Introdução: A apneia obstrutiva do sono (AOS) provoca modificações na arquitetura normal do sono, fragmentando-o de forma crônica com hipóxias intermitentes levando, a longo prazo, a sérias consequências na saúde. Acredita-se que a ocorrência de eventos respiratórios durante o sono como apneia e hipopneia pode prejudicar o mecanismo de transdução da orelha interna e a transmissão de impulsos nervosos ao longo da via auditiva que são altamente dependentes do fornecimento do oxigênio. Contudo, essa associação não se encontra bem estabelecida na literatura. Adicionalmente, sujeitos com AOS poderiam apresentar alterações na função de transferência acústica da orelha média devido ao desequilíbrio pressórico existente nas vias aéreas superiores durante o sono, característico da fisiopatologia da doença. Objetivo: Comparar os achados da avaliação auditiva entre os indivíduos portadores e não portadores de AOS. Método: A casuística foi composta por 38 adultos do sexo masculino, média de idade de 35,8 (±7,2) e foram divididos em quatro grupos experimentais pareados por idade e índice da massa corpórea. Os grupos foram classificados com base na polissonografia em: controle (n=10), AOS leve (n=11), AOS moderada (n=8) e AOS grave (n=9). Todos os sujeitos do estudo negaram história pregressa de risco para perda auditiva. Todos os sujeitos foram submetidos à audiometria convencional, timpanometria, pesquisa de reflexos acústicos ipsi e contralaterais, imitância acústica de banda larga com estímulo clique de 226 a 8000 Hz para obtenção da energia de absorvância (EA), emissões otoacústicas por produto de distorção e potenciais evocados auditivos de tronco encefálico. Os resultados foram submetidos às análises estatísticas e o nível de significância adotado foi de 5% para todos os testes. Resultados: As medidas da EA não mostraram diferença significante entre os grupos quando considerados somente o fator grupo (sem AOS, AOS leve, moderada e grave). Para o efeito de interação entre os fatores grupo e frequência, o valor da média da EA do grupo com AOS de grau moderado foi significativamente maior do que do grupo com AOS de grau leve (p=0,003) em 8000 Hz. O grupo com AOS de grau grave apresentou menores valores das médias das amplitudes das EOAPD quando comparados aos dos grupos controle, AOS de grau leve e AOS de grau moderado (p=0,02, p=0,03 e p=0,01, respectivamente). Não houve diferença significante nos valores das latências absolutas das ondas I, III e V, e interpicos I-III, III-V e I-V entre os grupos. Observou-se associação entre a presença da AOS e alteração da latência absoluta da onda V (p=0,03). Foi observada associação entre AOS de grau moderado e alteração da latência da onda V (p=0,01). Conclusão: A presença da AOS está associada à presença de alteração na condução nervosa do estímulo acústico na via auditiva em tronco encefálico. A presença de AOS de grau grave prejudicou a função coclear. De maneira geral, a função de transferência acústica da orelha média é similar entre os adultos com e sem AOS / Introduction: The obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) can change the normal sleep architecture, fragmenting it chronically with intermittent hypoxias and, to the long time, inducing to serious consequences to health. It is believed that the occurrence of respiratory events during sleep with the presence of apnea and hipopneia can damage the transduction mechanism of the inner ear and nerve impulses transmission along the auditory pathways, which are highly dependent on the oxygen supply. However, this association is not well established. Moreover, the acoustic transference function of middle ear could show alterations, due to the pressure changes that occur in upper airway during the sleep, typical of OSA pathophysiology. Objective: To compare the findings of the hearing evaluations between subjects with OSA and without OSA. Method: A total of 38 subjects of the male sex, mean age 35.8 (±7.2), were divided into four groups, which were matched for age and body mass index. The groups were classified by the means of polissomnography in without OSA (n=10), mild OSA (n=11), moderate OSA (n=8) and severe OSA (n=9). All the subjects denied a history of risk for hearing loss. These subjects were submitted to: conventional audiometry, tympanometry, ipsilateral, contralateral