Many traditional drought assessments are conducted based on climate and hydrologic data. The availability and precision of data limit the spatial and temporal resolution and accuracy of derived drought indices. In this study, Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) and Temperature Condition Index (TCI) were generated from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) products. The VCI was derived from Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) that was calculated with near infrared and visible red band reflectance from MOD09Q1. The TCI was derived from land surface temperature (LST) product MOD11A2. The VCI and TCI were then combined with reference to the vegetation coverage information from MOD44B to generate the modified Vegetation Health Index (VHI). The modified VHI was applied to quantify the intensity of drought that took place in Illinois from 2000 to 2012. The results showed that the modified VHI identified the major droughts that occurred in Illinois from 2000 to 2012, especially the extreme one taking place in 2012. Moreover, the modified VHI led to the spatial distributions and temporal trends of drought severity, which were overall similar to those from the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) maps, but had more detailed spatial variability and much higher spatial resolution. The modified VHI also differentiated the drought impacts between the vegetated and non-vegetated areas, being a lack of the original VHI. Thus, the modified VHI takes advantage of spatially continuous and timely data from satellites and can be applied to conduct the monitoring and detection of drought intensity at local, regional, and national scales. The modified VHI can effectively synthesize the drought information of LST and NDVI to differentiate the effects of land use and land cover (LULC) types and provide the detailed spatial variability of drought intensity and thus enhance the understanding of relationship between drought condition and LULC types.

Bakgrund Kraven på evidensbaserad vård ökar ständigt. Att jämföra patienters självskattade besvär före och efter behandling är ett sätt att utvärdera behandlingseffekten.  Rösthandikappindex (RHI) och VA-skala för röstbesvär är två verktyg för utvärdering av röstbehandling. Tidigare studier har visat att röstbehandling ger minskade självskattade röstbesvär. Syfte Syftet med denna studie var att med självskattningsformulär utvärdera effekten av logopedisk röstbehandling i Västerbottens läns landsting (VLL) och undersöka om behandlingseffekten påverkas av kön, diagnos, antal behandlingstillfällen och hur mycket tid patienten är beredd att lägga på behandling, samt att undersöka om det finns ett samband mellan självskattningsformuläret RHI och VA-skala för röstbesvär. Metod 102 patienter, 28 män och 74 kvinnor, som under perioden januari 2009 till september 2012 genomgått logopedisk röstbehandling inom VLL, deltog i studien. Deltagarna rekryterades retrospektivt. Genom dataanalys undersöktes huruvida det fanns någon signifikant skillnad i poäng på RHI efter behandling, om det fanns några signifikanta skillnader i självskattning beroende på kön, diagnos eller antal behandlingstillfällen samt om det fanns en korrelation mellan RHI-poäng och skattning på VA-skala. Resultat En signifikant minskning av RHI-poäng kunde ses för hela gruppen efter röstbehandling jämfört med före. Inga signifikanta skillnader sågs mellan könen eller mellan grupper indelade utifrån antal behandlingstillfällen. Det fanns inte heller någon skillnad mellan olika diagnoser. Däremot sågs signifikanta korrelationer mellan RHI och VA-skala för röstbesvär. Slutsats Studien visade att de självskattade besvären minskade efter behandling. Resultaten var inte beroende av kön, diagnos eller antal behandlingstillfällen. Utifrån detta dras slutsatsen att den logopediska röstbehandlingen i Västerbottens läns landsting ger effekt. Vad gäller de självskattningsverktyg som används i verksamheten sågs en korrelation mellan RHI och VA-skala för röstbesvär. Det är möjligt att dessa verktyg mäter olika aspekter av samma problem. Det är då av vikt att kombinera dessa för att få en helhetsbild av patienters upplevda röstbesvär / Background The demand for evidence based health care is increasing. One way to evaluate the effect of treatment is to compare patients’ self-assessed malaise before and after treatment. Two useful tools for evaluating voice therapy administered by a speech-language pathologist  is Voice Handicap Index (VHI) and a Visual Analogue Scale, VA-scale, for voice problems. Previous studies has found that voice therapy results in a decreased level of voice problems                                                                                        Aim The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of voice treatment administered by speech-language pathologists in Västerbottens läns landsting (VLL) with help of the self-assessment tools VHI and VA-scale for voice problems and to investigate if there were any differences in the self-assessment due to gender, diagnosis, number of treatment sessions or the amount of time the patient was willing to spend on voice therapy. The aim was also to investigate if there was a correlation between the VHI and the VA-scale for voice problems.                                                                                                                      Method This retrospective study has analyzed self-assessment forms from 102 patients, 28 men and 74 women, who have been seeing a speech-language pathologist for voice therapy sometime between January 2009 and September 2012 in VLL. Data analysis was used to investigate if there was any significant difference in VHI points before and after voice therapy, if there was any significant differences in the self-assessment due to gender, diagnosis or number of therapy sessions and if there was a correlation between the points on VHI and self-assessed malaise on the VA-scale for voice problems.                                                                                                                      Results There was a significant decrease of VHI points for the whole group after voice therapy. No significant differences were found regarding gender, diagnosis or number of treatment sessions. There was no correlation between the VHI score and the amount of time the patient was willing to spend on voice therapy. A significant correlation was found between VHI and the VA-scale for voice problems.           Conclusion This study found that self-assessed voice problems decreased after voice treatment. The efficacy of voice therapy does not seem to be affected by gender, diagnosis, number of treatment sessions or the amount of time the patient was willing to spend on voice therapy. The conclusion is that the voice therapy administered by speech-language pathologists in VLL has an effect. There was a correlation between VHI and the VA-scale for voice disorders. It is possible that these tools are measuring different aspects of the same problem. Therefore, it is important to combine these tools to get an overall picture of the patients’ self-perceived voice problems.

