“Cool” Research in Hearing Loss Prevention

Prevention of hearing loss is a major area of research. Novel approaches for primary and secondary prevention are in various stages of development including pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches. Therapeutic hypothermia has been long used to protect neural and vascular integrity dating to the pioneering work of Fay nearly 75 years ago (Fay, 1940). However, systematic hypothermia can have unwanted side effects, which restricts application in clinical settings.

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Clinical features of recurrence and osteoporotic changes in benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.

Clinical features of recurrence and osteoporotic changes in benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.

Auris Nasus Larynx. 2016 Jul 13;

Authors: Kim SY, Han SH, Kim YH, Park MH

Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Several previous studies have demonstrated that comorbidities, secondary causes, physical inactivity, and osteoporosis may cause recurrence of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). However, there has also been some controversy over the clinical course(s) and cause(s) of recurrent BPPV (rBPPV). We identified clinical features and associated factors, including decreased bone mineral density, in the recurrence of BPPV.
METHODS: In total, 198 patients with idiopathic BPPV, diagnosed at the otolaryngology clinics of Seoul National University Boramae Medical Center, were enrolled. The medical data of these patients were reviewed retrospectively. Recurrent BPPV was defined as the recurrence of BPPV after at least 1 month of a symptom-free interval following previous successful treatment.
RESULTS: Of the BPPV patients, 67 (33.8%) were classified as rBPPV. Among them, about 16% showed changes in the involved semicircular canals and about 6% showed multiple semicircular canal involvement. rBPPV was more common in patients with comorbidities (P<0.001). Involved semicircular canals showed no statistically significant difference according to the recurrence of BPPV. The mean symptom-free interval of the rBPPV group varied from 1 to 50.2 (mean, 11.6) months; however, 90% of BPPV recurrence occurred within 24 months. Bone mineral density in dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) was markedly decreased in BPPV patients versus normal controls, but there were no significant differences according to BPPV recurrence.
CONCLUSION: The incidence of rBPPV in idiopathic BPPV patients was 33.8% in the present study. The mean period of recurrence after a symptom-free interval was about 11.6 months; most patients showed recurrence within 2 years after the first attack of BPPV. Furthermore, about 16% of patients suffered from rBPPV at a different kind or type of canal from the semicircular canal of the initial BPPV attack. Comorbidities, but not age, gender, or the involved semicircular canal, might be correlated with BPPV recurrence. Decreased bone mineral density did not show significant association with BPPV recurrence, but showed a significant relation with BPPV occurrence.

PMID: 27423924 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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The effect of sound speed profile on shallow water shipping sound maps

Sound mapping over large areas can be computationally expensive because of the large number of sources and large source-receiver separations involved. In order to facilitate computation, a simplifying assumption sometimes made is to neglect the sound speed gradient in shallow water. The accuracy of this assumption is investigated for ship generated sound in the Dutch North Sea, for realistic ship and wind distributions. Sound maps are generated for zero, negative and positive gradients for selected frequency bands (56 Hz to 3.6 kHz). The effect of sound speed profile for the decidecade centred at 125 Hz is less than 1.7 dB.

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An evaluation of the heel strike transient in obese young adults during walking gait

Publication date: September 2016
Source:Gait & Posture, Volume 49
Author(s): Derek N. Pamukoff, Robert I. Dudley, Michael N. Vakula, J. Troy Blackburn
BackgroundObesity is considered a risk factor for knee osteoarthritis (OA) in part due to its influence on gait biomechanics. The heel strike transient (HST) is a characteristic of the ground reaction force that is indicative of a high rate of loading, but has not been evaluated in obese adults.ObjectiveTo compare the incidence of HST in obese compared to normal weight adults.Methods15 normal-weight (males=7, age=20.4±2.1years, body mass index=21.6±1.3kg/m²) and 15 obese (males=7, age=21.2±1.9years, body mass index=33.5±4.3kg/m²) young adults completed 10 walking trials at a standardized speed and 10 trials at a self-selected speed while ground reaction force data were sampled. HST incidence was evaluated using a dichotomous method previously identified in the literature, and compared between groups using χ² analyses.ResultsThe number of individuals classified as possessing the HST differed between the obese and normal-weight groups (8/15 vs. 3/15, p=0.047). Evaluation of the standardized residuals indicated a significantly greater than expected incidence of the HST in the obese group when walking at a standardized speed.ConclusionOur findings indicate that a greater proportion of obese compared to normal weight participants displayed a HST. The HST may provide a dichotomous method for identifying individuals with aberrant gait biomechanics.



