This study examines the interaction between emotional states(anxiety and depression)and tinnitus severity in individuals undergoing a four-month sound therapy intervention.43 participants(28 males and 15 females)of a ...This study examines the interaction between emotional states(anxiety and depression)and tinnitus severity in individuals undergoing a four-month sound therapy intervention.43 participants(28 males and 15 females)of a study on four-month sound therapy of tinnitus were recruited and their tinnitus severity(Tinnitus Handicap Inventory,THI,and Tinnitus Functional Index,TFI)and emotional state(Hospitalary Anxiety and Depression Scale,HADS)were assessed before and after finishing the treatment.The participants,predominantly with moderate tinnitus,showed a significant reduction in tinnitus-related distress,with a mean reduction of approximately 30 points on both the THI and the TFI.Analysis revealed significant gender differences,with women experiencing higher baseline tinnitus distress but higher response to sound therapy.Emotional state assessments revealed moderate levels of anxiety and depression at baseline,which decreased significantly after therapy,particularly in women.Correlational analyses revealed a strong relationship between changes in emotional state and tinnitus severity,with reductions in anxiety and depression associated with improved tinnitus outcomes.The results highlight the complex relationship between emotional well-being and tinnitus severity and underline the potential of sound therapy to alleviate both emotional distress and tinnitus symptoms.展开更多
Tinnitus is a heterogeneous hearing disorder with no cure at present,but some treatments,such as a combination of counselling and sound therapy,can alleviate the discomfort it causes.The sound therapy efficiency depen...Tinnitus is a heterogeneous hearing disorder with no cure at present,but some treatments,such as a combination of counselling and sound therapy,can alleviate the discomfort it causes.The sound therapy efficiency depends on both the type of sound stimulus and the time of exposure.This study describes the fundamentals of a personalized sound therapy that stimulates the auditory system with either continuous or sequential sounds whose spectra are adjusted to the hearing levels of the participants.This sound therapy is called Enriched Acoustic Environment and is assessed in a sample of 137 participants with tinnitus.Tinnitus-related distress relief was clinically relevant and statistically significant for 90%of these patients.This was quantified as a mean decrease of 24.3 points on the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory.31%of participants were treated with sequential stimuli and achieved greater relief of distress(29.4 points on their Tinnitus Handicap Inventory score)compared to those treated with continuous sound(69%).According to these results,sequential sound seems to be optimal compared to continuous sound.展开更多
Developing new imaging methods needs to establish some proofs of concept before implementing them on real-time scenarios. Nowadays, the high computational power reached by multi-core CPUs and GPUs have driven the deve...Developing new imaging methods needs to establish some proofs of concept before implementing them on real-time scenarios. Nowadays, the high computational power reached by multi-core CPUs and GPUs have driven the development of software-based beamformers. Taking this into account, a library for the fast generation of ultrasound images is presented. It is based on Synthetic Aperture Imaging Techniques (SAFT) and it is fast because of the use of parallel computing techniques. Any kind of transducers as well as SAFT techniques can be defined although it includes some pre-built SAFT methods like 2R-SAFT and TFM. Furthermore, 2D and 3D imaging (slice- based or full volume computation) is supported along with the ability to generate both rectangular and angular images. For interpolation, linear and polynomial schemes can be chosen. The versatility of the library is ensured by interfacing it to Matlab, Python and any programming language over different operating systems. On a standard PC equipped with a single NVIDIA Quadro 4000 (256 cores), the library is able to calculate 262,144 pixels in ≈105 ms using a linear transducer with 64 elements, and 2,097,152 voxels in ≈ 5 seconds using a matrix transducer with 121 elements when TFM is applied.展开更多