No description available.

Teachers frequently present with voice problems as result of functional voice hyperfunction and it seems that occupational duties often impede successful implementation of a conventional voice conservation strategies. The goal of this single-subject study was to investigate the practical value of personal voice amplification as an assistive option for teachers experiencing occupation-related voice problems The physical state of a teacher’s vocal chords and specific perceptual and acoustic attributes of her voice were evaluated before and after a period of conventional voice conservation, and also before and after a period during which personal voice amplification was used as an augmentative strategy. In the course of the study it was in the interest of the subject that a persistent vocal fold nodule be removed surgically. The research design was adapted accordingly and the study consequently included a pre- and post surgical phase. Physical examinations of the vocal cords reflected the positive effect of the surgical removal of a vocal fold nodule. An improvement in the general status of the vocal cords was also noted following periods during which personal voice amplification was used in combination with a conventional voice conservation strategy. Perceptual and acoustic analysis of voice quality confirmed the positive effect of the surgical intervention. Although a panel of judges did not detect an improvement in the subject’s voice quality following the assistive use of the personal amplifier, several acoustic voice parameters showed improvement or normalised after the use of personal voice amplification in combination with conventional voice conservation strategies. The subject’s repeated evaluation of her own voice experiences, as well as her view of the practicability of the two voice conservation strategies, revealed a remarkably positive attitude towards the augmentative use of personal voice amplification. The conclusion is that teachers who experience occupational voice problems could benefit from the use of personal voice amplification in combination with a conventional voice conservation strategy. / Dissertation (M (Communication Pathology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology / Unrestricted

Submitted by Miriam Lucas (miriam.lucas@unioeste.br) on 2018-04-18T17:58:57Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Débora_Christina_Santos_Souza_2017.pdf: 1916326 bytes, checksum: 29aa94a8e939aa748005deea3e4c8525 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-04-18T17:58:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Débora_Christina_Santos_Souza_2017.pdf: 1916326 bytes, checksum: 29aa94a8e939aa748005deea3e4c8525 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-08-10 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Introduction: Tuberculosis is an infectious and transmissible disease that most commonly affects the lungs. In view of the complexity of TB-related illnesses (AIDS, alcoholism, mental illness and diabetes) there is growing international consensus on the need for dialogue between health authorities in border regions to more effectively address the health issues of the population, especially of vulnerable groups such as the population residing in the border area. Objective: To analyze TB cases with comorbidities in Paraná municipalities in 2013. Methodology: This is an epidemiological, retrospective, descriptive and analytical study carried out in 11 municipalities in the state of Paraná, bordering Paraguay and in 11 Paraná municipalities with equivalent populations. The study population consisted of all new cases of TB with comorbidities, recorded in the SINAN-PR database in the year 2013. The variables used in the study were: sociodemographic, epidemiological, operational, and comorbidities. To analyze the data the chi-square test with correction for Yates continuity and descriptive analysis was applied. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee (Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa – CEP) of the State University of Western Paraná. Results: The mean age of TB patients was 38.4 years. In the characterization of the sample, with 227 TB patients, it was observed that the majority belonged to the municipality of Foz do Iguaçu 56.8% followed by the municipalities of Colombo 15.4% and Matinhos 11.%. In addition, TB patients were predominant in municipalities bordering Paraguay, 70.9%, male 66.9%, whites 63.9%, pulmonary clinical form 89.4%, sputum smear microscopy for positive diagnosis 61.7%, HIV negative 76.2%, supervised treatment 89% and cure outcome was present in 71.8% of the cases. The association between the location of the border municipality and non-frontier and the treatment outcome - cure and non-cure, presented statistical significance (p = 0.0006). When performing a statistical association of sociodemographic, clinical and operational variables in relation to the location of the municipality (border and non-frontier), only the variable DOT presented statistical significance. Conclusion: It is concluded that when TB is associated with the comorbidities alcoholism, mental illness and AIDS, the treatment outcome is unfavorable for cure. Also, it was observed an association between the locality of the border and non-frontier municipalities in relation to the DOT, through the statistical association it was possible to identify that in municipalities in the border the cure is smaller. It is important to expand the studies as well as to deepen the relation of the low percentage of cure with the objective of promoting public health policies directed to these regions. / Introducción: La tuberculosis es una enfermedad infecciosa y transmisible que afecta más