Acoustic Variability in the Healthy Female Voice Within and Across Days: How Much and Why?

Purpose The aims of this study were (1) to quantify variability in voice production (as measured acoustically) within and across consecutive days in vocally healthy female speakers, (2) to identify which acoustic measures are sensitive to this variability, and (3) to identify participant characteristics related to such voice variability. Method Participants included 45 young women with normal voices who were stratified by age, specifically 18–23, 24–29, and 30–35 years. Following an initial acoustic and auditory-perceptual voice assessment, participants performed standardized field voice recordings 3 times daily across a 7-day period. Acoustic analyses involved 32 cepstral-, spectral-, and time-based measures of connected speech and sustained vowels. Relationships among acoustic data and select demographic, health, and lifestyle (i.e., participant-based) factors were also examined. Results Significant time-of-day effects were observed for acoustic analyses within speakers ( p < .05), with voices generally being worse in the morning. No significant differences were observed across consecutive days. Variations in voice production were associated with several participant factors, including improved voice with increased voice use; self-perceived poor voice function, minimal or no alcohol consumption, and extroverted personality; and worse voice with regular or current menstruation, depression, and anxiety. Conclusions This acoustic study provides essential information regarding the nature and extent to which healthy voices vary throughout the day and week. Participant-based factors that were associated with improved voice over time included increased voice use, self-perceived poor voice function, minimal or no alcohol consumption, and extroverted personality. Factors associated with worse voice production over time included regular or current menstruation, and depression and anxiety.

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Without the Power to Drink or Contract

Edinburgh Law Review ◽

10.3366/elr.2020.0598 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 24 (1) ◽

pp. 26-48

Author(s):

Warren Swain

Keyword(s):

Alcohol Consumption ◽

Social Activity ◽

Individual Responsibility ◽

Roman Law ◽

Current Position ◽

Modern Times ◽

The Will ◽

The Subject ◽

The Law ◽

Over Time

Intoxication as a ground to set aside a contract is not something that has proved to be easy for the law to regulate. This is perhaps not very surprising. Intoxication is a temporary condition of varying degrees of magnitude. Its presence does however raise questions of contractual autonomy and individual responsibility. Alcohol consumption is a common social activity and perceptions of intoxication and especially alcoholism have changed over time. Roman law is surprisingly quiet on the subject. In modern times the rules about intoxicated contracting in Scottish and English law is very similar. Rather more interestingly the law in these two jurisdictions has reached the current position in slightly different ways. This history can be traced through English Equity, the works of the Scottish Institutional writers, the rise of the Will Theory, and all leavened with a dose of judicial pragmatism.

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COVID-19 Perceived Impact and Psychological Variables as Predictors of Unhealthy Food and Alcohol Consumption Trajectories: The Role of Gender and Living with Children as Moderators

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18094542 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (9) ◽

pp. 4542

Author(s):

Camila Salazar-Fernández ◽

Daniela Palet ◽

Paola A. Haeger ◽

Francisca Román Mella

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Alcohol Consumption ◽

Depression Symptoms ◽

Unhealthy Food ◽

Psychological Variables ◽

Curve Modeling ◽

Perceived Impact ◽

Mental Health Factors ◽

The Impact ◽

Over Time

The present study examines the trajectories of unhealthy food and alcohol consumption over time and considers whether perceived impact of COVID-19 and psychological variables are predictors of these trajectories. We ascertained whether these predictors are different in women vs. men and between women living with vs. without children. Data were collected through online surveys administered to 1038 participants from two universities (staff and students) in Chile, across five waves (July to October 2020). Participants provided information about their past-week unhealthy food and alcohol consumption and mental health. Using latent growth curve modeling analysis, we found that higher perceived health and interpersonal COVID-19 impact, younger age and lower depression symptoms were associated with more rapid increases over time in unhealthy food consumption. On the other hand, higher perceived COVID-19 economic impact and older age were associated with more rapid diachronic decreases in alcohol consumption. Gender and living with or without children, for women only, were moderators of these trajectories. This longitudinal study provides strong evidence identifying the multiple repercussions of COVID-19 and mental health factors on unhealthy food and alcohol consumption. These findings highlight the need for interventions aimed at minimizing the impact of the pandemic on unhealthy food and alcohol consumption over time.

