The Time Course of the Amplitude and Latency in the Auditory Late Response Evoked by Repeated Tone Bursts

2009 ◽  
Vol 20 (04) ◽  
pp. 239-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fawen Zhang ◽  
James Eliassen ◽  
Jill Anderson ◽  
Peter Scheifele ◽  
David Brown

Background: This study provides a detailed description of the time course of amplitude and latency in the auditory late response (ALR) elicited by repeated tone bursts. Research Design: Tone bursts (50 and 80 dB SPL) were presented via insert earphones in trains of ten with interstimulus intervals (ISIs) of 0.7 and 2 msec and an intertrain interval of 15 sec. Averages were derived independently for each tone burst within the train across the total number of train presentations. Study Sample: Participants were 14 normal-hearing young adults. Data Collection and Analysis: Data were analyzed in terms of the amplitudes and latencies of the N1 and P2 waves of the ALR as well as the N1-P2 amplitude. Results: The N1-P2 amplitude was a more stable measure than the amplitude of individual N1 and P2 peaks. The N1-P2 amplitude was maximal for the first tone burst and decreased in a nonmonotonic pattern for the remainder of the tone bursts within a stimulus train. The amplitude decrement was dependent on stimulus intensity and ISI. The latencies of N1 and P2 were maximal for the first tone burst and reduced approximately 20% for the rest of the stimuli in a train. The time course of N1 and P2 latencies was not dependent on stimulus intensity and ISI. Conclusions: The reduction of latency in the time course of the ALR might be related to the fact that neurons with shorter latencies had faster recovery speed from adaptation and/or refractoriness than those with longer latencies. This finding is meaningful in the context of future research to restore normal adaptation in abnormal hearing populations such as cochlear implant patients.

2012 ◽  
Vol 198-199 ◽  
pp. 1755-1760 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guo Ping Zhou ◽  
Ya Nan Chen

Applying the Internet of Things (IOT) into ecological environmental monitoring is the goal of this paper. There are several advantages of the Internet of Things (IOT) applying in ecological environment monitoring. A hierarchical monitoring system is presented, including system architecture, hardware/software design, information flow and software implementation. In the end, using carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere for experimental purposes, in data collection and analysis. Experiments showed that this system is capable of monitoring ecologica environment, which orientate the future research of forest ecosystem.


Author(s):  
A. Molisz ◽  
A. Zarowski ◽  
E. Cardinael ◽  
A. Vermeiren ◽  
T. Theunen ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Fitting cochlear implants in babies and noncooperative patients is cumbersome and time consuming. Therefore, objective parameters have been sought in order to predict the subjective threshold (T) and maximum comfort (C) levels. Measurements of the electrically evoked compound action potentials (ECAPs) have been widely used for this purpose, yet the correlation between these objective measures and the subjective T/C levels is weak to moderate. Purpose This article aims (1) to evaluate correlations between the subjective parameters of the fitting maps such as thresholds (T level) and maximum comfort levels (C level), the impedance of the electrode contacts, and the ECAP thresholds, and (2) to compare the value of the electrode impedances and the ECAP measures for prediction of the T/C levels. Research Design Case review study in a quaternary otologic referral center. Study Sample Ninety-eight consecutive CI patients were enrolled. The average age of the patients was 49 years. All patients were users of the Nucleus 24RECA (Freedom, Contour Advance-of-Stylet electrode) cochlear implant. Data Collection and Analysis Data on impedance of the electrode contacts and the behavioral T/C levels at the first fitting session (2–5 weeks after surgery) and at the 5th fitting session (4–6 months after surgery) have been retrospectively collected in 98 consecutive CI patients. Additionally, the intraoperative impedance values and the ECAP thresholds (tNRT) have been recorded. Results Impedances of electrode contacts show significant strong negative correlations with the stabilized T/C levels at 4 to 6 months after implantation and are an important predictor for the behavioral T/C levels. They can explain R 2 = 28 to 41% of the variability of the behavioral T/C levels. In multiple regression analysis electrode contact impedances can explain twice as much of the variability of the stabilized T/C levels than the tNRT values. The electrode impedances together with the tNRT values are able to explain R 2 = 37 to 40% of the global variability of the T/C levels while the tNRT thresholds solely are able to explain only R 2 = 5 to 14% of the T/C levels variability. Conclusion Impedances of electrode contacts correlate strongly with the stabilized behavioral T/C levels and may be used as an objective measure for fitting of cochlear implants.


1977 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
K. Brandle

1. Artifically metamorphosed axolotls were exposed to both brief (impulse) and long-lasting horizontal angular accelerations on a turn-table. The animals responded with a head-turning reaction. 2. The general course of the reaction to impulse acceleration was independent of stimulus intensity. The velocity of the head movement first increased to a maximum exponentially and then decreased in a negative exponential manner. Stimulus intensity had a linear relationship to the mean maximum velocity and mean total angle covered by head-turning. The average velocity-time curves at various stimulus intensities differed only by a velocity factor. 3. During long-lasting constant accelerations the velocity of the head-turning increased to a maximum velocity in a sigmoid time-course and then decreased, first to a constant velocity, and then further. Mean values of the maximum velocity were correlated linearly with the stimulus intensity. 4. It was concluded that the head-turning reflexes in axolotls do not agree with the accepted movements of the vertebrate cupula and therefore are not a simple ‘copy’ of the afferent input. It is also suggested that the reaction threshold differes from that for the labyrinthine input.


