A survey was sent to third grade teachers in Orange County, FL, to find out about their noise awareness and coping strategies. Results of the survey were also correlated to mechanical system type and achievement data. Preliminary analyses show very little awareness on mechanical noise by teachers but a good ...

BACKGROUND: The torsional stress on a baseball player's throwing limb has been theorized to affect humeral retrotosion during skeletal maturity. This study investigated 1) changes in humeral retrotorsion and shoulder rotation range of motion over a 1-year period in high school baseball players, and 2) relationship between a 1-year change ...

The prevalence of hearing loss has increased among United States children. As schools commonly perform hearing screens, we sought to contrast current United States school-based hearing screening protocols. State department of health and education websites were reviewed to assess school hearing screening protocols for the fifty states and the District ...

Objectives. We compared multiple measures of surveillance of "light" cigarette use, including population use, sales, and design features. Measures were obtained before the 2010 descriptors ban to establish a baseline for future evaluation of the effect of the ban. Methods. We examined light cigarette use, sales, and design using 3 ...

Using a sample of English school children, we use accelerometery and global positioning systems to identify whether different intensities of activity (light, moderate, and vigorous) occur in different environments, and whether environments for bouts of moderate to vigorous activity (MVPA) vary from those for non-bout MVPA. We find that land ...

Excessive ambient noise in school settings is a major concern for school hearing screening as it typically masks pure tone test stimuli (particularly 500 Hz and below). This results in false positive findings and subsequent unnecessary follow-up. With advances in technology, noise-cancelling headphones have been developed that reduce low frequency ...

Breaking a wine glass with sound is a visually striking achievement and a great way to get potential students interested in Physics. The goal of this project is to not only break the wine glass but to build an apparatus that is portable and easily setup for lecture room demonstrations ...

A two part investigation involving the effect of floor treatments on classroom background noise levels will be presented. Phase 1 determined the effects of hard versus soft flooring on overall speech and activity noise levels using long-term calibrated sound recordings in elementary classrooms. Two similar-sized classrooms were used: one with ...

A new photorefractive (PR) material sensitized with a novel functional unit DiPBI is prepared based on the guest/host approach. This unique mixture exhibits strong absorption in the whole range of visible light. Moreover, the photorefractive performance as well as PR speed is improved by far compared to the widely used ...

Animal groups on the move can take different configurations. For example, groups of fish can either be 'shoals' or 'schools': shoals are simply aggregations of individuals; schools are shoals exhibiting polarized, synchronized motion. Here we demonstrate that polarization distributions of groups of zebrafish (Danio rerio) are bimodal, showing two distinct ...

You are queuing at the bus stop, and notice that someone suddenly turns her walk into a run: typically, you assume that she wants to catch the bus and may want to tell the driver to wait. Faced with a sudden speed change, rather than considering it bizarre or unnatural, ...

A novel photonic printing technique based on the orientational tuning of photonic structures is developed. In the printing process, the θ-contrast pattern is produced by magnetic alignment, orientational tuning, and lithographical photopolymerization. Labels printed with two mirror-symmetric or multiple axially symmetric photonic orientations show a switchable color distribution or dynamic ...

Extracting motion layers from videos is an important task for video representation, analysis and compression. For videos with large inter-frame motions, motion layer extraction is challenging in two respects: the estimation of large disparity motions, and the awareness of large occluded regions. In this paper, we propose an effective method ...

: This experiment was designed to evaluate whether neural encoding of speech features at the brain stem level is altered in the aging auditory system. In addition, the effect of minimal peripheral hearing loss on the auditory brain stem response (ABR) evoked by speech stimuli and interactions with aging were ...

Analysis with DNA-microrrays and real time PCR show that several genes involved in the thyroid hormone cascade, such as deiodinase 2 and 3 (Dio2 and Dio3) are differentially regulated by the circadian clock and by changes of the ambient light. The expression level of Dio2 in adult rats (2-3 months ...

To evaluate the effects of meal size and three segmentations on intragastric distribution of the meal and gastric motility, by scintigraphy. Twelve healthy volunteers were randomly assessed, twice, by scintigraphy. The test meal consisted of 60 or 180 mL of yogurt labeled with 64 MBq (⁹⁹m)Tc-tin colloid. Anterior and posterior ...

The survival-growth capacity of Salmonella populations on tomato epidermis labeled by a natural-light labeling system was investigated after persistent fears of such marks serving as possible entryways for the pathogenic organisms, alone and in the presence of Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum, a soft-rot organism. Different treatments involving natural-light labeling, fruit ...