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Motor-Cognitive Dual-Task Deficits in Individuals with Early-Mid stage Huntington Disease

Publication date: Available online 17 July 2016
Source:Gait & Posture
Author(s): Nora E. Fritz, Katy Hamana, Mark Kelson, Anne Rosser, Monica Busse, Lori Quinn
BackgroundHuntington’s disease (HD) results in a range of cognitive and motor impairments that progress throughout the disease stages; however, little research has evaluated specific dual-task abilities in this population, and the degree to which they may be related to functional ability.ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to a) examine simple and complex motor-cognitive dual-task performance in individuals with HD, b) determine relationships between dual-task walking ability and disease-specific measures of motor, cognitive and functional ability, and c) examine the relationship of dual-task measures to falls in individuals with HD.MethodsThirty-two individuals with Huntington’s disease were evaluated for simple and complex dual-task ability using the Walking While Talking Test. Demographics and disease-specific measures of motor, cognitive and functional ability were also obtained.ResultsIndividuals with HD had impairments in simple and complex dual-task ability. Simple dual-task walking was correlated to disease-specific motor scores as well as cognitive performance, but complex dual-task walking was correlated with total functional capacity, as well as a range of cognitive measures. Number of prospective falls was moderately-strongly correlated to dual-task measures.ConclusionsOur results suggest that individuals with HD have impairments in cognitive-motor dual-task ability that are related to disease progression and specifically functional ability. Dual-task measures appear to evaluate a unique construct in individuals with early to mid-stage HD, and may have value in improving the prediction of falls risk in this population.



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An evaluation of the heel strike transient in obese young adults during walking gait

Publication date: September 2016
Source:Gait & Posture, Volume 49
Author(s): Derek N. Pamukoff, Robert I. Dudley, Michael N. Vakula, J. Troy Blackburn
BackgroundObesity is considered a risk factor for knee osteoarthritis (OA) in part due to its influence on gait biomechanics. The heel strike transient (HST) is a characteristic of the ground reaction force that is indicative of a high rate of loading, but has not been evaluated in obese adults.ObjectiveTo compare the incidence of HST in obese compared to normal weight adults.Methods15 normal-weight (males=7, age=20.4±2.1years, body mass index=21.6±1.3kg/m²) and 15 obese (males=7, age=21.2±1.9years, body mass index=33.5±4.3kg/m²) young adults completed 10 walking trials at a standardized speed and 10 trials at a self-selected speed while ground reaction force data were sampled. HST incidence was evaluated using a dichotomous method previously identified in the literature, and compared between groups using χ² analyses.ResultsThe number of individuals classified as possessing the HST differed between the obese and normal-weight groups (8/15 vs. 3/15, p=0.047). Evaluation of the standardized residuals indicated a significantly greater than expected incidence of the HST in the obese group when walking at a standardized speed.ConclusionOur findings indicate that a greater proportion of obese compared to normal weight participants displayed a HST. The HST may provide a dichotomous method for identifying individuals with aberrant gait biomechanics.