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Is there really a ‘J-shaped’ curve in the association between alcohol consumption and symptoms of depression and anxiety? Findings from the Mater-University Study of Pregnancy and its outcomes

Addiction ◽

10.1111/j.1360-0443.2005.01063.x ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 100 (5) ◽

pp. 643-651 ◽

Cited By ~ 65

Author(s):

Rosa Alati ◽

Debbie A. Lawlor ◽

Jake M. Najman ◽

Gail M. Williams ◽

William Bor ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Alcohol Consumption ◽

Depression And Anxiety ◽

Symptoms Of Depression

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Six-year longitudinal course and outcomes of subtypes of depression

The British Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/bjp.bp.114.153098 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 208 (1) ◽

pp. 62-68 ◽

Cited By ~ 41

Author(s):

F. Lamers ◽

A. T. F. Beekman ◽

A. M. van Hemert ◽

R. A. Schoevers ◽

B. W. J. H. Penninx

Keyword(s):

Latent Class ◽

Clinical Course ◽

Depression And Anxiety ◽

Major Depressive ◽

Longitudinal Course ◽

Baseline Severity ◽

Depressive Subtypes ◽

Depression Subtypes ◽

Over Time

BackgroundClinical and aetiological heterogeneity have impeded our understanding of depression.AimsTo evaluate differences in psychiatric and somatic course between people with depression subtypes that differed clinically (severity) and aetiologically (melancholic v. atypical).MethodData from baseline, 2-, 4- and 6-year follow-up of The Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety were used, and included 600 controls and 648 people with major depressive disorder (subtypes: severe melancholic n = 308; severe atypical n = 167; moderate n = 173, established using latent class analysis).ResultsThose with the moderate subtype had a significantly better psychiatric clinical course than the severe melancholic and atypical subtype groups. Suicidal thoughts and anxiety persisted longer in those with the melancholic subtype. The atypical subtype group continued to have the highest body mass index and highest prevalence of metabolic syndrome during follow-up, although differences between groups became less pronounced over time.ConclusionsCourse trajectories of depressive subtypes mostly ran parallel to each other, with baseline severity being the most important differentiator in course between groups.

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Diseño de interfaz gráfica para analizar el ciclo de marcha del cuerpo humano en software libre

Revista de Ingeniería Biomédica y Biotecnología ◽

10.35429/jbeb.2020.12.4.13.17 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 13-17

Author(s):

Didia Carrillo-Hernández ◽

Yered Uriel Terrones-Lara ◽

Heraclio García-Cervantes ◽

Alan David Blanco-Miranda

Keyword(s):

Control System ◽

Control Systems ◽

Intelligent Control ◽

Motor System ◽

Gait Cycle ◽

Health Sector ◽

Lower Limbs ◽

Essential Information ◽

Intelligent Control System ◽

Over Time

Currently in the country there are more than 27 thousand cases of annual amputations and more than 80% correspond to lower limbs, therefore, the demand for prosthetic equipment is greater than what the health sector institutions can provide. It should be noted that the equipment developed by these institutions is only passive equipment, so that only 10% of patients who receive a prosthetic equipment successfully complete their rehabilitation. The main problems that the patient faces when adapting to their prosthetic equipment is the response time and alignment vs the healthy limb, since it does not have an intelligent control system that allows them to respond in real time as the losted limb did. This causes gaps when performing your gait cycle, this over time can bring about abnormalities in your posture affecting the alignment of your motor system. This work allows us to analyze the range of motion of the ankles and knees, in addition to determining the angular velocity of both, it is essential information for the development of control systems necessary for active prosthetic equipment. The programming language where it was developed is the Python 3.7 software and additionally reproduce the simulation of the gait cycle.

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Blended Care-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression and Anxiety in Real-World Settings: Pragmatic Retrospective Study (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.18723 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Anita Lungu ◽