Abstract Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the reference sound pressure level (RSPL) for Korean speech audiometry which was defined as the reference speech recognition threshold level (RSRTL) equivalent to 0 dB HL at the audiometer. Study sample: Subjects consisted of 20 adults (40 ears) with normal ...

Abstract Objective: To test speech understanding in noise using array microphones integrated in an eyeglass device and to test if microphones placed anteriorly at the temple provide better directivity than above the pinna. Design: Sentences were presented from the front and uncorrelated noise from 45, 135, 225 and 315°. Study ...

The contribution of temporal fine-structure (TFS) cues to consonant identification was compared for seven young adults with normal hearing and five young adults with mild-to-moderate hearing loss and flat, high- or low-frequency gently sloping audiograms. Nonsense syllables were degraded using two schemes (PM: phase modulation; FM: frequency modulation) designed to ...

Toothed whales and dolphins possess a hypertrophied auditory system that allows for the production and hearing of ultrasonic signals. Although the fossil record provides information on the evolution of the auditory structures found in extant odontocetes, it cannot provide information on the evolutionary pressures leading to the hypertrophied auditory system. ...

Subjective tinnitus is the perception of sound in the absence of an external source. Tinnitus is often accompanied by hearing loss but not everyone with hearing loss experiences tinnitus. We examined neuroanatomical alterations associated with hearing loss and tinnitus in three groups of subjects: those with hearing loss with tinnitus, ...

Criteria for cochlear implantation keep expanding and people with substantial residual low-frequency hearing are considered candidates for implantation nowadays. Therefore, electro-acoustical stimulation in the same ear (EAS) is receiving increasing interest. We have investigated the effects of intracochlear electrical stimulation on acoustically evoked auditory-nerve activity, using a forward masking paradigm. ...

The early radiation of cetaceans coincides with the origin of their defining ecological and sensory differences [1, 2]. Toothed whales (Odontoceti) evolved echolocation for hunting 36-34 million years ago, whereas baleen whales (Mysticeti) evolved filter feeding and do not echolocate [2]. Echolocation in toothed whales demands exceptional high-frequency hearing [3], and ...

Acute idiopathic sensorineural hearing impairment at a frequency exceeding 8 kHz (high-frequency range) was recognized in patients suffering from acute tinnitus without hearing loss. The cases in this study may contribute to clarifying the pathogenesis of tinnitus without hearing loss and evaluating its response to steroid therapy. The aim of ...

Listeners with sensorineural hearing loss show reduced benefit from fluctuating compared to stationary maskers and experience apparent signal-to-noise-ratio loss when compared to listeners with normal hearing. Previously [Nelson et al. ASA Baltimore (2010)] we tested normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners at similar reduced audibility levels. Listeners with normal hearing and hearing ...

The echolocation signals of a false killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens) were collected during a wall thickness discrimination task and compared to clicks recorded during an identical experiment in 1992. During the sixteen year time period, the subject demonstrated a loss of high frequency hearing of about 70 kHz. Clicks between ...

Speech scientists are well aware that hearing ability affects the perception of speech sounds. However, hearing is rarely directly tested in studies of normal speech perception. Furthermore, standard audiological testing does not test above 8 kHz, although speech spans frequencies as high as 17 kHz. Given that amplification of frequencies ...

An objective investigation is needed to verify the existence and severity of hearing impairments resulting from work-related, noise-induced hearing loss in arbitration of medicolegal aspects. We investigated the accuracy of multiple-frequency auditory steady-state responses (Mf-ASSRs) between subjects with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) with and without occupational noise exposure. Cross-sectional study. ...

This paper describes a preliminary laboratory-based evaluation of a method for fitting hearing aids with an extended high-frequency response, called CAMEQ2-HF. Linear filtering was used to implement the CAMEQ2-HF-prescribed gains for speech with an input level of 65 dB SPL. The results obtained using four normal-hearing (NH) and fifteen hearing-impaired ...

A small group of cochlear implant users, having normal hearing in the unimplanted ear, compared the pitches of electrical and acoustic stimuli presented to the two ears. Comparisons were between 1031-pps pulse trains and pure tones or between 12- or 25-pps electric pulse trains and bandpass filtered acoustic pulse trains ...

High performance jet aircraft are capable of producing 130-150 dB of noise. Large populations work long hours in these high level noise environments and are at risk of hearing loss and related disabilities. To protect aircrew and ground crew members from the nearly constant assault of hazardous noise, an array ...

There have been few reports showing a correlation between hearing levels and life style in young people. In this study, we succeeded in sensitively evaluating hearing levels in 51 young male adults of 21-23 years in age by 12 k Hz extra-high-frequency auditory thresholds, which cannot be measured by usual ...

