The sweet smell of success: Enhancing multimedia applications with olfaction

This is the Post-Print version of the Article. The official published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2012 ACMOlfaction, or smell, is one of the last challenges which multimedia applications have to conquer. As far as computerized smell is concerned, there are several difficulties to overcome, particularly those associated with the ambient nature of smell. In this article, we present results from an empirical study exploring users' perception of olfaction-enhanced multimedia displays. Findings show that olfaction significantly adds to the user multimedia experience. Moreover, use of olfaction leads to an increased sense of reality and relevance. Our results also show that users are tolerant of the interference and distortion effects caused by olfactory effect in multimedia

Does the self-training in Meniere’s disease fit the disease characteristics and help alleviate the balance problems?

BACKGROUND : To examine whether the self-initiated exercise in Ménière’s disease fits the characteristics of the balance problems. METHODS : This retrospective study included 539 people with Ménière’s disease belonging to the Finnish Ménière Federation. The mean age was 61.9 years with a mean history of Ménière’s disease of 15.6 years. The data were collected with an online questionnaire. RESULTS : In total, 30% of the patients did not do any training, 23% did training once a week, 22% did 2-3 times a week, and 26% did the training daily. The most common training exercises were different self-training exercises (26%) followed by walking (16%), guided training (15%), viewing plus balance training (10%), and viewing training (4%). Non-defined balance problems (18%) were associated with recent vertigo attacks. Swaying type of balance problems were present in 23% and they used all types of training programs. Rocking type of balance disorder was present in 8% and they preferred guided training exercises. Tripping off type of balance disorder was present in 25% and they preferred viewing plus balance training. CONCLUSIONS : The type of self-training used was related to the type of balance problems reported. When choosing the vestibular rehabilitation in Ménière’s disease , the type of balance disorder should be characterized and the rehabilitation program should be individually tailored.https://www.advancedotology.orgSpeech-Language Pathology and Audiolog

Adverse COVID-19 vaccination effects in Finnish patients with Meniere's disease : a cross-sectional study

DATA AVAILABILITY : UNDERLYING DATA : Figshare: COVID 19 vaccine in Ménière’s disease, https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.19519801. This project contains the following underlying data: - COVID vaccine in MD for repository.xslx (raw data). EXTENDED DATA : Figshare: COVID 19 vaccine in Ménière’s disease, https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.19519801. This project contains the following extended data: - Finnish_MD COVID Vaccination Questionnaire - English_MD COVID Vaccination Questionnaire - S 1S1 The STROBE Checklist. Data are available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC-BY 4.0).BACKGROUND : The association between reporting adverse coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination effects and those with a history of audiovestibular difficulties is unknown. The aim of this research is therefore to investigate adverse vaccination effects in adults with a history of Ménière’s disease. Specifically, the incidence of adverse effects, the factors associated with those reporting adverse effects and the relationship between the reporting of audiovestibular and other adverse effects. METHODS : A mixed-methods exploratory cross-sectional survey study design was used. Data were collected from 333 members of the Finnish Ménière Association. The survey was designed to obtain demographic information that may be associated with having adverse effects or not, vaccination-specific information and adverse vaccination effects. Both health and audiovestibular adverse events were identified. Data analysis included comparing those reporting and not reporting adverse vaccination effects. RESULTS : The mean age was 63 years with 81% being female. Of the 327 respondents who had one of the COVID-19 vaccinations (Comirnatry/ Pfizer, Astra Zeneca, or Moderna), 203 (62%) reported no adverse effects. The type of or number of vaccinations were not related to the reporting of adverse effects. The most frequently reported adverse effects were injection site tenderness (38%), arm pain (21%), fever (15%) and headaches (15%). Post-vaccination tinnitus and vertigo (both 7%) were the most frequently reported audiovestibular-related symptoms, followed by aural fullness (6%) and hearing loss (4%). Those reporting previous pre-vaccination vertigo were more likely to have post-vaccination vertigo. The presence of post-vaccination tinnitus, hearing loss, and aural fullness, predicted the presence of post-vaccination vertigo. CONCLUSIONS : A small proportion of patients with a history of Ménière’s disease may experience adverse post-vaccination effects. Further research is required to explore whether adverse postvaccination audiovestibular effects are more prevalent in those with a history of otological disorders compared with the general population.http://f1000research.comam2023Speech-Language Pathology and Audiolog

Driving Habits and Risk of Traffic Accidents among People with Meniere's Disease in Finland

OBJECTIVES: The study evaluated the driving habits and risk of traffic accidents among people with Meniere's disease (MD) in Finland. MATERIALS and METHODS: The study used a cross-sectional survey design. Members of the Finnish Meniere Federation (FMF) were contacted and requested to participate in an online survey. In total, 558 FMF members (58.7% response rate) responded to the survey. RESULTS: People with MD were responsible for significantly fewer traffic accidents (0.8%) annually than individuals in the general population (1.7%). In addition, the lifetime risk of car accidents was lower among subjects with MD (8.3%) than that among individuals in the general population (24 to 28%). Nearly half of the total participants had either reduced the frequency of driving or had given up driving because of their condition. Factors such as gender, balance problems, visual problems with visual aura, and syncope during vestibular drop attacks can help explain the reasons for giving up car driving. One third (35.9%) of the participants were able to anticipate the MD attack before they decided to drive a car. Participants with falls during a vestibular drop attack, attacks of rotary vertigo, syncope during vestibular drop attacks, and those who were of a younger age were at a higher risk of experiencing a vertigo attack while driving a car. The most common strategies to avoid car accidents were selective driving and not driving when symptoms appeared. CONCLUSION: The results show that people with MD are at a lower risk of traffic accidents than individuals in the general population, which can be explained by selective driving.Peer reviewe

