Health effects of holistic housing renovation in a disadvantaged neighbourhood in the Netherlands: a qualitative exploration among residents and professionals.

BACKGROUND: Holistic housing renovations combine physical housing improvements with social and socioeconomic interventions (e.g. referral to social services, debt counselling, involvement in decision-making, promoting social cohesion). In a deprived neighbourhood in Utrecht, the Netherlands, this paper examined residents' and professionals' experiences, ideas, and perceptions regarding holistic housing renovation, its health effects, and underlying mechanisms explaining those effects. METHODS: Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 21 social housing residents exposed to holistic housing renovation, and 12 professionals involved in either the physical renovation or social interventions implemented. Residents were interviewed in various renovation stages (before, during, after renovation). Transcripts were deductively and inductively coded using qualitative software. RESULTS: Residents experienced and professionals acknowledged renovation stress caused by nuisance from construction work (noise, dust), having to move stuff around, and temporary moving; lack of information and control; and perceived violation of privacy. Involvement in design choices was appreciated, and mental health improvement was expected on the long term due to improved housing quality and visual amenity benefits. Social contact between residents increased as the renovation became topic for small talk. Few comments were made regarding physical health effects. The interviews revealed a certain amount of distrust in and dissatisfaction with the housing corporation, construction company, and other authorities. CONCLUSIONS: Renovation stress, aggravated by lack of information and poor accessibility of housing corporation and construction company, negatively affects mental health and sense of control. Potential stress relievers are practical help with packing and moving furniture, and increased predictability by good and targeted communication. Social interventions can best be offered after renovation, when residents live in their renovated apartment and the nuisance and stress from the renovation is behind them. Social partners can use the period leading up to the renovation to show their faces, offer practical help to reduce renovation stress, and increase residents' trust in their organization and authorities in general. This might also contribute to residents' willingness to accept help with problems in the social domain after renovation.

Personal Strategies to Reduce the Cardiovascular Impacts of Environmental Exposures.

Ubiquitous environmental exposures increase cardiovascular disease risk via diverse mechanisms. This review examines personal strategies to minimize this risk. With regard to fine particulate air pollution exposure, evidence exists to recommend the use of portable air cleaners and avoidance of outdoor activity during periods of poor air quality. Other evidence may support physical activity, dietary modification, omega-3 fatty acid supplementation, and indoor and in-vehicle air conditioning as viable strategies to minimize adverse health effects. There is currently insufficient data to recommend specific personal approaches to reduce the adverse cardiovascular effects of noise pollution. Public health advisories for periods of extreme heat or cold should be observed, with limited evidence supporting a warm ambient home temperature and physical activity as strategies to limit the cardiovascular harms of temperature extremes. Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substance exposure can be reduced by avoiding contact with perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substance-containing materials; blood or plasma donation and cholestyramine may reduce total body stores of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances. However, the cardiovascular impact of these interventions has not been examined. Limited utilization of pesticides and safe handling during use should be encouraged. Finally, vasculotoxic metal exposure can be decreased by using portable air cleaners, home water filtration, and awareness of potential contaminants in ground spices. Chelation therapy reduces physiological stores of vasculotoxic metals and may be effective for the secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease.

Managing acoustic noise within MRI: A qualitative interview study among Swedish radiographers.

