Aided evoked cortical potential: An objective validation tool for hearing aid benefit

AbstractIntroductionThe verified suitable hearing aid gain does not guarantee a benefit from the hearing aid. The aided pure-tone threshold and the speech tests constitute main validation tests, which can be an enigma when dealing with infants and young children. Accordingly, there is growing need for an applicable objective test that represents aided thresholds and cortical processing of amplified sounds.ObjectiveThis work was designed to incorporate the aided evoked cortical potential (AECP) testing in hearing aid benefit assessment battery of children.MethodologyThe study involved 10 young children with the history of regular hearing aid using for the correction of mild to moderately severe sensorineural hearing loss. Aided AECP consisting of P1, N1, P2 and N2 waves was measured for them using 500 and 4000Hz tone bursts and ga- and wa-syllables.ResultsThe potential was traced in all subjects with different degrees of reproducibility of waves. It paralleled the speech recognition ability with reasonable correction values to the aided behavioral thresholds.ConclusionsThe tracing of aided evoked cortical potential constituted a valuable tool for assessment of hearing aid benefit. It can introduce valid information about the frequency specific aided hearing thresholds and the speech perception ability. The total number of emerged waves in the potential revealed more selectivity to cortical function than the latency parameter

ANALISIS KUALITAS LAYANAN LIVE STREAMING MENGGUNAKAN STANDAR TIPHON PADA WEBSITE VIDIO.COM, VISIONPLUS.ID, DAN TRANSTV.CO.ID

The television industry has now developed with the presence of a live streaming platform, television viewers can watch television shows on various live streaming platforms. Indonesia has many live streaming platforms that provide television broadcasts namely vidio.com, visionplus.id, and transtv.co.id. With so many live streaming platforms, testing and analysis must be carried out with the aim of determining the service quality the best live streaming platform using the QoS (Quality of Service) method. For the testing process, there are 4 parameters, namely throughput, packet loss, delay, and jitter. Next, an analysis will be carried out by comparing the test results with the values issued by TIPHON (Telecommunication and Internet Protocol Harmonization Over Network). After carrying out the analysis, the value of the vidio.com platform gets an index of 3.33 resulting in a satisfactory category, the visionplus.id platform gets an index of 3.25 resulting in a satisfactory category and the transtv.co.id platform gets an index of 3.25 resulting in a satisfactory category, so it is the recommended platform is video.com

A Control Approach for Nonlinear Stochastic State Uncertain Systems with Probabilistic Safety Guarantees

This paper presents an algorithm to apply nonlinear control design approaches in the case of stochastic systems with partial state observation. Deterministic nonlinear control approaches are formulated under the assumption of full state access and, often, relative degree one. We propose a control design approach that first generates a control policy for nonlinear deterministic models with full state observation. The resulting control policy is then used to build an importance-like probability distribution over the space of control sequences which are to be evaluated for the true stochastic and state-uncertain dynamics. This distribution serves in the sampling step within a random search control optimization procedure, to focus the exploration effort on certain regions of the control space. The sampled control sequences are assigned costs determined by a prescribed finite-horizon performance and safety measure, which is based on the stochastic dynamics. This sampling algorithm is parallelizable and shown to have computational complexity indifferent to the state dimension, and to be able to guarantee safety over the prescribed prediction horizon. A numerical simulation is provided to test the applicability and effectiveness of the presented approach and compare it to a certainty equivalence controller

Right cardiac chambers echo-bubble contrast in a patient with decompression sickness: A case report and a literature review

Background: so far there is no available modality to fully confirm the diagnosis, however, the application of echocardiography in suspected DCS cases has been more frequently used, in this case, transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) was used to detect micro-bubbles in the right cardiac chambers and monitor the patient after hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT); which proposes the possible applicability of TTE in diagnosing and monitoring DCS patients. Case presentation: This report describes a 54-year-old fisherman who was referred to the emergency department with dyspnea and mild confusion after rapid ascend of a saturation diving of 50m sea depth. After the initial evaluation, he was assessed using TTE to exclude the presence of structural heart diseases, where it surprisingly showed spontaneous echo contrast inside the right cardiac chambers similar to agitated saline echo testing, the patient then was admitted for HBOT and follow-up; rapid improvement was noticed after the first HBOT session and the TTE findings were fully resolved. Conclusion: TTE could be considered in the initial workup when DCS is suspected, and it might have a role in monitoring DCS patients if echocardiographic findings of bubbles formation were documented in the pre-hyperbaric therapy settings

Preparation of iron-enriched baker's yeast and its efficiency in recovery of rats from dietary iron deficiency

OBJECTIVES Iron is an important mineral, essential for the health and function of mammalian cells. Despite its key role, iron deficiency in humans is common worldwide, often leading to significant health issues within the population. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of using iron-enriched baker's yeast as a source of iron, especially for the protection and recovery from conditions related to anemia. METHODS Iron-enriched yeast was prepared by cultivating cells on basal medium comprising different iron concentrations. The effects of iron supplementation on animal health were assessed by feeding anemic rats with a variety of diets containing either inorganic iron or iron-enriched yeast. Body weight, iron bioavailability, blood parameters, and the activity of iron-containing enzymes (catalase) were studied. RESULTS Iron accumulation in yeast cells increased with iron concentration, reaching a maximum of 15 mg/g when 32 mM iron was applied. Rat groups fed iron-enriched yeast had the highest feed efficiency, iron bioavailability, and hemoglobin concentration. The source of iron supplementation influenced catalase activity in kidney tissues, increasing from 70 U/g tissue in anemic rats to 90 U/g tissue (inorganic iron salt), 110 U/g tissue (inorganic iron salt and non-enriched dry yeast), 145 U/g tissue (iron-enriched yeast 15 mg/g iron) and 115 U/g tissue (iron-enriched yeast 30 mg/g iron). The histologic study of tissues from liver, kidney, heart, and spleen of rats from different groups showed that the damage observed in tissues of anemic rats, was not observed after feeding with iron-enriched yeasts. CONCLUSION The results demonstrated that ingestion of iron-enriched yeast is more efficient than inorganic treatment in recovery from iron deficiency, including tissue recovery in rats

