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We determined the relative risk of alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents and fatalities after New Mexico lifted its ban on Sunday packaged alcohol sales.

OBJECTIVES: Determine whether auditory brainstem response (ABR) wave I amplitude is associated with measures of auditory perception in young people with normal distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) and varying levels of noise exposure history. DESIGN: Tinnitus, loudness tolerance, and speech perception ability were measured in 31 young military Veterans and 43 non-Veterans (19–35 years of age) with normal pure tone thresholds and DPOAEs. Speech perception was evaluated in quiet using NU-6 word lists and in background noise using the words in noise (WIN) test. Loudness discomfort levels were measured using 1, 3, 4, and 6 kHz pulsed pure tones. DPOAEs and ABRs were collected in each participant to assess outer hair cell (OHC) and auditory nerve function. RESULTS: The probability of reporting tinnitus in this sample increased by a factor of 2.0 per 0.1 μV decrease in ABR wave I amplitude (95% Bayesian confidence interval = 1.1 to 5.0) for males and by a factor of 2.2 (95% confidence interval = 1.0 to 6.4) for females after adjusting for sex and DPOAE levels. Similar results were obtained in an alternate model adjusted for pure tone thresholds in addition to sex and DPOAE levels. No apparent relationship was found between wave I amplitude and either loudness tolerance or speech perception in quiet or noise. CONCLUSIONS: Reduced ABR wave I amplitude was associated with an increased risk of tinnitus, even after adjusting for DPOAEs and sex. In contrast, wave III and V amplitudes had little effect on tinnitus risk. This suggests that changes in peripheral input at the level of the inner hair cell (IHC) or auditory nerve may lead to increases in central gain that give rise to the perception of tinnitus. Although the extent of synaptopathy in the study participants cannot be measured directly, these findings are consistent with the prediction that tinnitus may be a perceptual consequence of cochlear synaptopathy.

Objective: This study assessed listeners' ability to localize spatially differentiated virtual audio signals delivered by bone conduction (BC) vibrators and circumaural air conduction (AC) headphones. Background: Although the skull offers little intracranial sound wave attenuation, previous studies have demonstrated listeners' ability to localize auditory signals delivered by a pair of BC vibrators coupled to the mandibular condyle bones. The current study extended this research to other BC vibrator locations on the skull. Method: Each participant listened to virtual audio signals originating from 16 different horizontal locations using circumaural headphones or BC vibrators placed in front of, above, or behind the listener's ears. The listener's task was to indicate the signal's perceived direction of origin. Results: Localization accuracy with the BC front and BC top positions was comparable to that with the headphones, but responses for the BC back position were less accurate than both the headphones and BC front position. Conclusion: This study supports the conclusion of previous studies that listeners can localize virtual 3D signals equally well using AC and BC transducers. Based on these results, it is apparent that BC devices could be substituted for AC headphones with little to no localization performance degradation. Application: BC headphones can be used when spatial auditory information needs to be delivered without occluding the ears. Although vibrator placement in front of the ears appears optimal from the localization standpoint, the top or back position may be acceptable from an operational standpoint or if the BC system is integrated into headgear.

Yes ; Economic, physical, built, cultural, learning, social and service environments have a profound effect on lifelong health. However, policy thinking about health research is dominated by the 'biomedical model' which promotes medicalisation and an emphasis on diagnosis and treatment at the expense of prevention. Prevention research has tended to focus on 'downstream' interventions that rely on individual behaviour change, frequently increasing inequalities. Preventive strategies often focus on isolated leverage points and are scattered across different settings. This paper describes a major new prevention research programme that aims to create City Collaboratory testbeds to support the identification, implementation and evaluation of upstream interventions within a whole system city setting. Prevention of physical and mental ill-health will come from the cumulative effect of multiple system-wide interventions. Rather than scatter these interventions across many settings and evaluate single outcomes, we will test their collective impact across multiple outcomes with the goal of achieving a tipping point for better health. Our focus is on early life (ActEarly) in recognition of childhood and adolescence being such critical periods for influencing lifelong health and wellbeing. ; UK Prevention Research Partnership (MR/S037527/1), which is funded by the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorates, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Economic and Social Research Council, Health and Social Care Research and Development Division (Welsh Government), Medical Research Council, National Institute for Health Research, Natural Environment Research Council, Public Health Agency (Northern Ireland), The Health Foundation and Wellcome.