Tinnitus:the hearing of a sound that has not been produced by any external or internal source,is a rather heterogeneous hearing disorder.Background/Objectives:Hearing loss has been shown to be the main risk factor for...Tinnitus:the hearing of a sound that has not been produced by any external or internal source,is a rather heterogeneous hearing disorder.Background/Objectives:Hearing loss has been shown to be the main risk factor for tinnitus while emotional disorders are risk factors for developing intrusive or bothersome tinnitus.Moreover,aging has also been identified as another risk factor.The aim of this paper was to analyse the correlation between hearing loss,age and tinnitus severity in a cohort of 610 tinnitus sufferers.Methods:Age,audiometric(hearing condition)and tinnitus(time duration and severity)data were assessed and analysed for all subjects just after recruiting(baseline).Furthermore,the average hearing loss(HL)curves of the participants for age groups were compared to these with the corresponding Age Related HL(ARHL).Results:For most of the age groups,the measured HL curves exceeded in 10-20 dB those of the ARHL.The average age of tinnitus onset(age minus tinnitus duration)was found to be 44-46 years in both men and women.Weak correlation between audiometric feature and tinnitus distress was observed.Conclusions:Hearing loss has been shown to be a clear risk factor for triggering tinnitus(86%of participants were hearing impaired).In this cohort,average measures of hearing loss showed,at most,weak associations with tinnitus-related distress,suggesting that non-audiological factors may play a predominant role.展开更多
Vernacular built heritage,which is rich in cultural knowledge and identity,is increasingly threatened by modernisation.The absence of specific assessment tools,however,prevents a thorough evaluation of this impact.To ...Vernacular built heritage,which is rich in cultural knowledge and identity,is increasingly threatened by modernisation.The absence of specific assessment tools,however,prevents a thorough evaluation of this impact.To address this gap,this paper presents a methodology for assessing how contemporary transformation processes affect the built heritage of vernacular settlements facing abandonment.This methodology involves inventorying the buildings of a vernacular settlement to identify alterations that significantly impact their vernacular character.Each building is assigned an index value quantifying the impact of these alterations.This process is facilitated by a multicriteria decision-making(MCDM)approach that incorporates the combined judgement and expertise of stakeholders typically involved in site management.The results yield an index that quantifies the preserved vernacular character of a site.Designed to be adaptable to diverse cultural contexts and situations,this methodology was implemented in thirteen vernacular villages within Montesinho Natural Park(MNP),Portugal,where buildings undergo continuous substitution,modification,and abandonment.This research offers policy-makers and site managers a replicable model for developing management strategies that can help safeguard and revitalise these unique heritage assets.This research hypothesises that enhancing vernacular building practices can reverse depopulation by fostering dynamic community engagement.展开更多
文摘This study examines the interaction between emotional states(anxiety and depression)and tinnitus severity in individuals undergoing a four-month sound therapy intervention.43 participants(28 males and 15 females)of a study on four-month sound therapy of tinnitus were recruited and their tinnitus severity(Tinnitus Handicap Inventory,THI,and Tinnitus Functional Index,TFI)and emotional state(Hospitalary Anxiety and Depression Scale,HADS)were assessed before and after finishing the treatment.The participants,predominantly with moderate tinnitus,showed a significant reduction in tinnitus-related distress,with a mean reduction of approximately 30 points on both the THI and the TFI.Analysis revealed significant gender differences,with women experiencing higher baseline tinnitus distress but higher response to sound therapy.Emotional state assessments revealed moderate levels of anxiety and depression at baseline,which decreased significantly after therapy,particularly in women.Correlational analyses revealed a strong relationship between changes in emotional state and tinnitus severity,with reductions in anxiety and depression associated with improved tinnitus outcomes.The results highlight the complex relationship between emotional well-being and tinnitus severity and underline the potential of sound therapy to alleviate both emotional distress and tinnitus symptoms.
文摘Tinnitus is a heterogeneous hearing disorder with no cure at present,but some treatments,such as a combination of counselling and sound therapy,can alleviate the discomfort it causes.The sound therapy efficiency depends on both the type of sound stimulus and the time of exposure.This study describes the fundamentals of a personalized sound therapy that stimulates the auditory system with either continuous or sequential sounds whose spectra are adjusted to the hearing levels of the participants.This sound therapy is called Enriched Acoustic Environment and is assessed in a sample of 137 participants with tinnitus.Tinnitus-related distress relief was clinically relevant and statistically significant for 90%of these patients.This was quantified as a mean decrease of 24.3 points on the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory.31%of participants were treated with sequential stimuli and achieved greater relief of distress(29.4 points on their Tinnitus Handicap Inventory score)compared to those treated with continuous sound(69%).According to these results,sequential sound seems to be optimal compared to continuous sound.
