Destruction Prediction of a Rubble Mound Weir Using VOF-DEM Coupled Model

Source: ICHE Conference Archive - https://mdi-de.baw.de/icheArchiv

Bone structural and metabolic response of caloric restriction in Wistar rats and a GH-IGF-1 axis-suppressed transgenic rat model.

The growth hormone?insulin-like growth factor-1 (GH?IGF-1) axis plays an important role in the effects of caloric restriction(CR) on lifespan extension and may elicit effects on bone metabolism in CR animals. We compared the effects of the GH?IGF-1 axis suppression and CR on bone metabolism. We used Wistar rats fed ad libitum (control group) or fed a 30% calorierestricted diet in CR group and heterozygous transgenic (F1) rats whose GH-IGF-1 axis is moderately suppressed. There was no significant difference in serum IGF-1 concentration between control and CR rats; however, IGF-1 was significantly lower inF1 rats than in other groups. The bone volume fraction (BV/TV) was significantly lower in CR than in the control. The mean SMI value in CR rats was marginally significant difference from that in control rats, Although there was no difference in serum IGF-1 concentrations between CR and control rats, bone volume was lower, and higher SMI was observed in the former. The serum IGF-1 levels in F1 rats were lower than those of controls, but the bone volume and SMI in F1 were not different. Therefore, the effects of bone metabolism in CR rats may be different from those in the GH-IGF-1 suppression rats

Avaliação da relação entre severidade do zumbido e perda auditiva, sexo e idade do paciente The impact of gender, age and hearing loss on tinnitus severity

O zumbido é um sintoma que afeta aproximadamente 15% da população mundial. Acomete qualquer idade, mas predomina entre 40 e 80 anos e sua prevalência alcança 33% entre os idosos. Aproximadamente 20% dos pacientes incomodam-se com o sintoma, mas ainda não se conhecem todos os fatores determinantes deste incômodo. OBJETIVO: Avaliar a influência do sexo, idade e grau de perda auditiva no incômodo do zumbido. MATERIAIS E MÉTODOS: Foram avaliados 68 pacientes do ambulatório de zumbido da nossa instituição, no período de março de 2007 a março de 2008, em estudo com corte transversal. Os procedimentos realizados foram: anamnese com protocolo sistematizado, exame otorrinolaringológico completo, versão brasileira do Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) e audiometria tonal liminar. RESULTADOS: A idade variou de 24 a 83 anos e a média do THI foi de 39 pontos (36 no sexo feminino e 44 no masculino). Os graus de incômodo pelo THI foram: discreto: 32,3%; leve: 19,1%; moderado: 20,6%; severo: 13,2% e catastrófico: 14,7%. Não houve correlação significativa do incômodo pelo zumbido com as variáveis sexo (p=0,30), idade (p=0,77) e grau de perda auditiva (p>0,05 em todas as médias avaliadas). CONCLUSÃO: Sexo, idade e perda auditiva não influenciaram no incômodo gerado pelo zumbido.<br>Tinnitus is a symptom present in approximately 15% of the world population. Most patients are between 40 and 80 years of age; the prevalence above 60 reaches 33%. About 20% have moderate to severe impact in the quality of life but the factors associated with the tinnitus annoyance are not completely known. AIM: The objective of this study is to evaluate the relationship between age, gender and hearing loss on tinnitus annoyance. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 68 patients were evaluated at the tinnitus center at our hospital, from March 2007 to march 2008, with a detailed interview, complete otolaryngological examination, the Portuguese version of the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory and pure tone audiometry. RESULTS: Age varied from 24 to 83 (mean=59); the mean THI value was 39 (females: 36; males: 44). THI grades were: slight: 32.3%; mild: 19.1%; moderate: 20.6%; severe: 13.2% and catastrophic: 14.7%. No significant correlation was found between gender (p=0.30), age (p=0.77) hearing loss (p>0.05 for all averages analyzed) and tinnitus severity. CONCLUSION: Gender, age and hearing loss do not influence tinnitus annoyance, using the THI

Frequency of GJB2 mutations in patients with nonsyndromic hearing loss from an ethnically characterized Brazilian population