INTRODUCTION: Acoustic noise from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can cause hearing loss and needs to be mitigated to ensure the safety of patients and personnel. Capturing MR personnel's insights is crucial for guiding the development and future applications of noise-reduction technology. This study aimed to explore how MR radiographers manage acoustic noise in clinical MR settings. METHODS: Using a qualitative design, we conducted semi-structured individual interviews with fifteen MR radiographers from fifteen hospitals around Sweden. We focused on the clinical implications of participants' noise management, using an interpretive description approach. We also identified sociotechnical interactions between People, Environment, Tools, and Tasks (PETT) by adopting a Human Factors/Ergonomics framework. Interview data were analyzed inductively with thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke). RESULTS: The analysis generated three main themes regarding MR radiographers' noise management: (I) Navigating Occupational Noise: Risk Management and Adaptation; (II) Protecting the Patient and Serving the Exam, and (III) Establishing a Safe Healthcare Environment with Organizational Support. CONCLUSION: This study offers insights into radiographers' experiences of managing acoustic noise within MRI, and the associated challenges. Radiographers have adopted multiple strategies to protect patients and themselves from adverse noise-related effects. However, they require tools and support to manage this effectively, suggesting a need for organizations to adopt more proactive, holistic approaches to safety initiatives. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The radiographers stressed the importance of a soundproofed work environment to minimize occupational adverse health effects and preserve work performance. They acknowledge noise as a common contributor to patient distress and discomfort. Providing options like earplugs, headphones, mold putty, software-optimized "quiet" sequences, and patient information were important tools. Fostering a safety culture requires proactive safety efforts and support from colleagues and management.

The effect of virtual rainforest and a white noise mobile application on satisfaction, tolerance, comfort, and vital signs during arthroscopy.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: This study was conducted to investigate the effect of Virtual Rainforest (VRF) and a White Noise (WN) mobile applications on patient satisfaction, tolerance, comfort, and vital signs during arthroscopic knee surgery. METHODS: This is a randomized, controlled, interventional study. The study was completed with a total of 93 participants, 31 in the VRF group, 31 in the WN group, and 31 in the control group. Data were collected using a Patient Information Form and a Visual Analog Scale for satisfaction, tolerance, and comfort. RESULTS: The results of study showed that there were significant increases in tolerance, satisfaction, comfort, respiratory rate, and oxygen saturation levels and significant decreases in heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressures in both VRF and WN groups (p < .05). In the control group, no significant difference was found between the means of the variables before and after the procedure (p > .05). CONCLUSION: According to the results of the study, VRF and WN applied during the arthroscopy procedure increased satisfaction, tolerance, and comfort in patients and had a positive effect on vital signs. TRIAL AND PROTOCOL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT05992714.

Complete Restoration of Hearing Loss and Cochlear Synaptopathy via Minimally Invasive, Single-Dose, and Controllable Middle Ear Delivery of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor-Poly(dl-lactic acid-co-glycolic acid)-Loaded Hydrogel.

Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) often accompanies cochlear synaptopathy, which can be potentially reversed to restore hearing. However, there has been little success in achieving complete recovery of sensorineural deafness using nearly noninvasive middle ear drug delivery before. Here, we present a study demonstrating the efficacy of a middle ear delivery system employing brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)-poly-(dl-lactic acid-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA)-loaded hydrogel in reversing synaptopathy and restoring hearing function in a mouse model with NIHL. The mouse model achieved using the single noise exposure (NE, 115 dBL, 4 h) exhibited an average 20 dBL elevation of hearing thresholds with intact cochlear hair cells but a loss of ribbon synapses as the primary cause of hearing impairment. We developed a BDNF-PLGA-loaded thermosensitive hydrogel, which was administered via a single controllable injection into the tympanic cavity of noise-exposed mice, allowing its presence in the middle ear for a duration of 2 weeks. This intervention resulted in complete restoration of NIHL at frequencies of click, 4, 8, 16, and 32 kHz. Moreover, the cochlear ribbon synapses exhibited significant recovery, whereas other cochlear components (hair cells and auditory nerves) remained unchanged. Additionally, the cochlea of NE treated mice revealed activation of tropomyosin receptor kinase B (TRKB) signaling upon exposure to BDNF. These findings demonstrate a controllable and minimally invasive therapeutic approach that utilizes a BDNF-PLGA-loaded hydrogel to restore NIHL by specifically repairing cochlear synaptopathy. This tailored middle ear delivery system holds great promise for achieving ideal clinical outcomes in the treatment of NIHL and cochlear synaptopathy.

Development of Chinese herbal medicine for sensorineural hearing loss.

