Comparison of speech intelligibility over the telephone using a hearing aid micorphone and telecoil

The purpose of the current study is to determine if the smaller, modern hearing aid has affected the speech intelligibility over the telephone using a telecoil and hearing aid microphone. Six hearing impaired listeners were situated in a quiet office and were asked to repeat aloud Connected Speech Sentences (CST) they heard through the telephone while wearing their hearing aid in telecoil only mode, microphone only mode, and without their hearing aid. The CST sentences were presented in three different signal-to-noise ratios (Quiet, +10dB, & +5dB) with the recorded speech babble of the CST test. It was discovered that the listeners performed, on average, better in all listening conditions without their hearing aid in. However, no statistical significance was seen between any of the test conditions. Implications of this will be discussed

EFFECTS OF A CO-TEACHING TEAMING PROGRAM ON THE INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES OF HIGH SCHOOL GENERAL AND SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS

Co-teaching is widely used as an option in the delivery of special education services to students with disabilities in accordance with their Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). Students with learning disabilities frequently struggle in learning specific content areas, a factor representing a significant challenge to providing instruction in the least restrictive environment. Co-teaching is an option that serves to foster an instructional environment in the general education classroom that is inclusive and supportive of students with disabilities and those who require specialized assistance. It holds the potential to effectively combine the talents and skills of both the general and special education teacher, thus maximizing their ability to effectively teach students who present the most significant instructional challenges. The purpose of this study was to study the effects of a co-teaching program on the instructional practices of six high school teachers assigned to co-teach. A multiple probe design targeting the teaming behaviors across three dyads of teachers was used. The participating teachers were trained using the Teaming Instructional Procedures Program developed by the author and based on the teaming approach as outlined in Friend (2007). The classes were digitally audio recorded during baseline, intervention, and maintenance conditions. The recordings were analyzed using time-sampling and a teaming behavior checklist to determine the occurrence of teaming behaviors by the special education teacher. The Teaming Instructional Procedures Program positively impacted the teaming behaviors of the special educators. The occurrence of teaming behaviors increased for each dyad, with increases being sustained during maintenance probes. The educators found the training program useful and user friendly and indicated they would recommend the training to other co-teachers. Most teachers found the co-teaching teaming approach useful, if not ideal for every situation and reported improvements in student engagement and performance, with no reports of detrimental effects. Responses from students confirmed the majority enjoyed having two teachers in the room, and they believed their engagement and performance benefited from the situation. The Teaming Instructional Procedures Program proved to be a socially valid means of training teachers to employ a specific co-teaching approach. The results of this study provide evidence to justify the allocation of time and resources to the formal training of teachers entering a co-teaching situation and the need for the development of a more comprehensive training program addressing more approaches to co-teaching

Specific Sport Training Effect on FMS and Y Balance Scores

The Functional Movement Screen (FMS) and Y-Balance Test (YBT) are functional measurement tools utilized for injury prevention, performance predictability, and as return to sport criteria. The FMS is comprised of 7 standardized tests of movement patterns that are rated from 0-3 and includes: Deep Squat, Hurdle Step, In-Line Lunge, Shoulder Mobility, Active Straight Leg Raise, Trunk Stability Push-Up, and Rotary Stability. The YBT is a measurement of single leg stance in the anterior, posteromedial, and posterolateral directions that is advocated for assessing dynamic balance. There lacks evidence that collegiate athletes in different sports that require specific training programs and physical attributes perform differently on functional screens.https://ecommons.udayton.edu/dpt_symposium/1014/thumbnail.jp

Granule formation mechanisms within an aerobic wastewater system for phosphorus removal

Granular sludge is a novel alternative for the treatment of wastewater and offers numerous operational and economic advantages over conventional floccular-sludge systems. The majority of research on granular sludge has focused on optimization of engineering aspects relating to reactor operation with little emphasis on the fundamental microbiology. In this study, we hypothesize two novel mechanisms for granule formation as observed in three laboratory scale sequencing batch reactors operating for biological phosphorus removal and treating two different types of wastewater. During the initial stages of granulation, two distinct granule types (white and yellow) were distinguished within the mixed microbial population. White granules appeared as compact, smooth, dense aggregates dominated by 97.5% "Candidatus Accumulibacter phosphatis," and yellow granules appeared as loose, rough, irregular aggregates with a mixed microbial population of 12.3% "Candidatus Accumulibacter phosphatis" and 57.9% "Candidatus Competibacter phosphatis," among other bacteria. Microscopy showed white granules as homogeneous microbial aggregates and yellow granules as segregated, microcolony-like aggregates, with phylogenetic analysis suggesting that the granule types are likely not a result of strain-associated differences. The microbial community composition and arrangement suggest different formation mechanisms occur for each granule type. White granules are hypothesized to form by outgrowth from a single microcolony into a granule dominated by one bacterial type, while yellow granules are hypothesized to form via multiple microcolony aggregation into a microcolony-segregated granule with a mixed microbial population. Further understanding and application of these mechanisms and the associated microbial ecology may provide conceptual information benefiting start-up procedures for full-scale granular-sludge reactors

Initial development and structure of biofilms on microbial fuel cell anodes

Background: Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) rely on electrochemically active bacteria to capture the chemical energy contained in organics and convert it to electrical energy. Bacteria develop biofilms on the MFC electrodes, allowing considerable conversion capacity and opportunities for extracellular electron transfer (EET). The present knowledge on EET is centred around two Gram-negative models, i.e. Shewanella and Geobacter species, as it is believed that Gram-positives cannot perform EET by themselves as the Gram-negatives can. To understand how bacteria form biofilms within MFCs and how their development, structure and viability affects electron transfer, we performed pure and co-culture experiments

