Design and Development of a Spanish Hearing Test for Speech in Noise (PAHRE)

[Abstract] Background: There are few hearing tests in Spanish that assess speech discrimination in noise in the adult population that take into account the Lombard effect. This study presents the design and development of a Spanish hearing test for speech in noise (Prueba Auditiva de Habla en Ruido en Español (PAHRE) in Spanish). The pattern of the Quick Speech in Noise test was followed when drafting sentences with five key words each grouped in lists of six sentences. It was necessary to take into account the differences between English and Spanish. Methods: A total of 61 people (24 men and 37 women) with an average age of 46.9 (range 18–84 years) participated in the study. The work was carried out in two phases. In the first phase, a list of Spanish sentences was drafted and subjected to a familiarity test based on the semantic and syntactic characteristics of the sentences; as a result, a list of sentences was selected for the final test. In the second phase, the selected sentences were recorded with and without the Lombard effect, the equivalence between both lists was analysed, and the test was applied to a first reference population. Results: The results obtained allow us to affirm that it is representative of the Spanish spoken in its variety in peninsular Spain. Conclusions: In addition, these results point to the usefulness of the PAHRE test in assessing speech in noise by maintaining a fixed speech intensity while varying the intensity of the multi-speaker background noise. The incorporation of the Lombard effect in the test shows discrimination differences with the same signal-to-noise ratio compared to the test without the Lombard effect

Pruebas de habla en ruido: una revisión de las pruebas disponibles en español

English version of this paper will be published in the next days.La dificultad para reconocer el habla en presencia de ruido de fondo es una de las principales quejas de las personas con pérdida auditiva y/o de edad avanzada, convirtiendo esta queja en uno de los principales motivos de consulta auditiva de esta población. Este es uno de los motivos por los cuales las pruebas auditivas de habla en ruido son una herramienta útil en la evaluación, el diagnóstico y la intervención de pacientes con pérdida auditiva. Este estudio tiene como objetivo describir las principales características de las pruebas auditivas de habla en ruido, así como las diferentes pruebas disponibles para la población hispanohablante. Para ello se realizó una revisión bibliográfica mediante una búsqueda en la base de datos Web of Science y Google Académico en la que se incluyeron los términos «habla», «prueba», «ruido» y «español» tanto en español como en inglés. La búsqueda mostró la existencia de 12 pruebas de habla en ruido para población hispanohablante, 11 de ellas para población adulta. Estas pruebas se diferencian unas de otras por las características definitorias de las pruebas de habla en ruido, así como por sus posibilidades de uso

The Independent, V. 34, Thursday, November 5, 1908, [Whole Number: 1739]

[8] p. Accept and Defend the Truth Wherever Found. Newspaper published in Collegeville, Pa. Weekly. Contains local, county, state and national news, agricultural reading matter, fiction, public sales and advertisements.https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/independent/1542/thumbnail.jp

No Common Ground: Competing Worldviews at Mato Tipila

This project analyzes a legal conflict (Bear Lodge Multiple Use Assn v Babbitt 2 F. Supp. 2d 1448) at Mato Tipila, a significant place for the Lakota (Sioux) community and with which they have a historical and longstanding relationship. Commercial and recreational rock-climbing enthusiasts who make use of it and the tourists who arrive in droves each year to visit, call this place Devils Tower. The case centered on whether the government violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment by instituting a climbing ban during the month of June to accommodate Lakota ceremonial obligations. In recent historical developments, the conflict has been exclusively, and thus ineffectively, adjudicated through the eurochristian – albeit secularized – discourse of rights. The cognitional categories used to define rights with respect to both natives and non-natives at this place are rooted in eurochristian culture and are for that reason inadequate to encompass the diversity of commitments at stake. The current state of human rights theory is deeply rooted in categories of possessive individualism and other related concepts that are alien to Lakota understandings of relationship and obligations at Mato Tipila. Using cognitive theory, I investigate the radical alterity that underscores ongoing tensions at this site. A plan implemented by the National Park Service to promote shared use by different communities is inadequate. Framing the court case exclusively in terms of religious rights forces all participants to assimilate and articulate their positions in a constrained way that privileges a dominant way-of-being that is not only antithetical to the concerns of Native communities but has been imposed on Indigenous peoples since the 15th century. At the heart of the conflict is an incommensurability, demonstrated by clashing perceptions about what this site means and how humans understand their relationship with it. Those with power to decide the outcomes on contested lands misconstrue that reality. Most importantly, I argue that the framework around accommodation and shared use profoundly disrupts Lakota memory and tradition even as it mobilizes the discourse of inclusion

European struggles and American resistance: inclusion of aviation into the EU ETS

