The Effects of the Tomatis Method on the Artistic Voice

In the theory of the French Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) doctor Alfred Tomatis, the voice emits the frequencies the ear can perceive. The auditory stimulation, through the treatment elaborated by Tomatis, can determine the stabilization or the improvement of some vocal parameters, as well as the effect on the formants of voice. A group of N = 19 subjects, singers and actors, were assessed by complete clinical ENT evaluations including fibrolaryngoscopy, otoscopy, and clinical audiometry. The voice analysis was carried out with the Multi-Dimensional Voice Program (MDVP) and with the Praat software. The results demonstrate that after the treatment entails an increase in the mean of energy density on the third formant of voice (F3). An improvement in the ability to maintain a constant intensity of the vocal emission resulted from MDVP analysis with a reduction on the standard deviation of the voice amplitude. The improvement in the auditory perception, particularly for 3 kHz, determines a better intelligibility and articulation of the words. The better auditory perception in the zone of 3 kHz reduces the phenomenon of nasalization and gives expressive power to the artistic voice. The decrease of Peak-Amplitude Variation (vAm) lead to a stable voice emission with a better control.     

Ridge regression versus ols by pitman's closeness under quadratic and fisher's loss

The existence of values of the ridge parameter such that ridge regression is preferable to OLS by the Pitman nearness criterion under both the quadratic and the Fisher's loss is shown. Preference regions of the two estimators under the above loss functions are found. An upper bound for the value of the Pitman's measure of closeness, independent of a deterministic or stochastic choice of the ridge parameter, is given.     

Use of bayesian analysis to design of clinical trials with one treatment

Assuming a Weibull distribution, the posterior distribution for the median survival time is derived in the presence of arbitrary right censorship. In the design of clinical triaLs, suppose k follow-up periods have been completed and it is desired to plan the follow-up period k+1. In this context, criteria are presented that can be employed in determining the number of new patients to be enrolled in the follow-up period k+1.     

Spatial Quantification of the Population Exposed to Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii Species Complexes in Europe: Estimating the Immunocompetent and HIV/AIDS Patients Under Risk

Cryptococcus is an important fungal pathogen worldwide, causing serious clinical manifestations that can affect immunocompetent patients and can be particularly severe for immunocompromised patients. The Cryptococcus gattii s.s. (AFLP4/VGI), Cryptococcus tetragattii (AFLP/VGIV), Cryptococcus neoformans, and Cryptococcus deneoformans have been isolated from both clinical and environmental sources in Europe. We aim to quantify the people in Europe and the entire Mediterranean area who are under risk associated with each of the three fungal pathogens in a spatially explicit way, generating a series of maps and population statistics per country. Niche modeling was applied to estimate the potential distribution of each fungal pathogen, then these models were overlapped with a map of population density to estimate risk levels. The potential number of people per risk level and per country was quantified using a map of population count per pixel. Prevalence of HIV per country was also included in the analysis to quantify the HIV-infected population under potential risk. People under risk associated with exposure to C. gattii species (C. gattii s.s. and C. tetragattii) reached 137.65 million, whereas those exposed to C. neoformans and C. deneoformans were 268.58 and 360.78 million people, respectively. More than a half million HIV-infected patients are exposed to each of the two species of the C. neoformans species complex, and more than 200,000 to the C. gattii species complex. The present results can be useful for public health planning by European governments, focusing on the provision of inputs for a “screen-and-treat” approach, availability of medical resources, and continuous monitoring programs in risk zones.     

Constant hazard against a change-point alternative: a bayesian approach with censored data

A Bayesian approach to the problem of a constant hazard with a single change-point is developed using noninformative reference priors. We also present a generalization for the comparison for two treatments.     

Adversity-hope hypothesis: Air pollution raises lottery demand in China

Journal of Risk and Uncertainty - The empirical literature points to a stylized phenomenon of increased demand for hope following adversity. Clotfelter and Cook (1989) suggest that hope is a key...     

Markers of unsustainable gambling for early detection of at-risk online gamblers

In this work we propose novel markers for identifying at-risk gamblers based on the concept of sustainability. The first hypothesis here verified is that problematic gamblers oscillate between intervals of increasing wager size followed by rapid drops, probably because they exceed their economic sustainability limits. Due to the non-periodic nature of these fluctuations, the proposed marker detects a certain occurring feature, such as a rapid drop in wager size, over a wide range of fluctuation periods, drop sizes and shapes. The second marker, counting the number of games the gambler is involved in, aims at predicting possible consequences of an exceeding amount of time dedicated to gambling, that ultimately causes social and relational breakdowns. In the experimental phase we demonstrate how the adoption of these markers allows for identifying larger segments of high- and medium-risk gamblers with respect to previous research on actual betting behaviours.     

The Distribution of Wealth and Fiscal Policy in Economies With Finitely Lived Agents

We study the dynamics of the distribution of wealth in an overlapping generation economy with finitely lived agents and intergenerational transmission of wealth. Financial markets are incomplete, exposing agents to both labor and capital income risk. We show that the stationary wealth distribution is a Pareto distribution in the right tail and that it is capital income risk, rather than labor income, that drives the properties of the right tail of the wealth distribution. We also study analytically the dependence of the distribution of wealth—of wealth inequality in particular—on various fiscal policy instruments like capital income taxes and estate taxes, and on different degrees of social mobility. We show that capital income and estate taxes can significantly reduce wealth inequality, as do institutions favoring social mobility. Finally, we calibrate the economy to match the Lorenz curve of the wealth distribution of the U.S. economy.