Janie Jihee Jun ◽

Okhtay Azarmanesh ◽

Yan Leykin ◽

Connie E-Jean Chen

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy ◽

Real World ◽

Behavioral Therapy ◽

Anxiety Symptoms ◽

Cognitive Behavioral ◽

Depression And Anxiety ◽

Symptoms Of Depression ◽

Care Intervention ◽

Blended Care ◽

Over Time

BACKGROUND The past few decades saw considerable advances in research and dissemination of evidence-based psychotherapies, yet available treatment resources are not able to meet the high need for care for individuals suffering from depression or anxiety. Blended care psychotherapy, which combines the strengths of therapist-led and internet interventions, can narrow this gap and be clinically effective and efficient, but has rarely been evaluated outside of controlled research settings. OBJECTIVE This study evaluated the effectiveness of a blended care intervention (video-based cognitive behavior therapy and internet intervention) under real-world conditions. METHODS This is a pragmatic retrospective cohort analysis of 385 participants with clinical range depression and/or anxiety symptoms at baseline, measured using Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), who enrolled in blended care psychotherapy treatment. Participants resided in the United States and had access to the blended care intervention as a mental health benefit offered through their employers. Levels of depression and anxiety were tracked throughout treatment. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine the change in symptoms over time. The effects of age, gender, and providers on participants’ symptom change trajectories were also evaluated. Paired sample t-tests were also conducted, and rates of positive clinical change and clinically significant improvement were calculated. RESULTS The average depression and anxiety symptoms at 6 weeks after the start of treatment were 5.94 and 6.57, respectively. There were significant linear effects of time on both symptoms of depression and anxiety (β=–.49, <i>P</i><.001 and β=–.64, <i>P</i><.001). The quadratic effect was also significant for both symptoms of depression and anxiety (β=.04, P<.001 for both), suggesting a decelerated decrease in symptoms over time. Approximately 73% (n=283) of all 385 participants demonstrated reliable improvement, and 83% (n=319) recovered on either the PHQ-9 or GAD-7 measures. Large effect sizes were observed on both symptoms of depression (Cohen d=1.08) and of anxiety (d=1.33). CONCLUSIONS Video blended care cognitive behavioral therapy interventions can be effective and efficient in treating symptoms of depression and anxiety in real-world conditions. Future research should investigate the differential and interactive contribution of the therapist-led and digital components of care to patient outcomes to optimize care.

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The comparative effectiveness of different models of permanent supportive housing on problematic substance use, depression, and anxiety symptoms over time.

American Journal of Orthopsychiatry ◽

10.1037/ort0000550 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Julia Dickson-Gomez ◽

Timothy McAuliffe ◽

Katherine Quinn ◽

Antoinette Spector ◽

Peter Toepfer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Substance Use ◽

Comparative Effectiveness ◽

Anxiety Symptoms ◽

Supportive Housing ◽

Depression And Anxiety ◽

Permanent Supportive Housing ◽

Problematic Substance Use ◽

Problematic Substance ◽

Over Time

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Practical Significance of Longitudinal Measurement Invariance Violations in the Dutch–Flemish PROMIS Item Banks for Depression and Anxiety: An Illustration With Ordered-Categorical Data

Assessment ◽

10.1177/1073191119880967 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 28 (1) ◽

pp. 277-294

Author(s):

Gerard Flens ◽

Niels Smits ◽

Caroline B. Terwee ◽

Liv Pijck ◽

Philip Spinhoven ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Measurement Invariance ◽

Practical Significance ◽

Clinical Samples ◽

Specific Response ◽

Depression And Anxiety ◽

Longitudinal Measurement Invariance ◽

Longitudinal Measurement ◽

Item Banks ◽

The Impact ◽

Over Time

We investigated longitudinal measurement invariance in the Dutch–Flemish PROMIS adult v1.0 item banks for Depression and Anxiety using two clinical samples with mood and anxiety disorders ( n = 640 and n = 528, respectively). Factor analysis was used to evaluate whether the item banks were sufficiently unidimensional at two test-occasions and whether the measured constructs remained the same over time. The results indicated that the item banks were sufficiently unidimensional, but the thresholds and residual variances of the constructs changed over time. However, using tentative rules of thumb, these invariance violations did not substantially affect the endorsement of a specific response category of a specific item at a specific test-occasion. Furthermore, the impact on the mean latent change scores of the item banks remained below the proposed cutoff value for substantial bias. These findings suggest that the invariance violations lacked practical significance for test-users, meaning that the item banks provide sufficiently invariant latent factor scores for use in clinical practice.

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Variability of Peak Hour Factor at Intersections

Transportation Research Record Journal of the Transportation Research Board ◽

10.1177/0361198105192000115 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 1920 (1) ◽

pp. 125-130 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Andrew P. Tarko ◽

Rafael I. Perez-Cartagena

Keyword(s):

Flow Rate ◽

Field Measurements ◽

Past Research ◽

Time Of Day ◽

Strong Impact ◽

Field Observations ◽

Average Value ◽

The Common ◽

Multiple Field ◽

Over Time

A peak hour factor (PHF) is used to convert hourly traffic volume into the flow rate that represents the busiest 15 min of the rush hour. Past research indicated that PHF had a strong impact on traffic analysis results. The common practice is to use a default value recommended by national or local guidelines or to use limited field observations. This paper investigates the variability of PHF over time and across locations. The day-to-day variability of PHF was found to be as strong as the site-to-site variability. This finding prompts estimation of the PHF on the basis of multiple field measurements or, when it is not possible to obtain measurements, for the use of a model that returns the average value of PHF. This paper presents such a model, which links PHF with the hourly volume, population, and time of day. The paper demonstrates that a large portion of the variability in the sample of observations either can be explained with the model or can be attributed to the day-to-day fluctuation.

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