Impact of Nonmodal Phonation on Estimates of Subglottal Pressure From Neck-Surface Acceleration in Healthy Speakers

Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of nonmodal phonation on estimates of subglottal pressure (Ps) derived from the magnitude of a neck-surface accelerometer (ACC) signal and to confirm previous findings regarding the impact of vowel contexts and pitch levels in a larger cohort of participants. Method Twenty-six vocally healthy participants (18 women, 8 men) were asked to produce a series of p-vowel syllables with descending loudness in 3 vowel contexts (/a/, /i/, and /u/), 3 pitch levels (comfortable, high, and low), and 4 elicited phonatory conditions (modal, breathy, strained, and rough). Estimates of Ps for each vowel segment were obtained by averaging the intraoral air pressure plateau before and after each segment. The root-mean-square magnitude of the neck-surface ACC signal was computed for each vowel segment. Three linear mixed-effects models were used to statistically assess the effects of vowel, pitch, and phonatory condition on the linear relationship (slope and intercept) between Ps and ACC signal magnitude. Results Results demonstrated statistically significant linear relationships between ACC signal magnitude and Ps within participants but with increased intercepts for the nonmodal phonatory conditions; slopes were affected to a lesser extent. Vowel and pitch contexts did not significantly affect the linear relationship between ACC signal magnitude and Ps. Conclusion The classic linear relationship between ACC signal magnitude and Ps is significantly affected when nonmodal phonation is produced by a speaker. Future work is warranted to further characterize nonmodal phonatory characteristics to improve the ACC-based prediction of Ps during naturalistic speech production.

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Association of body condition with lameness in dairy cattle: a single-farm longitudinal study

Journal of Dairy Research ◽

10.1017/s0022029921000297 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-4

Author(s):

Michaela Kranepuhl ◽

Detlef May ◽

Edna Hillmann ◽

Lorenz Gygax

Keyword(s):

Body Condition ◽

Body Condition Score ◽

Mixed Effects ◽

Mixed Effects Models ◽

Linear Mixed Effects Models ◽

Linear Mixed Effects ◽

Confounding Variables ◽

Condition Score ◽

The Impact ◽

The Relationship

Abstract This research communication describes the relationship between the occurrence of lameness and body condition score (BCS) in a sample of 288 cows from a single farm that were repeatedly scored in the course of 9 months while controlling for confounding variables. The relationship between BCS and lameness was evaluated using generalised linear mixed-effects models. It was found that the proportion of lame cows was higher with decreasing but also with increasing BCS, increased with lactation number and decreased with time since the last claw trimming. This is likely to reflect the importance of sufficient body condition in the prevention of lameness but also raises the question of the impact of overcondition on lameness and the influence of claw trimming events on the assessment of lameness. A stronger focus on BCS might allow improved management of lameness that is still one of the major problems in housed cows.

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Effects of Mound Versus Flat-Ground Pitching and Distance on Arm Mechanics and Elbow Torque in High School Pitchers

Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine ◽

10.1177/2325967120969245 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (12) ◽

pp. 232596712096924

Author(s):

