Nominations Open for the Safe-in-Sound Excellence Award

​​The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), in collaboration with the National Hearing Conservation Association (NHCA), is calling for nominations for the Safe-in-Sound Excellence in Hearing Loss Prevention Award™. The award seeks to recognize notable contributions in hearing loss prevention and innovation to improve hearing health practices at work. Nominations are due on June 2, 2017 for third-party nominations and July 15, 2017 for self-nominations. The awards will be presented at the NHCA Annual Conference on February 16, 2018 in Orlando, FL.

This annual recognition has been conferred since 2009. Nominees are assessed using key performance indicators and a review process designed to evaluate hearing loss prevention programs. In-person assessments will also be done to review the award finalists. The review panel includes internationally-known experts. Individuals and organizations, including business with novel hearing conservation activities, are encouraged to get involved. For more information, visit the award website at www.safeinsound.us

Published: 5/18/2017 2:59:00 PM

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Nominations Open for the Safe-in-Sound Excellence Award

​​The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), in collaboration with the National Hearing Conservation Association (NHCA), is calling for nominations for the Safe-in-Sound Excellence in Hearing Loss Prevention Award™. The award seeks to recognize notable contributions in hearing loss prevention and innovation to improve hearing health practices at work. Nominations are due on June 2, 2017 for third-party nominations and July 15, 2017 for self-nominations. The awards will be presented at the NHCA Annual Conference on February 16, 2018 in Orlando, FL.

This annual recognition has been conferred since 2009. Nominees are assessed using key performance indicators and a review process designed to evaluate hearing loss prevention programs. In-person assessments will also be done to review the award finalists. The review panel includes internationally-known experts. Individuals and organizations, including business with novel hearing conservation activities, are encouraged to get involved. For more information, visit the award website at www.safeinsound.us

Published: 5/18/2017 2:59:00 PM

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Nominations Open for the Safe-in-Sound Excellence Award

​​The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), in collaboration with the National Hearing Conservation Association (NHCA), is calling for nominations for the Safe-in-Sound Excellence in Hearing Loss Prevention Award™. The award seeks to recognize notable contributions in hearing loss prevention and innovation to improve hearing health practices at work. Nominations are due on June 2, 2017 for third-party nominations and July 15, 2017 for self-nominations. The awards will be presented at the NHCA Annual Conference on February 16, 2018 in Orlando, FL.

This annual recognition has been conferred since 2009. Nominees are assessed using key performance indicators and a review process designed to evaluate hearing loss prevention programs. In-person assessments will also be done to review the award finalists. The review panel includes internationally-known experts. Individuals and organizations, including business with novel hearing conservation activities, are encouraged to get involved. For more information, visit the award website at www.safeinsound.us

Published: 5/18/2017 2:59:00 PM

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Scarlet Fever

http://otorhinolaryngology-crete.blogspot.com/2017/05/scarlet-fever.html

A 20-year-old man presented to his primary care physician with a 3-day history of swollen tonsils, sore throat, fevers, chills, and rash. The nonpruritic rash had started on his abdomen, spread to his chest and back, and then appeared on his arms, legs, and face. He had no known allergies or exposures to new medications and had no history of similar rash. Examination revealed exudative tonsillitis (Panel A), strawberry tongue, and cervical adenopathy with tenderness. Skin examination revealed diffuse blanching erythema with punctate papules that caused the skin on his chest, abdomen, back, arms, and legs to have a sandpaper-like quality (Panel B shows the left side of his abdomen). His neck and right flank had linear petechial patches. A rapid test for streptococcal pharyngitis was positive. The finding of acute streptococcal pharyngitis along with the diffuse rash led to a diagnosis of scarlet fever. The rash of scarlet fever is a delayed-type hypersensitivity to an exotoxin and therefore occurs in persons who have had a previous exposure to Streptococcus pyogenes. The rash classically manifests with linear petechial confluences that are known as Pastia's lines, which were seen in this patient. The patient was treated with antibiotic agents and had complete resolution of his symptoms within 3 days.

Alyson Brinker, M.D.