acoustic reflex, wideband acoustic immittance for measurements of energy of absorbance (EA) with click stimulus of 226 to 8000 Hz, distortion product of otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE) and click evoked auditory brainstem responses (ABR). The recorded data of each analysis were conducted to an appropriate statistical test and was adopted the significant level of 5% for all the tests. Results: The EA data did not showed statistical differences among the groups when considering only the OSA severity factor (without, mild, moderate or severe). For the interaction between OSA severity and frequency factors, the mean value of EA of moderate OSA group was significant higher than the mild OSA group (p=0.003) in 8000 Hz. The severe OSA group presented lower mean values of amplitudes of DPOAE when compared to the control group, mild and moderate OSA groups (respectively, p=0.02, p=0.03 and p=0.01). For ABR, no differences was observed in latencies waves I, III and V, and interpeaks I-III, III-V and I-V values among the groups. Conclusion: The presence of OSA is associated with the presence of alterations in the nerve conduction of acoustic stimuli in the auditory pathway in the brainstem. The presence of severe OSA impaired the DPOAE responses. In general, the acoustic transference function of middle ear is similar between the adults with and without OSA

Ce manuscrit de doctorat propose une méthode expérimentale pour la caractérisation du cycle limite acoustique atteint par les auto-oscillations générées dans un moteur thermoacoustique.Pour cela, un capteur d'impédance fort niveau est développé dans le but de mesurer l'impédance d'entrée d'un noyau thermoacoustique en fonction de la puissance de chauffage fournie, de la fréquence et de l'amplitude du forçage acoustique.L'utilisation de ces mesures permet de prédire avec succès la génération spontanée d'auto-oscillations ainsi que leur saturation jusqu'à un régime établi, pour différentes charges attachées au noyau.Les mesures ainsi obtenues sont comparées à un modèle établi sur la base de la théorie linéaire de la thermoacoustique, couplé un modèle thermique simplifié, menant à une meilleure compréhension des processus physiques responsables de la saturation des oscillations acoustiques.La procédure expérimentale décrite dans ce manuscrit permet aussi de proposer une méthode d'optimisation du couplage entre la charge et le noyau de manière à maximiser l'efficacité potentielle de la conversion d'énergie thermoacoustique.Finalement, une méthode expérimentale est décrite et permet l'étude de la stabilité des cycles limites, ou plus généralement de l'évolution lente de l'amplitude des auto-oscillations acoustiques, dans le cas où le moteur thermoacoustique est configuré de manière à donner lieu à un régime de déclenchements et arrêts périodiques. / This manuscript deals with the experimental characterization of the acoustic limit cycle reached by self-sustained oscillations generated in thermoacoustic engines.A specially designed, high amplitude, acoustic impedance sensor was developed to perform measurements of the input impedance of a thermoacoustic core, as a function of the heating power supplied to the device, of the frequency, and of the amplitude of acoustic forcing.Those measurements can then be used to predict the spontaneous generation of acoustic oscillations and their saturation up to a certain steady-state.Those predictions were successful for various acoustic loads connected to the thermoacoustic core.Moreover, the measurements of acoustic impedance as a function of the amplitude of acoustic oscillations are compared to a model based on the linear thermoacoustic theory, and this comparaison provides insights into the processes controlling the saturation of acoustic oscillations.The experimental procedure described in this manuscript also leads to a pratical way of optimizing the coupling between the thermoacoustic core and the load, in the way that the potential efficiency of thermoacoustic energy conversion is maximized.Finally, an experimental method is described and allows to study the stability of limit cycles, i.e. the temporal evolution of the self-oscillation amplitude, in the case of a system that is able to give rise to a spontaneous periodic \textit{trigg and stop} behavior.

