Sound archaeology: terminology, Palaeolithic cave art and the soundscape

This article is focused on the ways that terminology describing the study of music and sound within archaeology has changed over time, and how this reflects developing methodologies, exploring the expectations and issues raised by the use of differing kinds of language to define and describe such work. It begins with a discussion of music archaeology, addressing the problems of using the term ‘music’ in an archaeological context. It continues with an examination of archaeoacoustics and acoustics, and an emphasis on sound rather than music. This leads on to a study of sound archaeology and soundscapes, pointing out that it is important to consider the complete acoustic ecology of an archaeological site, in order to identify its affordances, those possibilities offered by invariant acoustic properties. Using a case study from northern Spain, the paper suggests that all of these methodological approaches have merit, and that a project benefits from their integration

Mother-to-child transmission of human immunodeficiency virus in Italy : temporal trends and determinants of infection

In order to analyse temporal trends in vertical transmission rates of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and determinant of congenital HIV infection in Italy, we have considered data from a network of hospitals co-operating in the Italian Collaborative Study on HIV infection in pregnancy, conducted between 1988 and 1995. A total of 1040 women entered the study. The HIV-1 status of the babies was known in 848 cases (81.5%). Transmission rates were highest in the period 1988\u20131991, then tended to decrease and in 1995 the rate was 9.7 per 100 children (this finding, however, was based on only six infected children and the trend was not statistically significant). Considering the overall series, the risk of vertical HIV transmission was higher in women with low CD4 count in pregnancy [odds ratio (OR) <400 versus \u2a7e400 1.8, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.1\u20132.9]. In comparison with vaginal delivery the risk of transmission was 0.3 (95% CI 0.1\u20130.5) and 0.6 (95% CI 0.3\u20131.2) respectively for elective and emergency delivery. In comparison with women who delivered at term (\u2a7e37 gestation weeks) the OR of HIV infection of the babies for the whole series was 2.2 (95% CI 1.3\u20133.6) in women who delivered preterm. Similar findings emerged when the analysis was conducted considering, separately, subjects observed in the period 1988\u20131991 and 1992\u20131995. The frequency of Caesarean section increased from 26.5% of deliveries in 1988\u20131991 to 36.2% in 1992\u20131995. Consequently, most temporal differences disappeared after standardization for mode of delivery, but the rate in 1995 was still lower than in 1988\u20131994

In re: ‘Experimental Music’

John Cage is universally associated with the phrase experimental music. But what did that phrase mean, for Cage and for Cage’s predecessors? I begin with Cage and Lejaren Hiller, both writing important texts on ‘experimental music’ in 1959. From there, I trace the phrase backwards, eventually reaching Emile Zola, Gertrude Stein, and William James. A final section traces the phrase forward to Cage and Hiller’s collaboration on HPSCHD (1969)

Total intravenous anaesthesia in endoscopic sinus-nasal surgery.

Aim of this randomized study (64 patients) was to improve the control of bleeding during functional endoscopic sinusal surgery by means of controlled hypotension achieved through either total intravenous anaesthesia using remifentanyl and propofol (27 patients), or inhaled using isoflurane and fentanyl (37 patients). The following parameters were monitored before administration of anaesthesia (T0), then after 15 (T1), and 30 minutes (T2): systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial pressure; heart rate; concentration of tele-exhaled carbon dioxide (PetCO2) and percentage of peripheral saturation of haemoglobin (SPO2); bleeding according to the Fromme-Boezaart scale at T2. Mean arterial pressure values were maintained between 60-70 mmHg throughout surgery. At T0, systolic arterial pressure, diastolic arterial pressure and mean arterial pressure values were seen to overlap in the two groups. Both types of anaesthesia were effective in reducing the pressure values of T0-T1 and T1-T2 trends (p<0.0001). Systolic arterial pressure at T1 is lower with total intravenous anaesthesia compared to isoflurane and fentanyl (p=0.02). PetCO2 and heart rate show a decreasing trend independently of the type of anaesthesia employed. In conclusion, the hypotensive effect of total intravenous anaesthesia and of isoflurane and fentanyl is equivalent, but only total intravenous anaesthesia is effective in reducing bleeding during functional endoscopic sinusal surgery

Test-retest Reliability of the VOR as Measured via Vorteq in Healty Subjects

To determine the reliability of the vestibolo-ocular reflex test measured via Vorteq, 16 subjects underwent head-autorotation test at the frequencies 1-5 Hz. All patients underwent the re-test. No linear correlation was observed between the measurements, i.e., no repeatability of the same measurements at the various frequencies. The Head Auto-Rotation Test by Vorteq has demonstrated advantages: patients are not disturbed by the active head movements; the full test protocol, lasts only a few minutes; the method enables the vestibolo-ocular reflex to be evaluated at high head-rotation frequencies. However, the test has disadvantages: poor test-retest inter-individual repeatability, wide standard deviations of results with heterogeneous inter-individual spread with regard to phase and asymmetry values especially at high rotation frequencies. In the light of the above findings, it can be seen that the test-retest of the Vorteq system is not sufficiently reliable and hence cannot be used in clinical practice