Measurements in opera houses: comparison between different techniques and equipment

In room acoustics many objective parameters to quantify subjective impressions have been introduced. These quantities can be measured by using a wide variety of powerful tools and equipment. The results can be influenced by the measurement techniques and instruments used. Furthermore the results also depend on the position and condition of the hall in which the measurements are made. With the aim of obtaining a procedure to qualify a room, and in particular an opera house, which will give comparable and reproducible results anywhere else, an extensive measurement campaign was made. In this paper some of the results of the measurement campaign are presented. Comparisons were made both between different tools (real-time analyzer, DAT, PC-board, sources) and between different techniques (stationary, impulsive, pseudo-random)

A case history of low frequency air-borne sound produced by a weir in the river Reno

Marzabotto is a small village in the north of Italy, near the city of Bologna. The town lies at the bottom of a broad valley where the river Reno flows. In 1985 strange vibrations of glass windows and doors started to disturb the rest and sleep of the population. Local newspapers wrote about the awakening of the ghosts of ancient Etruscans, a population that lived in this area in olden times. In order to discover the source of such vibrations, the authorities of the village first called researchers of the National Institute of Geophysics who made measurements of vibration in different parts of the village and identified the waterfall of a weir, recently built to control the flow of the river Reno, as the source of the phenomena. The spectrum of the vibrations was characterized by a frequency of 8 Hz. The presence of such at distances of about 4 - respect to the valley floor, of the phenomena could be vibrations 5 Km and brought up by air as far in the well away from the weir, raised positions with idea that transmission as by ground. Local authorities decided to start new investigations and entrusted the work to the Institute of Technical Physics and the Institute of Hydraulics of the University of Bologna. It was decided to begin a campaign of systematic measurements of noise and vibration in order to understand the origin of the phenomena

Which psychotherapy is effective in panic disorder? And which delivery formats are supported by the evidence? Study protocol for two systematic reviews and network meta-analyses

Introduction: Panic disorder is among the most prevalent anxiety diseases. Although psychotherapy is recommended as first-line treatment for panic disorder, little is known about the relative efficacy of different types of psychotherapies. Moreover, there is little evidence concerning the effectiveness of different formats of major psychotherapeutic types, such as cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT). In this protocol, we present an overarching project consisting of two systematic reviews and network meta-analyses (NMA) to shed light on which psychotherapy (NMA-1), and specifically, which CBT delivery format (NMA-2) should be considered most effective for adults suffering from panic disorder with or without agoraphobia. Methods and analyses: Starting from a common pool of data, we will conduct two systematic reviews and NMA of randomised controlled trials examining panic disorder. A comprehensive search will be performed in electronic databases MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO and the Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials-CENTRAL from database inception to 1 January 2021 to identify relevant studies. A systematic approach to searching, screening, reviewing and data extraction will be applied. Titles, abstract and-whenever necessary-full texts will be examined independently by at least two reviewers. The quality of the included studies will be assessed using the revised Cochrane risk of bias tool V.2. The primary efficacy outcome will be anxiety symptoms at study endpoint. The primary acceptability outcome will be all-cause discontinuation, as measured by the proportion of patients who had discontinued treatment for any reason at endpoint. Data will be pooled using a random-effects model. Pairwise and NMA will be conducted. Ethics and dissemination: No ethical approval is necessary for these two studies, as there will be no collection of primary data. The results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and presentations at national and international conferences and meetings

Which psychotherapy is effective in panic disorder? And which delivery formats are supported by the evidence? Study protocol for two systematic reviews and network meta-analyses

Introduction Panic disorder is among the most prevalent anxiety diseases. Although psychotherapy is recommended as first-line treatment for panic disorder, little is known about the relative efficacy of different types of psychotherapies. Moreover, there is little evidence concerning the effectiveness of different formats of major psychotherapeutic types, such as cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT). In this protocol, we present an overarching project consisting of two systematic reviews and network meta-analyses (NMA) to shed light on which psychotherapy (NMA-1), and specifically, which CBT delivery format (NMA-2) should be considered most effective for adults suffering from panic disorder with or without agoraphobia. Methods and analyses Starting from a common pool of data, we will conduct two systematic reviews and NMA of randomised controlled trials examining panic disorder. A comprehensive search will be performed in electronic databases MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO and the Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials - CENTRAL from database inception to 1 January 2021 to identify relevant studies. A systematic approach to searching, screening, reviewing and data extraction will be applied. Titles, abstract and - whenever necessary - full texts will be examined independently by at least two reviewers. The quality of the included studies will be assessed using the revised Cochrane risk of bias tool V.2. The primary efficacy outcome will be anxiety symptoms at study endpoint. The primary acceptability outcome will be all-cause discontinuation, as measured by the proportion of patients who had discontinued treatment for any reason at endpoint. Data will be pooled using a random-effects model. Pairwise and NMA will be conducted. Ethics and dissemination No ethical approval is necessary for these two studies, as there will be no collection of primary data. The results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and presentations at national and international conferences and meetings