[pt] Na área de exploração e produção de petróleo são alocados grandes investimentos para conseguir diminuir os riscos associados à baixos níveis de produção, que podem ser minimizados mediante a acertada caracterização do reservatório de petróleo. Uma valiosa fonte de informação pode ser extraída de dados sísmicos 3D, obtidos do campo em estudo. O custo econômico de aquisição de esta base de dados para o reservatório completo é relativamente baixo, se comparado com uma amostragem direta por meio de perfurações de poços. Embora, a relação entre os dados sísmicos e as propriedades de reservatório seja considerada ambígua, esta deve ser integrada com informação confiável, como aquela obtida mediante perfilagem de poços. Fazendo uso dos abundantes dados sísmicos e das escassas, mas, precisas medições em perfurações existentes, foi desenvolvido neste trabalho um sistema baseado no algoritmo de Programação Genética (PG) para caracterizar geologicamente um reservatório de petróleo. PG é uma técnica de computação evolucionária capaz de estimar relações não lineares entre um conjunto de entrada e de saída, mediante uma expressão simbólica explícita. Para extrair informação adicional nos registros sísmicos são calculados atributos sísmicos, que facilitam a identificação de características estratigráficas ou estruturais do subsolo representadas indiretamente pela sísmica. Adicionalmente, é utilizado o método de inversão sísmica para o cálculo da impedância acústica, que é uma variável auxiliar derivada de sísmica calibrada com perfis de poço. Os atributos sísmicos junto com a impedância acústica servirão para a estimação de propriedades geológicas. Esta metodologia de trabalho foi testada em um reservatório real de grande complexidade geológica. Por meio de PG, foi representada satisfatoriamente a relação entre dados derivados da sísmica e a porosidade do campo, demostrando assim que PG é uma alternativa viável para a caracterização geológica de reservatórios. Posteriormente, foi realizada uma clusterização do campo baseada em características geofísicas que permitiram a construção de estimadores por PG especializados para cada zona. / [en] In the field of oil exploration and production a great deal of investment is allocated in reducing the risks associated to low production levels that can be minimized through an accurate oil reservoir characterization. A valuable source of information can be extracted from 3D seismic data, obtained from the studied reservoir. The economic cost of the acquisition of this data base for the whole reservoir is relatively low, if compared to the direct sampling method of well drilling. Being that the relationship between seismic data and reservoir properties is considered ambiguous, it must be integrated with reliable information, such as that obtained by well logging. Making use of abundant seismic data and scarce, yet accurate, measurements from the existing drillings, it was developed in this study a system based in the algorithm of Genetic Programming (GP), to geologically characterize an oil reservoir. GP is an evolutionary computational technique capable of estimating the non-linear relationships between input and output parameter, through an explicit symbolic expression. In order to extract additional information from seismic records, seismic attributes are calculated, which facilitate tasks of identifying stratigraphic and structural characteristics of the subsurface, represented indirectly by seismic data. Moreover, a seismic inversion method is used to estimate the acoustic impedance, an auxiliary variable derived from seismic data calibrated by well logs. The seismic attributes along with the acoustic impedance will be used to estimate geological properties. This workflow was tested on a real reservoir, thus presenting geological complexity. Through GP, the relationship between seismic derived data and the field porosity was represented satisfactorily, demonstrating that GP is a viable alternative for geologic reservoir characterization. Afterwards, the reservoir was divided in clusters according to geophysical properties, this allowed the construction of GP based estimators for each zone.

OBJECTIVES: Acoustic stapedius reflex threshold (ART) tests are included in a standard clinical acoustic immittance test battery as an objective cross-check with behavioral results and to help identify site of lesion. In traditional clinical test batteries, middle-ear admittance of a 226 Hz probe is estimated using ear-canal measurements in the presence of a reflex-activating stimulus. In the wideband (WB) acoustic immittance ART test used in this study, the pure-tone probe is replaced by a WB probe stimulus and changes in absorbed power are estimated using ear-canal measurements in the presence of the activator. The ART is defined as the lowest level at which a criterion change in admittance (clinical) or absorbed power (WB) is observed in the presence of the activator. In the present study, ARTs were obtained in adults with normal hearing using the clinical, manual method and with a new WB automated adaptive threshold detection method. It was hypothesized that the WB test would result in lower ARTs than the clinical test because reflex-related changes in power absorbance could be observed across multiple frequency bands in the WB test compared with a single frequency in the traditional test. DESIGN: Data were collected in a prospective research design. ARTs were obtained in ipsilateral and contralateral conditions using 500, 1000, 2000 Hz, and broadband noise (BBN) activators on a clinical system and on an experimental WB system. The bandwidth of the BBN activator was 125 to 4000 Hz on the clinical system and 200 to 8000 Hz on the wideband system. ARTs were estimated at both tympanometric peak pressure (TPP) and ambient pressure on the WB system. Data were collected in both ears of 39 adults (21 males) of mean age 47.7 years (range 23-72 years). Differences in ARTs among the three threshold estimation methods (clinical, WB at TPP, WB at ambient) were examined using the general linear model repeated measures test in SPSS. Post-hoc pairwise comparisons were completed with Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons. Statistical significance was defined as p < 0.05 for all analyses. RESULTS: ARTs obtained on the WB system at TPP and ambient pressure were significantly lower than obtained on the clinical system. ARTs obtained on the WB system at TPP were significantly higher than at ambient pressure in the 500 and 2000 Hz ipsilateral conditions. CONCLUSIONS: WB automated adaptive ARTs in normal-hearing adults were lower than for clinical methods when measured at TPP and ambient pressure. Lower presentation levels required to estimate ART in the WB test may be more tolerable to patients. Patients with ARTs that are not present at the maximum level of a traditional reflex test may have present ARTs with a WB ART test, which may reduce the need to refer for additional testing for possible retrocochlear involvement. Automation of the test may allow clinicians more time to attend to the other requisite tasks of a hearing evaluation and make the system useful for telehealth applications.

