GIN Test (Gaps-in-Noise) in normal listeners with and without tinnitus

TEMA: o teste Gaps-in-Noise (GIN) avalia a habilidade auditiva de resolução temporal. Estudos têm mostrado o teste GIN como um instrumento de fácil aplicação, com boa sensibilidade e especificidade. OBJETIVO: comparar os resultados do teste GIN em ouvintes normais com e sem zumbido e fazer a correlação entre os resultados deste, os limiares tonais e idade. MÉTODO: foram avaliados 44 adultos (limiares tonais 25 dBNA nas freqüências de 0,25 a 8 kHz), formando 2 grupos: Grupo Controle composto por 23 sujeitos, 8 homens e 15 mulheres, sem queixa de zumbido, idade entre 22 e 40 anos (média 29,7); Grupo Pesquisa formado por 18 indivíduos, 3 homens e 15 mulheres, com queixa de zumbido, idade entre 21 e 45 anos (média 31,3). Os sujeitos foram submetidos à audiometria tonal e vocal, imitanciometria e ao teste GIN. Para a análise estatística foi adotado nível de significância de 0.05. RESULTADOS: na audiometria tonal, a média global dos limiares tonais foi mais elevada para o Grupo Pesquisa, comparado ao Grupo Controle (p = 0,001). A comparação do desempenho no teste GIN mostrou que o Grupo Controle detectou intervalos de silêncio em média com intervalo de tempo menor que o Grupo Pesquisa (p < 0,001). Não houve correlação entre a idade dos sujeitos e o limiar do GIN. CONCLUSÃO: o teste GIN identificou prejuízo na habilidade auditiva de resolução temporal nos indivíduos com zumbido. Na faixa etária pesquisada (entre 21 e 45 anos) não houve correlação entre a idade e os resultados do teste GIN.BACKGROUND: the Gaps-in-Noise (GIN) test assesses the auditory temporal resolution skill. Studies have described the GIN test an instrument of easy application and with good sensitivity and specificity. AIM: to compare the results of the GIN test in normal listeners with and without tinnitus and to correlate the obtained results with pure tone thresholds and age. METHOD: hearing tests were performed in 44 subjects (hearing threshold up to 25 dB HL in the frequencies of 0.25 to 8 kHz). Two groups were considered for comparison: the Control Group with 23 subjects, 8 men and 15 women, aged between 22-40 (mean 29.7), and the Research Group with 18 tinnitus patients, 3 men and 15 women, aged between 21-45 (mean 31.3). All subjects underwent pure tone audiometry, speech tests, acoustic immittance measurements and the GIN test. For the statistical analysis, the significance level of 0.05 was adopted. RESULTS: considering pure tone audiometry, the overall mean for hearing thresholds was significantly higher for the Research Group when compared to the Control Group (p = 0.001). The comparison between the groups for the performance in the GIN test indicated that the Control Group detected gaps with a shorter time interval than the Research Group (p < 0.001). There was no correlation between the age of the subjects and the level of the GIN test. CONCLUSION: the GIN test identified deficit in the hearing skill of temporal resolution in patients with tinnitus. In the studied age group (21 to 45 years) there was no correlation between age and the results obtained in the GIN test

A sharp adaptive confidence ball for self-similar functions

In the nonparametric Gaussian sequence space model an $\ell^2$-confidence ball $C_n$ is constructed that adapts to unknown smoothness and Sobolev-norm of the infinite-dimensional parameter to be estimated. The confidence ball has exact and honest asymptotic coverage over appropriately defined `self-similar' parameter spaces. It is shown by information-theoretic methods that this `self-similarity' condition is weakest possible.Comment: To appear in Stochastic Processes and Applications (memorial issue for E. Gin\'e

Sobolev tests of goodness of fit of distributions on compact Riemannian manifolds

Classes of coordinate-invariant omnibus goodness-of-fit tests on compact Riemannian manifolds are proposed. The tests are based on Gin\'{e}'s Sobolev tests of uniformity. A condition for consistency is given. The tests are illustrated by an example on the rotation group $\mathit{SO}(3)$.Comment: Published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/009053605000000697 in the Annals of Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aos/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org