A review of methods for addressing components of interventions in meta-analysis

Many healthcare interventions are complex, consisting of multiple, possibly interacting, components. Several methodological articles addressing complex interventions in the metaanalytical context have been published. We hereby provide an overview of methods used to evaluate the effects of complex interventions with meta-analytical models. We summarized the methodology, highlighted new developments, and described the benefits, drawbacks, and potential challenges of each identified method. We expect meta-analytical methods focusing on components of several multicomponent interventions to become increasingly popular due to recently developed, easy-to-use, software tools that can be used to conduct the relevant analyses. The different meta-analytical methods are illustrated through two examples comparing psychotherapies for panic disorder. Copyright

A simplified transfer matrix approach for the determination of the complex modulus of viscoelastic materials

Nowadays, several analytical and numerical approaches are available for analysing the performance of materials used in noise and vibration control applications. All these methodologies require knowledge of a set of input parameters which, in the case of viscoelastic materials, could exhibit strong dependence on frequency in the entire audible range. The aim of this paper is to present a simplified transfer matrix approach for the determination of the complex modulus for longitudinal waves of isotropic viscoelastic materials as a function of frequency. To that effect, the tested material is excited by an electromagnetic shaker and longitudinal waves are investigated. Using a frequency sweep as an excitation signal, the time domain response is measured downstream and upstream of the sample itself. A velocity transfer function is measured and, by using a transfer matrix model of the experimental setup, the complex wave number for longitudinal waves and, consequently, the complex modulus can be determined once the Poisson’s ratio is known in advance. The results are presented and discussed for different materials and compared with well-established quasi-static and dynamic techniques

Comparative efficacy and acceptability of psychotherapies for panic disorder with or without agoraphobia: Systematic review and network meta-Analysis of randomised controlled trials

Background Psychotherapies are the treatment of choice for panic disorder, but which should be considered as first-line treatment is yet to be substantiated by evidence. Aims To examine the most effective and accepted psychotherapy for the acute phase of panic disorder with or without agoraphobia via a network meta-Analysis. Method We conducted a systematic review and network meta-Analysis of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) to examine the most effective and accepted psychotherapy for the acute phase of panic disorder. We searched MEDLINE, Embase, PsycInfo and CENTRAL, from inception to 1 Jan 2021 for RCTs. Cochrane and PRISMA guidelines were used. Pairwise and network meta-Analyses were conducted using a random-effects model. Confidence in the evidence was assessed using Confidence in Network Meta-Analysis (CINeMA). The protocol was published in a peer-reviewed journal and in PROSPERO (CRD42020206258). Results We included 136 RCTs in the systematic review. Taking into consideration efficacy (7352 participants), acceptability (6862 participants) and the CINeMA confidence in evidence appraisal, the best interventions in comparison with treatment as usual (TAU) were cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) (for efficacy: standardised mean differences s.m.d. =-0.67, 95% CI-0.95 to-0.39; CINeMA: moderate; for acceptability: relative risk RR = 1.21, 95% CI-0.94 to 1.56; CINeMA: moderate) and short-Term psychodynamic therapy (for efficacy: s.m.d. =-0.61, 95% CI-1.15 to-0.07; CINeMA: low; for acceptability: RR = 0.92, 95% CI 0.54-1.54; CINeMA: moderate). After removing RCTs at high risk of bias only CBT remained more efficacious than TAU. Conclusions CBT and short-Term psychodynamic therapy are reasonable first-line choices. Studies with high risk of bias tend to inflate the overall efficacy of treatments. Results from this systematic review and network meta-Analysis should inform clinicians and guidelines

How reproducible is the acoustical characterization of porous media?

There is a considerable number of research publications on the characterization of porous media that is carried out in accordance with ISO 10534-2 (International Standards Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, 2001) and/or ISO 9053 (International Standards Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, 1991). According to the Web of Science(TM) (last accessed 22 September 2016) there were 339 publications in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America alone which deal with the acoustics of porous media. However, the reproducibility of these characterization procedures is not well understood. This paper deals with the reproducibility of some standard characterization procedures for acoustic porous materials. The paper is an extension of the work published by Horoshenkov, Khan, Bécot, Jaouen, Sgard, Renault, Amirouche, Pompoli, Prodi, Bonfiglio, Pispola, Asdrubali, Hübelt, Atalla, Amédin, Lauriks, and Boeckx [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 122(1), 345-353 (2007)]. In this paper, independent laboratory measurements were performed on the same material specimens so that the naturally occurring inhomogeneity in materials was controlled. It also presented the reproducibility data for the characteristic impedance, complex wavenumber, and for some related pore structure properties. This work can be helpful to better understand the tolerances of these material characterization procedures so improvements can be developed to reduce experimental errors and improve the reproducibility between laboratories