Brittany Dowling ◽

Kathryn D. McElheny ◽

Christopher L. Camp ◽

Daphne I. Ling ◽

Joshua S. Dines

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

Mixed Effects Models ◽

Multivariable Model ◽

Linear Mixed Effects ◽

Study Results ◽

Ball Velocity ◽

Surrogate Measure ◽

Baseball Pitchers ◽

The Impact ◽

Flat Ground

Background: Although the monitoring of a pitcher’s throwing arm workload has become a hot topic in both research and the pitching world, the impact of mound height and distance still remains unclear. Purpose: To compare the kinetics and kinematics between pitches from a mound and flat ground at 2 different distances. Study Design: Descriptive laboratory study. Methods: A total of 21 healthy high school varsity baseball pitchers (age, 16.2 ± 1.3 years; weight, 73.6 ± 11.0 kg; height, 181.3 ± 6.4 cm) participated in this study. Players were fitted with a motusBASEBALL sensor and sleeve. Each pitcher was instructed to pitch 5 fastballs under 4 conditions: mound at 60.5 ft (regulation distance), flat ground at 60.5 ft, mound at 50.5 ft, and flat ground at 50.5 ft. Linear mixed-effects models were used to account for both intra- and interplayer variability. A multivariable model was used to evaluate the association of mound pitching, flat-ground pitching, and their distances (50.5 ft and 60.5 ft), and their interaction to arm speed, arm slot, arm rotation, elbow varus torque, and ball velocity. Results: There were no statistically significant effects of mound, flat-ground, or distance variation on arm speed or shoulder rotation. Arm slot was significantly higher (+3.0°; P = .02) on pitches from the mound at 60.5 ft compared with 50.5 ft. Elbow varus torque was lower (–1.5 N·m; P = .02) on mound pitches at 60.5 ft compared with 50.5 ft. Pitches thrown from the mound displayed significantly faster ball velocity compared with flat-ground pitches at both distances ( P < .01 for both), with pitches at 60.5 ft having higher velocity (+0.7 m/s; P < .01). Conclusion: Contrary to long-standing notions, the study results suggest that pitching from the mound does not significantly increase stress on the elbow compared with flat-ground pitching. Lower elbow varus torque and faster ball velocity at the regulation distance compared with the reduced distance indicate that elbow stress and ball velocity may not correlate perfectly, and radar guns may not be an appropriate surrogate measure of elbow varus torque. Clinical Relevance: A better understanding of the kinetic and kinematic implications of various throwing programs will allow for the designing of programs that are driven by objective data with aims directed toward injury prevention and rehabilitation in baseball pitchers.

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Physical Isolation and Mental Health Among Older U.S. Adults in the COVID-19 Coping Study

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igab046.145 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 39-39

Author(s):

Carly Joseph ◽

Brendan O'Shea ◽

Jessica Finlay ◽

Lindsay Kobayashi

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Older Adults ◽

Mixed Effects Models ◽

Middle Aged ◽

Linear Mixed Effects ◽

Us States ◽

Physical Isolation ◽

The Impact ◽

Do So

Abstract The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has set an urgent need to understand the impact of physical isolation on mental health. We aimed to investigate the relationships between physical isolation during the period when many US states had shelter-in-place orders (April-May 2020) and subsequent longitudinal trajectories of mental health in middle-aged and older adults (aged 55+, N=3,978) over a six-month follow-up (April to October 2020). We used population and attrition-weighted multivariable linear mixed-effects models. At baseline, 7 days/week of physical isolation (vs. 0 days/week) was associated with elevated depressive symptoms (β=0.82; 95% CI: 0.04-1.60), and all of 1-3, 4-6, and 7 days/week of physical isolation (vs. 0 days/week) were associated with elevated anxiety symptoms and loneliness. Physical isolation was not associated with changes in mental health symptoms over time. These findings highlight the need to prioritize opportunities for in-person connection for middle-aged and older adults when safe to do so.

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Physical competition increases testosterone among Amazonian forager-horticulturalists: a test of the ‘challenge hypothesis’

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2012.0455 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 279 (1739) ◽

pp. 2907-2912 ◽

Cited By ~ 50

Author(s):

Benjamin C. Trumble ◽

Daniel Cummings ◽

Christopher von Rueden ◽

Kathleen A. O'Connor ◽

Eric A. Smith ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Individual Performance ◽