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Motor-Cognitive Dual-Task Deficits in Individuals with Early-Mid stage Huntington Disease

Publication date: Available online 17 July 2016
Source:Gait & Posture
Author(s): Nora E. Fritz, Katy Hamana, Mark Kelson, Anne Rosser, Monica Busse, Lori Quinn
BackgroundHuntington’s disease (HD) results in a range of cognitive and motor impairments that progress throughout the disease stages; however, little research has evaluated specific dual-task abilities in this population, and the degree to which they may be related to functional ability.ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to a) examine simple and complex motor-cognitive dual-task performance in individuals with HD, b) determine relationships between dual-task walking ability and disease-specific measures of motor, cognitive and functional ability, and c) examine the relationship of dual-task measures to falls in individuals with HD.MethodsThirty-two individuals with Huntington’s disease were evaluated for simple and complex dual-task ability using the Walking While Talking Test. Demographics and disease-specific measures of motor, cognitive and functional ability were also obtained.ResultsIndividuals with HD had impairments in simple and complex dual-task ability. Simple dual-task walking was correlated to disease-specific motor scores as well as cognitive performance, but complex dual-task walking was correlated with total functional capacity, as well as a range of cognitive measures. Number of prospective falls was moderately-strongly correlated to dual-task measures.ConclusionsOur results suggest that individuals with HD have impairments in cognitive-motor dual-task ability that are related to disease progression and specifically functional ability. Dual-task measures appear to evaluate a unique construct in individuals with early to mid-stage HD, and may have value in improving the prediction of falls risk in this population.



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An evaluation of the heel strike transient in obese young adults during walking gait

Publication date: September 2016
Source:Gait & Posture, Volume 49
Author(s): Derek N. Pamukoff, Robert I. Dudley, Michael N. Vakula, J. Troy Blackburn
BackgroundObesity is considered a risk factor for knee osteoarthritis (OA) in part due to its influence on gait biomechanics. The heel strike transient (HST) is a characteristic of the ground reaction force that is indicative of a high rate of loading, but has not been evaluated in obese adults.ObjectiveTo compare the incidence of HST in obese compared to normal weight adults.Methods15 normal-weight (males=7, age=20.4±2.1years, body mass index=21.6±1.3kg/m²) and 15 obese (males=7, age=21.2±1.9years, body mass index=33.5±4.3kg/m²) young adults completed 10 walking trials at a standardized speed and 10 trials at a self-selected speed while ground reaction force data were sampled. HST incidence was evaluated using a dichotomous method previously identified in the literature, and compared between groups using χ² analyses.ResultsThe number of individuals classified as possessing the HST differed between the obese and normal-weight groups (8/15 vs. 3/15, p=0.047). Evaluation of the standardized residuals indicated a significantly greater than expected incidence of the HST in the obese group when walking at a standardized speed.ConclusionOur findings indicate that a greater proportion of obese compared to normal weight participants displayed a HST. The HST may provide a dichotomous method for identifying individuals with aberrant gait biomechanics.



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Motor-Cognitive Dual-Task Deficits in Individuals with Early-Mid stage Huntington Disease

Publication date: Available online 17 July 2016
Source:Gait & Posture
Author(s): Nora E. Fritz, Katy Hamana, Mark Kelson, Anne Rosser, Monica Busse, Lori Quinn
BackgroundHuntington’s disease (HD) results in a range of cognitive and motor impairments that progress throughout the disease stages; however, little research has evaluated specific dual-task abilities in this population, and the degree to which they may be related to functional ability.ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to a) examine simple and complex motor-cognitive dual-task performance in individuals with HD, b) determine relationships between dual-task walking ability and disease-specific measures of motor, cognitive and functional ability, and c) examine the relationship of dual-task measures to falls in individuals with HD.MethodsThirty-two individuals with Huntington’s disease were evaluated for simple and complex dual-task ability using the Walking While Talking Test. Demographics and disease-specific measures of motor, cognitive and functional ability were also obtained.ResultsIndividuals with HD had impairments in simple and complex dual-task ability. Simple dual-task walking was correlated to disease-specific motor scores as well as cognitive performance, but complex dual-task walking was correlated with total functional capacity, as well as a range of cognitive measures. Number of prospective falls was moderately-strongly correlated to dual-task measures.ConclusionsOur results suggest that individuals with HD have impairments in cognitive-motor dual-task ability that are related to disease progression and specifically functional ability. Dual-task measures appear to evaluate a unique construct in individuals with early to mid-stage HD, and may have value in improving the prediction of falls risk in this population.



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