This research examines the process of inclusion of aviation into the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). The thesis investigates an environmentally-recalcitrant community (aviation industry) and its attempts to suspend the application of the EU ETS on the sector. It focuses on the decision-making processes at the European Union (EU) level and juxtaposes the European policy-making with the resistance to inclusion shown in the political system of the United States (US). More specifically, it seeks to understand the factors affecting the effectiveness of efforts to forge effective international environmental policy, especially those driven by the EU in the context of climate change. Theoretically, this research draws on three theories: Multi-level governance, Policy Network Analysis and Interpretive Policy Analysis. These theories are advanced by considering the meaning-making activities pursued by the stakeholders and discursive aspects of the process analysed. Empirically the thesis is informed by a series of semi-structured interviews conducted in Washington, DC in 2013 and in Brussels, Belgium in 2014, policy documents, and media content analysis. The thesis concludes that the climate ambitions of the (EU) may instigate international resistance leading to deterioration of relations with international partners. The thesis proves too that the conflict in the EU ETS case is related to the construction of interests both within the EU and vis à vis its international partners. The research contributes also to understanding the internal proceedings of the European Commission by showing discrepancies in decision-making between the Directorate Generals. It shows that the locus of policy making can be changed towards more non-material venues. Finally, the results show that aviation enjoys a particularly powerful position among other businesses both in the EU and in the US and is able to shape policy-making at the national and international level

Design and Development of a Spanish Hearing Test for Speech in Noise (PAHRE)

Background: There are few hearing tests in Spanish that assess speech discrimination in noise in the adult population that take into account the Lombard effect. This study presents the design and development of a Spanish hearing test for speech in noise (Prueba Auditiva de Habla en Ruido en Español (PAHRE) in Spanish). The pattern of the Quick Speech in Noise test was followed when drafting sentences with five key words each grouped in lists of six sentences. It was necessary to take into account the differences between English and Spanish. Methods: A total of 61 people (24 men and 37 women) with an average age of 46.9 (range 18–84 years) participated in the study. The work was carried out in two phases. In the first phase, a list of Spanish sentences was drafted and subjected to a familiarity test based on the semantic and syntactic characteristics of the sentences; as a result, a list of sentences was selected for the final test. In the second phase, the selected sentences were recorded with and without the Lombard effect, the equivalence between both lists was analysed, and the test was applied to a first reference population. Results: The results obtained allow us to affirm that it is representative of the Spanish spoken in its variety in peninsular Spain. Conclusions: In addition, these results point to the usefulness of the PAHRE test in assessing speech in noise by maintaining a fixed speech intensity while varying the intensity of the multi-speaker background noise. The incorporation of the Lombard effect in the test shows discrimination differences with the same signal-to-noise ratio compared to the test without the Lombard effect.</jats:p

Design and Development of a Spanish Hearing Test for Speech in Noise (PAHRE)

Background: There are few hearing tests in Spanish that assess speech discrimination in noise in the adult population that take into account the Lombard effect. This study presents the design and development of a Spanish hearing test for speech in noise (Prueba Auditiva de Habla en Ruido en Espa&ntilde;ol (PAHRE) in Spanish). The pattern of the Quick Speech in Noise test was followed when drafting sentences with five key words each grouped in lists of six sentences. It was necessary to take into account the differences between English and Spanish. Methods: A total of 61 people (24 men and 37 women) with an average age of 46.9 (range 18&ndash;84 years) participated in the study. The work was carried out in two phases. In the first phase, a list of Spanish sentences was drafted and subjected to a familiarity test based on the semantic and syntactic characteristics of the sentences; as a result, a list of sentences was selected for the final test. In the second phase, the selected sentences were recorded with and without the Lombard effect, the equivalence between both lists was analysed, and the test was applied to a first reference population. Results: The results obtained allow us to affirm that it is representative of the Spanish spoken in its variety in peninsular Spain. Conclusions: In addition, these results point to the usefulness of the PAHRE test in assessing speech in noise by maintaining a fixed speech intensity while varying the intensity of the multi-speaker background noise. The incorporation of the Lombard effect in the test shows discrimination differences with the same signal-to-noise ratio compared to the test without the Lombard effect

Science and Faith in Dialogue

Science and Faith in Dialogue presents a cogent, compelling case for concordance between science and theism. The term theism refers, in this book, to the belief in God's existence. Within theology, the term theism is often used to convey a range of presuppositions about the nature and attributes of God. Based on scientific and natural theological perspectives, two pillars of natural theology are revisited: the Cosmological Argument and the Argument from Design. The book argues that modern science provides undeniable evidence and a scientific basis for these classical arguments to infer a rationally justifiable endorsement of theism as being concordant with reason and science – nature is seen as operating orderly on comprehensible, rational, consistent laws, in line with the conviction that God is Creator