Sudden deafness may be defined as a sensorineural hearing loss that develope over a period of hours or a few days. The severity of the hearing loss may vary from mild to total loss of perception of the most intense sound. The loss of hearing may be permanent, or the hearing may spontaneously return to normal or near normal. Proposed explanations for sudden idiopathic sensorineural loss revolve primarily around viral or vascular etiologies. In addition to noise-induced deafness, which can be divided into a slowly progressive deafness caused by prolonged intense noise exposure and acute acoustic trauma caused by a single exposure to very intense sound. 45- and 52-year-old healthy male smokers with no previous otologic history, noted the acute loss of hearing with tinnitus in his right ear during his unusual intense noise exposed activities. There were no other associated symptoms of dizziness or visual change. After several days without improvement, they presented to the department of otolaryngology. Physical examination, neurologic evaluation, and otorhinolaryngologic examination were essentially within normal limits except for the hearing loss on the right ear. An audiogram revealed a severe primarily sensorineural sensitivity loss on the right. Routine laboratory studies were within normal limits. Two patients denied previous barotrauma, atypical or unusual drug usage, and unusual physical exertion or strain. We observed evidence of cochlear abnormality. The presence of cochlear dysfunction is supported by acoustic reflex threshold and auditory brain-stem response. These findings strengthened the probability of an acoustic trauma origin for the sudden sensorineural hearing loss.
Barotrauma ; Deafness ; Dizziness ; Ear ; Hearing ; Hearing Loss ; Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural* ; Hearing Loss, Sudden ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Noise* ; Otolaryngology ; Physical Examination ; Physical Exertion ; Reflex, Acoustic ; Tinnitus

Mass and stiffness affect on the peculiar characteristics of transmission of the middle ear and the distinctive behavior of the cochlear mechanics. Applying the principle of the mass and stiffness, the band-pass characteristic transfer function of the middle ear has been explained. The greatest transfer function of the middle ear, approximately 24-29 dB, is observed at 1-2 kHz in both cat and human species. However, at lower frequencies, the transfer function was disturbed by the stiffness of the middle ear primarily due to middle ear cavity. At higher frequencies, the transfer function was disturbed by the stiffness of the middle ear primarily due to middle ear bones. Several examples, such as an acoustic reflex, otitis media, and otosclerosis are discussed. For understanding the traveling wave of the basilar membrane, different place tuning at certain stimulus frequencies, contrastingly shaped basilar membrane to the cochlear duct, and the structural and physical characteristics of the whole cochlear partition were reviewed in terms of changing width, mass, and stiffness from the base to apex. Being about ten times wider, more massive, and one hundredfold stiffer at the base than the apex, the nature of the cochlear partition to absorb high-frequency energy changes in fluid pressure declines toward the apex. Consequently, at the base of the cochlea, high frequencies stimuli are decoded while low frequencies stimuli are decoded at the apex of the cochlea. Due to these characteristics of the cochlear partition, the direction of the traveling wave was also proved to be in the fashion of base-to-apex always.
Animals ; Basilar Membrane ; Cats ; Cochlea ; Cochlear Duct ; Ear, Middle* ; Humans ; Mechanics ; Otitis Media ; Otosclerosis ; Reflex, Acoustic