Optimal Trajectories for Propellant-Free Rendezvous Missions

The paper provides a new approach to utilizing space environmental forces in time- and energy-optimal, propellant-less spacecraft rendezvous missions. Considering the nonlinear form of the relative dynamic equations, rendezvous missions are posed as optimal control problems subject to input saturation. We conduct a direct optimal control approach to obtain optimal trajectories and control inputs. Initially, we consider the differential drag only and conduct a comprehensive analysis of the effect of altitude on the required control input and achieved cost function. Lorentz forces are then utilized with the differential drag, reducing the time required for time-optimal missions. For energy-optimal missions with combined differential drag and Lorentz forces, a weighting matrix in the cost function is introduced to adjust the relative contributions of these forces

Spiritual Intelligence and Its Relation to Psychological Endurance Among Faculty Members at Jadara University

The current study is aiming at recognizing the relation between spiritual intelligence and psychological endurance among faculty members of Jadara University along with calculating differences according to sex, academic degree, years of experience and marital status through a sample of 124 persons. In order to achieve study objectives, researchers used the spiritual intelligence scale developed by Amram and translated by Al-Issal along with the psychological endurance scale developed by Connor and Davidson and translated by Al-Talla’. Results indicated positive correlation of statistical denotation between spiritual intelligence and psychological endurance among faculty members of Jadara University while indicating that faculty members have high level of spiritual intelligence and psychological endurance. Results also clarified lack of difference of statistical denotation in the averages of spiritual intelligence in all aspects among faculty members according to study variables (sex, academic degree, years of experience and marital status), while indicating differences of statistical denotation in the averages of psychological endurance in all aspects among faculty members referring to sex among females. Results indicate lack of differences of statistical denotation in the averages of psychological endurance according to study variables (sex, academic degree, years of experience and marital status), as well as the potential of predicting total degree for estimating psychological endurance through the total degree of spiritual intelligence among faculty members at Jadara University. Keywords: spiritual intelligence, psychological endurance, faculty members DOI: 10.7176/ADS/83-08 Publication date:July 31st 202

Selected Physiological, Psychological, and Anthropometric Characteristics of the Kuwaiti World Cup Soccer Team (Athletes, Vo2 Max, Per Cent Fat).

The purpose of the investigation was to examine the maximal oxygen consumption ((\u27)VO2 max), maximal anaerobic power (AP max), body composition (BC), somatotype (ST), the Profile of Mood States (POMS) and the State-Trait Anxiety (STAI) characteristics of the Kuwaiti World Cup Soccer Team. (\u27)VO2 max was determined using a progressive cycle ergometer protocol with data obtained by standard semi-open circuit spirometry. AP max was calculated by using the highest value of three vertical jumps applied to the Lewis formula: (SQRT.(4.9) x weight x SQRT.(D)). BC was estimated by skinfolds and ST was by the Heath-Carter method. Translated versions of POMS and STAI were used. The Kuwaiti team exhibited moderately high aerobic (51.9 ml/kg(.)min(\u27-1)) and anaerobic (119.6 kg(.)m/sec) power, both values being significantly higher than college norms, but in the mid-ranges for world-class athletes in general. Relative body fatness (8.9%) and a balanced mesomorphic somatotype (2.1-4.5-2.1) were comparable to those of athletes in other high-level team sports. The World Cup soccer players revealed a significantly higher value in the anger factor when evaluated by POMS, contrasted to other findings on both elite athletes and college norms. This factor was determined to be normal on follow-up testing 18 months after the World Cup Games. Finally, they also showed higher state and trait anxiety than the college norms and when compared to other athletes. Analysis by playing position revealed the goalkeepers to have higher AP max, per cent fat, mesomorphy, and both state and trait anxiety levels, along with lower (\u27)VO2 max, compared to players of other positions. Midfielders had the highest (\u27)VO2 max and were the leanest. Offensives exhibited the lowest tension, depression, anger, confusion, and trait anxiety levels. The defensives\u27 primary differentiating characteristic was a high AP max, comparable to that of the goalkeepers. The starters were significantly older, less fat, and were higher in both state and trait anxiety than the substitutes. The structural and functional measures taken for this study appeared to indicate that the Kuwaiti team had appropriate potential for World Cup competition. Excessively high state and trait anxiety, and anger indicates that more psychological preparation was needed

Disabled Friendly Facility between Feasibility and Legality

Most hotels in Lebanon, built before 2011, do not provide access to disabled persons in light of 220/2000 law. This is due to: 1/ a misconception that a Disabled Friendly Facility (DFF) would be on behalf of hotel guests’ satisfaction and consequently, would reduce hotel’s popularity and revenue; 2/ a fear that the unforeseen demand for DFFs will be offset by expenses and, in best-case scenarios, would not generate enough profits to pay back initial investments. In brief, hotel-business investors are not sure about the convenience of a DFF and about the number of DFFs to provide in light of 7194/2011law. The objective of this paper is, on the first hand, to demonstrate the financial feasibility and the economic convenience of a DFF and, on the other hand, to test its impact on the satisfaction of hotel guests. In other terms, on the popularity of the hotel