Relative Magnitude ◽

Mixed Effects ◽

Mixed Effects Models ◽

Challenge Hypothesis ◽

Linear Mixed Effects Models ◽

Linear Mixed Effects ◽

Lower Baseline ◽

Bolivian Amazon ◽

Before And After

The challenge hypothesis posits that acute increases in testosterone (T) during male–male competition enhance performance and survivability while limiting the physiological costs of consistently high T. Human challenge hypothesis research focuses on young men in industrial populations, who have higher baseline T levels than men in subsistence populations. We tested whether the Tsimane, pathogenically stressed forager-horticulturalists of the Bolivian Amazon, would express acute T increases in response to physical competition. Saliva was collected from 88 Tsimane men (aged 16–59 years) before and after a competitive soccer match. Tsimane men had significantly lower baseline levels of T ( β = −0.41, p < 0.001) when compared with age-matched United States (US) males. Linear mixed-effects models were used to establish that T increased significantly immediately following competition ( β = 0.23, p < 0.001), remaining high 1 h later ( β = 0.09, p = 0.007); equivalent to 30.1 and 15.5 per cent increases in T, respectively. We did not find larger increases in T among winners ( p = 0.412), although T increases were positively associated with self-rated performance ( β = 9.07, p = 0.004). These results suggest that despite lower levels of T than US males, Tsimane males exhibit acute increases in T at the same relative magnitude reported by studies in industrialized settings, with larger increases in T for those who report better individual performance.

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Estimation of Subglottal Pressure From Neck Surface Vibration in Patients With Voice Disorders

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/2020_jslhr-19-00409 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 63 (7) ◽

pp. 2202-2218

Author(s):

Katherine L. Marks ◽

Jonathan Z. Lin ◽

James A. Burns ◽

Tiffiny A. Hron ◽

Robert E. Hillman ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Linear Relationship ◽

Voice Disorders ◽

Voice Disorder ◽

Patient Specific ◽

Surface Vibration ◽

Vowel Context ◽

Vocal Hyperfunction ◽

Subglottal Pressure ◽

The Impact ◽

The Relationship

Purpose Given the established linear relationship between neck surface vibration magnitude and mean subglottal pressure (Ps) in vocally healthy speakers, the purpose of this study was to better understand the impact of the presence of a voice disorder on this baseline relationship. Method Data were obtained from participants with voice disorders representing a variety of glottal conditions, including phonotraumatic vocal hyperfunction, nonphonotraumatic vocal hyperfunction, and unilateral vocal fold paralysis. Participants were asked to repeat /p/-vowel syllable strings from loud-to-soft loudness levels in multiple vowel contexts (/pa/, /pi/, /pu/) and pitch levels (comfortable, higher than comfortable, lower than comfortable). Three statistical metrics were computed to analyze the regression line between neck surface accelerometer (ACC) signal magnitude and Ps within and across pitch, vowel, and voice disorder category: coefficient of determination ( r 2 ), slope, and intercept. Three linear mixed-effects models were used to evaluate the impact of voice disorder category, pitch level, and vowel context on the relationship between ACC signal magnitude and Ps. Results The relationship between ACC signal magnitude and Ps was statistically different in patients with voice disorders than in vocally healthy controls; patients exhibited higher levels of Ps given similar values of ACC signal magnitude. Negligible effects were found for pitch condition within each voice disorder category, and negligible-to-small effects were found for vowel context. The mean of patient-specific r 2 values was .63, ranging from .13 to .92. Conclusions The baseline, linear relationship between ACC signal magnitude and Ps is affected by the presence of a voice disorder, with the relationship being participant-specific. Further work is needed to improve ACC-based prediction of Ps, across treatment, and during naturalistic speech production.

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Herpes zoster in older adults in Ontario, 2002–2016: Investigating incidence and exploring equity

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0246086 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (2) ◽

pp. e0246086

Author(s):

Sarah A. Buchan ◽

Nick Daneman ◽

Jun Wang ◽

Sarah E. Wilson ◽

Gary Garber ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Herpes Zoster ◽

Age Groups ◽

Population Based ◽

Income Quintile ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Neighbourhood Level ◽