Long-finned pilot whales are highly social odontocetes found in temperate and subpolar regions. This species is particularly known for its interaction with fisheries as well as its mass strandings. Recent tagging work has provided some information about pilot whales in the wild but, even though they have been successfully kept ...

There are only a few large, population-based epidemiological studies on hearing impairment (HI) in adults. The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of HI and possible differences between ears in older adults. The subjects (n = 850), aged 54-66 years, were randomly sampled from the population register. ...

We examined horizontal directional hearing in patients with acquired severe unilateral conductive hearing loss (UCHL). All patients (n = 12) had been fitted with a bone conduction device (BCD) to restore bilateral hearing. The patients were tested in the unaided (monaural) and aided (binaural) hearing condition. Five listeners without hearing ...

Audiometric measurements through a hearing aid ('in-situ') may facilitate provision of hearing services where these are limited. This study investigated the validity and reliability of in-situ air conduction hearing thresholds measured with closed and open domes relative to thresholds measured with insert earphones, and explored sources of variability in the ...

Auditory functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to assess neural activation in the human auditory brainstem (AB) and cortex (AC) as a function of bandwidth (BW). We recorded brain activation of 22 normal hearing listeners induced by band pass filtered pink noise stimuli with equal sound pressure level of ...

Exposure of workers to mixtures of organic solvents and to occupational noise is frequent in a number of industries. Recent studies suggest that exposure to both can cause a more severe hearing loss than exposure to noise alone. Our cross-sectional study included 411 workers of a large automobile plant divided ...

BACKGROUND/AIM: A more recent method, the auditory steady-state response (ASSR), has become more and more important test method due to difference that was found in previous investigations between hearing thresholds determined by the ASSR and the pure-tone audiometry (PTA). The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability of ...

To determine if nitinol-Teflon shape-memory stapes prostheses offer a hearing result advantage compared with platinum-Teflon pistons that must be manually crimped. Retrospective chart review. One hundred eighty-eight consecutive ears with either a platinum or a nitinol piston and primary stapes surgery between 1998 and 2009. Subspecialty private practice. One hundred ...

Patients with unilateral sensorineural hearing loss (USNHL) experience great difficulty listening to speech in noisy environments. A directional microphone (DM) could potentially improve speech recognition in this difficult listening environment. It is well known that DMs in behind-the-ear (BTE) and custom hearing aids can provide a greater signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) ...

In recent years it has become possible to investigate the hearing capabilities in fossils by analogy with studies in living taxa that correlate the bony morphology of the auditory system with hearing sensitivity. In this analysis, we used a jack-knife procedure to test the accuracy of one such study that ...

Ears evolved in many nocturnal insects, including some moths, to detect bat echolocation calls and evade capture [1, 2]. Although there is evidence that some bats emit echolocation calls that are inconspicuous to eared moths, it is difficult to determine whether this was an adaptation to moth hearing or originally ...

Farm operators experience exposure to high noise and high prevalence of noise-induced hearing loss, but use of hearing protection in this worker group is low. The purpose of this study was to test a brief intervention to increase farm operators' use of hearing protection. In this one-group pre- and post-test ...

Auditory-nerve fibers demonstrate dynamic response properties in that they adapt to rapid changes in sound level, both at the onset and offset of a sound. These dynamic response properties affect temporal coding of stimulus modulations that are perceptually relevant for many sounds such as speech and music. Temporal dynamics have ...

The purpose of the present study was to assess whether diminished tolerance for disruptions to across-frequency timing in listeners with hearing impairment can be attributed to broad auditory tuning. In 2 experiments in which random assignment was used, sentences were represented as 3 noise bands centered at 530, 1500, and ...

To further examine the reliability of categorical loudness scaling (CLS) for individual loudness categories and for the slope of the CLS functions. And, to evaluate the relationship between CLS and audiometric threshold. CLS functions were obtained in 74 subjects, 58 with hearing loss and 16 with normal hearing. CLS functions ...

This study compares the effects of sodium thiosulphate (STS) and normal saline on the prevention of hearing loss. Animal research laboratory. Sixteen mice were randomized to receive intraperitoneal injections of either normal saline or STS. Auditory brainstem response testing was used to determine baseline and posttreatment hearing thresholds over the ...

OBJECTIVES: The function of outer hair cells can be measured objectively and noninvasively by distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE). The aims of the study were to investigate the changes of DPOAE in the recovery course and to pursue the relationship between the changes of DPOAE and hearing improvement in patients ...