Alterations of Gut Microbiome Composition and Function Pre- and Post-Adenotonsillectomy in Children with Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

Importance: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in children is linked with alterations in the gut microbiome. The influence of adenotonsillectomy (AT), a primary intervention for OSA, on gut microbiota dynamics relative to disease severity remains to be elucidated.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the impact of OSA severity and AT on the gut microbiome in pediatric patients.

Dietary profile of pediatric obstructive sleep apnea patients, effects of routine educational counseling, and predictors for outcomes.

Background: Dietary behavior is a main contributing yet modifiable factor to the body weight status of children and may be involved in the pathophysiology of childhood obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). This study aimed to investigate the dietary profile of pediatric OSA patients, effects of educational counseling after adenotonsillectomy, and predictor for disease resolution.

Methods: This observational study included 50 pediatric OSA patients undergoing adenotonsillectomy with routine educational counseling (Group 1), 50 pediatric OSA patients undergoing adenotonsillectomy without formal educational counseling (Group 2), and 303 healthy children without OSA (Control).

Adenotonsillectomy-related changes in systemic inflammation among children with obstructive sleep apnea.

Background: Adenotonsillar hypertrophy is the most common cause of pediatric obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Although adenotonsillectomy considerably reduces OSA and systemic inflammation, whether and how systemic inflammation influences the effects of adenotonsillectomy on OSA has yet to be determined.

Methods: This study investigated the associations between changes in anatomical variables, % changes in subjective OSA-18 questionnaire scores, % changes in 11 polysomnographic parameters, and % changes in 27 systemic inflammatory biomarkers in 74 children with OSA.

Using sleep heart rate variability to investigate the sleep quality in children with obstructive sleep apnea.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with impaired sleep quality and autonomic dysfunction. Adenotonsillectomy significantly improves subjective and objective sleep quality in children with OSA. However, the postoperative changes in heart rate variability (HRV) indices (indicators of cardiac autonomic function) and their importance remain inconclusive in childhood OSA.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Auditory Dysfunction-Does Snoring Sound Play a Role?

The objective of the study was to investigate the relationship between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and auditory dysfunction, and to clarify the role of snoring sounds in contributing to auditory dysfunction. A comprehensive assessment of OSA and the auditory system was performed, including overnight polysomnography, detection of the intra-ear canal snoring sound energy (SSE), pure tone average (PTA), tinnitus pitch matching, the tinnitus handicap inventory (THI), and the Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS). The patients were identified as having tinnitus if their THI score was higher than zero or their tinnitus pitches were matched to specific frequencies.

Long-term Average Spectrum and Nasal Accelerometry in Sentences of Differing Nasality and Forward-Focused Vowel Productions Under Altered Auditory Feedback.

Objectives And Background: To investigate whether voice focus adjustments can alter the audio-vocal feedback and consequently modulate speech/voice motor control. Speaking with a forward-focused voice was expected to enhance audio-vocal feedback and thus decrease the variability of vocal fundamental frequency (F0).

Materials And Method: Twenty-two healthy, untrained adults (10 males and 12 females) were requested to sustain vowel /a/ with their natural focus and a forward focus and to naturally read the nasal, oral, and mixed oral-nasal sentences in normal noise-masked auditory conditions.

Increased nasality of connected speech in patients underwent modified Lothrop procedure for refractory chronic rhinosinusitis: Cross-sectional and prospective study.

Background: The endoscopic modified Lothrop procedure (EMLP) is performed to create a large frontal neostium in patients who had failed previous frontal sinus surgeries. EMLP causes obvious changes in the volume and anatomy of the sinuses, which may cause a more significant change in nasality. This study aimed to evaluate the changes in nasalance in patients who underwent EMLP by comparing their preoperative nasalance to the established normative values and postoperative nasalance.

Comparisons of auditory brainstem response elicited by compound click-sawtooths sound and synthetic consonant-vowel /da/.

The auditory brainstem response to complex sounds (cABR) could be evoked using speech sounds such as the 40 ms synthetic consonant-vowel syllable /da/ (CV-da) that was commonly used in basic and clinical research. cABR consists of responses to formant energy as well as the energy of fundamental frequency. The co-existence of the two energy makes cABR a mixed response.

Contributions of Forward-Focused Voice to Audio-Vocal Feedback Measured Using Nasal Accelerometry and Power Spectral Analysis of Vocal Fundamental Frequency.

Purpose: The spectral powers of the modulations of vocal fundamental frequency ( ) less than 3 Hz (low-frequency power, LFP) and between 3 and 8 Hz (middle-frequency power, MFP) had been established to indicate the audio-vocal feedback status and vocal efficiency of a speaker, and a resonant voice may enhance the auditory-vocal feedback. This study aims to determine whether the auditory feedback can be augmented by a forward and resonant voice and therefore contribute to the modulations of variability.

Method: Vocal signals and accelerometric signals of lateral nasal cartilage were obtained from 27 healthy adults who, respectively, sustained vowels /a/ and /i/ with their habitual speaking voice and with a forward-focused voice under three auditory conditions: natural hearing (N0), high-level noise exposure (N90), and low-level noise exposure (N60).

Snoring Sound Characteristics are Associated with Common Carotid Artery Profiles in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and snoring have been reported to be modifiable risk factors for thick carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and carotid atherosclerosis, which are closely linked to cardiovascular disease.