Exposure to high levels of music that could lead to music induced hearing loss (MIHL) has been of recent interest especially for young adults, considering their excessive use of personal listening devices such as MP3 player. More attention should be drawn to MIHL for noting that early noise exposure leads to earlier onset of presbycusis. In search of appropriate and safe listening habits for young adults, this investigation was aimed to evaluate output levels and frequencies generated by the Samsung galaxy note MP3 player depending on two earphone types; ear-bud and over-the-ear earphones and three music genres; rock, hip-hop, ballade. A sound level meter was used to measure output level and frequency spectrum between 12.5 and 16000 Hz at all 1/3-octave bands. The following results can be summarized. 1) The earphone styles did not produce significant difference in output levels, but the music genres did. However, the results of music genres varied. 2) Neither earphone styles nor music genres produced significant difference in frequency response spectrum, except music genres at the volume settings we usually listen to. Additionally, volume levels should be lower than 50% for usual listening situation. Through this investigation, it was noted that the frequency range was substantial between 50 and 1000 Hz regardless of the styles of earphones and music genres, implying that we should be cautious of this frequency range when we listen to music. Researchers should give more attention to the effects of the mixture of output level and frequency spectrum, considering that the auditory system has frequency specificity from the periphery to the central to provide refined methods for protecting our ears from MIHL.
Ear ; Galaxies ; Hearing Loss ; Humans ; MP3-Player ; Music ; Noise ; Presbycusis ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: This purpose of this study was to identify both good teaching and desirable teaching behaviors perceived by nursing students.METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive design was used. A convenience sample of 324 nursing students was selected and they completed self-reported questionnaires from November 1 to December 30, 2015.RESULTS: Among 4 perspectives of good teaching (traditional, systemic, interaction, and constructionism), the traditional perspective was perceived as the highest form of good teaching, while the systemic perspective was perceived as the lowest. Meanwhile, disclosure and clarity were perceived as the highest desirable teaching behaviors. Regardless of students' perspective of good teaching, all 4 perspectives of good teaching were positively related with clarity, enthusiasm, interaction, organization, and disclosure as desirable teaching behaviors independently.CONCLUSIONS: Nursing students perceived that the highest perspective of good teaching was the traditional perspective. Meanwhile, they perceived that clarity, enthusiasm, interaction, organization, and disclosure were desirable teaching behaviors regardless of their perspective of good teaching. Further study will be needed to perceive nursing faculty's awareness of good teaching and desirable teaching behaviors to identify the difference of awareness between nursing students and faculty.
Disclosure ; Education, Nursing ; Humans ; Nursing ; Students, Nursing

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the influence of workplace violence experience on depression among female caregivers in Korea. Methods: This study was a secondary data analysis of data from the 5th Korean Working Conditions Survey (KWCS). The study sample consisted of 484 female caregivers. IBM SPSS 25.0 was used for complex sample analysis, which considered sampling the weights of variables. Based on the survey questions, we used complex sample cross-tabulation and the complex sample general linear model (CSGLM). Results: About 10.1% of female caregivers experienced workplace violence. The factors influencing workplace violence experience on depression were organizational justice (p=.048) and illness (p=.004). However, in cases with no violence, the influencing factors were psychological work environment (p=.001), work environment satisfaction (p=.024), and work engagement (p=.004). Conclusion Caregivers are vulnerable to workplace violence. Therefore, it is necessary to formulate a policies such as organizational justice, work environment satisfaction, and work engagement to improve the working environment.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the influence of workplace violence experience on depression among female caregivers in Korea. Methods: This study was a secondary data analysis of data from the 5th Korean Working Conditions Survey (KWCS). The study sample consisted of 484 female caregivers. IBM SPSS 25.0 was used for complex sample analysis, which considered sampling the weights of variables. Based on the survey questions, we used complex sample cross-tabulation and the complex sample general linear model (CSGLM). Results: About 10.1% of female caregivers experienced workplace violence. The factors influencing workplace violence experience on depression were organizational justice (p=.048) and illness (p=.004). However, in cases with no violence, the influencing factors were psychological work environment (p=.001), work environment satisfaction (p=.024), and work engagement (p=.004). Conclusion Caregivers are vulnerable to workplace violence. Therefore, it is necessary to formulate a policies such as organizational justice, work environment satisfaction, and work engagement to improve the working environment.