No / New representations and efficient calculation methods are derived for the problem of propagation from an infinite regularly spaced array of coherent line sources above a homogeneous impedance plane, and for the Green's function for sound propagation in the canyon formed by two infinitely high, parallel rigid or sound soft walls and an impedance ground surface. The infinite sum of source contributions is replaced by a finite sum and the remainder is expressed as a Laplace-type integral. A pole subtraction technique is used to remove poles in the integrand which lie near the path of integration, obtaining a smooth integrand, more suitable for numerical integration, and a specific numerical integration method is proposed. Numerical experiments show highly accurate results across the frequency spectrum for a range of ground surface types. It is expected that the methods proposed will prove useful in boundary element modeling of noise propagation in canyon streets and in ducts, and for problems of scattering by periodic surfaces.

Contactless ultrasonic power transfer (UPT), using piezoelectric transducers, is based on transferring energy using acoustic waves, in which the waves are generated by an acoustic source or transmitter and then transferred through an acoustic medium such as water or human tissue to a sensor or receiver. The receiver then converts the mechanical strain induced by the incident acoustic waves to electricity and delivers to an electrical load, in which the electrical power output of the system can be determined. The execution and efficiency of this technology can be significantly enhanced through patterning, focusing, and localization of the transmitted acoustic energy in space to simultaneously power pre-determined distributed sensors or devices. A passive 3D-printed acoustic hologram plate alongside a single transducer can generate arbitrary and pre-designed ultrasound fields in a particular distance from the hologram mounted on the transmitter, i.e., a target plane. This dissertation presents the use of these simple, cost-effective, and high-fidelity acoustic holograms in UPT systems to selectively enhance and pattern the electrical power output from the receivers. Different holograms are numerically designed to create single and multi-focal pressure patterns in a target plane where an array of receivers are placed. The incident sound wave from a transmitter, after passing through the hologram, is manipulated, hence, the output field is the desired pressure field, which excites the receivers located at the pre-determined focal points more significantly. Furthermore, multi-functional holograms are designed to generate multiple images at different target planes and driving frequencies, called, respectively, multi-image-plane and multi-frequency patterning holograms. The multiple desired pressure distributions are encoded on the single hologram plate and each is reconstructed by changing the axial distance and by switching the frequency. Several proof-of-concept experiments are performed to verify the functionality of the computationally designed holograms, which are fabricated using modern 3D-printers, i.e., the desired wavefronts are encoded in the hologram plates' thickness profile, being input to the 3D-printer. The experiments include measurement of output pressure fields in water using needle hydrophones and acquisition of receivers' voltage output in UPT systems. Another technique investigated in this dissertation is the implementation of acoustic impedance matching layers deposited on the front leading surface of the transmitter and receiver transducers. Current UPT systems suffer from significant acoustic losses through the transmission line from a piezoelectric transmitter to an acoustic medium and then to a piezoelectric receiver. This is due to the unfavorable acoustic impedance mismatch between the transducers and the medium, which causes a narrow transducer bandwidth and a considerable reflection of the acoustic pressure waves at the boundary layers. Using matching layers enhance the acoustic power transmission into the medium and then reinforce the input as an excitation into the receiver. Experiments are performed to identify the input acoustic pressure from a cylindrical transmitter to a receiver disk operating in the 33-mode of piezoelectricity. Significant enhancements are obtained in terms of the receiver's electrical power output when implementing a two-layer matching structure. A design platform is also developed that can facilitate the construction of high-fidelity acoustically matched transducers, that is, the material layers' selection and determination of their thicknesses. Furthermore, this dissertation presents a numerical analysis for the dynamical motions of a high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU)-excited microbubble or stable acoustic cavitation, which includes the effects of acoustic nonlinearity, diffraction, and absorption of the medium, and entails the problem of several biomedical ultrasound applications. Finally, the design and use of acoustic holograms in microfluidic channels are addressed which opens the door of acoustic patterning in particle and cell sorting for medical ultrasound