Before And After ◽

Future Work ◽

The Impact

Older adults are at increased risk of herpes zoster (HZ) and post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN) and HZ vaccines are available to help prevent infection. The objective of our study was to provide updated data on incidence of HZ and PHN related to clinical and demographic factors in older adults to inform immunization practices. We conducted a population-based, retrospective cohort study and included all cases of HZ seen in outpatient, emergency department, and hospital settings for adults aged 65 years and over between April 1, 2002 to August 31, 2016 in Ontario, Canada. We calculated the incidence of HZ and PHN, and estimated the proportion within each subgroup that developed PHN. We also assessed incidence by neighbourhood-level income quintile before and after the availability of vaccine for private purchase. The average annual incidence of HZ in any setting was 59.0 per 10,000 older adults, with higher incidence in outpatient as opposed to hospital settings. Incidence was higher in the oldest age groups, females, and those classified as immunocompromised or frail. Relative to the pre-vaccine era, the disparities in incidence of HZ by neighbourhood-level income increased, with higher rates of HZ and PHN seen in those residing in lower income quintiles. Additional prevention efforts should be targeted toward adults who are immunocompromised, frail, and those living in lower socioeconomic quintiles. Future work should assess the impact of the zoster vaccine program with a particular focus on equity in the publicly-funded era.

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Perceived threat and acute anxiety predict increased everyday altruism during the COVID-19 pandemic

10.31234/osf.io/n3t5c ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Joana Vieira ◽

Stephen Pierzchajlo ◽

Simon Jangard ◽

Abigail Marsh ◽

Andreas Olsson

Keyword(s):

Real Life ◽

Self Report ◽

Mixed Effects Models ◽

Perceived Threat ◽

Laboratory Studies ◽

Linear Mixed Effects ◽

Life Crisis ◽

Defensive Responses ◽

The Impact ◽

Acute Anxiety

Threatening situations have been shown to influence prosocial and altruistic behaviour in laboratory studies. However, it is unknown whether those effects would transfer to a real-life crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, we examined the impact of changing COVID-19 threat on everyday altruism. Specifically, we investigated the association between defensive emotions associated with varying levels of perceived threat imminence, and reported frequency of altruistic behaviours. A sample of 600 United States residents was recruited online via Prolific at 4 different timepoints in March and April (n=150 each week). We collected self-report measures of everyday altruism, Perceived COVID-19 threat, and defensive emotions associated with varying threat imminence (anticipatory versus acute anxiety). Linear mixed effects models were used to predict variation in everyday altruism as a function of perceived COVID-19 threat and defensive emotions. Our results revealed a clear and consistent association between acute anxiety in response to the pandemic, and frequency of altruistic behaviours. No significant association was found between altruism and less acute defensive responses. These results suggest acute defensive emotions associated with higher threat imminence may promote altruistic action during a real-life crisis.

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THE IMPACT OF PROFESSIONAL TRAINEESHIP ON THE STUDENTS ’ PERCEPTION OF THEIR KNOWLEDGE AND FUTURE WORK IN THE AGRIBUSINESS SECTOR

Annals of the Polish Association of Agricultural and Agribusiness Economists ◽

10.5604/01.3001.0012.2950 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol XX (4) ◽

pp. 91-96

Author(s):

Magdalena Kozera-Kowalska ◽

Jarosław Uglis

Keyword(s):

University Graduates ◽

Professional Career ◽

Work Placement ◽

Research Material ◽

Before And After ◽

The University ◽

Economic Future ◽

Future Work ◽

The Impact ◽

Financial Aspect

The paper presents the results of research on the impact of paid professional traineeships done by students during their studies on the perception of knowledge they have gained, as well as on agribusiness as their work environment and their further professional career. The aim of the research was to evaluate paid traineeships as a factor determining the way in which the knowledge gained by students during studies and their future work are perceived. The research material included the results obtained in a study of students conducted twice – before and after they had completed their professional traineeships. The research tool was the auditorium questionnaire, and the collected data underwent a statistical analysis, followed by a discussion. It was found that the respondents appreciated work placements as a way of gaining experience during studies. At the same time, the results of the investigation indicate that in the students’ opinion, graduating from a good university guarantees finding an interesting job. This was additionally confirmed by disagreeing with the statement that gaining good grades in the course of university studies does not bring any benefits (as indicated by the gamma correlation coefficient). Thus, completing a traineeship is significant for a future professional career, as it allows the students to look at it more realistically, including the financial aspect. However, their expectations, both before and after the work placement, remained relatively high, compared to the actual earnings reported in the University Graduates’ Economic Future monitoring system (ELA).