Navy Hospital Guam, Yigo, Guam 

Alexandros Sfakianakis
Anapafseos 5 . Agios Nikolaos
Crete.Greece.72100
2841026182

6948891480

alsfakia@gmail.com

Keeping the Voice Fit in the Group Fitness Industry: A Qualitative Study to Determine What Instructors Want in a Voice Education Program

Publication date: Available online 18 May 2017
Source:Journal of Voice
Author(s): Patrick J. Aiken, Anna F. Rumbach
ObjectivesThis study aimed to provide a descriptive summary of (1) group fitness instructors' (GFIs') experiences of occupational voice use and education, and (2) the content and mode of delivery desired by GFIs in an education and training program.Study DesignThis is a qualitative inductive approach using a semi-structured interview.MethodSemi-structured interviews were conducted with eight GFIs recruited via self-selection sampling. Participants were asked to comment on their experiences of voice use, voice education, and their preferences for future education and training.ResultParticipants reported experiencing occupational voice difficulties, and cited inadequate voice education, faulty equipment, and apathetic fitness industry attitudes as core barriers to vocal health. Content focusing on vocal hygiene, safe occupational voice use, use of amplification equipment, and addressing industry attitudes to voice was desired by participants. A combination of face-to-face, web-based, and app-based delivery options was suggested.ConclusionThe data from this study should be considered when designing a vocal education and training package tailored to the needs of GFIs and the fitness industry.



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Resonance Tube Phonation in Water—the Effect of Tube Diameter and Water Depth on Back Pressure and Bubble Characteristics at Different Airflows

Publication date: Available online 18 May 2017
Source:Journal of Voice
Author(s): Greta Wistbacka, Pedro Amarante Andrade, Susanna Simberg, Britta Hammarberg, Maria Södersten, Jan G. Švec, Svante Granqvist
Objectives:Resonance tube phonation with tube end in water is a voice therapy method in which the patient phonates through a glass tube, keeping the free end of the tube submerged in water, creating bubbles. The purpose of this experimental study was to determine flow-pressure relationship, flow thresholds between bubble types, and bubble frequency as a function of flow and back volume.MethodsA flow-driven vocal tract simulator was used for recording the back pressure produced by resonance tubes with inner diameters of 8 and 9 mm submerged at water depths of 0–7 cm. Visual inspection of bubble types through video recording was also performed.ResultsThe static back pressure was largely determined by the water depth. The narrower tube provided a slightly higher back pressure for a given flow and depth. The amplitude of the pressure oscillations increased with flow and depth. Depending on flow, the bubbles were emitted from the tube in three distinct types with increasing flow: one by one, pairwise, and in a chaotic manner. The bubble frequency was slightly higher for the narrower tube. An increase in back volume led to a decrease in bubble frequency.ConclusionsThis study provides data on the physical properties of resonance tube phonation with the tube end in water. This information will be useful in future research when looking into the possible effects of this type of voice training.



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Acoustic Perturbation Measures Improve with Increasing Vocal Intensity in Individuals With and Without Voice Disorders

Publication date: Available online 18 May 2017
Source:Journal of Voice
Author(s): M. Brockmann-Bauser, J.E. Bohlender, D.D. Mehta
ObjectiveIn vocally healthy children and adults, speaking voice loudness differences can significantly confound acoustic perturbation measurements. This study examines the effects of voice sound pressure level (SPL) on jitter, shimmer, and harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR) in adults with voice disorders and a control group with normal vocal status.Study DesignThis is a matched case-control study.MethodsWe assessed 58 adult female voice patients matched according to approximate age and occupation with 58 vocally healthy women. Diagnoses included vocal fold nodules (n = 39, 67.2%), polyps (n = 5, 8.6%), and muscle tension dysphonia (n = 14, 24.1%). All participants sustained the vowel /a/ at soft, comfortable, and loud phonation levels. Acoustic voice SPL, jitter, shimmer, and HNR were computed using Praat. The effects of loudness condition, voice SPL, pathology, differential diagnosis, age, and professional voice use level on acoustic perturbation measures were assessed using linear mixed models and Wilcoxon signed rank tests.ResultsIn both patient and normative control groups, increasing voice SPL correlated significantly (P < 0.001) with decreased jitter and shimmer, and increased HNR. Voice pathology and differential diagnosis were not linked to systematically higher jitter and shimmer. HNR levels, however, were statistically higher in the patient group than in the control group at comfortable phonation levels. Professional voice use level had a significant effect (P < 0.05) on jitter, shimmer, and HNR.ConclusionsThe clinical value of acoustic jitter, shimmer, and HNR may be limited if speaking voice SPL and professional voice use level effects are not controlled for. Future studies are warranted to investigate whether perturbation measures are useful clinical outcome metrics when controlling for these effects.