CJEM ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (S1) ◽  
pp. S121
Author(s):  
S. Whalen ◽  
J. Goldstein ◽  
R. Urquhart ◽  
A. Carter

Introduction: The Collaborative Emergency Centre (CEC) model of health care delivery was implemented in rural Nova Scotia in July 2011 without an identifiable, directly comparable precedent. It features interprofessional teams working under one roof with the goal of providing improved access to timely primary health care, and appropriate access to 24/7 emergency care. One important component of the CEC model is overnight staffing by a paramedic/registered nurse team consulting with an offsite physician via telephone. Our objective was to ascertain the attitudes, feelings and experiences of paramedics working within the CEC construct. Methods: We conducted a qualitative study, guided by the principles of grounded theory. Semi-structured telephone interviews were carried out by the principal investigator with paramedics with experience working in a CEC in the province of Nova Scotia. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed. Analysis involved an inductive and deductive grounded approach using constant comparative analysis. Data collection and analysis continued until thematic saturation was reached. Results: Fourteen paramedics participated in the study. The majority were male (n=10, 71%), with a mean age of 44 years (STD=8.8) and mean experience as a paramedic of 14 years (STD=9.7). Four major themes were identified from the data: 1) leadership support, encompassing support from Emergency Health Services and Government prior to and after implementation of the model, 2) team work and collaboration, including interprofessional relationships among members of the healthcare team, 3) value to patients and the communities, and 4) professional and personal benefits of working in CECs. Conclusion: Paramedics have found working in CECs to be both professionally and personally rewarding. They perceive the CEC model to be of great value to the patients and communities it serves. Key lessons that might help future expansion of the model in Nova Scotia and other jurisdictions across the country include the importance of building and strengthening relationships between paramedics and nurses, and the need for greater feedback and support from leadership.


1986 ◽  
Vol 61 (6) ◽  
pp. 2081-2087 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Hamel ◽  
C. S. McFarlane ◽  
A. W. Ford-Hutchinson

This study presents an antigen-dependent model of biphasic pulmonary changes to Ascaris suum in conscious squirrel monkeys. Animals with strong positive skin reactivity towards A. suum were trained to sit quietly in chairs and to breathe through face masks. Dynamic compliance (Cdyn) and pulmonary resistance (RL) were measured in these conscious animals before and for a period of 11 h after administration of an aerosol of Ascaris or ragweed antigen. The aerosol of Ascaris antigen induced reproducible increases (42%) in RL (P less than 0.001) and decreases (17%) in Cdyn (P less than 0.01) that peaked respectively 5 and 35 min after antigen challenge and lasted 60–90 min. After recovery, a second bronchoconstriction began between 2 and 8 h and peaked between 4 and 10 h after antigen challenge. Decreases in Cdyn (41%) were significantly greater (P less than 0.003) whereas mean increases in RL (44%) were similar during the late phase as compared with the first phase. The mean Cdyn decreases lasted a minimum of 2 h, whereas RL increases lasted less than 60 min. The time course of the responses varied from animal to animal but changes in individual animals were reproducible over a period of 6 mo. No significant correlation was observed between the cutaneous and the pulmonary responses to Ascaris and the late response was not reversed by aerosol administration of salbutamol (1.0 mg/ml). As a negative control animals were exposed to an aerosol of ragweed extract after which no immediate or late pulmonary response were observed. The results suggest that this primate model may be useful to study the pathophysiology of asthma in humans.


2010 ◽  
Vol 21 (06) ◽  
pp. 404-408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis P. Phillips ◽  
Michel Comeau ◽  
Jessica N. Andrus