systems. / Doctor of Philosophy / This dissertation presents several techniques to enhance the wireless transfer of ultrasonic energy in which the sound wave is generated by an acoustic source or transmitter, transferred through an acoustic medium such as water or human tissue to a sensor or receiver. The receiver transducer then converts the vibrational energy into electricity and delivers to an electrical load in which the electrical power output from the system can be determined. The first enhancement technique presented in this dissertation is using a pre-designed and simple structured plate called an acoustic hologram in conjunction with a transmitter transducer to arbitrarily pattern and shape ultrasound fields at a particular distance from the hologram mounted on the transmitter. The desired wavefront such as single or multi-focal pressure fields or an arbitrary image such as a VT image pattern can simply be encoded in the thickness profile of this hologram plate by removing some of the hologram material based on the desired shape. When the sound wave from the transmitter passes this structured plate, it is locally delayed in proportion to the hologram thickness due to the different speed of sound in the hologram material compared to water. In this dissertation, various hologram types are designed numerically to implement in the ultrasonic power transfer (UPT) systems for powering receivers located at the predetermined focal points more significantly and finally, their functionality and performances are verified in several experiments. Current UPT systems suffer from significant acoustic losses through the transmission from a transmitter to an acoustic medium and then to a receiver due to the different acoustic impedance (defined as the product of density and sound speed) between the medium and transducers material, which reflects most of the incident pressure wave at the boundary layers. The second enhancement technology addressed in this dissertation is using intermediate materials, called acoustic impedance matching layers, bonded to the front side of the transmitter and receiver face to alleviate the acoustic impedance mismatch. Experiments are performed to identify the input acoustic pressure from a transmitter to a receiver. Using a two-layer matching structure, significant enhancements are observed in terms of the receiver's electrical power output. A design platform is also developed that can facilitate the construction of high-fidelity acoustically matched transducers, that is, the material layers' selection and determination of their thicknesses. Furthermore, this dissertation presents a numerical analysis for the dynamical motions of a microbubble exposed to a high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) field, which entails the problem of several biomedical ultrasound applications such as microbubble-mediated ultrasound therapy or targeted drug delivery. Finally, an enhancement technique involving the design and use of acoustic holograms in microfluidic channels is addressed which opens the door of acoustic patterning in particle and cell sorting for medical ultrasound systems.

Ce travail de thèse présente la formalisation du problème de couplage d'une plaque en vibration de flexion avec le sol. La notion d'impédance intermodale de rayonnement vibratoire est définie de façon analogue à son équivalent acoustique. A partir de cette définition, la notion de masse, raideur et amortissement modal ajoutée sur la structure par le sol est introduite. L'effet sur le niveau vibratoire de la structure est présenté, notamment l'effet très amortissant du sol sur la structure. Une comparaison avec le modèle équivalent acoustique est présentée avec une attention particulière portée sur les différences entre les impédances intermodales. L'influence de la stratification sur le niveau vibratoire de la structure fait apparaitre des phénomènes nouveaux sur la partie imaginaire de l'impédance intermodale. Une comparaison théorie-expérience a été effectuée dans le cas d'une dalle de tramway couplée au sol. On présente également une comparaison avec un code numérique, MEFISSTO développé par P. Jean au sein du CSTB. On présente également une extension du modèle d'une plaque couplée au sol au cas de couplage de deux plaques avec le sol. On montre notamment que l'écriture du problème reste très similaire au problème d'une plaque couplée au sol. Les impédances intermodales peuvent encore être définies avec la prise en compte du couplage des modes d'une plaque sur les modes de l'autre plaque. On présentera trois applications de ce modèle. La première concerne l'utilisation d'une Barrière Vibratoire Horizontale à la surface du sol pour atténuer les vibrations issues d'une première plaque modélisant la dalle de tramway. Finalement une ouverture du problème de couplage d'une plaque avec le sol par l'utilisation de ce modèle dans des problématiques inverses est présentée. On montre qu'il est possible par un problème inverse de remonter aux efforts injectés sur une dalle de tramway au passage de celui-ci. / This thesis is concerned with the coupling between a fexural vibrating plate and a stratifed ground. A semi-analytical solution is introduced similar to the