According to the World Health Organization's world report on hearing, nearly 2.5 billion people worldwide will suffer from hearing loss by 2050, which may contribute to a severe impact on individual life quality and national economies. Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) occurs commonly as a result of noise exposure, aging, and ototoxic drugs, and is pathologically characterized by the impairment of mechanosensory hair cells of the inner ear, which is mainly triggered by reactive oxygen species accumulation, inflammation, and mitochondrial dysfunction. Though recent advances have been made in understanding the ability of cochlear repair and regeneration, there are still no effective therapeutic drugs for SNHL. Chinese herbal medicine which is widely distributed and easily accessible in China has demonstrated a unique curative effect against SNHL with higher safety and lower cost compared with Western medicine. Herein we present trends in research for Chinese herbal medicine for the treatment of SNHL, and elucidate their molecular mechanisms of action, to pave the way for further research and development of novel effective drugs in this field.

Low-Noise Amplifier with Bypass for 5G New Radio Frequency n77 Band and n79 Band in Radio Frequency Silicon on Insulator Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor Technology.

This paper presents the design of a low-noise amplifier (LNA) with a bypass mode for the n77/79 bands in 5G New Radio (NR). The proposed LNA integrates internal matching networks for both input and output, combining two LNAs for the n77 and n79 bands into a single chip. Additionally, a bypass mode is integrated to accommodate the flexible operation of the receiving system in response to varying input signal levels. For each frequency band, we designed a low-noise amplifier for the n77 band to expand the bandwidth to 900 MHz (3.3 GHz to 4.2 GHz) using resistive-capacitance (RC) feedback and series inductive-peaking techniques. For the n79 band, only the RC feedback technique was employed to optimize the performance of the LNA for its 600 MHz bandwidth (4.4 GHz to 5.0 GHz). Because wideband techniques can lead to a trade-off between gain and noise, causing potential degradation in noise performance, appropriate bandwidth design becomes crucial. The designed n77 band low-noise amplifier achieved a simulated gain of 22.6 dB and a noise figure of 1.7 dB. Similarly, the n79 band exhibited a gain of 21.1 dB and a noise figure of 1.5 dB with a current consumption of 10 mA at a 1.2 supply voltage. The bypass mode was designed with S21 of -3.7 dB and -5.0 dB for n77 and n79, respectively.

Short- and long-term neuroplasticity interact during the perceptual learning of concurrent speech.

Plasticity from auditory experience shapes the brain's encoding and perception of sound. However, whether such long-term plasticity alters the trajectory of short-term plasticity during speech processing has yet to be investigated. Here, we explored the neural mechanisms and interplay between short- and long-term neuroplasticity for rapid auditory perceptual learning of concurrent speech sounds in young, normal-hearing musicians and nonmusicians. Participants learned to identify double-vowel mixtures during ~ 45 min training sessions recorded simultaneously with high-density electroencephalography (EEG). We analyzed frequency-following responses (FFRs) and event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate neural correlates of learning at subcortical and cortical levels, respectively. Although both groups showed rapid perceptual learning, musicians showed faster behavioral decisions than nonmusicians overall. Learning-related changes were not apparent in brainstem FFRs. However, plasticity was highly evident in cortex, where ERPs revealed unique hemispheric asymmetries between groups suggestive of different neural strategies (musicians: right hemisphere bias; nonmusicians: left hemisphere). Source reconstruction and the early (150-200 ms) time course of these effects localized learning-induced cortical plasticity to auditory-sensory brain areas. Our findings reinforce the domain-general benefits of musicianship but reveal that successful speech sound learning is driven by a critical interplay between long- and short-term mechanisms of auditory plasticity, which first emerge at a cortical level.

Personalized Porous Gelatin Methacryloyl Sustained-Release Nicotinamide Protects Against Noise-Induced Hearing Loss.