comúnmente los pulmones. Frente a la complejidad de las enfermedades que se relacionan con la TB (SIDA, alcoholismo, enfermedad mental y diabetes) es creciente el consenso internacional de la necesidad de diálogo entre las autoridades de salud de las regiones fronterizas para que afronten de forma más efectiva los problemas de salud de la Población, especialmente de los grupos vulnerables como la población residente en el área fronteriza. Objetivo: Analizar los casos de TB con comorbilidades en municipios paranaenses en el año 2013. Metodología: Se trata de un estudio epidemiológico, retrospectivo, descriptivo y analítico realizado en los 11 municipios del estado del Paraná que hacen frontera con Paraguay y en 11 municipios paranaenses con poblaciones equivalentes. La población de estudio fue constituida por todos los casos nuevos de TB con comorbilidades, registrados en el banco de datos del SINAN-PR en el año 2013. Las variables utilizadas en el estudio fueron: sociodemográficas, epidemiológicas, operacionales y sobre las comorbilidades. Para analizar los datos se aplicó la prueba qui-cuadrada con corrección para continuidad de Yates y análisis descriptivo. El estudio fue aprobado por el Comité de Ética en Investigación (CEP) de la Universidad Estadual del Oeste del Paraná. Resultados: La edad media de los pacientes de TB fue de 38,4 años. En la caracterización de la muestra, con 227 pacientes de TB se observó que la mayoría pertenecía al municipio de Foz do Iguaçu 56,8% seguido de los municipios de Colombo, 15,4% y Matinhos 11,0%. Aún se observo predominância de pacientes com TB em municípios fronterizos com Paraguay, 70, 9%, del sexo masculino 66,9%, raza/color blanca 63,9 %, forma clínica pulmonar 89,4%, basciloscopia de escupo para diagnostico positivo 61,7%, VIH negativo 76,2%, realización de tratamiento supervisado 89% y el desenlace curado se presentó en el 71,8% de los casos. La asociación entre la localización del municipio fronterizo y no fronterizo y el desenlace del tratamiento - curación y no cura, presentó significancia estadística (p = 0,0006). Al realizar la asociación estadística de las variables sociodemográficas, clínicas y operativas en relación a la localización del municipio (frontera y no frontera), sólo la variable del TDO presentó significancia estadística. Conclusión: Se concluye que cuando la TB se asocia a las comorbilidades alcohol, enfermedad mental y SIDA, el resultado del tratamiento es desfavorable para la curación. Se observó asociación entre la localidad de los municipios de fronterizo y no fronterizo en relación al TDO, por medio de la asociación estadística fue posible identificar que en los municipios fronterizos la cura es menor. Se resalta la importancia de ampliar los estudios así como, la relación del bajo porcentual de curación con el objetivo de promover políticas de salud públicas dirigidas a esas regiones. / Introdução: A tuberculose é uma doença infecciosa e transmissível que afeta mais comumente os pulmões. Frente à complexidade das doenças que se relacionam à TB (AIDS, alcoolismos, doença mental e diabetes) é crescente o consenso internacional da necessidade de diálogo entre as autoridades de saúde das regiões de fronteira para que enfrentem de forma mais efetiva os problemas de saúde da população, especialmente dos grupos vulneráveis como a população residente em área de fronteira. Objetivo: Analisar os casos de TB com comorbidades em municípios paranaenses no ano de 2013. Metodologia: Trata-se de um estudo epidemiológico, retrospectivo, descritivo e analítico realizado nos 11 municípios do estado do Paraná que fazem fronteira com o Paraguai e em 11 municípios paranaenses com populações equivalentes. A população de estudo foi constituída por todos os casos novos de TB com comorbidades, registrados no banco de dados do SINAN-PR no ano de 2013. As variáveis utilizadas no estudo foram: sociodemográficas, epidemiológicas, operacionais e sobre as comorbidades. Para analisar os dados aplicou-se o teste qui-quadrado com correção para continuidade de Yates e análise descritiva. O estudo foi aprovado pelo Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa (CEP) da Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná. Resultados: A média idade dos pacientes de TB foi de 38,4 anos. Na caracterização da amostra, com 227 pacientes de TB observou-se que a maioria pertencia ao município de Foz do Iguaçu 56,8% seguido dos municípios de Colombo, 15,4% e Matinhos 11%. Ainda, foi observado predominância dos pacientes de TB em municípios de fronteira com o Paraguai, 70,9%, do sexo masculino 66,9%, raça/cor branca 63,9%, forma clínica pulmonar 89,4%, baciloscopia de escarro para diagnóstico positiva 61,7%, HIV negativo 76,2%, realização de tratamento supervisionado 89% e o desfecho cura apresentou-se em 71,8% dos casos. A associação entre a localização do município fronteira e não-fronteira e o desfecho do tratamento – cura e não-cura, apresentou significância estatística (p = 0,0006). Ao realizar associação estatística das variáveis sociodemográficas, clínicas e operacionais em relação à localização do município (fronteira e não-fronteira), somente a variável do TDO apresentou significância estatística. Conclusão: Conclui-se que quando TB é associada às comorbidades alcoolismo, doença mental e AIDS, o desfecho do tratamento é desfavorável para cura. Ainda, observou-se associação entre a localidade dos municípios de fronteira e não-fronteira em relação ao TDO, por meio da associação estatística foi possível identificar que nos municípios na fronteira a cura é menor. Ressalta-se a importância de ampliar os estudos bem como, a relação do baixo percentual de cura com o objetivo de promover políticas de saúde públicas direcionadas para essas regiões.