Introduction: In different parts of the world, mutations in the GJB2 gene are associated with nonsyndromic hearing loss, and the homozygous 35delG mutation (p.Gly12Valfs*2) is a major cause of hereditary hearing loss. However, the 35delG mutation is not equally prevalent across ethnicities, making it important to study other mutations, especially in multiethnic countries such as Brazil. Objective: This study aimed to identify different mutations in the GJB2 gene in patients with severe to profound nonsyndromic sensorineural hearing loss of putative genetic origin, and who were negative or heterozygote for the 35delG mutation. Methods: Observational study that analyzed 100 ethnically characterized Brazilian patients with nonsyndromic severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss, who were negative or heterozygote for the 35delG mutation. GJB2 mutations were detected by DNA-based sequencing in this population. Participants’ ethnicities were identified as Latin European, Non-Latin European, Jewish, Native, Turkish, Afro-American, Asian and Others. Results: Sixteen participants were heterozygote for the 35delG mutation; 14 participants, including three 35delG heterozygote's, had nine different alterations in the GJB2 gene. One variant, p.Ser199Glnfs*9, detected in two participants, was previously unreported. Three variants were pathogenic (p.Trp172*, p.Val167Met, and p.Arg75Trp), two were non-pathogenic (p.Val27Ile and p.Ile196Thr), and three variants were indeterminate (p.Met34Thr, p.Arg127Leu, and p.Lys168Arg). Three cases of compound heterozygosity were detected: p.[(Gly12Valfs*2)];[(Trp172*)], p.[(Gly12Valfs*2)](;)[(Met34Thr)], and p.[(Gly12Valfs*2)(;)[(Ser199Glnfs*9)]). Conclusion: This study detected previously unclassified variants and one case of previously unreported compound heterozygosity. Resumo: Introdução: Em diferentes partes do mundo, mutações do gene GJB2 estão associadas a perda auditiva não sindrômica e a mutação homozigótica 35delG (p.Gly12Valfs*2) é uma das principais causas de perda auditiva hereditária. No entanto, a mutação 35delG não é igualmente prevalente em todas as etnias, faz com que seja importante estudar outras mutações, especialmente em países multiétnicos, como o Brasil. Objetivo: Identificar diferentes mutações no gene GJB2 em pacientes com perda auditiva neurossensorial grave ou profunda não sindrômica de origem genética putativa e negativos ou heterozigotos para a mutação 35delG. Método: Estudo observacional que analisou 100 pacientes brasileiros caracterizados etnicamente, com perda auditiva neurossensorial grave ou profunda não sindrômica, negativos ou heterozigotos para a mutação 35delG. As mutações de GJB2 foram detectadas por sequenciamento baseado no DNA nessa população. As etnias dos participantes foram identificadas como latino-europeia, não latino-europeia, judaica, nativa, turca, negra, asiática e outras. Resultados: Dezesseis participantes eram heterozigotos para a mutação 35delG e 14, incluindo três heterozigotos para 35delG, apresentaram nove alterações no gene GJB2. Uma variante, p.Ser199Glnfs*9, detectada em dois participantes, não havia sido relatada anteriormente. Três variantes eram patogênicas (p.Trp172*, p.Val167Met, e p.Arg75Trp), duas não patogênicas (p.Val27Ile e p.Ile196Thr) e três indeterminadas (p.Met34Thr, p.Arg127Leu, e p.Lys168Arg). Três casos de heterozigosidade composta foram detectados: p.[(Gly12Valfs*2)];[(Trp172*)], p.[(Gly12Valfs*2)](;)[(Met34Thr)], e p.[(Gly12Valfs*2)(;)[(Ser199Glnfs*9)]). Conclusão: Este estudo detectou variantes não classificadas anteriormente e um caso de heterozigosidade composta ainda não relatada. Keywords: Hearing loss, Deafness, Genetics, Palavras-chave: Perda de audição, Surdez, Genétic

Prediction of Who Will Be Next Speaker and When Using Mouth-Opening Pattern in Multi-Party Conversation

We investigated the mouth-opening transition pattern (MOTP), which represents the change of mouth-opening degree during the end of an utterance, and used it to predict the next speaker and utterance interval between the start time of the next speaker&rsquo;s utterance and the end time of the current speaker&rsquo;s utterance in a multi-party conversation. We first collected verbal and nonverbal data that include speech and the degree of mouth opening (closed, narrow-open, wide-open) of participants that were manually annotated in four-person conversation. A key finding of the MOTP analysis is that the current speaker often keeps her mouth narrow-open during turn-keeping and starts to close it after opening it narrowly or continues to open it widely during turn-changing. The next speaker often starts to open her mouth narrowly after closing it during turn-changing. Moreover, when the current speaker starts to close her mouth after opening it narrowly in turn-keeping, the utterance interval tends to be short. In contrast, when the current speaker and the listeners open their mouths narrowly after opening them narrowly and then widely, the utterance interval tends to be long. On the basis of these results, we implemented prediction models of the next-speaker and utterance interval using MOTPs. As a multimodal-feature fusion, we also implemented models using eye-gaze behavior, which is one of the most useful items of information for prediction of next-speaker and utterance interval according to our previous study, in addition to MOTPs. The evaluation result of the models suggests that the MOTPs of the current speaker and listeners are effective for predicting the next speaker and utterance interval in multi-party conversation. Our multimodal-feature fusion model using MOTPs and eye-gaze behavior is more useful for predicting the next speaker and utterance interval than using only one or the other