There are no Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs for treating noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), reflecting the absence of clear specific therapeutic targets and effective delivery strategies. Noise trauma is demonstrated results in nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) downregulation and mitochondrial dysfunction in cochlear hair cells (HCs) and spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs) in mice, and NAD+ boosted by nicotinamide (NAM) supplementation maintains cochlear mitochondrial homeostasis and prevents neuroexcitatory toxic injury in vitro and ex vivo, also significantly ameliorated NIHL in vivo. To tackle the limited drug delivery efficiency due to sophisticated anatomical barriers and unique clearance pathway in ear, personalized NAM-encapsulated porous gelatin methacryloyl (PGMA@NAM) are developed based on anatomy topography of murine temporal bone by micro-computed tomography and reconstruction of round window (RW) niche, realizing hydrogel in situ implantation completely, NAM sustained-release and long-term auditory preservation in mice. This study strongly supports personalized PGMA@NAM as NIHL protection drug with effective inner ear delivery, providing new inspiration for drug-based treatment of NIHL.

Examining the roles of visual imagery and working memory in the retrieval of autobiographical memories using a dual-task paradigm.

The retrieval of autobiographical memories involves the construction of mental representations of past personal events. Many researchers examining the processes underlying memory retrieval argue that visual imagery plays a fundamental role. Other researchers, however, have argued that working memory is an integral component involved in memory retrieval. The goal of this study was to resolve these conflicting arguments by comparing the relative contributions of visual imagery and working memory during the retrieval of autobiographical memories in a dual-task paradigm. While following a moving dot, viewing a dynamic visual noise (DVN), or viewing a blank screen, 95 participants recalled their memories and subsequently rated them on different memory characteristics. The results suggest that inhibiting visual imagery by having participants view DVN merely delayed memory retrieval but did not affect the phenomenological quality of the memories retrieved. Taxations to the working memory by having participants follow a moving dot, on the contrary, resulted in only longer retrieval latencies and no reductions in the specificity, vividness, or the emotional intensity of the memories retrieved. Whereas the role of visual imagery during retrieval is clear, future studies could further examine the role of working memory during retrieval by administering a task that is less difficult or by recruiting a larger sample than this study. The results of this study seem to suggest that both visual imagery and working memory play a role during the retrieval of autobiographical memory, but more research needs to be conducted to determine their exact roles.

Generalization of auditory expertise in audio engineers and instrumental musicians.

From auditory perception to general cognition, the ability to play a musical instrument has been associated with skills both related and unrelated to music. However, it is unclear if these effects are bound to the specific characteristics of musical instrument training, as little attention has been paid to other populations such as audio engineers and designers whose auditory expertise may match or surpass that of musicians in specific auditory tasks or more naturalistic acoustic scenarios. We explored this possibility by comparing students of audio engineering (n = 20) to matched conservatory-trained instrumentalists (n = 24) and to naive controls (n = 20) on measures of auditory discrimination, auditory scene analysis, and speech in noise perception. We found that audio engineers and performing musicians had generally lower psychophysical thresholds than controls, with pitch perception showing the largest effect size. Compared to controls, audio engineers could better memorise and recall auditory scenes composed of non-musical sounds, whereas instrumental musicians performed best in a sustained selective attention task with two competing streams of tones. Finally, in a diotic speech-in-babble task, musicians showed lower signal-to-noise-ratio thresholds than both controls and engineers; however, a follow-up online study did not replicate this musician advantage. We also observed differences in personality that might account for group-based self-selection biases. Overall, we showed that investigating a wider range of forms of auditory expertise can help us corroborate (or challenge) the specificity of the advantages previously associated with musical instrument training.

SGAE-MDA: Exploring the MiRNA-disease associations in herbal medicines based on semi-supervised graph autoencoder.