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Inspiratory Phonation in Baby Voice

Publication date: Available online 18 May 2017
Source:Journal of Voice
Author(s): Kathleen Wermke, Asin Ahmad Haschemi, Volker Hesse, Michael P. Robb
ObjectiveThis study aimed to evaluate the developmental occurrence of inspiratory phonations (IPs) in the spontaneous cries of healthy infants across the first 10 weeks of life.Study DesignThis is a populational retrospective study.ParticipantsThe spontaneous crying of 17 healthy infants (10 were male) was retrospectively investigated.Materials and MethodsSound files of spontaneously uttered cries that were repeatedly recorded once per week for across the first 10 weeks of life were retrospectively analyzed. Frequency spectra and waveforms were used to identify the occurrence of IPs and to measure the duration and fundamental frequency (fo) of each instance of IP.ResultsA consistent number of IPs were identified across the 10-week period. All infants were observed to produce IPs in their spontaneous cries, although the frequency of occurrence was not consistent across infants. A marked sex difference was observed with female infants producing a higher number of IPs compared to males. The duration and fo of IPs did not differ significantly across the 10 weeks or between sexes.ConclusionsThe production of IPs is a regularly occurring phenomenon in healthy, normally developing infants' spontaneous crying. The proportional difference in the production of IPs between female and male infants, observed for the first time here, is postulated to be linked to sex-based differences (including steroidal hormones) in respiratory anatomy and physiology.



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More Than the Verbal Stimulus Matters: Visual Attention in Language Assessment for People With Aphasia Using Multiple-Choice Image Displays

Purpose

Language comprehension in people with aphasia (PWA) is frequently evaluated using multiple-choice displays: PWA are asked to choose the image that best corresponds to the verbal stimulus in a display. When a nontarget image is selected, comprehension failure is assumed. However, stimulus-driven factors unrelated to linguistic comprehension may influence performance. In this study we explore the influence of physical image characteristics of multiple-choice image displays on visual attention allocation by PWA.

Method

Eye fixations of 41 PWA were recorded while they viewed 40 multiple-choice image sets presented with and without verbal stimuli. Within each display, 3 images (majority images) were the same and 1 (singleton image) differed in terms of 1 image characteristic. The mean proportion of fixation duration (PFD) allocated across majority images was compared against the PFD allocated to singleton images.

Results

PWA allocated significantly greater PFD to the singleton than to the majority images in both nonverbal and verbal conditions. Those with greater severity of comprehension deficits allocated greater PFD to nontarget singleton images in the verbal condition.

Conclusion

When using tasks that rely on multiple-choice displays and verbal stimuli, one cannot assume that verbal stimuli will override the effect of visual-stimulus characteristics.

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More Than the Verbal Stimulus Matters: Visual Attention in Language Assessment for People With Aphasia Using Multiple-Choice Image Displays

Purpose

Language comprehension in people with aphasia (PWA) is frequently evaluated using multiple-choice displays: PWA are asked to choose the image that best corresponds to the verbal stimulus in a display. When a nontarget image is selected, comprehension failure is assumed. However, stimulus-driven factors unrelated to linguistic comprehension may influence performance. In this study we explore the influence of physical image characteristics of multiple-choice image displays on visual attention allocation by PWA.

Method

Eye fixations of 41 PWA were recorded while they viewed 40 multiple-choice image sets presented with and without verbal stimuli. Within each display, 3 images (majority images) were the same and 1 (singleton image) differed in terms of 1 image characteristic. The mean proportion of fixation duration (PFD) allocated across majority images was compared against the PFD allocated to singleton images.

Results

PWA allocated significantly greater PFD to the singleton than to the majority images in both nonverbal and verbal conditions. Those with greater severity of comprehension deficits allocated greater PFD to nontarget singleton images in the verbal condition.

Conclusion

When using tasks that rely on multiple-choice displays and verbal stimuli, one cannot assume that verbal stimuli will override the effect of visual-stimulus characteristics.

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More Than the Verbal Stimulus Matters: Visual Attention in Language Assessment for People With Aphasia Using Multiple-Choice Image Displays

Purpose

Language comprehension in people with aphasia (PWA) is frequently evaluated using multiple-choice displays: PWA are asked to choose the image that best corresponds to the verbal stimulus in a display. When a nontarget image is selected, comprehension failure is assumed. However, stimulus-driven factors unrelated to linguistic comprehension may influence performance. In this study we explore the influence of physical image characteristics of multiple-choice image displays on visual attention allocation by PWA.

Method

Eye fixations of 41 PWA were recorded while they viewed 40 multiple-choice image sets presented with and without verbal stimuli. Within each display, 3 images (majority images) were the same and 1 (singleton image) differed in terms of 1 image characteristic. The mean proportion of fixation duration (PFD) allocated across majority images was compared against the PFD allocated to singleton images.

Results

PWA allocated significantly greater PFD to the singleton than to the majority images in both nonverbal and verbal conditions. Those with greater severity of comprehension deficits allocated greater PFD to nontarget singleton images in the verbal condition.

Conclusion

When using tasks that rely on multiple-choice displays and verbal stimuli, one cannot assume that verbal stimuli will override the effect of visual-stimulus characteristics.

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