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Assessing the impact of mindfulness attitudes on attentional quality through focused breath induction

10.1101/619817 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

M França ◽

GK Tanaka ◽

M Cagy ◽

P Ribeiro ◽

B Velasques ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Attentional Control ◽

Low Dose ◽

Control Session ◽

Attentional Resources ◽

Oddball Task ◽

Before And After ◽

Mindfulness Induction ◽

The Impact ◽

Healthy Participants ◽

Specific Contribution

AbstractMindfulness attitudes, as gentleness, openness, acceptance, curiosity and being non-judgmental have been related to improvement in cognitive and emotional functions, but few studies have focused on its specific contribution. The present study investigated the effect of the mindfulness attitudes on top-down attentional control abilities. Twenty one healthy participants were submitted to two conditions: a Mindfulness induction session where participants practiced focusing on the sensory sensations of breathing while encouraged to incorporate the five mindfulness attitudes and an attentional control session in which participants were repeatedly instructed to merely attend to the breath, without any mindfulness attitude component. Before and after each condition, participants performed two blocks of the oddball task while EEG was recorded. Contrary to our expectations, attentional control assessed through amplitude and latency of the P3b ERP component and oddball task accuracy did not show any changes in any of the conditions. These results suggest that a low dose of mindfulness training in naive individuals, through a focused breath induction, is not enough to improve the allocation of attentional resources towards task-relevant stimuli.

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Do Inpatient Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs help us in the Battle against Antimicrobial Resistance?

Clinical Infectious Diseases ◽

10.1093/cid/ciaa1004 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Sara Y Tartof ◽

Lie Hong Chen ◽

Yun Tian ◽

Rong Wei ◽

Theresa Im ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mixed Effects ◽

Unintended Consequences ◽

Mixed Effects Models ◽

Defined Daily Dose ◽

Drug Resistant ◽

Linear Mixed Effects Models ◽

Linear Mixed Effects ◽

Days Of Therapy ◽

Generalized Linear Mixed Effects ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background Antibiotic stewardship programs (ASPs) have demonstrated success at reducing costs, yet there is limited quality evidence of their effectiveness to reduce infections of high-profile drug-resistant organisms. Methods This retrospective cohort study included all Kaiser Permanente Southern California (KPSC) members hospitalized in 9 KPSC hospitals aged ≥18 years from January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2016. We measured the impact of staggered ASP implementation on consumption of 18 ASP-targeted antibiotics using generalized linear mixed effects models. We used multivariable generalized linear mixed effects models to estimate the adjusted effect of ASP on rates of infection with drug-resistant organisms. Analyses were adjusted for confounding by time, cluster effects, and patient-level and hospital-level characteristics. Results We included 765,111 hospitalizations (288,257 pre-ASP, 476,854 post-ASP). By defined daily dose, we found a 6.1% (-7.5% - -4.7%) overall decrease in use of antibiotics post-ASP, and by days of therapy, we detected a 4.3% (-5.4% - -3.1%) decrease in overall use of antibiotics. The number of prescriptions increased post-ASP (1.04 [1.03–1.05]). In adjusted analyses, we detected an overall increase of VRE infection following ASP (1.37 [1.10-1.69]). We did not detect a change in the rates of ESBL, CRE and MDR Pseudomonas aeruginosa following ASP. Conclusions ASPs with successful reductions in consumption of targeted antibiotics may not see changes in infection rates with antibiotic-resistant organisms in the 2 to 6 years post-implementation. There are likely differing timescales for reversion to susceptibility across organisms and antibiotics, and unintended consequences from compensatory prescribing may occur.

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