Research indicates that miRNAs present in herbal medicines are crucial for identifying disease markers, advancing gene therapy, facilitating drug delivery, and so on. These miRNAs maintain stability in the extracellular environment, making them viable tools for disease diagnosis. They can withstand the digestive processes in the gastrointestinal tract, positioning them as potential carriers for specific oral drug delivery. By engineering plants to generate effective, non-toxic miRNA interference sequences, it's possible to broaden their applicability, including the treatment of diseases such as hepatitis C. Consequently, delving into the miRNA-disease associations (MDAs) within herbal medicines holds immense promise for diagnosing and addressing miRNA-related diseases. In our research, we propose the SGAE-MDA model, which harnesses the strengths of a graph autoencoder (GAE) combined with a semi-supervised approach to uncover potential MDAs in herbal medicines more effectively. Leveraging the GAE framework, the SGAE-MDA model exactly integrates the inherent feature vectors of miRNAs and disease nodes with the regulatory data in the miRNA-disease network. Additionally, the proposed semi-supervised learning approach randomly hides the partial structure of the miRNA-disease network, subsequently reconstructing them within the GAE framework. This technique effectively minimizes network noise interference. Through comparison against other leading deep learning models, the results consistently highlighted the superior performance of the proposed SGAE-MDA model. Our code and dataset can be available at: https://github.com/22n9n23/SGAE-MDA.

Managing Circadian Disruption due to Hospitalization: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of the CircadianCare Inpatient Management System.

The objective of the present study was to test the effects of an inpatient management system (CircadianCare) aimed at limiting the negative impact of hospitalization on sleep by enhancing circadian rhythmicity. Fifty inpatients were randomized to either CircadianCare (n = 25; 18 males, 62.4 ± 1.9 years) or standard of care (n = 25; 14 males, 64.5 ± 2.3 years). On admission, all underwent a full sleep-wake evaluation; they then completed daily sleep diaries and wore an actigraph for the whole length of hospitalization. On days 1 (T0), 7 (T1), and 14 (T2, if still hospitalized), salivary melatonin for dim light melatonin onset (DLMO) and 24-h skin temperature were recorded. In addition, environmental noise, temperature, and illuminance were monitored. Patients in the CircadianCare arm followed 1 of 3 schedules for light/dark, meal, and physical activity timings, based on their diurnal preference/habits. They wore short-wavelength-enriched light-emitting glasses for 45 min after awakening and short-wavelength light filter shades from 18:00 h until sleep onset. While the first, primary registered outcome (reduced sleep-onset latency on actigraphy or diary) was not met, based on sleep diaries, there was a trend (0.05 < p < 0.1) toward an advance in bedtime for CircadianCare compared to standard of care patients between T0 and T1. Similarly, DLMO time significantly advanced in the small group of patients for whom it could be computed on both occasions, with untreated ones starting from earlier baseline values. Patients sleeping near the window had significantly higher sleep efficiency, regardless of treatment arm. As noise fluctuation increased, so did the number of night awakenings, regardless of treatment arm. In conclusion, the CircadianCare management system showed positive results in terms of advancing sleep timing and the circadian rhythm of melatonin. Furthermore, our study identified a combination of environmental noise and lighting indices, which could be easily modulated to prevent hospitalization-related insomnia.

Speech Perception in Noise and Medial Olivocochlear Reflex: Effects of Age, Speech Stimulus, and Response-Related Variables.

PURPOSE: The role of the medial olivocochlear system in speech perception in noise has been debated over the years, with studies showing mixed results. One possible reason for this could be the dependence of this relationship on the parameters used in assessing the speech perception ability (age, stimulus, and response-related variables). METHODS: The current study assessed the influence of the type of speech stimuli (monosyllables, words, and sentences), the signal-to-noise ratio (+5, 0, -5, and -10 dB), the metric used to quantify the speech perception ability (percent-correct, SNR-50, and slope of the psychometric function) and age (young vs old) on the relationship between medial olivocochlear reflex (quantified by contralateral inhibition of transient evoked otoacoustic emissions) and speech perception in noise. RESULTS: A linear mixed-effects model revealed no significant contributions of the medial olivocochlear reflex to speech perception in noise. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that there was no evidence of any modulatory influence of the indirectly measured medial olivocochlear reflex strength on speech perception in noise.