基金supported by the Spanish Government and the University of Alcaláunder projects DPI2010-19376 and CCG2014/EXP-084,respectively.
文摘Developing new imaging methods needs to establish some proofs of concept before implementing them on real-time scenarios. Nowadays, the high computational power reached by multi-core CPUs and GPUs have driven the development of software-based beamformers. Taking this into account, a library for the fast generation of ultrasound images is presented. It is based on Synthetic Aperture Imaging Techniques (SAFT) and it is fast because of the use of parallel computing techniques. Any kind of transducers as well as SAFT techniques can be defined although it includes some pre-built SAFT methods like 2R-SAFT and TFM. Furthermore, 2D and 3D imaging (slice- based or full volume computation) is supported along with the ability to generate both rectangular and angular images. For interpolation, linear and polynomial schemes can be chosen. The versatility of the library is ensured by interfacing it to Matlab, Python and any programming language over different operating systems. On a standard PC equipped with a single NVIDIA Quadro 4000 (256 cores), the library is able to calculate 262,144 pixels in ≈105 ms using a linear transducer with 64 elements, and 2,097,152 voxels in ≈ 5 seconds using a matrix transducer with 121 elements when TFM is applied.
文摘Tinnitus:the hearing of a sound that has not been produced by any external or internal source,is a rather heterogeneous hearing disorder.Background/Objectives:Hearing loss has been shown to be the main risk factor for tinnitus while emotional disorders are risk factors for developing intrusive or bothersome tinnitus.Moreover,aging has also been identified as another risk factor.The aim of this paper was to analyse the correlation between hearing loss,age and tinnitus severity in a cohort of 610 tinnitus sufferers.Methods:Age,audiometric(hearing condition)and tinnitus(time duration and severity)data were assessed and analysed for all subjects just after recruiting(baseline).Furthermore,the average hearing loss(HL)curves of the participants for age groups were compared to these with the corresponding Age Related HL(ARHL).Results:For most of the age groups,the measured HL curves exceeded in 10-20 dB those of the ARHL.The average age of tinnitus onset(age minus tinnitus duration)was found to be 44-46 years in both men and women.Weak correlation between audiometric feature and tinnitus distress was observed.Conclusions:Hearing loss has been shown to be a clear risk factor for triggering tinnitus(86%of participants were hearing impaired).In this cohort,average measures of hearing loss showed,at most,weak associations with tinnitus-related distress,suggesting that non-audiological factors may play a predominant role.
基金financed with national funds through the Portuguese funding agency,FCT-Fundação para a Ciéncia e a Tecnologia,within the INHAVIT project(https://doi.org/10.54499/MTS/BRB/0086/2020)with the PhD scholarship 2021.07522.BD of the first author(https://doi.org/10.54499/2021.07522.BD).
文摘Vernacular built heritage,which is rich in cultural knowledge and identity,is increasingly threatened by modernisation.The absence of specific assessment tools,however,prevents a thorough evaluation of this impact.To address this gap,this paper presents a methodology for assessing how contemporary transformation processes affect the built heritage of vernacular settlements facing abandonment.This methodology involves inventorying the buildings of a vernacular settlement to identify alterations that significantly impact their vernacular character.Each building is assigned an index value quantifying the impact of these alterations.This process is facilitated by a multicriteria decision-making(MCDM)approach that incorporates the combined judgement and expertise of stakeholders typically involved in site management.The results yield an index that quantifies the preserved vernacular character of a site.Designed to be adaptable to diverse cultural contexts and situations,this methodology was implemented in thirteen vernacular villages within Montesinho Natural Park(MNP),Portugal,where buildings undergo continuous substitution,modification,and abandonment.This research offers policy-makers and site managers a replicable model for developing management strategies that can help safeguard and revitalise these unique heritage assets.This research hypothesises that enhancing vernacular building practices can reverse depopulation by fostering dynamic community engagement.
