Investigation of Frequency-Specific Loudness Discomfort Levels in Listeners With Migraine: A Case-Control Study

Objectives: Hypersensitivity to auditory stimuli is a commonly reported symptom in listeners with migraine, yet it remains relatively unexplored in research. This study aims to investigate loudness discomfort levels in listeners with migraine, while identifying the frequencies most affected by the phenomenon. Design: To achieve this, the study compared just audible level and loudness discomfort level ranges between participants with and without migraine from the United Kingdom, Greece as well as the participant recruitment platform Prolific, across 13 frequencies from 100 to 12,000 Hz, through an online listening test. Results: Fifty-five participants with migraine and 49 participants without migraine from both countries and Prolific were included in the analysis, where threshold ranges between just audible and mildly uncomfortable levels were compared in 13 frequencies. Migraineur group participants presented significantly smaller ranges between just audible and mildly uncomfortable level, due to lower thresholds of mild discomfort in 12 of the 13 frequencies when compared with the nonmigraineur group participants. Participants taking the test during their migraine attack or aura presented a tendency for smaller ranges. In addition, participants with self-reported higher severity migraine exhibited bigger ranges compared with participants with low severity migraine within the migraineur group. No relationship between ranges and medication or migraine attack frequency within the migraineur group was observed. Conclusions: Results from the study demonstrate a tendency for the migraineur group to present lower thresholds of mild discomfort compared with the nonmigraineur group, aligning with previous studies while extending the phenomenon to more frequencies than those previously examined. Though the present study presented no relationship between ranges and medication or attack frequency, further research is required to investigate a potential link between these factors

Perceptually Motivated, Intelligent Audio Mixing Approaches for Hearing Loss

The growing population of listeners with hearing loss, along with the limitations of current audio enhancement solutions, have created the need for novel approaches that take into consideration the perceptual aspects of hearing loss, while taking advantage of the benefits produced by intelligent audio mixing. The aim of this thesis is to explore perceptually motivated intelligent approaches to audio mixing for listeners with hearing loss, through the development of a hearing loss simulation and its use as a referencing tool in automatic audio mixing. To achieve this aim, a real-time hearing loss simulation was designed and tested for its accuracy and effectiveness through the conduction of listening studies with participants with real and simulated hearing loss. The simulation was then used by audio engineering students and professionals during mixing, in order to provide information on the techniques and practices used by engineers to combat the effects of hearing loss while mixing content through the simulation. The extracted practices were then used to inform the following automatic mixing approaches: a deep learning approach utilising a differentiable digital signal processing architecture, a knowledge-based approach to gain mixing utilising fuzzy logic, a genetic algorithm approach to equalisation and finally a combined system of the fuzzy mixer and genetic equaliser. The outputs of all four systems were analysed, and each approach’s strengths and weaknesses were discussed in the thesis. The results of this work present the potential of integrating perceptual information into intelligent audio mixing production for hearing loss, paving the way for further exploration of this approach’s capabilities

Dolichoectatic cervical arteries (carotid and vertebral arteries) heralded by recurrent cerebral ischemia: Case illustration

A case of a 61-year-old man with recurrent episodes of cerebral transient ischemic attacks is reported. The patient had a history of cigarette smoking, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes mellitus. Before these episodes, the patient had no clinical symptoms and signs of cerebral pathology. Brain magnetic resonance imaging revealed microvascular lesions in the white matter of the cerebral hemispheres. Digital subtraction arteriogram revealed the aortic arch dolichoic shape and course of the great vessels originating from it, whereas there were no pathological findings from the intracranial vessels. This study describes a case of the existence of distal dolichoectasia of the vertebral and carotid arteries without intracranial dolichoectasia. It seems that such a type of dolichoectasia does not influence the performance status of a patient, but when a critical point is crossed, patients suffer from cerebrovascular disease. © 2008 Sage Publications

Supplementary Material for: Tips, Tricks, and Advantages of 27-G Vitrectomy

<p><b><i>Purpose:</i></b> We present the advantages and technique variations of 27-G vitrectomy in a variety of surgical retina cases. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Patients with epiretinal membrane, retinal detachment, and proliferative diabetic retinopathy with vitreous hemorrhage and tractional detachments underwent 27-G vitrectomy. We present technique tricks, solutions to various problems and pitfalls, and the advantages of 27-G vitrectomy. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Postoperative visual acuity improved significantly in all patients. Anatomical restoration was achieved in all cases. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> 27-G vitrectomy offers satisfactory outcomes in a wide variety of surgical retina cases and shows significant advantages in the postoperative course.</p

Dolichoectasia—an evolving arterial disease

Dolichoectasia is an arterial disease that causes dilatation and/or tortuosity of the affected vessel. The prevalence of dolichoectasia increases with age, and this disease is also associated with other traditional cardiovascular risk factors. Multiple pathophysiological processes might lead to the development of dolichoectatic vessels, and activation of metalloproteinases and irregular turbulent blood flow seem to cause irreversible disruption of the internal elastic lamina. Intracranial dolichoectasia commonly presents with ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke, and/or cranial neuropathies. The posterior circulation is more frequently affected by the dolichoectatic process than the anterior circulation. A positive diagnosis of dolichoectasia requires visual assessment of vessel shape and, if the posterior circulation is affected, application of Smoker's criteria. Reproducible criteria that aid diagnosis of dolichoectasia in the anterior circulation are lacking. No specific treatment for dolichoectasia exists, and the surgical and medical therapies that have been used to treat this condition have not been systematically evaluated. More evidence is needed to better understand the underlying dilatatory artheriopathy that causes this disease, and to determine whether patients with dolichoectasia might benefit from early diagnosis. In this article, we provide a comprehensive review of current knowledge regarding dolichoectasia, and highlight gaps in our knowledge to aid future research