Therapy and Prevention of Noise Fears in Dogs-A Review of the Current Evidence for Practitioners.

Noise fears represent the most common behavioural problem in dogs. This manuscript provides an overview of diverse approaches for alleviating fear of noises in dogs and the supporting evidence. In the treatment of noise fears, both short-term solutions to prevent trauma or the deterioration of fear during unavoidable noise events and longer-term training need to be considered. Environmental management, the provision of incentives (food/play) during noise exposure, and, when indicated, anxiolytic medication, can safeguard dogs' welfare during noise events. Most "alternative" products (such as nutraceuticals, herbal remedies, pheromones, homeopathy, Bach flowers, and essential oils) are unlikely to be sufficient as monotherapy for noise fears, whereas there is good evidence for the efficacy of several anxiolytic medications. In the longer term, counterconditioning to real-life noises, relaxation training, and desensitisation/counterconditioning using noise recordings have been shown to improve fear of noises in dogs. Preventative training appears to be highly effective in preventing the development of noise fears in puppies and adult dogs.

Musicoterapia como estrategia adaptativa para o recem-nascido à vida extrauterina / Music therapy as an adaptive strategy for newborns to extrauterine life

Mapear a evidência sobre os benefícios da musicoterapia para a adaptação do recém-nascido à vida extrauterina. Introdução: O feto desenvolve capacidades sensoriais, nomeadamente a audição, ainda durante a gestação sendo o ambiente intrauterino rico em estimulação acústica. O recém-nascido, após o nascimento é confortado pela audição destes sons, sendo o white noise um som que evoca o meio intrauterino. A musicoterapia produz efeitos benéficos na dor, conforto, choro e parâmetros vitais dos recém-nascidos como a regulação da frequência cardíaca e respiratória, promoção e indução do sono e fortalecimento da vinculação. Assim a estimulação musical pode ser aplicada para reduzir efeitos adversos e melhorar a adaptação dos recém-nascidos à vida extrauterina. Critérios de inclusão: Os participantes incluídos são os recém-nascidos. Os conceitos são musicoterapia; white noise; trabalho de parto e vida extrauterina; e o contexto é "open". Foram incluídos estudos em qualquer idioma, produzidos e publicados em qualquer país do mundo. Métodos: Foi realizada uma revisão segundo o protocolo de Scoping Review preconizado pelo Joanna Briggs Institute®. Os termos utilizados para a pesquisa foram: "Infant, Newborn"; "Music Therapy"; "White noise"; "Intrauterine Sounds"; "Delivery, Obstetric"; "Parturition"; "Labor, Obstetric"; "Intrapartum, Care"; "Postpartum Care" e "Postpartum", nas bases de dados CINAHL Complete, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE Complete, MedicLatina, PubMed e Google Scholar em abril de 2023. A pesquisa, a análise, a extração e síntese dos dados foram realizadas pelas revisoras tendo sido excluídos os artigos que não cumpriam os critérios acima referidos. Resultados: A utilização da musicoterapia traz benefícios ao recém-nascido por melhorar a sua estabilidade hemodinâmica, traz benefícios comportamentais por melhorar o sono e choro e tem implicações benéficas na relação com melhoria do processo de vinculação, tudo situações que melhoram a sua adaptação à vida extrauterina. Conclusões: A musicoterapia é uma intervenção não invasiva, eficaz e económica que ajuda os enfermeiros na criação de um ambiente de promoção da saúde, bem-estar e conforto que pode ser recomendada como um método alternativo, seguro e não farmacológico para reduzir o stress e melhorar o bem-estar materno-fetal e neonatal ajudando o recém-nascido na sua adaptação à vida extrauterina.