equivalent acoustical problem. The ground cross modal impedance is defined in a similar way as the equivalent acoustical impedance. From this definition, the ground added mass, stiffness and damping to the plate are presented. Similarities and discrepancies between the acoustical and the ground cross modal impedance are introduced. Influence of the ground stratification on the plate vibration shows new phenomena especially on the imaginary part of the ground cross modal impedance. A comparison between the model developed in this thesis and an experiment made on a tramway slab has been done as well as a comparison with a numerical model, MEFISSTO developed by P. jean at CSTB. One introduces an extension of the modeling developed and is concerned with modeling two flexural plates to the ground. It can be pointed out that problem formulation is still close to the problem formulation of one plate coupled to the ground. Three different fields of application of such modeling is presented. The first field of application is concerned with ground mitigation due to the passing tramway on. The first plate is the excited plate by the tramway and the second plate, called Horizontal Wave Barrier, is acting at the top surface as a ground attenuator. The second field of application is concerned with the modeling of building foundation. It is shown that the vibration received by the foundation of a building can be an input data for modeling an entire building vibration. The third field of application is concerned with different cases of tramway slab for reduction of ground vibration. Finally one presents an introduction of the use of this ground structure modeling in the case of inverse problem. It is shown that it is possible to identify injected force to the plate by the tramway. Furthermore the ground allows a regularization of the problem in the inversion which is not the case in the acoustical case.

La thèse se base sur la recherche des possibilités de caractérisation du son aérien de sources sonores arbitraires. A cette fin, une approche particulière est étudiée à l’endroit où la caractérisation de la source est faite via une surface d’interface qui enveloppe totalement ou partiellement la source physique. Deux descripteurs qui dépendent de la fréquence sont definis au travers d’une telle surface: la pression sonore bloquée et l’impédance de la source. Le précédent représente la pression sonore créée par le système d’exploitation source qui agit sur la surface enveloppante quand elle est rendue immobile. Cette dernière représente le rapport des amplitudes de réponse de pression et les amplitudes de vitesse d’excitation normales au travers de la surface. La surface enveloppante définit un volume d’air qui contient la source physique appelée l’espace source. Les deux descripteurs définis sur l’espace source, la pression bloquée et l’impédance de la source sont montrés comme étant intrinsèques à la source, c’est-à-dire indépendants de l’espace acoustique environnant. Une fois définis, ces descripteurs permettent de trouver la pression sonore et la vitesse particulaire normale à la surface de l’interface quand l’espace source est couplé à un espace récepteur arbitraire, c’est-à-dire une pièce. Cela permet alors la prédiction du son dans l’espace récepteur. Les conditions de couplage nécessitent que l’espace récepteur soit caractérisé en utilisant la même surface enveloppante telle que l’espace source. En acceptant de garder à l’esprit la simplicité de la mesure, la surface enveloppante a été conçue vu qu’elle comporte une ou plusieurs surfaces rectangulaires planes. Le défi de la recherche était alors d’obtenir une impédance significative de la surface au travers de la surface plane rectangulaire (continue) ainsi que celle de la pression bloquée compatible avec la formulation de l’impédance. Cela a conduit à une décomposition dans l’espace de la pression sonore et de la vitesse des particules au sein du nombre fini des composants, chacun défini par une amplitude complexe et une distribution dans l’espace particulière. De cette façon, la pression bloquée se réduit à un vecteur d’amplitude de pression complexe, tandis que l’impédance devient une matrice de pression et des rapports d’amplitudes complexes de la vitesse de défauts de de décompositions ont été recherchés dans le détail: la méthode harmonique de surface et la méthode du patch. Le premier se rapproche de la pression de surface et de la vitesse normale par des combinaisons de fonctions de surface trigonométriques en 2D tandis que ce dernier partage la surface en petites parcelles et intervient sur chaque parcelle de façon discrète en utilisant les valeurs moyennes du patch. / The thesis investigates possibilities of air-borne sound characterisation of arbitrary sound sources. To this end a particular approach is studied where the source characterisation is done via an interface surface which fully or partially envelopes the physical source. Two frequency dependent descriptors are defined across such a surface: the blocked sound pressure and the source impedance. The former represents the sound pressure created by the operating source which acts on the enveloping surface when this is made immobile. The latter represents the