Aparelho de amplificação sonora individual: melhora a sensação de zumbido? Hearing aid: does it reduce the sensation of tinnitus?

OBJETIVO: observar se o uso da amplificação sonora além de garantir melhora na inteligibilidade de fala pode proporcionar alívio na sensação de zumbido. MÉTODOS: participaram do presente estudo 21 indivíduos, usuários de aparelho de amplificação sonora individual (AASI) que referiam sensação de zumbido, além da perda auditiva sensorioneural, sendo 13 (61,9%) indivíduos do sexo feminino e oito (38,1%) do sexo masculino. A idade dos participantes variou entre 35 a 88 anos, com idade média de 61 anos. Para a avaliação dos participantes foi utilizado um questionário específico. Os dados foram analisados por meio de análise estatística descritiva e para tanto foram utilizados os testes não paramétricos: qui-quadrado e Kruskal-Wallis H. RESULTADOS: Entre os 21 participantes, 17 (80,9%) apresentaram melhora do zumbido, enquanto quatro (19,1%) referiram que o aparelho de amplificação não gerou nenhum efeito sobre o sintoma apresentado. CONCLUSÃO: este estudo verificou que a utilização do AASI reduziu imediatamente a sensação de zumbido apresentada na população estudada.<br>PURPOSE: to observe if the use of hearing aid may provide relief in tinnitus sensation besides guarantying the improvement of speech intelligibility. METHODS: a sample was made up by 21 hearing aid users and a specific questionnaire was used for the evaluation of the participants. The ages ranged from 35 to 88-year old, with an average of 61-year old. The tinnitus sensation was mentioned by 13 (61.9%) female beings and eight (38.1%) male beings beyond sensory neural hearing loss. The results were obtained through a descriptive statistical analysis, and furthermore, non-parametric tests were used, such as chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis H. RESULTS: among the participants 17 (80.9%) showed recovery from tinnitus, while four (19.1%) said that the hearing aid device did not cause any effect on the evidenced symptoms. CONCLUSION: this study found out that the usage of the hearing aid reduced promptly the sensation of tinnitus in the studied subjects

A systematic review of the physical and chemical characteristics of pollutants from biomass burning and combustion of fossil fuels and health effects in Brazil

The aim of this study was to carry out a review of scientific literature published in Brazil between 2000 and 2009 on the characteristics of air pollutants from different emission sources, especially particulate matter (PM) and its effects on respiratory health. Using electronic databases, a systematic literature review was performed of all research related to air pollutant emissions. Publications were analyzed to identify the physical and chemical characteristics of pollutants from different emission sources and their related effects on the respiratory system. The PM2.5 is composed predominantly of organic compounds with 20% of inorganic elements. Higher concentrations of metals were detected in metropolitan areas than in biomass burning regions. The relative risk of hospital admissions due to respiratory diseases in children was higher than in the elderly population. The results of studies of health effects of air pollution are specific to the region where the emissions occurred and should not be used to depict the situation in other areas with different emission sources

System-Size Independence of Directed Flow Measured at the BNL Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider

We measure directed flow (v(1)) for charged particles in Au + Au and Cu + Cu collisions at root s(NN) = 200 and 62.4 GeV, as a function of pseudorapidity (eta), transverse momentum (p(t)), and collision centrality, based on data from the STAR experiment. We find that the directed flow depends on the incident energy but, contrary to all available model implementations, not on the size of the colliding system at a given centrality. We extend the validity of the limiting fragmentation concept to v(1) in different collision systems, and investigate possible explanations for the observed sign change in v(1)(p(t))