Purpose: This study investigated clinical competency, COVID-19-related anxiety, coping strategies, self-efficacy, and perceived stress among graduating nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey. Participants were recruited from universities located in four major cities in South Korea. General demographic information, clinical competency, self-efficacy, perceived stress, COVID-19-related anxiety, and coping strategies were assessed using reliable questionnaires. Descriptive statistics, correlations, and multiple regression tests were used to analyze the data. Results: The mean clinical competency, self-efficacy, perceived stress, adaptive coping, and maladaptive coping were 138.16 ± 18.34, 83.85 ±14.02, 21.37 ± 5.79, 53.15 ± 4.64, and 30.98 ± 6.73, respectively. COVID-19-related anxiety was reported by 4.3% of participants. Clinical competency was significantly positively correlated with self-efficacy (r = .44, p < .001) and adaptive coping (r = .20, p = .035) and was significantly negatively correlated with maladaptive coping (r = .20, p = .035). The predictors of clinical competency were self-efficacy (β = .434, p < .001) and adaptive coping (β = .173, p < .039), which explained 23% of the variance in clinical competency. Conclusion Self-efficacy and adaptive coping strategies are significant predictors of clinical competence during the pandemic. Planning and implementing various curricular and non-curricular activities to increase senior students' self-efficacy and adaptive coping strategies will help prepare competent nursing graduates for the pandemic when they enter the nursing workforce.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Although Ling 6 sounds are often used in the rehabilitation process, its acoustic features have not been fully analyzed and represented in cortical responses. Current study was aimed to analyze acoustic features according to gender and emotional statuses of core vowels of Ling 6 sounds, /u/, /a/, and /i/. Cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs) were also observed in those vowels. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Vowel sounds /u/, /a/, and /i/ out of Ling 6 sounds representing low, middle and high frequencies were recorded from normal 20 young adults. The participants watched relevant videos for 4-5 minutes in order for them to sympathize emotions with anger (A), happiness (H), and sadness (S) before producing vowels. And without any emotional salience, neutrally production was performed. The recording was extracted for 500 ms to select pure vowel portion of production. For analysis of CAEP, the latencies and amplitudes of P1, N1, P2, N2, N1-P2 were analyzed. RESULTS: Intensities of /u/, /a/, and /i/ were 61.47, 63.38, and 60.55 dB. The intensities of neutral (N), H, A, S were 60.60, 65.43, 64.21, and 55.75 dB for vowel /u/, vowel /a/ were 61.80, 68.98, 66.50, and 56.23 dB, and vowel /i/ were 59.34, 64.90, 61.90, and 56.05 dB. The statistical significances for vowel and emotion were found but not for gender. The fundamental frequency (F0) of vowels for N, A, H, and S were 168.04, 174.93, 182.72, and 149.76 Hz and the first formant were 743.75, 815.59, 823.32, and 667.62 Hz. The statistical significance of F0 was found by vowel, emotion, and gender. The latencies and amplitudes of CAEP components did not show any statistical significance according to vowel. CONCLUSIONS: Ling 6 sounds should be produced consistently in the rehabilitation process for considering their difference of intensities and frequencies according to speaker’s emotions and gender. The vowels seemed to be interpreted as tonal stimuli for CAEP components of this study with similar acoustic features among them. Careful selection of materials is necessary to observe meaningful conclusion of CAEP measurement with vowel stimuli.
Acoustics ; Anger ; Evoked Potentials, Auditory ; Happiness ; Humans ; Rehabilitation ; Young Adult

Listening effort is defined as a listener's mental exertion required to understand a speaker's auditory message, especially when distracting conditions are present. This review paper analyzed several subjective scaling tools used to measure the listening effort in order to suggest the best tool for use with hearing-impaired listeners who have to expend much effort even in everyday life. We first explained the importance of measuring listening effort and discussed various kinds of measurements. We then analyzed and categorized 15 recently published articles (i.e., from 2014 to 2016) into three topics: performance and listening effort, listening effort and fatigue, and clinical implication of listening effort. We compared the articles in terms of pros and cons and also identified 10 tools for use in the subjective scaling. Although none of these tools were unified or standardized easily, we concluded that 7-point scale would be the most reasonable as a less time-consuming measurement for compartmentalizing the degree of listening effort. If used with objective tools for measuring the listening effort, the subjective scaling could be a powerful tool for clinical use.
Fatigue

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Changes in distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) caused by contralateral suppression (CS) allow the function of the auditory efferent system to be evaluated. Parameters affording maximum CS are preferred in terms of clinical application. Our objective was to evaluate the effects of primary levels and frequencies on DPOAE-mediated CS. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Sixteen subjects with normal hearing participated. DPOAEs were recorded with and without contralateral acoustic stimulation; we delivered broadband noise of 65 dB SPL at f2 frequencies between 1,000 Hz and 6,727 Hz, at 8 pt/octave. The L2 was varied between 40 dB SPL and 80 dB SPL in 10-dB steps. RESULTS: L2 did not significantly affect DPOAE-mediated CS. Higher L2 levels significantly reduced the fine structure depth of both the baseline and suppressed DPOAE datasets. The amount of CS was greatly affected by the f2 frequency; lower and higher frequency ranges afforded significantly stronger suppression than did mid-frequencies within the studied range. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that DPOAE CS should be measured over a wide range of frequencies as the amount of CS seems to be highly dependent on f2. The use of a higher L2 level may be optimal when it is sought to evoke strong DPOAE-mediated suppression while simultaneously minimizing DPOAE fine structure. Our findings may assist in optimization of clinical procedures evaluating the integrity of the auditory efferent system.
Acoustic Stimulation ; Dataset ; Hearing ; Noise