En röststörning kan sägas föreligga då rösten inte fungerar eller låter som den brukar så att det påverkar kommunikationen. Prevalensen för röststörningar uppskattas till omkring 6 % av den vuxna befolkningen. När rösten inte fungerar som den ska leder det till emotionella, sociala och funktionella svårigheter för individen och har negativ inverkan på livskvaliteten. Voice- Related Quality of Life (V-RQOL) är ett självskattningsformulär som mäter vilken inverkan en röststörning kan ha på individens livskvalitet. Detta instrument är internationellt välanvänt, men har inte funnits översatt till svenska. Syftet med föreliggande uppsats var att översätta och validera V-RQOL för en svensk population. Översättningen skedde genom så kallad back translation och den svenska versionen fick namnet Röstrelaterad livskvalitet (RRL). RRL och Rösthandikappindex (RHI) distribuerades i pappersformat till en röstpatientgrupp (n = 88) och en röstfrisk grupp (n = 110). Reliabiliteten av domänerna och samtliga tio påståenden på RRL var hög för patientgruppen med Cronbach’s alfa- värden från 0.82 till 0.90. Det fanns en tydlig relation mellan den självskattade röstkvaliteten och poängen på RRL och formuläret kunde även differentiera mellan röstpatienter och röstfriska. Dessa resultat indikerar att formulärets begreppsvaliditet är god. Pearson’s korrelationsanalys visade att det fanns en signifikant negativ korrelation mellan RRL:s och RHI:s domäner och totalpoäng. Detta starka samband mellan ”the gold standard”, RHI, och RRL innebär en god kriterierelaterad validitet för formuläret. Sammanfattningsvis visar resultaten att RRL har hög reliabilitet och god validitet, dessutom är formuläret kort vilket innebär en liten arbetsinsats. Formuläret anses därför vara ett pålitligt och värdefullt tillägg i den kliniska bedömningen av röststörningar. / A voice disorder can be said to exist when the voice does not work or sound as it normally should in a manner so that it interferes with communication. The prevalence of voice disorders is estimated to be about 6 % of the adult population. When the voice does not work as it should it may lead to emotional, social and functional difficulties for the individual and with negative effects on the quality of life. Voice- Related Quality of Life (V-RQOL) is a self-reporting questionnaire which measures the effect of a voice disorder on the quality of life of an individual. The instrument is frequently used internationally, but no Swedish translation has existed. In the present study, the purpose was to translate and validate V-RQOL for a Swedish population. The method for translating the questionnaire was back translation. The translated questionnaire was given the Swedish name Röstrelaterad livskvalitet (RRL). RRL and the Swedish version of The Voice Handicap Index, Rösthandikappindex (RHI), was distributed to a group of voice patients (n = 88) and a group of non-voice patients (n = 110). The reliability of the domains and the combined items of RRL was high according to Cronbach’s alpha with alpha values ranging from 0.82 to 0.90. There was a strong relation between the self–estimated voice quality and the scores on RRL, and the RRL- questionnaire was shown to differentiate between voice patients and non-voice patients. These results indicate that the construct validity of the questionnaire is good. Pearson’s correlation analysis demonstrated a significant negative correlation between the domains and total scores of RRL and RHI. This strong relation between “the gold standard”, RHI, and RRL proved that the criterion validity of the questionnaire is good. In summary the results show that RRL has a high reliability and good validity, in addition to this, the questionnaire is short and requires minimal work. The questionnaire is therefore considered to be a reliable and valuable addition to the clinical assessment of voice disorders.