ratio of pressure response amplitudes and normal velocity excitation amplitudes across the surface. The enveloping surface defines an air volume containing the physical source, called the source space. The two source descriptors defined on the source space, the blocked pressure and the source impedance, are shown to be intrinsic to the source, i.e. independent of the surrounding acoustical space. Once defined, these descriptors allow one to find the sound pressure and normal particle velocity at the interface surface when the source space is coupled to an arbitrary receiver space, i.e. a room. This in turn allows for sound prediction in the receiver space. The coupling conditions require that the receiver space is characterised using the same enveloping surface as the source space. Bearing the measurement simplicity in mind, the enveloping surface has been conceived as consisting of one or several rectangular plane surfaces. The research challenge was then to obtain meaningful surface impedance across a (continuous) rectangular plane surface as well as the blocked pressure compatible with impedance formulation. This has led to a spatial decomposition of sound pressure and particle velocity into finite number of components, each defined by a complex amplitude and a particular spatial distribution. In this way the blocked pressure reduces to a vector of complex pressure amplitudes while the impedance becomes a matrix of pressure and velocity complex amplitude ratios. Two decomposition methods have been investigated in detail: the surface harmonic method and the patch method. The former approximates the surface pressure and normal velocity by combinations of 2D trigonometric surface functions while the latter splits the surface into small patches and treats each patch in a discrete way, using patch-averaged values.

Introdução: A desnutrição energético-protéica é um dos maiores problemas de saúde pública no Brasil, ocorrendo mais frequentemente em pré-escolares e determinando o comprometimento do crescimento. A desnutrição pode provocar alterações no sistema nervoso central, dependendo da intensidade, da época de incidência e da duração da doença, comprometendo irreversivelmente as funções intelectuais. Levando-se em consideração a importância da integridade do Sistema Auditivo Periférico e Central na aquisição e desenvolvimento de fala, linguagem e aprendizado, torna-se imprescindível que anormalidades auditivas tanto periféricas como centrais sejam identificadas e tratadas precocemente nesta população. Objetivo: Caracterizar os achados das avaliações comportamentais, eletroacústicas e eletrofisiológicas da audição em crianças com desnutrição, bem como compará-los aos obtidos em crianças saudáveis da mesma faixa etária. Métodos: Foram realizados exames de audiometria tonal, logoaudiometria, teste dicótico de dígitos, imitanciometria, potencial evocado auditivo de tronco encefálico (PEATE) e potencial evocado auditivo de longa latência (PEALL) em 31 crianças desnutridas (grupo estudo) e 34 crianças saudáveis (grupo controle), com idade entre 7 e 12 anos, de ambos os gêneros. Resultados: Na análise dos dados quantitativos da audiometria tonal foi observada uma diferença estatisticamente significante entre os grupos para os limiares auditivos nas frequências de 250 e 8000 Hz, tendo o grupo estudo apresentado limiares auditivos mais elevados. Na análise qualitativa, não houve diferença estatisticamente significante entre os grupos, apesar de duas crianças do grupo estudo apresentarem perda auditiva discreta. Na análise dos dados qualitativos, não foram encontradas alterações na logoaudiometria para os dois grupos. No teste dicótico de dígitos, houve diferença estatisticamente significante entre os grupos, sendo observada uma maior proporção de crianças com alteração no grupo estudo. Ambos os grupos apresentaram resultados alterados na imitanciometria, não havendo diferença estatisticamente significante entre os grupos. Ambos os grupos apresentaram resultados normais do PEATE. Na análise dos dados quantitativos dos PEALL, verificou-se diferença estatisticamente significante entre os grupos para as latências dos componentes P1, N1 e P300, sendo que o grupo estudo apresentou latências maiores para todos os componentes. Na avaliação da amplitude do P300, houve diferença estatisticamente significante entre as orelhas direita e esquerda do grupo controle, sendo a amplitude do P300 maior na orelha direita. Por sua vez, no grupo estudo, não houve diferença significativa entre as orelhas direita e esquerda. Tanto o grupo controle quanto o grupo estudo apresentaram alterações nos resultados do PEALL, havendo diferença estatisticamente significante entre os grupos para os componentes P1, N1 e P300, sendo que o grupo estudo apresentou maior ocorrência de alterações. O tipo de alteração predominante nos componentes P1 e P300 foi o aumento de latência e, para o componente N1, foi a ausência de resposta no grupo estudo; para o grupo controle, o tipo de alteração predominante nos componentes P1, N1 e P300 foi o aumento de latência. Devido ao predomínio de crianças desnutridas de grau leve (58,1%), não foi possível estabelecer uma correlação entre o grau da desnutrição e a alteração dos