Positive Effects of Manual Circumlaryngeal Therapy in the Treatment of Muscle Tension Dysphonia (MTD): Long Term Treatment Outcomes
JOURNAL OF VOICE
Authors: Dehqan, Ali; Scherer, Ronald C.
Abstract
Introduction. Manual circumlaryngeal therapy (MCT) aims to correct laryngeal position and relax (para) laryngeal and cervical muscles resulting in improved voice quality. The goal of the current study was to further verify long-term effects of MCT in the treatment of Muscle Tension Dysphonia (MTD) patients based on acoustic findings and perceptual judgments. Method. Twenty-eight adult female patients who had been referred to the speech therapy clinic of Khatam Hospital, Zahedan city, participated in this study. Manual circumlaryngeal therapy was undertaken. There were 15 therapy sessions, three sessions per week, each with duration of 30 minutes. Pre- and post-treatment audio recordings of sustained vowels, selected sentences, and connected speech samples were submitted to auditory-perceptual and acoustical analysis to assess the long-term (6-months) effects of the 15 treatment program. Results. Acoustically, Harmonic to Noise Ratio (HNR) increased and perturbation (Jitter and Shimmer) measures decreased, and perceptually, the subjective CAPE-V ratings improved in all patients. Conclusion. These results suggest that MCT can be an effective method for voice rehabilitation in patients with MTD and the changes due to the therapy were persistent over a 6-month duration following the termination of treatment sessions.
Precision Timing in the CMS MTD Barrel Timing Layer With Crystal Bars and SiPMs
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON NUCLEAR SCIENCE
Authors: Santanastasio, Francesco
Abstract
The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) detector at the European Council for Nuclear Research (CERN) Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is undergoing an extensive Phase II upgrade program to prepare for the challenging conditions of the high-luminosity LHC (HL-LHC). In particular, a new timing layer will measure minimum ionizing particles (MIPs) with a time resolution of similar to 30-40 ps and hermetic coverage up to a pseudorapidity of vertical bar eta vertical bar =3 . The precision time information from this detector will reduce the effects of the high levels of pileup expected at the HL-LHC and will bring new and unique capabilities to the CMS detector. This MIP Timing Detector (MTD) will consist of a central barrel timing layer (BTL) based on L(Y)SO:Ce crystals read out with silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) and two end-caps instrumented with radiation-tolerant low-gain avalanche detectors (LGADs). With the goal of maximizing the detector performance within the stringent constraints of space, cost, and channel count, the BTL exploits elongated crystal bars, each read out with two SiPMs. This unusual geometry enables the instrumentation of large surfaces while minimizing the active area of the photodetectors and thus noise and power consumption. This article presents a summary of the research and development studies carried out to optimize this crystal-based technology and key beam test results in which the target time resolution of 30 ps has been achieved.