Pharmacist-independent prescriber deprescribing in UK care homes : Contextual factors associated with increased activity

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to thank the residents, families, pharmacists, medical practice staff and care home staff who contributed to CHIPPS. Funding information: This study is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) for Health Research (NIHR) Translating Research into Policy funding scheme (Award ID: NIHR202053). The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Montmorency cherry supplementation attenuates vascular dysfunction induced by prolonged forearm occlusion in overweight, middle-aged men

Flavonoid supplementation improves brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD), but it is not known whether flavonoids protect against vascular dysfunction induced by ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury and associated respiratory burst. In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study, we investigated whether 4 wk supplementation with freeze-dried Montmorency cherry (MC) attenuated suppression of FMD after IR induced by prolonged forearm occlusion. Twelve physically inactive overweight, middle-aged men (52.8 ± 5.8 yr, BMI: 28.1 ± 5.3 kg/m2) consumed MC (235 mg/day anthocyanins) or placebo capsules for 4 wk, with supplementation blocks separated by 4 wk washout. Before and after each supplementation block, FMD responses and plasma nitrate and nitrite ([ N O − 2 ]) concentrations were measured at baseline and 15, 30, and 45 min after prolonged (20 min) forearm occlusion. FMD response was significantly depressed by the prolonged occlusion ( P < 0.001). After a 45-min reperfusion, FMD was restored to baseline levels after MC (ΔFMD presupplementation: -30.5 ± 8.4%, postsupplementation: -0.6 ± 9.5%) but not placebo supplementation (ΔFMD presupplementation: -11.6 ± 10.6, postsupplementation: -25.4 ± 4.0%; condition × supplement interaction: P = 0.038). Plasma [ N O − 2 ] decreased after prolonged occlusion but recovered faster after MC compared with placebo (Δ45 min to baseline; MC: presupplementation: -15.3 ± 9.6, postsupplementation: -6.2 ± 8.1; Placebo: presupplementation: -16.3 ± 5.9, postsupplementation: -27.7 ± 11.1 nmol/l; condition × supplement × time interaction: P = 0.033). Plasma peroxiredoxin concentration ([Prx2]) was significantly higher after MC (presupplementation: 22.8 ± 1.4, postsupplementation: 28.0 ± 2.4 ng/ml, P = 0.029) but not after placebo supplementation (presupplementation: 22.1 ± 2.2, postsupplementation: 23.7 ± 1.5 ng/ml). In conclusion, 4 wk MC supplementation enhanced recovery of endothelium-dependent vasodilatation after IR, in parallel with faster recovery of plasma [ N O − 2 ], suggesting NO dependency. These protective effects seem to be related to increased plasma [Prx2], presumably conferring protection against the respiratory burst during reperfusion. NEW & NOTEWORTHY This is the first study to demonstrate that 4 wk of Montmorency cherry powder supplementation exerted protective effects on endothelium-dependent vasodilation after transient ischemia-reperfusion injury in overweight, physically inactive, nonmedicated, hypertensive middle-aged men. These effects seem to be due to increased nitric oxide availability, as evidenced by higher plasma nitrite concentration and peak arterial diameter during the flow-mediated dilation measurement. This may be a consequence of increased concentration of peroxiredoxin and other antioxidant systems and, hence, reduced reactive oxygen species exposure.This article is freely available via Open Access. Click on the Publisher URL to access it via the publisher's site.This study was partially funded by a grant from the Cherry Research Committee, Aboo-Bakkar was supported by a Ph.D. studentship from the Universiti Kuala Lumpur, and Fulford’s salary was provided by National Institute for Health Research.accepted version (12 month embargo

HETDEX pilot survey for emission-line galaxies - I. Survey design, performance, and catalog

We present a catalog of emission-line galaxies selected solely by their emission-line fluxes using a wide-field integral field spectrograph. This work is partially motivated as a pilot survey for the upcoming Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX). We describe the observations, reductions, detections, redshift classifications, line fluxes, and counterpart information for 397 emission-line galaxies detected over 169 sq.arcmin with a 3500-5800 Ang. bandpass under 5 Ang. full-width-half-maximum (FWHM) spectral resolution. The survey's best sensitivity for unresolved objects under photometric conditions is between 4-20 E-17 erg/s/sq.cm depending on the wavelength, and Ly-alpha luminosities between 3-6 E42 erg/s are detectable. This survey method complements narrowband and color-selection techniques in the search for high redshift galaxies with its different selection properties and large volume probed. The four survey fields within the COSMOS, GOODS-N, MUNICS, and XMM-LSS areas are rich with existing, complementary data. We find 104 galaxies via their high redshift Ly-alpha emission at 1.9<z<3.8, and the majority of the remainder objects are low redshift [OII]3727 emitters at z<0.56. The classification between low and high redshift objects depends on rest frame equivalent width, as well as other indicators, where available. Based on matches to X-ray catalogs, the active galactic nuclei (AGN) fraction amongst the Ly-alpha emitters (LAEs) is 6%. We also analyze the survey's completeness and contamination properties through simulations. We find five high-z, highly-significant, resolved objects with full-width-half-maximum sizes >44 sq.arcsec which appear to be extended Ly-alpha nebulae. We also find three high-z objects with rest frame Ly-alpha equivalent widths above the level believed to be achievable with normal star formation, EW(rest)>240 Ang.Comment: 45 pages, 36 figures, 5 tables, submitted to ApJ