PEALL. Conclusão: Crianças com desnutrição apresentaram mais alterações na avaliação comportamental da audição (audiometria tonal e teste dicótico de dígitos) e nos PEALL do que as crianças saudáveis, sugerindo déficit na via auditiva central e alteração no processamento da informação acústica. Há a necessidade de mais estudos para melhor caracterizar as alterações fonoaudiológicas e audiológicas desta população. / Introduction: Protein-energy malnutrition is a major public health problem in Brazil. It is more frequent among pre-school aged children and it compromises growth. Malnutrition may cause changes to the central nervous system depending on its intensity, time of incidence and duration, irreversibly compromising intellectual functions. Considering the importance of Peripheral and Central Auditory System integrity to the acquisition and development of speech, language and learning, it is crucial that both peripheral and central auditory abnormalities are identified and treated early in this population. Objective: To describe the findings of behavioral, electroacoustic and electrophysiological auditory assessments of malnourished children, as well as comparing them with findings from healthy children within the same age group. Methods: The following tests were performed in 31 malnourished children (study group) and 34 healthy children (control group), aged 7 to 12, from both genders: pure tone audiometry, speech audiometry, dichotic digit test, immittance measures, brainstem auditory evoked potential (BAEP) and long-latency auditory evoked potential (LLAEP). Results: While analyzing quantitative data from pure tone audiometry we observed statistically significant differences between groups for hearing thresholds at frequencies of 250 and 8000 Hz; the study group had higher hearing thresholds. As for quantitative analysis, there was no statistically significant difference between groups, although two children in the study group showed slight hearing loss. While analyzing qualitative data we did not find any changes in speech audiometry in any of the groups. As for the dichotic digit test, there was a statistically significant difference between groups, with a higher proportion of abnormal children in the study group. Both groups showed abnormal immittance measures results, although there was no statistically significant difference between the groups. Both showed normal BAEP results. When analyzing quantitative LLAEP data we observed a statistically significant difference between groups in terms of latency of components P1, N1 and P300; the study group had higher latencies for all components. When analyzing P300 amplitudes, there was a statistically significant difference between the right and left ears in the control group; P300 amplitudes was wider for the right ear. On the other hand, the study group did not show any statistically significant difference between the right and left ears. Both the control and study group shoed abnormal LLAEP results. There was a statistically significant difference between groups for components P1, N1 and P300; abnormalities were more frequent in the study group. The type of predominant abnormality in components P1 and P300 was increased latency and for component N1 it was lack of response in the study group; for the control group the type of predominant abnormality in components P1, N1 and P300 was increased latency. Because most children were only slightly malnourished (58.1%), it was not possible to establish a correlation between the level of malnutrition and LLAEP abnormalities. Conclusion: Malnourished children showed more abnormalities in auditory behavioral assessment (pure tone audiometry and dichotic digit test) and LLAEP than healthy children. This suggests a deficit in central auditory pathways and abnormalities in the processing of acoustic information. Further studies are necessary to better describe speech and language and hearing abnormalities in this population.

Para avaliar a audição em crianças com paralisia cerebral foi realizada a avaliação comportamental, eletroacústica e eletrofisiológica em 61 sujeitos na faixa etária de três a seis anos e 11 meses, subdivididas em grupo experimental e controle. Foram observadas diferenças estatisticamente significantes na comparação entre os resultados obtidos nos dois grupos, bem como na comparação dos procedimentos no grupo experimental. Existe uma diversidade nos resultados dos procedimentos audiológicos em crianças com paralisia cerebral, o que torna importante a aplicação da bateria completa na determinação do perfil audiológico destas crianças. / In order to evaluate the hearing of children who have cerebral palsy disease the behavioral, eletroacoustical, electrophysiological evaluations were done in 61 people between three and six years and 11 months old, subdivided in experimental and control group. There were statistically significant differences when comparing the results obtained in both groups, as well as when comparing the procedures in the experimental group. There is diversity in the results of hearing procedures in children with Cerebral Palsy, which stresses the importance of a full battery of exams for determining the hearing profile of these children.