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Purpose: Previous work using ambulatory voice recordings has shown no differences in average vocal behavior between patients with phonotraumatic vocal hyperfunction and matched controls. This study used larger groups to replicate these results and expanded the analysis to include distributional characteristics of ambulatory voice use and measures indicative of glottal closure. Method: Subjects included 180 adult women: 90 diagnosed with vocal fold nodules or polyps and 90 age-, sex-, and occupation-matched controls with no history of voice disorders. Weeklong summary statistics (average, variability, skewness, kurtosis) of voice use were computed from neck-surface acceleration recorded using an ambulatory voice monitor. Voice measures included estimates of sound pressure level (SPL), fundamental frequency ([f.sub.o]), cepstral peak prominence, and the difference between the first and second harmonic magnitudes (H1-H2). Results: Statistical comparisons resulted in medium-large differences (Cohen's d [greater than or equal to] 0.5) between groups for SPL skewness, [f.sub.o] variability, and H1-H2 variability. Two logistic regressions (theory-based and stepwise) found SPL skewness and H1-H2 variability to classify patients and controls based on their weekly voice data, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.85 and 0.82 on training and test sets, respectively. Conclusion: Compared to controls, the weekly voice use of patients with phonotraumatic vocal hyperfunction reflected higher SPL tendencies (negatively skewed SPL) with more abrupt glottal closure (reduced H1-H2 variability, especially toward higher values). Further work could examine posttreatment data (e.g., after surgery and/or therapy) to determine the extent to which these differences are associated with the etiology and pathophysiology of phonotraumatic vocal fold lesions., Phonotraumatic vocal hyperfunction (PVH) is a class of voice disorders characterized by clear signs of vocal fold tissue trauma on the medial/contact surfaces of the vocal folds (e.g., nodules, polyps; [...]

Byline: Sachin. Sogal, Priyanka. Mishra, Nishith. Govil Sir, Cytoreductive surgery (CRS)-hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HiPEC) is a popular topic of investigation for cancers with diffuse peritoneal metastasis.[1] Perioperative management for these [...]

Background: Inflammatory effects of ambient particulate matter (PM) air pollution exposures may underlie PM-related increases in cardiovascular disease risk and mortality, although evidence of PM-associated leukocytosis is inconsistent and largely based on small, cross-sectional, and/or unrepresentative study populations. Objectives: Our objective was to estimate PM-leukocyte associations among U.S. women and men in the Women's Health Initiative and Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study (n =165,675). Methods: We based the PM-leukocyte estimations on up to four study visits per participant, at which peripheral blood leukocytes and geocoded address-specific concentrations of PM [less than or equal to] 10, [less than or equal to] 2.5, and 2.5-10 [micro]m in diameter ([PM.sub.10], [PM.sub.2.5], and [PM.sub.2.5]-10, respectively) were available. We multiply imputed missing data using chained equations and estimated PM-leukocyte count associations over daily to yearly PM exposure averaging periods using center-specific, linear, mixed, longitudinal models weighted for attrition and adjusted for sociodemographic, behavioral, meteorological, and geographic covariates. In a subset of participants with available data (n = 8,457), we also estimated PM-leukocyte proportion associations in compositional data analyses. Results: We found a 12 cells/[micro]L/ (95% confidence interval: -9, 33) higher leukocyte count, a 1.2% (0.6%, 1.8%) higher granulocyte proportion, and a -1.1% (-1.9%, -0.3%) lower [CD8.sup.+] T-cell proportion per 10-[micro]g/[m.sup.3] increase in 1-month mean [PM.sub.2.5]. However, shorter-duration [PM.sub.10] exposures were inversely and only modestly associated with leukocyte count. Discussion: The [PM.sub.2.5]-leukocyte estimates, albeit imprecise, suggest that among racially, ethnically, and environmentally diverse U.S. populations, sustained, ambient exposure to fine PM may induce subclinical, but epidemiologically important, inflammatory effects. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP5360, Introduction Exposures to airborne particulate matter (PM) [less than or equal to] 10, [less than or equal to] 2.5 and between 2.5 and 10 [micro]m in diameter ([PM.sub.10], [PM.sub.2.5], and [...]