Background: Auditory gap detection is a measure of temporal acuity. The paradigm comes in two forms, distinguished by whether the sounds bounding the silent period are the same (within channel [WC]) or different (between channel [BC]). Purpose: The purpose of this study was to test normal children and children referred for auditory processing disorder (APD) assessment, with both gap detection paradigms. Research Design: Best gap durations (i.e., shortest reliably detected gaps) were measured in a two-interval, two-alternative forced-choice design embedded within a modified method of limits, for both WC and BC paradigms, with stimuli presented at 55 dB HL. Study Sample: Sixteen control children and 20 children referred for APD assessment participated in the study. Of the 20 referred children, 9 were diagnostically positive for APD (APD+), and 11 were negative (APD−). The mean age of children in all three groups was 10–11 yr. Data Collection and Analysis: Data collected were best gap durations for each paradigm, for each child. Group differences were assessed using Kruskal-Wallis analyses of variance. Results: WC best gap durations were very similar across the three participant groups. BC best gap durations varied significantly between listener groups, with the greatest difference being between controls and APD+ samples. Conclusions: BC best gap durations differed among the listener groups while WC ones did not. This suggests that the relative timing perceptual operations required by the BC task are more susceptible to the perceptual disturbances in APD than is the simple event detection required by the WC task.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Cottrell ◽  
Victoria Silverwood ◽  
Alex Strivens-Joyce ◽  
Lucy Minshull ◽  
John J. Edwards ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Physician associates (PA) form part of the policy-driven response to increased primary care demand and a general practitioner (GP) recruitment and retention crisis. However, they are novel to the primary care workforce and have limitations, for example, they cannot prescribe. The novel 1 year Staffordshire PA Internship (SPAI) scheme, introduced in 2017, was established to support the integration of PAs into primary care. PA interns concurrently worked in primary and secondary care posts, with protected weekly primary care focussed education sessions. This evaluation established the acceptability of PA interns within primary care. Methods All ten PAs from the first two SPAI cohorts, the nine host practices (supervising GPs and practice managers) and host practice patients were invited to participate in the evaluation. A conceptual framework for implementing interventions in primary care informed data collection and analysis. Data were gathered at three time points over the internship from practices, through discussions with the supervising GP and/or practice manager, and from the PAs via discussion groups. To enrich discussion data, PA and practices were sent brief surveys requesting information on PA/practice characteristics and PA primary care roles. Patient acceptability data were collected by the host practices. Participation at every stage was optional. Results By evaluation end, eight PAs had completed the internship. Seven PAs and six practices provided data at every time point. Five practices provided patient acceptability data. Overall PA interns were acceptable to practices and patients, however ambiguity about the PA role and how best to communicate and operationalise PA roles was revealed. An expectation-preparedness gap resulted in PAs needing high levels of supervision early within the internship. SPAI facilitated closure of the expectation-preparedness gap and its funding arrangements made the high supervision requirements more acceptable to practices. Conclusions The test-of-concept SPAI successfully integrated new PAs into primary care. However, the identified challenges risk undermining PAs roles in primary care before they have attained their full potential. Nationally, workforce leaders should develop approaches to support new PAs into primary care, including commitments to longer-term, sustainable, cohesive and appropriately funded schemes, including structured and standardised education and supervision.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shira Baror ◽  
Biyu J He

Abstract Flipping through social media feeds, viewing exhibitions in a museum, or walking through the botanical gardens, people consistently choose to engage with and disengage from visual content. Yet, in most laboratory settings, the visual stimuli, their presentation duration, and the task at hand are all controlled by the researcher. Such settings largely overlook the spontaneous nature of human visual experience, in which perception takes place independently from specific task constraints and its time course is determined by the observer as a self-governing agent. Currently, much remains unknown about how spontaneous perceptual experiences unfold in the brain. Are all perceptual categories extracted during spontaneous perception? Does spontaneous perception inherently involve volition? Is spontaneous perception segmented into discrete episodes? How do different neural networks interact over time during spontaneous perception? These questions are imperative to understand our conscious visual experience in daily life. In this article we propose a framework for spontaneous perception. We first define spontaneous perception as a task-free and self-paced experience. We propose that spontaneous perception is guided by four organizing principles that grant it temporal and spatial structures. These principles include coarse-to-fine processing, continuity and segmentation, agency and volition, and associative processing. We provide key suggestions illustrating how these principles may interact with one another in guiding the multifaceted experience of spontaneous perception. We point to testable predictions derived from this framework, including (but not limited to) the roles of the default-mode network and slow cortical potentials in underlying spontaneous perception. We conclude by suggesting several outstanding questions for future research, extending the relevance of this framework to consciousness and spontaneous brain activity. In conclusion, the spontaneous perception framework proposed herein integrates components in human perception and cognition, which have been traditionally studied in isolation, and opens the door to understand how visual perception unfolds in its most natural context.


2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yael Cohen-Azaria

Purpose In 2012, the Israeli Ministry of Education and its Testing and Evaluation Department introduced a new tool to evaluate the quality of kindergarten teachers’ work. This paper aims to identify how kindergarten teachers perceive the new multiple domains performance tool. Design/methodology/approach The study applied a qualitative paradigm of data collection and analysis. Data collection consisted of semi-structured in-depth interviews conducted with 36 kindergarten teachers. Findings Findings indicated that most kindergarten teachers perceive their work plan and the kindergarten climate as the most important evaluation domains, while perceiving involving parents as the least important and even an unnecessary domain. One-third of them indicated that an innovation domain should be added. Also, the kindergarten teachers perceived the use of the KT-MDPT as both positive and negative. Originality/value There is a clear dearth in scholarly literature dealing with the evaluation of the quality of kindergarten teachers’ work. This study is the first to reveal Israeli kindergarten teachers' attitudes regarding this new tool for work quality evaluation.


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