Methods: This cross-sectional study prospectively recruited 70 participants with OSA and without a history of carotid artery disorder, who primarily sought surgical Intervention. OSA and snoring were assessed with the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, Snore Outcomes Survey, polysomnography, and snoring sound recording.

Screening Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Children with Snoring.

Efficient screening for severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is important for children with snoring before time-consuming standard polysomnography. This retrospective cross-sectional study aimed to compare clinical variables, home snoring sound analysis, and home sleep pulse oximetry on their predictive performance in screening severe OSA among children who habitually snored. Study 1 included 9 (23%) girls and 30 (77%) boys (median age of 9 years).

Snoring sound energy as a potential biomarker for disease severity and surgical response in childhood obstructive sleep apnoea: A pilot study.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between baseline snoring sound energy (SSE) and disease severity, changes in SSE after adenotonsillectomy, and the predictors of surgical success in children with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA).

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Tertiary referral medical centre.

Responses of Middle-Frequency Modulations in Vocal Fundamental Frequency to Different Vocal Intensities and Auditory Feedback.

Objectives And Background: Auditory feedback can make reflexive responses on sustained vocalizations. Among them, the middle-frequency power of F0 (MFP) may provide a sensitive index to access the subtle changes in different auditory feedback conditions.

Materials And Methods: Phonatory airflow temperature was obtained from 20 healthy adults at two vocal intensity ranges under four auditory feedback conditions: (1) natural auditory feedback (NO); (2) binaural speech noise masking (SN); (3) bone-conducted feedback of self-generated voice (BAF); and (4) SN and BAF simultaneously.

Saccadic entropy of head impulses in acute unilateral vestibular loss.

Background/purpose: To evaluate the complexity of vestibular-ocular reflex (VOR) in patients with acute unilateral vestibular loss (AUVL) via entropy analysis of head impulses.

Methods: Horizontal head impulse test (HIT) with high-velocity alternating directions was used to evaluate 12 participants with AUVL and 16 healthy volunteers. Wireless electro-oculography and electronic gyrometry were used to acquire eye positional signals and head velocity signals.

The Frequency and Energy of Snoring Sounds Are Associated with Common Carotid Artery Intima-Media Thickness in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Patients.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a known risk factor for atherosclerosis. We investigated the association of common carotid artery intima-media thickness (CCA-IMT) with snoring sounds in OSA patients. A total of 30 newly diagnosed OSA patients with no history of cardiovascular diseases were prospectively enrolled for measuring mean CCA-IMT with B-mode ultrasonography, body mass index, metabolic syndrome, 10-year cardiovascular disease risk score, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and homocysteine.

Relationships Between Formant Frequencies of Sustained Vowels and Tongue Contours Measured by Ultrasonography.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the formant-articulation relationships in corner vowels by acoustic analysis of speech signals and measuring tongue contour using ultrasonography.

Method: Eighteen healthy adults (8 men, 10 women), aged between 20 and 40 years, were enrolled. Speech signals of sustained vowels /ɑ/, /i/, and /u/ were recorded to obtain the first 2 formant frequencies.

Influences of monocular and binocular vision on postural stability.

To compare the influences of monocular vision versus binocular vision on postural control, twenty-seven otherwise healthy adults, aged from 19 to 38 years, with corrected visual acuity of better than or equal to 20/20, were recruited. Body sway for standing 30 seconds on a force platform in 3 conditions was recorded for each participant: one with both eyes open (BEO), one with left eye open (LEO) and the other with both eyes closed (BEC). Postural stability was subsequently evaluated by measuring the total track length (TL) and surface area (SA) of center of pressure of body sway.

Audio-vocal responses of vocal fundamental frequency and formant during sustained vowel vocalizations in different noises.

Sustained vocalizations of vowels [a], [i], and syllable [mə] were collected in twenty normal-hearing individuals. On vocalizations, five conditions of different audio-vocal feedback were introduced separately to the speakers including no masking, wearing supra-aural headphones only, speech-noise masking, high-pass noise masking, and broad-band-noise masking. Power spectral analysis of vocal fundamental frequency (F0) was used to evaluate the modulations of F0 and linear-predictive-coding was used to acquire first two formants.

Efficacy of paced breathing for insomnia: enhances vagal activity and improves sleep quality.

Fourteen self-reported insomniacs (SRI) and 14 good sleepers (GS) had their cardiac neuronal activity assessed by heart rate variability (HRV) under controlled respiration at a slow frequency rate of 0.1 Hz, and a forced rate of 0.2 Hz during daytime rest.

Aging of vestibular function evaluated using correlational vestibular autorotation test.

Background: Imbalance from degeneration of vestibular end organs is a common problem in the elderly. However, the decline of vestibular function with aging was revealed in few vestibular function tests such as vestibular autorotation test (VAT). In the current VAT, there are drawbacks of poor test-retest reliability, slippage of the sensor at high-speed rotations, and limited data about the effect of aging.

Effects of cold exposure on autonomic changes during the last rapid eye movement sleep transition and morning blood pressure surge in humans.

Background: Various studies have linked the occurrence of cardiovascular events and low ambient temperatures as well as the morning blood pressure surge (MBPS). We hypothesized that low ambient temperatures produce a higher sympathetic change during the last rapid eye movement (REM) sleep transition and that this may play an important role in cold-related cardiovascular events.

Methods: All experiments were carried out on 12 healthy male adults, aged 24.