To map the evidence on the benefits of music therapy for the newborn's adaptation to extrauterine life. Introduction: The fetus develops sensory capacities, particularly hearing, during pregnancy and the intrauterine environment is rich in acoustic stimulation. After birth, the newborn is comforted by hearing these sounds, white noise being a sound that evokes the intrauterine environment. Music therapy has beneficial effects on pain, comfort, crying and vital parameters in newborns, such as regulating heart and respiratory rates, promoting and inducing sleep and strengthening attachment. Thus, musical stimulation can be applied to reduce adverse effects and improve the adaptation of newborns to extrauterine life. Inclusion criteria: The participants included are newborn babies. The concepts are music therapy; white noise; labour; newborn and extrauterine life; and the context is "open". Studies in any language, produced and published in any country in the world were included. Methods: A review was carried out according to the Scoping Review protocol recommended by the Joanna Briggs Institute®. The terms used for the search were: "Infant, Newborn"; "Music Therapy"; "White noise"; "Intrauterine Sounds"; "Delivery, Obstetric"; "Parturition"; "Labor, Obstetric"; "Intrapartum, Care"; "Postpartum Care" and "Postpartum", in the CINAHL Complete, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE Complete, MedicLatina, PubMed and Google Scholar databases in April 2023. The search, analysis, extraction and synthesis of the data were carried out by the reviewers and articles that did not fulfil the above criteria were excluded. Results: The use of music therapy brings benefits to the newborn by improving their haemodynamic stability, it brings behavioural benefits by improving sleep and crying and it has beneficial implications for the relationship by improving the attachment process, all situations that improve their adaptation to extrauterine life. Conclusions: Music therapy is a non-invasive, effective and economical intervention that helps nurses to create an environment that promotes health, well-being and comfort. It can be recommended as an alternative, safe and non-pharmacological method to reduce stress and improve maternal-fetal and neonatal well-being, helping the newborn to adapt to life outside the womb.

The effects of massage therapy and white noise application on premature infants' sleep.

AIM: Sleep is vital to premature infants' physical, social and emotional development. The significance of sleep duration, efficiency, and function in premature infants regarding growth development, behavior and neurological development has been increasing. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was conducted in a randomized controlled experimental design with three groups. Premature infants at 28-37 weeks of gestation who were admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Sanliurfa Mehmet Akif Inan Training and Research Hospital Haliliye Annex Building were the research population. The sample of the present study consisted of 120 premature infants in the massage therapy group (40), white noise group (40), and control group (40). RESULTS: The sleep duration and sleep efficiency of the premature infants in the massage group increased compared to before the application, whereas the number of awakenings and WASO values decreased. The sleep duration of premature infants in the massaged group increased by some five hours. In the white noise group, the sleep duration increased by about two hours than the pre-treatment, and there was an increase in sleep efficiency. White noise application provided a significant decrease in the number of awakenings and WASO values in premature infants. CONCLUSION: In this experimental study, which was designed with three groups, it was revealed that massage and white noise application in premature infants were significant non-pharmacological methods to increase sleep duration and sleep efficiency. It was concluded that massage therapy and white noise application is one of the considerable interventions regarding sleep duration, efficiency and functions in premature infants who left the intrauterine period early.

Leading and following: Noise differently affects semantic and acoustic processing during naturalistic speech comprehension.

Despite the distortion of speech signals caused by unavoidable noise in daily life, our ability to comprehend speech in noisy environments is relatively stable. However, the neural mechanisms underlying reliable speech-in-noise comprehension remain to be elucidated. The present study investigated the neural tracking of acoustic and semantic speech information during noisy naturalistic speech comprehension. Participants listened to narrative audio recordings mixed with spectrally matched stationary noise at three signal-to-ratio (SNR) levels (no noise, 3 dB, -3 dB), and 60-channel electroencephalography (EEG) signals were recorded. A temporal response function (TRF) method was employed to derive event-related-like responses to the continuous speech stream at both the acoustic and the semantic levels. Whereas the amplitude envelope of the naturalistic speech was taken as the acoustic feature, word entropy and word surprisal were extracted via the natural language processing method as two semantic features. Theta-band frontocentral TRF responses to the acoustic feature were observed at around 400 ms following speech fluctuation onset over all three SNR levels, and the response latencies were more delayed with increasing noise. Delta-band frontal TRF responses to the semantic feature of word entropy were observed at around 200 to 600 ms leading to speech fluctuation onset over all three SNR levels. The response latencies became more leading with increasing noise and decreasing speech comprehension and intelligibility. While the following responses to speech acoustics were consistent with previous studies, our study revealed the robustness of leading responses to speech semantics, which suggests a possible predictive mechanism at the semantic level for maintaining reliable speech comprehension in noisy environments.

