“Taghanni” in Qur’ân Recitation

In this study, the use of musical elements in the recitations of the Qur'an is examined within the framework of the concept “taghanni” in the light of historical data, lexical information, and technical findings. The concept of “taghanni” (reciting in a melodious voice) is expressed as an indispensable element of the Qur'anic recitation in the hadiths "He who does not recite the Qur'an with taghanni is not from us", “Allah never listens to anything as he listens to a prophet with a beautiful voice chanting the Qur’an aloud”, “Allah the mighty and sublime, never listens to anything as he listens to a prophet chanting the Qur’ân” which are the most important hadiths of the Prophet about the recitation of the Qur'an. Within the framework of these hadiths the use of music in the recitation of the Qur'an (taghanni) will be a very correct step for the Qur'an and humanity to meet, get closer and finally merge. The concept of "taghanni" in the Qur'anic recitations, identical and contradictory meanings and interpretations of the concept, and its jurisprudence are analysed. The existence of taghanni in the recitation of the Qur'an is revealed through the recitation of the verses of Âl-i İmran Surah 190-194 with the help of the piraat sound analysis program. In the same verse sample, the core information about the inner music of the Qur'an is presented. Our study has an importance in terms of handling the Qur'anic recitations musically.

Wheezing Characteristics and Predicting Reactivity to Inhaled β2-Agonist in Children for Home Medical Care

Background: Given that wheezing is treated with inhaled β2-agonists, their effect should be reviewed before the condition becomes severe; however, few methods can currently predict reactivity to inhaled β2-agonists. We investigated whether preinhalation wheezing characteristics identified by lung sound analysis can predict reactivity to inhaled β2-agonists.Methods: In 202 children aged 10–153 months, wheezing was identified by auscultation. Lung sounds were recorded for 30 s in the chest region on the chest wall during tidal breathing. We analyzed the wheezing before and after β2-agonist inhalation. Wheezing was displayed as horizontal bars of intensity defined as a wheeze power band, and the wheezing characteristics (number, frequency, and maximum intensity frequency) were evaluated by lung sound analysis. The participants were divided into two groups: non-disappears (wheezing did not disappear after inhalation) and disappears (wheezing disappeared after inhalation). Wheezing characteristics before β2-agonist inhalation were compared between the two groups.The characteristics of wheezing were not affected by body size. The number of wheeze power bands of the non-responder group was significantly higher than those of the responder group (P < 0.001). The number of wheeze power bands was a predictor of reactivity to inhaled β2-agonists, with a cutoff of 11.1. The 95% confidence intervals of sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were 88.8, 42, 44, and 81.1% (P < 0.001), respectively.Conclusions: The number of preinhalation wheeze power bands shown by lung sound analysis was a useful indicator before treatment. This indicator could be a beneficial index for managing wheezing in young children.

Development of a Finger-Ring-Shaped Hybrid Smart Stethoscope for Automatic S1 and S2 Heart Sound Identification

Cardiac auscultation is one of the most popular diagnosis approaches to determine cardiovascular status based on listening to heart sounds with a stethoscope. However, heart sounds can be masked by visceral sounds such as organ movement and breathing, and a doctor’s level of experience can more seriously affect the accuracy of auscultation results. To improve the accuracy of auscultation, and to allow nonmedical staff to conduct cardiac auscultation anywhere and anytime, a hybrid-type personal smart stethoscope with an automatic heart sound analysis function is presented in this paper. The device was designed with a folding finger-ring shape that can be worn on the finger and placed on the chest to measure photoplethysmogram (PPG) signals and acquire the heart sound simultaneously. The measured heart sounds are detected as phonocardiogram (PCG) signals, and the boundaries of the heart sound variation and the peaks of the PPG signal are detected in preprocessing by an advanced Shannon entropy envelope. According to the relationship between PCG and PPG signals, an automatic heart sound analysis algorithm based on calculating the time interval between the first and second heart sounds (S1, S2) and the peak of the PPG was developed and implemented via the manufactured prototype device. The prototype device underwent accuracy and usability testing with 20 young adults, and the experimental results showed that the proposed smart stethoscope could satisfactorily collect the heart sounds and PPG signals. In addition, within the developed algorithm, the device was as accurate in start-points of heart sound detection as professional physiological signal-acquisition systems. Furthermore, the experimental results demonstrated that the device was able to identify S1 and S2 heart sounds automatically with high accuracy.