of 2020.Results show that wearing a face mask for a longer period result in a higher level of discomfort,and the primary source of discomfort is hot and stuffy feelings.The effect of relative humidity is crucial for mask wearers in warm-biased thermal environments,as mean thermal sensation vote(TSV)peaks when environmental relative humidity reaches the range of 70%to 80%and decreases after this range due to the evaporation within the microclimate created by a face mask.Meanwhile,prolonged mask wearing increases participants’hot feelings,especially in warm environments.Specifically,participants wearing face masks for less than 30 min feel hot at a physiological equivalent temperature(PET)value of 34.4℃,but those who wear them for over 60 min express hot feelings even at a PET value of 24.7℃.The participants who wear a face mask while walking slowly outdoors have similar thermal sensations to those who do not wear a mask,but are in a higher activity level.The findings demonstrate that mask wearing has a crucial impact on outdoor thermal comfort assessment in a warm-biased outdoor thermal environment.
基金funding from the SECOM Science and Technology Foundationfunding from Health and Labour Sciences Research Grants(grant numbers 20CA 2024,21HB1002,21HA 2016,and 23HA 2005)+2 种基金the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development(grant numbers JP23fk0108612 and JP23fk0108685)JSPS KAKENHI(grant numbers21H03198 and 22K19670)the Environment Research and Technology Development Fund(grant number JPMEERF20S11804)of the Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency of Japan,Kao Health Science Research,the Daikin GAP Fund of Kyoto University,the Japan Science and Technology Agency SICORP program(grant numbers JPMJSC20U3 and JPMJSC2105),and the RISTEX program for Science,Technology,and Innovation Policy(grant number JPMJRS22B4).
文摘Despite the global implementation of COVID-19 mitigation measures,the disease continues to maintain transmission.Although mask wearing became one of the key measures for preventing the transmission of COVID-19 early in the pandemic period,many countries have relaxed the mandatory or recommended wearing of masks.The objective of the present study was to estimate the epidemiological impact of removing the mask-wearing recommendation in Japan.We developed a model to assess the consequences of declining mask-wearing coverage after the government revoked its recommendation in February 2023.The declining mask-wearing coverage was estimated using serial cross-sectional data,and a mathematical model was devised to determine the age-specific incidence of COVID-19 using the observed case count in Tokyo from week of October 3,2022 to October 30,2023.We explored model-based counterfactual scenarios to measure hypothetical situations in which the mask-wearing coverage decreases or increases relative to the observed coverage.The results show that mask-wearing coverage declined from 97%to 69%by the week of October 30,2023,and that if the mask-wearing recommendation had continued,427 lives could have been saved in Tokyo.If the mask-wearing coverage had declined to 25%of the observed level,the model suggests there might have been 1587 additional deaths.Thus,revoking the mask-wearing recommendation had a substantial epidemiological impact.In future pandemics,our proposed approach could provide a realtime quantification of the effects of relaxing countermeasures.
基金funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China(82071028).
文摘Objective:Medical masks have been shown to significantly influence speech communication in healthy people.The effect of mask-wearing on phonatory capability and daily communication exchanges in patients with voice disorders remains unclear.To evaluate the effect of the medical mask on acoustic parameters in patients with a voice disorder,we measured the voice frequency,quality,and intensity.Methods:Thirty-three healthy and 44 voice disorder patients were involved in this study,including 27 patients with vocal-fold lesions and 17 with primary functional dysphonia.Perceptual evaluation and acoustic parameters,including F0(fundamental frequency),jitter,shimmer,and maximum vocal intensity,were analyzed without and with medical masks.Results:With medical mask-wearing,the maximum vocal intensity significantly decreased in all patients with voice disorders(p<0.05),especially in patients with lesions of vocal folds(p<0.05)and functional dysphonia(p<0.05).The perceptual evaluation roughness scales also increased in patients with lesions of vocal folds(p<0.05)and functional dysphonia(p<0.05)with mask-wearing.There were no significant effects of mask-wearing on acoustic parameters for healthy participants.Conclusions:The intensity was influenced when wearing medical masks in patients with disordered voices.The voice perceptual roughness scales also significantly increased compared to those without medical masks.