Reinvigorating engineered noise controls: a systems approach.

OBJECTIVES: Hearing loss is a major worldwide health issue affecting an estimated 1.5 billion people. Causes of hearing loss include genetics, chemicals, medications, lifestyle habits such as smoking, and noise. Noise is probably the largest contributing factor for hearing loss. Noise arises from the workplace, ambient environment, and leisure activities. The easiest noise sources to control are workplace and environmental. Workplace noise is unique in that the employer is responsible for the noise and the worker. Also, workers may be exposed to much higher levels of noise than they would accept elsewhere. Employers follow the traditional hierarchy of controls (substitution/engineering, administrative, personal protective equipment [PPE]). Substituting or engineering a lower noise level actually reduces the hazard present to the worker but demand more capital investment. Administrative and PPE controls can be effective, but enforcement and motivation are essential to reducing risk and there is still some hearing loss for a portion of the workers. The challenge is to estimate the costs more clearly for managers. A systems engineering approach can help visualize factors affecting hearing health. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this study, a systems engineering causal loop diagram (CLD) was developed to aid in understanding factors and their interrelationships. The CLD was then modeled in VenSim. The model was informed from the authors' expertise in hearing health and exposure science. Also, a case study was used to test the model. The model can be used to inform decision-makers of holistic costs for noise control options, with potentially better hearing health outcomes for workers. RESULTS: The CLD and cost model demonstrated a 4.3 year payback period for the engineered noise control in the case study. CONCLUSIONS: Systems thinking using a CLD and cost model for occupational hearing health controls can aid organizational managers in applying resources to control risk. Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2023;36(5):672-84.

Functional magnetic particle imaging (fMPI) of cerebrovascular changes in the rat brain during hypercapnia.

Objective.Non-invasive functional brain imaging modalities are limited in number, each with its own complex trade-offs between sensitivity, spatial and temporal resolution, and the directness with which the measured signals reflect neuronal activation. Magnetic particle imaging (MPI) directly maps the cerebral blood volume (CBV), and its high sensitivity derives from the nonlinear magnetization of the superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle (SPION) tracer confined to the blood pool. Our work evaluates functional MPI (fMPI) as a new hemodynamic functional imaging modality by mapping the CBV response in a rodent model where CBV is modulated by hypercapnic breathing manipulation.Approach.The rodent fMPI time-series data were acquired with a mechanically rotating field-free line MPI scanner capable of 5 s temporal resolution and 3 mm spatial resolution. The rat's CBV was modulated for 30 min with alternating 5 min hyper-/hypocapnic states, and processed using conventional fMRI tools. We compare our results to fMRI responses undergoing similar hypercapnia protocols found in the literature, and reinforce this comparison in a study of one rat with 9.4T BOLD fMRI using the identical protocol.Main results.The initial image in the time-series showed mean resting brain voxel SNR values, averaged across rats, of 99.9 following the first 10 mg kg-1SPION injection and 134 following the second. The time-series fit a conventional General Linear Model with a 15%-40% CBV change and a peak pixel CNR between 12 and 29, 2-6× higher than found in fMRI.Significance.This work introduces a functional modality with high sensitivity, although currently limited spatial and temporal resolution. With future clinical-scale development, a large increase in sensitivity could supplement other modalities and help transition functional brain imaging from a neuroscience tool focusing on population averages to a clinically relevant modality capable of detecting differences in individual patients.