Association between Meniere's disease and vestibular migraine

Objective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate complaints in people with Meniere's disease (MD) with and without migraine and headache to study the association between MD and Vestibular Migraine (VM). We believe this will help us understand if these two disorders represent a disease continuum in that they may share a common aetiology. Methods: The study used a retrospective design and included data of 911 patients with MD from the Finnish Meniere Federation database. The study participants had a mean age of 60.2 years, mean duration of disease of 12.6 years, and 78.7% of the participants were females. The questionnaire data comprised of both disease specific and impact related questions. The data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test, the Kruskal Wallis H test, logistic regression analyses, and decision tree analysis. Results: Migraine and headache was reported by 190 subjects (20.9%) and 391 subjects (42.9%) respectively. We found that patients that could be classified as VM in the study (i.e., those with frequent vertigo spells associated with migraine) more often reported complaints of severe MD symptoms, had reduced health-related quality of life, suffered more from anxiety, had more neurological complaints, and experienced a reduced sense of coherence than the non-migraneous patients with MD. However, neither the decision tree analysis nor the logistic regression analysis could reliably discriminate VM from MD patients. Conclusion: Our study results confirm that MD is frequently associated with headache and migraine. In addition, results also indicate that migraine provokes the severity of MD. We suggest that MD and VM may share similar pathophysiological mechanisms. Hence, the future MD classification systems should include a category referred to as 'MD with migraine' that will include patients with VM. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Patient-reported benefits from patient organization magazines and Internet-based peer support in Meniere's disease

Objectives: To facilitate self-help, the Finnish Meniere's Federation (FMF) provides various kinds of support to persons with Meniere's disease (MD), which includes patient magazines (PM) and Internet-based peer support (iPS). The current study aimed to evaluate the benefits reported by MD patients in terms of PM and iPS. Method: The study used a cross-sectional survey design with a mixture of structured and open-ended questions administered online. A sample of 185 patients from the FMF membership database provided complete data. Results: Ninety-two percent of the respondents rated PM as useful, or very useful. The main benefits of PM included: information on the disease and complaints, information about elements of peer support program, patient's experience with useful positive case studies, relevant news on MD, and information of activity of the FMF. Of the 185 persons, 68 reported that they did not have a need for peer support as their disease was either in silent phase or did not cause any annoyance. The main reasons for nonuse were: mild disease, personal reasons, and problems in using. Regarding the benefits of iPS, 75% of recent and 64% of chronic MD patients said that they would benefit from such a program. The main benefits of iPS included: reliable information on the disease and its management, peer support useful for coping with the disease, information about managing MD symptoms, information about managing attitude, and information about therapy. Moreover, the study identified different groups of individuals, which included: nonusers of support from patient organizations, those who used the support but did not feel they benefited, and those who used and also benefited from such programs. Conclusion: The current study results provide some information about the preferences of MD patients regarding different forms of support and could certainly prove helpful while developing wider support strategies.Peer reviewe

Distribution of lipid nanocapsules in different cochlear cell populations after round window membrane permeation

Hearing loss is a major public health problem, and its treatment with traditional therapy strategies is often unsuccessful due to limited drug access deep in the temporal bone. Multifunctional nanoparticles that are targeted to specified cell populations, biodegradable, traceable in vivo, and equipped with controlled drug/gene release may resolve this problem. We developed lipid core nanocapsules (LNCs) with sizes below 50 nm. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the ability of the LNCs to pass through the round window membrane and reach inner ear targets. FITC was incorporated as a tag for the LNCs and Nile Red was encapsulated inside the oily core to assess the integrity of the LNCs. The capability of LNCs to pass through the round window membrane and the distribution of the LNCs inside the inner ear were evaluated in rats via confocal microscopy in combination with image analysis using ImageJ. After round window membrane administration, LNCs reached the spiral ganglion cells, nerve fibers, and spiral ligament fibrocytes within 30 min. The paracellular pathway was the main approach for LNC penetration of the round window membrane. LNCs can also reach the vestibule, middle ear mucosa, and the adjacent artery. Nuclear localization was detected in the spiral ganglion, though infrequently. These results suggest that LNCs are potential vectors for drug delivery into the spiral ganglion cells, nerve fibers, hair cells, and spiral ligament

Symmetry Breaking of Relativistic Multiconfiguration Methods in the Nonrelativistic Limit

The multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock method allows to calculate the state of relativistic electrons in atoms or molecules. This method has been known for a long time to provide certain wrong predictions in the nonrelativistic limit. We study in full mathematical details the nonlinear model obtained in the nonrelativistic limit for Be-like atoms. We show that the method with sp+pd configurations in the J=1 sector leads to a symmetry breaking phenomenon in the sense that the ground state is never an eigenvector of L^2 or S^2. We thereby complement and clarify some previous studies.Comment: Final version, to appear in Nonlinearity. Nonlinearity (2010) in pres

NMR and NQR parameters of ethanol crystal

Electric field gradients and chemical shielding tensors of the stable monoclinic crystal phase of ethanol are computed. The projector-augmented wave (PAW) and gauge-including projector-augmented wave (GIPAW) models in the periodic plane-wave density functional theory are used. The crystal data from X-ray measurements, as well as the structures where either all atomic, or only hydrogen atom positions are optimized in the density functional theory are analyzed. These structural models are also studied by including the semi-empirical Van der Waals correction to the density functional theory. Infrared spectra of these five crystal models are calculated